Komorebi

A/N: Hello! I've come back from hiatus after 7/8 years hiatus and sadly I no longer have access to the email of my old account. If you are curious what my old account was, check out my bio. This is story is dedicated to all the readers/reviewers of my old stories. No matter where you all might be, I wish you all healthy and happiness.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to the creator. This is just an expression of my imagination of the what ifs. There are tons of amazing fanfics that follow more closely to canon events, so this is not your cup of tea, please hit the back button and enjoy another story.


One always knew when spring time arrived on Daija Mountain because the air would be tinted with the scent of flowers and filled with sounds of critters waking up from their winter hibernation. The faint chills of winter continued to linger in the air but by the time the sun reached its peak at noon, it would create the perfect spring day. Spring time was Hinata's favorite season, especially on Daija Mountain. On these perfect spring days, she would lie on her back with her eyes closed under her favorite oak tree and let the sunlight filtered through the tree leaves dance across her face. Her state of relaxation almost made her forget about her current situation, but a flutter of familiar chakra close by would bring her back to reality, an average height man with short, silvery white hair and round glasses appeared from the shadows. Once the figure was within speaking distance to Hinata, he lowered his body by kneeling down on one knee in front of her with his head bowed.

"My apologies, Hinata sama, the convoy is scheduled to arrive tomorrow and Orochimaru sama would like a word before you depart."

"Hmmm..." murmured Hinata at the man's request without opening her eyes, "Tell him that I'll come by later."

The man nodded acknowledgement of her order and disappeared into the shadows once more, Hinata sighed deeply and covered her forehead with the back of her hand. It was hard to get back to her state of relaxation after the man's brief appearance and his reminder of the impending arrival of the convoy tomorrow. The convoy was sent by the Hyuuga Clan to escort her back to Konoha, a place that she hasn't set foot in for the past fifteen years. At one point of her life, Konoha was a place that she longed for but now it was a place that filled her with dread. Her memories of Konoha and her family were close to non-existent as she was only five years old when she was sent away to live with Orochimaru on Daija Mountain. Her family had made a pact alliance with Orochimaru and as a part of the pact, the eldest Hyuuga child of the main branch would be in the care of Orochimaru till the child reaches the age of twenty and at that time, the child would be returned to the Hyuuga clan. During this time, as long as Orochimaru did not kill the child, he was free to experiment on the child as he pleased.

Those early years of living on Daija Mountain were truly a nightmare, she was just simply too docile and timid. From the age of five to ten, she was in a constant state of pain, she was force fed various types and amounts of poisons and antidotes so he could observe its reaction with the Hyuuga blood. Depending on her reaction, Orochimaru would also attempt to create elixirs to strengthen her body so he can continue experimenting on her. After five years of near unbearable pain, she chose to end her agony by taking her own kunai felt heavy in her small hand as she raised the blade to her neck, she even remembered the pressure of her skin as she slit the blade across her carotid artery. The feeling of blood rushing out from her wound as an intense pain took over her senses, freeing her from all the other pains in her tiny body. Her lips had curled up in a peaceful smile thinking about how pretty the bright red blood looked on her hands. However, death wasn't on her side, she had woken up with bandages around her neck and Orochimaru stroking her head and smiling down at her.

Orochimaru had fed her a rare mixture of manjushage, fuji and mamushi venom that pulled her back from the brink of death. After her near death experience, the composition of her body had changed, she no longer felt pain nor effects from poisons and antidotes that she consumed. Her new acquired immunity to poisons fascinated Orochimaru, perhaps, it was due to this fact, he started to feel more akin to her existence. It was that very year when he decided to take her under his wing and began giving her lessons on poisons and antidotes. Once she was freed of the constant pain, it was as if she could think clearly again and along with Orochimaru's influence and teachings, her personality changed from docile and timid to one that was pensive, guarded and somewhat callous at times. Her change was so gradual that she only eventually realized how much she changed and how much power she wheeled when no servants or subordinates of Orochimaru's sect dared to disobey any order she gave. The tickle of pleasure she felt when she said jump and the reply that she received would be how high.

As the years passed, she allowed herself to get accustomed to the power and position that she held on Daija Mountain. His trust in her grew as he saw himself in the ways she conducted herself, eventually he showed her his years of research on poison and seals and even allowed her to observe his dissection of bodies. Orochimaru had even encouraged her to start the study of her own blood, a project that he supervised and advised her on. It was completely baffling on how poisonous and miraculously her blood was. When her blood was used on a healthy person, depending on the amount, it could potentially kill the person in question. Yet, when her blood was used on a person who was near death, it had the power to pull people back from the brink of death.

