"We need to talk." – Kana says suddenly, hating how she had to do this. The mood was a little better since last night, where she had shared a little of herself, but she was almost certain that after what she would do, there could very well be an even greater distance between her and the rest of the Society. They were heading down the mountains and on their way to the Mines of Moria, but there was still at least a week until they reached their next stop. The faces of her companions looked at her curiously, as the Uchiha wasn't someone who talked much.
"Did something happened?" – Aragorn questioned, curious when the woman grunted in annoyance and let out an uneasy sigh.
"The influence of the Ring." - Everyone becomes tense at the mention of the object and a slight distrust sets in. - "It's increasing. We have to do something about it."
"What do you want to do?" – Frodo asked, a little harshly and placing his hand over where the ring was. Kana ignored how most of the members seemed to stare at her as if she were going to try to forcefully grab the object and rolled her eyes.
"Do you remember the talk about genjutsu, from my land? I would like to train all of you to build better resistance to this." – She says and the atmosphere relaxes a little.
"That's a great idea." – Faramir says, smiling at her. – "How would that work against the Ring? Could we stop the influence, like you do when using your blood runes?"
"Mn. It would be like hearing whispers too far away to make any sense. With the nature of hobbits, it can even be like trying to hear something underwater."
"It would be very beneficial to have this resistance. Any tool that helps combat this evil is welcome." – Gandalf says, approvingly, smoking his pipe.
"The last time I did this was on an orc and it was disgusting. I don't want to cause that much damage to any of them. But at home, the genjutsu isn't as potent as it is here..."
Aragorn, however, notices how restless the woman still is, by her standards.
"I feel like there's something that bothers you about this." – Aragorn says and adds, thoughtfully: -" It's growing influence is not the only reason why you have not tried to teach this method before." – Says the man and the Uchiha is impressed by Aragorn's insight.
Kana bites her lips and even though no one else can see it, now that Aragorn mentions it, none of them can help but notice her subtle nervousness.
"It's... unpleasant."
"However, the benefits this would bring to us would be worth it." – Gandalf states.
"And learning one of your techniques sounds exciting!" – Pippin adds, the childish excitement making her even worse.
"Don't be a fool, this is no child's game, Pippin." – Sam scolds, noticing Kana's seriousness.
"When do you think it's most appropriate to start, Kana?" – Frodo asks softly.
"Immediately."– She responds honestly. Before her shoulders slumped a little in dismay.
"Kana?" – Sam calls, sensing her hesitation.
"Kami, they are going to hate me. Or fear me."
The Uchiha takes a deep breath, calming herself with the warm presence beside her – the elf who used to sit next to her, much to her unspoken happiness.
"Uh. Yes. Just... let me think about how I... how..." - She growled in frustration. — "Okay. Okay, I'm ready. I think." – She murmurs, but the elf next to her hears. Kana is surprised when his hand is just inches from hers. She looks at him briefly and although he is looking straight ahead, without looking at her, she knows that the closeness was on purpose: it was as if he was letting her know that if she needed him, he was right there, next to her.
"That's sweet." – Kana thinks, blushing a little and immediately scolding herself. She really shouldn't have a crush on the elf, but he was making things difficult for her poor, emotionally stunted heart.
"Genjutsu has defensive techniques and attack techniques. The user who launches it can use all of the target's senses to manipulate it: vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. The Ring uses two: hearing and vision, so my idea is to launch attacks that use both of these senses. In an ideal scenario, you would first build your mental fortitude and then I would start testing small attacks, but nothing in this situation is ideal so... you will learn from the pain."
Kana looks at the hobbits, who look at each other anxiously as she speaks.
"Are you going to use genjutsu on all of us at once? Wouldn't that be tiring?" – Aragorn asks, contemplating the aspects from the perspective of a warrior.
"Uchiha." – Kana says simply, pointing to herself and shrugging, before realizing that in this world the Uchiha surname was not self-explanatory. — "I have the Sharingan. Launching simultaneous mental attacks is almost as easy as breathing."
"What is Sharingan?" – Faramir asks and Kana blinks slowly realizing she hasn't yet spoken about her dojutsu to the Society, although the elf next to her has already seen her eyes. The Uchiha takes off her hood, making it easier to see her eyes.
