Title: Tsutsudori, chapter II
Claimer/Author: This story is written by and belongs to Emmy Kay.
Disclaimer: Naruto and all affiliated characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This story is written without permission and for personal/fan/nonprofit entertainment purposes only.
Jiraiya rode with the women in the ox-cart, where he told stories to pass the time. Kurenai's favorite was when Amaterasu hid herself in the cave. Hinata loved the fable of the dancing teakettle, and laughed like a child at Jiraya's rendition. Sakura requested the legend of the dauntless Tokoyo. But it was a random tangent in the middle of another tale that caught Karin's interest. She asked for it until Jiraiya complied, warning about the deep tragedy of the lost Uchiha clan.
Jiraiya settled into his seat, counseling about the epic length. As it turned out, it was a tale of many days, told in bits and pieces along the ride, over the evening campfires, and late into the night. Many of the Hyuuga samurai gathered around in the dark, the power of the narrative and the teller drawing them in.
The story of the mighty Uchiha - gifted fighters, matchless warriors, known as the sword of Heaven - was a story of overweening pride and terrible loss. After generations of great military prowess and accumulation of power, they had betrayed the trust of the Emperor himself. Their story ended in the only way possible. All clans loyal to the Imperial Throne rose up and obliterated the clan, hunting down the last boy child. This, Jiraiya claimed as truth, because he had been among the fighters in the last desperate battles where numbers mattered more than individual skill. Not, he concluded, that any of you would know this history, considering that it had happened almost a generation ago on fields far away.
Karin contradicted him, saying she had heard pieces of the story from time to time. She said it was the Emperor who had betrayed the Uchihas, luring them with greater and greater titles and power until, threatened, weakened, he ambushed and destroyed them.
Sakura, looking a little horrified in Hinata's direction, gave Karin a nudge. "It's not proper to talk to a story teller like that - about his own story!" Then she hissed, "Be careful of how you speak, while in the service of a family allied with the Emperor! You are not so new that it can be easily forgiven."
Hinata waved a hand. "It is nothing. It's just a story from a long time ago."
"You should be glad our lady is so gracious," Sakura chided, nudging Karin again.
Jiraiya gracefully inclined his head towards Karin. "There are two sides to every story," he said. "And surely, it will live on way past either of us to tell the true way of things."
Naruto walked with some of the Hyuuga samurai, behind the ox-cart. Most of the Hyuuga kept their distance, aware of some kind of unfelicitious circumstance surrounding his attachment to the group. However, one with a pleasant face and a scar across the bridge of his nose named Iruka seemed quite friendly, and another, with an mess of prematurely grey hair and a patch over his right eye named Kakashi, if not exactly outgoing, at least seemed content to let the situation alone.
They had entered the forest, the road thinning down to a dark ribbon winding through the woods in the shadows of the immense trees, barely wide enough for the ox-cart. It felt distinctly odd here in the woods - one could almost feel the presence of kami in the air.
Naruto swore he could feel someone watching him, someone tracking their entire group through the woods. Whenever he turned, however, he only saw the shapes of branches and leaves. It was like a dream, a journey through this forest of giants, their footfalls softened by heavy bracken over the ruts of the road, their voices hushed under the thin yellow-green canopy of early spring.
Once, he had the barest impression of a skinny black-haired youth his own age nimbly disappearing behind a hulking trunk. Another time, the group startled a young deer, who huffed and raced off, stopping at a safe distance to turn and stare back at them with enormous black eyes.
They reached Konoha in time for the last of the snow to disappear under a mild spring sun. The trees had been becoming larger and larger, the area between them turning to broad and flat walkways that rode up and down the hills. Just beyond a thinning of the trees, the hills gave way to a broad, shallow bowl in which lay a modest-sized village of small thatched huts. Sitting at the edge of the village sat an old temple. Spread out beyond the village were numerous large fields, some climbing up hills, others butting up against the shores of a lake that reflected the blue above; most still brown and stubbly from the winter. At the very top of the hill sat the largest red cedar Naruto could have imagined, spreading its branches grandly across the sky.
At the first hut, a skinny, black-haired youth came out, a little smirk in the corner of his mouth. Behind him stood a tall woman, her arms crossed over her large breasts, her blonde-grey hair tied up out of her face. Flanking her were two much younger women, one with black hair and a book into which she took notes, and another whose brown hair was tied up into buns at the sides of her head, wearing distinctively foreign clothing of a jacket and loose trousers.
"Hey Tsunade," the black-haired youth drawled to the older woman, as if he wasn't particularly interested. "It's those travelers I was telling you about. They've been coming through the forest for a couple of days now."
