Found Family
"Are we nearly there?"
Kaede chuckles at her, but Aiko doesn't mind. They've walked in the underground tunnels for so long that her little legs have given out, so Kaede carries her on her hip as they walk.
"It's not so far away now, I promise."
"Tell me the story of the mountain?"
"Again? Aren't you bored of hearing it by now?"Aiko shakes her head. She is decidedly not bored of it, and the smile in Kaede's voice tells her she isn't bored of telling it.
"Well alright then, if you insist. A long time ago, back when my parents were as smallas you, there was a time of constant war. Lots of clans were made to fight and many ninjas died, most of the time for reckless, fickle reasons like land, loyalty or wealth. During this time, in some forgotten corner of the continent, there were two young men. Their names were Rikimaru Tatsuya and Hashira Kazuki, leaders of the Rikimaru and Hashira clan. They too, had lost many, many lives to the fighting and they were absolutely sick of death - so much so that they came together and made a plan. You see, the Rikimaru and Hashira weren't that good at combat, not like big, powerful clans like the Uchiha or the Senjus, but combined they had the capability to disappear.
The two clans travelled deep into the mountains, so deep that they could be sure that no-one would ever find them. Kazuki-sama used the Hashira clan's special jutsu to carve out the mountain so that there was space for everyone inside. Then, Tatsuya-sama used one of my clan's jutsus to curve light into even the deepest corners. They made a pact there and then: this would be a place of sanctuary from the outside world, and that whenever there was war, if there were innocents who wanted to leave the world behind they would find a safe haven here. That is the story of how my home was made."
"Am I really going to live in a place like that?"
The old woman laughs, not needing to look at the young girl to know the awestruck expression on her face. "Of course my dear. You're my girl now."
The pair reach a dead end, but the woman is not worried. She places her free hand on the long, looming shadow and the pair emerge into the daylight.
"Look, Aiko. We're here,"
It takes Aiko a couple of seconds for her eyes to adjust, but then she is drinking in the sights. They surface at the base of amountain in some sort of market district that is vibrant and bustling with life. The old woman puts Aiko down, giving her hand a gentle squeeze before leading her along.
Men and women greet the old woman as they pass them, a few rush to place goods in her or Aiko's arms from their bazaar stalls. Children run around a playground bathed in sunlight like they have no worries or cares in the world. They pass a winding staircase built into the very walls that leads to the floors above - each crescent-shaped to allow the light from the top of the mountain to travel further towards the base. It is so bright that when Aiko looks up she expects to see endless sky, but instead there is only the sharp, jagged point of the mountain summit.
The streets are quieter now as they move from the central area towards a more residential area. They pass many different kinds of houses - some like hers, quaint little cottages that look like they belong on the end of some sleepy little prairie, others more imposing, traditional structures. Finally they come to a stop in front of a large, traditional c-shaped complex. The main house has a roofed porch, and standing there is a stone-faced man, holding hands with two young boys. The older one wriggles his hand out of his father's grasp and rushes up to the old woman.
"Obaa, you're back!" He says, and throws his arms around her legs. Then, he adds, "Who's that girl?"
"Someone very special. Would you show her to my room Sei? I need to have a word your father."
Aiko spotted her new guide at the gates of the Hyuuga compound and the sight of the girl made her heart plummet. Shoulder-length hair of pure indigo that had the same shade as the tint in her own black mop; the same ivory skin, the same delicate shape of their jaws. The most telling similarity, though, had to be the pale lavender eyes that were a mirror to her own. Her striking look made her easy to recognise as Hyuuga Hinata. Aiko did her best not to let the tightness in her chest reveal itself as a grimace on her face. Of course, that accursed Seiichirou had been correct. Looking in the face of the Hyuuga Princess, it was a marvel that no-one had made the connection between her and Aiko before.
"W-welcome home, Sumire-san. My name is Hinata." The girl dipped into a respectful bow. Strange. Wasn't she the heir to the estate?
"Hello."
Hinata rose, revealing a gentle flush across the bridge of her nose, and beckoned Aiko and Ryohei to follow her into the compound. Her voice shook as she pointed out various different locations in the complex but her steps got increasingly confident as they ventured further. Only when approaching the innermost courtyard did the footsteps still. A middle aged man with long brown hair and pale eyes stood within.
"F-father," Hinata bowed again, this time deep and straight. "I have brought Sumire-san." The old man scrutinised her carefully. Goosebumps crawled on her skin as the elder Hyuuga's calculated gaze traversed her, finally settling to bore into her face.
"You have Byakugan."
"Huh?" It was a very confusing thing for him to say. Namely because, as far as Aiko was aware, the dojutsu she had was called the Sharingan. "I don't..?"
