The morning came after some tranquillity at night while Otsutsuki Hikari or as he is now formally known as Hyuuga Hikari slept on the floor. On his chest, laid a glowing, shoulder-length golden-haired woman who was his original family's longest patron and dubbed by the toads of Gama no Kuni as the ruthless Phoenix Sage. Never in his own mind would be considered that such an eccentric character had lived for Kami's knows how long. What was better yet, she was promised a prince to be wed by for all he knew, his long since dead grandfather. A fact his mother had really failed to mention. He could use a little warning beforehand. Not that he minds, that is. The said Sage was a restless sleeper as she was originally sleeping on the bed. Whoever that woke up first will have the most awkward start in their day. A day that seemed to be undergone by Hikari.

As his consciousness began to creep back into existence instead of an incoherent display of colours, memories or whatever anyone would saw in a dream, he noticed that someone was on his chest. That someone felt really pleasant, warm and welcoming despite the cold snowy mountain they reside in. He opened his eyes and confirmed his suspicion while he looked over her bed and noticed that the sheet was a mess.

"Huh, a restless sleeper?" his mind wondered. He didn't wait for an answer as he hesitantly reached and brushed her glowing hair. He wondered how was her life had been all alone for those ten millennia. He suspected that she had visited a few countries over the years and those sages on a few secret occasions throughout the century scaring them off her mountain or on a pure whim. No one dared to cross her because they knew that she was the most powerful being in the world. That much he could figure out and he a.s.sumed that such things were in a sense shared a similarity to Naruto's quest for attention--she did long for a long lost soulmate. He could not help but felt unworthy for such affection as he was unwillingly sent to the future for his weakness. His mental ramblings were interrupted by the girl's slight stir into consciousness. When she was wide awake, she immediately pulled out and sat a few feet away from him.

"Sorry, I am not good at staying still in my sleep," she said and her cheeks were pinked with embarra.s.sment. Hikari managed to stare at her and a few moments pa.s.sed when he finally said something.

"I," Hikari nervously said. "I didn't mind, Hitori-san."

She blushed even redder than the previous and hastily stood up. She made her way to the bathroom after giving him a bow. Hikari sighed and stood up to stretch his body. He found that the air was starting to get colder by the minute. He a.s.sumed that it was snowing last night. Hitori-san came back from the bathroom and sat on the floor.

"Baths are heating up as we speak, you may want to take it first and changes of clothes are in the closet," she began to say. "Training will begin after breakfast."

Hikari nodded and went to the bathroom. He wondered how could she start a fire that fast. He shook his head and reasoned that it's must have been a fire jutsu of some sort. Nothing is impossible in a s.h.i.+n.o.bi world and with all the time she had, he wouldn't be surprised that she could sneak into a village and learned a few. h.e.l.l, she might have taught them in the first place anyway. He shrugged as he entered the bathroom.

After the good long and inviting bath, Hikari wore a robe similar to his mother's that was filling the closet. This robe had inadvertently brought back sad memories but it didn't pain him as much now. He decided to leave his third eye unprotected as there were only the two of them were present there. He made his way to the kitchen and found that she had already sat there waiting for him. Hikari chose to take a seat next to her.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Hitori-san. This smells delicious," Hikari said after he breathed in the aroma from the dining table. She just chuckled and pour him a cup of tea. Hitori had cooked some plain noodles to be eaten with a seaweed broth. As he dug into the food he once again overwhelmed by the taste.

"This is good stuff. Honestly, you're a great cook," he mumbled between bites and she laughed.

"As good as it may be, please eat slowly, you're going to choke on the food," she said. "You looked good in those robes, why didn't you wear them in Konoha?"

"Ah, the robe might tell someone who I really am and there might be people who would come to see it as a sign of power and they might come to collect it. I did that for the sake of the people of Konoha," Hikari explained and she smiled.

"I can see that she pa.s.sed on some of my teachings to you. I was once her teacher, you know. She, albeit the only one but she is a promising one until..." Hitori did not finish the words as sorrow could be seen in his eyes and she knew that the subject shouldn't be brought up. "Sorry..."

"No, I didn't mind much now. So, how could one gather nature energy?" He asked, changing the subject. She nodded and smiled.

