Part One
"Daddy!" A common cry was heard around the East Quarters of Konoha. The market workers all smiled to themselves, knowing exactly who that voice came from and why "Daddy!" A 4-year-old girl stormed about calling for her father, she was wearing a white dress, her hair half pulled up by a ribbon and falling in chocolate curls, she was followed by a boy only a year older than her, wearing a scarf that covered most of his face, his eyes were only on her. They were only for her.
She finally found her father sitting with his friend having a drink in the afternoon shade, he grinned when he saw his beautiful daughter, "What's up Ria?"
"Daddy," she cried out annoyed as she pointed at the boy behind her, "Kakashi is being a jerk again."
"What"?" He chuckled picking her up.
"Is it true?" Her father's friend looked at his son, "Kakashi are you being a jerk?"
Kakashi Hatake glanced at his father and shrugged cooly, which made Ria more annoyed, "He is Uncle Sakumo, he's an annoying, mean, jerk."
Ria's father, Takumi Seiza sighed, he picked her up and put her on his lap, "Okay, tell me, what did Kakashi do now?"
"I was playing with the other kids and he made them run away from me, he told the boys they weren't allowed to play with me," she answered expressively. Her father nodded and then grinned giving Kakashi a fist bump.
"Daddy!" She pushed him and went over to Sakumo, "It's not a good thing…he keeps making it so I won't ever have any friends."
"You don't need other friends, you have me," Kakashi answered bluntly.
"I don't want one friend, I want lots and lots of friends," she exclaimed, Ria was a very open, dramatic person which contrasted extremely with the somber Kakashi.
"No, you don't," Kakashi replied crossing his arms, "Those boys were losers, you don't need loser friends."
"You are the only loser here," she pointed at him, "You are the one I don't want to be friends with," she turned her back on him. It triggered Kakashi, he couldn't stand having Ria turn away from him, it made him burst into tears, "Ria!" Takumi said sternly to his daughter as he picked up Kakashi and hugged him as the boy sobbed uncontrollably. Seeing Kakashi cry made Ria start crying, Sakumo laughed hugging her, "You two are ridiculous," Ria pulled away from Sakumo and went over to Kakashi wiping his tears as she carried on crying,
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it…I love you."
"I love you too," he hiccuped and then hugged her as the two father's sniggered.
"I want to make more friends, Kakashi…it doesn't mean I don't love you," she sniffled.
"I don't want to share you, not with anyone," he rubbed his eyes as he kept hold of her hand.
"You are going to the Academy soon," she sobbed, "I'll be all alone."
"I'll still be with you, I won't ever leave you," he promised her.
"You will," tears still wet her eyes, "You will go on missions and you'll be a great ninja and I'll be alone."
Sakuma nodded, "Ria has a point Kakashi. You really want her to be all alone while you go off and live your life."
"But what if someone else tries to steal her," Kakashi said fearfully, "What if someone else falls for Ria?"
That made Ria burst into laughter, she put her arms around Kakashi's neck her cheek against his, "No one could ever take me from you. I love you," she kissed his cheek repeatedly making his blush darken and darken, his eyes sparkling, "I want to make more friends, but I don't need or want another you."
"I don't know what I feel about this…you two are so young…you have no idea what you will grow up in to…what if you don't feel the same way about each other that you do now?" Takumi suggested, the two glowered at him making Takumi back off, "Sorry, my bad, you two are made for one another."
"Yeah we are, and we are going to get married and we are going to have a big family and all of us will live together forever," Ria said brightly.
"Definitely," Kakashi nodded, he was usually so distant with people, he had a cold exterior and a quiet disposition, but the only people he showed his true, passionate side to, were his father, Takumi, and Ria. The two had been raised together, knew only one another, and were each other's life. Ria jumped down to the ground, "I have a husband, but I still want friends so I'm going to go make some…you better stop scaring them away."
"No," Kakashi followed her, "You don't need anyone else."
"Stop being so clingy," Ria ran off causing Kakashi to run after her. Takumi frowned and hit Sakumo who was still laughing, "Your son has issues."
"What can I say? Ria is the only one that makes him truly happy."
"I hope they can remain this way forever," Takumi smiled softly, "Albeit hopefully a little less dramatic, as a married couple those two will drive me crazy."
"I don't know how Kakashi will handle being a father, he gets jealous of even us spending time with Ria, imagine the way he would be with any kids…" Sakumo chuckled.
Takumi groaned his head in his arms, "It's so hard being a father to a daughter."
"Don't ever worry about that, you know Kakashi won't ever let anyone touch her…" Sakumo grinned.
Takumi's eyes flashed, "Yeah, I'm starting to get more worried about Kakashi. He is your son after all…"
"I'll make sure he remains respectful at all times…at least you know his intention is to marry her so he's started off right."
"He better keep on that track, or he will pay," Takumo gritted his teeth.
Ria would sneak to the Academy to go visit Kakashi whenever she could. She wasn't going to study to become a shinobi, instead, her dreams lay elsewhere. Usually, she bought him lunch, so they could eat together. Ria was jealous of Kakashi's Academy life, although she had no desire to be a shinobi, she loved the idea of being able to be with so many people close to her age so she could make friends. She was a highly social creature. She dropped down to watch a boy train, he was doing press-ups in a handstand position, sweating profusely. It intrigued her, "What are you doing?" She asked, tilting her head, it made her curls fall to the side in an angelic way. Looking up to see who had said those words made the boy redden darkly and fall to the ground, "Oh no," Ria cried running to him. He sat up quickly crosslegged looking at her as he rubbed his neck, "Are you okay?"
He nodded, "Yeah, sorry about that…I just lost my balance."
"Are you sure?" She asked sitting close to him.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just training…"
"That's training?" She was surprised, "I've never seen anyone do that before."
"It's taijutsu," he explained, "Taijutsu is purely physical, I want to be the strongest Taijutsu ninja in the world."
"Wow," her eyes sparkled fully believing in this ninja's dream.
"I'm Maito Gai, by the way, I've never seen you before, what's your name?"
"I'm Ria, Ria Seiza, I don't go to the Academy…" she said sweetly.
"Really? Don't you want to be a ninja?" He asked her curiously.
She shook her head, "I want to be a wizard."
"A wizard?" He repeated.
"Yes, here in the shinobi countries we use chakra, energy from within. In the magic countries, they use magic that comes from the air around us, I want to learn to become a wizard," she said brightly.
"Wow," he breathed, "You're so cool."
Her eyes fell on the measly sandwich that was wrapped beside Gai, "Is that your lunch?" She asked him a little sad.
He gulped nodding, "Yeah…it's okay."
"No," she shook her head, "It's not okay. You said you need to train to become the best Taijutsu ninja in the world, to do that you need to eat properly…take this," she forced a bento box into his hands, "Eat and get strong Gai."
"I can't take…" he tried to give it back to her but she glowered at him,
"Eat it Gai, eat and reach your dreams, I'll cheer you on," she smiled and patted his head, "I gotta go, I'll see you around."
"Yeah, I'll see you too..thank you," he grinned at her. She gave him a wave before running off to find Kakashi, completely oblivious that Kakashi had seen their interaction and was getting incredibly jealous. She found him sitting on the benches pretending to read, a lot of girls were watching him with shining eyes. She sat down beside him making them stare in shock, no girl had been successful in approaching Kakashi, and this girl had done it so naturally, "Here you go."
Kakashi tensed, "You took your time."
"I'm sorry," she swung her legs happily, "Go on eat…I made it special today."
Trying to not show his excitement Kakashi put his book down and opened the bento box, inside were all of Kakashi's favorite foods all decorated with heart shapes, "Aren't you going to eat with me?" He asked, hiding his blush.
She shook her head, "Not today, go on eat, tell me what you think."
Kakashi picked up the chopsticks, he knew why she wasn't eating, she gave her lunch to Gai, it made him tense his jaw, he picked up a piece of miso aubergine and sighed offering it to her, "You eat first."