"You!" Tsunade thundered, eyes the color of long-steeped tea flaming, as she pointed an accusatory finger towards Jiraiya.
Naruto turned toward Jiraiya. "Do you know her?"
"I'm not talking to you, little boy," Tsunade dismissed Naruto.
"Watch it, old lady!" countered Naruto, sharply.
Riveted, Hinata heard Jiraiya's very softly spoken, "We, uh, have a little history."
Ignoring the young man, Tsunade resumed yelling at Jiraiya. "How dare you show yourself after all this time! Do you think time would have erased your treacherous face from my memory? I suppose you want some help, now?" She challenged, arms crossed. "Do you? After what you did to me?"
"I'm sorry," Jiraiya whispered. "I'm really, truly, deeply sorry." He turned to Naruto. "I didn't know she would take it this hard. After all this time. Maybe we should leave."
"Granny! Old lady!" Naruto exclaimed, thrusting himself directly in front of Tsunade. "Jiraiya and I have been walking here for months because the only healer that could help him was you. Months!"
Seeing he still had Tsunade's attention, Naruto grasped at straws. "You've got to help him! He's all I've got! I've promised to save him!"
Tsunade took a deep breath, considering, tapping her fingertips against an arm.
"Just because something happened in the past between you two shouldn't affect the fact that you are a healer! Just look at him! He looks terrible!" Naruto pushed Jiraiya forward. "He coughs very hard! His tongue turns all bluish sometimes! And his breath gets bad-smelling. It's really gross!"
Sighing, Tsunade reached for Jiraiya, her expression shifting from exasperation to coolly clinical. After feeling his forehead, palpating his throat, she began to frown. "Stick out your tongue."
Jiraiya complied.
"Open wider. Wider!" She inspected his mouth.
"See?" Naruto said. "Isn't his breath terrible?"
Tsunade frowned deeper. She addressed the brunette behind her. "Shizune, tell the warder to get a room ready for this patient." She was about to follow Jiraiya into the largest of the buildings when Naruto stopped her. "What do you want now, you pest? You've already got me to look at Jiraiya. Surely that should be enough for you."
Naruto pointed to Hinata. "She needs you too."
Tsunade turned, her eyes softening as she took in the young woman's nervous expression.
"What's your business here?" asked the black-haired assistant briskly, her book and charcoal stick at the ready.
Kurenai stepped forward and described Hinata's symptoms succinctly. "Headaches, numbness of the hands and feet, then all the body aches, lethargy, thirst and weakness. From talking with some of the retainers, it first began years ago. A lot of others in the castle were ill and similar symptoms lead to the death of her mother. She's had reccurring bouts since then, most seriously two years ago and then now."
"How long have you been sick?" Tsunade addressed Hinata.
"A long time, Mistress," replied Hinata, trying to remember a time in her life when she hadn't been ill.
The brown-haired woman stared at Hinata, disconcertingly directly, her large brown eyes unwavering. Nervously, Hinata smiled. The woman did not smile back.
Tsunade gestured for Hinata to follow her. "This one should also get a place." She turned to the dark-haired youth. "Shikamaru, I need you to take care of things with the warder about the new patients. Tell him I already know how full we are. Tenten, you'll have to explain to the rest of the people what the rules are here. Shizune, come with me." They departed with the air of having too much to do and not enough time or hands to do it.
"So," Sasuke asked, sardonically, his dark eyes skimmed disinterestedly past Tenten, "what are the rules here?" He took in the modest buildings of the village, some with small gardens and henhouses, and the occasional large animal shelter, some without; and the villagers, dressed in simple country clothes going about their business, taking little note of the strangers, fine and common, in their midst.
"You will be given housing and food. But no one gets away for free. You will all have to contribute," Tenten said crisply, her girlish voice touched with a distinctive, unrecognized accent.
"We've got gifts for Tsunade," Sakura said quickly. "Bolts of brocade and silk, a barrel of preserved fish, crocks of miso, um, jugs of sake from the Hyuuga family's own recipe - and - "
"That's fine, but we have a saying here in Konoha - no coin can equal sweat," Tenten declared.
"What does that mean?" Naruto asked, puzzled.
"I think it means we work," Sakura said with a sigh.
"What do you do?" Naruto quizzed Tenten, genuinely curious.
"I'm Tsunade's personal guard," she replied, curtly. "Let's get you sorted out."
That night, in their sparsely furnished, shared room, Naruto mercilessly interrogated Jiraiya. "What did you do to Granny Tsunade?"
