We arrived immediately at the outside of Sarutobi-sensei"s office. There was no one guarding the door save from a blue toad with some sort of saddle on his back. The toad paid us no mind as we knocked at the door and entered. The first thing that struck me was the smell. My sensei smoked too much for today. Sitting on his desk was another smaller toad in green that was cloaked by a dark grey cloth. Sarutobi-sensei was pa.s.sively looking into a doc.u.ment but I knew him long enough to know that he was in deep thinking. One thing I was impressed by him was regardless of how distracted he was, he always knows when his attention is needed."Ah, Hikari-kun, you got my message and Kakashi-sensei too, you need to hear about this as well," Sarutobi-sensei greeted us as we made our way to the desk. We bowed at him.
"Hokage-sama, there is an important matter that you need to know first," Kakashi-sensei began and Sarutobi-sensei hummed for him. Kakashi-sensei continued explaining everything I said to the Hokage. When he was finished, I noticed that his face was surprised, but not too surprised as Kakashi-sensei was. Then, he scrambles through some folders and peeled out a piece of paper and placed it in front of his desk.
"Have a look. Thanks to both of you, I now know the answer to the puzzle on this paper," Sarutobi-sensei said cryptically. Both of us bend over and looked and we found out that it was Gaara"s mission data. Kakashi-sensei was greatly surprised.
"This rap sheet is astonishing for a genin and he even came out unscathed from every? Every mission? Not a single scratch?" Kakashi-sensei commented.
"That"s what it said," Sarutobi-sensei replied, "tailed beast had always been protective over their Jinchuriki. It made sense considering how the sand protected him."
"Sarutobi-sensei, you have to increase the precaution needed in case the boy loses control. The one who could subdue the beast is Naruto and that is if he got control over his which is not the case," I urged.
"Such precautions had long since implemented. Shodai-sama"s Mokuton could subdue the Kyuubi"s chakra and who"s to say that the same can"t be done on other tailed beasts. Perhaps, I could have Tenzou teach you the necessary jutsu later," Sarutobi-sensei said, "now, back to the order of business, Hikari-kun, meet the current Toad Sage of Myoboku-zan."
"Hikari-kun, my name is f.u.kusaku. I am the disciple of the Great Toad Sage. May I please see the eye?" the toad said. I untied my headband and bowed at him.
"Hyuuga Hikari, it is an honour to meet you, f.u.kusaku-sama," then I rose with the Rinne-Sharingan opened. The toad exhaled a deep breath.
"So this is the most elusive Rinne-Sharingan," the toad muttered. I rubbed the back of the head.
"The eye was just a ha.s.sle for me. Please, do get straight to the point, f.u.kusaku-sama," I said. The toad swallowed and seemingly not knowing where to begin.
"The mission you are about to go is a request from Myoboku-zan. This cannot wait until Jiraiychan"s arrival," he began, "a legendary Sage is demanding to meet you personally."
"Is it the Great Toad Sage?" I interrupted.
"It wasn"t, but the Great Toad Sage was ordered to send you to her," he went on.
"Who?" I asked, puzzled. The Sage was taking orders from him. I couldn"t remember anyone else.
"The Phoenix Sage. The mere mention of her made Gamamaru-sama shivered in fear," f.u.kusaku-sama said.
"Eh, Gamamaru? The one who taught my brother"s senjutsu, he"s still alive?" I said, surprised and the green toad nodded.
"Gamamaru was around the same age of Rikudou Sennin when they met but the Phoenix Sage was the worst. She was immortal, had neither interest in mortals nor pity for anything or anyone even us summoning animals," f.u.kusaku was visibly in fear as he said this, "Gamamaru-sama said that he remembered how ruthless and cruel she was and how she cared for nothing but herself."
"Then, why is she interested in me?" I inquired.
"I don"t know but all she said was to meet you or she will destroy Myoboku-zan with her wind. Gamamaru-sama was forced to obey because none of us Sages could compete with such power that rivalled even the Kami. Plus, her wrath was not something one should take lightly," f.u.kusaku-sama answered. I swallowed the bile that was rising to my throat as I considered the fact and then exhaled nervously.
