Sorry for the delay... I got stuck with exams and some emotional problems...
Indian Parents- forcing their dreams on their children since 1950... -_-
But finally I'm here... Thank you soo much to all who have favorite, followed, reviewed and read this story! You guys inspire me! :))
Longer chapter for all of you!
Key- 'Hakunamata' -Thoughts
Destined To Be Insignificant
"You were destined to be insignificant in this world. No matter what you do, this will be the bitter truth of your existence forever. You cannot fight what is written in your fate; and for you, your fate is to be just a relic of an alien civilization, kept merely to quench scientific and philosophic thirst." He said as if pointing out the obvious; his every word a strike on my very being.
~0~
It was yet another day for me; nothing special or ominous. It started out so normally, so unusually; no one could have said that it was going to end so disastrously. At least for me.
It was almost two weeks since Team 7 left for the Waves mission and I spent those two weeks reading various scrolls, books and even fairy tales for the lack of nothing else to do.
That day also I planned to do the same; read and try to find something I might be able to do in this world. (Or an alternative of Disney)
Coming from an over-expecting family, I was used to of spending my time studying and preparing for higher studies and competitions to ensure a decent future profession.
The sudden appearance into a new Universe with totally different socio-economic structure brought me to a point where I didn't have any long term plans for my life; and that was terrifying.
It might sound weird for an 11 year old but, came from a business-family; the thought of 'Plan your whole life before taking every step' was deeply embedded into my psyche. Being clueless about even the next day was against my very being.
And that was why I was going through every topic I could find, any field I could opt for, anything to do with my life here!
Sitting back and letting each day pass like that was downright painful once I got my emotional stability back.
So I started researching with any material I could get hold of; and through those tedious searches I discovered Fuinjutsu or sealing.
They were like ink paintings or calligraphy patterns made on various surfaces like paper, ground or human body itself; but with the ninja magic Chakra, you could use them for various purposes like storage or even as bombs!
Imagine a 2D PAPER able to store 3D things! It was pure absolute MAGIC! Like Hermione's Extension charm but more scientific than that!
I mean scientific if you overlooked the whole of physics, chemistry AND biology of my world.
But still it was so enticing, so interesting and held so much potential; it was absolutely painful to think how much seals would have helped back in my world.
We could have used the storage seals for water harvesting, storing energy, transporting help supplies to natural disaster suffering areas would have been so easy, they would have also revolutionized travelling and transporting, the blast-seals would have ended the need to mine and mix environment deteriorating chemicals!
They would have been insanely useful to prevent pollution and other environment problems and would have also helped in long-run, to decrease prices and make goods easily available to larger portions of the world, reduce poverty and what not!
But the people here used them for ninja purposes only; because the art of fuinjutsu was a shinobi thing and shinobi only thought about power, battles and such short-sighted stuffs.
It was really disappointing to find such immense potential go to waste!
And that's why I decided to try and understand sealing; maybe if I could understand the concept, not being able to make seals would not be a problem? Everything has a logical explanation; after all you can't always practically experiment things, now can you? And I could always team up with some shinobi and see if my ideas worked.
It was a motivating thought; childish but just what I needed to push myself out of my depression.
But there was only one problem; I didn't have access to any Ninja scroll that was more than introductory level.
All the scrolls and books provided to me were to introduce me to the varied variety of abilities ninjas possessed, that were dangerous for me. To learn anything about sealing, I had to get my hands to the shinobi level materials; and for that I needed Lord Hokage's approval.
So that day I took out all the basic introductory scrolls I could gather on sealing and decided to read them for the last time and then visit Lord Hokage to ask for permission to get Shinobi reading materials.
I was just about to pack all the scrolls after reading when a small monkey came rustling into my room from the balcony and announced "Hokage Sama has called for you Ned-san!"
Jun was a cute little summon Lord Hokage used to call me for missions. The first day he used Jun-chan I was half an hour late for the mission briefing because I almost fell in love with the monkey.
A talking primate other than human! And he was such a tiny cute little thing; it was impossible to think he was a shinobi level trained fighter when I cuddled him tightly on our first meeting.
Lord Hokage was actually amused by my level of obsession for anything non-human and poor Jun-chan was too flustered to speak for a week.
And since then Lord Hokage used Jun-chan to call me for missions, deciding it was good social training for him. I personally think he is a sadist like Kakashi sensei and enjoys Jun-chan's agitation.
