A/N: Hikaru is young, but desperate during a certain part of this chapter.
I really tried to keep from overpowering him, but I think I managed to balance his abilities nicely considering his heritage and other factors that will become apparent later.
Please enjoy!
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Once the Hokage and Hikaru were alone- neither Naruto nor Takeru had particularly wanted to leave their friend behind- the man sat down in the bedside chair and gave the boy a deep look. "Your blood tests came back in, Hikaru-kun, and they are….complicated."
"Sir?" Hikaru asked uncertainly, partially wanting to know who and where he came from more than anything, and partially terrified that it was going to be only bad news that exited the Hokage's mouth.
The Hokage gave him a calm, reassuring look before continuing. "Your mother passed away from complications from an injury sustained in the line of duty approximately eight months ago. Your father is an active-duty Konoha shinobi."
Hikaru's brows knitted together in confusion. "But I thought I was-"
"Relations Incidents can sometimes occur between two Konoha shinobi, Hikaru-kun." The Hokage explained gently. "However, it is the identity of your parents- and your grandparents, which your blood test linked you to since we had to compare your results to all the recorded DNA profiles because we had no starting point to work from- which complicated the issue."
"Does." Hikaru's tongue felt heavy and his heart felt as if couldn't decide whether it wanted to drop to his knees or jump out of his mouth. "Does my father not want me?" He finished, his voice fragile and weak as he dropped his eyes to his hands, which were fisted tightly in the sheet.
Because all Harry Potter had ever wanted was family that wanted him. Hearing that his mother had passed was one thing, he had been a tiresome baby what with his constant screaming around people, and maybe she just couldn't handle him. The fact that she was dead excused a lot of things, but to have a father who was alive and well-
"I assure you, Hikaru-kun." The Hokage said gravely, even as the old man laid a comforting hand on the boy's white-haired mop of hair and ruffled the pale strand gently. "That your father had no idea you existed before this morning."
Hikaru swallowed heavily a few times, and took a few deep, shuddering breaths before he felt brave enough to look up at the Hokage again. "So, what now?" He asked quietly.
"Well, now the complicated part comes into play." The Hokage told him grimly. "Apparently your mother's father was a Yamanaka Clan member and her Clan- the Uchiha- never informed the Yamanaka clan of their relation." Hikaru raised an inquisitive eyebrow, but stayed silent, allowing the Hokage to continue uninterrupted. "This would not be such a complicated issue, except her father was the current Yamanaka Clan head's older brother."
A second pale eyebrow lifted itself to join the first and Hiruzen privately thought it was one of the most adorable things he'd ever seen, but he appreciated the boy's lack of interruptions.
"Now, Inoichi-san, the current Yamanaka Clan Head, has a daughter who is older than you so, thankfully, the Yamanaka already have an Heir. However, the Yamanaka are quite unhappy that they never knew about your mother and the Uchiha are quite unhappy that they never knew about you, and in the midst of all of this is your father's identity."
"Oh?" Hikaru asked, feeling a tiny bit apologetic for putting the Hokage in the middle of such a situation.
"Yes." The Hokage continued, lips twitching as if he had heard Hikaru's errant thought. "Your father is Hatake Kakashi."
"Sharingan no Kakashi is my tou-san?" Hikaru exclaimed incredulously. "He's one of the most famous jōunin in the village! He's in the Academy history books!"
"Kakashi is a very successful shinobi and a wonderful asset to the village." The Hokage agreed easily. "However he and the Uchiha Clan have a rather complicated history. Kakashi-kun received his Sharingan as per the final wish of his Uchiha gēnin teammate, which has never set well with some of the members of the Uchiha Clan, although the Uchiha Elders and the Clan Head chose to honor the Uchiha's dying wish and allowed Kakashi-kun to keep the eye." The Hokage sighed slightly before continuing. "Unfortunately, Kakashi-kun had already been slated for a vital mission prior to the meeting this morning and had to leave immediately afterwards, though he signed the custody papers immediately after seeing the presented evidence." The Hokage gave the boy a slight grin. "He stole the file photo, too. The little sneak."