"Judging by the nature of this mission, it is considered as above S-cla.s.s mission. Do you accept the mission?" Sarutobi-sensei asked.
"If I refused, the Sage will destroy Myoboku-zan and Konoha is next on her target? To get me?" I asked and there was no reply. Kakashi-sensei looked away, he knew that I wasn"t even ready for an cla.s.s let alone something above S-cla.s.s. The mission was suicidal. I nodded, certain of my next words.
"Well, obviously my answer is I accept. But the condition is that no one else will know the nature of the mission. Especially the Hyuugas and the rest of team 7 and if I died, tell them I am sorry for not saying goodbye. But when do I leave?" I said. f.u.kusaku-sama snapped his fingers and a glowing golden scroll appeared from a puff a smoke.
"Phoenix Sage left instructions. You are to write your name in blood in here and she will know and that"s when the mission begins," he said. I grabbed and opened it to read it but I was immediately surprised. There were a lot of names signed in blood and all of it was Otsutsuki but the latest name was none other than my mother, Otsutsuki Kaguya. From this, I had a small hunch of why this Phoenix Sage was demanding to see me.
"Hey, this is my mother"s name and this is her handwriting," I announced and all of the hovered over the scroll.
"There was no record of Kaguya made a contract with a summoning animal," Sarutobi-Sensei commented.
"Please, not even us have any record about it as well. It was never known who were the other summoning animals were contracted to with," f.u.kusaku-sama said.
"This is the first time I"ve seen this scroll written with this kind of language and intricacy. I don"t how summoning would work with this contract. Do it need Gyaku Kuchiyose?" Kakashi-sensei wondered.
"What do you meant by that?" I asked.
"Gyaku Kuchiyose is used by the summoning animal to summons humans they were contracted to with into and only to their dwelling," Kakashi-sensei explained. "With this, the Phoenix Sage might summon you everywhere and anytime she likes. There"s no way of knowing this for a fact."
I was silent as I considered this and then I bit my thumb and signed my name in one go.
"I"m going with my guts in this one. Or else my family could die," I announced.
"There was one more thing," Kakashi-sensei said, "the contract could be a one-way ticket for each party. It is possible for you could not return after you were summoned."
I fell at his words and stood up with veins pulsing in anger.
"Sure, tell that after I signed my blood to a mysterious contract," I yelled. When I finished the words, I was somewhere else surrounded by smokes from a Kuchiyose no Jutsu. The first thing I felt was cold.
"h.e.l.lo, Hikari-kun," a girl"s voice monotonously said, "it"s been a long, long time."
I looked around frantically for the source and then I noticed a golden-haired girl was peeking at me from a distance behind a rock. She was waving when my eyes made contact with hers. What struck me as odd was how she was glowing. Not just in beauty but her entire body was emitting a soft light.
"h.e.l.lo, do I know you from somewhere?" I asked. The girl blushed at my words. A few seconds afterwards she finally answered.
"The question is not where," the girl waved me to come near her, "but when."
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I walked forward for a few steps until she suddenly yelled stop and pulled her head down behind the rock. Then it clicked in my head.
"When?" I gasped, "I don"t remember seeing you in my past. Are you a ghost or something?"
"You and I met when you were still a baby," the girl monotonously said behind the rock, "and I am not a ghost. I"m still alive."
"No way," I said disbelieving her, "you"re just a girl."
She then peeked out of the rock blushing without opening her eyes. My heart was struck by her beauty, it beat erratically when I saw her.
"I am more than that, you are not the only being that transcends the border of time," she said like she always did and blushed even further, "did she ever told you? KaguyHime"s family did not need to eat chakra fruit to reach immortality because her family was closely tied with me. She brought me here with her to help her protect this world"s G.o.d Tree from them."
"Immortality?" I was puzzled.
