~ Jinsei ~

She was beautiful. Her years growing up she reminded me just of her mother. I was proud to have Hono as my daughter and I wouldn’t have it any other way. She was probably the best daughter I could ever ask for. I love having her around, and she was great company. And Hono always got along with everyone in the village.

“Otousan,” she would call me. Even if I was technically her uncle, I was also the only father she ever came to know and love.

There was one year though that I realized I wasn’t the only parent in her heart.

Hono was only like fifteen or so. She was helping one of the girls in the village. Aisu, who was thirteen at the time, was about to become an Anbu, but she was slowly losing her confidence. Hono, positive the girl was suited for it, was encouraging her to go for it and soon before they both knew it Aisu was an Anbu.

After that, Hono had her own training as I had appointed her as a Sanin for her village. There were two others that she had pretty much been raised around. They were a year older than her, but she had graduated the same year they had and had been taught how to be a ninja by me, the Soshikage. I had always seen something in the three of them, and as the years passed by I saw it more and more.

Hono developed her abilities quickly, mastering almost every known technique with her flames. Hono made friends with many of the other ninjas, though I noticed how the ones she stayed closest to were Yami and Suna, the other two Sanin, and Hana, the FlowerNin. It always amazed me how she was always more comfortable with males than the females but I never questioned it. I figured as long as she was happy that was fine.

That year was the year that Hono concentrated most on her training. “I don’t want to disappoint you or Okaasan,” she would tell me and that was when I realized that her mother was in her heart even if she’d never met her. I always felt I was the only parent she had come to love, but I guess I had been wrong. I should have known better after all those years of her asking about her mother and what kind of person she was like. I was always just happy that she even wanted to know about her mother. Hono wasn’t like other kids. She was always happy, and never let anything bother her. It was very rare not to see her with a smile.

Yes, I love my daughter very much. She’s the most important person to me. She completes my life, and I just feel if she wasn’t around life would have been somewhat lonely.

I smile, thinking back on those happy times. Now Hono is currently twenty getting ready to take on the position of Soshikage. Why you ask? Well, currently I am lying in my death bed, very ill though no one knows why.

“Otousan?” I blink, staring up at my daughter. She looks down at me, eyes full of worry. Lately I hardly ever see her smile. Maybe it’s because she’s losing me. I want to see that smile though. I want my happy daughter back. “Are you okay?” she asks me.

“I’m fine.” I smile up at her, placing a warm hand on her cheek, but that doesn’t remove the look of worry. I sigh, pulling my hand away. “Don’t worry about me Hono. Everyone dies at some point.”

“But Otousan, this isn’t natural. You just suddenly become very ill one day, and no one knows why. There has to be some sort of explanation.”

“I know what you’re thinking Hono, and please, don’t go after him.” I try to talk her out of it, but I know it won’t help. We’ve had this same conversation ever since that day she came back from one of her missions. She is an avenger after all. It’s about the only thing I think might interfere with her becoming Soshikage. I just hope she can push it away and take on her duty to protect the village.

“Otousan, I want to avenge my mother. My father deserves to die.”

“You can’t speak that way Hono,” I lecture her yet again. “Death isn’t something you decide for someone.”

“And yet the village had no problem wishing death on him,” she tells me, and I wince knowing exactly who she was speaking of. He was no longer in this village. He left, becoming a Missing Nin. Hono blamed it on all the other village members. She never said anything, but I knew that she cared greatly for this boy. It’s too bad that they could never be together. I just know though that one day she would find someone else to care for and love with all of her heart. I have a certain person in mind.

“Hono, please forget the past. You have to move on. From both your father and him.”

It hurt that she could glare at me that way, but I knew her anger burned much too deep for her just to forget about it all. She was hurt and angry all because of two people who held the same meaning to their names… Death.

Hono, probably not really wanting to be angry at me what with me at my death bed and all, sighed and stood from her seat. “I promised I’d meet up with Suna today.” She turned away from me, probably not wanting me to see the hurt on her face yet again. After all these years, if finally shows. All these years of smiling and I just have to wonder if all of them were fake. So I watch her walk out of the room, my beautiful daughter leaving me here all alone.

I feel the pain again. It hurts. I know now this is it. I stare at the door my daughter left through and I just pray that one day she will be smiling once again.

