Alright everyone, welcome to the rewrite of The Scent of Rain. Some minor changes here in this first chapter. Let me know what you think!

All the usual disclaimers. I don't own Naruto, Avatar the Last Airbender, or anything that seems familiar.

Rated T for now probably going to go up to M sometime in the future.

If there's one thing I've become certain of in my short life, it's that war is everywhere. The reasons all the same, resources, power, money. It starts off with small skirmishes, seeing how far one can push the other. Then it culminates to an all out war. Blood flows, homes are destroyed, families ripped apart, and then after one side can fight no more it ends. But the moments of peace are fleeting and the cycle begins again. It's always the same. No matter the time period, no matter the people, no matter the world.

My name is Sumiko and the land which I now call home is not the world I was born in. I was born to a Fire Nation woman named Su and a Northern Water Tribe man named Koda. In my land of birth there is a war going on. The Fire Nation against everyone else. My parents had a passing affair that ended in the creation of my twin brother Lee and I. My mother was the daughter of a noble family loyal to the Fire Lord. She had already been married and passed off my brother and I as her husband Shang's children. We had the typical Fire Nation coloring of pale skin and dark hair so it wasn't a problem. Her husband even said once that our blue eyes were from his side of the family.

When we were about three years old Lee had discovered his firebending abilities. I recall everyone being so proud of him and getting attention that I decided I wanted to be a bender too. Unfortunately, I wasn't a firebender. I had taken after my biological father and had the ability to bend water. Mother was horrified. She said I wasn't safe here anymore. That if Shang or anyone else ever found out they would kill me, so she packed me up and shipped me off to the Northern Water Tribe. I cried and cried as I was separated from everything and everyone my three year old self had ever known.

The journey to the Northern Water Tribe was long and increasingly cold. When I finally arrived I was just about to turn four. I met my father at the port and when he saw my eyes he seemed to relax. I may have been pale skinned like my mother and most others of Fire Nation blood, but I had the eyes of a water tribe member. All members of the Water Tribes, both North and South, had blue eyes that showed their connection to water.

I tried my best to adapt and live a normal life in the Northern Water Tribe, but many of the children there teased me for being different. I may have had the Water Tribe eyes but I still looked different. My features were more angled and sharper than the others. I stuck out like a turtle-duck in a desert. A number of the adults, mainly the elderly with high status shunned me for being born out of wedlock. The Northern Water Tribe was a stickler for traditions and the old ways.

I found comfort though, in the old woman, Karani, who taught in the Healing Huts. She took me under her wing and I immersed myself in my studies of the healing arts through waterbending determined to be the best student she ever had. By the time I was eight years old, Karani said there was nothing else to teach me. That I had mastered the healing arts and was now a healer in my own right.

Things in the village got easier for me after that. They called me a prodigy. Even our chieftain said that no member of the Northern Water Tribe had been declared Healing Master at such a young age. I remember the proud look on my father's face. I remember grinning so hard that my face hurt. I had finally done something right in his eyes. I was finally something more than an unexpected burden from a brief love affair.

I continued to help out old lady Karani at the healing huts when one day after all her other students had left, she presented me with a scroll. It was a waterbending scroll. In my tribe women were forbidden from learning how to use their waterbending abilities for anything other than healing. Karani told me that she believed I had too much potential to waste, and that her son thought the same. Her son, Hanook, was a waterbending master. He told me that we must keep our training an absolute secret. That nobody else could know. If anyone found out there would be terrible consequences for the both of us.

Lessons were slow. We never moved on until a move could be done perfectly on instinct. By the time I was nine, Hanook said I had a thorough mastery of the basics and he was now going to be teaching me some more advanced moves. His training was both physically and mentally taxing, but like with Karani I was determined to be the best student he ever had.

One day, I was running an errand for Karani to retrieve a few vials of water from the sacred pool in the Spirit Oasis. Some of the men had been grievously wounded in a bad patrol accident and it was enough to warrant use of water from the sacred pool. This is the last errand I would run for Karani, and unfortunately I didn't complete her request. As I approached, the two koi fish in the pond, rumored to be the physical manifestations of the moon and ocean spirits, began to circle each other. With each step I took they circled faster and faster. The pool started to glow white and light began to engulf the entire oasis.

