Chapter Two

Uzumaki Rika, a fifteen-year-old woman, the daughter of Uzumaki Naruto and Uzumaki Rukia, was a star.

In the Real World, a world full of Ninjas, she was a well respected ABNU Jouunin, leading a small squad of her own, while in the Soul Society she was the star pupil, quickly mastering both Kido and the art of Swordsmanship.

Along with her close friend Abarai Jun, she rose to the top of the Class, then the entire school. She had skipped two grades, unfortunately meaning that everyone, even the shrimps of the class, towered above her like living sky-scrapers, but her amazing grades made up for this.

She had achieved far more then her parents had expected, so much that she had even begun to impress Kuchiki Byakyua, Taichou of the Sixth Division and husband of Soi Fong.

But even when the product seems perfect, there is always a flaw. In Rika there was a certain flaw that she had kept from her parents her entire life, but there was another that the whole world seemed to know about. Rika, after all, was Uzumaki Naruto's daughter…

Kurosaki Tenten, a hard faced woman with hazel-brown eyes and hair, which was tied into two small buns that resembled ears on the top of her head, stood in the door way of the Girl's Bathroom, tapping her foot softly to the ground, arms folded across her chest.

She wore a glare so deadly that even a Hollow would've trembled in fear, but Rika had trouble fearing anything.

All five sinks were about to over flow with water dyed purple; the mirrors, walls and floors were covered with graffiti of all colours, creating a creative rainbow of distasteful words around the room; the floor was littered with damp toilet paper, and the fan above was spinning slowly, toilet paper rapped around each wing; one toilet was clogged with paper, and was close to over flowing, and Rika inched back from the toilet she was about to clog with a nervous, toothy grin on her face.

Fiddling with her shirt, Rika glanced out the tiny window that had somehow escaped her paper and graffiti. "N-nice day, i-isn't, Kurosaki-Sensei!" She laughed lightly, but it died away into small, uncomfortable coughs under Tenten's glare.

"Come on, Rika," She said coldly, stepping side and pointing outward. "You know the drill."

Oh, do I. She thought grimly as she trudged toward the open door; this was the, like, the hundredth time she had been caught. She could already see her mother's face, grim and disappointed. Oh, how she hated that face.

Rukia, eyes closed, stood on a small patch of earth, surrounded by crystal-clear water, flowing smoothly about her in a circle. To her left was a water fall, gleaming beautiful as it cascaded down a cliff, hitting the water below with nothing more then just a soft splash. To her right was an icy land, dotted with towering mountains, their peaks hidden from view by fluffy white clouds.

Rukia took a deep breath, allowing her mind to be drained of all thoughts, before opening her eyes. Standing before her was a beautiful women, with snow-white hair and ice-blue eyes. There was a gentle smile on her lips, a smile that made all sense of worry melt away into a puddle at her feet.

What was she worried about? Rika, her daughter, was what. Rika had been getting into a lot of trouble lately and, though it was like her to cause mischief, the number of pranks she had pulled in the last two months was frightening.

"Sode no Shirayuki," Rukia said, nodded to her Zanpakutou spirit, returning her smile with a pleasant grin.

"Rukia-sama," She replied, her voice echoing throughout the icy kingdom that was Rukia's Inner World. "Rukia-sama, you are troubled about something. Tell me, please."

Once again, Rukia was surprised, even shocked, by the women's kindness and compassion toward the raven-haired women. Even though it had been years ago, Rukia could never forget the hatred she had seen in those eyes when she had been freed from her soul.

"It's Rika, Sode No Shirayuki. She is acting strangely. I'm worried about her; she loves to pull pranks—Naruto-san is her father—but never so many, and so dangerous, in such little time. I don't understand…"

Rukia heard the white haired woman sigh. "You have never understood your daughter, Rukia-sama," The words brought a lump to Rukia's throat. "Rika-sama is an outsider, even to her own family. She knows you both love her very much, and would not hesitate to sacrifice yourself for her, but she knows all too well that she is an outsider."

The silence that followed was eerie and without a break; a weight appeared on the Shinigami's shoulders, forcing her to drop to her knees, eyes wide with disbelief and fear—a fear for her daughter.

Rukia swallowed several times, only to discover her throat was dry, and that every breath she took seemed to sting. She was only just able to summon back her voice.

