Yoshikuni Sadako - Mr Nim

[Mr Nim]

Reunion
(1 week after the beginning of the timeskip)

A collab between Mr Nim and Fiery

Summary

SPOILER: Click to show

Kuni returns to Amegakure and reunites with someone close to her.

SPOILER: Click to show

Rain. That was the first thing she felt as she got out of the dirt. The same, old rain that never stopped. Closing her eyes and letting it make her wet, Kuni felt like she was at home already. As much as she enjoyed the sun and spring feeling in Konoha, she had missed the feeling of the drops going all over her. Opening her eyes and looking forward, she saw the village gates right in front of her, and she begin running forward. Smiling to everyone as she passed them, pushing a few Amegakure jounins to the side who shook their heads in disapproval at the reappearance of The Menace after they had gotten a break from her mischief. Jumping over a fruit stall, she run up a building and as soon as she reached the roof, Kuni looked around. It appeared to be just the same, and she was glad. If those soldiers had managed to do something to the village, she would've wanted to go and make them live through hell, but seeing everything was fine, she figured they could be captured by other people. Trying to spot someone, she couldn't find him, which made her jump down and head forward a certain building, hoping he would be at his home.

Everything was over, but not everything was good. With the news of Samaki's baby coming Eiji spend a lot of his time home, but sometimes he needed to be outside and alone. The idea that his father was gone now was still harsh, though his mother didn't seem to care too much. Luckily Samaki did. Samaki was always sweet.

He was on the trainingsfield now, the field that he hadn't been on ever since Kuni left and the whole deal with banning shinobi went down. It felt good to be able to do what he was trained for again, but not everything was the same. As he spun the poi around in rythmic movements he thought about what he should do. Going to Konoha would be harder now. He wasn't sure if they would welcome him again now that he was a proper shinobi once more. How was he going to figure out where Kuni was?

No luck. Eiji wasn't at his home, and the people that lived near him didn't know where he was. Some figured he was probably out somewhere with Samaki, but Kuni didn't want to start looking for two people now. She decided to try and go through the places she had seen him at before. Outside of the Amekage's office. Not there. The market. Not there. Melon stand. She ruined it once again, but he wasn't there either. Not wanting to give up, and also lose the jounin that was following her, she decided to try something else.

Stopping and turning to face the jounin, who also came to a stop in front of her, intending to punish her for ruining the melon stand, she did the transformation seal and vanished into a cloud of smoke. The jounin wondered for a second what she was trying to do, when he became pale seeing what came out of the smoke. The Sexy jutsu Kuni stroke the jounin's cheek "Can you tell me where Eiji-sensei is?" She asked him in a whisper, and the jounin shook his head before falling backwards with a nosebleed. Transforming back, she let out a sigh. Also no luck with this method. Scratching her head, she realised that he might have a new team and that he would most likely train them. Thinking that he has someone else to train made her tear up a bit, but she ran towards the trainingfields area nevertheless.

The poi were going faster now. It felt good to work this stuff again. Between his shields of iron Eiji observed the trainingsfield. Everything was silent except for the rain of course, but the rain was never silent. It always made his hair flat. Suddenly he stopped spinning and his hands lowered as a figure came running towards the trainingsfield. Slowly his hands slipped into his pockets as he put the poi away and watched.

Seeing a figure in the trainingfield, the same one in which Eiji had found her before, she ran faster forward, and soon enough she saw it was him. Eiji-sensei. He stood there and looked at her, most likely he hasn't been able to properly see her because of the rain, but she didn't care. She did a few seals and touched the ground, making a pair of hands come out of the ground beneath Eiji and grab his legs. Just like she held him back before, she would make sure he would stay still now.

Hands from below the ground wrapped around his ankles. Eiji looked at them and back up. So maybe not every problem was in need of his solving. He removed his hands from his pockets again and placed them on his hips. "The trick is a bit old... Kuni." He said to the figure that shimmered in the rain. "Surely you can do better."

"Who ever said that was the trick?" The Kuni in front of him shouted and then crumbled into small pieces, as the hands let go of Eiji, and the real Kuni jumped from behind him and landed on his back "You should know better than me trying to pull off the same trick twice. Except for the Sexy jutsu." She said, holding her hands around his neck and hanging from him.

The sudden weight of the young girl pulled him back and he let himself be toppled over, twisting his body to the side so that he would not fall on Kuni. It wouldn't do to hurt his just regained student. As soon as they both hit the ground Eiji rolled over and got up again, placing his foot on Kuni's stomach. His eyes were hard. "Do you know what you caused?" He asked the girl. "To me?"

