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Yuko lowered herself into a kneeling, yet balanced meditative position, legs folded beneath her. She closed her eyes and slipped into a light trance trying to find a steady calm. She took a deep breath, her blade arced with a fluid movement, and slashed upwards as she windmilled her blade into a thrust, shifting her stance from shin no kamae to suwari no tari remaining relaxed, but stable in her crouch. Her blade swished the air as it cut in its arc without trouble. She followed through, moving forward with three steps driving with her strike hard.
Carefully, she shifted into tachi no tori, delivering two swift stabs, driving off the ground with an explosive lunge turning a stab into a slash. As she turned to lunge again, setting her stance and adjusting her grip, perspiration ran down into her eyes as she began to push herself further, focusing on every millimetre of movement and her own internal struggles.
Now she was struggling to conquer her mental and emotional limitations, what impeded her in that fashion, and not her physical limitations ironically enough. She had yet to become more than just a warrior with a weapon and chakra. The goal was to become an extension of chakra itself. Yuko had begun her training in the Domou compound by learning the basic techniques common to all methods taught within. She chose a more practical method with the guidance of the Blademasters. It emphasized speed, explosive power, and synthesized actual combat through intense sparring.
This allowed her to use her size and swift movements to her best advantage. She had learned long ago that brute strength wasn't her facet, but being quick and witty. Part of this learning experience had occurred during the desert wars. At that time she had spent the better part of two hours each morning practicing her techniques with her live blade under the Ahiko's observant eyes.
At the moment she was using a Domou training blade. Unlike the thick and heavy bokken, this one was made of steel and alloy with blunted edges. This training blade, like the others, were crafted specifically so that their balance and heft mimicked the live blades, that could be considered condensed chakra of the person wielding it, turning the single edge blade into an omni-directional cutting blade.
It was without question that a solid blow could inflict serious damage, but since a live blade did not work that way, each training blade was also covered with a toxin coming from the deadly shell bugs in the forest. With a direct hit, the minuscule barbs that these creatures would protrude from their exoskeleton could pierce the weave of any fabric and armor.
The venom would then cause the flesh to burn, itch, and blister at the point of impact depending on the depth of the puncture. Temporary paralysis set in at the point of impact, leaving any limb struck all but useless from that point forward. This provided an excellent way to mimic the effects of losing a hand, finger, arm, or leg to a live blade in combat.
When using the thick and heavy bokken such levity couldn't be allowed, nor were they used explicitly for sparring either, because if one didn't meet the attack with these bokken, they'd surely be struck down as if they were struck by a real live blade.
Yuko lunged forward, moving her blade under, to the side, turned it over, and cut diagonal to her left and then right before she jumped forward with a slash, struggling to windmill it into a thrust, angling her blade down so its trajectory was towards the left knee as opposed to the left side of the ribs. Her legs shifted apart, sliding across the smooth ground as she drove her weight forward, but she maintained their purchase.
She struggled to find the halfway point, where she could transition from one strike to the next, so that her blade had the appearance as if it were bending to her foe's eyes. The space around her was filled with her grunts and the swisherwish sound as her blade sliced the air. She had always spent her time alone for the better part growing up, in hindsight there was no sense of camaraderie at the Uchiha compound. The apprentices and students were rivals, plain and simple. In many ways it wasn't that different from her days in the desert.
Now, however, the isolation she had always known was worth it.
With the Domou she was learning the secrets of the method.
Yuko stopped her next thrust short, and shifted her footing while straightening her wrist, turning so she changed the angle of her blade mid-motion from a horizontal slash to a vertical slash skewing at an odd angle. After several swift strokes with an altered footing she hummed in approval. She repeated the single move over and over, careful to maintain the height and angle of the blade exactly as Shinpachi had shown her in the compound.
Only when the movement was ingrained completely would she move on to incorporating it into more complicated maneuvers and observe the movement itself with her Sharingan through visualization. Exhaling a crisp breath, she firmed her stance and drew her blade back taking the Waki Tori stance, breathing heavily from her exertions and lightning fast wrist work.
Yuko's eyes flashed crimson and the lattice of reality around her faded into a distant memory.
"It is obvious you won't back down. I'll deal with you." Tobirama slowly drew out his blade.
