Chapter 1
They say when one thing comes to an end there also comes a new beginning…It is a matter of which on how someone looks at it; a beginning or an end. At the beginning there was Kaiya Uchiha. She followed in the footsteps of her elder brother Itachi of being a prodigy. A graduate from the academy at age eight, her Sharingan came a year when Kaiya experienced the death of her first comrade. Two years past and she became a Chunin soon to be ANBU. Somehow something such as her remained what no one could believe. Kaiya, the sweet butterfly as innocent as a newborn child. Her childish curiosity never ceased, something so gentle constantly held at the edge of a cliff; so gentle, so fragile.
A trait unable to be broken even when that faithful day came to be when Kaiya and Itachi stood side by side in the core of the Root. Duel pair of coal eyes darkening over icily, in sync the pair replaced their masks upon Itachi’s deal being agreed upon. It was standing upon the Uchiha police quarters she spoke looking away from her brother “Nii-san, Shisui may have been right, hope is lost for the Uchiha…” Itachi couldn’t reply to the sadness etched in her voice. Nothing more to be said, they dispersed, Kaiya; towards their very home. Their parents didn’t beg nor plead; they knew the fate being brought to them. Her Anbu mask abandoned, a tear pierced Kaiya, streaming solely down her cheek before blood was dotted there as well.
Itachi returned at the moment Sasuke threw open the door. Itachi did as he wished before Kaiya decided sadly as her younger brother stared at her; Danzo’s order will be held. Her Sharingan eyes flashed the third and final tomoe appearing she set the genjutsu. When the Tsukuyomi followed Kaiya disappeared quickly because to Sasuke, she didn’t exist.
From there the Uchiha were slaughtered, gone, with only Sasuke Uchiha remaining. Then to not only him, but to herself; Kaiya died. The existence of Kaiya Uchiha came to an end and from there was born Shi no Gensō, the Illusion of Death.
Kaiya trailed behind Itachi silently her mind swirling, every few minutes she would idly wipe at her face for the remaining tears that snuck past her guard. They were completely passed the village now and Kaiya new with the pain in her heart; her home was lost to her now until the day she died. Itachi soon paused them in their travelling as they came upon the outskirts of a small village. She met his gaze with identical eyes, Itachi bent down slightly he wiped the only trace of blood left off her cheek. “You can’t show these people weakness Kaiya, don’t forget that.”
Kaiya nodded, “I know Nii-san,” her lips formed a small smile “They won’t harm the Leaf so long as we’re there.” Itachi smiled softly back at her, but then frowned, “give me your head band.” Kaiya did as she asked; untying it from around her neck and passing to him, her brother then pulled out a kunai and sliced the blade directly through the middle of the Konoha symbol. The screech of metal cracking sent a ping through her heart, Kaiya’s smile fell away.
She replaced the headband and nodded, emptying her face of all emotion with ease through the training of Danzo. Her eyes flashed and the Sharingan activated now at the full third level. They began steadily walking up the cobble stone steps towards the small house up the hill, the red pillars in front of them on either side of the open doorway.
She heard a deep voice speak from within a moment before they entered, “New members have arrived.”
Itachi looked up facing them with his red eyes while Kaiya kept her face shielded away, although she briefly looked up to survey them all. It was due to that she caught a pale man’s face, the man’s eyes widened in pleasure and he hissed out “Itachi Uchiha.” No one else seemed to notice the lust clouding the man’s eyes.
Pein, as Kaiya had been told by Itachi, or Leader-Sama, then introduced them, “Itachi Uchiha will be joining us, while Kaiya Uchiha will join, although not a complete member,” he then motioned towards each person standing by him, first towards a man with a large sword wrapped in bandages attached to his back “Kisame Hoshigaki,” the man with the lust, “Orochimaru and Akasuna no Sasori.” The last man appeared to be a large humpback with the black and red cloak shielding out more details other than his gruff face.
With nothing more or less they were lead back to a hideout hidden deep up in the mountains, Kaiya watched Leader-Sama perform hand signs rapidly, catching and memorising them she then focused on the opening now in front of them. The other members dispersed in a flash and Pein brought the pair to a room that held a few desks and scrolls organized neatly. He pulled off two of the cloaks, black with red clouds and handed them over; Kaiya accepted hers gingerly and nodded at him. Pein then handed a ring over to Itachi, informing him the finger to keep it on briefly. “Itachi I will need to align you with the Gedo statue, this is the reason you aren’t a full member Kaiya; we have other members set for it.”
He called out a name and in a flash scraps of paper were circling in the room before they formed into a woman donned in a cloak as well, Konan. The moment Konan’s eyes caught sight of Kaiya they widened slightly towards the young girl and the way she held herself closely towards her elder brother. “Come on honey, I’ll show you where your room will be here,” Kaiya watched her stand over by the door opening it a bit and for the first time Kaiya hesitated. Her coal eyes flashed over to Itachi before turning to the woman slowly and following her out.
