Athena the Kunoichi-1

Pain, that's all Scythe felt when she opened her eyes. Pain and the cold metal of shackles around her neck and wrists. She looked down to see her arms and legs no longer had the bandages she had from Chisaki's experiments on her, which left all her scars to be visible to anyone who looked at her, and most likely, the people who put her where she is now, had also seen the scars.

Scythe sat up, noticing that she was on a cot, and was also in a prison cell, she put a hand to her forehead to try and alleviate the headache she had, before noticing her Faunus traits were gone.

She wanted to ask about what was going on with her, when she remembered what had happened during the Raid on the Hassaikai base, to save both her and her little sister Eri.

'Damn it.' Scythe mentally cursed. 'I know I agreed to save mom's life, but what am I supposed to do? What did Luna even do to me? My Faunus traits are gone, my head is pounding, and it feels like I've been branded again.'

The sound of multiple footsteps came from the hall outside the cell, causing Scythe to look up just as they stopped outside her cell, and she saw three people standing there. One of them was dressed in a white robe with a red and white hat on his head, and a pipe in his mouth. The second was a man similar in age to the first with black hair, wearing white and black robes with the right side of his face and head covered in bandages. The third was a girl in her teens, with black hair, wearing a mesh fiber shirt, under a tan trenchcoat, and an orange skirt.

"Why is she chained up?" The first man asked, taking a puff of his pipe.

"It is merely a precaution to whatever threat she may pose to the village." The second man said. "Surely you must understand that Hiruzen."

"She's just a child. What threat could she pose?" The girl asked.

"Anko is correct, to treat her like this would be showing her we're an enemy she should fear Danzo, an' we're wanting to show her we're friendly." Hiruzen said, opening the cell door, and coming in, with Anko by his side. "Putting her in a cell was going too far in itself. She needs a hospital."

Scythe backed away, in fear as they stepped near her, with Hiruzen reaching his arm out to her. To her surprise, Scythe felt Hiruzen didn't harm her, he simply pat her head. She looked up to see he had a look of sympathy and comfort in his eyes, looking at her like a grandfather looking at his injured grandchild.

"It's okay, we're not going to hurt you." Hiruzen said as Anko removed the shackles.

Anko took Scythe into her arms, and carried her out of the cell, past Danzo, who looked at her with skepticism.

"It's all right." Anko said as Scythe buried her head deeper into Anko, to avoid Danzo's gaze. "He's not going to hurt you."

"Danzo, the elders and I will be discussing this transgression of yours while Anko questions the girl on what she's doing here." Hiruzen said.

A little while later, after leaving the underground cells, Anko began leaping from building to building, traveling at a fast pace before she made it to a large hospital building. After checking her in, Anko stayed with Scythe while the doctors went over her body looking for anything that might threaten her health or life, medical wise, while also patching up the injuries she had. Scythe found it to be a nice change of pace to be moved from a jail cell bed, to a hospital bed. The difference in comfort was immensely noticeable.

"Alright now. While we're waiting on your blood test results, I'm gonna need to ask you a couple questions." Anko said, sitting on a stool beside her bed. "Can you give me a name to call you?"

Scythe thought about that for a minute. She didn't want to give her actual name, but Anko and Hiruzen have proven that they actually care about what happens to her. She won't give them her actual first name, but she had to give them something to call her, so she figured her hero name would do.

"C-call me Athena." Scythe said.

"That's a pretty name." Anko smiled. "Now before I ask you any more questions. I should tell you, some of our Shinobi found you unconscious in the forest west of the Village walls. So now that we've got that out of the way, let's get to the questions."

"Okay." Scythe said.

"First question, do you remember what happened to you to get those scars?" Anko asked.

"I… I remember a man. He was experimenting on me, and my sister, trying to turn our bodies, our abilities, into drugs and…" Scythe stopped talking hugging her legs to her chest as she began to shake in fear of that memory.