"To be a Sage is to learn to feel the natural energy around us and to have the ability to pull the energy into our body. In order to obtain such a feat, ones will have to be completely empty of thought, unmoving and as still as a rock sitting on the ground," she began. "Now, having the Rinne-Sharingan meant that you have readily absorbed nature energy unconsciously, which would explain your abilities to be magnified and harder to control or less effective because you didn't know how to manipulate nature energy."

"So basically, I can already use it? The senjutsu chakra?" Hikari wondered.

"Not quite, you are barely scratching the surface of it which means, you could be a sage that is stronger than your brothers ever was. The distinction lies in your eyes. The Rinnegan that Hagoromo-chan had didn't had the chance to bloom into a full-blown Rinne-Sharingan as he didn't have as much chakra as Kaguychan," Hitori explained. "He chose not to, a good move for him because he had to killed his brother to get the Rinnegan and Kami's know what will he had to undergo to complete it.

"You, on the other hand, had completely awakened it involuntarily without going through Sharingan and Rinnegan state or eating a chakra fruit which made you the strongest Otsutsuki in fifteen generations since the last one if I remembered correctly."

"I don't need all of that c.r.a.p, you know. This eye is only a huge ha.s.sle for me," Hikari grumbled and she laughed.

"I'm so proud of you. You wield the greatest Kekkei Mora in the Otsutsuki and want nothing to do with it. But it is your family's history," she quipped. Hikari rose a questioning eyebrow.

"The first Otsutsuki that manifested the eye predates my involvement with them. It is said that he went through the greatest despair, losing his wife and son due to the dispute for the possession of a chakra fruit from the Otsutsuki's only Great Tree with his brother. His chakra and his sorrow evolved his Byakugan and body to manifest the Rinne-Sharingan without the help of the chakra fruit as anybody usually went through. This made his eye permanent unlike before, the Otsutsuki needed to continually consume the chakra fruit to maintain their power level and longevity. The man used his powers to prevent his brother along with the sympathizer from harvesting other Great Tree and destroy the worlds that had them. The Otsutsuki refers to the abilities awaken with the chakra fruit as the Kekkei Mora. Kekkei Mora transcends all Kekkei Genkai or Touta as the brat from Iwa called his Jinton. It enabled you to use all chakra nature simultaneously. In turn, it grants one an ability that rivalled G.o.d himself. Hagoromo-chan able to split and create souls from the Juubi chakra. Imagine what you can do," Hitori elaborated. It sounded like she was testing him but the irritation that he felt was that he resented all of this possibility he has. Hikari slammed his hand on the table.

"I don't need all of that! I have enough already and I hate it!" Hikari was clearly p.i.s.sed. He stood up and made his way to the doors. He wasn't here to play G.o.d. He inwardly cursed his brothers for this predicament perhaps this was their idea of a joke.

"Stop," she clipped and he obeyed. "I had to be sure, I don't want you to fall like her. Otsutsukis could never shake off that thirst for power. You are clearly different. The one who wields chakra will forever d.a.m.ned to seek for more. But there is one thing your mother or your forefathers had failed to learn--the key was 'balance'. You can't have one without the other. Peace and chaos, the loud and the quiet, the yin and the yang. Understanding that will guarantee you power like no other but with it the wiseness of not using such things without the need for it. To quest only when it was required. You would do very well in life. Come, let me teach you how to be the Phoenix Sage."

They arrived at the place where she summoned him the first time and Hitori sat atop the rock. Hikari watched her intently.

"Observe me with your third eye," she simply said and closed her eyes. Hikari instinctively opened his Rinne-Sharingan and closed his eyes. He immediately saw a body of golden chakra in a sitting position in the darkness of his sight. That was not the only thing that he saw. Slowly, he began to see some sort of flames or waves of energy everywhere. The said energy was pulled into the golden chakra making it more and more bright. It gave him the notion of her chakra was multiplying by the second. Her original level was already high enough, fitting for the Sage t.i.tle but now it was greatly enhanced.

"The eye granted you the ability to see energy itself instead of just chakra," she announced. When he opened his eyes, he saw red rings formed around her eyes along with a red circle with a red dot in the middle of it on top of her forehead.

"Your eyes..." Hikari mumbled.

