Yang was ecstatic, today was October 8th, and tomorrow she would be heading back to Konoha to celebrate her sixteenth birthday. She had kept in contact with her friends in the shinobi village, but hadn't been able to visit as often. And despite being in the middle of the school year, she was being allowed to take a break from classes at Signal, provided she continued the coursework while on her leave-of-absence, to spend the week of her birthday in Konoha. She still remembered what Kakashi had told her, so many years ago, about how she'd be told of her birth parents on her sixteenth birthday, which was just four days away. She nearly ran all the way home, waving to her friends on the way, many of them wishing her a happy birthday as she passed.
Ruby was waiting for her on the porch; she'd gotten out of school early because her last period teacher had been sick. The younger girl was tinkering with the prototype scythe she'd built, trying to smoothen out the transition from collapsed to expanded form. Looking up from her weapon, she saw the dust trail kicked up by her sister; Ruby smiling at the blonde's excitement.
A split second before colliding with her younger sister, Yang jumped, flipping and twisting over the girl with black hair and red highlights, landing behind the smaller girl before picking her up in a crushing hug.
"Ack… Yang… can't… breathe," Ruby said, gasping for air when her older sister released her.
"Heh, sorry Sis," the blonde said, turning to walk into the house; she had a couple hours to pack, not that it would take her that long; she always kept a bag packed and ready in case she needed to head out quickly. It was something her father taught her and Ruby; they never knew when they would get missions as Huntresses. She was looking forward to having the chance for a rematch with the Fifth Hokage, especially now that her Ember Celica were completed.
That night, Yang could hardly sleep; she'd been dreaming of this for years; soon, she'd finally know who her birth parents were. Of the many dreams she had, in some, her parents were heroes, saving the world from all sorts of bad guys and monsters. In others however, they were criminals, running away from something bad they'd done, and leaving her at the orphanage to lessen their load; it only made sense after all, you couldn't travel nearly as fast if you had to care for a child. It was those dreams that she was afraid of being true, but they made the most sense. Sure she knew about the Kyubi sealed inside of her, but Kakashi had mentioned her parents' enemies coming after her. He even said that they'd loved her, that they were dear to him. But he was a shinobi, someone who would kill if ordered, and had killed already; she could see it in his eyes, when he thought she wasn't looking. The mystery had dominated her dreams for several years, dwindling slowly as time went by; but now those dreams were back. At one point, she didn't know when, but Ruby had walked into her room, crawled into bed next to her older sister, and hugged her; that simple act washing away all the chaotic thoughts and dreams, finally allowing the violet eyes to find restful sleep.
The morning came too quickly, Yang getting dressed while still half asleep; the smell of coffee and food doing wonders to wake her up. When she was ready, she, her father and sister all loaded up onto the Bullhead waiting to take them to Konoha.
The trip, like all the others, would take eight hours. And just like all those other trips, Yang and Ruby spent a couple hours playing card games, board games, napping, eating snacks, anything really to help pass the time. Currently they were playing a new game Yang had gotten as an early birthday present, a strategy game called "Remnant: The Game"; a game where up to four players build their forces and battle for control of Remnant. They were still learning the game and trying to figure out what all the cards did.
The time had passed quickly; they would soon be descending into the area that Konoha had built up over the years into an airship dock. It was how they traded goods with Vale after all. The family of three disembarked the airship after landing, dock workers offloading luggage and preparing to refuel the Bullhead. The walk to the Ambassador's Residence was a short one; Yang was surprised that no one had met them at the docks like they normally did. 'Everyone's probably on missions or something' she figured, it wasn't unexpected for the shinobi of a village to be out on missions after all. All of her friends had been promoted to either Chunin or Jounin by now, so they would likely be far busier. As they entered the Residence, Yang noticed that all the lights were off, normally the staff would leave the lights on for them after cleaning up and stocking up on food and other supplies.
Yang entered the living room first, followed by Ruby and their father, with him shutting the door behind him. "Hey dad, turn the lights on would ya? It's dark in here," Yang called out, she knew the layout by heart, but still, something felt off.
