Chapter 5: Who We Become
1 March 50, Konoha training grounds
Her thighs burned as Katya raced against Kakashi. She was so close to winning this time. She felt her heart skip a beat and became giddy at the notion. He was nowhere in sight, and she must have left him miles behind her. To her disappointment, when she reached the peak of the hill he was sitting calmly inspecting his nails. Not a hair was out of place, and he was breathing normally. It was infuriating.
"How… do you… do that?" she panted, resting her hands on her knees. Her legs gave way from under her and she collapsed face down on the grassy knoll.
"Ninja magic, imouto," he said wisely. He reclined back with a smug expression on his face before kicking his feet onto her back. "Now I believe you owe me...three weeks of pocket money. Ah yes, here it is written down. Four weeks of pocket money."
"What? No, I don't! You're a liar! It doesn't say that!"
"Can you read kanji? Because that's exactly what this says."
"I don't need to be able to read your fancy script because I know you're a liar!"
"Suit yourself. But not everything is going to be written in hiragana. Of course, I could always tell sensei who's been stealing his sealing ink." Kakashi tapped his chin speculatively.
"No! Brat." Katya handed over four bills as Kakashi counted aloud dramatically.
"A pleasure doing business with you, as always." He gave her another smug smile before disappearing.
Katya stilled herself and listened to the sound of the wind through the trees. She heard the chakra system run through the ancient wood and into the fresh grass. She felt the flowers grow along the edge of the river below the hill. They stretched up and into the sunlight. In turn, she felt the sun warming her as well. Her eyes closed as she basked in the magnificence of nature.
"I had a thought…" Kakashi stopped short. His hands trembled as he stared at the scene before him. It was too much. Too similar to that day four months ago.
She startled and opened her eyes. The entire hill was thick in colored flowers. They were tall and swayed in the wind. Surrounding her was a thin shell of willow branches. Cosmos bloomed on the inside.
"We need to tell sensei. This… I don't think this is a good thing," the genin said quietly after coming back to himself. The three-year-old nodded in agreement and the willow branches sank back into the earth. She swayed slightly when she stood up, her chakra depleted. Kakashi stooped and let her climb on his back for the ride home. The flowers withered when they left the hillside.
Minato shook his head and rapped his knuckles against his desk. He had his suspicions that Katya was unconsciously controlling the mokuton. But now Kakashi was bringing irrefutable proof. Katya's chakra hummed inside of the small vase of cosmos that his apprentice had brought home. He ran his fingers through his hair and prayed that no one else had seen the display, least of all Danzo or one of his ilk.
"Oh, what's that?" Kushina asked as she walked into the study. "That's Katya's chakra. She grew these in the chakra lab? Or was it-"
"I'm worried for her, Kushina. The mokuton… with so much promise at this young of an age? She's only three." He placed his hand on his matching leather bracelet and felt a strong pulse of chakra in return. They had been experimenting with the bands, looking for a way to find distressed shinobi. So far, their range was only 100 meters.
"Ne, tou-chan, did you need something?" A sweet voice asked from the door.
"How did you make these, Katya-chan?" Minato hid his worry behind a friendly mask.
"Oh. Sometimes when I meditate it just kind of happens. I like listening to the plants."
"You… listen to them?" Kushina was concerned. The way she phrased it reminded her very much of the kyuubi. The old fox would rant and rave when he was particularly agitated. When she was upset, he would try to manipulate her into releasing him.
"Oh yeah! They sound nice! Like that time we listened to the orchestra. It's music!" Kushina relaxed against Minato in relief. Music she could handle. Speaking trees, however, were another story.
"This is very important, lovely. You cannot tell anyone that you can do this, okay? You can't show anyone either. Only Kakashi, kaa-chan, and I can know."
"Well, what about Shisui-kun? Or Kagami-san?"
"No, not even them. And it's Kagami-sama—he's a respected village elder." The young girl wrung her hands and tapped a foot against the tatami mat.
"I don't like keeping secrets…"
"Katya. If anyone finds out, there will be a lot of trouble." Minato dropped his mask. This was enough to alert the child that he was indeed serious. She nodded without hesitation the second time around before sauntering out of the room.
"I'm worried too, Minato. That's my baby."
Minato took his fiancee's hand before replying. "Mine too. We'll keep her safe, Kushina. We're a good team."
16 June 50, Home of Kagami Uchiha
Shisui's heart raced as he dropped his shoes off on the engawa and entered his grandfather's home. His father was in the worst mood he'd ever seen, and all he wanted to do was hide. The smell of his grandmother's flowers wafted through the kitchen as he got a glass of water.
It seemed like he couldn't do anything right. In training, he hadn't moved fast enough to dodge his father's fist and now sported a giant welt on his right eye. He felt selfish wanting to ask his grandmother to heal it for him when she was so sick lately that she could barely get out of bed. Shisui went about making tea preparations. As it steeped and the smell surrounded him, he thought of his friend. He hoped that his grandmother liked the jasmine tea as much as Katya seemed to.
