"So... what did you want to talk to us about, Aiko-chan?" Naruto asked. The Uchiha woman had led him and Sasuke down to the emergency bunkers, where she was carefully combing through the Uchiha Clan's storage for useable weapons.
"Sasuke-niichan..." She begin slowly, "Does it... bother you... that I'm half-Shimura?" Sasuke's eyes widened and Aiko looked at the ground. "I know that's probably a stupid question to be asking at this point, but... I need to know, because... When I lived in Konoha before... I didn't have any friends, until the day that I met Naruto-kun... and that day... was the day that my father died..."
"What do you mean, Aiko-chan?" Naruto said in confusion, and Aiko slowly turned toward her friend.
"Naruto-kun, you don't remember, because Itachi-niichan erased your memories of it, but you were there when... no... perhaps its better for me to start from the beginning."
子どもの時
Uchiha Aiko pulled herself up on the horizontal bar and spun over it, grinning as she did. It was only a couple of months after she had won first place in the village's shogi tournament. She'd been playing since she was only three or four, which was basically as long as she could remember. It was a game that her mother played with her every night, as part of Aiko's pre-academy training. However, right now, she wasn't training at all, at least not officially. Her father was fast asleep at home after having worked the nightshift at the precinct, and her mother was currently on duty, so she was by herself. She was strictly forbidden from leaving the compound without an adult, which meant she had to find ways to entertain herself until lunch. Uchiha Izumi, an older girl who often looked after her, had recently become a genin, so she was busy everyday, and... there really wasn't anybody else in the compound for her to seek out. She leaned and hung upside down on the bar from her knees. Her cousin Itachi was the best shogi player in the village after her, at least among the younger members of the clan, but he was in the ANBU, so who knew where he was right now? Uchiha Shisui would probably be a good opponent, but he was a jounin and one of the strongest in the clan, so she doubted that he had time even if he was in the compound. Beyond that... there really wasn't anybody. This was the first week of July. The Academy was on summer break, which meant that her cousin, Itachi's younger brother, Sasuke, was probably at home, but... Sasuke wasn't as good at shogi as Itachi, and besides, she preferred not to go near the clan head's house. He and her father... were not on the best of terms. She sighed, feeling utterly bored. The fact was, she didn't have a single friend in the Uchiha Clan.
"Ow!" Aiko cried in surprise when something suddenly struck her in the back of the head. "Whoa-oa-oh...! Oof!" Having lost her concentration, she fell off of the bar and face-planted on the soft turf beneath her. At the sound of some boys laughing, she sat up and glared over at the perpetrators, a trio of boys who were obviously members of her clan.
"Look, it's the clan reject!" One of the boys said.
"Clan reject?" Aiko echoed in confusion, and another one snorted in amusement.
"Everyone in the clan has rejected your family because your mom is from the Shimura!" The second boy told her.
Aiko huffed in frustration and got to her feet, "My mother is not a member of the Shimura! She renounced all ties to them when she married Papa!"
"Doesn't matter." The first boy said as he tossed another rock up and down in his hand, "A leopard can't change its spots, and someone who is half a leopard is just a freak!" He threw the stone at her, but Aiko ducked to avoid it before glaring back up at him.
"You're wrong! I belong to the Uchiha just as much as you do! That's why everyone helped to save me when Iwagakure tried to kidnap me last year! Because we're all a family!"
"Tch, yeah right." One of the other boys said. "They only helped because Itachi-san had jumped in after you, and nobody wanted to lose him!" All three boys began to hurl stones at the younger child, and Aiko instinctively put her arms up to shield herself. Suddenly she heard the sound of running feet approaching her and she peeked out from between her arms.
"Why don't you fight back, darn it!" The leader of the boys exclaimed as he moved forward to punch Aiko. Suddenly the girl vanished in a puff of smoke, instantly replaced by a log. "Wha?!" He cried in alarm.
"A substitution!" One of his friends exclaimed.
"There she is!" Another called out, pointing to Aiko as she ran down the street. Only there were three of her.
