Reaching
LilacLilyFlower © 2009
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Unfortunately.
-O-O-O-O-
Chapter 9
(Hikari's POV)
Hikari woke up early the next morning, at seven, an hour before her alarm was set to beep. She didn't mind much, because last night, she'd done some thinking about the discrimination against Naruto, and she wanted to talk with the Hokage about it.
She'd been furious at how he was treated (cold, cold ice creeping through her veins but hot, hot fire burning her back, burning burning burning), but when she had analyzed their actions and their possible effects, she paled from fear. The teachers were deliberately stunting Naruto's growth. They weren't giving him any instruction on proper forms or technique, leaving him to mess up and continue his bad habits. Right now, it didn't amount to much except low scores, but what about when he graduated (when, not if)? When he started taking higher ranked missions? What if he died because he didn't know how to properly hold a kunai?
Also, now that she was a genin, she wanted to know if she could tell Naruto that she was his twin sister.
She leapt over rooftops while simultaneously eating cereal from a paper bowl, a feat that she was proud to say she mastered. (Seriously, trying to eat something out of a sloshy liquid while jumping and running was hard work.) She let herself freefall from the last apartment, and enhanced her legs with chakra to stick the landing with a thud. Civilians stared as she casually tossed the paper bowl into a waste bin and strolled into the Hokage Tower.
Okay, so maybe she enjoyed being a kunoichi too much at times.
She ran up the stairs to the office, ignoring the receptionist's calls. She could sense only the Third's flinty chakra, so it didn't matter anyways.
Bursting into the room, she slammed the door behind her and locked it, stopping any potential pursuers. Hikari smoothed her hair and caught her breath, and turned to see the Hokage's amused face. "What brings you here this early in the morning, Hikari?"
"I want to talk about Naruto," she said cautiously, staying pressed to the door in case the Hokage got angry and she needed to run out. Granted, he was a Kage, but she was closer to the door. She had a chance. Hopefully.
"Oh?" he inquired, raising a brow. "Do tell."
So she did. She told him everything, about how Naruto's progress was halted, how his growth would never occur except in incorrect ways, and how this endangered him. She told him about the villagers calling him a demon and fox brat, and how this hatred spread to their children without knowing.
She told him how she was a genin who graduated at a near prodigious level, like Kakashi, how she wanted to let Naruto know they were siblings, how he already called her Nee-chan, how she could protect herself if anyone found out.
He listened with a pensive look, lips pulling into a frown around his pipe. When she finished, he exhaled loudly and slowly, closing his eyes and creasing his brow.
"Child," he said, "I would remove the instructors from their post, if not for the fact that it is not a simple matter. Actions have consequences, and doing anything drastic or attention-catching would complicate things that are already too complicated and far beyond you. I do not want you to involve yourself in this anymore."
"But-"
"No," he emphasized, slamming a hand down on his table. She flinched. "You will leave this matter to me. As for allowing Naruto to know, I will think further on the issue." His eyes softened. "I know you've been waiting. You are advanced; I acknowledge that. Guarding yourself against civilians would be no issue. But guarding yourself against other shinobi, not just Konoha-nin, but shinobi from other villages, is not so easy. Once it is revealed that you are the sister of a jinchurikki, you will be targeted. Kakashi is exceptional, but he had people stronger than him in the past, and still does."
"But wouldn't only Konoha know about it?" she asked. "If Naruto's status is so important and secretive, other villages shouldn't know, right?"
His face suddenly looked weary, and Hikari was once again struck by how old the Third actually was. "I'm sad to admit this," he began, "but Konoha is not a perfect village, which you probably realized. There are always spies that we cannot catch, and traitors." His eyes darkened at the mention of traitors. "We have missing-nin, and we cannot track every single one of their movements or conversations. Information is wealth in the shinobi world, which is why missing-nin are so dangerous, no matter what their rank may be." Hikari remembered then, from her time spent at the library, that Orochimaru, one of the Third's students and also a Sannin, had deserted Konoha before she was born. "There will always be conflict when there are differing ideas, and in Konoha, where we have some of the smartest, brightest shinobi in the land, there are many ideas on how things should be run. There is a reason why those in power are still in power."
