Answers

It began with a dream.

A man stood alone in a mass of twisted metal. Rain and wind battered the area while a storm raged in the darkened skies above. Yet despite this, the man stood seemingly unaffected. Their white hair lay unaffected by the swirling winds and torrential rain. For a while, nothing happened; the stranger was content to stare at the stormy sky and unaware of another presence. After what seemed like an eternity, they noticed the other person. They turned to face them, though their features remained indistinguishable. The stranger smiled, and then The Child woke up.

For a regular person, this would not be worthy of note; however, The Child had not dreamt before today.

Sitting on the rooftop that served as their sleeping quarters for the night, the question rang clearly through their head. Why? It was the burning question that they always found themselves going back to. Why were they here? Why did they have this dream? Why now?

As The Child sat on the rooftop, the echoes of the dream reverberated in their mind, leaving a sense of unease and curiosity. They couldn't shake the feeling that it held a deeper meaning, a clue to something they had long forgotten.

The Child dropped from the rooftop and onto the streets below. The sun had just begun to shine over the village as morning broke. Today was a rarity for The Child. Since becoming a Genin, The Child's days have been full of various menial missions. There was no such issue today, however. The week's calendar was entirely clear.

Now, the concept of free time was almost nonexistent to The Child. All they knew was that several people they had worked with regularly participated in it. The Child had noted that it took a rare individual, like themself, not to enjoy it. In a constant search for the truth behind their actions, The Child spent most wakening moments doing some activity. There was little in the way of 'free time' when it involved The Child. Was it possible for a youth to be a workaholic?

A question for another day.

For now, The Child wandered the streets of Konoha. They had no plan, goal or idea of what to do and hoped to stumble across something.

The Child's footsteps echoed softly against the cobblestone streets of Konoha as they wandered, the morning sun casting long shadows across their path. The village seemed to stir with life, merchants setting up their stalls, villagers beginning their daily routines, and ninjas going about their missions.

As The Child meandered through the familiar streets, they couldn't help but feel a sense of restlessness gnawing at the edges of their mind. The dream lingered, its imagery etched into their memory like a puzzle waiting to be solved. What did it mean? Who was the mysterious figure standing amidst the storm? They hoped that the answer would appear before them. Maybe they would find someone in the village who looked like the person from the dream.

But such a thing would be far too easy, and thus the day came to an end with little in the way of answers. As The Child lay on a rooftop they looked to the stars. Another day, another question that remained unanswered. It was an all too common occurrence for The Child at this point. The stars shone in the night sky as their eyes shut for the night.

The week passed with little note. There were no further dreams. It was hard to say if The Child even slept at all. The details of the dream had begun to fade from memory, enough so that The Child had started to wonder if the dream had even happened.

It was on the morning of the ninth day since the dream that something occurred. They woke up early, just as the first rays of dawn pierced the horizon, painting the sky with hues of pink and gold. A sense of urgency tugged at them, compelling them to leave the rooftop before the village had fully awakened. As they wandered the streets, The Child's sharp senses picked up on something unusual. There was a distinct change in the air, a subtle yet palpable tension that seemed to ripple through Konoha. It was as if the village itself was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.

The Child's wandering led them to a place that was familiar to them. The Hyuuga Clan district, long standing within the centre of the village, had been a place The Child had visited previously. The memory of their short mission on the premises would explain the spark of recognition that ran through them. However, The Child felt that was not all there was to this. There was another reason for the familiarity. Perhaps this place held the answers they sought. They had no other leads, nothing else had felt like this before. So with a sense of trepidation for what lay within The Child ventured into the complex once more.

The Hyuuga Clan district was serene in the early morning light, its traditional architecture standing in stark contrast to the modernity creeping into other parts of Konoha. The Child moved silently, their footsteps absorbed by the soft ground, as they navigated the labyrinthine pathways with a familiarity that felt almost instinctive.

The Child's mind was a whirlwind of questions, the urgency that had driven them from their rooftop now a persistent pulse in their thoughts. Each step seemed to pull them deeper into the heart of the Hyuuga estate, past training grounds and meditation gardens until they found themselves standing before a doorway. The Child hesitated, their hand hovering over the door. There was something about this place, it seemed to be calling out to them. Taking a deep breath, they pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The interior was dimly lit, the faint glow of the morning sun filtering through narrow windows. The Child's eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness, revealing a room lined with scrolls and artefacts, a testament to the Hyuuga Clan's long history. At the centre of the room stood an elderly man, his posture regal and his gaze penetrating. His eyes, marked by the distinctive Hyuuga Byakugan, seemed to pierce through the shadows, seeing more than what was physically present. The Child recognised the figure almost immediately, for this was not their first meeting. The elderly man had been the one who had assigned the cleaning mission over a month ago. The Child felt an inexplicable connection to this man, they had felt it back then as well but had been unable to place why.

