_._
The Story of Us
'For those who never gave up'
Naruto x OC
Friendship, Adventure, Romance
Chapter 23: Evolution
To progress, you must step forward. Whether through rain or snow, to climb or descend, idleness is wastefulness.
Odd Future- UVERworld
Reiji and Akira stared at the tower looming over top of them.
They'd been there for little over an hour before they figured the plan was a bust. Hikari's group should've been here much sooner since their route was significantly shorter than theirs. The duo had back tracked towards the gates before approaching the tower at a different angle. This took most of the night, and they were definitely not well rested. In Reiji eyes it had been a stupid endeavour, but there was nothing getting through Hikari's thick skull once she saw her friends in danger.
"Dammit." Akira growled, kicking the side of the building. He looked to Reiji, who was completely still. "Did you find them yet?"
"It's not that easy." Reiji clarified, searching further in the direction Hikari's group was supposed to have been. It wasn't like he could instantly see everything perfectly, he had to know where he was looking, like everyone else. Akira didn't settle for that and gave another growl.
"Well find her! Dammit we shouldn't let that brat go off on her own so often! We'll lose her in the tall grass one of these days." Reiji paused in his search and made a point of looking in Akira's direction.
Reiji and Akira had known each other for most of their lives, but were never close until they became teammates. Close being a strange word, since even now he considered himself closer to Hikari than Akira. The Nara was nothing like his family's reputation save for his constant napping. He was loud and gruff and often more aggressive than even the members of the Inuzuka clan. Reiji had been aware of Akira's father being less than kind to him, but he couldn't say he didn't understand his pain, considering his own father's strictness.
However, Akira had always been very self-centred on anything not pertaining to mission work. He was the last person to have an interest in seeing his team off hours, and the first to chew out a teammate for messing up. Their first teammate, Naomi, had barely lasted five months with Akira's attitude. In the defence of Akira though, Naomi had been far too gentle for the shinobi life and suited working for her family much more. However, every replacement they got after that never quite worked out, and a large part of that was thanks to the Nara. He saw no issue in giving the stiff shoulder to them, and would often have a superiority complex over the meeker girls that were thrown off by his personality. Even kunoichi with experience under their belt would get intimidated with someone like Akira looming over them all the time.
Things had changed though. In the last few months Reiji had noticed all sorts of changes. Big ones in the past few weeks. The Nara had changed his tune about his own progress, and seemed to be taking himself more seriously. He also worked better as a team. Reiji remembered the disaster that was their genin test upon leaving the academy. It was a gong show, with all three of them only passing because sensei somehow saw some shrivelled piece of potential in them. The Nara back then had been plain mean, but the Akira before him had some shreds of humanity in him.
For one, he cared. Reiji could tell by the subtle but constant shifting he did. He only ever did this when he was anxious, and Akira never got anxious over tests or missions. It was likely the only trait of being a Nara that he maintained. He was always level-headed when it came to his nerves. Inferiority? Not so much, but Reiji noticed that Akira's bond with Hikari was a far cry from the ones he had with most girls.
Akira's normal tactics didn't work on Hikari, looming over her and calling out scathing comments behind barely concealed rage failed. This was likely because Hikari was used to taller people like that Uchiha kid giving her dirty looks. And the comments rolled off her like water off a duck's back. Reiji could sense that not everything was as it seemed with Hikari though, as every interaction with her had subtle reactions most might miss. Not him though, he could sense every shift she made.
Even with close friends like the Yamanaka and other Nara she hung out with -Shikamaru was it?- she would flinch. Whenever they raised their arms, or moved to quickly, she was prepared to get struck. She also never talked about herself unless prompted to; Reiji didn't know she lived with that blonde guy until Akira mentioned it off handedly. He didn't know she had been adopted until their mission to the Land of Waves. Whenever asked about herself, Hikari always downplayed her traits and talents. It wasn't out of humbleness from what Reiji could tell, in fact it looked more like she genuinely didn't believe these traits were suitable to her. Like she wasn't good enough to mention her talents, or the things that made her stand out.
But when she talked about her friends, her voice lit up with so much energy. She would talk about Naruto with pride, about Kakashi Hatake with reverence, and the animation in her tone was tenfold what she used for herself. She wore her heart on her sleeve as though unafraid of the world taking advantage of it. It unnerved him sometimes, how someone could act like that and still be a ninja.
Reiji noticed this same energy when she spoke with him and Akira, and he knew that tiny girl saw them as her friends. And somehow Akira had picked up on it too. He probably didn't explicitly show it, but Reiji would notice his stance shift whenever she arrived within his view, his head would tilt slightly as if listening for her laughter. Akira started to act similar to him as well. He spoke to Reiji like a teammate, not just an obstacle. Sometimes he lapsed back into his attitude, but there were hesitations when he did, as though he were trying his best not to slide into the same routines his father asked of him. A task easier said than done, he knew that well.
