Reaching
LilacLilyFlower © 2009
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Unfortunately.
Credits to Scuro for beta-ing.
-O-O-O-O-
Chapter 3
Hikari was pissed.
Her Fuinjutsu was stagnating, she couldn't find Kakashi anywhere outside of training, which lasted for five minutes before he poofed off to somewhere, the bakery had run out of coffee macaroons, and Takahiro wasn't speaking to her.
How, exactly, was she supposed to become friends with someone who refused any forms of contact with her? Obviously, he was upset over what had happened; Hikari observed during Taijutsu that his forms were sloppy, which would normally never happen.
Angrily, she added more force to her katas, thrusting an arm out and accidentally smacking an older classmate in the face.
Oops. She had hit a girl with black hair and eyes. Uchiha Fumiko.
Uchiha Fumiko was somewhat of an abnormality amongst Uchiha. She was extremely beautiful as all Uchiha were, but instead of the arrogance Hikari had heard about, she possessed kindness. Also, there was a rumor going around that she was engaged to the clan heir.
"Ah, sorry!" Fumiko apologized.
"Oh, no, it's my fault. I wasn't paying attention," she responded, tugging a pigtail. Her chakra is so…dark.
Fumiko's lip quirked. "You're Hikari-san, right?" she asked as she leaned forward, hands clasped behind her back.
"Yes."
"I can call you Hikari-chan, right? Since I'm older than you," Fumiko said. Her eyes curved as she shot a warm smile at her.
Hikari nodded in affirmation.
"Great! Let's hang out after class today!"
A chance for a friend!
She blinked, before realizing something. "I'm sorry, Fumiko-san, but I have additional training and instruction today after class. Maybe another time?"
"Okay then, try asking your sensei for some time off, ok? See you!"
As Fumiko flounced away, Hikari allowed herself a small smirk.
Oh, I'll definitely ask him.
-O-O-O-O-
"So I won't be able to make it tomorrow."
"Ok."
"Because I'm hanging out with my friend, Uchiha Fumiko."
"Alright."
She stared at Kakashi in disbelief. She had a friend. Why wasn't he saying anything about her getting to see Naruto?
"I'll tell you all about my time hanging out with my friend."
"Please do. Have fun."
Frustrated, she left the training grounds and headed towards her apartment, planning on dropping by the Uchiha compound before going home. Then, she realized that she didn't know where the compound was, and had to swallow the urge to rip her hair out.
I don't want to talk with any of the stuffy police force.
Smoothing her face into a mask of glass, she tentatively approached an Uchiha with unkempt hair patrolling the marketplace. "Excuse me."
He said nothing and continued with his steady trudge around the perimeter of the bustling square.
"Uchiha-san."
This time, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, but didn't do anything else.
Hikari snarled internally. I can't deal with any obstinacy anymore. I can't. She plodded after him, and when she was within contact, she whapped the Uchiha on the back, right where the stupid red and white fan was.
He stiffened, and slowly turned to her with glinting, red eyes.
Oh. I shouldn't have done that.
"Uchiha-san, I've been trying to get your attention for a while. Will you tell me where the Uchiha compound is?" she asked quickly, before he started acting on his anger.
"What business would a non-clan member have with our esteemed compound?" the Uchiha questioned with a surprisingly calm voice.
She moistened her lips before considering her next words carefully. "Earlier, Fumiko-san invited me to hang out with her sometime, and I need to tell her that I made time for tomorrow."
He scrutinized her, scanning her with those crimson eyes, before the red faded into black suddenly, and Hikari found a hand thrust in her face.
"Okay! You pass the Sharingan scan!" he chirped happily, grinning widely.
Dumbfounded, she stared blankly at the offered hand. Wait. He's an Uchiha, right? Did he just smile at me? That wasn't a smirk, right? RIGHT?
"Oi, brat, I haven't got all day. Hurry up and get on my back. I'll get us there in less than a second," the Uchiha said with irritation in his voice.
Cautiously, she accepted his hand and was thrown unceremoniously onto his back.
"Hold on tight!"
She barely managed to secure her arms around his neck before a blast of gritty—Why is his chakra so grainy?—chakra propelled them forward, and her surroundings blurred before everything jolted to a halt, and she found herself in front of a tall, wooden gate.
"Fumiko lives in the fourth biggest house. I'll take you there," the Uchiha offered. He began sauntering into the compound, and Hikari tripped slightly before matching his pace.