"You are needed elsewhere child, the Traverser of Worlds." a voice boomed. "The land to which we send you will be your home. Fight for your new home dear one. Protect it and the people in it. That world, like many, is filled with darkness. You must be a light in the dark. Be the light for he who is shrouded in darkness. Do not let him lose himself. This is your destiny."

"You have our blessings child." another softer and more feminine voice whispered as I felt myself being pulled into the sacred pool.

The cool bite of the water marked the end of my life in my old world and the beginning of my life in my new one.

Trees. There were trees everywhere. I had never seen so many trees in my life! Not even the Fire Nation had this many trees.

"Where am I?" I wondered aloud. I jumped in startled surprise when someone actually responded.

"You are in Konohagakure, little girl. What are you doing here? Are you lost?" I looked up at the tall man who seemed to appear out of nowhere. He was dressed in funny blue clothes and a weird green vest. He also had strange looking silver-white hair. He didn't look to be old enough to have a full head of white hair, so maybe he was blessed by the moon spirit like Princess Yue?

"Why is your hair silver?" I asked the man with a mask.

"Why is your hair silver?" he asked back.

"What?! No it's not! My hair is black!" I quickly reached behind my shoulder and grabbed my braid and gasped when I saw my normally black locks had turned silvery white. What? How did this happen?

"You have our blessing child." the voice rang in my head. Had I really been blessed by the moon and ocean spirits? It certainly seemed that way.

"Oh, well my hair used to be black." I answered.

"Oh? Well I was born with mine. Do you know where your family is little girl?"

I felt my throat tighten and eyes water as I struggled not to sob at his question. My family? They were somewhere far away. Somewhere I don't think I'll ever be able to get back to anymore.

I could feel the man was still waiting for my answer so I quickly looked down and shook my head no. He sighed.

"Well, let's get you to the Hokage's office." he spoke and motioned for me to follow him. I trailed after the mast man and as we were walking I heard a rumble in the sky. I wiped the tears from my face and looked up just in time to see lightning flash across the sky and have a fat drop of cold water fall onto my face. I instinctively raised my arm and used my waterbending to keep me and the silver haired man dry.

He looked up at the sky and then down at me with a curious expression on his face. "How are you doing that?"

"I'm a waterbender." I said with a smile. "Haven't you ever seen a waterbender before?"

"No, I can't say I have." he responded carefully. "By the way, what's your name kid?"

"My name is Sumiko. What's your name mister?"

"Kakashi Hatake." he answered as we approached this huge building with that weird bird snail like squiggle Kakashi had on his headband thing. We entered the building and swiftly made our way to the top.

"Lord Hokage, this child called Sumiko was found at the place of the sighting. There's another thing too. She has this ability to control water and she didn't appear to use chakra while doing it. She called herself a wa-" Kakashi was cut off by the old man in a weird hat sitting at the desk.

"A waterbender, yes." he paused for a moment and I smiled. At least he knew what a waterbender was.

"Kakashi, what will be said is a matter of absolute secrecy." the old man said seriously.

Kakashi nodded. "Of course Lord Hokage." he replied obediently.

As soon as the doors were shut the old man in the funny hat turned to me. "Welcome to Konoha young waterbender." he smiled warmly. I bowed to the elderly man as a sign of respect. Kakashi had called him Lord so he must be someone important. I didn't want to make a bad first impression.

"Thank you, sir. Though, I am not quite sure where I am exactly. I was fetching water from the Spirit Oasis for the senior healing master when I was surrounded by a bright light and heard two voices." I paused and then in a quieter voice continued, "I think they were the ocean and moon spirits who spoke to me." I finished as I absentmindedly messed with the end of my braid of my now white hair.

The old man leaned closer in interest. "What did they tell you young one?" he asked curiously.

"They told me that I was needed here. They told me to fight for my new home and to protect it and the people in it." I spoke and the old Lord smiled once more.

"You are more than welcome here, Sumiko. Do you indeed wish to protect Konoha?" he asked.

I nodded. "If it is what the spirits have asked of me I will gladly do all I can to protect Konoha." I answered confidently.

"Pardon me Lord Hokage, but spirits?" Kakashi Hatake asked skeptically.

"There are a great many things in this universe that most people remain unaware of their entire lives. Of other worlds so similar to ours, yet different. When I first became Hokage I was introduced to some of the wonders of this universe. Some of the spirit beings of this child's world were among them. It was the moon and ocean spirits that young Sumiko speaks of that told me that they would be sending a child of theirs to us in the future. Though I myself have limited knowledge of the workings of the universe, I am wise enough to know that there are things that are beyond our understanding and just simply are. We must always keep our minds open to every possibility." he finished.

