Chapter 38:

Omake Chapter: The Chained Angel (New Year’s Special)

Naruto: The Tale of Yuki Uchiha Volume 1 and 2


Omake Chapter: The Chained Angel (New Year’s Special)

“Sui Hyūga, enter the ring.”

Hearing Vulture’s voice call out her name Sui watched her room door open. A long dimly lit corridor led her way as two shinobi followed her just out of earshot. Still, Sui never understood why Danzō did that. She’d never run away. Not like the others who tried, were caught, punished then rehabilitated. Sui was too smart to try something like that, or rather too stupid not to.

The door closed behind Sui as she entered the ring. To be honest, calling it a ring was a stretch as it was simply a rectangular room with nothing but two steel doors on opposite sides. The only decoration in sight was the Root ninja Vulture, who stood tall in the center with a clipboard in hand and a vulture mask on his face. There he jotted something down, then turned to his right where another door opened, revealing a child slightly older than Sui. The boy wore a strange black mask that covered everything except for his mouth and hair. He looked different compared to the other Root members she’d face, but regardless, she’d squash him like a bug.

“Torune, Sui, you two are to fight until one is incapacitated or dead.” Vulture proceeded to step back towards the edge of the room. “But try not to die. Danzō has no use for the dead.”

“Understood,” Torune said with a salute while Sui simply nodded.

“You two may begin whenever,” Vulture said at a safe distance.

There Torune and Sui stared at one another. Sui made no moves but neither did Torune until he finally exhaled. “Sui Hyūga, possessor of both the Byakugan and Sharingan. Born into the Root. One of Lord Danzō’s favorites. I’ll give you one chance to surrender. I don’t want to kill someone with your skillset, especially on the day of the Rinne Festival.”

Sui stared at Torune with a blank expression as she simply got into her gentle fist stance much to the boy’s surprise. She had her Byakugan active but kept her Sharingan eye covered with an eyepatch. She didn’t need it. Not against him, at least.

“I’m sure you can see it without me removing my clothing.” Torune slipped off his jacket, revealing his body covered in mini purple bugs. “One touch and my insects will spread across your body until you die. Not even your gentle fist can help you—”

In a flash Sui appeared in front of Torune and struck his chest with a palm strike. She felt the wind escape his lungs as he gasped for air, then struck him again. And again. And again. From four palms to eight palms to sixteen palms. Sui hammered away at the boy ignoring the pain from her arms as they turned purple. Until she reached thirty-two palm strikes and knocked Torune into a wall next to Vulture, who simply took notes.

To her surprise he was still awake even with half his chakra network offline. Sui had contemplated if she should’ve used sixty-four palms on him but not killing him was an option while surrendering wasn’t. So with her lightning cloak active she appeared in front of the mumbling Torune who watched as his bugs dropped off her arms almost like she was an electric fly trap.

There Torune coughed up blood as Sui raised her bruised arm without so much as a flinch from the pain. She was what Danzō envisioned when he thought of a Root ninja. Ignorance to pain, lack of mercy, just do as you’re told.

“Good job on yet another clean victory Sui,” Vulture said as he checked Torune’s pulse. “And you let him live. Why? He’s your competition, you know?”

Sui stared at Torune, then looked up at Vulture and spoke with a barely used, raspy voice. “What is the Rinne Festival?”

Vulture stood up with a chuckle, and Sui knew why. She barely spoke, and when she did, it usually was a question of instruction, but asking about something irrelevant was new for both of them. Enough so, she watched him jot some things onto his clipboard, and as ninja came to take Torune along with Sui to medical, she heard Vulture’s whisper.

“Why don’t you go and find out.”

2

Laying in bed, Sui stared at the ceiling, her chest heavy. She wished she could have confided in her brother about her new want to go see this Rinne Festival, but he was still out late being an Academy Student. Something she’d never get to be. Not that Sui wanted anything like that because it made no sense. Like, what was the point of going to school when you were already capable of killing. Sometimes, even Sui couldn’t wrap her finger around Danzō’s thinking. Wait, what if he’s out at the festival right now?