'But Team 7's left for the mission, so why is he calling for me now?' I wondered as I motioned the little monkey to climb up my shoulder while I kept the scrolls back and locked my room to visit the old Hokage.
As we walked to our destination I asked Jun-chan also but the little monkey didn't know why I was needed.
Eventually I reached the door to the Mission Assignment Room and knocked as Jun-chan poof-ed away.
A short 'Enter' later I opened the door and entered, finding the room already holding a bunch of people and 'Are those GREEN Scuba-diving suits they are wearing?'
"Aaah Ned, we were all waiting for you! Now that you're here, would you mind if I send you for some tests? Some Chakra examinations actually." Lord Hokage asked, sipping contentedly from his pipe as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Like there weren't two GREEN SCUBA DIVERS JUMPING EXCITEDLY in the room!
I looked between Lord Hokage and the people standing beside me a few more times, ignoring the old man's words when 'Wait, is that…? Oh God it is!'
There with the two green divers was standing; with a no-nonsense air, the boy who thought I was a spy, whom I mistook as a girl, who knew it and even warned me for it via Lord Hokage!
I stood taken aback at the unexpectedness of the situation; things like this never happened in my world, it was so melodramatic, it should have been a scene of some Bollywood drama!
'What is this, a daily-soap? Or is Lord Hokage trying to embarrass me? After all he is a sadist.' I thought in some corner of my mind which did not get traumatized by outrageous-green-scuba-diving-ninja and scary-white-eyed-androgynous-kids.
While this mental monologue was going on in my mind, the spectacle-d man sitting beside Lord Hokage lost his patience and coughed, bringing me back to the scene.
I looked slowly back to the old Hokage&Co. as I replied the most sophisticated answer I could muster at that moment.
"Eeh?"
"… Ned, me and my advisors have decided that we should try one more time to find Chakra in you before titling you as chakra-less. The Hyuuga clan has agreed to help us by providing their keenest Byakugan possessor to check for the presence of even the faintest bit of chakra present or developed in you since the time you have arrived here.
As you can understand now, Chakra is believed to be living force here and your existence without it contradicts our very knowledge and hence we need to check thoroughly for the last time before deciding that you are really a contradiction." Lord Hokage said with a sigh and looked at me expectantly as he asked again.
"So you have any opposition for the tests?"
"N-no Hokage Sama, I don't find any reason for not getting tested for chakra again." I replied.
"So it is decided, Team Gai you will accompany Ned to Hyuuga Kyo and get yourself and her tested. I have already asked Kyo to perform a tenketsu checkup of all your genin Gai, as your recent mission has been overkill for their rank." Lord Hokage finished closing his eyes with a look like he knew all hell was going to break loose soon; which it did.
"ABSOLUTLY HOKAGE SAMA! FINALLY ME AND MY TEAM WILL BE ABLE TO HELP THE LOVELY BLOSSOM IN A BUD WITH OUR YOUTH! ISN'T IT AMAZING MY YOUTHFUL STUDENTS?"
"YES IT IS GAI-SENSEI! WE'VE GOT A CHANCE TO HELP NED-CHAN DISCOVER HER CHAKRA AND BLOSSOM INTO A BEAUTIFUL FLOWER SPREADING HER YOUTH IN THIS WORLD!"
NOW, even with all the 'Dictator-of-a-ninja-village' and 'letting-me-live-for-his-own-world's-benefit-somehow', Lord Hokage was a nice man and I liked him. He did not fool around with words and was adequately soft and strict.
He was better than any protector I could have asked for in an alien universe with power hungry ninja and a history of violent wars but, there were some things about him that irritated me a lot.
Like his sadistic decisions to put me in awkward situations with the most inadvisable people for both my mental and physical health.
A fan-girl with an all-women-want-to-steal-my-man disorder, a boy with I-hate-all-things-female syndrome, socially awkward ninja, civilians with obvious trust issues and now this!
Had it been my world, a refugee like me would have ended up in some research lab in NASA; or if we get extremely optimistic, then in some isolated area away from society.
Not in company with a bunch of weirdos with the capacity to kill me a thousand times in a second!
'Sadists! Weird, mutant, horrendous-fashion-sensed, freaking-hair-colored, crazily-powered, awfully-sadistic idiots everywhere!' I mentally yelled while following the teary eyed scuba-divers and the other two of their team.
As we came out of the room the two Scuba-divers suddenly jumped up shouting at the top of their voices AGAIN.
