Search for Survivors

"Terumi Mio." A small, shy yet sweet and gentle voice answered me.

My eyes widened in shock.

'Terumi?! No wonder her hair and eyes looked so familiar! She's related to Terumi Mei! She even has the boil release kekkei genkai, how could I not have realized this?'

After recovering from my shock, I gave her a small smile.

"Why don't we go wash off in the lake?" I asked.

[Readers - don't worry! I am in a two year old's body! Mio is a two year old! Nothing sexual is going on here!]

She was, after all, covered in mud and grime. There were even a couple twigs in her hair. I wondered how long she had spent hiding there. I also looked forward to the cool waters of the lake, hoping to soothe my burns.

Nodding shyly, she accompanied me down to the water. I carelessly stripped off my clothes, and jumped into the clear waters. Mio followed me a little more hesitantly. I produced some soap from the storage scroll and handed it to Mio. Noticing how unsure of herself she looked, I remembered that she was at most five years old.

Padding over to her, I helped her into the water. We walked to where it was about waist deep for both of us - we were about the same height. I tenderly helped her wash the dirt off her back and hair, before moving away to gingerly wash my reddened arms with the cool water as she finished washing up.

"Sorry..." Her quiet voice sounded out behind me as she noticed my burns.

"Don't worry. They're light burns - they'll heal quickly." I smiled gently.

A couple minutes later, both of us having enjoyed relaxing in the lake long enough, we stepped out onto the bank. Both are clothes were ruined, so after drying off I gave her some of my clothes from the storage scroll as they were the only ones that would fit her, and pulled out a pair for myself. After, I took her hand and brought her a short way into the forest so that the village was no longer in sight. Finding a flat, grassy area, we sat down.

I pulled out some food and water and handed it to her. Her eyes seemed to light up at the sight.

She ripped into the cured meat I gave, gulping down food and water as if she hadn't seen any for days. Maybe she hadn't. I suddenly felt stupid for not giving her food before bathing.

"There's no need to hurry. There's plenty of food for both of us to last quite a while." I said with a smile.

She blushed, and nodded. Her pace of eating slowed down noticeably, and she began to ask some questions and make small talk in between bites.

Ten minutes later, we were laughing and chatting happily like the best of friends. Although her speech wasn't perfect, it was still very good for her age. She said she was three and a half years old, just a bit older than me, but was handling this situation more calmly and maturely than I would have at ten, let alone three. Back on Earth, she was the type of child who would have been labelled as a 'precocious genius.'

As it turned out, her clan had been destroyed long ago, almost before she could remember. Her family had fled their village, leaving her at the last fishing village as they couldn't take care of a baby while on the run. This was the reason she was able to handle the massacre of her village quite well - she was taken care of, but never loved. Having only a weak bond with the other villagers, although she clearly was devastated by their deaths, it was not to the extent that she would suffer irreparable mental trauma.

As for her original family, she had no clue as to their situation.

I too, shared my story about how my village had been slaughtered by the same forces. How my mother and father sacrificed themselves to give me a chance to escape. How I had awakened my bloodline and escaped, everything. Somehow, talking about it felt good. Sharing our experiences with someone who had gone through something similar allowed us to truly empathize with the other, and within hours of meeting each other, we had both become a pillar of support for the other.

A thought suddenly flashed through my head, and I paused, creating a lull in our conversation. I hesitated for a moment, before speaking, my tone more serious than before.

"Mio. I plan on going to Konohagakure. They want more Kekkei Genkai clans there, so they should accept us. But... When my clan went into hiding years ago, a number of members left the clan to hide on their own. I know that at least one survived this last wave of attacks, but I'm not sure where he is. I want to find them. I want to find as many survivors as I can and bring them with me to Konoha. What... What do you think?" Although I didn't say it, the fact that I hadn't confirmed mom's death hung in the back of my mind.

I still didn't want to admit it, but the fact that Mio's family had survived brought the tiny spark of hope that my Mom could somehow have survived back to life.

She hesitated. I realized that she probably wanted to get away from this land as fast as she possibly could. I rushed to reassure her, hoping she would stay with me.

"Don't worry. I know we aren't in a position to do anything. But... I have to try! Just give me half a year! I know a couple jutsus, and I can protect us... I-"

"I want to stay with you. Wherever you go." Mio suddenly interjected. Her voice sounded much more determined than I had ever heard it.

For some reason, a wave of happiness passed through me.

"I... Good. I'm glad."

'Mom. If you are still alive, I swear I will find you! So please, wait for me!'

And Haku... I really wanted to find him. If I waited until he appeared in the Land of Fire with Zabuza, his mother would definitely have already died and I wasn't sure how his mental state would be. But the only thing I knew about where he lived was that it was constantly snowing there. I could only hope this meant he was on the same island as the rest of the Yuki clan, where I was currently. Although there were other islands with similarly cold climates, it would make sense for his mother to wish to stay relatively near the rest of the clan.

