The sound of the slap resonated in the quiet meeting room.
Senju Hanako's hand was still in the air as she stood in front of her kneeling son. Her eyes were wide open, smoke almost came out of her nostrils and her general countenance was that of someone who was about to die of rage.
The people present in the room knew that the slap was not just an expression of her anger. She was disappointed, confused and above all else, worried about her son and his life from now on.
Her son, her eldest child and the only male in their family of four ever since his father had died, had committed the irreparable.
Mothers are not supposed to have favorites but he was hers. Ever since he was a child, she spoiled him a little bit more than the daughters, yielded to his demands a little bit more often, and generally expressed how much she was proud of him more than she did her other children.
And he also never disappointed her expectations. Ever since he started training when he was four years old, he had shown outstanding qualities. He was a true prodigy, a genius in regards of everything shinobi related, and many lamented that he wouldn't be the next Senju clan head. After his father died, he became the sole provider for his mother and sisters and he took his responsibilities quite seriously.
His mother was a descendant of one of the most noble lineages of the Senju clan, and her maternal family offered to help out, but he refused to become a charity case even if he was only 12, and worked extra hard, taking in as many missions as he could, so that they could live comfortable lives. In the past five years, he had even married off his sisters to some of the best shinobi in the clan, giving them lavish ceremonies and sizeable dowries that left many of the other women dying of jealousy.
His love of training and the sheer amount of missions he had completed had helped him climb up the ranks quite fast, and he had become Senju Butsuma, the then heir's right hand man, and best friend. The later had been initially weary of such a rising star in the clan, but Hideki's humbleness, cheerfulness, loyalty and friendly attitude had one him over after a while.
Hanako's maiden family had seen an opportunity in his accomplishments and had pushed for her to have a seat in the elder's council once she got to the required minimum age, which had been granted to her.
She couldn't have been happier or even more proud of her son. He was doing great for himself, his career was going extremely well, and now that she had successfully married her two daughters, she was free to work on his marriage. Hideki was thirty years old this year and if he had been a woman, he would have long since been a spinster. Most his friends that were his age already had families. Just look at Senju Butsuma, three sons already and another one in the oven. Hanako longed to see her beloved son settled down and to see his children playing around her in their family house.
The delay wasn't really her fault it was his. Marriage proposals had started coming their way ever since he became an adult, and she had started considering them seriously once his career was on track. But Hideki always refused them one way or another, finding the most ridiculous details to nitpick on, just so he could get out of it.
It had become a running joke in the clan that if a woman wanted to marry her daughter, she would have to let her pass the Hideki test and the crazier his reason for refusing was, the better the girl's prospects got. It meant that she was a catch, and that since he couldn't find anything wrong with her, he had to get creative.
Hanako was growing desperate, but she knew that marriage proposals would keep coming as long as her son's career and reputation didn't deviate.
But that was all over now. He had destroyed everything he had built with his own hands. From now on, forget about his career, he would be lucky if they let him keep his life.
Seeing that Hideki wasn't moving and that he kept just kneeling there, looking straight ahead, but with a protective stance, she got even angrier. She slapped him again and again and again, until Senju Butsuma's voice came from behind her: "Elder Hanako, please stop. I know that you're angry, but this won't solve anything."
Her head snapped back to look at him, and she caught his gaze along those of all the other elders and the advisor who were present. The resolution that she saw in Butsuma's eyes finally woke her up. Most of the seven old crones present were probably out for blood, Butsuma and her couldn't afford to be too emotional if they wanted to save Hideki. They were his only chance.
Her head snapped back to look in front of her, at her son and most importantly at the woman kneeling one step further to his left.
The little bitch had no shame. She was kneeling, but her back was straight and her head was held high. She had the kind of bearing that couldn't be faked or hidden. The bearing of a noble woman born into a noble clan. A voice in Hanako's mind snickered while reminding her that the bitch was indeed the daughter of clan head, after all, and that she was also one probably the best kunoichi the Land of Fire had ever known.
But all the nobleness and training in the world couldn't hide the poor state she was in at the moment. She only had on a loosely fitted black yukata and one of Hideki's haoris to protect her from the cool night breeze. She probably didn't have time to pack much when she ran out of her clan's compound. Her face was deathly pale, and everyone could see the slight trembling of her arms and fingers. Even if her face betrayed none of her feelings and she kept her expression neutral, a bit of sweat was already shining on her forehead after only kneeling for five minutes. She probably didn't have time to recuperate much.
What was she recuperating from?
Childbirth.