'Thank goodness Itachi-senpai taught me how to do Kawarimi no jutsu after the Iwa Incident last year!' Aiko thought to herself, 'But still... They're bigger and faster than me, and I don't know taijutsu... I need a way to lose them...'
"She's using bushin no jutsu!"
"Figure out which one is real!"
Her clones didn't last long. Hoping to escape the three boys, Aiko sprinted into the grove of trees near Nakano Shrine and then began racing right up the trunk of one.
"Wha?! Is she seriously climbing that tree with her feet?!" One of the boys exclaimed.
"Darn! That little show-off!" The leader exclaimed, launching a shuriken at the girl. The shuriken grazed Aiko's ankle, causing her to lose concentration and her foot broke through the bark of the tree. The child cried out in pain and then screamed as she fell, only to feel a pair of arms wrap around her body. She opened her eyes just as Shisui landed on the ground while cradling her in his arms.
"Shisui-san!"
The three boys gulped as Shisui glared at them sternly. "What did you think you were doing?" He demanded calmly.
"We... we were just having some fun with her..." One of the boys managed. Shisui took note of the shuriken embedded in the tree, next to the mark left by Aiko's foot.
"By throwing real shuriken at her?" He asked with a raised brow.
"It's not our fault that she can use the tree climbing jutsu, but can't dodge a shuriken!" The boy who had thrown the shuriken insisted.
"Nichi-san chooses to emphasize tactics for escaping enemies when training her, plus, she's a natural genjutsu type, so she comes by chakra control naturally." Shisui replied calmly. "But more importantly, Aiko-chan isn't even in the Academy yet. Throwing shuriken at her under any circumstances is inexcusable. Do you realize a fall from that height could've killed her?!"
"So what?" The boy asked, more not wanting to admit to his own guilt at this point. "She's the reason that Itachi-san almost drowned in the river! That's what my dad said!"
"That's not true." Itachi's voice broke through the trees and a moment later he appeared among them. "I didn't jump in the river just because Aiko-chan is a member of the Uchiha. I would've done that for any child of the village. That's my duty as a shinobi."
"But... It's all her family's fault!" One of the other boys exclaimed, "Our clan got blamed for the Kyuubi incident all because her mom was the Hokage's aide when it happened!"
"We were blamed by people who are afraid of the Sharingan, which Megumi-san doesn't have." Itachi said evenly. "The reality is that she had nothing to do with it."
"Besides, you three are probably too young to know this, but when Aiko-chan was born, Lord Fugaku expressly stated that her lineage shouldn't be held against her." Shisui added, "The Shimura don't even acknowledge her existence, and she has no bonds with them."
"Who are your parents?" Itachi asked.
"M-My dad's name is Yashiro..." The boy who had thrown the shuriken managed.
"My Dad is Tekka..."
"Mine's Inabi..."
Shisui sighed, "Should've figured." He looked down at the sniffling child in his arms. It was clear that she was trying not to complain about the pain she was in. "Aiko-chan, where is your father?"
"A-At home, sleeping." Aiko answered with a whimper. "Papa works the night shift at the precinct, and Mama works during the day, so I'm usually alone in the mornings."
Shisui nodded to her and looked at his friend. "What do you want to do, Itachi? Aiko-chan is injured and needs to be taken to the hospital, but somebody needs to take these three down to the precinct. I don't think something like this is really the ANBU's job."
Itachi nodded, "I'll take Aiko-chan and leave them to you."
Shisui nodded, standing up with Aiko in his arms. The little girl formed a sign with her hands, and suddenly, the three boys all screamed and fell to the ground. Shisui raised a brow as the boys came back to their senses. "What did you just do?" He asked her cautiously.
"I made them experience the sensation of getting cut and falling from a high place like they caused me to do." Aiko replied. "Honestly, it wasn't that subtle of a genjutsu. They should've been able to see through it."
"Why you little...!" One of the boys began as Shisui handed the injured child over to Itachi. Aiko simply ignored the boy as she buried her face in Itachi's shirt.
