Kakashi & the Kunoichi from Thunder Country

Author's Notes: I'm a big fan of "Rashomon" and the technique where the same events are told from different characters' perspective. The next couple of chapters go back in time to revisit some of the previous events from my OC's POV. I tried not to be redundant so the reader might need to got back to previous chapters to see how things correlate.


PART IV The Truth of the Past

4.1 The Mission

It was already late when she received the summons. Her husband would be there waiting for her. But these days it was difficult for her to move and she had to struggle into her outdoor clothes. It had not been an easy pregnancy. 'This little one will be rambunctious.' The dark haired-dark eyed young woman smiled to herself then made her way as quickly as she could to the Raikage’s compound.

The spy was tied to the chair, tortured to near unconsciousness, but had revealed no information. The pregnant shinobi touched the man's bloody face, and concentrated her chakra into her fingertips. The tendrils of green chakra entered the man's mind through the orifices of his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Her pupils expanded until even the whites of her eyes disappeared, ready to receive the man's thoughts in electromagnetic waves. His mind was soon in her grip, and she began to slice and dice, extracting his memories.

Hidden Cloud Jounin Maindo Midori had been summoned by the Raikage to interrogate the spy despite her condition. She was the only one who had mind powers developed enough to penetrate the mind blocks of the Leaf Anbu. After years of isolation, confinement, and training, she had reached the pinnacle of her powers. But despite her elite standing, her kind had always been feared and reviled, more than any other advanced bloodline. After all, invasion of the mind was akin to invasion of the soul. But still they were necessary when countries were at war and espionage was all important.

It was not something she enjoyed doing, penetrating someone’s most private thoughts, but the secrets of Hidden Leaf Village would give Thunder Country an advantage in the war. And if the Leaf had someone like her, they’d use her the same way. It was an unpleasant duty and sometimes the side effects were…bad. All the memories, both pleasant and terrible came to her. She had to focus and filter, concentrate on what was relevant. But still the man’s innermost fears and desires, hopes and dreams, secrets and lies, leaked through.

Her husband was with her, concerned about her condition he insisted on overseeing the interrogation. His head cocked, a faint rustle of movement upstairs. He had the power to concentrate his chakra to any of his five senses and during the interrogation he had decided to keep an ear out for any trouble. "Proceed with the mind stripping," he said, "I'll go investigate.”

A minute later, a ruckus was now clearly audible. She was done with her interrogation and had recovered a lot of good information before the spy's mind collapsed. 'The Raikage will be pleased. Now to help out upstairs...'

A dark shadow amidst white chakra…a powerful enemy. Midori elected to use a cloud cover to obscure her presence. She knew she was in no condition to fight. Instead she planned to escape via the underground tunnels. The room filled with darkness…but then a bright flash…

She knew she was dying. He had missed her heart directly, but the concentration of chakra was pervading her body. 'Not yet…' she thought, 'just a little longer.' She performed a last seal, and put all her concentration and will to force the remaining chakra she had into the fetus. 'Remember me little one, remember your mother and father, remember their murderer, avenge us when you can.' She fixed her eyes on the masked shinobi. An animal mask, a Leaf Anbu, but this one had a strange red eye. She whispered before she died, "My baby, save my baby, she's innocent..."

She could no longer speak, but her last thoughts, “Die you bastard! My daughter will avenge us. She will have double the chakra and will defeat the Hokage himself!" echoed in the mind of the unborn child.

The Leaf Anbu team recovered their agent, but it was too late. His mind had been ripped to shreds. He was little more than a vegetable, but even in his near comatose state, he continued to have violent nightmares. The shinobi medics tried different seals to repair his mind, but none was effective. In the end his body and mind gave up and the name of another one of Kakashi's comrades was engraved on the shinobi memorial. A few months later, their espionage at a standstill, the Thunder and Fire Countries signed a peace treaty and the incident was ignored, for the most part.

Author's Notes: Maindo means mind .

-...-...-...-...-...-

4.2 The Beginning

"What should we name her?" Rika asked her husband as she held the baby in her arms, bouncing her up and down and cooing at her.

"Well, let’s give her a name to make sure she knows she’s part of the family. How about Rikako?" he suggested. (Rikako means child of Rika, or using different kanji, same pronunciation, it can mean divided/separated, child of fire.) The former Anbu medic added to himself, 'My penance, for all those I have killed. I will raise this child as my own and teach her to respect life. I will protect her no matter what,' he vowed.

"Hmm, okay, Rikako it is!" his wife agreed, happy to have a child at last.

For the first month the baby slept and nursed from a wet nurse, building up her strength. But after the second month, the crying became a constant. Before she turned two, the framed baby pictures flew off the dresser and smash into the walls. The glass swirled around, cutting her exposed arms and legs. When she turned three, the windows shattered. This time the lacerations were deep enough to require stitches.

The doting mother gradually became bitter. Worn down not only from lack of sleep, but also from the frequent nightmares. Whatever dreams the child was having were also affecting her. Her husband, who was a trained shinobi, did not seem to be affected. He ignored her complaints and treated the child as normal, even spoiling her. But she was not normal and Rika was certain that in time they would regret taking her in. They knew nothing about the child except for what Kakashi had told them, that he found her during a mission and was afraid the baby would perish. Who knew what kind of shinobis were being bred in Thunder Country, maybe ones like that monstrous brat Naruto.