After the long silence, Akira finally looked over at him, and from the shifts in his shoulders and stance Reiji knew Akira was very unnerved by the attentions.
"What?! It's true!" Akira defended. Reiji couldn't remember what it was they had been talking about before his mind wandered, but the answer seemed to fit so well with his thoughts that he just gave a small smile before returning to his searching. To find the final member of their once broken, but slowly mending, team.
He found something a bit different.
"Heads up, we've got company." Reiji looked in the direction of the on comers. They were flying towards them, and Akira took a deep breath before looking in the same direction.
"How many?" He asked quietly. Reiji paused, reaffirming the number with himself, before tensing.
"Three, and they're here."
Seconds after he said this, three figures appeared in the clearing not thirty feet from them. Akira glared, while Reiji fixated his Byakugan in case there were more.
The three that entered the clearing were all a bit older than them. The female and one of the males stood behind the largest member. A man that wore a cocky grin on his face as he gazed down at the duo.
"What do you want?" Akira snapped. The female clicked her tongue, glaring at the duo before crossing her arms.
"Jeez, kids like these need to learn some manners." She said back in a similar tone. Akira snorted, putting his hands in his pockets as a sign of disinterest. Reiji knew better from the stiffness of his back that Akira was no at all relaxed. The largest of the enemy seemed to notice this too.
"Heh, don't worry, they'll have manners once we're done with them. We're here to take the scrolls brats. You see if we collect as many as we can, then fewer people can pass into the final round, and fewer people can challenge me. The people that pass are probably worth my time."
Akira rolled his eyes, unimpressed by the attitude and ideology.
"So you prey on the weak and call yourselves tough? Come on, that's just pathetic." He shifted his stance and settled a little bit. The big guy chuckled. Only just then did his third teammate speak up for the first time.
"Kenji," the smaller boy said, "they were with that shrimp." The boy named Kenji glanced from his teammate and forward to the Nara and Hyuga. A wide grin set onto his face.
"Oh that's right, you took on that sand ninja. Tell me, where is that little pipsqueak anyway?" He taunted them, trying to goad them into anger. Akira snorted before jutting a thumb at Reiji in reference.
"Like I was telling him, you should check the tall grass. She gets lost pretty easily." The Nara said in his best monotone voice. Kenji laughed loudly at this, finding the joke to be right up his alley in humour. His teammates din't share in on the humour, but Reiji noticed a subtle shift in Kenji's chakra. He could tell that the big guy had much larger chakra reserves than any of them, even his own teammates paled in comparison. This was a bad situation, and Reiji knew it would only get worse if they goaded the three into a fight.
Perhaps with Hikari things would be different. She was fast and smart and could think on her feet, but in a two against one position? With this guy as the enemy? No, this was looking pretty bad.
"Tell you what, for making me laugh, I'm not gunna kill you," Kenji squared up to them, his entire aura shifting as a wide grin spread across his lips. His eyes betrayed his true intent though, as Akira felt his skin crawl.
"I'll just beat you within an inch of your life."
Sakura couldn't stop herself from crying.
It was her fault things turned out the way that they did. She had done her best to hide her teammates and Hikari under the roots of a tree. It had taken her some time to haul them from the tree tops and down to the forest floor, collect safe water for some cloths, and place one over both the boy's foreheads. Hikari had needed to be bandaged, since her ribs were tender enough to need an ace bandage, so Sakura wrapped it over her body suit and laid her Kimono on top of her to keep her covered and warm. Ahmya, the tiny bat that was hiding away in Hikari's kimono, laid curled up in the crook of her neck, whimpering. She seemed to understand that Sakura wasn't the enemy, but clearly was concerned for Hikari.
All three of them were completely out cold. Neither Hikari nor Naruto moved an inch from where Sakura left them, which made her all the more concerned for their health. Sasuke most of all, considering he had a fever and was shaking constantly. Sakura put him between Hikari and Naruto, with Hikari closest to the exit between the roots.
Sakura had one job: take care of the three until either Hikari's teammates found them, or they woke up. One job.
And she failed.
She failed as a lookout, failed to defend the three, and failed to help Lee when he tried to protect her, and now she was being held by Kin, the female of the sound ninja trying to attack Sasuke.
She really was useless.
All her life, Sakura spent it thinking she was high and mighty. She claimed to be in love with Sasuke, but never actually understood what the boy was thinking. She chased after him, even when he constantly pushed her away. She knew deep down her affections were all one-sided, but she chose to be blind in order to avoid facing the truth. She grew her hair out on a supposed rumour that Sasuke liked long hair, she skipped meals and training to avoid being too bulky or too big. She did everything to try and get Sasuke to notice her, except actually asking him if he was alright.
She claimed to be superior to Naruto, and yet the Uzumaki had run laps around her with his training. He might not have been book smart, but he was smart enough to survive on his own. He had survival skills, and practical ones too. He learned quickly, and had a lot of natural strength and perseverance.