"I will get back to you once I have made a decision. For now, just continue as you have been doing," he said, clearly dismissing her.
-O-O-O-O-
(The Third Hokage's POV)
Sometimes, Hiruzen regretted taking back his position.
He shouldn't have had to come out of retirement, after all. Minato had been a Hokage with such potential, and all of Konoha had felt the loss when he and Kushina were killed in the fight against the Kyuubi. He would have been brilliant.
And his poor, poor son, left to bear the pain and anger of the citizens without knowing why he was so hated, but so strong at the same time, never giving up and unwaveringly loyal to his village. A village that, honestly, does not deserved his devotion, Hiruzen thought.
But Hikari.
Hiruzen could sense her growing resentment, especially after her recent disillusionment when he hinted at the complication of politics and conflict within Konoha's behind-the-scenes. It was a risky move, telling her this, but Hikari was the type of kunoichi who wouldn't let anything stop her, like her brother, but would also go to any length to secure what she wanted. She was analytical, strong, and ambitious, and much too similar to how Orochimaru was at her age for Hiruzen to comfortably lie to her. It was better for her to learn secrets from him, he supposed, than finding out on her own and feeling betrayed. This ensured her loyalty to him, and therefore the village, and as Hokage, it was his reponsibility to do what was best for the village.
But for all her progress on perfecting the shinobi lifestyle, Hikari was still a child.
She was lonely, and yearned for familial contact. She had emotions, and while slightly dense to those around her, she was still empathic. She had connections, attachments, and bonds.
Shinobi were supposed to have no emotions. Emotions were hindrances, handicaps. But raising a killer who had no ability to empathize was dangerous, so a fine line of balance had to be tread.
Hiruzen knew that Hikari would have difficult obstacles to overcome. Everyone did, but hers would be harsher than most, preying on emotional weakness. The shinobi world was a dark one. It was no place for blind idealists, like Naruto (but Naruto's fate as a shinobi had been sealed, literally, when the Kyuubi was sealed into him), and if Hikari wanted to protect, she would have to know. And to know, one had to walk in the darkness. The dark, after all, was a shinobi's best friend.
And for Hikari, whose name meant 'light', she'd thrive in the darkness.
Light shines brightest in the dark.
-O-O-O-O-
(Hikari's POV)
She was so blind.
How could she be so simple-minded, so naive? Disregarding the fact that there were ways to withold and extract information and knowledge, especially from fresh genin like her, she berated herself. Of course Konoha wasn't perfect. Of course there were politics and things deeper than what she should be involved in. But it never occurred to her that to truly rise to the top, she'd have to make decisions she didn't like, and that she'd need to bypass her morals.
Of course, the Third never explicitly said that, but it was there. Look underneath the underneath, Kakashi always told her. So she did.
And she didn't like what she saw.
And that little blurb he said about traitors... was the Hokage warning her against trusting others? That couldn't be it, right? Everyone knew about the Will of Fire that he was said to always talk about and how it was built through comrades. Then why did he tell her this, other than to convince her to not tell Naruto?
It was with frustration that Hikari arrived at Training Ground 13, several hours early. She had three hours to spare, with no one but her own stewing self for company.
So she trained.
Or, rather, she blew off her anger at trees. The more she hurled kunai and kicked the trees, the angrier she seemed to get. Her back began burning again for some strange reason, and she finally lashed out with her tags, setting off hotter and bigger explosions each time, until she ran out of tags. She didn't want to take the time to make more, so she began punching the trees again, gradually channeling chakra to her hands. Finally, she slammed her hand down on the tree trunk, open-palmed, and yelled at the sky.
Sighing, she tried to pull away to survey the damage she inflicted on the poor trees, but something caught her hand and jerked her to a stop. She looked back at her hand, but there was nothing holding it to the tree. Frowning, she tugged on her hand again, but it didn't move.
Hikari began to panic. Why was her hand stuck? Was she caught in a trap? A genjutsu?
The last thought calmed her down. She knew how to get out a genjutsu. She gathered her chakra, grasping at errant slivers and pulled them in tightly around her core. Her chakra wanted to flow, but she clamped down on it, compressing it until it was almost painful, and let go.