Like many living in Konoha, Rika had not had an easy life. Her entire family, including her husband and infant daughter, were killed in Kyuubi’s attack. As the sole survivor, she had no one and nothing. Her home was destroyed and she had nowhere to go. She ended up marrying the shinobi medic who tended to her wounds, not because of love, but a need for security. She had wanted to start a new life and a new family, but after a couple of years of trying, it seemed there would be no family other than her husband and herself. So when the young jounin appeared with a newborn baby in his arms, she instinctively saw it as a sign. The child would be hers and she would lavish all the love and attention on it that she would have on her own deceased child.

But Rikako was not a normal child. She did not seek love and attention like other children. She was cold and judgmental. She started to speak when she was one and was able to hold intelligible conversations when she was two. As soon as she could express herself she would complain about her food, her bath, just about everything was not good enough or not done fast enough or not to her satisfaction. By the time she was four she was able to read, able to argue, and able to take care of herself. She did not need Rika at all.

-…-…-…-…-

Rikako reached self-awareness, self-consciousness, at 4 and a half years of age. Suddenly, everything became clear. Ever since she could remember, there were always voices in her head, even when she was sleeping. Now she understood they were the voices of the people around her. Not just their conscious thoughts, but also snippets of buried resentments and sorrow, nightmares and dreams. They were jumbled up, vying for her attention. She couldn't stand to be around people. And physical contact made things even worse.

But now she understood and it made sense, and she could do something about it. Her father started teaching her chakra control while her mother taught her meditation techniques. They also gave her sleeping draughts. All this to hopefully help her sleep through the night. They did not know of her powers but just thought she had bad nightmares which caused her to leak chakra.

Knowing what people thought made her cynical. At this age she formed the opinion that most people were selfish, petty, cruel and quite stupid. They also lied about everything. They lied to be nice; they lied out of envy; they lied to protect others and themselves. Her parents lied to their patients to offer comfort. And they lied to her. People lied all the time, everyday of their lives, but that was the only way to survive, the only way to appear normal. People didn't really want to know what you thought and they only wanted to hear what they wished to hear. She didn't realize that negative emotions were stronger and more easily picked up than the softer tender feelings of love and affection.

The thoughts kept coming and she started to keep a record of them, curious to see what they meant and who they belonged to. She wrote them down in her notebook, in her own code so no one else would understand. It wasn't really a code per se, but a simple shorthand masked by bad handwriting. She protected the notebook with seals she learned from her father who used them to protect confidential medical records. One was to make the writing invisible until it was infused with her chakra. The other caused a chakra shock to the unauthorized viewer.

She could hear her mother's thoughts, her worries, her fear of her, her tentative love. Her father did not think so deeply about his emotions or the events around him. Things were as they were and he took everything in stride. His thoughts were usually on his patients. But she knew that they were not her true parents and that they would give her up if they could. The realization of these facts might have driven a normal child to tears. But instead it gave her a purpose. She would one day find out the truth, the complete truth, no matter what.

-…-…-…-…-…-

After a few months, the chakra control and meditation techniques seemed to help. She was now able to filter the thoughts and to focus in on a single person. The presence of people no longer bothered her and she joined her father in the office. It was interesting, not just the medical aspects or the jutsus, but also the patients themselves. Few came to the doctor in good spirits, they were usually in some sort of pain, and pain made people interesting.

One day, a boy her age came in with a broken arm and bruises. His parents said he fell from a tree. She immediately knew they were lying. His father in a fit of anger had beaten him.

"Liar!" she screamed, pointing at the father, "You hit him, you nearly killed him!" The man and his wife turned pale.

"What do you mean? How can you say that!" said the woman.

"That's enough Rikako, you'll have to leave the office," her father ordered.

"But daddy, I know he's lying!" she protested.

"And how do you now that?" he asked with an undertone of suspicion.

"I...I...I don't know," she said resignedly. She couldn't tell him the truth. Her parents already had doubts about her. This would push them over the edge. They wouldn't want a child who could read their minds. "He just looks mean."

"Hmmf, some people say I look mean, but have I ever hit you?" her father asked her.

She shook her head, "No daddy, I'm sorry." She was forced to leave the room, but she stayed by the door. She couldn't hear what they were saying so she focused on their thoughts. The father was fearful of discovery. The mother was concerned for her son. The boy was in pain. He loved but feared his father. She decided to try projecting her thoughts.

"If I ever find you hurting your family again, I'll come after you. You know I can destroy your mind. If you tell anyone, I'll know."

They never saw that family again - presumably they switched family practitioners.

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Author's notes: I now know telepathy is a common advanced bloodline used in (Mary-Sue) fanfics, but I didn't know that when I wrote this 1.5 years ago. However, there will be limits to her powers, a gradual increase and then a plummet in the course of this series.

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4.3 The Academy

"Daddy, I want to be a shinobi too, just like you were. Can you take me to the academy? I want to see what it's like there,” Rikako asked her father while putting on her please-please-puppy-dog-look that included softening her large dark eyes.

