"The sea always filled her with longing, though for what she was never sure."
― Cornelia Funke, Inkheart
When Hicchan had first summoned me, she was a little girl with full cheeks and a bright aura. Just like her name sake, she radiated off warmth unto others, similar to that of the sun. The Tatsuya clan had a very unique summoning contract: with dragons. Slowly but surely, Hicchan had gained the skills to summon all my brothers and sisters. Seeing her progress and growing strength, I felt that the Tatsuya clan would rise back to its former glory once more. Hell, when I was but a young serpent myself, this clan ruled the eastern lands, but as the times changed and nations were born the Tatsuya clan had migrated southward, bringing us along with them.
To say that I was disappointed to find out that Hicchan had somehow landed herself in a world where no one knew her, and in turn did not know of the Tatsuya clan, was an understatement. Big Sister Shaw was right, Hicchan does attract trouble at every corner, I thought with a grumble, At this rate, we'll never become The Dragon Clan of the Eastern Kingdom ever again.
Despite my own reservations of our situation I pitied Hicchan. She lost many things because of war in our old world but it seems she's lost nearly everything just by existing in this one. The ache in her eyes when she spoke with Hiruzen, the relief of seeing her old friend Gai, and the continuous affection that filled her features when she was around Kakashi were all too apparent on her face. To me at least, I have known her for most of her life. When I had seen Kakashi myself, I was about to scold that grey-haired brat about treating Hinowa like she was a stranger. He hadn't even stood up for her when Hiruzen questioned, no, interrogated her like she was some spy! Of course, when I had been summoned in the first place I instantly knew there was something wrong. The air was too stale, Hicchan gave off long-stringed, worried thoughts, and the village outside the windows seemed much too peaceful. As if it had not seen war in a while.
That was why I had asked Hinowa what was wrong until she slapped her nasty, sweaty palm over my mouth to shut me up. I'm gonna get back at you for that one, little lady.
Then she told me to shut up through her mind and at first I had wanted to struggle, but the pleading tone she took on forced me to comply. When she had finally explained everything to me I had been skeptical at first. Seriously. I thought the whole village had been pulling one over on her and she was too naive to notice. She was intelligent and could reason well enough to become a high-ranking jounin but there were times where the woman's naiveté embodied her. The small girl who wanted to warm the hearts of others like the sun and whined "Muuuushuuu!" never did truly go away as Hicchan grew up.
She then told me she wanted to change the world for the better like some kind of superhero. I was tempted to taunt her and say she was no Naruto, you can't save people on sheer will alone but the look in her golden eyes spoke volumes of her newfound conviction. In those orbs I had seen something I almost thought she had lost after the fourth war: hope.
You're a troublemaker that's for sure, Hicchan. But I don't want to be the one who breaks this goal of yours because as your faithful summons, of course we will follow you. Anywhere. For anything.
Even at her worst I have always thought of Hicchan fondly. So when she sent me away to tell the others about our new situation and Hicchan's new goal, I had readily poofed off to find my brothers and sisters.
"Maa, tell me how you were able to sense my chakra?" Kakashi walked languidly in front of me as we passed by a stall that sold prawn crackers. During our tour, he had pointed out the Hokage monument, the direction of the closest training grounds, and his favorite sake bar. All in all, it was a lazy tour and was obviously meant to get more information out of me. He didn't seem to have a plan in mind when it came on where to "show" me next, just walked in a path that would lead us in a full loop around the village and end up back in front of my apartment. Of course, he probably meant to make it look like his steps were unintentional but I knew the streets of Konoha like the back of my hand. Kakashi didn't need to know that, though.
"I told you, already. I picked up a few tricks on the road." He also didn't need to know I had the basic skills of any other jounin elite either. At least Kakashi didn't need to know that either, not yet.
"Some trick," I heard him say under his breath. It was inaudible for most but my own refined hearing was able to catch it. "If you're actually looking to become a Konoha nin, I'd advise you give it a week or two before trying for any exams."