一族
"Itachi-senpai?" Aiko whimpered once they were in exam room at the hospital.
"Yes?"
"Wh-Why do people say that my mama was connected to the Kyuubi incident?"
Itachi sighed, "There are people who blame the clan for that incident. Since your mother was Lord Fourth's aide, they claim that she must've leaked intel about the Kyuubi's whereabouts to the culprit. However, my mother and I happened to come across her that night. She was alone and scared. She was crying. If she had been conspiring with somebody to attack the village, then she would've gone somewhere safe ahead of time."
Aiko nodded slowly, looking thoughtful. "Why do they keep blaming our clan though? I don't much about this, but... most of the grownups by now know where the Kyuubi is, right? If the clan were behind it, there wouldn't be much to stop them from trying again. But from what Papa said, every member of the Police Force was accounted for that night, so it can't have been one of us. A mere genin wouldn't have that kind of ability with the Sharingan."
Itachi smiled awkwardly and nodded, reaching over and patting Aiko's head. "Not everyone thinks about things as carefully as you do." He said.
At that moment, a doctor came into the room. "Hi there. I hear you hurt your foot?"
"Um... sort of..." Aiko replied awkwardly as the iryounin approached her. The woman grimaced at the sight of Aiko's cut and scraped leg with various splinters sticking out of her sandal. She looked over at Itachi.
"This... doesn't look like a training injury." She said pointedly.
"It's a long story..." Itachi replied.
"And you're... her older brother?"
"Cousin." Itachi corrected, "Aiko-chan's parents were both unavailable at the moment."
"They should keep a better eye on their daughter..." The kunoichi muttered as she picked up a pair of tweezers to start removing the splinters from Aiko's sandal. Aiko's cheeks puffed out in anger, but Itachi placed a hand on her shoulder to tell her that it was best to keep quiet. Aiko nodded before she bit her lip and did her best to endure the pain as the doctor removed every last piece of wood from her sandal.
"None of the splinters went through her sole, although a few pierced above there, and a few got lodged near her toes." The medic remarked as she dabbed the injured spots on Aiko's now bare foot with some antiseptic. "This cut on her leg is clean. Is it from a ninja tool?"
"She was near the training grounds when it happened." Itachi lied. Both he and Aiko knew that it was best if nobody from outside the clan learned of the incident. The kunoichi just raised a brow before dabbing some medical ointment on the injuries.
"Her ankle is sprained too. Probably happened when the wood gave way beneath her feet." She remarked, "But it will be fine with ice and rest. Make sure to tell her parents about it."
"Right." Itachi said.
一族
"You were very brave while the doctor was treating you." Itachi told Aiko as he carried her through the compound.
"When I become a ninja, I'll probably end up with worse injuries than that." Aiko replied. Itachi laughed nervously at her pragmatic view and she leaned her head against his neck. "Why do other people in the clan hate me? I can't help who my relatives are."
"Yashiro-san, Tekka-san, and Inabi-san don't like the village too much." Itachi replied, trying to keep the explanation as simple as he could, "Also, I know this probably doesn't make you feel any better, but both they and their sons are probably jealous of how smart you are. You are the best shogi player in the clan. That intellect is something that you got from your mother, so they try to use her heritage to justify being mean to you."
Aiko rolled her eyes, "Being a good ninja and being good at shogi are two different things. Sarutobi Asuma, the Hokage's son, is a member of the Guardian Twelve, and he's terrible at shogi." Itachi laughed awkwardly again as he turned onto the pathway leading to his front door.
"I'm home." He announced as he opened the door and carried Aiko inside.
"Oh! Itachi! What are you doing here?" Mikoto asked in confusion.
"Niisan!" Sasuke exclaimed as he came running to greet his brother. He stopped in his tracks and stared at the sight of Aiko on Itachi's back.
"Aren't you supposed to be on duty right now?" Mikoto asked.
"Something came up." Itachi replied.
Aiko frowned. "You skipped out on work to help me?" She asked incredulously.