"Being a shinobi is not fun and games. It's serious business. People die all around you," her father replied curtly.

"But you were a shinobi medic," she countered.

"Yes, and I had to kill more people than I saved," his face furrowed in regret.

"We're not at war anymore," she rationalized.

"No, but things happen. Who knows how long these treaties will last," he sighed.

"But there are always the wounded. Someone has to save them," she argued persistently.

"Why don't you just be a regular village doctor. That's just as good you know."

"But what about the seals and chakra control you've been teaching me?"

"That's just stuff to know. You don't have to be a shinobi to do it."

"But...

"That's enough. End of discussion."

-…-…-…-…-

She wanted, needed to be a shinobi. That was the only way to understand her powers, the only way to develop them and test them. Right now her powers were still erratic. She could only pick up on strong thoughts and emotions at short range now that the filters were in place. She had encountered very few shinobis in her life other than her father. They rarely needed a village doctor as they had their own medics. But she noticed that they were much harder to read, probably because they were less emotional.

Of course, she did want to be a shinobi medic and save lives like her father. Even though she held a low opinion of people in general, she felt shinobis were different, or at least they should be different. They stood for a noble cause, sacrificing their lives to protect the village.

She just needed to find out what was required to enroll in the academy, and how to do it without her parents’ consent. One day after lunch, she told her parents she was going to spend the afternoon in the yard gardening, meditating and practicing her chakra control. It was a busy day so she knew they wouldn't miss her. It was about 2 miles to the academy. If she walked quickly she should make it there and back well before dinner. Her parents were going to be furious, but what else was new? They knew how stubborn she was, how she always got what she wanted (usually by playing them against each other, she didn’t need special powers for that).

The little girl walked along the main road, and thought her usual thoughts. 'Who am I? Who are my real parents? Why can I hear the thoughts of others? How can I find out? What will I do once I reach the academy? Maybe they have a library. You can always find answers in books. Maybe I can find someone to help me…'

There were more academy buildings than she realized. There was a large one with a fire symbol and another with the nin symbol, and several smaller buildings. She wandered around a bit to get her bearings, when a young adult shinobi with his hair tied back in a neat ponytail approached her.

Rikako smiled and listened attentively during Iruka's tour and description of the academy. 'Iruka-sensei seems really nice, not wary at all. He's perfect,' she thought. She asked him questions about the registration process.

"Well, your parents need to fill out an application. Then there's an interview with your parents and another with you to make sure it's something you want, and not just your parents' wishes," he answered pleasantly.

"Do both my parents have to be interviewed? My dad is always busy."

"No, just your mom is fine." 'She's lucky,' Iruka thought, 'so many children have only one parent or none at all.'

"Is it a long interview?"

"Usually not, about 10 minutes. We have a lot of students and parents to interview, after all."

At the library she perused the texts for first and second year students looking for something that would help her in her quest to be a shinobi and for something that could possibly explain her powers. There wasn’t much on mind techniques in the first and second year texts except for an explanation of genjutsu, which apparently was for more advanced shinobis, and just general examples of types of mind techniques like mind transfer or mind confusion. There was no practical information where she could learn the seals or about the history. 'Must be a clan secret or something,' she surmised. The texts just had the basic non-secret techniques like bunshin, kawarimi, and henge. That last one was the key.

On the way back she asked Iruka about the type of techniques the students would learn. He mentioned a few, including the transformation technique.

"What does that mean?" she asked innocently.

"Well, it means I can change my appearance to look like someone else."

"Wow, that one sounds really interesting. Can you show me?" she asked giving him the please-puppy-look.

"Sure," Iruka transformed into the librarian.

She laughed and clapped her hands like a regular little girl, "Again! Again, please!"

He transformed into the Hokage.

"Wow, how long can you stay like that?"

"Well, it depends on how much chakra you have and how much control. I could probably hold it for about 20 minutes."

"Can you change into something bigger or smaller?"

"Yes, but of course that's more difficult and requires more chakra to maintain." He turned into a rabbit, then a horse. She laughed excitedly and clapped again, encouraging the naïve chuunin to continue.

-…-…-…-…-

For 2 years she practiced until she perfected the transformation technique. She had to build up enough chakra to be able to hold the transformation for at least 20 minutes she estimated. But not only that, she had to have the same mannerisms and speech as her mother. She observed her parent and secretly imitated her, which wasn’t hard, all she had to do was act tired and annoyed all the time.

Her plan proceeded smoothly at registration and her parents' reaction to her act was as expected, fury then acceptance. She got her way again, as usual.

Rika set out a new set of clothes for her daughter’s first day, a pretty pink dress with embroidered trim. She also offered to braid her hair nicely. Rikako refused both. "I don't want to wear anything new. I don't want to stand out and you always braid my hair too tight."

"But don't you want to make a good impression on your first day? And the way you braid your hair is too loose. Your hair always gets in your eyes, so why braid it at all? Why not just cut your hair short?"

"I like my hair long, but I don't want to look like I care about it. And I don't care about making a good impression with my looks, I'll be using my brain." 'Long hair makes me look cuter. Cute kids are treated better by their peers and adults,' she thought to herself.

