07 - Initiation
Shikamaru found himself trying to get a hold of the riddle that this gate in front of him represented. He tried using his Shadow Mimic, yet it didn't work. He tried his Shadow Choking, but nothing... he tried his latest development: the Sadow Sewing, yet it didn't do a thing... 'What the hell does this mean...?' He read again:
"Only the shadows can open this door..."
He thought of it with effort, trying to rationalize the phrase, but then it changed:
"Huh? What's this? 'You're enlightening your light, holding onto it, and darkening your shadows, fearful to get into them.' Ok, this is still confusing..."
Hinata was entering a place where several midnight-blue and dark-violet-haired people with lilac eyes watched her, amused and interested. This immediately triggered her fears and she began pushing her fingers, sweating cold and hiding her face between her shoulders. The man who received her announced:
"My friends, we have a new member in the family. Please, welcome Hinata, daughter of my sister Hina."
Hinata's eyes almost popped out. 'He's my uncle?!' Everyone saluted her, and an elder lady, her hair matching her eyes in a light lilac color, got close to her. A nervous Hinata stepped backwards, and the lady said:
"Hmm... she seems healthy..."
Suddenly, her eyes turned full white:
"...yet her body is built over a lot of suffering, beatings and physical discomfort; she even sports really old, unhealed wounds, and some malformations in her potentially beautiful shape..."
Chouji had realized that this heavy gate had to be opened with his full strength, so he began to push it and slam it with his partial growth skill, yet it didn't even budge. He then tried to make a full growth in order to step over the gate, but a cage materialized from out of nowhere, locking him and avoiding his growth. 'Ok, they won't allow me to cheat...'
He checked his pockets and his pouches, and he found four soldier pills and a red one. Seeing it, he said:
"Well, here goes nothing."
Hinata was shocked to hear that old lady. Perhaps all the pain she felt while doing certain movements was a consequence of unhealed wounds from all the lynchments she received, which her family called as 'training'. Then, her eyes turned shiny and silver-colored, surprising Hinata:
"...her mind is half-built, actually, over the basis of constant humiliation, berating, personal erosion, emotional isolation, instinct suppression, psychological punishment and torture... the standard brand of our Leaf brethren..."
Ino looked at herself in the polished silver that acted like a perfect mirror and what she saw was simply terrifying:
"What's this?! Is this... me?!"
Ino's reflection had a monstrous shape: her body was extremely skinny, almost anorexic; her eyes sported huge eyecups, weakness in mind and body; her expression reflected vanity, lots of envy and self-loathing, so as huge fears and insecurities about herself, her beauty and her skill as a ninja. All of it reflected in that mirror. When she looked at her own body after that, she was shocked, as her own body looked like the reflection:
"T-This is me..." Ino crumbled on her knees, crying like she had never done before: "I'm horrendous... a terrible person..."
Everyone in the Whirlpool Hyƫga compound began to see Hinata with angry and concerned looks, which made her even more nervous. The old lady's eyes turned golden and shiny, scaring and amazing Hinata:
"...her heart and her feelings are deeply wounded, malnourished and crushed, as she didn't have any familiar support during her childhood and adolescence... anyone else in her position would have turned into a madman, a depressive maniac or a psychotic..."
Shikamaru felt how these words struck him like a lightning, and he sat down again, changing his hand position intuitively, without even thinking about it, and then some words from his father came to his head:
"My son, the shadows on the outside are our weapon, but the shadows on the inside are our worst enemy... never enter the sewers of our soul, or the shadows will eat you, and you'll get lost..."
Shikamaru then began to tie loose ends and closed his eyes; he needed to see the shadows inside himself and know them.
