Why did it feel like it was just yesterday when she passed out in her brother's arms at the arena? Why did it feel like only hours ago that she numbly attended the Third Hokage's funeral, still in a bit of disbelief that the old man was gone?
Eri withheld a sigh as she glanced around the Hokage's office. Everything was the same as the last time she was here waiting for the 3rd Hokage to pass his judgment, the only difference was the person in the seat deciding her fate.
"So... trained by old Kayo right out of the academy eh? You must have been something special..." Tsunade commented. Eri only blinked at the woman.
"I don't know about special but..." Eri tried to think of how to put it, "Kayo-sensei... defiantly strived for perfection..."
To her surprise Tsunade only laughed. "That sounds just like that crazy old bat."
Eri found herself laughing a bit, "My brother calls her a crazy old bat as well."
Tsunade gave her a bit of a smile then looked at the paperwork in front on her. "So, early medical training and your bloodline itself makes your reputation quite impressive for someone who's never been on a mission... Your supervisors for the exams gave you praise, only a couple of criticisms on following orders but I'll let that slide. Reports for when the Sound and Sand attacked is what really pleased me. You took to the situation and looked out for your fellow Leaf ninja, you more than likely prevented quite a few causalities according to witnesses. Using your summons was quite clever."
"I did what I could but I wish I did more, people still died, I was only able to cover the arena," Eri stated grimly.
"Still impressive considering your lack of experience in the battlefield," Tsunade replied.
"You're being too kind Lady Hokage."
Tsunade looked at the girl, "There were alot of Sincera healers back when I was last here. It's disappointing that there aren't more like you anymore. I always happened to like the Sincera clan... oh well..." The young kunoichi got uncomfortably quite, so Tsunade decided to continue talking. "Well for all it's worth I like you, you seem to have a lot going for you, having a healer like you in the higher ranks would defiantly help on the more dangerous missions"
Eri looked at the woman hopefully.
"But..."
With just that word her hope was dampened.
"I don't know how much the village has changed in terms of disciple and the like... And this is my field of expertise... so I'm going to offer you... not a deal... but more of a bet," Tsunade stated with a smirk.
"What is it Lady Hokage?" Eri asked.
"I want to see your skills first-hand. Both on the battle field and in medicine, impress me and I'll make you a chunin."
"How will I do that?" Eri asked, almost afraid of what the woman had in mind.
"Well, first you have to face me in a battle, then I have a very risky surgery to perform, assist me in the surgery and ensure it is a success," Tsunade offered.
"And if I succeed?" was the only question the younger could think of.
"You're a chunin, simple as that," the Hokage replied.
"Something tells me it's not as simple as it sounds," Eri sighed, she was certain she would be able to impress when it came to the surgery, she had her bloodline to thank for that, but the battlefield against one of the Sanin? She'll do horribly... "S-So... when do you wish to examine me?"
"Well I have a fair amount of research to do before performing the surgery, but on the other hand I can have you assist me with that as well... I'll give you a week to train and we'll meet so I can assess your battle skills. After that it depends on my thoughts on you."
Eri nodded and gave a swift bow before leaving the office. Only a week to train so she can go toe to toe with the Hokage? The young Sincera already knew she was going to have a long week consisting of worrying her brother and stressing her body to its limits.
Later on in that week Yoichi found himself watching his sister push herself yet again. He frowned concerned about how exhausted she was, why did she always insist on pushing herself? She could easily try again next time.
"I think you are a bit overprotective of your sister," Setsu thought out loud.
Yoichi looked at the blue haired man sitting next to him, he knew he worried too much, but he had good reason to. "I know, we've... just been through alot... I don't like seeing her push herself, she might get hurt."
"What happened?" Setsu asked, curious of the siblings' past. Yoichi never seemed to like talking about how he lost his parents and the years following it. But it seemed to weigh on his mind alot, especially when Eri was pushing herself like now.
"It's a long story Setsu, I don't really feel like talking about it..." the elder Sincera sighed. In truth Yoichi would love to tell Setsu everything, just get it all off his chest and see if there was something he could have done differently, something that would make everything better then it was. But he knew he'd end up bawling from letting out all the pent up stress, he couldn't do that in front of Setsu. He was his best friend and he thoroughly enjoyed it when he was in town, maybe he liked him more than just a friend. But he just... couldn't...
Setsu only nodded and stared at his friend, trying to think of how to express a motion of comfort to the other man. So when Yoichi went quiet and vacantly watched his little sister he let him be, he knew when the usually cheerful Yoichi would get into his depressed moods. Eventually it would end up with a few drinks at the bar to cheer the man up.
