I do not own any Naruto characters or settings.  I only own my OC, Musei Shiro

This chapter contains some detailed descriptions of violence.

I hope you enjoy the story of Shiro, the Weeping Samurai of the Land of Iron!

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"My name," the shinobi murmured as the wind blew his raven hair to the side of his face, "is Uchiha Itachi."

Shiro stared blankly at him, her shimmering gaze unblinking as it bore into the ninja's.

"Uchiha...Itachi."

The raven-haired ninja just stared at her back, his eyes calm as the surface of a shining lake.  His foot crept up towards her, the snow crunching beneath his black shinobi sandals; Shiro stayed frozen in place, her blades hanging uselessly from her grasp.

"And...where are you from...?"

"Konohagakure," Itachi grunted as he towered over the girl.  "Formerly.  The Akatsuki is my residence now."

Shiro flickered her eyes to the ground,  a bright shade of crimson rising in her shallow cheeks.

"And who is this...Orochimaru?" she stressed the name, the word dripping with poison but her eyes remained blank and bottomless.

"A former Akatsuki memeber," the raven-haired shinobi mumbled.  "He deviated from the group a couple years ago and now he's on the run.  Rumor has it he has created his own ninja village in the Land of Rice Paddies, and his hideout is somewhere located in the country also."

Shiro's onyx hues hardened to stone.

"We're going there first," she demanded.  "To find my sister.  Where is it?"

The Akatsuki shinobi remained standing over her, his long cloak wavering in the icy wind.  The Uchiha blinked his dark eyes.

"Northeast from here, above the Land of Fire."

The girl scowled.

"You'll show me the way, right?" she muttered as she raised her eyebrow.

Itachi stared back with an unrelenting gaze, solid and firm.

"Of course," he said bleakly, "it's what our deal demands, isn't it?"

Shiro stood there in the snow for a few seconds, pondering on the outcomes of the deal she had just made.

As long as I get Yoru back, she thought to herself, her pale face wiped clean, my entire image can be destroyed if everyone desires.  Yoru's safety is all that matters...

Shiro's black eyes snapped up to meet the Uchiha's, a flash of struggle straining in her orbs.

"Our mission as a team," she said slowly, staring into the man's empty gaze, "is to retrieve my sister and bring her to safety.  Killing is not a priority.  Minimum bloodshed is required, understood?"

Itachi grunted in acknowledgement, but then stepped aside to reveal the giant figure of a ruthless Mist Swordsman.

"I can't promise a totally bloodless journey," Kisame chuckled as he smirked darkly.  "But I'll try to restrain myself."

Shiro scoffed.

"Consider yourself fortunate." Itachi glowered down at the girl.  "You must have a pretty good impression on Kisame if he's suppressing his urge to kill for you."

"Oi, Itachi!" Kisame growled from behind him.  "Don't go around planting gossip like that now.  Let's just be on our way and help this shojo get back her sister already."