Ria laughed, pushing him, "It's okay Kakashi, you need your energy, anyway I'm just going to go home and eat then, don't worry about me, I want you to eat properly so you can get strong," she crossed her legs and watched him. Sighing again he ate. It was the best tasting food he had ever had, the food Ria made for him. She had been learning to cook since she could walk and quickly learned the taste that Kakashi liked. Neither had mothers, their fathers were shinobi who were usually caught up with missions, so they relied on each other even at their young age. Ria, although full of childish wonder and excitement, was incredibly resourceful and talented. She was beloved by all the elders in their part of the village who happily taught her all they knew, from taking care of the house to cooking and growing vegetables.
As Kakashi ate, Ria took his book and began reading it herself, she turned around and rested her head against his leg as she lay on the bench reading the book if there was one thing they both shared, it was their passion for reading. The bell rang to mark the end of lunchtime, Kakashi passed Ria the empty bento box, "Go home and eat, okay!" He took the book from her and ran off, Ria grinned and skipped off not knowing she had earned herself a dozen new female enemies.
For the next week or so Ria would come to see Kakashi at lunch bringing food not just for him but for Gai as well, he had fast become her first friend, she loved talking to him and watching him train. It was one particular day when Ria was surrounded by the jealous girls that fawned over the talented Kakashi Hatake.
"Who do you think you are?" They demanded.
Ria was confused, "I don't know what you mean?"
"How can a useless girl like you be someone for Kakashi?" They asked.
That made Ria laugh, "You like Kakashi?"
They reddened, "Of course we do…he can never be with someone like you…you aren't even a ninja…can you even fight?"
Ria shrugged, "I don't care what you think."
"We will make you care!" They tried to attack her but Ria just dodged them, ignoring their outburst as if it didn't matter to her, her ability to dodge made the girls even madder. At that moment Ria saw the other fight that was occurring between Kakashi and Gai, she saw Gai on the floor, tears in his eyes, as her attention was diverted one girl tried to hit Ria with a kunei, her eyes flashed and she grabbed the girl's wrist. Twisting it she threw the girl as if it was nothing on to the ground, the girl shrieked and the others gasped, they had no idea Ria was this skilled. She stole the kunei from the girl and dived between Kakashi and Gai stopping Kakashi from punching Gai for the last time, the kunei deflecting his hit perfectly.
"Kakashi," she said in shock.
He tensed when he saw it was her, everyone else was in shock, this little girl had deflected a hit by Kakashi Hatake, "What do you think you are doing?" She said angrily to him pointing the kunei at him.
"He…he…he's useless…" Kakashi pointed at Gai angrily.
"He is not useless," she replied sharply, "He's my friend."
"He's not your friend," Kakashi snapped.
"You can't decide that for me, I decide that," she went over to Gai and picked him up from the floor.
"He can't even fight me…he's useless, Ria…"
Ria's jaw tensed, "You want a fight," she turned back to him, "You want to fight...then fight me."
"I won't fight you, Ria," Kakashi shook his head.
"Why not? Are you useless too?" She asked him ganging up, on him, "You think just because you lose one fight that your worth is all gone…fine I'll take your worth from you, fight me, try and beat me."
"I'm not fighting you, Ria," Kakashi cried out but she punched him, which resulted in the two of them getting into a fight where Kakashi desperately tried to stop it but she kept going. Everyone was in awe. They all knew how good Kakashi was, this girl she wasn't even in the Academy but she was able to keep up and be an equal opponent to Kakashi.
"I'm sorry, okay," Kakashi cried out through the punches, "I'm sorry, Ria."
"I'm not the one you should be sorry too," she carried on fighting, "You need to apologize to Gai," her punch connected with his jaw, she stopped as he fell to the ground, she couldn't look at him, "You need to stop being like this, if you carry on then, then I don't want to be your friend anymore. I don't like it," there were tears in her eyes which broke Kakashi's heart to see, "I don't like it when you make other people cry…you don't have to prove anything, you don't have to hurt people…so stop doing it…It isn't you."
"Ria…"
"Leave me alone," she turned her back on him and stormed off taking hold of Gai's hand and leaving with him so she could help him clean up. Tears streaked Gai's eyes as Ria fed him, "Why are you so nice to me?"
"Why shouldn't I be nice to you?" She asked him confused.
"You bring me food, and you talk to me, you defended me against Kakashi…why?"
"You are my friend," she said simply, "And friends should protect friends, right?"
He smiled, "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to protect you."
Ria grinned, "Hey, we are only kids right now, we will get stronger and older and I'm sure when you are the strongest Taijutsu ninja in the world you will be able to protect the whole village, not just me!"
He blushed at that, "How do you know Kakashi Hatake? You two are so different."
Neither knew Kakashi was listening, he had followed, his heart crumbling at seeing Ria tend to Gai, "We are completely different," Ria giggled, "But Kakashi is my whole world."
Kakashi froze, his heart beating erratically as he heard her say those words.
"What?" Gai was surprised.
Her eyes sparkled, "When I'm older Kakashi and me, we are getting married, he's my future husband."
"You know lots of girls say that…" Gai pointed out.
Ria giggled, "They can say it, but no one will ever beat me. Not when it comes to Kakashi, because no one, no one can love that idiot as much as me. And no one can love me as much as he loves me."
Gai frowned, "He loves you?"
She nodded, "He's always loved me since we were babies. His dad and my dad are best friends. I was his first word and he was my first word."
"Now, I'm jealous," Gai blushed, "Because I like you."
Ria patted his head, "I'm sorry, we can be best friends, Gai. But my heart will only ever belong to Kakashi, however much of a psycho he becomes, he's all I want."
Kakashi sat down on the floor, his back against the wall, he was smiling to himself, his blush reaching his ears. To hear words like that made him so happy. He was always afraid Ria would run away with someone else if she got close to anyone she might realize that he wasn't good enough, but it seems that she just didn't notice people in that way, not when she had him in her heart.
"We can be best friends?" Gai said excitedly.
Ria nodded, "The best-est. But I can't love you," she warned him, "So, don't try and love me, because you'll get hurt."
"How didn't you get hurt when you fought Kakashi? How are you this good? You aren't a student."
Ria grinned cheekily, "I told you I want to be a wizard…but you see just because I don't go to the Academy doesn't mean I don't know how to do ninja stuff. Kakashi and I have been training since we were babies, our dads taught us."
Ria stared at the sword that lay in the Hokage's office, sometimes she joined Sakumo Hatake as he went to work, only if he was remaining in the village. They were going through forbidden items, this sword was an item restricted by the 2nd Hokage, "Why?" She asked, "Why is it restricted?"
"No one can open it," Sakumo explained, "The 2nd said it was not from our world."
"It's magic," she replied making both Sakumo and the 3rd stare at her.
"Magic?" They repeated.
She nodded pointing at it, "Can't you see the magic coming off of it, it's really powerful."
"You can see the magic?" The 3rd Hokage was surprised.
Sakumo smiled at him as he ruffled Ria's hair, "Ria is able to manipulate ether-nano as well as chakra, she gets it from her fathers' side though Takumi was never good at it, Ria is a natural."
"I'm going to be a wizard," she said brightly.
"I wonder…" the Third said thoughtfully, "Do you think you can open this sword?"
Ria thought about it and then nodded, "Yeah, I'll try."
Sakumo stopped her, "I don't think it's wise to use her as a test subject. Takumi and Kakashi would kill me if she got hurt."
"I won't get hurt," Ria said confidently, "It's magic."
"And magic is dangerous," Sakumo pointed, "You are still just a child."
"I want to touch it," she said excitedly and tried to but was stopped by Sakumo.
"I know you are curious, Ria. Hell, even I am curious. But this item was labeled restricted by the 2nd Hokage…"
"The 2nd Hokage wasn't a wizard, so what could hurt him won't hurt me…"
"That's what you think," Sakumo pointed at.
She put her hands on his cheek, still being held up in his arms, "And what you think is that it might hurt me. We both disagree with one another."
"And as the adult…"
"But I know more about magic," she answered.
"Why don't you do more research first, prove to me this item will be safe in your hands," Sakumo suggested.
Ria thought about it, then glanced at the 3rd Hokage, "If I can prove that its safe for me, can I have it?"
"What?" They both said surprised.
She looked at the sword, something about it, it called to her as if it wanted to be owned by her, "If I can prove it's magic and I can use it…then it's useless to any non-wizard and I'm the only wizard in Konoha, so it should belong to me, right?"
"She has a point," the Third scratched his chin, "If you can prove it, then I'll think about letting you have custody of it."
