No Gaara here, sorry. :/ But we're getting closer!
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Five years passed. Five years in which I learned to control all of my gifts, besides shape-shifting. I learned transformation jutsu but it wasn’t the same. I still couldn’t figure out how to take my natural form. It didn’t matter though because none of the rogues found that mysterious ability to be useful. They liked me as a human and trained me that way. I had to learn my extra abilities by myself.
“I knew we’d meet again, Nari Ninetails,” a low voice called from the trees. I glanced up and studied Orochimaru. He hadn’t changed much in the past nine years. I, on the other hand, had grown my black hair down to my bum. I was taller, obviously stronger, and my red eyes could make out every detail of the stitching in the fabric he wore. He still had the same pale skin and black hair.
“What do you want with my student, Orochimaru?” Itachi, my newest rogue trainer, said coolly. He was from the Uchiha clan from the Village Hidden in the Leaves. He was a great fighter but his mind was hard to read so I didn’t really trust him. I only stuck around because of the immense power he could teach me. Of course, I’d never have Sharingan like him but that was all right.
“Why, we’re old friends,” Orochimaru said. Old acquaintances maybe, but not friends. I peered into Orochimaru’s mind to see what he really wanted with me. He was looking for new recruits. He wanted to test me again. The thing about my ability to read minds is that no one knew I could do it. I also had limited control over the gift. I could decide whether or not to search deeper into someone’s mind and I could completely shut out someone’s thoughts as long as they weren’t thinking of me. If they were, then it was exactly as if they were talking to me. I could try to tune them out but I could still hear them. It was frustrating. Sometimes I heard thoughts I really didn’t want to hear.
It did have a lot of advantages, though. I could pick out enemies in large crowds, find people by their thoughts alone, listen in on conversations from up to five miles away, and check on those I’m supposed to be protecting. I couldn’t communicate to them but I could draw out memories to the surface of their brain if I so pleased. I had used the gift for torture only once and the man barely had time to beg for mercy before I snapped his neck.
Being able to read minds also meant that I could find prey easier. No longer would jackrabbits elude me in the desert, or robins’ nests in forest. It really was quite something, not as annoying as I once presumed. That’s why I kept it a secret. It was my greatest weapon and no one else needed to know about it.
“Nari, what business do you and Orochimaru share?” Itachi demanded.
“Nothing, really. What do you want?” I asked, redirecting my attention to Orochimaru. He gave me a sly smile.
“I’d like to see how much you’ve grown.” I already know what you want so just say it straight for Itachi. “Will you let me test you again?” I considered it for a moment. If I meet his satisfaction, he’ll want me to go with him. Then again, Itachi really is a shady guy. He murdered his own family. It’s probably for my own good to leave him.
“You want to steal my student,” Itachi realized.
“Oh, don’t be so surprised. We both have heard rumors of her immense powers but let’s be honest. She’s useless to someone whose purpose she doesn’t believe in. Isn’t that right, Nari Ninetails? How many rouges have you killed now?” Forty-six, but who’s counting?
“What makes you think I’ll believe in your purpose?” I said instead, getting the subject off the amount of blood on my hands. Itachi still desperately wanted to know the number but I wasn’t going to give in. That wasn’t anyone’s business besides my own.
“I plan to attack the Village Hidden in the Leaves.”
“You’re not the only one with a grudge against them,” Itachi pointed out. I stayed silent, pretending to be considering the proposition. In truth, I was searching for the extent of Orochimaru’s grudge. I found it with shock. He planned to start a war against the ninja there. I went to discover why but my attention was needed elsewhere. Orochimaru had thrown a kunai at me. I deflected it with the staff/stick in my hand.
“Excuse me, Nari, but you seemed unusually distracted. I wanted to make sure you were listening,” he muttered softly. He had pointed out to Itachi that his ill will against the village wasn’t anywhere close to Orochimaru’s and that there was no way I actually liked Itachi’s way of doing things. Orochimaru wanted me to back up the statement.
“I always listen,” I said, making it sound like a threat. In a way, it was. I glanced down at my staff. I had carved the wood with my nails, smoothing out the surface with rocks. I didn’t have the ability to collect ninja tools, as others did and I found weapons a necessity. It was still wood though and the kunai’s impact had splintered part of the surface. I placed the splinters back in place with some chakra before saying anything more. “But Orochimaru is right, Itachi. I don’t like the way you do things.” I would do anything for a family. I don’t know how you could have destroyed your own.