The thought crossed Sui’s mind and pushed her to get out of bed and knock on her door. Besides, she did have Vulture’s permission to go out. Not that he had any real say over Danzō’s strict orders to keep the young ninja isolated. However, her brother was an exception to the rule, and now she would be too as a ninja wearing a boar mask slid open a small hole in the door.

“We already fed you. What’s the problem?”

Sui raised her arms, to which Boar sighed.

“I forgot. You don’t speak.” There Boar opened the door and crouched down to examine Sui’s arms. Torune’s insects had left scars all over them, yet they didn’t hurt anymore. The doctor had asked if she wanted to get something to cover them up, but Sui didn’t think anything of it. Even when Boar clicked her tongue at the sight, while Sui stared back blankly.

“Alright, I’ll take you to medical. Next time tell them you’re in pain. You have a mouth. Use it.”

Sui nodded, causing Boar to shake her head as she led the way in silence. Though all the hallways looked the same, Sui could tell where she was going even as the guard took the long way to medical. The Root, or rather Danzō, was cautious, but nothing could be kept hidden from the Byakugan.

“Hey Doc, you another patient,” Boar said, knocking on the door. “I’m sure you can handle one more.”

Pulling the door open was Isha—the doctor—who was maskless with black eyes and a fake smile. She looked at Boar then stared down at Sui before waving them inside.

“It’s her arms right? I told her she should’ve gotten them covered up with bandages or something.” Isha led them through her medical facility, which kept the dark atmosphere as the rest of their base. Sui made sure not to pay attention to the large tubes containing various human organs, nor the patients who were old and young that lay in medical beds. Some dead, others alive, yet none of them showed any signs of it. It was a sight that Sui became desensitized to as it was the first thing she’d ever gazed upon.

“I’m sure my little angel would look much cuter in pristine condition. Honestly, I should’ve killed that bug brat for leaving marks all over her.” Isha sighed and shrugged as Sui laid down on the operating table where Boar helped set up the medical equipment. Attaching various cords to her body while Isha continued her usual breakdown. “Alas, his special critters do incite my curiosity. But nothing beats my little angel.”

Isha’s smile grew wide, no longer able to hide her salivating mouth as she removed Sui’s eye patch. One white eye and one black eye. A Hyūga-Uchiha hybrid. A genetic masterpiece.

“You can leave us now.” Isha waved Boar away without so much as looking away from Sui. “I can take care of Sui-chan from here.”

“You sure?” Boar said, seemingly ignoring the hunger in Isha’s voice.

“Don’t worry, she’ll be in good care. I promise.”

“Not her. I mean you.”

Isha laughed as she trailed her finger along Sui’s arm. “That’s a first. Lord Danzō may be the overprotective father type. But I believe children need motherly love nurturing them from the root. You may have forgotten, but I still remember who you were, Boar. Such a cute tomboy.”

Boar didn’t respond and did as she was told, leaving Sui with the doctor. It took a moment, but Isha released Sui’s arm aiming for the chakra-inhibiting syringes she stabbed all her patients with. Yet before she could, Isha had to see it again. Sui knew she just had to see it again, even though she had seen it earlier today.

“Oh, Sui-chan,” Isha said in a lullaby-like manner. “Can you show it to me again? If you do, I’ll make all the pain go away.”

Sui sat up, simply blinking in silence, watching as Isha took that as an invitation to move her face close to her own. Isha’s dead dark eyes stared into Sui’s white eye with a smile akin to a doll’s, and in a swift motion, she stole her eyepatch to reveal Sui’s own dark eye. Inches apart, Isha cupped Sui’s cheek leaving chills as she stared lovingly into Sui’s eyes.

“Oh, how Izumi’s eye fits you so perfectly. Your mother is a genius, isn’t she.”

