I do not own any of the Naruto characters or settings.  I only own my OC, Akuma Izoku.

This chapter does not contain as much descriptions of blood.  

I hope you enjoy the story of Izoku, Avenger of the Akuma Clan of the Village Hidden in the Shadows!

~~~*~~~

Her vision was blurry, stained with red as her sweat came dripping down her forehead, collecting blood along with it, and dropped into her eye. She blinked the saltiness away, squinting as she staggered forward. She let out a cough that stung her dry throat and tried to remember what had happened the last couple of days.

She was in the Village Hidden in the Shadows, the village of In'ei, where her clan once flourished. Her clan...murdered...slaughtered...ruthlessly killed. For what purpose?

She didn't know. Her five year old genius mind clouded with shame and guilt. She didn't even get to graduate.

Graduate...

School. Her class had been ruthlessly killed...by her own hands. She cringed at the thought of Joi's lifeless body, flipped over in the blood that ran thick and sticky, cold to the touch and revolting to the smell.

She had done this.

And now she was on the run, hunted by In'ei ANBU nin for some unknown reason. What could they possibly want from her? They already took everything from her in a single day...a single hour.

She had killed with her shinigami, Korosu, and her phantom katana. She escaped on her Hellhound's back, Tasatsu, the one with ruby eyes and shaggy black fur. In that single night, everything had turned for the worst for her. And now she was stumbling on this forest path, hoping it would get her somewhere safe so she can reside and die in safety.

Five years old...

This wasn't happening. Surely this wasn't happening.

She collapsed in the dirt, her eyes drooping as darkness succumbed to her. The surprised cries of two men filled her numb ears, slurry and distant.

This was it, wasn't it?

Death.

Korosu could finally claim her soul as his own. That was the contract, wasn't it? The contract of every Akuma member, head or branch family. The soul of every Akuma was sold to a shinigami at birth automatically. It was like their guardian angel, except the complete opposite. They were blessed with power, but in return, their souls could never rest. This was the way of the Akuma Clan.

Izoku's mind came to a staggering realization.  This was why they...they...

“She's fading,” one man murmured, his voice fuzzy.

“Let's get her to Lady Tsunade, quick!” the other shouted.

The darkness swallowed her up before she could even comprehend those words.

~~~*~~~

Izoku woke up in the hospital, hooked up to an IV and with a breathing mask on her nose and mouth. Her eyes flickered, but her body wouldn't move. Alarmed, she began to shout. In response, three nurses came rushing in, a fourth with a giant needle. She screamed louder, causing a commotion outside of her room. Her body was numb...why couldn't she feel anything? Certainly she was alive, but why couldn't she move?!

