Please R&R!
Iruka had been moping around lately. He didn't think I noticed, but I knew he missed Naruto. The blonde brat had become like a little brother to him, or maybe more of a son...That was still up in the air.
"Uka looks sad." Aurora said to me after he left for work. Lately, we'd taken to staying over at his place. Though it was a little small, Iruka was stubborn and didn't seem interested in moving into my place.
"Hm?" I played along for Aurora as we got ready to leave.
"We should cheer him up!" She beamed. What she had in mind though, she never said. I could think of a few, but none of them were exactly PG.
Back home, I lead her to our tiny backyard for some much needed training. I had fallen behind on her and regretted not at least making her learn the basic forms. Luckily, she was a fast learner and had the basic katta forms down within a few hours.
When we got to chakra control however, she faltered. Freezing and unfreezing things she could do just fine, it was controlling what she froze was the problem. First it was the grass, then the bird bath and then finally the bottle she was supposed to freeze. This frustrated her to the point she had a tantrum and froze the entire yard.
"Maa...you did good." I assured her as she pouted in the middle of the yard.
"I can't!" She sobbed, upset she couldn't get the yard cleared of ice. At least she'd got it to the point it was just frost. The plants however might not survive this training.
"Yes you can. Remember what I told you?" I looked up from my Icha Icha book to see her kick the frosty grass and crosses her arms. "You need to focus." Teaching Genin was a breeze compared to this.
She huffed again, throwing herself on the ground. Solid ice radiated from around her in a spiral pattern. I had to stop a full outfit before the poor roses died.
"Alright, that's enough." I sighed, closing my book. I had to use my chakra to keep myself from slipping on the ice. "Deep breath." I knelt down and rubbed her back as she cried in frustration into the grass. She said something but I didn't hear it. "Hm?" I tried to get her to sit up to look at me.
"I don't want it!" She sobbed. The ice was starting to climb up the oak tree in the yard. Someone was bound to see if I didn't get her to calm down.
"Don't want what?" I asked, scooping her up and pulling her close. I sat in the grass with her in my lap, waiting for her to tell me. I watched the ice turn a pale pink when it caught the sunlight. What in the…?
"I don't want the ice…" she said softly, rubbing her eyes. "I don't like it."
"Maa...why?" I wanted to know her reasons.
"Everyone is scared of me." She laid her head against my chest, the ice turned back to a normal bluish shade. I had to figure out why it changed color.
"Well, that's because they don't understand. They don't see what a gift you truly have." She looked up at me, her purple eyes full of questions that she couldn't put into words. "You have a...unique ability that not a lot of people have. That scares them, but it doesn't mean you should stop." I noticed the ice was melting, leaving little puddles in its wake.
"Even If I can't control it?" She asked.
"Especially then. The more practice you get, the more control you'll have." This put a fire in her eyes, a determined look crossed her face. She got up out of my lap, and touched a muddy puddle. The puddle froze, but to my surprise it rose up into an icicle as tall as her. Despite the fact that the water was dirty, it was crystal clear now. She has more control than I thought…
"Look it!" She cried excitedly. I must have looked shocked, because she got the look she gets when she was in trouble. "I did bad?"
"No! Er...no." I composed myself. "You...did well." Better than I imagined. This made her beam and proceeded to do that with all the puddles. Soon, the yard was full of icicles of various sizes and shapes, making it look like a spiky, winter wonderland. I had to stand to avoid getting poked. Eventually she got tired from the chakra drain, but it took longer than normal. I need to do more research…
"Maa...good job." I was thoroughly impressed. Never in all my years had I seen someone so young perform this well. Well, maybe except Itachi.
We had just made it inside when a flash of chakra behind me appeared. I turned to see Tenzō in the middle of the icicle labyrinth. The look on his face was priceless.
"Come to join the party?" I asked, making him look up at me.
"What happened? I felt an odd chakra coming from here." He asked, stepping over the slowly melting ice. Aurora's chakra was fading from it and making it melt faster than it normally would. I expected by noon the yard would be a mud pit.
"Just us." I said as Aurora hugged my leg, looking out to see who it was. This made Tenzō do a double take, shocked she was the one to do it. Maybe I should start letting a few people know about her.
"She...you...why would you…?" I held my hand up to silence his stammering.
