Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 1: A Visit with the Past.

The sunrise illuminated the forest, adorning the grass with colors of soft yellow, orange, and red. A small breeze shifted the young girl's black hair as she continued to run, keeping a steady pace. Her toes barely touched one tree before landing on another; her movements never rustled the leaves.

Everything was done in complete silence.

She halted abruptly, crouching on a sturdy branch as she scanned her surroundings. Something was amiss.

A flare of chakra sent her surging off the branch, twisting her body slightly as she pitched senbon needles tipped with poison at the source. Her aim was perfect, but the needles were deflected by a kunai and sunk into a nearby tree instead.

She felt a trickle of astonishment as she faced the pale-skinned shinobi. He was no normal shinobi; the reflexes were too experienced. His silky black hair and yellow snake-like eyes matched the descriptions of a man she never wanted to face— Orochimaru, the snake sannin.

Hikari shuddered in disgust. She had heard many things about this notorious ninja, none of which were anywhere near good. He was from her own village, Konoha. The Leaf Village. He had experimented on his teammates for his own selfish gains and had abandoned the village when his repulsive secret was revealed. He was a traitor, a dangerous traitor. The jutsus he uncovered did not go to waste.

Orochimaru smirked, gesturing behind her, and she froze in surprise as a new source of chakra dispersed around her. Their chakra control was nearly perfect, so well controlled that Hikari had not sensed them until Orochimaru's indication.

This chakra was familiar, but an incredulous yet hopeful expression flickered through her momentary lapse of composure though her face was hidden by her Anbu mask.

Her sensei should have been dead a long time ago.

Hikari stumbled back a few steps in shock before regaining her balance, resting a hand on the tree trunk with her mouth slightly ajar. It was impossible. Her old sensei stood across from her with a small smile, her light brown hair fluttering in the wind behind her.

She swallowed hard as she struggled to suppress the well of emotions within her. Memories locked up and pushed into a small corner of her mind freed themselves and filled her mind with images. They were bitter, heart-wrenching memories of the past.

"KENJI! RYO!"

Hikari screamed as her teammates slumped to the ground, the pain reflecting on their faces.

Blood oozed from the wounds, and their eyes were wide with shock, uncomprehending. They had been protecting her from the Sound ninjas, but two katanas had stabbed them both, simultaneously, before either had realized they were cut.

Salty tears splashed onto the ground as Hikari kneeled before her two friends. Confirming that Kenji was dead, she turned to Ryo and begun to heal him, knowing deep down that it was beyond her skill.

Ryo caught her hands, stopping the green chakra from entering his body. He brushed away a tear with his thumb and winced in pain before saying gently, "Stop Hikari. You know you can't help me. I'm going to die."

She shook her head furiously and yanked her hands out of his grasp. "You'll be fine. I'll—"

An abrupt force sent her flying into a tree trunk. She scrambled to her feet, narrowing her eyes at the Sound ninja standing beside Ryo. Her vision blurred from the tears, and colors clashed together.

It morphed and molded, first to red, then to orange and so on... until everything was blue.

The Sound ninja charged at her, but Hikari ignored him and spun around to punch the real person in the stomach. She saw his eyes widen in surprise before he collided painfully into a tree, his spine snapping at an odd angle, and the clone disappeared with a 'poof'.

Wasting no time, Hikari flung three senbon needles at an incoming ninja on her right. The needles struck three of his chakra points, effectively halting his chakra flow through his arms. Hikari thrust the heel of her hand into his chest and sent him crashing into his companion, who had not gotten back up from the ground.

Her breath was coming in short gasps, and her body could not keep up with her expectations. A cough racked her small frame before she could run to Ryo's side, forcing her down on her knees as another Sound shinobi sauntered towards her with a smirk. He stepped on Ryo for good measure, and cold dread dropped into her stomach. The miniscule hope Hikari clung to was squashed like a bug. Ryo was dead too.

The tears kept coming. Kenji was dead. Ryo was dead, and Minori-sensei was also presumably dead.

Hikari was the only one left of her genin team.

Yet her sensei was here, completely unscathed and completely different.

Hikari froze as disbelief clouded her mind. Minori-sensei's 'smile' was nowhere near kind. It was laced with malice and dripping with anticipation. Her eyes were cold and hard; nothing like Hikari was accustomed to. The carefree, gentle Minori-sensei was gone and replaced by an emotionless, bitter Minori Yamamoto.

"Minori-sensei," Hikari inquired softly, the first words spoken in the tense atmosphere.

Minori Yamamoto smirked, discarding the pretense knowing that Hikari had seen through it. "Hikari... It's been a long time."

Her former student had turned out exactly like she had expected.

Hikari stiffened as she felt Orochimaru step forward from behind her and angled her body so they were both in her view. She scrutinized their interactions and even the tiniest twitches did not go unnoticed.