When the lights came on, a loud, collective, "SURPRISE!" rang out, all of her friends, from Konoha and Vale, were there, all smiling at the stunned look on the girl's face. There was a banner overhead that read 'Happy 16th Birthday Yang' and everyone had some kind of noise maker and party hat. The blonde's expression quickly changed to an excited smile; everyone was here, Ino, Shikamaru, Choiji, Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke, some new guy with black hair and pale skin…, Tenten, Neji, Bushy Brows, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Tsunade, even Hiruzen was here. She couldn't be happier as Ruby and her father gave her a quick hug before moving to join the rest of the group.
Everyone came over to personally wish the girl a happy birthday, Yang noticing how close Sakura and Sasuke were standing, almost like they were attached at the hip, a bright smile on the pinkette's face. Ino was also standing noticeably close to that guy she didn't know, the pale skin guy. As she talked with her friends, she learned that his name was Sai, and that he and Ino had started dating a few months ago. When the blonde questioned Sakura and Sasuke, they confessed to have started dating around the same time. Yang was happy for her friends, as she moved around the room, talking to different groups about different things. Making her way around the room, she saw Shikamaru sitting in the corner, looking bored as usual, and next to him was none other than Temari, Gaara's older sister. "Ooooo, I didn't think Shika would ever get the motivation to date a girl," Yang jabbed at her friend, earning a smirk from her fellow blonde.
"Oh he didn't," Temari answered. "I was assigned as the liaison from Suna, and Shika was assigned as my counterpart," the explanation continued. "A few formal dinners later and I basically pulled the lazy bum in for a kiss," she finished, getting a chuckle from the birthday girl.
"Well, Shika, looks like you got your hands full," Yang joked again.
"Tch. Troublesome women," he replied ignoring the giggles from the two women.
Further on into the room, she found Kiba chatting away, boasting about some mission he'd been on, Hinata standing next to him, correcting his over exaggerations and giggling every time he looked at her with that 'stop ruining my moment' look. Looking down, she noticed that the two were holding hands. "Wow, Kiba, you did pretty well for yourself, she's quit the looker," Yang said, causing the Hyuga heiress to blush a deep red, and Kiba to sputter a bit. "If you're not careful, I might steal her away from you," she whispered, winking and blowing a kiss at the dark blue haired girl, loud enough for both of them to hear, Hinata's eyes shooting wide open and Kiba coughing as he choked briefly on his drink he had just sipped on. Everyone else in the small group burst into laughter, Yang's grin shifting into a friendly smile towards the beautiful girl.
After visiting everyone, something she'd learned from her father about parties and social events, it was time to move on to the birthday cake. They all sang 'Happy Birthday' to her… well almost all, Sasuke didn't sing, period, Sai just gave a smile, and Shikamaru just sighed, earning himself an elbow to his side from Temari. After the singing, Yang closed her eyes, took a deep breathe, and blew out the candles on the cake. Cutting the cake, she gave a slice to each person as they walked up, choosing to save the last piece for herself.
Once the cake was finished, it was time to move on to the gifts, she hadn't really wanted much, always believing that friends and family were the best gifts you could hope for. Most had gotten her small things, trinkets, and jewelry; Tenten had gotten her a cleaning and repair kit to help her maintain her weapons; Ino had gotten her perfume, lilacs, her favorite scent. Her sister, Ruby, had gotten her a badass coat, a short sleeved long coat, orange with black flames on the bottom and a high collar. Kiba, trying to be funny, got her a box of condoms, probably trying to pay her back for the penis pump she'd gotten him last year; now that had been funny. Hiruzen, Jiraiya, and Tsunade said that their present would come in the morning.
Of all the gifts she'd gotten, her father's was the best, in her own opinion, not that she'd say it out loud. The tiny wrapped box contained a single key with a note, "Look outside the back door." Her interest piqued, she, and her friends and family, went to the back door of the house, where she found a yellow, black, orange and red motorcycle. Her eyes lit up as she realized that it was the same motorcycle she had been looking at last month when they happened to walk by a dealership. On the bike were a helmet, and a receipt for driving lessons. The wide, bright smile on her face told her father of the overwhelming joy she felt about the gift; well, the smile and the crushing hug she had wrapped around him helped too.