"Fair enough," Itachi huffed and stepped back from Shiro.  He offered a hand to her as his eyes glinted like steel.  "Shall we be going now, Musei-san?"

~~~*~~~

The trio moved quickly, scaling the mountain range that sliced the Land of Iron from the Land of Earth from each other in only a few hours before setting foot on the hard rocky ground on the other side.

At the top of the peak, Shiro had glanced back, taking in her last look of her home:  the Land of Iron, the country of the samurai.  With her eyes shimmering on the brink of tears, Shiro kicked off the summit and plummeted down the other side of the mountain, her plain black cloak rippling behind her like wings.

Itachi and Kisame first lead her through the Land of Earth, which was a relatively large country just like the Iron.  For twelve years Shiro had wandered around the Iron, try to scrape out clues about her missing sister, but to no avail.  Now, seeing that she was acquainted with two men who knew their way around, she would have no trouble really in crossing the land in no more than a week; that is, if they went nonstop.

Kisame had other ideas though, as he made his teams stop in some villages to get something to eat and to stay the night; the man was more of a material guy than Shiro had anticipated.  As jittery and restless as she was, Shiro had no other choice but to comply to Kisame's demands as he would rampage if she didn't; or so Itachi had told her.  The first night in the Land of Earth, the team stopped by a hot spring resort to unwind and relax.

"Kisame insists we stop by every hot spring we pass, so be prepared," Itachi muttered in her ear as they walked through the shoji door and into a neat tatami board room.

"Kon'nichiwa!" an elderly woman with thin graying hair greeted the three at the front desk.  "How may I help you today?"

"We'll rent one room for the night," Kisame grinned an evil sharp-toothed smile as he glowered down at the poor old lady, "and visit the hot spring."

"S-stay as long as you want!" the lady's eye twitched as she stared up at the giant man.  She handed him the room key as he plopped down a few bills to cover for the room.  As the trio made their way to the locker rooms, Kisame called over his shoulder, "and be sure to have dinner prepared in our room in an hour!"

"C-certainly!" the lady cried out before bolting into the kitchens.  She frantically screamed at the cooks to quickly prepare the best dishes for the "scary blue man."

Shiro broke off from the group to enter the girl's locker room.  Inside, she immediately untied her katana sheaths and set them to the side.  She shed her thick black cloak, draping it over a wall hook, and untied her thin white ribbon that replaced the usual wide obi fabric that tied around her waist for her white kimono.  The long white dress came off too as she wrapped herself in a soft towel and headed for the spring, tucking her simple black flats inside a small bamboo cubbyhole.

Shiro slid open the shuddering shoji paper screen door to reveal a large steaming pool, smelling faintly of sulfur with a hint of incense.  Her dainty pale feet patted on the shiny hardwood floors as she ambled over to each of the candles on the sides to ignite the scorches wicks, striking the provided matches on the grainy clay pots.  As the last of the incense were lighted, Shiro lifted her head and glanced around; she was alone, as expected, with a giant wooden wall separating the men's sector of the spring from the women's.  Feeling the steam tingling her sweat-streaked face, Shiro unwrapped herself from her towel and slowly dipped herself into the spring.

The water was hot, the spring seeming to absorb her stress and tiredness away from her aching body as she soaked herself.  From a tray on the side, Shiro folded a small towel and drenched it in the mineral-rich water before pressing it up to her face.  She sighed as she felt her muscles relax in the hot water, tilting her head back into it with the towel still draped over her face.

There were many hot spring resorts in the Iron, but they were so expensive Shiro never had enough money to even go near such a place.  Even as a child in the village of Umi Gai, she was oblivious to what a hot spring even was.  

The deal with the Akatsuki team itself was a pain in the ass to do, even though she needed the guidance to the Land of Paddies to rescue her sister, but this resort thing was certainly one of its perks.

Shiro sunk her skinny body into the water for what seemed like an eternity of peace before there was a slight knock on the wall that separated the men from the women.

"Musei-san," Itachi's voice was muffled by the wooden wall as he called over to her, "are you ready to go?"

"Hai." Shiro sighed as she peeled the towel from her face and reluctantly tore herself away from the spring.  She lifted herself up from the water and wrapped herself in her towel before going inside the locker room once more.