In the hands of the woman was carefully swaddled baby. The material was not of high quality, and the woman had done her best but she had made some mistakes that were probably making the baby uncomfortable. But the baby was still sleeping peacefully, as if she didn't want to make things more difficult for her parent than they already were.
It was a little girl. A beautiful little girl. Her granddaughter.
Hanako's maternal instincts were screaming at her. If that bitch had been any other woman, even a prostitute, Hanako wouldn't have minded as much. She would have accepted her as a daughter in law and would have already been holding her granddaughter and given the parents all sorts of tips and advices on how to care for the baby. But she refused to do that for this woman and her daughter.
She turned to look at her son and finally spit out: "WHY? Just why would you do this? If this type of bewitching whorish looks is what you are into, then you could have told me. I would have personally gone to look for the best woman for you. So many beautiful women you could have picked, and you let yourself be seduced by this one."
The bitch didn't even flinch at all the name calling. She just stared into space, expression neutral, like if all of this had nothing to do with her.
Hideki, however, tried to reason with her: "Mother, please. If not out of respect for the mother of my child, then at least out of respect to elder Fujio."
Hanako breathed heavily to calm down. Hideki had a point eve if she didn't want to give it him
Elder Fujio was the oldest person in the clan, and the head of the council. In a world where most shinobi didn't live to see retirement, a man who would soon close 100 years was akin to a living monument. He had led a glorious career as a shinobi and lived through the eras of three clan heads before Butsuma took over five years ago and was still going strong. Most people speculated that his longevity was due to his pretty laid back personality. He never spoke more words than he needed, worried about something that he couldn't fix or got angry over virtually anything.
At that moment, Elder Fujio was sitting to Butsuma's left at the rectangular table everyone had a seat on except Hanako, Hideki and the woman. His eyes were closed, his hands rested on the cane in front of him, and his expression was peaceful. He hadn't said a word ever since he had gotten in the room, and it didn't look like he planned on interfering. He rarely did.
Butsuma tried to smooth the situation a little bit: "Hideki, could you just explain to us how did this happen? I thought the two of you hated each other. How the hell did you end up having a child with Uchiha Akari"
That was the question on everybody's mind.
Senju Hideki and Uchiha Akari had the reputation of being lifelong rivals. One was the strongest Senju, and the other was the most outstanding Uchiha kunoichi. Some even speculated that her brother, Uchiha Tajima, was no match for her.
The Uchiha and Senju clans hated each other. Their rivalry had lasted for centuries, to the point that no one was able to remember how it even started. More often than not, they would be employed in missions that opposed them to each other, since they were the mightiest shinobi clans of the country. Things had escalated into full blown wars more than once, and in the current political climate, another one looked like it might be coming.
In this context, Hideki and Akari had met each other more than once, ever since childhood. They were each other's opposites in all the senses that the word could have. Hideki was cheerful smiling fool, and Akari was the etiquette abiding, proud daughter of a clan head. He was hot headed, she was as cold as ice. He was humble, a team-worker and didn't like flaunting his strength or asking for credit, she was arrogant, proud of her strength and achievements, and they caught her more than once going on missions alone or only accompanied by her brother. She had once proudly stated that she didn't need any one to hinder her. The worst part was that she was right, and she did an amazing job all on her own.
Little did everybody know, that those two had been in a relationship ever since they had both become adults. It had started during a three months long infiltration mission they had been assigned by their respective clans. Both swore that it was just a momentary lapse of judgment and that they would never do it again, but over the years it kept happening every chance they got, until both finally admitted their feelings for each other.
After that, they got better at hiding and planning their secret encounters. Neither of them wanted this secret to be uncovered by their clan, so they just decided to secretly get married and stay loyal to each other for the rest of their lives. As far as their clans knew, Hideki just kept rejecting women, and Akari used her domineering personality to frighten any suitor her father and brother could think of. The latter two loved her too much to force her into anything, so they just dropped the matter. The Uchiha clan had already resigned themselves to the fact that their princess will be a spinster.
But nine months ago everything changed. Birth control was very clumsy in this time, and Akari ended up getting pregnant. After the initial shock wore off, the parents had started planning. Abortion was out of the question, but their child stood no chance at survival in their clans with its mixed blood, they were both aware of that fact.
They decided that Akari would hide her pregnancy as much as she could, and then pick up a long-term infiltration mission to finish her pregnancy away for the Uchiha compound. She would rest while the actual mission would be secretly carried out by Hideki. Once it was born, they had found a merchant middle aged couple that was childless and looking to adopt. From its Senju side, the child feared nothing, but there was still the distinct possibility that it could awaken the Sharingan, so the merchants had to be bribed with quite a lot of money to keep quiet about the child's lineage as much as they could. They were given enough money so that they would move into a smaller country away from the Land of Fire, and let the child live an ordinary civilian life, away from anything shinobi related.