"Wha…what do you mean, Zanpakutou?" She demanded icily, gritting her teeth in frustration when the woman merely shook her head, sighing once again.

"SODE NO SHIRAYUKI!" Rukia screamed, now desperate for answers. Something in the spirit's eyes and tone told her she was not lying, that her little girl really was hiding something from Naruto and herself—something important. "Please, tell me what you know!"

Sode no Shirayuki stared at Rukia for what seemed like a life-time, before finally opening her mouth to speak, only to have her words drowned out by loud banging coming from outside.

Rukia looked away for only a moment, surprised by the deafening sound, but when she turned back the white haired woman was gone.

Cursing, glaring coolly at where she had just stood, Rukia left her Inner World, snapping her eyes shut and muttering a few quick words. When they opened again, she was sitting cross-legged on the yard in her Shinigami uniform, Sode no Shirayuki lying before her in a vertical line.

Rukia glared at the sword. "You truly to do not understand me, Sword," She hissed. "If you did, you would have told me what you knew."

"Rukia-san!" A female voice called, followed by a series of soft bangs. "Please, Rukia-san! I know you're here!"

A smile spread across her face; that was Tenten, the wife of her old friend, Kurosaki Ichigo, who had taken the late Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni place as So-Taichou—though she still wondered of someone as hot-headed as he could handle the job.

She jumped to her feet and hurried inside, anxious to share her dream with a friend. She opened the up the paper door, grinning warmly at her friend, who was apparently frowning—hard.

"Good morning, Tenten-dono," Rukia greeted her politely. "What do I owe this…." Her voice trailed away as her eyes met Rika's, who quickly turned away, her cheeks pink with embarrassment; Rukia's warm grin was replaced by a stern frown.

"What did she do this time?" Rukia asked, though she was fearful of the answer.

"Destroyed the Girl's Bathroom, and displayed her knowledge of swear words all over the walls and mirrors." Tenten informed her, giving Rika a hard look before continuing.

"Rukia-san, if I could please speak with you privately…."

"Certainly, Tenten-dono," Rukia answered, moving aside so Tenten could sweep past, strolling away into the main-room. The moment Tenten had gone Rukia gave Rika a disappointed frown that caused Rika's shoulder to tremble before sending her away.

In the main-room, Rukia and Tenten faced each other, both looking solemn. "Rukia, not that I don't like Rika—she really is a great kid, if you get pass all that Naruto—but if this continues, I may have to suspend her. I really, really don't want to do that-"

"So let me talk with her and I'll make everything alright!" A cherry voice cooed.

Rukia didn't even have to turn to know who was standing behind her, grinning cheekily at her back; she already knew who it was. She rolled her eyes, turn to face her lover, Uzumaki Naruto, with an emotionless frown on her pale face.

Naruto's grin lessened a touch at the sight of his wife's face. "Come on, Rukia," He gently, the amassment in his sky-blue eyes flickering out. "Let me talk to Rika, please."

Rukia considered it, wondering briefly if Naruto would even try to talk with her or just take her to a Ramen Stand, and then sighed, a faint smile touching her lips; he was wearing the warm, understanding look that she couldn't say no to.

"Fine," She said finally. "But do talk with her, and don't go to a Ramen Stand! You never think straight when you're pigging over noodles."

Naruto's grin completely disappeared at those last few words, causing both girls to giggle.

Meanwhile, in the young trouble maker's room, Rika lay on her head, staring unblinkingly at the hand she held above her face. In the centre of her palm was a misty black spot, shifting slowly from shape to shape; it never moved from the palm's centre, but looked as though it were trying to.

Trying to break free...

As expected, Rika heard a glass-shattering scream the moment she closed her palm into a fist, and then winced as trails of blood slid from her hand and down her arm.

"Damn you, Demon," She whispered, reaching out with her bloodless hand to snatch up the towel she left at her side at all times. The bleeding was getting worse, she noted, as she wiped the blood away, and, muttering a few words, sent the black mist sinking back into her hand. Her Inner Hollow and Demon-half were becoming restless, allowing their Spirit Energy to leak out everywhere, which had already caused several trainees in her class to become terribly ill; but what really bugged the white-and-black haired girl was the fact that neither one would tell Rika what the worrying them.