"LEE! LET US RUN ON OUR HANDS TO THE HYUUGA COMPLEX AND SHOW NED-CHAN THE YOUTHFULNESS OF OUR WORLD!"
"YES GAI-SENSEI! LET US PUT A TIME LIMIT OF 10 SECONDS TO REACH THERE!"
"OHH LEE! SUCH A YOUTHFUL SUGGESTION! CHANGE IT TO 5 TO CHALLENGE OUR YOUTH! AND IF WE FAIL, 200 ROUNDS OF KONOHA ON HANDS!"
"OH GAI-SENSEI! YOU ARE AMAZING!"
"IT IS JUST BECAUSE OF STUDENTS LIKE YOU LEE!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
"GAI-SENSEI!"
"LEE!"
And like that the two scuba divers left running on their HANDS!
"Aah… those two will never change." The girl on their team with bun-hairstyle sighed.
"….Is YOUTH a curse word here or something?" I asked to no one in general as I watched flabbergasted, the two Green ninja leave us behind in dust ON THEIR HANDS!
"Worse than that Ned-chan." "Never use it ever again, okay." Izumo and Kotetsu said while passing us on the corridor and giving me looks of pity.
I gave them a questioning look and was just going to ask why when, "Tenten, let's reach there before they start some other rash challenge of theirs." The white eyed boy said to the bun-girl in a serious yet tired tone.
The said girl nodded and then looked uncertainly at me, "You are not a ninja, right?" she asked to which I gave a confirmatory nod. "Neji we need to-" She started again but got cut by the boy.
"I know, let's get started already before they get impatient." The boy said in an irritated tone.
"Well, sorry for their behavior. He-he-he… Gai sensei and Lee are always a bit over-excited like that….. but Neji, he is irritated that our last mission went out of hands and he gets quite moody when annoyed. He-he..." the girl whispered the last part in my ear and then laughed sheepishly.
"Umm… it's okay, I've worked with worse temperamental people." I replied with a small smile, thinking about Sasuke's grumpiness and Naruto's tantrums.
The rest of the walk was spent in introduction where I found out the girl's name was Tenten (isn't it cute?), that her team was a year senior than Team 7 and that she loved weapons and dumplings; all the while the white eyed boy remained silent, not even uttering a word.
I also told her my name, my age, that I had no experience of fighting whatsoever, the non-existence of Chakra and ninja in my world and about my interest in wildlife.
Eventually we reached the Hyuuga complex gates to witness the two Scuba divers doing push-ups on their fingers, 'O.U.C.H.' I thought flinching with their every move.
"AAH TENTEN, NEJI, NED-CHAN; YOU FINALLY ARRIVED!" the elder, who I got to know was Gai-san, shouted from his position in the air as he back flipped to get back on his feet.
"NOW WE CAN MEET KYO-SAN AND BEGIN OUR YOUTHFUL ENDEAVORS!" the younger one, Lee shouted.
"But before that, NICE TO MEET YOU I'M ROCK LEE! THE GREEN BEASTLING OF KONOHA! AND I GIVE MY WORD, TO HELP YOU BLOOM TO FULL YOUTH NED-CHAN I WILL HELP IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE!" he ended with a thumbs up and shining smile.
I kept staring back at him flabbergasted for a few seconds; that was the weirdest promise I ever heard, and what was it with these people and youth?
"Ahhh.. Nice to meet you too Lee-san. And thanks?" I replied confused if blooming into full 'youth' was supposed to be a compliment or a joke… or a taunt… or a saying?
"AAH LEE! WHAT A YOUTHFUL INTRODUCTION WITH SUCH WARM AND HEART TOUCHING WORDS! I HAVE NO DOUBTS NED-CHAN WILL BE MORE THAN WILLING TO TAKE YOUR HELP; AFTER ALL WHICH GIRL WOULD NOT FALL FOR THE CHARMING, CHARISMATIC AND COOL WAY OF THE GREEN BEASTS OF-!" Gai-san shouted to Lee but got ruthlessly cut.
"WELL!" Tenten spoke out with a clap, trying to cut short the embarrassing speech while I kept on looking at the two green 'beasts' in front of me, shocked.
'It might be tiring having such weird team! And I thought Kakashi sensei has it hard with the constant bickering of Team 7' I thought sympathetically in a part of my mind that wasn't turned off to save my sanity.
"As I've had my intro. while me and Ned were coming here so… Neji?" she finished looking pleadingly at the other boy for help who seemed as if he was repressing the urge to sigh.
