Chapter 3
-Zero Hour
"Honey…honey…" A voice calls out to Ikari in his dreams. "Ikari…"
"Mumhpphumph."
"Ikari sweetie wake up."
Finally Ikari is nudged awake by his mother who is sitting on the edge of his bed smiling at him. "Ikari, you aren't going to school today honey."
He rubs his eyes and opens his eyes completely awake and says, "Why?"
"The Kirikage wants to preform a few tests on you. It has to do with the rock the other day at the academy."
"The one that had lava in it?"
"Yes sweetie, that one. They're just concerned about your chakra, nothing more to it. So get ready, I made some breakfast."
"Ok mommy."
Ikari takes a shower and gets the tiredness out of his body. He throws on some black shorts and a blank white shirt. Then he runs out into the hallway and sits down at the dining table that has omelets and orange juice laid out for the family. Zumaku enters the room with a newspaper and sits down while eating and reading. He stays fairly quiet with the only sound of the newspaper turning each time he finishes a page. Ikari eats his food quickly and downs his orange juice.
He cleans up his area and then says, "I'm ready to go!"
Zumaku folds his newspaper and gets up with a grunt before getting his wife and waiting at the front door to leave. Eventually his wife comes to the door too and they all exit the door, Zumaku turning around to lock the door behind him. They stroll down the street at a leisurely pace. Various villagers wave at the family as they walk by and some even come up to Zumaku and make small talk with him.
Finally they approach the gray colored Kirikage building. Such a dull color but it's only fitting for the dullness of the village. The family walks to the registrar who immediately approves them and leads them to the Kirikage's office, she leaves them outside the door before heading back to her desk.
"Remember Ikari bow when you enter and address him formally, understood." Zumaku instructs to his son.
"Yes father." He complies.
All three enter the room to which the Kirikage stands up. Zumaku, Mikara, and Ikari all bow, addressing the Kirikage with honor. In the room is Zakumo-sensei and some other ninja Ikari doesn't recognize.
"Hello Ikari." The Kirikage says.
"H-hello Mr. Kirikage." Ikari nervously responds.
"Zumaku, Mikara."
"Hello Taizen." Zumaku greets.
"You don't have to be nervous Ikari. We just want to make sure everything is ok with your chakra nothing more to it." He says with a weak smile.
"Ok. What do I need to do?"
"Zumaku, Mikara, you can take a seat if you'd like. This won't take long."
"Thank you my lord." Zumaku says as he sits down in a chair with his wife.
Zakumo approaches Ikari with a few tiny papers in hand, "Ok Ikari all I want you to do is grab the papers with your index finger and thumb as I hand them to you. That's all." He says.
"Ok Zakumo-sensei!" Ikari says with cheer in his voice.
Zakumo hands him the first paper, Ikari grabs it and it falls to ashes after a few moments. "Whoa! What kind of paper is this?" Ikari curiously asks.
"These are isolated chakra paper. Each one will only react to a specific chakra nature. Lets continue."
Zakumo sticks out another paper and Ikari grabs it. This one bunches up on it's own before Zakumo takes it and hands Ikari another paper. This time the paper rips in half on it's own. The next paper is handed to him and it falls to the ground as dirt. The last paper is given to Ikari and it becomes wet and slouches over.
"Ok Ikari, the test is over. See? Easy." Zakumo says with a half smile.
"Yeah it was easy!"
"Well that's all. We just need to speak to your parents privately and then you'll be free to go."
"Ok! Wait, Zakumo-sensei. If you're here then who's teaching right now?"
"Oh uh the Kirikage said we could have another day off from the academy."
"Oh! Thanks Mr. Kirikage!"
"My pleasure Ikari. Now I must speak to your parents."
Ikari exits the room and sits in a chair while kicking his feet happily. In the other room the Kirikage and Ikari's parents are having a conversation…
"I didn't think it was possible…" The Kirikage begins.
"This hasn't been seen in over one-hundred years. You realize how rare and powerful this is correct?" Zakumo puts in.
"I would if I knew what it was…" Zumaku says.
"It's…the blood trait known as Kekkei Dota. Ten times more rare than the Kekkei Touta." Says Taizen.
