Home and Blood ✔

20

Aki when in his study with Shin discussing business going on in the village when a knock on his door came. Aki ordered Shin to see who it was.

Shin slide the door open slightly, and peered through seeing a slouched over Ren looking down at her feet.

"Ah Lady Ren!" He greeted her sliding the whole door open and letting her in. Aki looked up to see Ren enter his study. He went back to writing and stamping documents, "How was school?" He asked while stamping and reading an document.

"Fine," Ren muttered. She sat down across from him. 

"Just help with stamping the rest of these papers," He told her. Ren got to work doing what he said. They didn't say anything to each other just doing office work and stamping papers. Aki suddenly spoke up, "Actually I kind off wanted to talk to you?" 

Ren looked up from a paper she was stamping. 

"Is there anything you been hiding from me. That you need to tell me?" Aki asked. Aki noticed she had been acting strange and can't figure out what it was. Ren was good at hiding stuff, keeping secrets, and keeping a straight face. 

Ren gulped. All that was running in her head was Aika. If she should tell him about Aika. He was definitely catching on and noticing her strange behavior. Ren started to sweat because of the million of lies she could say in order to please him. 

"Ren?" Aki said sternly interrupting her thoughts. "You've been ignoring me, skipping dinner, and coming home late for this past week."

Ren stayed silent. 

Aki sighed frustrated. "I need you to be honest right now, Ren. Because if you hiding something that links to the village or Zima, I have the right to know." Aki got up to leave the room, and finally Ren blurted out the truth. 

"Aika is back!" She yelled quickly at Aki's back. 

Aki stopped in place. "Where the hell has she been for the past years."

"Running and hiding, she needs our help but she told me to keep the fact that she was in Japan a secret," Ren said. 

"The same people hunting down Zima, and her mother, found out that she is linked to us. She been hiding, running away, and not contacting us for our own safety." 

"Christ," Aki muttered. He balled his fists. "Where is she currently?"

"At a cottage in the forest outside of town." 

"And for how long has she been here?"

"Almost a week."

"That settles it, tonight we pay her a visit," Aki said leaving the room. 

. . . 

While struggled to keep in the secret of Aika for a week, Zima, and Hino were struggling with their new school life. Stain was a tough teacher, and wanted no excuses for slack. The homework was something they were definitely not use too. Chunin level homework was intense leaving Hino and Zima studying together for hours. Bo seemed so ahead of Zima and Kaito. For someone that was blind she was excellent at her skill, chakra control, ninjutsu, and her special clan ability of being strong in other senses beside sight. 

Zima and Hino did not feel home. For the first week of school, others around them, students, and teachers have gave them the side eye, glared at them, or just walked away in a rush.

"Seriously did we hurt these people mothers of something," Hino asked Zima one time while they were waiting for Jade to come meet them in the training forest. "I'm not understanding the disrespect, you should tell Aki to scare them up a bit." 

"You want them to hate you even more then?" Bo said with a chuckle moving from behind a tree. "Your seriously confused as to why people here are keeping a distance from you two?"

"Yes, I'm genuinely confused," Hino said squashing a bug on the dirt ground with his boots. "Enlighten us, Miss I come from a prodigy genius clan."

Bo sat on boulder and crossed her legs, "People think that when it comes to exam, tournaments, and making it to the next ninja level you two will have it all easy. Just because your the emperor's wife, and your the emperor's spoiled little brother."

"Spoiled?" Hino said taken back, "If anyone is spoiled its her," Hino pointed to Zima. Zima rolled her eyes, and pushing Hino's hand down. 

"Whatever," Bo said putting her hands crossed behind her back. "The point is you two have an unfair advantage compared to the rest of us. The rest of us ninjas been fighting through blood, sweat and tears to get to the highest level, we don't have the emperor to linked to our status for support."

"We have been working hard too, I told all my teachers to not go easy on me on such things. When I was a genin me and Hino worked hard." Zima said in defensive. Did people really think this was that easy for her. That she was just going to cheat to the top. 

"A little too hard if you ask me," Hino said pouting his face to the side.  "Where are these so called "advantages" because please I really would love some." Hino said with air quotes. 

"Well lets start with this one." Zima, Hino, and Bo turned around to see Jade Stain their team sensei entering the field they were waiting for her at. 

She threw a scroll at Hino and Zima's feet. 

Zima picked it up hesitantly and unraveled it to read it. It was an message from the emperor's office with an official stamp placed on it, ordering that Lady Zima and Lord Hino were to treated with more care, obey their commands, and to never call them out of names without saying Lady or Lord first. The list included giving them extra breaks and allowing them to be privately trained.

"I refuse to teach a group of students where ones I must treat differently than others, I advise you to talk to Lord Aki about these procedures or you can beat it to a different academy," Jade said fiercely. 

Zima looked at Hino defeated, who was wide eyed. 

Bo smirked, "So what were you saying again "Lord Hino," and she bowed sarcastically at them. 

. . .