Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything in here besides Keiko, my OC. Naruto and everything accompanied to it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Note: This is a re-edit/re-write of the original Keiko, The Girl Born In Dawn fanfic to make it more literate and better written.
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Chapter One


Years passed since that day, the day they didn't come back, the day they broke their promise to her.

"We'll be back, wait here until then, alright? Tobi will take care of you..." And with those last words, Konan exited the hideout, glancing a small smile over her shoulder at her nine-year-old daughter before disappearing for the last time. Pein simply gave her one of those looks, not a bad one, but a good one, great even, one that told her that he loved her more than anything, and that he would return later.

They didn't.

They broke their promise.

They had left, smiling, loving, assuring and promising her that they'd return, like they always did when they went out on these 'jobs' they had to do every once in a while. She smiled and waved, shouting, "I love you mommy and daddy! I'll be waiting!" In her cute, childish voice. And then she'd go off and play around with Tobi, who was only four years older than herself. Thirteen, quite a young age to babysit. Quite a young age to be training to be in the Akatsuki.

His orange mask always confused her, but she liked it, he was fun to hang out with, and he always played with her even when she blamed him for the coffee table being broken. He didn't mind, he was silly, talked in third-person, and if she had to guess, she'd be willing to bet that there was always a smile under that mask.

Hours passed, and finally, the two young, future Akatsuki members sensed someone coming, immediately recognizing the chakra patterns by heart, and rushed over to the entrance.

She just stood there, next to Tobi, smiling, rocking back on her heels, waiting for her mother to come and smile at her, giving her a small gift she had gotten while she was out, a flower, a small ring, anything. And her father to come and ruffle up her bright orange hair before subtly walking back into the hallway, towards his study.

She counted the heads, one, two, three, four, five, six...there were two missing.

She counted again, this time, mentally naming them off as they entered. Itachi, Zetsu, Kisame, Deidara, Kakuzu, Hidan...

Two were definately missing.

She slowly, shyly walked up to them, her eyes easilly recognizing the blood stains on their tattered, beaten clothes along with the bruises and cuts all over their bodies. "Where's mommy and daddy?" She had asked, first the eldest of the group, Kakuzu, Zetsu, and Kisame.

They simply gave a glance at her, a small look filled with so much more; sadness, pity, sorrow. She blinked, but shrugged it off as fatigue on their part before walking up beside Deidara, a recent Akatsuki, youngest of the group, only six, maybe seven years older than herself. He spared her a longer glance, opening his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and simply walked back into the hallway, toward his room.

It was the same look.

By this point, she was getting worried. So she turned to her last resort, Itachi. He scared her, and he joined maybe a year after she was born. She stayed out of his way, but he never did anything in case she made a mistake towards him. But those eyes, they just creeped her out. The two weren't exactly close.

"Where are they?" She said, stopping right in front of his path, blocking and stopping him from going anywhere at the moment.

The Uchiha simply looked down at her, not inclining his head, just looking at her with his coal black eyes. His cloak seemed to be the least tattered and ruined. He was usually the least injured whenever they had to go out on 'missions'.

"Are they still fighting? Why'd you guys leave them alone?" The small, blue-eyed girl asked, still unaware of the tragic truth Itachi would have to reveal to her.

He simply closed his eyes. He seemed to have stopped breathing, bracing himself for the words that were to escape his mouth.

"They aren't fighting anymore, Keiko." He said, the words coming out in a single breath. The feeling of regret immediately started to settle in the moment he opened his eyes to see the expressions run across the young girl's face.

She was confused at first, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes in question at him. A moment passed, and she finally got it. She was a smart girl, and she knew and understood things, and she understood what the Uchiha meant.

Immediately, her body began to shake and tremble. Her blue eyes widened and her mouth fell slightly open. Itachi's eyes showed the smallest of hints of emotion, regret and sorrow, for her. He should've said something, but he didn't know what to say. He wasn't exactly suited to be an older, consoling sibling. He abandoned his last brother, he'd probably do worse on a younger sister, if that's what he considered her to be.

Keiko's head began to shake, unbelieving of his words, tears gathering in her eyes. "No...they're alive, they just got left behind..." She tried convincing herself, but she knew the truth.

They were gone.