"Th-the Kekkei Dota? Im-impossible…my son?" Zumaku stutters as Mikara grabs his arm and leans on him.
"Yes. I have…one scroll on it. You can look at it if you want." Taizen says handing Zumaku the scroll.
"So what do we do?"
"That's up to you. Either nurture the power of keep it hidden from him. The Kekkei Dota requires a lot of training to master. It's a curse and a blessing as people who desire ultimate power will try to harvest it."
"I see. Thank you my lord…" Zumaku trails off.
The couple bow before exiting the room and meeting back up with their son. He looks up at them with a smile before getting up and following them out of the office. The trip home is silent and quick, the family arriving home and separating throughout the house. Of course Ikari doesn't think much of it and goes off to his room to play. Soon enough Hitari and Kikoro arrive home and come into Ikari's room to say hi and hang out with him.
"How was your day Ikari?" Kikoro asks first.
"It was good but weird."
"How so?"
"Instead of going to school I went to the Kirikage's office and had a test done on me. They handed me some paper things and each one did something different."
"Oh you mean chakra paper?" Hitari says.
"I think so."
"Each one reacts differently to each chakra nature. What happened to the one they gave you?"
"They gave me five. One turned to dust…another became dirt, one became wet, one crumpled, and one tore."
"Wait…they gave you five? And all reacted? Strange…"
"I'll be right back." Kikoro says as she gives her twin an odd look and leaves the room.
"So are you guys in trouble from the other night?" Ikari asks.
"Mom and Dad yelled at us pretty hard but we're not in any real trouble. They were just scared for your safety is all little bro." Hitari says ruffling his little brother's hair.
"Heh heh. "
"It's still early in the day, you wanna do some training? We can work more on your sneaking." Hitari says just as Kikoro walks back into the room. "Hey we're going out to train. Wanna join?"
"Nah you guys go ahead. I'm going to take a nap." Kikoro responds.
"Suit yourself. Ready to go?"
"Yeah!" Says Ikari energetically.
Ikari and Hitari pack some supplies and head to the training grounds. They practice with shuriken and then go out into the forest to practice sneaking. Hitari stands in the middle of the forest while Ikari has to make it to him without being detected. Surprisingly Ikari succeeds a couple of times. As usual, the day goes by and into the night before they decide to call it quits and head home for the night.
"You know you're a natural Ikari. With the right training you could become an ANBU." Hitari says.
"You really think so? That's my dream. I want to fight alongside you one day big brother." Says a happy Ikari.
"I do think so! I would never lie to you."
"Thanks Hitari. Really."
They smile at each other before arriving at the house. For some reason all the lights are off and there's not a sound as they enter.
"Maybe everyone went to sleep…" Hitari says warily.
Ikari lets out a yawn, "Maybe. I'm going to sleep. Night brother."
"Hold on Ikari…Something's not right."
"Wha-."
Suddenly the lights flash on blinding Ikari and Hitari briefly. A fist connects to Hitari's face sending him careening into the door.
"Hitari!" Ikari screams. "Who are yo-." Ikari stops dead in his tracks to see his father…huffing while his dirty brown hair hangs in front of his face. "D-dad…?"
"Ikari…come here this instant." His father spurts out.
Hitari gets up and steps in front of Ikari with his kunai drawn. "I don't know who you are but you are not touching him!"
Out of the corner of his eye Hitari sees kunai soaring through the air. He ducks then spins around collecting Ikari into his arms and barging out the front door. He begins a terrifying run to the front gate with Ikari trembling in his arms.
"Ikari, you need to calm down. I'm here. Everything is going to be all right. I promise!" Hitari assures his little brother. He looks over his shoulder to see two figures in hot pursuit right behind them. Hitari picks up his feet and kicks his body into overdrive as he attempts to lose the pursuers. "Oh man…where is Kikoro…?"
The gates come into sight and with adrenaline coursing throughout his blood stream; Hitari makes the final dash to the gates. Passing through the gates he makes it into a rocky field of dirt and continues running. He's stopped by a wall of rock coming up right before him causing him to smash into it, dropping Ikari, and falling back. He gets right back up and continues to guard Ikari, preparing for a fight.
He mutters to himself, "There's not doubt about it. That's father's signature jutsu. It really is them…" He lets out a sigh of relief when he notices Kikoro's chakra presence right before she appears next to him.