"I'm Neji of the Hyuuga clan."
'Wow, I find Kakashi sensei's introduction enlightening after this.'
"AND I'M MAITO GAI! THE GREEN BEAST OF KONOHA, THE TAIJUTSU SPECIALIST AND THE PROUD SENSEI OF THIS YOUTHFUL TEAM OF MINE!"
"I'm Ned, nice to meet you all." I replied with the customary bow.
After that we entered the Hyuuga clan complex and started to make our way towards the place decided by Lord Hokage for us to meet Kyo-san.
Now in one word the Hyuuga complex was TRADITIONAL.
It radiated simplicity, tradition and power.
The wide clean alleys, the big traditional houses painted in the softest of hues bordering white and the people moving around with graceful steps draped in perfect beige and brown kimonos; it seemed like an excerpt from some history book describing ancient Japan.
I felt more than misfit there. I contrasted out so much with all the inhabitants of that place, it was like someone took a Hyuuga and invert-colored them in MSPaint to create me.
Every person we crossed gave me a questioning glance in their own refined way; looking at me, then Neji, then Tenten, then the Green-beasts and then walking past us in a slightly faster pace.
Finally after what seemed like hours of walking under judging white gazes we arrived into an open stretch of land between the traditional buildings; it seemed like a community practice field.
A young man in his mid-twenties with brown hair falling upon his shoulders and eyes pale and deep was standing in the middle of the field wearing a beige Kimono with a brown obi.
He looked like the elder version of Neji minus the long hair and arrogant eyes.
As we reached him he gave us a small bow and spoke in a calm voice
"You might be team Gai and Ned-san. I'm Hyuuga Kyo."
We all reciprocated with an introduction and a bow of our own except Gai-san who just shouted out, a little less loudly-
"Aah Kyo-san, always so formal! You will never change will you?"
"I fear I can't. And I believe we shouldn't; our quirks distinguish us from others. We wouldn't be ourselves without them. Though I suppose we are here to do some checkups so let us start that before we turn too philosophical shall we?" the young man replied in an even tone.
"Sure! Sure Kyo-san! And really you haven't changed a bit; still as philosophical! You always inspire me with your youth!"
A slight twitch of the elder Hyuuga's mouth which could have been a smile or a grimace was all he gave as reply to Gai-san's exclamation as he started his Chakra checkup with Lee.
"Let us start with you…? Rock Lee…. Hmmm… _ type chakra, levels normal….-"
And from there he went on and on, commenting various things on Team Gai's chakra levels and such, as I tuned him out; marveling on the architectural style of the Hyuuga.
Finally when he finished with Neji whom he took immense time checking and commenting, the older Hyuuga turned towards me.
"Ned-san, could you please stand there in the middle right in front of me? Now, take a few deep breaths and calm your body and mind as much as you can… think of it like meditation. You could close your eyes if you want….. Now could you stretch your right hand in front of yourself and try to focus on it? Yes, like that..… try to imagine water flowing from within you towards the tip of your fingers… Now close your eyes and try to feel something…. Anything that feels out of ordinary or uncomfortable? Like the air is thicker or heavier? No…? Now slowly open your eyes and tell me how many scrolls you see in my hand…. None? Hmmmm… could you close your eyes again and calm yourself one more time?…. It's okay Ned-san, you could open your eyes now…. I'm sorry to say I couldn't find any trace of Chakra."
"Not even natural chakra seeping into her system?"
"No Gai-san, it seems Ned-san's body treats chakra like any other form of energy; letting it pass through her, not storing it."
"…..so you mean I don't have Chakra…. So does it mean I cannot pursue anything for my future here? Every field in this village requires chakra in some form or other."
"Unfortunately yes, you neither have chakra nor the ability to store or develop it on long exposure. You are, basically a contradiction through and thorough…. But I am sure you could pursue a civilian life here; farming, teaching and other such lines provide a peaceful and wholesome life Ned-san."
"But…. but I want to do something with my life! You don't understand Kyo-san; my whole WORLD has ended without leaving anything behind but me. I cannot die like that; I want to do something, leave behind a mark so when I die, my world won't!" I replied with fervor as everyone looked at me surprised.
"I-I am sorry I got a bit carried away!" I added hurriedly with a bow as my shy-self again took control of me and I realized everyone was looking at me like I grew two heads.