"I know what I could've caused. I don't know if it happened or not." She said as Eiji had his foot on her body, and she pressed her hand on the ground, and soon enough Eiji's foot would be the ground, and Kuni would be standing in front of him "I thought I had to go, I thought I couldn't stay here, but now... I know I was mistaken. I thought I had no home now, but thanks to Aiko and Zakito's help, I now understand that I was greatly mistaken. Home is where people care for you." She said started to tear up a bit.

Kuni disappeared from under his foot as if she melted with the ground. So she had been training, Eiji thougth as he looked up to her. His eyes were still hard and when she finished talking he reached up and placed a hand on her shoulder. He kneeled so that his eyes were on the same height as hers. "You," he started looking in her eyes, "were the cause of this muddy shirt." He said. "Come here." And he pulled her closer for a hug.

As he pulled her in for a hug, she placed her hands around his neck and teared up a bit. She feared for a second as he spoke that he wouldn't forgive her, but it seemed the fear was for nothing 'Thanks for not being mad, Eiji-sensei." She whispered to him and smiled.

"Oh, I am mad at you, but I am also very glad that you are okay." He patted her on her head. "But we are not finished with this whole deal yet. You could have caused some serious trouble, I hope you realize that. But for now, let's go home?" He asked as he shot her a friendly smile. "I am sure Samaki would love to see you. You can poke fun of her growing belly."

Nodding, Kuni wiped her eyes before she realised what Eiji said about Samaki "Growing belly..." She mumbled for a second before looking at Eiji again, this time surprised "You are having a baby?" She asked, before smiling to him and punching his arm "I bet the name will have an S and an E in the name, huh?" She said, letting out a laugh, knowing the love of the letters the couple had. She then realised another something "You didn't call me Ekuni..." She said in a whisper to herself.

"Well Samaki will be having a baby, but yes." Eiji said grinning slightly at Kuni's reaction. He steered her through the street towards his house. It was good walking here with her again. He remember how they once ran here, after that they had blown up parts of the city... Definitely an accident. "Perhaps, perhaps." He said, laughing at her words. "Not going to name the baby something with a K, no, though it has proven to be a pretty interesting letter."

Grinning at Eiji's remark as they walked forward his house, she started walking slightly slower "Where will I live? I don't know if I can go back to my mom's store..." She said, slightly shivering at the thought of going back there.

"Well that is an easy question to answer." Eiji said, still smiling. "You'll be staying with me of course. I am not letting you out of my sight any time soon. Besides... I can't let your run around Ame at random and we could use the extra hand back home. We need to pamper Samaki so that the baby will be happy. What do you say? Also no, is not an option."
"Well, if no isn't an answer, I don't have a lot of options left. So..." She said and pretended to think about the matter for a few moments. Kuni then stuck out her tongue at Eiji and ran forward "Maybe!" She shouted to him and kept going, intending to attempt to annoy him.

But it was rather impossible to annoy Eiji today. He felt good. The war was over, his student had come home. Life was pretty okay. "You are going to pass up a chance to make fun of Samaki?" He asked the girl jokingly. "I had expected more."

"Make fun of Samaki? Count me in then!" Kuni said smiling before she stopped running, made a couple of backflips before landing next to Eiji once again. Giving him a big smile, she then walked next to him for a few more moments before speaking again "I really missed the rain. She said, passing her hand through her wet hair. She enjoyed the constant drops on her skins, not caring if her clothes were soaking wet.

Sceptical Eiji looked to the rain. "I still don't really like it, but I guess it is okay." He said. He gave her a poke in her side. "Not too much fun though. We need to be nice too to the future mom. But... a little bit of joking can't hurt." He said laughing. "Just watch out that she won't get you back."

Kuni pretended to look somewhat shocked when Eiji said she can get her back "What? She can still move that fast even though she is that big? Well, I guess I have to watch my words so she won't sit on me!" She said and stuck her tongue out, imaginging a very pregnant Samaki chasing her around Eiji's apartment, trying to get back at her for a joke gone wrong.

Eiji raised his eyebrows at her words. "You might want to watch out with saying that..." He said though it was probably no use. Kuni said what she wanted to say most of the time. "I'm not saving you from her wrath. Way too dangerous."

