Chapter 7: The truth (part 2)
"One night, on a solar eclipse, the people of different villages attacked our clan. You may not know this but during a solar eclipse, fire benders lose their powers the same way water benders lose theirs during lunar eclipses." Yue stated.
"Benders?"
"That's what we call our abilities. Bending." Mifuyu elaborated.
"Oh. So eclipses affect your powers?" Tenten asked in mild confusion.
"Yes. Water benders draw out their power from the moon. That's why during full moons our powers are at their peak." Mifuyu answered.
Tenten scrunched her eye brows. "Well then, how come you were name Yue? I mean aren't you an air bender?"
"My mother was a water bender and my father was an air bender. My mom named me 'Yue' in honor of where water benders draw their powers from – the moon." Yue answered.
"I see. So why become an air bender when your name practically emanates the moon?" Tenten asked.
"Being an air bender allows me to be free. Flying is an ability I will never exchange for anything." Yue answered as he looked up in the sky.
"Oh. So you can fly?" Tenten nodded with slight interest. She would never admit it but ever since her grueling defeat against Temari of the Sand, flying seemed to make it to her list of least favorite things to do.
"Yes. I can. Most especially when I have this." Yue held up his staff.
"A staff?" Tenten replied with skepticism.
"It's a staff. But when I do this…" Yue paused as the staff opened to reveal wings. "It becomes a glider. "
"Ok! Hold up! How the heck did you open that? Is there some kind of button there?" Tenten asked as she inspected the staff. She's never seen anything like it and it frustrated her to no end when she realized she couldn't debunk how it opened and closed.
"You can look at it all day but you'll never figure out how to open or close it." Yue chuckled as he watched Tenten inspected the staff intently.
"Ok then. Fine. How did you open it then?" Tenten asked as she handed him back the staff. She would never admit it out loud but it hurt her pride having to ask someone else how to operate a weapon.
"Air bending." Yue answered. "You send a sudden gush of air in certain parts of the staff to open it. To close it, you change the air pressure in specific parts of the staff as well." The staff then closed after Yue spoke.
"That is so…" Tenten eyed the staff like a predator. "Cool."
Lucas cleared his throat. "Would you be interested in hearing the story more?"
Tenten flushed in embarrassment at being sidetracked by a weapon. She nodded wordlessly.
"They attacked during a solar eclipse thus rendering the power of us fire benders useless. It was up to the water, air and earth benders to defend our clan and our village." Lucas continued.
"There were hundreds of ninjas that attacked. One of which was the sage of the six paths." Mifuyu said.
"He was in the raid as well?" Tenten was beyond incredulous. "Son of a bitch."
"I couldn't have said it better." Griselda said with a smirk on her face.
"He wanted to make sure that no survivors would live to take revenge. Unfortunately for him, there were two people who survived." Yue emphasized the number with his fingers.
"Those two being?"
"The leader and founder of our clan, Tokiya-sama, together with his wife, Yanagi-sama. The two of them were the only survivors during that ambush. They vowed to get revenge on the sage of the six paths and all of the villages that brought our clan to its grave." Mifuyu replied.
"They began to rebuild our clan slowly but steadily. Realizing that the strength of the enemy was in numbers, they had no way of winning with just the two of them." Lucas finished as he folded his arms on his chest.
"I see. So their plan was baby making?" Tenten inquired half incredulous half amused.
"Well, if you put it that way." Griselda cleared her throat. "As time passed by, Tokiya-sama and Yanagi-sama's thoughts of revenge slowly faded away. They were content to see their family happy and peaceful. As much as they wanted revenge, they didn't want their family to suffer and live a life of revenge and bloodshed."
"They gave up revenge?" Tenten whispered more to herself. It was a prospect she would never consider had she been in that situation.
"All would have been perfect had the sage not found out about their existence." Yue whispered with annoyance. "He planned another ambush on the remnants of our clan. This time, they attacked during a lunar eclipse. They used fire attacks mainly and burned the small village that Tokiya-sama worked so hard to build. His Ren'nigan was at its most powerful then. It was nearly irrepressible."
"But at that moment, Tokiya-sama's rage over the past years was rekindled. He went into what we call the 'Avatar state'. Lucas added.
"Avatar state?"
Lucas nodded. "It's a state wherein all of the elements' powers are at its fullest. Regardless of an eclipse, all the elements could be used optimally. It was also known as "The End" for no one outside our clan who saw it would live another day to tell stories about it."
"Unfortunately, Tokiya-sama was already too weak. His age had taken a toll on his once invincible powers. In the end, our rebuilt clan fell once more." Griselda concluded.
"It's…" Tenten couldn't find the right words to describe it. "It's too cruel."
"That's just how life is. Complacency is never an option for us Avatars." Lucas replied conclusively.
"Can any of you do it?" Tenten inquired as she glanced at each of them. "The avatar state? The end?"
"No. None of us can. The four of us belong to the branch family. Only you, of the main family, can." Yue said.
Tenten blinked. "Come again? Did you just say I'm of the main family?"
"After the war, only six people survived. Those are the four of us, your grandmother, Asuka-sama, and your mother, Nadeshiko-sama." Lucas began.
"You're kidding right?" Tenten asked with a deadpan expression. "You honestly cannot expect me to believe you guys have lived that long!" She paused in incredulity at the sudden realization. "Even I'm not supposed to be alive as well!"