The woman brought her to a room through the winding twists of hallways before opening a door and ushering Kaiya inside. “This is my room, yours is next door,” “Why am I in here?” Kaiya asked politely. “I figured you wouldn’t want to stay in those clothes,” Konan said motioning down at Kaiya’s Anbu uniform.
Catching sight of herself in a mirror Kaiya sighed quietly her mind flashing back to the loving smile her mother had given her the moment before Kaiya pierced her heart. Shaking her head and pushing away those memories she nodded appreciatively to Konan her lips turning up in a smile and eyes softening as they returned to normal at last. Konan was briefly lost in the kindness that almost poured out of the child the second the Kekkei-Genkai deactivated.
“Well come on let’s find something for you.”
It took some time, but the pair soon chose an outfit that suited the girl perfectly; a sleeveless tight crop-top with signature high Uchiha collar, mesh underneath to her waist. Tight short shorts with mesh underneath as well. Also long gloves past her elbows then high black boots to her knees, with a pouch of kunai on her right thigh. The outfit was entirely black with a single electric blue stripe running through each piece of clothing.
With nimble fingers Kaiya then reached for her cloak, draping it over her shoulders gingerly. Then instead of closing it completely she reached for the pin hidden in her pouch. The Uchiha symbol on it glimmered up towards her making her think of the soft smile of her mother when she gave it to her. Smiling softly to herself Kaiya used the pin to attach the cloak together above her stomach, leaving everything else open. Konan’s emotionless exterior cracked slightly watching the girl a smile forming to copy the young Uchiha’s. With a small short bow to Konan and a thank you, Kaiya made her way out of the room, next door to hers.
When Kaiya entered her room it was very similar to Konan’s; a small twin sized bed tucked to the corner, a desk opposite it, then a dresser by the door with a mirror beside it. The walls were black but the sheets on her bed were a brilliant red. Kaiya nodded slightly looking around and catching her bearings before biting her lip with a glance at the door, she laid down on her bed, still in full uniform and fell asleep instantly.
Come morning she was awoken by the first rays of the sun peeping through her window. A grin crossed her face and she exited her new room, the black and red cloak draped over her shoulders. Following two chakra signatures she found a small kitchen-like area with Konan and Pein in it. The pair sent brief nods to her before going back to their quiet discussion. Eyeing them in curiosity Kaiya found some quick food and ate it before heading down back down the hall. But Konan’s voice followed after her, “I believe Itachi left the hideout for some training, we’ll need to teach you the hand signs to get back in.” Kaiya turned back towards the blue haired woman bowing her head slightly “Gomen Konan-san, but it’s alright I already know the hand signs.” With nothing more she turned back on her way passing through the halls silently, she exited the hideout and switching to Sharingan began searching for Itachi.
She finally stopped her searching perched in a tree on the outside of a small clearing where her brother stood training. Just as she paused a shuriken spun through the air piercing the young Uchiha. But in a poof of smoke a log pierced by a shuriken appeared instead and fell to the ground. Next to the tree Kaiya stepped out pouting slightly she pulled out the shuriken from the log and spun it on her finger, “Nii-san!”
But today it seemed her older sibling was all business “Kaiya you need to be ready for attack and battle at all times.” Kaiya frowned slightly at him in worry but pointed down towards the impaled log, “I know I can protect myself.” Itachi nodded then sighed “I’ll be going to meet my official partner later today and we’ll be going on a mission immediately afterwards.” The girl sighed and smiled up to her brother “I’ll be fine Onii-san, so stop worrying please, just trust me.”
Almost surprising Kaiya Itachi gave in just in the slightest and they set out into their regular training routine, starting with taijutsu which, when against Itachi, was a pain in her but. Not by any means was this her strong suit, Kaiya much rather preferred sticking to her genjutsu, not to say she didn’t fight know how she just disliked the battle choice. So now she worked on a new technique for when she was forced into a close combat.
She slipped past the assault of attacks Itachi sent towards her. Twisting and bending; flowing carefully to keep just inches out of reach until Itachi’s speed suddenly spiked and Kaiya faltered leaving his fist coming straight for her gut. As the fist made contact her body dispersed away into nothing but countless stunning black butterflies. Only for her body to reappear seconds later clutching her stomach as she thumped onto the ground. Kaiya groaned in annoyance and pain.
She heard Itachi’s light chuckle and narrowed her eyes at him in mock anger towards her elder brother. “Watch it Onii, I’ll have it perfected before you come back so buzz off. His smile grew slightly but then faded as he looked up to the sky and they realized the sun was at its highest point in the sky, much time had passed since dawn. Both pair of Uchiha's faces blanked, going a step further to Sharingan in sync where a chakra presence could be seen a few metres off from their clearing. It was familiar, but it didn’t make Kaiya any happier.
