Chapter 3

Kakashi was again making his way through the village. He and Athena had left the ramen shop much to Naruto's dismay. Again the ninja was deep in thought. He had observed the interaction between the two five year olds. The statement Naruto made was still fresh in his head. He finally found out what was bothering the five year old. The emotion in her eyes. He understood the feeling. He went through it as well. It's one of the reasons he wore a mask. Even so there was obviously more to the Senju than plain loneliness. It's just a part of what she's feeling.

"Where are we going? "

Kakashi didn't answer and instead walked right into a store. He held the door open for the small girl and she wandered in with a curious look in her eyes.

"You need daily necessities and anything to help with your training"

"I get kunai and shuriken? "

"Yes, but you wont use them until I think you're ready"

"How about paper bombs or any type of seals? "

"Yes" Kakashi walked around the store collecting everything he thought she would need. He would be taking care of a child now and would need the proper supplies. Luckily the store he brought her to had everything. From Kunai to nightwear. While he collected any ninja related objects Athena was tasked with collecting her own clothes. He limited her to five ninja outfits. Five casual wear and two night wear. He figured it should be more than enough for a five year old.

He was expecting Athena to take a long time with his task. Children always want everything they see and being limited makes them indecisive. Kakashi was ready to stick around the store for at least more than thirty minutes. To his pleasant surprise Athena got what she needed in no time at all. All her clothes had the same color scheme. Red and black. It was easy for Kakashi to see the those two colors were two of her favorites.

Having done their shopping the pair made their way to Kakashi's house.

~~~~~~~~~~

Athena shifted slightly as she adjusted her way of sitting. She folded her feet beneath her sitting Indian style. The grass brushed against the exposed lower half of her legs as the wind blew in her hair. She felt very calm. Something she didn't experience much.

She was staring at Kakashi seated across from her. He hadn't said a word since she sat before him. The second they arrived at his house he instructed her to take a shower and change into suitable clothes. They start training immediately. Athena didn't mind. Better sooner than later. She was however curious about how she would be trained. She knew how Kakashi could be so it was hard telling what he would let her do.

"Do you know what chakra is? "

Of course she knew what chakra is. She looked at him with raised eyebrow. Did he really think she didn't know such things? The Hokage did make it clear to him that she had info about the world.

"Yes I do"

"How much do you know? "

Athena blinked. How much? She knew it all. Naruto was what she spent most of her time watching and reading. She probably watched the entire thing more than two times. Certain things are burned into her memory. Even if she hadn't watched Naruto with full attention she would still remember Almost everything the happened in the anime. Her memory was impressive. She wouldn't say she had photographic memory. It's more like she remembers what is said and written. It proved helpful in school.

"Chakra is essential to even the most basic technique. Through various methods, the most common of which is hand seals, chakra can be controlled and manipulated to create an effect that would not be possible otherwise, such as walking on water, exhaling fire, or creating illusions. Chakra is ordinarily not visible to the unaided eye unless it is highly concentrated or manifested in large amounts. This is rarely seen due to the restrictions of eight specific tenketsu known as the Eight Gates, which limit the amount of chakra an individual can release at a single given time" Athena explained flawlessly. She had read that on Wikipedia once. Once she reads or hears something she does not forget. It didn't matter how long ago she read or heard it. She would remember it when she needed to.

"That's very good" Athena could detect the slightest hint of shock in Kakashi's voice. "The Hokage told me about your knowledge, but I needed to see how much you actually possessed " He explained, back to his calm and lazy self. "Before we do anything you need to know how to use your chakra to some degree"

"So I must discover my chakra? "

"Yes"

"Alright"

"Now, close your eyes and enter a meditative state. What I want you to do is grab hold of your chakra. Imagine it as a ball of energy in the pit of your stomach. Grab onto it and guide it to your arms"

Athena did as told. She closed her eyes and blocked out everything around her. She took deep slow breaths and focused on them. Her heartbeat slowed down considerably as minutes went by. In her head she was picturing a blue ball of energy in the pit of her stomach. Something twisting and turning, waiting to be molded to what she wished. Then she felt it. It felt very odd. It was a warmth coming from her core. It felt like sparks of lighting. As warm as it felt there was a chill to it as well. Very odd. Having found her chakra she focused on grabbing hold of it. Gripping onto it firmly and pulling it. Slowly she guided the new found energy to her arms. She felt it travel under her skin, finding their destination.

Upon opening her eyes she saw small blue flames in each of her palms.

"I guess I did it"

"That was faster than expected"

"Was it? "

"I wasn't expecting you to succeed so fast. It takes a lot of time to gain control of chakra even just a little bit"

Athena didn't say anything and just stared at her hands. Kakashi didn't believe in her then? She figured she shouldn't be surprised. No one believed in her before and that was normal life. Now she's dealing with high class situations. She shouldn't feel anyway because Kakashi didn't expect her to accomplish something even adults struggle with.

"Well my mother is Tsunade and we both know that her chakra control surpasses every Kage" She said at some point. "I must have inherited it"

"I suppose" Kakashi sighed. "Here"

Kakashi handed her a paper. She recognized it. It looks like normal paper though. No matter how close she observed it it still seemed like normal paper.

"Chakra paper" She muttered.

"Yes, so you know what to do and how it works, right? "

"I must direct chakra into the paper. It will then react to my chakra by bursting into flames, getting wet, ripping, crumpling or crumbling. Each effect indicates a chakra affinity. Be it fire, water, wind, lightning or earth"

Kakashi only nodded to the explanation and Athena directed her attention to the paper again. She wondered what her chakra nature could be. Lightning seemed cool. It also would make it possible for her to learn the Shidori. Wind was a great element. The amount of cool jutsu was endless and she wasn't forgetting the rasengan, although it could be done with any nature. Water would be nice as well and so would earth. The water dragon jutsu and mud wall were great jutsu. In all honesty she didn't have a favorite element. They all seemed amazing to her.

She held the paper in front of her and focused her chakra on it. She watched with furrowed brow as the paper ripped straight down the middle, burst into flames, dampened, crumpled and lastly crumbled and fell into the dirt. She blinked as a small plant suddenly grew from the spot the paper fell.

"That was unexpected" She said with a dead pan look on her face. She lookef away from the plant and at an obviously shocked Kakashi. "Yo,Kakashi it looks like I have the five elements and wood release"

"I-I see that"

"If I have the five elements as my natural affinities then it is possible for me to use the Nature releases, my wood release is proof" She said staring at the plant. It was becoming clear to her that she was important to this story. Born on the same day as Naruto. Being personally targeted by the nine tails, or more precisely Obito. Having two sannin as parents. Possessing all chakra natures, wood release and the possibility of all the other releases. And then there is her impressive chakra control. She knew better than anyone that possessing all of these trademarks made her an important piece of this story. She had a role to play. Her life would finally have meaning.

"We need to see the Hokage"

