Hi no Ishi (The will of Fire) - Five Ninja Academy Students
I do not own Naruto as a game, Manga, Anime series or a character. All original characters are mine though :P
It's been a week since the Ninja-tag games. Class is back in full swing. However, it seems that certain students are holding back some painful secrets. What are they hiding? And why?
All underlined terms are explained at the end of the chapter.
~Flashback Chapter~
~Yuuna POV~
"A group home, huh?" What else was there to say? Yukikami-san was dead, Hikaru stopped talking all together, Tatsuko was turning bipolar - always either extremely upset or extremely depressed (okay, so she wasn't exactly clinically bipolar, or clinically depressed, but she is SOOO not her usual self!)... nothing was going right anymore.
"I believe it is safest for you three there." Hokage-sama explained evenly.
"So you're just gonna brush us off? Throw us away? Just because I couldn't protect Tou-chan!" Tatsuko cried out, crying into her palms. No one had been allowed to touch her since her father was murdered in front her eyes. Not physically, not emotionally. Everyone was forcefully shoved out of her life.
"Tsu-chan I-"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Her voice boomed like an explosion going off inside everyone's head. High potential for ototon didn't carry over well in emotional states. She could probably make your head explode just by calling your name right now. "TOU-CHAN IS THAT ONLY PERSON THAT WILL EVER CALL ME THAT! DO YOU HEAR ME!" The girl is hysterical. I can't really say I fault her for it; she already blamed herself for the Yukikami and Kitsunaga massacres, almost three years ago now. Though how she figured that one out is beyond my ken.
Hiruzen took off his kage's hat, placing it gently on his desk. Slowly, calmly he made his customary half lap and half sat down nearest to the three of us. I knew what he was doing with ease, it wasn't hard to tell really. We only went through this every other time we entered his office. That was when Yukikami Tatsuhi-sama was alive though; that was when Yukikami Tatsuko was still alive.
Seconds, minutes... who knows how much time went by in tense anticipation. The only person alive that I can honestly say I owe my sanity to was now but a broken shell of her former self. Her near perfect emotional control was now in tatters.
Sure, if you asked Hi-chan he would deny that outright. To him she would always be that girl that got mad way too quick, that girl that would always physically knock sense into him. But that was just the way she was to him.
To me, she was Heaven sent. In the months, and dare I say years, following my clan's massacre, she was the rock on which I stood. She was everything I could ever wish for and more.
So just standing here, watching her slip away one tear at a time... I don't think a harsher punishment exists. Yet she wouldn't let anyone in.
It must have been a good half hour before Hokage-sama finally realized that she was not going to give him her customary hug, or exchange their customary 'I've missed you'. Still, he did not budge from his perch.
That's when the world went to hell, announced by a firm single knock on the door. Uchiha Fugaku came in without awaiting permission to enter, unceremoniously plopped a stack of papers (official documents as far as I could tell) on the desk beside his superior and callously announced the worst thing he could have: "Senju Tatsuko now belongs to the Uchiha clan."
Without missing a beat, Hokage-sama asked him to clarify that statement. "Tatsuhi and I had agreed to an arranged marriage between Itachi and Tatsuko and in event of his death she was to be handed over to my clan. That pile is proof. Official copies of our agreement, his will as head of the Yukikami clan and legal guardian of the head of the Senju clan. In it clearly stipulates that Senju Tatsuko is his sole heir and therefore she gets everything. Of course that means that the Senju and Yukikami coffers and compounds are now privied to my son, who is by law her husband, as per our agreement."
The world stood still as the old man ruffled through the papers. Hi-chan was rigid with furious anticipation. "You will of course excuse my suspicion as to the timing and lack of reverence to her father. Especially since I heard no whisper of any of this."
"You are Hokage, not an all knowing kami, heedless of your former moniker."
"And the fact that his signature could easily be forged by using the Sharingan?"
"What are you playing at, old man?"
"I will take this into consideration, however as her legal guardian I will allow no such decisions to be made until she has had time to heal."
"I think you are succumbing to old age. Legally you are her Hokage, nothing more. Tatsuhi's signature attests to that. She is now an Uchiha. So I suggest you mind your-"
"Heedless of any documentation, agreements and proof you claim to, Fugaku, this is my grandchild. If you think I won't kill you were you stand for pulling this stunt now, then you forget who you are talking to. I will look into the matter you bring before me. Now leave!"