Yang spent the rest of the evening telling her friends about how life was at Signal, how her combat class captured small Grimm for them to fight, teaching critical weak points, strategies, and fighting styles. She even demonstrated the completed Ember Celica and having them switch between their two forms.
As the party wound down, the guests started leaving in small groups, leaving the family to settle in and get some rest. That evening, Yang spent some time going through her gifts, she treasured each one she had gotten; before her adoption the only gifts she ever received were treats to Ichiraku Ramen. She had promised herself to never take gifts for granted, especially those from her friends. She'd gotten mostly earrings and necklaces, some with lockets containing pictures of the friends who'd given her the gift. She wasn't really the type of girl to wear jewelry, but on the off chance she decided to dress up for some reason, having a nice pair of earrings and a necklace to wear would be nice. She hadn't told her father yet, but there was a party dress that she bought, it was "fashionable", meaning it showed off a good amount of skin while hiding just enough to still be considered clothing.
The next morning came quicker than she would have liked, she was excited to finally learn about her parents, but as the moment came closer, the more apprehensive she felt. She wanted to know, sure, but at the same time she was still a little afraid. She got ready like normal, more going through the motions while her mind was elsewhere. Before she knew it, she was standing infront of the door to the Hokage's office. What surprised everyone inside was the polite knocking that sounded, announcing her arrival; normally she just burst through the door. Quietly, she walked up to sit in the chair infront of the massive desk, the seven others in the room surprised at her silence. It was a moment before Tsunade spoke up, breaking the unsettling quiet.
"Hey brat, happy birthday," the older blonde said, snapping the younger out of her trance like state. On either side of the Hokage desk stood Hiruzen, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Tsunade was seated in her chair. Off to the side were Taiyang and Ruby, the younger sister concerned over Yang's unusually quiet demeanor. Looking down at her hand, she realized she was holding the scroll she'd been given eight years ago.
"Are you ready?" Jiraiya asked, he knew that this must be difficult for the girl, what she was about to learn could change everything she thought she knew, but it would also explain why she had to be kept in the dark for so long.
"I think so," she replied. "How does this work?" she asked, she didn't understand how sesling jutsu worked.
"You focus your chakra into the seal and it'll release, allowing the scroll to open," the toad sage answered.
"Is that all?" Ruby asked, trying to understand. "Why couldn't we have opened it up before?"
"Well, it's tuned to Yang's chakra, so only she can open it," came the response. "As to why we had to wait so long... Chakra... ages with the person," he explained. "Yang's father was a master at sealing jutsu, he made it so that it would only respond to her chakra once she turned 16," he finished, trying to explain without going too indepth.
Looking down at the scroll again, Yang focused her chakra, watching as the seal lit up before fading away, the lock on the scroll clicking open. Slowly, hesitantly, she pulled the piece of rolled up paper open. As the contents of the scroll were revealed, she raised her eyebrow, all she saw was she thought was another seal, far more intricate than the one that had held the paper closed. Looking up at her Godfather for a moment to see his nod to continue, Yang proceeded to channel chakra into this seal as well. As the energy flowed through the inked design, a light flashed brightly, briefly blinding everyone in the room. When the light died down, everyone looked to see Yang, asleep in Kakashi's arms before he laid her on the ground at Jiraiya's advice. As her sleep deepened, two energies swirled around the girl's body, blue and red fighting for dominance. Tsunade, Kakashi, Taiyang and Ruby were about to move to the prone girl's aid before they were stopped by Hiruzen and Jiraiya.
"Wait," Jiraiya said, looking down, a sense of helplessness filling his heart. "I don't know what Minato planned when he made that scroll, but it's for Yang to experience."
"Can you wake her up again?" Ruby asked, a tinge of fear in her voice for her unconcious sister.
"We can, but it would be better if she wakes up on her own, she needs to know who her birth parents were," Hiruzen answered the younger sister.
***Break***
'Where am I?' violet eyes wondered, as they opened to take in their surroundings. This place looked... it looked like Signal Academy. The red carpeted hallway had doors on either side, each door held a strange familiarity to her; but she'd never been to this part of the school before. Reaching the first door on her left, she grasped the handle, a sudden surge of emotion filling her at the contact. Fear, that was the emotion she felt. Turning the handle with a shaking hand, her mind was flooded with memory.