Kakashi dropped a small bundle on Ria's lap, "You wanted a friend, well here you go."
She frowned confused as she looked at the bundle, it began to stir surprising her, her eyes widened as the realization hit, "A puppy?!"
He nodded, "This is my first ninkin, his name is Pakkun. We have a contract together now."
"He's beautiful," Ria said brightly as she picked him up in awe.
"He needs to get used to your scent," Kakashi patted Pakkun's head gently, "He can never forget your scent so can you keep him with you for a while."
"Why do you want him to learn my scent?" Ria asked curiously.
"Well then he'll always know who you are and if I ever need to find you, I have someone to rely on."
"What am I? Some toy you are afraid of misplacing?" Ria joked.
Kakashi was serious, "Please?"
Ria grinned, "I haven't got a problem with it, not at all. And he's so pretty," she became instantly in love with this pup. Along with Pakkun, Kakashi added more and more to Ria's lap surrounding her with multiple ninkin who he wanted to be trained in her every move. Knowing that they were accustomed to her, kept him calm, wherever Ria would go, he would be able to find her. He needed that security as his life took him out of the village and away from her, he would always need a way back to her. She was home.
Kakashi stared in horror as Ria bowed to him, her whole body wracked in pain as she cried, "I'm sorry, Kakashi…I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry…" she begged for his forgiveness. He tensed unable to handle it any longer he pulled her into his arms tightly, "You have nothing to say sorry for…he's the one that left us."
"I couldn't save him, I was too weak," she sobbed in his arms, "I'm sorry, I'm so weak."
"No," he shook his head not letting his tears fall, "No, Ria. I'm sorry for not being strong enough to keep you safe from this…you shouldn't be here, not like this…it's my job to protect you…" he stopped when he realized how hot Ria's body had gotten, he looked down and saw the flushed cheeks and glassy eyes, at that moment she collapsed unconscious and not breathing, her bandaged hands soaked in blood.
He could never quite put into words the fear he felt that day. No fear could ever reach this. Losing his father and nearly losing her…it was too much. She was hooked on to monitors, her skin still red, her hands rebandaged as the nurses kept their eye on her, while he refused to move a muscle.
"She just has a fever," a kind nurse smiled softly at Kakashi, "She will get better soon."
"Why does she have a fever?" He asked, "She cut her hands," he had taken over the nurses' job of keeping Ria comfortable, reapplying the cool towel to her forehead and checking her vitals.
The nurse smoothed down Ria's hair, "It happens sometimes when a person suffers trauma…" she paused remembering what trauma it was that Ria had suffered, "Also she lost a lot of blood for a tiny girl like her. But don't worry," she smiled again, "She is a strong girl, she is fighting."
"Ria has always been strong," Kakashi nodded, he needed her strength, he couldn't break when she needed him. He had to look after her, he had to see her smile again.
The nurse frowned all of a sudden when she saw a change in Ria's vitals, "That's weird."
"What's weird?" Kakashi panicked.
"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, sometimes monitors have errors…" she rechecked the machine and it seemed to be working fine, "Let me go get a doctor," she left returning with the doctor, Kakashi watching on, his body tense.
"I don't understand why that would be happening," he muttered, he leaned over to Ria's eyes pulling out a small pen torch as he opened her eyelids to look at her eyes, he gasped stepping back.
"What is it?" Kakashi jumped up, he was not liking this reaction at all.
"We have to get a chakra transfusion in now," the monitors began to alarm around them, "Get it now!" He shouted making the nurse run, Ria's body began to tremble.
"What's going on?" Kakashi demanded.
"Ria's chakra levels are dropping, fast," the doctor explained nervously, "And her eyes…"
"What about her eyes?" Kakashi was confused looking at the doctor and not understanding anything, "Why would her chakra levels fall?"
"I have no idea, it makes no sense," the doctor muttered, the nurse arriving with the necessary machines, before they could attach anything to her Ria began to scream. Her screams were petrifying, Kakashi jumped beside her holding her hand, "Ria, Ria it's okay…" but she couldn't hear all she could do was scream in pain.
Unbeknownst to them, in the Hokage office, something was happening. Saratobi went over to the glass case which held the sword that Tobirama Senju had restricted. It was shaking. He frowned not understanding why it would be moving. Ever since his master had put the sword in this glass he had never seen it react to anything. It was an item no one had been able to open, they were a little afraid of what it was. Tobirama had said it was not from this world, that had never meant anything to anyone. But here it was, trembling, suddenly it moved, smashing through the glass box and flying right passed the Third. He hurried after it, following the sword as it flew as if being called. It was so fast, he heard the scream as he got closer to the hospital, it pained him to hear a child scream in so much pain. His eyes widened as the sword smashed through the hospital wall, panicking as the Third landed in the room moments from stopping the sword from its flight when it landed right into the hands of Ria who immediately stopped screaming. She collapsed down, all the machines stopped their alarms as she fell back asleep, her arms going around the sword as if it was providing comfort.
"Lord Hokage," the doctors were surprised to see him arrive so suddenly, and that sword. The sword that left a big hole in their concrete wall.
"What just happened to Ria?" Kakashi cried out, ignoring the Third, he didn't care about anything but her.
The doctor checked her eyes, and frowned, "All her vitals are normal again, she's asleep."
"What happened?" The Third asked crossing his arms.
"All she had was a fever brought on by trauma, her wounds were only superficial…but her body suddenly lost nearly all of its chakra…and then she was in pain…but her eyes…" the doctor looked down at Ria remembering what he saw.
"What about her eyes?" The Third asked tensing.
"It was like the night sky, she had starlight in her eyes…I can't even explain it, I have never seen nor read anything that could even be close to what I saw…what is this sword?" His eyes fell on what was in Ria's hand, "Where did it come from?"
"I believe it belongs to her," the Third gestured at the hilt of the sword, in gold was her name shining away as if it had always been there, "Keep an eye on her if there is any change in her health you must report to my office."
The doctors nodded and put Ria on more monitors, all Kakashi could do was sit beside her and watch. There was nothing for him to help with. He was useless to her. Late at night, he twitched when he felt a movement on Ria's bed, he opened his eyes to see hers, she had turned over on to her side and was watching him. He hurried to her, "You're awake?"
She nodded, "My throat hurts," she mumbled.
He smoothed her hair, "I'll get you something for that."
"I'm hungry too," she whispered.
He smiled hearing that, if Ria was hungry that meant she was herself, "I'll get you whatever you want to eat."
"I don't mind, just eat with me," she enjoyed having his hand on her hair.
"Okay," he nodded, Ria could tell by looking at him that Kakashi hadn't eaten, she did not know for how long he had sat beside her, but she knew that he wouldn't have thought about himself for a moment. He leaned down and kissed her forehead making her blush as he ran off to tell the nurses about Ria's change and went to get the food she requested. He returned to find her sitting up, she glanced up when she saw him and smiled.
He jumped up on to her bed and presented the feast, she needed his help to eat as her hands were still bandaged up and her body weak, but she did her best to eat and have him eat too.
"Kakashi," she finally mumbled, there had been silence, as they ate.
"Yes," he asked her, worried about what she might say.
"I didn't steal this did I?" She glanced at the sword that lay in her lap.
He smiled and shook his head, "It actually came to you itself."
"It came to me?" She frowned confused.
He gestured at the wall that had been crudely covered up, "It flew right through the wall."
"Really?" Ria was surprised.
Kakashi leaned over and pointed at the hilt, "See, it even has your name on it."
She looked to where he had pointed, the tears slipped before she could stop herself and dropped on to his hand, he looked at her worried, she immediately tried to hide it but he stopped her, wiping her tears for her, "Ria, you never need to pretend for me…okay. I love you and I don't want you to be careful around me…if you want to cry, cry. If you want to scream, scream…if you want to laugh, laugh…do what you want…"
She moved from her position and hugged him, she just wanted to be in his arms. That's all she really wanted. He closed his eyes and held her his own tears slipping down. It just hurt so much. He hadn't had the chance to face his feelings, losing his father so horrifically, seeing Ria like this because of that…her pain…he hadn't been able to process anything and now having her in his arms he was able to break down and cry.