"Not really something I wanted to shout to the world." I told him as I picked up the sleepy redhead. She laid her head on my shoulder, chakra depletion taking over. "Honestly, she surprised me too. Want to come inside?" I wasn't sure who else could be nearby. If Tenzō sensed it, so did the rest of the ANBU. I didn't need them breathing down my neck.
Tenzō sat at the table, hot tea untouched in front of him, as I explained everything about Aurora. He never took his eyes off her, still asleep in my arms, fussing if I tried to set her down. Tenzō took it in, learning of her Yuki and Hōzuki heritage and how her powers were starting to show.
"Those clans...they're of Mist origin." He seemed to be talking himself through this. "Does that mean hunter nin have tried to come for her?" He worried, but I shook my head.
"Either they think she's dead or have given up." I'd need to look into that again, to make sure no one was after her. My answer made Tenzō's face darken, like he knew something I didn't. "Unless...you've heard something?"
He sighed, the weight of it not lost to me. "There's a rumor going around that the Mist has sent out tracker ninja in the area. No one has confirmed it as of yet, but…" he looked at Aurora. "I have a feeling I know what they're after."
My mind swirled with different reasons as to why, but the only one that made sense was Tenzō's theory. But the question was, why now after all this time?
After agreeing to let an ANBU agent hang around my house, Tenzō left to report about a mission he'd come from. I was glad he had stopped by, with this new information I could set better traps around the house. I was setting one up outside the front door when Iruka showed up. I wondered how he found my home before coming to the conclusion that Aurora must have led him here at some point.
"Fine, I admit your place is bigger." He joked as I let him in. "But that doesn't mean I'm moving in." Wouldn't that be a dream.
"Ma, I never asked." I watched him pout a little, deciding that was a very cute look on him.
"What the…" he had walked into the small dining area and was looking out the sliding glass door. "Why is your yard so muddy?" The realization hit him as soon as he said it.
"Training." I shrugged, spinning a chair around and resting my chin on the back of it. "Wasn't like my yard was pristine anyway." Not with my ninkin...they loved to dig.
"How did she do?" He sat next to me, choosing not to sit in it backwards like me.
"She...did better than I thought. Have you ever heard of ice that changes color?" The look of shock told me he hadn't either.
"No?" He said slowly, wondering what the hell I was talking about.
"Maa...I'm sure it's nothing." But he didn't let me go without explaining. I sighed at his determination. "Her ice turned pink when she got upset."
"Pink? That's odd…" Iruka at least agreed with me that it was unusual. "Where is she now?"
"Passed out in her room. She used quite a bit of chakra up." I said, absently playing with my glove.
Tonight I finally convinced Iruka to stay here, with some protest from the burnette. I just had to make sure he was too tired to leave, or passed out from mind blowing sex. The latter worked quite well. This time I remembered to put a seal on the door so we wouldn't be interrupted. I learned Iruka was quite vocal.
Despite having a passionate evening with my lover, I couldn't sleep. Even though I wanted to curl up against Iruka and pass out with him in my arms, my mind wouldn't let me. It kept going back to what Tenzō said, about the tracker nin creeping around the village. I knew that there was no way they knew where Aurora was, but I always came up with the worst possible situation.
I untangled myself from Iruka, missing his warmth as soon as I did. I watched his sleeping form for a while as I thought of what to do with myself. I crept out of the room and went downstairs, before Iruka noticed I was up.
I checked all my traps over and over to make sure, setting back ups to my back ups. As a Jonin, I was already paranoid, but even this might be overkill. Once that was done, I went up to the roof to watch, for what I didn't know. It wasn't like they'd get this far into the village without someone noticing. The night air helped clear my head, making me realize I was being far too overprotective. But what else could I do? I had a three year old to look after...one that was being hunted again.
I watched the sunrise, not having moved from my spot since...well I lost track. I couldn't go on like this, not knowing if a threat was imminent had me on edge. So much so that when Iruka came up to check on me, I pinned him down with a kunai to his throat. Oh, now I really fucked up…
He put his hands up non threateningly to show he meant no harm. I quickly helped him up, mumbling apologies, scratching the back of my head to keep myself from running.
"Kakashi, what's going on?" He looked worried. Only then did I notice I was up here shirtless, only my mask and some pants on. I really was losing it.