Some surprised exclamations and gasps are coming from the Fellowship as her eyes glow red, tomoes swirling in her irises.
"This is the Sharingan. It has many uses. I can see better with this, copy movements after seeing them once and it helps when casting illusions, especially visual ones. There are other things too, but they are not relevant now. Mn... Everyone ready?"– She asks, looking at each of them quickly and after receiving an affirmative Kana says, finally:
"Remember: everything you see or hear from now on is not real."
She knew they would grow apart. After that first genjutsu, things got weird, because no matter if it wasn't real, it was still hard to swallow that she had mentally broken their bones while creating sounds that would leave anyone on the verge of an attack.
It was the same problem with Riki and Katsuo, but they were family and trusted her, unlike the Fellowship.
"Again." – She says, barely sparing a glance when Pippin is shaking and gasping in pain, stumbling along the way and falling to his knees. She decided to launch mental attacks alternately, so as not to tire all the members too much: hobbits one day, the two men the next day, the dwarf and the elf on the third day, and finally Gandalf. Then she repeated: hobbits, men, dwarf and elf, wizard.
"Enough!" – Merry says, angrily. Kana stops and looks at him, surprised by the enraged hobbit. – "You didn't attack us as much as you are attacking him!"
"You, Sam, and Frodo managed to put up a mental wall to defend yourself. Not Pippin. As soon as he gets it, like the rest of you, I'll stop." – She said calmly, but the cousin didn't want to know.
"I don't mind! He can't stand it anymore, don't you see?"
"He can handle it."– Kana simply declares.
"Kana... Merry is right. Pippin is exhausted. See, his mind isn't even here anymore." – Sam says, exhausted from his own mental torture, only noticing the state of his other hobbit friends now.
She watches Pippin closely now and indeed, Pippin's eyes are distant and he is shaking.
"Mn..." – She says and goes to Pippin; Merry is right next to her, watching her intently as she kneels down to bring herself closer to the hobbit's level and then the loud, sharp sound of a slap cracks the still hobbit's cheek.
"What the fuck are you doing!?" -Merry moves, angrily, intending to confront her, and he's not the only one, but his movement is aborted when she shoots him a look, red eyes fluttering and suddenly everyone is very aware that they shouldn't get closer. She knows her killing intent is low, but it's enough that none of them get in her way while she solves this problem.
"He's with us now." – Kana says, pointing to Pippin's stunned look.
"Get away from him, Kana." – Gandalf asks. She meets the hostile looks of everyone, including Legolas, who looks disappointed when he looks at her. And it hurts.
But she has a job to do.
"I'm making you stronger. I'm not going to spoil anyone. You agreed to this."
Frodo takes a step, and another, until he is on Pippin's other side, flanking him, and Sam soon joins. The four hobbits were facing her with determination and she knew it must be difficult to face her with those red eyes glowing and with her killing intent hanging in the air, and for that she is proud of them.
"And now we realize it was a mistake. He's younger, not even a full adult. We are already older hobbits, you can't expect him to endure the same as us, Kana."– Frodo says, holding Pippin's shoulder in comfort.
"This is war, Frodo. Nobody cares how young the soldiers are in war." – Kana says, sternly and then looks at Pippin.
"Me and a bunch of other six-year-old brats put up with exactly what you're going through right now, Pippin." – A stunned silence follows, but she doesn't care to see the reactions. – "At the time, we had nothing more than 'do this if you want food and a roof over your head'. We were doing it for survival."
She doesn't see the impact of her words weighing on each of the members, not when she's only focused on one hobbit.
"Do you know why I know you can handle it, Pippin? Because you're doing it for your friends. You are doing it for your people. You are doing it for love."
The wide-eyed hobbit stared at her as she let her own conviction in him come out, that damn Uchiha part full of emotions that had never been completely repressed leaking out as she exposed just how much potential she saw in him.
"You – are – Peregrin – Took! A hobbit from the Shire! A warrior! And you can endure it, do you understand?"
Peregrin shivered and her own face reflected Kana's confidence as she finished speaking. He nodded and looked into her scarlet eyes and the world spun and changed until it was an infinite gray.
The figure made of shadows – his enemy in this world – approached. He was trapped. He was paralyzed. He couldn't move, not as the figure crushed each of his fingers, not as the shadow punched his ribs – but Kana believed him.
