A/N: Welp, we're back! Yep yep! So...we have no idea what to really do at this point, so we're just winging it. Mhm~ So If you have any ideas feel free to tell~! There really isn't much to say, except enjoy this chapter and review~
Disclaimer: We own absolutely nothing, except for our own characters~
Hikari sighed as she sat her bag on her tiger companion's back, giving him a gentle pat on the head before she looked up at the Hokage's faces. A small hooded black figure was near the village entrance, just outside so she wasn't detected by the guards and even the sensory barrier. Hikari had noticed the small child, blinking slightly before she calmly strided over. "Excuse me?"
The little girl looked up, dark obsidian orbs and pale porcelain skin hidden by the white fur lining on her midnight black coat, "Y-yes ma'am?"
Hikari smiled and knelt down to the girls level, so she could try to see her face, "Are you lost, dear?"
"Y-yes," the girl said with a shaky voice, her hood falling off in the bitterly cold fall wind. Her features revealing that she had met Hikari weeks before at the Chunin exams, the one Sasuke wanted Hikari to capture.
Hikari smiled kindly upon recognizing her, brushing some light brown hair from her face. "Maybe I can help you."
"P-please!" Hope almost shouted, burying her face in the young teen's legs, clutching the fabric over them tightly in her pale and cold shaking fists.
Hikari held her close, petting her raven locks soothingly. She had learned how to deal with a frantic and panicking child from taking care of her younger brother, earning many motherly qualities at a young age. "Shhh...it's okay."
The young raven let out a soft whimper, "I-I w-went to f-find mama...a-and I-I got l-lost." She said between sobs
Hikari's chocolate brown orbs were soft and kind. "Where was she the last time you saw her?"
"A-at the i-inn."
Hikari smiled and took her hand. "Let's go find her, okay?" She nodded and clutched the brunette's hand tightly in her own, looking around the forest nervously, as if a threat was lurking behind a corner.
Whistling quietly for Yoru to follow them, she knew if there was something in the forest that was watching them, he would be able to locate it before she could. A snowy white tiger was next to the larger orange one, sitting respectfully, her tail wrapping around her paws. Hikari glanced back, smiling. "Hello there."
The tiger dipped her head in respect, a piece of parchment hooked to her weathered crimson collar, "A message from the Mountains, Lady Sarutobi."
Hikari smiled, setting Hope on her back and walking over to the tiger, taking the note and opening it.
'Hikari,
I'm going to be a little late in meeting you today, so you'll have to leave by yourself. A friend of mine will meet you halfway and guide you the rest of the way. Be safe.
-Hiroshi'
The snowy tiger sniffed the young child on Hikari's back curiously, recognizing some of the scents that lingered on the girl's clothing. Growling softly, and raising her haunches, getting ready to pounce.
The large tiger growled and stepped in front of his mistress and the child protectively. "Do not even think of it."
"She's an enemy Yoru, remember our training?" The smaller tiger retorted back in a growl.
"Shiroi, if you hurt this child," Hikari began, pocketing the letter quietly and holding Hope closer to her, hearing the young girl let out a soft whimper as she did so, "I'll have to fight you."
The tiger stood on her hind legs to make herself taller, icy blue eyes meeting chocolate brown, growling, "Then do so, if her brother comes around you'll be sorry you saved her."
Hikari ignored the warning, standing up and walking off. "I'm just trying to help her. I know what it's like to be lost."
"She'll be the death of Konoha, or be it's saviour. Since I'm not certain which prophecy will come true, I'd rather not complete it."
"I'm sorry. But I'm doing what my heart is telling me." The brunette mumbled as she disappeared, the child half asleep on her back as they traveled to the inn.
The tiger snorted and pranced away into the forest, "She has great resistance against pressure, Yoru. You've trained her well."
The larger tiger purred. "I didn't teach her that. She's been that way for as long as I've known her."
"She'd be a great spy in the ANBU Ops, resistance against interrogation is something they admire greatly, and with her kekkei genkai, hell, who knows the power that girl has. Both of them..."
"Tsunade offered her a position already."
Shiroi purred, "She's going to be a wonderful Kunoichi, Yoru."
The bengal tiger purred proudly. "I know."
Hikari yawned as she trekked to the inn, looking up as she heard someone calling out frantically.
"Hope! Oh, Hope! There you are!" Konan ran over and took the small girl from the young teen's back, hugging her close.
"M-mama!" the little girl cried as she hugged the blue-haired woman's neck, burying her face in the hood of the woman's coat, letting her sweet smelling aroma soothe her.