"You're just seven and already impossible!" Rika gave up and left her daughter alone to do whatever she wanted.

Her mother didn’t understand. She never did. She was just a civilian and didn’t know what it took to be a shinobi. Rikako looked at herself in the mirror and bowed to her reflection. She found that if she bowed, people wouldn’t notice her eyes. She had a bad habit of rolling her eyes when she was annoyed, which was quite often. Also, her pupils enlarged when she used her mind powers. Adults like the bowing and felt she was a well behaved respectful and mature child. If they had known what she was really thinking, they would have been quite shocked and insulted most of the time.

'I must keep my temper in check,' she thought. That was always hard for her. When she was a toddler, she threw tantrums that lasted on average of three hours, crying and screaming until her parents gave in just to get some peace and quiet. As she grew older, she realized that expended too much energy and it was more effective and efficient to be smart, to manipulate them into doing what she wanted. Not that she wanted much. Her needs were very simple. Usually what she wanted was the freedom to make her own decisions. When her mother wanted her to wear this or do that, it wasn’t because she didn’t want to wear this or do that, but there was no choice involved and it was being able to choose that was important. It was the same with her decision to attend the academy.

'If I smile as much as possible, I can stop myself from showing anger or annoyance.' She also found that by smiling and laughing, she could get away with thinly veiled insults that might otherwise offend. That relieved her frustration, which could otherwise turn to a raging torrent of epithets that she learned from her ex-Anbu father.

'I must be careful not to use my powers too often or stand out while at the academy. If I stay in the background, not say too much or too little, shoot for average or a bit better than that, I should be okay.'

'Who or what am I? Since I don’t know, I can be anyone I want. I will be whatever I need to be to find out. I will play this part until I achieve my goal,' she resolved to herself.

Intelligent as she was, she was still a child. A child’s mind is simpler, where things are black and white. Her parents were liars, period, they would not tell her the truth. It’s a child’s prerogative to be selfish, to demand and take things without asking. It never occurred to her to just ask.

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Excerpts from Rikako’s Diary

…Iruka-sensei was our first teacher. He looks about the same as I remember. I think he’s really handsome and nice! So glad he’s one of our teachers :)

…First day at school was soooooooooo boring! Most of the stuff the teachers are teaching I already know from my books and my parents. But I did have fun observing and taking notes on my classmates. (Row 1, seat 4, guy with short spiky black hair, pays attention and nods his head each time the teacher asks a rhetorical question. Row 5, seat 1, guy with long brown hair fell asleep. Row 1, seat 5, girl with short pink hair, kisses up to the teachers. Row 2, seat 3, guy with cap, asked the most questions. Row 3, seat 6, girl with long brown hair in a ponytail, answered the most questions.)

...I need to sharpen my observational skills. I don’t want to use my mind reading power. It’s erratic and difficult to filter and focus. I may not be able to control my power and who knows if the power is permanent. In the medical texts, all sorts of conditions exist that are only temporary…

…This stupid bully grabbed my notebook today. He got a nice shock, hah! Deserved it, stupid idiot! But then I noticed everyone looking at me, especially Iruka sensei. I don’t want to stand out or be different than anyone else. I’ll have to put away my notebook during recess and play with the other children. I hate kids and their stupid games! Total waste of time...

…There’s some cocky kids in the class, always trying to prove they’re the best. I don’t want to be noticed or be the best. Being the best is a burden. People will always come up to you for a challenge. They will expect more than you can ever give and if you fail, there is no sympathy. If you’re smart, you would downplay your skills until you really need them. But sometimes I can’t help but show off just a little like when a teacher won’t continue a lesson until someone can answer the question or do the technique. Such a waste of time to listen to guesses or watch pathetic attempts. Then I feel I have to step in so the class can continue…

…Umino Iruka…Umino Rikako, Umino Otori Rikako, definitely has a nice ring to it. He’s so nice and funny! He's the best teacher. He makes lessons fun and interesting. He actually listens to the kids when they talk. Most of the other senseis only pretend to listen. And he’s always asking after my parents and how I’m doing. I like the scar on his nose. I think it gives him character. I want to marry him when I grow up! (All “i”s were dotted with hearts.)

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4.4 Rikako’s Powers

Rikako carefully did well on her tests, and made sure she was one of the better students. Though she could have aced most of the written exams, she did not want to be the top student in anything. Come graduation time, she had to make a decision. Is she ready to be a genin? That would require a lot of enforced training time and much less book time and free time she could spend doing her own training. She decided to stay a year behind on purpose. Her decision was partly based on the chuunin selection exams where she would have to compete against former classmates. Most take two years before being nominated to take the chuunin exams. Rookies were rare. If she stayed an extra year in the academy, she would know more of the participants, thereby improving her chances if she had to compete against them. Also, she would have access to information from strategically positioned upperclassmen. But there was another reason. Kakashi sensei would not be available to take on a new genin team until the following year.

She knew her parents weren’t her real parents. That much she knew since the beginning. But she could not find out from reading their conscious minds who her real parents were. It wasn’t until after a few years at the academy that she discovered by touching someone with chakra, the contact increased her powers. One night when her father was out on an emergency, she tried it on her mother while she was sleeping. Rikako placed her hand lightly on her mother’s face. She concentrated on what she needed to know. Her mother’s body twisted uncomfortably beneath her hand. There was nothing, nothing but a faint memory of a night visit by a young shinobi who looked like Hatake Kakashi, one of the top jounins of Konoha. Her surprise broke contact and her mother woke.

