I do not own Naruto
Yuki's POV
"Yuki-chann!" I sighed as Ichiru grinned, skipping over to me. "I missed you so much!"
I raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean? You act like I was gone for months." I tried to peal him off of me, as he had flung himself on me.
Zero sighed, "Ichiru, just let go of her."
Ichiru pouted, "No, I bet Naruto-baka gets to hug her."
Zero rolled her eyes, "Of course he does."
My face started to burn as I looked in the other direction. "Shut up, both of you." I stopped, blinking when I noticed Zero run into a wall again, on her left side. "Why do you keep doing that?"
She looked at me, making me fully look at her. "Doing what?"
Now, really looking at her, I noticed how dull and lifeless her black eye was. "Zero... C-Can I look at your eye."
Ichiru stiffened beside me, while Zero raised an eyebrow. "Creepy, but if you want, sure."
I walked over to her, Ichiru finally letting go of me as he looked down at the ground, guilt seeping off of him. My hand glowed green as I raised it to Zero's black eye. My eyes widened before snapping to look at her red eye, her real eye.
"Z-Zero, your eye." I said, "It's not real."
She rolled her eyes, "I know that already."
"What happened?" I asked.
She glanced at Ichiru, who gave a stiff nod. "It's a really long story, let's sit down. But first, Yuki, you have to promise not to tell another person about this, this is Ichiru and my story to tell."
I nodded, "Yeah, don't worry, I won't tell anyone." With one more glance at Ichiru, Zero started her story.
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3rd Person..... 11 Years ago...
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A small girl with bright red eyes and short white hair stood at the front porch. Her eyes were fixed a a man who was slowly walking towards the home. A pout was fixed on her face as he grew closer, her red eyes trying to give a murderous glare, which only turned out to be adorable.
"You're late, Daddy!" She shouted, pointing at the blonde man.
A chuckle escaped the man. His blonde hair was falling in his face as his blue eyes met her red ones. "I'm sorry, Zero-chan. The mission went a little longer than expected."
"Ren, is that you?" Both, the child and man, looked up to see a woman with long white hair and blood red eyes. She was an exact older version of the small girl.
The man, Ren, smiled. "Hey Kiki."
The child pretended to gag when the two adults shared a quick kiss as greeting. The woman giggled, rolling her eyes. "Just you wait, Zero-chan, one day you'll be doing the same with your husband."
The seven-year-old stuck out her tongue. "Eww! Boy's are gross! I would never do that!"
Ren laughed, swinging the little girl into his arms. "Good! I don't want any boys around my little princess!"
"Dad! I'm not a princess! I've told you, I'm going to be a great ninja!" The child complained, once again pouting with her arms crossed.
A small chuckle left Ren as he placed Zero back on the ground. "My apologies, my little ninja."
Kiki tied her long white hair back. "Well, now that you're back Ren, I need to head out. The Tsuchikage has held off this mission for a while already. Apparently some village feels threatened by somebody, I'm supposed to investigate."
"Awe! Mom, can't you go later?" Zero whined.
"Sorry sweetie, but as I just said I can't hold it back anymore." Kiki, after grabbing her sword by the front door. "Bye Ren, bye Zero." She paused to give another kiss to Ren, then went down to Zero's height and gave a kiss on her forehead. "I promise when I get back all three of us will go do something."
To this Zero smiled, "Okay!"
"Bye Kiki, be careful." Ren smiled as Kiki started walking off.
"Bye Mom!" Zero shouted.
Once Kiki was out the door, Ren looked at the little girl, which he now held. "What do you want for diner?"
"Sushi!" She grinned.
Smiling, Ren placed Zero back on the ground while taking off the two headbands he wore on his arm. One was the familiar Iwagakure headband that Zero saw all the time, the other was a old and tattered headband that left Zero confused.
"Dad, what's that headband?" She asked, shaking her bangs out of her eyes to look at her father.
Ren looked down at his daughter, a bright smile lighting up his face before it was shadowed by a deed sadness. "That's the Kessho village's headband. I was a ninja there first."
"Kessho... The Crystal village? Why would they call it that?" Zero asked.
"Because, nearly everyone there has crystal chakra. And the village is decorated with different colors of crystal." He smiled fondly.
