When Kaguya came back to her home, she was both surprised and delighted to find both her children up and about. "Hagromo, Hamura, you are awake!" she exclaimed, rushing up to them and enveloping both into a hug. Once she'd pulled away, she examined her son and daughter with her Byakugan, "are you feeling alright? You were both unconscious for a while, and you had a high fever, Hagromo-Chan" she said, while confirming that neither had any injuries or present symptoms. Bethany smiled, "we are fine now mother, thank you for worrying about us and making sure we were alright" she said, genuinely thankful for her care of them. The woman smiled softly, "of course, you are my children after all, I would do anything to keep you safe" she replied. Staring at her 'mother', Bethany almost believed that she really was the gentle and loving woman that she made herself out to be.
But that 'off' feeling that she'd had for a while now still continued to plague her, and with Sennin-Sama encouraging her to be cautious, she couldn't entirely relax around the Rabbit Goddess. Kaguya clapped her hands, "alright, I am making dinner tonight, both of you just sit down and relax" she said happily. Hamura tilted his head to the side, "but we were going to help you with dinner?" he asked questioningly. Now, normally, Kaguya would accept their offer of help gladly, or just gently tell them that she was fine and to rest. But this time was different- this was what secured the future of their mother becoming the Juubi or Ten Tails in Bethany's mind. A dark aura began to emanate from the Goddess, and she practically growled: "I said sit down, now do it!" she ordered. Bethany knew that Kaguya would begin to act like this at some point, and she was now also confident that she and her brother would become powerful enough to stop her together. But they were both only Five, and despite being mature for their age- Bethany especially for obvious reasons, what just occurred scared the crap out of them, and they quickly rushed to take their seats.
Kaguya's deadly aura dissipated, to be replaced by something akin to satisfaction, "that's good children," she said gently, beginning to cook dinner. A short while later she walked back over, placing down two wooden bowls of stew on the table in front of them, and returned to the kitchen to get her own bowl. Once she'd sat down on the other side of the table in between them, the three began to eat. Bethany was struggling to keep calm as she methodically chewed and swallowed her food, barely able to taste it. Hamura was hiding his fear well also, eating his food quietly. Once they'd finished, the two siblings wished their mother goodnight and returned to their bedroom. While getting changed, neither spoke a word. It was only later, when they both lay in bed, unable to fall asleep, that Hamura spoke up quietly, his voice no higher than a whisper: "Hagromo-Nee-Sama, what do you think is going to happen?" he asked. Bethany was unable to reply. She would have said that she didn't know, but in truth she did know. She knew all too well what was going to happen, but she also hoped that it would be far enough away for them to acquire the strength they would need. "I do not know Otouto, but whatever is going to happen, we will be ready for it- I refuse to lose you a second time" she said.
The white-haired boy turned to face her, white eyes seeming to glow in the dark, "do you really believe we will be able to defeat mother if it comes to that? She is not called a goddess for no reason" he spoke softly. In that instant, Bethany saw and heard something in her brother's eyes and voice that erased any doubts of her strength, it was fear- pure, cold fear. To hear something like that come from the mouth of her precious Otouto, to see the terror in his eyes was enough to cause her to overcome any fear she held. "Of course we will," she said with absolute conviction in her voice and eyes, "I will not allow you or anyone else in this world to suffer by our mothers hand- I swear, I will fight hell itself to stop her if I have to" she said seriously. Hamura's own doubt was washed away when he heard those words, "if you are willing to do that for me, then how can I do anything but the same for you- sister, no matter what happens, I will stand by your side, fight by your side and remain by your side, come hell or high water- we are family, and no matter how strong mother is, if and when it happens, we will stop her- together".
Bethany felt tears come to her eyes at her brother's words, "thank you brother- thank you" she whispered, as a single tear slid down the side of her face and both fell asleep.
ĤŎ
The next morning, Bethany and her brother woke up with the sun like normal. They were used to this routine by now, and it came as natural to them. Kaguya had already left, leaving a note saying that she had some urgent business to attend to in the south and that she should be gone for several days. In Bethany's mind this was perfect, now she and her brother would have a fair amount of time to train without having to worry about their mother. After their normal breakfast of fruit and water, the two went out to 'play'. Standing before the inner ring of the forest, Bethany turned to her brother, "alright Hamura, today we are going to be doing something that will help with our other games" she explained. The boy nodded, causing her to smile, Hamura was always willing to learn.
Bethany pointed to the tree they stood before, "we are going to be climbing trees-" she paused, watching as her brother raised a single eyebrow, "without using our hands" she finished, a calm tone to her voice. This caused Hamura's other eyebrow to go up to meet his other one, and to give his sister a wide-eyed look. Bethany giggled, "aw, you look so cute like that Hamura" she said, causing her brother to scowl and cross his arms over his chest, "no I do not" he said in a way that was somehow calm and indignant at the same time. The girl giggled louder, bringing up a hand to cover her wide grin, "I am sorry, but I just couldn't help it" she said, finally stopping her giggling. Hamura turned away and pouted, "alright, alright, I really am sorry brother, okay?" she asked gently. The white-eyed boy sighed almost inaudibly, before nodding and dropping his arms to his side. The girl smiled softly, turning to the tree, "now, do you remember my eyes?" she asked, refiring to her Rinnegan. The white-haired boy nodded, "hai" he replied softly. "Well, the reason that I was able to activate them, is due to a certain energy that I inherited from mother," she explained.