Yoichi's mind drifted to a couple of months after his little sister was brought home. He finally had a routine down for Eri, waking her up, taking care of her and trying to encourage her to do things herself again. She was such an independent child before all of this, it broke his heart every day when she couldn't utter a word and had to be helped with the simplest of tasks, he chose her clothes for her, helped her dress, bathed her, fed her and did everything else she needed. He was able to trust Mikoto Uchiha to look after her when he had to leave on a mission, Mikoto was wonderful to her, acting like the mother they had lost. Sometimes Yoichi wondered if he should've let Eri live with the Uchihas so she would take care of her, it would save him the tears he would always shed when he went into his darker moods, blaming himself for her trauma, seeing the once vibrant and healthy girl seem so sick and weak. He always managed to never cry in front of Eri, he let the tears go when he was alone in his room and she was asleep. But on the other hand, if he had let her go, he would have abandoned the only family he had, he didn't know which would be worse to live with.
When he wasn't caring for his sister he was trying to find the truth behind his family's murders. It couldn't have been something random, the man told him he was hired. But the question was who wanted his parents dead?
Eventually Yoichi learned it was not just his family that was targeted. Some of his father's most trusted advisors, friends and supporters and their families met similar fates. He was so wrapped up in his little sister he didn't even notice. Then another thought occurred to him, who was leading the clan? Another thing he noticed were members seemed to be disappearing overnight, the rumor was they were fleeing the Leaf village since his father's murder. Things didn't make sense, what was happening to his clan? Yoichi was the rightful heir, he should be leading the Sincera clan, but no one was telling him anything, it was as if he and Eri didn't exist.
Apparently someone had noticed his snooping around. Not that Yoichi thought to keep it quiet, he believed he had every right to know what was happening to his clan. He later learned the identity of the man who sent death to his front door, but it was after the man sent a warning to the boy. A warning that still terrifies Yoichi deep down, even though the danger had passed and he was no longer a threat.
He should have noticed that someone was keeping tabs on him throughout his venture of finding the truth. But at the time he didn't think that he or Eri were in any danger of their fellow clan members. Yoichi winced when he thought of the night that that his thought process was turned around.
It was a normal night, he had given Eri her medication and soothed her to sleep. Exhausted he went to his own bed and passed out when he hit the covers.
Later he woke out of his sleep with a start, something was wrong, his gut was churning the same way it did on the day his family died. As he woke himself and tried to figure out the source of his panic he got up and hurried to his sister's room. If she was asleep in bed as he left her then everything was fine.
But the girl was gone, the sheets where she slept weren't even chilled by the wind coming through the open window. He didn't open that window, it was locked from the inside when he went to sleep. His breath became shaky as he lived his nightmare. Someone had taken his little sister.
The Uchiha estate was the first place he could think of going. They had helped him care for her he knew they'd care enough to help him get her back. Fugaku was informed and in turn he informed the police. Yoichi remembered how grateful he was for their clan's alliance. This was before he knew of Fugaku's intention to keep the contract and force Yoichi's sister to be his daughter-in-law, later when he learned of the contract it made sense to why the Uchiha leader made it an upmost priority to regain Eri. He couldn't go losing his son's promised bride could he? Just the thought of it made Yoichi's teeth grind together, the thought that if the contract wasn't in place Fugaku probably would have shut the door in his face and not given a care to help him find his sister, or at least wouldn't have given it nearly as much effort as fast as he did.
Yoichi frantically searched for his sister inside the village as the police spread out their search. He remembered calling, running, searching and calling again, hoping for some sign she was near. He didn't notice someone following him until he was grabbed and pulled into a vacant house, or at least, he originally thought it was vacant. He was forced into the wall as he looked at this captor with angry tear stained eyes, "What do you think you're doing!?" he demanded.
"Silence boy, cooperate with me and you'll get your precious sister back."
The statement made Yoichi stop struggling and glare at the silver haired man in front of him, "What do you mean?" he asked.
"Cooperate and you get your little sister back, it's not really that hard." the man repeated. Yoichi stared at this man, he was of Sincera descent that was for sure, but he couldn't place him anywhere. It was weird, because he looked so familiar.
"YOU took her?" he screamed.
"It was under my orders, but I don't have her here. Do as I say and she'll be returned. If not... well poor girl who knows what she's in for," the man grinned.