"I think we are here!" She suddenly said and pointed to Eiji's apartment building. She ran towards the building and stood next to the entrance, jumping on the spot until Eiji would arrive and open the way up. She was excited, because this was a whole new chapter for her. One where she will get to spend more time with her sensei, and perhaps mature a bit more. She had plenty of different thoughts running around her head, but a certain one kept coming back.

There is no place like home.

[Mr Nim]

Death at the Door
(Fourth Month of the Timeskip)

Kuni stood underneath a tree, watching as the funeral of Samaki took place. She couldn't get herself to face Eiji in his state or the grave, as it was not too far from her mother's grave. Slightly shivering, she couldn't believe it. Just a few days ago Samaki had told her that she needs to be more careful around her and Eiji's apartment, now that there was a baby around and slightly chased her around after Kuni made another failed attempt at making Eiji have a nosebleed with a Samaki version of Sexy Jutsu. And now, she was gone.

Sure, the two weren't too close, but Kuni felt weird. It didn't hurt her as much as her mother's death, but she also understood what Eiji was going through. She was still going through her own stages of grief, even if she haven't showed it on the outside.

Waiting for what seemed like a few hours to her, she watched as everyone approached the grave and Eiji, telling him how sorry they feel for his loss and other comforting things, and after an even longer time, Eiji eventually left too, seemingly refusing to accept the fact that Samaki was the one who died. Wiping a tear away from her face, Kuni made a personal note to take her things from Eiji's apartment, and to give him some space for himself.

She approached the grave, which now stood alone, and looked at the engraving. Reading the name on it made a couple more tears come to her eyes before she wiped them out "Samaki... I can't believe you left just like that. And here I thought we might just begin to get along better... What will happen to Eiji-sensei without you... What will happen to Sache without you... I cannot imagine growing up without a mother, and now you left him behind, just like that." She begin silently mouthing words to the grave, as if the person could her the faintest of whispers.

"Why did you have to go away... Give up on life just like that, just like my mom..." She wiped a couple more tears from eyes, took a glance in her mom's grave's direction before looking at the grave in front of her again. Kuni thought about what would her mother say if she saw her like that, and then she realised Eiji might need help with taking care of Sachi now. Giving the grave a slightly more determined look, she placed her hand on the grave "I can give you my word for one thing, Samaki-chan. As long as I live, I will make sure Eiji is fine, and that Sache grows up to be a fine shinobi, one who will make both of you very proud." She said before closing her eyes "Farewell, Samaki." She mouthed before opening her eyes and then turning away from the grave. A moment later she was on her way out of the graveyard, aiming to go to Eiji's apartment to make a few small arrangements.

[Mr Nim]

The Attempted Distraction
(5 months into the Timeskip)

A Collab between Mr Nim and Fiery

SPOILER: Click to show

Kuni gets Eiji to teach her a new jutsu and then something goes wrong.

SPOILER: Click to show

Looking at the house she has come to know well the past few months, Kuni sighed. She haven't seen her sensei leave it in over a week, and while she visited him from time to time, she began being worried. Everyone needed to get out, even if it meant by sheer force. She understood that he was still griefing, and she wondered how much longer would he be in such a depressed state. Walking to the house, she went quickly to the door and opened it without any trouble, seeing she asked him to keep it open so she will be able to help him with anything he needed at any time of the day, not to mention it allowed other people to surprise him with nice visits from time to time.

Going into the apartment, she first went to Sachi's bed and saw the nanny had been there already, and she most likely took her out somewhere. Nodding at the thought that at least one of them is getting to see the outside, she went and approached Eiji's bedroom door. She knocked on it three times before waiting in front of it, hoping he had at least left the bed by now.

Eiji, however, was not in his bedroom. He had found it hard to stand the room when there was so much silence now. He still slept there as it was their only bedroom. Samaki and he hadn't started on a new one for the baby yet, figuring it would sleep in their room anyway for the first year or so. But staying in that room was not something he liked. In the morning he would focus on Sachi, solely on Sachi. Kuni had moved out for a short period of time. Giving him space. It was nice of her. She was pretty nice. Eiji wondered if it was just because he was grieving and she didn't want to go through that again. That was fine.

He was out on the veranda now, watching his garden, when he heard the door open. Steps on his stairs. Kuni's steps. He didn't call out to her to tell her he was down below. He just sat, his legs crossed, his eyes focused on the small pond where the fish moved in an endless motion. He didn't feel like talking.