Suddenly seeing her daughter standing over her, with her eyes completely black, frightened her and she let out a gasp. "What are you doing here?" Rika demanded.

"Mama, I had a bad dream, I just wanted to be with you." She gave her mother her scared-puppy look.

But her mother didn’t believe it. Her daughter was 10 years old, had nightmares for years, and she never came to her like this. 'A headache, I have such a headache.' She let Rikako stay in bed with her, but she didn’t sleep for the rest of the night.

Rikako was patient, very patient when it came to getting what she wanted. She waited a year before trying her powers on her father who she knew was more resistant to mind probes as having been with the Anbu. Her father was sick, one of those rare times despite being exposed to sick people on a daily basis. Her mother had given him a sleeping draught and returned to manning the office. Rikako was helping out but luckily things were slow. When it was time for her to prepare lunch, she decided to try out her powers on her father. Her hand touched his forehead. Her green chakra tendrils seeped into his orifices. Her mind scanned his mind. Even in his unconscious, weakened state, there was resistance. She concentrated harder. The same scene as her mother’s, there was no more. But he must know more! She pressed harder. Suddenly there’s a grip on her wrist - her father woke up!

"What are you doing?" He was furious and fearful at the same time.

"I…I was just checking your temperature. Your fever has gone down," she explained nervously. She didn't expect him to wake so soon.

Her father let the incident pass, but his wariness and suspicions grew. He remembered how Rika mentioned something similar. A feeling of unease, a headache, and Rikako standing there, her eyes completely black. He hardly knew anything about this child, not who her parents were, only that Kakashi had found her during his last mission to Thunder Country. He suspected she had special powers, but in truth, he did not want to know what they were. If they were what he now suspected, he would have to report it to the Hokage. Mind reading jutsus were expressly forbidden. There were very few who could use such techniques in the first place. Only those born with an innate predilection could focus their minds so acutely. Otori recalled the rumors of mind seekers from Hidden Cloud Village and shuddered. The old Hokage was a kindly man, but the advisors would not be so understanding. She was his only child and he had an obligation to protect her, no matter what.

-…-…-…-

4.5 Kakashi and the Genin Team

Excerpts from Rikako’s Diary

…There are women who come into my father's officefor abortions, unwanted babies. There are many unwanted kids, orphans, left to grow up alone, then adopted by the Shinobi Academy, easy recruits. I wonder if I’m one of those babies. Unwanted by some prostitute, or an orphan whose parents died in a battle or natural disaster. I wonder what my real parents were like. I think they must be shinobis, or at least one parent. It seems Kakashi sensei brought me to the Otoris so he would know. Or maybe he just found me. I know I should be more appreciative of what my parents have done for me but for some reason…they just really annoy me! Always telling me what to do or what not to do. You would think after all these years they would give up, but the nagging and unsolicited advice never stops. Everything from my clothes, how I keep my room, how much I eat, like I didn’t have a brain. I’ll move out as soon as I make enough money. Another incentive to making chuunin ASAP!

…I was given my team assignment today. As expected Kakashi-sensei is in charge of my team. He must know about me. He’s probably been assigned to keep an eye on me. I have to be extra careful around him. He was very late to our first meeting. I wonder what kept him. I hope it’s not a habit, very annoying to have to wait for someone. Kakashi-sensei is weird, to put it politely. He has grey hair that sticks up like he hasn’t brushed it in years. His left eye and the lower half of his face are covered. I wonder if he’s missing an eye or if he’s horribly disfigured. I asked my dad but he doesn’t like to answer my questions, especially if it has to do with being a shinobi. He usually says “You’ll find out soon enough” or “It doesn’t matter” or It’s none of your business” or some such combination. Kakashi sensei told us we’ll have survival training tomorrow. I wonder what that is. I asked dad at dinner but he just said “You’ll see.”

…Kakashi-sensei was very very late again. I think it was on purpose this time. He gave us this test where we had to get a bell from him. But there were 3 of us and only 2 bells. The test conditions didn’t make sense, but I took a gamble and got my teammates to work together. My teammates, Kenji and Takeo, are rather simple minded and uncomplicated, easily manipulated. Kenji is a bit of a bully and Takeo is completely apathetic but I shouldn’t have any problems with them. It doesn’t matter who is on my team as long as they don’t get in my way. Takeo’s trap worked and we were able to get the bells, and I was right about it being a test of teamwork. Kakashi-sensei made it harder to cooperate by saying only 2 people would pass. Very sneaky, quite impressive. Kakashi-sensei seems to be obsessed with the shinobi memorial. He spaced out for a while during our training. He said his best friend’s name was on the memorial. Kenji asked some rather personal questions. I wanted to know the answers to those too, but Kakashi-sensei doesn’t seem like the type to talk much about himself. Maybe we’ll find out later…

…I ran into Anzu today. Sarutobi Asuma is her sensei. She told me he takes his team out to eat all the time! Kakashi-sensei just disappears after our training sessions or missions. I also saw Tomoyo who is under Yuuhi Kurenai sensei. She told me Kurenai-sensei visits each of their parents at home for a conference and she does that on a regular basis to keep their parents informed of their progress! I had to convince Kakashi sensei to visit my parents, emphasizing the teamwork crap he's so big on. Then he showed up so late, dinner was almost over and he had the nerve to ask for a doggie bag! He's only friendly with Takeo's mom so he can get a discount at the bookstore and to Kenji's parents so he can get free meals. I think we have the worse sensei!