"This isn't over." Fugaku claimed as he stormed out. I will always regret stealing a glance at Tatsuko just then. Her eyes were wide with shock, but just below the surface lay the fruits of the ultimate betrayal: she was being sold to the devil himself.
If Tatsuko was a mess before, she was a zombie now. She never spoke another voluntary word, never took another bite to eat. Even sleeping seemed to be against her principals.
To be fair though, the lack of sleep was understandable. Everytime she went to sleep, the whole group home we were assigned to knew about it. No matter what time it happened, no matter how tired she was, the result was always the same.
"TOU-CHAN!" She jumped out of her sleep violently, almost explosively. You could easily see the carnage and death in her eyes. Well it was no better than the simply dead eyes she normally wore. "...don't leave me..." Another day, another nightmare. If only she would cry afterwords, that would at least tell me that she is dealing with it. But everytime I ran to her, to comfort her the result was always the same: "...leave me alone... everyone leaves me alone..." That became her mantra, her reply to every thing. Even asking her to pass the salt.
After going through the exact same scene with her the first twenty times, it was getting hard to not break down myself. Seeing it had been happening since the first day we were there - nearly a week ago - it might be a bit more understandable.
"Why don't we take a nice long soak in the furo?" I offered, franticly looking for something, anything, to calm her erratic nerves.
'It worked!' She was washing her hair, for the first time since last week! Ew! Her shoulders were still sagged, and her back still hunched in depression, but she was doing something other than staring, or screaming! Victory!
"I was thinking that we could head down to your old dance studio, maybe see if your sensei is willing to help you polish up on your dancing?" I'm grasping at straws, can you tell? "Ne, Tatsuko-chan, would... you-" Oh no. She's staring at her trembling, soap covered hands; her eyes are wide in shock... She's not even asleep, but the nightmare continues.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" She shrieked so loud, so high pitched, that I honestly began wondering if she was possessed. Over, and over, and over she would claw away at the shampoo on her hands and on her face. Her breathing was hitched to the point I thought she was going to hyperventilate.
"What's going on here?" Reimi-san ran into the furo, trying to take in the whole scene at once. Quicker than I knew was possible, she filled a bucket with cold water and splashed Tatsuko, carefully rinsing her hair and removing every trace of the offending shampoo. "It's gone, see? All gone." Only, Tatsuko's eyes weren't seeing anything; I'm pretty sure she could hear, but I was even more sure that she wasn't listening.
"It's all right, child, it's all right." Reimi-san wrapped her arms carefully around the distraught girl in her care, bathing her in the soft warmth I wish I could give her. Feeling guilty, I made my way over hoping to give my former saviour a hug; to offer the solace she had always offered me. But before I could even get close, I was stopped.
"I know you want to help, but you are too warm. Her senses are confusing warmth with blood, if you want to touch her, run cold water over yourself first." Confusing warmth for blood? She thought the shampoo was blood! No wonder she freaked the way she did!
Quickly, I turned on the cold water tap and drenched myself in cold water, as cold as I could bare. Then I rushed over to Tatsuko, hugging her from behind. She didn't turn me away, she didn't flinch. Nothing. Well, not 'nothing'; she shivered slightly from the cold, but nothing else. Reimi-san is AWESOME!
"...he's gone..." Tears were streaming down her face. This woman was a miracle worker! Hi-chan and I had tried for days for her to say anything useful - or even cry - but she would only stare at us. Other than the wake up screams, she never made a peep - on purpose.
"I'm here." Reimi-san soothed. "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."
"...he's gone..." A soft, almost soothing sis was Reimi-san's only reply the second time around.
"Sss-sss-sss-sss-ssssssss." Reimi's old-fashioned house kimono was now soaked clean through from the water dripping off the two of us, but she barely seemed to notice, let alone care. She held on to Tatsuko almost as tightly as Tatsuko clung to her.
Later that day, Hi-chan took Tatsuko (Kami-sama it's so weird not calling her Tsu-chan) out for a long walk, and probably some sparring. That left me with nothing to do. All children who were there shorter than six months weren't required to help around the house - grieving time, we were told. Well, what better way to spend the day, than learning from a master?