Hikaru grinned back at the Hokage as the frozen shard of ice in his chest that had been forming since the Hokage entered with only two companions finally began to ease. His father hadn't known about him before and he wasn't here now, but he wanted Hikaru. The Hokage said that he signed the papers without hesitation once he had seen the evidence, so Hikaru had room to hope that his father didn't just want him as a trophy or bargaining chip, but just because Hikaru was his and that was-
Everything good, honestly.
"Since Kakashi-kun did not have the time to deal with the squabbling Clan Heads before he left, as his mission is a time-sensitive matter, he left your arrangements until he returns up to me. Uchiha Minami's- Minami was your mother's name- mother is still living, but she has three children, and lives in the Uchiha District with her Clan. The Yamanaka Clan are a bit more spread out, and Inoichi-san and his wife have only the one girl, Ino-chan." The Hokage explained. "So what I need to know, Hikaru-kun, is if you would prefer to go stay with your grandmother, who has several other children for you to play with and many others nearby, or your great-uncle, who is from a smaller family and has only one other child."
"Well." Hikaru said slowly, turning the information over slowly in his head. "I really don't know any of them so I can't really give you an opinion, Hokage-sama. If you're wondering about my- ah, ability, being around people is not really an issue for me anymore, but I do prefer smaller groups just as a personal preference, sir."
The Hokage nodded agreeably. "Very well, then. Your father is scheduled to be gone for roughly two weeks, and I will have you spend the first week with the Uchiha Clan and the second with Inoichi-san's family, so that you might get to know them both."
Hikaru shrugged in agreement. "Sounds good to me, Hokage-sama."
"Excellent!" The Hokage replied as he stood to leave. "I should be back soon, then. You might want to begin gathering your things, but don't overexert yourself, Hikaru-kun."
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It took Hikaru about thirty seconds alone with her to decide that he did not care for Uchiha Kanna at all. After another hour of enduring her overbearing, condescending presence, he decided that he was unlikely to ever change his opinion.
Ever.
The woman was beautiful, even he could admit that, with pitch black hair and even darker eyes and looked to be fighting-fit, but Hikaru was fairly certain that her heart was as black as her hair. Hikaru spent many moments over the course of the next few days wondering if she was this world's equivalent to Harry's Aunt Petunia or Wallburga Black.
He honestly could not decide.
(Hikaru held out hope that his mother had been a kind, decent person from all the vitriol the hag spewed about Uchiha Minami, so that was sort of relief for the boy.)
After the evil hag had come storming into his room and demanded that he go join the pre-Academy age Uchiha children in their training over at Tensen-oji-san's dojo for the third time, Hikaru had had enough. Especially as he distinctly remembered that the medics had specifically stressed for him not to anything more vigorous than walking at a normal pace.
Getting up and padding over to the genkan, he quickly slipped on his new shoes, (his old ones had been thrown away by the harpy-hag), and exited the house as efficiently as possible.
The Uchiha District was rather large; it was sort of its own mini-village, really. They had vendors as well as houses as well as a nearly obscene amount of dojos and several Uchiha-only training fields at the very back of the District. There were plenty of places for him to take small breaks though, and most of the adults he encountered merely looked at him in neutral curiosity or were really nice. He figured the other younger Uchiha kids must be in their homes or training.
So there's hope that the hag is the exception, not the rule. Hikaru thought to himself consolingly, swinging his feet idly as he munched on a stick of dango and sipped at some water that a nice obaa-san had given him while he sat on a bench in the shade. I wonder where I should go next, I've seen the east side of the District already so maybe I sh-
A sudden wave of exhaustion passed over him, and caused the dango to slip from between his fingers. Feels wrong his instincts whispered in warning, not right.
Hikaru blinked a few times and there was a nearly painful stinging sensation in his eyes before his exhaustion entirely disappeared and the world around him was suddenly in high-definition.
What the hell? He thought dazedly, hopping off the bench and spinning in a tight circle as he tried to see if someone else was nearby. It felt like someone hit me with some kind of sleeping charm or something. His new super-vision kind of worked against him, however, as the influx of detailed information that his eyes were suddenly taking in seemed to be nearly drowning his poor brain. Just as he levelled out, and his mind seemed to finally synch up with his eyes, a man with white hair suddenly appeared in front of him and he felt the pinprick of a needle before his world darkened.