"Looking out for the children of the village is part of the ANBU's job too, you know." Itachi told her with a kind smile as he shifted her around in his arms. "My supervisor knows where I've been, so it's fine." He looked at his mother, "Kaasan, Aiko-chan was injured in a scuffle with some other kids. Her dad's asleep right now, so can you look after her until he gets up? I need to be getting back."
"Oh, of course." Mikoto said as she took Aiko into her arms.
"Aw..." Sasuke whined, "You can't stay?" Itachi reached forward and poked his brother's forehead.
"Forgive me, Sasuke. Some other time." He looked back at his mother, "I'll leave a note at her house to let Nichi-san know where to find her."
Mikoto nodded and looked at Aiko as Itachi left. "Well then, what would you like to do, Aiko-chan?"
"The doctor said that I need to rest and ice my ankle, but... I don't particularly wanna be inside..." Aiko admitted.
"Why don't you sit on the engawa then?" Mikoto suggested. "Sasuke is practicing his shuriken jutsu in the backyard."
"It's not practice, it's training." Sasuke insisted as he looked at his cousin, "You can train with me if you want to, Aiko."
"But... I don't know how to throw shuriken." Aiko replied.
"You don't?!" Sasuke asked incredulously, "Then I'll teach you!"
"Sasuke! She's supposed to be resting." His mother scolded.
"It's fine. She doesn't have to stand up." Sasuke told his mother. "I can teach her from the step."
Mikoto sighed, "Fine." She set Aiko down on said step carefully. "I'm going to go get some ice and a pillow for your foot, Aiko-chan. Sasuke, make sure she doesn't cut herself on the shuriken. She's already had one injury today."
"Okay." Sasuke said before walking over to the target on the far wall and proceeding to remove the shuriken he'd already been throwing at it. "So what happened to you anyway?" He asked as he carefully yanked the shuriken out.
Aiko looked at her lap, "Some other kids were bullying me." She didn't want to tell her cousin the reason why.
"So why didn't you fight back?" Sasuke asked as he walked over to her.
"I don't know how." Aiko admitted. "My training focuses on being able to run away. Papa says that's more useful at my age. It's not like I'll be going on missions any time soon."
"Doesn't seem so useful if you get hurt by bullies." Sasuke said flatly.
Aiko nodded slowly, admitting his point. "I tried to tell them to stop, but they wouldn't go away. When they tried to punch me, I used the jutsu that your brother taught us last year and then I used clone jutsu to try and lose them and then I tried to climb a tree and that's when they started throwing shuriken at me."
"Shuriken?!" Sasuke asked incredulously. Even he knew better than to throw shuriken at another kid, and he was only in the first grade. Ninja tools were strictly barred from Academy sparring matches.
"Aiko-chan, were you in the compound when this happened?" Mikoto asked as she propped up Aiko's injured foot and placed some ice on it.
"Of course. I'm not allowed to leave the compound by myself. I almost never leave the compound even when I'm with Mama and Papa. To be perfectly honest, Lord Danzou scares me." Aiko replied, "The way he was looking at me after the shogi tournament... I'm pretty sure I would've been dead if he had the Sharingan like Papa."
Mikoto sighed softly and stroked the child's hair, "Well don't you worry. I'll make sure those kids apologize to you properly."
"I appreciate that, Lady Mikoto, but an apology is pointless if they don't mean it." Aiko said.
"You can't just let them keep bullying you!" Sasuke insisted.
"I'm not saying that they shouldn't get in trouble, but they're forced to apologize to me, and then what? They're embarrassed because they had apologize when they didn't want to and then they're mad because they were embarrassed and they blame me for that and then the next time is worse." Aiko told him. "I don't want things to get worse, so it's better to just leave well enough alone."