The door to the bedroom opened due to being left open. No one was in the room, making Kuni smile a bit. It meant Eiji had got up, so that was good. Going around the house, she begin checking a few rooms, trying to see where he would be. After several minutes she found him, so she went to him and gave him a short hug from behind before grabbing a chair and sitting next to him "Morning, Eiji-sensei." She said in a quiet voice, seeing he was looking at the pond in silence. She wondered how will she manage to get him out of the house, and tried thinking about a way to do so. Letting a few minutes pass in silence, she decided to just go ahead and talk, seeing Eiji was not in the mood to speak on his own "How are you?" She asked, figuring a simple question would be enough as a start.

The hug came as no surprise, but still it made Eiji smile slightly. It was at least nice to see that she was doing well while he was doing so awful. "Morning." He decided against calling it a particulary good morning. There was not much good about it. "I'm alive." He answered her question. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." She answered and looked at the pond as well. The fishes swam with such each in the water, just like how easy it was for Kuni to move in the ground with her Hiding like a Mole Technique. She then thought about her technique, and how it was mainly made for defensive purposes, for hiding and avoiding the enemy. Sure, she used it to surprise people and travel distances with more ease, but it was still a jutsu made for Defence. Wondering if there was a way of making it into a jutsu she can use to attack, seeing holding anything while using the jutsu made her slower, she leaned forward in her chair "Eiji-sensei. do you think there is a way of making my Hiding like a Mole technique into one I can attack with?" She asked, keeping her eyes focused on the fish.

He followed her eyes back to the pond. Her question was interesting and it made sense. "Yes I think there is. There are lots of people who use Hiding Like a Mole, myself included, and they all use it in very different kinds of ways. But the technique is easily changed into an attack." He said slowly. "Why is this suddenly on your mind?"

Turning to look at her sensei, Kuni had a spark in her eyes "Carrying tools or dragging people underground always made me lose speed. Seeing the fist move so easily made me think about my jutsu, and that maybe I should try and find a way to be able to carry tools with more ease. Want to help me find a way?" She asked and got up from her chair, and offered him a hand to get up. Even if he would not take her hand or want to get out, she still planned on dragging him to the training field.

Eiji looked to her hand. Something in the back of his head told him that he should go out, that he had sitten long enough in his home, but- He stopped his own train of thought and abruptly took her hand. It was no use debating about it with himself. "Of course, I am still your sensei." He said, though it sounded kind of lackluster. "Always there to help." He stood up and dusted his pants of before walking inside to grab his coat. He was not risking getting more sick then he already was. He also took the pack of sigarettes that lay on the table with him, just in case.

Smiling as her sensei got up and went inside to grab his coat, she followed him, and then quickly passed him and went to the door, waiting for him to get there. As soon as he arrived with his coat on, she opened the door, grabbed his hand, dragged him out and closed the door behind them. She then begin walking with him toward the trainingfield while holding his hand to make sure he doesn't have any second thoughts about this. She gave Eiji a smile as they kept walking, and she begin wondering if he would have any cool tips to give her when they arrive there. About 10 minutes later they arrived at Trainingfield E, since Kuni was leading him there, and then she moved to stand at the center of the trainingfield "Alright! What should I do now?" She asked, sounding pumped and ready to train.

Eiji barely looked at Ame while they walked. He didn't want to see the city right now. Luckily the rain gave him a nice cover to hide in. It shrouded everything in misery. Luckily he had never used the field to train with Samaki, he thought as they arrived on field E. The field looked the same as ever and he almost willed it to have changed. Nothing had changed at all in the city even though someone had just died. It was weird.

As Kuni went to stand in the center Eiji went to stand before her. "Well first we need to make some small changes in your technique. Currently when you use it you disappear in solid earth, carving a path out in it. This is useful because it is defensive technique. The technique we are currently talking about is focus on attacking and that means that the solid structure of the earth will hold you back. You have to liquify it so you can move faster and can attack sooner. Use the earth like you are swimming through it instead of hiding in it. Understand what I mean?"

"I think so, but doesn't it mean I will be pushed more to the surface?" She asked, thinking about how lots of things float in water. If the earth around her would be like water, it would mean she will be at surface level, and perhaps even completely revealed, so it will ruin the purpose of the jutsu. She did however moved to her knees, placed her right hand on the ground and begin focusing on making it more liquid-like while waiting to hear what Eiji had to say.

Eiji nodded. "That is correct, but since the earth is still earth it will protect you as long as you remain under its cover. The technique can be so fast that you can surprise you foe immensly and launch a surprise attack. Or you can combine this with a weapon like a sword to create an attack that leaves you protected and well underground. Kind of like...." He stopped as the word 'shark' formed on his lips. Samaki had been called a shark. They often said her smile was like the smile of a shark too. "Kind of like a shark." He finished.