She disposed of her used towels and retrieved a fresh robe from the linen closet.  She dressed herself in the plush robe, gathered her things, and slipped on her shoes to reunite with her team.

Shiro waited outside the men's locker room for a few moments before Itachi came out, also dressed in the same white attire.  From the large gap in the robe, Shiro saw the man's lean chest and abs, making her blush her already flushed face and averted her eyes.  Itachi took no notice of this, though.

"Kisame will be a few more minutes," the shinobi informed her plainly as he stared at her.  "so he gave me an extra key to the room so we can get ready for the dinner."

"Sounds good." Shiro nodded once and Itachi led the way to the room.

At the end of the hallway on the second floor, Itachi unlocked a door and held it open for Shiro, who walked inside the room without a glance at the man.  She slipped off her shoes and trod over to the bathroom where she immediately shut and locked the door.  She peeled away her robe and dressed herself back in her white kimono, tying the dress securely with the white ribbon.  She hung her used robe on the wall hook before taking her cloak and swords, walking back out into the main room.

"Looks like the food isn't here yet." Itachi muttered as he sat on the ground in front of the glass door.  It overlooked the valley, which seemed to have been bare and unappealing when they trekked through it, but when looking at it from a higher angle, Shiro's breath was taken away on how beautifully carved the rocks were.

"It's alright." Shiro shrugged as she sighed, mesmerized by the sight before her.  "I'm not hungry anyways."

Itachi turned his head around slightly to look at her.

"You need to eat," he said simply, his eyes looking up and down at her figure.  "No offense, but you look like a bag of bones."

Shiro's eye twitched in annoyance.

"I'm not exactly the wealthiest person on this planet," she snarled back harshly.

"Which is why you need to eat now," Itachi grunted as he turned his head back calmly.  "To build up strength."

"Strength?" Shiro scoffed as she crossed her arms.  "I don't need any more power.  I went along just fine with minimum amounts of food and even less in my days at the Iron.  I'm sure I can take of myself."

"Orochimaru is unlike anyone you have ever seen," Itachi murmured softly, his onyx eyes gazing out into the breathtaking landscape.  "Tell me, Musei-san.  Have you ever seen a ninja in battle?"

The question caught her off guard.  She blinked her wide dark eyes and sighed.

"No," she muttered, "as an Iron native, I've seen nothing but swords and tools.  The Land of Iron doesn't depend on ninja to protect its borders."

"As I suspected." The raven-haired ninja nodded once, his back still facing her.  "So you need to develop new techniques in order to defeat Orochimaru."

"If I recall correctly," Shiro muttered quietly, "Orochimaru is one fo the Three Legendary Sannin of Konohagakure, am I correct?"

"Sou desu," Itachi grunted in response.  "He's a very powerful man indeed.  However..."

The shinobi paused a little, leaving Shiro standing behind him in silence.

"I defeated him myself at one point in time."

Shiro's eyes widened even more.

"You faced Orochimaru?"

"He's a maniac who is obsessed with power," Itachi explained.  "He wants to be immortal, and in order for him to do that, he must prepare bodies as "vessels" for his being to reside in order to achieve his ultimate goal to learn every jutsu in the known world.  I was a target as one of his vessels because of my kekkei genkai."

"Kekkei genkai..." Shiro murmured, her lips barely moving.  "What is that?"

"Hai." Itachi nodded again.  "I forgot, you probably don't know what jutsu or kekkei genkai are."

"Not exactly," Shiro confirmed as she continued to stare down at the man.

"Well," he started, "to start off, a kekkei genkai is a bloodline trait, a power that is only accessible through hereditary means.  For example, my kekkei genkai is called Sharingan, one of the San Daidojutsu, or the Three Great Eye Techniques.  My Sharingan has the power to copy every movement and analyze every action when it is activated, giving me the ability to perform any jutsu perfectly in a mere second.

"A jutsu," Itachi continued on, "is a technique that uses Chakra, a sort of spiritual energy that resides within the body and is transported through your Chakra network, which is similar to your circulatory system.  A jutsu requires certain hand seals, depending on what it is, in order for Chakra to be focused in specific ways.  As a result, there are thousands of jutsu out there ranging in difficulty due to the number of hand seals, how much Chakra is used in the technique, and most importantly, how the user controls the energy."

"I've even heard of something called Chakra Nature." Shiro blinked thoughtfully, soaking in the information.  "It's the uder's ability to change their Chakra into a certain form, right?"