Staring at her brother, she asked, "do you understand so far?" Hamura nodded, then cocked his head to the side, "but how do you know that you inherited it from her?" he asked quietly. Bethany looked down, "it is because I can also sense that energy, and both she and you are the only ones, aside from myself of course that possess it" she said. The boy nodded, then stopped, "so that is how you are always able to find me, you can sense this energy- even if I am completely silent when I move" he said in comprehension. Bethany grinned at her twin, "yes, that is why" she said slyly. Hamura sighed inaudibly again, "so that means, that no matter how quietly I move, you will always be able to find me until I learn to suppress it?" he asked. The girl nodded. "Now," she began cheerfully, "the exercise we are going to do is called tree-climbing, and it will allow us to literally walk up walls and trees when mastered" she explained.
Her brother nodded, "so I suppose this will help our games in the sense that we will no longer have to fear falling from the trees and will be able to simply run up them, increasing our speed and agility?" he asked. Bethany nodded happily, "that is right, you are getting very smart brother" she replied. Hamura let a tiny smirk onto his face, before it once again became stoic. "Now, let us begin" she said, focusing her chakra to the bottom of her feet. Hamura, feeling the type of energy that his sister was using, promptly did the same. Then, with a single glance at each other, the two siblings shot forwards at their respective trees.
ĤŎ
After a single day of training, both Bethany and Hamura were able to reach the top of the tree. Of course, for the purpose of convenience, the two ate fruit from the trees they were climbing, this also improved the completion rate of their training. The young girl was very proud of her Otouto, and she told him as much while they were walking home. "Heh, arigato, sister" he replied quietly. Once they returned home, the two ate a dinner of nuts, berries and fruit, before going to bed.
ĤŎ
That night a bad thunderstorm raged all around the house. Bethany was asleep in bed, when something shook her and woke her from her slumber. Opening her eyes, the girl saw her brother standing over her bed. She shifted into a half sitting position, yawning, "what is it brother?" she asked mid-yawn. Hamura said nothing, but when a growl of thunder echoed through the room, the boy clung to her and shook with fear, a couple of tears falling from his eyes. Bethany smiled softly, "afraid of Thunderstorm's brother? I did not think you feared anything, well, besides mother of course," she said, gently stroking her younger twin brother's hair. His face was still buried into her night clothes, but she could still hear the muffled words when he spoke, "will you sing me that lullaby Nee-Sama? The one you thought up?" he asked in a trembling voice, hiding his face, possibly in shame. The girl nodded, "of course I will, but how about we lie down and get comfortable first," she said softly.
After they were both lying down in bed with the sheet covering them, Bethany held her brother close to her, closed her eyes and began to sing: "little child, be not afraid, the rain pounds harsh against the glass, like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger, I am here tonight," she began to stroke Hamura's hair softly again, feeling his body relax in her embrace, "little child, be not afraid, though thunder explodes, and lightning flash, illuminates, your tear-stained face, I am here tonight, and someday you'll know, that nature is so, this same rain that draws you near me, falls on rivers and land, on forests and sand, makes the beautiful world that you'll see in the morning," Bethany smiled gently, then continued, " Little child, be not afraid, the storm clouds mask your beloved moon, and it's candlelight beams, still keep pleasant dreams, and I am here tonight, and someday you'll know, that nature is so, this same rain that draws you near me, falls on rivers and land, on forests and sand, makes the beautiful world that you'll see in the morning. Little child, be not afraid, the wind makes creatures of our trees, and their branches to hands, they're not real understand, and I am here tonight, and someday you'll know, that nature is so, this same rain that draws you near me, falls on rivers and land, on forests and sand, makes the beautiful world that you see in the morning,".
Bethany took a breath then continued, "for you know, once even I was a little child, and I was afraid, but a gentle someone always came, to dry all my tears, trade sweet sleep for fears and to give a kiss goodnight, well now I am grown, and these years have shown, rain's a part of how life goes, but it's dark and it's late, so I'll hold you and wait, till your frightened eyes do close, and I hope that you'll know, that nature is so, this same rain that draws you near me, falls on rivers and land, on forests and sand, makes the beautiful world that you'll see in the morning, everything's fine in the morning, the rain will be gone in the morning, but I'll still be here, in the morning" she ended softly. Opening her eyes, she found that her brother was once again sound asleep. She contemplated putting him back into his own bed, but the storm still rumbled around the house, and she knew that if Hamura woke up again in the night, she'd have to do this again. Well, it wasn't that she minded really, but she didn't want him to think she had just ignored him once he was out of the way. That couldn't be further from the truth. So, gently adjusting her position in the bed so they could both lay comfortably, Bethany closed her eyes.
Before she fell asleep, the girl whispered one last thing to her brother: "goodnight, my precious Otouto, I love you".
To Be Continued