His Gift to Her (Mary Sue Series)

Chapter 38

"So?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"Kurisani Qui--then her name is actually Kurisani Uchiha Qui!" Sakura exclaimed.

Kakashi Sensei nodded. "There you go. Biologically speaking, Qui and Sasuke are distant cousins with plenty of relatives in between."

"But why is that important, Kakashi Sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Noriaki-san was afraid of the influence of the Uchiha Clan during her childhood. Her paranoia saved her, truthfully. Noriaki-san didn't want to live the rest of her life in fear and dictation, so she married outside the clan in hopes she would be free. Later, Noriaki-san was the only mother who survived the Uchiha Massacre because she didn't have any visible or noted correlation with the Uchiha Clan."

"Therefore, she married into the Kurisani family. Still, what about her identity? And what has this all got to do with Qui being a powerful vessel?" Sakura asked, confusion marring her features.

Kakashi Sensei tilted his head thoughtfully, considering Sakura's words. "I think there has been a misunderstanding here. Qui is not a powerful vessel or ninja Not yet. She has yet to properly be trained."

"Is it because she has the Sharingan?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Yeah. Qui had awakened a special Sharingan as a child. After some examination that her eyes would let her control a space-time dimension. However, she had no knowledge of wielding it as a baby, and we couldn't very well let it run forever. Qui also showed signs of organ failure and a distorted Chakra system. I heard from Noriaki-san that the cells didn't spread around her body evenly and bunched up in certain sections. A lot of complications and complex details were involved, and Qui had to go through intense surgery in order to live. So Qui's eyes were blocked to prevent her from dying. The best way for her to awaken her eyes is through intense training and focus. If she can't control that power, it will kill her if she tries to use it. Afraid of losing her daughter, Noriaki-san had Qui heavily guarded. She was extremely protective of Qui's training and even had the school heavily monitor Qui. Eventually, she loosened up a bit once she saw the success Qui was becoming without the Sharingan."

"Does Sasuke know?" Naruto found himself asking. "He's always been really protective of Qui." 

"Yup. The Kurisani family must have told him the truth because even if Noriaki-san didn't want to get too close, she didn't want to leave the boy alone. Couple days after the Uchiha Massacre, she told Sasuke. I think she even offered shelter and adoption, but Sasuke refused adamantly, determined to be independent." 

"Does Lady Tsunade want her to reawaken her Sharingan?" Sakura asked curiously. Her teacher nodded.

"The Elders do, actually. Two years ago, Qui was sent to a training camp in order to build her up physically. See, after learning that they had three Uchiha survivors in the village, the elders wanted to create village weapons out of Sasuke and Qui. Noriaki-san couldn't be a weapon, as she didn't awaken her Sharingan. But there were a couple problems."

"Sasuke had a different goal, and Qui didn't want to fight," Sakura guessed correctly. 

"There you go. Sasuke didn't care about becoming a ninja of the Leaf. He wanted to kill Itachi. Qui had no intention of becoming a fighter and remained content with her way of life, refusing to be caught up in her cousin's whirlwind of revenge." 

"Then why did they choose Qui and not Sasuke? He would be even stronger than ever, right?" Sakura pressed. 

"Although Sasuke had more discipline and a perhaps a better chance of becoming a major weapon, Qui was chosen because her mental state was much more stable than Sasuke's, and her Sharingan could become a greater asset to the village. At the same time, the motivation to inspire her was far more difficult. When I told her she would be training at a certain camp, she instantly caught on and knew what was going to happen to her. Not even her parents knew the true reason why we insisted on her participation in the camp," Kakashi Sensei answered. 

"I don't really get it, but why is this a secret?" Naruto asked. 

"First, kids are one of the easiest students to train. Ignoring bad attitude and the stubbornness, if they have bad habits, you can break them faster and teach them new things quickly. Second, if Qui's identity as a potentially powerful weapon was known, she would have been kidnapped long time ago. If someone attempted to awaken her Sharingan, they would have killed her. Those eyes are too powerful for Qui and she would slowly self-destruct. The main reason why Qui wasn't a target during the majority of her childhood was that Sasuke survived. By the way, when the Uchiha Massacre was over, who did everyone pay attention to?"

Sakura and Naruto nodded slowly, understanding the basic picture. "Sasuke." 

"Correct. No one knew about Qui because Noriaki-san broke from the clan from an early stage, and her friends helped cover her tracks. When Qui was born and showed a possibility of becoming a powerful weapon, the Elders made sure Noriaki-san's profile was completely erased and falsified to extended further protection to her daughter Qui and take control of Qui's life as soon as possible. Thus, when Sasuke stood as a survivor of the massacre, all eyes were targeting Sasuke, thus making him Qui's scapegoat. Everyone believed Sasuke was the final survivor of the powerful clan and looked to test him. Think about all those times someone challenged Sasuke."

Sakura and Naruto thought deeply, looking back at their past as Team Seven with original team members. It was true, Sasuke may not have been the most talkative person, but his name by itself stood out among the rest. Qui, Naruto, and Sakura didn't make such a demanding presence. All eyes watched Sasuke and witnessed his incredible skill and strength and ignored the capabilities and power of the rest of Team Seven.

For Qui, as a village secret weapon in progress, standing next to a tragedy-survivor celebrity, no one noticed her or saw her value. It was the perfect disguise. 

"To the Elders, Sasuke's sole existence is to protect Qui from being kidnapped and to conceal her true identity. Even now, I believe the Elders aren't overly concerned with Sasuke's betrayal and rather are worrying about their missing weapon," Kakashi Sensei continued.

"I won't let go of either of my teammates," Naruto declared, looking determinedly back at his teacher. "I'll bring Sasuke back and find Qui too!" 

"Great enthusiasm, but you still need permission to either of those tasks," Kakashi Sensei responded dismissively. "Right now, we've got multiple teams looking for her. If I remember correctly, Noriaki-san mentioned a family friend who was also on the lookout." 

"Uncle Igo. Qui mentioned him a lot. She looks up to him," Sakura remembered. "Who is he?" 

Kakashi Sensei's masked face twisted into a look of concern. "Truth is...we don't know. We've tried looking him up with Noriaki-san's descriptions and attempted to contact him to see if he knows or had seen anything. Nothing came up. He only wrote short notes to Noriaki-san and her husband."

"But he's looking for her, right? Plus, he's a family friend and Qui knows him really well!" Naruto pointed out. "So he's on our side, and we're going to find Qui!"