"These rings are a sign of Sagehood for humans. I wouldn't have these if I was in my true form. You will sit here, meditate until you can achieve Sage Mode. After that, we will move on to the next stage," she ordered. She wasn't in a mood to be quarrelled with as her whole demeanour has changed since they got out of the house. He merely nodded and took her place on the rock.

"Remember, be absolutely still. Clear your mind and be one with nature. I will come back to you when you succeed," she said and then transformed into her Phoenix form and flew away. Hikari wisely closed his eyes and started to meditate.

It took him a few days, but when a few black b.a.l.l.s appeared on behind him. Hitori was just a few miles away watching him in a distance.

"He is better than I expected," she thought. She was back in her human form and walked towards Hikari slowly. When she was close enough to see him clearly, it was apparent that not only he did achieve Sage Mode, he was clad in a black Otsutsuki chakra robe with the Gudoudama behind his back.

"Black robe of Otsutsuki? My Hikari, You've succeeded in exceeding my expectation," she said. Hikari opened his eyes and it wasn't the Byakugan in his. Instead, it was her red eyes.

She said, intrigued, "Interesting. It seemed you've retained some aspect of the Phoenix Sage Mode."

"What do you mean?" Hikari was puzzled.

"For one, look at your back. That's the Gudoudama, a ball of chakra containing all types of chakra natures each," Hitori suggested and Hikari immediately turned to see it, "it is malleable into anything you desire."

One of the b.a.l.l.s flew forward and hovered over his palm. Like a thick black goo slos.h.i.+ng around, the ball morphed into a longer imitation of Fudo Masamune. He took it in his hand and felt the blade. It was light but balanced. Hikari charged his Ranton into the blade and it glowed in a black hue. He was visibly surprised and thrust the blade up. He brought his hand to form the seal of confrontation.

"Ranton; Reza Bimu no Jutsu." He said. The blade glowed darkly and discharge a beam of a black light streak into the sky. The speed of it was tremendously faster than his normal laser beam jutsu but that's not the end of it. The beam flew at the way towards the atmosphere and reacted. The sky glowed in the same black hue as the jutsu.

"Whoa," Hikari managed, Hitori was gaping at him.

"Where did you learn that?" she muttered. He brought his hand to rub the back of his head and laughed nervously.

"By accident, at the training ground. I was enhancing my blade with chakra nature and accidentally mixed lightning and water nature," he explained. Sweat dripped from her forehead.

"For a man who despises power, you have quite a creative way to use it yourself," she shook her head as she said it. "Okay, you're done for the day. Tomorrow you will learn to enter Sage Mode without the help of the Rinne-Sharingan."

That night he had the best meals he ever had in Yukiyama. Hikari was already laid down his futon when Hitori called him.

"Hikari, I can't seem to sleep without you nowadays, would you please sleep next to me?" she was twiddling her forefingers with each other while blus.h.i.+ng beet red. He knew it was just an excuse but he gladly indulged with her. He laid next to her and she immediately hugged him. Both of them were blus.h.i.+ng and couldn't seem to mouth a word.

"Uhmm, thanks for looking out for me, out there," Hikari began and she stiffens. She hadn't expected him to notice her.

"You saw me?" she breathed.

"I... I felt you," he was blus.h.i.+ng more than her now.

"Well, not exactly, I am not originally a sensor ninja type. But, gathering nature energy back then, I can sense your chakra from miles away. Not only that, but I can also see your heart's intention. I've always got a certain feeling from somebody. It seemed that Sage Mode enhances that," he said.

"Yeah, I know that. I can't exactly let you freeze to death now would I?" Hitori laughed nervously.

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"That and more, Hitori-san. That and more," Hikari hugged her more tightly. She buried her face onto his chest afterwards, not saying anything more. That night, they slept soundly until the morning came.

"Now, because of the Rinne-Sharingan, you've unlocked a highly advanced transient Sage Mode. That black chakra of yours is a stuff of legends, you know. Today you will learn to absorb natural energy without the help of the eye," Hitori pointed at Hikari who was sitting on top of his rock. Hikari nodded and closed his eyes to meditate.

Gathering nature energy was easier now due to him being accustomed to it. Still, it's quite tasking for Hikari. It took him more than two weeks to get ratio right. There was some mishap as to sometimes he couldn't make it right, he had gained some bird-like features. Lucky for him, Hitori was there the entire time to absorb it out of his system.