"How did you know?" I asked Reimi-san while she was cleaning her kitchen. The kitchen was large; huge even. There was probably enough space for a dozen people to work comfortably, but she was the only person on staff in the group home. Weird, but true.
"Know what, sugar?" She asked in her usual singsong voice.
"How to reach her?" Reimi smiled warmly at me.
"I've been in charge of this home for nearly twenty years now. I've dealt with orphans of every kind. From the ice cold ones like your sister, to the passionately overreacting ones like Uzumaki Naruto." Uzumaki... Naruto? But I thought- "No two cases are the same, but the right answer is always loving them with all your heart."
"But how did you know about the 'warmth equals blood' thing?" She was dancing around the answer, I was used to dealing with that. If only Tatsuko...
"She's not the first one to come in with that. Her reaction wasn't even all that bad, really. You should'a been here with Ieyoshi, he left about six years ago. He had it worse. When they found him just outside that village a' his, the blood had dried on every part of his little body. He swore off liquids altogether. Had ta get him to drink outta soda cans and a straw for nearly a decade! And don't get me started on bathin' him."
"But her father's neck was broken. Sure, he had some stab wounds, but there wasn't enough blood for that!" I was there to identify the body, I should know! Poor Hi-chan was too emotional to even look, but I saw every wound... they hadn't even had the chance to clean him up properly yet. Damn customs!
"Sugar, you can tell me that all you want to, but that child was bathed in blood from the reports I got. And her reaction to warm liquids tells me it was fresh blood too. Now, I'm not saying it was all from one source, but I know what I know better than you can imagine."
Not... all... from... one... source?
/"Nee-chan likes to double punish people." Hi-chan explained, after I asked him why he was still so worried about his sister. He had two black eyes and a bloody nose, so I thought he would be more upset than afraid. I had only been living with them for a short while, so I didn't really know them all that well.
"Double punish?"
"Yeah, as in twice. The first one is physical; she hits you really hard, but it's the best way to figure out how bad round two will be."
"Round two?"
"Yeah. Nee-chan is a hard core strategist. She can out-scheme anyone when she wants to. Hell, I've been on the receiving end often enough to know..." He subconsciously rubbed his left side, obviously remembering something that happened. "Anyway, the harder she hits you, the worse you can figure round two will be. So if her first reaction isn't bad, then forget it. You probably won't even notice the second round... but if round one scares you..." Hi-chan shivered at the very thought of it.
"No way, she's nothing like that." I defended Tsu-chan. She had been everything to me from the moment I walked into her life, there is no way she was that vindictive!
"I've known the girl all my life, I should know..." /
/"She's in severe shock, Hokage-sama. None of the blood is her's though, so it's likely emotional trauma." Kenichi-sensei explained calmly. Tsu-chan was sleeping peacefully - having just succumbed to the sedatives - under his and Hokage-sama's watchful eyes.
"That is not surprising. According to her own account, she saw the men that killed her father. Truthfully, she is holding up far better than I had reason to believe."
"She saw it happen, Hokage-sama?"
"That's what she said. I believe her exact words were: '...they killed him. I was so in shock that I didn't move... couldn't move... they killed him...'. How does this affect her prognosis?" He quoted her perfectly, but the tones didn't match. I remember her being so lost, so upset, so sad... so many things at once.
"Well..."/
Oh... Holy... Fucking... Shit...
'Who ever those men were, they should cherish what time they have left. If that really was round one...' I shivered, finally understanding Hi-chan's healthy fear of his sister.
The next morning, we were called into Hokage-sama's office. It wasn't hard to figure out what was going on, seeing that Fugaku was already in the office waiting.
"Good morning." Hokage-sama greeted us warmly, hoping to evoke a similar response. He didn't look terribly shocked when I was the only one to return the greeting.
"It seems a majority vote against me has decided how this will progress." He began cryptically. "The official documents delivered to me last week are indeed legitimate documents, and as such there is nothing I can do. Legally, Tatsuko is now an Uchiha, engaged to be wed to Itachi. As such, Tatsuko, you are moving into the Uchiha compound later today."
"Bullshit." Hi-chan ground out menacingly. Ice - not condensation, but actually frozen moisture from the air - was forming on every surface, so it wasn't hard to figure out that he was to the point of exploding.