Around them, Uchiha of varying ages (but not coloring; they all had dark hair and eyes and were beautiful) stared at the pair walking down the street. Hikari felt self-conscious with her red hair and blue eyes, and ducked her head down, wishing she had one of those Uchiha shirts with high collars to hide her face.
They arrived at a grand house that had a large porch with sliding rice paper doors. Hikari expected for her companion to leave her, but he slid the door open and walked right in.
"I'm home!" he announced.
Wait, what? He lives here? Doesn't Fumiko live here? Are they related?
She mentally smacked herself for the last thought. Of course they were related, every Uchiha was. But what were the chances that of all the Uchiha she decided to approach, she chose Fumiko's brother?
"Fumi-chaaaaan, a little strawberry is here to see you!" her guide sang out while pulling her in. She gritted her teeth at the word "strawberry". Couldn't people be more creative?
Instead of Fumiko, a boy with long, glossy hair tied into a low ponytail walked out of what Hikari assumed to be the kitchen. Another younger boy around her age with hair that spiked in the back followed closely.
"You're noisy, Shisui," the older boy stated calmly.
Her guide—Shisui—leaped towards him with his arms outstretched. "Itachi!"
Itachi sidestepped neatly before turning to Hikari, ignoring the now-whimpering heap of Shisui on the ground, who was being poked by the younger boy, with well-practiced ease.
"I'm sorry if he gave you any trouble. He tends to aggravate everyone. Sasuke, stop poking Shisui," he said.
"Oh, no, he was very helpful. He brought me here so I can speak with Fumiko-san," she responded politely. This was Uchiha Itachi, the genius heir who graduated from the Academy early. She memorized his chakra signature, smooth and slow like syrup, and also the younger boy's, smoldering and hot, just in case.
"Itachi-kun? Is everything ok?" Fumiko's voice called before she popped her head out of the kitchen. She took in the sight of her brother whining, collapsed, and Sasuke who was crouching next to him, before her eyes landed on Itachi and Hikari. Her face brightened. "Hikari-chan! Hi! Come into the kitchen! In fact, all of you come into the kitchen!"
Fumiko hustled them all in and rather forcefully sat them at the table. "Anything to drink? We have water, milk, strawberry juice—"
"Just water, please," Hikari interrupted, cheek muscle twitching at the mention of "strawberry".
While she sipped her water, Shisui chattered with his relatives. "Why are you and Sasuke here, Itachi?"
Itachi responded in that calm manner of his. "Our parents wanted us to spend time with each other, and Sasuke decided to come with me."
Oh, so they are engaged.
"Ah, I see. Fumi-chan, why don't you introduce your friend to us?"
Fumiko smiled, before saying, "This is Hikari-chan! She's in my Academy class, and is really good at sensing chakra, and Fuinjutsu. She created an exploding tag on the first day!"
"Ooooh, yeah, I heard about that!" Shisui exclaimed, laughing. "Apparently the kids in the building thought there was an earthquake! Good job!" He slapped Hikari on the back, and she choked before spraying water across the table into Sasuke's face.
"Eww!" Sasuke yelled. "You're just like Naruto!"
Hikari's attention sharpened at the mention of Naruto. Sasuke was in Naruto's class? "I'm sorry. What do you mean, about Naruto?" she asked, desperate for some information on him.
"He's always goofing off during class and playing pranks on Iruka-sensei, and he's a loudmouth too!"
Her brother was…a brat?
"Sasuke," Itachi reprimanded. Sasuke pouted before slouching lower in his seat.
Some silence ensued before Fumiko said, "Anyways, why did you come over, Hikari-chan?"
"I cleared my schedule, so I can hang out after class tomorrow. At least, I think I can. Kakashi-sensei didn't really give me an answer."
The five chatted a bit before Hikari left. When she reached her apartment, she thrust a fist in the air, satisfied with successfully scheduling a hang out.
She puttered around her bedroom for a while, cleaning up the clutter from her Fuinjutsu while thinking about Kakashi's lack of words on Naruto. He had said that she could see him after making a friend, and when she said she made a friend (after the attempt with Takahiro, who she wasn't too keen on being friends with anymore; how dare he call her a nobody), he hadn't said anything about not being able to see Naruto.
She resolved to meet Naruto after hanging out with Fumiko. She'd track him down; Sasuke might have information on his haunts.
But how would she introduce herself when (not if) she found him?
Hi, I'm your long lost sister who didn't approach you until now.
Hi, I'm related to you.
Hi, I've been searching for you my entire life because you're my brother.
Hi, we're twins.
Hi, you have no idea how much I miss you and love you and care about you. Family, yeah?