Blue chakra burst out of her, creating a breeze. Then, the tree exploded.
She automatically shut her eyes and curled inwards, throwing up her arms to protect her ducking head and face and pulling her legs up to cover her vitals. She hit the ground hard, her breath escaping upon impact, and she lay coiled on the ground, catching her breath and waiting for another explosion.
When nothing happened, she cautiously peeked through her arms, eyes scanning the clearing. She slowly unraveled, taking stock of her injuries. She wasn't badly hurt, but there were splinters embedded in her forearms and shins that would hurt to take out, and chakra burns. She hissed as she saw them, dreading the healing session that would inevitably happen. Chakra burns were the bane of all burns. The chakra entered the exposed burn and constantly stimulated the millions of nerve endings, like a needle poking repeatedly at the same spot each time the skin moved or was pulled, touched, or hit in any way. The process of healing them wasn't much better. While healing chakra was supposedly soothing, it was still chakra, and stimulated the nerves until it overrode the pain signal and healed the burns completely.
She stood up, wincing as the movement stretched her skin, and examined the tree. It held no signs of any kind of explosive or trap, only splinters and cracked wood and chakra burns, confusing her. Hikari ran through the sequence of events leading up to the explosion. She'd been hitting the tree and channeling chakra into her hands. Then, she'd slapped the tree, got stuck, and expelled her chakra violently to get out of a supposed genjutsu, which that definitely wasn't, because she was in pain, which disrupted genjutsu. The tree had exploded after she expelled chakra.
Then, it hit her.
Stupid, stupid, stupid! The tree only exploded because it was a backlash from her chakra expelling out of her hand. More specifically, out of the hand that was on the tree, touching it with maximum surface area. The tree must have absorbed her chakra, since trees were living and therefore had chakra, and rejected it when it became overloaded, causing the explosion. That also explained why her hand got stuck on the tree. She must have been channeling the right amount of chakra to stick to the tree. What was it that Kakashi called it? Tree-walking?
Well, she wouldn't be using chakra anytime soon, so she wouldn't be able to test anything.
Hikari sighed and resigned herself to several hours of painful waiting.
-O-O-O-O-
"Ow, ow, ow, ow," she uttered through gritted teeth. Eisuke said nothing, concentrating on healing her burns.
When the rest of Team One had arrived, Shoumaru had taken one look at her and facepalmed. Waving at Eisuke to heal her, he'd decided that it would be a good demo for Hikari, who would be learning Iryo-ninjutsu, leaving Takahiro to learn Fuinjutsu, and Eisuke to improve in Taijutsu.
So, she was currently suffering from a healing session with Eisuke, who was good, but not good enough to ease the pain of healing chakra burns. No one was.
"Just a little more, Hikari-chan," he murmured. She bit her lip and nodded, eyes watering. Eisuke's hand lit up with green chakra again, and she felt her arm light on fire. Not literally, of course, but if she was ever set on fire, she bet that it would feel the way she felt at the moment.
A particularly vicious sting had her whimpering. Screw being a tough kunoichi, it hurt.
"Ok! Done!" Eisuke announced, sending a final wave of chakra over her skin. Hikari sighed with relief, and poked the spots where the burns had been. Other than a slightly pink tinge, there was no sign of any injury.
Eisuke slapped her hand away. "Don't do that! The area is still very tender, and the receptors on the nerves are still recovering! Make sure you spread a cooling balm over the burnt areas for the next three days," he ordered. She gawked at him, surprised by the complete flip in his demeanor from the day before. "Um, okay," she said carefully, eyeing him.
He relaxed and laughed, surprising her again. "Alright, good," he said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head with a hand. "I don't want any of my teammates to be hurt."
So, Eisuke had a different personality when healing. Interesting.
"Eisuke-kun," Shoumaru called. "Run Hikari-chan through the jutsu, then come over to start on your Taijutsu."
"Yes, Sensei," he said. He turned to her, hands shaping into handseals. "This is the Shosen Jutsu (Mystical Palm Technique). You convert your chakra into Yin chakra, and channel it out of your palm, like this." Eisuke's hand glowed green. "It's easier to start with a finger, though, and work your way up to a palm."