"After the war, the sage of the six paths was killed by Tokiya-sama. But there were too many ninjas left to fight. None of us would have been able to resist them all. So, at the cost of his very own life, Tokiya-sama used what remained of his life energy to eliminate every single ninja within reach." Lucas had his head down and his fists clenched. "It's a sacrifice we would never forget."
"After the war, our village was filled with hundreds of dead bodies. All six of us who survived were already at the brink of death. If it weren't for your grandmother, we wouldn't be here anymore. She used a forbidden jutsu to send the five of us to another dimension." Yue finished slightly uncertain.
"Another dimension?" Came Tenten's incredulous tone once again.
"At least that's what we think it was. That technique was made by your grandmother. It was a forbidden jutsu. It needed a soul in exchange for its use. It seemed to have sent us to another time. We were inside a vastly empty space filled with darkness. Slowly, all of our wounds healed but we knew not of time and each other's location." Mifuyu added.
"We were all separated." Griselda finished.
"So then, how did you all find each other?" Tenten asked.
Mifuyu allowed herself to smile. "I guess you could blame fate on how the four of us met. We fell down in different places and different times but the gaps for our separations weren't far. That happened about 25 years ago. It really was a miracle that we still managed to find each other."
"And how old are you guys now?" Tenten asked.
"I'm 37, Griselda is 33, Yue is 35 and Lucas is 38." Mifuyu replied.
"So you were still kids when the war happened?" Tenten stated in slight surprise.
Mifuyu nodded her reply.
"And how about my mother?" Tenten asked softly.
"We found her in a village. As luck would have it, all four of us decided to become wanderers. I guess it wasn't coincidence but fate when all four of us met in a village where your mother resided. She was already 18 at that time." Yue answered.
"I see. So what happened after you found her?"
"After revealing our identities and abilities, she was convinced. The five of us began to travel and wander around learning more about the strange world and time we were sent in." Griselda replied.
"Since we were still young, the techniques and bending we could do were only up to a certain level. To get stronger, we decided to challenge all sorts of people wherever we went." Mifuyu added.
"We copied their techniques. After all, we had every right to do so. " Yue continued.
"No one knew of our clan's existence. The sage of the six paths had successfully erased proof of our clan and every single member of it from ever existing in this world." Lucas paused. He was a little calmer but even with his eyes closed, Tenten could sense the pain in his voice. "A lot of anecdotes and tales were told about him. But now, no one is sure whether he really existed or not. But we tell you this. He is real and so is our clan."
"I think I'm starting to understand things. No matter how crazy they all seem. But what really bothers me is how I enter the picture?" Tenten inquired with unhidden curiosity.
"Well. You see, when we saw your mother, she was already pregnant." Yue replied, a little hesitant.
"What?" Tenten formed the word with her mouth but made no sound. "Pregnant at 18? How irresponsible of her! Travelling during pregnancy as well. How could you allow her to do such a thing?"
"Well, she was as stubborn as you are! There was nothing we could do." Griselda said in defense.
"Besides we had no choice but to follow her orders. She was of the main family after all." Lucas added.
"Yeah! And she gets really violent when she doesn't get what she wants! You have no idea." Yue paused as he turned pale.
"Ok. Ok." Tenten raised her hands in defeat. "So, where is she now? What happened to her?"
"She died giving birth to you." Griselda replied frankly.
Tenten couldn't help her mouth from falling open.
"She lost a lot of blood. When she was pregnant, she already knew she would die if she continued to have you. She had this sickness. It was called hemophilia, a disease that meant the carrier lacked certain blood clotting factors. Whenever she got cut, it would take so long before it would heal. It was a good thing Mifuyu was there to heal her whenever she got hurt." Yue paused to tilt his head towards Mifuyu's direction. "However, during her labor, she was already having internal bleeding and no matter what Mifuyu did, she couldn't stop it. We were still young back then and we still didn't know how to control our powers that well. "
Tenten blinked, feeling strangely detached.
"Before your mother died, she told us that your name would be 'Tenten' for it meant 'heaven'. Your mother was always wondering how heaven looked like. So we weren't surprised when she decided to give you that name." Lucas smiled wistfully.
For some strange reason, tears were threatening to fall from Tenten's eyes at the onslaught of emotions. Grief from the fact that she was the reason for her mother's death. Gratitude from knowing she was loved by the mother she never knew. Regret for not knowing the mother who loved her enough to name her after the heavens. Closure over the fact that she had a real family who genuinely wanted her.
"You don't have to be sad. You're mother chose your life over hers. That shows how much she loved you." Mifuyu smiled comfortingly.
"And my dad? Did I kill him to?" Tenten mocked.
"Tenten…"Mifuyu exhaled in exasperation.
"No. You weren't the one who killed him. The first Hokage of Konoha killed him right at this very place – the Valley of the End. Do you know who I mean?" Lucas looked at Tenten meaningfully.
Tenten wiped her tears and said, "No. I absolutely have no idea who you're talking about-"
"Your father is most prominent leader of the Uchiha clan." Yue paused to glance at Tenten's reaction. Her eyes were as wide as they could get.
"Uchiha Madara was his name." Lucas added.
Tenten's lips quivered a bit as she whispered his name. "Uchiha… Madara…"