Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Don't forget to post your reviews! You don't know how much I re-read your reviews when I felt down and depressed. Very very long chapter, so hold tight!
Note: There are two Wakers, two Waker's Pearls for each. Because Karin's last name is the name as Naruto's, I just decided to call her Karin even though she's a Waker's Pearl candidate haha;; please understand.
In a darkly lit laboratory that is reminiscent of scientific fiction settings, Kabuto stood by the bodies of his decimated experiments while his student Uzumaki Karin came to him.
Kabuto's dark eyes behind round glass rims glinted furiously as he saw the broken glass cases that used to store his precious live experiments. The greenish fluid that gave life to his experiments flooded the floor, the putrid smell scorning him.
Ever since he learned to school his expression after the death of Orochimaru, he harbored an homicidal rage against the Second Waker but he can never dare to confront him at his current state.
The Second Waker was far too powerful, and he is not getting weaker any time soon.
But one day he'll make him pay his debt. He just has to wait like a snake in hiding.
"Karin" he ordered sharply as he stopped to pick up a glass shard.
The red haired girl with dark rimmed glasses bowed.
He stood up and crushed the glass in his fist, "Did you detect anything strange about the Hyuuga?"
"No, Kabuto sensei. I am keeping an eye on her whenever I can, but...with the fierce competition amongst the candidates, it is hard to not make it obvious."
"I understand," he said calmly, "your priority is in being the Waker's Pearl and acting as my eye toward the Second."
She bowed her head, her cheeks blushing under the green fluorescent light at the mention of the Uchiha.
Seeing her facial expression, Kabuto smirked. It was to his advantage that his smartest and prettiest student in his cell is in love with the Uchiha like the rest of the girls in the candidacy. It made it easier to manipulate.
"But that shouldn't mean you should ever slack on your duty of spying on the Second's favorite candidate."
Uchiha's favorite candidate obviously referred to the stupid, mute runt of a girl with black hair and pearl white eyes who can't keep her stuttering. Karin's eyes held a glint of malice, smiliar to her teacher's "Yes, sensei. I'll do my best."
"Sensei, but please do not forget your oath," the girl gave a haughty glare to her cell leader, "that you'll give the Second Waker sama to me once you take your revenge."
Kabuto glared back, reminding her that it was he who still held the power. "Only if you succeed in being the Waker's Pearl and find Uchiha's weakness. Know your place, Uzumaki."
He turned against her and walked toward his desk where his files were organized. He picked up a manila folder and carelessly tossed it into the puddle of artificially created embilical water on the floor.
The contents of the folder spilled, and a picture of Hyuuga was drenched with the green, acidic solution and crumpled into shreds at an unnaturally fast speed.
"At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if the Hyuuga becomes the Waker's Pearl. You're losing your footing, Karin."
At his provoking words, Karin gritted her teeth and clenched her fist.
But he wasn't the source of her anger. Her boiling wrath was rather directed to her inability to refute his words, because her gut tells her that she is not winning in this game.
That pupil-less bitch has to go down.
So how did Kabuto find out about the secret rendezvous between the Second Waker Uchiha and one of the candidates?
It was due to the fact that Uchiha was surprisingly lax in keeping his little secret.
It didn't take a long time for the cunning scientist to observe how the last girl to enter the competition was never seen in the same space as the First or Second Wakers.
The First Waker was always overly rambunctious and energetic, but Kabuto wasn't the one to overgo the nuanced changes in the Second's demeanor.
Kabuto mused, 'The icy ruler was becoming more and more idiotic in his carelessness.'
It was a matter of time till he got Karin to snatch the final piece of evidence that demonstrates his weakness. Soon, his adoring fans, the girls and the Akatsukis, will see how weak and swayable and full of bias he really is.
And Hyuuga will be the bait.
Meanwhile, seemingly oblivious to the dark plot unravelling around him, the Second Waker was reading a carefully folded letter from one of the thirteen year old candidates to the Waker's Pearl. He was sitting on a dark burgundy red armchair sofa in front of a cozy fireplace in his newly furnished private suite, and the white, feathery dusts of snow were slowly accumulating on the window sills.
An incense candle was burning to get rid of the rank of blood that permeated the room days ago.
Dear Second Waker Sama,
Hello, Second Waker Sama, my name is Hyuuga, and I am the hundredth Waker's Pearl candidate. I hope I am not bothering you and this letter reaches to you, because my friends, senseis, and messenger sama all told me that you are very very busy. So I'm so sorry, if I'm bothering you. (TT TT) Didn't mean to...
I wanted to ask you to please, please help messenger sama get a better job. Messenger sama is the one delivering this letter to you. In case you don't know who he is, he is tall, with very black hair, and dark eyes, and he is very very good looking, at least in my opinion... And I think a lot of my peers would agree with me too. I hope I am not offending you by emphasizing how handsome he is. I just want you to be able to know him when you see him, that's all.
The Second Waker scoffed, 'She thinks I'm the jealous type.'
He continued reading the carefully handwritten letter while resting his face on his knuckles.
The point is, most honorable Waker sama, he has been working as a palace guard for more than three years, and he always looks very tired. But he never complains or even hints that he's struggling, and he always tries his best to work with diligence. I never see him go home, and a lot of times, I see him late at night after the guards' shifts. So with all due respect, Waker sama, I hope you can help him.
His raven feather-like eyelashes fluttered heavily as he made a very rare smile, his pale lips curved into a levered bow. He flipped the letter to look at the back side, but his smile was quickly replaced with a perplexed frown. Soon the frown turned into a look that showed how indignant and offended the reader felt.
The back side of the letter was occupied with a hastily scribbled line.
Thank you so much for reading this letter, Second Waker Sama. Have a great day.
"Ha!"
He then murmured to himself, relaxing back into his armchair and flipping the letter, "She really didn't want to write this letter, did she?"
He stood up and paced back and forth in his spacious living room, 'I mean, even if she hates, no-dislikes me, well the one she technically dislikes is the Second Waker, she should make more effort into writing the letter! Especially if it's a letter of petition!'
Furious, he kept pacing and he pulled the collar of his white shirt that he got from one of his favorite alternate universes in frustration*.
