The Naruto characters (c) Masashi Kishimoto.
Ogawa Lutra (c) me, Lutra-Gem
Text like this is thought.
/ Text like this is psychically communicated. /
The bell rang for break, and Koimaru dismissed the class. Sasuke packed away his belongings, and got up to leave the class. He casually sauntered up the steps to the door, glancing at the girls sitting behind him and the Inuzuka as he passed them. The strange one – Lutra – nodded slightly at him as she saw, and continued putting her possessions back in her bag.
As he walked out of the door, he heard a couple of boys talking.
"That kid's an Uchiha, right?"
"Yeah."
"So that means he must be awesome, eh?"
Sasuke felt a sense of pride wash over him as he thought of just how amazing his brother was, and how everyone knew that the Uchiha clan was great. Then he felt a little sad as he thought about how his father gave Itachi so much preferential treatment, and expected Sasuke to be like him. Then he smiled, remembering how Itachi was on a mission that would get him into ANBU, and silently wished him a little luck.
Sasuke looked around the playground, taking in the various areas. The main yard. A few trees and some swings were in a corner. Some benches were placed around the edges of the playground, and Sasuke picked one in the shade of some trees, visible from the entrance to the school. Other children began to come out as he walked over to it, some of them much older than him; the school took students until they became genin, although they normally didn't let students remain after failing the exam after their fifth go at sixteen. There didn't seem to be any that old around this year, unless they were still inside. Sasuke sat down on the bench, and waited.
Hearing a giggling noise, he looked up to see some of the girls in his class standing a little way away, chatting excitedly. He watched them disinterestedly, until one of them – a blonde, Yamanaka Ino if he remembered correctly – looked over at him, turned back to the group and started whispering and giggling. He then kept a cautious eye on them, not entirely sure how to react to this strange behaviour. It made him a little uncomfortable, to say the least.
A moment later, Lutra and Hinata sat down next to him, and the girls turned to stare at the Hyuuga, making her hang her head in embarrassment. Lutra whispered, "Ignore them, Hinata-chan. If it makes you feel any better, get out a book and pretend to read. Then they won't think anything of it." Hinata opened her bag, which she had brought with her, and got out a book on basic genjutsu, and pretended to read.
"Arig-gat-tou, Lutra-san," she said, looking a little less uncomfortable.
Lutra waved it off. "You don't need to be so formal, Hinata-chan." Then she looked between Sasuke and Hinata. "So… what do you want to know? I can't answer everything, but I'll try."
Sasuke kept his eyes on the gaggle of girls as he spoke, thinking carefully over what he wanted to know. "Ogawa Lutra, right?"
"Yup."
"That's not a name from Konoha."
"Nope. That's because I'm from Kiri."
Sasuke frowned. "Then… why are you here?"
"Got orphaned." The girl said it so bluntly that Sasuke turned to stare at her, shocked, before then feigning interest in his surroundings again. "However, I'm related by blood to the Inuzuka, so they were asked to take me in. I'm the cousin Kiba-hatoko-kun claims is never there," she said, looking a little embarrassed on behalf of the oblivious boy.
Sasuke was silent for a moment as he thought that over. Then he nodded. "'kay. So why is it only me and Hyuuga-sama who can see you?"
Lutra blinked, and then turned to look at the blue-haired girl, who was still 'reading' her book. "Hyuuga-sama?"
Hinata blushed. "H-Hai. Uchiha-s-sama is c-correct. A-as I am th-the heir-ress to th-the nob-ble H-Hyuuga clan, m-most p-p-people are exp-pected to ad-address me f-formally. A-as a ch-child of th-the h-head of the Uch-chiha cl-clan, I sh-should also ad-address Uchiha-s-sama f-formally."
Lutra tilted her head around so that she was leaning in front of the blue-haired girl, and although Sasuke couldn't see her face, when she spoke she sounded a little concerned. "And do want you us to call you Hyuuga-sama?"
Hinata was silent for a moment, but then shook her head almost imperceptibly. "Damme," she said quietly. "I-it s-sounds … cold."
"Hinata-chan it is then. And you," she said, turning to face Sasuke, "what do you want us to call you?"
Sasuke blinked, and then shrugged. He didn't really expect people to call him anything fancy; that was for his father, and maybe for his brother, but not for him, who was barely acknowledged by the stern head of the clan. "I'm fine with Sasuke-kun or Sasuke."
"Then we're settled."
"You still haven't answered my question."
"I haven't, have I?" Sasuke frowned a little as Lutra settled herself more comfortably on the bench. "Okay, I'm going to assume that you guys come from the families with the Sharingan and Byakugan kekkei genkai." Sasuke nodded, and saw Hinata mimicking the action. "Then you know how kekkei genkai work." He nodded again. "Well, your kekkei genkai aren't the only ones. My family has one too: the Gimantekimuu, or deceptive existence."
Sasuke was puzzled, not understanding what the brown-haired girl meant. "Deceptive existence?" he asked. "But-"
"It means that people can't sense my presence without the help of jutsu or amazingly good sense. Or…" she trailed off, and Sasuke saw that she was looking a little frustrated as she worked out how to explain it. "It's more complicated than that. It's not that they can't, it's just that… they don't. They ignore me. It's like… if you look at a forest, you don't notice each tree – they just blend into a bunch of trees. So they look but they don't see, if that makes sense. I'm just another face in the crowd, another kid in the class. They won't pay me any attention without prompting or a reason. You guys can see me because you have doujutsu kekkei genkai; and even without activation, your eyesight is good enough to be able to focus on me." Lutra was then quiet for a little while as she let Sasuke and Hinata take this in.