Ria was walking around the village her katana in her hand, she was never seen away from it, it had quickly become an extension of her own body. Before she knew it she had been picked up and carried off, "Hey, put me down," she was annoyed at being belittled. It was Jiraiya. He put her down atop of a boulder, they had come out of the main part of the village and were near the training grounds for shinobi.
"What was that for?" She scowled crossing her arms.
He looked at her quizzically, "I'm just doing a task for the Hokage."
She narrowed her eyes, "And that task included kidnapping me?"
He chuckled, "I haven't kidnapped you."
"Then I'm going back," she attempted to jump off the boulder but he stopped her.
"Not yet, not till you do something from me."
"I don't want to," she pouted looking away.
Her actions made him grin, "It's just a little task and then you can go."
"What is it?" She asked roughly, keeping away from looking at him.
"Show me your katana," he said to her simply.
"I don't want to," she answered.
"Why?" He asked.
"It's not your business," she turned her back on him, "My katana is magic and you are a shinobi."
"Come on, I'm just curious," his eyes sparkled, "Show an old man something cool."
"It's really cool," she nodded, "But I don't want to show you."
"Why?" He moaned dropping down on the floor, "The old man keeps telling me to find out what it's like."
"Because you haven't told me what I get in return," she said sharply.
His eyes widened, "You want something?"
"Of course I do," she snapped, "I am not an idiot, I don't give anything away for free, even a demonstration."
"Fine, fine, what do you want."
"Juice," she answered.
"Juice?" He replied surprised.
She nodded, "Yes, I want peach juice."
"That's it?" He was getting off very easily, he was used to deals made by shinobi who wanted much more dangerous or expensive items, this was nothing.
She shrugged, "I never said I wasn't reasonable."
"Fine," he jumped up, "It's a deal, I'll buy you some peach juice, will you show me now?"
"Okay," she turned back and opened her katana, his eyes widened more and more, the beauty of the blade was incomprehensible, he had no idea inside there would be something like that. Ria closed the sword and grinned putting her hand out, "Juice, juice, juice."
"You earned it, you have quite a tool there," he ruffled her hair and the two went to go buy her reward. Ria was drinking her juice nonstop, Jiraiya had given her multiple cartons and she was enjoying it wholeheartedly. She was feeling a little bored in the village as Kakashi and Gai were both off on training sessions with their teams, having turned Gennin recently. She hated staying at home alone.
She needed more in life.
Somehow she ended up on the side of town where the Hyuga's lived. For some reason she entered, slipping passed the Hyuga's who were not expecting an intruder and neither noticed the small Ria who went in as if she belonged there. She ended up at the training rooms, she went in whilst Hiashi and Hizashi Hyuga battled one another whilst being watched by their father, the head of their clan. They were all focused on the battle that no one noticed Ria walk over and sit beside the elder Hyuga, when the battle ended they all jumped startled as they heard Ria clap, they looked over and were surprised to see her, finally noticing her. The Hyuga were never surprised, so this was a whole new revelation.
"What are you doing here?" The elder glanced at Ria.
She looked up at him and smiled brightly, her smile struck him, it was such a bright, pure smile, "Can I have a go?"
"What?" He was surprised more by her words.
She jumped up, "I want to try with my new sword…I haven't had a chance to try it out properly."
"What do you think you're doing?" Hiashi Hyuga narrowed his eyes at her, "This is Hyuga property and you are not Hyuga."
"Why are you mean?" She demanded, crossing her arms.
Her words made Hizashi snigger earning a glare from his father and brother, "Oh come on, she's just a kid…are you in the Academy?" Hizashi asked her nicely.
She laughed, "I don't want to be a shinobi…"
"Then what do you want to be?"
"A wizard," her eyes sparkled, "But there are no wizards in Konoha, so I can't train properly…so I'll train with you."
He chuckled ruffling her hair, "I think you are little out of your league coming to the Hyuga Clan…"
"You don't know that I'm out of my league," she pointed out, "Come on, it will be fun!"
Hiashi scowled irritated by her he attempted to take her out with one hit but Ria deflected him with her sword still in its cover, she giggled, "Hey, that was cheeky."
They were all stunned, for this girl to have even noticed Hiashi's movement was on its own impressive, let alone deflecting a hit. He attempted again, but again she deflected and then flipped over him hitting him on the head with her sword. Hizashi couldn't hold his laughter in, that little girl had managed to hit his brother on the head, he had never seen anyone even dare to do that or even be able.
Hiashi angered by her insolence reignited his Byakugan but then frowned, "Wait…you don't just have chakra in you?" Both the elder Hyuga and Hizashi decided to look at what Hiashi had noticed and stared, "What is that?" It was a different light, a glow they had never seen before, it was hauntingly beautiful. Ria grinned, "I told you, I'm a wizard. You wanna see something else cool…" she pulled out her sword and then fought the two of them, laughing as she did so. No matter what they did, their Byakugan was useless against her. She was nimble and athletic, able to cut chakra forces with her sword, her movements were like a dance, it was mesmerizing to watch. She finished by hitting both brothers on the head again before landing back next to the Elder as she took another big gulp of her drink, they were all staring at her, Ria laughed realization hitting her, "Oh now I get it."
"Get what?" The Elder Hyuga was curious, this girl had battled with both his sons, he was now officially intrigued.
"How you tell them apart, that's Grumpy," she pointed at Hiashi who scowled, "And that's Happy," she pointed at Hizashi who grinned.
"And who are you?" He asked her.
"I'm Ria," she answered brightly. Just then a team of Hyuga members dropped down having been alerted now about the intruder. Hiashi glowered at them, "How did a child break-in?"
Ria looked up at the Elder, "Are they all your children?" She was in awe.
He shook his head, "Only Grumpy and Happy, the rest are my family though."
"Can I be your family?" She asked. They all watched stunned at the interaction between the strange girl and their clan leader.
"What?" He repeated.
"I never had a mum, she died when I was born, I don't know who my grandparents were because they were dead before I was alive…and my dad died a few months ago…so did my second daddy…you have so many people…can I join?"
"You can't just join a family?" The Elder said sternly.
"Why not?" She was confused.
"Family share blood, it is a stronger tie."
"I'll make you proud," she grinned, "Prouder than Grumpy and Happy."
He raised an eyebrow, "And how do you imagine you will make me proud?"
She laughed, "I don't know I'm only 7," she leaned against him, "Come on, be my Grandpa."
"No," he said tense but feeling himself melt.
"Come on, I promise I won't beat up your boys anymore."
"You didn't beat us," Hiashi narrowed his eyes at her.
"I did," she jumped up, "I beat them didn't I Grandpa!"
"Technically she did win, and I am not your Grandpa," he said directly.
"Come on," she played with his hair, "Think about it, I'm just 7 years old and I broke into your house where there are millions of Hyuga with the Byakugan who are supposed to be able to see everything and I beat both your sons up…at 7. Imagine what I will be able to do at 10…17…20…27…I'm telling you, Grandpa, I'm someone you want to invest in."
"You know about our clan and the Byakugan? You said you were not a shinobi?" He was surprised.
She shrugged, "I didn't say I was an idiot."
Her words made all of the Hyuga apart from the Elder and Hiashi snigger looking away, Ria was witty and she was doing something no one had ever dared do and that was freely touch their clan leader.
"You have such pretty hair, Grandpa," she mused, he straightened up,
"And you smell like alcohol."
Ria giggle, "How can I smell like alcohol? I don't drink, I'm 7," she took a sip of her juice which he finally snatched out of her hand, she moaned, "No, Grandpa, that's my juice."
"Who gave you this? This is alcoholic peach juice. How many have you had?"
She began trying to count on her hands but was struggling, "17…no…2…wait how many fingers is this," she could barely see, "Give me my peach juice Grandpa," she demanded annoyed.
"Who gave you alcohol?" He demanded, he was getting a little worried, he had no idea how much she had drunk, but now it was clear that she was in fact completely gone for.
"Jiraiya gave it to me," she answered, "We had a deal, I showed him my sword and he gave me peach juice…" she faltered, "Grandpa I don't feel so good," with that she passed out in his lap. Hizashi was the first to run over, "Is she okay?"
The elder Hyuga sighed, he put down the juice carton, "That idiot Jiraiya, he's given alcohol to a 7-year-old. She's drunk."