He opened the door to her room and walked in nonchalantly. His grandfather sat at the bedside and read aloud from an old family fairy tale book. When the pair saw him, they smiled.
"Come in, Shisui-kun," she said weakly. Her hand shook as she tried to gesture him over before she gave up and dropped it altogether. "Come cuddle with me, my love."
The three-year-old boy shrugged and climbed into the bed after setting the tea down on a sideboard. Kagami helped his wife hold their grandchild as they settled back down. He looked back up in alarm when her finger traced the welt on Shisui's brow.
"No, sweetheart. It'll heal quickly itself."
"Kagami, let it be. I don't have long left in this world. Let me take care of my child while I can."
The old man nodded softly and ran a shaking hand over his face. The medics had told them she had less than a week before she succumbed to the metastasized cancer. There was nothing further they could do other than treat her pain.
"Thank you, obaa-chan." Shisui gave her a sweet smile and kissed her cheek when the bruise healed.
"I love you," she replied and returned his kiss. "And I love you, Kagami Uchiha. Don't you forget it. You'll always be mine. You… and… no...one...else…" Her eyes slipped shut and her hand dropped from Shisui's side. Kagami took the other one and kissed it.
"You're mine for always and eternity. You and no one else," he whispered through choked tears. "I love you, Izumo." He felt the pulse in her wrist slow and weaken until eventually, it stopped altogether.
"Baa-chan?" Shisui asked as his tears fell freely down his face. Kagami wiped his face and rested his wife's hand across her chest peacefully.
"She's gone, Shisui-chan. Come here." Shisui climbed out of the bed and held his grandfather as they mourned together.
They held the funeral on a Monday. The summer rains watered the field the night before and thousands of wildflowers and dandelions sprouted and bloomed around them. Shisui understood, this time. His grandmother was gone and she would not be coming back. There would not be any more warm hugs when he came to visit. No one would make up silly stories to tell him. The house would no longer be filled with the fresh scent of cinnamon cookies every Saturday. She was gone. He wanted nothing more than to hold his grandfather's hand. To tell him that it would be okay, but he couldn't. His grandfather was an honored guest of the Hokage's for the purpose of this funeral. His father was nothing more than an estranged son and a failed chuunin.
His father was one of the few Uchiha men left to attend the funeral. The majority of their clan's fighting force was fighting on the front. The rest, mostly genin and chuunin with various degrees of injuries, were left to serve in the Konoha Military Police and couldn't be spared for a funeral. Even a funeral for an esteemed clan elder who had also been their physician since birth. The kind old lady that would bandage scraped knees and nicked fingers and hand them a lollipop. The one who would clear chakra buildup from their eyes. Those men would slowly trickle their way to her grave and leave their own offerings for her spirit.
A baby began to fuss in the front row and was quickly hushed by its young mother. The young woman quickly bowed before the pyre and moved towards the back. Her face was strained as her own husband had been serving on the frontlines for months now as the clan heir. And everywhere she turned, she could hear the whisperings behind her back that the elders didn't think he would come home either. Just another pyre offered before the gods.
Ever since his two older brothers had passed, Fugaku Uchiha had been thrust into the role of Uchiha clan heir. Shisui's grandfather said that it was not a role the young man had been prepared for. As the third son, he had been trained his entire life to become the assistant head of the Konoha Military Police and nothing more. But like everything else, war had changed the course of his life and that of his young bride, Mikoto.
Izumo Uchiha's pyre was lit, and Shisui felt the tears flow down his face freely. A small hand slipped into his silently.
"I'm here for you," Katya mouthed as her grip tightened. Maybe, just maybe he wasn't as alone as he thought. At the end of the service, Katya slipped a small talisman in his hand that he quickly stowed in his pocket. Later that evening he pulled it out. A yellow tulip had been dried and pressed onto brightly colored paper.
He remembered giving his grandma a branch of lilacs that he had pulled off of Itsuki-san's bush last year.
"Ah, innocence and purity, Shisui-chan?"
"What'd you mean, baa-chan?"
"Flowers have meanings, silly boy. Look," the elderly woman pulled out a cloth bound book titled, 'The Mystery of Ikebana.' "Now, as a shinobi you should know the meanings in case you need them to break a code."
"Is that why you have so many flowers, baa-chan?"
"That, and I find the art of Ikebana pleasurable." She rustled his hair before handing over the book.
Shisui rushed to his bookcase and pulled out the cloth book and looked closely for the flower he received. Tulips… tulips… red… orange… yellow! 'The yellow tulip symbolizes hope, cheerful thoughts and loyalty in life.' Hope. He could use some of that.
AN: Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a review, I try to reply as soon as I get them (check your inbox). :) If you liked this fic be sure to hit follow/subscribe to have update alerts! I'm currently working on writing Arc 2 (Ch 10-20 probs). if you have any thoughts or suggestions on what genin missions would be in a time of war, share them in the comments!
Beta'ed by: The incredible, prodigious cherryberry12-sama herself. ; who might I just say is absolutely amazing to stick with this project! Her skills blow me out of the water and I am flabbergasted everyday she works on this with me. :)
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