"No. There is no mistaking it." The old man seemed to be finished with Aiko after that assertion, and turned back to his daughter - still stood in that deep low bow. "I will have to make the necessary preparations."
"I understand, Father." Only when addressed directly did Hinata straighten. "May I take our guests to the training grounds? I wish to introduce them to Neji nii-sama."
"Do as you wish." Her father waved her off in reply and disappeared inside the Hyuuga complex.
The path to the training grounds was short and yet the journey was painfully slow. Every few steps Hinata would glance over at Aiko, eyes spilling with secrets, but she said nothing and soon enough would start walking again. When the group was hovering on the border of the training grounds the Hyuuga heir spun 180 degrees, planted her feet and spoke.
"Do you want to leave Konoha?"
That certainly wasn't what Aiko was expecting to hear. Still, she answered confidently. "Yes. This village isn't home."
Hinata nodded, as if expecting such an answer. "I see. In that case, never go back to the Hyuuga compound." That was all the explanation she deigned to give before marching in. Aiko considered stopping with Ryohei to ask just what the hell was going on, but the exceptionally dark look on his face made her think better of it. A question for another time, then.
The sound of battle was heavy in the air as they entered the large circular field where a young kunoichi was engaged in a fierce bout with a ninja clad in one of those green monstrosities Aiko had somehow found herself owner of. Another, older ninja stood a few paces away, also wearing the green one piece, and beside him, a young man with lavender eyes and a stern expression - Neji, presumably.
"I will just be a minute," Hinata disappeared off, tugging Neji along with her, leaving Aiko and Ryohei to watch the spar.
"Tighter, Lee! No excess movements!"
"Yes, Guy-sensei!"
"Good, Tenten! Don't let him control the flow of battle!"
"Yes!"
Aiko watched in awe as Lee danced across the field, as if obeying the laws of gravity was a triviality that he could simply opt out of. To her credit, Tenten seemed unfazed by this apparent defiance of natural law - whenever Lee changed direction she had already sent at least three kunai in the spot he was aiming for.
"I have decided! When I win, I will do ten victory laps of the village on my hands," Lee sang, a well-timed strike landing and sending Tenten back a few paces.
"Is that so?" Tenten grinned, summoning a chain trap right in the spot that Lee's foot landed on the ground. "It's a shame you're not gonna win though,"
Lee's surprise was palpable - and Tenten took advantage to close the trap around his ankle.
"It's not over yet!" Lee flipped - landing on his hands rather than flat on his back, tugging his leg with enough speed to slip out of Tenten's trap seconds before it closed.
"Enough," Guy hollered out, and the pair stopped still. "We have guests."
Three curious sets of eyes were set on her and suddenly Aiko felt awkward. She sent a quick glance to her left only to register Ryohei backing off a few paces - she was on her own with this one.
"Hi, sorry to intrude. I won't be in your way for long,"
"Nonsense! You're more than welcome." Guy smiled brightly.
"So you're the Hyu-chiha everyone's talking about? I'm Tenten," The kunoichi offered her hand.
"And I am Rock Lee, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance!"
Aiko shook both offered hands - Lee shaking her arm more vigorously than every handshake she'd ever had combined. The energy built and unable to contain it, words tumbled out of his mouth. "IsittrueyoubeattwojoninsbyyourselfHyuchihasan?"
"What?"
"He said, 'is it true you beat two jonins by yourself, Hyuchiha-san?' " Tenten supplied.
"Well, I-"
"We could just ask him," Guy nudged their attention to the ninja with a senbon in his mouth walking into the training grounds, "Hey, Genma! Get over here!"
Genma nodded an acknowledgement to Guy and his students, and turned to Aiko.
"Hey, Sparky. Ebisu sent me with those docs he promised you," He gestured to the manila folder he'd brought with him under his arm.
"He didn't want to bring them himself?"
A twitch. "He- well, we weren't sure if you'd be comfortable, so here I am."
"Shiranui-san! Is it true that Hyuchiha-san beat you in one-on-one combat!"
"No? where'd you get that idea?"
"Rumours have been going around all week, Shiranui-san,"
"You shouldn't believe everything you hear Tenten,"
"I have to admit Genma, I am curious. Is it true this young lady managed to take on both my teammates at once?"
"Not you as well, Guy - you really think I can be taken down that easily?"
"Hmm. Perhaps we should have a spar and find out."
"Wait, what?" Aiko choked out - since when was the conversation about volunteering her for a fight?
"Yeah Guy, I don't go round roughing up kids for fun," Genma added.
"Oh no, don't worry my friend! I would never suggest something so dishonourable. No, my students have been preparing for the Chunin exams all summer, lets see if their hard work has paid off - if you can spare her, that is."
"Hmm. I suppose I can wait."
"I thought I was helping train them," Neji and Hinata reappeared among them, putting the jonin's negotiations on pause. "What did I miss?"