Sakura spent so much of her life envying other girls too. She envied Ino, who always looked so stylish and was the most popular girl in class. She envied Hikari, who was probably the only girl Sasuke acknowledged. She had tried to hate Hikari. Tried to hate the perfect persona she put on, and shot her down at every turn.
And yet people defended her.
Maybe not outright like Naruto did, but they would give her the cold shoulder if Sakura said something mean about Hikari, and it frustrated Sakura as to why.
Why was Hikari so gifted? Why did she have all this talent and popularity? Why did people look at her, that tiny girl who spent more time snickering with Naruto than anything else, and acknowledge her? Why why why?
But the truth was, Sakura always knew why.
It was because she worked, and she worked hard. Sometimes until she couldn't do it anymore. Sakura remembered when they were in the academy, and one time the girls went out on a stroll together to ogle at the ninja training in the training grounds. Hikari was there, but at the time Sakura only knew her as the girl who was trying to apply late to the academy. She couldn't do a single jutsu. The girls all giggled quietly, watching the girl get frustrated with herself when she couldn't understand how to concentrate her chakra. They watched her for twenty minutes, snickering to themselves and cracking mean jokes, when they got bored of it all. In that time Hikari never made a single jutsu work for her.
And Sakura thought that would be that.
So when she came to class a while later and saw Hikari giggling next to Naruto, Sakura insisted to herself she lucked her way in. There had to have been some sort of fluke chance, a mistake! But no, the Koissui got in fair and square. Sakura wasn't the only one to notice her too. She wasn't sure exactly when, but Sasuke had acknowledged her. Whether it was with training, or the fact that she showed up to school that day, or maybe she took part in a prank. Sasuke wasn't ever all that nice about it, but he acknowledged her every single time.
He noticed her, something that none of the girls liked, and maybe that was where the real rift began. This ratty, scrawny girl with a sloppy pony tail and eyes way too big for her head and a ripped shirt was getting attentions from the most sought after boy in school, and she was doing everything wrong yet winning.
Sakura couldn't forget that day that she came to the training grounds, how she recognized the transformation jutsu, how she got so angry at them all for what they did. Sakura wanted to hate her even more for insinuating that they couldn't possibly understand Sasuke.
But they didn't. I was obvious they didn't. How many of them even stopped to ask him 'are you okay'? None. They would announce they'd noticed him, and beg for attentions, but not one of them asked him how he was doing.
It was so selfish, something Sakura never saw herself as, but the more she reflected on it, them more she realized she was.
While Sakura skipped dinner to keep thin, Hikari ate twice as much as most girls to keep up enough energy for training.
While Sakura skipped her kunai training Hikari was wearing a blindfold for practice.
While Sakura was watching Sasuke train Hikari was learning new jutsu that Sakura had never seen before.
It was gradual, but over time Hikari got better and better and she soared past Sakura and probably every girl in their class.
And it wasn't just her talent, Hikari had a kind heart. Maybe if Sakura tried to look harder she would've noticed sooner that Hikari had a rough life. She would've known that the girl wore her heart on her sleeve because what other pains could strangers do to her that hadn't already been done? She collected friends because she expected everyone to leave her, and maybe, maybe Sakura would've understood that Hikari was just as scared as the rest of them, and that was why she threw herself into training. Because the idea that if she wasn't strong enough to protect everyone she would use them all was so unbearable that she'd rather hurt herself over training than let herself relax.
She understood it now, but not because Naruto had to explain it to her. Not because Kakashi-sensei scolded her. Not even because Sasuke spelled it out for her after calling her a loser. She realized this after watching Hikari for so long. And finally, she could admit it to herself.
Sakura was jealous.
She wanted so badly to be like Hikari, but had done everything to become her complete opposite. She had played herself a poor hand and had no one else to blame for it.
But Hikari wasn't the one in this rough situation, she was. Hikari had tried to save them, she had risked her life to help her friends, even though they were one completely different teams. And for once, Sakura decided she wouldn't be envious of the blonde.
For once, she would try to be like her.
Ino wasn't sure what to do.
Sakura was a sitting duck out there all alone. Ino knew it, Shikamaru and Choji knew it, but she couldn't will herself to move forward. Her knees were trembling, but she couldn't will herself to actually take steps forward. If she went out there she'd just get beaten up too! Possibly killed! So what was the point? Shikamaru and Choji weren't exactly thrilled about the prospect of going out the either.
Sakura was captured, crying, but for the life of her Ino couldn't will herself to take a step.
"This is bad, Ino, what do you want to do?" Shikamaru asked her again, a sense of urgency in his usually stoic voice. Ino looked to him briefly, then back to the sound ninja who was closing in on the roots of the tree where Sasuke and Naruto laid.
Sakura then placed a hand on Kin's which was in her hair. She then pulled out a kunai, and in a swift move she spun and swung her kunai at Kin's wrist. Kin was taken by surprise, her hand caught, and was forced to completely let go of Sakura's hair.
