Family Ties [Private; Complete]

[Hikaru Akadou]

The origins of the Akadou clan are relatively unknown, even to the most prominent members. Lack of organization, and scarce members have the clan scattered across continents. Although, welcomed in all villages, the Akadou have no true home, nor are they required to swear allegiance to any, but those whom share their abilities. This builds distrust, and skepticism to a level unto which most are either considered spies sent from another nation, or suspected of such.

At a young age, Hiraku was subjected too much of this speculation, mainly from his peers, whom told him stories of traitors among his clan, amidst his parents and their friends. Of course, he didn’t believe such, his father, Jynn, had served loyally as a hunter, tracking down those whom had either abandoned or betrayed the village. This alone would have been enough to convince him that his parents were loyal. However, children, if anything are harsh, and known for their lack of common sense. Even if this would have normally cleared suspicion, he was generally without friends for most of his time at the academy.

At home, he was subjected to multiple chores. Including but not limited to: cleaning up the clan quarters, such as mopping, and trash pickup, washing clothes, cooking and taking care of ill members. Since there were so few of them, he was brought up to respect all those, no matter whom they were, or what they could possibly be accused of. And when others arrived, seemingly from a trail unknown, he’d be the first at the gates of the compound, both welcoming them and showing them to their quarters.

For years, he seldom practiced the secret arts passed down to him. Although, he had taken notice of his abilities at a young age, he was scared to use them for the fear of drawing either attention to himself or the clan as a whole. Naturally, as foreigners, he assumed that others wouldn’t understand what he was capable of, or would send him away from his parents, and siblings.

In that regard, he had one sister, older. Her name was Midori, and she had been killed during the war, so he was told. The most he could remember about her was her fiery red hair, and bright blue eyes. She had a nice smile too, he could now recall, but as he grew up, the memories became distant, and his parents lost all interest in appeasing his questions about her. They figured, albeit secretly, that he would become attached to a memory of what could have been, and lose himself. This was probably true; however he still turned out quite the way they hoped.

During his time in the academy, he mostly received decent marks and highly positive comments from his instructors. Usually, they were attributed to something about his respectful nature, and hard-work ethic, and general treatment of his classmates, whom had mistreated him terribly at first. He was an outcast for a time, joining the academy a few years late after all. His family had only recently been brought into the village, or accepted rather. They had been there for years, but had a hard time registering Hikaru as an Academy student. As such, for most of his time spent at the Academy he was older than the rest in his class.

Upon graduation, such negative sentiments had faded, and he was rather well-liked. However, with the chip that was his clan resting on his shoulders, people had a hard time trusting him. As others went off on assignment together, he was typically forced to either work alone or spend his time in solitude. Since his chores had been reduced most of his spare time was spent training. The years he had lost while he was afraid to use his abilities were quickly made up. However, he still had that urge to get stronger, perhaps to prove that he could work well with others, even though his attitude and respectful tone seemed sufficient to him.

Things changed when his sister returned.

[Hikaru Akadou]

“You think we can just let you back into our lives, you expect us too?” It was the voice of his father, Jynn. He was an older man, but when things got heated he was still able to convey anger relatively well. Hikaru could almost feel the emotional discharge from it, or maybe that was just the voice shaking the foundation of the house. After all, it was only made from rough wood, they had cut it themselves, to restore fortifications around the clan’s quarters, and to stop the roof from leaking during rain storms. Now, it just creaked terribly from voices and those with harsh steps. Not to mention the occasional door slammer.

Parts of the conversation were unheard to him however; his sister was apparently soft-spoken, or at least she was now. For some reason, he had always imagined her to be a loud-mouth, with an attitude to boot. Maybe it had something to do with her hair? Regardless, now he could only here mumblings: words which were so distorted he couldn’t even guess at; even as he placed his ear up against his door. Behind him was an assortment of clothes he had yet to put away, and he was in the process of doing such when his lost sibling arrived.

While this was going on, he tried to piece together what little knowledge he had of her, to see if he could figure out any reason his parents would lie to him for so many years. Although, he had a feeling that they had meant well, and only wanted to keep him from unnecessary pain, he still felt betrayed. Part of himself, somewhere deep told him to duck out the lone window in his room. It had no screen, just wood which could be removed. Briefly, he had looked back at it, only deciding after several seconds that he couldn’t leave.

He told himself that his parents were what kept him from sneaking out, and perhaps laying low for a while. However, that was more of a lie than anything else. It wasn’t so much that the lie was as painful as the truth, or rather he just hated being lied to. It was the fact that they kept it from him for years, and the fact was something important. They had lied about the death of a family member. Never before had he felt so much anger at them, or her for that matter. If she was alive, why didn’t she come back earlier? She probably had her reasons, and his thoughts came to an abrupt stop at the sound of his father’s raised voice. Beforehand, his mind had shut everything out, and was only broken by the shout.

“No, you not only abandoned your family, you betrayed this village! I can’t, and I won’t let any of our clan be known by your crimes. It could risk everything we have worked for since we came here. Why can’t you see that?! You can’t suddenly decide you want this life back, not after what you did, and the things you said!”