"Tenten and I are going to spar with Hyuchiha-san!" Lee gave an enthusiastic thumbs up, to which Neji quirked an eyebrow.
"And is Uchiha-san okay with this?"
"No, not at all - I really don't think this is a good idea."
"It's just a spar. If you can't defend yourself from two Konohan genins I might as well leave you here and go home. You'd be no good to the Guild," Ryohei surprised them all with his interjection. "No offense," he added.
"WAHAHAHAHA! Such is the arrogance of youth!" Guy clapped a hand onto Ryohei's shoulder and gave it a gentle shake, "are you sure your companion can live up to those fiery words?"
"Sumire. Get ready to spar."
So, somehow, Aiko found herself in the middle of the training grounds, preparing for a battle on two fronts.
"Uchiha-san, you don't have to do this if you don't want to," Neji said carefully. Aiko thought about it - this was her last chance to get out of a fight... but, she trusted Ryohei. If he was telling her to do this, there was no doubt in her mind that it was for good reason.
"Uchiha-san?"
"Thanks, I appreciate the concern, but I have to defend the integrity of my friend's word." she grinned at him. Her opponents took their positions on the field - Tenten to the right, Lee on her left.
"Standard rules for sparring - no leaving the training grounds, no maiming or mortal wounding, the fight is won when your opponent is disabled or otherwise unable to continue." Guy said. "Now, begin!"
Aiko avoided Lee's first kick by substituting just out of range. She was quick to weave handsigns for a water clone; taking advantage of those few precious extra seconds - the complex nature of it would mean it formed slower. In the meantime, Lee's onslaught had pushed her into Tenten, who grabbed her elbow and sent a pulse of chakra rippling across her skin. Aiko shuddered at the touch of it. She yanked her arm away and Tenten retreated. The clone shaped in the nick of time - it absorbed Tenten's opening volley of kunai, releasing them with a clatter out the bottom. Satisfied that it would perform its function of watching her back, Aiko turned her full attention to Lee.
It was just taijutsu, but Aiko was struggling. Lee's strikes were hard to avoid but she had no other recourse - where usually there was a tradeoff between power and speed, Lee managed to have the best of both. Every strike was strong enough to knock over a tree, blocking would be useless and possibly break her bones.
"Haha! Faster then!" He beamed at her. The warning was all that saved her; Aiko had been busy with set of rogue shuriken from Tenten that was changing direction mid-air. Instinctively, her sharingan engaged. It was the only reason she could keep track of him. She weaved a sign that converted chakra to double the speed of the electrical signals in her body. Excess electricity vented out her tenketsu; two from each wrist, and three in each ankle.
It was a vicious circle - Lee picked up speed, causing Aiko to convert more chakra, and vent out of more tenketsu, only for Lee to push faster. When lightning crackled at her knees and elbows, she knew she'd reached her limit. If only she could reduce his mobility, slow his movements just enough... Tenten and Lee's earlier fight flashed in her mind, and an idea formed in Aiko's mind. She moved into the centre of the field, and summoned her clone to her back. The theory was sound, but the execution would have to be flawless for it to work.
"Are you giving up?" Tenten said, not quite able to hide her incredulity. She sent a group of shuriken her way, but Aiko did not shift. She was waiting for Lee.
Sure enough, he came barrelling toward her like a tornado. Every nerve screamed to move, but she waited - she would let him come, the closer he was, the closer she'd be to success. His strike was a hair's breadth away from her jaw when her clone opened and she dived through - pulling Lee along with her, only for it to close around his arm. The shuriken Tenten sent, that had almost hit their target, clattered to the ground - rather than strike her teammate. Lee attempted to free himself by striking at the clone; however this only served to imprison him further. Her clone was thicker than the usual water clone, and also considerably sticky. Though the intent was to catch incoming projectiles, it was perfect for holding the taijutsu user.
She had no doubts that eventually he would break free through sheer force of will. In the meantime, she would take care of them both. A swift chop to the back of the neck and Lee was out of the picture - leaving Tenten. Aiko was across the field in a matter of seconds. One strike to the side of the jaw, the second an uppercut, the third would to finish the job -
A hand, solid and firm, grasped her foot.
"I apologise for interrupting your burning display of springtime youth, but Genma must get going now. I hope you will train with us again some time!" Guy smiled, but his gaze was stony. It took a few seconds for the words to register, and a few moments more for the battle rage to calm. Tenten was unconscious. Had Aiko's last strike hit, she may have had lasting damage. Lee was simply stunned - but the jolt of electricity he'd received from her lightning gauntlets had shaken his system.
"You may have overdone it," Ryohei brought her jacket and draped it over her shoulders - when had she started shivering?
"I... I'm sorry."