Hikari smiled, happy she was able to help. Konan turned to her and smiled. "Thank you for bringing her back and taking care of her!"
"It was not trouble, miss. I'm happy I was able to help." Hikari said, smiling and waving. "Goodbye!~"
"Bye bye ane!" the young girl shouted with an adorable tone of voice, smiling happily.
Hikari giggled and walked backwards, waving happily and smiling before she turned around and took off, hopping on Yoru's back and heading out.
Hope looked at the older woman, "She's nice mama! Why does papa want her gone?"
Konan smiled sadly. "I don't know, sweetie..."
An exhausted yawn came from the young child's mouth, "Sleepy mama," she said as she nuzzled into her mother figure's coat, "Don' wan' snakey man to fin' me..." Her words becoming less defined and accentuated as she drifted off into sleep.
Konan held the small girl close as she headed off as well, silently vowing to keep this child safe, even at the cost of her own life.
Hope was a wild child the next morning, having found her brother's stash of energy bars and eaten almost all of them, she was almost literally bouncing off the walls.
"Hope, calm down..." Konan giggled, trying in vain to calm the girl down.
"No mama~! This is much more funner~!"
Konan giggled and continued watching her.
The girl ran around and tried running into the bathroom, the room which currently was occupied by her oldest brother. Pouting when she couldn't get in, she made several hand signs quickly, and took a deep breath.
Konan, knowing what was about to transpire, quickly stopped her. "No no. Itachi is using the potty!"
"But mama~ I wanna play with nii-sama!" The child shouted and stamped her feet on the ground, clearly starting to throw a temper tantrum.
"Nii-sama is taking a bath, Hope." Itachi called from the bathroom.
"I wanna play!"
"We can play in a few minutes, I promise."
"Okay!"
Konan giggled and ruffled her hair, smiling softly.
~A year later~
Itachi smiled and dodged a fireball with ease. "Good."
A young brunet jumped and punched the air happily, "Yes! I did it brother! I made a blue flame!"
He chuckled and nodded. "Hai. I saw." He smiled softly, leaning back against a tree.
She smiled happily, her slightly wavy raven hair flowing freely around her shoulders, fanning out as she spun in a circle.
Itachi chuckled and watched her with soft eyes.
"Nii-sama?"
"Yes?"
"Why are you always gone? I don't see you much anymore...same with everyone else...I'm always alone in the hideout...It's scary..."
Itachi frowned, hugging her. "We're always being sent on missions, imouto."
"But...I used to be allowed to go...and I was always a burden, but now...I'm never on the list to go with anyone. I just want to see the cities again...I love the cities..." She looked down, depression in her dark obsidian orbs, wanted to go to a large city for her birthday every year since they first went to Konohagakure. Each time, she was denied the chance to go, her brother always sent on an 'important' mission of some sort before she could get the wish out of her mouth.
"Tell you what: You can come on this next one with me." He smiled, his eyes sincere.
"Ooh!? Where too brother!?" she squealed loudly, jumping on him and hugging him tightly.
He smiled and kissed her hair. "It's near Konoha."
"Is that the place you took me to when I was younger?"
The older Uchiha nodded, patting her head. "Hai."
"Sweet! When do we leave?!" She asked excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"First thing tomorrow morning," Itachi said, yawning quietly. "Early too. So make sure you get plenty of sleep tonight."
She pouted softly, "I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight though..."
He chuckled and ruffled her hair. Hope squawked and tried to fix her now messy hair. "We can give you some warm tea if we have to."
The porcelain skinned child paled, "N-no! N-not the tea again!"
Itachi smiled, kissing her forehead. "I'm kidding."
"Not funny..."
"I'm sorry."
"Beg for forgiveness peasant!" Hope smirked as she yelled in her princess voice.
Itachi rolled his eyes and bowed. "Please forgive me and my foolish antics, imouto."
"Hm! I don't believe you!"
"I'm sorry." He apologized, his eyes sincere.
She hugged him tightly, giggling. "Okay!"
Itachi smiled. "Good. Let's head back."
Hope shook her head, "I wanna stay"
He nodded, and stood straight. "All right, but come back before it gets dark." He smiled softly and quietly left, heading back to the hideout.
Hope decided to train, and would grunt loudly when she wasn't successful. A raven that Itachi had left to watch her cawed quietly, flapping its wings. She had let out a shrill cry suddenly when she burnt her hand severely while trying a jutsu.
Someone peered out from the bushes, having been walking around nearby. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yeah," she stuttered, cradling her injured hand.
The blonde walked over, his orange jacket tied around his waist. "Are you sure? Your hand looks really bad."
