Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 4: Why me?
The journey from the Hidden Sand village was indeed tiring for all the members of team 8. They handed over the scrolls to the Kazekage personally. A whole day break was enough for these young shinobi after returning home, so this day they had their spirits pretty high and were training in one of the training grounds. All three of the genin, (including a shinobi pup) were pretty enthusiastic about the training session because of the success of their recent mission.
The blonde one was busy targeting the red marks on the three wooden poles with quite precision. The boy with triangles painted on his cheek was sitting under the shade of a tree, catching his breath because of his sparring session with his sensei. Whereas the shinobi pup just finished his certain training with the young lady Uchiha.
Rika had fun playing catch with Akihiro with a ball and was now cuddling the fur ball. "You are a good boy" she smiled at the little thing. Then she let the dog go to his master and threw the ball at Kiri, which practically hit his forehead.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"Hehe... Sorry!" Rika stuck her tongue out at the boy.
"You look in a good mood today. Anything special?" Konohamaru leaned over to the tree where Rika was standing.
The girl couldn't hold the wide smile on her face, "Its nothing actually. I just..."
"Rika!" Two girls with same age as Rika approached the group, calling their best friend.
"That's why I'm happy sensei. Thanks for giving me a day off. I will take a leave now." She pointed at her friends then bowed her head to leave and joined her friends.
The Uchiha princess joined her beat friends Hannah and Itari. Hannah waved at her twin brother with blonde hair, who waved him back while throwing his shuriken at the wooden poles.
The girls were sitting, chit chatting and eating tasty rice balls in the garden of the Hyuuga compound. They came there as the Hyuuga clan leader needed some advice from her elder sister, Hinata. Hannah had asked her mother to make for her friends. The girls loved lady Hinata's cooking.
"Mmm... I just love these" Itari said swallowing the bite of rice ball she took.
"I'm so glad that you girls like my cooking" they heard the voice of a women with blue hair tied into a braid with white eyes. She was holding a tray with drinks and sushi that she just made. The three young kunoichi stood and bowed as the older women entered the garden.
"Lady Hinata!" Itari and Rika greeted Hannah's mother as she took the food from her mother.
"So what are you three talking about? You seem to be very happy about something" Hinata asked the trio. It was Hannah who spoke with a wide smile; "Its Rika, mom. Her parents are very happy about her status as a young kunoichi and there is an some arrangement as well." Well by arrangement she meant the meeting that the Uchiha's held as a symbol of selecting the clan heir. Fugaku Uchiha chose Itachi to succeed him as the leader but unfortunately Itachi was more attracted to dedicate his life for the village rather than to his clan as a leader.
"Yeah finally she gets a chance to shine. I hope my dad acknowledges me. This is such a drag." Itari said with a frown on her face. It was obvious that every child was being compared with their older siblings or cousins.
Hinata smiled and wished the girls best of luck, especially Rika because of she knew pretty well how Sasuke always praised his only son as he was the Uchiha heir. 'I'm really happy for you Rika. I hope your parents understand soon that you are not less than your other siblings.'
"Thanks a lot for your blessings Lady Hinata!" Rika bowed in respect, thanking the woman. She was excited about the meeting her father had fixed today at sun down, stating that her sensei had a little talk about her being able to handle the battlefield. All she wanted now was her father's attention and she was actually imagining that he might have had second thoughts regarding his successor. Women can be leaders because Lady Tsunade was once the fifth Hokage and Lady Hanabi is still the Hyuuga clan leader.
Later in the evening, Rika took a leave from her friends an hour earlier than sun down. She wanted to face her father courageously and for that she needed some confidence building support from her younger sister. Emi helped her older sister with advices like not cut father's word, look calm, don't argue at anything he says, and don't look him in the eye when he is angry and many more. Although the older girl was aware of all these facts but she had a bad history to do the opposite of what Sasuke expected; which obviously led her to earn the title of a naughty and rebellious child.
As the sun was setting in, Sasuke came home and called his daughter in the study of the Uchiha compound after changing to his normal attire.
'Don't panic, stay calm, this is your chance to prove that yourself as...' "Enter" Rika was standing outside the door of the study when her thoughts were cut off from the voice that came from the other side. She tilted her neck to the left where Emi gave her a wide smile and thumbs up. She sighed and grabbed the door knob.
The door opened with a creak as the black haired girl entered the room, closing the door behind. "Good evening father!"
The short haired girl was looking at the wall clock in the hall behind after certain intervals and then shifted her gaze back to the closed door of the study room. She wondered what might be the two of her family members' topic of discussion about.
After 15 minutes, the door opened and Sasuke came out of the room with a book in his hand. He looked at his right and saw his youngest daughter peeking through the corridor. She hid herself as soon as the male figure materialized in front of the door. Sasuke turned and walked through the corridor to enter a room opposite to the study.
Watching her father disappear behind the door of the other room, Emi rushed quickly towards the study. Her concerns about her sister had been right. The crumpled form of the black haired girl lay on the floor with her head buried in her hands, crying.
"What happened?" Emi shook her sister's shoulders and pushed her into a sitting position.
"I t-tried... He still h-hates... m-me" she managed to muffle between her sobs.
The younger Uchiha pulled her sister into a tight hug, telling her that everything will be alright.
Ok here ends another chapter. Reviews are appreciated =)
-fiavixen2196