Sui blinked in silence, simply staring at Isha, who started to ramble.

“I know, I know, I know. I wasn’t able to awaken my own Sharingan. And, and, one of my children came out blind. B-but-but look at you. You’re perfect. We-we got to live while they're all dead!” Isha laughed hysterically, only to stop. “If only I was able to get my hands on Ryu’s children, my life would be complete. Curse that Shinigami for dying. That fucking bitch! Damnit! Damn it! Damn it!” Isha bit at the nail of her thumb, not even noticing she had drawn blood. “Oh, imagine if you had the Shinigami’s eye! Oh, how prettier you’d be! My perfect little angel! Hell, I’d even settle for her brother.” Isha scratched at her head, clawing at her scalp. “But that senile piece of shit old man is in our way! Protecting them when they’d be better suited on my table! The-the last Uchiha. Preservation of the Sharingan should be placed above all else. Danzō gets it so why doesn’t anyone else—And why the fuck haven’t you shown them to me yet!”

Isha grabbed Sui’s head, pulling her close until their forehead’s rubbed against one another. Yet Isha didn’t let go, instead holding onto Sui tighter, letting her hot breath wash over Sui in anticipation as her eyes transformed into that of the Byakugan and Sharingan.

“Marvelous! Ah, how you have 3 Tomoe! Izumi must have been so distraught! Can you feel it? Her pain, her sadness, her trauma? My perfect daughter—”

Isha fell face forward, her eyes still open, seeing nothing, yet Sui couldn’t tell if that was because she had placed her in a genjutsu or if her eyes were always like that. Either way, Sui got up off the operating table, removing the medical equipment and covered her Sharingan with her eye patch. There she found the secret exit within the doctor’s office with ease due to her Byakugan. It was a long rising staircase hidden behind a wall that no one would suspect. Thankfully Isha stayed in seclusion, so it would be a long time before anyone would notice Sui’s escape.

With the stone wall opening up, Sui felt the cold draft of air come from the surface as she stood at the stairwell. Going to the surface without supervision was taboo. Sui had never broken a rule before. But like 9Isha, she too needed to sate her curiosity every so often. So with one look back, Sui left with the words:

“I’ll be back soon, mother.”

3

The stairway led to the surface, greeting Sui with a vast forest and a castle to her back, all while drops of snow patted her head in the dead of night. Activating her Byakugan, Sui took note of where she was. Kikyō Castle, still abandoned since the Third Great Ninja War. Or well, it was supposed to be, yet sick roots had to sprout from somewhere.

Sui looked up and noticed the ray of light in the distance, which had to have been coming from the village center. There she climbed the nearest tree shutting off her Byakugan to conserve chakra and weakened her presence. Since if she was caught, she’d have to fight because no matter what, Sui was going to see this Rinne Festival. She was going to see her brother again.

Just the thought brought a smile to Sui’s face as she hopped from branch to branch towards the light, ensuring she made as little sound as possible. Yet she still had to stop in her tracks. In front of her was a thinly veiled wire trap inches from her face. If it wasn’t for the fact it was at her eye level, Sui probably wouldn’t have caught it. But why were there wire traps within the village?

Sui wondered as she activated her Byakugan. If anything, traps should’ve been placed closer towards the village entrance or near Kikyō castle. But she had already avoided those, not to mention they would be set up lower to catch a traitor.

Wait, am I a traitor? No, I’m not because I’ll be coming back. Sui nodded as she reasoned with herself, yet it was at that moment she noticed a child running towards her through the trees. He was gathering lightning chakra in his hand!

“Lightning Style: Shocking Grasp Jutsu!”

Sui jumped back from the electrified wire dodging the attack with ease. But something felt off as the Child seemed to smile.

“Improvised Style: Storm Styled Laser Circus Jutsu!”

To her left, Sui saw the kunai with a tag on it, watching it explode into a beam of lightning aimed at her. Mid-air and nowhere to go, her Sharingan activated on its own, allowing Sui to perceive the beams in slow motion. There were three of them, none of them dodgeable unless—

“Air Palm!”

