Obligatory Disclaimer: The series Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto; I only own the OCs, picture, and this story.
An Out-Stretched Hand
The first time Noburu had seen Junko Hyūga, he hadn't thought much of her. Yeah, she was some hot-shot baby ninja but she had the same eyes as Satomi and that couldn't mean anything good.
"They're so tiny," Akane gasped beside him, staring at her and the little Uchiha boy in awe. He snorted under his breath.
"Yeah, but they're also clan kids," he scoffed, eyes trailing after the pair as they made their way to the back of the class. "They probably do experiments to them or something."
He expected the painful nudge from the girl and took it like a man. Her red eyes blinked warily at him.
"D-do you think they really do that?" Rubbing the tender spot in his side, he snorted again.
"Wouldn't be surprised."
The rest of the class was spent stealing glances at the pair of toddlers that had been dropped into their class. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure that there was no way they couldn't be breeding super soldiers or something. The Hyūga could barely see over her desk for crying out loud! He was sure that there was something fishy going on in those compounds clans had. Why would they wall everything up otherwise?
Lunch couldn't come quicker for the boy. Nature transformations were giving him a headache. He leapt over his desk, receiving a stink eye from Ikeda-sensei for his actions, and turned to Akane.
"Let's get out there before the Akiyama goons take our spot." She smiled at him, shaking her head at his antics before joining him in the doorway.
If there was anyone he could count on it was Akane. They had stuck together ever since he started helping his mom out at the orphanage, well whenever his dad wasn't trying to con him into learning blacksmithing.
They were walking down the hall when a commotion erupted behind them. Students were watching and whispering as Satomi sneered at someone in that annoyingly condescending voice of hers. Something about a princess?
"What's going on?" his red eyed friend asked, straining on her tiptoes to catch a glimpse of the action.
Noburu wasn't sure but most things involving Satomi were either interesting or bothersome; sometimes both.
"Dunno."
Backtracking, the duo pushed themselves through the crowd to see the pair of Hyūga from their class alongside another who Noburu recognized as Satomi's older brother Kenta. He only caught the tail end of what the toddler said but whatever it was, it made the older girl's face erupted in an angry red blush. He could never get a reaction like that from the girl; she'd always just insult him and walk away.
I wonder what she said.
There was a weird aura about the little girl, Junko. Her eyes, for one, didn't exactly match either of her clansmen, but the way she held herself was even stranger. There was an innocence in her clasped hands, overly long sleeves, and big eyes, but there was a touch of smugness in her smile that reminded him a lot of how his big brother acted when he knew something the younger boy didn't.
But as soon as he caught it, it was gone, replaced by a small earnest smile as she turned to the Hyūga boy.
"I will let Mei-obasan know that I am freeing you from your burden." The way she spoke and the words she used were weird, especially coming from such tiny voice. It was like she was an adult trapped inside a baby. Maybe the Hyūga implanted an adult brain in her tiny body! Was that even possible?
"I wouldn't want you to get in trouble, it's the least I can do."
No two-year-old spoke like that unless they had something done to them. Maybe it was a jutsu or something. He narrowed his eyes at her as she excused herself, the crowd moving to let her pass. He continued to watch her go, disappearing around the corner. The students around them erupted into chatter which soon faded away to the thought of lunch.
Noburu and Akane made their way to their favorite tree, the usually happy girl frowning.
"What's wrong Akane?"
The girl continued to frown, tugging a little at her ponytails. It was a habit she had for as long as he could remember, pulling at her hair whenever she was worried or thinking hard about something.
"Oh, it's nothing," she said, giving her hair another tug. "Just…didn't the little Hyūga seem a bit sad?"
How could he know, and why should he care? If she was much of a genius as the academy thought she was, she could handle it just fine. Besides, she was from a clan. She probably had a bunch of people waiting to dote on her when she got home, especially if she was a princess or whatever.
"They'll probably make up later," he shrugged, pulling his bento from his backpack.