The duel crimson Sharingan remained activated even when the man stepped through the woods with the Akatsuki cloak covering him. Orochimaru, one of the ones she’d seen when they first came, had a look on his face matching those of the siblings. The odd look to his eyes remained as he stared at the pair before in a slithering voice spoke, “Leader-Sama summons you.”
He didn’t specify which one although Kaiya bet it was mostly for Itachi who had his meeting. Kaiya followed Itachi as he stepped past Orochimaru into the trees towards the mountains. As they made their way back up into the mountains until Orochimaru stated they’d be heading to an actual house in the mountains. Their directions changed until they were climbing up stone steps that managed to stand out and fit into the woods at the same time.
Once on them Kaiya strode foreword ahead of them her cloak unzipped and flowing out behind her. Then she saw it; a faint stream of chakra shown to her by the Sharingan. She spun back on her heal slipping a kunai into her palm and saw Itachi had already turned around to stare at the snake man who now stood at the offensive towards Itachi. As an afterthought she checked and found the obvious through Orochimaru’s chakra system; Itachi had cast his genjutsu, so she simply sat back relaxing but stayed wary.
Orochimaru began speaking proudly that lust lacing his voice, “Those who are using the precious Sharingan are standing before me. I’m quite the lucky one. Now, I’ll take that body of yours!” But on the tail end of his speech Kaiya watched his yellow eyes widen dilating before he tensed, and trembled with the force to move.
“Impossible! I’ve been paralyzed by your genjutsu! The power of those eyes…It’s wonderful” The pain of the snake man was palpable in the air and yet his mouth formed into a crazed smile while his pale hands moved towards each other, all the while trembling with the effort.
Kaiya shook her head thinking ‘Itachi will not be beaten too easily, Sannin.” Within the next moment Itachi had produced a kunai from his pocket and whipped it down, Kaiya watched blankly as the left and ring fingered hand of Orochimaru fell limply to the ground leaving the man clutching his arm groaning. Itachi simply held the blade in the air speaking calmly, emotionlessly “Orochimaru, before my eyes, all of your jutsu become useless.” Itachi said nothing more, but there was no chance. Orochimaru’s face twisted awfully and his voice ground out “I will gain the Sharingan!” then suddenly Orochimaru’s body shifted and snakes appeared in his place when they slithered away Orochimaru, even the decapitated hand, were gone. Only the scattered blood remained to show for the fight.
Kaiya searched around them but saw no more chakra signatures. Sighing she looked back as Itachi turned back towards her. She sent him a wry smile, “Second day and I’d say we’re fairly popular.” Her brother only gave her an exasperated glance to which she smiled brightly at him in reply before turning back and starting up the steps, simply pretending the event didn’t happy.
Yet…yet the scene and words spoken danced in her mind. The Uchiha’s were gone, all except three and if Orochimaru was willing to attack them so quickly… Kaiya bit her lip furrowing her brows. Sharingan were held by non-Uchiha in the past, just as what happened with other dojutsu like the Byakugan. There was the famous copy-cat ninja from the leaf she’d heard spoken of so often and he held a Sharingan in his left eye. But this was a Sannin and it was obvious the shinobi didn’t plan on giving up soon. The dangerous glint with malicious curiosity he held in those eyes made her shiver; Kaiya didn’t want to fight him.
Suddenly a shoulder bumped into hers breaking Kaiya out of her thoughts, she smiled up sheepishly at Itachi. He gave her a soft smile, “C’mon we’re almost there Imouto-san.”
When they arrived in the building silently Kaiya cleared her face leaving the Kekkei-Genkai activated. Two people were in the room; Pein and the hunch-back from before Sasori. Her eyes caught on the hidden man, the chakra in his body seemed…different. She’d never seen anything so odd about chakra, it intrigued her.
Kaiya switched her attention back to the Akatsuki leader as Itachi finished explaining the incident with Orochimaru. Pein made a displeased sound in the back of his throat before speaking, “Well I doubt he’ll be coming back after that, Sasori send some of your spies after him and if he proves to be a problem we’ll eliminate them.” Sasori grunted in response. He turned back to face Itachi, “I’ll still be sending you to meet with your partner; Kisame Hoshigaki of the Mist. He joined a bit earlier than you,” Leader paused a moment grabbing a scroll and handing it over to her brother before his attention went to her. “Since Sasori no longer has his partner you’ll be temporarily replacing that, you’ll go with Sasori to his spy and then the actual mission. Understood?” Both simply nodded, Itachi disappearing a second later.