Remember Grandauntie

[Shimura Kumiko]

[atrb=style, width: 350px; background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/dDxps.png);][atrb=valign,top] She smiled as she sat in her alter room. Candles burned, filling the room with scents of fresh bamboo and fresh air. She was seated before it in a kimono of white; a kimono of the most brilliant white she'd ever worn. She wore it the day the girl she was going to contact was born. She'd worn it her first birthday, and each birthday afterward. Sio knew her grandaunt by such colors. The woman who acquired more wrinkles with each year that she saw her, better yet, each time she saw her. Yet, she was still full of cheer and wonder and jolly thoughts. Her hair was shiny as the most beautiful geisha to befall the earth and it was obvious to see that some time into the past, she was the most sought after kunoichi in the village. The moon hung high over the Leaf Village on this quiet night. The wind gods emptied their bags to provide a gentle breeze to counteract the warmth. The clouds turned away from the moon allowing the orb of light to bathe the village in its entirety in a silvery white. She peeked out the window to allow the serenity to wash over her soul. She had always met with Sarutobi Sio in her most lovely demeanor. She was sure to never place any sort of strain on the girl, knowing her soul so well and also the fate that the village had planned for her. She closed her eyes as she turned forward again before the statue of the Buddha. Her filled her nose with the scent of the candles, exhaling a deep gust of breath. She was ready. She smoothed out the top of her kimono now, preparing herself for the journey her soul would take to reach the girl. Kumiko was a dark shinobi but she had a special spot for her grandniece. The girl was of the utmost innocence; innocence Kumiko didn't even think she had at any point in her own life. So when she sensed the darkness gathering in her niece, Sio's mother, she tried to intervene. She sketched atop her own niece's soul in order to help her grandniece, but when the seal failed, she knew that Sio was beyond her own help. She had the good of the village to think of and as much as she loved Sio, she couldn't bring herself to act on her emotions in fear that it would tarnish Uzumaki Naruto's plans for her. She had to turn her intervention down to renewing the seal whenever she was with her niece and grandniece so that, at least for a time, things would be easier on Sio. She shed a tear, thinking back to how she failed the girl. She was only so gentle with her because whenever she came into contact with her soul, she could feel the sadness resting there. She could feel it so clearly that is shook her own soul. Kumiko had been a shinobi for more than sixty years. She'd developed her soul sensory when she was under twenty. In all those years, she'd never had her own soul shaken. By anything. So the plight of her grandniece was one close to her heart. Perhaps the closest since the woman had not produced progeny of her own. It was a sad symptom of her dedication. No man would hold her interest over the village. No man could crack her stone face. The Hag of the Leaf was truly just that. A hag. She wiped her tears away and formed the seal, pushing her soul out of her body so it could hopscotch to her other soul fragments about the Fire Country and into the Rain Country. She had planned this meeting with her grandniece the day Masahige had confirmed her suspicions and told her the girl's location. She had to see her shining star. The light to her darkness. The one girl who she wanted to protect with all her heart. So she ripped her soul into pieces, instructing each to travel to different parts of the country so she could push her base soul among them all and make contact without making physical contact. So it went. Her souls bounced and she could see the world as she moved. She was pleased because she knew that with every skip, she found herself closer and closer to Sio. It was only a matter of moments before she was inside of the fragment closest to Sio. The fragment in her range. She extended her sensory and locked onto Sio's soul before she reached out and touched it. The world washed away and there was only white. She sat in the same position as she held in Konoha, where her body was. White kimono, sitting as a proper woman should--as she'd taught Sio many years ago for fun. Sio's soul would materialize in the space and she would see her grandaunt smiling brightly at her. The same smile she'd give her each birthday. The smile she gave when her niece first passed her out of her body and into the world. The same smile she would give when she lifted a young Sio into her arms and pressed her pudgy child cheeks against her old wrinkled ones. When she dressed Sio in her first kimono actually made for her. The same smile she gave Sio before Naruto told her that she would be the next holder of Kurama and damned her to the fate she lived now. Kumiko shed another tear.