He roared, finally managing to move, reaching out to push the shadow away and imagining the wall that Kana instructed. He watched in fascination as not just one wall, but a second one appeared to reinforce the first.
He managed. And when his vision returned to normal and he saw Kana's black eyes looking at him, he threw himself to hug the woman tightly, laughing loudly and celebrating.
- I did it! I did it, Kana! - He screamed. Kana tensed at the contact but was fortunately saved from hugging him back when Pippin threw himself at Merry next and soon, there was a tangle of four hobbits smiling and hugging each other.
When night comes and it's time for some well-deserved rest, Kana sits down next to Gandalf. They're standing in a circle, and Kana's back is turned when Sam hands her the food. She enjoys the silence while it lasts, looking at the stars and wondering if she will ever see the stars from home again until Pippin snaps her out of her thoughts.
"Did you really have to withstand mental attacks at the age of six?"
"Oh, damn." – Kana thinks. "He sounded exactly like Katsuo when he wanted me to open up."
Kana paused from eating and nodded slowly.
"Why? And what did you mean by needing to do something for survival? And the others... were they your siblings?"
She sighed.
It was definitely the opening-up thing, then.
"I still don't get paid enough for this."
"Mn... The other brats I mentioned were other orphans like me. Eiko, Katsuo, and Riki are not my biological brothers, although we are related, distant cousins or something." – Kana explained briefly, scratching her torso a little in a nervous habit.
There is silence as everyone waits for more and patience is rewarded when the Uchiha begins to speak.
"I never met my parents. My father died before finding out that my mother was pregnant. My mother died during childbirth. I was lucky that I was Uchiha and both my parents were good shinobi, or I would have ended up on the streets or in Konoha's orphanage. I was raised in the clan's orphanage, though. The clan supports us, on condition that we are useful – that we would become ninjas. With the war going on when I was born, as soon as we turned six and could handle a weapon and obey orders..." – She shrugs, without completing the sentence. They could understand what shemeant. – "We did whatever it took to have a roof over our heads and food. Even going to war with less than double digits of life."
"This is sick." – Sam says, horrified. – "What kind of nation forces children to participate in wars in exchange for the minimum that a living being needs?"
"I doubt we will be the first or last nation to do this. It was war. Is life. Besides, it could be worse." – She shudders, finishing her meal and replacing the mask. – "Much worse."
Frodo interrupts before Sam can ask how worse it would be, with a bad feeling of how much worse it would have to be for Kana to wince. The young woman turns to face the Fellowship.
"Did you have someone, Kana? Before you met your siblings, that is?"
"My team. Amu, Ikuto and Taiko-sensei. My teacher and my teammates. It was... the closest thing to family I had growing up, I suppose."
"They..."
"Please." – Kana asks then, letting out a tired sigh. - "Please. Can we, uh, change the subject? I feel like every time I open my mouth I make you feel depressed or unhappy. It's... exhausting."
There is a sympathetic look among the others, and it is Pippin who comes to her rescue.
"Well then, how about we talk about the embarrassing time Merry..." – Pippin changes the subject, his voice a little more excited than normal to be natural and Kana is grateful.
They were already close to the Mines of Moria. There is vegetation now that is at the base of the mountains. The sun warms Legolas' skin and he stretches, before feeling the familiar onyx gaze staring at him.
Legolas smiles at the woman, who looks away after a nod in acknowledgment of his presence, although confused inside. It wasn't the first time she had done this: staring at him intensely and then... nothing.
Kana was strange.
Although, he can't exactly judge her, since several times he found himself having the same behavior of studying her, trying to discover the mystery that was her just by observing her. Every new thing he discovered about her was intriguing. A complex figure and from the pieces he was putting together, with a dark past. No wonder she was so elusive.
The archer approaches the woman, walking side by side as they both look for dry branches to light a fire for lunch. Sam was still cleaning up after hunting, so they would have some time together until they needed to go back.
"Tell me about your team." - He asks. – "Amu, Ikuto and your teacher, Taiko."
She pauses in her steps and arches her eyebrow.
"Are you sure you want to know? My life has a somewhat unhappy touch. And I don't want to put you in a dark mood."
The elf gives her a penetrating, knowing, and wise look. In it's intensity, he can almost feel her broken yet gentle soul.
"At one moment, so light, at another the weight of years." – Kana reflects.
