Building a Bridge

Chapter One: Blue Prints

Hikari resisted the urge to rub her leg as she weaved through the crowded village streets. Every now and again she checked to make sure Tenten was still obediently close but most of her attention was focused on the pulsing ache in her thigh. Practicals had been especially grueling at the academy that day and she really wasn't looking forward to her weekly therapy session so soon after straining her leg. The only consolation she mustered up from the pain was that at least she wasn't limping. That meant she was finally getting better right?

She started just a bit as Tenten tugged on her skirt. She'd almost forgotten the girl was there. Looking down Hikari studied the younger girl with that ever present sense of guilt. She'd grown up a lot in the two years since her brother's death and her thick brown hair had grown so long it was too heavy for the six year old to wear down.

Hikari's eyes drifted to Tenten's hair at that thought. Yotaro had always been the one that fixed it before and she'd always looked adorable with her hair pulled up in twin buns. Now it was Kairi that always fixed the little girl's hair, and Hikari had to admit that her would-be sister-in-law always did a much better job then she had managed earlier.

There had been a small scuffle in the school yard that Tenten had gotten into with a young Hyuuga boy. She hadn't seen the entire fight so she didn't know the cause, but she'd managed to catch the tail end of it just when the boy had grabbed at one of Tenten's buns and pulled so hard the elastic broke. After a swift scolding and a swat on the backside, Hikari had sent the Hyuuga boy, Neji, home before she'd tugged Tenten over to the Academy steps to fix her hair and dry her teary eyes.

The bun had ended up lopsided and more then a little loose but Tenten had still beamed at Hikari once she'd finished tying it off with her own hair band. Looking at it now, Hikari noted that even more strands had fallen loose and started to tangle around Tenten's ears. She would have just pulled both of the buns out and fixed them in a simple pony-tail but Tenten always insisted that her hair should be kept in buns. When Hikari had asked her once why that was the case Tenten had said she wanted her brother to recognize her when he finally came back from his mission.

Another tug reminded Hikari that Tenten had wanted her attention and she fought back a flash of embarrassment at being caught daydreaming. Again. Somehow it always seemed like her head was in the clouds these days. This time the tugging was so insistent that Hikari stopped completely, disregarding the flow of the crowd and squatted down to Tenten's level.

"What's wrong Tenten-chan?" Hikari asked as she pushed a stray wad of hair from Tenten's eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Hikari-nee," Tenten said. Her voice was small and her lip was quivering. Hikari instantly knew this would not be a good conversation. "Nii-chan isn't coming home, is he?"

A hard lump settled in Hikari's throat and she did her best to swallow it down before she responded. Her voice cracked a little and she cleared her throat before trying again.

"What makes you say that Ten-chan?"

"We had a lesson in class today," Tenten said, almost whispering. "It was a history lesson about the treaty with the Mist Village. Two years ago, when you and Itachi-nii-san and Nii-chan were at the Chuunin exams…a lot of people died…Neji said my brother died too." Tenten sniffled hard and rubbed at her already red eyes. "He c-called him worthless cause he lost to a tr-traitor." It was a look of utter misery that was etched on Tenten's face as she looked up at Hikari. "Was my Nii-chan really worthless?"

"NO!" Hikari said, pulling Tenten so abruptly into her arms that her loose bun fell out completely. "He wasn't worthless! Not at all! In fact, your brother is a hero."

"A h-hero?" Tenten said and Hikari nodded.

"He saved my life. Itachi's too. More then once even." She laughed once but it wasn't in humor. "The two of us never could do anything without him. He was like…our glue or something."

"You said he had a special mission," Tenten said. Her voice wasn't accusing but Hikari still flinched in guilt.

"I know. I'm sorry. I really, really am Tenten. I never should have told you that, you've always deserved to know the truth, I just…I didn't want to tell you because…then I would have to admit that Yotaro really—." Hikari took a deep breath. "That he's not coming back."

Tenten was quiet for a moment as she kept her face pressed tight against Hikari's shoulder. She shifted once, just a bit, so that when she spoke next it wouldn't be muffled.

"It Nii-chan really a hero, Hikari-nee?"

Hikari hm'd before she gently pushed Tenten back to look her in the eyes. "How hungry are you?"

Tenten tilted her head a bit in confusion but in the end she just shrugged.

"I wanna show you something," Hikari said as she stood. "I think it will help you understand just how great your brother is."

The memorial stone was quite a bit out of the way and with every step that Hikari took, she felt the pain in her leg burn just a little more. Tenten trailed after her like a curious puppy as they left the bustling areas of the village and made their way to the more quiet refuge of nature. The memorial stone was located in a clearing near the training grounds and Hikari had always found that to be rather poetic.