[Sarutobi Sio]

Sio dreaded the day that would eventually come when they would fix Pain's tower. She kind of liked it as it was. A twisted, jagged heap of scrap atop which Sio felt closest to heaven. When she sat up there, she felt as if she could reach the very stars. There was nowhere so high in Konoha, and Sio was thoroughly convinced this was why she liked this particular locale. No one was so brave as to climb this tower the way it was. The thing was downright unsafe. No one would touch it. She had claimed it for her own. And nestled up there in the mangled embrace of the bent girders and twisted beams, she and this tower would be broken together, both seemingly out of place, untouchable that nobody wanted to deal with, but great all the same.

It was here that she thought back somewhat bitterly on all that she was missing now. She had so many ideas lately that she wanted to bounce off the head of her best friend, Minato. But he was not here. She didn't even know if he knew she was here. She didn't know what he thought, what he had been told. If he was okay. And so she was alone with her ideas. She missed her grandfather and grandmother, and hoped they had at least been told that she was okay. She didn't like to think that at their age, they might be worrying endlessly about their granddaughter going missing or worse, even. Same with Osa. And at the top, she missed her great aunt, Kumiko.

Kumiko was always someone who was on her mind. If she had an influence as prominent as her paternal grandparents, it would be her great aunt. Things always seemed...brighter when Kumiko was in the room. She could never put her finger on it, but that was the best way that she could describe it. Everyone smiled more, laughed more, and the bad times seemed that much further away. Even after Kumiko left, her mother would seem nicer for a day or two afterward. She would bring her real food on a plate instead of scraps wrapped in a napkin. She sometimes even let her sleep in her own bed instead of the tattered towels on the basement floor. And if she had a nightmare and wet herself, she might even let Sio put on a fresh pair of pajamas.

They were the moments Sio lived for. The ones she clung to like bright little shreds of hope that one day, someday, they might just come around more often.

Kumiko was always busy with work. But never too busy for her. Sio understood, though. Konohamaru always told her that Kumiko's job was one that you never had time off from: it was a constant endeavor and the highest point of honor for a shinobi to devote themselves that fully to their village. So Sio felt extra smug during those times that her great aunt would come to visit and spend time with her because she knew that every other minute belonged to Konoha, but those little auxiliary minutes where Kumiko would come and bring her a present, or teach her how to tie a kimono, or take her to a festival were hers and hers alone. And she was the only one who got that time.

Almost as if on cue, a light would shimmer into existence, brightening the night sky where Sio sat among the stars. She had never seen this jutsu before, but she knew this light just like the back of her own hand. It was the light that had punctuated so many dark days before, and like Pavlov's dog at the sound of the bell, she swung her legs over the side of the beam so that she was sitting up straight, gazing into that brimming brightness. Tears were in the corners of her eyes, but she dared not let them fall as the bitterness left her in the face of such happiness. A grin was plastered across the expanse of her face, warmth filling her heart with a feeling not felt since she left her village for Amegakure. A grand outpouring was not needed, nor blubbering or a loss for words.

"Good evening, Sōdaina oba." she said, still grinning with a smile as bright as Kumiko.

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[Shimura Kumiko]