"Noburu, don't be heartless," the blonde scolded, pulling out her own. "I mean, she's just a little kid!"
"But don't you think she's weird? Like genetically weird?" he insisted.
"Not another one of your theories Noburu," Akane sighed with a shake of her head.
It wasn't as though he was wrong all the time. And she was one to talk; she was convinced that Ikeda-sensei and the sensei next door were romantically involved with each other. Eww.
"She's like two years old Akane! She can't be at our level unless she's some kind of experiment or something."
At his insistence, she simply shook her head again and focused on her lunch, leaving the boy to his thoughts.
Junko Hyūga had to be something other than human. And he would prove it!
When the pair had returned from lunch, the first thing Noburu noticed was the little Hyūga sitting alone in her corner at the back of the room, scribbling down something in a notebook, eyebrows furrowed as she concentrated. What could she be possibly writing? She remained focused on whatever she was doing until more and more of their classmates returned to their seats, then she stashed it away. Weird.
Just as the two sat down in their seats, something akin to a breeze swept through the room. Noburu thought nothing of it at first, attributing it to the open window. Ikeda-sensei was grinning at something in the back of the classroom when suddenly the room was plunged into darkness.
"Ah! Akane! Sensei!?" he shouted in alarm.
There was nothing, the room completely gone. He couldn't even see his own hands as he looked down and around. What was this? It had to be a genjutsu. Having had Ikeda-sensei as an instructor for his entire time in the academy, he had no doubt she would pull something like this; she was infamously known as one of the more extreme instructors on campus. She was one of those showing versus telling kind of people; kind of like his father.
He went to call out again but was stopped by a pain that resonated throughout his brain. Noburu let out a cry of pain, squeezing his eyes tightly. When he opened them, the scene had changed. It was no longer the pitch black darkness, a familiar building standing tall in front of him on a street he knew well.
His father's shop.
It felt surreal, stepping towards it, even though a part of him knew it was just the effects of the genjutsu. He could smell the forge going as he got close, his father's voice coming out in its familiar low baritone. He hated this place.
The handle for the door was hot to touch and he yelped as he lurched backwards. What was going on? What was Ikeda-sensei trying to do? Smoke rose from underneath the door and Noburu's heart sank with fear.
"Otou-san! Kenji! Are you in there?" he cried out, banging on the door that remained unmoved no matter how hard he tried.
Then came the screams. They echoed all around him, seeming to come from the very ground he was standing on and from the walls of the shop. There was nothing on him to help open the door, and no matter how hard he banged or tugged on the door, it wouldn't budge. The smoke became thicker and thicker until he was forced to retreat before it suffocated him.
"Tou-" he coughed , the smoke following him, curling around his legs like a cat. The shop erupted in a blaze, the door disintegrating as flames licked the outside walls, coming to life in the open air.
"Tou-san!" Noburu screamed as the flames nipped at his open toes. The screams from the shop were whisked away by the roar of flames, and the boy could only look on in horror as the blaze completely consumed the building, obscuring it with smoke and fire.
He sat there uselessly, watching the building collapse into itself. And he screamed.
The scene repeated itself, over and over. And over and over the boy watched himself, watched his echo, uselessly run up to the door and try to pry it open, to somehow save the people inside.
Watched himself fail, over and over again.
He didn't notice when he started crying. He called out his father and brother's names, over and over again, but only the flames responded, time and time again. He didn't know how many times he had to watch himself run up to the building just to be turned back by fire and smoke. Watching his failure, over and over again until he couldn't watch any more.
But it didn't stop.
Why wouldn't his legs move?
Why wouldn't this just stop already?
He'd already seen enough!
"You can't save them Noburu," a familiar voice broke through the haze and his head shot up.
"Akane!"
The figure that stood in front of him was not the girl he knew for years. Instead, a shadowy figure towered above his crouched form, melding seamlessly with the smoking building behind them.
"You should just give up."
His words choked him on the way out.
"You're not real! This isn't real!" the boy cried, turning his head away. The smoky tendrils snaked around his shoulders, around his neck in a warm embrace.