"Yes, Otsutsukis are the longest living celestial beings that thrived on chakra fruit of the G.o.d Tree to obtain immortality," the girl continued explaining, "of course, KaguyHime"s family was against this notion and formed a treaty with me. I gave them immortality in exchange for one of their prince to be wed with me."
"Wait a minute, just how could you give someone immortality?" I asked sceptically. The girl opened her eyes and looked at me in the eyes. I was greatly surprised because both of her pupils were red with a darker shade of red as irises. She then slowly morphed into the largest animal I have ever seen. I fell down trembling in fear. It was a golden feathered bird with red eyes. The glow was still there astonishingly while the air grew hotter and hotter by the second.
"It"s one of my powers. I give life," the large bird monotonously said.
"You"re... You"re the Phoenix Sage," I muttered in fear that she would squash me in an instant. I was too close for comfort.
"Correct," she then morphed back to her previous form peeking from behind the rock, "sorry, if I scared you."
"No, it"s okay," I breathed. There was no exchange of words but suddenly she blushed pink.
"What?" I mumbled silently.
"Wait, you said that, the condition of the treaty was one of the princes to be wed with you?" I asked and on cue, she blushed red. I scratched my head.
"I made the treaty millennia ago with your grandfather and he only had a daughter. Do the math," she said while still blushing. What that was unnerving was how she can stay monotonous throughout the conversations. I began to think that it was the way she talked. After I fully digested her words, my face too grew red.
"H-how... W-we... I-I, w-we don"t even know each other," I stammered and then she giggled. That was the first time I heard it and I had to admit that it was the most beautiful thing so far in my existence. Something at the back of my mind, it ticked, I recognized the voice. My heart also seemed to skip a beat just then.
"I told you, we"ve met when you"re a baby," she said, "your soul and mine, they sing for each other."
I swallowed as my heart was pounding after I heard that. Despite her monotonous way of saying, she said only the most beautiful of things and I blushed yet again.
"My name is," she said, "Hitori. You don"t know how many millennia that I have searched for you. Your mother too but she..."
I knew the words, the tree consumed her and made her forgot.
"I resented her for succ.u.mbing to the tree"s temptations. I knew that she had done it to save you. But if only I had been there that day. Things," she immediately burst into tears, "things would never be this way."
She hid behind the rock yet again to cry. I felt the greatest need to comfort her so I gladly walked over towards her. I paced my steps slowly because I don"t know what to expect. When I saw her in red kimono, she was hugging her knees while she cries. I reached out and patted her head.
"It"s not your fault. It"s fate. I had long since accepted it," I said to console her. She immediately hugged me.
"You do not remember this but I promised you long ago to protect both of you. Now, I"ve ended up with just you. I loved her, she"s just like a mother to me in her later days. Why should things happen this way?" She said between sobs. I rubbed her hair.
I said to her, "Shush, sometimes, we cannot fight fate. You, of all people, should know that."
We sat like that for hours and when she came too, she gasped and ran towards the other side of the rock. I was puzzled by her behaviours.
"What are you doing?" I asked and she blushed.
"I am like this around people," she said monotonously yet again. I raised an eyebrow at her words.
"You"re shy, aren"t you?" I questioned. She blushed red yet again and nodded at me. The sight of her eyes was something to my eyes. Nothing could compare to hers.
"Then, why are the other sages afraid of you?" I pressed. She let out a grunt.
"I don"t like being around people. It"s whether they should go away or I make them go away. The latter seemed to work perfectly as far as I"m concerned," she explained. I shivered as I thought of various ways she did so as her other forms--logically speaking, she is the strongest being on this planet. I looked around the place and noticed that it was covered in snow.
"Where are we?" I wondered. She went out of her rock and bowed to me.
"Welcome to my home, Yuki no Yama. The highest point in this world," she said and then she rose. When she saw my face, she was back behind the rock. Me, on the other hand, was stunned. Her face, her complete face was another thing entirely. I gulped involuntarily before I shook my head. She shot me a questioning stare.
"S-sorry. You"re too pretty," I blurted but when I realized my mistake, I immediately held my hand to my mouth. She peeked out and when she saw how I was, she giggled yet again before she blushed pink.
