Disclaimer: I don't own anything. All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Norihiro Yagi.

Preliminary Notes: This is a Naruto and Claymore crossover. As you may have already known, these two shows are from two completely different universes with completely different cultures that more often than not; cannot mesh together flawlessly. Claymore is a much darker manga based on European culture, whereas Naruto is a lighter, more happy manga based upon Japanese culture. To allow the crossover to flow better, I decided to take Teresa and cross her over to the Naruto universe through the concept of reincarnation. This was the easiest route for me rather than having to deal with some form of space-time dimensional crossover where the character would have to deal with the discrepancies of the new universe they were suddenly thrust into. Teresa will still be adapting to the Naruto universe, but as a baby, she will be able to adapt more easily; since, children are often still developing which makes their capacities much more malleable. She will keep her memories, her abilities, her appearance; but she will be developing in a child form still thus will be much more different.

Her abilities and physical prowess will be kept in tact and in comparison to the average shinobi, I will have to gauge her on a scale for later purposes. Claymores battle yoma - which I believe that the typical shinobi (genin or chuunin) cannot defeat. Jounin possess the ablilities to defeat average yoma, much like Claymores 47-6. It would take Kage or Sannin level shinobi to even go toe to toe with an Awakened Being, much like Claymores 5-1. An Abyssal One would probably be on par with a bijuu which only a small group of Claymores, 5-1 could defeat if in the case they joined together as a unit. Since she was considered to be the strongest claymore in all of history and was able to defeat Claymores 2, 3, 4 and 5; along with an Awakened Rosemary (previous number one before Teresa), a nearly Awakened Priscilla (the strongest character in the entire series) with nothing but the release of ten percent of her yoki, I believe Teresa could be considered Kage/ Sannin (if not above) level.

So thus ends my preliminary notes, now on with the story!

Chapter One: Rebirth of the Faint Smile

(The Birth of a Warrior)

She remembers the color of blood, a vivid red so distinct from all shades of the palette with its pungently sweet, irony aroma. She remembers the earth; the rocky terrain that curved under the padding of her boots with the hard-packed dirt beneath her that seemed so ridged yet flat all the same.

She remembers the flash of shiny metal that met her eyes as it cut through her neck and ended all possibilities of survival – how it slashed through all hopes of a future with a house and a frail little girl by her side; one whom she would protect with all her life. She remembers the sharp yellow glint of teeth protruding from the mouth of her adversary as it glistened like gilded razors threatening to sink its blades into her flesh.

She remembers the taste of the salty tears that leaked from her eyes before she was enveloped in darkness and thrown carelessly away to the deep dark abyss of death.

But most of all, she remembers those eyes; those beautiful green eyes with the lightest flicker of warmth.

They scintillated like emeralds yet reflected the rich earthy tones of the forest – so tranquil and lovely with its scatter of trees and foliage; beckoning her name like a sweet, sweet melody. They told her that they understood everything, how they understood her pain, her sorrow, her longing. Those eyes would never leave her memory, they would stay there forever.

She remembers only indistinct things that she cannot piece together. Her thoughts are hazy and dissonant like a messy jumble of notes – memories that don't seem to connect.

She tries to, oh, how she tries to, but the thoughts are eluding her. The words are there, but she does not understand.

With such lack of comprehension, she cries, wails – but it is not her; it is not her voice... she thinks. There is nothing left for her to do, but cry because she cannot understand anything and her innate capacities urged her to do so. If she cries, then something, someone would help her – that's what it says. And so she does.

The first thing she sees as she opens her eyes is the face of a woman, her eyes were a rich dark shade of brown while her hair was light like the warm rays of the sun in the early break of dawn and it reminded her of something…someone – she was not sure. The woman had the kindest of smiles that reassured her with the warmth of its utterance and relayed a silent message that 'everything would be alright,' that she was safe as long as she continued to see this smile. In conjunction with the soothing rubs on her back that seemed to work wonders on her, she was no longer confused; but she was now content.

The next time she awoke, she was met with a barrage of colors. Light, dark, brown, white – they all flashed before her eyes in a flurry of shades.

Her eyes then landed upon that same woman, the one with the light hair and dark eyes. The woman was saying something to her and cooing, she felt as if she was being rocked to and fro in a steady rhythm. And just as she awoke with the bombarding flashes of noise and color, her world seemed to wither back into a dark abyss.

Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months all in a blur of indistinct events she still could not comprehend.

