Forbidden Room

Kairi walked up to the castle of Radiant Garden.

Sora had gone missing, everyone had gotten together and discussed a plan. They all decided to split up and search on their own. Terra, Ventus and Aqua were going to look for Sora in the Realm of Darkness. The Twilight crew were going to search Xion and Roxas's memories. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were going to search the worlds Sora visited. Riku was going to work with Restoration Committee.

Kairi believed, her heart had the answer. She was going to get help from Ansem the Wise and his apprentices. They studied the heart more than anyone she knew, if anyone could help it was them… Maybe they could…

You'll be the best big sister.

Kairi shook her head. Sora came first! Besides, her parents died when she was a baby. That's what her Grandmother told her.

However, Kairi still couldn't explain what happened in the graveyard. A voice… That memory of that woman… that power that helped Kairi find Axel and escape Xemnas's trap. Kairi had no explanation for it. Maybe, Ansem could help her find the answer.

So, Kairi spoke to the scholar and he agreed. Kairi would fall into hyper-sleep, or suspended animation. She would search her heart and memories from within, and Ansem would analyze her heart from the outside.

So now she was sitting on an examining chair. Vexen… um, Even was doing, doctor things. Taking her blood pressure, temperature, he even swabbed the inside of her mouth.

"Was that necessary?" Kairi asked after Even bottled the swab.

"It was," Even began packing his equipment, "We'll begin, soon. Wait here."

Even left Kairi next to Ansem's computer… Wait.

Kairi looked at the big computer. That computer supposedly had all the information about Radiant Garden. According to Sora there was even a self-destruct program for the whole town. Kairi looked at the empty doorway. Maybe, if she just took a quick look.

Kairi snuck over to the computer, and started typing. Then the screen flashed red, startling Kairi. Oh no, did she activate the self-destruct program?

"You are not authorized to use this terminal, miss user," the computer said.

"Miss user?" Kairi repeated. Wait, Sora told her when they first found Ansem's computer, they got sucked inside and made friends with a program, "… Wait are you, Tron?"

"I am," the program responded, "Who are you."

"I'm Kairi," she introduced, "I'm Sora's friend."

"Kairi," Tron repeated, "Your name did come up. Why are you trying to use this terminal?"

Kairi sighed, "I just want to look up my family history. I used to live here, I know my parents died, I just want to know when."

"I see," Tron said, "Hold on," after a few seconds Tron spoke again, "Kairi, I don't see any record of you ever living here."

"What?" Kairi asked, "That can't be right, I was born here."

"I can't find any birth records."

"My Birthday is April 21st," Kairi explained. Tron pulled up the record for children born on April 21st, from the looks of it, the last twenty years. Kairi clicked on the year she was supposed to be born and looked through list. Her name wasn't on it. She clicked on the previous year and the year prior. She wasn't on those either.

"What about school records," Kairi asked, "I remember going to a Kindergarten."

Tron pulled up the roster for daycares. Kairi clicked on the one she recognized, Radiant Garden Patch. There her name wasn't on the record their either. Kairi just stared. Why couldn't she find any record of her? She lived in Radiant Garden before… didn't she?

Ansem was looking over the medical report Even had comprised. He walked into the lab, "Kairi are you ready?"

Kairi sat cross legged on the examining chair, waiting for the scholar, "Yeah, let's get the ball rolling."

%%%%%

"Oh Yeah," Boruto grinned at the banner hanging over Thunder Burger, "They brought it back! The green chili pepper burger."

Boruto was about to head in and order the incredibly spicey burger when a voice asked, "Are you Boruto?"

Boruto looked behind him. Standing behind him was a guy, older than him. He was wearing black and red, but what caught his attention was his hair. It was brown, and really spikey!

Boruto frowned, "Yeah, I'm Boruto. Why? Do you want my dad's autograph or something," This guy seemed like a fan boy.

"Huh," Spikey asked, "Why would I want your dad's autograph?"

"Because he's the Hokage," Boruto answered like it was obvious.

Spikey just blinked, "What's a Hokage?"

Boruto just laughed. He must had been joking.

"Look, I'm not here about your dad, I'm here about your sister," Spikey explained flustered.

"What about Himawari?"

"Not your little sister, your big sister!"

Boruto gave him a stupid look. First, he doesn't know what a Hokage is, now he's saying he has a big sister, "Look Spikey, I don't have a big sister."

"My names not Spikey, it's Sora," Sora said, "And you do, you just haven't met her."