He asked himself, 'Did she just not care about her 'dear messenger sama?''
Uchiha never felt so offended in his life. And disappoint...no, he's not disappointed. He didn't expect anything, nothing at all.
He was going to act as if nothing happened. With a calm, composed demeanor, he'll write a letter pinned as the Second Waker to her. In his perfectly inked letter, he'll say that he carefully perused her messenger sama's credentials and with the professionalism as a ruler, he will decline her request and advise her to use her time and effort more on honing her own skills and talents than being a mediocre advocate for a door guard.
Yes, he'll do that. He sat himself on his black cherry wood desk and pulled up his black Swarovski studded pen.
"Di-did something go wrong wi-with my letter, messenger sama?"
"Everything."
Was the continuously cool and collected messenger sama...sulking?
"Oh no...why-"
"If you showed half the respect you show me to the Second Waker, I would've gotten promoted."
"Bu-but, I do respect hi-"
"That's not what he felt."
"But I've never even met-"
"Pretend that you've known him all your life."
"That's lying, messenger sama…"
"No, that's called 'tact,'' he spat out his words with spite and then turned his back on her,
To the girl who just didn't know what to do, he contemplated upon the cruelties of the world, "Because your letter offended him so much,, I have to pack my stuff in my office."
He then turned a sideway glance at her and a sardonic smirk graced his lips, "Thanks to you, I'm relieved of my service."
The girl froze into an ice statue at his words.
"Are-are...you gett-getting fi-fired?!"
He withdrew his smirk and talked with a calmness that unsettled the little girl's stomach, "It all depends on how he responds to your next letter."
"Oh no, messenger sama...I'm so sorry...The Second Waker sama is way pettier than I ever imagined."
"I guess I wasn't clear enough. Or maybe your intention was to get me the boot. If that was it, congratulations, you achieved your goal, Hyuuga,"
He resolutely turned, but he did it just slow enough to let Hyuuga grab him by the sleeve of his arm while making himself look convincing.
"Me-messenger sama, please wait! I-I'll wri-write the letter! So please, please persuade him to give me a second chance!"
"Hnn."
"Bu-but...I don't know how to write a letter to him...I gu-guess I have to...flatter him, but I've never seen him."
He turned to her and spoke with impatience, "What do you like about me?"
"Ye-yes?!"
Her face turned completely white. If it wasn't for the dead-serious look on his face, she would've thought he was God forbid, flirting.
"Just refer everything you like about me to the Second Waker.."
"You-you mean...pretend as if I am writing the letter...to you?"
"Yes."
"Bu-but…"
She wanted to add, "That's so childish," but she was scared that messenger sama would really turn his back and walk away.
She stared into his eyes with a gaping mouth like a fish out of water. She hoped he was joking. But everything, from his deep dark eyes that had the shade of cobalt blue, and how his brow furrowed in impatience suggested that he was utmost serious. Did he ever make a joke in his life? She wondered. Then she dropped her shoulders and sighed.
"Okay…"
Dear really cool, awe-inspiring, majestic, lethally handsome, and potent Second Waker Sama,
A snort. 'Really? What kind of thesaurus is she pulling these words from?"
But the content of the letter did get better.
You are really amazing, and you care so much for the people in the palace. You make sure that things go round even if it means you have to work really hard.
I really admire that about you. And...
And she went on and on. One and a half full pages. He can tell that she was doing her best, imagining the petty, mean Second Waker to be her beloved messenger sama.
'Not bad,' he thought.
He was able to thoroughly enjoy the letter because nobody was there to remark on the smile on his face.
Hinata's 'lizard chan' was sitting on his left shoulder and knew it was the best time to shut its clammed jaws up, especially about that unnerving wild-fire on his ears. The Second Waker's burning ears were being a great source of heat for the cold blooded animal.
And the Second Waker laughed, or more like, sniggered into his fist, at the last part of the letter.
So would you please promote messenger sama? You wouldn't say no to a lady, right? Right? Please? Sir? My lord?
He threw his head up and bursted into a muted laughter.
But then frowned again. Because she ended her letter with another misuse of her thesaurus.
Highest affections, estolations, and love from
Your humble, little, grovelling, obsequious, miniscule servant, subordinate, subject Hyuuga
After he settled into a breathless calm, he was still chuckling. He decided that next time he should give her some private lessons in composition.
'She has all the talents. It's the matter of time that she breaks her shell.'
His reptilian subject tilted its head. It never saw its master look so relaxed and expressive in all its years of service. And that warm, unbelievably warm look in his eyes as he stared at the letter…
The lizard thought, 'Master's sense of attachment to Hyuuga doesn't bode well.'
'Hyuuga is too delicate, sincere, and caring as a person. She wouldn't be able to handle being the object of affection to someone so powerful like the Second Waker.' the lizard closed its green eyes, 'Because being loved by the Waker means she has to hurt other people.'
Behind every smile that the handsome, powerful ruler makes to her will be a thousand tears her rivals will shed. If Hyuuga was a selfish person, she wouldn't mind, but her nature isn't meant to be selfish.
'What's worst is...the Second Waker never dealt with rejection...of that kind of sort. I doubt he'll take it well.'
It peered at Uchiha's profile, 'I sense a storm brewing.'
Hyuuga was just in the middle of finishing her letter to the Second Waker in her small room that she shares with her roommate Haruno.
"Oi, Hyuuga."
She turned to see the pink haired, comely girl leaning on the door still, her long, lean arms crossed.
"Haruno chan…"
Haruno scratched her cheek with her finger and glanced sideways.
"I'm going to the store...Want that sweet swirling bread you always talk about?"
"A-ano, it's okay Haruno chan," after a pause, Hyuuga gathered the courage, "Haruno chan, I am really so-"
But red faced, Haruno cut her words and went out of the room.
"I'll just get it, okay? Stay here."
Haruno kept the door to their room open to grab something to eat.
'I am so lucky to have a friend like Haruno chan...so open minded and full of heart. I was not mad about our dumb fight day before yesterday, but I didn't have the courage to talk to her first. I was scared she was still mad at me...After I finish this letter, I'll get her her favorite ice cream.'
And she proceeded to work with a heightened sense of concentration on her desk.
