Chapter 1: Enjoy the Silence...
Hiashi stared unseeing at the steaming cup of tea in his hands. For three long months, he had allowed this... this Ako to live in his house. She had come to them ignorant as a babe, but he had personally seen to her training, and been surprised by her eagerness and the speed with which she learned. She was almost worth it.
Almost.
The council was begging that he turn her out. They claimed it wasn't right, an outsider being trained with the same intensity of an heir. But they couldn't understand; a true shinobi hungered to bring those with skill to the highest possible level, so that they might gain honor and credit for creating such fine weapons. Ako was indeed a fine weapon.
Hinata and Hanabi had equally begun to improve, with an outsider there to compete against. Even Neji-kun-
Hiashi cut his thought off there. There was no need to think about how frighteningly quickly Neji-kun was figuring out the deepest of the Hyuuga arts, which were never even taught to him. He had to think about Ako, and what he would do when he ran out of things he could, or would, teach her.
"I suppose..." he murmured to himself, taking a sip of tea, "That it is time to call in on that favor..."
~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~
Ako was sparring with Hinata's cousin, Neji.
She liked sparring with Neji, though she didn't like the boy himself; it was fun to test her agility against his speed. Nearly always, Neji won, but that wasn't the point. The point was evading him longer than last time, despite the new moves he'd obviously learned.
She dodged yet another jab for a tenketsu, trying to get through the younger boy's guard. He was only eleven, and yet... and yet...
She made it another ten minutes before Neji managed to knock her off her feet.
"Well." Said a mild male voice as she picked herself up. "Neji-kun is getting better, isn't he? But obviously that favor doesn't apply to him."
She and Neji looked, and saw Hiashi standing well back, in formal black, while beside him stood... beside him...
Ako tried very hard to contain her excitement and nervousness. She hoped her sweaty face wasn't as red as she thought it was.
Hatake Kakashi inspected her with a narrowed eye, obviously not seeing her at all, but probably which styles she would be best at, and the movements and motions she had already demonstrated. "She's not bad." He said finally, turning to Hiashi, who raised one eyebrow.
"But is she good? I've put enough effort into evaluating her; give me your honest opinion."
"My honest opinion?..." Kakashi rubbed his chin, looking at Ako again. His eye was cold and calculating, distant. He wasn't seeing a girl, with the potential to be a shinobi; he was seeing a genin, with the potential to be a jonin. "Huh. My opinion is that she needs more training in jutsu. She's got Gentle Fist down pretty much, but without the Byakugan it's practically useless. Maybe Gai could help. For genjutsu, which I'm pretty sure she knows nothing about, there's Kurenai."
Ako bit her tongue to keep from spitting out "I can hear you, O mighty and worldly jonin."
"And ninjutsu?" Hiashi asked delicately, his eyebrow rising another centimeter. Kakashi scowled at him.
"Iruka-" he began, but stopped when Hiashi began shaking his head with a small, secret smile.
"Ah, Iruka-kun is good, but not good enough." He told his fellow jonin gently, as if he were speaking to a slow child. "I need YOU to teach her."
Ako's heart almost stopped.
"ME?!" Kakashi cried in a strangled voice, "Damn it, that wasn't part of the bargain!!! I don't teach, got it, Hiashi?! I'm a field shinobi, not a goddamn teacher!!!"
"Hiashi-sama?" Neji murmured, edging backwards. Hiashi nodded minutely, and the boy disappeared. Ako started to follow Neji's example, but Hiashi turned his gaze on her, and she stopped, instantly standing a little taller at the small flicker of pride in those impassive pearl eyes.
"Ako-san? Do you think you need a new teacher?" He asked her, amusement flickering in to a tiny smile. Ako's face paled, then flushed.
"Um, well, I, I don't know..." she mumbled, looking at her feet. "I don't want to know everything there is to know, I just... I want to know enough to get by..."
"But you have much more potential then just mediocre." Hiashi told her, before turning back to a speechless and fuming Kakashi. "Look at her, Kakashi. You saw her fight. She could easily gain the right to bear the name Hunter."
"N-no, see, Hiashi-sama-" Ako began, determined that Kakashi not get the wrong idea. But the silver-haired jonin held up a hand, and Ako's mouth instantly snapped shut.
"'Hunter'?" Kakashi murmured, eyeing her with new interest. "Is that really your name?"
"Well, yes," Ako confessed, "But see, where I come from, Hunter is just a name, we don't have jobs called that-"
"Shut up." Kakashi ordered.