Everyone tells you from time to time
To never give up like a scene from a movie
They tell you to stand up for yourself
As if it was always that easy
今時
"I'm pretty sure you thought I was just a big chicken at the time, but the course of action that I chose that day was the same one that my parents had chosen after the kidnapping attempt a year earlier." Aiko explained to Sasuke as she finished her story, "The clan called for the village to declare war on Iwa for trying to kidnap one of its children. My parents adamantly opposed such actions, saying that we should be content that Iwa, who denied any knowledge of the matter, was allowing Konoha to deal with the perpetrators. It didn't really do much for my father's already unfavorable position within the clan." She sighed as she looked back at the kunai in her hand. "My father was also against retaliating against the village for our clan's mistreatment, but it wasn't because he was a 'traitor' to the clan as the radicals believed. Quite the contrary. Nobody was more loyal to the clan than my father, and that was precisely why he opposed a rebellion. When it came right down to it, my father knew things that nobody else did."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.
"By now you know that Kurozetsu was manipulating the clan and its circumstances to suit his purposes." Aiko remarked, turning the blade of the kunai slightly so she could see her reflection. "My father's hobby was historical research. Although he studied the entire shinobi world, he focused primarily on the history of the Uchiha and of Konoha. It was for that reason that, as a child, he became the student of the First Hokage, in order to learn everything he could about the events of the past. Somewhere along the line, he became aware of Kurozetsu's influence, and became determined not to dance to that monster's tune."
"Why didn't he say anything?" Naruto asked.
"Who would've believed him?" She asked. "You may find this to be impertinent, but... if you were in your his shoes at the time, would you have believed in a story that our clan's entire history had been molded by some strange creature that had been haunting us since Indra was a child? Would you have believed that if you hadn't heard it straight from the horse's mouth? Because when you think about it, it literally sounds crazy."
Naruto couldn't really argue with that and conceded her point.
"Perhaps the constant walls that Kurozetsu was creating between my family and both the clan and the village were the reason why I felt so isolated and connected so easily with you, Naruto-kun, but Kurozetsu took advantage of even that."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, and Aiko looked back over at him.
"What you remember about the day we met and what actually happened aren't quite the same." She explained, "We didn't part ways in the forest at sunset. Actually, I invited you to come have dinner with my parents and I, and we snuck into the compound by going through the forest." She looked back at the kunai, carefully rubbing her thumb on it in thought. "We took a kind of roundabout way to avoid the security cameras used to keep the clan under surveillance. My father had taught me how to avoid being seen by them. However, just when we had almost reached my house, we were intercepted by a spy from Root who had been planted among the Uchiha. He chastised me for bringing you to the compound, but I defiantly refused to renounce my friendship with you. My father, who had come looking for me, came across the three of us and defended my decision to be friends with you. The next thing I knew, I saw someone that I thought was a member of my own clan plunging a kunai into my father's abdomen, striking his vital organs with deadly accuracy." She set down the kunai and placed a hand to her head, "To be honest, I don't really remember what happened after that. It's all kind of a blur. The only thing I know for sure was that my Sharingan was awakened in that moment." She sighed and looked back up at Naruto, "The reason why you don't remember this was because Itachi-niichan had been nearby with Izumi-neechan and had come running when he heard me scream. He didn't want you to feel as though the incident was your fault somehow, so he used a genjutsu to erase your memories of it. He didn't want you to have to carry any more burdens than you already did."
Naruto looked sympathetic toward Aiko and nodded in understanding.
Aiko sighed softly, "To be honest, I don't know if Kurozetsu also somehow arranged our meeting, or if he simply took advantage of it. Heck, I don't even know if it was truly Danzou's spy, or a Shirozetsu who killed my father. Despite that, understand, Naruto-kun, that I never once regretted becoming your friend."
At that, Naruto smiled softly.
"That was far from the end of things between me and that freak of nature. After we left Konoha, he haunted me for close to a year, tormenting me with reminders of what happened. There was one night where he trapped me in a genjutsu while I slept. My mother couldn't counter it. If Itachi-niichan hadn't been staying the night with us..." She sighed, "After that, Itachi-niichan got him to leave me alone somehow, at least until he passed away. After that, he was right back at it. When I set out to try and find you, Sasuke-niichan, during the Gokage Summit, he arranged for me to be attacked, hoping to break me either mentally or physically. He didn't count on my determination to resist the Curse of Hatred."