Hinata had gotten used to a life where she was unbounded by rules or etiquette and she only had to care about her whims and fancies as long as she abided by certain set of rules that Orochimaru enforced, the whole Daija Mountain was her own personal playground. She nearly completely forgot that her last name was Hyuuga and the obligations that were attached to being a Hyuuga. Then everything that she wanted to forget caught up to her with a vengeance. The day after her twenty birthday, the Hyuuga clan had sent the scroll inquiring of her return to Konoha. Orochimaru had only shrugged and tossed her the scroll and told her to take care of it herself. She had asked Kurenai to burn it but another scroll came the next week and the week after that.

Eventually, Hinata had to reply as the Hyuuga Clan had threatened they would bring the whole clan to Daija Mountain to personally retrieve her if Orochimaru insisted on breaking their pact agreement. It was only then, Hinata picked up a brush and wrote a short letter about how sick and frail her body was from an unexpected illness and asked them to push her return to spring of the next year. The Hyuuga Clan had reluctantly agreed to the delay but emphasized they would come to claim her on the agreed date no matter what state she was in. Hinata threw the scroll into the fire after reading their reply, the scroll signified the start the countdown of her return to Konoha. All winter, her impending return to Konoha plagued her mind, she couldn't find any enjoyment in her usual winter activities. Even the new pastries that Kurenai had painstakingly prepared had left a sour taste in her mouth, Orochimaru was no help either as he already started to make requests for her to send him Uchiha and Uzumaki clan's blood samples for his research.

Hinata had considered various ways of gaining her freedom, she thought about faking her death but the Hyuuga Clan would want a body which she is unable to produce...at least not right now. She thought of hiring mecerancies to dispose of the convoy on their way back to Konoha but she couldn't risk the Hyuuga Clan finding out it was her who hired them. Hinata had an idea of the Hyuuga Clan's intentions for her; once she returned, she was to be used as a placeholder before the clan's intended heir took over. Knowing the Hyuuga Clan, the elders would eventually sell her off to a Daimyo for an alliance as a way to dethrone her because they thought of her as docile and weak in nature. The elders might think they were doing her a favor, by arranging a favorable marriage for her as compensation for all her years of being a hostage on Daija Mountain. If the Hyuuga Clan truly wanted to compensate her, they should set her free from the Hyuuga Clan's obligations and let her live her life as she pleased.

Hinata slowly opened her eyes and admired the little pricks of sunlight through her fingers. She should be used to this by now, it wasn't like this is the first time that she was being ripped away from a place she called home. The corner of her lips shifted up slightly when a familiar chakra prickled in her peripheral vision.

"Come out, Mitsuki," she ordered without a second thought. A small figure dressed in blue robes appeared behind a tree carrying a basket of freshly picked strawberries, looking slightly guilty after being caught. "Hinata sama," greeted the child with his head lowered, Hinata finally decided to hoist herself up into a sitting position. The child stopped in front of her and held out the basket of strawberries to her. Instead of accepting the basket, she pushed herself off the ground to a standing position and dusted off her clothes.

"Go and give the strawberries to Kurenai and ask her to make it into a jam, fresh strawberries won't survive the journey," instructed Hinata as she walked away without sparing a second glance at the child, the child nodded quietly at her instructions, his hand tightening on the basket as he watched her departing back. Disappointment coming off him in waves, usually Hinata would taste a few pieces of fruit and allow him to sit by her side as a reward for his offering. Her steps slowed and she turned her head slightly to call out to the boy, "don't forget to pick the grapes in the summer, I'll need them to make wine in the fall."

The boy looked up suddenly joyous at her mention of a possible return in the fall time, "Yes, Hinata sama," replied the boy smiling before running off. Although, she knew what she just said was a flat out lie but sometimes, lies can't be avoided, her intention was not to cheer up the child but more so he would feel useful and being useful was often enough of a distraction from reality of separation.