"Hai." Itachi nodded.  "For example, I posses Katon, or Fire Release, as well as Suiton, Water Release.  We can test your Chakra Nature if you wish with Chakra paper."

"That'd be...nice."

"Alright then!" Kisame chuckled as he burst through the door, the other metal room key dangling on his large index finger.  "Shall we begin supper?"

Following behind him, the old woman who had run the front desk pushed in a large carted filled with different dishes, her thin gray hair pulled back into a loose bun.  She rolled the cart over to the low mahogany table that stood in the middle of the main room.  She placed the plates and bowls onto the table top and quickly rolled away the cart with a small "arigato."

"Itadakimasu!" Kisame laughed a booming laugh as he clasped both of his palms together in front of his massive chest before digging into the food.

Both Itachi and Shiro stared at the table for a moment before joining Kisame in the feast.

"Itadakimasu..." Shiro murmured, her soft hands in her lap calmly before snapping her chopsticks to pick at some pickled daikon on a shallow dish.

"Itadakimasu," Itachi grunted as he went to snatch up a piece of boiled cabbage.

Shiro poured tea while the two shinobi ate, Kisame gorging himself in a sort of frenzy.  Itachi on the other hand, while he did eat a fair amount, ate at a more moderate pace and much more cleanly than his partner.  The three ate their dinner, Itachi paying for the meal as the maids came to clean up the mess, leaving the room with a fresh pot of tea and some sake with three porcelain cups.

Shiro took a long drink from her tea cup, washing down the rice, pickles, and squid from the meal before filling her cup once more.

"That wasn't so bad now, was it?" Itachi muttered to her, his bleak tone hinting in a bit of sarcasm.

"It was good." Shiro's mouth twitched as she sipped her tea again.  "One of the best meals I've eaten in a while."

"I'm glad!" Kisame beamed, his sharp teeth exposed in his broad smile.  His sharp blue cheekbones were hinting in a faint blush of red; the man had drank a little too much sake.  "It's better have been good, or I would have to have a talk with the woman about somethin'..."

"Leave her alone," Shiro muttered darkly as she continued to sip her tea, her black eyes glinting.  "She's only doing her job, Kisame-san."

"She's right, Kisame," Itachi murmured as he too drank his tea.  "There's no need to be hostile to an innocent old woman."

The man just growled in return, downing another cup of sake before refilling it to the brim with more.

As the sun set, the trio set up their bed mats on the ground, moving the table to the side of the chamber to make room for three.  As soon as Shiro thrust her comforter on her bed mat, she immediately slid open the glass door and stepped outside on the tiny balcony, overseeing the moonlit rocky valley.  She sighed as she rested her chin on her hand, her elbow leaning on the metal railing as her darkened eyes shimmered in the night.

"You know, it's really cold outside," a voice called from behind her.

Shiro tipped her head back a little to look at the shinobi, his long raven hair waving in the slight breeze.

"I'm used to it." Shiro shrugged, her voice melancholy.  "The Iron was much colder than this even in the afternoons."

The two stood there in silence, Kisame's snores in the background mingling with the wind whistling in her ears.  Shiro turned back around, her gaze wandering up to the endless sky, dappled with sparkling stars that seemed to dazzle the already beautifully painted royal blue sky.  Her eyes reflected the entire universe, the millions of stars twinkling in the midnight sky swirling in her dark orbs.  The moon, shining a brilliant single beam, illuminated the landscape in a silvery sheen, draping the jagged rocks in a thin white veil of serenity.

"Nevertheless," Itachi murmured, "you'll catch a cold if you stay out here any longer.  The wind's picking up and I feel as if it's going to storm tonight."

"The rain is nice..." Shiro sighed as she stared up into the heavens.  "It reminds me of snow...but better in some ways."

Itachi just continued to stare at the girl, her white hair glowing in the pale moonlight.

"Imouto and I used to play in the rain all the time when we were younger." she exhaled dreamily.  "And Otousan would carry us into the air and we'd pretend we were airplanes.  The rain would hit our faces and we'd hide under Otousan's coat so the rain wouldn't drench our clothes as much.  He'd lead us back to our house; it was a straw and bamboo hut, so it wasn't much, but it was home.  Okaasan would then give us a cup of green tea and some onigiri filled with her own mix of salted boiled egg yolks and nori.  We'd all sit at the table and laugh at Otousan's jokes and listen to his stories of his frequent visits to the larger village east of Umi Gai...there were some very interesting tales he had to tell.  Have I told you of the time when he ran into a group of little boys on the streets?"