She closed her eyes and focused on the way his chakra, which she couldn't describe in any other way besides comparing it to a pine forest, tranquil and cool, coursed through and around his palm. Hikari formed the seals and focused her chakra into her pointer finger. Slowly, she began separating her Yin and Yang chakra. It was meticulous work, sifting through her chakra and pulling the two types apart. Hikari growled with frustration as the two parts snapped back together.
"I can't do Yin Release," she explained, peeved.
Eisuke blinked in confusion. "Didn't you learn how to do Genjutsu at the Academy?"
She responded dryly, "Yeah, but I never managed to cast a genjutsu. I don't know how to separate my chakra and pull away the Yang chakra, only the Yin chakra. I can do Yin-Yang and Yang Release just fine."
"That doesn't make any sense," he said, face scrunching up with thought. "Everyone who pursues a shinobi career knows how to separate their chakra instinctively. The only reason why you wouldn't be able to do Yin Release would be if you had a Kekkei Genkai (Bloodline Limit)."
"But I don't," she said. "Maybe it's because I have so much chakra."
"I guess," Eisuke replied, sounding unconvinced. He left to work on his Taijutsu.
She sighed for what seemed like the tenth time that day, and closed her eyes. Ignoring Takahiro's exclamations of what the hell? Why is Fuinjutsu so complicated? What does this even mean?, she shifted in her seat uncomfortably, aware of her back, which was burning again. It always happened when she tried to do Yin Release.
There were other times that her back burned too, like the time she got angry at Kakashi for preventing her from seeing Naruto, or the Massacre, or when she thought Shoumaru was going to kill her and her teammates. Was it a warning sign, then? Many shinobi spoke of a physical reaction when their bodies knew of danger before their minds did. Did her back burn to warn her about danger?
Well, even if it did, it was useless. It always happened too late.
It was always too late, for her.
-O-O-O-O-
The sun was setting by the time Shoumaru called for them to stop. "You've all worked hard today," he said. "But you're at different levels of progress."
"Eisuke! You've come the farthest so far. Good job with your Taijutsu. Keep up with your forms, and you'll be good enough for B-ranks. Maybe. Takahiro, I know you haven't understood the theory behind Fuinjutsu yet, but your kanji is good. And Hikari..."
"Stay after training. Dismissed."
She cringed as Takahiro and Eisuke left, the former mouthing "dinner" at her, which she nodded in affirmation to. Turning her attention to Shoumaru, she braced herself for the disappointment that was sure to follow.
Top graduate, but can't even form Yin chakra, she thought. It's a miracle that I graduated.
Shoumaru levelled his eyes at her. "You're an Uzumaki."
She snapped to attention. How did he- oh, of course. Of course he would know if he was put in charge of her.
"From my experience with Uzumakis, you all tend to have some sort of problem with chakra," he began. "This does not, however, mean that you'll be allowed to slack off in your training. You'll be able to get over your current training block eventually, so keep practicing."
"You knew other Uzumaki?" she asked, desperate for knowledge of her heritage.
"One," he replied, cracking a lopsided grin. "I had the biggest puppy crush on her when I was younger. She was like spitfire, kind of like a cat. Deadly, graceful, yet ridiculous. Few years older than me, I think. She was your mother."
Mama. Her sensei knew her mother.
"Can you..." she bit her lip. "Can you tell me more about her? I mean, will the Hokage allow it?"
Shoumaru contemplated her request. "He said to tell you when I thought the time was right. I guess now's a good enough time. Let's go somewhere else though," he said, eyeing the training ground. "Hokage Mountain should be good."
Several minutes later, Hikari and Shoumaru were seated on top of the First Hokage's head. She waited attentively for him to begin.
"I guess I should start from when I first met her. She was new to Konoha, and the administration decided to put her into my class at the Academy. Her face was pudgy and round, and her hair was so red that the other kids decided to call her Tomato, right from the start. She got angry, and her eyes were sizzling, and she yelled, 'My name is Uzumaki Kushina, and I'm gonna be Hokage-ttebane!' And I swear, I fell in love with her right then."