~ * ~

~ Hono ~

I love my father… I really do, but sometimes I find it so hard to tell him how I’m truly feeling, so I sometimes act cold towards him. I hate when I do that, but sometimes I just can’t help myself. It’s not like I want to be mean to my beloved father. He’s all I have. I mean, just where would I be without my father?

I ran out of the house, trying not to be late with meeting Suna. I was meeting up with him today to train. I’d been lacking the past few days, because I was worried about my father. Suna told me though that there was nothing I could do just hanging around the house worrying myself to death. After awhile I guess I finally agreed with him and so here I am, running to meet up with the boy. Yami and Suna, the two I talk to most, both told me that since I might become Soshikage soon (and yes I say might because I just can’t accept the fact that my father is dying just yet) that I will have to train harder and be ready to protect the village incase anything happens. I mean, yes they’re working me to death now, but it’s only because they worry. They’ve been there my whole life, and we three were raised together. My father always said there was some sort of bond between the three of us and that’s why we’ve been able to stay such good friends for so long.

I slow down as I start to see Suna come into view. Yami is standing right next to him. I blink as I notice it’s not just the two of them, but Hana as well. I can’t help but smile. Hana’s been so busy with Anbu missions lately that I haven’t really seen him around. I note the look on Suna’s face and sigh. He’s jealous… again. I never noticed before really until Yami told me. Suna and Yami are like the best of friends. They’ve always been together. Okay, not always… Yami is a couple months older than Suna, but it’s about right.

I finally make my way over to the three boys and blink when Suna seems to turn his back on me. What am I to do with him? Is my attention really that important? I won’t ever understand these boys. Anyways… onto training.

~ * ~

Hono grinned at each of the boys, Suna only glancing at her for a quick second at least happy that she’s smiling. Her smiles had been so rare lately that the boys were starting to worry about her. Suna’s glance only lasted that second though because as he glanced over at her, not only did he see her smile, but he also saw Hana approach the red headed girl and start talking to her, taking her hand into his.

“Don’t worry,” Yami, the DarkNin, told the boy. Currently Yami was twenty-one, and he stood tall at six feet. He had semi long black hair to about his shoulder that wasn’t messy but wasn‘t too neat either, with black eyes to match. “You know she doesn’t hold such feelings for him.”

“I know…” Suna fumed. “But it still gets to me.” Suna was one of the Elemental Ninja. He was the SandNin. Suna was twenty-one, and usually a very serious person. He stood to be about five foot four with muscles that seemed to form nicely around his body. He had short messy reddish brown hair which Hono often claimed to love and would always run her hand through it like crazy, never able to messy it up anymore than it already was. But her favorite feature of the boy was his eyes. They were a cold sky blue that she said sometimes made him look like a kid. She loved those moments when he looked like a kid.

For some reason Hono had always been closer to Suna than she had Yami, but these three boys were still her favorite people out of the whole village. It might have been though because Suna was the one who was around her most and who was always worried about her. She found it sweet and just wished that the other people could see this sweet side of Suna.

“We all know you’re the better match for Hono,” Yami explained to his friend, watching Suna nod. “She’s closer to you than she is to anyone else.”

“Not him…” Suna told the boy almost too quietly. Yami almost didn’t hear him.

“He’s gone,” was Yami’s only response.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he came back just for her.”

“That’s over,” Yami continued to try and convince the boy. “She’s moved on.”

“You know she hasn’t. Me and you know more than the others. Perhaps even more than her Uncle.”

Yami sighed. He couldn’t argue with his friend any more. Truth was he wouldn’t be surprised if that boy came back as well even if only just for Hono. She had never been so happy with anyone as she had been with him.

“What are you two talking about?” The two boys look down to find Hono staring up at the two of them. Yami only turned away as Suna sighed. Hono was pretty small compared to the both of them. She stood at five foot one. She had a tiny body with nice curves, and you could tell that she was fit. Her hair was fiery red to her chin. It used to be longer, but she decided it got in her way and so she chopped it all off. She had fiery red eyes to match her hair.

“Nothing Hono. Nothing you’d be interested in.”

“Hm…” It seemed like Hono was thinking for a moment when she finally said, “Okay,” and hopped off to their training ground.

As Suna was getting ready to following after Hono, he noticed Hana staring at him. He glanced at the boy. Hana wasn’t much compared to him. He was about five foot two and looked pretty girly and weak. But that was to be expected of the FlowerNin. If Suna didn’t know the boy well enough, then he would think the boy wasn’t a match for anyone, but while the FlowerNin didn’t really rely on strength, he had the abilities to make up for that.