She had stayed strong for Eri during their imprisonment and torture at the Hassaikai Manor, but in reality, it had gotten to her, and had nearly broken her if it weren't for the Raid on the Manor to come and save her and Eri.

"Do you remember what this man looked like?" Anko asked, putting a hand on Scythe shivering body, surprising her by the sudden touch. "Don't try to force yourself to remember if you can't. Did he have long black hair and purple around his eyes?"

Scythe shook her head, as she relaxed a bit, feeling Anko's gentle touch on her shoulder.

"He wore a plague mask, with a green jacket, white gloves, and short brown hair." Scythe explained.

"What's the last thing you remember before waking up in the cell?"

"Last thing I remember before blacking out was my mom… fighting him, and… then nothing, everything went black, and I woke up there." Scythe explained.

"Alright. Those will be all the questions about that event for today. We'll continue the questions tomorrow, or when you feel up to it." Anko said, pulling out a scroll from a pouch on her back, and opening it revealing some weird symbols on it, before in a puff of smoke, a white bundle, with a rounded metal feeling bottom part, appeared on the bed. Anko grabbed it and placed it closer in front of Scythe. "Instead, let's talk about this. It was found in your arms when our Shinobi discovered you. We haven't opened it yet because we were wanting to question you about it while we did so. Though Lord Danzo wanted to just open it right away, Lord Third insisted we let you open it, because it might be something important to you."

Scythe got on her knees on the bed, and smiled when she smelt a familiar scent coming off the white bundle. Untying the cloth, Scythe's smile brightened when she found that this cloth that was wrapped around the bundle, was actually Summer Rose's cloak.

"This is my grandma's cloak." Scythe smiled, slipping the entire thing off the rest of the items, cuddling it and rubbing her cheek into it. "She always wore this when she went out on missions. She even put it over me whenever I was scared."

Scythe put the cloak over her shoulders and looked at what was left inside the shield, and her smile widened.

"My training gear." Scythe smiled.

"Training gear?" Anko asked.

"In my country, there's a profession that gives people the title, Hero." Scythe smiled. "I was a hero in training. I wanted to be strong enough to save people, with a smile on my face, and a fearless heart, just like my grandpa. He went by the name All Might, because no matter what, he'd save everyone he could, with a smile on his face that never faltered, and villains everywhere feared him and his justice."

"I see." Anko giggled. "You've got a heroic heart, don't you?"

"My mom always said I do." Scythe smiled, before it went down a bit. "But… now I'm alone. I don't have anyone to call family, or anywhere to call home."

Anko sighed, feeling sympathy for Scythe. She could relate to the experimentation thing, and it wouldn't be easy to get over. She could also relate to the orphan thing to, her parents died during the Ninetails attack eight years ago, so she sympathize with her on both those fronts.

"But the shield is new." Scythe said, emptying the contents of it, and seeing the shield was three feet in diameter, with two leather straps on the underside, with the front painted red with her mom's flaming heart emblem in the center.

"Hey, there's a note." Anko said, pulling a slip of paper out of one of the straps on the shield.

Scythe took the note, and gave it a read.

'{Hi sweetie. You're probably wondering why all your gear is inside the shield. Well, when you had gone missing, and the search had been called off after months of searching, you had been declared dead, and a memorial was held for you, and Steve Rogers, from the armor shop, brought the shield as a tribute to you for your memorial, and it became part of the shrine set up for you. It originally belonged to his great-great-grandfather, but he painted over it, with the sigil on the center. It should protect you from danger. ~Love Granny Summer.}' Scythe read aloud, before looking at the shield in awe.

Anko found yet another reason to sympathize for Scythe. She had been separated from her family for months, and was declared dead, before her family made a rescue attempt, only to end up with Scythe losing them all, and being left alone in a cruel and unforgiving world.

"Alright I think that's enough for today." Anko said. "You should get some sleep kid. I'll be back for you tomorrow. But before you do sleep, there's someone who'll be coming by, to examine your mentality. He should be here any minute now actually."