"Daddy," Ria mumbled asleep in the Elder Hyuga's lap, "Come home," a tear slipped out of her eyes down her cheek and on to the Elder Hyuga's lap.
That made everyone freeze, they remembered what she had said earlier, her father had died. Behind that smiley, facade was a girl in pain.
"Do you want me to get her to a hospital?" Hizashi suggested.
The Elder Hyuga shook his head sighing, "It's okay, she is fine, let her sleep it off, but Jiraiya will have to pay for doing this. She could have gotten hurt."
Hizashi looked at his brother, "You realize we got beat by a drunk 7-year-old."
Hiashi scowled again, turning back on the guards, "This better not happen again, she is a child…a child…how did a drunk child get passed you?"
Ria woke up, she was lying on the hard floor of the training room. Her sword beside her as she was all alone. She stumbled out of the training room, her sword in tow. Her head felt heavy. But other than that, she felt fine. She found the Elder Hyuga sitting outside beside him was a pot of green tea and two cups. Ria sat next to him and poured the tea, he didn't even look at her.
Hizashi and Hiashi watched from a distance, they were curious about their father's actions. He had let Ria sleep in his arms whilst the others trained, he had left her in the room but didn't stray far, instead, he sat outside waiting for her to wake up. He didn't let anyone else care for her, or look after her, or even take her out of the household. He seemed to be watching what she did.
They sat there just looking at the garden, not a single word said between the two. Ria lowered her head, "I'm sorry for being drunk Grandpa."
"You are 7 years old," he said sternly, "A 7-year-old should not be consuming alcohol neither should anyone ever be that drunk."
"I didn't mean to be drunk, but I am still sorry… I was wrong."
Their jaws dropped, the two were acting like real Grandfather and Granddaughter.
"I will let this time slide, but if I ever catch you near alcohol before you are legally allowed, I will not see you again," he told her not realizing the words that were coming out of his words.
"I understand," she nodded.
The next thing he knew he reached out and patted her on the head, it was such an awkward gesture but it made Ria smile, blushing, "You did well against my sons."
"I will do better from now on," she said softly, "I will keep training and getting stronger."
"Good," he nodded, "That is what you should do."
Ria counted on her hands, "You have Grumpy and Happy and now you have a Star."
The Elder held her wrist looking at her hand, he hadn't noticed before, Ria had scars on them, "What happened to you?"
Her smiled vanished and she looked away, "I couldn't save him."
"Save who?" He frowned.
"Uncle Sakumo," she mumbled, "But he still left me and Kakashi."
"You knew Sakumo Hatake?" He was taken aback by her words.
She nodded, "He and my dad were best friends," that made a cold chill run down the Elder's back, he had heard the rumors, Sakumo Hatake sacrificed his friends to complete a mission, one of those friends must have been Ria's father…"I've known him my whole life, and he's going to be my second Daddy."
Second Daddy?" He repeated confused at the notion.
"When I marry Kakashi," she said brightly, happy again.
"You want to marry Kakashi Hatake?"
"It's not just that I want to…I will. There is no one else in this world for me apart from him, he's already asked my Dad if he can marry me…and my Dad told me that he will only ever accept Kakashi," she leaned back grinning, "So you know I have no other choice….not that I want choice, I only ever want him."
"You are 7 and you have already decided on your husband?" He stared at her.
She nodded, "You see most people, they haven't met the person that's right for them…I met the person when I was born…no point hiding from the truth."
"What if you change?" He suggested.
Ria tensed, "We will never, ever change. I am only ever me and he is only ever him. We will always be the same…anyway, I have a best friend and I have a husband and now I have a Grandpa," she said excitedly.
He narrowed his eyes at her, "I never agreed to you becoming a Hyuga."
"I never said I wanted to be a Hyuga," she laughed, "I'll just be your Granddaughter you'll just have to love me and I'll love you."
"What is that supposed to entail?" He was confused by her words.
She leaned her head against his arm, "It's anything you want it to be, I'll make you happy and proud, and you be happy and proud…"
Hiashi and Hizashi really couldn't believe it, this strange girl was asking for their father's attention, of all the people to try and adopt, she was asking their father. A man feared by many for his strict attitude. He was not the loving type in the slightest.
"I don't quite understand what you want," he said curtly.
"That's okay," she smiled, "I'll teach you."
He raised an eyebrow at her, this little girl was going to teach him? He was curious, and his curiosity led him to allow her to be around him.
Ria would follow the Elder Hyuga wherever he was, when they were in the markets he couldn't help but teach Ria about what he knew…the things that were not part of the Hyuga line knowledge…things that interested him. Like flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Everything he taught she absorbed. She bounced around him addictively. None of the other Hyuga's could understand, why was this girl so attached to their clan leader, and why was he allowing it. They didn't dare to ask. Instead, they watched on.
The Elder Hyuga pushed Jiraiya off of Ria, he was furious, "What is wrong with you?"
"It's was an accident," he panicked as the Elder's Byakugan was in full force before they could fight, Ria burst into tears. They looked at her and noticed that she was bleeding from her lip and clutching her arm. The Elder picked Ria up making her shriek from the pain,
"You've dislocated her shoulder," he tensed, "You will pay Jiraiya," he headed off to the hospital to get Ria treated. Jiraiya followed guiltily as he held Ria's sword. He had fallen out of a bar and crashed into her, the poor girl was crushed under his weight. It had all happened so quickly. Jiraiya didn't understand why the Elder Hyuga was reacting so strongly, why did he care what happened to Ria. The Hyuga's were not known to be caring towards strangers. But here was their clan leader, carrying that strange unrelated girl to the hospital, worrying about her wellbeing. It made too many questions fill his mind.
Kakashi returned from training to find Ria in his bedroom reading a book, he panicked running to her side, "What happened to your arm?" She was wearing a sling.
"Stupid Jiraiya," she muttered darkly, "He fell on me."
"He, what?" Kakashi cried out.
Ria put her book away and crawled closer to him, "That doesn't matter, you're back!" Her eyes sparkled when she saw him.
"Are you okay? Does it hurt?"
"Grandpa gave me some medicine, it makes the pain go away," she smiled.
"Grandpa?" He repeated confused.
Ria giggled, "I have a Grandpa now."
"You are so weird Ria," Kakashi sighed, "But are you sure you are fine?"
She nodded, "Have you eaten? Do you want to get something together?"
He took her hand, "Let's go."
"Tell me everything you've done," she skipped happily, she was ecstatic that Kakashi was back, she missed him whenever he wasn't in the village. They went to the BBQ restaurant to celebrate his return, as they sat down a man walked passed doubling back he grinned,
"Ah, it's my niece."
"Niece?" Kakashi frowned.
"Happy!" Ria said brightly earning a pat on her head from the Hyuga Clan member.
"Happy?" Kakashi repeated, since when did Ria know Hyugas?
"I see you are having a date with your husband?" He glanced at Kakashi who blushed making him chuckle, "You have quite a wife here."
"I know," Kakashi nodded still confused at what was happening.
Ria glanced at Hizashi, "I'll come over to see Grandpa tomorrow, okay."
"He'll be happy to see you," Hizashi nodded, "He hasn't stopped cursing Jiraiya out."
"Let him know I'm fine, especially now Kakashi is home," she grinned at Kakashi making his blush deepen.
"No problem," he ruffled her hair leaving her in peace.
Kakashi rounded on her, "Okay spill, what happened?"
It was the Chunin Exams. Ria was sitting beside the Elder Hyuga who had come to watch, slightly out of interest in seeing Kakashi perform for Ria's sake and to see how her choice of husband was as a shinobi along with seeing how the current crop of Gennin was like. Ria seemed calm despite the intense competition on show. Minato Uzumaki noticed Ria. At first, he was intrigued by the girl who sat beside the Hyuga Elder, without being a Hyuga herself, and then he was interested in how she watched Kakashi. Was she a fangirl too? He knew his student had many fans, this one just seemed different somehow.
The fight started between Kakashi and Gai. It was the final match, the genius versus the taijutsu master. Before they began Gai couldn't help but blow a kiss towards Ria, both of them knew exactly where she was. Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he heard Ria laugh.
"I told you to stop doing that."