Yuko set her stance, trying to pay as little mind to the fire and gore around her. She set her hand on the hilt, smoothly drew the blade out, then, with the formalities over, she lunged at Tobirama, delivering a sudden and devastating thrust. But, with hardly any movement, Tobirama shifted away from the strike. Yuko turned her blade to the side. Tobirama continued with his pinpoint stabs at the swift woman's torso. But Yuko didn't even seem to move either. She didn't step back or to the side, yet her subtle parries and own feverish attack kept the Senju's blade slashing and stabbing just inches away from any possible decisive strike.
It went on and on for many moments, but eventually both of their flurries began to slow, and Tobirama, recognizing the uselessness of his attempt to overwhelm the woman, and end the battle with little energy expended or damage done, stepped back from his attack. With a sudden burst of power, Yuko flew forward, her blade arcing so quickly that its glint was only exceeded by the sharp swish it made as it sliced the space in front of her. Tobirama held strong despite the violent glint, and narrowly dodged what would have been a slash to his armpit.
He grunted, forced to make sure each dodge was timed immaculately with a slight shift of footing, that allowed him to shift backwards on the balls of his feet, or else Yuko's transitional strikes would have struck him at least twice. Tobirama reversed his grip and stabbed out behind him, intercepting the brutal blow that would have bisected him by the waist, turned the blade over, and shoved Yuko hard to nearly knock her off balance. With a growl of impotent rage, Tobirama reached more deeply into his reserves, letting it flow through him and into his blade, as if his physical form was a mere conduit for its power.
His tempo increased dramatically, and despite the odd movements he executed, with surprised speed, he remained perfectly balanced all the while. His fighting style was one based on speed and balance, on the back-and-forth charges, the pauses, thrusts, sudden retreats, counters, and now he came at Yuko with a series of cunning stabs, angled down, up, and right.
He could never arc into her left shoulder, for Yuko seemed to be on high alert for any attack coming in that particular direction, parrying each blow and offering uncanny counters that had Tobirama increasing his speed again. He stabbed low, turning the angle of his blade in anticipation that Yuko would dodge left or right. But Yuko, veered neither left nor right, but rather, shifted her stance slightly. Tobirama snapped his footing, retracting the missed thrust, and swept around using the momentum he gained, and began a second stab seamlessly, this time aimed high.
Yuko had anticipated that, too, and went right back up behind the stabbing blade.
A sudden shift of footing by Tobirama had Yuko quick-stepping back for the first time, and then thanks to her Sharingan, she flipped up and back avoiding his swift counter to her shoulder. The furious Tobirama pursued, thrusting hard for her head. And, in his laser focus, when his stab missed yet again, he reverted to a shifting cutting attack. Yuko's blade caught the blow, and she braced herself against it before binding it, holding the Senju's blade down and getting on his side, locking the two in a contest of strength, physical and of chakra.
Off to the side, Souji understood that Yuko was battling against her innermost limitations, using the Sharingan to only give clarity to those. She couldn't beat the white haired Senju in combat whenever they had encountered each other. She was always expending many times the energy of the efficient Tobirama, and as soon as she tired in the midst of fighting him...
Tobirama never hesitated to take his opening.
Souji knew that he had to do something to help her break past the limitations her own mind set up. He tried to come forward, but winced and stepped back, unable to help his observant nature and curiosity from getting the better of him. It would be better if Yuko discovered it for herself. As he collected his thoughts, he reached out with this chakra instead to try and see what she was seeing.
"Your Sharingan keeps on saving you, but don't think it's going to last. I know how those eyes work." Tobirama sneered, and he cut at Yuko.
Yuko caught it without ever breaking the flow of her movement, putting the exchange into a swirling flow. Yuko sought to work worked the blades in perfect harmony, spinning them over and about with blinding speed and precision. Tobirama was more chaotic, flashing his blade ahead and back with equal precision, picking off attack after attack and even countering once or twice to interrupt the flow of Yuko's fluid attacks.
Then Tobirama retracted impossibly fast, drawing himself back, and Yuko's down-cutting blade hit nothing but air. The Senju took his opening and stabbed straight ahead, intercepting the blade. His hands furiously worked up, inside, and over, then back around with a sudden twist, trying to launch the sword from Yuko's grasp. She held it fast, slackening her speed and power when his arms shot upward. Tobirama went on the offensive immediately despite the counter, driving Yuko back with a quick flurry.
She fought hard to regain her high point, but Tobirama was starting to attack relentlessly, thrusting and slashing, keeping Yuko parrying and deflecting.