Knock-knock-knock…

"Speak of the devil." Anko smiled as a man, with a couple scars on his face and a bandana on his head with the village's leaf emblem attached to it, behind him was a man with blonde hair and green eyes, wearing the standard Shinobi tracksuit. "Athena this is Ibiki Morino and the man with him is Inoichi Yamanaka. They're just gonna probe around in your mind a bit just to make sure you're not brainwashed or anything you don't know about."

"Okay." Scythe said, holding the cloak, tighter around her, a little nervous.

"Hey there." Inoichi said kneeling by the bed. "How old are you?"

"I'm 8."

"I have a daughter around your age." Inoichi smiled. "Don't worry, I can promise you this won't hurt a bit. Just relax and open your mind."

Inoichi reached out his hand to put it on Scythe's forehead, but with how he was doing it, made her see an image of Chisaki and she went backwards before curling up into a ball, wrapping herself up in her cloak.

"N-no more. Please Chisaki, no more." Scythe said, shivering in fear.

"Chisaki?" Inoichi asked as a nurse came in, hearing the commotion, and trying to calm her down.

"Could I speak with you two for a moment?" Anko asked, pulling on his ear and dragging him out the door, sounding a little frustrated. "I'll be back in a minute Athena. I just have to fill these two in on a little something."

~Foundation HQ: Danzo's Office~

"Report." Danzo said.

"Sir, we've intercepted the blood work on the medical regarding the girl." One of the Foundation Anbu said. "Her blood shows signs of power, similar to that of a Jinchūriki. In fact, the report goes so far as to say, it's identical to the Jinchūriki currently hosting the Two Tails, Yugito Nii of the Hidden Cloud Village."

"Hmm, she must have been sent here as a sleeper agent to destroy the village from the inside, and is the new host of the two tails. Eliminate her at once and find a new host from the village for the two tailed beast. For the sake of the village." Danzo ordered.

"Sir." The Anbu said, before disappearing.

"This should help me rise in power to becoming Hokage. Hiruzen will be questioned as to why he allowed the child Jinchūriki to roam freely, and if it goes on a rampage, he'll be forced to resign, and the title of Hokage will finally be mine." Danzo said with a smile.

~Hokage's Office That Night~

"An' you're sure there's nothing about this girl that suggests she's an enemy?" Hiruzen questioned.

"Positive. She suffers from PTSD, and her bloodwork suggests she's a Jinchūriki to something, as all the tailed beast Jinchūriki are accounted for in their respective villages." Ibiki said. "Anko is staying at the hospital to help calm the girl if she has any panic attacks. She had one right before Inoichi and I probed her mind. Whatever kind of power that Chisaki guy had, really messed her up, and she's scarred if someone reaches out for her the way Inoichi did."

"She's not under any Genjutsu's either, so we don't run the risk of her attacking the village from hypnosis either. If she ever were to attack, she'd do it of her own free will, but she has no reason to. According to Anko, her country trains people to become heroes, and her grandfather was the most powerful hero there ever was, and she wanted to follow in his footsteps." Inoichi explained.

"I see." Hiruzen smiled. "That's good to hear."

"However, we did notice the presence of a Foundation Anbu in the bloodwork lab earlier, no doubt Danzo sent them to get information on the girl. So I've placed my best men to guard her just in case my suspicions are accurate. An' my gut feelings usually are on point with this kind of stuff." Ibiki exclaimed.

"No doubt he's probably gonna try and trigger a transformation of whatever is inside her, and cause it to go on a rampage throughout the village, so I'll be forced to step down, and he'll be named as Hokage." Hiruzen sighed.

"If that is his endgame, then we should make sure she's kept safe." Inoichi said.

"I'll Kakashi to guard her alongside your subordinates Ibiki." Hiruzen stated. "She must be kept safe, for she, like Young Sasuke, just might be, the last of her clan."

Inoichi and Ibiki looked at one another, before turning back to the Hokage, nodding in agreement.