He hadn't even had time to scream.
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Uchiha Fugaku was angry. Actually that was a lie- he was positively furious.
Uchiha Minami had not been widely accepted by her mother's friends because Uchiha Kanna was a vapid, horrid woman who kept company with equally spiteful, hateful women. She was the type of woman who believed that the world owed her everything and then more simply because she said so. Unfortunately there were more than enough people willing to pander to the woman's whims thanks to her Clan name and her position within the Clan, so her sense of entitlement was constantly swelling.
Fugaku knew his clan had more than a few self-important idiots and it was not something that pleased him, to be entirely honest. However, he had far too much to do in between trying to keep the Clan together, being the Chief of Police and the Commander of the village's Internal Security Force, (one being the civilian title and the other being the shinobi one), watching out for Danzō's next move to isolate the Clan further, and his own family to truly have the time or energy to invest in trying try to curb the issue.
Right now, he really wished he had and would be setting Mikoto on their vapid asses as soon as he could speak with his lovely, terrifying wife.
"Convenient, isn't it?" Danzō's voice was so saccharine smugness that Fukagu really wanted to punch something.
Preferably Danzō.
"That the child disappeared after just three days on your watch, Police Chief." The bandaged elder finished and Fugaku was ready for this meeting to just end already.
"I assure you, Elder Danzō, Hokage-sama, that we are expending every available effort to find young Hikaru." He gritted out in the most level voice he could manage. Hatake Hikaru might be the bastard son of a bastard daughter, but he was an Uchiha, one of Fugaku's own. The fact that the Elder was very nearly openly insinuating that Fugaku was somehow responsible for the child's abduction made the man's head nearly burst from sheer fury.
"I'm sure." The Elder replied, the tone implying that he was certain that Fugaku was doing anything but.
"Danzō." The Hokage said sharply, and Fugaku was surprised because usually the Hokage was much more subtle in his disapproval of one of his Advisors in front of others. "I believe that Fugaku-san is doing everything in his power to assist in Hikaru-kun's recovery." The Hokage turned to address Fugaku himself. "You may leave to return to your duties, Fugaku-san. Please keep my office informed."
Fugaku bowed and left as quickly as possible.
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"Sarutobi, you cannot be serious!" Danzo rounded on the Hokage as soon as the Uchiha Clan Head had left the room. "He's complicit-"
"Enough." The Hokage snapped, rising to his feet and levelling a fierce glare at the Elder, taking a moment to be grateful that Homura and Koharu were keeping their silence. "Hatake Kakashi is due back from his mission in less than three days and his son- who he has not even had the chance to meet yet and was critically wounded from preventing the kidnapping of a Clan Heir on our watch- is missing. Either help find the boy or stand down, Shimura, but I will not allow you to cause the effort to find Hikaru-kun to suffer any more unnecessary delays by calling pointless meetings!" By the end of the statement the Hokage was nearly roaring, something that he had not done since long before the Kyūbi attack and Biwako's death.
When they all went their separate ways shortly thereafter Utatane Koharu allowed herself to smile. It's about time, you old monkey. She thought as she made her way back towards her home. Homura and I were getting tired of trying to keep Danzō's machinations to a minimum. Roar, Hiruzen, and then find that blasted girl and give her that blasted Hat so we can all sit around drinking tea and watching our grandchildren play together.
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Hikaru sat huddled in a dingy concrete cell. The white-haired man who had taken him had handed him off to some old guy with a cane and wrapped in bandages, but he had been drugged again shortly after that and had woken up in this windowless cell with steel bars and a rather annoying drip outside. There was no cell across from him, only a grey wall with some suspiciously-looks-like-blood stains on it.
He had no idea how long ago he had been taken, but he was tired and hungry and his head was throbbing uncomfortably.
However, now he was awake and fully lucid, so maybe he could figure a way out of here.