"Maa...it's…" I sighed, deciding not to lie to him about this. "There may be Mist tracker ninja around." His eyes widened, worry and fear seeping into his body.
"You think they're after her?" Iruka asked, handing me the shirt he had brought up. He must have seen it on the floor. I pulled it on, hoping he'd understand by my silence that yes, they were after her. "I don't think tiring yourself out is going to help." He was right. There was an ANBU across the way watching the entire night as well. They hadn't come to see what was wrong, they would only move if there was an actual threat.
"I know…" but I would do it anyway. Until the threat was gone, I wasn't going to sleep well for a while.
The nights went that way for the next few weeks. Between missions and late night watches, I was wearing myself thin. Iruka kept forcing me to stay in bed, at least until he passed out from a long day of teaching. Then I'd be on the roof, waiting. That's where he would find me every morning, with coffee in his hands. Usually he'd swat me on the back of the head, but today he took pity and just sat with me. He handed me one of the cups, which I gladly took and drank it desperately.
"At least you're fully clothed this time." Only once had I come up here fully naked, with my mask on of course. The ANBU nearly fell off the roof at that sight. Iruka had thoroughly scolded me after covering me with a blanket.
"Ma...I didn't feel like giving a show." I settled next to him, laying my head on his shoulder. I was exhausted, but I didn't let on. I felt him running his free hand through my hair, slowly putting me into a very light sleep.
"Will you be alright when I leave for work?" He asked, knowing deep down I needed a break.
"Hm...I'll make it." I kissed his cheek through my mask. "Though I can think of a better way to spend the day." That got me a smack on the back of the head.
"You really are a perv…"
Aurora seemed to be even more rambunctious today. Maybe sleep deprivation was getting to me, or she had sugar without me knowing. That was a possibility, seeing as Ino had passed us on the way to the park. She always had something sweet for Aurora.
I watched her and a few kids play tag. Most avoided her, but some didn't care and still played with her. I don't know when, but at some point a group had her cornered by the slide. I watched, no longer reading my book.
One said something and another pushed her down. She looked more stunned than anything, but I knew what was coming. I slammed my book shut, getting the attention of some kids. They fled to their parents.
I made it to the edge of the sand box when it happened, not ice, but a small wave of water hit the kids around her. That's new…
She looked at her hands, which she had pushed forward to block another push. Great, now her Hōzuki side is showing.
"Aurora, time to go home." I called to her as kids were running away.
This incident had caught the attention of ANBU and worst, ROOT. Danzō's goons were out, I could feel them in every shadow. Aurora stuck much closer to me, feeling their hungry eyes on her. This was what I wanted to avoid, but life happens and things never go the way I intended.
"Come out already." I growled, and soon we were surrounded by black cloaked ninja. Their masks looked like ANBU, but they were not on our side. Aurora held tightly to my leg, terrified by them and the hate spilling off of them.
"Danzō wants to speak with you." One of them said, I couldn't tell which one.
"Tell him I'm not interested." I spat.
"He wants nothing to do with you." Another said from behind. I figured that…
"If any of you come near her, I will personally take the time to take you apart." It wasn't a threat, it was a promise. I would do it, gladly.
"That a threat Hatake?" All of them got ready to fight, but stopped when ANBU showed up between us.
"You sure took your time." I said to the back of Tenzō's head. The ROOT members decided it wasn't worth it and took off.
"Apologies, we weren't aware they had come out to play." He said, his team making sure it was clear and following some of the ROOT back into the shadows. "Are you alright?" Tenzō turned to me and looked down at Aurora. She had no idea who he was in his uniform. All people in masks scared her right now, and from her point of view, there was no difference between ROOT and ANBU.
"It's ok, you can trust him." I told her. She should fear ANBU, but not distrust them. They were the good guys, well most of them. Tenzō knelt down and held his hand up for her, but she buried her face into my pant leg. Eventually she'd be able to tell good from bad.
That incident amped up my training with Aurora. Anytime we had together was spent training, I couldn't afford to let it slip anymore. Aurora was sitting on the ground, panting from our sparing. I never went too hard on her, knowing if I hit her full force I could seriously hurt her. I had drilled into her head that even though I held back, the people after her would not. She was to go at me full force, no matter what. So far, she hadn't.