Panning on giving up their child was the worst thing the parents had been through, but they knew it was for the best, so they steeled their resolve.
Everything was going according to plan, and Akari was preparing to leave the compound in a couple of days, when her father grew suspicious. He decided to go through her stuff to try and understand her weird behavior of the past few months, and that's when he found a token of love that Hideki had given her, with the Senju and Uchiha crests intertwined on its back.
He immediately recognized it for what it was, and rage took over. Sharingan ablaze, he went looking for his daughter, found her in the training grounds sitting with her brother and in an angry fit undid the belt of her ample clothes publicly.
There was no hiding her pregnancy bump from anyone, and with a roar of rage, her father reached for a kunai and launched for her. She snapped out of shock faster than anyone present, and managed to hurl the tea tray at him before running for her life. Her pregnancy was severely hindering her, and she barely managed to escape the compound and shake off her pursuers before she run out of energy.
She made it to the safe house where they had planned for her to give birth, and directly contacted Hideki. She had no idea how her father found out about her affair, but she was sure that she had left no clue as to the identity of her lover. Hideki was to stay and act like nothing had happened no matter what the Uchiha clan did, to not bring suspicion on himself.
After a month, the Uchiha clan finally abandoned their pursuit and announced to the whole world that Uchiha Akari had died on mission. Her funeral had been quite grand apparently. Hideki was finally able to free himself and come visit. It was a lucky thing, because the scare had been too much for the mother and child, and Akari went into labor one month early.
She had already decided that she wouldn't give up the baby anymore, and just move away to live with her child once it was safer for her to move. She was planning on letting Hideki chose whether or not he wanted to come with them, and leave the shinobi life forever.
But as they say, when it rains it pours.
The midwife took one look at the baby she had just delivered, gasped with an expression of fear, and handed her to her father before bolting off as she swore that she would never speak of it if they let her keep her life.
Hideki and Akari were quite confused, but as they took a look at their crying daughter, they were shocked too. Whenever her little eyes opened enough for them to take a look, they could clearly see that they were entirely purple with thin black concentric circles.
Both parents were shaking. They had heard stories about what this could be, but they were supposed to be just that, stories. According to the legends that parents everywhere on this continent told their kids about, their daughter's eyes could only be Rinnegans.
This was bad, extremely bad! Their daughters every chance at a normal life had gone up in smokes. Everywhere she went, people would be able to recognize her eyes for what they were. Civilians would scorn her or fear that she was an evil spirit or a God of destruction while most shinobi would see her as a weapon to be used. Both came to the realization that they wouldn't be able to protect her on their own.
That only left them with the need to ask their clans for help.
The Uchiha were out of the question. They had already made their position clear and severed all ties with Akari. They would kill both her and her daughter on sight. Which only left them with the Senju. So they had both steeled themselves and came to beg for help. They would do anything for their daughter.
At Butsuma's question, Hideki raised his head. He gave his best friend a tentative smile and said: "It just happened, so there is no need to mule over it. Akari is indeed my wife. Had been for years now. And that is our child. We just wish for her to be added into the Senju registries and be raised here like any other Senju child."
One of the elders angrily berated: "Preposterous! That mixed blood abomination will never have our name. She is the daughter of an Uchiha, our enemies. They have killed so many of our fellow clansmen, of our families, and you want us to welcome their evil spawn into our compound! How shameless can get Senju Hideki!"
Hideki was about to answer him just as angrily, trying to defend his child, when Akari spoke for the first time ever since they arrived in the Senju compound an hour ago: "Where is that famous Senju compassion you all seem to never shut up about?"
All eye snapped to look at her. Hideki saw her calm expression, and knew that she had a plan. Akari was always smarter than him, and better at arguing so he trusted her to continue.
Butsuma gave her an unimpressed once over, but asked nonetheless: "Excuse me?"
Akari kept looking at all the councilmen present in the room as she answered: "The Senju compassion. You never shut up about. You keep spreading this idea between civilians and shinobi alike, to further your clan's reputation. You want to be seen as kind and virtuous. And yet you won't even spare a baby. In the end, it turns out that you are just like us Uchiha. No, let me correct that. At least we are honest about what we are and what we aren't."
The sounds of hands slamming the wooden table before them and the angry shouts of the elders came from all over the room.
Unexpectedly, a light laugh was heard after Butsuma got them to shut up once again. Everyone turned to look at elder Fujio. Just what the hell was funny to him in this situation?
