Chapter Five
Eneko woke with a start, throwing the sheets off of herself and standing up, breathing heavily. Itachi grumbled and opened one eye, clearly still asleep. He rubbed his eye and stretched slightly, his jaw opening as he let out a huge yawn.
"Eneko? What's the matter?" He murmured softly. She looked back and smiled at him, leaning down and kissing him on the forehead.
"Nothing, Itachi-kun, just a bad dream. That's all. Go back to sleep all right?" She asked him. He nodded slightly, turning over and closing his eyes again. Eneko smiled softly at him before turning away and putting a hand to her chest. It was all a dream. She had to keep repeating it to herself. It wasn't going to be another vision. She was going to make sure of it. She slowly and quietly walked out of the room and out into the open air. It had taken her a little while, but she was getting accustomed to the changes around her household. They still lived in the same place, Deidara had made sure of that, but the house design was different than she had originally made it. She let the soft wind blow her hair around as she bathed in the moon's peaceful, comforting glow.
"Mom?" A small voice asked. Eneko turned around to see Niji standing in the doorway, rubbing her eye. "What are you doing up this early?" She asked. Eneko looked at her, surprised to find that she was already dressed.
"I had another nightmare is all, Niji. And what are you doing ready to go out and train? It can't be later than four in the morning." She blinked slightly, keeping her voice down so that she wouldn't disturb anyone's sleeping.
"I always train early, it's the only time when this city seems at peace with itself. Sometimes I go and visit Bokura and Nekura on graveyard shift, but other times, times like this when the moon is full, I go to your memorial before I train. I guess I don't have to do that anymore, do I?" She smiled. Eneko smiled back at her daughter and shook her head.
"I guess not, Niji-chan. But give me a moment. I want to see what everyone has been remembering me by." She murmured. She did a quick hand seal and Niji studied it, realizing that she had never seen anything like it. Suddenly, in a flurry of black feathers, Eneko was standing before her, fully dressed in a new outfit. She had a fishnet undershirt, a white vest with the yin-yang symbol printed on it, black pants that went down to her calves and black nin-sandals. A small charm with the yin-yang symbol on it hung around her waist along with her hitai-ate. Niji stared in surprise; she had never seen any type of jutsu like that.
"Okay, Mom, you have got to teach me that one." She told her mother, smiling. Eneko smiled and laughed softly.
"All in good time, my little rainbow. Now, come on and show me where that little statue that Deidara-kun made of me." She put a hand on her waist. Niji smiled and nodded, following a path down into the clearing where she and Pein had fought, not far from their house. Eneko stopped at the edge, replaying the scene in her head. Everything was happening over in her memory and she clutched her head in pain, falling to her knees. Niji, who had kept walking, suddenly looked back, worried. She ran towards Eneko, wrapping her arms around her mother tightly.
"Mom, it's okay. Everything's all over now. Pein is dead. You protected me, mom, you did your job." Niji whispered softly. Eneko looked up at her and hugged her back.
"I know, Niji…I know…" She muttered weakly, using Niji's support to stand up again. Slowly they made their way to the small statue and Eneko knelt in front of it, inspecting it. She made a scoffing noise and stood up, hands over her chest. Niji stared at her, slightly alarmed, but mostly confused as to what her mother was doing.
"Mom? Is something wrong?" She asked. Eneko was glaring at the sculpture, a playful gleam in her emerald eyes.
"I think that Deidara's going to have to be smacked. I'm not that short." She grinned playfully. Niji burst out laughing and Eneko followed her into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Pretty soon, they were both standing and facing each other, and Eneko suddenly got into a battle position. Niji stared at her confused. Eneko grinned slightly and motioned her forward, keeping her fans in her holsters.
"Niji-chan! It's time for you to train with your mother. What's your jutsu specialty?" She asked, circling the clearing. Niji whipped out her fans so fast that Eneko smiled in approval.
"My specialties are wind, fire, wood, and genjutsu." She responded. Eneko nodded approvingly and flipped out her own fans. Instead of being a pale cream color with winged dragons imprinted all over them, Eneko's new fans were a dark, dark blue with birds of paradise imprinted on them. The razor blades were extremely sharp and flicked the reflection of anything that passed near them.
"So, I see that you've inherited traits from both myself and your father. That's very interesting, Niji-chan. Too bad that you don't know the dragon's genjutsu or any of my wood-style techniques." Niji smiled and flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"I know that it's a shame, but now that you're home and here, you can teach me. Can you not?" She asked, tilting her head to the side and grinning. Eneko smiled and flicked her fans open with a snap. Niji did the same and the two women disappeared from sight for a split second before colliding in mid-air in a heated combat. Eneko walked away, not looking scratched at all. Niji on the other hand, had multiple small, shallow cuts that wouldn't be very difficult to heal at all. Eneko smiled and laughed at Niji's disbelieving expression.
