From the last chapter:
“Hey, Hatsumi,” he said, when he noticed her. He sat up, and tucked the kunai back into his pouch. “You’re early.”
“Hanabi-sama was called by the Godaime. Are Kaa-san and Otou-san still gone?”
“Un.” Ryukku stood up and stretched. “Hey, do you want to spar? I have nothing else do to.”
“Hai,” Hatsumi nodded enthusiastically. “I’ll beat you this time, Onii-chan.”
The two siblings huffed, each getting tired with each passing moment. The spar had lasted longer than they each thought, and were waiting to see who gave up first. Another metallic clang sounded in the air, as two kunais clashed. After pressing harder, Hatsumi jumped back, almost slipping in the moist grass. They were sparring next to the lake, and the sun was getting closer to setting.
Once more, Hatsumi jumped back as she felt a light touch on her left arm. Her brother had quick speed, something she needed to watch out for, and if he had been better at his ‘Juken’, her arm might’ve been disabled. She jumped up, high into the air, and unrolled a scroll from her belt. After unrolling it to its fullest extent, Hatsumi tapped a seal, and a weapon appeared in her hand in a small puff of smoke. Grabbing it tightly, she threw it at her brother. Over an over again, until the air was littered with kunais, scythes, needles, shurikens, and knives, all heading their way over to Ryukku.
“Hakkushou Kaiten!” Ryukku cried. He turned around quickly, unleashing a spherical wall of chakra at the same time. The weapons were thrown back, and landed uselessly onto the ground. Then, while Hatsumi was still in the air, falling down, he jumped up to meet her mid-air. They exchanged a flurry of kicks and hits, showing their taijutsu skills. Ryukku managed to find an opening and make contact with Hatsumi, which caused her to fly backwards.
Falling fast, Hatsumi brought her arms closer to her body and her head up, as to land on the ground with her back. She slid back a while before she stopped, standing up. Now her whole back was wet. Oh, joy. Wincing, Hatsumi tried to ignore the wet cloth sticking to her back, sending cold shivers up and down her spine. She glared daggers at her brother, who shrugged apologetically. Once more, she ran forward to attack her brother, kunai in hand.
Another metallic clang rang in the air, as Ryukku defended her attack. Using all his arm strength, he pushed her backwards. Unfortunately, the wet grass seemed to hate Hatsumi today, and it slid her back, making her loose balance and eventually, fall into the lake.
Coughing, she kicked her way up to the surface of the lake, where she took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes at her brother, who was dry. At his small apologetic smile, she had to sigh and wade over to the shore. With wet squelches, she walked up to where Ryukku was. Water dripped from everywhere, getting in her eyes, and puddling up at the ground around her feet.
“Uh…G-gomen..?” Ryukku said uncertainly as he smiled sheepishly.
Hatsumi was quiet for a while before smiling mischeviously. Slowly, Ryukku started backing away. “What are you thinking, Hatsumi?” he asked cautiously.
Instead of answering, she trapped him in a tight hug, which made him stiffen up. “H-hey! Don’t do that! I don’t want to get wet!” He tried to pry her arms from his shoulder and push her away, but it only made her hug him tighter.
Groaning, Ryukku went limp, giving up. “Alright, alright. Gomen nasai. But you didn’t have to get me wet, too.”
Hatsumi backed away, smirking. But she didn’t say anything, as she made her way home. It would probably get her another lecture, coming home wet like this. But she could always blame Ryukku. At a small, added weight on her shoulders, and a shift in the wind to her left, she knew he was now walking with her.
It was strange, to see the younger Hyuuga be so friendly with someone, as she was quiet and shy most of the times. The only ones who saw her talkative side was her family, mainly Ryukku. The two were unusually close, even for siblings. They were the ones who comforted and took care of one another while their parents were away on missions that took days, weeks, and sometimes even months.
The Hyuuga siblings reached home quite quickly, as Hatsumi wanted to get dry. Walking inside the room, Ryukku called out, “Tadaima!”
“Why did you say that? You know no one’s home,” Hatsumi said, gently rubbing her left ear.
“Yeah, but you never know,” Ryukku whispered knowingly. And sure enough, a cheery voice answered, “Okaeri!” A sliding door opened and revealed Tenten, who had a smile plastered onto her face. Neji was standing behind her, keeping a straight face.