"I-I'm fine sir..." shying away from the teen.
His azure orbs were bright, concerned. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some gauze that his teacher had told him to hold onto, ripping a strip off and tying it around her hand. "Get that looked out quick."
"y-yeah..."
He smiled and waved, running off. Hope ran back to the hideout quckly, tears still in her eyes, and cradling her hand closer.
"Hope? What's wrong?" Konan asked, her voice gentle as she saw the tears in the small girls eyes. "Did you hurt yourself?"
"Y-yeah..."
The blue haired woman smiled gently and helped the girl into a room, pulling a first aid kit. "Let's fix that hand up then." Konan said, taking off the gauze and properly tending to it, humming soothingly to calm the girl. "It's not too bad, so it will heal in a few days."
Hope nodded, "Sorry...I thought I could do the jutsu without brother..."
"It's okay. I'm not angry with you. But next time, make sure Itachi is there to supervise, okay?" She smiled, finishing up with patching her hand up and standing up. "Now, why don't we get something to eat."
"Yeah! Can papa come?!"
Konan giggled and nodded. "I'll go ask him, okay?"
"I wanna ask!"
Konan nodded, "All right. Follow me then."
Hope followed Konan, ignoring the stares of the other members. Strutting proudly as she walked as if she was the queen of the world. Konan pushed a door open quietly and poked her head in. "Pein?"
Hope ran in ignoring her mother figure's protests and warnings. Konan gasped and tried to reach for her, but she wasn't fast enough, running in after the child before their leader lost his temper. "Papa! Papa!"
Pein looked up from what he was doing, his purple ringed eyes dull like usual. "Hm?"
Hope bowed politely before asking, "Can you come to dinner with us papa?"
The orange haired man nodded silently, closing the documents he had been looking at moments before the small girl ran into his room. A flurry of dark raven hair ran past Konan and hugged her 'father.' Pein blinked, before he let his hand rest on her head, patting it slightly. "Let's go then." He said, taking her hand and walking out of the office with them, closing the door and locking it before they headed down the hall to the kitchen, listening to the child hum a soft tune.
If anything brought some sort of joy to their dank hideout, it was the little raven haired girl.
Hope didn't think herself as anything special, she knew she was an average fighter with stunted growth,as shown by her now injured hand.
Pein was silent, believing the girl was stronger than she looked. In time, they would find out just how strong she was
~Months later~
A quiet voice sang out through the small secluded glen, giving it a more peaceful type of feeling to anyone who would pass by. Hikari stood in a small stream, her once shoulder length hair now down to her lower back, held up in a loose braid. She smiled at her reflection and stretched her arms over her head, yawning loudly. Her tiger companion laid on the stream bank, purring loudly as he sunbathed, his orange coat glistening in the sunlight. Another tiger was right next to him, grooming the glistening orange fur, letting out a soft growl as scents wafted in the breeze. The orange coated tiger purred, stretching out and ignoring the scents.
The brunette looked over. "What's wrong?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. She hoped it was nothing. Today was the first day she had managed to give Hiroshi the slip up and get a day to herself instead of the intense training she was now accustomed to.
"Just an unfamiliar scent m'lady." the young tiger growled softly.
Hikari sighed, jumping out of the water and sitting in the grass with the tigers. She laid back, her head resting on her orange tigers back, using him as a pillow, knowing he didn't care. Shiroi wrapped her tail around Hikari's waist lovingly, and let out a soft chuff in adoration of the young giggled at the attention and scratched behind the big cats ears lovingly, smiling softly.
"I thought I'd find you here!" Hikari looked up at the blonde haired woman standing a few feet away from her, her cobalt eyes bright.
"S-sorry Lady Yuna." Shiroi apologized and respectfully dipped her head.
"Why are you apologizing, Shiroi?" Yuna smiled, "I was talking about Hikari over there." Yuna gestured to the teen, who giggled.
The big cat looked down and buried her muzzle in her paws, "I ran off from Lady Elizabeth..."
"Oh? I'm sure Lizzie doesn't mind!" the blonde comforted the white tiger, patting her head, and the tiger let out a soft chuff in understanding. The blonde haired woman scratched behind her ears. "She's pretty easy going about this kind of thing, ya know?"
"Of course Lady Yuna."
"You would know all about that, wouldn't you, Yuna?" Hikari smirked, laughing at the blush that appeared on the blondes face.
"Shut-up!"
Shiroi tilted her head to the side in confusion, letting out a soft gentle growl, "What does she mean M'lady?"