"It was a long time ago," Jiraiya said.
"She seemed awfully steamed."
"She did seem upset. But," he said thoughtfully, "she had every right."
"What did you do?"
Jiraiya sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I convinced her fiance to leave the village and join a monastery. That's really where his heart was - "
Naruto eyes widened. "A monastery? Wow," said Naruto, plopping himself down on the ground. "I don't know if coming here was such a good idea, now."
"We'll see how far Tsunade's mercy extends," Jiraiya said, pensively.
"Do you think he's still here?"
Jiraiya shrugged. "Probably. If he knew what was waiting for him here, Dan would definitely stay put." He thought a moment and shivered.
"A monastery," mulled Naruto, thoughtfully. Alarmed, he sat straight up. "Old man, is that where you think you'll send me?"
"Dan was a serious, kind, religious, thoughtful kid who was interested in the cosmic questions. Nothing like you."
"Well, that's a relief," sighed Naruto and settled back. It wasn't until a good amount of time went by that he yelped, "Hey!"
Jiraiya rolled his eyes. He loved the boy, but he could be dumber than a rock.
The daily routines were settled quickly. Karin and Sakura were initially assigned to the kitchens where the meals for the ill were cooked. But after her first disastrous day, Sakura was quickly moved to the infirmary. Both Karin and Sakura were very apologetic that they could no longer tend to Hinata in the way they had previously - Tenten couldn't hide her disdain at their deep apologies to their lady for abandoning her; no longer able to tend to her skin, hair, and clothing as they had previously.
"We'll still bring you morning tea!" Sakura insisted.
"And help you dress every day," said Karin.
"This country and the delicacy of the noblewomen!" Tenten exclaimed, scornful. "Needing servants to do such things!"
Sakura, taken aback, commented, "But you serve Tsunade."
"I owe her everything. It is not the same." Tenten replied, fiercely.
Naruto, Sasuke and the rest of the Hyuuga samurai were given various assignments depending on their inclinations and the needs of the village: patrolling the grounds with Tsume Inuzuka, the kennel keeper, and her dogs; farming with Inoichi Yamanaka, the keeper of the communal farm land; gathering wood with Shikaku Nara, the warder of the forests, for the endlessly hungry forge of Chouza Akimichi, and so on.
After each day's work, on a bare patch of land off to one side of the village, the Hyuuga men practiced, exercising, keeping up their fighting skills. One day, finally tired of Naruto's envious looks as he lingered on the periphery, Sasuke asked, scornfully, "You want to try?"
"Yeah," Naruto replied, drawing himself up proudly. He seemed completely unaware of the image he presented, dressed in a short mud-stained robe of coarse material, a sweat-stained cloth tied around his forehead, his sleeves tied up with a string instead of proper tasuke, his bare legs dirty from his work in the fields that day.
"Kakashi!" The one-eyed man-at-arms turned. "Throw me a bokken!"
As swift as lightning, Kakashi noted the difference between Naruto's appearance and Sasuke's fine silk kosode, he tossed the wooden sword to Sasuke, who in turn threw it at Naruto.
"Show me what you know," taunted Sasuke.
Murmuring began among the men who were watching - "Sasuke has only ever been beaten by Neji." "Bet you Sasuke teaches that one a lesson." "Sasuke's a genius - why is he wasting his time?"
On his mettle, Naruto tested the weight of the bokken, its reach and length. At Kakashi's call, he came out swinging. Much to everyone's surprise, he seemed to know what he was doing.
But Sasuke was better. Sasuke always knew where his feet were, always knew exactly what his next move was going to be even as his opponent began his swing.
Naruto's saving graces were his ability to take punishment, his tenacity, and his luck at avoiding the most serious of Sasuke's strikes. Still, after enduring several punishing thwacks by Sasuke's bokken, Naruto was clearly hurt and tiring, but Sasuke was also sweating and breathing hard.
"You aren't bad," Sasuke commented.
"You neither," Naruto returned, shortly.
"But there's no way someone like you could beat me," Sasuke said, and beat furiously through the air with his bokken.
"Oh, yeah?" Naruto panted, parrying wildly.
"You're nothing," Sasuke stated with flat certainty.
"I'm just testing you out," Naruto said with a cocky half-grin. "Just wait til this nothing beats you."
"Beat me? Beat me?" Sasuke almost laughed. "You?"
Naruto's cheeks flushed and everything about his posture changed. It wasn't shame - it was a total transformation of a young man openly, even aggressively, revealing his dream. He straightened up and stood taller, a thumb pointing to the center of his chest. "Just you wait and see! I will be a leader of a great castle! I will work unceasingly to attain it! That is my budo!"