"This is not a discussion, this is your Hokage laying down the law, dragon whelp." Fugaku happily, but snidely informed us. I looked to Tatsuko-chan, hoping that she knew some way to get out of this. There was simply no way I was going to take this sitting down!
"Funny," Tatsuko began, "that my supposed husband is not here to collect me himself." I know that look! I sooo know that look! She's back! Tsu-chan is back! Her eyes are harsher than normal, her body language more tense, but I know that stance and the facial expression: she has a plan! Kami-sama, that took a while.
"I assure you, Senju-hime, he will pick you up at exactly six-thirty this evening in person. Make sure you are ready, as he is not a patient man."
"I see, and if I am to marry your heir, should there not be more than just him to carry my things?" She's back, she's back, she's back!
"Don't test me, child."
"Test you? You demand I honour an avowed marriage that I know nothing about, yet you expect me to live below my station? Surely you know better than that! No man in his right man offers so great a prize to slavery." That obviously hit a nerve.
"And what would our Kori-hime demand of her new station in life?"
"Perhaps I was being unclear, there is no new station. I am to continue my life as I see fit, or you shall achieve nothing." Ouch. Does this man know who he's dealing with?
"And what would I so desire to achieve?" False sarcasm 101, that class started like a week ago. You are sooo going to fool me, buster!
"Amassing power, near limitless wealth, enhaneced status within the Council and therefore Konoha. I am a treasure trove to your clan, so treat me as such, or you shall eternally regret it." Even Hokage-sama was smiling now.
"And what would you know about it, child?" The eyebrow raising slightly, the almost imperceptible widening of the eyes, who are you trying to kid?
"As Tou-chan's sole heir, I hold the Yukikami seat in the council, in addition to the Senju seat I already held. That adds two seats to your sway with the Council. You could simply second your own plots and no one could stop it from going to a vote." Strike one. "The vast, if not limitless, Senju clan fortune stored for generations could probably buy you a new village, so that is not exactly something to not desire." Strike two, is she even trying to embarrass the man? Well it's working.
"And the icing on the cake is the Senju's vast jutsu library, which I'm sure your clan would simply kill to get their hands on." She said 'kill' a little funny, was she hinting at something? Was the Uchiha clan behind Yukikami-san's death? And now they were trying to claim Tsu-chan? She was trying to tell the Hokage what this was all about?
"Interesting claim, Tatsuko-chan. Is there something you want to tell me? Seeing that you never once revealed the identities of your father's murderers." Hokage-sama figured it out! Yatai!
"Nothing that Konoha will ever be able to prove." Her voice was cold, freezing... No, in fact she was making the South Pole look like a tropical paradise!
"I see." Hokage's calculating eyes briefly flicked to Fugaku, then back to Tsu-chan. "I will leave it in your capable hands then. Please do drop by later so that I may congratulate your husband to be personally." Huh? I thought there was a plan! What kind of plan includes Tsu-chan moving... in... to... the Uchiha compound... filled with Uchiha... who murdered her father...
Suddenly I have a headache. And somehow I think it will only get worse over the coming months. "Round two is always the roughest, ne Hi-chan?" I whispered. His eyes went from the cold hard killer persona he liked to pretend to be, to a proud little brother who was seeing his sister off to war.
Time moved slowly after that. We never heard hide nor hair of Tsu-chan, but we knew she was doing just fine. However, that left Hikaru and I mostly to our own devices. Hi-chan still never opened his mouth for anything other than eating, but his eyes were not as dismal as they were.
Which means I had to find someone new to talk to, seeing that talking to Hi-chan like a moving wall was no fun. Reimi-san, Kami-sama bless her heart, was a lot of fun to talk to, but she never had any time to spare. That left only the other orphans... well the ones that didn't run from me on sight. That didn't leave me with a whole lot of options.
Well, there were two Ii girls that Reimi-san said were her nieces. They were living there, but it mostly to help around the home - cooking, cleaning, minding the younger ones, that sort of thing. They talked really funny though, always saying either 'totally' or 'sooo' in every sentence. Always one or the other, only both when the situation demands. There were rules in it? Well, they claimed so.
"This is like totally the best way to disguise our skills as kunoichi, right Yu?" The taller of the pair bragged proudly.