"Uh-huh…" Boruto didn't believe it, "Look, there's bound to be a line for the green chili burger, so why don't you go by crazy somewhere else?"

"Green chili burger?" Sora asked, "that sounds really spicy."

"It is, but it's so good," Boruto confirmed. He drooled at the thought of eating them again. Sora looked like he was about to agree, but then shook his head.

"Don't distract me with food," Sora suddenly said, "I can prove you have a sister."

"Really how?" Boruto asked smugly.

"You know that room, in your house your mom never lets you in?"

"The forbidden room?" Boruto asked.

"Yeah, that used to be your sister's room," Sora explained, "Go inside."

"What no way," Boruto stiffened, "Mom said, no one is allowed in that room! If I go in there, she'll kill me!" Boruto trembled at the thought of his mother's wrath.

"Do be such a chicken," Sora said, "Don't you wonder what's in that room and why no one lets you in?"

Boruto then opened his eyes. He was in his room, waking up to his alarm, which could only mean…

"They didn't bring the green chili burger back!" Boruto despaired.

Later

During lunch break Boruto was hanging out with his friends. Denki, Shikadai, Inojin, Iwabe, Metal, and Mitsuki. They were on the roof top, eating lunch. Boruto was leaning back eating a yakisoba bun

Somehow, their talk about the new Kagemasa movie turned into Metal telling him his nightmare.

"Everyone was s-staring," Metal shook like a leaf, "Then I threw the shuriken, and not only did I miss the target, it flew into the Great Stone Faces and destroyed them all!"

"How would that be even possible?" Inojin asked.

Boruto just laughed, "Well, I had this dream about this crazy guy, well it was originally about burgers."

"That's not surprising," Shikadai said.

"So, what was so crazy about this guy," Denki asked interested.

"Well, first he didn't know what a Hokage was," Boruto explained.

"Sucks to be him," Iwabe chided.

"Then, he tried to tell me I had a big sister."

"Do you?" Metal asked.

"Of course not, I only have a little sister, Himawari."

"So, you secretly wished you had a big sister?" Inojin tried to speculate.

"Of course not, I'm happy with Himawari," Boruto said, "He even tried to make me go into the Forbidden Room."

"The what?" Shikadai asked.

Boruto took a bite out of his yakisoba bun before continuing, "In my house, there's a room that's never been opened. Mom won't let us go inside."

"So, what's inside?" Shikadai asked.

"Don't know," Boruto shrugged.

"What?" Denki asked, "You mean to tell me there's a room, in the house you lived in your whole life, that you've never been inside of?"

"I told you mom won't let us inside."

"So, what did the crazy guy say about the forbidden room?"

"That it was my big sister's room."

That's when the group went silent. Boruto looked at his friends confused, "What?"

"Maybe, she did something bad, so they keep her locked in that room," Inojin whispered.

"Or maybe she's a mutant experiment, and that room is her cage," Shikadai whispered.

"Or maybe she's just nervous and won't come out," Metal whispered.

"Okay, you guys, knock it off," Boruto snapped, "If I have a big sister, where is she? Why haven't I heard of her before, or better yet you guys," Boruto looked to Inojin and Shikadai, "Our dads are friends, they would have known."

Inojin then opened his big mouth, "But what if something bad happened to her and no one wanted to talk about?"

"My parents still would have told me," Boruto snapped. He scarfed down his bun, "Look, I'll prove it. My mom's going shopping today and she'll take Himawari with her. We can go, and I'll show you that the room is… Well, it's not the room that belonged to my big sister, because I don't have one."

"Boruto are you sure," Denki asked, "Maybe…"

"I'm sure," Boruto was too riled up, "We'll open the door, look inside, and close it. No one will ever know."

The break ended and the boys began walking to class. Mitsuki walked next to Boruto, "So, you truly don't believe you have an older sister."

"I don't," Boruto said, "Why?"

Mitsuki just smiled, "Don't worry, it seems you won't be convinced unless you see the room."

Boruto looked at him confused, what did that mean?

%%%%%

Kairi opened her eyes. Her eyes were filled with the beautiful blue sky.

The last thing she remembered, was being in Ansem's lab. It must have worked. She sat up to see that she was in the Final World. What was she doing here?

She was supposed to be in her heart, but then again; Chirithy said that this world was connected to their slumber. Kairi stood up and looked around, "Sora?" Kairi called, "Sora!"

"He isn't here."

Kairi gasped before turning around. Someone was approaching her. At first, it was just another floating heart. Until, a body began to form around it. The body of a young man, wearing a white tunic, and long dark hair. However, his most striking features were his eyes. They were white. As in white Iris and pupil, if he wasn't looking directly at her, Kairi would have thought he was blind.

