The next morning Yuki pokes me awake gently before anyone else wakes up, there's a soft blue light coming through, enough to see by. She gingerly tiptoes throughout the curled bodies of out siblings and our mother, before nudging the door open and walking over to the kennels where we might find something to eat. We eat in silence, and then turn towards the shine, falling in line with each other. Something about the mist in the air and the quiet early morning sunlight made it hard to break the science. When we came to the shrine, it seemed like everyone else felt the same. Despite the fact that we were usually a loud clan, no-one was speaking, instead, they gestured quietly. There were maybe eight of us, with Yuki and I being the youngest. Akira was already here, but settled far away from us. She sent us a glance before turning away sharply, and I felt my stomach twist uncomfortably. I need to fix this.
My thoughts about Akira are interrupted by the arrival of Takahiro. He gives a brief introduction about the beginning of the hike: the route we were taking, and the plants he would going to be identifying on the way. He pauses for a beat, thinking, and then nods, before turning towards the forest. One by one we fall in line behind him, with Akira at the rear. As we walk through the forest, birds sing out warning songs. While I couldn't understand them, per say, I could tell the shifts from a normal greeting song and the concerned ones when we approached, and I don't think I could do that in my previous life.
But then again, what did I really know about my previous life? I knew I read a Manga called Naruto, and several others, because I knew the plot, as well as many other books and films. I knew some science, history and math. But I didn't know how I felt about any of this. I assumed I liked Naruto, because I read it all, but who knows? I knew about all sorts of people, presidents and prime ministers, actors and other important people, but I don't think I knew any of them. I didn't know who my friends and family were and what they were like. I know I feel something powerful when I think about the word Family, and Friend. But no idea why. According to this random voice in my head, I didn't even know myself! The more I think about it, the worse my headaches get, and I stumble over a root. Yuki is quick to right me before whispering "are you ok?" to which I could only nod. She shoots a look at me that says she doesn't believe me, and I just turn away, unable to answer. I'm completely oblivious, I know the headaches had something to do with my memories, but it feels so weird to know there was so much I was missing. I need to figure this out eventually but I need to focus on this first.
Ahead, Takahiro stops and gestures at us to gather around him. He gestures to the stones, and informs us that because they are so round and smooth, we can assume this is a dried up stream. He then tells us how to use that to find water, and drones on about the uses of water in avoiding trackers, and how to try to get around these tricks. I can feel both Yuki and Akira's gaze on me and my hackles rise unconsciously. I need to sort that out, I need to sort out my memories, and what to do with the Hyuuga. How much time do I have? The uncertainty of that is gnawing at me. I sigh and try to relax my shoulders. Takahiro makes a sharp turn and leads us down the creek bed, which is significantly rougher terrain that before, with several smaller drops. Focusing on the terrain helps distract me, like how the digging did before. I need to move to get those creative juices flowing, and hope that my subconscious can figure this out what to do.
True to his word, Takahiro leads us to a riverbank, and starts telling us about the vantage points for an ambush along a river. According to him, for hunters and trackers, it's not big powerful jutsus that get the job done, its endurance, and access to water. His lecture continues, but I am more focused on the feeling of the wet mud seeping through my paws, and the sound of the river. The feeling lulls me into a daydreaming state, and it isn't long until we are dismissed to try to ford the river ourselves. It's not particularly deep or fast moving, but the size of the river compared to us makes it daunting enough. A few pups lunge into the water and try doggy paddling but are swept downstream until Akira fishes them out. Takahiro doesn't even lift a paw to help, and considering my current relationship with Akira I figure it is best to try avoiding being swept downriver.
Shouldn't there be a crossing somewhere where it is more shallow? Maybe I can cross there? With that in mind, I begin walking up and down the bank trying to judge the depths, am quickly reprimanded by Takahiro for wandering too far. My next thought is of course, waterwalking. I try to think back to how it was explained in the manga. I have to focus chakra on the pads of my paws, right? I try to feel my chakra, and pull it in easily enough. Then I try to direct it to my paws, and take a tentative step. I hold for a second and then begin falling through. It feels strange, like Jello. Shocked I push more chakra into my paws and I shoot up and back into the brush. Too much chakra then. I wince and get up before trying again, with much the same result. This time Yuki helps me up and asks what I am doing.
"I'm trying to water walk across." I explain and she cocks her head questioningly. "You gather up your chakra along your feet and use it to stick to the water's surface, but it's hard getting the right amount." She nods and then tries, similar to me. While her chakra doesn't send her flying backwards, she nearly flips. The next time she tries both of her front paws, and has a little more success. Encouraged by her success she tries to move her back two feet into the water and is immediately submerged. I let out a slight chuckle at her face when she breaks the surface, and she shoots me a pout before climbing out. I am still chucking, and she rolls her eyes.