[atrb=style, width: 350px; background-image: url(http://i.imgur.com/dDxps.png);][atrb=valign,top] She saw the sweet girl's face and instantly placed her face into her hands, weeping deeply. There was a part of Kumiko that wished she weren't as powerful as she was as to invent her soul techniques. She retained the ability to sense souls, but she also had the ability to feel the soul's plight. Like we've already discussed, Sio's soul was the only soul that held the ability to reach back out and touch her own soul, and resonate her emotions though her. The instant she saw the sweetest face on the earth, she was filled with happiness but also touched by Sio's loneliness. So perturbed that her own soul reacted with the tears. She fell down atop her lap and wept before her conscious mind could reach out and influence her emotional soul, shaking it back to tranquility. She feared that by allowing her emotions to fully consume her soul would disrupt the jutsu and shoot her soul back to the Leaf. She couldn't have it. She needed this. She needed to see Sio. There were times Kumiko wished she would have made time for a man so she could have produce young who would produce young and be like sisters or brother and sister to the girl. She knew the girl needed love from one of like years. Someone who could empathize with her because they were in the same times in their lives. Not an old maid such as herself who could only empathize so much because she was recalling the past. She remembered her youth when she was Sio's age. She was placed atop a pedestal for her natural prowess. But no one dared to ask the girl how lonely it felt to be made into a commodity for the Shimura clan. No one offered their children to her mother and father for play dates. They feared what those dates would entail. Perhaps that perpetual loneliness was what hardened her soul and made her the woman she was today. Made her the Hag of the Leaf. The Old Maid of the Shimura. "Sio-chan," she said through her hiccups. She wiped the tears from her eyes as she lifted herself to see Sio once again. She didn't move physically, but she brought the representations of their souls closer to that she was beside the girl now. She reached around her, pulling her into her side, resting her aged cheeks atop her head. She enjoyed that she was still taller than the girl so she could do it. She recalled when she did it with their physical bodies and not their souls as they were now. She knew a time would come where the girl would grow and she would be far too small to wrap her arms around her grandniece in such a protective way. "I made arrangements to go the moment Masahige-kun disclosed your location to me. You know my influence over the boy." She chuckled because she knew Sio would get the joke. On the rare nights that her niece would allow Sio to spend some time in Kumiko's abode, they would stay up late at night and gossip. Sio would tell Kumiko of her times in the academy and Kumiko, much against her character would gossip about the higher-ups of the village. She told Sio that one never graduated the academy. The drama was all the same. The drama from when Kumiko was just a little girl followed her closely for all these years. She still argued constantly with Konohamaru as they did in their youth when they attended the Academy together. Kumiko had told Sio of when she trained Masahige, knowing the girl held the high regard for a shinobi of such strength. She told her of Masahige's incredible prowess as a shinobi, but also joked about his stubborness and told her stories of when Masahige was her age and hard to the point of making mistakes himself. Sio knew a part of Masahige few did because Kumiko told her. And they would giggle about it in Sio's designated bedroom in Kumiko's house as the moon rode his chariot across the sky. If Kumiko ever had a daughter, she imagined her to be Sio. "I knew it wasn't you when Masahige made his announcement to seal you away. He is hard of face, but he is gushy inside. He would never seal away one as precious as you," she shed another tear as she squeezed the girl once again before resuming her smile. "My Sio-chan, I have missed you so. How is Amegakure? Are you happy? Tell me of the days. I've missed you so."

[Sarutobi Sio]

If there was anything that Sio needed right now, it was this. Familiarity. A reminder. Sometimes, it scared her to think that during the day, while she was working hard and training, that at the end of the day, she was beginning to forget. She was beginning to forget little things, like the color of some of the roofs in Konoha. Or the smell while walking past Ichiraku. She had lived there for fifteen years, and already, in just a matter of a few weeks, her home was leaving her, replaced with memories of her new life, and visions of her hopeful future. Seeing Kumiko, even in spirit, brought it all back. That formerly grainy, hazy photo that she kept treasured in her memory of herself and her father shortly before he died was restoring. The color was returning to it, the muted-out portions filling themselves in until it was as new as the moment had been when it happened. Her dress was light orange, like the color of sherbert, with a white sash. She had been eating a popsicle that day...lemon. Her favorite flavor. And her father wore black pants with a red shirt. And his fedora. It was black with a red band. The memory almost made her cry all over again.