“So you will allow me to test you,” Orochimaru assumed. I agreed softly and warned Itachi with my eyes not to get in my way, though I doubted he would. It began immediately. The kunai came first, followed by shuriken. I knew he wanted to see the full extent of my abilities so I used my tails jutsu. Tails made up of tree roots deflected the weapons. I heard Orochimaru’s inner exclamation of satisfaction.
“Show me what you can do with your body,” he ordered. I let the tails fall back into the ground and posed to fight him. He struck first, trying to knock me out again. I laughed and easily dodged the blow, landing my own to a pressure point near his collar bone. It worked effectively and that half of his body fell dramatically. My opponent growled and came back fiercer. Again, I evaded all of his blows and each attempt he gave at me, I struck him.
Before long, Orochimaru realized I was a better fighter than him. He was hopeless to my attacks so he stopped the fight and asked to see a display of my chakra control. I easily walked up a tree with just my feet, even hanging upside down from a branch. I could see in his mind that I was already beyond satisfactory. Now he was desperate to have me. “Yes, you’ll do,” he said coolly, pretending not to be so easily impressed. I just smirked and waved good-bye to Itachi. Within seconds, Orochimaru and I were off to his hide out. Unlike other rogues, Orochimaru had a set home that few knew about. I only did thanks to my journey in his head.
“Where are we going,” I started anyway, just so he wouldn’t catch on. I was hopping through trees with him, easily keeping pace, but letting him take the lead. The only thing that slowed me down was my staff. Even so, I could’ve out ran him if I pleased. No, I hadn’t mastered any form of transportation jutsu, but that was all right. Why should I? I was fast enough without.
“A safe place,” he assured me. I shrugged and kept following. Abruptly, I stopped. The smell of blood was overwhelming and I was hungry. I was always hungry. Orochimaru stopped too, watching me. My animalistic instincts took over, the scent was just too strong to resist. I turned to the scent’s source and crept forward, moving from tree to tree silently. Orochimaru followed with the same amount of stealth, wondering what I intended to do. He could smell the blood too but it wasn’t as appealing to him.
I glanced down from my tree, at my soon-to-be prey, and froze. It was a mountain lion. A long gash ran down his front, left paw. I read his mind and discovered he had been attacked by another mountain lion that had two cubs not far from here. He would be such easy prey, completely unsuspecting, already worn out. My logic side disagreed. Even if I did manage to kill, I’d have to cook him and that would slow me and Orochimaru down. Besides, it wasn’t cooked meat I was craving; it was succulent, bloody, raw meat. And my animal-half wasn’t listening to reason.
I was completely beyond sense. I went on to all fours, dropping my staff, and crouched before pouncing. I heard a small gasp from my companion but ignored it. I landed on top of the wounded animal and buried my face in his throat, clamping my mouth around it. I shut my jaws and heard the bones crack. Before I had even realized what I had just done, I was feasting on the mountain lion. That’s when the lack of fingers finally hit my brain.
I paused and looked down at my hands, but they weren’t hands anymore, they were paws! Real paws! Not just some stupid transformation; the white paws of the royal line of nine-tailed fox! I jumped up into the air in my excitement, seeing that my body was now orange. I twitched my ears and then snarled. It was a horrifying growl. Perfect! I turned my head as far back as I could and saw my tails. All nine of them stood fully perked up. I tried to move them and they all moved individually, like fingers! They weren’t just a whirling mess. They were useful. I could deflect attacks with them.
This must be the first time she’s changed, another person’s thoughts rang in my mind. I looked up at Orochimaru. I had forgotten all about him. I simply purred, displaying my glee. I didn’t even know nine-tailed foxes purred! I knew so little about this form; I didn’t want to change back. “Finish your meal,” Orochimaru called. I bobbed my head and devoured the meat. It took me maybe a half hour to fill my stomach. Then I cleaned my muzzle in the grass and, despite my reluctance, tried to focus on changing back. It took me a few minutes, but I got it and stood unsteadily.