Shoumaru paused, eyeing her. "I got over the crush, of course. But before I did, I followed her around so much that she began to call me "Shou-chan". I watched her grow from a clumsy student to a slightly less clumsy genin. She'd pull pranks on everyone, even the Third Hokage. Then there was an incident, in which she was kidnapped."
Hikari started. Her mother had been kidnapped before?
"Your father saved her. I'm not exactly sure of the details of the entire thing, but your mother had special chakra, so she was kidnapped, but your father took out at least three shinobi to rescue her. He was the only one who could find her, because she left a trail of her own hair, and your father thought her hair was beautiful. She fell in love with him because of that."
There was a beat of silence, then Hikari snorted.
"That sounds like a crappy love story."
"I know," Shoumaru grinned. "But it happened. The look in their eyes when they looked at each other... everyone could tell how hopelessly they were in love with each other. Well, everyone but them. They were the densest people I knew, and at that point, I knew that I had no chance to win Kushina's heart, so I got over her and helped your dad finally realize that his feelings were reciprocated. So, I guess you have me to thank for your existence, since I got your parents together." He ruffled her hair, much to her annoyance.
After smoothing her hair back down, Hikari was quiet, before asking, "How did my parents die?"
Shoumaru sighed, mouth twitching downwards. "They protected you and Naruto from the Kyuubi. It was going to claw you, but they took the hit."
Kyuubi. The demon that ruined everything.
"That's all for today. Go home and eat. We'll try again with Yin chakra tomorrow," he ordered, disappearing into a whirlwind of leaves.
Well.
She realized something.
Shoumaru hadn't mentioned any identifying traits about her father at all.
-O-O-O-O-
(Kakashi's POV)
"My, my, why is my cute little student all lonely and sad?"
Kakashi entered the training ground and spotted Hikari sitting with her knees drawn up to her face. He sat down next to her, taking in her melancholy face. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Her face twitched into a neutral expression. "I'm fine. There's nothing I need to talk about." She got up to leave.
"No. You and I need to have a discussion." He laced his words with steel, and very deliberately stood at his full height, blocking her path. Her face closed off fully, and her hand crept towards her weapons pouch, which he knew held several premade seals.
Kakashi's heart plummeted when he realized that this meant she perceived him as a threat. "Hikari-chan," he said lightly, "I'm not going to hurt you."
Her hand dropped to her side, but her posture remained tense. "Why? Is it because you're under orders not to?"
And there it was, the ugly truth. The truth of how his wrongdoing affected her, the truth of her resentment and hurt and anger, open like a kunai wound between them.
"No!" he denied. "How can you even-"
"Isn't that the only reason why you're sticking around? Because the Hokage ordered you to? Why else would you? It's clear from your actions that you think I'm a bother. Why else would you do only the bare minimum? You weren't there when Fumiko died. I needed you then, but you left the village, because you obviously didn't think I was important enough to warrant your attention even though I was experiencing trauma. You weren't there! I had no one!"
She was shaking now, breathing unevenly.
"You had Takahiro." But it was a weak excuse, and they both knew it.
"Takahiro helped me, but he's only a year older than me. There was only so much he could do. I needed, I needed a mentor, an adult. I needed someone I could look up to as a parent figure! I thought that was you, but I was wrong! I needed my mom, I needed my dad, I needed my family." She ended with a whisper.
"I'm sorry," he offered. He meant it. He really did.
"That's not enough," she said, voice cracking. Her facade finally broke, and with it, the tears came. "It's not enough."
She fell to the ground, her shoulders shaking from her sobs. The sound of her crying echoed around the clearing, until Kakashi ventured closer and placed a hand on her head.
"I'm really sorry."
She threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face into his vest. "You weren't there," she said between her sobs.
"I know."
"I needed you!"
"I know, and I regret it."
He carefully gathered her into his arms, and sat down. She was fragile. She was just a child who needed to cry.
Kakashi held her, soothing her with little murmurs of apology and patting her back. Eventually, her crying stopped, leaving her with hiccups.
"I don't know how to make it up to you," he began carefully, "but I promise that from now on, I will always be there when you need me. And I don't break my promises."
What a blatant lie.
"How can I trust you? How do I know that you're telling the truth?" she asked, tightening her grip on his jacket.