She was bathed, fed, changed all in a matter of passing days by the woman she came to know as "kaa-chan." She was never alone, always in the presence of this woman – this woman who waited hand and foot for her for reasons she did not know.

The woman was kind, warm and comforting like someone she could not remember. When she was sad, kaa-chan would hold her in her arms, when she was irritated kaa-chan would lull her to sleep, when she was happy, kaa-chan would make her feel happier.

She didn't understand why she let this woman into such a close contact with her; why she let this woman incite such feelings of warmth within her, but she let it be in spite of that.

Soon, her days began to slow into a comprehending progression. She began to understand all the things that surrounded her like the feeling of touch, the appearances of objects and the sound of kaa-chan's voice. The woman spoke in a strange language that sounded so outlandish to her, as if she were babbling in indistinct words and odd inflections of the voice.

So for the time being, she relied on body language to communicate to the woman, rather the woman did so to communicate with her.

And then she became aware of another being that seemed to have stuck to the shadows thus far in that point of time. It was a man with dark hair unlike kaa-chan, but this time he owned a pair of gray, almost silver eyes that shined like moonlight against the wan light that veiled the room she had been kept in for the last few months.

His eyes, they reminded her of someone, something… Or multiple things rather. The sudden image of dozens of silver eyes with cold gazes flashed within her mind in the midst of the ebony veil of night that seemed so long ago, like ghosts hiding in the shadows of the darkest crevices of her mind.

Amongst the pair of haunting grays and pale silver, she had seen a pair of light green, almost emerald orbs that sparkled with the images of a forest of lush greens and warm sunshine; these eyes shined brightly amongst the darkness clashing with the ebony veil in a ray of light as if the heavens themselves were shining down upon her in all its ethereality. And then she cried because the images were like distant dreams, fleeting and painful as they drifted away from her mind scape.

At this, the man had left with a grimace on his face and kaa-chan had picked her up in her arms to lull her back to the safe darkness of sleep.

The man would visit more often, but was rather wary because he knew when she saw him, that she would cry. But he never knew why, he probably thought she was frightened of him, though in all actuality, she was not.

He was a reminder of her pain, he was a reminder of her fleeting memories that she still could not piece together. With each tear she shed, he would never know of the sorrow he brought to her upon a simple gaze from his silvery eyes. He would never know of the pain that he would incite within her whenever he looked deeply into her eyes with his moonlight gaze. Never.

Eventually, she had gotten used to him and was desensitized from his orbs, but that did not mean she forgot. She would never forget. He had their eyes, but he was not one of them, he was "tousan." Nothing more, nothing less.

They called her Teresa, it was such a familiar name, but she knew it was supposed to be an odd name for their tongues judging from the strange pronunciation they had with such a name in their own language. It was familiar, oh so familiar, but different all the same.

Hearing her name being called out to her in such a foreign way with the inflection of their voices caused an odd stirring in the pit of her stomach.

She remembered her name, that very name being called out in a whisper once that died in the winds as she succumbed to a perpetual darkness. Perhaps it was her old name, from far, far away that stuck with her through the twisted hands of fate; but alas, she could not remember anything that seemed so close to comprehension. There were a few short bursts of odd thoughts...memories? That would come and go, elude her just as quickly as they came, but she did not know what they were.

She was eight months old when she remembered.

She woke up in the middle of the night with the haunting images of the small, emaciated girl with forest green eyes and light brown hair. Clare. She remembered Clare, her beautiful, beautiful little girl Clare.

She cried so hard at the memory, that kaa-chan came running towards her room trying to comfort her, feed her – but her efforts were all in vain.

She cried with the memory of her little Clare out in the malignant cesspool of a world thriving with demons, yoma with their ravenous appetite for innards and flesh. She cried with the memory of her little Clare out there in the cold, cold world tainted with human corruption and evil beings that would prey on such an innocent soul.

Where was Clare now? And why? Why on earth was she, Teresa of the Faint Smile, the strongest of her kind, the most powerful of senshi lying in a cradle when she should be out there protecting her little girl?

She cried because that was all she could do, she couldn't get up and run like the wind or jump out the window like she had been able to once upon a dream. She was different now. She was small, she was stuck in the form of an infant and most of all – she was weak.