"Oh come on Kakashi, you are my rival in everything, remember, I will never stop," Gai replied.
His actions spurned Kakashi to fight harder, he was going to make Gai regret having said that. This was the first legitimate fight they were going to get since Ria broke up their fight at the Academy they had only had battles against one another but no real fight. This was it, this was Kakashi's way to prove he was better than Gai and he needed to back off Ria. Kakashi was never going to give her up to anyone.
Minato was surprised watching Kakashi fight, along with Kushina, Obito and Rin, "Kakashi is really going for it this time," Kushina pointed out.
"Yeah, it's not like him to try," Minato nodded.
Obito scowled, "He's a show-off."
"He's just so talented," Rin mused.
But there was something else in this fight, a point was being proven and Minato wanted to know what it was.
"You should be out there," the Elder Hyuga said softly.
Ria shook her head, "No, this is Kakashi's world."
"But you are strong enough, you could easily win this…"
"My dream is to be the strongest wizard, Kakashi's is to protect the village, we will both achieve our dreams, and he will win this fight," she said with sureness.
"Really? Against the taijutsu expert?"
"Gai is strong, but Kakashi…" she smiled, "He won't lose. Not when I'm here."
The Elder Hyuga couldn't help but smile at the sentiment, it was clear to him that this girl was truly and irrevocably in love with Kakashi, there was such deep respect and understanding between her and him, it was as if they had been together forever. He prayed for them, that the two could remain in this way forever.
Just like Ria predicted Kakashi won the Chunin Exam's, earning his promotion and defeating his biggest rival who was just more fired up for the next battle between the two. No matter how many times he would lose, Gai would fight Kakashi again and again. He would never back down.
Everyone surrounded and praised Kakashi apart from Ria. She waited until he got home. He was slightly annoyed that he hadn't seen her till then, he crossed his arms narrowing his eyes at her, "Where have you been?"
She grinned tilting her head, "I've been waiting."
"Why did you wait? Why didn't you just come to me when I won? I was waiting for you."
She shook her head, "No, I want you to have that part of your life without me."
"I don't want any part of my life without you," he snapped.
"It's good, it's healthy, you have friends," she was so happy for him it struck him.
"Friends?" He repeated.
She nodded, "You might try to pretend you don't Kakashi, but you have so many friends, Rin, Obito, Minato, Kushina, even Gai is your friend."
"Gai is not my friend," Kakashi scowled.
Ria laughed, "I think he might be more your best friend, then mine! He knows exactly how to annoy you."
"He keeps trying to steal you," he crossed his arms tighter, "He doesn't ever learn."
"He makes you stronger," Ria went over to him, "He makes you fight harder and it's a good thing. Gai is a good person and Gai also knows that I would never leave you. You are my world and now you are a Chunin," she kissed him sweetly making him smile and blush.
"What did you get me?" He asked as he showed her what he had with him, her eyes sparkled as she let him talk about everything, Kakashi was usually the silent type, seeing him open up made her so happy. This is what she wanted for him, "So what did you get me? Did you get me something?'
"Of course I did," she laughed, "I asked the Hokage if you can have a break this weekend."
"What?" Kakashi was confused.
"I asked the Hokage to put your team on a break for the weekend so I could steal you."
"We are going on holiday?" He was surprised.
She nodded, then paused, "Do you want to go?"
He brightened up more than before and hugged her, "A holiday with my wife? Of course, I want to go! A weekend just with you, that's the best present anyone could ever give me."
Hiashi Hyuga tutted when he saw Ria in his fathers' bedroom, he was sick and she was trying to tend to him, "How did you get in here again?"
Ria changed the cloth on his father's head, "Grandpa is sick, I can't leave him."
"He is not your Grandpa," Hiashi began.
"Be quiet Hiashi," the Elder muttered darkly, "Just leave us."
He nodded and left, his whole body tense, he did not understand. Why did his father suddenly care for this stranger, he had never shown this care to even his own? It made him very jealous.
Ria was very caring towards the Elder Hyuga, she nursed him gently and to her best ability, she made sure he ate by carefully feeding him herself, kept his temperature down, and helped him sleep by showing him the stars. He was greatly soothed by her. He was beginning to see what she meant about loving him. He didn't understand why she wanted to do this, but she did and a part of him did not want her to stop. This form of unconditional love was new to him. He wanted more. He didn't mean anything to this child, but she was showing him such care and devotion, it didn't make sense in the slightest.
As he got better Ria finally left his side to go home and shower. She was half asleep on the road back to her apartment when she was knocked out and taken.
Ria didn't scream or fight when she woke up realizing she was bound and tied, she just watched her kidnappers curiously. They were trying to open her sword but were unable to, they weren't watching her so she easily untied herself and went over kneeling beside them, "Oh that won't work."
They jumped when they saw her out of her binds, "How did you…"
She looked at the sword, "You can't open it, it's not for you."
"You should have tied her tighter, you idiot," their leader scowled making the other grab Ria and retie her, she just laughed, and untied herself,
"You really need to work on your kidnapping skills."
"You should keep your mouth shut," their leader's lip curled as he flashed a kunei, "You have no idea who we are."
"Well I'm guessing you are shinobi for hire, you do dirty jobs for those that pay, like kidnapping, extortion…" she said confidently, "Unfortunately if you want to make use of my sword, that's not gonna happen because it's not for you so it just won't work for you…and if you want me…well…" she laughed, "I won't make it easy."
"What do you think a kid like you can do?" He snarled.
She put her hand out towards her sword that was in his hand, the next thing he knew it had gone straight to Ria sitting nicely in her hand, "You brat," he tried to attack but she deflected. One by one she took each of the kidnappers down without once taking her sword out of his holder, she finished sighing,
"Wow, I really hope your rates weren't high because you guys really suck."
"You will pay you brat," the leader with his broken bones threw a poisoned dart at Ria only for Hiashi to intervene protecting her, they all gasped seeing the Byakugan in full force,
"I'd quit now if I were you," he muttered.
Ria looked at him, "You know, you could have stopped them much earlier."
"I wanted to see what they were going to do," he shrugged, "Clearly they were nothing for an 8-year-old."
"An amazing 8-year-old, whose kicked your ass," she pointed out.
He hit her on the head making her wince, but snigger, "You didn't beat me, I've alerted the shinobi police, they will deal with this, let's get you home."
Ria nodded and headed back, she couldn't help but sneeze multiple times, it made Hiashi sigh, she had clearly picked up the illness his father had, "You live alone?"
She nodded, "Well Kakashi is next door…and Gai's only a floor down, but they are both on a mission."
"You have no other family?"
She shook her head, "Nope, they are all gone. I'm going to bed now, goodbye Grumpy," she waved as she entered her apartment. It felt so empty all of a sudden. Ria tried to ignore it as she had a bath and got ready for bed. As she lay down she couldn't stop sneezing, her head began to hurt and she felt cold. Being sick and alone…it really made it all worse. She forced herself to sleep whilst Hiashi went home only to return with medicine and food for Ria. He couldn't help himself. His body wouldn't let him leave her in that state. She was only sick because she had cared for his father, he had to repay that kindness. As he tended to her throughout the night, Hizashi sniggered from the windowsill, "So, Grumpy does have a heart."
"Stop calling me that," he snapped.
"Why? It's a good nickname, it suits you."
"Why are you here?" He asked as he changed the cloth on Ria's forehead, she was burning up just like his father had done.
"The real question is, why are you here?" Hizashi raised an eyebrow, "I thought you hated her."
"I do hate her, she's a brat," Hiashi said sharply but then sighed, "She's irritating."
"She's a good kid," Hizashi nodded, "And she's important to the old man. Imagine…if Dad had a daughter…if Ria was his…we would be done for."
Hiashi couldn't help but agree, it was true. If Ria, this exact Ria was, in fact, a Hyuga, then there was no choice about it, she would have been their fathers' world. The two sons could never compete.
"Who knew all it took was a drunken B&E to win that man's heart," Hizashi laughed.
Hiashi shook his head, "It's more than that…Father…he's never been like this…he never lets people close."
"She is special," Hizashi nodded, "She makes people happy. How is her fever?"
"It's fine, she will be fine, she just needs to keep her strength up and rest…there is no surprise she got sick, she spent the week beside father and then she got kidnapped…"
Hizashi tensed, "What did they want from her?"