"You can't," he admitted. "But you'll never know unless you give me another chance."
"You're stupid," Hikari muttered, sniffing.
A beat of silence.
"But I guess I forgive you, because you're trying." She snuggled deeper, pressing her cheek into his shoulder. Her breathing calmed.
"You're right, I am stupid," he agreed.
"Mhmm," she hummed sleepily.
"Hikari-chan?"
"Yes, Sensei?"
"Thanks."
And Kakashi vowed to himself, then and there, that no matter what, he would not break this one promise, even though he knew he inevitably would.
He was a coward, but at least he was trying to be brave.
-O-O-O-O-
(Takahiro's POV)
When someone knocked on the door, Takahiro didn't know what to expect. He wasn't, however, expecting this.
He opened the door to find Hatake Kakashi, the Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Nin, staring down at him, with a dozing Hikari in a piggyback ride.
"Hi there," he said simply. "Are your parents home?" Takahiro shook his head. "Is there a place I can put her?" Kakashi motioned with his head to the girl asleep on his back.
Wordlessly, Takahiro stepped aside to let him in. "Uh," he said, finally regaining his ability to speak. "We have a guest bedroom this way." He led him down the hallway.
When Hikari was tucked in, they stood by her bedside in an awkward silence. Takahiro peeked at Kakashi, who was frowning at Hikari's form.
"Takahiro-kun," he said suddenly. "Let's have a talk."
"Oh, uh, sure! Would you like some tea?" Takahiro offered.
"That would be lovely."
When they were seated, with cups cradled in their hands, Takahiro observed Kakashi more critically. It was strange seeing him in a domestic setting, holding a teacup. The scrolls at the Academy always showed him as an imposing figure, grimy from the dust of the battlefield. How would he even drink the tea anyways? He was notorious for always wearing a mask.
Takahiro blinked, and the liquid in Kakashi's cup was gone.
His eyes widened. How was that even possible? He offered more tea, and kept his eyes open this time. And the tea was gone.
He offered again, but Kakashi stopped him. "Takahiro-kun, you won't be able to see my face like this."
He flushed, embarrassed from being caught. "Sorry. What was it that you wanted to talk about?"
"It's Hikari."
Kakashi set his teacup down carefully and levelled a serious look at him. "I think you know this already, but Hikari isn't strong."
What?
"Of course, she's a competent kunoichi and will progress through the ranks quickly, but I'm not talking about physical skills. I'm talking about here." He tapped the side of his head with two fingers.
Understanding dawned.
"She's unexpectedly fragile. She's the type who would take the blame for everything, and she can't recover easily from blows to the spirit. And that's why I need you to look out for her and protect her from herself."
"But-"
"There will be times when I can't and won't be there to help her, so I need you to be the one she can rely on. Become her foundation," Kakashi said. He passed a hand over his eyes with a weary sigh. "I'm sorry I'm asking so much of you, but there's no one else I can depend on. You're her closest friend."
Takahiro frowned at this. "Naruto-"
"Naruto doesn't know, though, does he?"
Again, Kakashi gave him a piercing look.
"You're the only one who knows, besides me and Sasuke, and Sasuke is already unstable enough. You're the only one. Please trust me when I say this. There is no one else I'd trust with Hikari's wellbeing than you."
Pride swelled in his stomach. "I'll do it," Takahiro said.
Kakashi gave him what he thought was a smile, because the corner of his visible eye crinkled.
"You're a good kid," he said.
Then, he was gone.
-O-O-O-O-
A/N: Did someone say character development?
I'm back!
The story is going to begin progressing more with Hikari's team now, so canon characters such as Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi will have less appearances.
HOWEVER: this doesn't mean that other canon characters won't make their first appearances soon (especially a certain stuck up Hyuuga and a glamorous blonde with her pink-haired friend).
We'll begin delving into the stories of Eisuke and Shoumaru too, so stay tuned for Team 1 antics!
The next chapter will take place after a timeskip of about one month. Just warning you guys. I will mention it in the chapter itself, but just in case you guys get confused, I'm telling you guys right now.
Keep checking Strawberry Days for updates!
See you next time!