The evening air carried the scent of miso soup and grilled fish as Hikaru pushed open the front door of his home. The successful completion of Team 8's first D-rank mission had left him with a sense of quiet satisfaction, though the simple task felt surprisingly easy after months of intensive training.
"Welcome home, Hikaru-kun," Ayako called from the kitchen, turning to look over her shoulder as he entered. Her face brightened when she saw him. "How was your first real mission?"
"Went well," Hikaru replied, setting his equipment bag down carefully before settling into the nearest chair at the low table. "We completed it successfully. Found the missing cat and returned it to its owner."
"A cat?" Ayako asked, settling into the chair across from him with an amused smile playing at her lips. "After all that intensive training, they sent you to chase a house cat?"
"Tano-san was really grateful," Hikaru replied, straightening slightly in his chair as he remembered the elderly woman's tearful reunion with her pet. "And Hideaki-sensei said it was good practice for our teamwork. We had to coordinate properly to corner Mochi without scaring him further."
Ayako nodded approvingly as she served the warm meal, her movements efficient from months of running her own business. "That sounds like something Hideaki-san would emphasize. He always cared more about how people worked together than individual achievement."
"Really?" Hikaru asked, accepting the bowl gratefully while steam rose from the perfectly seasoned soup. "You seem to know him pretty well."
"Well enough," Ayako replied, her voice taking on the fond tone she used when discussing their father's old friends. "He and Otou-san (dad) were teammates for several years. They stayed in touch even after Hideaki-san retired from active duty."
The mention of retirement caught Hikaru's attention immediately. He had heard it before when he met him the second time, but didn't think much about it at first. He paused with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth, eyebrows rising with curiosity. "Retired? What made him decide to step back from missions?"
He set down his chopsticks, his expression growing more thoughtful. "I mean, Hideaki-sensei seems so... dedicated. He's cheerful, always making jokes, but when it comes to missions and training, he becomes completely serious. Someone with his personality doesn't seem like the type to just give up on being a shinobi. It must have been something serious."
Ayako's expression grew more serious, her eyes growing distant as she seemed to weigh her words carefully. She set down her own chopsticks and folded her hands in her lap before responding. "That's... a complicated story, Hikaru-kun. Are you sure you want to hear about such things?"
"I'd like to understand my sensei better," Hikaru said honestly, leaning forward with genuine interest. "He's been really good to us, and I want to understand him better."
"Alright," Ayako said softly, her voice carrying the weight of old sorrows and half-remembered conversations. "But some of this is just what Otou-san told me, and some comes from village gossip. I can't promise all the details are completely accurate."
She paused, collecting her thoughts before continuing. "The main reason involves what happened to Uzushiogakure (the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools). Do you know about that?"
Hikaru nodded slowly, his stomach tightening as he recognized the reference to one of the ninja world's greatest tragedies. The destruction of the Uzumaki clan's homeland was a wound that still affected politics throughout the elemental nations.
"Hideaki-san had a love interest from the Land of Whirlpools," Ayako continued, her voice barely above a whisper. "Someone very important to him. When Uzushiogakure was destroyed and the Uzumaki clan was scattered, it devastated him completely."
Hikaru's chopsticks stilled in his hands as the implications of her words sank in. His throat felt suddenly dry as he managed to ask, "What happened to her?"
"She died," Ayako replied simply, her voice heavy with sympathy. "The destruction was so complete, and so many people were killed. Hideaki-san searched for survivors afterward, but eventually had to accept that she was gone."
"He wanted to give up being a ninja entirely," she continued after a moment. "Otou-san said he'd never seen someone so broken by loss. But then the Third Ninja War began, and the village needed every capable shinobi. He couldn't abandon his duty, even though his heart wasn't in it anymore."
Hikaru set down his bowl, his appetite completely forgotten as the story unfolded. "And after the war?"
"He finally retired and moved to Tanzaku town," Ayako said with a sad smile. "Otou-san said he was trying to find some kind of peace away from anything that reminded him of his shinobi career. They exchanged letters sometimes, but Hideaki-san seemed determined to leave that life behind."
"Until now," Hikaru observed quietly.
"Until now," Ayako agreed. "I think losing so many people in the Nine-Tails attack, including Otou-san and Okaa-san, made him realize that running away from connections doesn't protect you from pain. Maybe he decided it was better to have people to care about, even if it means risking loss again."
Hikaru absorbed this information silently, his mind racing with questions he couldn't ask directly. "Do you know anything else about this woman? Her name, or what made her special to him?"
Ayako's brow furrowed as she searched her memory. "Otou-san never mentioned her name, and I never felt comfortable asking for details about something so personal. But..." She hesitated, her cheeks coloring slightly with embarrassment.
"But what?" Hikaru prompted gently.
"Well, there was some village gossip over the years," Ayako admitted reluctantly. "You know how people talk. Otou-san mentioned once that she had distinctions that made her different from other Uzumaki. And some of the older ninja who knew Hideaki-san used to whisper that there were always some bite marks on her body."