Itachi couldn't watch this. Not again. Sasuke was about the same age when... He just couldn't watch it again, so he did what he suddenly felt compelled to do.

He dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around her.

Keiko's eyes grew wider, and she froze. She didn't expect this, not even from someone like Tobi, and especially not the emotionless Uchiha.

But being a young girl with no parents to comfort her, she clung to the closest thing to them, him.

Her small hands clutched the fabric of his cloak and she buried her head in his shoulder, crying. She was a strong, young girl, always following the rule of never letting anyone see you cry. Her parents were the leaders of the Akatsuki for heaven's sake, she should've been stronger than this, but...

She was only a young girl.

Her crying seemed to calm a little, as well as Itachi's nerves, but they soon built back up again as soon as he heard her trembling voice speak.

"Who were they fighting...?" She asked.

Itachi was confused. Why would she need to know that? But, he answered anyway, hoping to calm the girl down enough to get her into bed. "Konoha. They were fighting and were ambushed by ninjas from Konoha." He said, his voice barely a whisper.

Keiko just stared at nothing in particular, her eyes tear stained and half-lidded.

Konoha...

She imprinted the name into her brain, forever going to remember it.

"Itachi...can my parents hear me right now? Are they somewhere better, where they can hear me and see me?" She asked. It was an innocent question, almost all children had to be told about death at somepoint, Itachi just didn't think Pein and Konan were the kind to speak of happy places and peacefulness when death came.

But he couldn't help but suspect that the young girl had something in her head.

"I would guess that they were..." He pulled away from her, standing at his full height as she continued to stare at the ground. "Why?" He asked.

Keiko's lip no longer trembled, instead, her face was a look of determination, and of rage. Her small fists clenched, and each word she spoke came out perfectly pronounced.

"I promise. I promise, Mom and Dad, you're killers will suffer...they'll pay for taking you away from me. I promise, I will not rest in peace until they're dead." Her voice was so dark, so anger-filled, Itachi couldn't help but give her a look of total disbelief.

She then looked up at him, her eyebrows pulled down, and something pulling at the corner of her lips.

"I want you to train me. I need to get stronger."



It had been about twelve years since the death of her beloved parents. Keiko had grown into a young woman, twenty-one in age. She was no longer that nine-year-old girl, always clumsy, always making mistakes. No, she had grown, she had learned.

Her curves set in, and her legs grew long. And she didn't have any trouble showing that little fact off to the rest of the world. A tan tank-top, matching mini-skirt. Long, black, thigh-high boots and black, fingerless gloves.

Her hair had also grown, no longer having a short bob held up out of her eyes by hair pins. No, it had grown, and she kept it a couple inches past her shoulders, chunks and locks of hair sweeping over her right eye, keeping it partially hidden.

Ever since that day, the day she had vowed her life to finding her parents' murderers, she had requested Itachi train her, at the time, and she didn't know it back then, but he had no room to disagree with her. She was the heir to the Akatsuki throne, and he was aware of that even though she was just a young girl.

Itachi, still thinking that Keiko was a young girl, had somewhat taken over leadership of the Akatsuki while he trained her. He was in charge, being entrusted as the new guardian of her. Everyone listened to him, and no one dared speak against him.

Everyone except Keiko, that is.

Keiko had become incredibly talented in fighting. She had begged and pleaded Itachi to train her, even when she could hardly stand. She wanted to learn everything, get as much power and strength as possible before having to go out and find her parents' killers.

He hated seeing her turn into such a killing machine, so filled with rage and anger, learning how to take lives without any right to do so. And even more to his remorse, she learned quite fast, and he couldn't decide whether or not that trait was a good one, or bad.

Keiko also had somehow become attached to a sword she had one day found and immediatey favored. It looked like a nomal katana-like sword, but it was slightly mis-shapen, it looked like the tip had been cut off at a steeper angle than what would be considered normal.

"Come on...stupid moon...rise already!" Keiko growled, staring out the window of her room, arms crossed, foot tapping. She needed the time to hurry up, and right now, it seemed like it was going slow, just to get on her nerves.

It was dark out, the moon had already risen and colored everything a pale blue color. But she couldn't see the moon, not yet, her window was facing away from where it originally rose up, and as soon as it came into view, Itachi would come and check up on her, making sure she was in bed.

God, he treated her like she was still nine.

