AN: Inspired, like many others, by Dreaming of Sunshine. If you haven't read it, you haven't read the pinnacle of Naruto SI OC fanfic. Inspiration was also supplied by Iryo-nin Kasa by Vaengir, a good fic for this genre.
Be warned, this takes place in an AU, one specifically changing Uzushio. If you don't like the idea of Uzushio having clans other than the Uzumaki, turn away now. If you're cool with it, feel free to jump right in.
Once upon a time, there was a girl. A young woman, to be precise. She was a quiet lady, dark haired and myopic, frail and weak-bodied. Unnoticeable in a crowd, unremarkable, reclusive and introverted.
But the young woman had a brilliant mind, built for science and things, structures far greater than such tiny beings as humans. In the labs and classrooms and libraries she came alive, burning with a deep hunger, yearning for comprehension and understanding and learning as much as a single human can in their tiny mortal lifespan. She devoured books, absorbed information like a sponge, her bright young mind neatly sorting out data into organized chaos.
At the age of twelve, she built her first robot, a shiny toy that hurled water balloons at anyone within a ten feet radius. At seventeen, her first AI, crude and childlike, but a success nonetheless. At nineteen, she was offered a scholarship to MIT, much to her elatement. At twenty-one…her life screeched to a halt, rudely deposited her on the tarmac, and drove off into the sunset.
Her death was simple.
An man, driving down the road with reckless abandon and in a drunken haze, crashed into her petite figure, her fragile bones shattering on impact. As she bled out on the gravel, the warm light of the setting sun glimmering off the red on her skin and the pool of warm liquid around her, she dimly registered the disappearing warmth of the summer heat as she numbed. Sunlight in her fading eyes, she whispered through the iron in her throat.
End of the road, huh?
And the last remnant of life that Lydia Li was clinging to melted away, and Lydia with it.
"Push, Asa-ba, push!"
"I'm doing that, Haru! I swear to Amaterasu , that goddamn fucking lousy no-good bastard's gonna get it from me!"
"That's nice, nee-san. Come on now, she's almost out…"
"Nggghhh!"
"That's it, nice and easy…"
A woman's voice screamed.
A baby's wailing filled the room. The woman panted, sweat dripping from her tan skin and golden hair. The equally blonde young lady next to her breathed out a sigh of relief, picking up the bloody, squalling tiny form with white-gloved hands.
"Congratulations, it's a bouncing baby girl… Ah!" She gasped softly. "She has the marks, nee-san! A fortuitous omen indeed." Gently, the woman toweled the blood off the screeching baby, whispering soothing words as she worked. "Shoosh, child, shooosh…no need to cry, your mama's right over there…."
Groaning, the new mother rasped dryly. "My girl … give'er here, Haru…"
As the girl continued to wail on, the mother cradled the tiny form in her arms, trembling with joy, her whole form glowing as she gazed upon her daughter's face with pure, tender, maternal love. She kissed the baby's forehead and held her to her chest, still shaking with unadulterated happiness.
"Wish he could be here t'see this…" she murmured raspily, rocking the babe slowly, back and forth, back and forth. "But your tou-san is off fightin' the good fight. Ken's gonna have a surprise when he gets his sorry ass back 'ere!" She giggled breathily, the girl calming some as she brushed a gently shining hand against her face.
"My little light in this rainy hell…your name's Akari. Lamp in the rain, guiding through the darkness. My precious lil' baby girl…" she crooned sweetly to the crying babe, whimsical names flowing from her lips. "Sunborn, child of the dawn, rising sun's light, hope in the darkness, baby girl…"
Her blue eyes glowed with soft golden light.