And then he stopped, suddenly, and almost on reflex, Tobirama lunged for her, roaring and slashing hard.
"You got ahead of yourself! You damn high handed Senju!"
Yuko stabbed ahead and slashed out suddenly, intercepting not Tobirama's blade, but the Senju's wrist. Half of the mesh armor protecting the arm flew to the side in a spray of shreds.
Tobirama gave Yuko another of his harsh glares, looking at the mesh armor. "Hmph. Sharingan."
Yuko's eyes burned crimson, rotating violently. "Your arrogance."
Reality came back to Yuko as she found the composure to speak. While her crimson eyes revolved, turning the vision into a ripple, she kept herself strong and almost with caution she brought her blade up, sheathing it carefully. She was right below the east balcony of their lodge, overlooking the canals, nearby lakes, forests, and the budding sunrise.
She took a breath, kneading out the memories and the tension from her body, kneeling by the vines, so deep in thought that she did not seemingly notice his approach.
"Souji."
"Do you want to be alone?"
"Your presence has a lot of strength." Yuko slowly opened her chocolate brown eyes, looking towards him.
"You had a nightmare last night."
"I didn't." Came the quiet, yet firm reply.
"I heard you, Yuko. Whether it is memories or something deeper..." Souji was brusque in his answering.
Yuko turned to regard the older man full on. There was no compromise in his expression-he knew perfectly well that her claim to not having a nightmare was ludicrous, and he let her know that he knew it.
"I saw them..." She admitted, lowering her gaze. "I saw them as clearly as I see you now."
"As clearly as you seen Tobirama just now?"
"Yes." Yuko replied quietly, nodding stiffly.
"Who did you see?" Souji asked, moving toward her.
"Kameyata...The Hageshii and Shainingu...Ajo and his Shimura...The people who were caught up in the middle..."
When he looked at her more closely, Souji noted there wasn't a stout determination so solid that it took him by surprise, but watery empathy and remorse...What took him by surprise were the tears falling freely from Yuko's eyes to streak down her cheeks.
"I know I shouldn't be crying like this..."
"It's fine, Yuko. It's fine. None of us are numb to what we do. We no longer hold to that creed." Souji insisted, clenching her shoulder hard.
He could see from her expression and teary eyes that she meant it, that killing anything or anyone was the last thing she ever wanted to do.
Yuko gave him an appreciative nod. "I'll go with so I can speak with Hisao-sama."
"Hm?"
"So he can give us a fuinjutsu." She decided.
Souji's eyes narrowed.
"That way, we can continue to protect what is precious to us and those who are precious to us..." Yuko reasoned.
Somehow she made it sound perfectly logical.
"I don't think there is much that can be done pertaining to certain fuinjutsu. With this line of thought we could be walking right into danger."
"Walking into danger...Force the issue. Someone will force the issue at some point. Even if it's not us." Yuko echoed, rubbing at her eyes.
Souji stared at her, hardly believing what he was hearing. For some reason he did not quite understand, he found a good measure of justification in allowing Yuko to speak her piece to Hisao when the time came, now that Yuko was in on, and agreeing with, the plan they were shooting for long term.
"The Elemental Nations are all in a tumult that will soon turn into a conflagration of strife and power plays sacrificing humans to the Bijuu, but have no fear, Yuko Uchiha has the cure." Souji said.
Yuko turned to him, somewhat surprised by the level of sarcasm in Souji's tone.
"It's what we try to do. It is what we are trying to do."
"It's all some of us only try to do."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Yuko asked, her face twisting with puzzlement.
"Liberator...With liberating other lands and countries, you will probably have many more battles ahead of you." Souji said.
He looked back at the canals, watching as parents called for their children to ease up.
"You speak as if it's a bad thing. You devote yourself day and night, Souji." Yuko remarked.
Souji looked at her carefully, turning his gaze away after a moment of reflection, unable to deny that she was correct to an extent.
"It's a great thing to devote time and energy, day and night...If you're doing it all for the right reasons."
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
Souji shook his head, as if he wasn't quite sure how to word it. "I think you've convinced yourself that you're just a tool meant for killing."
"Souji!"
"Tell me I am wrong then, without any doubts." Souji insisted.
Yuko remained quiet.
"You've performed your duties with no fear and no hesitation. You've served your time. Will you not spend the rest of your time outside of this brutal life?"