Blood splashed everywhere, and Kin let out a loud scream as she sharply yanked her hand away. Bits of Sakura's hair were yanked from her head, and so Sakura cut those loose too.
Zaku and Dosu were both stunned as they focused their attentions on Sakura. Ino sat, stunned, when she saw Sakura make hand signs. Zaku used his sound wave to strike her, but she had made for a substitution jutsu. Both sound ninja looked around, and under the cover of Kin's screaming Sakura managed to appear to their right. Zaku snarled, but then broke into a laugh when he saw her make the same hand signs again. He took several steps forwards and used his sound wave to strike her again. However, the third time, Sakura stood tall a few metres from where she had been before. Kin's blood was on her face, and her her was an absolute mess, but Ino could've sworn she saw fire in those green eyes.
Was this really the Sakura who cried about her forehead? Couldn't be, she was….. too bold.
Zaku turned to her again, and prepared another Slicing Sound Wave when Sakura pulled out a single kunai. She had a small smirk though, and threw the kunai. Zaku felt the need to laugh since it completely missed it's target. It went soaring past his left thigh.
"You missed!" He shouted, sending a blast of air, but it never hit it's target.
Sakura hadn't been aiming for him, but rather the forgotten trap she had laid before their arrival. The ground caved in once triggered, and Zaku fell into the ten foot hole. He was taken by surprise, and fell gracelessly into the pit with a shout. Dosu had been nearby, but jumped out of the way before Sakura's pit could swallow him as well.
'We're taking too long,' Dosu thought as he rushed to the roots. 'There's no time to waste!'
Sakura zeroed in on Dosu, seeing him rush for the roots. Ahmya saw him move too and began to panic. She pulled at Hikari's hair, sobbing.
"Hi-kari… Wake up! He's coming! Hikari! Help! Hikari!" She wailed, but froze when Dosu stopped in front of them. He towered over her, and Ahmya trembled at the sensation of his glare.
"You're in my way, runt." He lifted his arm to strike at her.
At the same time, Hikari's eyes began to open.
She felt dizzy, like she'd been punched in the temple one too many times, and couldn't understand where she was for a moment.
Then her eyes focused on Dosu, and her blood went cold. She tried to stand, but her body was completely numb from stillness, and a panic set deep inside of her.
A blur of red clouded her vision, and for a second Hikari thought it was blood flying, but it wasn't.
It was Sakura.
She had jumped in the way of Dosu's strike, taking the brunt of it to her face. Hikari laid there, shocked and confused, as Sakura grabbed onto Dosu's arm and refused to let go despite him slamming her into the tree. Sakura gasped, but refused to back down.
And it was the first time Hikari had ever seen Sakura actually fight back.
"Hikari's in there?" Choji looked closer to the roots. The had all heard Ahmya's cries, and sure enough, among the roots they could faintly see her long hair scattered and see a tiny creature yanking at her hair.
"That's Ahmya, her bat, so it must be." Shikamaru's voice had changed, Ino noticed. There was obvious concern in his voice now, and Choji glanced briefly at Shikamaru before gulping. He knew that changed things quite a bit, but that didn't mean he had to like it.
Sakura was slammed into the tree again, and Hikari could barely move into a seated position. She forced herself to move, shifting to a kneeling position and heaving to try and keep breathing.
"Ahmya…. we got-ta hel-p her." She said, her spine was on fire each time she tried to move. The tiny bat had ceased her tears after seeing Hikari awake, and knew what she wanted to do. Ahmya beat her too it though, surprising them all when she stood on Hikari's shoulder and took a massive breath. She then faced Dosu and opened her mouth. Hikari could hear a brief high pitch ringing noise, and it had definitely done something since Dosu halted all his movements. Sakura did too, but whatever Ahmya did it was brief, only long enough for the strike and a second of hesitation. Dosu grabbed his ears with both hands after Ahmya ceased her attack, and Sakura laid stunned on the ground. Between the two it looked like Dosu had been struck and Sakura and simply had it with the abuse. Dosu managed to retreat on unsteady feet, nearly falling into the trap had it not been for Kin grabbing onto him. It looked like she had wrapped her hand while the attack had been carried on, but only had her left hand to use from the look of it. Zaku also dragged himself out of the hole, looking every bit as pissed off as a bull seeing red.
Sakura managed to get herself onto her hands and knees and looked to Hikari. The blonde was staring at Ahmya with surprise. Ahmya herself looked dizzy and exhausted, passing out and falling off Hikari's shoulder. She managed to catch her, but the movement sent a shock of fire up her spine, and so Hikari stilled her movements to prevent her from showing how much pain she was actually in.
"Well well, looks like you're all just full of surprises." Dosu recovered from his ailments, and while Hikari had no idea what happened, Dosu looked like he understood what Ahmya had done.