Sasuke's mind raced as he pondered over what he had been told. It was just… ridiculous. People just… couldn't see her? That's stupid. But then… she did 'vanish' yesterday… what did she-
His thoughts were interrupted by Hyuu- Hinata quietly asking Lutra, "S-so n-nobody knows you e-even ex-xist?"
Lutra shook her head gently. "A few people know. Tsume-oba-sama makes sure that I have what I need, and I look after myself. I'm now on record. You guys know. It doesn't bother me too much."
"B-but that's awf-ful!
Lutra shrugged. "Like I said, it doesn't bother me. I've been taught about it since I was able to understand it. I expect to be alone." She smiled a little, and looked at Sasuke and Hinata. "The fact that I have two people in my class who can see me is way more than I could hope for."
Looking down at the ground, Sasuke wondered what it must have been like for the girl to lose her family. He couldn't imagine it at all. Even if Itachi was the star of the clan, most of his family acknowledged him, and to lose that familial friendship… He shuddered, and hoped he'd never have to witness anything close to what the brown-haired girl seemed to be taking in her stride. He didn't think he'd be able to cope. But then… she wasn't exactly peaceful when… yesterday… Maybe she wasn't so calm about it.
His face must have conveyed some of his discomfort without his realisation, as Lutra turned to look at him. He blinked, and then tried to work out how to phrase the question about…what she'd done the day before. "Ah… How…" He trailed off, perplexed as to how to put it without sounding idiotic. Like that blond twit, Naruto… He had noticed that the kid was sitting on his own on one of the swings hanging from a tree, watching the world sadly. Sasuke had tried to put him out of his mind, but had found he was thinking about the boy again.
He was jerked back to the conversation when Lutra gently placed a hand on his wrist.
/ You want to know how I did this, right? /
Sasuke flinched as the message passed through his mind in an instant. He nodded outwardly. "Yeah. That."
Hinata looked up. "Sumimasen… Nani?"
As Lutra placed her other hand on Hinata's arm, Sasuke felt a tiny flicker of something in her mind, faint but a little worried. Then it vanished after a tiny flare, and Lutra mentally poked him away. / Heey… no peeking. /
/ You can talk, / he replied.
/ That wasn't peeking, that was taking in surface info you weren't hiding. /
/ Whatever. /
The girl laughed aloud, and Sasuke allowed himself a small smile.
A faint echo of Lutra talking to the other girl passed through to him, and she jumped violently, dropping her book, and stared at Lutra, white eyes wide with shock. "N-nani? How?"
Lutra removed her hands from the two of them, and looked downwards at her lap. She sighed, and tried to explain. "It's complicated, and to be honest, I need to read up on a lot of it. But the idea is that if the brain doesn't notice something via the senses, then you have to send messages to it directly." Sasuke frowned a little, not certain what she meant, and saw that the blue-haired girl looked as clueless as he felt. Lutra looked skywards for inspiration. "Um, how to put it… Oh! It's like knowing the postmen are on strike, so you hand-deliver a letter. Does that make more sense?" Sasuke's expression cleared up in enlightenment, the silly comparison making it surprisingly easy to understand. He nodded, and Lutra looked relieved. "Good. Well, my family's jutsu to overcome the Gimantekimuu is basically mind-communication, and bonds to dispel the effects. We call them Kiton – mind style – even though it isn't an element. Messages are sent though the chakra system by bonds, so we can talk and exchange information with others even if they wouldn't normally see or hear us. Pretty cool, huh?"
Feigning indifference to cover his jealousy at such a cool technique, Sasuke sniffed and looked back over the playground… to see the blond kid looking really depressed. He even considered getting up to see if he was okay, but…
"You're t-telep-path-thic?"
"I guess. But it's all jutsu."
"Sugoi…" the blue-haired girl breathed out in awe.
"Huh." Sasuke folded his arms. "Well, I guess that's pretty cool. But you don't stand a chance against the Sharingan or Byakugan, right?"
"Right." The bell rang to call the students back to class, and Lutra stood up. "If you guys wanted to kill me, I'd be dead." She turned back to the two, who were also getting up. "But I don't want to be enemies with the only people who'll notice me." She looked a little resigned, and Sasuke felt a little stab of sadness for her, but then she smiled again, and held out a hand. "Friends?"
Sasuke and Hinata both stared at the hand for a moment, as they considered her. She seems a really nice person… And ignoring the fact that she talks mind-to-mind, she's not creeping me out, unlike those girls over there… and the Hyuuga girl seems okay as well. I hope she doesn't turn out too much like her dad though. …I'll take a chance. He stepped forward, and took her hand. "Friends."
/ Thank you, Sasuke. / He felt her gratitude as her mind touched his lightly, and he smiled. Then she let go of his hand, and turned to Hinata, again offering her hand.
Hinata shyly took it, and nodded. "Hai. Friends."
Then the bell rang again, and the three hurried back to class.
Reviews are greatly appreciated!
Translations:
Arigatou - Thank you
Hotoko - second cousin
Oba/Obasama - Aunt
Sumimasen - 'sorry; excuse me; thank you' in this case, 'excuse me'
Nani? - What?
Sugoi - Amazing
Hai - Yes
-chan - general honorific, often used for young/familiar girls
-kun - general honorific, often used for young/familiar boys