"I see nothing but a fool, and the way of a fool is no way at all," Sasuke retorted. Then he went in for the kill, with the skill and precision of a of a long-time combatant, easily overpowering his opponent. Only the bokken's wooden nature prevented Naruto from having his side split open. As it was, it almost broke some of his ribs.
Kakashi called out, "Come, Lord Sasuke. We have things to attend to."
Sullenly, Sasuke threw the bokken down and followed Kakashi.
As Sasuke stalked off, the mood around the Hyuuga samurai was mixed. Some clearly saw Naruto as an upstart who deserved the beating he got, others felt the boy should get some praise for his surprisingly good beginning and daring. And a very quiet few felt it wouldn't hurt Sasuke to have some a little of his pride knocked out of him.
Watching how carefully the other Hyuuga men avoided speaking to Sasuke, Naruto kept silent. He seemed surprised when Iruka came up to him. "You did a good job there."
The young man's face lit up at the recognition. "Thanks."
"What kind of sword practice did you have before?"
"I did some with Jiraiya. Until he got too sick. And then I had to - " he stopped, his expression shutting down entirely.
"What?" Iruka blinked at the sudden change in Naruto's demeanor.
"I had to stop." The words came out woodenly, pushed forth unwillingly.
"It's not a shame to stop," Iruka said, cheerfully, setting aside the idea of having to talk with Jiraiya later. "If you get more practice, I think you might be able to become quite good. A lot more practice." He paused, looking intently at the young man in front of him. Despite Naruto's worn clothing and dirty appearance, Iruka realized that his 'budo' was something the boy strongly believed in - almost to a ludicrous degree. Naruto had promise, but promise did not equal skill and practice and discipline. Iruka couldn't see pass the possibilities to the core of the boy. And having taught the basics to every Hyuuga in the clan for years; since he himself was younger than the young man in front of him, Iruka fancied that he knew enough about swordsmanship to read anyone.
Defensively, Naruto erupted, "I would have practiced - I could have practiced, but I had to sell my tanto. For my master, Jiraiya. He needed the medicine it could buy. But it wasn't enough," he ended, bitter disappointment still evident.
Ah, well, Iruka thought. That's interesting. The boy was certainly capable of sacrifice. Maybe that would be enough. Maybe that strong belief in his budo and his ability to sacrifice would be enough. Certainly, it made Iruka want to help him attain it. Besides, in these times of great wars and upheaval, who was to say Naruto wasn't capable of achieving his dream? "If you are serious about learning, I will teach you. With Jiraiya's permission."
Happiness flashed across the young man's face.
Iruka gave the younger man a pat on the shoulder. "First, get some rest."
Iruka had his opportunity to speak with Jiraiya earlier than he expected. That evening, he was sitting on a bench outside the small house that served as the Hyuuga retainer bunkhouse, cleaning his sword when the older man plopped himself down next to him.
"It's a beautiful evening," Jiraiya said.
Iruka looked up at the sky, considering Jiraiya's opening salvo. "Looks partly cloudy."
"What is a sky without clouds to highlight the colors?"
Unable to help himself, Iruka grinned. "Indeed. Anyway, they say tomorrow will be perfectly clear."
Jiraiya looked thoughtfully at Iruka, deciding to go straight to the matter. "Naruto wanted me to talk to you about something."
Iruka nodded, considering the sheen on his sword. "I think he could be a good swordsman. I think he's got potential, but I want to be sure."
Jiraiya nodded heavily. "Yes. Potential. That's the one thing he's got."
"Tell me about Naruto," Iruka urged. "If he would be a good student."
"Will he be a good student?" Jiraiya considered. "He's got a temper and terrible manners. Eats like a horse and snores like a bear, swears like a sailor." At Iruka's pained look, Jiraiya brought himself back to topic. "Oh, sorry about the rambling. A hazard in the storytelling profession. He would be a risky student - a lot of potential, a good heart, but an unknown history. Of course, I like the risk. Makes the training more interesting."
"So you don't know his family at all?"
"No. This little kid just started following me around when I was acting in Edo - like he knew me already. Like I owed him something -" a little smile crossed Jiraiya's face at the memory. "He stuck, the little rat. All he owned were the clothes on his back and a tanto - with a seal I'd never seen before. He said it that had belonged to his father. That sword was his greatest possession."
"Show me the seal."
Obligingly, Jiraiya traced a spiral that seemed outlined by clouds, like a whirlpool in a thunderstorm.
