Under the Sun

Epilogue

Hizashi had marked three locations on the map with giant, red X's. Seiichi needed to get away from Konoha but he couldn't just go anywhere. Although he'd won the match between Neji and him, his safety was still a concern for him. He had learned to trust Hizashi and his belief that eventually Seiichi's byakugan would be restored to its former glory. He did not however, trust that the council would let him go so easily. Hinata had warned him of the danger that remained. He was going to take her words to heart and never forget the role she had played in helping him win his freedom.

Seiichi could still recall the horrified look on all of their faces when his victory was declared. He had observed the crowd violently protesting Neji's defeat. In the midst of their loud, obnoxious voices, he'd seen the councilwoman's lips twist and curl in anger. Of all those that had been present that day, no one had grown more furious than her. The way she held herself, stiff and straight as a board, as she watched him retreat to his prison, a winner, reminded Seiichi of a person he had not thought of in a long time — his mother. Had it not been for the presence of so many, watching her every move, the councilwoman would flown straight towards him and ripped out his throat. Seiichi was certain of this.

But on the following morning he was released as promised. Thanks to the Hokage, the terms of the duel and his sentence were non-negotiable. He had departed the clan a free man, but the time to enjoy his hard won freedom was running dangerously short. Since his release, his instincts had alerted him to the fact that the council would not rest until they saw him properly punished for his crimes. So he left the clan quickly and a plan to escape the village as quiet as possible had formulated in his mind as he prepared what he needed.

Presently, he was staying at a small, rundown inn, on the outskirts of the village. There was a rule in place by the owner that people could stay no longer than a night because the inn was frequented round the clock, by weary travelers. Seiichi was an exception to this rule. He'd made a deal with the owner and paid him extra to rent a room out for the week. He hovered over a twin sized bed, looking down at the map Hizashi had given to him. The three red X's stood out among the unsafe locations colored in in greens, browns, and blues. His mind began to wander and suddenly, he visualized his body, lying naked on the earthen floor, with nothing but the three red marks covering him. It was so real that he could feel the dirt under his nails, the cold pricking his skin, and the taste of the frigid air on his tongue. Then Seiichi imagined a man standing over him. He was thin and tall. He wore a mask of some legendary beast but Seiichi could not tell exactly which one because half of it was stained by dirt, the other by blood. Drops of carmine dripped down the chin of the beast and settled onto his bare skin. Seiichi had no idea if the blood was his or the masked man's.

Coming back to the present, he shook the morbid image from his head and continued to prep for his journey. He had acquired a bag and went about filling it with the supplies that were laid out neatly on the bed, before him. He packed food wrapped in cloths, underclothes, overclothes, a small knife, and a little bag of money. Then, Seiichi studied the map again. He looked over the three locations marked onto its surface. Hizashi had told him they would be the safest places for him to go. One was somewhere away from the urban villages, out in the forest near a running river. Another was a fishing village. The last (if he chose to stick with his initial plan to travel there) was a safe house stationed close to Kumogakure.

Thinking of Kumogakure made Seiichi think of Shin, and of Rena. His mind began to toy with the idea of going back to where she was and asking for a place to stay until he could move on. He knew she would say yes to him. But then he realized that his being there would put Rena in danger, so he dismissed the idea and chided himself for considering it in the first place. Had he not left to keep her safe? Only an idiot would repay his savior by leading his enemy straight to her door.

As Seiichi strapped his bag to his back and pulled on his gloves so that they fit nice and snug around his fingers, he remembered Tokuma telling him something about Shin on the night after the cleanse, when he had been stripped of his strength, his purpose, his dignity. It was coming back to him now, the quiet night and the annoying sound of Tokuma's voice, ringing in his ears, goading him. He recalled the way his eyes had shown no signs of pity or remorse.

Tokuma relayed a message to him that night that had come from his father. Shin had said something to Tokuma about wanting to meet Seiichi after it was all over — the trial and the ensuing consequences of it. Seiichi wondered if maybe he could go to his father for help, at least until he could strike out on his own. His father knew a thing or two about surviving. Surely, he would know what Seiichi ought to do next. And maybe, just maybe, father and son could stick together and make for a place high up in the mountains where no one would find them or know who they were. They could search for a small, welcoming village, where things such as clans and ranks didn't matter, where the terms ninja or civilian held no sway over what would become of them. Seiichi began to picture this wonderful oasis in his head and for a moment he was certain it really did exist. Then, reality knocked his good sense back into him and he had to talk himself out of mixing his father up in his troubles.

In the end, Seiichi tossed the map. He decided that his fate would no longer be in anyone's hands, not even his own. He left the inn sometime later in the middle of the night. He had no idea where he was going to go or what was going to happen to him after he left the only home he'd ever known. Days passed. He traveled north on foot for a good while, then took a break when he left the forest behind and came upon a hilltop peppered with flowering bushes. It overlooked Konoha and the surrounding villages, as well as what lay beyond them. Seiichi mused that from where he stood he could see bits and pieces of the desert and somewhere beyond it, the ocean.

The sun was beginning to set when he began again. Up and up he went, climbing his way to a safer place, a distant haven. One day, when he returned to Konoha to fulfill the bargain he'd struck with Hizashi, he might get to see his father again. When that time came, he hoped he'd be able to tell him what it was like to live in a world without fighting, without death, without ninja.