Child of the Moon

Find your Place

The next morning, Tsukiko was preparing a breakfast for both of them as the small blond boy stumbled into the room with an enormous yawn.

"Where did you go last night, sis?" Naruto yawned as he began to dig into his food.

"There was something I forgot, so I went out to get it," she answered, setting her own food down to begin eating. "But I got sidetracked, and now I can't remember what it was at all."

"Geez, you get distracted very easily, you know that sis?" Naruto sighed as he finished his food.

"Don't forget to wash up before we leave, ok?"

Naruto glanced at his breakfast mess and grinned as he started cleaning. "OK!"

The two were ready to leave in no time, and with a wide smile, Tsukiko took Naruto's hand as they left for the Academy.

After parting ways with Naruto, Tsukiko found it odd how the people reacted to her request to join the Academy. So once again, she found herself in front of the Hokage.

"Have you any experience as a Ninja?"

"No?"

"You don't sound so sure," the Hokage said, watching her with kind eyes.

"Because... Well, sometimes I can do things without knowing why," she said.

"Like?"

"Well... sometimes I know things about the stuff Naruto has to do. The theories behind techniques, that sort of thing," she explained. "But I don't remember ever being taught these techniques."

The Hokage was quiet for several seconds before he waved a hand. 'Itachi mentioned that one of her eyes had been red. Perhaps Inoichi might be able to determine the truth of things.'

Tsukiko bit her lip and lowered her head. 'He doesn't believe me. He thinks I'm hiding the truth about myself.'

After a few moments, a man with long blonde hair entered the room, followed by two young boys with black hair. She vaguely recognized one of them and stared at him trying to place him.

"Tsukiko, Inoichi will perform a technique that will allow him to look into your mind," the Hokage explained, as she tore her eyes off the boy with long hair to look at the Hokage. "It should allow us to discover where your information comes from."

"Incase I'm dangerous," she spoke the unspoken concern, before nodding. "I understand. What do you need me to do?"

"Itachi and Shisui will use their sharingans to counter anything dangerous," the Hokage said. "Inoichi simply needs you to remain still."

She nodded her head, then stood, looking up at the man. His face was stern, though there was kindness in his eyes. He placed a hand against her head, and Tsukiko felt him immediately inside her head. Her initial response was panic.

The moment Inoichi placed his hand on her head, one eye flashed red, and Inoichi stood with a surprised expression as he stared at his hand, then the girl. She was breathing heavily, both boys now standing with kunai drawn and held to her neck. The red in her eye had left, and she stood breathing heavily.

"S-sorry," she stammered lowering her head. "I... I was surprised. I'll try not to do that again."

Inoichi watched her with a serious look in his eye, before sighing.

"Not many ninja could do what you did, let alone someone untrained," he said, before reaching out to touch her head again. "Before you pushed me out, I realized something."

"What was it?"

"You know everything being said in this room, and those that are unspoken," he said. 'Am I right?'

Tsukiko's eyes widened, and she stared at him with large green eyes, before nodding slowly. 'Is it bad?'

"It could be," Inoichi said, mostly for the benefit of those in the room. The two boys relaxed and lowered their weapons, though they were also aware that part of the conversation was missing.

"Inoichi?" the Hokage questioned.

"There was once a clan, one that I'm sure you were familiar with, Lord Hokage," Inoichi said. "They usually had a high resistance to mental jutsu and an affinity for mental jutsu, but there was the rare occasion that someone was born with the ability to use them unconsciously, and had the ability to read the minds of those around them at will."

"Ryuka," the old man said, his voice heavy. "Then...?"

Inoichi placed his hand on her head again, only this time, he was not forced out.

Instead, he was drawn in.

Inoichi was confused, at first, when he opened his eyes to see himself in the Hokage's office, but the person behind the desk was not the Third Hokage, but a woman with short blonde hair, and blood red eyes.

"Inoichi Yamanaka," she said, eying him with those eyes mixed with madness and the deepest sorrow. "I've heard tell of the Yamanaka clan's mental jutsus. You do realize you would not be here if I had not allowed it."

"Who-"

"My name is unimportant," she cut him off, as a deep frown formed on her brow. "Suffice to say, I protect the mind and heart of this girl. My presence was never meant to be, but I will not allow it to harm this child."

"Not meant to be?"

"During what your Village refers to as the "Nine-Tails Incident" there was a theft," she said. "From the Uchihas. Speak to them of "the heartless demon" that they sealed away, while the Third was still young."

She seemed to dismiss him, and he blinked back to reality. One moment, the eyes he was staring into were red and unsettling, the next... he was staring into large, curious green eyes.

'You saw her,' the girl seemed awed by that. 'Did she tell you who she was?'

'She gave me clues.'

Inoichi looked at the two Uchiha boys. "Have you been initiated into the most sensitive of secrets of your Clan?"

The boys tensed, unsure and wary.

"Inoichi?" the Third's normally stoic expression was concerned.

"There is... someone else guarding this child's mind," he admitted. "When pressed for her identity, she brushed it off with mention of a "heartless demon" sealed by the Uchiha clan in your youth."

The Third's face became hard.

"She also claimed that something was stolen from the Clan during the... incident five years ago."

"Understood," the Third said with a heavy sigh. "Itachi, bring your father to me. Shisui, please keep Tsukiko company. There are a great many things that need to be sorted out."

"Yes, Lord Hokage," the boys said in unison before Itachi - the one she had recognized as the boy she had met the previous night -  vanished. Shisui, the older of the two, turned to Tsukiko with a huge grin.

"I'm Shisui Uchiha, nice to meet you!" he said cheerfully.

Tsukiko smiled brightly back. "Tsukiko, nice to meet you. I mean, I'm Tsukiko, you're Shisui."

He laughed as they stepped out the office.

"I'm not very good at talking to people," Tsukiko sighed, as he ruffled her hair in a good natured manner.

"It's cute," he grinned, to which she huffed.