The old man's eyes opened slowly, and he calmly stared at the couple and their child. He asked softly: "Why come now?"
Silence reigned in the room. Elder Fujio rarely got involved in the matters of the clan, but once he did, his decisions were undisputable. The couple's fate was now in his hands.
Hideki and Akari hesitated. So much has happened in the span of a day, and they themselves had trouble understanding everything. All they knew was that every parental instinct they had was on high alert, and all they wished for was their child's safety.
At their hesitation, Elder Fujio kindly elaborated on his question: "The two of you had been planning for nine months, at the very least. The Uchiha were no longer looking for you, and if you hadn't comeback, no one in our clan would have guessed that Hideki had deserted for at least a week. You had your exit strategies ready. I even checked, and Hideki has emptied his account in the clan's bank. He wasn't planning on coming back. So what changed? You only ever argued for us to help your daughter not you, so what makes you think that she is in danger?"
Akari and Hideki exchanged a look. They hadn't expected the old man to be so perceptive. Akari finally sighed: "I think it best that we just show you."
With the help of Hideki she got off the ground and calmly walked towards the elder. She leaned over the table so that he could see the child. Gently, she kept tracing her daughter's face with her finger to wake her up.
Disturbed by the feeling, the baby scrunched up her nose and opened her little eyes. By that time, all the elders and Butsuma had gathered around to take a look too, curiosity and all. A few gasps were heard as the purple orbs kept moving, trying to find something precise to look at but failing. The sounds of the gasps startled her, and she started crying
Elder Fujio's expression was serious. He put away his cane, and extended his arms to hold the baby. Akari knew that this was the one man she couldn't afford to piss off, and so she reluctantly handed over the little bun, parting for the first time with her baby.
Elder Fujio smiled as he received her, and rocked her gently until she stopped crying. He looked at her for a while and then said: "You are going to be quite the beauty, aren't you?"
Akari felt herself relaxing a little bit at his gentle words, but she didn't allow herself to go soft. Things could still go bad for them, and she needed to be ready to snatch her daughter back and ran at any moment.
Hanako had forgotten about her anger for the time being, and anxiously gripped at her son's bicep while looking at her granddaughter: "Is..Is.. that.. Are those.. what I think they are?"
Hideki answered loud enough for everybody to hear: "They look like the dojutsu that the legends described, but we aren't sure. We don't even know how the hell this happened. And she is only a few hours old, her chakra hadn't molded sufficiently yet, so we don't know if they do anything yet."
People thought about the legends they knew about these particular set of eyes. They covered everything from turning people into rocks to bringing back the dead. It was hard to distinguish between reality and myth, so they all wondered if it was wise to keep staring at them like this.
Finally, one of the elders turned to look at Butsuma: " We don't know what this dojutsu is, but if it turns to be the real Rinnegan, it would a shame to hand it over to our enemies. In these circumstances, I advise that the child be kept under strict supervision."
Others nodded their agreement, while some kept silent with an unwilling look in their eyes. If they keep the child,, then they will have to keep its mother and traitor of a father, and that was too much of a price for them to pay.
Finally, elder Fujio, who was still gently rocking the baby, turned to look at Akari with an amused smile: "Would you look at that, Uchiha-san! I think that the Senju compassion is slowly coming back to them. So there is a god in this world after all."
Akari smiled at his words, she was starting to like the man more and more. He handed her the baby back, and stood up with the help of his cane: "I too think that this child should be kept with us. Her father can go register her in our records from tomorrow; after all she is a Senju. But the presence of an Uchiha in our compound is impossible. The mother and the child can go stay in the small cabin near the lake in the south. It is walking distance from here and is currently unoccupied. I just hope that they can tolerate my presence from time to time when I go fishing. As for the other matters, I trust that our young clan head can handle it from here."
And with that, he swaggered out of the meeting room.
Everyone bowed in the direction he left off. As elder Fujio's words were always final, the other elders had nothing to add and so they left the room one after the other, while giving the couple nasty glances and openly talking about them.
Only Butsuma and Hanako stayed behind with the couple.
Hanako tearfully looked at her son and he looked back expression apologetic, but unrepentant. His message was clear: I'm sorry that I made you sad, but I regret nothing.
Finally she turned around so that no one would see the tears in her eyes and left while saying: "You can come back to my house whenever you feel like it, and I might someday feel like welcoming this daughter of yours too, but that woman is forbidden from coming anywhere near me our your sisters and their kids."
Butsuma sighed while looking at his best friend. He had known that his friend had a lover outside for quite a while, and understood that the woman might not gain the approval of their clan, but he would have never imagined this, not even in his wildest dreams. He knew that Hideki was no spy or traitor to their clan, the man just followed his heart too much and forgot about his duties.