Then a knock interrupted her.
It was a red haired girl by the name of Uzumaki Karin, coincidentally the same sur name as the First Waker, knocked on the door.
"Hyuuga, Kabuto sensei is calling for you."
"Ka-Kabuto sensei?"
Karin nodded and glanced at her with a haughty look on her dark eyes and left.
"I have to say...I think Ka-Karin san doesn't like me…"
The lizard who was relaxing by the window stills stuck its long pink tongue at her.
"Who cares? That biology teacher's pet is such a stuck up bitch."
"Lizard chan..."
Hyuuga shot a look of reproof at the lizard's use of language, so it merely scratched the back of its head with its hind leg like a dog ignoring its owner's disapproval.
"I don't want to be late for Kabuto sensei...bu-but I need to send this to me-messenger sama..."
Seeing Hyuuga's worried face, it offered,
"Hey, I can forward the letter to the Second for you."
Her face brightened up quickly.
"Thank you, lizard chan! But please be careful!"
"Sure. Don't want those frilly devils find out who you are sending secret letters to."
She rolled the letter and wrapped it with a string that she tied around the lizard's scaly neck.
As soon as she stepped in Kabuto sensei's laboratory that nobody can access without his permission, she smelt a whiff of ethanol that would bombard lizard chan's senses if it was here.
The room was darkly lit, except for the eerie greenish fluorescent light that cast a sickly glow on the tall, grey haired scientist's pale face. Kabuto was sorting some documents on his desk, either not noticing or ignoring Hyuuga's presence for a while.
Hyuuga wondered, 'I don't know why Kabuto sensei invited me to his special laboratory. I heard that only his special students like Karin or Haruno can enter.'
She shuffled her feet uneasily, 'Could...could it be the drop in my scores for my second midterm exam? Bu...but, even though I wasn't the best...I was definitely not the worst…'
'And to be honest...I kinda like not coming here.' She thought as she peeked at some of the nightmarish, vomit-inducing creatures squirm and then sprawl in the glass tubes. Some of them seemed to have extinguished its flame of light and lie afloat on its bellies. She flinched in noticeable terror when one of the three eyed worm-like creature blinked at her and puffed its polka dotted thraot in its cylindrical glass case.
Finally the scientist faced her fully and adjusted his glasses with his middle finger, "Hyuuga"
"Ye-yes!"
'Ah...stupid me. Stammering again.'
His dark eyes narrowed sharply towards her, making a chill run down her spine.
She never really got to see him this up close. His eyes always seemed to be concealed by the cold glint of his glasses, reflected by the classroom's LED lights. But she noticed the color-dark black.
Kabuto sensei wasn't bad looking at all. In fact, Hyuuga overheard some girls fancying him while they talked during lunch.
But his dark eyes were nowhere near as magnetizing as the pair of eyes she would see time to time. Kabuto sensei's eyes were flat colored, dim, and dark, their only purpose is to scrutinize and judge from afar.
Meanwhile, messenger sama's eyes reminded her of the precious black gem earrings Deidara sensei likes to wear in special parties. But, unlike Deidara sensei's cold jewels, his brilliant, cold eyes would radiate life, warmth, and strength as they notice everything, from the snatch of a catfish's jaw under the palace waters to the most hushed scandal in the remotest regions of the Realm.
Comparing his eyes to messenger's sama's would be like comparing coal to tanzanite.
No matter how promising Kabuto sensei's appearances and genius seemed to be, he looked very lifeless, jaded, and-dare she say-mean spirited, in her eyes. She almost felt bad for him.
'If I had Kabuto sensei's genius and talents...I would think I would be really happy…'
Oblivious to the little mousey girl's scrutiny, Kabuto finally spoke up.
"Hyuuga, I need you to look for a very special herb that grows in the forest behind the Province of Thorny Pines. I'll give you an authorized pass. Do get it for me by evening, would you?"
His face remained stuck to his papers, as he didn't bother to even spare her a glance.
But she was way too relieved, 'So, I'm not in trouble! Yay!'
"Ye-yes, sensei!"
"If you get the herb for me, I'll give you special points."
She could barely contain her surprise, 'Is...is this really Kabuto sensei?'
"Th-thank you so much! I'll make sure I get you the herb!"
Afraid that he'll suddenly stop her and corner her about her mediocre biology grades, Hyuuga rushed out of the laboratory as soon as she received his orders and authorized pass.
'What a lucky day! I was behind in my biology class, so this is perfect!'
When she left, that was when Kabuto finally raised his head from his papers and smirk. The way his dead eyes gleamed and his thin mouth cackle into a triumphant laughter made some of the surviving experiments flinch and struggle at their dying breath and last instinct to evade danger.
It was too late before lizard-chan heard a young girl's ominous voice behind her.
"Hey, snake! What's that around your neck?!"
As it felt a strong iron grip of thin, slim fingers around its throat, it got lifted to the air. Its scales, opalescent white legs waggled in the air, and its green eyes glared at the girl with hot red hair.
"Le...let me go!"
Ignoring the lizard's cry, Karin tore the rolled letter from the string around its throat. Once she got a good look at the paper, she smiled.
The lizard chomped its menacing, sharp teeth at her, but she only tightened her grip.
"Wait till her 'best friend' sees this..."
Deep in the forests of the province of Thorny Pines, Hyuuga was scavenging the ground for the special herb Kabuto sensei deployed her to find.
The province of Thorny Pines didn't have the refined beauty and high, expensive taste of the Palace's gardens and ponds, but she grew to appreciate the rustic feel of the wild woods and the fresh air that was untainted by the tension and competition amongst the Waker's Pearl candidates.
Opening the botany manuscript she borrowed from the library, she read the lines, "Ginseng Root Type AB, tends to grow on rocks and prefer humidity and moisture from cliff boulders that overlook waterfalls or river streams."
After activating her byakugan, she sensed the presence of a large body of water not so far.
For about half an hour, she had to hike uphill on the muddy trails, and the trail was so steep that her thighs started to ache from the upscale journey.
But the payback of scaling the steep trail was glorious.
No amount of money, magic, or technology would be able to emulate the grandiosity of the view over the cliff. She can see the mountains enveloped in mist as she stood over the vantage point. The landscape had the power to make even a puny girl like her feel like a conqueror over the mountains and the water beneath.