She couldn't understand, moreover, couldn't remember how she had been cut down by the newly appointed No. 2 – the girl who's fluctuating emotions influenced her every move thus marking her unstable. But she was powerful, so very powerful, she possessed an immense potential that could someday rival herself. What was her name? Priscilla…

She couldn't understand how she had been one minute on the battlefield and the next lying in a cradle being coddled by a woman with light hair and a man with piercing eyes. How had she gotten here, to a place like this? Surely this was not hell, if anything, where she used to be was hell and Clare was her savior shining like the heavens amongst the pitiful darkness.

Was this some sort of sick twisted game thrust upon her by the cruel hands of fate?

All these thoughts all these questions were flooding back into her fragile mind, and they were all too much for her to comprehend and just like that she blacked out once more.

Time flew by quickly now, she was growing and she was understanding more and more. She could speak now, think more and even walk around. But with each fleeting moment, she began to also comprehend what she is and remember who she was. She was Teresa of the Faint Smile, number one of the senshi revered by all within the organization.

She was the strongest, she was the smartest, the most powerful. But here she was, stuck in the body of an infant under the roof of two people – a couple, her parents.

She, the strongest of the senshi, was confined within the pale walls of this house in an unidentifiable location.

She knew she was not part of any of the common civilian villages outside of the organization because the majority were made of up of impoverished people with nothing but small huts and rags for clothes.

These people, her parents, looked far from being poor and their house was rather large compared to the average village shelters. Yet, they seemed as if they were commoners in their own right, average in their own way to their own environment.

So either she was in the holy city of Rabona, or in an unknown territory where poverty had not struck its borders.

However, she was smart; she knew that such a thing could not be possible. Piecing together information from the own strange language, their own strange food and their odd technology - she deduced that she was not in her own realm, not anymore.

With the passing days turning to months, she began to calculate and think more. When she finally had a good grasp on the language, she was able to question her kaa-chan of everything.

"Kaa-chan where are we?"

"Our home, silly girl, where else?" Her mother answered back as she rocked her on her lap in the porch of their home.

"No kaa-chan –" she pointed out towards the vast expanse of people, buildings and trees before them -" there, what is this?"

"Why, this is our village and we are in our compound," the woman sing-songed as she wrapped her arms around her small frame.

"Our village?"

"Yes, Teresa-chan, this is Konoha. Our home."

She nodded her head in understanding but kept quiet after that as they continued to rock back and forth in the rocking chair watching the people hustle and bustle.

She knew it was the best thing to simply observe and question all the things around her to get a better understanding of her situation.

So far, she knew her name was Teresa (aptly named by her parents for some odd reason beyond her), she knew right now she inhabited the body of a small child now two years old due to some outlandish form of reincarnation that still seemed hard to believe up until this point in time. She knew that she was the child of a couple that went by the names of Shimura Takahiro and Ikumi.

She knew that they were also some part of a familial unit or clan that lived within a compound – the very compound she was looking out towards with her kaa-chan this very moment.

Unfortunately, she had never traveled outside of the walls within the compound, but she knew she would soon since she had prodded and persisted with the woman to take her out.

She wanted to get out and seek more information about this place where she had unfortunately landed in and was forced to live in, this place that withheld her from protecting her most precious little girl. She was supposed to be a warrior not some mere child confined within a small home that was also confined in some clan compound.

She needed to find a way out of here, out of this place and back where she came from with her beloved Clare. But how?

It would take baby steps, she knew, but she would find her way eventually, that much she was certain of.

When she was three she was finally able to venture out of the compound gates with her kaa-chan, she was told that they needed to go to the market to fetch a few things.

Once out the gates of the Shimura grounds she was met with the sight of hundreds of buildings and people, lo and behold, she was met with the sight of the village – the elusive Konoha she was only told stories of. In that very moment as she trailed behind her kaa-chan grasping onto the hem of her skirt, she was finally able to catch her first glimpse of the world she never knew of, where poverty seemed nothing more than a myth and where a myriad of villagers bustled through the streets in a flurry of strange scents and sounds.

It was different.

It was far from the common sight of poverty she'd often see whenever she traveled across her world to the villages plagued with yoma.

This place was far too different, it held a different aura akin to happiness and safety while the villages from her land held nothing but sadness and fright. People here were actually smiling, smiling of all things as if they were carefree of the possibilities of the danger lurking in the world – the danger of evil. But there was no evil presence; in fact she hadn't sensed any yoma anywhere since she had lived here. Her acute abilities to sense yoki were so attune, she was able to detect even the faintest of yoki from hundreds of miles away, no matter how suppressed its levels were.