"Have fun with that, I think I am going to figure something else out." she says, and dashes down the riverbank. I turn back towards the river and continue trying to waterwalk, this time putting my first two paws down first. It's slightly easier, in that I sink slower, and I no longer fly as far back. However, by my estimation, I am still sinking too fast to make it across. Try, try, again I suppose. Soon I am nearly exhausted. I really only have one shot at this. I grit my teeth and back up as far as I can. I sprint towards the river and make it a few feet, each explosive step launching me further until I can see the other side.
In my excitement I land wrong, and am startled by the feeling of cold water rushing into my nose and mouth. I break the surface gasping before being submerged again. Panicked, I try to doggy paddle but am swept downstream faster than I thought this river could move. I try paddling towards the other side, before feeling someone clamp down on the ruff of my neck. I am pulled back to the riverbank, where I am deposited, hacking and coughing.
"Nice try pup, but I haven't seen too many able to get water walking within the first week of practice; first day is out of the question." Takahiro laughs at me, more jovial than I had seen him before. Akira snorts and lets go of my neck before asking telling him she is going to watch the others and stalking off. He watches her go and then turns to me.
"Done something to upset her?" he says, and I guess the look on my face is enough of an answer because he continues. "You should try to make up with her. We as a clan aren't meant to fight alone, the more allies you have, the stronger you will be." Pause. Nod. Satisfied with this, he walks towards the direction she just departed from. It's then that Yuki comes bounding up to me.
"Akamaru, I have an Idea!" she shouts, and drags me to my feet. I am exhausted and feeling annoyed but I follow her anyways. She leads me into the underbrush and then turns to face me in front of a large fallen branch. "Help me carry this! We can use it to form a bridge!"
I let out a sigh and then begin "There's no way this will make it even halfway across the river…"
"It doesn't have to! Sheesh, give me some credit!" she whines, "there are a couple rocks that jut out of the river. I bet we can use this to reach them and make a bridge to the first one at least… and then find more to get to the next bunch!" she says, ending on a cheerful note. I think about it and decide to follow her lead, grasping the other end of the branch in my mouth. Part of me wants to recoil at the feeling of the soft wood, but I just bite harder and shift to get a better grip on it before following Yuki.
She was right, the log reaches the first of the stones, and while wobbly, we are able to get across to better judge the distance to the next one. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to be as far, and she races back to the forest to look for more logs. It's not long before we manage to find another log, but carrying it while crossing the first log proves more difficult. Yuki is more nimble than I, but it isn't long before I fall into the water, and with it, the stick and Yuki. We break the surface at about the same time and manage to cling to the log. It's buoyant enough that the log quickly drags us further downstream. Out of the corner of my vision I can see Akira sprinting to try to keep up with us, Takahiro close behind. But I can see him falling behind.
Soon Akira is racing across the water, and there's a bubble of annoyance when I remember that I cannot waterwalk, but I push it aside when we hit a rock, jostling us. I scramble to adjust my grip. I can hear Yuki yip and check to see that she is still clinging on. She is, but her grip is even more precarious than mine. She looks over to me and I can see a rising panic but behind it, determination. I scan the river in front of us. There are more rocks in our path, but thankfully it looks like we are close to the riverbank. I try to call out but we hit a rough spot and I gag on the water. I come up panting, and try again, voice horse. All I manage to say is "swim… bank…" between gasps of air. Thankfully she picks up on what I meant and begins to paddle towards the river. Soon Akira joins us.
"I can't just leave one of you while rescuing the other, so here is what's going to happen, you two keep paddling and I'll join you. There's a few more rocks coming up and I think we can wedge this between them. Once we do, I can get one of you across and come back for the other." with that she drops down into the water and begins paddling, quickly maneuvering the log into position. Once she's sure it's positioned to hit the rocks, she grabs Yuki and begins paddling to the shore. I feel relief floods through my veins before I hear a sickening crunch and then am thrown painfully into the currents. I let out an Involuntary whimper. Here the river current is picking up, and churning violently. I slip under the currents and when I re-emerge I can see Yuki calling out for me and Akira running down the bank, before slipping under again. I am thrown against another rock, and gasp, swallowing water. I am thrown up to the surface and cough before submerging again. I spin around and face downriver. There's some debris caught in the rocks ahead and weakly try to swim towards it. When I hit it, the water tries to pull me down, but I push the last of my chakra into my paws and use it to climb upwards, breaking the surface. I gasp and cling to the rock, panting. By the time I catch my break Akira has pulled me back again, swimming swiftly to the bank, and throwing me onto the earth again. I could kiss the dirt, so glad to see it, if I could move, that is.
She pulls herself up and flops over beside me, panting. "God, you two are going to be the death of me." Yuki appears in my field of vision, worried, but I can't hear her. My ears must be waterlogged or something because everything sounds distorted. My eyes begin to blur and It's almost as if her face is being superimposed by someone so familiar to me. It's like my body just knows, but my mind hasn't caught up yet. Who are they? I can barely make out the eyes, emotional and full of tears, before I fade to black.