"Where is she?" came the first voice, filled with anger and hatred.
"I think she went this way," called out a second, getting closer with each word. An eerie light preceeding the ever growing sound of footsteps. As the crowd turned the corner, Yang, suddenly four years old, took off, sprinting as fast as her little legs would carry her, trying to find someplace safe to hide.
Yang was wrenched back from the door, breething deeply at the memory she had long forgotten. Her legs were shaking as she moved down to another door, trepidation gripped her as she reached for this one's handle. Closing her eyes tightly, she grasped the door handle, instead of fear, she felt a happiness she hadn't felt in years. Pulling the door open, the memory flashed before her eyes.
A lonely five year old girl sat alone on a swing, her blonde hair covering her crying violet eyes. She didn't notice their approach until they spoke.
"Hey, whatcha doin over here all by yourself?" the blue eyed blonde asked. "I'm Ino."
"I'm Sakura, what's yer name?" the green eyed pinkette asked.
"N..n...naru. My name is Naru," the swing girl responded, peeking out at them from behind the hair covering her eyes.
"Well, hi Naru, wanna come play with us?" Ino asked, her bright smile chasing away the gloom that filled the area.
"Yeah! Let's play!" Sakura added, each girl taking one of Naru's hands, and leading her towards their group of friends.
A tear rolled down Yang's face as the memory hit her, that was the first time she'd met two of her best friends. She'd been thinking some very dark thoughts before they walked up, but they pulled her away from those thoughts. They very likely had saved her that day, and they didn't even know it. She would have to tell them, to thank them for everything they'd done, and let them know how much that one gesture meant to her. Closing the door, she turned to look further down the hallway, seeing a strange glow at the end of it.
She walked towards the glowing light, hoping it would tell her what she came here to learn. As she went through the glowing doorway, she noticed the hallway opened up into a massive room, easily twice the size of the cafeteria back at Signal. In the middle of the room was an enormous cage; behind the cage was a gigantic, red-orange fox curled up in a sleeping position. At the base of the cage sat two people who were facing the fox. As she approached the couple, they turned to face her. The man had blonde, spikey hair, blue eys, and a kind smile. The woman had long red hair, violet eyes, and a loving smile.
"Hello, Naru," the man said, turning to face her completely.
"Hello, my baby girl," the woman spoke, her arms open slightly, invitingly.
"M-m-mom? D-dad?" Yang asked, fighting back the tears that were welling up. "Is it really you?" she asked, taking a hesitant step forward.
"Yes, it's us," the man answered, taking a step with the woman, towards the sixteen year old girl.
Yang took one step forward, then another, and another, until she was running towards her birth parents, the pair smiling as they opened their arms for their daughter. As she reached them, she had tears running down her face, tears she had been bottling up for longer than she could remember. They wrapped their arms around her, holding her as she clung to them. She finally met her parents.
***Break***
"Well, it looks like the chakras have evened out," Kakashi said, his sharingan eye open and observing the energies swirling around the girl. Her breathing had normalized after that sporadic burst early in her trance. After what he could only describe as fear washing over her, she was then shrouded by something better, something... happier. That is until this most recent turn. When she'd been in a state of fear, the Kyubi's red chakra was swarming around her, as if trying to protect the girl from harm. When her mood shifted to happiness, her own blue chakra took over, lighting the room up in a warm glow. Now, he couldn't really describe it, her chakra and aura mixed together, emotions of relief, happiness, and exhaustion filled the room. He could also see tears forming in her eyes.
Ruby was concerned at all the different energies coming off of her sister, the first one frightened her, like a bad dream taking form. The second gave her a feeling of happiness, not like 'Mom just baked us cookies' happiness, something... better, like meeting a new friend kind of happiness. Now though, now it was like... the only way she could describe it to herself is the feeling she got when their mother came home from missions. That sense of completion, having their family together again.
The older shinobi in the room knew exactly what Yang was experiencing, Hiruzen and Jiraiya had seen her experiences first hand; Tsunade had read the reports after she'd returned, there were so many people she wanted to personally place in the hospital for their actions against such a small, orphan, child.