The fact still remained to Sakura, that they were horribly outmatched. Sakura didn't need to ask Hikari to know the Koissui couldn't move properly yet, and she probably wouldn't be able to for some time.
Thankfully, the dire situation changed again, as a rather loud strike came from their left.
"EXPANSION JUTSU! HUMAN BOULDER!" Choji's strike came from across the clearing, rolling so swiftly towards the Sound ninja that Zaku had to use his Slicing Sound Wave to try and push him away. They were locked in a duel and Dosu thought to intervene, but he couldn't move his body when he tried.
"Oh no you don't Mummy Man." Shikamaru taunted from his hiding place in the bushes. Dosu moved like a mirror image to Shikamaru, closing to gap between them until Shikamaru shifted so that Dosu would step in the way of Zaku's attack.
"Dosu you idiot!" Zaku shouted, but Zaku had to stop his attack or risk tearing his teammate to shreds, and he definitely needed him still. Both were sent flying as Shikamaru undid his jutsu. Ino had squared up to Kin, but found the girl was pretty useless with only her left hand, and she stepped back at the sight of Ino.
"Girl's all yours, Ino." Shikamaru said, keeping an eye on the two others. Hikari hesitated then and called out to Ino.
"No don't! Ino, don't try that." Hikari warned, and looked to Choji still spiralling around. "Choji! Come back!"
"Coming!"
With Shikamaru, Ino, Sakura, and Choji around Hikari, her brain seemed to quit it's stalled pace and finally began to operate. She compartmentalized the pain in her spine and looked around at the three sound ninja. Everyone stalled for a moment before Hikari took a staggered breath. She couldn't breathe deep as it was, but there was no way she was going to expose herself.
"We can't risk any of us going down, so Ino, do not try your jutsu. You'll have to get Sakura up and bring Lee closer. We can create a defence for now if we remain vigilant." Hikari spoke in a level tone, not betraying the nerves she had. She could barely move as it was, but most of her gamble was counting on Lee recovering. If he did they had a pretty good chance, but as it stood Hikari knew just Choji and Shikamaru on the offensive wasn't enough to properly guard against the other team.
Sakura was surprised by Hikari taking the defensive. She was certain that she would've taken the lead on an attack considering she likely had a battle strategy. The Haruno caught on quickly though, realizing Hikari would only take this as a chance for Lee to recover. Whatever Ahmya had done it seemed to temporarily paralyze she and Dosu, and the sound ninja knew what the attack was, meaning it was likely a smaller scale to what Lee was struck with.
"You sure you wanna take that risk?" Shikamaru asked, but he had to admit defence was likely the only way to buy enough time for them to figure out a plan. He looked to Hikari, noticing the levelled look on her face, but her eyes betrayed her intense stream of thoughts. She was working out ideas at an impressive speed. It would be troublesome to work like that, but he had to hand it to her. Hikari never wasted a second. He gave a small breath, then turned to look at the trio of enemies with an uneasy smirk.
"Well Choji, guess it's up to you and me buddy." Shikamaru's statement was met with an equally nervous sounding gulp.
Hikari wasn't nervous about Shikamaru and Choji taking the lead. The two knew each other really well. So well in fact that Hikari was certain she'd be stepping in the way if she were to join them even at full strength. So she took the time to think and plan her strategy out, because that was all she could do.
Theoretically the answer to their problems was simple: wake up Sasuke. He was their resident fire style user, and Hikari hadn't mastered any fire style to the level he likely had. Not to mention if she missed she would be even more useless than she already was. It was a risk, but could she properly take that risk? If she failed…. If she made the wrong choice….. would they survive it? Was she really willing to gamble their lives? Did she really have a choice?
She was so engrossed in her own thoughts and the battle in front of her that she nearly missed the build up of chakra behind her. It wasn't until it was a crawling sensation up her spine, a pressure in the back of her skull, that her eyes suddenly widened. All of her senses told her what kind of jutsu was being molded behind her, which should've made her feel safe, but her senses yelled for her to run away.
A heat so intense she couldn't miss it blew straight past her left side. It was so close pieces of her hair were singed, and the acrid smell stung her nostrils along with the bubbling heat stinging her shoulder. It never hit her, but she felt it all the same and suddenly froze.
"Fire Style! Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke wasn't sure what had happened. He remembered following Hikari in the forest, and that was the last thing he saw before everything went blank. What he saw now could only be described as some strange confusion caused by being struck by a lighting strike. His entire body felt like it was simultaneously chilling and burning. Shaking all over and he hand no control over how the muscles contracted. He was stuck, but at the same time fully aware of It all and it made all the sensations so much worse. There was nothing he could do to stop it, just endure.
He always had to endure.
Sasuke clenched his teeth and gritted the pain as much as he could. He did what he hand to, and fought his own body as he struggled to maintain some sense of sanity and semblance of self while the pain steadily increased.
Dammit, not this again.
