Chapter 6
When Shikaku comes back home a few days later, Yoshino tells him what happened in the forest.
"interesting, how far away were you ?" he scratches his chin
"maybe a kilometer ? I'm not sure"
"mmh... I will have to check her family tree. First, incredible sensory abilities and now a superior sense of smell ? Definitely not a civilian ancestry. I'll pay a visit to the Harunos when I have the time. Where are the kids ?"
"Shika introduced Saeko to Choji and Ino. They are at the park" Yoshino smiles fondly, watching her son interact with Saeko is always interesting
"alright"
"Ino, Choji, this is Saeko. Nee-san, these are my friends Ino and Choji" Shikamaru flops on the ground without much care
"nice to meet you" Choji smiles shyly
"who's she ?" Ino points her finger at Saeko
"Ino, don't be rude. This is my nee-san, dad brought her home as a ward of the clan"
"hmpf, fine. Let's play"
"what game ?" Choji asks
"tag ! Shikamaru you're it !"
The children immediately move away from him. With a 'troublesome girl' he stands up and goes straight for the nearest person, Choji. No luck for Choji, Shikamaru touches him, making him it. They play for an hour before stopping and sitting under the shade of a big tree. The 3 clans kids are out of breath while Saeko watches them in amusement.
"how... how aren't you out of breath ?" Ino asks once she catches her breath
"I train"
"I do too but I'm still out of breath ! That's not fair !" she pouts
"eh, I'm joining the war early. I'm a good sensor and Shikaku-san told me I was important for the village. Because of my age, I'll be a liability in the field so I trained hard to improve my speed and endurance as well as my flexibility"
"you can join the war ? Why ? Daddy doesn't want me to. He says it's too dangerous for me"
"it is. If you are not very strong, you will die. I don't really have a choice because sensors are few and strong sensors like me are indispensable no matter their age"
"so, you are going to the Academy next month ?" Choji asks curiously
"yes"
"how old are you then ?"
"I'll be four in 20 days"
"you are the same as us ! But I'll be four in September, Shika too and Choji in May" Ino smiles
"I knew we were close in age but I wasn't sure of the exact date" she hums
"can you show me some of the things you can do ?"
"sure" she nods "Shika, Choji, you want to join us ?"
"it's too troublesome... I prefer cloud watching"
"I don't want to, thanks" Choji declines
"it's just you and me then ! Can you stretch ?"
"no" Ino shakes her head
"follow what I do..."
"we're home" Shikamaru calls from the genkan
"welcome home kids ! We're in the kitchen"
Saeko closes the door after them and swiftly removes her shoes. She follows Shikamaru to the kitchen after grabbing the book on common poisons she borrowed from the library in the clan. She smiles at Shikaku and sits at the table.
"Dad ! You're home" Shikamaru hugs his dad
"hey son" he hugs his son back "How was your day ?"
"troublesome... Ino made me run" he complains with a huff
"what a troublesome thing" Shikaku mocks with a smirk
"man... Not you too, mom nags me enough already..."
"what was that Shikamaru ?"
"nothing mom !"
"that's what I thought. Dinner will be ready in an hour, go wash"
"Saeko, do you know who your grandparents are ?" Shikaku asks her later that night
"I never met them but I have a picture. Dad doesn't know I have it. I know their names but they died before I was born"
"do you mind if I take a look at the picture ?"
"why ?" she furrows her brow, did she do something ?
"I am curious as to where your abilities come from. It's unusual for a civilian born shinobi to have a large chakra reserve. It's even more rare for them to be a sensor with as much range as you and they don't usually have a keen sense of smell"
"oh... I wasn't aware. Do you also not hear what I hear then ? Is it another weird thing I have ? Like my gray hair, sharp fangs and large chakra reserve ?"
"I'm not sure, what do you hear ?"
"your heartbeat"
"I see," Shikaku blinks at the immediate answer "no, it's not something we can do"
she nods "I'll go get the picture"
She doesn't run in the house, it would be impolite to do but she walks rapidly. She enters her bedroom and rummages through a few drawers before finding the picture. She closes the drawer and goes back to the living room to give the picture to Shikaku.
He looks at the picture for a long time. He alternates between looking at it then at her then at it again. Finally, he puts it on the table.
The picture is one of Kizashi's parents, grandparents and uncles. In the middle, there are his grandparents Fujita Hatake and Ayami Uzumaki. They stand shoulder to shoulder, Ayami is smiling wildly while Fujita's is more fond than happy. Fujita is your typical Hatake, tall, long spiky gray hair and gray eyes and he wears fur. Ayami is smaller with bright red hair and emerald green eyes.
Next to Fujita is their first child, Isao. Nearly as tall as his dad, he looks like a carbon copy of him but with his mother's eyes. Like his father, he doesn't really smile but you can see he loves his family.
Next to Ayami is their second son, Ken. He is a perfect mix between his parents. He has long straight grey hair, grey-green eyes and the same smile as his mother.
In front of them all is Akane with her husband Takahiro Haruno. Akane has her mother's hair but it's a lighter red. Same with her eyes, they're the same color as Ken but with her father's shape and she's the same size as her mother.
And Takahiro, he is as tall as Isao, he has pale blond hair and black eyes.
"you look a lot like your great-grandparents. What are their names ?"
"this is Hatake Fujita and Uzumaki Ayami, Hatake Isao, Hatake Ken and those are my grandparents Uzumaki Akane and Haruno Takahiro. If I remember correctly, I had an uncle too but he died 4 years ago"
"Hatake and Uzumaki huh ?" he mumbles "That would explain it"
"is there something wrong ?" she bits her lip
"no" he huffs and smile wryly "You have an interesting family, you know that ?"
"I read about the Hatake and Uzumaki but there's not much about them. Are they strong ?"
"yes but sadly, there only one Hatake left, minus your family as they're not part of the clan, and very few Uzumaki left"
"oh... Do you know them ? Are they shinobi of the Leaf ?"
"I know Hatake Kakashi, he is a shinobi of the Leaf. There is also Uzumaki Naruto, he's your age. I don't know where the others are, if they are any"
"do you think I can meet them ?"
"who knows ?" he shrugs "Hatake is on the frontlines and Naruto won't enter the academy before he is 7"
"can you tell me more about the Hatakes and Uzumakis ?"
"sure"
Shikaku tells her everything he knows about these two clans. It's not much but she's happy to know even a bit of her family. She learns that her keen senses come from the Hatake while her sensory abilities and chakra reserves come from the Uzumaki. Shikaku narrates the story of Uzumaki Mito, the Shodai's wife and Hatake Sakumo, the White Fang of Konoha and also Kakashi's father. She also learns about what happened to Uzushio during the Second War and how Kiri, Kumo and Iwa joined forces to destroy it.
Shikaku tells everything he knows but one thing, he doesn't tell her who the Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails is. He doesn't have to, Saeko is smart, she is at 80% sure that Uzumaki Naruto is the Jinchuriki. She won't ask, if he didn't tell her, it's probably because it's classified.
She goes to bed that night with a smile. She dreams of what life would have been like if her clans were still alive.