when Kumiko embraced her, it was so much more than a hug. It was as if...every happy feeling she had ever felt was embracing her. Every good memory flashed through her head, comforting and warm, and it would be here that Sio would be unable to contain herself any more. The tears fell freely as she let one memory in particular take reign. A moment not too distant from what was happening now. Sio was about six, sitting in Kumiko's lap after a holiday celebration. Sio, only getting cake on these occasions, had managed to eat two large pieces, then, hopped up on sugar, set a record for playing with every single one of her toys in a matter of about an hour. Finally crashing and drowsy, she sat curled up on her great auntie's lap, Kumiko's cheek leaning against her head as she rocked her gently. Sio knew that Kumiko being over meant her mom would be nice to her. That for that one day, everyone loved her and it was good. And she remembered wishing that Kumiko could stay forever.

She laughed a bit at Kumiko's comment, not for one second forgetting her relationship with the new Hokage. She remembered the stories they had shared in past times. Sio remembered them all because it was one of the first times anyone had treated her like an adult, talked to her like an adult.
"I'm glad he did...I didn't know what had happened, if anyone else knew I was here, or what everyone back home had been told. I was afraid everyone thought I was missing...or dead."
But Kumiko's words next would surprise her.
"He...pretended to seal me away?" she asked, still not changing her position there, nestled underneath Kumiko's face. She wanted this memory to be the one that got her through unbearable nights here in Amegakure, when the bitterness or anger or frustration would take over and she would be left with little else.
It was something of a genius idea, really. A way of diverting Ojin without appearing to give in to him. She had to wonder how many people would swallow it, though. Probably enough for it to not really be much of an issue. Even for those who suspected otherwise, that suspicion would become a dead end, as they would not know the first place to begin looking for her.
"I had no idea that he did that. The night that I was to leave, he just summoned me to his office, and told me I was to leave with Ryuze and stay here until I was summoned back. I had no idea that there was a plan or anything. I wonder if he told anyone else I was here..."
More than likely, since Masahige was as he was, as Kumiko would put it. He likely told a select few that he could trust...a number that could be counted on only one hand.

Still, there were happier things to talk about and think about. Her grand aunt had asked her how things in Amegakure were. She had no one besides Ryuze to talk about these things with, since no one else knew who she was, and no offense to the Ame Lady, but it was simply not the same since she had no clue what Sio was talking about.
"It's actually going great. This place is really interesting. Like...if I had to call it something, I'd say it's the opposite of Konoha. All the buildings are so high, and there's so much metal. But everyone here is really nice. I've been helping them rebuild the village. The wars really took their toll, but it's going well. We're rebuilding their hospital first, then the Academy. I usually wake up and train for a while, then help with the restorations, and then train again before dinner and bed. But I get one day each week where I can do whatever I want. I usually train that day, too."
She said the last part a bit boastfully. It was a drop of that Sarutobi and Shimura pride coming out. Pride in being a shinobi, pride in self-improvement. She was declaring that one day, she would be an asset, too. Probably nowhere near as important as her Sōdaina oba-san, but in her own right.

"I'm getting strong, Sōdaina oba-san! I have a new jutsu, and I'm learning some Suiton jutsu from the Amegakure shinobi. It's really hard, but it's different. I think I like it. And Kurama and I are getting along great."
This last part was her favorite part of her training lately. She wasn't sure why, but it was true. The pair had begun working in tandem on their training. And though Sio didn't like the idea of using his power, it was becoming apparent that the line was blurring between their respective chakra pools, and that his chakra was becoming hers and vice versa. There was no way around it, and so she conceded to his training methods, as well. Her smile began to falter a bit and she bit her lip.
"I'm happy, yeah...but I miss home. I miss you and Grandpa and Grandma and Minato. I know I need to be here, though. I need to get stronger and smarter and figure out how I can help the world. But I miss you..."
She fought back the tears once more, swiping one away with the back of her hand.
"Besides, I'm gonna be a Sage someday."

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