Disclaimer: I do not own Hikaru no Go. Hotta Yumi does, I just play with her world.

Sai's Rebirth: The Shindou Life Chronicles

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Chapter 2

Year 6: Insei

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Pa-chink!

Hikaru placed a stone and looked up incredulously at his opponent. "You're crazy! Sai is way too young. And further more…"

Touya Akira simply waited as his friend argued his point. After Hikaru paused to take a breath, Touya mildly asked "Are you done?"

Hikaru shot him a glare. "Sai is only 6 years old, there is no way he can take the Insei exam."

"Have you not been paying attention at all? Sai is no ordinary child; his ability far exceeds that of a child protégée. He could easily pass the Insei exam." Touya stated.

"I know that he can pass, he's strong. He's probably strong enough to become one of the top Insei, but that's not the point." Hikaru argued.

Akira raised his eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Don't you think he should at least have some semblance of a normal childhood? He loves Go, but I don't think he has to make it an obsession this early in life. I mean he hasn't even started elementary school yet!" Hikaru said.

"Sai is not normal." Touya said quietly. "We both know that he still has lingering memories of before. You can see it in his Go."

Both pros understood what before meant. They meant Sai's previous life, when he was a ghost.

"But still…" Hikaru continued. "He'll be a lot younger than the other kids. Don't they have an age requirement or something?"

"Only that they be under 18." Touya answered. "There is no minimum age requirement."

"But no one is going to take him seriously. He's so young." Hikaru complained.

Touya stared at Hikaru incredulously. "You of all people know that age is not important in playing go. And besides, with the recommendations of three pros he should have no problem with them accepting his application."

"Three?" Hikaru asked.

"Don't forget about Waya. He also knows about Sai, and would vouch for him." Touya pointed out.

Pa-chink!

Touya place his stone. Hikaru sighed, he knew that he had lost both the game and the argument.

"I'll ask him about it when I go home today." Hikaru promised.

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"WHAT?"

For the second time that day Hikaru was surprised at what he was hearing. His father was being transferred to America. His parents were asking him to move back into the house to keep it for them. There was one major problem, they would be taking Sai with them.

"You can't take Sai with you to America!" Hikaru exclaimed.

Mr. Shindou was surprised by his eldest son's outburst.

"Why not? We are his parents after all." He stated.

"Because… because…" Hikaru groped for words. "He's going to become an Insei!"

"He hasn't even taken the test yet, how can you know?" Mr. Shindou asked.

"Because he's strong, in a couple years he will be able to pass the pro exams easily. He just needs more experience. Dad, I'm telling you, Sai will become one of the strongest pros out there." Hikaru said.

"Hikaru, Sai is going to need a guardian. We can't just leave him here by himself." Mr. Shindou pointed out.

"I'll take care of him!" Hikaru exclaimed. "I have a steady paying job, and while I'm away, Mrs. Touya can take care of him. She adores him."

"This is your brother we're talking about, not a dog! You can't possibly be prepared to take care of a child! You're only 21 years old!" Mr. Shindou said incredulously.

"21 is plenty old enough! And I'm responsible. I look after Sai all the time." Hikaru argued.

Father and son glared at each other, neither backing down.

A young voice piped up. "I want to stay with 'Niichan and play Go!" Sai said with all the resolve a 6 year old could muster up.

Both Hikaru and Mr. Shindou were startled, they hadn't even realized that Sai had entered the room. A slow smile crept onto Hikaru's face as he realized that it was now 2 against 1. Mr. Shindou repressed a sigh as he prepared himself for the uphill battle of convincing both of his sons.

He never had a chance.

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The Shindou family stood in the airport, saying their tearful farewells.

Mrs. Shindou bent down to hug her youngest son. "Mind your older brother now, and make sure to eat your vegetables. Mama will try to visit you often."

"Bye Mama! Don't worry 'Niichan will take good care of me." Sai replied.

Mr. Shindou gave his oldest son a wary look. "Make sure that you watch out for him, and call us if you need anything." He said gruffly.

Hikaru nodded in agreement, and gave his parents a comforting smile. "Don't worry Dad, I'll manage."

With one more round of goodbyes the Shindou parents left to go through the terminal.

"Come on Sai, let's go home."

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Sai watched the scene before him. Hikaru would be crushed if he failed the Insei exam. Hikaru may not like it, but the best thing to do would be for Sai to play in his stead.

"Hikaru? Hikaru, at this rate a loss is certain. Hikaru if you so desire, this one time I will…"

Sai stared more closely at Hikaru. Letting out a sigh of reluctant acceptance, he marveled at Hikaru's strength of concentration, but worried about his current lack of skill...

"Sai!" Hikaru called. "Breakfast is ready!"