…Kakashi is absolutely the worst sensei! I can barely force myself to call him sensei. What kind of teacher shows up late all the time, reads adult books in front of minors, and pays no attention to us during training and missions? It's been a month and he's still like that. I thought he was testing us, but he is really irresponsible! I really want to teach him a lesson. If I can get the guys to go along with my plan tomorrow it should be interesting to see how he responds. I miss Iruka sensei. He was such a better teacher! Much nicer. Such a sweetie. I hear he’s getting married soon. Lucky girl! If I find out who she is, I might kunai her!

…Ok, this means war! Damn hypocrite got all upset at us for being late! Made us train twice as long as usual with no breaks! I can’t let this go. I have to get back at him. I’ve been holding my temper in for a month now. I need another plan.

Top 10 reasons why Kakashi sucks!

1.He plays favorites. (I think he likes Takeo best because they’re both lazy! And Takeo doesn’t bug him with questions. But probably because his mom works at Pink’s bookstore.)

2.He’s weird. (We never see him eat or drink anything! It’s like that mask is permanently attacked to his face. Hmm, maybe it is.)

3.He’s irresponsible. (Takeo nearly fell off a cliff the other day. Kakashi didn’t notice!)

4.He’s lazy. (He never does anything during the missions. We do all the work!)

5.He’s cheap. (He never offers to take us out to lunch, nothing!)

6.He’s always late. (This is the worst! So much time wasted! DRIVES ME NUTS!)

7.He gives pathetic excuses. (Bad enough that he’s late, he doesn’t even have the creativity to come up with a believable excuse.)

8.He reads PORN. (Pervert!)

9.He reads PORN IN PUBLIC. (Open pervert!)

10.He reads PORN IN PUBLIC IN FRONT OF MINORS! (Open pervert with extremely bad judgment!)

…I visited Kenji’s parents at the dumpling restaurant and Takeo’s mom at the bookstore. I casually implied how much Kakashi sucks and how their sons were never going to be successful as shinobis under such an abysmal teacher. They were all willing to sign the scroll. I told them my parents wrote it. I told my parents that Kenji’s dad wrote it (had to disguise my handwriting a bit). My parents were very happy to sign the complaint. I think they want me to switch senseis. Now that I have all the signatures I’ll send it to the Hokage post haste. Hah! Take that Kakashi, stupid idiot lazy bastard!

…I’ve been waiting for the repercussions from that complaint, but apparently Kakashi took it quite well. He didn’t mention it at all. He was actually almost on time today. He didn’t make us do extra training or anything. His book is now wrapped in brown paper. But I don’t trust him. Maybe he’s planning something big. We’d better be careful.

…I’ve been observing him more closely. He’s smarter than he looks or acts. He actually is paying attention to us most of the time. I notice that he reads the same page for hours, which probably means he’s not really reading his book at all but using it as a prop. I wonder if covering his eye and face are just props too. I wonder if his is an assumed persona, part of an effort to deceive his opponents, interesting.

...Kakashi still doesn’t give much direction to our team. He's way too easygoing and prefers to let us figure out stuff for ourselves. Like the lesson on chakra control - he just let the boys run at the tree! Like that would work! I had to intercede otherwise they’d be wasting time and injuring themselves unnecessarily. He should tell them chakra control is all in the mind. A calm mind can direct chakra where it’s needed. Luckily, the boys are willing to listen my suggestions. I think I'm a MUCH better teacher than Kakashi.

…I’m getting annoyed with the boys trying to ask me out. It’s not like they come right out and say “I like you, how about we go out sometime.” It’s always like “if you’re not busy later, maybe we could…” So I always say I am busy! I’m trying to make it clear I am NOT interested in any social relationships. Total waste of time. I’m trying to treat my teammates equally because they're equally as annoying! It’s a tough balancing act. If one of them invites me out, I have to include the other one and be all nice to both of them. What I really feeling like doing half the time is manipulating them to beat the hell out of each other. But there's no fun in that since the gorilla (Kenji) would wipe the floors with the sloth (Takeo).

...What kind of guy do I want? I want one whom I don’t need to mind read to know what he’s thinking or feeling. I want someone who can express himself in words and actions. I want someone truly nice and normal, a genuinely good person. I really miss Iruka sensei. Why isn’t he strong enough to be a jounin? It shouldn’t just be about jutsus. Just because you know a lot of them doesn’t make you a good teacher. You have to be able to convey the information and adjust your teaching style depending on your student. Which is why Kakashi sucks!