“That was amazing,” I commented, jumping back into the trees after picking up my one and only weapon.
“First time?” he assumed.
“No, but the first time it actually lasted longer than a few seconds.”
“Hm…” Then he took off, expecting me to follow. I did. It took less than a second to crush the neck of that mountain lion in her jaws. I didn’t think that taking her true form would be useful. Perhaps I was wrong. But she’s still young and she’s already the size of that mountain lion? It will be hard to conceal her when she’s like that. And the tails. You could spot those from a mile away. I wanted to reassure him about my size. Nine-tailed foxes had the ability to control their size with chakra. It was an instinct. We grew to the size needed to have a decent advantage over our prey. We did have a limit to our size, but, without that gift, a full grown nine-tailed fox would be about the size of a fox. The tails though. I was sure I could scrunch them together to look like one extremely bushy tail, but would it fool anyone?
When we stopped to rest for the night, I sat silently as Orochimaru ate his dinner. I was still full from my hunt. He was still thinking about my transformation. “You said that was your first time in that form for more than a few seconds. Were you not born like that?”
“Oh, well, I never really considered that first year. I don’t remember much of it. I hadn’t even learned to communicate sufficiently with the others of my race when I changed. My mother gave me a few lessons on the race before I changed. That’s pretty much all I remember. I clung to those memories because my race abandoned me. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever have the chance to learn them again.”
“What sort of lessons?”
“Well, I can’t tell you most of them, race secrets and such, but I guess I can give you some petty examples. My paws, for example, are white. That means I’m of royal bloodline to the nine-tailed foxes. I think my mother was the supreme alpha but I can’t remember. And she taught me that my tails can protect me from most any attack. She taught me culture and a little about myself.”
“Your father?”
“I think he’s dead. Can’t be sure. He might have left the original company as a rogue. It doesn’t matter. Mating for nine-tailed foxes isn’t like humans. Some fathers stick around but usually they mate and get lost.”
“And what is mating like for nine-tailed foxes?”
“I don’t know.”
“Nine-tailed ninja? Can you fall in love with a human? Are there stipulations?” There was a hint of mockery in his second question but I knew from his thoughts that he was genuinely curious.
“I’ve never thought about it before,” I lied. “I don’t know.” In truth, the scroll had told me that I, technically, could fall in love and mate with a normal human if I so pleased but it was considered disgraceful. For me, doing that might end up eradicating nine-tailed ninja forever. I wasn’t sure if that would be a bad thing. That would prevent a future child like me to be raised the way I was. Demon children should stick with villages. I didn’t like the idea of their creation, like with Gaara, but if demon children had to exist, that was the way to go. They may be mentally tortured, but at least they had some upbringing. Even Gaara, I was sure, would eventually be accepted back into his village as a ninja. That was, if he was still alive, or had even existed in the first place. My mind still liked to speculate the details of that strange night.
“How unfortunate.” Not really. What does it matter to you? I searched his mind for that answer. It caught me off guard. He was actually hoping I’d fall in love with some ninja so that there would be a second generation of powerful, demon children, even if their blood was diluted. “And you are the only nine-tailed ninja in existence, correct?”
“Yes. It’s been nearly ninety years since the last one.”
“I see.” He really did. Not only did he see how unfortunate of a person I was, with no one who actually understood what I am, either as being the same or simply knowing why I was that way. He also noted that that meant I could very well be the last, at least in his lifetime. He was a strange mind to behold. He liked to take advantage of people but he knew he wouldn’t get away with that with me. He was going to try and treat me as an equal, that way I might consider him a friend and willingly work for him. What he didn’t realize was that I was just going to use him. I wanted to learn and hone my skills. I wasn’t going to do anything for this guy. The Village Hidden in the Leaves may have turned me out and abandoned me but I didn’t want a war. It was the fault of one jonin, not the entire village. What was this guy’s deal?
“You can sleep,” he said so low that I almost didn’t hear him. I was hesitant to sleep. What if he disappeared or attacked me? His mind showed that he really did want me on his side, craved me even, but I knew that things could change in the middle of the night. Still, I did need to rest and it wasn’t long until I succumbed to the fiery mess that made up my dreams.
