Shattered Dreams (Naruto fanfic)

Chapter 6

(A/N: I edited the last paragraph of Chapter 5 because I didn't like how it turned out. Thanks for reading and please heart and comment!)

It had been several days since I first arrived by the river and it was time for me to go back to make my report. At the moment, I was hanging out with Hashirama and Madara and we were discussing our plans for the future. Our conversation had come to a lull so I decided to let them know. "Hey guys, I'm not going to be able to meet up for the next few days. I don't know how long I'll be gone but I know I'll be back." Hashirama looked at me in concern. "Are you in some sort of trouble?" I sighed. "No, but I need to return home. I've been away too long." "So you have been sleeping in the forest these past few days. I suspected you weren't going home every night," Madara mused. "Yeah, my home is a bit of a distance from here so I can't go home every night." "You've been sleeping out here? By yourself?" Hashirama seemed a bit shocked at the thought. I nodded. "Why are you so far from home by yourself?" Madara questioned. "I'm on a mission. That's all I can say." Hashirama shook his head. "I can't believe that your clan sent a twelve year old girl out on a mission by herself, far from home." I lightly punched him in the arm. "Hey, I can handle myself. Besides if they hadn't, I wouldn't have met you two." He gave me a small smile but he still seemed disturbed. "While I am grateful for that, I still do not sit well with the idea." "Maybe while she's gone, we can see if we can find her a place to stay when she comes back," Madara offered. Hashirama seemed to perk up at the idea. "That's a great idea Madara." I felt my eyes get watery as my heart swelled with joy. I jumped up and attacked them both in a hug. I felt them both stiffen in surprise. "Thank you guys, for being such good friends. You've given me hope and happiness again." I felt the tears roll down my cheeks so I released the hug and began wiping the tears from my face. They both still looked shocked but Madara's face softened when he saw my tears. His hand reached up and his thumb gently stroked my face to catch a stray tear. His hand was warm as it lingered for a second. He seemed to realize that both Hashirama and I were staring at him and he quickly took his hand away. I noticed a slight blush come to his cheeks. He looked down at his feet and mumbled, "Just be careful alright? You don't want to run into any more ninja again." Hashirama turned to me. "Madara has a point. Try to be careful out there. There are many shinobi who will kill you without thinking if they think you're an enemy. I don't want you to end up like my brothers." I saw the sad look cross his face. Hashirama had told me how he lost his brothers Itama and Kawarama. Both Madara and Hashirama had just one younger sibling left; exactly like me. I reached out and gave Hashirama's hand a squeeze. "I promise I'll be careful." He smiled and gave my hand a squeeze back.

I set out early the next morning. It was early evening when I managed to reach my clan's home. Fortunately this time, I was able to travel without incident. I sprung myself off a tree and landed a few feet away from the village gate. The two guards on duty tensed when they saw me. I waited for them to finish analyzing my chakra as a confirmation of who I was. They relaxed and gave me a nod. "Your father said to have you report to him as soon as you returned." I walked through the gate and headed straight towards my home. They should be having dinner about now. I slid open the front door and took my shoes off. I heard low murmurings coming from the dining room so I headed that way. I reached the entry way and saw my father, sister, and my father's assistant, Kyrie. Really dad, can't even have dinner with your family by yourself? While I liked Kyrie, sometimes I wish my father didn't rely on her so much. Kyrie and my father were talking while my sister sat there awkwardly eating her food. They all looked up when they saw me enter. Yurie's face broke out in a smile when she saw me. "Mayumi!" she squealed and tackled me in a hug. I wrapped my arms around her. I looked at father and he gave me a slight nod. That was as much greeting as I was going to get from him. "Come on Yurie. That's not appropriate behavior. Come sit down and finish your food." There was a small smile on his face when he said that. He adored Yurie and always showed her affection. Affection that he never showed me. Kyrie said that Yurie looked a lot like our mother. It frustrated me sometimes since it seemed like he was always disappointed in me. "Welcome home Miss Mayumi," Kyrie greeted warmly. "Thanks Kyrie." My sister and I sat down and a servant brought me food. "So how did your mission go?" Yurie asked. Father didn't even look up from his plate. "Not at the dinner table Yurie. This a discussion between me and Mayumi only." Yurie's face fell. Being only 8, she hadn't been on any big missions yet so she always wanted to hear about mine. I gave her a sympathetic smile. Then I made a couple of hand signals where Father couldn't see, indicating that I would tell her later. She gave me a small nod and we turned back to our food.

After dinner, Father had me follow him to his office. Kyrie had gone to get the elders so they were already waiting for us when we arrived. Father sat down on a cushion behind a low table and I knelt down in front of him. "Go ahead and give us the mission report." He was using his clan leader voice now. I told them about everything that happened. Except for one major detail. I left out the part about meeting Madara and Hashirama. I knew they would never approve of my friendship with mysterious shinobi. When I was finished, they started talking among each other. The female elder, Raina, spoke up first. "This is troubling news. These clans might give us more trouble than we first thought." The old man, Shen, spoke next. "Common folk have always feared shinobi. We cannot take hearsay as an indicator that these clans are powerful." Father seemed pensive as he thought over their words. "While that may be true, we cannot just discard their words. We must use caution and gather more intel. We don't want to lose a whole bunch of men just because we're too overconfident." My head snapped up and I stared at my father. "Father, if I may, I want to ask a question." He looked at me and gave me a nod of approval. "Why are we raiding the southern lands? Surely it can not be because we need more territory. It seems like too big of a risk for just that." Raina was furious. "How dare you question-" My father held up his hand and she stopped her rant. "You are correct Mayumi. This is not just about expanding our lands. The true goal is to showcase our power so that the feudal lords will acknowledge us and hire us for jobs." "But surely there must be a better way to achieve that goal!" He shook his head. "The Senju and Uchiha are seemingly formidable clans. To truly gain reputation, we must defeat these clans and show our strength. Only then will we be acknowledged." A thought occurred to me. "You knew about these clans before I went on this mission. You knew and didn't say a word about it to me! What is the point of me doing this!" I was yelling at this point. All the anger and hurt was boiling in my chest. How could they know and not tell me? Father's voice started to raise as well. "Yes, we had heard rumors about the Senju and Uchiha. We knew of their existence. We wanted you to gather Intel and see if these rumors are true. We wanted you to get a gauge of what their true power is so that we know what to expect in battle!" "But-" "That is enough Mayumi! It is not your place to question the clan leader!" Father was livid. It was very rare for me to see him lose his calm demeanor. I clenched my jaw shut and stared at the floor. Father sighed and his calm mask reappeared. "You are excused Mayumi." I gave a sharp nod and left the room.