She wondered to herself if it was possible that this place, if this world was free from the wretched demons. But she could not dismiss that notion yet. There were too many possibilities, too much knowledge she lacked thus far. She had to continue gathering information.

"You see there my darling? That's the hokage tower," her mother pointed out towards the sole building that towered amongst the jumble of buildings in her view.

"Hokage…tower?"

"Yes, that's where the hokage stays to order the Shinobi around. Connected to the tower is the academy, where young children train to become Shinobi, but in addition to that, the hokage tower is also where council meetings are held. That's where your grandfather goes."

"Ojiisan goes there? Can he bring me there one day?"

"Oh no Teresa, children aren't allowed in the council, only important figures from both Shinobi and civilian backgrounds can!" She laughed as she pulled the girls hand towards a stall selling vegetables and fruit.

Her eyes wandered aimlessly towards the booming streets of the village until she caught the flash of men and women dressed in strange attire jumping gracefully across the rooftops with almost little effort. No civilian could do that, only warriors could; only her kind could.

"Kaa-chan, who are they?" she pointed towards the running men and women. Could these be the elusive Shinobi that her kaa-chan would often ramble about?

"Ahh, those are Shinobi and kunoichi. That's what grandfather, papa and I are; Shinobi. Though since I am a woman, I am considered a kunoichi," her mother replied as she finished picking vegetables and handed a few ryo to the stall owner.

"What are Shinobi kaa-chan?"

"They're warriors darling, they protect the village and civilians like you and the rest of the villagers."

So they were warriors? Just like her, ones who sought to protect people from evil and rid the world of its poisonous influence. Did they work for an organization as well?

How could they be warriors if she had sensed no yoki within them, only some strange sort of energy that no normal human should possess?

In fact all the people here possessed small levels of that energy that could never be detected within the people of her own place. It was all so peculiar. Their energy was there, but it did not feel like the pure malice that one would associate with yoki, this energy was more light and natural.

Yoki was pure, raging energy that had its own distinct and rough matter that pricked at your skin and could manifest into an aura akin to malice and power.

This however, was not yoki. Could this energy perhaps be the polar opposite of yoki? One that is light and natural that could not manifest from outside the user and physically deform its user once released, but from within?

They were graceful like warriors, they held a certain power like warriors, but they did not look like warriors. They came in varying heights, some were short others were tall - unlike the homogenous towering heights she and the senshi possessed.

They wore loose clothes, they didn't look like they were the garments of a warrior - they didn't look like they could protect one in battle at all. They didn't even have any swords, only concealed weapons she could sense from her attuned abilities.

There was nothing that indicated them as warriors, they practically looked like civilians. The only defining traits they seem to have was there heightened abilities in speed, was that all they possessed?

Surely, there was more to it. She just had to keep on researching.

She would have to ask her father and her grandfather Danzo of this revelation as soon as she saw them.

At the dark hours of the night when she sat at the dinner table surrounded by her kaa-chan, father and ojiisan, she was finally able to ask these questions that she had long since been mulling over at the break of dusk.

"Papa, you are a Shinobi, right?" She questioned abruptly as the adults chatted amongst themselves in the dinner table.

"Yes, Teresa, I am. So is your grandfather," the man replied proudly as he ruffled her hair annoyingly.

"What do Shinobi do, papa?"

"They are trained warriors that specialize in different areas of combat or sometimes excel in all areas of ninjutsu and others alike. They are here to protect the village and to carry out missions, like mercenaries from their commander or the hokage if you will. They do this in the name of their village, in the name of Konoha," the older man, her ojiisan, had interjected, almost proud that his only granddaughter was interested in the ways of the Shinobi at such a young age.

"How are they trained, ojjisan?" she prodded further prompting the old man to brighten at her words, she knew that the man was always interested in things that pertained to combat.

She knew the man practically lived and breathed battle, reveled in it even. She was always perceptive in that sense even in this body and mind.

"They hone their chakra and use it to train in different areas such as ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu and more. Often times they end up specializing in these different areas as they move rank."

"When kaa-chan brought me to the market today, I saw Shinobi on the rooftops. They have this…energy that I can sense. What is that ojiisan?"

Now his interest was piqued, she could tell from the gleam in his eyes. "That is chakra Teresa-chan, what you sensed was chakra…and at quite a young age might I add."

Her father gave him a grim look and she could tell it was one of disapproving, as if he was telling the old man to back off, from what, she did not know. Perhaps if she informed the old man of her ability, but withheld from going too much into detail with it, then would he further divulge more information.

