Hidaka Amane was born to the Hidaka Clan - a Clan which left the shinobi world a hundred year ago becoming extinct for the rest of the world. Things change, when two Akatsuki members find the village, freeing Amane from her caged life.
Time set: the...
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I went to the gates in the morning, as my mother asked me. Hayato was already there, smoking a cigarette. He was actually my uncle, so I knew him really well.
"Good morning, Amane" he said as he stepped on his cigarette.
"Good morning" I yawned as I didn't have enough time to rest.
"Are you excited about your first day at work" he asked with a smile on his face.
"As you can see it" I said with a slight sarcasm in my voice. Hayato started laughing.
"You grew up, Amane. Really. Enough talking, let me show you around. There are eight watch points at the top of the walls, I'll show you all."
"Cool." I followed him as he showed me the only entrance to the village first. We went outside through the narrow path, it was as wide as a chariot. At the end of the path there was a small building.
"This is the trading post. Sellers from the surrounding villages leave the goods here, thinking it's a pick-up point for other merchants and they get the money after they entered the code on the safe. They arrive at given times, someone from the Protectors take care of it after they left. You don't have to worry about it now, it won't be your task for now." he explained.
"I'm okay with that."
"Follow me" he headed to the stairs carved in the stone wall, next to the entrance. He showed me all the watch points, introduced me to the people working there and explained the tasks.
"Now as you've seen everything, I'll ask you the most important question: What do we do when someone approaches Hidden Volcano?"
"Easy. As the village is protected by genjutsu, we will wait until they leave. If they won't leave, and they realize it's a village we accept them without fighting and take them to the Clan Leader in order to change their memory. If they want to fight, we fight back, capture them and take them to the Clan Leader to change their memory." I knew the rules all too well.
"Good answer. You'll start your watch with me at Point Seven, follow me."
We arrived at Point Seven, the Protector there finished his job for the day.
The first half of the day was boring as we saw no one getting close to the walls. It's actually a rare occasion, our village is hidden well.
After a couple strolls up on the wall we decided to rest. Hayato shared his lunch with me and he started talking.
"Do you know about our history, Amane? Do you know why are we separated from the world?"
"Not really. In school they only taught a little about the past. My teacher said there's constant war outside and our clan chose peace instead and cut the rest of the world out." I said.
"That's partly correct. There's still war outside, but it's not what it used to be anymore."
"You shouldn't tell me what you know, uncle" he was the Clan Leader before my mother for a short time. He knows a lot about the outside world, but he's not allowed to tell me. Yet I saw he wanted to.
"It's okay. You would know it anyway, I'm sure you'll be the Clan Leader in the future."
"I don't think so. I don't want to be" I was telling the truth, but I knew he was right. The village chooses their Leader and as they all respect my mother and as I have the required qualities, I have the chance.
"I know. But you can't really avoid it. Anyway, let me tell you a little about our history." I paid attention to him. I was really interested in the world outside my village though I never talked about it. "We were once part of the shinobi world, the world of wars between clans. The fights never wanted to stop, peace only lasted seconds. We used to live in the Land of Fire, where around a hundred years ago, a brave shinobi, Hashirama from the Senju clan had a dream which seemed impossible: ending wars and bringing peace to this world. Our clan wished the same, but our Clan Leader back then didn't think it was possible. Peace is like thin glass, it shatters easily. We made a deal with Hashirama: our clan leaves the shinobi world and we will live in peace separated from everyone. Only our Clan Leader keeps contact with the shinobi leaders of the five great countries - for everyone else our village is a secret. Time made our name disappear, our clan is considered extinct. Peace came in the outside world as clans of the countries united to form villages, but it didn't last long. There's still war outside interrupted by short waves of peaceful years. Our clan is the only exception from wars."
"That's interesting" I said as he finished his story "But I don't think it's the perfect solution. Peace should be reached by every nation, fighting for it together and not by separating. I know it sounds like I'm a traitor, but... we're not free. We're free from war, I admit, but it feels like we're caged here."
Hayato started laughing.
"Don't tell this to your mother, please. Not everyone thinks like you, in fact, I think I'm the only one who shares your beliefs. But our hands are tied, and we have to protect ourselves."
"From what?" I asked. I really didn't understand why we have to separate this much in order to live in peace.
"Our eyes are more useful than you think. Obtaining one's memories mean that you get to know your enemies fighting style and abilities. With enough training, seconds after looking in your opponent's eyes you can come up with a strategy against them. Really useful in war. And why do you think it's forbidden to learn the ability to change memories? Also a useful tool for fighting."
"Oh... " I hadn't think about that. I didn't know our technique can be this strong.
"Follow the rules, Amane. Appreciate our peaceful little village. Live a complete, happy life. It's more than the people outside have."
He was right. I knew it. But it sounded so boring and I didn't want that. I wanted more.