Ako shat up.
"How good exactly is she?" Kakashi asked Hiashi, who smiled again, that tiny smile that spoke of secrets abound.
"Good enough to last forty minutes against my best."
~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~
Kakashi sighed and allowed Hiashi to order him to attend dinner with the Hyuugas, so that the head could make the announcement that Ako would be training with him, Kurenai, and Gai. He spotted the girl's face when Hiashi mentioned Gai; she looked like she was about to puke. But she quickly wiped away the expression.
He was starting to like her.
"Any special preparations I should make?" Kakashi asked, keeping his tone bored and light. "Maybe a few kunai, a smoke-bomb or two, in case someone snaps and tries to kill me?"
"No," Hiashi sighed, "We took care of that little problem. You'll be perfectly safe. Although I wonder how the council will react when I tell them YOU will be Ako-san's teacher..."
Ako muttered something that Kakashi didn't quite catch. "Eh? What'd you say? Quit mumbling, it's annoying."
She blushed, cleared her throat, and said quietly "I said, 'They'll probably ask why it's not Hinata, then try and kick me out'. N-no disrespect, Hiashi-sama."
"None taken." Hiashi replied, looking thoughtful, "Although you have a point, Ako-san. They might believe that simply because I am bending to their suggestion of a different teacher, I should bend to their suggestion of tossing you out."
"Now, that's just plain cruel." Kakashi objected. "Why would anyone toss someone out into the streets?"
"Especially since the said person being tossed out hasn't left the Hyuuga compound at all, under direct orders of the council." Ako muttered bitterly. "I'd get lost easier than a baby, and from what... Hinata told me, that'd be... bad."
Kakashi saw the flash of fear in Ako's chocolate eyes, and knew immediately that while she was no stranger to the danger of city streets at night, she was by no means apt to go out by choice. Only extreme need would force her to leave her home at night and wander the streets. He nodded slowly.
"Yeah... Konoha isn't a place to get lost in... frankly, I'm surprised you even kept her, Hiashi-kun. Seeing as most Hyuuga are mistrustful assholes..." Kakashi raised an eyebrow. Hiashi shrugged.
"I believed there was no harm in allowing her to stay with us." He said, almost defensively. "Hinata-chan and Hanabi-chan enjoy her presence, and Neji-kun is more sociable since he began regularly sparring with her." Ako blushed and stared hard at her feet again.
Kakashi sighed heavily. "Alright, alright, I get it. So, what if most of your elders start screaming about you being a traitor to the clan? And what if someone tries to kill Ako-san, just to get rid of her?"
"I will punish them." Hiashi replied simply. His eyes flashed dangerously as he spoke. "Ako-chan is as much a part of our household as Hinata-chan."
Ako flushed with pleasure.
~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~
Hinata and Hanabi, though not as impressed with Kakashi as Ako (though she didn't tell them about her crush on him), fussed slightly over her when she told them, in a dazed sort of way, that he was going to be one of her senseis.
"Who else is going to teach you?" Hanabi asked eagerly as they all three fussed over each other's clothes a half-hour before dinner, "I mean, you said ONE of your senseis. Is father going to continue tutoring you?"
Ako blushed and shook her head. "No... Hatake-sensei is only for ninjutsu. He said Gai and Kurenai-san would be good teachers for taijutsu and genjutsu, respectfully." She shivered. "I'd sooner do without Gai, though." She muttered, straightening the youngest girl's yukata and turning to Hinata's hair, which had gotten mussed AGAIN.
"Why?" Hinata asked, tucking Ako's white shock of hair behind her ear and fiddling with her sister's ponytail. "He's the best, isn't he? And I thought you'd never met him before..."
Ako blanched.
'This is what comes of not telling them the truth, dumbass. Spit it out, or they'll be suspicious of even the truth.'
"Well..." Ako played with the sleeve of her yukata, then sighed. "Look, you two know I'm not... from here. Frankly, I don't think I even belong in this world. I mean," she blushed as Hinata and Hanabi gave her exasperated looks, "I mean, I came out of a freakin' mirror!...
"Well... where I come from..." she took a deep breath, then blurted, "Where I come from, this entire world, all of its people, are just characters and settings in a manga that's become insanely popular, even in America, where I come from. And I'm just a normal Japanese-American, and I was a really big fan, which is how I know almost everyone's name and stuff and that's why I'd rather not be Gai's student because I know what he's like and that's why I knew your name Hinata-chan and that's why I think I have a crush on Kakashi only I didn't know it was a crush before I came here and he said he was going to be my sensei-" she slapped her hands over her mouth, feeling her blush worsen.