"U-Uh, nothing!" Yuna stuttered, looking at the sky. The tiger then looked at Hikari, wishing to get an answer about her master.
"Perhaps it would be better if you asked your master about it." She smiled, knowing Liz wasn't far from them. "You can even take Yuna with you!"
"What!? No!"
Shiroi chuffed happily and stood, grabbing Yuna by her coat sleeve, "Let us go to Lady Liz!"
"B-But-!" Yuna exclaimed, yelping as the tiger pulled her away.
A quiet giggle could be heard from the bushes as the two disappeared into the woods that led to the mountainous regions of the Land of Fire. Hikari looked over at the bushes and binked, "Is someone there?"
"Maybe~"
Hikari smiled, knowing that whoever was speaking to her from the bushes was just a child. "Oh? Well then, miss bush, would care to explain why you're talking?"
"Because I'm super awesome!"
The teen laughed and ran over to the bush, giggling as she could hear Yuna's distant protests. "Well, do you mind coming out?"
"Maybe~ But you have to guess my name! Like in that story, Rumpl-...Rumpa..."
"Rumplestiltskin?" Hikari supplied, smiling softly.
"Yeah! That one!" the voice shouted cheerfully.
"Hm...is your name..." she smiled and stared down at the bush. "Hope?"
"Ne!? How'd you know!?" Hope shouted as she jumped out of the bush, and hugged Hikari tightly.
"I recognized your voice~" Hikari explained, petting the younger girls hair gently. It was almost uncanny at how the girl looked a lot like Sasuke.
"But I haven't seen you since I was little! How can my voice be so similar!?"
"I also recognized your chakra signature!"
Hope puffed out her cheeks and pouted, "No fair!"
She laughed, smiling sheepishly. "I'm sorry!"
Muttering to herself silently, Hope became determined to learn yet another difficult jutsu, even though she hadn't come close to mastering over half of the list she said she was going to master. "I'm gonna get Ita-nii to show me how to hide my chakra signature now..."
The teen smiled and gently patted the top of her head. "I'm sure you'll get there someday."
"Can you teach me to!?" the preteen shouted, excited and bouncing on the balls of her feet. Hikari blinked, surprised by the sudden request, but nodded nonetheless.
"Sweet!"
"Alright, first thing's first: you have to have good concentration!"
"Uh..."
"What's wrong?"
"Mama says I don't have good concentration..." she said as she made patterns in the ground with her foot.
"I can help you out, if you want." Hikari offered.
"Please~?" she singsonged, peering up at the taller teen through long eyelashes.
Hikari smiled. "All right!"
Yoru watched his master, surprised that she was actually going to teach this kid something. Hope let out a shrill squeal and jumped happily and hugged her new best friend.
Hikari giggled and hugged back, fist pumping the air. "Let's do this then!"
Yoru growled softly, before standing up and heading off in the direction Shiroi had dragged Yuna off to, sniffing them out.
A suspicious chakra signature and scent was on Hope's coat, secretly glad no one had noticed yet, she was determined to learn to hide her chakra signature once and for all.
As Yoru walked off, he had gotten a whiff of it, tensing a little. "Hm..."
"Hyah!" the ravenette shouted as she punched a tree, trying to learn to control chakra to certain parts of her body.
Hikari sat on a nearby rock, fingering a long scratch that was embedded onto the headband she held in her hands. Hope was busy away punching the poor tree until her knuckles started to bleed, but still going at it with adrenaline pulsing through her veins and eagerness to learn. "Let's take a break," Hikari said, tying the scarred headband to her hip.
"But I'm learning!"
She smiled. "I know, but your knuckles are bleeding."
"Papa practices until he passes out, so does Uncle and Brother."
Hikari smiled, knowing that she probably wasn't going to stop. "All right then."
"Hell yeah~!" Hope sang as she continued to mutilate the tree, her punches becoming stronger and more precise with each swing of an arm.
"Geez...that kid is strong..." Yuna muttered, watching from the bushes.
"She lives with a bunch of rogue violent males, no shit Sherlock. She's probably one mistake away from getting pummeled to a pulp there." a stubborn auburn haired woman said with arms crossed over her chest, as she watched Hope progress in her training with Hikari.
"You don't have to be so mean about it..." Yuna mumbled.
"Oh Yunie~ Aggression is something you need to get around in life. Look at Hikari for example, shes kind, but harsh and brutal when the need arises. She's not a medic nin, she's a strong willed kunoichi with the will of fire." the young woman smiled, with icy eyes reflecting the sunlight beautifully.
Yuna pouted, hugging her knees to her chest. "Hmph!"
