Identity

I Want To Reach You

Hideki walked along the trodden dirt road, determined to reach the nearest village. Rumor was there were shinobi with pink hair seen running around.

He had to find those people.

Pink-haired people weren't exactly the 'everyday citizen' these days. These days, pink-haired people were rare. Very rare.

Hideki believed that these rumored shinobi were the very people he had been long searching for; his family.

The dreadful incident known to very few as the, 'Inconceivable Massacre', was the turning point in his life, and the reason he had been separated from his family.

It was named that because the idea of a single village taking on the Haruno clan, and emerging victorious, was absolutely absurd, and not at all expected.

After the massacre, he was taken in by some nice everyday people, who were the typical everyday family, in Amegakure. Though it always rained, Hideki never failed to execute his training.

He knew that was what his family would have wanted. 

When he reached the age of eighteen, Hideki left his typical home and set out to find something, anything, related to or regarding his family.

Now, at 22 years of age, Hideki has found clues that point to the survival and possibly the location of his clanmates.

After much time Hideki came upon a large mountain valley, that led straight into earth country. He was headed for the other side, the land in-between the wind and the earth.

As he walked through, he felt the chill of another presence, hidden somewhere. He brought his hand up to the hilt of his katana.

Before Hideki could get a decent grip on the blade, a dark figure pounced from the shadows, and tackled him to the ground.

Hideki kicked off the intruder, and quickly took hold of his blade. Then, with much force, he slashed the dark figure through the middle.

The dark figure paused, but was not stopped. It retaliated and once again attacked Hideki, rendering his attempts at escaping useless.

Hideki was weakened from a near fatal blow, and knocked to the ground. The dark figure pinned Hideki to the ground, and spoke softly, with a voice like gravel.

"Looky what I found. Another Haruno? Who might you be? Someone important to the cherry blossom, perhaps?"

Hideki stopped his struggles, and focused on what this figure had just said. "Cherry blossom?" he whispered to himself. "You mean, Sakura!?"

The figure looked at him, with it's mustard colored eyes. "Why yes, I do mean Sakura. Why?" Hideki's struggles grew larger. "Stay away from my imōto!" 

The black figure regained control by piercing Hideki again. He chuckled darkly. "I see. You will be helpful indeed."

The dark, shadowy figure slowly started to lose it's shape and became a black blob. It then began to cover Hideki and connect itself.

"W-What are you doing!? Stop!" Hideki tried, and tried, but to no avail. The black matter was apart of him now. In his ear, he heard a low chuckle.

"Now, take a nice long nap. I'll be using your body for a while." Hideki fought with all his might, but eventually felt his consciousness slip away; he fell into oblivion.

Some time later, he awoke in a pitch black space. He couldn't remember much of what happened, but he knew that some mysterious creep was after his imōto.

For what felt like ages, he floated in his unconscious mind. He eventually concluded that he was in a coma, and what had happened before had just been a dream.

That is, until he heard the gravelly voice of the being who captured him, and took over his body. Hideki was unable to make out what exactly it was that he was saying, but he knew they were thoughts.

He put two and two together, and figured the mysterious person should be able to hear him as well. He shouted, "Why are you doing this!?" No answer.

"What could she possibly have to do with you!?" Again, no answer. "She's nothing like you! She's pure of heart, and very dear to me!?" 

Again the villain ignored him. He couldn't stand this. He was losing his sanity. The silence. The emptiness. The thought of never again seeing his imōto.

Countless times he tried. He tried to convince the person who stole his body of doing otherwise- to leave Sakura alone. But countless times, he was ignored.

Then, the day came when he finally heard her voice. She was demanding. Then she was sad. She was crying. He couldn't make out her words but he knew she was saying his name.

Hideki tried calling out to his imōto, all to no avail. But his deep desire to see his dear sister again, created a miracle.

Color.

He could see everything the body-thief could see. Including his imōto and Hikari. Just seeing them overflowed him with emotions.

Before he was even aware, Hideki had gained control of his body back. He brought his arms up to hug his younger sister, who he'd lost and so terribly missed.

Then, just as fast as the wonderful moment started, it ended. When they released the hug, the black matter-made figure took control.

Hideki was still allowed to see, but he was no longer allowed to feel; he was numb. He only felt when his emotions overtook him and he had control over his body.

When he taught Sakura how to use the Rinnegan in battle, he felt it was like the old days, just without their mother and father.

He felt angered when they were confronted by Sasuke and Naruto, and wanted to protect his sister himself.

While they were traveling, he would sometimes remember the good times he and Sakura had together, and would come back.

The night the black figure was planning something, and covered it up by telling Sakura it was a surprise, she hugged him and he began to feel truly happy.

Each time was shorter than the last.

Then came the happiest day his family ever had: Sakura's birthday. And on this day, he was finally liberated. Free from the torture of hurting his imōto.

His freedom, however, came with a great price. He would no longer be able to live alongside his sister and friend. 

Before succumbing to the pull of death, he was able to have a short conversation, and give his imōto one last goodbye.

He sighed. "I almost forgot," He closed his eyes and relaxed. "Happy Birthday, Imōto."