Our fear is a killer. Our betrayal provokes our shame. I will not turn a blind eye. When our flaws are borne to the world, let them be hidden no longer. Worn and festering, this horrendous ferocity. These grief pinned arms. Those bindings, shed them. Let the untamed flames burn brightly. Let the shadows burn, send their worst in retaliation. Forging the veil that they believe in.
I will not abandon those taken under my wing, nor leave their memory to falter.
(There is way less congruence when I read that back. *sigh* something to expand on later.)
The breeze was steady through the forest. The prevailing warmth of the land of fire stirred by the current. An ominous presence prowling the woods.
Deep within, voices filled the night. Overflowing with light, and celebratory spirit. In spite of a great catastrophe, the will of fire was strong. Faith in their protector, idols, and rich histories. Those that remained shared their dreams and ambitions on this night, basking in the promise of their safe haven.
Two young men found the aura of the village contagious, chatting candidly even as they kept watch over the perimeter. This night was one worth praising.
A moment of calm left their attention to the night. One that dragged on, and caused one of them to tilt his ear in suspicion. There was barely a stir in the canopy, then, all too suddenly, a pressure swept over the wall.
A vortex of wind, while mild, set the leaf ninja on edge. Their namesakes fluttered and clashed wildly as the steady breeze resumed. It was striking as the dead silence, that the trees had not stilled yet tonight.
There were many reasons to celebrate. The alliance with cloud had made considerable headway in recent months. By this time, the treaty was all but declared. What was moreso, their children. His brother had reached his third year of parenthood. In a few more years, theirs would be attending classes at the academy, and his own son had shown signs of prodigious growth.
Before long…
Alas, unease had settled in his heart. The future in which Neji held so much potential was uncertain. On this night, he’d been plagued with doubts. Anguish, and even darker thoughts. He had suppressed the latter with an iron resolve. They had no place in his household.
He felt a tugging at his soul, and began to feel that he had become ill. Hizashi struggled against the frame of the hallway. Vision swimming from the latest spell.
It wouldn’t do to have the others see him like this.
A flash of movement caught in the corner of his eye. Instinctively, his chakra surged, and he directed the flow toward his eyes. Worry forgotten, as he took a stance since second nature.
The shadow glanced at him for a moment. Beneath the gaze of the Byakugan, it vanished altogether.
Hiashi was still concerned, however a moment later, he could feel something brushing passed him. A creeping sensation over his shoulder. With a deft movement, he surged his chakra. Ejecting and then pinning them against the wall.
The burst of chakra roughed the paper walls (Feel free to correct), but hit naught but air. The river of foreign chakra swept about his wrists like flowing water. Hiashi expanded his senses, attempting to follow the presence. His byakugan revealed little that he could discern, but now he could place the influence on his pressure points.
Canceling out further illusions, he managed to sense the roaming presence. Except, the source was far larger, and already looming overhead.
Throughout the forest, the air began to waver. In the outskirts, drops of water fell, condensing onto leaves and forming clouds overhead, blended together by the shifting turbulence.
A bird glanced up warily from her nest. Wary of the storm, as an ominous presence crept near.
All across Konoha, stalls began to close, while more stubborn folks extended shelter for the festivities. The approaching storm, a mild inconvenience for the denizens. The shinobi on the other hand were on alert.
While they had feelers out for the source of the invading presence, The Hyuga clan found themselves in it’s crosshairs.
The flutter of wings and the chirrup of lesser eddies. The wind kicked up and stalled in brusts, as arcs of lighting extended over the compound. The strobing curtain caught loose twigs, debris and dust in its wake.
The clan members withdrew toward the houses, while some of their strongest tried to buffer the winds.
The sheet of lightning, of darkness and strain. Convulsed, pooling a shaft of fuller light in it’s midst. Two shadows rose from beneath mirrored by the rolling storm high above. Two claws extending beneath the cover.
A screech could be heard, causing trees to creak, and numbing the skin with its vibrations.
The shape of it scattered after, but the presence remained, and the storm began in earnest.
Sheets of rain poured through the yard, buffing the ground, and squalls whipped the defending Hyuga.
One was put off balance as a physical force pressed through. Snaking through the branches and hurtling toward the house proper.
The few who realized what was happening struck at it, but they were striking at a funnel cloud, and it’s true form could not be pinned down.
Lightning surged through the doorway, scattered by the plume, but startling the occupants all the same. The creature let loose a growl of warning.
A lone female stood before the corralled children, barring the way. The storm hawk simply barreled through her.
Hizashi’s footsteps thundered through the hall. Charging the funnel and cutting wide swaths from it’s midst. The cloud flinched from his path, however it simply focused harder on the room. He cried out in dismay, and the tunnel withdrew. Against the whirlwind of black and white, he caught sight of blue robes.
Twin tongues lashed out, finding their mark amidst a chorus of screams. The woman tried to grapple with whatever held them, but it was nimble, decisive, and without a wasted move, the best she could do was bruise her hands against them.
The chorus poured out once the funnel no longer blocked the door. A dozen or so converged on the thing, but it was just beyond reach.
With a thump of air, the clouds exploded outward. The form of a massive force formed, as a fork of lightning slammed into the ground, pinning it’s quarry.
The Hyuga paused their rally to shield their eyes, but one stepped forward with purposeful strides. He cleared the front easily, and with a glance of the beast, a shield of chakra exploded forth.
The entire wall of the storm reared back, rolling it’s head aside with a pivotal twist.
