Chapter 10: Nanusake sisters, meet the Uchiha brothers
Poodle moth carried them as far as young Akira's chakra would allow. She was the only one of the siblings who had learned the summoning technique so far. They had to make stops while Akira recuperated. They would swap the journey on the summoned moth with long walks on their feet, trying to avoid it as much as possible due to the lurking danger. A heavy storm gathered again, rain lashing down on their faces, soaking their clothes while both sisters ran through the forest.
Crying and going through this tragedy along the way, Akira felt she had to be strong for her younger sister, who was overwhelmed by the trauma of the past event and a new, sinister chakra whirling inside her. Howlings and dark visions the Moth would send upon Izumi would only fuel the fire of desperation inside her. They did not sleep well, the girl would wake up screaming, calling her mother, who was no longer there. She clutched the red ribbon. Akira decided to use one of her jutsu to transform one of the wakizashi into a transverse flute and give it to the girl so that instead of being associated with blood and corpses, she could make more positive use of it and focus her thoughts on calming music. And so she did.
The strong autumn wind prevented girls from travelling on the summoned moth more often, so they had to continue walking. They managed to reach the main track leading to Konoha, from where they had a straight road to the village. Akira exhausted with low chakra reserves kept going - 'we are so close. There's no point in taking breaks now.' All the way, encouraging her younger sister, Akira kept saying that it was their mother's spirit watching over them, and that's why they were safe.
The girls arrived at the village gates late in the afternoon, the wind picking up, the cold nasty weather, chilling to the bone. Weary and freezing, they were immediately greeted with consternation by the gate guards.
'Where are you from? What are you doing here, where are your parents?' one of the shinobi asked.
Akira swallowed and, clenching her fists to reassure herself, said: 'our family is dead. We're looking for Uchiha... Mom said they would take care of us.' She took a letter out of her backpack and handed it to the surprised shinobi. Inside was the official Uchiha stamp, next to Nanusake's. There was no doubt. The shinobi looked at each other knowingly, and then one shook Izumi's hand and called 'come with me, I'll lead you to them.'
The girls stood motionless for a moment, assessing the situation, and then Akira took the first step, confidently squeezing Izumi's hand.
'Fugaku, excuse the time, we have an urgent matter!' The shinobi who led the girls to the Uchiha district knocked on the door of one of the houses. The sun had long since set and the evening chill was taking its toll, Izumi was shivering more and more, and Akira was pale as paper, but feeling relieved inside - they had arrived... at last.
The door to the house slid open and a big man with a menacing expression appeared on the doorstep. Izumi retreated behind her older sister, squeezing her arm. Fugaku Uchiha looked at the girls questioningly and then took the letter that the shinobi had handed to him. He read it quickly, then his expression suddenly became sympathetic. He sighed heavily.
Fugaku looked at the girls, surveying their situation, and pointed inside the house. 'Come inside.'
The home felt warm and welcoming. Akire felt a pleasant shiver when her body began to get used to the nice warmth. In the living room, two boys and their mother sat around a table.
'Mikoto, Itachi, Sasuke,' the father pointed at the newcomers 'these are the Nanusake sisters. They will be our guests. Make room for them.'
The mother jumped up from her knees with a worried expression that quickly turned into a warm smile. Fugaku looked at her knowingly, pointing to the letter with the Nanusake and Uchiha stamps. She understood. She remembered the promise, the pact they had made with Midoring years before.
'Come on girls, you must be hungry, I'll make you a bath first, what do you say? We'll be having dinner soon.' Motoko approached the children with a smile and naturally began to take care of them, helping Izumi take off her shoes. Izumi jumped back and hid behind Akira, but her sister calmed her down and said everything was fine. 'Itachi, Fugaku, will you help with dinner?'
The girls stood motionless for a moment, shivering with cold, exhaustion and nerves. Izumi with bulging eyes watched Sasuke and Itachi. She had never seen boys before, at least not this close… Akira, despite the fact that she has already participated in several performances by visiting local villages, also has not associated directly with any representative of the opposite sex yet. The parents looked at each other in consternation as the silence extended and Nanusake still stood frozen. They realised the reason for the consternation and laughed to relieve the tension.
'This is our eldest son, Itachi, and this is Sasuke' the mother smiled pointing at her sons. The boys got up and came over to say hello, which caused even more shock in the eyes of the girls.
Itachi smiled slightly extending his hand to Akira. At that moment, she made eye contact with him and experienced another hit of the now-familiar vision and a rush of hot chakra. She exhaled with a sigh.
'Itachi…' she whispered slowly, not taking her eyes off him. The boy was also dazed by the sudden awkward memory springing back to his mind and he withdrew his hand. He looked down and a red blush began to cover his face.
Sasuke wrinkled his nose at the sight of Izumi. He was discontented with the fact that they would now have to host some strange girls. Are they making him share his room with that brat?! Hell no!
Mikoto led the sisters to the bathhouse, where she helped them wash up and gave them clean clothes. In the absence of girls' garments in the house, she shared with them her dressing gown and Sasuke's clothes.
'Tomorrow we'll go into town so you could pick out new dresses.' Mother at all costs wanted to lighten the atmosphere and host the frightened sisters in a caring way. The thought of what a nightmare they had to go through made her shiver and tears would come to her eyes. Seeing Izumi's head still lowered, she continued: 'I will also show you around the town, there's a lovely place where they serve delicious dango!'
Izumi, still petrified and hesitant, Akira, on the other hand, suppressed her fear, all this time feeling responsible for both of them and the obligation to pull herself together and keep her head above the water. They were in a completely strange place, all alone, far from everything they knew. But that didn't matter much now - they had finally arrived safely at a warm home where adults could give them shelter - that was what mattered, that was what they wanted to believe. They will succeed, they will build a life here slowly, they will be free and most importantly, they will find their love, just like their mother told them. Akira would do a great job comforting and reassuring her little sister.
The girls soon joined others at the table where a hot dinner was served. Izumi's eyes bulged again, still red from crying in the bath where she could finally let the stress of the trip out. The delicious, tempting smell of the dishes drove away all sorrows and fears.
'Itadakimasu!' Said the mother and the Uchiha started to eat while the sisters still sat motionless unsure of what to do next.
The little Moth looked hesitantly at her older sister. Akira smiled warmly which Izumi took for permission. She threw herself greedily at the food, putting a little bit of everything on her plate. The boys watched with amusement and surprise as the 6-year-old devours food with excitement. Akira timidly lowered her eyes and blushed.
'Izumi…' she scolded her sister gently.
'Oh don't worry, dear! Let her eat, you must be very hungry, no problem, there's enough for everyone!' Mikoto assured Akira with a cheer in her voice. Sasuke had a stupefied face, looking with a bit of jealousy and resentment at Izumi devouring his dinner.
When they finished, the boys looked intently at their father. Fugaku cleared his throat and decided to address the elephant in the room:
'The Nanusake sisters are the daughters of Midori, a prominent kunoichi from the port village of the Land of Fire. Her clan sided with Konoha during the Third Shinobi War, thanks to them we won many battles, and they contributed greatly to our victory' He stopped, looking at Izumi lost in thought for a moment. The girl resembled her mother in many details. Mikoto noticed it too. 'Midori also saved my life' he added. 'After the war, before they got back together, Midori asked us to make a promise. Considering how much they did for us, we felt more than indebted to them.'