Hikaru closed his eyes and did his best to clear his thoughts of unwanted clutter. He had found that the best way for him to accomplish this was for him to envision a nice, cloudless day and try to grab on to the feeling of freedom and relaxation it offered him. Once he felt himself relax he mentally called up his ability and began to search for nearby minds.
It felt like hours had passed before he was able to touch the minds of those around him and not instantly be overwhelmed by how utterly broken they felt.
If Hikaru had to explain it, the minds he had touched up until now usually felt like a river or a fire or even a snowstorm. They all had a fluid-feel to them as the mind was a wonderfully complex thing and could perform more than one task at a time. The fluid feel seemed to help connect thoughts to emotion and emotions to thoughts, and always seemed vital to the mind's survival to Hikaru. Even the few retired shinobi that he had accidentally tried to use for practice and quickly cut the connections off with had still had that basic feel to their thoughts.
All of them had felt whole. Not whole as in perfectly healthy and entirely well-adjusted that nothing terrible had ever happened to, but as if the mind belonged to a real person and that person was in control of their own actions.
The minds around him now, however, felt shattered. As if someone tried to make a doll come alive and failed, or if someone had tried to take a person and make them a doll and nearly succeeded.
Their minds were fragmented; layers upon layers of shattered glass and splinters of person wrapped in in a screaming cacophony of turmoil that seemed to curb the minds' natural fluid state, causing it to seem dry and brittle. Something in his gut clenched forebodingly about those minds, so while he sensed them he didn't actually try to form a connection with any of them but Hikaru wondered if what he sensed was anything like what the Imperious Curse would have felt like to his new ability.
It sickened and angered him.
Hikaru fell asleep several times and grew progressively hungrier, but he kept trying, kept pushing to find a mind that he could communicate with.
Finally he found one, but the connection was all fuzzy and he really couldn't glean any useful information. Just random blurred out images and snatches of vague emotions.
"Uh hello?" He tried after taking a deep breath and praying that this person could, (and would), help him. They were far enough away that he could barely get the connection to stick, so he was not sure how well they would even be able to hear him. "Can you hear me? I probably sound like a creepy voice in your head but I'm real!"
He got a vague idea of I'm listening, so he hurried to continue. "My name is Hikaru and I was taken from the Uchiha District by a man in a Konoha's chūnin uniform, with white hair, dark green eyes, and a big shuriken-looking thing on his back. He handed me over to a strange-looking old guy with bandages around one side of his face, a bad arm on the same side, and an 'x' shaped scar on his chin. They said something about a snake, traitors, implanting eyes, and fighting clouds but they drugged me again before I heard anymore." Hikaru bit his lip and concentrated. "There's about fifty other people around me, but they all feel weird. Like broken dolls. You're straight up from me, I'm not sure how far, but it feels like you're almost standing on top of the cell I'm locked in. Please help!"
The person's mind started switching between thoughts rapidly, but he couldn't understand them. "I'm sorry, I'm really weak. I don't know how long ago I woke up and I haven't eaten anything or even had any water. I'm getting really tired now, this is taking a lot of chakra, which is pretty strange as it really doesn't use much normally, but I think it is because you're so far away."
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Maito Gai was many things. Eccentric, exuberant, a training enthusiast. However he was also loyal and hard-working, which was why he was searching for his hip and cool rival's missing son long after dark even after a long day of missions.
When he had first heard the muffled voice, he had looked around for someone who was playing a prank on him, but he continued to listen. The more the voice spoke, the fainter it became and the more Gai's gut told him that this was important.
Once he was certain that the voice had stopped speaking he moved at his fastest speed to the Sarutobi Clan Compound. "I have an urgent message for Hokage-sama!" He told the ANBU guarding the gate and mere minutes later he was being ushered into the Hokage's personal study.
"What is it, Gai-kun?" The Hokage asked from his rather relaxed position from behind his sturdy desk and while puffing on his ever-present pipe, as soon as the doors were shut behind them.
"Forgive me, Hokage-sama!" The jōunin told the man seriously. "I fear this will sound far-fetched, but it is nonetheless the truth! While I was searching for Hatake Kakashi's missing son I was crossing Training Ground thirty-seven and I heard a faint voice in my head…." Gai trailed off, seeing to understand just how strange that statement sounded, even to him.