The woman rolled her eyes and continued to watch the two train, "She'll either be the saviour of Konoha, or it's demise. That's what the gods are telling me."
"Meh..." Yuna mumbled, her blonde hair held up in a ponytail. "The things I've seen are good."
"The gods tell me otherwise. The influence she has in the Akatsuki isn't a grand one."
"We shouldn't be concerned about her...if there's anything to be concerned about, it's her brother. And not Itachi."
"We should be concerned about all three. Yuna. We have to mull over all the possibilities that could occur. If this child were to go rogue also, and become an official member of the Akatsuki. What would Sasuke do? What would Itachi do? What if Sasuke kills Itachi like he said he would. What would she do? We have to look over every possible path..."
Yuna laughed softly. "This is where Minato's son ties in to all of this, Liz."
The redhead looked at the blonde in puzzlement, "What do you mean by that?"
"Naruto Uzumaki is probably what will save this child from those paths." Yuna looked thoughtful. "Whether he'll be the one to also help Sasuke, I don't know...the things I've seen about Sasuke...aren't exactly any improvements."
Lizzie sighed, "The gods are restless, they want to know what the future holds. But none of them can be certain. This girl is way too hyper and quickly changes decisions on the spot, we can't focus on her at all."
"She's a child, that's why." Yuna said, watching the Sarutobi girl train with the young preteen.
Rolling her eyes and standing up, "They look exhausted, and it's getting dark. I suspect we'll be getting a visit from our favorite bird of prey."
"Oh?" Yuna looked up at the auburn haired woman, standing up as well.
"A raven." She said as one flew overhead the two of them.
Hikari stopped moving as the raven cawed, watching the smaller girl squeak and grab her stuff. "Gotta go ane~ Bye~!" she shouted as she followed the bird.
Hikari smiled and waved, her voice soft. "Bye..."
"Let's meet here again tomorrow?!" she shouted from the trees,.
Hikari smiled and nodded. "Okay~!"
Hope smiled also and ran farther into the woods to meet up with her oldest brother, letting out a shrill scream as someone had grabbed her from behind with cold boney hands.
"Hm, you're not Hikari. But you'll do just fine." The owner of the hands smirked.
"L-let me go!" She screamed as she started to kick violently, chakra pulsing fast in her body along with adrenaline and fear.
"Hope!" Itachi shouted, throwing a kunai at the man that was trying to kidnap his sister.
She let out a choked cry as the man's grip on her neck tightened, struggling to breathe fresh tackled the silver haired man to the ground, making sure he pulled his sister free first. She was terrified and now pushed into a small stream, shivering as a cold breeze blew past. Itachi picked her up and disappeared, returning to base immediately, his trembling sister in his arms.
"C-c-cold..." she stuttered.
Itachi dried her off, running a warm bath for her. "Go sit in the water, okay?"
She nodded and stepped in the water cautiously. She had no shame in showing her body to her brother, he changed her diapers when she was little and helped her get dressed when she got a bit older. But now her pale skin was defiled with small cuts and larger bruises, darker ones around her neck where Kabuto held her tightly. Itachi sat outside of the bathroom in case she need anything, closing his eyes and thinking.
How in the world had Kabuto Yakushi found their location? Unless Kabuto had been there for something else, it would be understandable. But what would he have been there for exactly?
~Near the Sound Village~
Kabuto knelt down in front of the Snake Sannin, closing his eyes. "Forgive me, sir. But I failed."
Orochimaru glared at his subordinate. "You disappoint me, Kabuto. I thought that you could've been able to easily kidnap a little girl. Perhaps I should just give your job to Sasuke." He smirked.
"Uchiha's emotions would just get in the way of the mission Orochimaru. You know that fully well."
"Hm, that's true. But Sasuke isn't as naive as he was before he came to train under me. In fact, he's stronger than you." He smirked as the medic nin tended to his arms that were still out of commission, thanks to Sarutobi.
"I couldn't find Sarutobi's granddaughter, but I did find another more important child, your liege."
Orochimaru raised a brow at this sudden new information. "Did you now?"
"I found the location of Uchiha Hope."
Orochimaru smirked at hearing this, his smirk only widening as he felt a familiar chakra signature just outside of the room. "Excellent..."
A/N: Well, it's done. And it's really long too! So, Bethy-Kins can't write her input in this note, since she had to go do the kitty litter. Instead, I shall write for her! She would say thanks for reading and please review! SO DO IT! And also, I have tons of more ideas for this story, so we'll be starting the next chapter ASAP~ LATER TATERS!