"She will be kept safe." Ibiki exclaimed.

~Scythe's Hospital Room~

The room was quiet as Anko sat quietly in her chair, watching with a smile as Scythe slept peacefully in her bed, wrapped in her grandmother's cloak. Anko had decided not to leave Scythe alone in the hospital, after seeing how she reacted to Inoichi reaching out to pat her head like he did. She thought it'd be best if she stayed there to keep an eye on her.

She was aware of Danzo's Anbu waiting for a moment for strike. Something she wasn't going to allow. Even with Ibiki's men at the door, she knew the Anbu could get past them without being detected, easily.

But she knew there was one other person who could take them out with no problem at all, who had just arrived. So with a smile on her face, she stood up and stretched her back, popping a few vertebra in her back, before going for a much needed bathroom break.

The moment she was gone, the Anbu made his presence known, and threw a kunai at Scythe, aiming for her head, before it was caught by a gloved hand. The person who caught it, did not look pleased.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi Hatake asked the Anbu, pocketing the kunai.

"I'm following Lord Danzo's orders, and eliminating the threat." The Anbu said.

"Sorry, but that's not going to happen." Kakashi said. "This girl is no threat to the village; that was proven by the two foremost information gathering specialists in the village."

"I still must fulfill my mission." The Anbu stated.

"Sorry." Anko said, a snake wrapping around him from behind, and constricting him. "But I'm gonna have to say no to that."

The Anbu dropped to the ground, struggling to get out of his bindings, before Kakashi knocked him out.

"That was a close one." Anko said.

"It wouldn't have been if you had just stayed in the room." Kakashi said.

"Hey, when nature calls, you gotta answer." Anko stated, shrugging her shoulders.

"Can't argue with that." Kakashi sighed. "Just be sure to keep her safe all right?"

"How about you watch over her for a while? I'll take this guy to the interrogation unit." Anko said, picking him up, and heading for the door.

"Hey wait a minute." Kakashi said, removing his kabuki mask.

"I'm counting on you." Anko smiled, closing the door behind him.

"Great." Kakashi sighed. "Oh well, at least this gives me a chance to catch up on some reading." Kakashi pulled out a pocket sized book from the pouch on his hip, and began reading it. "Ooh, we're getting to the good part." He chuckled.

"You shouldn't read stuff like that in front of a kid you know."

Kakashi looked up to see Scythe was awake, and sitting up in bed, looking at him.

"How long have you been awake?" Kakashi asked.

"Since you caught that kunai." Scythe said.

"Well, your senses are quite sharp for an eight year old." Kakashi said, putting his book away.

"When you live your life like I have, then having sharp senses could very well be the defining factor between life and death." Scythe exclaimed.

"I suppose that's true." Kakashi said. "You've seen things that kids your age shouldn't have seen, haven't you?"

"You could say that." Scythe said.

"Have you ever been with anyone besides your family?" Kakashi inquired.

"I've been alone most of my life. I was found and adopted by my mom, Yang Xiao Long. She was an amazing woman, I learned everything I could from her. But I was only a part of the family for little over a year before I was taken by Chisaki. Not long after I came into the picture, my little sister Eri was brought into the family to." Scythe explained.

"I see." Kakashi said. "So, you'd been on your own for as long as you can remember?"

"Pretty much." Scythe said. "I've had to hunt for food, run from people who'd want to use me as a weapon. I've even had to kill at times."

Kakashi could see the pain, in Scythe's eyes, as her past was haunting her from what she had done to survive.

"You know…" Kakashi began. "There's no shame, in surviving or making sure your friends and loved ones survive. There was a time, when I thought that wasn't true. The shinobi world is full of hardships, and a rule is those who break the rules are scum. My father broke the rules, to save his comrades. He was known as the White Fang of the Leaf."

"What happened after he returned?" Scythe asked.

"He was dishonored as a Shinobi, and people kept chastising him for breaking the rules." Kakashi said. "Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore, and performed seppuku. The only way he could die with honor."