"It may not be pleasant, but friends are not just for hearing pleasant things."
Her heart skips a little when the elf's hand gently tucks her hair behind her ear. It was a touch so brief, but so gentle, that it remained even after he had already removed his hand from her.
"Ikuto was a sensitive boy, Amu was an explosive girl and Taiko sensei was strict, but not cruel..." – Kana begins.
Legolas listens. He listens when she tells him the good things, the bad things, the ugly things. The fights and the union, the pain and the joy, the failures and the successes.
And it doesn't seem like she's getting exhausted, on the contrary, it's one of the times he's caught that glimpse of life in her, the same ardor he saw when she said she trusted Peregrin to complete the training, the same glow she had when helding Eiko in her arms.
The conversation flows and varies topics, interspersed with comfortable silences.
"Oh. I recognize that plant: arnica. Aragorn will want to have this in his supplies. And it smells is excellent." – He says, picking some of the flowers and taking a deep breath. Kana looks at him inquisitively and smiles, teasing:
"That good?"
"Well, you would know if you weren't wearing a mask." – He says, half teasing, half testing his luck and smiling at her. A smile that says please let me in.
And she... she gives in.
Kana crouches down next to him, leaning into one of the flowers he picked and pulls down her mask, not looking at the elf. She breathes in the aroma and then looks at the elf, giving him a small smile.
And Legolas couldn't stop the happiness that gesture caused him. A significant gesture, coming from her.
"She trusts me." – It's his first and second thought, before heactually absorb the sight before him.
"Do you know a lot about herbs and flowers?"
Her lips are a vivid pink. He knows she's asking him something, but he can't stop paying attention to the small shape of her lips rather than the sounds coming out of it. It's a delicate mouth, like her entire features – delicate, exotic and graceful.
He stares at her face, drinking in the sight as if viewing a painting, unable to contain his focus. He blinks slowly, something in his heart racing faster than normal, which is strange because he's not in a fight, he's just... staring at a woman's face.
A very beaultiful woman. Very, very beautiful woman indeed.
"Mn... L-Legolas? All... all right?"
"Eru help me, I've been staring for a long time haven't I?" – He thinks, embarrassed, noticing how Kana has her hand moving to the mask, as if calculating that lowering it had been a bad decision. She seems like a skittish animal and Legolas knows that heneeds to regain his composure and act as if it wasn't as significant as it really was.
"I..." – His voice trails off a little and he clears his throat, composing himself. - "... I wouldn't say I know much, not as much as Lord Elrond, but we have gardens and greenhouses in the palace. There are flowers and medicinal herbs alike. When this is all over, if you want, I'd love to show you the gardens at home."
Legolas is surprised by the impulsive invitation that came out of his mouth, but when she smiles a little more and he feels her radiate a soft joy, he doesn't regret it in the slightest.
"Mn-hum". – Kana murmurs, shaking her head a little.
Legolas can't help but tease the woman of few words, arching his eyebrow in amusement:
"I suppose that mn-hum is an affirmative, but I need words, Kana."
The Uchiha rolls her eyes, letting out a soft "tsc" that expresses exactly how willing she was to use real words to answer him.
"Eiko was right. Your monosyllables are a language of their own!"
The elf watches in fascination as he can see the adorable blush that paints her cheeks, even as she looks resolutely straight ahead. He also notices that when she pouts she looks cute.
"It's really a shame that she wears the mask, having such an expressive face..." – he reflects, still amused and delighted that Kana has shown that she trusts him like that.
"(and being so beautiful to see...)" – The uninvited thought appears, but soon passes.
To all the people who gives me support to continue this fanfiction, thanks! You're lovely and amazing, and the next words are NOT for you, please don't be offended.
SO...
I received a review that this story is a "dogshit where MC loses". Dude, if you don't wanna read, just don't read, is so simple. Not gonna lie, this made me question if I still should translate this for english. In Brazil we may not like the story but hardly will be this rude, even more because I'm not being paying to entertain. But then I remember a lot of people are enjoying this so I will not stop just 'cause of this, and if you don't like, well, that's your problem not mine.
I don't remember if I said this before, but I do post this in ao3 (english), wattpad & social spirit (portuguese), under "Donaire" account, so you can be at ease, it's not plagiarism if you see there