"I can sense this…chakra from all people," she tested and when his eyes widened ever so slightly she continued on," when I'm inside the gates…and stuff and when I'm out. Why does everyone have chakra ojiisan?"

"Chakra is an energy that can be found within all living beings. It can be found in small forms within civilians and higher forms within Shinobi. It takes special training and higher chakra reserves to tell a civilian and a Shinobi apart," he elaborated as he chewed another piece of his food.

"Do you think I can be a Shinobi ojiisan?"

"…Yes, I believe you do have the ability to one day become a kunoichi…with training first and foremost," he said almost warily as his gaze darted back and forth towards her father and mother who looked none too pleased with the old man in question.

But now she understood what these people were and what capacities they held. They weren't like senshi, experiments who were forced to live a life with the knowledge of being half-human and half-yoma to draw out their energy, their yoki.

These people were born with this innate energy or chakra and were able to harness this energy to become warriors in their own right. When she thought of this, she wondered if she could harness this chakra. Was it in her too?

Her stigma was gone, that much she knew. The grotesque scar that was incised down the middle of her body was completely gone; she had seen this ever since she was able to regain her comprehension in her development. So, that could only mean that her inner yoma had somehow disappeared in this reincarnation.

However, she still felt the presence of the yoki within her. It was still intangible and could not fully be grasped yet, but she knew it was there.

In spite of that, it felt different, like her yoki could not manifest outside of her…it was still something she couldn't quite understand. Maybe if she trained herself to harness her tampered yoki, could she finally be able to venture out and perhaps find…Clare – to find her little girl.

"Ojiisan, papa, can you teach me to become a…k-kun..kunoichi?" She questioned carefully as she picked at her plate, she still couldn't quite grasp their strange language.

"Absolutely not!"

"Of course!"

Came a mixture from both her father and grandfather at the same time, the former answer being her father while the latter her grandfather.

"When can you teach me ojiisan?" She prompted again, ignoring her father altogether.

"Whenever your parents deem fit for you to –"

"Absolutely not!" Her father interrupted. If she were anything like her past self, she would have knocked the man out with the blunt edge of her claymore just to shut him up.

"Please papa, kaa-chan?" she questioned with a forced pout, it was degrading to do such a thing, but the stakes were high – she needed to do whatever she could to gather enough information about this world and its so-called warriors.

He faltered and dropped his chopsticks, his fingers almost trembled, before his eyes wandered off in deep contemplation. "I-I suppose so."

"O-Of course, darling," her kaa-chan nearly stuttered out.

And with that, it was settled. She would become a Shinobi in this world just as she was meant to be a warrior in her own. She would become a warrior here to extract more information, she would continue to fight. To fight for her chance to get out of here, to fight for the little girl with the bright green eyes and light brown hair. She would fight to find her, to find the only person important to her.

The only name that whispered throughout her mind every waking moment of her life, Clare.

Author's Note: So I hope you understand the direction I'm trying to go with this story. Basically, after her battle with Priscilla and death, Teresa awakes in the Naruto universe as a child and part of the Shimura Clan. I wanted her to be apart of a clan in the first place and the Shimura clan seemed to just fit since if it was able to breed ruthless bastards like Danzo, it would be able to breed such a cold, powerful and aloof warrior like Teresa.

In here, I decided to make Teresa's grandfather Danzo since if she were to grow up somewhere else and showcase her abilities somewhere else in Konoha, Danzo would inevitably become her enemy. So, why not make him her grandfather lol? Her parents are OC's of mine (I know, don't kill me!), but rest assured that there will not be a whole lot of OC's because creating them is such a pain to begin with for both the author and reader.

The timeline in which Teresa has been born into is pre-Naruto and pre-Naruto Shippuden, she will be born into the generation of Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, Gai and all the other jounin of Naruto's time - and with good reason because I have a lot of plot ideas that I'm going to flesh out through the duration of the story haha! There will be a scant few canon events, but I will mostly be twisting a lot of other important things in order to let Teresa in.

As for the pairing, this will NOT be a Naruto/Teresa pairing, nevertheless, Naruto will still be playing a rather important role within this story (if not, the most). This is an older generation of Shinobi, therefore she will be eventually paired with one of the few Shinobi of Kakashi, Gai, Asuma and Kurenai's generation - but rest assured that the Konoha Eleven will still be in the story! I just wanted to do something more unique in terms of plot lines.

So, please review and tell me what you think! Thank you!