Naruto : Monsters: Chapter 14

The courtyard was silent as everyone watched the young Heir walk out of the compound, dragging the loudly protesting Jinchuriki behind him. No one was willing to speak and break the silence for the next several minutes, not until both children were well and truly out of sight and hearing.

Hizashi was the first to speak.

Stepping forward he turned to face his older brother. "Is this truly wise Hiashi-sama? To let Hikaru-sama spend so much time alone with the Kyuubi child?

"This time I'm in full agreement with your brother Hiashi." The Elder that stood immediately to Hiashi's right spoke up. Like most of the Elders, he was an aged man, well past his prime, but that did not mean he was frail by any means. 

Though his face was wrinkled and his faded brown hair was thinning, it was clear that the body beneath his robes was still solid and strong. He carried himself with a grace that belied his age, his footsteps light and silent.

As their father, Takehiko bore a great resemblance to both of his twin sons, something that would no doubt only continue to grow as his children aged.

Now turning to his eldest, he bestowed on him a disappointed frown. 

"I fear you may end up regretting this decision Hiashi. Hikaru is no ordinary boy, in the entirety of our Clan's history, there had never been one that had shown as much promise and raw potential as he does. 

Not even you could compare when you were a child. For you to risk him in such an endeavour," Takehiko slowly shook his head in clear disapproval, "What could have possessed you to do such a thing?"

The former Clan Head sighed, "I'm sorry my son, but I cannot support you in this. I had held my tongue, as you are now the Clan Head, but I must implore you to give us a reason for your decision. For I fear that neither I nor the others can restrain ourselves from interfering. The Clan cannot afford to risk a genius of Hikaru's calibre, not over something like this."

If their words had any effect on him, Hiashi did not show it. He simply continued to steadily stare straight ahead, looking at the direction his son had departed, before finally, he released a breath.

"A genius… huh?" Hiashi's eyes seemed to lose their focus, his voice turning oddly melancholic. "…Yes, perhaps there is no better word to describe my son."

Hiashi began to descend the stairs, his father and brother quickly tailing after him, leaving the rest of their clansmen along with any prying ears behind them. When he reached the bottom, Hiashi continued walking at the same steady pace towards the compound gates.

"I used to pray to the Gods to grant me a strong child. Before Hikaru's birth, when my wife was still pregnant, I would pray every day." His eyes turned forlorn before Hiashi raised his gaze up to the sky as they walked. 

"I had wished for a strong and powerful Heir. Only now that I had my wish granted, do I realize that perhaps I should have wished for a kind one instead."

"Hiashi?" Takehiko looked puzzled by his successor's words.

"My son," Hiashi paused in his steps to turn and face Takehiko, "he scares me, father. I love him but I'm frightened of my own son."

"Hiashi," Takehiko turned his confused eyes to Hizashi, who shrugged in return, just as perplexed as he was. "What are you talking about?"

"So you haven't noticed. I should not be surprised I suppose, he hides it well." Hiashi resumed his trek towards the open gates. "Hikaru, he is simply too talented, too skilled. Abnormally so. He learns so fast and understands so much, far too much to be normal. Not even when Hatake Kakashi was a child did he learn as fast as Hikaru does."

"And what's wrong with that?" Takehiko appeared perplexed by what Hiashi was saying. "You make it sound as if my grandson's progress is a bad thing. If anything you should be proud of yourself for raising such a talented son."

"Ah, but that's the thing father, I never taught him anything. Not a single thing." Hiashi flashed his father a ghost of a smile, "I played no hand in Hikaru's education, he has always taught himself everything he needed to know. 

Reading, writing, etiquette. Even the Byakugan, something that by all rights he should have needed help to awaken, he did it entirely on his own."

"As expected of my grandson," In contrast to Hiashi's grim mood, Takehiko nodded proudly at his grandson's accomplishments. "He truly is a genius. I look forward to see how he will mature. With an Heir like him, our Clan's future will surely be a bright one."

"A genius?... It would be good if that were the case."

Takehiko turned an angry glare at his son, finally reaching the limits of his patience. "Hiashi, what are you rattling on about? What is wrong with Hikaru exceeding his peers?"

"Prodigies are all like that." Hizashi, sensing a potential fight brewing between his father and brother, decided to step in. "What others need to be taught they figure out on their own. I have seen Neji do the same; he learns skills and technique simply by watching others train. Even I'm astounded by what he can do at times."