It felt like his lungs were collapsing- no, not collapsing. The air was being stolen from them, maybe he was actually being tortured? Felt like it, maybe he'd fallen to an enemy and never realized it? Maybe he was dying. No, not dying, he remembered that sensation when Haku had slowed his heartbeat. That had felt like he was drifting off to sleep slowly. This was much more, and he felt every fibre of his body clenching and convulsing.
Something grabbed his hand. It was small and ineffective at first, but it managed to grab on between the tremors and pulled.
It was like being pulled up to the surface of the ocean for fresh air, and he broke said surface while also taking deep gulps to fill his lungs. His body sagged as though exhausted from an unknown struggle, and save for the hammering of his breaths he felt calm.
What was that?
He didn't know, but he became more confused when he wiped his eyes and saw he wasn't at the ocean at all. Sasuke was in a rather familiar place, after all he had grown up there.
He was in the koi pond outside his house, back in the old Uchiha compound. A shiver ran up his spine despite the hot summer sun. A heavy weight fell in his chest when he realized the koi weren't swimming in this pond either. His parents had kept only two, one red and one blue one, and Sasuke remembered them being as large as Dad's arm, but they weren't here. He remembered then that the koi had been left here after the compound was shut down, forgotten- what had happened to them? Had they died? Probably, it had been almost six years since the compound had been in use.
Sasuke stood up then, the once seemingly ocean of water was barely three feet deep, just passing his navel, but in the back of his head something told him this wasn't right. How had he fallen in the water? And his clothes, they weren't familiar to him. It was a kimono he had never worn before, yet it still looked familiar.
Movement caught his attention. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something small disappear around the corner. Sasuke looked up, seeing the ends of a smaller person vanishing before he could get a good look at them.
"Hey-" They never stopped, making Sasuke grumble as he pulled himself completely from the water. The droplets that fell onto the deck were loud enough to drown out the sound of the quiet footsteps, but Sasuke hadn't lost sight of their direction. He rushed after them, hearing the sound of a door sliding open was the only cue he got as to where the small person had gone. He figured they must've gone into the living room entrance, the only other door on this side of the house. Sasuke paused at the door, realizing going inside would likely trigger everything again.
After all, he hadn't stepped foot in the compound since the incident, and he hadn't even seen the state of it. Was anything changed? Did they clean up the blood? Would he be greeted with broken doors and black marks from long past outdated blood?
Sasuke took a deep breath before sliding open the door.
The room was far from in shambles. In fact it was empty, sans two small candles sitting lit in the centre. The open tray they sat in showed that both had been burning for some time, as if someone had been sitting here in the dark.
The dark, when did it become so dark? Sasuke hadn't even been aware it was night time until he saw the candles flickering slowly in the room. They were odd candles, both lighting the room so much he was confused how he hadn't seen their light outside of the house. Against his better judgement, he felt obligated to sit down and mind the candles, tend to them in some way.
There was something about the life of these lights that captured his attention, but the sensation of being watched drew him from his staring. At the edge of the open door that led to the hallway he saw a tiny figure. The light didn't penetrate the hallway, and it never illuminated the person, so all he saw was the delicate hands holding the frame of the door as a small head peaked it's way around at him. The moment he looked up though the figure raced down the halls and out of his sight.
"Hey- Stop doing that!" He got up, careful not to knock the lights, while also racing after the figure. And urgency came to him, but he wasn't sure why. He knew he had to hurry, but to where he wasn't certain. Sasuke stopped halfway down the hall, realizing he had lost the smaller person in the darkness. How had he been able to see before? It was so dark now without the lights that he considered turning back to them.
However, as if waiting for this thought, a light lit in the room beside him. It was the kitchen, and four lights were resting on the kitchen table. He stared, confused why these lights shone so readily and danced freely. A horrible wind blew, but one candle rose higher as though challenging the wind to blew it down. The tiniest of flames was somehow the brightest. Though it gently swayed, easily mowed down by the wind, it did not go out.
Sasuke noted that once again the entire room seemed to bright and warm, and he was uncertain what this all meant.
A small uncertain whimper resounded behind him. He spun to see a figure biting down the hall again. He left the candles and raced with the wind after the figure, only becoming away of how cold he felt once he left the room this time. He paused, realizing he lost the person in the darkness, and turned back to the kitchen. He carefully picked up the smallest light, carrying it's holding tray and allowing the light to guide him. The hallway lit up perfectly for the little candle, illuminating his way perfectly. He saw then, the only room that had a door ajar. He noticed the familiar markings on the door, though he couldn't remember why they jutted out at him of all things.
This was his room, he had once called it his 'safe place' where nothing could hurt him. How juvenile, he thought he could have somewhere that was safe. He dreaded opening the door, yet the little candle seemed to burn brighter at his hesitance, urging him forward.
He shoved open the door, needing more than a little force to get it open. He used his shoulder mostly, trying to balance the light he held onto carefully in his far hand while also aggressively forcing the door open.