Hinata and Hanabi sat there, stunned.
"...Well." Hanabi said finally.
"...W-well." Hinata repeated.
"...Well?..." Ako squeaked hesitantly.
"...That definitely explains things." Hanabi said simply. "I thought you had a bit of Sight... I didn't know... We're really only a made-up story in your... world?"
Ako nodded. "I-I'm sorry, I know it's not something that you'd expect, b-but that's the truth, I swear, I'll sign my name in blood or burn myself with cigarettes, anything, I'm not lying!" she rocked back on her heels, amazed at her own vehemence.
Hinata shook her head. "No... it's okay, Ako-chan. I've always wondered if there were another world... and if there was, if I were in it." For one oddly story-book moment, Hinata's expression was of a longing so intense that Ako actually reached out and hugged her.
"Don't worry; back home, everyone sympathizes with you, though I won't be an ass and say that no one doesn't think you don't have depth." She smiled crookedly as Hinata stared at her. "Well... let's just say, Kishimoto-sama hasn't given you any really important roles yet. He hasn't really given any of the girls important roles." Her face darkened. "In some ways, I hate him. In others, I worship him. In your case, I am severely disappointed in him."
Ako smiled again at Hinata's expression. "Sorry for talking like you're not real; I'm just... not really that used to being part of my fandom, I guess."
Hanabi cleared her throat, and the two older girls looked at her. "You said you had a crush on Hatake-kun?..." she asked lightly, smirking faintly.
Ako blushed and glared at her. "Hanabi, I swear, if you weren't my friend, I'd strangle you."
~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~
Kakashi HATED being formal.
So he really didn't want to tell his friends that he wasn't going to be able to go to the bar that night because of Hiashi. Neither did Kurenai, it seemed, or she might not have heard that Kakashi had nominated her.
Gai knew he'd been volunteered, though.
"KAKASHI, MY ETERNAL RIVAL!!!" he roared, bounding up to Kakashi in the jonin lounge, "WHAT IS THIS I HEAR FROM HIASHI-KUN THAT I AM TO BE A TUTOR TO A CHILD I'VE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF AT YOUR REQUEST?!?!"
Kakashi sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You've got it all wrong, idiot. Ako-san's been isolated, yes, but only because she's not a Hyuuga, and they've taken her in. I didn't REQUEST you, I SUGGESTED you. Aren't you always boasting about being the best taijutsu expert in Konoha?"
"BECAUSE I AM!!!" Gai roared, posing in such a way that several females shrieked and hid their poor eyes.
"And I recently got a message saying I'm supposed to teach this 'Ako' girl..." Kurenai commented softly, glaring suspiciously at Kakashi. Asuma gaped from one to the other.
"H-Hang on! What about me?!" He objected.
"What ABOUT you?" Kakashi snapped.
"How come I don't get to tutor this mysterious isolated foundling girl?!" Asuma demanded.
"Because Hiashi wanted my opinion on who would be best at teaching her taijutsu, genjutsu, and ninjutsu, and you don't specialize in any of those!" the silver-haired jonin snarled exasperatedly, "I tried to get Hiashi to let ME off the hook, but he said Iruka wasn't specialized enough, and you weren't exactly the teaching type-"
"Neither are you!"
"I know! I told him such, and he just said 'It doesn't matter, you owe me anyway'!" Kakashi jammed his hand through his hair, thoroughly exasperated with Hiashi, Gai, Asuma, and Ako. "Hell, the kid said HERSELF that she didn't want to know more than was necessary!"
"Well, when she's learned all that's necessary, we can quit." Kurenai said sensibly.
"YOSH!!! A WONDERFUL idea, Kurenai-chan!!!" Gai crowed, "Now, my eternal rival, LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!!! ROCK!!!" he thrust out his fist. On impulse, Kakashi held out his own and said "Paper."
"SCISSORS!!! HYAH!!!"
Kakashi had rock. Gai had scissors.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Gai screamed in anguish.
Kakashi shrugged and turned back to Kurenai and Asuma.
"Right, so, Hiashi wanted me to go hang around during the big announcement feast (I ain't gonna eat around them Hyuugas), so I can't come get hammered tonight. Maybe tomorrow, I dunno." He shrugged carelessly. "Personally, I'm shooting for a month before she cracks and I'm free again."
