Neji and Tenten had their second child and first daughter on the fifth of May. She's young but shows great strives in everything. She is one year old, can already walk, run, climb and jump with no problems. She's a prodigy like no other child any of the parents have seen. Owen is five and Kimiko's development is not far behind him. She's brilliant…
Tenten and Neji outside and Neji went inside, there were a few stairs to the front door and she followed after climbing even using her arms for balance, not the railing. She has fine motor control. She can mimick drawings on a piece of paper with a crayon. She can mimick actions well enough to have sharingan.
She was playing out in the yard with Owen. Tenten was worried. "She's a prodigy… this isn't good, Neji."
"What do you mean?"
"She's going to be able to use Byakugan soon, I'm surprised she doesn't mimick that as well. She can unlock the gate to keep her in her crib when she's inside of it."
"So she's going to be harder to take care of. It's nothing we can't handle." Neji responded.
"I don't feel right about her, something is not right."
"You're crazy, Tenten. She's a year old child."
"She doesn't answer to her name Neji."
"She's young, she'll learn it."
"She's silent all the time, she never makes a sound."
"Is that a bad thing?" Neji questions.
"She won't play with any other kids, not even Owen. She goes off on her own."
"So they don't get along." Neji didn't find anything wrong with her. Tenten thought there was a problem but he didn't see it. So she was quiet and to herself, he was too.
Tenten was worried so she talked to Tsunade. Explaining the so-called symptoms that they were inhibiting. "I would give it a few more months Tenten. There are some things that we can do but it is too early now. Some kids are quiet. Try giving her more individual attention."
When she returned Owen was in the back with Hiroka and Hinata, they were doing basics. Neji was sitting there with Hiroka. "Dad," he told her. He waited. "Mom?" He said it in a questioning tone to see if she heard him.
"She hears you." Tenten told him sitting down. "She just doesn't care to respond. She must not understand what you want."
"Hiroka," she didn't look so Tenten got her attention. "You repeat Neji me. Mom."
"Mom," Neji said. Hiroka didn't understand and sat there, quiet and still as a stone. She had a blank expression. "Did you talk to Tsunade?"
"She said it's too early to know if anything's wrong."
"You were right, I think there is something wrong." Neji could see it in the way that Hiroka acted. She was ignoring the kids around her and focusing on what she wanted to do, playing with the blocks or whatever. He knew it was a bad sign at her age.
Tenten went into her room where she kept her development books for her child. "A one year old should be making noises, possibly even words. She's at the mental and physical development of an 18 month old being able to walk run and climb."
"Think she's mute?" Neji suggested.
"No, she responds to words like food, water, play and such but she doesn't make connections with names and such. At least responding to her name," Neji stood beside her.
"Well at least she's healthy and happy." Tenten said. "It doesn't matter if she won't answer to her name or talk. She'll make a fine ninja that way."
Neji nodded but he was worried about her. A person who wouldn't talk or interact with people. He knew how it was to be like that. He didn't talk to anyone until Tenten.
- Flashback - VP: Neji
I had become a genin. It wasn't a challenge, a simple Jutsu. He then was assigned to a team. It was led by a taijutsu expert, a Might Guy. His behavior was annoying. He was giving a speech on how they are all beginning but they will be strong.
Lee was almost more annoying. He didn't have any skills when it came to ninjutsu and genjutsu. He would be taught taijutsu just like Guy. Lee promised to be devoted to Guy every day. Guy in return promised that he would be able to beat me. I had to laugh.
Then there was Tenten. She was the self proclaimed "weapons mistress" I doubted she was any better than anyone else, she was probably the best of the girls in our class, which isn't a challenge.
"Alright, now I will train Lee specially so Neji and Tenten, you two will be free to train independently."
I shrugged and walked off. She came up to me. "I would like to spar with you." She told me.
I kept on walking, ignoring her. She threw a kunai and it caught my shirt jacket. It was touching my skin but it had not injured it. She had timed it to do just that. Stop me and prevent me from moving further. My arm was pinned to the tree. I tried to free it by just pulling that arm, I was unable.
"You know Neji, I don't know you but I know your type. You think that you are better than everyon else, and in return that you don't need anyone else. We're not below you, there will be a time when you need us and at that point, we will help you. We're better than that."