Yuko's silence showed that Souji's words had caught her off guard. "The era is brutal. What would I do if I didn't do my duties?"
Souji looked back to the families below them on the canals. "Look at them. I see the sparkle in your eyes when you watch children and families. I know how much you love them and the idea of family."
"Of course I do!"
"Wouldn't you like to have children of your own? A family of your own? Has Izuna not spoken to you about this?"
Yuko sat up straighter, her eyes going wide. "I..."
She started, and stopped, several times.
Souji remained silent, letting her work through it.
"I'm working right now for something we all deeply believe in. For something that's important."
"And after all of this is settled, after ending the slave trade, killing all those who practice it, and handling the shinobi villages...When all of this is far behind you, you'll find something else to deeply believe in, something else that's really important. Something that concerns the world and the government system more than it really concerns you as an individual."
"Souji...How can you say that?"
"It's the truth, and you know it's the truth. When are you going to do something just for yourself?"
"I am."
"You know what I mean, Yuko."
She gave a little exasperated sigh and a shake of her head, and turned back to the peaceful scenery below. "Is everyone, especially women to be defined by their children or simply having children?"
"Of course not, naturally. Some put a lot of stock into it, but they only end up turning the whole family and village against each other and starting a civil war. Children are important, but it is about instilling the proper ethics and mentality that will keep those children from being pulled every which way as they grow older and mature in this life." Souji replied.
Yuko tilted her head. "What about you? You spend all of your time dealing with the problems of other people, of this villlage's dispute with that village, of this clan and that clan, of this noble and that damiyo, or whether this trade tycoon is acting fairly toward the village its housed in. All of your energy is being thrown out there. Even you and I being here proves that."
"What's wrong with that?"
"What about your life, Souji?" Yuko asked in all seriousness.
"What about you? Have you even thought about what might make your life better right now? Most people and shinobi who have been in battle and alive as long as you have been would have retired by now or died in combat. I know you get satisfaction in helping other people and fulfilling your duties. That's been obvious to me since the first day we seen each other and training began."
"What are you saying then?"
"What about something deeper for you? What about love? And yes, what about having children? Have you even thought about it? Have you even wondered what it might be like for you to settle down and concern yourself with those things that will make your own life fuller? Have you considered Izuna's feelings or thoughts in the matter-while you are quick to lay your life on the line...He might desire other things."
Yuko wanted to retort that her life didn't need to be any fuller, that Izuna's constant badgering was just an annoyance, but she found herself holding back the words.
Somehow they seemed hollow, harsh, and hypocritical to her at this particular moment.
She never wanted to kill-never wanted to harm anyone...She loved Izuna dearly.
"Have you thought of those things that will make your life fuller?" Yuko prodded, trying to get the attention off of her.
Souji shrugged. "If I can find a woman that would compliment me and push me, I'd have no problem marrying. The problem is too many just want to marry me and give birth to children. I don't want twenty kids. I need more than a housewife who raises the children in my absence...I need a partner."
"Like a comrade in arms?" Yuko asked.
Souji thought about it, not quite nodding or shaking his head. "Something like that. She'd remind me of certain details and back me up when I need it. If I could find a woman like that, I'd happily marry her and have children, but I haven't been able to find such a woman...However, you are the wife of Izuna."
Yuko absorbed the words, maintaining her silence. Her eyes clouded with emotions as she looked at the families below, the moms, dads, grandpas and grandmas, cousins, second cousins, and so forth...They were all living in peace and going about their lives with no fear.
There was no stringent training, no drive for victory, no drive for domination...
They were all alive and happy...
There weren't broken families...
She wondered how would it be if she were to have little ones beside her, holding her hands, and Izuna walking just a few inches ahead to keep guard over them. For, she knew if she lost her little one, if any harm, or even the threat of it came too close to her little one...The full brunt of her fury and hatred would be unleashed upon whoever was so foolish to ever tread over that line in the first place. In the end, children would only bring her doom. This she knew in her heart.
Recent events were proof of that-those mothers and fathers who lost young in the Sarutobi's and Hyuga's attack never recovered, were still inconsolable, and were the voices calling for revenge or isolation.
"I have to do this, Souji...I have to go to the Water country. I must end the slave trade and kill all who practice it, all who practice anything like it. My mother and I talked before...I will kill evil swiftly."
Souji regarded Yuko with a serious expression, then turned his focus back outside to the vast ocean in the distance and the beaming sun, finding a sliver of peace.