Without warning, Minori vanished from her spot and reappeared in front of Hikari with a fist formed to punch. The young girl was responded instinctively, spinning the perfect amount to avoid the hit, but she did not counterattack, still unsure about the reason she was fighting her sensei.

Was her sensei with Orochimaru?

She winced each time she blocked a strike, feeling chakra dig into her skin. This was the reason her former sensei was so powerful; her chakra itself was a weapon.

Orochimaru observed the exchange from a distance and smirked. Minori was correct; Hikari Hyuuga definitely had potential— potential to become his next vessel.

Hikari bent backwards, narrowly evading another punch and landed onto another branch, calculating the situation. Her former sensei was a difficult opponent, but once Orochimaru decided to intervene, her chances of surviving their plans were slim.

Minori grinned and turned to Orochimaru for the signal to end the fight. He nodded briefly and she started forward, her face contorted in bloodlust.

The attack from the past replayed in her mind, and Hikari's eyes suddenly widened in realization; it was no coincidence. The attack had been planned by Orochimaru. Everything had been thought through, and Ryo and Kenji were not a part of his plans, so he eliminated them. The kind Minori-sensei never existed; she had always been his underling. Everything had been a façade.

And Hikari had never noticed.

Despite everything, her blood boiled with hate only toward the snake sannin. It was all because of him. If it were not his plans this cruel Minori Yamamoto would never have acted as a Leaf shinobi under his orders.

And Ryo and Kenji would still be alive.

Her resolve hardened. Never in her life had she felt such hatred. With her hands in the required handsign, she said, "Byakugan."

Her chakra responded immediately and concentrated into her eyes, straining the veins but fortifying her senses. Her white pupil-less eyes revealed the chakra flow in the two Sound ninjas, and gave her a nearly three-sixty view around herself. The Byakugan had been discovered on the same night her teammates had been murdered, and it was rarely utilized.

Now, it was time to take her revenge.

With a small twitch, poison-tipped needles slid between her fingers from within her sleeves, and she charged toward her former sensei— her enemy. At the last second, Hikari propelled upwards and projected them at Minori before flipping gracefully and landing lightly on the same branch. Without a second thought, Hikari avoided another strike as Minori emerged behind her and pressed two fingers into Minori's chakra point on her left shoulder, rendering it useless.

Minori hissed with pain, flinching backwards while clutching her left arm. She avoided another barrage of needles, but a few caught her on the chest and pricked open her skin, releasing poison into her system.

But it did not deter her.

The Sound kunoichi continued on as a numbing pain began to spread, starting at her chest. She threw another punch. Hikari parried. A lower left kick. Hikari dodged, and they sprung apart.

Their breathing were labored, a thin sheen of sweat already forming under the rising sun. They were once a peaceful pair, a mentor and her student, but their lives were forced upon each other by Orochimaru, for the sole purpose of power.

Minori leapt towards her former student, chakra accumulating in her left fist for one final blow. She extended her chakra outwards, forming the tip and sharpening it like a knife. The stress and emotional overload had pushed Hikari near her limits, and she could not avoid it.

Shit.

It sliced through her stomach, cutting through the tissue before her sensei ripped it out of her body and she slammed a fist into her chest, directly into Hikari's lungs. The impact sent her crashing into the ground, her breath coming in quick gasps and multiple cuts emerging as she fell through the branches. Minori followed her to the ground, coughing, and weak from the poison and injuries, with Orochimaru trailing closely behind.

Even after all these years, her former sensei still remembered her weakness. Hikari rolled onto her knees, coughing violently as her weak lungs threatened to fail. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve, staining it red with blood and glared at Minori, silently daring her to attack while she was weakened. But Minori did not strike, Orochimaru did.

A triumphant smirk overtook his expression as he twisted his neck. Without warning, it lengthened and flew at Hikari, the smirk never wavering. Hikari was barely able to flinch before his teeth sunk into the base of her neck and retracted. A mark formed instantaneously— the heaven curse mark.

Excruciating pain shot through her body, starting at her neck and spreading like wildfire, and a blood-curdling scream ripped from her throat. The pain was exactly like wildfire; it burned her muscles and scorched her weak lungs, making it hard to even breathe.

She writhed on the floor in an attempt to escape the pain, but it was futile and she eventually gave up as the pain consumed her from the inside. Her blood continued to seep through her clothes and from her mouth, staining the ground red.

By the time the pain began to dull, Orochimaru and Minori were long gone, and Hikari was left immobile on the grass. Darkness enfolded her, consuming the light until her eyes could see no more. Its tendrils crept up on her and imprisoned her in its vice-like grip, dragging her under into the lonely world of unconsciousness as her thoughts stilled and her eyes closed.

A/N: Geez, that was depressing... But... Anyone like it? Review?

Thanks for reading! :)