"Hn," said Iruka. "Doesn't look familiar. Who is his father?"
"He doesn't know," Jiraiya paused. "I would give a lot to know."
"No father?"
"It's not so bad, he had a hard life, but somebody or somebodies took care of him, and he's mostly a good kid." Jiraiya reassured Iruka. "Whoever taught him about swords gave him the very basics of form - and he can pick up almost any move very quickly - but his education has a lot of holes. He can do some amazingly advanced kata, but some of his footwork is incredibly sloppy."
Iruka nodded, having noticed these things himself.
"He can recite some poetry and sutras, but he can't read very well. He's not the most scholarly person I've ever met. I have tried to teach him as best I could - but there is only so much I could do, and then I became ill." Jiraiya sighed theatrically. "It would sure be great if somebody was interested enough to take him on."
Iruka was inwardly amused at Jiraiya's obvious machinations. He had already decided to help the boy, but he couldn't seem too interested and didn't want to hurt Jiraiya's feelings if somehow, Naruto failed to live up to his standards. "Maybe you and Naruto could come some afternoon when I'm with some of the younger samurai - to see if there's anything I could teach him."
"If you don't consider it too intrusive," Jiraiya temporised.
Iruka laughed. "Once you've had Hiashi Hyuuga breathing down your neck, anything else is positively disinterested."
The next day, Iruka was ambushed by Naruto on his way through the village.
"When do you want me to start?" Naruto asked, eagerly.
Had the boy been waiting there all day? Iruka wondered. "Tomorrow?"
"How about now? Do you have time?"
Iruka looked up. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky. "Hey, Naruto?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you think about the weather today?" asked Iruka.
Without even looking up at the sky, Naruto said, "It's a perfect day to start."
Iruka nodded. "Yes. I think so too."
As they began with the stances, something about the way Naruto held the bokken made Iruka inhale suddenly, a vague sense of disquiet prodding him. What was it that made him feel as if he had seen that stance before? Some lost teaching from his old mentor? An opponent, long since dispatched? In a dream, maybe? He shook his head, causing Naruto to drop the sword.
"What's wrong?" Naruto queried, concerned.
"A fox just walked over my grave," Iruka explained, shrugging the sensation off. "Start again - let's see where your feet are."
A few days later, Naruto showed up to training with a massively built youth in tow. Iruka recognized him as Chouji, the son of the blacksmith. "We just got to talking - and he's interested in swords, and I thought it would be a good idea for him to see what I'm going to do with it."
Iruka frowned, wondering what was expected of him.
Jiraiya asked, "Can you fit Chouji into your training plans?"
Iruka nodded, slowly. While Chouji wasn't classically proportioned, it shouldn't be a problem. Iruka had, after all, trained individuals others had considered untrainable.
"It'll be great, just you wait," insisted Naruto.
"I will work very hard," promised Chouji.
Another day, Naruto showed up with a serious-looking boy with serious eyes, and a very serious bowl haircut. "Hey, Iruka, this is son of the cook, Rock Lee."
"Master Iruka," said Lee, bowing deeply, "I would be honored to be trained by you and Master Jiraiya."
Iruka looked at Jiraiya, who, with a twinkle in his eye, nodded.
Yet another day, and Naruto reported to Iruka with two new people - Shikamaru, and Kiba, the son of the kennel keeper, who stands in the watchful silence.
"C'mon Iruka," Naruto said, "Kiba and Shikamaru're great, and they know all sorts of things. How could this hurt?"
Iruka glanced over at Jiraiya, who hid a grin very poorly behind a cough. "How could this hurt, Iruka?"
Iruka sighed. When he had first proposed training Naruto, he meant training Naruto, not an entire generation of Konoha's young men. He spoke to Shikamaru. "What about your mother? Isn't she going to object?"
"Mom? Nah. She's always looking to get me out from underfoot. She'll be thrilled."
"Your father?"
"Huh. He always does what she tells him to."
Iruka then addressed Kiba. "How about you?"
"If Akamaru can come," said Kiba, firmly.
"Who is Akamaru?" asked Iruka, wildly imaging another boy - or another hoard of boys suddenly appearing.
"My dog," said Kiba, looking at Iruka suspiciously.
"Oh," Iruka smiled with relief. "All right then."
By the time Naruto arrived with apprentice beekeeper, Shino, Iruka just folded the student in with the rest of the young men. He hadn't had a group of students this large in - maybe ever. As each day passed, he liked the group more and more, his initial surprise turning into one of pleasure. What once seemed a mass of youth and pride and awkward limbs slowly turned into a group that fought well in a coordinated group. It made Iruka proud. But even with the occasional hint to Sasuke, he never showed up.