"Aurora, you won't hurt me. Hit me with all you got." I looked down at her, hands still in my pockets. There had been no need to block anything yet.
"I am!" She glared. The air finally got a cold chill to it, a sign she was getting angry.
"No, you're not. You need to stop holding back. If you do in a real fight, it could cost you your life." A harsh life lesson, but one that needed to be said. "So do it." She glared at the ground, tears in her eyes.
"I don't want to hurt you…" Not this again…
"You won't." She was too small right now to do much damage. She could however take me on, but she had to get over the fact it was me. "Try again." I felt the air turn bitter, the cold biting into my clothing. Good...us that against me.
She leapt up, aiming a kick toward my head, I easily dodged. Every punch or kick was easy to avoid, she wasn't going for where she should. I thought she'd caught on, but even tucking my hands away as a hint was above her head. I hadn't meant to, but hard kick landed in her gut, sending her flying back. Shit! What did I just...before I knew it she flew at me with such a speed, I barely had time block. The angner in her eyes, and the ice forming in the grass, seemed to have a red tint to it as she landed an ice covered fist to my thigh. This caused me to fall to my knees, forcing me to use my right arm to block a punch aimed at my throat. Catching her fist pulled her out of this odd rage and she got upset. Tears fell as she apologised and ran to hug me.
"Maa...you did what I wanted you to do." And scared the living shit out of me. The ice was gone, the hot summer air once again beating down around us. If this was her true power, I needed to find out what I was dealing with.
The library held nothing on her clans. Not even the restricted section...I should have figured that, but it wasn't like Konaha had never had a Yuki or Hōzuki living there before. There had been a few, though most suppressed their power after the Third Mizukage's decree.
Aurora was sitting at a nearby table, reading up on chakra control. She looked bored, having had this information taught to her since I had adopted her. Iruka even had tested her knowledge a few times, always impressing him with what she knew.
"Fader, I'm bored…" she said, laying her head on the scroll.
"Do you have it memorized?" I teased, earning a groan from her. "Alright...here." I pulled a book about water jutsus. "Let's see if you can learn one of these." She eagerly took it, quickly becoming absorbed in it. This let me sneak off to search the ANBU section, where even I wasn't permitted.
This yielded more information, but still nothing on why her anger or other emotions affected the color of ice. I was however able to read up on the Hōzuki clan. Only two members were known, with only one still alive, Suigetsu and Mangetsu. No one was really sure what happened, but Mangetsu was killed and Suigetsu had disappeared. I wonder...was Mangetsu her father? Seeing as a head was never found, we'll never know who the male was. I certainly hope not, he was a cold blooded murderer.
I rolled the clan scroll back up, picking up another that held information about bodies brought into Konoha. This one held what I wanted, a fully detailed autopsy of Aurora's mother and father.
Of course I knew most of it, the woman was dark haired, dark purple eyes that looked black and pale skin. Though she was Yuki, a second test showed she had Uzumaki blood as well. Though it was likely it was her great-great-great grandmother was an Uzumaki, Aurora nor her mother, held their abilities. It could however explain her emotions affecting her ice and her red hair. Her father was a full blooded Hōzuki, which chilled me to the bone. It confirmed the fear that Mangetsu was in fact her father.
A dark feeling came over me after this realization. No wonder the hunter ninja were out that night, no wonder he was torn to bits. But why was he fleeing here? He would have been killed on sight here too...it had to be her. The woman he was with, she held the key to this. Aurora was proof he had loved her...and that scared me. Her true parentage was going to haunt her the rest of her life, and she had no idea.
After I hid any evidence of me being in the ANBU section, I returned to where Aurora had been. I looked around, but she was gone. Panic quickly took over, I searched for her with my chakra, but to my surprise, she was still inside the building. I went back to the book she had been reading, which was opened up to a technique to make yourself invisible to the naked eye by making you body into water. Of course, this would be a breeze with her clan abilities. If she really had learned the hydrification technique on top of this one, I won't be able to find her without my sharingan.
"Ok, little lady, come out." I called out, mindful of the fact we were in a library. I heard a giggle behind me and she appeared from a bookcase.
"You found me!" she laughed, the librarian shushing her.
"Maa, good job." This was an interesting day.