Iris [Naruto Fanfiction]

Hideki

I opened the door to my house after my team and I dispersed.

"I'm home," I say when I walked through the door.

"Hey, kid," Aiko yells back from the kitchen.

I take off my shoes at the door front and walk towards the kitchen, but stop when I see Aiko standing there with the box I got from the Land of Waves in her hands. I try my best to keep a calm demeanor, but I failed miserably.

"I was cleaning today and I found this in your room. I don't wanna be nosy or anything, but what is it?"

"It's just a box I found on our mission in the Land of Waves."

Aiko sighed and stared at me knowingly. "I know what this symbol means. This box is used by those who practice witchcraft. What I want to know is why do you have it?"

The insides of my stomach and twisting and turning so much I feel like I'm going to be sick. Doesn't everyone else feel this way when they're scared or nervous?

I take a few steps closer to her. "Promise me that you won't hate me or treat me differently when I tell you this."

"Fine," she said after staring at me for a few moments.

"Okay. You might wanna sit down for this." I take the box out of her hand and walk to the living room, with Aiko trailing behind me. I sit on the couch and place the box on the coffee table. Aiko takes the seat next to me.

"So these words right here says... this box can only be opened by a witch," I say while trailing my fingers over the carved words. "And when I found it, I was able to open it." I turn to look at Aiko. Her wide eyes were filled with shock and disbelief.

"This is impossible. Witches haven't been heard from in years. The world thought they were all dead... but you..." She turned to me and grabbed me by my arms. "Who else knows?"

"I only told Kakashi sensei. And he already told me how dangerous it would be for me if people knew."

"So you know how dangerous it is for you if people were to find out. I'm keeping your promise so now you have to promise me something."

"What?"

"Don't let anyone else find out about who you are. Promise?"

"I promise," she finally releases my arm. I didn't realize until then how hard she gripped my arm. "Aiko, why are you so protective of me?" I ask while rubbing my arm.

Her stare seemed distant, and sad. "I just don't want to lose another child of mine."

A sullen aura filled the room. "You had a child?" I ask.

"Yep. A boy. His name was Hideki. He was a ball of sunshine. My happiness. And he was only five when it happened."

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to him?"

Her face fell. It was filled with sadness and regret, and even a bit of hatred. "My enemies already knew that using my own products against me wouldn't work. And killing me wasn't satisfactory enough for them. So they took him instead. He vanished without a trace. And they left me here, to suffer and drown in my own thoughts as I wonder what could have happened to him. Where he's gone. If he's dead or alive. Or if he even remembers my face."

My heart sunk as I watched Aiko break down and reveal all her pain to me. I held her hand with both of mine.

"We'll find him one day," I say, attempting to give her hope. "We could go on a mission together where the goal is to find your son. We could do it. I'm sure we can."

Aiko turned to me and smiled brightly, even though tears were threatening to fall out of her eyes. She pulled me into a hug and rested her chin on my head.

"Thanks, kid."

***

The next day, my team and I meet up at the same bridge, and again, we had to wait hours for Kakashi sensei to join. I didn't mind really. This bridge has a nice view of the water and the sound of the rushing water is relaxing. After what happened in the Land of Waves, I've become less scared of the water.

But that relaxation came to an end when Sakura started ranting about not getting to blow dry her hair, then Naruto joins in and talks about how he didn't brush his teeth or change his underwear. Ew.

Kakashi sensei poofed into a view on the same arch as before. "Good morning everyone. Sorry I'm late. Afraid I got lost on the path of life." He jumped onto the ground and stood in front of us. "I know this is a big sudden but I recommended you for the Chunin Exams- all four of you. These are your application forms." He held them out to us.

I took one out of his hand and examined it, acting as if I knew what it said. My other three teammates took one as well.

"This is all voluntary. It's up to each of you, and if you don't feel ready, you could wait until next year to take the exam. But for whoever wants to take the exams, sign the application and come to room 301 at the Academy at n3:00 PM, five days from now. That's it."

The four of us went our separate ways afterwards. I walked the path I usually take to get home as usually, until Aiko appeared out of nowhere.

"Hey, Iris," she said. "Why don't we go for a walk before we get back to the house?"

"Sure," I say, a little unsure. She steers me to a different route, somewhere into the forest. Something seems a bit off about her.

"I hear you're gonna be taking the Chunin exams. Are you sure you're ready for that?"

"Well, I only came here a little over a month ago. So if we're being honest, I'm not too sure about it. But I'm gonna do it anyways, for my teammates. I have to be there for them during the exams."

"Oh, I see. I don't think you should do it, in my opinion. You're not ready."

"Maybe..." While walking, I notice her hands are behind her, and she's not using her cane. It's not even with her. And her heels are now regular boots. And when she saw me, she called me by my name, not kid. What the hell is going on?

I stop in my tracks, and panicked when 'Aiko' did the same. She turned around and looked at me in confusion.

"What's the matter?"

Without thinking, I pull a kunai out of my pouch and throw it at the imposter. They jumped out of the way in time, letting the kunai stab into a tree. In a puff of smoke, the imposter revealed themselves to be  a strange man who's mouth was covered by a mask, and wore a hat with a piece of metal on it that had four vertical lines on it.

"So, you saw right through me, didn't you?" the man said. He then charged right at me, and I teleported behind him. He turned around to me and threw shuriken at me.

I held up my hands and stopped them in mid air. When I dropped my hand, the shuriken fell to the ground. The man continued to charge at me, this time with a knife in his hand. I mindlessly raise my hands again trying to stop him, but instead, fire rose from the ground, making a barrier between me and him.

The man screamed in pain. I could see through the flames that he was clutching his hand. I dropped my hands, trying to make the flames go down, but it didn't work. I continued doing it until the flames finally went down.

The man looked at me in fear and confusion, until he jumped into the trees, leaving me in my own state of confusion, and the fumes that came from the fire I caused.