He breathed slowly, exploring every single instinct he had repressed, every single emotion hidden under an ironic attitude, every single feeling masked with reason, and he found himself in a place that he had never seen before: the dark sewers of his soul, his subconscious mind. Once inside, he found a huge mass of darkness, full with millions of tentacles, which began to speak to him in thousands of languages, images and noises. It was terrifying, the killing intent that emanated from it froze him, but then a female voice spoke to him:
"This is your darkest side, young kid; if you let yourself go, you'll be trapped inside it, never being able to leave. The Leaf Nara had lost themselves in it, after disrespecting it, and had lost its connection to it, but we kept it. Please, kneel down and spread your arms forward..."
Shikamaru did as told, and a black scroll appeared in his hands:
"This is the Shadow Summoning Scroll; sign it, and you will never have to fear your inner shadows, or any other; also, you'll gain a complete, respectful and protective access to the Kingdom of Shadows and their tenants. Proceed, and find balance in your soul."
Shikamaru nodded and signed the contract with his blood, and then the shadows stopped emanating that killer intent and became welcoming, ordered and calm. He then returned to his body, and found the door opened, and five persons waiting for him.
Hinata was scared now, but then the lady's eyes turned like two brilliant white stars, blinding her:
"...yet, her soul is still alive and well, filled with love and desire to grow happier and stronger... no one could ever break her mother's soul shield, and someone has ever found the way to strengthen and nourish her soul..."
Chouji took the red pill and ate it, and then he exploded his inner energy, huge butterfly wings forming up in his back as his fat was burned really quickly. He tried to push the gate, feeling the effort in his barely developed muscles, and then he tried to pull it upwards. Both efforts were not only exhausting, but also worthless.
He then tried to bash it and tackle it, and people walking down the street got far from him, trying to avoid him. He looked like mad now, but he had to find the way to break through. His energies were being wasted on a solid wall. Frustrated, he bashed his head against it, hurting himself. Then, a male voice said:
"Strength is not only used to bash ahead, but also to find other solutions."
Chouji saw then how a cat jumped over the gate, and he decided to give it a shot with his last strength. He crouched, and then he jumped, crossing the wall, but when he fell on the other side, he was so weak that he couldn't stand up. Seven adults met him, and a man spoke:
"The Leaf Akimichi trusted in fat and its quick burn to create energy for use in combat, but they weakened their bodies and they shortened their lives. They lost the ways of our Clan, and now they have shortened your life in half. Come with us, young one, and we might be on time to recover your true strength and your lifespan, no tricks, no life risks for free, no more disease."
The old lady's eyes turned lilac again, and a smile was drawn on her face as she said:
"Welcome, Hinata; you'll need to heal a lot prior to enter our family..." Hinata nodded, sad: "Come, your uncle Kaji and I will help you with that."
Ino cried terribly, completely disappointed in herself. A male voice asked her:
"Do you see this?" Ino nodded: "Do you know why you changed when you saw yourself in this mirror?" Ino shook her head: "Because the Leaf Yamanaka let their minds play with them, to the point that they surrendered their own senses to them, losing themselves in the process, seeing what they think they are instead of what they are."
Ino cried and claimed:
"But why? Why am I like this?"
"Because you stopped taking care of yourself and began to fall into your own mind's tricks, young lady. A true Yamanaka must learn to keep a strong mind in shape and in its proper place, so you can never lose sight of your heart and your consciousness, and accept both virtues and sins. If you don't, you'll lose in sincerity and consciousness, and you'll never be welcome again."
Ino nodded, sad. She had to be conscious of all the wrong things she had done: envy, ambition, blackmail, vanity, insane competition, frivolity, berating, and so on. She realized that she had done wrong, and that it had marked her body. Perhaps if she began to do right, she'd recover her shape for good. In that moment, the mirror disappeared, and five persons appeared behind it:
"Welcome, Ino. Please, come in; we'll take care of you."
Hinata walked with the old lady and the man identified as Kaji, his mother's brother. He smiled at her, seeing her concerns without needing to use his white eyes, and said:
"Hina suffered a lot, and also you did, young lady. We're here to heal you and take care of you, Hinata, so please trust us, okay?"
A shy Hinata nodded, pain deep inside her, hopes high.
End of Episode 07.