Using the force from her palm thrust, Sui flew between the beams, dodging the trap, and crashed into the ground as her eyepatch burned away from how close it was to the light.

“Leave me and Sasuke alone!” The Child said from a distance.

Sui clicked her tongue at how careless she was. She hadn’t met anyone who could activate a Kekkei Genkai Jutsu from a distance, especially a child. But like that bug boy, the Leaf Village hid all sorts of talents in children. So instead of getting up, Sui laid her own trap as the Child’s voice drew closer.

“Wait, you’re not—Are you ok!”

There! Lightning Style: Lightning Cloak 10%! Sui launched forward straight into the Child, whose eyes widened, yet he couldn’t dodge. No child would have been able to dodge that even if they could see it. And where Sui aimed to break his arms, she decided to pin him to the ground for one reason and one reason only. He had eyes like hers. In fact she felt her left eye twitch in some form of sadness from looking at the Child.

He had two-Tomoe Sharingan, a stage weaker than her own, and his black hair was an unorganized mess of spikes going in every direction. But what made him stand out the most was his smile. It was like her brothers. No, it was different from her brothers. Like it wasn’t comforting, but it didn’t feel forced either. Why is he smiling? Shouldn’t he be afraid? Or trying to break free? Wait, what’s he saying?

“Your eyes…”

My eyes?

Sui touched her left eye and flinched, remembering her eye patch was gone. She had been caught having both a Byakugan and Sharingan. Danzō would kill her if he found out. There was only one option. Sui stared down at the boy under her with a raised hand. The boy had to die, but he was one of the last Uchiha, and people would notice. What to do? What to do? Sui wondered and wondered, ignoring the boy’s talking and how his face grew red until she heard the pop of a firework in the distance.

“Tell anyone about my eyes, and I’ll kill you,” Sui said as her eyes returned to normal. One of the best ways to keep someone quiet is with a threat. Something she was taught during her interrogation class. He had already seen how strong she was; in that position, the boy would have no choice but to keep it a secret. At least for tonight, then who would believe him if he said he saw a girl with a Sharingan and Byakugan.

“Lips sealed but on one condition.” The Child said keeping his broad smile.

Sui turned her head and snatched the kunai from the Child’s pocket, directing the blade at his neck. “What?”

“Marry me.”

“…”

“…”

Sui gave a blank stare at the Child whose face became redder than his eyes, and my god, I don’t even remember asking that. Yet no one was more embarrassed than Sui, who at the time didn’t even understand what marriage was, let the word leave her mouth:

“Fine—”

“Wh-what I meant to say is could you come to the Rinne Festival with me!”

“Fine.”

Sui got up off the Child, watching him spaz out on the ground for some reason, to the point she wondered if it was because of the kunai in her hand. So ignoring his rambling, she tapped his shoulder with it, and there the Child looked at her with a shaky smile. He was nervous, yet that didn’t stop him from accepting the kunai.

“Oh, thank you.” The Child said, finally standing up. He was shorter than Sui, with a fairly weak presence. Was it because he didn’t have his Sharingan active? She wondered as he held onto her arm.

“Oh man. Oh man. I’m sorry for hurting you. Give me a second.”

The Child took off running, where Sui simply followed the trail of footprints in the snow. There she passed by a bunch of bullseye targets scattered around the trees, each with kunai stuck in the center. Eventually, stepping into a puddle of water that should have been frozen over.

“Oh no, you weren’t supposed to follow me.” The Child came back running with a roll of bandages in his hand. “You’re going to get sick now—you’re not wearing winter clothes!”

Sui tilted her head and noticed that the boy was dressed in a black-red winter parka with pants and closed-toe shoes. Whereas she had on her typical root uniform, which was just a tank top and shorts with basic ninja shoes. Though Sui didn’t even shiver from the cold, the Child behaved as if she had hypothermia.