Kairi then realized something, his voice, "You… you were there… I heard you…"

"You did," the young man said, "I reached out to you."

"Why?"

"Because I was watching over you," he said, "I've been watching over you for a long time Kairi, now I can finally speak to you."

Kairi felt nervous, the way he spoke to her, "Who are you? And what do you want with me?"

"My name is Neji Hyuga," He introduced, "What I want from you?" He was silent for a moment. His face was expressionless, well mostly, his eyes flickered, for a brief second, "Right now, I want to teach you."

"Teach me?" Kairi asked.

"I want to teach you the technique that's been passed down in our clan," Neji explained.

"Why?" Kairi asked, "Isn't it only for your family?"

"It is," Neji said as he looked her. Kairi was confused for a moment, until…

"Wait, I'm… a member of your clan?"

"You finally figured it out?" Neji asked, "Good."

Kairi looked at Neji then glanced down at the water to her own reflection. She didn't see any family resemblance, "Um, I think you have the wrong person."

"You are a member of the Hyuga clan," Neji wasn't swayed, "Your Byakugan is proof."

"My what?" Kairi asked.

"Your visual prowess," Neji said, "It is a power that is passed down through the Hyuga bloodline."

When Neji said 'visual,' something clicked, "That x-ray vision?"

"It's much more sophisticated than 'x-ray vision,'" Neji said seemingly annoyed, "You are almost as annoying as him."

Kairi frowned, "If I'm so annoying, why don't you leave?"

"Because I can't leave you like this," Neji said, "You're hopeless without your weapon."

Kairi was about to yell, when Neji spoke again, "I'm going to teach you, not just about your Byakugan, but how to use it and how to fight without a weapon."

"Why?" Kairi asked, "Why do you care?"

"Because, someone is waiting for you Kairi," Neji said, he looked down, like he was remembering someone, "You can't go back to them, not until you are stronger."

"Are you talking about Sora?" Kairi asked hopefully.

"You also can't find him until you're stronger, but I wasn't speaking of him," Neji said.

"I don't understand," Kairi said.

"You've noticed haven't you," Neji asked, "There is something strange about your past. The one you remember before you lived on the islands."

Kairi gulped.

"You couldn't find proof you ever lived in Radiant Garden," Neji reminded.

"That computer is old and went through a lot of stuff," Kairi reasoned, "It probably just lost some data."

"Who are you trying to convince more?" Neji asked. Kairi looked down, "You also remembered something that was impossible."

The pregnant woman.

"Kairi, training with me, will help you," Neji urged, "You've already awakened your Byakugan, this training will help you in more ways than one. I can't explain now, but it will make sense in time."

"I still don't know why you want to help me," Kairi said.

Neji sighed, "Despite how I act Kairi, I'm helping you, because I want to help you."

Kairi hummed before replying, "Okay."

"That's it?" Neji asked.

"The last time you helped me, I did get free," Kairi said, "Besides," Kairi recalled the image of the pregnant woman, and she recalled that there no records of her in Radiant Garden, "I want to know who this 'someone' is…"

Neji nodded, "Alright," Neji took a fighting stance, "We start with this stance."

%%%%

Boruto opened the door to his house, "And we're here," he lead his friends inside, "No one break anything or Mom will kill us all."

"So this is your house?" Denki asked, "It's so small."

"Not everyone lives in big mansion Denki," Shikadai sighed.

"So where is this Forbidden Room?" Iwabe asked.

"It's upstairs," Boruto began to scale the steps.

"I'm so nervous," Metal said,

"What do you have to be nervous about?" Inojin asked.

What did Metal have to be nervous about, Boruto wondered? And what did he, himself have to be nervous about?

With every step he took, Boruto felt heavier. He never been inside that room, hell he'd never seen that door open before. Sometimes, he'd catch his mom or dad, standing in front of it, like they wanted to go in… but they never did.

Boruto once tried to open the door once, only for his mother to grab his hand, and tell him no. That he was never to open that door. He remembered being scared as his mother told him that, like he usually felt when he scolded him, but he also remembered, something else. The way his mother looked, the sheer… seriousness in her eyes, and how he told himself he would never touch that door again… until now.

That dream, it did stir up questions he buried a long time ago. What was in that room?

Boruto knew it couldn't had been the bedroom of a sibling he never met. His parents would have told him, or he would have remembered, or someone, a friend or relative would have told him. He was positive, because… if Boruto had another sister, if Himawari had another big sibling… It just would have been messed up.