Half a year... I will find you Mom! Haku!

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Traveling with Mio truly brought me back to life. Time passed by so much faster in her presence. As she began to open up to me, a cuter and cuter personality was revealed.

As we travelled, I tried teaching her some basic water jutsus, such as the Mizu Soujuu (Water Manipulation) technique and the Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu. She had very good chakra control, and a good memory on top of being a focused and dedicated learner. She truly was a genius, learning these two jutsus in a matter of weeks. After a month, she could even create a water clone with 20% of the original's power rather than the initial 10%.

I poured my heart and soul into teaching her every day, as well as practicing my own jutsus. The anguish I felt at the loss of my parents and village began to fade to the back of my mind. It was still there, and during the quieter parts of the night it would rise up with a vengeance as I saw the faces of my parents in my dreams.

But her pure and gentle presence, her quiet, tingling laugh and the warmth of her presence during the day slowly helped heal these scars, helped push the uncertainty of my mother's situation to the back of my mind.

I was stunned to realize that, although I had thought it would not be possible for years to come after the loss of my family, I felt happy. Terumi Mio. Like her name implied, she truly was a warm and beautiful like a spring cherry blossom.

Although I enjoyed traveling with Mio, I unfortunately had yet to find any traces of Yuki clan. I guess it was irrational to hope to find any others with such ease.

We had been traveling in this manner for around four months. The deadline I had set to leave for Konoha was fast approaching. I desperately scoured my memory for any information on where Haku might be located, wondering why I hadn't been one of those crazy naruto fans who knew the dates and locations of each and every event.

On a brighter note, thanks to our training as we travelled around the island, we had both already reached genin level in terms of ninjutsu, and our physiques were comparable to academy students. Although it was a good start, and incredible for a three year old and a five year old to possess such power, we were still forced to hide from enemy shinobi on more than one occasion. Fortunately, our small chakra pools and ability to fit into small spaces allowed us to escape detection. As a side note, it would seem that when God sealed Kiyo in me, the seal he used had the added function of hiding her chakra from foreign senses.

'There has to be a better way of searching.' I thought.

"Hey Kiyo."

The ice phoenix withdrew its head from a snowdrift in my mindscape. I didn't want to ask what she had been doing - but every once in a while, I would peek in on her in my mindscape without her knowing, and often would find her with her head buried deep in the snow, feet sticking straight up into the air as if she had been catapulted off a mountain head-first.

"Squawk! Ahem. Sorry, yes, what is it?"

My eye twitched. Why did that sound more like a chicken than a phoenix?

"There's no way you could sense the location of another person based on the fact that they also have the Yuki bloodline, is there?"

"Hmm, no. I'm sorry but I don't think so. I can sense emotions and intentions, and your bloodline doesn't give rise to any particularly strong emotions."

'Tch. How annoying. It was true, we were a generally calm clan. The only particular thing about our emotions... Wait!'

"Kiyo. How refined is your emotion sensing ability? Could you sense something as specific as a love of snow?"

Every single Yuki clan member I had ever spoken to or heard speak expressed a love of snow. It represents purity and peace, as well as elegance and beauty to us Yuki clan members. Maybe this would be a strong enough emotion?

"I... I don't think so. It would maybe be possible on the condition that it is snowing and that emotion is being felt as I try to sense it. Also, it would have to be a particularly strong reaction to snow. Almost to the point of being weird."

'Wait. You dare judge us? Where was your head just a moment ago? You can't call anyone else weird you stinky bird! You lost the qualifications to do so the first time you stuck your head in the snow!'

But... It was unlikely that even a Yuki clan member would have such a strong reaction to snow. Just when I was about to give up, dismayed, however, Kiyo spoke.

"I could try just extending my senses and searching for a chakra signature similar to yours. It's possible that some of your clansmen will have a similar signature to you, in which case I could locate them, but even this is pretty unlikely. Honestly, if you're related by blood there's a chance.. but if not the possibility is slim."

"But you might be able to sense it?" I ignored the last part of her sentence. The small bit of hope was enough for me.

"Well, yes. Also, it has to be snowing so I can use the snow to sense chakra and hide my own presence. If I simply diffuse my chakra into the air, the whole island will know I'm here."

"YES!" I almost pulled a Naruto style fist pump. [I call it the jump and pump and it was somehow more cringey than young Sakura]

Thankfully, I was able to rein in my emotions.

But this was truly good news. We just had to wait for some heavy snow, which occurred on an almost weekly basis in this area, and then Kiyo could try to sense Haku or his Mother's chakra.

"How far can your senses extend?"

"Hmm, normally around a 20 km radius from you. After 20km, my sense becomes progressively weaker, so extremely strong emotions have to be felt. But, my senses actually are boosted by snow and ice, so this works out extremely well. With this island's climate, I can likely sense the entirety of the island on a day with heavy snow."

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Two days later, it snowed more heavily than I had ever seen before.

"Kiyo! Time to find us some Yuki's!"