"If you were to become a recluse...And disassociate yourself from all of that killing you will do...Under the pretense of slaying evil swiftly..."
Something in Yuko recoiled and she could barely control herself, let alone school her facial expressions well enough to shroud the grief that struck her. She found her throat closing and her heart constricting as if it were being squeezed.
Souji bowed his head the slightest, where it could be considered a shift. "Just think long and hard about it, Yuko. A captain or leader's duty is far more than just killing and giving orders."
Yuko was even more surprised hearing that, so much so her eyes visibly widened as she focused on Souji.
"Me?"
Souji nodded. "It has always been Mikito's wish to make you a captain. Madara and I had other thoughts about it, but it looks like my sister was right about you."
"Why would I be made a captain or leader?"
"You have proven yourself more than capable on more than one occasion. Shin and Kagami only have good things to say about your leadership. That is why you need to consider everything, Yuko. I must do the very same thing myself. All of us have too...I understand why Hashirama, Katsu, and anyone else who founds a village does it...They are dynamic and not static. There's a tidal wave of change coming that none of us are ready for...There is...Revolution..."
It was a scene of simplicity, of children playing and adults walking across arched canals with neatly trimmed hedgerows. It was a scene of absolute normalcy for Uzushiogakure, but it was nothing like Yuko had ever witnessed in her short, but very long lifetime on the mainland. In the Uchiha compound, the houses had been singular, ostentatious, and overly flamboyant depending on who owned the home, all of them were spaced apart by an acre or two of land, or they were clustered tightly in cities like those in the desert region, with its hustle and bustle and bright colors and brighter characters.
In the Domou compound there were no streets or canals like this in design and fashion. There were no hedgerows and trees lining the ground so neatly, they were wild, gigantic, and overwhelming in every sense of the word. The first time she had been in the compound she was awe struck and terrified at the same time of the sheer magnificence of what was the Domou's and Subatsu's land.
People did not gossip, with children running carefree about them, in either place.
To Yuko, it was a scene of simple beauty.
"There's where we have to meet Hisao." Souji said.
Yuko blinked, startled from her daydreams. She followed his gaze to see a simple but tasteful structure, surrounded, like everything on Uzushiogakure, by flowers, trees, beaches, and vines.
Neither started off immediately for the door, but Yuko didn't follow right away.
"Yuko?" Souji ventured from some distance ahead, when he noticed that she was not following.
"Sorry, I was-" The distracted Yuko struggled to answer, and she was interrupted by the squeals of two little boys, running out from the front yard toward Souji.
"Souhi! Souhi!"
Yuko tilted her head as the encounter unfolded. "Souhi. Do they mean Soushi? You prefer Souji, and sometimes you'll write it as just Soji depending on what document you are signing."
"They mean Soushi. My mother named me Soushi, and certain people in our compound call me Soushi like she did, but for the most part everyone has always called me Souji."
Yuko blinked, rubbing at her nose. "I don't remember Ahiko ever calling you Soushi."
"I asked her not to in front of crowds. She doesn't always have the skill to resist making an outburst, that is why I would leave the room or bring her with me."
Yuko arched her brow, vaguely getting an impression of Madara despite Souji, clearly, being much different than the intense and emotional Uchiha. A similarity she was starting to see was the fact both Madara and Souji were not fond of being put on the spot by their obnoxious siblings.
Souji bent low to meet the pair, who looked to be no more than a few years old, one a bit taller than the other. One had short, tufty dark red hair, the other, the older of the two, had hair that was a lighter shade of red.
"Ranouna. Koushiui." Souji greeted them with modesty.
"We happy to see you." The younger of the brothers-Koushiui said.
Souji led them toward Yuko.
"This is Yuko. Yuko, this is Ranouna and Koushiui."
The blush on the pair as they shyly said hello almost brought a burst of laughter from Yuko and a smile to Souji's face, though Yuko seemed to be as equally ill at ease as the two children. Their awkwardness only lasted as long as a second as they went back to chasing each other and laughing as loud as they could. Yuko turned back to Souji, noting that he was no longer looking her way, but had turned toward the house, where another woman, who looked very much like some Uzumaki women she's seen thus far, was approaching.
Not exactly like them, Yuko noted.
She was a little older, a little heavier, and a little more...
Worn.
Worn was the only word she could think of.