They reached the door. Just like always, it was just another door. Brown, basically blending with the walls. Boruto ignored it for years, now he was about to open it.

"So, this is the Forbidden Room?" Inojin asked.

"Well, let's see what's inside your secret sister's room," Shikadai teased.

Boruto shot him a glare before looking at the door. He was going to open it, and prove them wrong. It was something else… A wine storage closet, or his dad's secret man cave.

He'd open the door, show them what was inside, close it, and never think about it again.

Boruto took in a breath, grabbed the door handle, then pushed it open.

A cloud of dust suddenly kicked up and hit the group of boys, causing them all to cough.

"When was the last time this was opened? Seriously," Shikadai asked between coughs.

When the dust settled, they tried to peer inside, but they couldn't see anything. It was like a door to a dark void. It was really creepy.

"I have a flashlight," Denki pulled out a small flashlight and handed it to Boruto. Boruto pointed it into the room randomly and turned it on.

All the boys (minus Mitsuki) screamed when a the flashlight hit the face of something. It took them a couple of seconds to realize it was just a doll… A doll?

Boruto finally took a step in and ran his hand on the wall until he found a light switch, and flipped it on. The light flickered for a second, like it hadn't been turned on in a long time. When the light turned on, Boruto's eyes widened.

The room had a white carpet. Toys, like dolls were scattered here and there. There was a small pink bed that wasn't made. The lights were flower shaped. Taped to the walls were pictures, hand drawn, they reminded Boruto of Himawari's drawings.

Boruto hadn't even realized he had entered the room until, he stepped on a teddy bear.

Inojin, Shikadai, and Mitsuki followed him in.

"Doesn't this look like a little girl's room?" Inojin asked.

"Seriously, Inojin?" Shikadai asked.

"Boruto?" Mitsuki asked. Boruto could barely hear his friends talking. He looked at the pictures, most of them were of daisy like flowers, but there was a drawing of stick figures. Four to be exact, two big ones, one little one, and an even smaller one. Mommy, Daddy, Boruto, Me.

Boruto decided to looke at the dressers, there were some plastic cat figures, and a tiny plastic music box. However, there was picture frame next to it. Like everything else in the room, it was covered in dust. He couldn't even see the pictured.

He wasn't even sure he felt himself move forward. He felt possessed as he walked to the dresser. His trembling hand picked up the frame, and he started to wipe away the dust. He finally lifted the hand to see what he had unearthed.

Looking back at him from the photo, was a pair of white eyes, just like his moms. Red hair framed her round face, on her cheeks… just like him and Himawari… were whisker shaped birthmarks.

She didn't look older than five. She was sitting on the floor, looking at the camera. In her lap, sleeping, was Boruto when he was a baby.

The world at that moment, vanished. There was nothing, nothing, but him and the photo. Boruto thought he heard Shikadai talking to him, but it was too far away.

He looked at the little girl in the photo, the one with white eyes, the one with whisker marks, the one wearing a white and purple sundress, the one holding him while he slept soundly…

Finally, one word came from the shattered mess in his mind.

Why?

Why didn't anyone tell him or Himawari? Why did they keep this room closed his whole life? Why did they pretend she didn't exist? Why did Boruto have to find out like this? On a stupid dare? Why wasn't this girl here with him? Why? Why? WHY?

He could understand his dad not telling him and Himawari, he always ignored them for work… but his mom… His mom, never told him?!

"I'm home!" That was the one thing Boruto heard from the outside. His mother calling into the house to let him know she was home. The same mother, that never told him.

Boruto turned around and walked past his friends, "Boruto, wait a minute," Shikadai called. Boruto didn't hear. He just went straight to the stairs and started walking down the stairs, like in a trance.

He went the kitchen when he saw his mother wasn't at the door. There he saw his mom and sister putting away groceries. Like everything was fine, like there wasn't a huge secret, like life was just perfect.

"Good you're here," Hinata glanced a Boruto standing at the door, "Can you help us?"

Boruto walked into the room, but he just stood there. Hinata looked at him again and looked concerned, "Boruto what's the matter?"

What's the matter? Boruto had no idea what expression he was making, was he angry, sad, or just blank? He didn't know. Why was his mom just acting like she hadn't been… lying to him for years? To him and Himawari?

Boruto began to shake, he clenched his jaw, then finally he held up the picture frame he had been gripping in his hand for the past ten minutes.

When Hinata's eyes saw the picture, they widened.

"Who. Is. This?"

Cue dramatic music.