Itachi just stared at her for another moment before her strolled over next to her and leaned against the railing, staring up at the night sky.

"No, you haven't," was all he said before staying quiet again.

Shiro gazed at him with wondrous eyes before cracking a small smile, a scarce thought to even begin with.

"They were beggars," Shiro chimed, "just as I was a few years after this incident.  They were being pushed around by some shopkeeper for looking through his trash.  They ran into my father, who was guiding a mule from Umi.  The wagon wasn't filled with much except for a few baskets of rice grains and some fish.  His initial plan as always was to sell the goods to the market down the street, but the boys he said looked like walking skeletons, so he gave half of the food over to the boys.  They didn't even turn around to thank him as they ran off with the food into a faraway alley, but my father was satisfied nonetheless.  He said that he was glad he did some good for those boys, and hoped they'd take the lesson he gave on kindness to blossom into fine young men."

Shiro smile widened a little bit as she tore her eyes away from the heavens to look down at her hands.

"Otousan was a good man..." she whispered, a few of her white locks blowing into her pale face.  "He did nothing but selfless things, and he was respected in Umi Gai as well as the main village for his skills in kenjutsu; something he passed down onto me."

The girl's smile dissolved as her eyes were glazed over in another emotion.  The switch was so sudden Itachi's eyes shifted to a bright crimson, analyzing her before she spoke again.

"But now he's gone." Her voice was barely a wisp of air, grave and husky.  "They're all gone, and Yoru is under the custody of this Orochimaru.  If I'm correct, he's the one who burned down my village also."

"You never know," Itachi murmured, his features plain as a piece of blank paper.  "The people who destroyed your village may have been mere raiders."

"Perhaps." Shiro shrugged as she sighed.  "Whoever they are though, I'll make them perish under my hand with the most painful death the world will ever know."

Itachi glanced over at the girl, his scarlet eyes shining in some confusion.  The girl had her head dangling down to the ground over the rails, her eyes focused on one particular spot.  Raising an eyebrow, Itachi twisted around to gain a better angle to look at the spot Shiro was staring at.  The sight that lay before the shinobi stunned him.

"Their eyes will be poked out from their sockets." The white-haired girl's voice was deeper and more menacing, her fiery eyes burning in black hatred.  "Their limbs will be torn from their bodies one by one, and their hearts will beat their last in my own palms.  They will live long enough to feel my blade slicing through their necks ever so slowly..."

"Musei-san..." the raven-haired ninja gasped breathlessly as his eyes widened in shock.  "How...?"

"I want to feel their fear in my bones and their pain coursing through my veins." Shiro's paper-white face was adorned in a wide haunting smile, her voice quivering in her struggle to keep back a booming laugh.  "Their screams will ring in my ears as I chop off each of their fingers one by one.  I'll stab them just so they're on the verge of death, and I'll leave them there to die slowly so they can feel a fraction of the agony I had felt when they stole my family away from me..."

Below the balcony, where she and Itachi stood upon, was a pile of cold human bodies, their limp corpses stacked high.  The dark maroon blood ran in thick streams as it leaked out from the large wounds from their bodies, the deep slashes exposing ivory bone and crimson flesh.  There were at least fifteen bodies that were slumped on top of each other, their skin a translucent white and stained in their own blood.  On the very top, the body of an old woman with thin graying hair laid face-down, her back pierced with two long white blades.

Itachi slowly tore his wide crimson gaze from the bloody mess that lay before him to stare at the white-haired girl, her shoulders shaking from a series of uncontrollable giggles.

"It will definitely be..." Shiro hissed delightfully as her charcoal eyes reflected the cold moon that loomed over the scene.  "This will absolutely be...delicious."

~~~*~~~

Japanese grammar lesson!

The words "mother" and "father" are relatively the same when speaking directly to them (Kaasan for "mother" and Tousan for "father).  But when speaking to other people about your mother and/or father, you would say Otousan and/or Okaasan.

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An extra long chapter as a reward for your patience!  Please comment on what you thought of this satanic chapter and don't forget to vote!  Make sure to also follow me to stay up-to-date for the chapters to come!  And as always, thanks for reading!