"…..Although we can never truly understand your feelings Ned-chan I respect your passion to leave behind a mark. And though I couldn't change the necessity of chakra in this world but I can tell you, even the most ordinary of people leave behind a mark over the ones who know them; only intentions and will are needed, and you could achieve anything…. Team Gai you are dismissed for today, Ned-chan please wait here while I get the written report from Kyo-san for Lord Hokage."
Gai-san spoke in a silent, sincere tone as he walked away into one of the buildings surrounding the field with Kyo-san, leaving me behind in a serious atmosphere with his three genin.
After that Tenten and surprisingly Lee also left with a few formal Goodbyes leaving me alone with the young Hyuuga, who for some unknown reason wasn't yet gone.
As the last visible silhouette of the two genin disappeared over the horizon the Hyuuga prodigy suddenly spoke in his cold voice.
"It's a waste of time."
"… Excuse me?"
"Only those who are destined to leave behind a mark; those who have it written in their fate, the ones with the exceptional abilities right from the beginning are the ones who leave behind a mark and are remembered.
There were thousands who were average, who tried their best to fight their fate and leave behind a mark but there is no way out. Only those who had it written in their destiny to be remembered are still remembered; others who tried got nothing. You also would get nothing out of trying worthlessly; your fate was sealed the day you arrived in this world without chakra."
"And who are you to decide what is written in my fate and what not? Moreover, what proof do you have that fate and destiny even exist?"
"These eyes of mine can see through everything; I've seen more of the reality of life than you. Locked in a comfortable home, away from the trouble of the world; you have lived such a protected life; you have no idea of sufferings.
This was your fate; you were destined to live a comfortable life and that's why even after the end of your universe you've got a safe refuge with all the facilities of the world when there are people who couldn't get anything like that even in their own home.
This is how destiny works, unfair but unchangeable. And your destiny is to become a wonder and nothing else. Your will and passion cannot change that fact that you have no chakra; you cannot fight and can't even heal or save yourself. The only use you have is to cause awe and amazement over your existence and no matter how much you try you cannot increase your value above it.
You were destined to be insignificant in this world. No matter what you do, this will be the bitter truth of your existence forever. You cannot fight what is written in your fate; and for you, your fate is to be just a relic of an alien civilization, kept merely to quench scientific and philosophic thirst." He spoke in his icy tone, shattering my defenses with just a few sentences; he opened up the wounds like a professional in just one stroke.
I was always wary that I was kept here for some reason; why would a ninja village leader ever save an alien girl who doesn't have any use whatsoever?
I knew it but I wanted to believe that it was just goodwill, some humanity left in the old man that made him save me.
But could it be true? Could it be possible that there really wasn't any interest or agenda, but just scientific pleasure? I wasn't useful enough for anything else other than that?
'Is the only reason why I'm saved just curiosity? Am I just an animal in a zoo, caught from the depths of a rain-forest; a new species put on display? Is my every move, every word just a scientific wonder and nothing more?
Does the fact that I am different, takes away my right to learn or do something with my life? Would I be kept like this always? With no goal in life, no reason to live other than just humor people's wonder with my other-worldly thoughts and ideas?'
I took a shaky breath as I controlled my body that was shaking; I could feel fear, rage, helplessness boil inside me, burning under my skin.
He destroyed me again. It took so much time, so much to heal after losing everything and he destroyed me again with merely a few words.
He took away the only thing I had after losing everything; hope.
Hope of moving on, of everything turning out alright, of finding something to live for; he destroyed it all and pushed me back to square one.
Hot tears rolled down my cheeks as I kept starring at the ground, breaking apart.
I tried to hold back the tears; I didn't want him to see me weak like that but I couldn't stop the tears that kept on falling on the ground.
I wanted to run away and disappear, but before doing that I couldn't help but look up at the boy in front of me with tear filled eyes and spat.
"Thank you…. Thank you so much… for destroying my life all over again! Thank you so much Hyuuga-san, for reminding me that I don't belong here; for reminding me that I lost EVERYTHING that day when my world ended! Thank you for telling me the whole, unadulterated truth of my existence…. but I'm sorry to tell you that you have been wrong at one place… I know suffering; of the kind you could never imagine!"
AN- For anyone who thinks that the ninja are being depicted as too soft- Ned is just a simple minded 11 year old, she can't differentiate between fake cheer, emotions and real ones usually. Next chapter will clear some of these doubts as another POV is going to come! Guess who.. :3
Reviews
Guest- I totally agree with you... I think Kishimoto didn't put much effort in developing the SasuSaku pairing. And thanks for sharing your view! :))
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