Hana, after glaring at Suna for some time, finally set to catch up to Hono. He felt Suna’s and Yami’s presence stick close by behind him. Hana was pretty envious of Suna. Hono had always been with him and had always wanted him by her side. Although she did spend quite a bit of time with the FlowerNin, it never did meet up with the amount of time she spent around the SandNin. This angered Hana sometimes because he just couldn’t see what was so interesting about the boy. He was always so quiet and almost never smiled. In fact, Hana could swear he never once saw the boy smile before. But Hono always insisted that Suna was a very sweet person and that he took very good care of her. She said she even loved his smile, but Hana just couldn’t imagine the boy smiling. He could understand why Yami was his best friend. Yami was just plain strict and sometimes seemed very mean and almost always angry. But once again, Hono would protest, simply stating that Yami is a very caring person who just takes his job very seriously. Hana of course never argued with Hono. It was just against him.

The group of four reached an open field where they would be training for the day. The boys watched as Hono positioned herself in the middle of the field and then they each spread around her. Suna watched as Hono’s eyes grew cold and he knew she was ready. Concentrating his chakra into the ground, he began to mold some sand and watched as it lifted up in front of him. Once he saw this, he let go of some of concentration and just focused on the sand that he had already formed, using that to create some more the easier way instead of eating up all his chakra. He got ready to throw the sand at the girl when suddenly an Anbu appeared in the middle of their training grounds right next to Hono.

“Hono-san,” the Anbu called her. She stared down at the ninja that bowed before her. “Your Uncle…”

“What about Otousan?” the girl quickly interrupted. Her eyes grew wide with fear and worry.

“Your Uncle has died.”

~ * ~

~ Suna ~

I watch as Hono suddenly starts screaming at the Anbu member and I almost feel sorry for them. Note… Almost. She suddenly takes off and I assume it’s to her own house. I glance over at Yami who nods at me and we take off after her.

We stop at Hono’s front door and gaze inside as it has been left wide open. I can barely see her, but I can hear her screams and then I see an Anbu member trying to shove her out. The medical team makes their way out of the room, their faces grim. Our Soshikage was truly gone. But other than that I was mostly worried about Hono. Her uncle had always been there for her. They had such a great relationship going as father and daughter. They were always so happy together, never really needing anyone else to make them happy. It wasn’t until Soshikage had gotten sick that Hono’s happiness quickly started to disappear.

Hono started screaming at the Anbu members that were holding her back and I step forward to yell at them. “Let her go,” I say. “Can’t you see that her Uncle has died? Are you really going to keep her from him like this?” I’m angry. They can tell. They can’t really argue with me. They don’t have that right. They quickly let go of Hono and she makes her way over to her uncle, burying her face into his chest, sobbing out ‘Otousan’ over and over. It hurts me to see her like this, but what else is there for me to do? Nothing I say or do will ever make up for the fact that her uncle is gone forever.

“The Anbu are leaving,” I hear Yami inform me and all I can do is nod.

“Hono…” I start out. The girl looks up at me, tears bloodshot red from all her crying. She wipes her face with the back of her hand smearing her tears all over her face, not able to stop them from spilling. I sigh and kneel down in front of her. “I’m so sorry Hono.”

She shakes her head, that red hair bobbing around her face. “Suna!” She wraps her arms around me and I just hold her close. “He’s gone. What do I do now? Who will be there for me now?”

“You have me,” I tell her. “You’ve always had me and I won’t ever leave you. I promise.” I take one last look at our Soshikage… at Jinsei… and help Hono up, leading the way out of the small house. I look over to Yami who is directing the medical team to hurry up and get Jinsei out of the house. I just take Hono to my place.

After some time Yami appears at my house. Hono is sitting on the couch sipping at some hot tea that has helped to calm her down. Yami steps up to her and sighs. He’s worried too. I can see it painted all over his face.

“Hono,” he starts, “would you like to stay at my house for the next few days? Hikari wouldn’t mind sharing a room with you.”

Hono nods not looking up at either of us. “That would be nice. Thank you.”

Me and Yami step outside for a bit, both unable to find anything to say. We’re usually quite people, but at this moment I felt we both just wanted something to break this awkward silence. We could feel our village’s pain and sense the tears of all the people. I felt something dark was going to happen… and soon.