"Don't be. They needed to know you can protect yourself." He muttered quietly, and gestured towards the waiting ninja. "Shall we?"
Genma led them to a quiet restaurant. He sat Aiko at a booth in the very back, insisting that Ryohei stay at the bar due to the sensitive nature of the documents he was to share. To Aiko's surprise, Ryohei agreed - though his amicability made more sense when she felt the small iron spider in her jacket pocket. She swiped at a stray hair and deposited the spider in her hood, where it crawled up her neck and hooked onto her ear.
"If you can hear me, tap on the table twice." Aiko complied, and Ryohei settled onto a barstool near the front of the store that still had a line of sight to their booth. Genma sat opposite Aiko, put on some reading glasses and set out a scroll.
"This is the Hyuuga family tree. Here is the current head of the Hyuuga, Hyuuga Hiashi. He is your uncle, and father of Hyuuga Hinata and Hyuuga Hanabi - who are your cousins. Hyuuga Neji is also your cousin, from your other uncle, Hyuuga Hizashi. This spot here- " he pointed to a piece of the parchment across from Hiashi's name that was thinner, as if it had been scratched off, "this was where your mother's name used to be written. Her name was Hyuuga Reika. Have any questions so far?"
"If that's where my moms name should be, why isnt it there?"
"It was removed when she married."
"What? Why?"
"Since she married out of the clan her name got moved into the documents for the clan that she joined."
"So she's on the Uchiha clan documents?"
"Hmm..."
Genma pulled out a different set of documents and pored over them. "So there's Uchiha Kagami - that's your great-grandfather by the way - Uchiha Kihei, Uchiha Akira, ah here we go, Uchiha Mamoru and Uchiha Reika, your parents. Oh, and this space here must've been left for you. Across from you is Shisui - he was your cousin." He passed the scroll around to her. Aiko traced the lettering over their names gently. Mamoru and Reika. Her parents. A line had been drawn downwards from them - the space for her. She was older than she'd thought - the date of birth on their records had already passed, meaning she was already sixteen. The name had, as of yet, been left blank. She was wondering if the name that was eventually written in that space would be her real one or an alias when the voice from the iron spider came again.
"Ask him why you're staying at the Hyuuga compound when neither of your parents are recorded as Hyuuga.
"Why am I staying at the Hyuugas when my parents are on the Uchiha clan list?"
Genma seemed taken aback at the question. "That's because there's no one at the Uchiha compound."
"So? Doesn't mean I can't live there."
"We can't let you stay in Konoha without a guardian," he shook his head at her.
"Ask him to take you to see it," Ryohei chimed in again, more urgent this time.
"I want to see it." Aiko parroted. "Take me to the Uchiha compound."
"Why the heck would you want to go see that place?"
"Its where my parents lived isn't it? Don't I deserve to at least go and see it?
Genma scratched his head and sighed. "Sure, sure. It's not much to look at though, I'm warning you now."
Genma packed up, and Ryohei's voice crackled in Aiko's ear once again. "When I give the word, run into the compound and use the handsign for activating protection wards at the gate."
It was a swift journey from there to the Uchiha compound. Aiko didn't even need to go in to know that he was correct. They were about fifty paces from the compound but she could see that it was a shambles. For one, it was probably the only compound in Konoha with it's gates wide open. Ruined buildings, filthy streets, broken streetlamps were clear for all to see - it had neither been lived in nor looked after for a very, very long time.
"Happy now? Lets get out of here, this place gives me the shivers."
"Just one more minute," Aiko muttered, moving forward a few paces. Not enough to alarm the jōnin, but still able to give her a bit of a head start. Ryohei moved into position a step behind her, to her right side.
"When the wards activate remember to grant me access." he whispered. Aiko grinned, and broke into a full run.
"Hey what're you-"
She didn't bother to turn around and check if Genma was giving chase, putting all her energy into getting to the gates of the compound first. She flooded the entranceway with her chakra and to her surprise it responded - she weaved the handsign for protection and suddenly the image of the jonin reaching to grab her arm blurred and disappeared. She reached for Ryohei's chakra, on finding it she pulled him through the barrier and he appeared beside her.
"Could've used these when Inoichi was interrogating me." Aiko sniffed, handing Ryohei her earpiece. He sent a pulse of chakra into it and it reshaped into a spider, crawling up his hand and disappearing somewhere in his sleeve.
"No, that dodgy bastard would've noticed. Thankfully, the other ninja around here seem kinda lax, though of course that guy couldn't have known I was watching his thoughts." he shrugged.
"So the reason he didn't want me coming here...?"
"The wards are set to respond to the command of anyone in the Uchiha bloodline. Currently that's only you - so unless you expressly permit it, none of them are getting in here." Ryohei dusted himself off and smiled. "Lets find one of these houses that are more or less liveable. I'd like to enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts."