"Afraid I'd be able to become a better ninja than you, Hatake-san?" I responded playfully. I switched over to call him by his last name because it didn't seem right to be so familiar with someone I had just met, even if I married somebody with the exact same face. At least like this, I'd be able to detach myself and be reminded that this is not my Kakashi. It'd be like talking with my Kakashi's long lost twin brother...yeah. Something like that.
Said appointed long lost twin brother gave me a sidelong glance over his shoulder, "Nothing like that. You should give the village some time to get used to you, is all." He said all this with a muted tone, almost as if he was talking to himself.
"Get used to me", yeaaaah right. You just can't say that it would be suspicious if I had immediately tried for a rank the second I got into Konoha. I wasn't planning on getting back on my ninja-feet again so soon anyways, not after almost dying and ending up here, I thought darkly. I still appreciated Kakashi's backhanded warning regardless of my thoughts.
We were almost back at my apartment again before I heard a crash and a loud yell behind us. I turned around to question the noise as Kakashi released a comical sigh. My eyes caught a blur of orange rushing toward me and just before it collided into me I had managed to grasp that blur's shoulders.
"Ahh! Let go of me I need to get away!" Naruto barked worriedly, his eyes didn't face me but instead looked frightened behind him. I could almost feel Kakashi's eye roll from here.
"Sorry, uh," Technically, I didn't know Naruto's name yet so I had to stick with neutral pronouns, "it's just me! What are you running from, anyways?"
At my voice, the blonde boy's eyes found mines and it took a moment before recognition stirred in his blue orbs. "Hey, you're that lady I saved from the forest! And I'm running from that mean dog who barks at me all the time!" Just then, a runty, brown dog turned the corner and barked out at the streets. Naruto shivered in response and went behind me to cling to my back.
A beat of tension passed until the dog sniffed the air and trudged back in the direction it came from. Weird.
"Woah, thanks for hiding me, lady!" Naruto jumped back out from behind me and scratched his head bashfully. I forgot how cute he was when he was a kid, I wondered if his own infant would grow up to look like the child in front of me.
With a smile as my response, I then said, "My name is Tatsuya Hinowa."
"Huh?...Oh! Sorry, I'm Uzumaki Naruto! My goal is to be hokage one day so I can protect everyone and have them acknowledge me, believe it!" Hearing the boy's declaration lit a fire in myself. To have heard it so often even in my previous world and to see his dreams come to fruition, I reigned in the sudden want to tell him that yes, you will become Hokage and yes, you become a hero the world has never seen. I will personally see to it that other people acknowledge this dream of yours, not just after you become the hero of Konoha but before that as well.
The corners of my eyes crinkle as my smile widens just a bit more, "I do believe it, Na-ru-to-kun."
The boy blinks in surprise, taking in my words slowly like he couldn't understand me. Abruptly, his face fills with red and he began sputtering and touching the points of his fingers together. "O-oh, a-ah, yeah...thank you, Hinowa-chan." He said quietly.
Before I could say anything else, he looked up at me and then turned his eyes at Kakashi and finally ran off ahead of us hollering about Ichiraku's or something. All the while still red-faced and jittery. So cute.
"That was one of my cute, little genin students. He's quite the loudmouth, as you'd probably think."
My face was still pointing in the direction that Naruto ran off to as I replied to Kakashi without looking at him, "A loudmouth, for sure." I replied with eyes that were closed with mirth as a smile danced on my lips.
After Kakashi had dropped me off back at home with a noncommittal wave, I sat on one of my dining table's chairs as I thought of what I would do next.
I should probably summon Ryuujin-sama*, I thought as I shifted the glass of water in my hands. Making up my mind, I pushed myself out from my seat and headed to the living room area which was just the room next to the dining room/kitchen.