I grabbed for the kunai and she stopped me. "I wouldn't do that." It was set to explode if she didn't take it out. She was smart, she did seem to know me. I couldn't be predictable.
She walked up to me and fixed it, pulling it out and walking away. I watched her go. She turned around. "No thank you Neji, I don't need your help." How did she know that I would offer to let her train with me?
For those first few days I was intrigued with her so I used my byakugan to watch her. To measure her strength, she seemed about average when it came to most things but she did have talents with weapons. I could not gauge that, she was hiding a secret strength and I needed to know about it.
- Flashback Over –
He learned quickly that she could take his palm attacks easily with her specialty being weapons, blocked chakra points did nothing to stop her. She was fast and strong. She could blend in with her surroundings and she was distance. Her accuracy and different types of weapons could catch him off guard. The first few times she would spar with him it would end up to a kunai to his neck.
Neji thought she was annoying. She severely got on his nerves but it wasn't like the way Lee or Guy did. She knew him without him saying anything. She understood why he acted like he did and what his goals were. She knew everything without him telling her. She was some kind of freak physic or something, not that he believed that. She was smart and talented. His problems with her was that she was happy, she had friends and was kind and caring. He couldn't stand that everything was so good for her. He had to admit he was jealous of what she had.
She knew him to the point she knew how to best annoy him. She knew that he hated being in a position where he couldn't do anything. She knew that he hated when he was weak. She knew that if she walked off when the match was over, it would annoy him. He was aggravated by how she walked and how she talked.
He fell in love with everything she did. He fell in love with her, all the little things that she did that used to annoy him, he learned to love them. He learned that to get to know her he had to talk, open up to her and in return, she would talk back.
He could only hope that it didn't take 12 years for Kimiko to open up to someone like he did with Tenten. He hoped that one day Kimiko, his little girl would talk to him. He didn't have a mother or father to talk to; maybe if he had them he would have talked and opened up.
Neji sat with Kimiko and watched her play with a set of blocks that was intended for Owen. Neji could remember when he first got a hold of the kunai and things that was intended for Hinata. That's why he was allowed to train in the first place; he had showed so much promise.
"Hey Kimiko," Neji told her. She didn't turn her head or even show a sign of hearing him. "Your mommy will be back soon." She looked around from Tenten. "Owen, come here." Owen stood up and came to sit next to Owen."
"Does she talk to you?"
"No, she's a baby." Owen answered. Neji knew she should be saying something.
Tenten came back and sat down with her too. She was watching Neji. "Relax Neji, she'll be fine." She rested her head on his shoulder. "There's nothing to worry about."
"I don't want her to end up like me," Neji told Tenten.
"Would that be such a bad thing?" Tenten asked him. "I'd say you turned out well. She'll have you and me to raise her Neji, she'll have Owen as a brother to be there for her."
"She might be quiet but she's smart, she'll figure it out on her own. She might just be stubborn, maybe she's smarter than us. Maybe she just doesn't want to answer and only does what she wants. It'll be a challenge but she's healthy and alive."
Kimiko was pretty and she didn't need to be worried about. She had Tenten's hair but the byakugan eyes which made her eyes look brighter and more foreign. Tenten got her attention. "Stand up and go over to Owen." Tenten told her.
Unquestioningly Kimiko did just that, sitting next to Owen. She needed no assistance, didn't ask questions but didn't talk about it, complain, or speak a word either way. Tenten sat down and put her hand under her chin. "I love you Kimiko. Mom, Mom, Mom…"
Kimiko looked at her confused. Tenten sighed and Neji shrugged. "If she doesn't want to or understand then it doesn't matter now. We'll find someone to do it. We'll go wherever it is who can help her if she needs it. She's strong."
"Neji, watch her. I'm going to go to the bookstore and see what I can read." He picked up Kimiko and motioned for Owen to follow.
"We'll go together." He told her. It was nice to see the family together like that. Kimiko might never talk to them, she might be mute but they didn't think so. They figured she just didn't have any inclination to.
Kimiko was smart, she didn't need to talk. She would find other means of communication. A silent ninja was a good ninja.
© Prodigy at most things
© Won't answer to her name
© Doesn't make a sound
© Won't play with other kids
© Sat there, quiet and still
© Blank expression
© Focusing on what she wanted to do
© Played with things intended for someone else
© Smart
© Stubborn
© Doesn't want to answer
© Didn't have a reason to speak.
