AN. corrected the use of Hime
Chapter 13
At 2 minutes to 2, after a causal lunch where they caught up on family gossip, Sirius was pacing back and forth in the receiving room. To say he was nervous about Yamamoto's arrival was an understatement. This was the man Lily had considered a second father figure. He had helped Henry get Lily out of the village during the attack. The man who had found out about the magical world by himself, who had known everything about their plan with James. Yamamoto had walked Lily down the aisle in her wedding to James. How on earth was he supposed to explain that Lily was dead?
As the clock chimed 2 a swirl of colours preceded the arrival of Sirius' guest. A tall, heavily muscled, gentleman of clearly Asian desent in his early 50's replaced the colours. His white hair was pulled into a sort pony-tail at the back of his neck, and his sharp ice-blue eyes regarded Sirius closely. Arms crossed across his chest emphasised his biceps as the strained against the material of his red, short sleeved top, under which was a black mesh top that reached his wrists. A black vest top with pockets strained to cover his vast chest muscles. Black leather gauntlets covered his forearms. Black combat trousers covered in pockets, wrapped in bandages around the lower calf tucked into well-worn combat boots only confirmed the man's general impression of Danger. The least inconspicuous item the man wore in Sirius mind was the rather large metal belt buckle engraved with a stylised swirl.
Reo Yamamoto had arrived and he looked almost unchanged from the last time Sirius had seen him over 2 ½ years ago, before they went into seclusion due to Lily's pregnancy and James' health. Perhaps more worry lines upon his forehead and a wariness in his eyes that Sirius had not seen before.
"May you be Welcome in my Home, Master Reo Yamamoto." Bowing low to show his respect to the martial arts master as he used the phrase to allow guests further into the house and past the wards.
"I thank you for your welcome Shiriusu-kun. I await the news you have offered me."
Nodding and nerves returning ten-fold Sirius lead Reo to the Drawing room and when seated wasted time serving tea and trying to figure out where to start.
"Tell me that justice has been served to who-ever killed Yuri-chan?" Reo asked after watching Sirius open and close his mouth without saying anything. Reo was a Shinobi, he was no stranger to Death and he knew from the fact Shiriusu was the one who initiated contact, that Yuri had been killed in this little disagreement within the enclaves.
"How did you -? Never mind, yes the monster that attacked Lily was destroyed moments after he murdered Lily. We don't know exactly what happened as the only surviving witness isn't even two years old yet. The Will reading is tomorrow and the DMLE morgue is refusing to release the bodies until after that. People have already tried to illegally claim the bodies, I daren't even guess at what for. As soon as the funeral arrangements have been made I'll tell you, Yamamoto."
Nodding his head respectfully at Sirius, Yamamoto took a sip of his tea to help quell the ranging emotions inside him. Knowing something was a probability did not make having it confirmed any easier. Gathering his self-control Reo pushed his grief away to focus on the current conversation. Reo could give into his emotions later when he was alone.
"Thank you for telling me Shiriusu-kun. In your letter you mentioned wanting my help with something and a request you had for me?"
"Yes Master Yamamoto –"
"Reo-san will do,"
"-Reo-san" Sirius slowly copied Yamamoto to make sure he had the unfamiliar honorifics correct. "I was hoping you could tell me Lily's original name?"
Reo fixed Sirius with a gimlet-eye, "and why would you need to know that Shiriusu-kun?"
Swallowing heavily under Reo's stare, it was scarier than his grandfathers. "To protect her daughter, my daughter. If we register her under Lily's birth name most people won't make the connection and Iris will be safer for people attempting to manipulate her. I already know people are looking for the Potter child."
"Uzumaki Yuri, or as you say Yuri Uzumaki." Reo breathed, vision far away as he realised he had not lost all connection to his best friend. "I wish to meet her Shiriusu, I wish to be the grandfather to her the Hitoshi cannot."
"Of course, I'd never keep you away Reo-san, that's part of my second point. Heritage is a large part of Black upbringing and there are already materials for her to learn her Potter Heritage from, but we have nothing that I know of that will help her learn her mother's heritage. Would you Master Yamamoto please instruct my daughter on your shared heritage?"