"But, why do you still have the headband? Are you still loyal to that village?" The child asked.
"I guess to a point I still am loyal to that village, but that's not why I still wear it. I'm keeping this headband until I find my sister." Ren said, determination in his voice.
The girl jumped over to Ren, her eyes sparkling. "You have a sister?"
The blonde man nodded, "Yes, she was my younger sister. During that time our village was in war, so our parents were never home. I acted more like a parent than a sibling, because at that time that was what she needed. But during a attack we were separated. I'm going to the Kessho village soon to try to get more information."
"Can I go too? Please! I wanna help find my aunt!" Zero grinned, her father smiling at her.
Ruffling her hair he smiled. "Sure, but for now I have to make some dinner. How about you go play with your friend?"
The child sighed dramatically. "I'm not sure about him."
Ren raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"Lately he's been obsessed with blowing up things. Something about his art or whatever. I'm still trying to figure out how he is even able to get a hold of that stuff." Zero muttered. Ren started at his daughter, not sure how to think of what she had just said.
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Rain pelted down, scattering villagers into their homes. People's footsteps splashed against the soaked ground, all ignoring the small body huddled on the ground.
Soon all that lingered in the streets was a small child, a few people occasionally walked past him. The black-haired child sat against a building, his arms around his legs that were pulled to his chest. The rain helped wash away some of the dirt, but it did nothing for the scraps. His piercing blue eyes stared blankly at the ground.
The few people that did linger only looked at the boy with fear and hatred. The few muttering "Cursed boy.." and "Best to stay away from him.." The child, hearing this, tightened his grip on his legs, burring his head in his knees.
"I'm not a curse.." He muttered to himself, trying to convince himself against what he has been told. His stomach howled, only making the boy wince from the hunger pains.
"Please, Ma'am! Don't go near that curse! Even we don't wish that upon you!" A man's voice pleaded to the approaching footsteps.
The boy looked up when the splashing footsteps came to a stop. A woman kneeled down to him, long white hair falling down her back. He looked at her kind smile and piercing red eyes, then he saw the headband.
'She's a ninja.. Did these people really hate me enough to call a ninja to dispose of me? No, she's smiling... why?' The boy thought.
"Hey there sweetie, where are your parents?" She asked.
He looked down, "They didn't want me.."
The woman didn't reply for a moment, then slowly she placed a hand on his head, ruffling his wet black hair. "Are you hungry?"
Before the child could say anything, his stomach growled. The woman chuckled, but stopped when she saw the slight expression of pain on the boy's face. "Come on, I'll treat you to some food."
"They won't serve you if you're seen with me." The boy said, his voice quiet.
"Is that so?" The woman asked, standing back up.
The boy looked down, sure she was going to leave. His eyes widened when he saw the female's hand, open, to him. Slowly he looked up at the beautiful white-haired woman, his polar opposite.
"I guess we'll just have to eat somewhere else then." She giggled.
"B-But, hasn't anyone here told you about me?" He whispered, pain clear in his voice.
"They have, I don't believe them though. Besides, how could someone so cute be a curse? You're more like a blessing." She grinned, winking at the boy in a playful manner.
'Blessing?' The boy thought, 'I've never been thought of like that...'
"Well?" The woman waved her hand impatiently. When the boy looked at her confused, she took his small, bony hand into her's. "Come on, I want to treat you to some food, then I want you to meet some special people I know."
The woman pulled the boy up. Holding his hand, she walked by him down the streets of the village. Even though the rain chilled the boy, a new warmth was spreading through him. He blamed the fuzzy warmness for his hunger, and didn't give it a second thought.
"So, what's your name?" The woman asked.
"I don't have one." The boy replied quietly.
She paused to look down at the boy who was having a hard time keeping up. Swiftly, she swung him into her arms. "Well, that just won't do. My name is Kiki Suishou. For now on you'll be called Ichiru."
His eyes widened, "Y-You're giving me a n-name?"
Kiki smiled, continuing her walk through the village. "I believe I just did. Do you know what Ichiru means?" When the boy shook his head her smile widened. "It means ray of hope, that's what you are, Ichiru."
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-A Couple of Days Later-
Kiki stood next to a hiding Ichiru, both standing at the front door of her home. A blonde man stood at the door, looking at the black-haired boy in confusion.