"I guess someone was intrigued by the magical child from the Leaf," he suggested but wasn't sure either, not many people even within the Leaf knew about Ria. It didn't make much sense, but they all knew now that Ria was protected by the Hyuga. The Elder did not have to say a word but his wishes were clear to them all. If she were to get hurt, they would not rest.
Ria was holding on to the edge of the Elder Hyuga's clothes as they walked about the marketplace when they bumped into Jiraiya and Minato, the Elder immediately put Ria behind him, "You stay away from her Jiraiya."
"What?" Jiraiya said annoyed, "Hey, I don't always hurt her!"
"You gave her alcohol and she passed out drunk in my house and you broke her shoulder!" He accused him darkly.
"You gave a child alcohol?" Minato stared at his sensei in shock.
"No, I…it was an accident, we made a deal…and I was supposed to give her peach juice, the shopkeeper thought it was for me so gave me alcoholic peach juice. I didn't realize I just gave her the bag, I didn't check…"
"You are an idiot," the Elder snapped, "And you think I would let you near her after you make grave mistakes like that?"
"Hey, hey, Lord Hyuga…what happens between me and Ria doesn't actually have anything to do with you," Jiraiya pouted.
"He's my Grandpa," Ria cried out, "Of course it matters to him," she hugged the Elder who just crossed his arms glowering at Jiraiya.
"No, he isn't," he replied sharply.
"Yes, he is!" She copied the same glower the Elder had.
"You don't have a Grandpa…you have no one" he exclaimed he stopped when he saw Ria's lip tremble, it broke even Minato's heart,
"Sensei," he hit Jiraiya who gulped.
"I didn't mean that Ria, I'm sorry."
"You stay away from her, don't even talk to her, you are a sick, sick man Jiraiya," the Elder took Ria's hand and led her away from the two of them.
"Ah man," Jiraiya knelt on the ground, "Why do I mess up around that kid so much?"
"Who is she?"
"You know Takumi Seiza," Jiraiya glanced at him.
Minato nodded, he knew about Takumi. He wasn't a well-known shinobi, his only claim was the fact that he married a daughter of the Senju Clan and was the one who died in the battle that led to Sakumo Hatake's suicide.
"Well she is Takumi's kid," Jiraiya said softly and then paled, "Wait…oh crap I just realized. That means she does have someone…Tsunade."
"What?" Minato was stunned.
"Tsunade is her cousin, I think that's how it works…Ria's mother, she was Tsunade's aunt. She passed away after giving birth to Ria. The second Hokage brought up her Grandfather…"
"She is a Senju?" Minato had no idea, he thought that Tsunade was the only one.
"Well, technically Ria is a Seiza she hasn't inherited the Senju name…but her mother was one."
"I've never heard much about the Seiza clan," Minato was confused, racking his brain for information on anyone else called Seiza.
"It's a new clan, Ria's real Grandfather was the first. Tobirama Senju gave him the Clan name…Ria is the 3rd and last generation of Seiza's."
"How can a Clan just start?"
"Well, no one knows about her Great Grandfather and beyond, their history is a mystery to everyone. Her Grandfather was an orphan. But yeah, I guess she should be Princess Ria considering she is a direct descendant of Hashirama Senju…though he never got to meet her."
"So how is a Senju/Seiza girl calling Lord Hyuga her Grandfather?" Minato asked.
Jiraiya chuckled, "I have no idea…all I know is that when I accidentally gave her alcohol she got drunk and caused havoc in the Hyuga household since then she has been close to Lord Hyuga. They are always together."
"I wonder if she knows Kakashi?" Minato mused.
"I'm sure she does," Jiraiya stood up, "They must have grown up together, I remember seeing Sakumo with Ria plenty of times. She used to follow him…" he paused realizing, "Like she follows Lord Hyuga. I guess she's lonely."
"Why isn't she a shinobi? If she has Senju blood in her, she might be a force on her own," Minato tried to change the subject sensing the pain behind the topic.
Jiraiya grinned, "Ria's a wizard. She has the ability to manipulate magic, so she decided to pursue that instead of becoming a shinobi. She is incredibly talented and if she chose to become a shinobi I guarantee she would be a true rival to your pet student, even now she could definitely take Kakashi on. But her magic is a different level, she's trained herself, she is a true genius."
"Wow, you seem to know a lot about her," Minato smiled.
"Yeah, Saratobi Sensei asked me to keep an eye out for her…after Sakumo's…" he couldn't say the words it was too hard to say, "She was there, she had tried to stop Sakumo and was traumatized by it…something happened I'm not sure about the basics but apparently that sword saved her life while she was in the hospital. It's magical and for some reason will only go to her…you should see it Minato…it's a whole new world when she opens that sword…the beauty…" Jiraiya's eyes glistened recalling what he saw, "It's getting harder to keep tabs on her now she's involved with the Hyuga, but I guess she's safe with them."
"I never thought I'd see the day that the Hyuga's have accepted a stranger," Minato mused.
"You know," Jiraiya grinned, "I'm not surprised that the one to have done that, was that girl. She is truly a star."
Obito hurried to Kakashi, Rin, and Gai, he was challenging Kakashi again, "Woah guys have your useless battle later but before that come with me."
"Why would we want to follow you?" Kakashi sighed, he couldn't stand Obito.
Obito scowled, "Minato Sensei is going to fight this girl."
"What?" Rin was the first to be surprised.
"She's not shinobi I don't think…I've never seen her before…but yeah apparently Lord Hokage wanted Minato Sensei to test her."
"Was she carrying a sword with her?" Gai asked suddenly having a feeling who this special girl could be, he noticed Kakashi tense.
"Well yeah," Obito nodded, "She was…" before he could finish both Gai and Kakashi had run off to find Minato. They all arrived at the training grounds staring as Minato faced Ria, Jiraiya was sitting beside Kushina watching with interest.
"I don't see what I get from doing this?" Ria scratched her neck confused.
Jiraiya barked with laughter whilst Minato was taken aback, he had never had a person reject having a training session with him. Usually, people relished the idea to go toe to toe with him.
"Ah well, the Hokage…"
Ria cut him off, "He's your boss, he's not my boss. I don't actually have to listen to him you know."
"I can't believe you are rejecting Minato Sensei," Obito went over, "He's famous, you don't want to see how he fights."
"Well no, not really," she replied shrugging, "Ninja arts don't interest me."
"Ahh let me fight her!" Obito said excitedly, "I'll show her how interesting ninja arts really are!"
Jiraiya fell over laughing, "Sorry kid, what you do won't be enough to interest Ria."
Obito scowled, "She's just a kid, what can she do?"
Minato nodded, using Obito as a way to get Ria involved, "Look, let's not do it as a basis of me showing off…let's do it as a way for you to show off what you can do."
"I don't need to show off," she replied.
"You showed off in front of the Hyuga's!" Jiraiya shouted.
"Because you got me drunk!" She shouted back at him making him redden and snigger.
"You got drunk?" Obito's eyes widened, "Aren't you like 10?"
"I was 7 when it happened," she answered still annoyed, "He is an idiot."
Gai went over, "Come on Ria, just shut him up, show him what a wizard can do."
"Fine," she sighed, "But only because you asked, Gai."
"You two know each other?" Minato was surprised.
Gai grinned putting his arm around Ria, "Ria's my best friend!"
She glanced at him, "Gai you better keep back, I wouldn't want you or anyone else to get hurt."
Gai nodded grabbing Obito he dragged him away so Ria could start, "You begin," she pointed at Minato.
"Fine," he nodded and started with basic taijutsu, Ria kept up easily using her sheathed sword as a way to deflect Minato's kunei, he ramped up, more and more, waiting for the moment she would use her sword. It didn't take long for the fight to become impressive, the others watched in awe. Their eyes widened when they noticed Minato throw down his marked kuneis, they knew this play, he was going to take out Ria with one final blow but that was when everything changed. The moment his final kunei touched the ground, her eyes lit up, "Gotcha," she grinned. Minato stumbled, what had she done? Why did she look as if she'd won? That's when he saw her draw out a three-star symbol in the sky and slam her hands down, the symbol lit up and connected all his marked kunei, his eyes widened, he saw it then, somehow she had managed to mark his kunei with her own symbol, how and when she did that remained a mystery but she was right, she had trapped him, he waited for the hit but then fell to the ground as Jiraiya screamed having been electrocuted and falling off the boulder he was sitting on.
