The Battousai's Daughter?! (Kakashi Love Story) Chapter 2

You stared at the ninjas impassively taking in their appearance, deciding whether or not to answer their question. The one who had caught you was a bit odd. He had tall, spiky silver hair and part of his head band covered his left eyes, the only one visible a charcoal black. The rest of his face was covered by a mask and he was dressed in such away that you got the impression he was one of the elite. The other three were just kids, no possible threat. The female had pink hair (who has pink hair?) and was dressed in red and was currently glaring at you, but you dismissed the obstinate child. An energetic looking boy with blonde hair dressed in orange jumped up and down excitedly pointing between you and your brother. The dark-haired arrogant one just continued to glare at you in the same manner as the girl.

Rarely did you come across ninjas on the field as you weren't one yourself and had little contact with the stealthy people, save Aoshi and Misao Shinomori, the heads of the Oniwaban clan. Their son Akira was a few years older than you and it was because of him that you were banished from the Himura clan of samurai. Hiko Shishou may have been the head of the clan and your father his second, but the system which governed your group was entirely based on the democratic principle, so it was the people of the clan who decided your fate. You had refused to marry their son and ran away the day of the ceremony. Both the Oniwaban and the Himura considered this disloyal behavior and exiled you. But exile among samurai is not so simple.

In reality it should be referred to as execution, as that is what happens after exile. One of the clan members is sent after you to finish you off, so that you would not be able to reveal any possible secrets. They sent your brother, probably to test his loyalty to the clan. You and your brother engaged in a bloody duel, but when it came down to it, both of you failed to kill the other. Whatever shred of compassion you held for your brother stayed your hand and had made you flip the blade during the final attack.

You didn’t kill for the enjoyment. At one time you wielded your sword for a power; much like your father had in his days as Hitokiri Battousai, but learned the cruel and blood-spattered path was not the right way. Hiko Shishou, however never allowed his sword to be dictated by political power as your father and you had. The way of Hiten Mitsu Rugi was to protect the innocent and not give allegiance to any one power. Everyone of the Himura clan practiced varied styles of swordsmanship and all fell prey to power but in the end repented and all retired to a peaceful settlement which was what you knew today.

However, the lust for power is not utterly eliminated and the clan fell prey to it once more and instigated the idea of your marriage to Akira for the sake of an alliance. Shishio and his Juppongatana had caused a lot of pain to them all and they all desired revenge but needed an alliance with a ninja clan because the Juppongatana had allied themselves with an evil entity known as Orochimaru and the clan was greatly outnumbered.

It was Hiko, who disagreed with the idea of your marriage to Akira in the first place because of his disdain and intolerance for such politics. Your mother and father had been uneasy about it as well, but the people of both clans pushed the idea because they wanted concrete reassurance about the alliance between the two clans. Your brother remained indifferent to your predicament the entire time, until now.

“Tell them, Ayame.” Your brother said through clenched teeth and looked daggers at you.

“Shut it, Kenji.” You snarled. “I don’t need your patronizing behavior. You are after all my assassin.”

The ninjas had a right to know what was going on as you were in their territory as much as you were loathe to admit, the silver-haired ninja was right.

Schooling your face into a somewhat pleasant expression, pleasant for someone who wanted to rip their brother to pieces, you returned your attention to the silver-haired shinobi, ignoring the kids. “If you must know, I was banished from my clan for refusing a marriage.”

“So you ran away?” The blonde kid said loudly, not pleased with being ignored.

“I guess you could put it that way,” You muttered. “But there was no way in hell I was marrying that damned prick Akira.”

“Who’s Akira?” The silver-haired shinobi asked.

“Akira is the son of Aoshi and Misao Shinomori, head of the Oniwaban clan.” You said in a deadpan voice.

“Isn’t that the ninja clan allied with Mist, Kakashi-sensei?”

The silver-haired shinobi known as Kakashi gave the kids a warning gesture. “Hai, Sakura-chan. They have a decent reputation and are an honorable ninja clan.” He turned his attention back to you. “You said you are from Himura clan, ne?”

“Was.” You corrected. “I was banished, remember?”

“I understand that much, but why is your brother trying to kill you?”

You smirked at the man’s attention to detail and decided you would tell him most of what had occurred, if for nothing else than to blow off some of your irritation.

When you were finished the silver-haired shinobi sighed. “It sounds like when ninjas are labeled as missing.”

You nodded. Glad he was able to figure it out. It was less explaining you had to do.

“What’s your name?” The blonde burst in excitedly.

You frowned momentarily before answering. “Ayame.”

“Is there a last name to go with that, Ayame-san?” The shinobi Kakashi questioned.

“Well, it was Himura, but my name became forfeit after being exiled.”

The pink-haired girl examined you and your brother. “Do you know something of the Himura clan, Kakashi-sensei?”

“They are a clan of former samurai imperialist from during the Revolution and it is said the one known as the legendary Hitokiri Battousai resides among them, having forsaken his title of ‘Assassin of the Shadows’.” Kakashi explained. “His very name struck fear into the heart of any who heard it during the unrest of some odd thirty years ago when he fought for Choushuu clan. It was said he had a head of red hair and cold golden eyes and a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek. He was the most famous imperialist but eventually the peace of the Meiji Era wrought by his sword became obsolete and was replaced with the old clan systems that we know of today.”

“Hey! I’ve heard of him!” The blonde said excitedly. “He’s supposed to be the best swordsman ever!”

“We all have.” The dark haired kid said in a bored voice. “You are such a baka.”

“What was that? You wanna fight?”

“Hn.”
OoO
Kakashi was mildly surprised he had said as much as he had considering he was not much of a conversationalist, even his students were confused by the sudden change in behavior.

He stared at the two siblings, coming to an abrupt realization. The last name Himura, their skills as swordsmen, and their uncanny appearance to the famed assassin. These two must be his offspring.

After the woman had told her story, he no longer believed these two were the ones attacking the villages, but he still didn’t trust them. As a Jounin he couldn’t afford to make such an amateur mistake. Feeling utterly bold he asked. “You are the Hitokiri Battousai’s daughter, aren’t you?”

The woman smirked again, more broadly. “Hai.”