=+=+

"Sensei, I'm coming in," Hinata called before sliding the shoji door open, the floor was littered with open scrolls and crumpled pieces of paper and walls were lined with shelves that held his materials and ingredients. This was Orochimaru's idea of a genius at work, she had to admit some of the poisons he had developed over the years were quite genius and it had taken her months to create the antidote to combat the poison. Orochimaru was sitting in the middle of the room, his face concentrated on his writing, she saw that he laid out a cushion in front of his desk. She slowly lowered herself into a kneeled position on the cushion, this suddenly brought her memories when she was younger and he would teach her principals of body composition and chakra usage. This sitting position was one of the ways he had taught her on the usage of chakra distribution, in order to prevent the feelings of numbness in her legs, she only needed to channel chakra into her back legs to discreetly take away the pressure from her heel and feet.

"Have you come up with a solution to your predicament?" he asked without looking up, the brush in his hand continued to move. Hinata remained silent, slightly irked that he might have come up with a solution and not shared it with her. Yet she wasn't surprised either, knowing him, he wasn't going to give her the solution to her problem without asking for something in return.

"Sensei, please instruct this useless student," she said, slightly bowing her head, deciding to play along. It always easier going along with the tide then fight against it.

The brush paused for a second and then continued to write, and without missing a beat, he said "a Marebito should still bring blessings regardless where they may be."

Hinata's brows furrowed together, she couldn't understand why he was bringing up the topic of Marebito at this time. Was he asking her to pray to a divine being as a solution to her predicament? He sighed at her expression, putting down his brush and looking at what he had written. She could tell he was getting impatient at her lack of response but she knew he was never going to give her a straight answer till she agreed with him.

"I suppose," replied Hinata nonchalantly, focusing her eyes on the lines of the tatami, as it provided the answer she needed. He let a soft chuckle at her words, whether the Hyuuga Clan believed it or not, Hinata Hyuuga truly had the potential of being an impressive clan leader. It was unfortunate that this ambition was the last thing on his student's mind, it was truly up to her, she would cut all ties with the Hyuuga Clan.

"A wolf in sheep's clothing will never hide its true nature," warned Orochimaru, crossing his arms so his hands were inside of the sleeves of his haori, his luminous yellow eyes now trained on her face. Her face remained neutral as she mentally sighed, his warning was fair, it was only a matter of time before Hyuuga Clan showed its true intentions towards her. The corner of lips shifted up slightly, he was right, Hyuuga Clan's true nature can not be hidden.

"If true nature can not be hidden then it can be used..." responded Hinata, lifting her eyes to meet Orochimaru, a glimmer of satisfaction in his eyes, she knew he deemed her as one of his best creations. He nodded towards the scroll that he had just finished writing, she reached over and turned the scroll around so she could read the contents.

Her eyes widened as she read the contents, her heart suddenly pounding hard in her ribs. He must have seen the surprise in her eyes as he said "this is to be your final task."

"Three years..." she whispered to herself, the task had a time limit of three years, in this period of time, regardless of the method, she had to convince the Hyuuga Clan to willingly let her leave from the clan without placing a curse seal on her bloodline. If she were to succeed, she would be able to inherit Daija Mountain and this place with its all secrets and wonders would truly be hers, making her the true mistress of Daija Mountain.

Hinata wasn't sure when he had started to consider her as a potential successor as he had always assigned tasks as a part of her lessons, the tasks given to her always came with a time limitation and restrictions. The tasks varied year to year so she could never tell what he was planning. A couple months back, he had tasked her to create a tasteless, odorless and scentless sleeping powder that allowed victime to awake in 30 minutes. All she could say, the servants seemed a lot less willing to accept any food or drink from her after that task.

However, the task in front of her was on a completely different level from the previous tasks given, she knew he was watching her, his eyes searching for any signs of weakness so he could recede his offer. It wasn't her like to be impulsive but the surge of emotion of seeing those words cemented her decision. The slight coppery taste of blood lingered on her tongue as she bit her thumb and pressed it onto the scroll. Orochimaru reached over and pressed his thumb on the scroll.

There was a moment of silence as they both watched the blood dry on the paper, once the blood dried he rolled up the scroll putting it into the sleeve of his haori. Their conversation was over now.

"Sensei, I will take my leave now," said Hinata, pushing herself off the cushion in one fluid motion. Orochimaru had already turned his attention to a new scroll. There was a moment as she slid open the door that she wondered if she should thank him for his teaching and care over the years, but knowing him, he would take it as a sign of resignation instead of gratitude.

Orochimaru's warning also alluded to another possible stance that she can take on her predicament. Who was to say that Hyuuga Clan was the only one who was a wolf in sheep's clothing? However, if the Hyuuga Clan was expecting a sheep, she wouldn't want to disappoint her elders right?


AN: Next Update is planned for the end of October or eariler.