'Some how this feels like a deja vu,' Hyuuga thought.
'Oh yeah, I remember!' she clapped her hands together, 'when I first met Messenger sama!'
It was mind-blowing to her that three years has already past when she first met messenger sama in the dead of the night, and how he teleported her to the Realm by throwing him and herself over the cliff.
She laughed dryly, 'I honestly thought that was the end of my life.'
But her sense of duty to find the special herbs prompted her to search the grass growing near the cliff.
'Ehh...it's scary,'
She tried her best to avoid looking at the edge of the cliff. Just looking at the end of the rocky platform made her feel a little dizzy. The view was gorgeous, but it also reminded her of how deadly a single trip would be.
'And the trail I took was muddy...no matter how hard and solid the rocky formation might look...it might actually be disintegrating from the inside.'
She knew that if she stayed too long on the cliff, she risks having the rock fragment into pieces and give her away to the dangerous gravity that would plummet her to her watery doom.
She bent over the ground and smelt the tiny mountain flowers, tiny pink stars that grow on soil. Stars that intermittently bloom in the chalky vines that envelop the rocky boulders.
'These look a lot like the picture Kabuto sensei gave me.'
Smiling, she rummaged the contents of her bag, and wore her special latex gloves to avoid damaging the flower's root.
"There she is. Snooping around the ground like a bitch."
She froze at the moment she heard the condescending voices she is well too familiar with. She raised her head.
"Murakami san..."
A red haired girl appeared by side of Murakami.
"Karin san..."
Karin didn't bother to answer Hyuuga's questioning gaze, as she crossed her long arms and called out loud.
"I told you, Haruno that she'll be here."
And what threw off Hyuuga the most was the sudden entrance of her best friend and one of the most well known pupils of the Waker's Pearl candidacy, the strong and beautiful Haruno.
"Hyuuga...how? How are you here?"
The way Haruno stared at her made Hyuuga afraid and very confused. 'What is going on?'
"I-I," even though Hyuuga didn't do anything wrong, she felt a strange lump in her throat, "Ka-Kabuto sensei se-sent me-me on an e-errand."
"Kabuto sensei?" Another bully, Seto raised her voice, "you received some of the failing grades in his class! Why would he send you instead of his trusted favorites like Karin or Haruno?"
"I-I...honestly don't know. Bu-but he-he did send-"
"How are we supposed to trust a compulsive liar like you, Hyuuga?"
"I-I'm-"
"You stole my gift to the Second Waker three years ago, and now you steal the star students' opportunity?"
'What did you do to win Kabuto sensei's favor now, Hyuuga?"
One of her bullies, Takahashi sniggered, "We all know she's dirt poor. How else would she win his favor? Except..."
Hyuuga blushed in shame and anger, and she clenched her fists. She could already tell what those lowly bullies were insinuating with their sly sniggers.
But soon as Haruno took a step forward, they hushed. They didn't want to provoke Haruno. They were well aware of the wirey strength beneath those long, slender arms and legs to know that they shouldn't annoy her.
"We're not here to question you about Kabuto sensei, Hyuuga."
Her eyes were not cold, but they were stern. "Karin here told us...that you..."
As if she herself cannot accept the words she was going to say, Haruno paused.
Then she finally fastened her resolve, "Hyuuga! When you said you don't even know how the Second Waker looked like...were you speaking the truth?"
Stunned, Hyuuga stared at her, "Ha-Haruno chan...Why would you ask-"
But she flinched when Haruno roared at her, "Just answer me! Yes or No?!" Her pink hair covered the sight of her eyes.
Despite the trouble she was in, she cannot help but feel worried for Haruno. 'Why does Haruno chan look like she is in so much pain? I never even saw, left alone, meet the Second Waker.'
"No, Haruno," Hyuuga looked at her straight in the eye, "I have no personal connections to the Second Waker sama."
Haruno still refused to look at her. But her voice that was usually full of spirit and charm became dangerously low.
"If what you said is true, Hyuuga," Haruno turned to the red haired girl and impaled her with her emerald eyes, "I will never let this through, Karin."
Instead of quaking at the sight of an angry Haruno, Karin smirked and crossed her arms.
"If you think I was just making wild claims, I'm disappointed at you Haruno."
Karin then slipped something out from her brown leather belt and tossed it to Haruno.
"See for yourself."
Shooting her a dubious look, Haruno stared at Karin and unfurled the crumbled paper.
It didn't take long for Hyuuga to notice what it was.
Her dry, chapped lips quivered, "Oh no..."
When Haruno finally lifted her face up from the crumbled letter, her beautiful green eyes screamed of disbelief and betrayal, "Hyuuga...you lied to me? All this time? All these years? Even just now?!"
She can feel the flare of deadly chakra emanating from her best friend, "Haruno, please trust me!"
"Trust? After lying to me all these years that you don't even know the Second Waker, you speak of 'trust?'"
Hyuuga can feel the tears streaming from her eyes. She was hurt. Oh, so hurt. She can handle the mocking and shoving of her bullies and their friends, but from Haruno? She never knew it was possible to get this hurt.
"Haruno, I was writing to him for my best friend! I wasn't-"
Takahashi peered into the letter Haruno was still holding and read with an air of exaggeration and extreme disgust, "'Dear wonderful, almighty, great, handsome Second Waker sama?' Hyuuga, do you have any sense of shame or decorum?"
Hyuuga blushed furiously at Takahashi's sarcastic enunciation of her handwritten letter, "That...that's-"
Seto teamed up, "Haruno was so good to you!"
But what she said next literally ripped Hyuuga's heart into two, "Do you know why she decided to be friends with you? She was so nice, she can't refuse you!"
And what Takahashi said swapped her world upside down, "Haruno chan actually hates you, Hyuuga! Whenever you come up to her, she will tell us how annoying you are. She tells us that you're a bother and you can't get a clue about how she hates you and wants to get rid of you!"
Hyuuga lied prostrated on the ground, unable to raise her face streaming with tears. She made a weak, trembling effort to speak,
"Ha-Haruno chan...is-is...it true? You-you...hated...being with me?"