It stood there as both a warning and an inspiration to all who wish to use these training grounds. It warned that the life of a shinobi was unpredictable but it also immortalized those shinobi that were exemplary in their lives. It was the type of memorial every shinobi dreamed of, no matter what their status was.

"Do you know what this is Tenten?" Hikari said as she rested her hand on the face of the all too familiar stone. Tenten looked almost insulted.

"Of course I do. Shinobi who die have their names put there."

"Not just any shinobi," Hikari corrected. "Only heroes can have their names inscribed on this stone. Ninjas who have done great things to protect the village are immortalized here."

"So?" Tenten said. "Why's this so special to me? I don't know any heroes."

"You think so?" Hikari said; a knowing smile on her lips. "Well, what about this name? You think you recognize him?"

After throwing her a half annoyed half confused look, Tenten inched closer to look at the name Hikari was pointing at. There was only one set of characters but her eyes widened as she recognized them. She knew this name better then she could read her own.

"N-nii-chan?" Tenten said. "But why? He never acted like a hero…did he?"

"Sit down Tenten-chan," Hikari said as she sat down with her back to the stone. "I have a story for you." Tenten sat down at once. "You probably don't remember this because it was a long time ago, but about two and a half years ago my team got our first c-rank mission. What we didn't know was that the scroll we were given was actually a message scroll with s-class information that had to be delivered to the Daimyo right away."

Tenten's eyes were wide as she listened. "So what happened? Did you make it there?"

"Actually, we were attacked one night and everyone got separated…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Take that you Cloud fiends!" Tenten yelled as she raced through Kairi's front door. As an after thought she managed to kick off her sandals before she jumped into the main level, still kicking and punching her invisible enemy.

"Goodness!" Kairi laughed as she stepped into the hall, dodging Tenten who called back a quick sorry as she raced to her room. "What was that all about?"

Hikari smiled but she knew it wasn't all happy. "I told Tenten about Yotaro today."

Kairi paused. "Oh?"

"She'd already guessed the truth and you were right, she was upset about it. I should have told her sooner."

"She didn't look upset," Kairi said. There was no accusation in her voice, only curiosity and motherly concern. This time Hikari's smile was genuine.

"Yeah," Hikari said, slipping out of her own sandals. "I took her to the memorial stone and showed her Yotaro's name. When she asked why he was there I told her about our mission with the Cloud scroll. She's been acting it out since we left the clearing."

"That's funny," Kairi said, a sly smile on her lips. "I don't remember the story being quite so…animated."

Hikari blushed but did her best to shrug it off. "I may have…embellished a few parts. But everything was essentially the same."

"I'm proud of you Hikari. You did the right thing today."

"Thanks Kairi. So, what's for dinner? You need any help?"

"Oh, no, but thank you," Kairi said. "I'm almost done, but if you would feed Akira for me it would be a big help. He's just started to fuss."

"Sure. What's on the menu?"

"Stringed carrots and rice porridge."

Hikari pulled a disgusted face. "Stringed carrots? No wonder the kid always throws his lunch at you. That's disgusting."

"This is supper, Hikari, not lunch."

Hikari shrugged. "Same difference. Where is the little monster anyway?"

"In the playpen. He has so much energy I can barely keep up with him. Did I tell you he almost burned down the main room yesterday?"

"He did? How on Earth did he manage that?"

Kairi shrugged. "I'm not sure but I think he was using jutsus. I was a bit worried though, after all I don't want him to hurt himself, so I went to see to your aunt. Apparently this sort of thing isn't that unusual for Haruno children, though most of them aren't quite so strong. They usually grow out of it rather quickly though, which is why most of your family members are civilians, or so Akina told me."

"Now that you mention it, Ichigo did catch Sakura-chan's hair on fire when they were both little. Nobody was really thinking that it was something special though since we were all rather terrified she was going to die. My mom still says it was a miracle that she didn't get burned. You'd never have guessed it though, with the way Sakura was screaming."

Kairi nodded. "I remember that day. Kyo threw water on her as he came running into the room."

"I know, if it wasn't so scary I probably would have laughed." Hikari said and the two girls shared a chuckle before Akira started to whine in the other room. "Guess that's my cue. I'll be right back."

Hikari slipped from the kitchen and headed down the hall to the main room where Akira's playpen was kept. He was still whimpering when she reached him. His big brown eyes were puffy from tears and his lower lip was quivering as he stood up against the mesh wall and held up his left arm to be picked up. Hikari scooped him up and cuddled him into the crook of her arm; cooing softly to calm him down.

"What's with the tears, little one?" She said while brushing at his damp cheeks. "You hurt yourself?"