More surprised than he really should have been, knowing as much as he did about the wizarding world and its politics due to long talks with Yuri, Reo didn't answer for a moment as he sipped his tea and considered other responsibilities.
"How much of her heritage would you wish for me to teach the little one? And when would you like me to start?"
"I'd like her to learn everything you can teach her, the language, culture, histories, about the Uzumaki?-" At Reo's nod for his pronunciation Sirius continued, "Uzumaki clan themselves, stories of her grandfather and mother, and if you wouldn't mind I'd like for Iris to learn how to protect herself as well, by any means possible."
Sitting back in his chair with his tea cup Reo stared into the middle distance as he considered Shiriusu's request. To best way to fulfil what he was being asked would be to train little Iris, Ayame his mind automatically translated, as a shinobi.
"Shiriusu-kun before I can give you an answer I need you to understand exactly where Hitoshi and I ran from and why we were always evasive while speaking of our childhood. How protected are these rooms?"
"This is the most protected room for privacy in the house. As soon as the doors are closed nobody can hear or see what is happening in here, even right outside the patio doors. It doesn't matter how they try to listen in we are protected from everything in here, even scrying."
Nodding in understand Reo continued, "Hitoshi and I do not come from your Japan, it is just the closest in language and culture to where we are from. Everything I'm telling you is true and if we can find Hitoshi's scrolls I can confirm what I will tell you now.
"The village we speak of whenever Hitoshi and I speak of our youth was called Uzushiogakure, The Village Hidden in the Whirlpools, in Uzu no Kuni, the Land of Whirlpools. You will not find these places on any map as they are not of this world.
"The world I came from did not have Magic in any form, we have something called Chakra that can be manipulated to give enhanced speed and strength. It can also be used to form elemental attacks when you've been trained in its use. The users of Chakra were called Shinobi and though all people have the ability to use chakra they must have their potential unlocked at an early age. Shinobi are what you would call Ninja.
"If I am to train Ayame I will train her to be a Shinobi. She will be more deadly than any of those Death-Eaters of yours. She will be able to survive on her own no matter what by the time she is 12 if not before. I will want to have at least half a day every day to train her and teach her all I can about my world and exactly who the Uzumaki Clan were. Training will start in the early morning before breakfast as I train her body and, when she is old enough for her potential to be unlocked, her Chakra. I will teach her my language both written and verbal, I will teach her what I can about Funijutsu a skill here clan where specialists in."
Taken aback by what Reo had just admitted, he took a moment to really absorb the information. It sounded so unbelievable but did explain some of the things he had heard from both Henry and Reo over the years he had known both men.
"I think I can believe you, Reo-san. If you truly can make Iris capable of protecting herself I'm all for it. When do you want to start training Iris? She's only a toddler at the moment, you can meet her later this afternoon if you'd like?"
"The sooner she starts learning my language the better I will start lessons with her as soon as possible. It is always best to get an early start, learning the basics at an early age will only make learning the advanced material easier in later life."
"You're the second person to tell me that today Reo-san. My cousin Andromeda helped to create a list of knowledge that a child of Iris Status in our world would need to know."
Intrigued Reo wondered exactly what status Yuri's daughter could have. Not one to ponder on idle curiosity he asked.
"For what my account manager has managed to find, out Iris is the head of 3 Families and an heir to my line, which when I die would make her the head of 4 family lines within the British community. My line, The Ancient and Noble House of Black has a long history and is a political powerhouse within the Dark sect of our government. As you know James made arrangements for his Family line to pass on to Lily's child which makes her the head of a powerful Family within the opposing sect, The Lights.
"If what Ironclaw found at the bank is true than the other two families are famous names revered like muggles do their saints. She would be as close to Royalty as wizarding Britain has. There is no way this information would not eventually reach the public, not matter how much we tried to hide it, and she will need to know how to deal with the outfall with all the weapons available to her, including knowing the correct social etiquette and having the skills she would be expected to have."
Reo was clearly shocked by the information, he had not realised that both James and Shiriusu were of Noble stock, they had never acted as such around him. And these two mystery families Shiriusu spoke of made Yuri's child a Hime. Reo was even more determined to train Hitoshi's grandchild now. Shiriusu was right Ayame-hime would need all the protection she could get. It was unfortunate that he didn't know the location of Hitoshi's scrolls, the paranoid man had copied and collected every technique scroll he had come across and blood sealed them for future generations of his family. Reo could only hope Yuri-chan had passed them on to Ayame-hime.