But not in a bad way.
Yes, she could see it now.
Watching as she and the two boys hugged tightly, and Souji and the woman embraced for a short second. This was whom Souji could become more settled with, more content in the presence of, perhaps. It was almost ironic that the Uzumaki could possibly be the ones to sheath Souji.
Considering the amazing resemblance, Yuko was hardly surprised when Souji introduced the woman at his side, Kinuko, mother of the two little hyper boys.
"Hisao-dono and Amane-chan will be so happy to see you. It's been a difficult few weeks here." Kinuko said.
Yuko frowned. She knew that word of the attempts of the Water damiyo's assault would have reached the ears of the Uzumaki, and that was possibly the most disturbing thing of all to her. If the Water damiyo's all out blitzkrieg with everyone else reached the ears of the peaceful, isolated people than that could only mean it was reaching the ears of foreigners...
Souji could see it all on her face, and he understood it well, and he admired her all the more for that generosity that had always been innate in her. Yuko wasn't really afraid of anything-she could handle the reality of her current situation, the reality of the fact that there was going to be bloody times ahead, with determination, austere, resolve, valor and courage. The one thing about it all that would be trouble for her, aside from the geo-political ramifications of such distractions, was the effect of such danger upon those she loved and held most precious.
He knew that the last thing she ever wanted to do was bring pain to her family.
Souji, who had lost his mother on the cusp of turning thirteen, could appreciate that.
"Honami-sama and Akiko-san are making dinner. Your timing is almost perfect." Kinuko explained, noting the slight discomfort and generously changed the subject.
The interior of the house was just as wonderful and just as full of life and soft color as was the yard. There were no glares from statues, no echoes of fire jutsu being unleashed or the screams of youngsters being trained by the hardened veterans of war. The furniture was plush and comfortable. The floors were made of cool stone rather than tatami mats. This was not a building as Yuko had known in the many villages she'd been in, and not a hovel, as she had known all too well in the Uchiha compound.
Seeing this place, this yard, this home, made the young woman even more convinced that if she had grown up in Uzushiogakure, this peaceful land, she would never leave. The next introductions were a bit more uncomfortable, but only for a moment, as Kinuko showed Souji and Yuko to Amane, Akiko, Eiji, and Honami. Hisao, still a strong-shouldered man in his elderly age with a face that was plain and strong and compassionate all at once.
Honami introduced herself next, and Yuko knew that the woman was the mother without being told. The moment she met her, she understood where the Uzumaki siblings had gotten their beaming and sincere smiles, a look that could disarm a mob of bloodthirsty ronin raiders.
Honami's face had that same comforting quality, that same obvious generosity.
Soon after, Yuko, Souji, and Hisao were sitting at the dinner table, comfortably quiet and listening to the bustle in the next room, which included the clanking of stoneware plates and cups, and Amane repeatedly saying it's way too much.
"I doubt they've been starving all the way from their resting lodge." An exasperated Akiko said as she exited the kitchen, glancing back over her shoulder as she spoke.
She returned carrying a bowl full of fruit.
"Enough to feed a village?" Minuko asked Akiko quietly as her older cousin put the bowl on the table.
"You know Mom and Amane. Amane says it's too much, mom says it's not enough, then Amane has to go and agree with her at the last second. Always conceding to the point." Came the answer, and the tone told Yuko that Honami and Amane could both be quite the hostesses.
Despite the fact that she had eaten recently, the bowl of fruit looked temptingly good and even sweeter.
"No one has ever left our home hungry." Hisao explained.
"Well, one person did once." Eiji corrected.
"Mom chased him down." Akiko said.
They were still chuckling when Honami and Amane entered the room, holding an even larger bowl of steaming food, which of course only made the Minuko and Akiko laugh all the louder.
But then Honami fixed an imposing stare over her family and the chuckling quieted.
"Everyone arrived just in time for dinner. I know what that means."
She set the plate down near Yuko and put her hand on her shoulder. "I hope you're hungry, Yuko. I know you love to train, so you have to make sure you eat as well."
"A little." She looked up and gave Honami a warm smile.
Amane sighed while shaking her head in exasperation. "We're ready to eat."
Honami grinned widely and nodded, offering superior glances at Akiko and Hisao, who just laughed again.