"Sorry, they must have knocked me out while I was asleep." Says Kikoro as she looks up at the assailants. "M-mother? F-father? But…"
"It's definitely them Kikoro. I…I don't even know what to think."
She turns around and crouches getting on the same level as Ikari, "Ikari, I know this is scary but you need to be strong right now. We're going to get you out of this I promise you."
Ikari gulps and tries to calm himself down while still trembling, "O-ok."
The two figures facing Hitari and Kikoro unleash combined streams of fire and electricity at them. Hitari clenches his face in anger and creates hand-signs, "Earth style: Rock wall!" he yells, planting his palms on the ground. The wall bursts up from the ground blocking the incoming jutsus.
Kikoro moves around the wall shouting, "Water style: Water dragon jutsu!" followed by a dragon that roars as it flies through the air aimed at the parents. Zumaku and Mikara separate as the dragon creates a crater between them. Zumaku glares at his daughter while putting together more hand-signs. Spikes begin to rise from the ground heading right for Hitari and Kikoro.
Kikoro looks at Ikari and yells, "Stay behind the wall!
Ikari huddles up against the wall and puts his head in between his knees as he continues to tremble.
"Earth style: Pillar prison jutsu!" Roars Hitari. Multiple pillars of rock explode from the ground creating a cage of pure rock that traps Mikara and Zumaku. "Got them!" he says with a cocky smile. The ground begins to rumble as an explosion of spiked rocks burst from the prison, freeing the two parents.
At last Zumaku speaks, "I don't want to kill you two. Just hand over Ikari."
"Why?! Why do you want him so badly!?" Hitari roars back at his father.
"Are you blind?! The kid is a godsend!"
"You're not making sense father!"
"We want…his Kekkei Dota…"
Hitari's face goes blank. Kekkei Dota, he's heard that before he thinks to himself. It takes him a second but he finally realizes that the Kekkei Dota is the blood trait of possessing all five chakra natures. And now his parents want to harvest that power? None of this adds up. Why would his parents want to use their own son like this?
"You'll have to go through us first!" Yells Kikoro. "We'll never hand him over! Water style: Violent whirlpool!" The ground begins to rumble and split in certain places. Finally a massive blast of water erupts from the ground right below Zumaku and Mikara. The water falls down like rain for a few seconds before disappearing. Kikoro is left huffing, standing next to her twin brother. "I think…I think I got them Hita-." A spear of rock impaling her through the chest stops her words. Blood gurgles out of her mouth while she exhales her last breath and falls over, staring at Ikari with dead eyes.
"Big sister!" Ikari screams, wailing at the death of his sister.
A jet of water slams Hitari into the rock wall from earlier and knocks the breath out of him. He settles on one knee and looks up to see his mother charging at him while his father heads for Ikari. Hitari quickly gets up and shoves his father out of the way, scooping Ikari into his arms once again.
"We have to go back for Kikoro!" Ikari yells at his brother.
"She's dead Ikari! We have to go!" Hitari manages to say through tears while sprinting for his life.
Ikari continues to wail when his crying is stopped short as he feels his body collide against the cold earth causing him to slide for a few feet before stopping. He trembles as he looks up to see his brother clutching his side and writhing in pain.
"Ikari…agh…r-run!" Hitari spits out.
"No! I can't leave you here!"
"I-Ikari…p-please! Ru-!" Another rock spear explodes from the ground, impaling Hitari in the stomach. Bloods spatters out from his back, some splattering on Ikari. With his last breath Hitari whispers, "Remember…Kekkei Dota…" Passing away with his last words.
Through trembling and tears Ikari scrambles to his feet and sprints as fast as an eight-year-old kid can. The thick fog covers his exit and after sprinting for hundreds of yards he exhausts himself of energy. He comes into a small forest clearing and huddles up against a tree, still afraid of those two monsters that just ripped everything away from him. He shudders uncontrollably and begins sobbing into his arms. He cries throughout the whole night in fear of them coming for him. The pictures of his dead siblings flash in his mind as bright as day. From this day on his path is forever chiseled in the blood of his brother and sister, forever carved in anger, in vengeance, in violence. From this day on he will never know or feel the warmth of love again…