"Then it is decided I will begin tomorrow morning at 6am, you have a way to facilitate my arrival Shiriusu-kun?"
"Of course, I'll create a re-usable portkey that will bring you here and return you to where you left from. Would you mind if others attended your lessons with Iris?"
"How many and who Shiriusu-kun?"
"Well I would like to learn the language and culture at the very least, some training for me would probably not go a miss, and my favourite cousin's daughter; she's 6 and very isolated due to her gifts, Iris is really the first child close to her age she's interacted with and you can see the joy in Nymphie when they play together, even though Iris is so much younger than her. I've convinced Andy to let them take lessons together, and Lily used to tell me that Martial Arts was about more that hitting people, it's about the discipline you have to learn, the strategy you need in every fight and learning how to control your body and mind. The last especially is something Nymphadora needs, with how strongly she has inherited the family magics."
"Yes this I can agree to." Reo laughed to himself as he answered. Sirius raised an inquiring eyebrow Reo explained, "I was just thinking that one more child and I would have a genin team." Waving away further inquiries from Sirius, Reo had a question of his own he needed answered.
"What exactly is this family magic that causes the child to be isolated?"
Sitting up straight and taking on the most serious air Reo had ever seen Shiriusu take, made Reo worry about the nature of his possible new charge's needs.
"What you just asked is considered a Family Secret." Realising his mistake Reo tried to retract the question but Sirius continued, "As her tutor and because you will need to understand the implications of her talent I will explain to you, it's not much of a secret as it's a very visible gift. Nymphadora is what is called a metamorphmagis. This means she can change her appearance at will, Nymphie is especially powerful in her gift as she can change everything about her appearance, from the colour and length of her hair, to changing her facial features, to altering her complete body mass.
"At the moment Nymphadora has very little control over her abilities and any emotional response causes her to lose control of her form, normally something minor like changing her hair colour but it's not something that can be hidden from muggles and makes Nymphie a risk to the Statute of Secrecy. In the wizarding world the stigma attached to her mother affects her ability to socialise as there are no events that she is invited to and there is no centralised area for children to interact before Hogwarts."
Reo nodded once in understanding, "thank you for trusting me with this secret Shiriusu-kun I shall take it to my grave. I wish to meet my young students now, if possible?"
"Certainly Reo-san, do you mind if I ask an elf to lead you to where the girls are currently? I left my grandfather and Andromeda to have a discussion and I would like to see how it has gone. Family is important to me."
"Of course Shiriusu-kun, I understand the value of family."
Leaving Reo with Pisces to be lead to where Nanny was supervising Iris and Nymphadora painting in the sun room, Sirius headed down to the sitting room where he had left Arcturus and Andromeda after Lunch. Whatever he expected (even Sirius wasn't sure), it wasn't laughter. Sirius entered the room on the tail end of Arcturus telling a story from his childhood that should never be spoken of, in his opinion, and Andromeda's gales of laughter. Clearly things were resolved between his grandfather and favourite cousin. Smiling softly at the literal sight of his broken family repairing itself, even if it was at his expense, nearly made up for the hell that was week before.
Now all he had to do was get Andromeda to agree to Nymphie joining Iris in her training with Reo-san and get his grandfather's advice on Ironclaw's surprise before dinner and he'd have everything he wanted done in time for Iris' bedtime story.
Yuri Uzumaki - Lily Evans
Hitoshi Uzumaki - Henry Evans
Shiriusu - Sirius
Ayame - Iris
Reo Yamamoto means 'wise gentleman' and 'base of the mountain'
Iris means 'Valour' and 'Wisdom' among others in Victorian flower language
Ayame means 'Glad Tidings' in Japanese flower language
A.N. if any of my Japanese is wrong please tell me so I can correct it and further my understanding. A big thank you for everyone who has shown me support, my computer is having some problems at the moment so I use any time it works to get an update out. as soon as its fixed I'll correct any mistakes I've been told about.
Thank you to everyone who has read my story and an extra thank you to everyone followed fav'ed or reviewed.