The Love of the Uchiha
Chapter 3
"Let us walk you home." My teammates, Hiku and Kiru, were standing in front of me.
"No thanks you guys. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine," I replied.
"Alright, but if anything happens..." Hiku started.
"You come get us," Kiru finished.
"You know I will," I smiled at them. Hiku and Kiru were identicle twins who were 2 years my senior with fiery red hair just like mine. The reason they were put on the same team was that their abilities were perfect opposites and they worked so well together. Hiku was earth style while Kiru was wind. They were like my brothers. Ever since we had been teamed up together, they had become some of my closest friends. Despite how different we were, they seemed to understand everything I went through, and they were always there to support me.
As I walked home, I tried to block out the negative thoughts. Sure, my clan may hate me, but I was still a powerful ninja and I had been going through training to become Mizukage. That had to count for something. The village leaders would probably think differently than my clan, and would still train me so. My dreams could still become reality, and my father's dream come to fruition.
The entire way home, I felt eyes following me, but every time I turned, there was nobody there. I continued to speed up, eventually running the rest of the way. I burst through my front door and sped to my room, collapsing on my bed. I couldn't stop the shaking as it began to rack through my body. The tears started falling as I recalled the events of that day. I cried myself to sleep that night.
I woke the next morning to yelling coming from the kitchen. I sat up in bed, rubbing my eyes, confused and kind of scared. I had never heard yelling in our house. Ever. We were trained to bottle up our anger, to hone it, and to release and use it to our advantage on the battlefield. Despite the Achis being mainly healers, we excelled in battle in order to defend ourselves and others, making it impossible to injure us. Due to this, we were expected to remain calm and collected at home. I could tell the voices were my mother and father, but due to the fact that my room was the farthest from the kitchen, I could not understand what they were saying. I snuck out of my room and made my way to Nira's room, using my training to be silent. I opened Nira's door and saw Hana huddled in Nira's arms, crying. Nira looked up at me as I closed the door and extended an arm to me. I crawled onto the bed and cuddled up to her. It was a small bit of comfort. I had not been held in the arms of my big sister since I was small. I wrapped an arm around Hana, and we all snuggled closer together.
I could now hear my parents' words. "She has been disowned! We cannot allow her to continue living here!" I heard my mother yell.
"She is our daughter! She will stay here with us!" my father screamed back.
"My mother has decided she cannot remain here after shaming the Achi name as he has! She is the clan leader! Imagine the oldest daughter of the leader of the clan harboring a shunned clan member! She has the clan's best interests in mind!"
"Do you hear yourself?! This is our DAUGHTER we are talking about! Not some horrible fugitive! I don't give a shit what your mother says! I am her father, and she will remain with me!"
"Then you can leave with her!" mother yelled and I heard her storm out the front door.
My sisters and I froze. I had never heard my father stick up for me like that. It was shocking. I thought he disliked me. I felt oddly safe after hearing his words. We slowly released each other. Nira and Hana looked at me with sadness in their eyes. "I should go," I said.
"We love you," said Hana.
"I know. I love you too."
I snuck back to my room in the same fashion as before. I dressed in my most comfortable mission gear and left. As I walked to Command, I could feel eyes on my back once again. But like before, when I turned around, nobody was there.
When I got to command, I was greeted by a kind looking woman with short blue hair who identified herself as Ryuo. She gave me a tour of the building and showed me to my locker. "We are glad to have you," she said to me as she left. I opened my locker and found a standard-issue Jonin vest. I put it on, feeling pride surge through me. The door behind me opened and I turned. I froze in shock. The Mizukage and his assistants were walking straight towards me, and stopped in front of me. The Mizukage, Yagura was his name, smiled at me. "Hello Ariya, I have come to personally congratulate you and give you your first mission," he said cheerfully. My eyes widened as I looked down at the paper he was holding out to me. I slowly took it from him. "Already?" I asked.
"There is no better way to begin a new position than to start with a mission, as my grandfather used to say," Yagura said with a laugh. "It is a bit harder than we would usually assign to a brand new Jonin, but I have faith in you."
I bowed. "Thanks you so much," I whispered respectfully.
"You are very welcome. Your partner will be Harou Shimada. He is very eager to meet you. He will meet you at the training field in an hour."
"Yes sir, I will be there."
"Good. You have a nice day and good luck." For some reason I got the impression he wasn't just talking about my mission. He gave me a smile and waved goodbye as he walked out, his assistants behind him.
I sat down in the chair closest to my locker and read my mission. Harou Shimada and I would be finding a scroll that the Hidden Rain village had stolen from us. Due to the fact that it was unkown if the scroll had yet arrived at the village, or if it was still traveling, it was an A rank mission. It should take four days at the most. I could feel the excitement bubbling up inside me. I loved missions. I loved the freedom of being outside the village and the teamwork required to complete the task. Now that I was a Jonin, I would be able to go on even more missions. I smiled to myself and left for the training field, stopping at the cafeteria to pick up lunch for Harou and I.
When I got to the training field, I saw a tall man with brown hair and scars up his arms and a long one along his left cheek. Wow, I thought. He must have a lot of experience!
"You must be Harou Shimada," I said as I walked up.
"That I am. You must be Ariya Achi."
"That's me." I was suprised at how nice he seemed. I pulled out the lunch I'd brought. "I brought us lunch. I hate training on an empty stomach."
He gave me a kind smile. "Thank you." We sat down and took out the food. "So you come from the Achi clan," he said.
"Yes I do."
"So you're a healer."
"No. I have been trained in healing, but it bores me."
"Wow. I can't say I've ever met an Achi warrior. I'm even more excited to train with you now."
"What about you?"
"I'm water and earth style. I like to fight with mud. Trap my enemies."
"That sounds like an effective techique."
"I find it to be. Hey are you Hajima's kid?"
"Yes."
"Are you the one who inherited his sound control?
"Yes."
His eyes widened. "Wow, I can't believe I get to pair up with you. I've heard great things about you. Your father is a great ninja, and you should know that he's so proud of you. He talks about you all the time."
"He does?"
"Yes. He brags about your achievements and he was so excited when you became a Jonin."
I was shocked. Father was always so distant and he always acted like he was diappointed with everything I did. I guess I was silent for a long time because Harou cleared his throat. I looked up.
"We should probably start training now that we're done. We need to get familiar with each other's fighting styles if we're going to be effective as a team."
"Yep. Let's go!" I said with a smirk.
Three hours later, we were both exhausted. "That was intense!" I said, out of breath.
"Well, I can tell we are going to be a great team. Go home, get some sleep. I will meet you by the front gates at midnight."
"Agreed."
I was exhausted as I walked home. I was running through a list in my head about what I needed to pack for my mission when a man pushed me roughly to the ground as he ran past. Unfortunately, I was used to this. Being 4' 10" was great on a mission when you needed to go unnoticed or needed to be fast, but it sucked when people didn't see you walking down the street, or when you got lost in a crowd. I walked the rest of the way home nursing a bruise on my hip. When I got home, I fell into my bed immediantly, but sat up right away. I pulled a folded piece of paper from the back of my waistband. I didn't put that there. I opened the paper and saw it was a note.
We know. Come with us. We will protect you.
I stared at the note, confused. Know what? I looked up and saw the picture of my family hanging on my was and I could hear my mother's words from this morning; She has been disowned! We cannot allow her to continue living here! That's what the note meant. That my family planned to kick me out. But whoever wrote the note was unaware that my father would never allow that to happen. Who wrote the note anyways? And how did they know the private affairs of the Achi clan?