Sai rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes. That was a weird dream. I saw 'Nichan, but he was so young! I couldn't have been at his Insei exam. He was a Pro before I was even born! Pushing the confusing dream out of his mind, he put on his slippers and shuffled downstairs to the kitchen. Taking in the surroundings he blinked curiously.

"'Niichan! Ramen isn't for breakfast!" Sai pointed out.

Hikaru ruffled Sai's hair. "It is now squirt! Come on, eat up! We have to turn in your application for the Insei exam today!"

Sai stifled a yawn as he dug into his breakfast Ramen. He looked forward to today, it would bring him one step closer to being an Insei.

Sai applied for the insei exam that December. At first the admissions people were reluctant to process his application. When they saw on his form that he had the recommendations of three pros, (two of them were the famous prodigies Touya Akira, and Shindou Hikaru) their hesitation evaporated.

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Shinoda sighed, another applicant that he had to fail. He looked at the tearful young girl, and felt a little guilty. He always felt guilty when the cried, but as the Insei instructor he had to make sure that a certain level was maintained, and that meant that he would have to turn away many applicants.

Smiling gently, he tried to comfort her. "You are doing well for a beginner, please become stronger and try again." He encouraged.

The girl murmured an affirmative as she walked out, followed by her mother. Her mother turned to bow to the Sensei, thanking him for his time, and then went to join her daughter at the genkan.

Shinoda walked out of the room to meet with the next and last applicant. Walking out to the waiting room he was surprised to see such a small child waiting there. Probably has an older sibling that is an applicant and was dragged along with them. The child was startled and looked up. A look of recognition flashed on his face.

"You are Shinoda-sensei right?" The child looked up curiously.

Bending down so that he was at eye level with the boy he replied. "Yes, I am. I don't believe that I have met you. How do you know my name?"

The boy's eyebrows furrowed as if he was thinking hard. "I must have met you, I mean I recognized you…"

"Anyway, I am Sai! I am the next applicant." Sai's demeanor changed to being cheerful.

Shinoda was surprised, he had never had such a young applicant. Is he serious? His parents must really be pushing him to learn Go. He thought glumly. He will probably be very disappointed when I have to fail him. He will probably cry.

He led the boy into the testing room. Sai handed three kifu to Shinoda-sensei. Shinoda looked over them curiously. Not only were they print outs of Net Go games, but they also displayed a level of depth and skill that was unusual for any child, especially one as young as Sai.

"I even made my user name ShindouSai so that you could tell it was my games." Sai smiled brightly.

Shindou? Shinoda-sensei looked at the kifu more closely, and indeed one of the two players had the user name ShindoSai. Is it a coincidence? Checking the application he saw that the boy's name was indeed Shindou Sai, and that one of his sponsors was Shindou Hikaru.

Hikaru walked in looking embarrassed. "Sorry I'm late, I just stepped out to get a drink."

Shinoda blinked. "So Sai is your –"

"Little brother." Hikaru finished.

Shinoda frowned. Handling this applicant could be troublesome, even if his brother was Shindou Hikaru didn't necessarily mean that the little brother would be just as strong. It seemed impossible for such a young child to pass the Insei exam, but he was obligated to treat each applicant fairly.

He turned to Sai. "I see, well shall we begin?"

Both Sai and Shinoda settled down in front of the Go board.

"Shinoda-sensei, I am supposed to place three stones right?" Sai asked.

"Yes, that's right. Oh, and you don't have to sit in the seiza position for this game." Shinoda smiled, remembering Hikaru's Insei exam.

"That's okay, I'm used to it." Said Sai as he placed the three stones.

Both of them bowed their heads. "Onegaishimasu!"

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Sai fidgeted nervously. He was losing. Sai bowed his head in despair. What should I do? I don't want to lose this game, I really want to become an Insei! Just like Niichan. Just like Niichan…

Sai watched the scene before him. Hikaru would be crushed if he failed the Insei exam. Hikaru may not like it, but the best thing to do would be for Sai to play in his stead.

"Hikaru? Hikaru, at this rate a loss is certain. Hikaru if you so desire, this one time I will…"

This one time I will…

This one time I will play in your stead!

As if possessed Sai looked up and studied the board before him with new eyes. Full of determination he placed a stone. I can win this!

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Shinoda studied the board. At this rate, he should win by 7 moku. Overall, the boy was definitely strong enough to be an Insei. Within a few weeks he would probably be in the top 5 of the second class. Shinoda was impressed that the boy was so strong at such a young age.

Shinoda studied the boy, Sai was tense and looked depressed. Shinoda sighed, Sai was just like his older brother. He probably thought he had to win to pass the Insei exam. He was about to reassure the boy when the atmosphere changed. It seemed to grow heavy and intense. Sai looked up and placed his next stone.

Shinoda once again studied the boy. Sai's demeanor had changed completely. The nervous child was gone, in his place was a player with experience at least ten times Sai's age. Shinoda shivered at the strange transformation. This match no longer had the feel of an Insei exam, instead it felt like…

It felt like a match against someone like Touya Kouya.