Hi, do you know the pain I felt when my sensei prevented me from seeing you?
Hi, my name is Uzumaki Hikari. You're Uzumaki Naruto. We're Uzumakis. We're siblings.
Hi, do you want to learn about Fuinjutsu? I heard we Uzumaki are particularly skilled at it.
Hey, you! Yes, you! Do you have a tremendous amount of chakra and stamina? Do you heal slightly faster than the average shinobi? If so, you might be an Uzumaki, just like me!
Hikari sighed before faceplanting onto her bed. Maybe don't tell him about being related. Hokage-sama said not to, anyways.
Pacing around the room once more, she chewed on her lip as she thought.
Then, what about, "Hi! My name is Hikari. What about you? Do you want to be friends?"
Friends. Not family. Naruto would see her as a friend, not a sister.
The thought filled Hikari with so much pain and anguish. She had been separated from her brother a little bit after their birth, and he didn't remember, unlike her. He didn't know about how his hair reflected the light into her eyes, or how his chakra had shined like the sun, brilliantly blue and pulsing so strongly through his still-developing system, or how his warmth had comforted her, before the brightness and healthiness and warmth had disappeared, leaving only emptiness and the cold.
Why did she have to restrain herself from revealing that she was his sister? It's not like that information would make it out of the village. She was in Konoha. She was safe.
Resigning herself to another day of classes before searching for Naruto, she undid her hair from its pigtails and changed into her pajamas, making sure that her Fuinjutsu equipment was on the stand by her bed.
As she settled into bed, she resolved that tomorrow would be a better day.
-O-O-O-O-
"Bye, Kari-chan!" Fumiko called as they separated.
After classes, Hikari and Fumiko had gone to the market and gotten some ice cream. They had talked for a while, letting their feet lead them aimlessly, and had arrived at the training grounds. There, they had decided to have a chakra control contest (which Fumiko won, probably because she was older, or so Hikari thought while nursing her wounded pride) before showing their best skills to each other.
Fumiko had shown an impressive Ninjutsu display of flames and bigger flames, and Hikari had closely examined her chakra as she powered through her jutsus. Fumiko's dark chakra had slowly gained speed as it circulated to her hands and mouth, and lightened in color and feeling until she blew out; then, it had massed into a cloud of violently hot chakra before the flames appeared.
Impressed, Hikari decided to show off too, and had offered a seal to Fumiko, who took it without hesitation, before releasing the slip of paper with an undignified yelp. Hikari had collapsed with laughter before explaining that she had designed a numbing seal, which would spark some electricity, its amount depending on how much chakra was infused, into anything in contact with it. For Fumiko, she had charged the seal with a miniscule amount of chakra, which resulted in a static shock.
Then, they said goodbye.
And now Hikari could look for Naruto.
She ran eagerly towards the marketplace, which was the center of all activity and gossip. With her brother's reputation as a prankster, all she had to do was listen for word of a troublemaker, and it would probably be Naruto.
Passing by a ramen stall—Ichiraku Ramen—on the other side of the street, she heard whispers from some village mothers.
"That ramen stall owner used to be sensible, but nowadays, I don't know what's going on in his head."
"Right? I always thought that he was kind, but this is too much. That demon doesn't deserve kindness after what it did to us."
"That fox brat doesn't deserve to live in this village, let alone kindness. Why does it get to stay in the village it destroyed?"
Fox brat. The Kyuubi.
Unknowingly, Hikari leaked some Killing Intent towards the mothers, who shivered with a sense of foreboding. She rushed across the street to the curtains outside of the ramen stall, where she could feel a thriving, sunny chakra, now that she noticed it.
This is it.
Step.
I'll get to meet him.
Step.
I'll get to talk with him.
Lift.
Naruto.
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A/N: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand I'll leave you guys with that ^^
For the sudden appearance of Sasuke, Itachi, and Shisui: NO, I don't plan on writing a romance between any of them and Hikari. That's too…ick. It's a can of dead, limp, white worms waiting to be opened; in other words, a disaster.
HEY REVIEWERS AND FOLLOWERS AND FAVORITERS: If you guys have any requests for oneshots or omakes about anything (even though it's a little too early for any of that), tell me via review! I'll pick one and write it when I have time. It can be about anything with anyone, from anyone's perspective, but I have one requirement: Hikari must be included in it somehow.
And is it possible to tell what Hikari's personality is like? I'm not sure if I'm conveying her the way I imagined her to be. And are any of the canon characters out of character?
See you all next time!