X-X-X-X-X
"It is time."
"Yes, agreed."
"It is time,"
"Time for the Tenshi Tengai to once again spread her wings,"
"And leave her earthly home."
"The time has come."
"The time has come,"
"For the Age of Heaven."
X-X-X-X-X
"Pardon?" Itachi blinked once, slowly, the slight widening of his eyes the only real sign of shock visible on his features, but within, he was in turmoil.
Mikoto and Fugaku exchanged glances, then looked back at their eldest son.
"The Tenshi Tengai has come of age." said Mikoto, face serene and impassive, though her eyes were troubled.
"You, and consequently, the Land of Fire, were chosen from a long list of Clan Heirs to become her husband. She and her family are arriving within the week, and the wedding will be next month." said Fugaku with a no-nonsense, won't-take-no-for-an-answer tone to his voice.
Itachi blinked again, then glanced behind him to the living room door, behind which his younger brother was crouched, listening intently.
"You will except her as your bride, and fulfill your duty as clan heir." Fugaku continued, eyes narrowing.
Itachi bowed his head slightly. There was nothing he could do.
"Yes, father."
X-X-X-X-X
Amaya blinked, letting a very long minute of silence pass over the family dinner table.
"Come again?" she said, setting down her bowl and chop-sticks a little harder than she intended.
Her father sighed.
"The elders just sent word. They have found and arranged a husband for you."
"No." said Amaya flatly, jaw set.
"Amaya, you must..." began her mother.
"Says who?"
"The elders..."
"Screw the elders."
"Amaya!"
"I said NO!" Amaya yelled, standing up in anger and frustration, palms slamming down on the table-top.
Her father also stood, indignation and anger flooding from him in waves.
"Amaya, you are the Tenshi Tengai, it is your responsibility..."
"NO! I keep telling you, I'm not this 'Tenshi Tengai' thing you keep saying I am, and I'm not marrying some looser I barely know. End of story, end of discussion. No. N. O."
Her father let out a long breathe, before seating himself back at the head of the table.
"You have no choice, Amaya. The arraignments are already in place. We leave in a week."
With a guttural snarl, Amaya slammed her chair back, causing it to crash into the wall, grabbed her sword from under the table, and ran from the dinning room, leaving her family to finish dinner in uncomfortable silence.
X-X-X-X-X
"Miss, I really do insist that you come down from there." Sora called from the ground, looking up into the massive pine-tree with barely hidden amusement.
"Bite me, Sora." Amaya snapped at her man-servant.
She was sitting in the very top branches of the tree, which was situated on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the valley her family lived in. It was massive, stretching between the twin peaks of two mountains, a river cutting through the heart of the glorified ravine like a winding, silver serpent. The sheer drop of the cliff afforded an uninterrupted view to the sea, no more than a shimmering line on the horizon.
Amaya sighed, closing her eyes against the harsh orange light of the setting sun.
"Tell father that if I get the Cliff House, I'll go." she said. Down on the ground, Sora nodded, bowed, and vanished from sight, off to relay the news to the Head of House.
Amaya's hand reached up and tightened around her own throat, over the marks left there years before.
"What have you gotten me into?" she muttered under her breathe.
X-X-X-X-X
"Yes, Sasuke?" Itachi looked back over his shoulder from his writing desk, blinking slowly as Sasuke glared at him from the doorway.
"I don't like this."
Itachi blinked again, then sighed.
"I don't either, but you know the rules." Sasuke's eyes narrowed, before he unfolded his arms.
"Screw the rules." he snarled, sounding very much like his teammate, Naruto.
"Uzumaki is rubbing off on you." said Itachi calmly, smiling slightly at his brother's momentary shock.
"Hmph." Sasuke shot back, folding his arms again and glaring.
Itachi sighed.
"It will be alright, little brother." Sasuke looked up at him.
"It will be alright."
X-X-X-X-X
"Aya-nee-chan?" asked a small voice from the doorway.
Amaya looked up from her window, gaze falling on the tiny figure of her younger sister, framed in the light from the hallway.
"Over here, Sarai." she said through the dark of her room, opening her arms so her little sister could crawl onto her lap, curling up like a large cat. Amaya's arms tightened around the little girl as her gaze returned to the moon.