...Things are going pretty well. I think I like my teammates and Kakashi more than I expected, but they are still annoying more often than not. I was originally concerned that Kenji would be too pushy, but he's confident and not overly arrogant. Takeo's pretty nice but he needs to build confidence and a backbone. I'm very interested in learning about trap design from him. Too bad he's so lazy. He's smarter that he looks. Kenji is very strong and can uproot a tree, but not too bright. I need to help strengthen their weaknesses so we can pass the chuunin exams, but be sure I can defeat either one myself if I had to. I know that to be a chuunin means working together as a team and to be a team leader. But I think relationships, even friendships, make things too complicated, despite what Kakashi thinks. Who knows, what if I have to sacrifice one of them in a mission someday. I would feel worse if we were friends. Otherwise they’d just be like appendages, useful necessary parts of the mission, but can be cut off so that the mission could continue.

…Kakashi’s gone back to being late all the time. He was good for a couple of months. It’s such a waste of time just waiting. I think we should do something more constructive. Will have to talk to the guys about maybe working on some traps…

-...-...-...-...-...-

Rikako’s regular training schedule whenever possible:

Wake at 7, washup dress, have breakfast

8-9 meditation/chakra control

9-10 taijutsu

10-11 ninjuts/genjutsu

11-12 combination of all 3 in mock battle situation

12-1 lunch

1-3 research at the library

3-4 taijutsu

4-5 ninjutsu/genjutsu

5-6 combination of all 3 in mock battle

6-8 dinner and chores

8-9 chakra control/mediation

9-11 reading

11 preparation for bed

-...-...-...-...-...-

...I'm now in Wave Country on our first C mission. Quite exciting! There’s some very interesting foliage here - lots of mangrove trees which are one of the few plants that can live in salt water… Kakashi made a funny joke while traveling about how Kenji and Takeo bickered like an old married couple. Ha! Ha! Sometimes he’s really funny…

...We learned a bit about Kakashi’s previous team. Seems this Naruto character was very impressive and this Sasuke’s a missing-nin. Will have to do some research on them…and find out about the girl Sakura who doesn’t seem to be as interesting…This is our first overnight mission. I'm going to try to read Kakashi's mind through the walls while he's sleeping but I'm not sure if it will work. I don’t expect much except maybe some general impressions. If only I can touch his forehead or face...

...Damn, it didn't work! He woke up! I think the problem is that he has no passion, no strong feelings so he's much harder to read. Even in my daily default mode he doesn't raise a blip on my radar. I can't try it again. Too risky. I have to think of another way to get close to him. But his entire body is covered in clothes, gloves, mask, there's hardly any exposed skin that I can accidentally brush up against just to get a glimmer of what kind of person he truly is. I’ve tried asking him all sorts of ethical questions to see how he responds, but he usually avoids answering them or he gives me a noncommittal answer. All these months and we hardly know anything about him. I have to know more, to decide what I can do to find the truth. This is one tough mission! Was too wired and frustrated to get much sleep. I’m afraid poor Tsunami-san was affected. I really have to better control my temper and this chakra…

...This power that I have, that manifested today, this surge of chakra. Kakashi thinks it was because of the chakra amplification amulet that I attained the speed necessary to defeat the three Rain shinobis. But it wasn't that exactly. I didn't use my special senbons. I froze in fright and suddenly my head started pounding and my green chakra started leaking. I couldn't control it. Actually I didn't want to control it or hold it in. The air became oppressive and it seemed that the molecules of air were vibrating. I'm not sure what happened but the three of them clutched their heads in pain and suddenly their heads just exploded. Maybe my chakra was amplified, but what would cause their heads to explode like that? Is it a special power I have? I must find out my origins, no matter what. I have let my resolve slip lately, but I must think of a way to get that information from Kakashi. That woman, our target, she was a kunoichi. She was willing to sacrifice her body to get what she wanted. I have to consider that option. There are only two ways to get close enough to Kakashi to extract the information. Either get close enough using sex, or strong enough to defeat him. The latter I think is preferable, but that may be more difficult. Gatou the shipping magnate, that Rain kunoichi, they were willing to do whatever it took to achieve their goals. I need to think like that. But they were sort of evil and I’m just after the truth. There’s a difference, isn’t there?

...I've been thinking, and studying him. That eye of his, I don’t know exactly how it works. It might detect my powers if I try using it near him. But he’s the one who knows about me. This regular training with my teammates seems so useless when I know I have this greater power within me. Somehow I must learn to harness it and use it, preferably not to kill, but just to knock out the enemy. I'm too afraid to try it until I know more. I don’t want to accidentally kill someone. I’ve seen enough splattered brains to last a lifetime. I must be patient.

…Did some research on Kakashi’s former genins. That poor boy, Naruto, with a demon inside him. The horrible thoughts some people had about him. Such fear and hatred. People are so cruel. I wonder if I have a demon inside me. But there are no special seals or marks on my body that I can see. I must find out.

…Kakashi’s been nice to us lately. He’s been trying to teach us some more jutsus. Even paid for lunch, but it was just at Ichiraku, least expensive place in town, cheap bastard! And he didn’t eat anything. He’s also been on time lately and paying more attention to us, rather than his book, during missions and training. Maybe he’s been feeling guilty about that C mission. We could all be dead. It wasn’t really his fault, but if feeling guilty gets him to act more responsibly and show up on time, best to take advantage of it.