"See, our souls sing for each other," she said like she always did and then she walked out of the rock. Her form now was of the same age as mine. The very sight of her sudden beauty made me stop short and, you guessed it. I, lamely, fainted at the sight of a lady.
"Hikari-kun!!" she yelled in her voice before I lose consciousness.
When I came to, someone was wiping a warm towel over my face. I opened my eyes and saw her. When our eyes met, on cue, we blushed and then she disappeared. I took on my surroundings as I rose. I was inside a small house and there was a pot cooking above a fire. The hut was built entirely by hand. I noticed that she was peeking behind the doors.
"If you would, don"t do that around me, that flicking away thing. Kind of made me feel like you do not actually like me or something," I blushed as I said it. There was her monotonous "oh" heard and she slowly walked and sat next to me. She was still blushing and I noticed that I was not wearing any clothes. I frantically searched around and when I saw it, I immediately grabbed it and put it on. I coughed tried to swallow away my blush.
"So, uhm," I awkwardly began, "you can change forms?"
"Uhmm, I can be either a giant glowing golden bird or a small glowing human. I chose the latter when I"m around someone I loved. The age is just small details," she said. But her words caught me. She noticed that I had stiffened but she had realized her mistake and she slapped her forehead and hid her face in her hands. She muttered wordless cries and I looked everywhere but her as I scoot over to her and hugged her shoulder. She jumped a bit and then she slowly hugged me back.
"So, uh, what do you need of me? You threatened poor old Gamamaru for a reason right?" I finally asked.
"Uhmm, just like I said. The cruel ways work the best," She said as she raised her head and I got a good look at her face--her cheeks red with blushes, her pink lips, and her eyes, "and, your brother asked me to teach you senjutsu."
"You"ve met him?" I was surprised but happy that my hunch was correct after all.
"He"s been dead for years and his chakra appeared in my dream just a few weeks ago to ask me to teach you senjutsu," she said but I could feel the irritation she fell onto my brother. Not a good way to interrupt someone"s sleep, she is a girl, no less. Then I felt shiver ran down my spine.
She continued to say, "What made me beyond p.i.s.sed is that he didn"t tell me beforehand that you had finally returned. So, I pay him back by threatening his old toad. It seems like fun."
She was actually scary as h.e.l.l when she said that. The monotonous thing got to me easily.
"I see," I gulped nervously as she looked at me and blushed yet again, "I don"t know how to handle your monotonous way of saying things. But I"m slowly getting there."
"Don"t worry about it. I"m not going to do something without a solid reason behind it. Let alone destroying some innocent village because they didn"t give me the things I wanted. I"m not a little brat, I"m millennia in age. It"s just something I do to get the job done immediately," she reached for my cheeks as she said it and then rose and head to the pot on the bonfire,
"Dinner will be ready soon. You best take a bath, I"ve heated the water earlier while you pa.s.sed out. Your training will begin tomorrow."
I sat at the dining table as she was prepping dinner. I found that she had poured me a cup of tea. I took a sip of the tea and it was heavenly.
"This tea is really good," I said as I exhaled in bliss.
"It is, isn"t it? The climate here, made the taste felt a lot different. Slight spiciness aftertaste, don"t you noticed it?" she said as she brought a tray from the kitchen. She then served us a plate of Omurice for each other.
She added, "I lived on Omurice for years since I found out about this dish. I am proud to say that I had perfected the way it was cooked. I dare say that I can make the best Omurice there is."
I picked up the chopsticks and tore through the eggs. I sniffed the vapour and once again exhaled in bliss. My chopstick dug into the rice and I took a bite of it. When the rice touched my tongue, it exploded into a wonderous amount of deliciousness.
"Sorry, Hinata. But your Omurice has been beaten! This is too good!!!!!" I exclaimed and ate hurriedly.
"Why thank you," she said, "but who is Hinata?"