The fourth nurse jabbed the needle into her arm and plunged the freezing liquid into her veins, causing her eyes to droop and her mind to instantly fall unconscious.

~~~*~~~

Her breathing was steady, stable, and normal. The faint beeping of the heart monitor rang in her ears. The bandages wrapped around her body seemed to contain her; she didn't like it. Her face felt clean and smooth, clear from the dirt and blood that had been caked onto it in the days of her escape from In'ei. She let out a sigh and inhaled the sweet pure oxygen. Izoku opened her eyes, crusted with the salts from her tears, only to find bright blindness. As her pained eyes adjusted to the light, she saw bleach white, with the heart monitor the only source of color in the room. The neon green line that jolted up into sharp peaks with every pump of her heart was mesmerizing. She stared at it for hours.

The nurse finally came in, confirming her awakening; several ninja were immediately sent to the Kage's building upon this information. Izoku shifted in her bed, feeling the cool sensation of the new sheets she touched and the iciness of the IV's liquid dripping into her. Where was she?

“Kanja Shichi (Patient 17),” the nurse said in a soft voice as she put a gentle hand on her heated forehead and swept away some strands of her long raven hair. “What is your real name?”

The girl stared at her for a moment, the nurse getting lost in her dull, bottomless violet eyes.

“Izoku...” she breathed.

“Surname?” the nurse cracked a small, almost relieved smile.

Izoku paused. Was it safe to tell her her last name? It was forbidden for the Akuma members to reveal their identities to any outsiders of the Hidden Shadow Village; more specifically, outside the village of In'ei.

“Muzai,” Izoku whispered. The nurse just nodded and blinked. She stood up and wrote the name she presented down on her clipboard and clutched it close to her chest. With one final pitying look at Izoku's frail body, the nurse turned away and exited.

The next few days dragged on. Izoku learned that she was asleep for an entire month, knocked out in a serious coma. The Kage of the village visited her, since she as a visitor was not physically able to visit the Kage himself in his office. She found out she was in Konoha of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and the Kage that visited her was the Sandaime Hokage (Third Hokage). The Hokage ensured her citizenship after hearing her story, trekking through the mountains and forest for days without food or water. Izoku was careful to leave out the information about her village and of her Hellhound. A week later, she was released.

The Hokage paid for a small apartment next to the Academy for her and gave her an allowance per week for things such as food, laundry, and other necessities. In return for the kindness, Izoku promised the Sandaime to pay back her debt by protecting him with her life and to listen to and grant his every wish. The Hokage smiled, delighted he had saved such a promising young girl.

School started the following week after that after she had settled in, getting used to the village and getting to know some of her neighbors, who found her five-year-old self lovable and incredibly adorable. One family, who lived a floor above her apartment, specifically caught her eye. They had a son about her age who went to the Academy; a first year as well. He was a strange boy who had caught her eye as a potential rival. His silvery-white hair contrasted with his onyx eyes, but those were the only facial features that she every saw; everything else was covered by a thin, dark-blue mask.

“Why is your hair silver?” Izoku teased once at the park. “Are you old or something?”

“I'm not old!” the boy retaliated, pouting a little.  “It's just my normal hair!”

“Rojin (old man)!” Izoku teased, flashing a giant friendly smile as she swung higher on the swing set, leaving the boy down below on the ground to gaze up at her with a slightly tormented look.

Her first day at the Academy just so happened to be the day of the graduation exams; the sensei of the classroom had told her she didn't have to take it, but the five-year-old insisted on being treated just like the other students in the school. Izoku bit her lip as she stood in front of the Academy building...it looked so much like the building back in In'ei...

“Class,” the sensei yowled to the clamoring students. They all immediately went silent. “We have a new student with us today. Everyone, say hello to Muzai Izoku.” Everyone in the class stared at her. Dressed in her black kimono top and her matching loose pants, Izoku lifted her head a little, her left eye covered by her silky raven hair, revealing only one purple eye. Everyone stared in awe.

“Minasan...ohayo gozaimasu, (Good morning, everyone),” she mewed in a soft voice. “Watashi wa Izoku desu (I am Izoku).” After a few awkward moments of standing there with all eyes on her, she hung her head down again and quickly shuffled over to her seat in the middle of the room in the third row.

“Now then.” The sensei clasped his hands together. “Today is the graduation exam! Each of you will be called one by one to the other room for your exam. You have one single test, and you must do the jutsu correctly in order to pass. Understood?”

“Hai!” everyone yelled sternly.

“First up, Akarui Tsuki!”

“Hai, sensei!” A girl with white-blond hair stood up quickly, bowed, and marched down to the teacher, who escorted her out of the room.

Each testing session went by from two to fifteen minutes. A rather large boy with purple hair slumped out of the other room as the sensei positioned himself in front of the room again.

“Hatake Kakashi!” he ordered.

“Hai, sensei!” The silver haired boy bowed two rows behind her. Izoku stared at him as he walked past her. His onyx eye flashed in her direction, making her avert her eyes immediately and blush a violent rose color.

Good luck, Rojin. She chewed on her lip. Another thirty minutes passed, several other students going up to take their exams, when the sensei called her own name.

“Muzai Izoku!”

“Hai, sensei!” Izoku stood up casually and bowed slightly. She followed the nin to the other room, where a panel of three other nin sat. They looked to be about the rank of Chunin.

“Muzai-san,” the middle kunoichi with long red hair addressed. “Please demonstrate the Cloak of Invisibility Technique.”

Just an E-rank jutsu?  Piece of cake, Izoku smiled. She clasped her hand in the usagi (hare) sign and murmured with a wispy voice.

“Cloak of Invisibility!” she muttered, closing her eyes. She held her stance for five solid seconds, though her immense Chakra could allow her to stand like that for hours on end.

“Arigato, Muzai-san.” The kunoichi nodded as she dismissed the girl.

Izoku released her jutsu and bowed to the Chunin, walking out of the room feeling as if she had just taken a nap.

By the end of the day, she was declared a Genin. She smiled as she received her Leaf headband, tying the strip of fabric loosely around her neck. She stuck around to talk with some kids that graduated as well before walking back to her apartment. Graduating at age five was something to be proud of; her own parents had graduated from the Shadow Academy at ages seven and eight.

Izoku strolled on the dirt road when she heard footsteps coming her way. As a habit, she moved to the left so the person could pass. The person though, landed a hand on her shoulder.

“Ah!” she shrieked as she turned around to hit her attacker.

“Calm down, it's me!” Kakashi yelped as he barely dodged her swipe.

“Oops!” she squeaked as she yanked back her extended arm. “Gomen'nasai, Rojin!”

Kakashi scowled.

“It's 'Kakashi-kun' to you, Izoku-chan,” he puffed.  "And I'm not old."

Izoku just rolled her eyes.

The young boy just cleared his throat, blinking his dark eye.

“Anyways, my parents asked if you wanted to come over for dinner! They see you're alone all the time, and I think it's a brilliant idea for you to eat with us!” He smiled.

Izoku blushed, suddenly shying away from the boy.

“I don't want to intrude...” She bit her lip.

Kakashi waved a hand at her.

“It's no problem, Izo-chan! Look at it like a celebration! We graduated from the Academy!” He laughed, tilting his head slightly to the side.  Izoku looked up at him and cracked a small smile.

“Arigato, Kakashi-kun,” she murmured as she bowed.  

Following closely behind Kakashi and his parents, a longing emptiness aching in her heart as they laughed and played with each other.  She let out a sigh and rubbed her hands together as a nervous habit.  Kakashi fell back and pulled Izoku forward, making her stumble into his father's back.

"Gomen'nasai, Hatake-san!" she sqeaked.  

The man just laughed, stroking her shiny black hair as he continued to walk.

"Don't worry about it, Izoku." He smiled kindly, a warm tingling feeling rippling inside her chest.  He ruffled his son's silvery hair with his other hand, making him groan in annoyance.

"Otousan!" Kakashi protested as he jumped onto his father's back.

"Argh!" he growled playfully as he twisted his son off his back and swung him in the air, making the boy explode into giggles.

Kakashi's mother took hold of Izoku's hand, beaming down on her like the sun's warming rays.

"I'm glad you could make it over for dinner, Izoku!" she laughed.

Blush appeared on Izoku's face as they continued towards the apartment complex, walking into the golden-orange sky, streaked with shimmering pink and lavender clouds.

~~~*~~~

Once again, thank you for reading!  Comment on what you think of it and what I may or may not need to edit to make this the ultimate Naruto-realm experience!  Make sure to vote and to follow me to stay updated for later chapters!  Again, thank you for reading!