To his dismay, the candle wasn't strong enough to completely light this room. It was strangely as if the room was ten times the size of the rest, though that was definitely not true. A darkness clung in this room, and Sasuke distinctly remembered all the times he would try and hide away under his covers out of fear. Under the covers and-
Something whimpered from inside his closet.
He was certain it came from there, because that had been his other hiding spot when he didn't believe his blankets could protect him. Sasuke turned to said closet, and could hear the whimper again.
"Alright, you can't run this time," he was met with silence. A frown formed on his face. With more energy he said, "come out now."
Nothing happened, but he could hear a sniffling that rung familiar in his ears. He hesitated mid-reach for the handle, somehow thinking what he would find was not what he wanted to see, but he grabbed the handle anyway and forced the door open.
It was small, whatever it was, and wrapped up in a quilt. It sniffled and whimpered and shook, and for a moment Sasuke thought it was some sort of stow away that had been hiding in the compound.
It wasn't though, and that became abundantly clear when it's little eyes looked up at him and he saw his own reflection staring back at him.
Sasuke stared at himself, not his current self, but a much smaller and weaker version. It was a him who still curled up and cried, a him for six years ago. It slammed heavily into his head that this was all a strange and twisted dream he was having, and at once he willed himself to wake up. He didn't want to do this, he didn't want to look at the sniveling wimp he had been the night his clan needed him most.
Yet Sasuke couldn't stop any of it, and all he could do was stare at those sad little eyes of his. A sick feeling twisted in his gut. His arms went numb and fell to his sides, but then clanging of the candle along with its tray hitting the ground was enough to jolt him awake. He forced himself to take a step back, but the noise of both the tray and the movement of older Sasuke startled the kid version of himself. The child squeaked and hid his head with his arms.
"Please! Please don't!" The child begged, sobbing horrendously. "You can't have them too! Please!"
What?
Sasuke wasn't sure what to say to that. Who the hell was he talking about? What was going on? It seemed almost timed by fate that in that second he looked into the mirror resting beside the closet. He'd ignored it previously, but with the candle slowly flickering on the floor at his feet he saw the ominous shadow it cast in the room behind him. It looked nothing like his shadow though, rather it was too tall, with more muscle and longer hair.
When he laid eyes on the mirror he expected to see the thirteen year old him, but instead he was faced with someone he truly didn't expect.
He was wearing the face of Itachi Uchiha.
The shock that showed on his face was definitely his, especially when he noted that Itachi looked the exact same as Sasuke had remembered him from that night. The high cheekbones, the long hair kept in a low hair tie, the angry red eyes. He realized with a start the kimono he was wearing looked so familiar because Itachi often wore that very same one.
"You'll take them all….. again…." His younger self said with more hatred in his voice. Sasuke looked to himself, bewildered as he tried to wrap his head around this nightmare. Yes, a nightmare! That was all this was.
"Are you so sure?"
That wasn't his voice though, and the next time he looked in the mirror snake eyes stared at him over his shoulder. Sasuke let out a shout and spun to see the enemy, but saw none. He turned back to the mirror and this time saw himself and settled. It was short lived though, as his younger self laughed a familiar laugh that sent chills his spine.
"He'll take it all," Little Sasuke said, holding a hand to his face as he looked up to him. His voice melded with another, and as he lowered his hand his skin peeled back to reveal the very same snake eye as before. The voice became much more distinct.
"And you will be forced to watch him again."
"I won't!" He countered, realizing the truth of the statement. He was stronger now, no longer a useless crybaby. He would protect them- them? Who was them? Flickers of blond hair, with gold and blue eyes danced across the back of his head, and he knew what he was meant to protect.
Little Sasuke and Orochimaru both laughed together, their voices perfectly molding into on conglomerate of sounds that twisted his senses with each syllable.
"But you will," as he stood he touched the junction of his neck and shoulder. Sasuke felt the same spot burn on himself. "You will watch him destroy all that you hold precious, because you are too weak to do it on your own. And you always will be."
Sasuke felt the burning sensation spread across his skin, but the burn wasn't just that of pain. It was a mingling sensation that he wasn't entirely familiar with, but in the short timespan he had known it he had begun craving it more.
Raw. Unadulterated. Power.
And he wanted so much more.
He wanted to use this power, grasp it with both arms, and use it to keep those he had to close. Never would he lose someone again, and never would he be left in that darkness to wander blindly. And once he had a taste that was all he needed to rush after this raw strength. He thought of that moment on the bridge, where he had been so useless to protect his friends, and Naruto ended up saving him. He remembered the shattered look on Hikari's face and realized it mimicked what he must've looked like the last time he looked at Itachi. He didn't want that, but the memory as tattooed to his eyelids, so he remembered and refused to forget as he promsed himself no one would feel like that again.
But he needed that power to do it.