Before Yang had arrived to open her scroll, Hiruzen had informed Taiyang and Ruby about Yang's birth parents, and why it had been so important for her to wait to learn the truth. Learning that his daughter, and her sister, was not only the Jinchuriki for the Kyubi, but the only child of Konoha's Yellow Flash, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and the former Kyubi Jinchuriki Kushina Uzumaki, made the situation much more clear. Minato had earned himself many enemies during the Third Shinobi War, so many infact that he could not publicly marry his wife. Kushina was not allowed to take her husband's name for her own safety.
Ruby couldn't understand what it must have been like, to love someone, to love them so much that you marry them, and bear their child, but unable to admit publically to being their wife and mother of their child. From what she heard, Minato Namikaze was a hero for Konoha, and yet even he had enemies within the village he fought to protect. She knew of the threat of the Grimm, and even the White Fang, but neither compaired to what she heard about the Elemental Nations of the Shinobi. Instead of abandoning the people here, Ruby wanted to help them, hopefully the whole world could one day know peace.
***Break***
"My father is Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage; and my mother is Kushina Uzumaki, the previous Kyubi Jinchuriki... Well that all makes sense now," Yang summarized; she had read up on Konoha's history, and knew what had been recorded for Konoha's Yellow Flash. She understood why she couldn't know, until now, who her parents were, but that didn't mean she had to like it. At least if she'd known, she would have had something to be proud of, something to let her know she wasn't just abandoned by parents who didn't want her.
Her tears had stopped, and she was sitting with her birth parents, telling them stories about the family that had adopted her, bringing up images to show them. She showed them Taiyang, Summer, and Ruby, her adopted family, the ones that saved her from the darkness that'd been building inside her. She showed them all of the friends she'd made, both in Konoha and in Vale. Both Minato and Kushina were smiling at the joy in their daughter's eyes as she recounted her life since she became Yang.
"Yang Xiao Long huh, it's a good name," Minato said, looking his daughter up and down, admiring the strong, beautiful woman she'd become; it was so long ago that she was the little baby he got to hold for too little time.
"It's a beautiful name, and it fits you perfectly," Kushina added, happy to see her baby had inherited not only her eyes, but her personality as well. Well she got Minato's hair, and his resolve, two things she loved about her husband.
Yang noticed that both Minato and Kushina were starting to slowly fade, starting from their feet. Her parents just smiled, "It's ok Yang, we knew we wouldn't have much time, but we were glad to be able to spend any time at all with you," Minato said, hugging his daughter one last time.
"Don't ever change, my sweet baby girl," Kushina started, as tears started to form in her eyes. "Remember, that true strength comes from protecting those precious to you," she finished, looking into her daughter's tear filled eyes. The two women embraced once more, the chakra they had left for this meeting was fading quicker and quicker.
"We have always been, and always will be proud of you, no matter what," They said together as the last of the energy faded, leaving Yang alone in the large room with the Kyubi as her only companion. The two regarded each other simply before Yang focused her chakra to bring herself back to the outside world.
***Break***
Violet eyes opened slowly to see the others in the room sitting around talking, only Kakashi was still focused on her; as their eyes made contact, he smiled his trademark eye-smile. "Welcome back," his words alerted everyone else in the room who came over to the blonde girl who was raising into a seated position
Like a blur of red, Ruby tackled into her older sister, hugging her tightly, Yang smiling softly, returned the hug. Yang stood as the younger girl released her, turning to smile at her dad, continuing on to face Tsunade, Hiruzen, and Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya, my father wanted me to thank you and Kakashi for keeping me safe all these years," she started with a smile, walking over to hug her Godfather. "And my mother..." she let the words sink in for a moment before acting. "She wanted me to give you this," she continued, as she kneed the older man in the groin. "She said it was for you being a pervert, I wonder whatever she could have meant by that," she finished, turning to smile at Tsunade, who by now was cracking her knuckles in a way that let Jiraiya know he was in for far more pain... if he didn't run that is.
In a puff of smoke, the Toad Sage vanished from the room with a horrified look on his face, the men in the room completely understanding why; Tsunade was pretty scary, especially when she was pissed off at a pervert.
"Well, Tsunade-sama," Yang began, surprising everyone in the room at the formality she never used. "You ready for that rematch?" she asked, with a confidant smirk on her face.