"Aya-nee-chan, why are you angry?" Sarai asked after a few moments of silence. Amaya looked down into the 11 year olds huge chocolate brown eyes, and sighed.
"Life isn't fair for me, Sarai. I have to go away and marry someone I don't know, because father and the stupid elders think I'm something I'm not."
"Something you're not?" Sarai looked confused. Amaya nodded.
"They think I'm special, and that my being 'special' gives them the right to do whatever they want with my life." she huffed rather angrily, Sarai was silent for a minute.
"But Aya-nee-chan IS special." she said.
"How so?" Amaya asked, curious. Sarai beamed up at her older sister.
"Because you're Aya-nee-chan!" she said enthusiastically, grinning.
Amaya sat completely still for a full minute, before smiling sadly down at her little sister, gathering the little girl in a tight hug.
"Thank you, Sarai." she whispered softly into the little girl's hair.
Sarai giggled, throwing her small arms around her sisters neck.
"Sarai?" a whispered call came from the doorway, and the two girl's brother materialized in the doorway.
"She's here, Munto." Amaya replied, shifting the little girl on her lap so that there would be room for her younger brother. After a moments hesitation, he made his way to them, and sat with his sisters, snuggling up to Amaya in contentment.
"Will we be able to sleep with Aya-nee-chan?" Sarai asked suddenly. Amaya blinked, then shook her head.
"Not after the wedding, I'm afraid, but you can stay here tonight if you want." she said, smiling kindly. Sarai giggled, then wriggled free from her sister's grasp, trotting to the futon and taking the outside edge.
"Come on, Mu-nii-chan!" she called, and Munto went to her side, snuggling up beside his sister.
Amaya stayed at the window long after the two youngsters had fallen asleep, watching them, the sound of their steady breathing and the crickets chirping outside her only companions.
She looked back up at the moon, blue-white eyes reflecting the silver orb in an erie way, making her eyes look like twin mirrors, shimmering slightly with every blink.
Finally, she sighed, before joining her two younger siblings in the realm of sleep.
X-X-X-X-X
"I'm not riding in THAT!" Amaya sneered, grimacing at the palanquin, hung with copious amounts of frilly curtains in a mixture of sheer and opaque reds and pinks. Her father rounded on her, his face ruddy with cold.
"Well, we're not sending it back! It's already prepared, besides, how else do you suppose you're going to get there?"
Amaya raised an eyebrow at him.
"I'm going to ride my horse. Let Munto and Sarai ride in that, they're both better suited." she said, turning away from her father. However, he wasn't done.
"How are you going to ride a horse in ceremonial robes?" he asked.
"I'm not. I'm wearing what I wear every day."
"You can't!" her father gasped in shocked outrage. Amaya rolled her eyes.
"Watch me." she snapped.
X-X-X-X-X
Several hours later, after several more arguments between father and daughter, Amaya's father relented.
Munto and Sarai both squealed in joy as Amaya lifted them both up onto the palanquin, where they flopped down into a sea of ruffled and fringed pillows and cushions. As she turned away, Amaya wrinkled her nose. She had never been one for frills.
She was, true to her word, wearing the better of her two sets of riding clothes, a set of black cotton pants tucked into her knee-high boots and a tie front minstrels tunic, over which she threw a dark green riding cloak. Her sword swung at her waist, and she took her riding gloves from Sora as he brought her her horse, a massive silver stallion with a black mane and tail. He was appropriately named Zephyr.
"Can we leave now?" Amaya's father asked testily from his carriage, obviously still annoyed with his eldest daughters stubbornness.
Amaya grinned, patting the scroll that held the deed to the Cliff house in her pocket, before swinging up onto her horse.
She couldn't wait until he learned that Sarai was just as stubborn as she was.
X-X-X-X-X
"Lady Hokage." Iruka materialized beside Tsunade's desk, and, after a hurried bow to the amassed number of Uchiha in attendance, turned to his leader. She nodded to him.
"A Caravan carrying the Assarishita crest is approaching from the West."
Tsunade nodded.
"Send an Anbu guard out to meet them. We will be there shortly." Iruka nodded and vanished.
Tsunade turned back to the gathered Uchiha, eyes falling on Itachi.
"Are you ready?"
X-X-X-X-X
true blood