"You've got to remember, Niji, that I've spent the last ten years of my life training. All over the otherworld." Niji smiled and winced slightly. Eneko walked over to her, slipping her fans back into their holsters before her hands started to glow a dull green and a calming, soothing feeling spread all over Niji's body. The cuts on her skin healed and Eneko was offering her a hand to stand up. She took it and her mother pulled her to her feet.
"You've got strong potential, my little Niji-chan, but you're much too overconfident. Much like your father." She smiled slightly. Niji quietly noticed the sad, faraway expression on her face. Niji put her head on her mother's shoulder and hugged her tightly.
"But I want to be more like you, Mommy. I've never stopped believing in you. Ever." She promised. Eneko laughed and hugged her daughter back.
"I hope you've forgiven me for leaving all those years ago. If there had been any other way to do what I did I would have, my little girl, believe me. I couldn't let him terrorize anyone else ever again. He'd nearly killed you." Niji shook her head and held her mother even tighter.
"Never was there anything to forgive, Mom. You did what you thought was for the best and I respect that. I've often thought about what I would have done in your situation. I may have found a quicker way back though." The dark-haired girl teased. Eneko swatted at her playfully. The two female kunoichi started sharing training tips and laughing at something Niji had told her about Itachi. Eneko started sharing stories about when she and Itachi were younger. Suddenly, the brown-haired woman's eyes narrowed and she spun around, razor-bladed fan at the pale neck of the person behind her. Itachi's eyes went wide, as did both Niji and Eneko's. She snapped her fan back into place and shoved it in her holster before bowing low to the ground.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" She apologized immediately. Itachi looked at her confused before pulling her up to face him. Her eyes were bright with fear and he hugged her tightly.
"I know that you didn't mean anything by it, Eneko-chan. You're all right. I'm not angry. Niji, is this some sort of women thing?" Itachi asked his daughter as he tried to comfort his wife. Eneko suddenly smacked him over the head and put her hands on her hips.
"Just because a woman does something unexpected, that does not mean that they're on their cycle, Itachi. By the gods, you're such a man." She muttered and stuck her bottom lip out in a pout. Itachi's eyes were wide with confusion and he rubbed the sore spot on his head.
"I was just worried that something had happened to you or Niji because neither of you were there when I woke up. By the gods, you're such a woman." He added jokingly and she busted into laughter. Niji just stared at her parents, confused and then smiled slightly. Her parents were finally back and together. Eneko laughed and suddenly pulled her into the hug along with herself and Itachi. They all laughed before Eneko leapt backwards and tackled Sasuke to the ground.
"By the gods, why do you Uchihas keep sneaking up on me today? That's three of you and it's only, what, seven in the morning? Wait, what are you doing here?" She asked quickly at the dark-haired younger of the Uchiha brothers. Sasuke gasped for breath and Eneko quickly jumped off of him.
"Just thought I'd deliver Naruto's message before he freaked out even more." He wheezed. Eneko made a face and helped him to his feet, quickly dusting him off and tilting her head. "He wants you to teach at the academy with Iruka until you get back on your feet. He feels that a weeks worth of being here is plenty of time to get at least a little used to getting back in your surroundings and oh by the gods I've turned into a sorry little messenger boy." He smacked himself on the forehead as reality hit him. Eneko laughed and kissed the spot where he had hit himself.
"You're not a messenger boy, Sasuke." She leaned down and whispered in his ear. "You're a messenger man. This fact proven by the fact that you've got a couple of beautiful children who need to come over and meet their aunt sometime. Hint hint." Sasuke laughed and nodded.
"Yeah, yeah, Eneko-nee-chan. I'll bring over the kids sometime to see you, but they've got a test today in the academy. Speaking of, you've got to get going if you want to get there in time." Eneko looked to the sky and her eyes widened. She ran over to Itachi and Niji and kissed them both on the forehead.
"I'll be back in a few hours you two, love you, see you, bye!" She called as she ran off in the direction of the academy. Niji slowly turned to her father and stared at him.
"Papa, was Mom always this hyper when she was my age?" She asked, her eyebrow twitching. Sasuke snickered and Itachi started laughing.
"Actually, yes. Oh, you've no idea how good it is to have her back in our lives, Niji-chan." Niji smiled at her father and realized for the first time in ten years, his smile reached his eyes and he looked truly happy.
"Yes, Papa, yes I do…I understand perfectly." She murmured as she hugged him tightly.