“Here, take my hand. We go to get you out of the water.” The Child said, reaching up at Sui, who simply held his hand with no problem whatsoever. It was even easier to just step out of the ankle-deep water, and though it did start to get a little chilly for Sui, she had no problem walking to the tree stump that the Child guided her to. There he crouched down and stared at her feet, his face turning red seconds afterward. Yet with a quick shake of his head, he did the hand signs Boar → Horse → Tiger and blew a stream of warm air that brought back the feeling to her toes as she wiggled them around.

“Feeling better?” The Child asked with a smile as he wiped his forehead. That was the second time he had shown her a technique outside of what she had learned, yet it didn’t seem like some special hidden Jutsu just fire and wind.

“How did you do that?”

“Well normally, that would create a fireball, but that would hurt you, so I had to make it weaker. A lot weaker. So weak, in fact, I was able to add some wind chakra. Let me know if you’re thirsty.” The Child said with a slight chuckle as he scratched his head. Man, did I take some big risks back then…

Sui shook her head as she already had dinner for the night hours ago. The Child let out a sigh of relief and then proceeded to wrap her arms in bandages. It was a tedious process. Where Sui didn’t complain, but she never said she wanted to go through it either. Why he wasted time on something that didn’t hurt anymore made no sense. Maybe it was so she didn’t draw attention at the festival. That has to be it. Sui reasoned with herself as the Child finished.

“All done. Be sure to get those changed tomorrow.” The Child then walked some ways away and placed his hand on the ground. “Release!”

In a puff of smoke, a small chest appeared, and the Child went digging through it until he pulled out a parka like his, yet it was bigger than him. Bigger than Sui even. But that didn’t stop the Child from giving it to her along with a pair of shoes.

“Now try these on. Sorry if they don’t fit.”

At first, Sui stared at the outfit but then decided to do as she was told, finding out that the parka was indeed too big for her, going all the way down to her knees. The Child even laughed as Sui seemed completely fine with the outfit.

“Yeah, I guess my sister’s clothes wouldn’t fit you.” The Child looked towards the village then back at her. “We could stop by my house to find an older pair, but…”

Sui tilted her head as the Child glanced downward with a slight shadow cast across his face.

“Nothing, it’s just we might miss the festival.”

Sui shook her head as she did not do all of this just to miss the Rinne Festival. Though for some reason, the Child smiled at her losing his somber demeanor from before. It was obviously fake, yet it didn’t seem to be for her sake rather for his own. He was a strange child Sui concluded but let him lead the way as she had a deal to keep.

“Then let’s go! It’s not too far from here on foot. Even with all the trees.” The Child said leisurely, walking through the snow with Sui close behind. “So you’re from Kikyō Castle, right?”

Sui didn’t like that question. She wasn’t going to give the Child any more information than what he already had. So silence was the best option, and the Child picked up on it quickly.

“Oh sorry. You probably want to keep that a secret.” The Child said, scratching his head in the silence until he decided to do a random cartwheel. “Think fast!”

Sui felt a cold chill against her cheek and stared at the laughing Child.

Did he just throw snow at me? Why? If he had any killing intent behind that throw, she would have dodged it with ease, but it didn’t. In fact, the blow didn’t even hurt; it was just mildly annoying. Just like his laughter. What was so funny? Is it because of the snow? Sui thought as she looked at the frozen water.

“I warned you.” The Child teased as he walked backwards. “Not even the Shinigami can dodge my snowball throw—”

Air Palm!

A wave of snow washed over the Child until his body became an outline in the mound of snow. And for some reason giving him that healthy dose of payback was enough to give rise to a chuckle that grew into a laugh that Sui couldn’t control. Yet when the Child didn’t get back up, a thought crossed her mind forcing her to dash towards him. There’s no way that killed him, right?

Sui bent down to reach into the snow only to be grabbed by a hand that pushed out of the mound. There the snow blew away from the Child with red eyes in a surprise attack that left her speechless as he dragged her into the snow. Together they both laid flat on the ground where the Child, through his laughs, spoke.