"How did you manage to do that?" Sasuke asked. "I never understood how you or my brother were able to remain so strong..."
"For Itachi-niichan... I think he resisted the Curse by choosing to focus on the love in his heart instead." Aiko said thoughtfully, "At that point though, I had nobody to love. I was an outcast in Yamasato too. The other kids knew that my father had been a shinobi and that I had at least some training, and that scared them. But I made a promise to my parents and I knew... that if I intended to keep it, I would need to take steps to strengthen my heart." She smiled sadly and looked up at Naruto, "Do you remember, Naruto-kun? My training at the Waterfall of Truth?"
Naruto smiled a bit. "Yeah."
若い者の時
"You're coming along nice, Naruto. But you still lack control, don't you know!" Killer Bee said in his usual rap-style of speech.
"Yeah." Naruto said. "But I can feel that I'm getting stronger."
"Lord Killer Bee!" A Chuunin from the Hidden Cloud called as he appeared from within the forest.
"Yo! What's all the fussin' about, fool, you fool?" Bee asked.
"A... A giant summoning falcon has just landed on the island!" The Chuunin reported.
"What?" Captain Yamato said in surprise.
"Hm?" Naruto said as he looked to the side.
"What's up, Naruto? Do you know who's here, bro?" Bee asked.
Naruto grinned. "Yeah. You guys can relax. It's just an old friend."
その間に
"Now let's see..." Aiko muttered to herself. "I managed to find the island, but how am I supposed to locate—"
"Yo! Aiko-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he suddenly burst out of the trees.
"Oh, Naruto-kun!" The brunette said in surprise. "I wasn't expecting to see you here!" She took note of his appearance and smiled, "Looks like you've learned how to control the Kyuubi."
"You knew about the Kyuubi?" Naruto asked in surprise.
"You do realize that when Pain attacked Konoha, you could be seen all the way from my training spot?" She asked.
"Oh..." Naruto said with a sweat-drop. "Well anyway, what are you doing here, Aiko-chan?"
"I came here to train at the Waterfall of Truth." Aiko told him, "Okaasan told me about it. But... I didn't expect that the Shinobi Alliance was using the island right now. If my being here is a problem, then I'll leave immediately."
"Why'd you come from nowhere near, just to train at the waterfall here?" Killer Bee asked.
"Your mom must be worried." Naruto added. "Isn't this the first time that you've ever left the Land of Fire?"
Aiko's gaze fell. "Okaasan is... she's gone, Naruto-kun..."
"What?" Naruto asked, obviously caught off guard by that statement.
"During the Five Kage Summit... An old enemy set their sights on me, and... Okaasan died while trying to protect me." Aiko held her arms in front herself self-consciously, as if she were afraid. "That's why... I came here. I want to confront the darkness within my heart. Otherwise, I may lose myself to it, and I... I can't let that happen. I promised her that I wouldn't."
"What do you think, Naruto? See any problem with letting her go?" Bee asked.
"Nah. Aiko-chan's a good friend, and she's telling the truth. I'd know if she came here for a different reason." Naruto assured his mentor. "Come on Aiko-chan, I'll show you the way."
"Thank you, Naruto-kun."
一族
Naruto led Aiko to the Waterfall of Truth, and at his instruction, the sixteen-year-old girl sat down on the island within the pond to meditate.
"So, you think that you can simply banish me?"
Aiko opened her eyes to find another her standing there, only this girl's eyes were red and black. "You are..."
"I'm the other you that you're so afraid of." The girl answered as Aiko stood up. "Do you really think you can get rid of me? Why would you even want to? After all, deep in your heart, you know that I'm not the problem." Aiko made no reply, only staring at the other version of herself, waiting for her to continue. "Just think about it. We've been alone, all our lives. Everywhere we've ever gone, we were always outcasts. Okaasan, Papa, and Itachi-niichan were the only ones who ever cared about us, and they're gone. Well, I guess maybe Naruto cares, but it's not like he's a dependable presence. To the Shimura, we were a parasite to be exterminated, to the Uchiha, we were bad luck. To Konoha, our very existence made us a menace to society. In Yamasato, people think that we're weird to say the least. Who was it that made us that way? The relatives who rejected us and the villages that feared us. Why don't we give them a reason to be afraid?"