[Hikaru Akadou]

His first sighting of her was a glimpse of fiery red and tear filled eyes as he crept down the stairs, albeit not silently because of the damn creaky floorboards. However, with tensions high, and yelling those gathered would hardly notice, and his mother was no longer in the room herself, she had left out the front door not willing to be a part of any of this ill begotten feud. She wouldn’t turn her own daughter over to the Hunters. That was something she would be unable to bear. Missing-Nin or not, she was still family, and family comes first, despite what the head of the household thought. The door had slammed behind her shortly before Hikaru had made his way down the stairs.

The room was divided in half by a run-down couch and upon the walls were raised armaments of unknown quality and origin. His father had always been a weapon fanatic, a collector of sorts. When Hikaru was younger, it always used to make him feel safe. Now, however, he was feeling anything but, the weapons were a grim testament to the stress in the room and he wasn’t sure just how much he liked his father standing so close to the Halberd that rested just above the fire place. He could see rage, and only that present in such eyes, and for a brief time upon entering the room, he thought that the weapon would be brought out.

Midori stood a bit taller than him at a height of about 5’10’’and on the opposite side of the small four walled room. She wore a dirty flak jacket which was missing buttons, a black undershirt, a red-strapped bra that he could just make out from one of her shoulders, messy brown pants, bloodstained and muck ridden, and upon her head sat a Konohagakure headband, with the leaf scratched out. From the smell, he judged that she had either recently been in a swamp or hadn’t washed in days. However, that was really only an undertone of the actual situation and he found himself wanting to speak up, but unable to due to silent glares from his father. For whatever reason, this was considered none of his business; he used to get that look a lot when he was younger and he had questions about work, or what a Shinobi did. And even now, it still made him feel like a child. It meant that he didn’t belong or wasn’t mature enough to understand what was going on.

“You ran off chasing some fantasy, and now you care?” His father said, as if ignoring his presence. During such, Hikaru noticed that his sister’s eyes hadn’t blinked; in fact they were all white. “And look what you got in return?” His father let loose some combination of a sigh and a grunt and proceeded to turn his back on Midori, from there he just walked out of the room without even waiting for a response. This left Hikaru alone, standing on some sort of brink, almost as if he were asked to take sides in the matter. Right now he stood on an emotional fence, manifested by the opening between two rooms, carved out of wood, and held in place by columns on either side of him.

[Hikaru Akadou]

Hikaru took a step forward and not in the direction his father wanted him too. There were some things that a person just couldn’t fight no matter how desperately they wanted to appease someone they loved. In this case, curiosity, and the need to fill a gap within his heart won out. Although, once the decision was made, that was not to say that everything worked out fine. There would be consequences; there would always be consequences now that he had become a Shinobi. However, just because something could go horribly wrong doesn’t mean that an attempt should not be made. Tension and conflict after all, are what make life exciting and not just some dull ride that could end at any time.

Several seconds passed, and he just stared, standing across from her, where his father had stood. He blinked a few times, titled his head and cleared his throat. And yet, such gestures that would suggest impending speech did not this time. He didn’t know how, or where to start, or if he should even bother. The experience of losing a loved one at a young age, and then having her suddenly returned was not only a shock, but completely unheard of. He had been so young and he wasn’t sure if he had a right to talk to her in the first place. The memories that had once been so prevalent and saddening were all but washed away, lost with his childhood. Somehow, they came flooding back, as if they had been only held up by a dam which was broken by Midori. He had an urge to embrace her but did not move.

Luckily, it was not he whom had to break the silence, for if it had been the ‘staring’ would have persisted much longer, if it ended at all. Midori spoke; wiping away crested tears that had now since dried. “You probably don’t remember me, and I wouldn’t blame you. Name’s Midori I’m your older sister.” As she spoke, he stared at the white that made up both her eyes. They lacked pupils, and although he felt bad, he couldn’t stop himself from gazing into them. There was something distant, serene about them that he couldn’t ignore, nor did he want too. “I’m blind Hikaru; it’s a side effect of absorbing too much chakra at once.” She explained. After several seconds of waiting for a response, she took a few steps forward, closing the distance between them. “Well, are you going to say something, or did you go mute while I was away? You used to talk all the time y’know?

In all honesty, Hikaru didn’t know what to say, or how to act. He couldn’t just accept her for who she was, because he didn’t know. His parents, they were anger at her and she had left the village. The slashed leaf upon her head served as a reminder of what he was dealing with. A Missing-Nin, a Shinobi whom had either betrayed or fled from a village, however unsure of the case, the same concept applied. She was technically an enemy. And yet, he had to do something, he wasn’t like his parents in that way. He wouldn’t yell or just walk out and leave someone else to deal with her. That wasn’t right and it surely wasn’t the best way to welcome home a family member, deserter or not. There was one thing he was sure about: he didn’t want her to leave again, and thus could only do one thing. He closed the rest of the distance between them and embraced her; the height difference only making it slightly awkward. Yet, he remained silent, unable to speak.

[Haretsu]

hikaru: 26 EXP