The words made Hikaru's chest tighten with shock. His hands clenched involuntarily around his chopsticks as his mind made connections he wasn't prepared for.
Bite marks. Healing abilities. An Uzumaki woman who was distinctive from others in her clan.
"Bite marks?" he managed to ask, his voice coming out slightly strangled.
"I know it sounds strange," Ayako said, misinterpreting his reaction as confusion rather than recognition. "But apparently it was something people noticed. Some kind of... medical condition, maybe? I never understood what they meant by it."
"Did they say anything else about her?" Hikaru pressed, his heart hammering against his ribs as pieces of a puzzle he'd never expected began falling into place.
"There was talk about some dispute between Hideaki-san and his clan over the relationship," Ayako continued, her voice growing even more hesitant. "But that might just be gossip. You know how people gossip, especially when it involves clan politics and outsiders."
Hikaru nodded, though his mind was reeling with implications he couldn't share. The description was too specific, too exact to be coincidental. An Uzumaki woman with healing abilities that left bite marks, who had been important enough to Hideaki that losing her had nearly destroyed his ninja career.
This had to be connected to Karin's mother from the original story. But the timeline was confusing—he couldn't remember exactly when Karin's mother had died, only that Karin had been young, maybe five or six years old. Was she still alive? Had she survived whatever had separated her from Hideaki? Did she have a daughter now?
"Hikaru-kun?" Ayako's concerned voice broke through his spiraling thoughts. "Are you alright? You look pale."
"I'm fine," he said quickly, forcing his expression back to something resembling normal. "Just... thinking about how difficult that must have been for Hideaki-sensei. No wonder he's so protective of his students now."
"Yes," Ayako agreed, relief evident in her voice at his apparent recovery. "I think teaching gives him a chance to care for people again, but in a way that feels safer than the relationships he lost."
They finished their meal in more comfortable silence, though Hikaru's mind continued churning with questions and possibilities. When the dishes were cleared and evening routines completed, he retreated to his room with the excuse of planning his training schedule for the coming weeks.
Sitting at his small desk with a blank scroll spread before him, Hikaru stared at the paper without really seeing it. His hands trembled slightly as he picked up his brush, though not from fatigue this time.
The timeline was a mess in his memory. He knew Karin had been young when her mother died, but he couldn't pin down exactly when that had happened in relation to current events. Was Karin even born yet? Was her mother still alive, possibly in Kusagakure being used for her healing abilities?
The uncertainty was maddening. He had information that could potentially reunite Hideaki with someone he'd lost, or at least provide closure about her fate. But acting on incomplete knowledge could be disastrous, especially if he was wrong about the connections he was drawing.
Hikaru dipped his brush in ink and began writing the events he remembered from the main plot, using familiar English words to organize his chaotic thoughts in case someone else checked his notes. The important events that occurred in the story, including from the main story or even from movies—the memories seemed to fade as he tried to remember everything.
But as he organized the timeline, another thought began to take shape. If Karin's mother was still alive, she would most likely be in Kusagakure, given what he remembered of the story. That meant any chance of helping would require a mission to the Hidden Grass Village, something that wouldn't happen until Team 8 was ready for C-rank assignments or higher.
The thought of waiting months or even years was frustrating, but Hikaru forced himself to be realistic. He was still a new genin with limited influence over mission selection. Rushing into action based on uncertain memories could do more harm than good, especially if it meant revealing knowledge he shouldn't possess.
Hikaru set down his brush and leaned back in his chair, staring at the timeline he'd written. The neat columns of timeline with important events shown on the paper looked organized, but they now carried additional weight.
The rubber ball for his Rasengan training sat on the corner of his desk, a reminder of techniques still to master and power yet to be gained. Hikaru picked it up, rolling it between his palms as he considered the long road ahead.
A soft knock interrupted his thoughts.
"Hikaru-kun?" Ayako's voice came through the door. "You left this on the kitchen table."
Hikaru quickly rolled up the timeline scroll and slid it under some other papers, his heart racing. "Come in, Onee-chan."
She entered carrying his forehead protector, the metal plate gleaming in the lamplight. As she set it on his desk beside the rubber ball, her eyes lingered on the training equipment scattered around his room.
"You're really taking this seriously, aren't you?" she observed, settling onto the floor beside his desk. "All this extra training, the advanced techniques you're working on..."
"I have to," Hikaru replied, still rolling the rubber ball absently. "There's so much I need to learn if I want to protect the people I care about."
Ayako's expression grew thoughtful as she watched him. "Is this about what I told you tonight? About Hideaki-san's past?"
Hikaru's hands stilled on the ball. "Maybe. I just... I want to be strong enough to help when it matters."
"That's very noble," Ayako said softly, then her voice took on a more serious tone. "But Hikaru-kun, some losses can't be undone, no matter how strong you become. Hideaki-san accepted long ago that she was gone."
"But what if she's still alive?" Hikaru blurted out before he could stop himself.
"Hikaru-kun," Ayako interrupted gently, reaching over to still his restless hands. "What makes you think that's possible?"