"Like, duh! This is like total mental camouflage, Ise. No one would ever be able to tell we were actually the youngest female ANBU Hokage-sama ever picked for his personal ANBU guards." I guess that would make this one Yu? Great ANBU outfits, highlighted green tube tops and pink miniskirts. Goes great with black hair and red highlights - and let's not forget the orange, three inch heel pumps sure...
Yeah, ANBU, in a fancy orphanage... sure. These girls were about fourteen, I guess - which was in itself not all the likely to get them recognized by Hokage-sama. Oh well, better two crazies than no friends at all right? ... right...? RIGHT!
"Yuuna, stop talking to the crazies, Hokage-sama wants us in his office." Hi-chan actually spoke? And is he reading my mind now too? He and his sister must have some kind of kekkei genkai for mind reading jutsu.
"Coming, Hi-chan!" I dashed off behind him. I'm sooo going to get him to teach me that jutsu!
"Please tell me there's no more bad news, Hokage-sama." Hi-chan practically begged with his eyes. Well, we hadn't been in Hokage-sama's office for any good news recently, so I can't blame the guy.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Shinobi no Kami... laughed? Huh? What about some tense stare down, or something. Anything? He just laughed? And is still laughing mind you! Hmph.
"No, Hikaru-kun. Nothing's wrong. Quite the opposite. It seems that your sister is making my life easier right now. She actually sent a letter for you, and asked me to deliver it personally, but also to destroy it the second you read it." Huh?
Hikaru took his precious time reading the scroll, scowling all the while. After it was reduced to dust, and swept up into the garbage receptacle, Hikaru smiled too? Huh? I feel left out.
"I take it you're in?"
"Was that a question?"
"Tsu-chan said you would never turn this offer down. Well, at any rate, I would like to introduce your ANBU trainers. Until the time is right, they will also double as bodyguards." With that two girls waltzed in, wearing ANBU standard issue armour, and cocky smiles on their faces.
"Ditz-speak totally confused another pair!" The taller one spoke first.
"Totally! Check out the clueless looks on their faces! Nee-chan, we are sooo bad."
"Touché, Imouto-chan. Tou-ché."
"So these are the two Nee-chan picked? Well, she was right, no one would ever accuse them of being ANBU." Hikaru laughed. He actually laughed? Oh poopie! What was I missing!
"Yes, she personally recommended these two. They are both sensory types, so they will keep you safe until phase two can commence. Yuuna, please listen to what these two have to say, okay? They are going to help make you stronger." Why are they talking to me like a child...? Oh...! Oooooooooohhhh! I get it! They were trying to tell me something earlier... Mental camouflage?
"Like, totally, Hokage-sama! I'm sooo in." I tried to mimic their hand movements, and their intonation as best I could. Though I can't say for sure if I nailed it or not.
"Good, Hikaru, you are to keep a discrete eye on Naruto while Tsu-chan is kept busy. She is counting on you. Can you handle that?" Okay... Why was Tatsuko keeping an eye on Naruto? What the heck is going on?
"Same technique as Yuuna?"
"Same techinique as Yuuna. Here's the first scroll for his public persona. It will be good for stealth training, trap making and infiltration techniques. I'm sure he won't complain about the notoriety that comes with the package. Please be discrete when you talk to him."
"This is sooo confusing." I complained openly.
"I know, but it is sooo going to pay off! Trust me, girlfriend. And we are sooo taking you-" That was the first time I heard my soon to be all-time favourite word in the world:
"Shopping!" They both announced and squealed happily.
'If they think I am wearing those hideous colour combinations...'
End Chapter 16
A/N: Hmmm, do I smell death on the horizon? I hope you people appreciate how much was revealed in this chapter! I planned all those confusing winding roads life forever ago! Now, slowly but surely things are falling into place. Don't worry, the end of this Arc will not be the end of this story. Just so you guys know, the team assignments have been weeded out. We are not seeing the Cannon teams this time around. Nooo, we are going to have some fun with the new teams and the new interactions between them.
Now, seriously, does anyone feel bad for the Uchiha clan? I sure don't. And they will not be getting any favours from me! Tatsuko seems to agree too! We are going to see in the next few chapters what a pissed of strategist can do to the 'currently' mostly powerful clan in Konoha.
Next up: Arc2: Student 4, what scroll, dattebayo!
Kori-hime - Ice princess.
Kekkei genkai - Bloodline limit. Yuuna is being sarcastic here, so don't fret.