Then came the day a pre-teen visited during training, his hair still in a child's top-knot. "You!" he challenged, pointing his toy bokken at Naruto. "It's you I'm going to beat! I will be the leader of a great castle and this village - but I must beat you first!"
All eyes turned to Naruto's reaction. He drew himself up. "Oh yeah, come here and I'll beat the whine out of you, kid!"
Lee cleared his throat. "Hey, Naruto - that's Konohamaru Sarutobi. His grandfather is on Tsunade's council of elders."
Konohamaru nodded in pleased recognition. Then he looked at Naruto defiantly.
"Oh," Naruto stopped to think. "Well, Konohamaru Sarutobi, you get any closer to where the real men are practicing and I'll definitely beat the whine out of you!"
Konohamaru's eyes widened in disbelief. "What?"
Kiba muttered, "Naruto, nobody talks to Konohamaru like that."
"-And, you can go back crying to your grandfather if you don't like it, little boy." Naruto nodded, pleased with his speech. Then when Konohamaru ran towards him, howling, windmilling his arms and his bokken wildly about, Naruto did proceed to thrash the boy soundly.
After Naruto had released the boy, he challenged, "When you are ready for a real rival, come on back. I will be waiting to beat you for that castle!"
After that day, Konohamaru became a devoted follower of Naruto. Konohamaru attached himself as tightly as a burr, following Naruto around to see how he spent his time, what he ate, and who his friends were. He would even bring his friends around to spend even more time with Naruto.
Jiraiya snickered. "How does it feel, Naruto?"
EARLY SUMMER
A flock of birds sprang into the air, crying as they rose into the sky.
Shikamaru looked up, his face dropping with annoyance.
"What is it?" Naruto asked. They had both been climbing the great trees while on patrol duty, which was Shikamaru's favorite way of avoiding his mother, thereby avoiding his father and hence avoiding work. And Naruto, after weeks of back-breaking work in the fields, was nothing loath to follow.
Shikamaru paused, listened, and then pointed downward. Several moments later, just below them, a rider and horse burst into view. In a second, they were gone, headed directly towards Konoha.
"I wonder what that guy's going for," wondered Naruto, having learned that while visitors may come and go from Konoha regularly, they were almost never in that much of a rush.
"He's got a badge from the family of the Emperor," noted Shikamaru. "Come on, I know a shortcut." They hurried into the village.
It had not taken long for Hinata to discover that her small house was adjacent to the village's small nursery. Sounds of children and women floated in through the small window.
She had been prescribed a regimen of diet, herbs, rest and minor exercises, and seemed to be recovering very well. She had not been given a job, as others had. She had been too sickly. But as her health had improved, her restlessness had increased until she made her way next door.
Hinata peeked in. Sakura had a toddler in her lap, holding a bowl and a spoon, looking like she was trying to feed him.
By all appearances, the feeding was not going well. The child was refusing her, turning his face away, lips pressed tightly closed. "Now, now, Haruki - " Sakura coaxed. A pudgy hand reached for the spoon. "Good boy," she said.
Haruki grabbed the spoon from Sakura's hand, and then flung the contents all over her front.
The toddler looked up at Hinata, who smiled. She smiled at the fine brown hair, the smooth skin, and the wide-open eyes, eyes like pale blue-grey slate. Then she covered the smile with a hand, so Sakura couldn't see.
Impatiently, the baby lifted a finger to his open mouth. "Mo'," the little voice piped demandingly.
Sakura offered the spoon.
"No!" he shrilled, batting it to one side. He pointed at Hinata. "Mo'!"
Sakura looked up. "My lady - maybe you better go back to your room. You've never been around children - "
"Sakura, if I could help?" Hinata offered, then added wistfully, "It is a little lonely without you and Karin."
"Mo'!"
Sakura looked at Hinata, and then back at Haruki. "Well..."
They heard the inimitable sounds of broken pottery, high-pitched childish shrieking, and the dull sound of something heavy being repeatedly beaten against the floor. Hastily, Sakura handed over the bowl and spoon. "If you truly don't mind. I really do need to attend that."
As Hinata seated herself on the ground, the toddler seemed immensely pleased to see her. He reached forward to touch her clothes, familiarly patting the seals - in the shape of a drop of blood, with a whirl - printed all over her outer robes. "Those are the family insignia of my family - the kamon of the Hyuuga - I'm sure your family has them too," she said.
This seemed to satisfy him. He sat down in her lap. She readied the gruel and spoon.