All the members of the Akatsuki, excluding Itachi, were already retired to their rooms. She didn't really care, and certainly didn't want to find out what they did at night, she knew they didn't sleep as soon as they locked their doors, which kind of creeped her out. Zetsu was what was on her mind when she thought of people committing strange acts. He had two personalities, one nice, the other just downright rude. Did they argue on what side to sleep on? What toothpaste to use?

She shuddered. She didn't want to think about it.

The young woman just sighed, walking over and sitting on her bed, quickly lifting the blankets to confirm that her sword was where she had hidden it. Her eyes quickly glanced at the small, ticking clock on her nightstand, under her lamp.

9:58 PM.

Itachi would come and check on her any minute now. He would come, knock on the door, more like tap on it, and then open the door a crack, just enough to see her sleeping, and then he'd close it, and leave.

He still treated her like she was nine. And it irritated her to no end.  

She was twenty-one! She could stay up longer than she could've at the age of nine! She couldn't tell why Itachi was being so strict, why he was making sure she got enough sleep, brushed her hair, brushed her teeth, ate breakfast, waited half an hour before doing anything serious.

She hated it.

Keiko quickly slipped under her blankets, her back to the door, her sword at her side, and her blankets pulled up to her chin, hiding the fact that she was still in her clothes, boots and all.

She closed her eyes the moment she felt a very familar chakra presence outside her door. There was no knock this time, instead, the dark-eyed Uchiha simply opened the door, his eyes quickly scanning her form for anything suspcious, anything to prove that she wasn't asleep.

A second later, her door closed, but she knew he hadn't left. She had pulled this trick more than a couple times before, so he waited, he had learned, and he was waiting.

Keiko bit her lip, forcing herself to keep her breathing steady, to keep her form still, until she had finally felt his chakra presence fade, and hear his door close shut.

A couple seconds of more waiting, and she quickly flung off her blankets, grabbed her sword, and walked as quietly as possible toward her window. But as soon as her finger touched the latch, she was stopped.

There was the slightest sound of the door opening before a hand had suddenly grabbed her wrist, pulling it away from her escape and twisting it up behind her back, holding it there while another hand threw her sword across the room before pressing her up against the cold, hard wall.

"Dammit." She mumbled, knowing exactly who had stopped her.

"Keiko, you know I don't approv--" Itachi started, but was cut off.

"Yeah, yeah. I heard it a thousand times before, Itachi. Let's just cut to the part where you let me go and we can go spar some more." She said, a smirk on her lips as she began a horrible mimic of Itachi's voice, saying, "Keiko, you know I do not approve of this, your parents wouldn't want this for you."

Just as she wanted, her poor immitation of the Uchiha worked to irritate him, and his hand clenched around her wrist, threatening to push the captive arm up further.

"Go. To. Bed." And with that, he let go and turned on his heel, heading out of her room.

She simply rubbed her wrist, watching him, a smirk on her lips. He should know better not to trust her with such a stupid command like that. Hell, he DID know not to trust her with a stupid command like that.

So when Keiko had grabbed her sword, turned, and jumped out her window into the cool night, Itachi was right behind her.

She immediately jumped out of the way once her heel hit the ground, Itachi landing where she would've had she not leaped to the left.

"Keiko--" Itachi started.

"Oh, just shut up and fight, Itachi!" She replied, cutting him off.

Itachi's eyes narrowed, basically glaring at the naive woman before standing upright and saying, "Alright, if that's what you want." He said, his voice unusually calm.

Keiko smirked, "Oh, it is." She replied, getting ready to fight back.

Itachi then shifted his feet, and before Keiko could even blink, he was gone.

"Crap!" She said, quickly dodging the the hand that had suddenly jutted out toward her. She ducked, sweeping her leg across the ground, knowing that Itachi would know better than to be caught by such an amature trick like that.

When Itachi jumped out of the way, she grabbed her sword and swung it towards him. He had to push himself back a little to avoid getting cut with it, but the tip of the sword caught on the fabric of his shirt, tearing the front of it.

He ground his teeth together, landing a few feet away from her, not caring to examine the damage done to his clothes. Keiko gave an innocent smile, as if apologizing for the tear in his shirt, but he knew that she was simply faking.