Haruno didn't say anything for a while. She stared down at how her friend bowed before her, crying and shivering with cold, emerald eyes.
Finally she opened her mouth, "Yes."
Hyuuga froze, wide-eyed.
She continued lashing at her ex best friend with her words, "You had such a bad reputation that...I was getting treated as if I was some outcast.
But at least, I thought you weren't a liar. So I tried to be by your side. But I was getting tired of that too, to be honest.
There has to be a thing called 'give and take' in any relationship, even friendship, Hyuuga. But with you and me..."
She didn't want to believe her ears, "Haruno chan..."
"Stop calling me 'Haruno chan!'" Haruno screamed, "You're like a leech! You always take from me! You took my popularity with my friends and my time! Why can't you be good at least one thing, Hyuuga? You're useless!"
Hearing someone who used to be her best friend, Hyuuga felt something in her snap into two, or maybe, clash into a million pieces. Maybe, it was her heart?
'This can't be true...' She wanted to deny that this was happening to her.
Meanwhile, Karin was smiling as she watched the broken Hyuuga and angry, crazed Haruno. Things were going as she wanted it.
But before Hyuuga can even process that this is her reality, she felt a sandaled foot kick her from the side.
The one who kicked her was Seto, "Get out of here! You're not worthy to be our competitor!"
But Seto didn't realize the dark and powerful presence of someone behind her and the hushed silence of her peers.
"Se-Second Waker sama!"
She turned and nearly fainted at seeing the tall man who practically towered above her height, his dark eyes flickering into blood red for an instant.
Seto would've gawked and fangirled screamed her head off and latch onto his arm, but the way his eyes fired up with cold rage paralyzed her.
Even without the need to utter an order, the Second Waker successfully got Seto to back off and clear his way to the shivering girl with white eyes.
"Me...messenger sama."
He stared down at her wet face with impassioned eyes and didn't say anything. Then he turned, his dark cape moving as he faced the group of girls.
"Se-Second Waker sama..."
The way the pink haired Haruno uttered his name as if it was an answer to her long prayers, with a pleasing blush on her lovely face, did nothing to this stoic demeanor.
In fact, when she said his name, his eyes were glazed with a startling coldness that held her aback, including Karin.
But he withdrew his eyes from Haruno and spoke evenly to his young audience, "It is true that I had high expectations of the Hyuuga, because of her bloodline limit. That is why I approached her."
He glanced down at the girl who was still too confused. It was as if a chakra laden bomb dropped from the sky after she barely survived a tornado.
'Me..messenger sama is...the Second Waker? But...no...it can't be. The one Haruno loves...is Messenger sama?'"
Without giving Hyuuga a time to accept this nightmare, the messenger-no, the Second Waker continued to speak as if every word he articulates breathes of ice.
"But she proved herself to be an ill fit. A far cry from a Waker's Pearl material."
And with that, he raised his arm. His dark cape moved like a powerful flap of an eagle's wing, as he heartlessly pushed the little Hyuuga to the bottom of the cliff. He could've just dropped a kitten into the well and move away as emotionless as he did, when he killed Hyuuga.
"!"
Despite herself, Haruno screamed and rushed to the edge of the cliff, "Hyuuga-!"
But before she can reach to where she last saw Hyuuga, the Second Waker blocked her way by catching her in his arms.
As quickly as he caught her, he promptly removed her from the accidental embrace.
After shaking the blushing girl off, he turned away from the girls, "From now on, no one is to remind me of my mistake."
His voice was cold and devoid of emotion, only filled with logic, "Hyuuga is my failure. If anyone mentions her, I'll have take away that person's qualifications."
When Hyuuga blinked her eyes open, she felt the texture of something smooth, cold, and scaley beneath her cheek and hands. As if she was lying on a giant, scaly body pillow that was cold and cool to the touch.
"Are you awake?"
At the familiar voice, laced with sarcasm and boredom, she raised herself up.
"Li...lizard chan?"
A giant green reptilian eye blinked at her. She saw the reflection of her frightened and surprised self in that giant green eye with yellow fire around the dark pupil.
"Bu-but...li-lizard chan, you-you're so...so big!"
"Yeah, this is my true form."
Hyuuga vaguely remembered Uchiha's first hand account of how he met and made a contract with lizard chan, 'So this is lizard chan's true form...No wonder, messeng-no, the Second Waker has such hard time capturing him.'
"Now that you're awake, we have somewhere to go."
As the giant lizard, the size of a mansion, rose to its full height, she felt as if the earth behind her was shaking, the stones beneath the stream groaning in protest of the serpent's colossal weight.
"Where-where are we going?"
"The Uchiha has prepared some place for you," the lizard ambled slowly, but its size gave it the advantage of taking large, stadium sized strides,
"You'll like it."
*The Realm is also the portal to multiple alternate universes, and the reason he is not often at the Realm is he likes to travel in solitude across the different time periods and worlds.
"Why are you so obtuse?!"
A loud crash and spilt miscellaneous liquids on the floor stunned the red haired girl.
She thought she accomplished her mission...at least in one way or the other.
But why is her master so furious?
Kabuto withdrew his glasses from his face and threw them violently on the floor.
He raked over his grey bangs with his long, nervous looking fingers and seethed in rage and exasperation.
'Uchiha, Uchiha, Uchiha...always getting in the way and making a fool out of me. That fucker.''
"I ordered to you to make sure that you, YOU are the one to kill her. But look at what you did. You let her slip away from your fingers like a fucking tadpole or lab rat!"
Meanwhile, Karin managed to look cool as a cucumber. She wasn't deemed a star student for nothing. If anything, Her ego definitely showed that.
"I'm...sure she's dead, sensei. Nobody can survive that height."
"If she is dead, where is Uchiha's summon beast? THe one that tailed her around these past years? No sane ninja would let his summon animal to be missing for full three days!"
He smashed another glass vial, "He's hiding her away! And I can't sense her chakra! This is not good, Karin. At least when she was in the Palace, it was like having her in a glassbox. Now we don't have any chance to find her as long as he's hiding her."
However, to be honest, it was Kabuto's fault to not have realized that he was playing on top of the palm of Uchiha's hand.