"Hinata!" Sasuke's voice sliced through the nursery, his sober face and black robes at odds with the happy brightness of the place.
Without knowing why, Hinata clutched the child closer to her body.
A woman intercepted Sasuke, calling, "Excuse me, sir, but men who aren't fathers are not allowed in here."
Haruki shifted in protest at the tight hold then fell backward out of Hinata's abruptly loosened hold, out of her lap, and banged the back of his head against the floor. He immediately began to bellow in distress, eyes squinched shut, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. Hinata scooped him up off the ground, cuddling him awkwardly and trying to shush him at the same time.
"Right," Sasuke grunted and turned around, but not before he had surveyed the babies and young children with a disdainful eye. Some of them started to cry. He grimaced, saying, "I don't know how women do it, surrounded by this noise." He turned, and as he left, he tossed the words over his shoulder, "Tsunade wants to see you. There's a message from your father."
The woman who had intercepted Sasuke reached for Haruki, who had settled down to sad hiccups, and Sakura hustled Hinata out to Tsunade's chambers.
Naruto burst into the area of Hinata's rooms, only to find Sakura and Karin huddled together, whispering to each other in a hushed and somber mood.
"Hey, Sakura! Shikamaru and me - we saw the rider - what's the message?"
Sakura turned, her eyes suspiciously bright. "It's a letter from Lord Hiashi."
"That's great, right? Hinata gets a letter from her father. Everybody likes getting news. So why is everyone acting like their best friend died?"
Flatly, Karin said, "The engagement between the emperor's nephew and Hinata has been broken. They thought she was too sick for too long. New arrangements have been made."
Dumbstruck, Naruto asked, "Hinata was engaged?"
"Yes. Ever since she was a little girl. The marriage didn't happened because she was never well enough to travel to the capitol," Karin explained.
Sakura said, "Lord Hiashi has offered Lady Hanabi as a replacement and the Emperor has accepted."
"And her father could just offer her sister, just like that?" Naruto asked incredulously.
Karin looked surprised that anybody could have an objection to the principle. "Of course." Then, as if it were the only reasonable approach, she said, "It is still a family alliance to the Emperor."
"That's terrible!"
"Yes, it is," Karin agreed. "It's also a terrible blow to Lady Hinata's social standing. She'll never get an offer nearly that good again."
Sakura mourned, "Our poor lady. She won't even be able to attend the wedding. Lady Hanabi will be married by the time the messenger returned to the capitol, if she isn't already. The messenger went to Hyuuga Castle first."
"It can't be that bad," Naruto insisted, and before he could be stopped, pushed through to the darkened inner room, to find Hinata sitting, aimlessly staring at a scroll on the floor; by her side a small cup of water and an ink stone on which was propped an ink stick and calligraphy brush.
"No!" cried Karin and Sakura together, upset, hovering at the door.
Hinata looked up at him, blinking at the sunshine he had brought into the room, and then looked swiftly away, scrubbing at the tear tracks on her face with the edges of her long sleeves.
"You can't go in!" Sakura scolded.
Hinata waved off her handmaidens. "Please," she whispered. "Come in." She smiled wanly at Naruto, a broken remnant of a social mannerism. "Please sit."
Naruto opened his mouth and nothing came out. He wasn't prepared to see this open sadness, this obvious sense of a future shattered. He finally blurted out, "I heard about the engagement breaking."
"Ah," she reddened, blotchily. She looked down at the scroll. Following the direction of her glance, he also looked down at the perfect, fluid script. "Felicitations on your wedding, dear sister. I have nothing but the greatest" the last word marred by the heavy pooling of ink on the paper, as if the brush had been held over it too long.
"I'm sorry," he said, awkwardly.
"Thank you." She continued to look in any direction but his.
"But it's just marriage to a guy you'd never met, right? Maybe next time it'll be someone who's really great - "
"Thank you," she interrupted.
"Yeah - a guy who's better than the nephew of the emperor - a guy who - a guy who's a great hero - or - maybe -" Naruto couldn't think of anyone better than that.
"Thank you, again," she whispered.
A creeping embarassment began to make itself known - embarassment about what he had done and said; barging into her room, bringing up her loss, and her awkward response to his condolences. Naruto stepped backward, thinking to make his exit. "I'm sorry for disturbing you - if I had known -"
She began to speak, haltingly, softly, struggling to make sense of her current circumstances to the both of them. "I never really dreamed of becoming an Imperial Lady, not really, not with being so sick. I knew I was never worthy. I know so little about anything - I've never even managed our own lands, or traveled beyond my own village until now." She drew a deep breath. "This match is better for Hanabi. She's younger, in better health, and she is more capable of managing a household. And it isgood for the family. My expectations - my hopes - are nothing compared to that."