It was all so comfortable to Yuko, so natural and so...So much like what she had always been wanting in her life, though perhaps she had not known it until this very moment. This would be perfect, absolutely perfect, except that her mother nor Ahiko were here. A brief cloud passed over her face as she thought of her mother back in the compound, and considered the horrifying nightmares that had been having their way and invading her sleep as of late.
She pushed the thoughts away quickly and glanced around, glad that no one seemed to have noticed.
"If you're starving from that hard training, make sure to eat." Hisao said, looking at Yuko as he finished.
"Yeah, don't hold back. We've had a good tomato harvest." Akiko said amicably.
Amane and Honami took their seats and began passing the food bowls around.
Yuko took a good helping of several different dishes. The food was all vegetable and fruit for the most part, with steamed fish and possibly octopus, but the smells told her that she wouldn't be disappointed. She sat quietly, listening with half an ear to the chatter all about her while she ate. She was thinking of her mom again, of how she wished she could bring her here, to live the serene life she so deserved.
Some minutes passed before Yuko tuned back in, bringing herself out of her internal world, cued by the sudden seriousness in Amane's voice as she spoke.
"Souji-san, I am glad to see you safe. We were so worried hearing about the blood letting that happened in the desert region and there were other vicious rumors going about."
Yuko looked up to see the disapproving glare that Honami answered with.
"Amane-"
Hisao obviously trying to dispel the tension before it could really begin, put his hand on Honami's arm. "Dear it's fine-"
"I know, but Amane must understand the implications of her words." Honami remained firm.
Hisao smiled easily. "She understands."
"I had to say it. Now it's done."
Akiko gently cleared her throat, smiling in a friendly manner despite the obvious tension. "Well, this is exciting. Do you know, Yuko-san...You're the only woman that Souji has ever brought before us in this kind of setting?"
"Akiko!" Amane exclaimed.
Akiko rolled her eyes.
Eiji quietly munched on his fruit slices. "Souji-san frees women from bondage. It's not a love affair for him."
Yuko felt herself blushing just a little. "He isn't my boyfriend or anything like that. He's a sensei to me and has been assigned by Takeo-sama to protect me on this journey."
"Souji is your sensei?" Akiko asked with great surprise. "Oh, Yuko-san, you have no need to be so modest."
Amane's sigh was intermixed with a groan. "There is nothing going on between them, sister. Anyway, Souji-san and Yuko-san only have a teacher and student relationship. We've known Souji-san for years and he would have told us something. Besides, I heard that Yuko-san is Izuna Uchiha's wife."
"You never know..." Akiko said, taking a sip of tea.
"Nothing like that is going on." Yuko said, trying to remain firm, but felt as if she was failing miserably.
A couple of hums of recognition came back in response, along with nodding heads.
Yuko glanced at Akiko and saw that she was staring at her, scrutinizing her.
She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"Souji...When are you going to settle down?" Honami asked.
Souji stared at her.
"Haven't you had enough of that merciless life?"
"I'm not in any immediate danger." Souji said.
"Is he? He has a bad habit of down playing certain things." Akiko asked Yuko.
The young woman stared at Akiko, Honami, and the others recognizing the honest concern radiating from them. This gracious Uzumaki family, who obviously worried about Souji so much given Amane's statement before they ate, deserved to know the truth and nothing less than that. Even if she'd get the classic look of irritation from Souji.
"Yes, I'm afraid he is."
Even as the words left her mouth, Yuko could see Souji's eyes tighten in nothing short of obvious irritation.
"Ahiko-san is making him rest. So he isn't in much danger, right now. He has to wait until she clears him, even though he would rather not wait. Ahiko-san doesn't argue with her patients." She added quickly, and she turned to Souji, offering an apologetic smile.
"She thought it prudent to give I and those who were with me when battling Atsushi Akimichi some time away from anything that can cause strain...Under the protection of the healers to monitor anything." Souji added, his tone casual, showing no reflections of the annoyance he felt.
"It seems everyone is seeing to the matter at large, though it would appear everyone has their own means, motives, and ulterior motives for doing it. Still, it will be long until things should be well enough."
Yuko's next breaths came harshly as the statement seized her in a grip. Amane, and even Honami, seemed to tense up like she did seized in the very same grip that was making her squirm. Yuko knew that she had done well, but she was surprised to see that Hisao was still staring at her, still as stone, as if he was seeing her inner tumult play out in front of him. She gave him a quizzical look, but Hisao only smiled slightly as he closed his eyes and set his hands down at his sides.