"Finally," Ria stood up, "I got my revenge."
"Why me!" Jiraiya cried out, singed hair and steaming.
Ria crossed her arms, "You are always messing with me, you got me drunk, dislocated my shoulder and made me cry in front of my Grandpa. You deserved that."
"But I was your target," Minato was completely unscathed.
Ria shrugged, "You've never done anything to me, but that old man has…"
Gai ran over-excited, he hugged Ria, "You beat Minato Sensei!"
Ria shook her head, "In a real fight he would definitely win he has way more experience than I do."
Minato stood up, "It won't take you long to surpass me."
"I'm not interested in that like I said ninja arts don't interest me…can you tell the Hokage that I'm not going to do any more demonstrations for him…it's annoying. I'm not a toy."
"Why didn't you use your sword?" Minato asked her, he really wanted to see it.
"I didn't need it to beat you," she answered.
"Why do you say that? You couldn't have known what I would…"
She cut him off, "Actually, it was pretty obvious to me you would use that play, so I didn't need it," she said simply.
Minato was more impressed now, not only had she intercepted and deflected his attack, she had anticipated it before they even fought. Not only was she a natural fighter, but she was also calm and thought steps ahead. She had the mind of a genius.
"Let me see your sword, Jiraiya Sensei says it's quite the blade."
"No," she said sharply, "I told you no more demonstrations, there is nothing in it for me."
"I'll give you whatever it is you want," he smiled, "No alcohol I promise."
She glanced over Minato's shoulder and sighed, "Fine, you can buy me dinner. I'm hungry."
"Deal," he nodded waiting to see this sword. They all leaned in to watch when Ria put the sword out and ever so slowly extracted it from its sheath. It was only a glimpse before she shut it and slung it over her shoulder, "Okay, that's enough…food please."
Obito scowled, "What was that? That was nothing!"
Minato was stunned, he couldn't talk. Jiraiya went over and put his arm around his student, "I told you didn't I."
"It's beautiful…" he stuttered making them all stare at him in surprise.
All anyone had seen was a glint of silver, other than that there was nothing to reflect Minato's shock, what had he seen that they hadn't?
"Dinner, dinner, dinner," Ria chanted making Minato come out of his shock and nod,
"Yes, of course, I did promise. What do you want?"
She thought about it for a moment and then answered, "BBQ."
They all ended up going to BBQ together, Ria sat between Kakashi and Gai, doing her best to be as far from Jiraiya which made him groan, "Come on Ria you know I never hurt you on purpose."
"Yeah you are just bad luck to me Old Man," she scowled.
"Your name is Ria then?" Rin smiled at Ria, a little jealous that this pretty girl was sitting next to Kakashi.
Ria nodded, "Yes, I'm Ria Seiza."
"You did some ninja arts in that fight against Minato Sensei," Obito scowled, "I thought you said ninja arts don't interest you."
She laughed, "Just because something doesn't interest me doesn't mean I can't do it. I even sat the Chunin Written Exam the Really Old Man wanted to know how I would do."
Jiraiya nodded, "She got the same score as you Minato."
That made everyone choke on their drink, "Wait?" Gai spluttered, "You got the same score as Minato Sensei in the Chunin Written Exam?"
Ria shrugged, "I guess so…I wasn't really trying…it was easy."
"Easy?" Obito, Rin, Kushina, and Gai stared at her.
"She's probably smarter than you Kakashi," Obito pointed at her.
Kakashi nodded, "Yeah probably."
Ria shook her head, "My attention span isn't that good, I get easily distracted…"
"No you don't," Gai frowned, "When you need to focus, nothing can distract you…it's scary sometimes."
"I'm not scary," she was sad by the thought that she could scare someone.
"He means scary in an impressive way," Kakashi explained softly to her.
"Oh," she grinned, "That's fine then."
"Who would win in a fight between Kakashi and Ria, then?" Obito grinned cheekily.
"Him," Ria answered at the same time as Kakashi answered, "Her."
Gai chuckled, "It would 100% be a draw, neither would ever be able to fight one another."
"That's true," Ria nodded, "I have no interest in fighting anyone who isn't a wizard and I'm sure," she looked at Kakashi, "You wouldn't hit me."
He nodded, "We would never get into a fight so it's pointless."
"What about you and Gai?" Obito suggested.
"Gai," Ria answered.
"What?" Gai stared at her.
She looked at him, "I could never, ever hurt my best friend."
"I could never hurt you!" He burst into tears hugging her. Kakashi sighed,
"Gai you are overdoing it again."
Gai wiped his eyes, his lip trembling, "She's just so cool."
Ria blushed and carried on eating, "I think you're cool. I think anyone who has a dream and fights for it is cool."
"So, what do you do if you aren't a ninja?" Kushina asked Ria curiously.
She shrugged, "Well if I'm not training myself, I go to visit Grandpa."
"Grandpa?" Kushina repeated, "You don't live with your Grandpa?"
"Nope, my Grandpa and parents all of them are dead. My new Grandpa is Lord Hyuga," she grinned brightly.
"Lord Hyuga is your new Grandpa?" Kushina gasped in surprise.
"How is that possible? The Hyuga don't adopt!" Obito was stunned.
"Well I guess I'm special, I'm not a Hyuga and I have no intention of being one but my Grandpa is special to me, he teaches me things about food and flowers. He's someone I can love…" her eyes shined but there was clearly sadness in them, "We drink tea together and I make him smile. It's nice to have someone older to smile at you."
Unbeknownst to anyone but Gai, Kakashi had taken hold of Ria's hand under the table, he knew exactly what she meant. He received his acceptance from Minato and Jiraiya, whereas Ria had no one to guide her or be proud of her, they had both lost their fathers, she had adopted Lord Hyuga for that role and he was surprisingly fulfilling it in his own stiff way.
Ria was sharing Kakashi's bed, she was playing with Pakkun who was cuddling into her chest, all his ninkin loved her just like he wanted, he reached out and twisted his fingers in her hair. He loved being able to do this, the feel of the strands against his fingers. It was addictive.
"I would have liked it…" Kakashi began, she glanced at him watching him as he spoke, "If you had become a shinobi."
"Why?" She asked.
"To be able to fight with you," he said softly, "To go on missions with you…to see you everyday…Gai was right, you were so cool today…when you fought with Minato Sensei, it made me happy for him to see how strong you were."
She blushed hearing those words from Kakashi, "I don't want to fight in wars Kakashi, I don't want to be someone's pawn…you are amazing and you are talented and I love you more than anything…but I can't wait till you become a Jonin and these wars are over…I want to go have adventures with you instead. Just like we dreamt."
"You think I will become a Jonin?" He said blushing.
She kissed him, "Of course you will and probably super soon as well," she took his hand and held it close to her, "We can fight together, have fun together and always be together. That's all I really want, is for you and me, to be happy."
"I'll work harder," he said with conviction, "So hard to make you proud of me, to become a Jonin and to end these wars so we can have our future, together just like we want it."
"I have no doubt in you at all," she smiled brightly, "I will always believe in you."
Jiraiya looked down at Ria, "So this was always your plan."
"I wouldn't say always," she shook her head, her eyes in the distance, "The plan was always to do this in the future but things change."
"What changed?"
"It's hard to explain, but I know I have to go," she pulled out a letter that she had in her bag, "Could you…could you make sure Minato Sensei gives this to Kakashi for me."
"Kakashi?" Jiraiya was surprised, "Are you a Kakashi fangirl?"
Ria made a face, "I am the original fangirl, just please make sure he gives it to Kakashi when he's in a good mood…Kakashi can be stubborn sometimes."
"What is it?"
"It's my explanation," she answered softly, "I should have done it face to face but I was scared…I didn't know how to say it so I wrote it down…I'm sure," she pumped herself up, "I'm sure he will understand once he reads this."
"Where are you going to go?" Jiraiya asked her.
"I'm going to follow the voice that keeps calling me," she said simply, "I'm going to answer the call and I'm going to become the strongest wizard in the world. So make sure Kakashi is safe for me."