I felt some murderous intent oozed out in front of me and I lowered my plate. Her eyes were cruel and menacing. Veins were pulsing at her forehead. She slowly rolled up her sleeves. I hurriedly let go off my plates and chopsticks and raised my hands.
"Wait, wait," I urged, "she and Hanabi-chan are my adopted sister. I was adopted at Konoha. Stop doing that."
Suddenly the murderous intent was gone and I breathed a sigh of relief. When our eyes met, both of us blushed and then looked away.
"Sorry, I fell in love with you a long time ago. I admit I am a jealous person," she said. My eyebrows furrowed.
"How many years exactly?" I asked. She refused to answer and evaded my eye. I reached forward and grabbed her hand. It was the softest thing I felt in my life. Her eyes met mine and I looked deep into hers.
"Tell me. How many?" I breathed. She hesitated.
"10 millennia, give or take a few hundred years," she said. My eyes widen and then it grew soft.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. It won"t happen again." I breathed. She was visibly surprised and tears could be seen threatening to fall. She wiped it and muttered thanks. We resumed our dinner without much talking.
We sat next to each other as we drank our tea for supper. She was still quiet and didn"t say anything. Perhaps she was getting used to me. I thought about lightening the mood a bit.
"So, what is this Senjutsu that you guys talked about?" I asked and she jumped. I could only a.s.sume that she was deep in her thoughts.
"You didn"t know?" she probed and I shook my head, "let"s see, to form a jutsu, you need chakra. What do you need to form chakra?"
"Spiritual, mental and physical energy?" I suggested and she nodded.
"Now, to perform senjutsu, one would need senjutsu chakra. Senjutsu chakra can be obtained while adding another energy to the mix. Simply put, instead of three normal parts to form chakra, senjutsu chakra needs four parts. It is natural energy," she explained, "with the addition of the fourth energy, senjutsu chakra enhances your jutsu but, with the Rinne-Sharingan however or even the Rinnegan, one could gain access to countless of jutsus"
"How so?" I pressed, intrigued.
"The eye amplifies oneself as a whole thus in a sense, you become another step above Sagehood. That"s how your brother became known as Rikudou Sennin but he had only awakened Rinnegan though to develop the jutsus required to defeat and seal the Juubi," she gritted the last word of her explanation, suggesting how she despised it.
"I see, that confirmed my hypothesis regarding my Rinne-Sharingan. It is such hard work to control. Before, it even turned on when I kneaded a minute amount of chakra," I said. I saw that she raised an eyebrow sceptically.
"There"s no way you can awaken it. It would need quite a large chakra booster even for the Otsutsuki. KaguyHime only awakened it when she had eaten the fruit," she said, I could tell she was mocking. I took off my forehead protector afterwards I focused some chakra on the eye and it slowly opened. She was visibly startled.
"You didn"t know about this, but I saw Aino-anesan got killed by Chichi-ue"s men before Hahue had to send me away." I slowly said and she looked away.
"I"m sorry," she croaked, "I"m sorry that you had to go through that. I heard that it took an enormous amount of emotional pain to awaken it."
She was crying and I felt a strong urge to comfort her.
"I wasn"t in the right state of mind at the time. My mind was weak and filled with self-hate. I"ve told you, I moved on. Don"t cry for that," I gritted. She turned her head sharply to face me. Her eyes were filled with tears and her mouth quivered.
"My Hikari underwent all those things and I didn"t do anything about it," she sobbed and I pulled her into another hug and picked her up. I brought her to the bed and laid her down. I brushed my hand over her glowing golden hair.
"If I didn"t go through that, will I ever be here? Knowing that you waited for me for so long already hurt me lots. Stop this," I said.
She managed to cry until she had fallen asleep crying. Honestly, she was an interesting fellow. For a person that never dies, she was eccentric for one, unfeeling for others but for me. She seemed to be different when things involved me. With the phoenix comfortably asleep, I laid down on the floor thinking about the senjutsu chakra. It sounded simple but one could never fathom how difficult it was to obtain senjutsu chakra. First and foremost, how can I even gather nature energy?