This was getting exasperating, and exhausting on his part. Keiko had pulled this little trick over, and over, and over again, and he was sick of it. She was getting better at fighting, but she still had some things to learn. He wasn't even fighting at his full potential. Lord knew that if he pulled the Sharingan on her, she'd be dead in less than a second.

He sighed, and looked at her. "Keiko, if I can render you immobile in less than five seconds, you're going back to bed."

Keiko gave a 'hmph' sound, still in her defensive position. "Maybe I would if you just asked nicely for once. All you men here are so...heartless, and rude." She stated. Itachi closed his eyes, shaking his head. "Like you're one to talk, considering your actions for the past few nights."

And before Keiko could reply, Itachi was behind her, a hand landing on her sword while another landed on her head, pushing her form down to the ground while he disarmed her.

Her eyes widened, and while she felt her sword being torn out of her hands, she raised both arms in front of her face, having her elbows take in most of the impact when her body slammed to the ground.

Itachi's hands were immediately on her wrists, pulling them out from under her and holding them down to the ground while he swung a leg over her, pinning her.

After a moment, Keiko screamed out of rage and anger. "DAMMIT!" She yelled, grinding her teeth, unable to slam her fist into the ground. Itachi simply looked at her, his eyes half-lidded. "Ready to go to bed?" He asked, his voice monotonic.

"Just shut your mouth, for once. I'm not nine anymore, you idiot. And I'm getting sick of you treating me like I am!" And with those words, she raised her leg, swinging it backwards, making the heel of her boot clash against Itachi's back painfully.

Itachi let out a huff of breath as he stumbled forward, removing his hands from hers to catch himself. Keiko took that opportunity to use one hand to trip both of his and use the other to push herself upward, which, in turn, pushed him off to the side, freeing her.

Itachi didn't expect that from her, she hadn't done that before, and he didn't know that she actually had the skill to actually humiliate him. Luckily, no one was around to witness his small defeat.

But Keiko wasn't finished.

She stood on her knees and as he started sitting up, she swung her gloved fist toward him, catching him in the jaw, sending him backwards. But he had raised his hand, trying to block the hit but instead grabbed her wrist, bringing her down with him.

Keiko just tried ripping her hand from his grasp while she continued to attack the other, punching, kicking, just openly fighting like some teenager on the street.

It took him a moment, only because he was blocking most of her hits to his face, but he was able to get a good grip on both of her hands, quickly moving them to one hand while he used the other to place on her shoulder, pushing her off of him so they were both sitting on their knees.

She continued to struggle, but her head was low, and instead of curses and growls escaping her mouth, they were now short sobs and cries. Her body jerked with every sob and soon, she calmed down, naturally leaning into Itachi, crying on his shoulder.

Itachi let go of her hands, feeling them grip his shirt, like she had when she was nine, on that day.

He understood why she was crying, this happened a couple times before, mainly when she tried disobeying him and he always came out on top. She was overwhelmed, overstressed with everything going on. It was mainly the stress of knowing that your parents were murdered, and you couldn't do a damn thing about it.

But it also didn't help that most of the guys, no, all of the guys in the Akatsuki would tease her, had teased her ever since her parents hadn't been there to protect her. Hidan was the worst, he'd trip her, mock her, hurt her. Itachi was somewhat glad that the bastard had died along with his partner sometime before.

But she was the only girl, only woman in the Akatsuki, and everyone knew to stay away from her, fearing they would have to face Itachi's wrath upon them. It was inappropriate for her to be involved with that kind of stuff at a young age, even though that was a while ago, she was fully capable to take care of herself and get involved with whomever she wished.

He didn't like it.

For some reason, he didn't want anyone near her. He promised to protect her, and he didn't trust anyone to get near her besides himself.

"Let's get you to your room..." Itachi said, picking the woman up, bridal style, and heading back into their lair, walking down the hall, opening her door, and setting her in her bed. Exactly what he had done when she was nine, so long ago.

In some ways, she hadn't grown up. And...that kinda pleased him in a way.

Keiko was almost completely asleep when he had pulled the blankets over her form. He stared at her, noting the tear streaks on her face and the unsettled breathing pattern from her sobbing. He really didn't know whether or not she cried herself to sleep everynight, but what irritated him was the fact that he couldn't do anything about it if she were.

Giving a small sigh, Itachi quietly exited the room, and retired to his own for the night.