I woke up in the middle of the night to find Orochimaru keeping watch. He was plotting silently. I saw his want, his need to find a new body. A new body?What the hell? I dug deeper into the recesses of his mind and discovered a horrid truth. He stole the bodies of strong individuals and used them as his own. This guy is almost as sick as Itatchi. Who am I getting myself in with? I wondered silently. I didn’t say anything though and soon fell back to sleep without him being any the wiser.
We made it to his village the next day. There were plenty of other ninja there, training. They were attacking things with sound! Wow. I’ve never heard of sound jutsu. Will Orochimaru teach that to me? I studied my new comrades as they attacked. Orochimaru let me be for the time being, curious to what I would do. We stood for hours, observing. Me observing his genin, him observing me.
“No, no, no, no, no,” I finally intervened during a rather lengthy match. The younger one, Jukiro, should easily out match the older boy, but he was losing miserably. They both stopped and glared at me, upset that I had the nerve to put in my input. They thought I didn’t know a thing about fighting. I was a girl, after all. Still, I knew my own fighting skills were superior to theirs. Orochimaru was surprised that I had butt-in.
“Why don’t you go practice throwing kunai or something? We don’t need your help,” Jukiro growled.
“No, Hasna,” the other boy, “doesn’t. But you do. Think about it, Jukiro. You can control high frequency pitches, pitches that most humans could never dream of hearing. When using your technique right, you’ve been able to blow up water balloons, correct?” I had been watching Jukiro ever since our arrival since I did have the ability to hear his weapon.
“Yeah…,” he muttered. “But I don’t want to kill Hasna.”
“Of course not. Of course not. That’s not what I was implying. What I’m trying to get out is that you can send extremely powerful vibrations out of your hands, at your opponents. If you utilized your gift probably, you’ll be able to completely incapacitate your opponent without them realizing why. They wouldn’t grab at their ears. They’d simply pass out.”
“Sound can do that?”
“Sound can do anything,” I assured him. “Give it a shot. But don’t go too high. That can kill him.” Jukiro nodded and refocused on Hasna.
“Wait a second,” Hasna cut in. “Why should we believe a word you say? You’re not even a sound ninja.” He pointed at my headband.
“Because I have the ability to actually hear the pitches he throws at you. I know how those affect humans. I’ve seen it in action.”
“You talk as though you aren’t human.”
“That’s because I’m not.” Both of the genin backed up hesitantly. “But don’t worry about what I am. All you need to know is that I’m here to help and to learn. Just trust me and listen. Now, Jukiro. Try it.” Jukiro nodded and looked at Hasna. The other boy braced himself and waited for the attack. Jukiro put his hands together and built up enough chakra before releasing the jutsu. Hasna fell instantly, unconscious. I rubbed my ears, which had started to bleed uncomfortably.
“That was…amazing!” Jukiro exclaimed. I nodded and I knew Orochimaru was smiling. I had hit all of his expectations and gone beyond. I was the child of his dreams. I knew what I was doing, I was powerful, and I could kick his ass. He needed me.
“Come now, Nari,” Orochimaru commanded. “And, Jukiro,” the young disciple looked at him expectantly, “don’t use that unless it’s absolutely necessary. You’re just as likely to incapacitate your teammates as your enemies.”
“Of course, Lord Orochimaru.” Jukiro wandered off, staring at the gadgets on his wrist with a new found appreciation. I smiled, pleased with myself. Who knew I would be such a good teacher?
Orochimaru took me inside a small, empty building and stopped. He turned around and studied me, pushing back my black hair and wiping away the blood dripping from my ears. “Now you know the extent of the gifts I have convened here. Would you like to join their ranks?” I pondered the question for a moment.
“No,” I answered truthfully. Orochimaru was taken aback. He had assumed I’d be eager to join his genin. “I can’t take the sounds all day long. Today alone was enough for me. My ears are far too sensitive for such things. No, I’m afraid I’ll have to decline that offer. But I’d still like to train under you.”
“I see,” he said but he really didn’t. He had no clue how hard it was for me to have so much noise bouncing around. I was actually surprised that my ears hadn’t started bleeding earlier. They had been hurting since we got in range of the training grounds. “Alright then, Nari. I will train you.” We started that very same day, working well into the night.