“See, I knew you had a pretty laugh.”

“How.”

“I-uh. I-uh. I-uh. What I meant was that your voice sounds dry, but your laugh is full of life or something like that. D-Don’t listen to me—”

“No, how are you able to sneak up on me.”

“Oh that…” The Child shrugged his shoulders as he played in the snow. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just super sneaky. I mean, I am going to become the world’s greatest ninja, after all. I’ll find the truth. I’ll free Sasuke. Restore my clan and make it so that tragedies like that never happen again. I’ll be a hero!”

“You’re just like him.”

“What?” The Child lifted his head, his face red from what he had just said out loud to a girl he literally just met. I was not smooth at all back then

“He’s always able to sneak up on me too.”

“W-were you ignoring me?”

Sui ignoring the Child continued. “I can avoid assassins, tigers, bandits, and kunai, yet not a child clearly slower than me.”

“Those all sound like things out to kill you.”

“But even when you used your Sharingan. I couldn’t sense you. So how are you hiding your intent?”

“I-I’m not. I’m just playing with you.” The Child laughed as he stood up then reached down to her. “You don’t have fun where you’re from?”

Sui stared up at the Child who reached out to her. His red eyes, now black, yet they saw her. They looked at her, acknowledging her existence so much so she couldn’t help but want to take his hand. If only to know where he would take her. Just because she was curious. And as her hand met his, Sui saw the sky light up in what she could only describe as burning flowers that overshadowed even the moon in color.

Red, white, yellow, blue, each resonating with a bang or a pop leaving her mesmerized in the display, yet what brought Sui back to earth was the Child who seemed to be under a genjutsu with the way he stared at her as if nothing else in the world existed.

“Then let’s have fun tonight.” The Child said, bringing Sui up to her feet, and soon after, the two took off running through the woods.

4

Leaving their footprints in the snow and their sounds of laughter, the two chucked snowballs at one another all the way to the village center. But it wasn’t going to stop there. No, a fierce rivalry grew between the two, with 20 hits for the Child and 25 for Sui, which had to be some kind of mistake since I was pretty sure I had 25 hits to her 20. Though the count didn’t matter as a man with long blond hair and presumably his daughter with short blond hair were hit by passing snowballs.

“Yuki! My hair!” The blonde-haired child screamed as the Child and Sui came running past them.

“Sorry Ino!” The Child said while dodging a flurry of snowballs Sui sent after him. There he laughed at the bystanders who got caught in the crossfire leaving Sui confused as to how he could dodge her attacks until she noticed a red sparkle from his eyes when he returned fire. That cheater was using his eyes. Not that we made rules, but it was pretty clever knowing she couldn’t use her Sharingan. However, Sui didn’t need tricks to dodge as she had gotten used to their game, sliding out of the way with grace only to receive another angry complaint from a kid and his dog.

“Watch where you’re aiming that—”

The kid was silenced as he was hit by a three-hit snowball combo that Sui had no problem dodging, almost as if the Child was aiming for the kid.

“That’s it! Snowball fight!” The kid and his dog howled as they chucked their own volley of snowballs, but unlike Sui and the Child, they weren’t aiming, purely throwing off instinct. It didn’t matter if you were in the ramen shop or taking a stroll through the snow. If you weren’t paying attention, there was a face full of snow with your name on it. Where it soon dragged in other kids of the Leaf Village to join in on the fun.

One of them wore goggles and reminded Sui of Torune, while another kid had pink hair. A kid with droopy eyes didn’t even try to dodge the snow but instead yawned as he took cover behind a large kid who was munching on a bag of chips. The fighting got to the point that even some of the older kids joined as a kid with super bushy eyebrows came in, forcing everyone to run away from the messy snowballs he threw with zero accuracy. With so much going on and many more people joining in the fray, Sui barely noticed the Nine-Tailed Jinchūriki take part in the fun as it seemed no one batted an eye. Hell, no one seemed to notice her as she started to pelt people from the rooftops laughing.