The younger man sighed. "Of course, Lord Hokage."

The Hokage man turned back to me. "If you wish to protect this village you must learn to fight. You must become a kunoichi of the Leaf."

I could feel my eyes widen in surprise. "My people have rules forbidding women from learning any sort of combat. Is it not the same here?" I asked nervously. I really hoped it wasn't. If it wasn't, and I really didn't think it was based on what he was saying but I had to be sure, then I could probably get away with already knowing how to use my waterbending abilities for purposes other than healing.

The old man chuckled. "Women here are granted the same rights as men. We have many fine kunoichi that fight alongside our male shinobi."

I grinned. "Then yes! Yes, I will become a kunoichi and do all I can to protect Konoha."

The Lord Hokage nodded and turned to Kakashi. "Kakashi, could you take Sumiko to one of the training grounds for an assessment of her abilities?"

"Right away, Lord Hokage." he bowed and we made our exit.

On the way down to the building's lobby Kakashi turned to me and asked, "Are you okay to do this in the rain?"

I smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! Rain means water. This is great!"

We arrived at a large clearing with trees on the borders leading into the surrounding forests. The only thing that really made it stand out as a training ground to me where the number of wooden posts scattered about and a few gouges in the ground that definitely weren't made through natural causes.

"Alright now Sumiko, as a ninja you will need to be prepared to fight an enemy knowing that sometimes you may have to kill them." Kakashi spoke sternly.

I gulped and nodded slowly. "I understand what may be necessary." Hanook had told me stories of being faced with the scenario many times throughout his time on the battlefield. He explained to me that death is sometimes necessary to protect yourself and others. That it could mean the difference between life and death for you or your loved ones if you hesitate in doing what is necessary.

Kakashi's one visible eye scrunched up like he was smiling behind his dark blue mask. "Very well, show me what you can do."

I immediately molded the falling drops of water around me to form a whip-like sort of weapon. With a wave of my arm I sent the water whip straight towards Kakashi's chest but he disappeared into a puff of smoke and evaded the attack. My eyes widened and I let out a shaky breath. How? Just how was this possible? What kind of place did I get sent to where people can make themselves disappear? I need to change my strategy, the water whip wasn't going to work in this situation.

I used my waterbending to gather more water around me to create my octopus form. The large tentacles of water surrounded me in a defensive ring ready to lash out at a target when needed. The octopus form had been one of my favorite moves to learn. I liked how it provided both a good defense and offense.

I shut my eyes and focused on listening to what was going on around me. I could hear something that sounded like a metallic zing coming from behind and in retaliation I raised one of the water tentacles behind me to block whatever projectile was heading my way.

"Good job, but can you block this?" Kakashi said.

My eyes snapped open at his words and I cautiously watched as he made some strange symbols with his hands and then all of a sudden a large blob of water was barreling toward me. I instinctively crossed my hands over my head in an x shape and squeezed my hands into fists making my octopus form transform into a dome of ice. I waited until I couldn't feel anything hit against the dome and hesitantly dropped it. I was immediately faced with another blob of water and since I had already dropped my defense I put all my might into forcing the water blob to split and fall to the ground leaving a harmless puddle of water. I felt the instant loss of a large amount of energy and wobbled before falling onto the now muddy ground.

"Interesting. It seems your abilities can pull apart water ninjutsu. I think we're done here." Kakashi said. I tried to get up but only managed to slip further into the mud. I sighed and bowed my head in apology.

"I apologize for my lack of combat skills Kakashi Hatake, but I promise you that I am not completely useless. Right now I am much better suited as a healer than a fighter." I spoke meekly with my eyes to the ground.

I felt a hand on the top of my head. I looked up to see the face of the silver haired man. "You did plenty Sumiko. You are far from useless." he assured me. "How old are you?" he asked me.

"I am nine years old." I answered shyly.

"You did exceptionally well for a nine year old with little to no combat experience Sumiko. Now, let's get back to the Hokage to figure out where you'll be staying."

I already have several other chapters completely rewritten, so those chapters should be coming soon too. Let me know what you think! Thanks for reading.

-S.F.E.