“Okaa-san! Otou-san!” Hatsumi rushed forward to envelope Tenten in a hug. Tenten smiled and gently pat her back, although she winced slightly at the sudden wetness. “Oh. S-sumimasen.” Hatsumi backed off, smiling sheepishly. After giving a quick hug to her father, she rushed over to the bathroom, and the sound of running water could soon be heard.
“Ryukku, what happened to Hatsumi?” Tenten asked, a suspicious look on her face.
“We were sparring, then she slipped and fell into the lake.” Ryukku pointedly left out the fact that he was the one who pushed her.
“Are you sure that’s all?” Neji asked, raising an eyebrow. He stared at Ryukku, searching his eyes for…something.
“Ee.” Ryukku met his father’s eyes with his own. To be honest, this wasn’t the first time he had left something out of the truth. He had practice.
“Itadakimasu,” everyone said in unison, chopsticks poised over their food.
“Hatsumi, you must’ve gotten through your training with Hanabi-sama pretty quickly to be able to spar with Ryukku.”
“Oh. Uhm, Hanabi-sama was called by the Godaime. We had to cut the session short.” Hatsumi said this a little sheepishly, as if it was her fault the session was cut short.
“I wonder what she was called for,” Ryukku said through a mouthful of rice and fish.
He was ignored as Neji and Tenten exchanged glances. It seemed they knew what Hanabi was called for.
“Oyasuminasai, Okaa-san, Otou-san.”
Three sliding doors closed shut, and soon after, the lights were dimmed, then gone.
“Oh my God!”
“I can’t believe this happened!”
“Someone inform the Godaime!”
Shouts, screams, and the endless thudding of footsteps rushing woke Hatsumi up. Something was wrong. She could feel it creep up the back of her neck. Immediately, she sat up from her futon, kicking away the thick blanket. Putting on a thick jacket, she opened the door that led outside. Looking around, she saw Ryukku do the same from his room. “What happened?” she mouthed, knowing he wouldn’t be able to hear her from the background noise.
Ryukku shrugged in response and Hatsumi could see her confusion and puzzlement mirrored in his eyes.
Hatsumi stepped back and closed the door. She made her way to her parent’s room, only to find that their futon was empty, aside from the kicked blanket and pillows. Gulping down the fear that was crawling up her throat, she rushed outside. She grabbed the arm of a small child who was running, and pulled him to the wall, hearing the small thump and their back made contact.
“Calm down. It’s me,” she said in a calm voice, trying to lower the obvious panic in the younger’s eyes. At the small nod she was given, she asked, “What’s going on? What happened?”
The other Hyuuga managed to choke out between sobs, “They found her… Hanabi-sama… She’s…She’s… She’s dead.” The last word was whispered, and Hatsumi had to almost strain to hear. When the truth struck her, she gasped and let the small boy go.
Blinking back tears, she ran. Just ran. Willing her legs to take her away. But no. Instead, she found herself in front of Hanabi-sama’s room, wondering why.
The door to her room was closed, sealed off. Someone must have closed it after seeing…the body. There were splatters of dark shadow against the paper-like door. Blood. The beautiful, yet terrible liquid that fueled one’s body. It seeped through the cracks under the door and between the wall. It tracked in small footprint like shapes out the door and onto the lawn, where it soon disappeared. Three Anbu were grouped together off to one side, discussing.
Hatsumi barely noticed when one of them came up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Would you like to go inside, Hatsumi-san?”
Hatsumi stayed still for a while, stunned, frozen. Then, regaining herself, she nodded. She let herself be led closer to the door, which was soon opened. At the sight, Hatsumi let out another gasp and brought her hand to her mouth.
The sight… It was…horrible. Hanabi lay sprawled, as if she had let out a struggle, on the cold, blood soaked, wooden floor. Her pale eyes were open, unseeing. They were like glass, and stuck in a forever notion of surprise. From her thin body protruded many things: knives, shurikens, kunais, scythes, senbons, needles, dirks, and other sharp, deadly objects. And the color scarlet. It was everywhere. On the walls, the floor, stained on her night clothes, and skin.
This wasn't right. Whoever did this was going to pay.