"Give it to me then," he felt himself growling, the energy swirling around him as he reached out for Orochimaru's strength. Mindlessly, he stepped on the candle and inadvertently squashed out the light, but he paid no heed as the room fell into darkness. He knew where the power source was, and he remained fixated on it as his only destination. "Give me that power!"
Orochimaru laughed, little him laughed. Purple chakra oozed from himself and Orochimaru, tangling into one.
"That's my boy."
Well, I for some odd reason wanted to hear from everyone but Hikari. IDK, felt cute, might delete later (jk). I'm sorry for the lag, I got busy suddenly and really wanted to post this but kept re-writing the dream sequence. NGL I just downed a whole thing of coffee, put some sad music on and screamed "Let's go babeeeeeee!" And forced myself to make a choice. I think I went a bit overboard having characters think about Hikari, but tbh these are the characters that rely on Hikari existing for character growth. This is Sakura's shining moment y'all! I hope I wrote the action well enough, because I thought this was waaaaayyyyyy better than what Kishi did tbh. Apologies if you can't follow along, I may re-read it when I'm not half asleep and edit it to make it easier to understand what is happening.
I hope y'all like that dream sequence, I thought it out for a very very long time. Probably too long, but it was highly symbolic so-
I also wanted to take this time to say that Mitsuki will not ever be an MC in this story, nor will we cover a ton of the interactions Hikari has with her, because I do plan to write a side story for her and Gaara and their misadventures. I'm hoping to update their story as secrets are revealed in this oneso that no spoilers are leaked early. The two stories won't be perfect matches to each other either, meaning the overarching events will be the same but how one gets to said event may vary (IE Chuunin exams. Say they all pass the bell test, but perhaps the interaction between Hikari's team and Gaara's changes so that Hikari barely escapes because Mitsuki lets her go. Just an example, not actually happening) because who wants to read the same shit twice? Not I. However they are compitable stories that exist int he same universe, if that makes sense? Mitsuki and Gaara will not get a 4 part series like Hikari and Naruto, but that's mostly because holy crap that's a lot to write I am not a complete sadist.
I also want to ask, what is your absolute favorite fanfiction? I have a couple, but the best I've ever read was probably a Death Note fanfiction called Chasing the Greatest. I just remember reading it and loving every heart wrenching second of it. DN had some great ones, and there was a Kakashi x OC fanfic that was decently written, but man did it ever bring out the feels. idek what the author did because I was a sobbing mess and wasn't sure why. It was great. I'm also looking for great fanfiction to get lost in because I both have no time and want to have no time. Please give me some, I love slow burns, love them.
Review Replies
hippyliving09: Thank you for the review! Much appreciated! Always like a new reader!
Crimson G: I think explaining Orochimaru's reasoning it a bit hard since it gives a good chunk of answers away to Hikari's backstory, but I will say it would be a rather redundant thing to do, giving someone like her a curse mark, but that's all I wanna say for now.
KrypticShizz: This is one of those reviews that kinda miffed me a bit. NGL, whether you like the character or not doesn't really matter, but it's the fact that you claim there are no struggles. I had to sit and think about it a bit and- well, she actually has a lot of struggles to overcome? Hikari has grown up an orphan who didn't know until very recently why her best friend was treated like crap, and after experiencing firsthand the raw power of kyuubi wants to protect him from that too, so she trains none stop to become strong enough to protect him, but ultimately struggles with the fact that she really hates herself and expects that everyone, including Naruto, will die on her or leave her one day, so she clings to literally everyone as much as she can because she's afraid if she doesn't she'll be all alone again? Let's not even get into the fact that Hikari is having huge sibling issues watching her twin saunter around and not give two hoots about her existence? I think you mean more that Hikari doesn't have a dream she's looking towards? And yeah, that's true. She doesn't have one yet and is just going along with it, but that's the point to her character arc. Hikari is so convinced she has to be wanted and that she can't keep anything close. She has to learn to take her own advice and grab it by the horns. I understand this wasn't a flame comment or anything, I'm just a bit lost as to what you mean by not affecting her? And perhaps that is because it's mostly in first person, which is why I changed it up in this chapter.
LadyAmazon: Lol yes, they survived! Yay! I honestly wouldn't say that they 'defeated' Gaara's squad, but they certainly didn't die!
Simmaris: OMG have I seriously not updated this since before christmas?! *I'm just dying inside because I really haven't! Time really flies!* yes Hikari certainly has grown in some aspects, and I appreciate it when people notice this. It's pretty hard writing young characters, because we want to treat them as dumb and unknowing, but in truth a lot of young characters are just inexperienced and need to learn the right thing to do. Hikari has a small amount of battle experience under her belt, and she was also trained by Kakashi so there is that. I love writing action sequences since Hikari's style is not "Lemme take care of this" but rather "Let's work together guys!" And it really brings out the talents of other characters!
Thank you to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. Also please inform me of any errors even formatting ones. Sometimes they don't appear on the editor screen until I post it!
I hope everyone is doing well! Please stay safe!
Iland Girl