He was suffocating.
From the smoke Akane's face emerged, her gentle red eyes staring at him.
"Give up Noburu."
He couldn't breathe. It felt too real, the warm smoke around his face, and her eyes. Akane's eyes seemed too real as they stared at him with pity.
"Just give up."
He could feel himself falling. There was only the smoke and her red eyes, the warmth of the fire caressing his arms as he sank deeper into the illusion.
Then something changed; subtly but insistently on the edge of his consciousness. A drip of water echoed somewhere at the back of his mind, soft but steady even as the flames grew louder around him. The smoke too grew stronger, until it was swept away by a tidal wave which rushed around him until he woke.
Noburu sputtered and coughed as his senses came back to him, collapsing onto his desk. He focused on the wooden texture of his desk against his face as he struggled to catch his breath. All that was a genjutsu? A shiver passed though him; he could still smell the smoke. As he composed himself, he was only slightly aware of the tiny hands on his back.
"Now that we've gotten that act of altruism out of the way, if Junko-chan will get back to her seat, we can get class started."
Ikeda-sensei's voice broke through the silence and the tiny hands disappeared. He only caught a glimpse of her honey tinted white eyes before the little Hyūga walked away. When had she moved? Akane was breathing heavily next to him as she too watched the little girl retreat to her corner in the back of the room, rubbing her eyes tiredly. The rest of the class was spent learning about the effects of genjutsu, but the boy couldn't focus on anything other than the fact that Junko Hyūga had helped him.
The ringing of the final bell was a godsend as Noburu draped his backpack over his shoulder.
"Let's get out of here before she puts us under another genjutsu," he mumbled to his companion who nodded in agreement.
Noburu couldn't help but look around as they exited the academy, hoping to catch a glimpse of the tiny Hyūga prodigy. Something didn't sit right with him. Why did she help him and Akane? It wasn't like she would gain anything from it. Still, another part of him, voiced by his mother of course, pushed him to thank the girl. He didn't want to think about what would've happened if she hadn't dispelled the genjutsu when she did.
Akane was on the same wavelength as she scanned the area for the girl.
"Ah, Hyūga-san!" she called out, and they watched as the little girl disappeared around the gates of the academy. Noburu's eyes twitched. What was it with Hyūga and their pretentiousness?
Tightening his bag around his shoulder, he took off, running out of the gates with Akane at his heels.
"Hyūga-san!" he called out this time but the tiny girl continued to walk in ignorant bliss, walking with a stride that was too smooth, too perfect for a toddler. Just as he caught up to her, he reached out to grab her shoulder but the Hyūga dodged, stepping simply to the side. The boy had too much momentum and unable to stop, he tripped over himself and face planted into the ground.
"Are you okay?" A high pitched voice asked as he pushed himself off the ground.
He coughed out an affirmative as Akane caught up to them, lending him a helping hand.
"Why didn't you stop?" he frowned, looking down at the little girl who barely came up to his elbows.
She blinked up at him then shrugged. "There are more than one Hyūga around here, you know."
Her tone was so matter-of-fact that Noburu deflated like a balloon. She did have a point, and that agitated him even more. Why were clan people so high and mighty all the time? As if they knew so much.
A light shake of his arm pulled him from his thoughts.
"Noburu…" The tone Akane used was two parts exasperated and one-part scolding. She knew where his thoughts had gone. He jerked away a little in response, eyeing the little girl for a moment before folding in a bow.
"Thank you for helping us!" The words fall out his mouth without decorum, the sooner they were gone the better. His red eyed friend echoed him, though much slower and clearer.
It was silent for a moment before the little Hyūga girl spoke.
"You're welcome." The two words were simple and she looked them both in the eyes once they rose.
"If that's all, I need to get home."
Akane stopped the girl before she could go, the same question bubbling in his mind.
"Junko-san, why did you help us?" she asked with a wary tone. They both had experience with the 'elite' of the village before, none of it good. The Akiyama twins came to the forefront of his mind as the little Hyūga princess looked up at them.