"Heh, bring it on brat," Tsunade answered. The rest in the room could only wonder how much damage the two would cause this time.
***Break***
Out at a training ground, in the middle of the forest, far enough away from the village so they wouldn't cause any collateral damage, stood two blondes. One had long, wild hair, she loved her hair, violet eyes and golden bracelets that she didn't have the last time. The other had her hair in two pig tails, and amber eyes; her appearance hid her age, she appeared in her early thirties, but was really in her early fifties.
The two stood several yards apart, both smiling at each other. Yang rotated her arms while flicking her wrists, triggering the transformation of her Ember Celica from a pair of bracelets into a pair of shotgun gauntlets; the action caused Tsunade to raise her eyebrow quizzically. "So, I see you've gotten new toys" Tsunade taunted. "Don't think they'll change the outcome of the match," she finished, not bothering to uncross her arms.
Yang smirked as she readied herself by getting into her fighting stance, "We'll see about that." Yang felt more than ready for this match; she couldn't really explain it but she felt... lighter somehow; like a weight she didn't know she'd been carrying and been lifted.
"When I drop my hand, the match will begin," Kakashi called out, neither blonde turning to look at the grey haired shinobi. Sighing to himself, he lifted his hand up over his head, pausing for a moment before bringing it down in a chopping motion. "Begin!"
With the start of the match called, Yang charged her opponent. Tsunade smirked as she lifted her foot, slamming it down to crater the earth as she jumped into the air. Yang grinned, that was what she was expecting to happen; she crouched down as the expanding hole approached her, firing her weapons down while jumping to give her both a boost in her jump, and in speed as she flew at the older woman. This act caught the Fifth Hokage off-guard as the younger blonde rocketed towards her. Drawing her fist back, Yang's weapon expelled the discharged dust round, chambering the next, and as she reached the older woman, shot a punch straight for her midsection.
Tsunade was expecting the punch, and made to block the blow, but what she hadn't expected was the explosive force that accompanied it. The impact sent her flying backwards while her arms stung from the blast. As she touched down on the ground once more, she looked up to see Yang still in the air.
With her target now grounded, for the moment, Yang threw punches at the older woman, sending off round after round of burn dust projectiles. Tsunade dodged the explosive shots, moving towards where the younger girl was going to land, at least until she fired those gauntlets again, changing her direction. This time it was the Hokage's turn to charge her opponent, rearing her fist back just as the brat landed, ready to punch her a few miles into the forest.
As her feet touched dirt, Yang raised her arms up to block the incoming fist, surprising the older woman when she stopped the blow dead in its tracks. Looking up, her now red eyes shimmered with confidence at the amber eyes of the Hokage. With her hair glowing, as if on fire, Yang pushed back against Tsunade's fist, shocking the woman again as she was thrown backwards by the explosion of power.
***Break***
The battle carried on like this for quite a while, neither fighter really gaining an advantage... well, Tsunade wasn't really fighting at her best, while Yang was using every trick she had. Tsunade was surprised to realize she was breathing heavy, she was even sweating from the battle so far. Yang had had periods of exhaustion and seemingly being revitalized, but even her stamina was starting to run out. The two fighters had torn up the training ground, craters and boulders littered the area, trees blown apart, or even uprooted entirely.
Tsunade knew she had to end the fight soon, the sun was starting to set. 'Sorry brat,' she thought to herself as she focused her chakra into one last attack. Stomping the ground, up popped a large boulder that she sent flying at Yang with a kick. Yang destroyed it with a punch only to see Tsunade right behind it. She couldn't react in time before Tsunade reached forward and flicked her forehead, sending the young blonde flying off to be caught by Kakashi.
As the man brought Yang back over to the sidelines, Tsunade appeared next to him, running a quick scan to make sure there were no serious injuries. Smiling when she found none, she pressed a small amount of chakra into her forehead, waking the girl up, and reducing the headache she likely had.
Yang woke up to find that she'd lost the match, she'd been expecting to, honestly, but Tsunade had said how impressed she was with how Yang had improved. That brought a smile to her face as she slowly stood up.
The group made their way back to the village, tomorrow they would be heading back to Patch, and Yang still had homework to finish.