Yoichi started struggling again, determined to rip the smile off the creep's face, "You give her back NOW, I have the Uchihas looking for her, they'll kill you for taking her!" he threatened.
"If I die your sister dies too," he replied, "Now stop struggling, don't you want to know how to get her back?"
What else could the young boy do but stop and listen? He had to get Eri back.
"Now, it's simple, I've been leading the clan for the past few months since your dear father's unfortunate death, but alas some of the counsel won't accept my leadership until you and your sister give up your birthright. Surrender it and I'll let you both live."
"Why didn't they come to me?" Yoichi demanded.
"Because me and my supporters convinced them you were currently too emotionally damaged to lead, not to mention too young. They've accepted my temporary leadership, but I would like it to be a little more... permanent."
"And you think you can threaten us to give it up?"
"I believe I can, you love your baby sister too much... oh wait... she wasn't the baby was she? Your youngest sister died," he mocked.
Consumed with rage that this man had practically admitted to being the one to arrange his family's murder, Yoichi gave a hard kick to the man, catching him by surprise, making him release the boy and fall to the floor. Yoichi then went to attack, but the man had other plans making his way out the window. A glare was cast at the boy. "That little brat of yours is as good as dead then!"
Yoichi went to pursue him but in the blink of an eye he was out of sight. He growled, hatred that he had never felt before was eating at him, the bastard GOT AWAY. He punched the building, fueled with so much rage he didn't feel the pain of breaking his knuckles. But then he realized something, "Oh god Eri," he whispered horrorstruck. It became all the more urgent to find her.
Dawn was beginning to break as Yoichi began losing hope he'd see his little sister alive again. He stopped running next to an alley and tried to catch his breath. Then something caught his eye, a lone figure in the alley. It was short, almost a child's height. Yoichi turned his focus to the figure and almost broke down on sight as he embraced his sister.
"Eri! Oh god Eri, are you ok?" he asked. When he didn't hear a reply he pulled back and looked at her. It was then he noticed she was covered in blood. Panic struck through his heart, was she hurt? Begging it not to be her blood Yoichi thoroughly checked her over, and found she was uninjured, with a sigh of relief he looked her in the eyes again. "Eri please, if you can talk tell me what happened."
"...Bad man," she managed to say in a small very childlike voice.
He stared at her in surprised, he honestly didn't expect an answer. "What bad man Eri?"
"...He's gone..."
"What bad man Eri? Can you describe him?"
"The bad man is gone Nii-san," Eri replied, her voice weak, barely a whisper.
"Eri where did he go?"
"The bad man is gone."
Yoichi kept trying to question her, but she kept repeating her statement, telling him the bad man was gone over and over like she was a toddler again. It was then Yoichi became scared for her. He couldn't let anyone see her covered in blood and repeating the same phrase over and over again like she was insane. They'd take her away and she'd be back in the hospital. Giving a big sigh Yoichi picked her up and took her home. He phoned Mikoto and told her he had found her, but refused to answer any of her questions afraid of what her reaction would be. He simply asked her to inform Fugaku that Eri was home safe.
Eri had gone quiet since he had gotten her home, for which Yoichi was grateful. He bathed her to wipe away the blood that was on her and threw out the clothes she was wearing. By the time Fugaku was there to question them Eri was sleeping in her bed once more.
"You know we can throw you in a cell for withholding information," Fugaku stated.
"I-It's the truth, I-I just found her, I guess the meds made her sleep walk or something..." he lied. How was he going to explain the Sincera he had encountered and Eri's state when he found her?
Fugaku looked closely at the sleeping girl, then sighed and left the room with Yoichi in tow. "If this happens again I'm reliving you of your responsibility," he said calmly.
"I-I understand... I'll be more careful..." Yoichi replied. Fugaku then gave him a look, like he knew the boy was lying, but it had been a long night and he was not in the mood to question him further.
"Well then, I'll be off," he stated before leaving the apartment. Yoichi locked the door behind him and went up to bed to get some rest, but as he entered his room he noticed something on his bed. A carefully folded note. With a sigh he opened the note and read the contents.
'You got off easy this time,
Next time you won't find her alive
Meet me and we can discuss the clan.
I don't think I need to mention that no one else should be informed of this meeting.
The former Sincera leader house, two days from now, at midnight.'
Yoichi remembered staring at the paper debating on what to do. But one thing was certain, he'd do anything to keep this from happening again. Eri's mental state was proven to be very fragile, he had to do what he could to keep her safe, but the question was, what would keep her safe?