"You talk like she's your girlfriend..." Kurenai sighed. Asuma nodded, grinning. Kakashi glared at them.
"Oh, shut up. Anyway, I'm betting a month before I'm released from teaching duties. What're your bets?"
"Oooh, no." Asuma shook his head furiously. "You always win when YOU'RE the one placing the first bets. I ain't betting against you."
"I'll bet two months." Kurenai commented, smirking slightly. "I suppose if Hiashi-kun likes her enough to make YOU her teacher, this Ako is pretty tough."
Kakashi shrugged again. "Well, she lasted about thirty minutes against Neji-kun. Does that tell you anything?"
Gai whistled behind him. "That long? Amazing! I could never survive even ten minutes against the boy's father, and everyone knows that Neji himself is a genius among his own people, if not among all the shinobi nations..." he shot Kakashi a glance, as if to see his reaction.
Kakashi blinked. "Hmm? You say something?" he asked vaguely, turning to Gai with a look of wide-eyed innocence.
"HOW DARE YOU!!!" Gai practically screamed, "MY ETERNAL RIVAL, YOU ARE, INDEED!!! TO HAVE THE NERVE TO IGNORE ME!!!..." he then went into a very long rant about Kakashi's youth and vigor. No one really listened.
~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~
Ako hadn't eaten in the family dining room before; she'd always eaten in her room, and never really cared much what they gave her.
When she saw the spread for the announcement feast, she realized they'd been scrimping at feeding her.
Not that Ako much minded; true, the sushi she tried that night was rather good, and the watered sakè palatable, but sitting where the entire Hyuuga household could see her was profoundly disturbing.
It's not the ENTIRE household, she reminded herself. Just the main branch, and the servants. She found this even more pitiful than a whining puppy on the street; to think that such a tightly-knit clan would split itself so thoroughly as to create branches that were better or worse...
Hinata and Hanabi took it much better than Ako. Being the Heir, Hinata sat on her father's right; Hanabi, on his left. Ako had pride of place (though she didn't think so herself) right beside Hanabi, and subsequently, beside an empty place that was all that separated her from a rather finicky old woman who frowned at Ako constantly.
Pretty soon, as the meal progressed and all that ever happened was a pleasant buzz of conversation, Ako got tired of being frowned at. So she flashed the disapproving elder a dazzling smile, putting as much contempt and weary condescension into it as she could. She then turned back to her food, smirking slightly behind her hair as the old woman blinked, taken aback, then turned hastily to the old man on her other side.
"Nicely done." Someone commented quietly as they sat down beside her.
Ako jumped slightly, and turned her head so fast that she nearly gave herself whiplash. Wincing, she rubbed her neck and cast a shy glance over her elbow at Kakashi, who watched her with amusement.
"Er, what?" she mumbled, "I dunno what you're talking about."
"You know perfectly well what I was talking about." The older man chuckled softly, looking over Ako's head to Hiashi. "Sorry, Hiashi-kun, but I ain't eating around here; I prefer keeping the mask on, thanks."
Hiashi gave him a thin smile. "I expected as much. Although I hear you have the ability to drink with your mask on; that would be a fine trick to witness."
Kakashi grinned. "I don't do shows, sorry. Although that is true. Just ask Asuma next time he comes to court one of your poor little cadet branch wenches." He gave one of the servants behind him a sly, friendly wink. She giggled and slipped away to whisper to one of her fellow servants. Ako grinned, but quickly dispersed the expression.
Hiashi raised one eyebrow at Kakashi. "Ah... I see. And... you are late once again..." he frowned disapprovingly. Kakashi chuckled.
"You look like Mother Kiyoko over here! She was making the same face at Ako-san." He glanced over his shoulder. Ako leaned back a little to peek around him. The old woman shot her a glare, then called down to Hiashi, her voice reedy, "Hiashi-kun, why is this ruffian here?"
"Because I invited him, Obāsan Kiyoko." Hiashi replied smoothly. "I would thank you not to insult him in his presence. I'm afraid this will not be the last time you see him in the clan House. In fact, I should explain to everyone..."
Kakashi shook his head and sighed as Hiashi called a servant towards him. "I really wish he wouldn't defend me when I can do it myself..." he muttered, then looked at Ako, who turned quickly back to fiddling with the sleeve of the yukata Hinata had given her.