"Welcome," the elderly man spoke, his voice carrying a weight of authority and wisdom. "I have been expecting you." The Child felt a shiver run down their spine. The man's gaze softened slightly. "Your presence here is no accident. You seek answers, do you not?"

The Child nodded, and given permission moved to sit in the centre of the room with the man. The old Hyuuga regarded The Child with a steady gaze, his expression unreadable yet filled with a sense of knowing. "I noticed it the first time you arrived." The elder said, causing no small amount of confusion for The Child. Even with their expression masked by the bandages, the elder seemed to notice with a soft chuckle. "I've been alive a long time, I've seen many things, and many people have come and gone in my time." The man spoke while going through the motions of preparing a pot of tea. The Child listened silently, as was their way.

"My clan's been around since ancient times." The elderly man seemed to muse, pouring the tea into two empty mugs on the table before them. "Scattered to the far reaches of land of the living many times over. The blood has been diluted for a long time, so it shouldn't come as a surprise." He paused, handing a mug to The Child who accepted without a word. "They come in all different shapes and sizes these days, however, there is one constant." The man took a sip of his tea before motioning toward The Child. "The eyes."

The Child blinked, confusion etched across their features.

"You are blind to many things, that I can tell. You do not know who you are, or why you are here." The man deduced, taking the lack of response as an affirmation to continue. "I do not have the answers to those questions child, however, I can help you see." He placed his mug down on the table and looked at The Child as if expecting some sort of answer. They responded with a quizzical tilt of the head. This one-sided conversation had yet to reveal anything useful for them. The vagueness of it all was frustrating. Though as the silence hung in the air The Child realised that they were being asked a question. The elder was asking if they wished to see. What did it mean? See what? Would it give them the answers they sought? Or would it add to the myriad of questions that swirled within their mind like the storm that had started it all?

"I want to see." The Child gave their answer softly, their voice cutting through the hanging silence.

The elderly man smiled and reached out with their hand. "This may hurt." He warned before jabbing his fingers into the child's forehead. They jolted backwards in response as a sharp pain was felt in their eyes. Their vision blurred, then began to twist and bend. The colours of the room seemed to change, the walls of the room twisting and bending in unnatural ways. "Focus." The voice of the elder penetrated through into the mind of The Child. "Focus and look." The Child listened, ignoring the strange new sensation and blinking.

They could see everything. The entire room around them, the swirling mass of chakra that lay within the elderly man sat across from him. Focusing once more The Child's scope travelled, they could see outside of the room and into the compound fully. Their vision blurred once more, the new overwhelming sensation of this vision distracting them once more. They blinked again, rubbing their eyes and feeling the bulging veins in their temple. "What?" The Child said trying in futility to come up with an answer.

"Now you can see." The man said after another sip of tea, finding The Child's distress seemingly not that big of a deal. "I can tell this was not the answer you sought, but it is one you needed. You have the blood of the Hyuuga, and your eyes prove that much at least." They began to clear the table, standing once more as if to call the meeting to a close. "You may leave now, you won't find anything more today."

And with that, it was over.

The Child found themselves back on the rooftop where it had all begun. They rubbed their eyes carefully, once, twice, and then once more for good measure. The meeting had proven entirely unhelpful. As expected they had left with even more questions. The only good thing that had come from this was they had a little more knowledge about themselves. The Byakugan now lay dormant once more. The elderly man had parted ways with some basic information before The Child left at least.

An exasperated sigh audibly left The Child. Well, at least they had some sort of direction now. They knew a little more about their origins, though not much of use. The day had been an exhausting one, yet informative all the same. The Child closed their eyes as they rested while moonlight shone across the village. They wondered for a moment if they would dream again. Wait...the dream. The Child had almost forgotten, they went through this entire thing because of a dream that hadn't even come up.

A string of curses escaped into the night sky.

[Closed]

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Clan Discovery: Hyuuga