He was really just using Karin to vent out his self-frustration, anger, and shame.
"You shouldn't have just gone out of your way to kill Hyuuga like that! You should've discussed it over with me!"
Karin was actually not one with ample patience. Her iron will and shrewd personality merely reined her fiery temper.
She yelled,
"That's so not fair! You saw the letter, and you told me it was a good idea to kill Hyuuga, Sensei! You even helped me by giving her the pass!"
"That was when I didn't know where you got that letter! If you told me where you got that letter, I would've never helped you with your stupid, half-formed plan! Nobody, nobody-can see that summon lizard unless the creature so wills it! That you were able to see it AND capture it shows how gullible and stupid you are! So ready to fall into the Uchiha's trap!" He slammed his fist on his desk, "You should have told me about seeing that fucking lizard! Then I would have known that he was setting a trap!"
Then...he-he...knew everything? What we're doing?"
"I told you to never, never judge Uchiha by his looks. He might look like a hero who does everything by sword, but he is slyer than my previous master Orochimaru and more devious."
A giant white lizard with lime green eyes and a thirteen year old girl with dark indigo hair were walking beneath towering stone cliffs that gave them the needed invisibility from woodsmen and herb salvaging country wives.
The lizard could just stay invisible as much as it wants.
It was Hyuuga who wanted to be alone.
The sky was turning dark as twilight approached, and the wind was soothing, but there was a noticeable gloom cast in the thirteen year old's strange colored eyes.
The size difference between the lizard and the girl was as vast as a walking toddler and an ant, but it was the lizard who was peering tentatively and sweating bullets on its scaly brow.
Ah...Hyuuga?
But her soft features refused to lighten up and instead hardened in the stormy silence. "..."
...Hyuuga~
Still no answer.
For the three years they've been together, Hyuuga has never uttered a single mean word to the lizard.
However, this time, she was too mad to even look at her three year long reptilian friend.
Unnerved by Hyuuga's "Stone Buddha stance," the giant white lizard blurted out in exasperation,
Hyuuga, just say something, would you?! Anything?
Her eyes were still facing forward. "I've got no-nothing to say."
Then, why are you so angry?
"I'm not."
A thundering groan erupted in the narrow path baraccaded by the rock cliffs and birds soared to the sky.
'Not this again.'
You obviously are.
Feeling cornered, she stammered and spoke a bit defensively, "I-I didn't say anything."
That's the point! I explained to you that Uchiha knew all this was going to happen, and he prepared this special place for you. But now you're pissed!
"...And-and...am-am I supposed to-to thank him? My only friend ha-hates me...I-I'm leaving my-my fav-favorite te-teachers…"
Hyuuga's eyes felt wet now that she thought about Zetsu sensei's strange nickname: little poo. She never thought she was going to miss him calling her like that, but she did. As he danced around with his stringy body that reminded her of mozarella cheese.
The lizard was about to say something comforting in its own way but it felt a light human footstep on the crown of its head as somebody perched on it like it was some Persian mat.
'Nobody dares to do that to me...except one person.'
Instead of the lizard's chakra infused, silky voice, a low, husky voice that reverberated softly at the end spoke down to Hyuuga.
"...I thought you hated the place."
"I-I ha-had a har-hard time, but it doesn't mean…!"
'Wait a minute…'
She turned and lifted angry, opalescent eyes and saw a tall, dark, and handsomely groomed man sitting on top of the lizard's head, casually resting his well shaped chin on his fair hand.
"You-you!"
Opening and shutting her mouth repetitively, she stared at him like he was some ghost and then resolutely turned and marched away.
With a short huff, the man followed her as he comfortably rode on his summon lizard's head.
After keeping some silence, he opened his mouth, "If I didn't push you off, you would've been killed. You know that."
She stared at him wide-eyed, and unable to refute his words but still feeling angry and defiant, she turned and walked away.
A part of her whispered to her, 'It's true...I saw Karin about to shoot me with an acupuncture needle, but I was too shocked that I couldn't move...The girls looked ready to push me off the cliff. If Waker sama didn't push me...I would've lost my life. Karin is good at poison...and my bullies are crazy..'
One thought led to another.
'And it makes sense what lizard chan said...about Kabuto. Karin is Kabuto sensei's favorite student, and out of nowhere, he gave me the prized pass to one of the most beautiful and remote wildlands of the Realm.'
But she still had a lingering question, 'But why would he want to kill me?'
So many questions were whirling in her head and making her feel dizzy.
Then suddenly, she couldn't hear the heavy footsteps of lizard chan.
Curious, she looked over her shoulder and saw the tall man gracefully leap down from the head of the lizard and as soon as he was on his own feet, the lizard lied flat on the ground like a tired pet dog.
In a matter of minutes, he gathered some twigs that were growing on the rocky protrusions of the cliffs and made fire. He then rummaged from his back pack, and started grilling something that smelled sweet and salty like soy sauce.
'The smell...is my favorite wanza meat balls.'
She thought he didn't notice her staring like a drooling child over a candy store window, until he told her,
"You can leave if you want."
But his lips drew into a slight smirk, "If you know the way, that is." But that slight smirk soon quickly disappeared and he stared into the dancing flames and the grilling meat over the glowing orange logs that splitted in the heat.
She looked up the cliffs that soared high up into the sky and heard the whistling air and cries of crows and hawks as they swooped up miles and miles away from the ground.
She sighed, 'Before I decide to do anything...I have to eat.'
Before she could really stop herself, she received the meat on stick he extended to her with two hands, respectfully, and took a bite.
But she didn't forget to sit as far away from him as she can, while still being able to absorb the welcoming warmth of the fire.
After making sure she took every bite, he poked around the hot, flaming logs with his sheathed sword, making sure the air was breathing life into the flames.
For the first time, it was him breaking the silence and initiating the conversation.
"Shouldn't you be thanking me for helping you leave?"
Appalled, she cannot keep her voice from going up "I-I did-didn't ask for your help!"
But knowing him for three years as 'messenger sama' told her that he wasn't trying to be mean or sarcastic. In fact, He was always polite and caring, but that didn't mean that he minced his words.
"The Palace was a toxic environment for you. You weren't happy there and the people weren't treating you any better."