She didn't really listen as Hiashi stood and made his announcement that she wouldn't be training with Hinata and Hanabi anymore; she was rather preoccupied with the fact that Hanabi was steadily leaning in, with a purpose. Ako didn't dare move away, because that would mean moving closer to Kakashi...
Hanabi finally slumped against Ako, but it wasn't the kind of tense, steadily pushing slump that meant she was trying to make Ako uncomfortable; it was the kind of slump that a tired child would perform on an older sibling. Automatically, Ako put her arm around Hanabi. She was just so used to the girl, and seeing her as someone she could trust...
The steadily building grumbles of outrage seemed to cease the moment Ako put her arm around Hanabi. Now the atmosphere of the room was a stuffy kind of silence that spoke of hidden emotions abound. Ako raised her head.
It seemed as though millions of pairs of eyes were on her, although it couldn't have been more than seventy. Eyes that held anger, hurt, amazement, disappointment, sadness, even a bit of hatred. These eyes, gleaming as pearls before her, were the ones that saw her; and what did they see? A woman-child they didn't know? A stranger?
A girl who had tried so hard to gain their respect she didn't even notice she'd been trying?
A Japanese-American with no family and hardly any friends, struggling between her past life and the implausible present?
Ako Hunter, who only wanted to go home and be with her mother and friends again?
Before she broke down and cried, Ako began to wonder. What DID these people see? They probably, for the most part, only saw a little girl who was getting more attention than the shy child they all wanted to succeed so hard, they were breaking her. They saw all of their efforts wasted, because they were harming the one they wanted to help, and the one taking the spotlight was an unknown child with an unknown past. Of course they hated her.
But what the hell did she care?
Her chin rose; she glared defiantly back at the eyes turned towards her; she stubbornly set her jaw, and mentally dared them to say she didn't deserve this chance. Her pride stood in the way of her actually admitting her rapidly growing ego, but it certainly didn't stand in the way of her telling them all to go to hell in a handbasket.
She was so proud of herself.
~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~
Kakashi's first thought upon seeing Ako blanch at all the eyes fixed on her was, She won't make it. She'll wash out before a month is up.
But then he saw defiance spark in her deep brown eyes; she tightened her jaw minutely, and raised her chin ever so slightly; she looked like a Princess sat where a shy little mouse had been before. Disgust was evident in her disdainful glare, and she seemed not to notice that the one lock of pure white hair had fallen down in front of her eyes, making her seem even more wild and untamed, coupled with her blazing eyes.
Several clan members looked down or away, rather than meet her snapping chocolate gaze. The others quailed beneath her stare.
Kakashi was impressed.
~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~
"VERY nice." The light baritone beside Ako murmured as soon as she relaxed and turned her gaze once again to the little girl who was grinning up at her triumphantly. Ako glanced up at Kakashi, who met her eye-for-eye, seemingly impressed.
Ako shook her head, closing her eyes briefly before turning to Hanabi and muttering defiantly "You did that on purpose."
"How else could I get you to earn your place?" Hanabi giggled, pulling away gently from Ako's restraining arm. "Besides, if none of them saw us being close, they'd assume you'd done something to father, or, you know," Hanabi wriggled her eyebrows slightly with a faintly disgusted expression, and Ako hid a revolted giggle behind her hand, "Well, anyway, now they'll think me and Hinata made him train you and find you good teachers."
"You think they'll believe that?" Kakashi asked quietly, one eyebrow raised in amused inquery. Hanabi turned spiteful pearl eyes on him.
"Do you think you could do better, O wise one?" she asked acidly. Ako grinned.
"That's my girl," she said proudly, ruffling Hanabi's hair, "Don't let them mean males talk back to you."
"Who's a mean male?" Kakashi objected, eye glittering with suppressed mirth, "All I ever did was ask how you knew your plan would work!"
"If males would just shut up and not question women, you would never have to wonder." Ako shot back coolly, meeting his gaze for all of ten seconds before looking towards Hiashi. The head of the clan seemed suspiciously like he was trying not to laugh.
~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~~~\O/~~
AAAAAAAND, CUT!!!
Yeah, I know this is really short... :3 But I don't give a flying f*ck (excuse teh language). I really like Ako, and I like how this started out (not so much the announcement scene, because I'm more used to Medieval European feasts than Feudal-style Japanese feasts == ==;). To be sure, there shall be more, though I should be working on Xenocide on my other account! XD
(*The world loves you*)
