Chapter Two

"Bolt," Himawari squeaked, tugging on her brother's sleeve. "I played a nasty prank on Mama and Papa, but I think it went too far."

His nose wrinkled in anger. "Whaaaa-? You idiot! You should have told me about it sooner so I could have helped you! I was all scared, y'know! And now Mama's all upset. I'm all for a good prank, but you're right! You went too far. I can't believe I'm saying this, but fess up!" he hissed.

Himawari had never lied before, but she didn't know what else to do. Clearly only she could see the girl, and it did no good to keep her parents worrying about her safety. Despite her age, Himawari was very acute to her surroundings, as well as to other people's feelings. And she could tell this whole debacle would bother her family for a long time.

She felt sick as she clung onto Naruto's leg, sobbing as she made her apology. "Me and my imaginary friend wanted to play a game with everyone," she choked, "I'm sorry. I didn't know it would hurt your feelings."

Hinata and Naruto knelt to her side, smoothing her hair back as they breathed a sigh of relief. "Our feelings aren't hurt," her mother cooed. "We were frightened though. That was a cruel joke."

"Yeah," Naruto laughed, kissing the little girl's forehead. "Next time you wanna play a game, let's settle for hide and seek!"

"Okay!" she said, breaking away from them and running toward her room. "C'mon!" she called to the girl, who was still by Hinata's side. "Let's play!"

"Are you talking to your imaginary friend?" Naruto asked, chuckling to himself.

"Yeah!" At this, the girl cocked her head and smiled, running after Himawari. As she neared her bedroom door, she could hear Bolt already starting to make his accusations:

"None of this would have happened if stupid dad wasn't working all the time!"

"Bolt," Hinata warned.

And their conversation was cut off as she closed the door behind her, allowing the girl to stand in front of her. "Who are you?" Himawari asked.

"Yuko," she replied. "And you?"

"You didn't know who I was before and you came into my room?" Her brows stitched together in suspicion. "I'm Himawari."

"I'm so glad we're friends! No one in this world has ever been able to see me!" Yuko gushed, clasping her hands together and swaying back and forth.

Himawari frowned, taking a seat in one of her little chairs used for tea time. Yuko did the same, choosing the one across from her. "Before we become friends, I want to know about you!"

"Of course! Well, for starters, I think I'm a ghost."

"A ghost?" This peaked Himawari's attention. Anything creepy or supernatural interested her, and this made her believe all of the stories Bolt would tell her in an attempt to scare her. Now to see one of his stories come to life astonished her.

"Yeah!" Yuko continued, seemingly glad to have someone to talk to. "I've heard many stories about my kind. Dead people who can't be seen by living people haunt certain places. But in my case, I can go anywhere my Papa's been! Which is everywhere! I like to explore the village a lot, but I also follow Papa sometimes. And I think he senses me because I hear him mumble a lot about how he's haunted. I thought it was a good thing until lately…" Sadness flashed through her eyes. "He cries sometimes. When he's alone in his house, he cries. So I'm giving him some space. And then I found you! I can't believe you're Bolt's sister!" she giggled, a blush coming to her cheeks. "He's really cute."

"Eeeeew!" Himawari shrieked. "Bolt isn't cute, he's a dumb dumb!"

Yuko laughed, the sound so musical and natural that it dissipated all bad feelings Himawari had about her. "Of course you think that! He's your brother!" She wiped her eyes and watched the younger girl expectantly. "So are we friends?"

"Yes." She nodded sagely. "We're friends."

And Himawari kept true to those words. Over the next couple of weeks, Yuko kept her busy while the rest of her family were off performing their usual duties. They'd have tea parties or play ninja, and if Yuko was having a good day, she'd be able to touch objects so they could play catch or make puppet shows. It was a nice change of pace, as she was no longer bored whenever her mother dragged her to the Hyuga compound with her.

Everywhere Himawari went, there was Yuko, dutifully beside her. There were, of course, some days that the girl would disappear. These were the days Bolt was off at the academy and Hinata spent the day training Himawari in the back yard. Yuko would trail off somewhere, returning once Bolt arrived home and explained she was learning new things too.

"What do you learn?" Himawari asked one day, kneeling on her bed and watching Yuko with determined eyes.

"Lots of stuff!" she laughed. "You'll see when you enroll. Hopefully your class won't be so obnoxious."

"It's because Bolt's in that class." Himawari stuck out her tongue. She scratched her cheek and giggled. "Actually, Mama will be enrolling me soon! She wanted to wait until I was good and ready. And today, she said I'm doing so much better!" She clapped her hands. "I start once Bolt graduates! Isn't that exciting? And then you can come with me!"

Yuko beamed. "That would be amazing! And then… Maybe… You can become a great ninja for me?"

Himawari blinked. "Of course I'll become a great ninja!" She crawled out of bed and loped across the room. "Watch this!" She began punching and kicking the air at a rapid pace. "And this!" She picked up another one of Bolt's hand-me-down teddies, Booger Brain, and threw him in the air, leaping up and kicking it at her wardrobe. The bear hit it with such force, that the doors shattered and wooden splinters showered over the floor. "Oops."

"Wow, Himawari, you're strong!" Yuko gasped, gaping at the damage.

"What was that noise?" Hinata poked her head through the door and scrutinized Himawari, her gaze moving to the broken wardrobe. "Oh my…"

"I was showing off my skills to Yuko!" she explained, not wanting her mother to become angry with her.

Hinata froze and returned her attention back to the little girl, ignoring the wardrobe completely. "What did you say?"

Himawari fumbled with her thumbs. "I was just showing off to Yuko what I learned…"

"Y-Yuko?" her mother whispered.

"Yeah! My imaginary friend!"

Hinata's face fell, and she quietly slipped away, alarming Himawari. "Why was Mama sad?"

"She and Papa talk sometimes," said Yuko, sliding off of the bed and coming to her side. "So I think she knows about me."

Hinata returned with a broom and dust pan, clearing away the splinters and wordlessly disappearing to throw them in the trash. Himawari followed her to the kitchen and tugged at her skirts. "Mama?"

"Yes?" The woman squeezed her eyes shut and reopened them, forcing a smile.

Himawari opened her mouth, wanting to ask about Yuko's death, but she thought the better of it. "I'm sorry for making you sad." She said instead, hugging her leg.

Hinata let out a small laugh. "I forget how observant you are, little one." She picked her up and rubbed her nose against hers, eliciting giggles from the child. "Mama can't be sad for long when such a cutie pie is here to make her feel better."

"Well, Mama is a pretty lady!" she replied, reaching out and squeezing her mother's cheeks affectionately.

Yuko watched them from the hallway, a smile on her lips but jealousy in her eyes.