"Kiki, who's this?" Ren asked, looking from the child to his wife.
"Ren, meet Ichiru." Kiki smiled brightly, placing her hand on the boy's shoulders.
Ren sighed, his hand going to his face. He rubbed his temples. "You go out for a mission, and come back with a child."
"Yes," Kiki nodded firmly. "And he's going to stay for a while."
"Kiki, we need to talk." Ren sighed again, pausing to give the small boy a smile. "Hey there Ichiru, I'm Ren. I would say you could go and play with Zero, but she's out playing with one of her friends-"
"Stop it Deidara!" A whine could be heard.
"It's my new art, un! Come on, Zero!" A laugh followed as two sets of footsteps came running.
"I hate spiders!" The female shrieked.
"Awe come on, un! I won't make it blow up, yeah!"
"I don't believe you! And stop doing that, baka!"
Ren sighed, "Looks like Zero is back..." Shaking his head he spotted two children running towards the house. One of them was a blonde with hair pulled in a short ponytail, a big grin on his face as he chased after another child. The other child was a upset looking child with white hair, and a very angry expression on her face. In the boy's hand was a clay spider, which he waved at the girl.
"Zero! Your Mom's back!" Ren called, making the two children stop.
Deidara pouted as Zero said her goodbye's before running off after to her home. Once Zero wasn't looking anymore, mouths came out of Deidara's hands, eating up the clay spider.
"Mom!" Zero giggled, running at her mother. She came to a sudden stop when came face to face with a boy with black hair and blue eyes, the polar opposite of her.
"I want you to meet someone, Zero." Kiki softly said, nudging the black-haired boy towards the girl.
"Who's that?" Zero asked.
"This is Ichiru, he'll be staying for a while. Ichiru, this is my daughter I told you about, Zero." Kiki smiled gently to the boy. "Zero, you're in charge of protecting him when I'm not around, okay?"
Zero blinked before sticking out her chest. "Don't worry! Come on, Ichiru!"
"How about you two play inside for right now." Kiki said, making Zero pull Ichiru inside the house.
Ren waited until the front door closed before looking at Kiki. "Well, do you care to explain how you ended up bringing a child home?"
Kiki sighed. "Don't be mad. It's just... I saw him alone on the side of the street, you see how skinny he is, and he's so small! I asked a owner of a inn about him." She paused, her face growing sad. "The whole village considered him a curse. They said some prist came one day and told them some kind of prophecy."
"What did it have to do with Ichiru?" Ren asked.
"They said a boy with blue eyes and black hair will be the cause of pain, and death. They wouldn't tell me the whole thing. Ren, when I talked to him he didn't even have a name." Kiki said.
Ren groaned, "Damn it."
"What?" Kiki huffed.
"We obviously can't leave him. It would be like.." Ren paused, ruffling his blonde hair. "We'll keep him."
Kiki blinked, "What? I was going to bring him to an orphanage if you wanted."
"No. I don't want that to happen to him. It's bad enough that my little sister probably had to live in one. I won't be the cause of another child going there." Ren said, turning to walk in. "Besides, Zero always said she wanted a brother."
Kiki stared at Ren before grinning and lunging at him. "Thank you!"
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"So, what do you want to play?" Zero asked, looking at the boy.
He remained silent, his arms around his legs that were pulled to his chest.
Zero looked at him, waving her hand. "Hello? Is anyone there?"
He met her red eyes for a second before looking down at the ground. Zero huffed, "So what, you can't talk."
"I can.." He said softly, making the girl blink.
"Good. Hey, let's play ninja!" Zero grinned, "I'll be the ANBU captain, and you can be the person I'm in charge of!"
The two adults watching from afar smirked in amusement, but looked in concern for the boy who stayed seated on the ground.
"I'll go make dinner, you can go talk to the kids." Kiki said, walking away.
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End of Chapter 57! I hope you guys liked it! I am aware that is was short, but I will try to make the next chapter longer. So, what do you think so far of Ichiru and Zero's past? I'm thinking there are going to be two or so more chapters before I break the news of Jiraiya, and I am sorry but he does have to pass. It was one of the worst moments, for me, in the anime/manga when Jiraiya passed.
This is not edited.