But she smiled. And it wasn't like Satomi's, full of contempt and maliciousness. It was understanding and real. Why?
"Would you rather I not have helped you?" she asked. They shook their heads; if he never faced off against a genjutsu user for the rest of his life, he could live happy. He could still feel the smoke on his skin.
"Does it really matter?" Junko questioned with a tilt of her head, reminding him that she was probably half his age, a baby basically. He had almost forgotten. He shared a look with Akane before shrugging.
"Clan kids don't usually stand up for us." He remembered the last time Ikeda-sensei had an in-class demonstration. He ended up almost burning his eyebrows off.
"And aren't you some kind of princess or something? I heard that from Satomi in the hallway." The older Hyūga girl was probably his least favorite person in the entire academy, or village even, but she knew a lot of stuff. And as annoying as it was, she was usually right.
The little Hyūga looked a bit uncomfortable at the question but shook her head.
"You shouldn't believe everything you hear."
Noburu frowned. Maybe it was a clan secret or something. Either way, the girl turned away from them with another smile.
"If you'll excuse me, I really do need to get home."
The next words she spoke surprised him. Because they were genuine.
"See you in class tomorrow."
Both of them stared at her disappearing form in silence before they responded in kind.
Being friends with Junko meant being surprised every day. The little girl, who had insisted she was four years old -he still didn't believe her- was a prodigy in every way. After watching her fight with the Uchiha, Noburu was even more convinced that clans were into some sneaky stuff. However, though he teased her about it constantly, Noburu was impressed by the amount of patience and understanding she had.
Over the few first months of their friendship, the girl had taught him and Akane new ways of remembering and understanding the material they covered in class, not once making fun of them for their lack of understanding. She even helped them improve in taijutsu class with all her observations.
Noburu remembered the first time he ever won a match against Satomi. It had been glorious. The look on her face as he sent her flying out of bounds with his minefield jutsu or jirai-gen was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. She hated him even more after that, and if he said he didn't take the most pride in that, he would be lying.
Today, like most days, Junko was teaching them something new. The trio was standing in one of the training fields that were available for cadets to use, and it was one of the Hyūga's favorites. It was a large field with a small lake in the center, which had a little island in the middle of it. The first time they had stumbled across it, Junko's eyes had lit up like fireworks, and for the first time, the little Hyūga looked like the small child she was.
She got excited about the most bizarre stuff.
And today, like most days, they started their many training sessions with an hour of meditation. When the girl had suggested it, he had been wary. He hadn't thought it would help at all, but she had gotten Akane's help in roping him into it, saying that it would help his spiritual chakra. He was honestly surprised when he started seeing results. Though he barely managed to get twenty-five minutes of actual meditation in each time, he could feel a slight difference in his chakra. Like he was more aware of it now.
Noburu waited semi-patiently for the girls to finish and once they came out their meditative states, it was time to get started.
"So what's on the agenda today Junko-sensei?" the boy asked as the little Hyūga stood from her lotus position, brushing off grass and dirt from her yukata.
It had started off as a joke at first but Junko, as she took most things, took it seriously. She had actually given them schedules on what to work on when they didn't meet up. And yeah, while they were helpful and everything, she could relax a bit on the extra work. At least she wasn't scary as Ikeda-sensei.
"I wanted to try water-walking today, if that's alright with you guys," she said it simply, as though it wasn't difficult. He still had trouble walking on solid surfaces.
"Do you really think we'll be able to do it?" Akane asked. She looked over the still surface of the lake they were seated next to, so clear that they could see the rocky bottom. The weather was still warm though it was the beginning of fall, but he didn't feel like taking a swim.
"If you meditated on your chakra like I've instructed you too," he knew she was taking a jab at him and whistled innocently, "your success rate should be reasonably high. But take it easy; it's not like walking up trees."
And just like always, Junko liked to really teach them. She was like a talking book.