"Finally," Hikari said amidst the snow. He was standing atop the familiar rock. As usual, his Byakugan changed into crimson eyes and around his eyes, there were red rings, familiar signs of the sagehood. He felt br.i.m.m.i.n.g with power but when he gave this much thought, this form was not very practical compared to his Rinne-Sharingan Sage Mode, he has yet to name it.

"Good, Hikari. You did well. You've surpa.s.sed even your mother in Phoenix Senjutsu," Hitori said as she tied her hair to a bun. "Now, let's do some brawling."

Hitori suddenly charged at Hikari and backhanded him across the clearing. Hikari slammed into a rock wall and snow buried him down. Not long afterwards, he came out of the snow explodingly, veins were showing around his eyes and a wide grin was plastered on his face. They sparred continuously throughout the day and such an act affected the whole place. Phoenix Sages radiates some form of chakra heat pa.s.sively but as the blow was exchanged, the radiation, multiplied. Naturally, the snow slowly began to melt. When they were done for the day, the clearing was all dried up and filled with holes from their feat of strength.

"Interesting sparring technique, I never knew to fight with such raw strength and bluntness could be that much fun," Hikari commented as he panted heavily equally as. .h.i.tori did.

"It's been a while but, that's how it was back in the day. Compared to your heritage, my style was considered vulgar and blunt. But where's the fun in that gentle fists," she said in between her breath. "Now, I understand that you found that Rinne-Sharingan was the most effective way to use Sage jutsu. I don't mind that but please consider that as a last resort. I am not sure if the ninjas would be ready for that."

"I know it well," Hikari muttered and then he bowed at Hitori. "Thank you for being a good teacher and caregiver throughout the training."

"Boy, we are not done yet. You are going to practice your ninjutsu in your Phoenix Sage Mode," she held out a hand towards Hikari. "Senpou; Hitori no Jutsu!"

A ball of flame as large as a house emerges from her hand, it was shaped like a bird earning its apt name. The ball of flames was shot towards Hikari. The boy shuns.h.i.+nned to a distance and whirled some hand signs.

"Suiton; Suiryudan!" he yelled. Normally, the water dragon jutsu was already fancy enough to a degree but, laced with the senjutsu chakra, Hikari took it up a notch. The sheer size of the dragon was so overwhelming that it engulfed the flame-like it was a foot-stomping on a puny ant. Hikari was awed by this and made him speechless.

"I'll leave you to it. I'm going home to cook dinner, I'll be back," she grinned at him and waved before she disappeared in a ball of flames. The rest two weeks were filled with sparing sessions and creating Sage Art techniques. Those times went by as fast as a wind that blew past a tree.

Hitori and Hikari were cuddling up on the familiar rock while they gaze upon the stars. There was some form of a green wave of lights were dancing in the sky. Hitori said that it was the sun's energy colliding with the earth's polarity. It was stunningly beautiful but that is not the case. Hikari had mentioned it once or twice already. He wanted to return to Konoha. Hitori was silent throughout as she gazes upon his face.

"You really miss your Konoha, aren't you?" she hugged him tighter. Hikari took his eyes off the sky and look at the beautiful ancient maiden in his arms.

"Yes, I am. I should get back now. I was wondering how they were doing in the Chuunin Exam. You should see my teammates. They are all a bunch of intriguing fellows, especially Naruto," he said fondly. She was silent but in her mind, there was an idea playing. She was considering whether or not she should follow through with it. A few moments of last-minute thinking and she gave in.

"May I go and live with you there?" she was blus.h.i.+ng beet red as she said that and Hikari's eyebrows were raised.

"Eh, you would come with me? I thought you were afraid of being around people?" Hikari couldn't resist to tease her. An action he had soon regret when she pinched his biceps with all her might. The agony was pale in comparison to receiving a kunai to the knee.

"You know why," she gritted and wore a fierce glare while still having her hands pinched.

"Aww! Okay! Okay!!!!!" he yelled. She giggled and snuggled her head into his arms, pulling him closer. Hikari rubbed the pinched spot bitterly expecting it to bruise. He then remembered a few nights ago. Both of them confessed to each other and had realized their love. Hitori had waited long enough for him, and he felt that he shouldn't keep her waiting much longer as that was not what he had been taught. The night went by with their act of true love melting the mountain top.