Hizashi gave his elder sibling a concerned look, "Brother, forgive me if I'm stepping out of bounds, but are you sure you're not worrying yourself over problems that are simply not there to begin with?"

"If only that were the case," Hiashi sighed and gave his head a slow shake, "but no, I fear that this is something more than my imagination."

He halted his steps as they finally reached the entrance to the gate, his father and brother standing on either side of him. They all stopped talking for a moment to take in the sight of the village of Konoha sprawling before them.

"Tell me, father, brother, have either of you ever seen Hikaru laugh? I mean really laugh, an open and care-free one like you would expect to hear from any child."

"Of cou-" Takehiko stopped in mid-reply, a surprised expression on his face as he tried and failed to think of such an occasion.

Hiashi gave his father a rueful smile. "Neither have I." Before looking away.

"Perhaps he does in fact laugh but if so, is it not strange that I have never heard my own son laugh? I never realized it until after Hanabi was born and my wife pointed out to me how much she giggled and laughed compared to when Hikaru was a baby. It was only then that it became painfully clear to me just how abnormal my son really is."

Hiashi sighed, "It was then that I decided to keep a closer eye on him, and it did not take me long to grasp that there was something gravely wrong with my son. There is a part of him that is so cold, so very unforgiving. I catch glimpses of it from time to time when he thinks no one is watching, and it is something that I never wish to see in any child, let alone my own.

"The boy had no real friends to speak of. It is not that he is shy or even afraid, he simply does not care. Neji is the only child his age he is willing to talk to, and even then Neji had to follow him around for the better part of a year to make Hikaru open up to him.

"He has no wish to make any friends, no interests or hobbies. To him, there is only training, and the degree of passion he has for it is almost frightening. 

The way he keeps pushing himself to the brink of exhaustion time and again without any encouragement, it is as if he is driven by something. Sometimes when I watch my son train I think that there is a hunger burning inside him, driving him to train, and like a fire, it only grows the more he tries to feed."

Hiashi turned to face both his father and brother, "I had only heard about one person acting this way before, another child prodigy. One that was also hailed as an unprecedented genius, who went by the name of Orochimaru."

"HIASHI!" Takehiko yelled out furiously, insulted on behalf of his grandson. "Comparing Hikaru to that poisonous snake Orochimaru, that's taking things too far!" And he was not alone in this opinion, Hizashi quickly jumped in to support him.

"Brother, I have seen how he treats Hanabi. Hikaru adores the girl. You can't tell me you don't see it? And for all of their differences even Neji loves your boy. He himself has told me that he feels that Hikaru is the only one his age that can understand him. He would not feel that way if Hikaru truly did not care for him."

Hiashi nodded in agreement. "Yes, and that is precisely why I still believe that my son is not lost to us, not yet. That he can still bring himself to care about others gives me hope, that something could be done to cure him from whatever aliment plagues his mind and heart."

"That is why you sent him to the Academy." Hizashi breathed as he began putting the pieces together. "In all ways that matter Hikaru is already a Genin, everyone in the Clan knows this. Yet you still commanded him to spend the entire six years in the Academy even over his instructor's objections. You did it to help Hikaru."

"Yes," Hiashi nodded to his brother, "if my son were to carry on as he is, he will break. What Hikaru needs the most right now is not more training or even experience. 

No, what Hikaru truly needs is to learn how to be happy, to care. It is such a simple thing, but for all of their intellect it is often the simplest of things that geniuses often fail to comprehend."

"Let me get this straight Hiashi." The look on Takehiko's face was one of pure incredulous disbelief, "You sent Hikaru to the Academy…to make friends?"

The edge of Hiashi's lips quirked at his father's tone of voice. "While I wouldn't have put it quite like that myself, yes, essentially that is exactly what I did." Hiashi sighed and turned an imploring look on his father.

"You must remember father, that for all of his intelligence Hikaru is only a boy of six years, and as foolish as it makes me sound I believe above everything else what my son needs right now is a friend. 

I had hoped that by exposing him to a new environment with many children his own age, he may eventually end up making some, and perhaps learn how to behave like a child for once. I must admit, though it was my own plan I had little hope for it actually working, not this quickly at least."

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