Naruto was drawn back to her by the sound of her voice. He looked at her, really looked at her; seeing the hurt and loss and confusion in the great grey eyes under the veneer of fine clothes and filial piety. He also saw the bravery in the acknowledgement of her shortcomings, and his heart moved. "What did - do you want?"
She closed her eyes a moment. When she opened them, it was as if Naruto were staring at the silvery twinned reflection of the moon in the dark waters of night. "I would like to be well," she said, wistfully. "I would like to have a family and children, like other women. I would like to marry someday - someone who wouldn't care about status or politics or money or what my family can give him. Someone with a good heart." She made a small gesture with her hand, dismissing the request as too much to ask from even the most benevolent of deities. "It would have been nice to have been presented to the Emperor. To meet him. It would have been too much to expect to have been under his protection."
"I promise - you will always be protected, Hinata," Naruto declared, strongly.
Astonished, she said, "Of course, Naruto. I don't doubt that." His nodding was cut short by her continuation - "Why, Iruka and Kakashi and Ko and Sasuke -"
"No - no -"
She was taken aback. "Excuse me?"
"I meant - not those guys. I mean me. I. I will protect you."
Hinata shook her head, "Naruto, you don't have to say that - it's just the disappointment of a spoiled girl."
"You spoiled? Nah. You helped us arrive here, and maybe saved Jiraiya's life." He straightened up, his hand over his heart. "This I promise - I will protect you."
She raised a hand to her mouth, looking as if she wanted to burst into tears or laughter. Tentatively she nodded.
"Great!" he exclaimed. "Wait till I tell everybody!"
A/N
After being driven into a cave by her brother, Susanoo, Ameratsu refused to leave, taking the sun and light with her. All the gods and goddesses in their turn strove to coax Amaterasu out of the cave, to no avail. Finally, Ame-no-Uzume, hatched a plan. She placed a large bronze mirror on a tree, facing Amaterasu's cave. Then, Uzume clothed herself in flowers and leaves, overturned a washtub and began to dance on it, drumming the tub with her feet. Finally, Uzume shed the leaves and flowers and danced naked. All the male gods roared with laughter, and Amaterasu became curious. When she peeked outside, a ray of light called "dawn" escaped and Amaterasu was dazzled by the beautiful goddess she saw (her own reflection in the mirror). Surrounded by merriment, Amaterasu's depression disappeared and she agreed to return her light to the world. Uzume was from then on known as the kami of dawn as well as mirth. - from wikipedia
In this story, Tenten is from Mongolia, which was famous for their fierce warriors. Certainly, natives were seen as less layered in formality and seemingly "soft" civilizing, even potentially corrupting forces, whatever the reality. (from a lecture on depictions of Chinese Imperial power in art)
bokken = a wooden training tool for learning swordsmanship. "The sword and the art of its use goes back before the times of written history. There are legends that tell of the mythical period of the gods concerning their use of swords." (wikipedia)
kata = detailed choreographed patterns of movements practised either solo or in pairs , most often associated with martial arts.
tasuke = a special looped cord used while working to keep sleeves out of the way. anamiweb(dot)com (slash) kimono. And before I forget - many, many thanks to the various websites containing images and text of period Japanese clothing, and how to make modern analogues.
budo = "fighting way." Budō is a compound of the root bu, meaning war or martial; and dō, meaning path or way. Budo also gives attention to the mind and how one should develop oneself. The perfect warrior of the times included skills in warfare as well as poetry. "Tadanori (a warrior from the Taira Clan) was famous for his skill with the pen and the sword or the "bun and the bu", the harmony of fighting and learning. Samurai were expected to be cultured and literate, and admired the ancient saying "Bun Bu Ryo Do" (literary arts, military arts, both ways) or "The pen and the sword in accord." (wikipedia, samurai entry)
tanto = short sword - a common single- or double-edged knife or dagger with a blade length between 15 and 30 cm (6-12 inches). Tanto were mostly carried by samurai. Before the 16th century, it was common for a samurai to carry a tachi and a tantō as opposed to a katana and a wakizashi. (Wikipedia)
kamon, mon = emblems used to decorate and identify an individual or family. While mon is an encompassing term that may refer to any such device, kamon refer specifically to emblems used to identify a family. Mon holders may also combine their mon with that of their patron, benefactor or spouse, sometimes creating increasingly complicated designs. (wikipedia, mon entry)