"Doing that won't solve anything." Aiko said calmly as she slowly approached her other self. "I understand now. You aren't the hatred within my heart, you're my fear. You, or maybe I should say 'I', fear being alone, being rejected. We fear the security of our very existence. But taking revenge for our suffering won't solve any of that. If we become what they fear, then their fear and hatred towards us will only grow. They'll actively seek to destroy us. I understand now. Only by facing the fear within and reaching out to connect with others, can I overcome the walls that exist between myself and others."
"You think you can get rid of me that easily?!" The other her demanded.
"No." Aiko said, reaching forward and embracing her other self, "I don't intend to get rid of you at all. Having courage doesn't mean getting rid of fear. You are a necessary part of me. Fear is what enables people to understand danger. It enables us to survive. At the core, you exist to protect me, to keep me safe. My courage exists help me overcome the things that you can't protect me from on your own. Like yin and yang, or light and dark, two opposing forces coexisting side-by-side to promote harmony. So for once, don't be afraid, because I will never reject you. You are a part of me. A part that I cannot live without."
"That's right..." The other her said, as if remembering, "That's the reason why I exist... to ensure your continued existence. Thank you for accepting me..."
There is a handful of courage in my heart
That is waiting to shine on my darkest day
And I'll never take it for granted
Let's go
A warm light enveloped them both, and when Aiko opened her eyes, she found herself sitting on the island again. She stood up and turned back to Naruto and Killer Bee.
"How did it go?" Naruto asked.
Aiko nodded to him as she walked over to him. "I understand myself better now. I don't have to be so afraid any more." She hugged her friend. "Thank you for helping me, Naruto." She pulled away and smiled weakly at him, "I can't help you in the upcoming war, but... I know, if anyone has the power to change the way things are, it's you. After all, you have the strongest Will of Fire in all of Konoha."
"You know about the Will of Fire?" Naruto asked in surprise.
"My parents both believed in it very strongly and taught me all about it." Aiko said with a sad smile, "Thanks to my training here, I feel certain now that my own flame will not go out." She blinked as her eyes sparked slightly with tears, "That reminds me... remember how my mother warned you before to 'beware the sorrow of Juugoya'?"
"Yeah."
"Be especially careful this year." She warned him, "It seems that the curse will be stronger this year than it ever has before."
"Why is that?" Naruto asked.
"Juugoya is a blood moon this year." Aiko told him, "According to my father's research, because of the shadow that our planet will cast upon the moon, the light of the sun will not be able to suppress the curse as much as it normally does."
"I'll uh, I'll keep that in mind." Naruto said with a sweat-drop.
今時
"You were totally right about that too." Naruto said, "That was definitely the worst Juugoya ever."
"Without a doubt, but fortunately, that's all in the past." Aiko said as she loaded her holster. "When the two of you resealed Kaguya, you were in another dimension, and you made sure Kurozetsu was sealed too, so we no longer have to bear the curse of her hatred."
"You no longer have to endure the hatred of others either, Aiko." Sasuke told her, "Like you just said, everything that happened back then is in the past. There's no reason that it should impact the future." He held his hand out to his younger cousin, "You don't need to be afraid of being rejected anymore. You'll never be an outcast in Konoha, never again."
Aiko smiled softly and accepted her cousin's hand and allowed him to help her to her feet.
"It's just like my mother told you when we were kids. The Uchiha are all one family. You'll always belong with us."
This story is turning out quite a bit longer than I initially thought it would be, but I'm fine with that, because I honestly was afraid that it would just totally lack substance and the added volume has been useful for developing the twins' characters and building an actual familial bond between Sasuke and Aiko.