She felt the need to make her sound stronger than she actually is, "Bu-but I-I can take ca-care of my-myself!"
His brows furrowed as he looked at her and told her firmly, "You're still a child."
"Well-well," she was really shocked to hear him tell her that she was just a 'child,' how dare he, she's thirteen!
"I'm not weak, messenger sama! I can take care of myself."
She didn't even realize she called him that.
"Nobody," he spoke firmly, "can survive long term estrangement unscathed."
"I...don't understand wha-what you're saying.
He gently stroked the flames, "You are thirteen. You're young, impressionable. It turned out that your only support system, Haruno, was not reciprocating your loyalties. Zetsu, while well intentioned, is ineffectual in helping you to socialize with your peers. It's been three years, Hyuuga. It is time to move on."
Hyuuga stared at him wide-eyed. Was he some human personality calculator?
And what did he just say? Move...on?
"You-you...want me out?"
Did her Second Waker- turned messenger sama just say that she is disqualified from being a candidate for the Waker's Pearl?
He stopped, poking around the glowing logs.
Her lips shivered, "Di-did...you re-really me-mean it that...I'm not a Waker's Pearl material?"
After placing his sheathed Kusanagi down, he faced her,
"The only way to calm your rabid competitors was to denounce you and fake your death. And be a good actor at it."
Again, she couldn't find a way to talk back.
He sighed and proceeded to stick another meat wanza onto a clean twig. "Enough of this. Tell me what upsets you. Why are you angry at me?"
And me.
Lizard chan tooted in.
She bowed her head and remained still for some time, but she finally got the words out.
"Did I-I-I really look so..so...stupid to both of you?"
Both the giant lizard and his master's eyes widened.
"Is that why you didn't reveal your identity to me? Because it wa-was fun to...to make a fool out of me?"
Hyuuga, you are way crossing the line!
She hiccuped a little and clammed her mouth shut at lizard chan's words.
'Oh dear...did I offend lizard chan?'
To be fair, lizard chan deserved her anger too, but it still held a piece of her heart as her three year long companion and chakra teacher.
Don't lump me with that Uchiha! My only crime was being his summon animal! It's all his fault! He's the dirty liar, not me!
Uchiha wryly said, "What a role model summon you are."
Seeing the electricity spark between them, she cannot help but think ''Dumping all the blame on the master. I am worried about their relationship-no, I am not worried about them at all!'
She shook her head violently, making both the lizard and the Second Waker stop their argument and stare at her puzzled.
"You-you...and lizard chan...were the closest people to me, but-but both of you…"
She cannot help the feeling of being betrayed. Betrayed by lizard chan, betrayed by Haruno, betrayed by...messenger sama.
'Was my messenger sama...ever real? Was he just some dream or illusion I fashioned and projected onto someone?'
Concerned, lizard chan spoke to her
Hey, Hyuuga...Uchiha might be a sociopath, but...he never intended you to have a breach in your friendship with pink hair…
Hyuuga raised her head and looked at the tall inky haired man. She can hear crickets chirping.
Uchiha agreed, "No, it was not my doing. Rather, it was a doomed friendship from the start."
She felt hot tears well to her eyes and a lump rising to her throat, "Ye..yeah...a doomed...friendship. Because she's the school queen and I am just a loser."
Uchiha held up his hand, "That is not what I said. You're not getting my point, Hyuuga."
He exhaled a deep breath. This was getting him a lot more emotional than he ever wanted to be. Sadly, with Hyuuga, things never exactly went as he planned.
"Let me make it clear for you. Your so-called best friend, she never treated you as her equal. I've never met her personally, but I was able to tell just by hearing your stories."
When a heavy teardrop rolled down her cheek, his analytical, logical gaze softened into a look of gentleness.
His voice was deep and velvety as he said, "Deep down inside...you knew this too."
More teardrops fell from her sparkling light lavender eyes as she looked up at him fully, "Bu-but...she-she was all-all I had…"
"That's why...the Palace is not a healthy place for you...In order to survive, you have to cling on to such shallow relationships. That alone shows...it is better for you to take an extended leave."
Wondering if he was sounding way too soft, he assumed the tone as a teacher and adult, "You're not going back, until I deem it fit."
"But…"
He silenced her objection by shoving the deliciously cooked wanza in front of her mouth, and she took the meat and nibbled on it.
While she was feeling her mood get better with the treat, he began to speak.
"When I found out Kabuto's plan...this doesn't happen often, but my hands were tied."
"...Messenger sama...are you...admitting your weakness?"
He pretended to not have heard her surprised comment, "If I openly defended you, you would've been a worst social outcast. The only way to keep you safe was pretending to disqualify you, Hyuuga."
Her face instantly beamed. 'So I am still technically a candidate! It's just that…' but she soon looked like a kicked puppy, 'I'm not welcomed anymore in the Palace…'
"I-I understand that...but...why did you hide from me that you were the Second Waker?"
(Poke)
"Ah!"
After poking her on her forehead, he stared at her with an ironic smile on his face,
"You weren't my biggest fan, remember?"
She blushed. All the memories of calling him "cold, selfish, narcissistic, heartless" without her knowing that it was him all along came to her.
She rubbed her forehead, "All-all this time...I-I tho-thought of you and worr-worried for you...So all my concerns for you... how foolish I must've seemed...Me...worrying about the great Second Waker sama..."
Her tone wasn't accusatory. Instead, she looked sad and dejected as if she was accepting her low self-image as the truth.
She wanted to believe that one day, if she tried hard to be funny and social, showed improvements in her studies and martial skills...she would be able to fit in, and Haruno would see her as an equal.
'But deep down...I knew...Haruno never thought me as a friend…So why would the Second Waker... treat me any differently?'
Moon spirit, Soul Reaper, King of the Underworld, the Bringer of lightning, fire, and rain, and other possible destructive natural elements. A God.
These were just the few of the names of the Second Waker. He was everything that was dark, frightful, and powerful that can be evoked by the limited confines of human imagination.
Why would he care for her? And how dare she think she can care for him? She was insignificant. Puny. A nobody.
She was still gazing at the fire as she asked him, "Were you with me...because you pitied me?"'