“I got you!” Sui said.

“And you!” She continued.

“I won’t forget about you!”

“There you are!” Sui yelled as the Child was right in her sights, cornered in an alleyway by a group of ten girls, and in a flash, she knocked them down with her snow palms.

“Wow.” The Child said in awe. “Thanks for the save—”

“Oh, I’m not saving you.” Sui laughed hysterically with her Byakugan active for some reason.

“Wait! I surrender!”

Sui stared at the Child with black eyes and raised arms as all of his snowballs were on the ground, yet just like before: “Surrender was never an option.”

And with an eight-hit combo, Sui laughed along with the rest of the girls, who recovered as the Child was covered in snow. They each gave Sui high-fives for some reason, but she just went with the flow, enjoying her first Rinne Festival. It would have been perfect too, until she felt a familiar presence behind her.

“Really? You came here? If you were going to escape, at least cover your trail.”

Standing tall in a cloak that hid all of her features except for an Anbu mask was Boar. The other kids didn’t know what was going on, but they distanced themselves from Sui as it didn’t take much for them to know that Boar wasn’t after them.

“You’re one of his favorites, yet it was this easy to find you.” Boar shook her head with a sigh. “Come with me without a fuss, and I won’t tell anyone. Deal?”

Sui hung her head low, slowly trudging forward, knowing that this was probably the best outcome for her. Though she did glance back at the Child, who trembled like the others, before continuing to walk forward. What did she even expect? Her night of fun should’ve been more than enough to be satisfied. A night where she was free to be a child. Sui could be content with the memories she made—

“She doesn’t want to go!”

Sui stopped as she heard the Child’s voice. It was meek and so high-pitched it might as well have been a kitten’s mewl. Hearing Boar’s chuckle, Sui wanted to tell him it was fine, but as she raised her head and glanced back, the Child wasn’t there. Then Sui no longer felt the ground. And with wide eyes, she saw the Child with red eyes glow an electric blue while he carried her. I-Is that Lightning Chakra Mode? Sui had never seen it with such a dark shade before. Almost like he was using it at 100%.

“I won’t let you take away the one girl who finally said yes.”

“Yes to what?” Boar asked as she got into a fighting pose, only to be caught off guard by the series of loud smacks of the group of girls facepalming.

“There’s no way she said yes to being your wife….” The girl with short blonde hair said.

“Does she not know.” Another girl said.

“Sh-sh-stop. You’re ruining my moment.” The Child said as sweat beaded down his face.

“I think your “wife” deserves to know that you asked me to marry you last week.” A different girl said.

“He asked me on Monday.”

“He asked me this morning.”

“He asked me during lunch.”

“He asked me before the festival.”

“He asked me during the festival.”

Sui listened to the various girls, confused, yet feeling they were upset at the Child; she stared at him as his face turned red, and he began to tremble again.

“I-uh. I-uh. I-uh. It’s not what it looks like! My mom said if you find a girl you like, just tell her how you feel. For example, all she did was ask my dad to marry her, and he said yes.”

Boar, along with the rest of the girls except Sui, gave the Child a blank stare until Boar finally pointed it out. “That’s not how it works you—”

Sui didn’t get the chance to hear the rest of Boar’s sentence as they took to the rooftops, where the Child blitzed through the village carrying her as if she couldn’t walk on her own. As if it wasn’t painful for him. As if he cared about her. Until he crashed into the snow. It had taken the Child longer than she expected for his body to give out, yet what’s more, is that he was still conscious.

“S-sorry about the landing.” The Child said with a weak laugh.

“How are you still—”

“You know, the sky at night, it’s so pretty.”

Sui gazed up at the full moon that hovered above them. She had no idea where he had taken her from just lying down in the snow; however, it was clear they were far enough away from the village center that the moon seemed to be the only light in the sky brightening their world. It was pretty, Sui agreed.