Akira sniffled again and Hikari noticed he was cradling his right hand. Worried now, she gently reached out to unfold the limb and he wailed.

"Akira!" Hikari's voice was flustered as she tried to shush her young cousin. "What is it? Oh, I really wish you were old enough to talk!"

"He is," Kairi said, wiping her hands on her apron as she stepped through the doorway. "He's just not ready to yet."

Akira quit crying instantly as his mother came into view. He stretched his left hand out towards her and Kairi smiled softly as she gently took him from Hikari's arms.

"What's the matter Akira?" Kairi said as she carefully pulled her son's fingers back to reveal a frayed blue ribbon. "Ah, I see. You broke Teddy's ribbon."

Hikari watched Kairi calm her son as the boy looked up at his mom, as though ashamed and ready for a scolding. It was almost scary how smart Akira was. He was only fifteen months old but he'd already mastered walking (and probably running too if Kairi was having trouble keeping up with him) knew almost all of his colors (she'd tested him once by having him point to the ones she said, it was almost scary), and followed conversations like he was hanging on to every word. In all honesty, the only thing the kid hadn't excelled at was talking, and that was only because he refused to try.

Kairi crossed over to the playpen with Akira perched on one hip so that she could reach down and pull a sapphire colored teddy bear out from under the piles of blankets, pillows, and other toys Akira had stashed it under. Hikari recognized it instantly as the bear Kyo had won at the summer festival the year she and the others had first become team four. She'd always wondered what her cousin had done with it since she'd never seen it after that. It made sense though that he'd have given it to Kairi. It had always been obvious (to everyone but Kyo and Kairi of course) that the two were made for each other.

Hikari's expression melted to a sad frown as she watched Kairi replace the deep navy ribbon with the one that had been holding back her hair. It wasn't fair that things had turned out the way that they did. It wasn't fair that Akira didn't have a father. And it was especially not fair that Kyo had never married Kairi before he died. He was planning on it too. He'd showed her the ring the night before his mission. She'd been so excited for them.

The ring was one of the only things they'd managed to recover with Kyo's body. He'd threaded it into the knot of his hatai-ate in an attempt to save it from being lost. They'd only found it when Kakashi and her father had dressed him for burial. Kakashi had given it to Kairi and, while she never wore it on her finger, Hikari knew that she kept it on a gold chain around her neck.

"Hikari?" Kairi said, concern on her face as she straitened up. "Are you alright?"

"I'm sorry."

If possible Kairi's concern seemed to deepen. "For what?"

"For everything," Hikari said. Her voice was growing harsh around the lump that had formed in her throat. She did her best to swallow it back. "If I hadn't been so…so pathetic back then; if I'd just worked harder to be a better ninja. I could have helped Yotaro or at least not gotten in Itachi's way. Then Yotaro would still be alive and Kyo would never have taken that mission…He wouldn't have died and Akira would have a dad. You'd be a Haruno like you're supposed to be."

Kairi looked thoughtful for a moment before she shifted Akira on her hip and handed him the blue bear. Akira clung to it at once, his chubby fingers playing with the satin ribbon around its neck.

"The night Kyo came home after your chuunin exam was the night Akira was conceived." Hikari looked up in confusion but Kairi just continued on. "I don't know how I knew, but I did. It was like the baby and I had made an instant connection. I hid that connection from Kyo because I knew that if I didn't he would have felt it too."

Hikari's eyes were wide and her mouth had dropped open just a bit in shock. "But…why? If he'd known about Akira then Kyo would never have left. He would have stayed. For both of you! So why didn't you let him know?"

"Because he never would have been happy."

"I—." Hikari paused. "What do you mean?"

"In your team, who do you think was the closest to Kyo?" Kairi said. "Who did he seem to…relate to the best?"

"I don't know." Hikari said, shrugging. "He treated us all pretty much the same."

"Did he?"

"…I think so."

"You know, whenever Kyo and I met up, for whatever reason, he always talked about how great his team was. He told me how you and Itachi were always fighting but that he knew you both liked each other—." Hikari winced but Kairi ignored her. "And how Yotaro was always the mediator, even if he was the one that started your fight in the first place."

Hikari giggled. That was certainly true. As many fights as Yotaro had ended, he'd started at least half of them in the first place. Looking back, she had to wonder if he did it on purpose. Probably.

"But he always had something special to say about Yotaro. Of course he was proud of all of you but I have to think that he sort of…adopted Yotaro in a way. Not even as a little brother but more like a son. Maybe a favorite nephew. His death hit Kyo harder then anything I've ever seen. Not even Nakai's death hurt him that bad."