But he also knew that from this day on, Hideki's career and reputation were thoroughly ruined. The lightest punishment he could get him off with would be to take away his rank and demote him to a lower position in the clan. From now on, he had permanently lost the trust of the clan and all his clearances, so he would probably never be able to take on missions. And let's not talk about all his friends and family who will resent him for associating with an Uchiha. One that has notoriously killed many of their kin.
He didn't feel like talking to him that night, and only wanted to rush back home and give his three years old eldest son a good lecture. That kid reminded him too much of a younger Hideki. A few hours ago that comparison filled him with pride, but now he was filled with dread.
He gave him a look and said: "I trust you know where that cabin is. I will meet you there tomorrow afternoon to discuss what is going to happen."
Hideki nodded seriously, and then bowed to his clan head while saying: "Thank you."
Akari bowed too. Bowing to the Senju clan head revolted her in many ways, but she knew that she owed him. If it wasn't for him, the other Senju would have skinned her alive the moment she stepped into their compound, instead of calling for an emergency council meeting. Plus this man controlled much of her daughter's fate from then on, so she had to treat him carefully.
Hideki and Akari walked for ten minutes after leaving the compound before arriving at the house by the lake. The moon was reflecting beautifully on the water surface and it helped ease their nerves a bit.
The door was unlocked, so they got in. While Hideki looked for candles and matches, she activated her Sharingan to look around. The place was a lot more comfortable than she expected. It was clean and all the furniture was very well maintained. There was a small open kitchen in the spacious living room, and even a big chimney. Each side of the room had a door that she supposed led to bedrooms, if the size of the house from the outside was any indicator. And Hideki had told her that there was a woodshed and an outhouse in the back. This was the house that Elder Fujio used to get away from people, and it looked like the guy treated himself quite nicely.
Once the room was properly lit, Akari collapsed on the tatami floors. Hideki rushed to her side, worry written all over his face: "I told you that we should have waited a day or two until you were properly rested. You didn't have to jump out of bed less than five hours after giving birth."
She glared at him: "Oh spare me, Senju! What were we supposed to do? Quietly wait until that midwife tattled on us? If it had been the woman that I had initially chosen then I could have trusted her, but we had to make do with that one since my water broke early. The longer we waited to get proper help, the better the chances that the information about our daughter would be spread. Our first priority is her safety, and I'm not that weak, I can hold on."
Hideki knew not to argue with her at this time, so he gently took his daughter from her and adjusted their positions so that her head would be resting on his shoulder while he cradled the baby. They both leaned against the wall to recuperate from the intensity of the last few hours, when she suddenly spoke up: "I can't believe that they agreed to let us stay."
He gave sad chuckle: "I have a feeling that it has more to do with greed than compassion, but I will take it."
She nodded lightly. That was all they could do for now. She was too exhausted to think of anything else. They will wait and see what Butsuma decided on the next day, and start planning again after they recuperate their forces.
Hideki's voice came from above her head: "We still haven't named her. What do you think her name should be?"
They both stared fondly at their daughter and Akari whispered: "I have been thinking about naming her Yume. I think it suits her best."
He gave a light smile: "Yume. Senju Yume. That sounds nice."
AN: Hello, and thanks for reading! This is my second Naruto fanfiction, and technically the one I like the most out of the thousand stories in my head. It is set in the same era as my other story, but is in no way related to it.
In fact, the two of the have very different vibes. Uchiha Izumi, the MC of "A Good Deed" is a badass character, a reincarnated woman with quite the plot armor. She is mainly inspired to me by Tsunade. Senju Yume, the MC of this story, is a native of this world with no outside knowledge and is a character heavily inspired by Hyuga Hinata, as you will probably see later.
This idea came to me when I learned that there were other reincarnation of Indra and Asura, before Hashirama and Madara. I started wondering if one of them could have been a female, and what would happen if they were to have a child together. Don't ask me why I think about such things or how I came to this one particular train of thought. Anyway, I thought that since the child would technically count as having inherited both Indra and Asura's chakra, they could awaken the Rennigan. Especially if we take into account the results of Kabuto and Orochimaru's research. A million weird thoughts later and here we are. I know that this is quite the debatable statement, but for the purposes of this story, please bear with it
Also this is a HashiramaXYume story, with a bit more sappy romance than the other story. I don't personally see it as SI, so I won't tag it as that. And last but not least, rest assured, I don't plan on involving any black zetsu and alien crap in this.
That's all I wanted to say to introduce this story. I hope you will like it. Stay safe and healthy!