Shinoda steeled himself for the furious battle ahead of him and placed the next stone.

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With komi, Sai won by 2 and a half moku. It was an incredible comeback. Shinoda sat back in amazement. Sai had changed completely halfway through the game. To think that such a child exists, in some ways he is just as surprising as his brother.

"Ano? Do I pass?" Sai's voice startled Shinoda from his musings.

Shinoda looked up with surprise. Sai seemed to have changed back into the young child that he appeared to be. "Yes, of course you pass. Come back next month, I'm sure that your brother remembers his Insei days. He can answer any questions you have."

Hikaru, who had stayed quiet throughout the exam, went over to his little brother and ruffled his hair. "Congrats squirt! C'mon I'll treat you to Ramen!"

Sai pushed Hikaru's hand off his he, and attempted to straighten out his hair. "'Niichan! We ate Ramen for breakfast! Let's go eat Sushi!"

Hikaru snorted. "You've been hanging around Waya too much. Ramen is defiantly better than Sushi!"

Shinoda watched the two brothers with amusement, they continued to bicker as the left the room.

Shindou Sai, he is definitely one to watch out for!

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Sai bounced from table to table happily. Since it was a weekend, Hikaru brought Sai along with him to a Go convention that he had to tutor at. Sai was just happy to have so many people to watch and play against.

"Excuse me?" A young voice said. "Are you lost?"

Sai turned around and was surprised that the owner of the voice was a boy around his age.

"No, I'm not lost. I wanted to look at the other games while 'Niichan is working." Sai looked up curiously. "Do you play Go?"

The boy nodded.

Sai grinned. He took the boy's hand. "Let's play a game! There's an open table this way!"

Sai led the boy to the open table. They sat opposite of each other and bowed.

"Onegaishimasu!"

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Seijiro walked past the many tables bored. He liked Go, but it was almost painful to watch beginners play. He wished that his father didn't take him to so many of these events. There was never anyone there that could match him, and most adults got frustrated when they lost to him. Watching the pros play was worthless, they were all playing shido-go. He wouldn't be able to learn anything.

Suddenly he noticed a young boy, running from table to table. He looks younger than me. He's probably lost and looking for his parent or something.

"Excuse me?" He asked. "Are you lost?"

Startled, the boy turned around. "No, I'm not lost. I wanted to look at the other games while 'Niichan is working."

The boy looked up curiously. "Do you play Go?"

Seijiro nodded nervously. Oh no! I don't want to play a beginner! I'll probably crush him!

The boy grinned. He took the Seijiro's hand. "Let's play a game! There's an open table this way!"

The boy led Seijiro to the open table. I don't want to be rude, I guess I'll try to go easy on him. They sat opposite of each other and bowed.

"Onegaishimasu!"

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Seijiro was shocked. He had lost by 7 moku! He had severely underestimated the other boy, and by the time he had realized it, it was too late to recover. Could this be the rival my father says I should by searching for?

"H-how are you so strong? How old are you?" He asked dumbfounded.

Sai looked up. "I'm an insei! Oh, and I play with my 'Niichan everyday. I'm six years old, but I turn seven this March!"

Sai grinned. "You're pretty strong, but you went easy on me in the beginning. If you hadn't done that you probably would have done a lot better!"

Sai looked behind him. "Oh! My 'Niichan is calling me! I have to go, it was fun playing you though!" Sai waved and ran off.

"A year younger." Seijiro murmured in amazement.

"Seijiro! Are you ready to go?" Seijiro jumped, startled he turn to look at the voice.

"Father! I met this kid, and he's really good, and he's younger than me and he beat me!" Seijiro babbled excited.

Ogata Seiji smiled warmly to his son. His icy demeanor melted when it came to his son. He worried about his son, his son was talented, but he lacked the drive, the fire to improve himself. Seijiro was much like Akira before he had met Shindou Hikaru.

He was happy to see Seijiro so excited about Go. Perhaps he had found his rival, his 'Shindou Hikaru'.

"That's great son, what's his name?" He asked

Seijiro blinked and concentrated. "He… He never said his name! Oh no! I'll never find him! No, wait…" Seijiro thought some more and smiled. "He's an Insei! Father! I want to become an Insei! I'm sure to meet him then!"

"An Insei? Hmmm, Okay, tomorrow we'll go apply for the Insei exam." Ogata said.

Seijiro just smiled in anticipation.

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Author's note: Sorry this took so long, I have a difficult time writing things when I am unsure of the ending. I would hate to have to repost chapters because I changed a little detail that later becomes important. I haven't had a chance to run this by my beta's yet so there might be alot of spelling/grammer mistakes.

Review a lot and maybe I won't take so long on the next chapter. Ja ne.