The Hokage leaned forward, his eyes intent as he stared at Gai. "Continue." He ordered sharply.
Gai nodded sharply and continued. "The voice said that they were named Hikaru and had been taken from the Uchiha District by someone in a 'Konoha chūnin uniform with white hair, dark green eyes, and a huge shuriken-looking thing on his back'. The voice said they were drugged again, which leads me to assume they were drugged and then taken, but describes the abductor giving them over to a 'strange-looking old guy with bandages around one side of his face, a bad arm on the same side, and an 'x' shaped scar on his chin. They said something about a snake, traitors, implanting eyes and fighting clouds'. The voice said they thought I was above their cell and that it was costing them a great deal of chakra to contact me, but that was all the information I gathered, Hokage-sama!"
"Thank you, Gai. You are dismissed. Do not repeat any of this information. Get some rest." The Hokage gave the jōunin a meaningful look.
"Hai, Hokage-sama!" The jōunin acknowledged before obeying.
A few minutes later the Hokage called for one of his guards. "Inform Nara Shikaku that I wish to speak with him in the place that mirrors waters as soon as he can get there without raising suspicion." He ordered and the guard immediately moved to obey.
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This entire campaign was a giant risk, draped in the delicate threads of strategy and the bound together with nearly nothing save a weary man's hope for the future, Hiruzen knew that. Intimately, desperately and with the absolute certainty that if this failed, his village- his entire life's work, the life's work of his teachers- would come crashing down around him and there would be no one to blame but himself when all withered to ash and was scattered by the vortex of chaos.
Yet, the cogs were already in motion, moving forward according to his will, and he could only sit back and plan, pray, and plead for this gamble to carry him to victory.
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The ANBU Black Ops account for two percent of the Konoha shinobi population. They are the best of the best, the specialists who have relentlessly honed their edge to a razor-fine point sharp enough to cut through deepest, darkest pits of humanity so that their beloved village might walk forever in the light.
The ANBU Black Ops, at its core, was divided into four platoons. The largest was Alpha Platoon, which covered everything from cryptology, counter-intelligence, and information dissemination to political and socio-economic subterfuge. Next was Beta Platoon who were largely responsible for things such as, but not limited to: target elimination, high-risk reconnaissance, hard-and-fast sweeps, and operation cleansing while also hosting the Hunter Nin Division. Epsilon Platoon was where the bodyguards were, the one responsible for the safety of high-profile targets. However, the were not simply bodyguards, as they were also the silent, unseen eyes and ears who took careful note of their surroundings and detailed their observations so that information could be compared and verified- one way or another. The final platoon was Gamma Platoon, who were responsible for infiltration and regulation. Gamma platoon did not simply infiltrate others' territories they infiltrated their own as well, and they were tasked with overall village security and threat assessments. The medical personnel who passed the ANBU Entrance assessments were slotted into teams where their skill sets complimented them, and thus did not have their own division.
The ANBU uniform was universal, though operative were allowed to tailor them to their skill sets. The separate platoons, however, each had different masks assigned to them. Animal masks for Alpha. Botanical- or flower- masks for Beta. Ether- or sky themed- masks for Epsilon. Gradient- or color themed, based on the number they were assigned at random- for Gamma.
It was a simple, yet effective system by which to manage nearly five hundred shinobi, while still adding an extra layer to their identity, since most villages assigned masks based on a skill or personal attribute. The idea for the ANBU Black Ops masks had come from Uzushio and the Uzumaki, and it had been Mito-sama who had implemented the assignation requirements.
However, one thing that has always remained unchanging is the mandate laid down from the Shodaime himself: They are the roots that protect the great tree.
And long has their leader, the Captain-Commander of the ANBU ached for this reckoning.
As the black-flame masked- both the Captain-Commander and the Lieutenant-Commander wore horned masks decorated with black flames- leaders looked out over their assembled operatives they took one last bracing breath and exhaled before calling out, both to the room and those on standby. "Darkness falls, shadows gather."
The quietest whisper of cloth, the barest hint of movement and the faithful went to war.
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