"Don't expel too much chakra or else you'll break the surface. You only need enough to remain in balance with the tension of the water."
"Alright, let's do this." Noburu grinned at the end of her mini-lecture. He marched towards the edge of the lake, ready to step onto the water before a cloth covered hand grabbed his own.
"Be careful, Noburu-san." There was a bit of worry hidden on her tiny smug face. "We don't want another repeat of last time."
The tips of his ears burned red as he remembered the last time they tried working with chakra. The boy almost toppled several trees onto himself and the Hyūga. Not even Junko knew how he did that. Shaking his head, he pulled away from the tiny hand that held him.
"I know, I know! I'll be careful." Watching her step back and activate her byakugan, the girl gave him the go ahead.
He placed one shaky foot onto the surface of the lake, channeling a substantial amount of chakra to his feet. He looked at her again and she nodded with a smile on her face. Charged up, he placed his full weight on the water with both feet, surprised when he only sank a little bit.
"Good job Noburu!" Akane cheered from the bank and he threw up a thumbs up in victory.
"Of course!" He grinned, taking a few more steps further onto the lake.
"Noburu-san be careful," Junko warned. Her eyes were focused on his feet.
"Don't worry, I got this-" He began to say, right until he plunged into the slightly cold water.
Noburu blinked the water out of his eyes as his feet touched the bottom of the lake, standing up in the chest high water.
Akane hid a smile behind her hand and Junko sighed shaking her head, a smile of her own spreading across her face as her eyes returned to normal. A sheepish grin spread across his own face.
"Ha hah, oops?"
Wading back to shore, he was about to pull himself up when a tiny pale hand appeared in front of his vision. Shaking away his soaked bangs, he grinned up at the tiny Hyūga and grabbed onto her outstretched hand. With a surprising amount of strength, she helped him back onto the bank, not disturbed by the amount of water that dripped onto the sleeves of her yukata.
"Now, let's try that again shall we?"
For the rest of the afternoon, the trio practiced water walking, the pair of civilians falling a few more times than the Hyūga princess who remained relatively dry throughout the process, the lucky girl. And as they usually did, once they got the basics, they headed down to Tsukuda's where Miho-san threw towels at them along with some freshly brewed tea and dango.
And it was nice. For a couple of years, it had only been him and the red eyed girl, since they only really trusted each other. But the little clan kid they had come to know and care about had stepped into their lives so easily. She was always giving and teaching them without expecting anything in return as they could only give her their friendship, which she had accepted with a smile.
Sure, the war was going on and when or if they graduated at the end of the year, their little group would probably be broken apart in one way or another. But for this brief time, Noburu would enjoy this little slice of happiness while he could.
Author's Notes
Posted/Edited: September 27, 2016
Minor edits: January 31th, 2017
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As always, thanks for all the follows and favorites. Two hundred plus follows as of posting this chapter; kind of crazy but welcome to this silly brain child of mine everyone.
Reviews
Thanks Silmr3, KawaiiMinato, UniCryin, one who reads too much, starthedetective, k123, 372259, and Anseo for your lovely comments on the last chapter. I appreciate it!
As suggested by Anseo (whose comment ironically isn't showing up in the reviews), for the review section, I will summarize and answer some questions/comments here. So let's begin!
-Silmr3 suggested a time skip since reading about kids isn't interesting for long and I'd have to agree. I already have a mini skip slated for the next chapter and we'll only be in the pre-genin days for a few more chapters until things start to really pick up in the second arc.
-Anseo asked: Are Junko and Shisui the same age?
This gives me the chance to let you guys know all the ages of our little crew and others. The ages are as follows:
Junko- 4 years old
Shisui- 5 years old
Noburu, Akane, and Satomi- 8 years old
Kenta- 9 years old
Team Minato- around 11 years old
Never be afraid to leave questions in the reviews; as long as it won't reveal any major spoilers, I'm willing to answer any questions.
Next time on For a Chance at Happiness:
Chapter 10: Of Autumn Hills and Boomerangs