But then she felt the presence of someone large and masculine, breaching the distance between themselves. She would've been startled if it wasn't for the warmth radiated by the body and the pleasant smell of wind and midnight soaken shrubs.
She looked up to see deep mesmerizing eyes with depths of a night sky.
"Every moment I've been with you, Hyuuga...I meant everything."
When she saw the Second Waker's face hovering near hers, she thought, 'Oh...dear…'
She wanted to think that she was different from people who judge others by looks, but seeing his face so close to hers made her question why she was even mad at him in the first place.
It was not fair to be this handsome.
If she was not dead-set in love with Angel-sama, she would've fallen hopelessly into the dark, alluring depths of his eyes, and the alabaster luster of his complexion and hands.
Seeing a wash of red over the teenage girl's face, he shifted a bit away and coughed nervously. He didn't intend his spontaneous outburst to sound like that.
After a bit hesitation, he added begrudgingly, "Except for the Second Waker part."
"I did...hide my real identity from you...But there was never a moment I lied to you about my..." his brow furrowed, "feelings." He hated that mushy word.
Unknowingly to Hyuuga, the lizard sent a chakra infused voice signal to its master,
Wow that sounded a lot like a love confession. You know that's illeg-
"Shut up."
"Ye-yes?!"
"No, not you."
He cleared his throat and decided to change the subject.
"So, what are your plans? Do you still want to be the Waker's Pearl?"
For once, Hyuuga felt completely stunted in front of Uchiha.
She thought, 'What is my goal?...I just thought vaguely that I wanted to survive day to day...Be less bullied. Get more recognition. Talk to...angel sama. I never dared to imagine being the Waker's Pearl. I knew that I could never even make it to the finals. But now…'
A series of laughing, jeering faces of Takahashi, Murakami, Seto, Karin danced in mockery.
Uchiha looked at her face, slowly contorting into a look of pain and anger.
And he has seen that face before. Not on Hyuuga. She used to be far too naive and innocent. But he recognized that face on nobody other than himself.
"Do you want revenge?"
Startled, she flinched and stared at him.
"I-I can't...I-"
He said casually as he sipped on some water from his bottle, "It's natural to want revenge."
"I-I...can't hurt them."
"Even if you have the power to hurt them? The way they hurt you?"
Revenge...What would have appalled Hyuuga before now felt so enticing. So sweet. Like chilled plums he would offer her in the cool summer night in the Palace.
And he was so persuasive as usual, but this time, he was offering a far more dangerous fruit, destructively sweet and tangy.
"They'll forget what they've done to you and go on with their lives. Could you, Hyuuga? Could you sleep at peace, without remembering day before yesterday?"
"I...I don't know, Waker sama...I-I…" she clutched on her pants, "I hate them. And I wish them the worst...I wish they never get away with what they have done."
She grit her teeth in anger and hurt, and his eyes softened towards her indulgingly.
"Bu-but...i don't want to be like them."
"You don't have to stoop to their level...to exact your just payment, Hyuuga."
She swallowed, "Just payment…" Payment for torturing her for three years. For manipulating her. For punishing her for what she can't help because it is her nature to be an introvert.
He then withdrew his charming gaze and shrugged, "But...it's not easy. I suggest that you just forget whatever transpired and move on."
With the guise of indifference, he coaxed the burning fire as if her heart was a little furnace.
She turned to him, "What is the best way to avenge yourself, Waker sama?"
She clutched on her chest, "I-I'm...so hurt...I'm...so angry...at Kabuto sensei. At Karin...At my bullies...At…"
She couldn't finish her words.
So Uchiha finished for her, "Haruno. You're angry at Haruno."
"...Yes."
"For hurting you...for never giving you a chance to redeem yourself in her eyes."
"All, all I wanted was...a chance to..a chance to show that I wasn't a failure."
"And you still could."
She looked into his eyes and understood. His message was clear as the night sky above.
He was telling her...to face her enemies not as the weak, snivelling, pathetic loser that they believe her to be, but as the Waker's Pearl.
'The Waker's Pearl? Me?'
Never in her life, did Hyuuga seriously consider being the Waker's Pearl.
And who is the Waker's Pearl? As the celestial maiden of the Realm, the Waker's Pearl has the power as the enchantress and executes the role of advisor and guardian to the First and Second Wakers.
Being the Waker's Pearl means having a mere mortal metamorphize into a divine warrior, a war-goddess equivalent to Valkyries or Reapers of souls.
When she is not executing duties and bringing devastation upon her lords' enemies, she is playing the role of nymph, celestial fairy, beautiful and graceful, as she loyally escorts her Waker.
And who is she? A social outcast who can't even find a friend. A stuttering, shy, timid, odd girl. Finding her name in the ranks was faster if one counts from the bottom in the list.
But...she can't deny that being the Waker's Pearl is the surest way to hurt those who've wronged her.
Seeing her, Uchiha could already tell that his poison was working on her.
What he was offering was a new dream, a dark one tainted by revenge, and she was gulping it down as if she was dying of thirst.
He knew the effect of revenge, because he has gone through it himself. Drinking from the cup of revenge, her skin will turn cold, and her eyes frigid but lovely, like a true goddess...
Now she might look like just any other girl, with a glaring inability to use her dojutsu to the full capacity.
But, if she takes his cup he offers, she will be truly unstoppable.
Having gone through a myriad of people and creatures, Uchiha knew as a fact that his judgment was going to be fulfilled.
Previously, it was her timidity and low self-esteem that was holding her back,but now it was going to be revenge that propels her toward her glorious ascension.
He smiled. Hyuuga was going to be his Waker's Pearl. His goddess, his angel.
Everything was going as he planned.
Seeing the fire go off and a whizz of pale smoke rising from the wood, he turned to her and said abruptly, "And I'm not the only one to hide my identity."
"The-there's someone else?"
"Your 'angel sama'...is actually the First Waker."
"!"
Preview:
Ko: Nice to meet you, Hyuuga san. It's great to meet a fellow Hyuuga in the Realm. I've heard a lot about you from Uchiha sama. I personally owe a huge debt to him, so I offered to be your caregiver and dojutsu master. You'll live with me and my wife, and we hope you'll enjoy living with us.