Making sure that there were no ANBU directly in my apartment, I then bit my finger and activated the summoning technique, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
Unlike Mushu who appeared in a puff of smoke, Ryuujin-sama had come in with a mist. When the mist had dissipated, a tall man with imperial regalia stood with the grace of an emperor. Which he technically was. Ryuujin-sama could take on a human form which the other summons could not do and in this form I couldn't deny that he was handsome. With a strong, yet regal face and hair that resembled that of the Uchiha's own onyx, except Ryuujin-sama's eyes were a sapphire blue that seemed to change and waver like the tides. His regalia exemplified his affinity to water, a reminder of legends that named him a water god, with silk that came in various aquamarine shades and a delicate crown that had a serpent intertwined with the thin gold band. When I had been younger, I was a bit wary of this man who seemed like he came out of a fairytale but with time he became known to me as one of my most wisest summons. He had taught me many things about respect, war, and inner strength throughout my life. In my previous world, I had become an old woman in terms of a shinobi's lifespan, faced two wars and made somewhat of a family for myself with Kakashi. Now that everything had been taken from me, I felt lost and without belonging. I needed someone like Ryuujin-sama who would always be there to put me on the right path and see what lies ahead of me.
After an assessing glance towards me and the shoddy apartment, Ryuujin-sama was the first to speak, "Mushu had expressed the situation that we have found ourselves in beforehand, but I would not have believed it for I deigned to think that we would be reduced to such insignificant...nobodies," The raven haired man hissed out the last word, his eyes raging a storm of grey and blue. I flinched at his harsh tone, I had expected backlash from my summons but I still found myself cowering. Always a coward, aren't ya, Hinowa-chan, that voice rang between my ears as I was scrutinized by Ryuujin-sama's narrowed eyes.
Dragons were proud creatures. To take away their name, title, and reputation was akin to killing them. This is especially true to Ryuujin-sama, who was used to a frightening notoriety and a lavish lifestyle, whose existence is seemingly now reduced to myths and folktale.
The Tatsuya clan had been small but had amassed a large wealth due to us being such an ancient clan. In this world however, dragons were nothing more than legend, the Tatsuya clan were not even a memory. In this world, we were nobodies.
"I apologize, Ryuujin-sama," I fell to my knees and bowed before him, this was one of the only ways to calm him down before a real storm picked up in the Land of Fire. I could feel the stinging of my eyes that threatened to release tears. I had also felt like I wanted to voice my own apologies to myself, to my summons, and to the people I have already lied to by laying myself down like this. There were many things to repent for already in this world it seems.
"Get up, Hinowa-hime. Someone of your stature should not lower themselves like this, like some peasant." Seeing as I continued to bow before him, my forehead touching the floorboards and my own dark hair curtaining my shoulders, his eyes softened and his tone held apology as he spoke, "Princess, come now, rise from the ground you grovel at. Do not be difficult with me. You had summoned me because you are in distress, did you not? Come, let us go to that place."
Princess had been a name he had called me since after I had gained deference to him as a child. The same way that I call him his name after he had finally told me it, we regarded each other with a familiar fondness. We considered each other more than just summon and summoner, but instead as friends, comrades,- and after my parents and grandmother had passed- family.
I looked up when he suggested we go to that place. Ryuujin-sama as well as the other dragons could all communicate with me telepathically, but he and only two others were capable of entering my mindspace completely.
My mouth hung open as I was still on my knees, though I shook my head earnestly in agreement. It'd be nice to go somewhere familiar and safe. What better place than your own head, right?
Anyone looking at us would assume that the summon had disappeared and I merely blanked out, but that was not the case. We had both drawn ourselves into my mindspace, private and personal.
In here, the scenery changed to that of an empty beach overlooking a setting sun. The breeze was a bit cold but the leftover warmth from the sun left the sand below my bare feet feel nice and comforting. Ryuujin-sama was farther away from me, towards the rockier part of the beach that had a wooden pier stretch out towards the blue of the sea and the pink of the skies.
His hair was flowing like the tides from the way the wind caressed his opulent figure. His gaze was intense but seemingly thousands of years old, holding that weariness from seeing many wars and nations built and destroyed. From where I stood, he truly did look like the God of the Seas.
While the last of the sun's rays fell unto his face, he addressed me without ever taking his eyes off the ocean in front of him, "Now, what is it do you need of me, Princess?"