"That's stupid." Scythe said.

"Excuse me?" Kakashi asked.

"Why would people chastise him for wanting to save his friends, over finishing the mission? I say he did the right thing." Scythe exclaimed.

Kakashi just looked at her before he chuckled, smiling under his mask. "You know, you remind me of a friend I used to have, he thought the same thing. He was the one who taught me that, those who break the rules are scum, but those who would abandon their friends are worse than scum." Kakashi explained. "You might not have been born in this village, but you certainly have the will of fire within you."

"Will of fire?"

"I'll explain it later, right now, get some sleep." Kakashi said.

Scythe nodded and laid back down in bed, curling herself up in the white cloak once more, with a smile on her face.

"Hey Mr.?" She asked.

"Call me Kakashi."

"Kakashi. Can you tell me a story? An' none of that smutty stuff either." Scythe exclaimed.

"Sure kid." Kakashi chuckled. "Why don't I tell you a fairy tale from when I was a child?"

~Hokage's Office~

"So in conclusion, Hiruzen has allowed a dangerous enemy to roam freely within the village, and must step down from his position as Hokage." Danzo said, meeting with Hiruzen and the village elders.

"Is this true Hiruzen?" Koharu Utatane questioned.

"Did you allow a sleeper agent of the Hidden Leaf's enemy into the village?" Homura Mitokado questioned.

"I can assure you, the child is harmless." Hiruzen said.

"Lies. I had one of my Anbu retrieve a copy of the report of the girl's bloodwork, and it shows to be the same as the Jinchuriki of the two tailed beast, from the Hidden Cloud." Danzo said.

"If she truly were the new Jinchuriki, then we would have received word of the old Jinchuriki having passed." Hiruzen said. "As for her bloodwork. It only shows similarities to that of the hidden cloud's Jinchuriki of the two tails. That doesn't mean she is the same."

"So you believe she's not from an enemy nation?" Koharu asked.

"Yes. I had the two finest information gatherers in the village probe through the child's mind. She's not under any Genjutsu, and she's not from any of the five nations. Though her home was destroyed and has suffered through months of torment, and is the last of her clan like young Sasuke Uchiha."

"I think you mean was." Danzo said. "News of this should have been brought to my attention sooner, as I had one of my Anbu execute her in the hospital room she occupied."

"I'm well aware you would have sent an Anbu to do your dirty work Danzo. So I had Kakashi Hatake guard her. An' it payed off as Anko stopped by my office before this meeting, with one of your Anbu, unconscious, and restrained, before he was taken off to the interrogation unit." Hiruzen said. "The girl remains alive, and is of age to enlist into the Shinobi Academy."

"Hiruzen, are you suggesting we allow her to learn our ways of the Shinobi?" Homura questioned.

"I am. As it stands, she's got no home, and no family. As such, she needs a place to stay, and call her own. From what we learned of her, the girl's home country didn't train shinobi. Rather, they trained those who wished to learn, to become heroes. Her grandfather was the greatest and strongest of heroes, and yearns to follow in his footsteps. I am certain, that if we give her a place within the village, she will come to call it home, she'll want to protect it, and will devote herself to protecting the village and its people." Hiruzen said. "If she is a Jinchuriki then she can learn to harness its power, and use it to protect our people."

"Very well." Koharu said.

"We will allow her to make her home in the village, and attend the academy." Homura said.

"I cannot believe what I am hearing." Danzo said. "You have all gone mad. You'll doom this village, and when that happens, you'll see I was right, she should be killed, and I should be given the Hokage title."

"As for you Danzo." Homura started.

"If you or any of your Anbu try to get close to the girl, for any malicious intent, you will be stripped of your title, and be banished from the village, as well as have a bounty on your head. High enough to make any bounty hunter want to come after you." Koharu said.

"This is ludacris." Danzo said.

"The verdict is final. Athena Xiao Long, shall remain as a citizen of the Village Hidden in the Leaves." Hiruzen said.