~~~~~~~~~~

For the first time Hiruzen wasn't frustrated with doing paper work. It was still annoying, but it was manageable now. He was skeptical when Athena said she could help him with his work, but she insisted and gave him the meanest glare when he turned her down. He had no choice but to agree to her offer. He did not regret it. All of his papers were neatly sorted into stacks marking their importance. There were four piles. Those that were just childish complains and didn't need any or a lot of attention. Those that needed attention, but could wait, such as the reconstruction of the ninja academy. It was good as it was and could stand a wait. Those that were important and needed his attention. And then there is the list of absolutely must be taken care of as soon as possible no questions asked. He would have to remember to thank Athena when he saw her again.

There came a knock at his door to which he verbalized his permission.

In stepped a perplexed looking Kakashi with Athena following close behind.

"Kakashi, Athena, back so soon? "

"Something came up" Kakashi said. "It's about Athena"

Hiruzen glanced at the child. She was dressed in a pair of black pants that reached just above her ankles and a red shirt. Underneath she apparently had on a long sleeved fishnet shirt. Her hands were in her pockets and she was humming a soft melody to herself.

"What about her? "

"It's about her Chakra affinity. It turns out she has all five of them"

All five? Again Hiruzen looked at the child who only then seemed to take an interest in the situation. Hiruzen was shocked. He could not believe that she possessed all five affinities. Something like that was never heard of before. Yes Hashirama and Tobirama both wielded the five elements but they trained hard to get that good. It didn't come naturally to them. Not like Athena.

"Lord Hokage, there is something else"

"What is it? "

"She also possesses wood release"

~~~~~~~~~~

Athena could feel eyes on her and looked away from the wooded floor. Hiruzen was staring at her with shock clearly in his eyes. She understood where he was coming from. She herself was slightly shocked. Every ninja had one affinity that came naturally to them. Maybe a small percentage had two. But having all five. That never happened before. It is possible for one to learn the, but it's totally different from having a natural knack for them.

"I understand that Hashirama was the only one capable of using this style and after him no one could naturally wield it, right? " What she said sounded like a question but it was a statement. She knew everything about this ninja world. Something as well known as this was such info. "The only other person capable of using wood release is Tenzo, of the ANBU"

"You know about him as well? "

Athena sighed seeing the look in the old Hokage's eyes. "Yes, like I said I know all the important stuff. I know about Orochimaru and his experiments. I know about my mother and her fear of blood. I know about things dating all the way back to Kaguya and the chakra tree. "

"I suppose" Hiruzen sighed. "Kakashi take her to Hiashi to see how much chakra she possesses. You will continue to train her normally for now, I'll get Tenzo to train her in wood style"

"As you wish"

There was an arm on her shoulder and she instinctively pulled away from it. It was Kakashi and he was staring down at her.

"We're going to teleport"

"Do you have to touch me? " Athena asked with an odd face. She rubbed her shoulder where he held her and sighed again.

"Yes" Kakashi put his hand on her shoulder again. She didn't have time to say anything. She was suddenly over took with complete nausea. She stumbled and her hands flew to her mouth to keep the bile from spilling. "You'll be fine"

"Curse you" She begrudgingly swallowed the vile liquid and made a disgusted face.

"You'll get used to it"

Athena only glared at the back of the ninja she was following. She sighed and decided to ignore the feeling in her stomach. It would have to go away at some point. The less attention she paid it the better.

She stood behind Kakashi as he knocked on the door in front of him. Athena leaned on one foot to see who would open the door. Being short was such a hassle.

The door opened and revealed someone she had mixed feelings about.

"Hello Hiashi, I have a request of you"