Hikari's eyebrows furrowed. "Nakai…?"

"Our old teammate. He died during the Kyuubi invasion. You'd only met him once or twice so it's no surprise if you don't remember."

Hikari shook her head. "I don't. Were they close?"

"The best friends I'd ever seen. Aside from Yotaro and Itachi. Those two definitely had something special. They were almost like brothers."

"Yeah," Hikari said. "They really were."

"Anyway, what I'm meaning to say is that I knew Kyo would never be happy until he did everything he could to avenge Yotaro. That's why I didn't stop him. Though I will admit that I never expected that he would get himself killed."

"Yeah, Kyo-nii always seemed too stubborn to die. Losing Yotaro and then Kyo-nii so close together, and with me and Itachi…drifting apart…" she shook her head. "It's a wonder I didn't go crazy."

"Losing people you care about is never easy but it is a part of life. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't mourn or remember our friends and loved ones, just that we can't let it rule our lives." Kairi smiled and motioned to Akira. "Kyo would never forgive me if I did less then everything I can for our son. That's one of the reasons I can keep going."

There was a knock on the door and Hikari gave Kairi a conspiring wink. "And here comes another reason."

Kairi flushed. "We're just friends. He comes to look in on us because Kyo asked him too. That's all."

"Sure," Hikari said, waving an absent good-bye. "I gotta go pick Sakura up from daycare. Good luck at dinner. Oh, tell Tenten-chan that I'll pick her up the same time as always tomorrow."

She practically skipped to the door and pulled it open, surprising Iruka who was posed to knock again.

"Good afternoon sensei," Hikari said. "Here to see Kairi-nee-chan?"

"Actually I have some things for Tenten. She left them in the classroom today. I also need to talk to her about the fight today." He eyed her sternly. "And you as well young lady. Hyuuga Hiashi was not pleased to hear about your treatment of his nephew."

Hikari scoffed. "That old man doesn't care about Neji at all. He's just upset that I didn't treat a member of his clan with 'awe' and 'reverence'. What's the big deal about them anyway? They're just people with funky eyes."

"I'll keep that in mind when you spar a 'funky eyed' Hyuuga in class tomorrow."

"Ch, Ko's got nothing on me. I'm a genin after all."

"Were," Iruka said. "You were a genin. Now you're just an academy student like all of your other classmates. If you want that title again then you'll have to earn it back."

"Yeah, yeah," Hikari said, absently brushing at her bare forehead. "I've heard it all before."

"Maybe if you studied a little you'd have the chance to move up in the classes. After all, your physical marks are still just average."

"I had my leg shattered Iruka-sensei," Hikari said bitterly. "You can't expect me to just jump back in the game like it never happened."

"That excuse will only last for so long," Iruka chided. "You can't keep going through the academy scared to try anything just because you're afraid to fail."

"You're right," Hikari said, sarcasm dripping from her words. "Why should I be afraid of failure? It's not like I caused my teammate's death, shattered the bones in my leg, drove off another teammate, failed to protect my sensei, or got booted back to being a no-name ninja recruit because my physical condition dropped below genin level and I wasn't smart enough to be of use any other way."

Iruka tried to interject but Hikari beat him to it.

"Oh wait! That is what happened, isn't it?"

"You can get passed all of that, Hikari." Iruka said. "In fact, most of it isn't even true!"

"Which part? Yotaro's death? My leg? How about driving Itachi off or not stopping Kyo from leaving? Nice try Iruka-sensei but you're not really cut out for this whole 'comforting people' thing."

"Hikari—."

"I'll see you in class tomorrow. Kairi-nee's probably waiting for you. After all, Akira still needs his nasty lunch stuff."

Iruka sighed as Hikari weaved passed him and she tried to ignore it when Kairi came up next to him, Akira sucking on a teething ring in her arms.

"She keeps so much holed up," Iruka said. "It isn't healthy."

"She's been through a lot these past few years." Kairi said as Hikari moved out of hearing range. "Don't worry though. She's strong and this is just a small hurdle in the way."

Hikari snorted as she rounded the corner and entered the market streets.

"To bad I suck at jumping hurdles Nee-chan." She said to herself as she worked her way through the crowd.

End Chapter One

Kaliea: I know I said the sequel would be called 'Shades of Gray' and it will be. I just haven't worked out the plot quite as well as I would have liked yet so this is kind of a…filler arc. It's also an easy way for me to get out the exposition I need for the next story. That way I can focus on that plot rather then explaining how we got there from the end of Dark and Light. Anywho, I hope you all enjoy this story though it definitely won't be as cutesy as the last one. Hikari's got some serious issues to work out. Not to mention more on the way. Don't forget to review!