Years ago, Rika had managed to separate the Demon-half from her soul in order to spare herself some time—she was going to turn into a full demon one day, and Rika desperately wanted 'one day' to be many, many centuries away—, so they no longer shared their thoughts. The Demon-half was crawling back, however, as though it wanted to tell Rika what the problem was, but not out loud; didn't the Hollow know? She sure acted like she did, taunting Rika by saying that she and the gigantic wolf-demon half had information that may save her life, but weren't going to tell her.

Was she lying? It wouldn't be the first time that black eyed witch had.

Rika sighed, laying her hands on her chest, just as the door was pushed open, and Naruto appeared in the gap.

"Come on, Rika," She said warmly as his daughter sat up, "We need to talk."

"So, what's troubling you, Rika?" Naruto asked before filling his mouth with steamy hot Ramen.

Yes, Naruto had taken his daughter to a Ramen Stand, despite what Rukia had ordered, and had begged Rika not to tell; she had agreed not to, as long as Naruto only had two bowls, and no more. To the blond haired Shinigami/Ninja, too many bowls of Ramen was like too many bottles of Sake for Matsumoto Rangiku. Naruto, reluctantly, had agreed to the terms.

"…Nothing, really," Rika lied, probing at her noodles with a fork.

Naruto frowned. "Is something going on at the Academy?" He asked. "You're not too stressed, are you?"

Rika shook her head. "No, I'm fine, really." She slapped a fake smile on her face, a smile that she had fooled both Rukia and Naruto with for years, but this time it didn't work. Naruto saw straight though the warm grin, and shook his head. "You don't need to lie," He said worriedly. "Just tell me what's wrong."

The truth was, Rika was attempting to force info from the stubborn Hollow by doing these things; 'Hika', as she was sometimes called, loved it when Rika caused trouble, and was usually willing to talk after pranks had been pulled, but Rika's attempts had been in vain. The Hollow's grey lips were still firmly sealed.

"I'm not lying, Dad," Rika insisted fiercely. "Everything is fine." With that, she began to wolf down her Ramen, barely pausing a moment to chew. Naruto looked on with a concerned gaze.

Despite his best efforts, Rika continued to say nothing was wrong—even when he offered to pull a prank on Hyuuga Akira, the adopted son of Hyuuga Neji, who was considered Rika's worse enemy.

In the end, Naruto gave into his daughter's stubbornness and treated her to one last bowl of Ramen, which she ate in less then a minute.

As they began to walk home it was eerily silent, the air heavy and cold as the sky darkened and a crescent-moon appeared in the sky. Rika felt guilty for lying, as she always did, but continued to keep the promise she had made years ago. Naruto's throat had run dry, his tounge stuck to the bottom of his mouth; it took all his courage and will-power to summon back his voice.

"Rika," He said suddenly, surprising Rika so much that she gasped. "I know you're hiding something from me, no, from both me and 'ya mother, but please try to remember that we both love you, and we always will, no matter what. Don't ever feel like we won't love you because of some secret."

Even if the secret was 'I'm a demon?' Rika thought grimly, but couldn't help but be touched by her father's words. She decided then and there that she would stop her pranks, and give her parents, and Senseis, a break for once. She grinned at her father, grinning for real this time. Naruto returned her grin with a thankful smile.

"Rika, how about you come with me to Komha next week?" Naruto asked, suddenly cheerful. "I got a message yesterday that the Hokage-sama needs the 'age-less Ninja' to do an important S-rank mission. It shouldn't be too hard, seeing as I can leave my body and become invisible. You can spend some time with living, breathing humans for once, and this time you won't have any missions to do; you can act like a kid. What do 'ya say?"

For a moment, Rika forgot it was night, and that many people were trying to sleep. "For real!?" She cried, suddenly bursting with excitement. "YAY! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Thank you, Dad!" She grabbed her father around the waist in a mini-bear hug, bring a faint blush to the man's scared cheeks.

"Don't mention it, Rika," He said.

If only she had known…


Finally done! 8D Sorry I took so very, very long, and I'm sorry that this chapter is boring -_- I tried to make it interesting, but really this was supposed to be just a little look at what Rika's life is and what not...But I promise the next chapter will be more exciting! 8D And thank you all very much for reading this! I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.