“What’s your name?”

“Sui Hyūga.”

The Child laughed again. “Water meeting Snow no wonder I like you.”

“Water meeting snow?”

“Yuki Uchiha, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Yu-ki U-chi-ha.”

“That’s right.” The Child laughed once more. “You know your voice sounds a lot better than it did when we first met. I’m glad.”

And for a moment, they laid there in silence where Sui could barely hear Yuki’s breathing. But as the silence dragged on, she sprang up with her Sharingan and Byakugan active. It hadn’t even occurred to her until now she probably should’ve got him to a medical ninja. Chakra Exhaustion was something that usually killed most Root trainees. Why didn’t I think about it before? Was I really caught by his words—

“How…” Sui stared down at Yuki, unable to control the questions in her mind, melding them all into a single word of how. Not only was his chakra network fine, but he no longer possessed the purple chakra he had before. Rather it was utterly black. It made no sense. The only person with black chakra she had ever met was Danzō, and that was after the Uchiha Coup-De-Tat. So how—

Yuki opened his eyes, and they were red with three spiraling black scythes as pupils. Those are not his eyes. That is not his chakra. But it was his voice that spoke with his smile.

“What’s your dream?” The Child asked.

“My dream?”

“It’s only fair. I told you mine.”

Sui thought for a moment. Her dream. It was something her brother had asked her before. Even then, she never gave it much thought. Dreams were for people who did more than what they were told. Tools didn’t have dreams. They just worked. Yet Isha had a dream. While Danzō did too. Both of them were so grandiose that it drove their actions day in and day out. Sui didn’t have that kind of motivation. She wasn’t like her brother. Who dreamed even as a tool. Who was the perfect Child. The most she’s ever wanted was to see the Rinne Festival and talk to her brother. She just wanted to smile with him. She just wanted to live with him.

“I just want to live.”

“That’s it?” The Child asked.

Sui started to nod, but something inside her said that wasn’t enough as Yuki’s eyes seemed to see through her. As if she could hide nothing from them. So instead, she said:

“Yes. I just want to live.”

“Then, for our Rinne Festival Resolutions, we’ll work towards our dreams.”

“It’s a promise.”

Sui declared, reaching down to Yuki with her pinky out. His black to her white, their eyes met as Sui remembered her promise to assist her brother with his dreams. So it only made sense she’d make a promise with the boy she agreed to marry.

And though Yuki knocked out after their pinkies intertwined, Sui wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t forgotten the promise they made. Where it grew along with them every Rinne Festival, even after she rejected every attempt he made to get her to be his girlfriend. Because to Sui, they were already more than that.

THE END

Author’s Note:

Heyo! ( ̄▽ ̄)/ T.K.月狐 here. And I am back in 2023! I hope you all have had a good set of holidays, and I’m here with some news along with this special Omake chapter. (Which took a lot longer than I expected to finish, haha…). Now I know you all have been waiting for the continuation of this story, and good news is I am already finished with 10k words out of the planned 40k to 60k word volume, so it is being worked on. I promise. Depending on how life goes with my schedule, I should be posting it by March. Hopefully accompanied with artwork if we’re lucky.

Bad news is, technically, I could have spent this time writing Volume 2 instead of writing this 6k-worded gift that was supposed to be done by Christmas and then by New Years, but what’s done is done, and besides, I was probably going to need to write this anyway haha.

Other than that, I hope you enjoyed this little first encounter between Sui and Yuki. I tried to make it more lighthearted, but then I started thinking about Sui’s past, and well, it couldn’t be too lighthearted. I’m such a monster, but she’s happy now, so it’s fine. I just can’t wait to write this again, but from Yuki’s perspective because there’s so much he actually said, but Sui wasn’t the best listener at the time. Though I hope you all don’t mind the wait, and once again, Happy New Year! And Happy Rinne Festival! 

T.K. 月狐
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