…Kakashi was trying to be nice to me and asked if there were something wrong and why I wasn’t training as hard as usual. Made him feel guiltier by saying nothing just staring at him and sighing. Yes, the C mission was eye opening, but I’ve seen death, people dying before. My father is a doctor after all. Still, he was surprisingly considerate to ask. I wonder if he really does care about us as individuals.

…Got my chuunin exam application today. Very excited! If we make it to the third exam, we should be getting some one-on-one training with Kakashi. I might be able to get close enough to get a reading on him.

...Took the first chuunin exam today. It was very interesting. The examiner Morino Ibiki is the special interrogator of the Anbu. He has these hideous scars that he apparently sustained from various missions. I wonder why he doesn’t wear a mask. I wonder if Kakashi has scars like that. Ibiki sensei really enjoyed giving us the first exam. I could sense his feelings of power and control. A real sadist. I took a peek at Kenji’s mind and saw he wasn’t doing well so I gave his mind a push in the right direction, simple and effective. Takeo was doing ok. The questions were hard but I managed to work out most of them on my own. Still it was annoying not getting all of them. I wanted to wipe that smug look off Ibiki-sensei’s face so I did some quick mind scans. It’s much easier when people are so focused, unlike the usual drabble of thoughts. Found a couple of genins who had all the answers and they appeared to be all correct, at least the answers matched the ones I had, so I copied the remaining two questions I wasn’t sure of. Turned out that they were planted by Ibiki sensei to test our espionage skills. Then it turned out that none of them counted. Only the tenth question mattered. Very impressive and sneaky! I have to respect that. Morino Ibiki, would like to do some research on him. Maybe I’ll ask my dad.

…I hate fighting, unless it’s the last resort. I don’t understand the competitive nature apparent in so many shinobis. It’s smarter to be subtle and defeat your enemy indirectly. For the second exam, I convinced a couple of teams to go along with my alliance plan. With my mind powers I was able to scout out which teams to draw into our traps. Kakashi probably won’t be happy with our strategy. He’ll think his team is best at running away and avoiding fights. But why fight if you don’t have to? That just increases your chances of injury and death and I must be careful until I reach my goal.

…I drew a Cloud shinobi as my opponent in the finals. Soooo NOT happy! I don’t know anything about them. And then stupid Kakashi refused to train me for the finals! He’s training the guys. Damn all boys clubs! Kunoichi discrimination! Maybe he’s gay and likes little boys. Damn pervert! But dad’s a better teacher than Kakashi anyway. Hell, the TV is a better teacher than Kakashi!

…Dad’s been teaching me lots of jutsus including some fire ones. Kakashi never taught us any fire jutsus. Probably because he refuses to remove his mask and fire jutsus require exhalation from the mouth. I learned some water jutsus from Kakashi, but I HATE water jutsus. It usually means getting wet and I HATE feeling wet or damp, hate that clinging sensation of wet clothes. I hate feeling water on my face. I hate rainy days. And the more powerful water jutsus require a source of water, not always useful. I can do some less powerful water jutsus, which just require condensing the water vapor in the air or from my breath, but I think I prefer the earth and wind jutsus.

…I summoned my first bird today. I really like this technique. It’s like always having an ally by your side. Don’t know if I’ll have it perfected in a month, so it’s best not to rely on it for the finals. My dad also let me pick out a weapon. It’s very cute! It looks like a silver baton but it expands to a double headed spear. Very cool! I love the deceptiveness of its size. An enemy won’t realize my full reach until it’s too late. Should be very handy for the finals.

…Dad’s been talking more about being a shinobi. Apparently he was pretty high up in the Anbu, but got sick of all the death. I can see how death can wear you down. I’ll retire too, before it gets to me. Kakashi’s been a shinobi since he was five years old from what I figure (I heard he became chuunin at six). That’s a quarter century ago!He must have seen many many deaths of both enemies and comrades especially since he was around during the last war. He must be pretty insensitive or rather desensitized. I don’t want to be like that. Then again I didn’t feel much when I killed those Rain-nins. Maybe I was born insensitive or maybe I’ve already become desensitized after being around the sick and dying who come to see my father. But maybe it’s for the better. You can’t let emotions get in the way of duty, whether it’s a mission to protect Konoha or to help the sick.

…Dad’s MUCH better about answering ethical questions than Kakashi. He actually takes the time to think about them seriously. Dad’s a good person despite his gruff demeanor. Mom too, I guess, even if she’s always cranky. I want to be good, but can I always make the right decision? And right is relative isn’t it? I think the most important thing is to be able to live with your decision…

…I just need to win a couple of fights, enough to show off my skills. I’m a kunoichi so the grading should be easier for me. I will pass. I must. Passing the chuunin exams should finally get me some one-on-one time from Kakashi. I must be patient.

-…-…-End of Part 4-…-…-

Author’s Notes: Okay, this is not your typical romance. I know most people don’t like OC stories but I wanted to develop a strong but morally ambivalent female character. Much as I love Naruto, the female characters as of ep 60 when I originally started writing this series are not as well developed or interesting or strong as the male characters.

Next up: Part 5 - A Slow Seduction