The beast straightened out, perching atop the two hostages. Alighting softly, albeit with dangerously controlled strength. The beast squared up, wings billowing in threat, and another challenging screech.
The shield of chakra ignited. Arcs of lighting, not half and arms length, but surging in dozens at a time. Hiashi struggled for a moment, preserving the shield for a moment longer before it collapsed.
Likewise, the shroud beneath its feet surged, between transparent, black, and planing airflows. An arc flitted from one such plain. Tiny, but halting, looming over the defenseless.
Lord knows he didn’t want to, but Hiashi paused. Gauging the threat carefully. His family stepped forward, taking some of the pressure off of him.
The storm hawk wasn’t having it. Almost as one, his order, and four pillars of lighting swept the line.
Misfortuned enough not to catch themself in time, one of those caught the arc head on. Lurching back and falling to the ground. A smoky haze rising from their body.
Hiashi kept his gaze on the bird. He could tell the man was stunned but not crippled as he should be. The pillars of lightning surrounded the bird on all sides. There was enough room that a grown man could slip through, and he could see for himself, just who was held in the balance.
He was willing to risk his life, To push his abilities to the limit, through the unknown, and at any cost. But only to see them safe. He wasn’t fast enough to get there.
The hawk extended its wings. The electric lining concealed beneath the dark surface, depriving the yard of much light. Within, Hiashi could see the barriers lighting up further. Blades of light shifting in its grasp.
“Hiashi.” The man turned to his mirror. Opposite, and alike in many ways. How could things turn so dire so quickly.
There was a pulse. A wave of light peeled back the shadows, the wings of the bird thinning. Gingerly, the hawk stepped back from the two children. It’s form quivering, and it’s gaze met with that of the clan head. The barrier fell. Expiring from above and converging on the two children. It discharged twice to either side, but left a path to the two open.
Without a moment to waste, Hiashi sprinted forward. His brother is barely a step behind. Hizashi crouched down to collect them, while the former stood before the bird.
There was no aggression though, and nothing preventing him from striking at the creature's center. Given the threat it could pose to the leaf, it was the only sensible thing.
Only, he could see that the damage was done. He could barely comprehend how, but that two seals now formed on the brow. His nephew, and his eldest daughter. Their fates tied irrevocably, and even in arms reach of the curse incarnate, he couldn’t bring himself to destroy it himself.
The bird bowed its head. With a single step forward, his hand was sheathed in it’s chest. A wobble of chakra spread over his forearm, and the form of the storm hawk dissolved a heartbeat later.
It was merely a figment of the times to come. An admission of the paths that were. Above all, a mantle he was forced to bear.
Hours later, a clan was consoled. A report filed, and a night retiring all too soon. Hiashi returned that morning, thoroughly exhausted. After a bit of trouble, he found two faces, newly marked from the ordeal. Their most effective defender was being tended to in the next room, and his brother just outside.
Never in his life did he think he would ever see that mark on the face of his daughter. A deep sympathy that ached in the presence of his sibling. Hizashi’s consternation was visible, and extended deep. Hiashi could see further than the naked eye, with how well they knew each other.
“How are they?”
“Unhurt. No adverse effects from the sealing either.”
After all that? Hiashi worked it over. In recent years, the means to perform the caged bird seal were not as polished as they once were. In lieu of the nine tails attack, it may have been discarded entirely by now. Even then, the sealing was always a painful process. Designed to cut away non-essential chakra paths, and place a throttle on the bloodline itself. Ironic, for a beast of chakra to have a deft touch.
“What was that creature?”
“Hiashi... I intend to find out.”
Hiashi askance was withheld, as the clan physician stepped from the room. The elder bowed on finding them there.
“Your appraisal?” Hiashi could guess what had him there.
The elder nodded, “Firstly, the seal is set. There is no room for adjustment, and it’s ingrained as firmly as it could conceivably go.”
“That’s the worst of it?” Hizashi asked.
Hiashi was more familiar with the details of the seal. In early development, the seal has the potential to impair. Any adverse reactions could be attenuated to an extent, but that capacity would eventually be lost. Thankfully, that the two received it so well, it was unlikely to incur something so severe.
“What else?”
“Well.” The elder furrowed his brow, “It’s not the caged bird seal, or the one that we know.”
Hizashi straightened, and Hiashi asked, “What is that seal on them then?”
“They are similar enough. The protection from removal, the trigger on death. That much is present. That’s where the similarities end. While there is a key, I do not recognize what it would be attributed to.”
“That’s not acceptable.”
“That it is not, but it is as far as I can discern at present. Without extensive resources or a well versed sealmaster, the best I can ask for is time.”
“Uncover whatever you can.”
The elder bowed, “Lord Hiashi.”
The two were left in silence. And as the hall emptied of footsteps.
“Hiashi-”
“Don’t get caught up.”
“This concerns the main house. You wouldn’t take this, not for your own daughter. Our entire bloodline is at risk.” Hizashi bit back his words as emotion bled into his tone. “I cannot protect them. Not from that. Not here.”
“What do you hope to find? Out there? Hizashi, you know it’s an unsteady world, and even then, our obligations to the leaf-”
“My destiny was already sealed, brother. My eyes are useless to an outsider, and if there is any hope left, it starts with your second daughter.”
“And what of your son?”
“I trust you can keep them safe.” Hizashi bowed his head, a bittersweet sigh, “I believe he will have more to learn from you, brother.”
In the days to come, Hiashi reluctantly acknowledged his brother's wishes. Packed with the bare essentials, Hizashi set off. The remnants of the storm breaking overhead.