A shark attack in the earth. Kuni liked that thought. She took out a kunai and decided she will try what Eiji just explained to her. After focusing enough chakra into the ground around her, she vanished into it, which appeared to be like her infamous vanishing with Hiding like a Mole from the outside. Underneath the ground, however, Kuni noticed that the earth around her was indeed very much like a liquid, though she felt that it wasn't easy for her to keep it like this. She managed to push herself a bit towards Eiji before going above the ground again, and then moving to lay on her back "It felt like my upper body was in water and my lowerbody half stuck in the ground." She said, wondering how many more times will she need to practice this before she could use it properly.

He watched her try. There was no way she could do it in one try. "It's a good start." He said. "It is not such an easy technique to master. It will take tries. For now, try to keep to the surface level. Try to level yourself out with the surface as if you were lying on it. By keeping the liquidation on a small scale and only on top you will have more control in the beginning."

Nodding, Kuni touched the ground with her hands and begin focusing on it again. After managing to make it feel liquid it once again she went into it, but after a moment the same thing as before happened. Her hands in water, her legs in earth. This time she decided that instead of going up she will try and move towards Eiji like this. It was a wrong choice, as she could barely push herself towards him, and soon enough she went above the ground with her head only, as if someone buried her like that "If I go any higher I will be swimming above the ground, but my legs keep feeling as if they are stuck in the ground, so its hard to move them." She explained, hoping Eiji will have another useful advice for her. He should change his name to Advice-sensei, instead of Eiji, though he probably wouldn't like it seeing it doesn't start with an E.

Seeing Kuni's head sticking out like that was pretty hilarious Eiji had to admit. A smile tugged on the corners of his mouth. "Try focussing more chakra in your legs. You seem to concentrate on make the earth liquid, but you seem to solely do it with your hands. You need a steady flow of chakra through your entire body to keep all the earth around you in the same state or you will, indeed, get stuck." He said after thinking for a moment.

Nodding, she moved her head back underground and begin focusing on making the earth around her liquify using both her legs and hands. This time she managed to feel she can move more smoothly, but it was still something she wasn't used to, so it took her a few moments before she jumped from behind Eiji and then landed on his back "It still feels hard to do, though it was smoother." She said while holding the kunai to his neck before dropping down from his back and putting the kunai away. She then kneeled down and got ready to try again. She wanted to keep going until she managed to do it properly, so she would really surprise him.

Kuni's kunai was met with a kunai of his own. "You should really stop doing that." He said. "One day you will break my back or something." He rubbed his shoulder and watched her concentrate again. "As I said it takes practice and time. Also you shouldn't try great distances in the beginning. Just keep it to a meter or five. And try staying near the surface. If you get most mastery over the technique you can go deeper and go further. Remember that if a part of your body gets stuck it is because your chakra in not regularily spread out over your body. You must be using it more or less in one part to bring the whole deal out of balance."

Nodding once again, she kept focusing on the ground and a few moments later went into it once again. This time it felt the same like the last time, managing to keep her chakra flow alright, as she begin moving towards a tree which was a couple of meters away from her. She then got out of the ground a bit more than a meter away from the tree, and she sat down and looked at Eiji "I think I got it!" She said with a smile to him.

He send her a smile back. She really picked that up fast, he thought. Maybe all her pranks had done something good after all. "Well done." he said. "That is about the basic of the technique. Now that what you just did can, on it self, be very useful. You can go up to high speeds with it and get close to the opponent without him or her noticing, but you can also make this an attack. Because the ground is liquid and not solid as with the other technique you normally use you can actually combine this with weapons. Anyway that is getting ahead of ourselves. Let's first focus on moving properly and fast." He formed a couple of handseals and placed his hand on the ground. Before it the earth moved down in a nicely formed square. "To strengthen your control I want to you go into the ground and swim around this square. I want you to stick you hand out so that I can see it. Okay?"

Seeing the square Eiji drew, she thought it was kind of dumb. How could she see the square if only her hand is above the ground? After a moment she realised that much like her usual technique, she can see from below the ground, and gave herself a small slap to ensure she was wide awake. After going next to the square, she pressed her hands on the ground next to it "Okay, Eiji-sensei!" She said and then vanished into the ground. Kuni moved her hand so it was above the surface, and begin focusing the chakra in the other limbs to liquify the ground around her. It took her a couple of moments, but then she began moving, keeping her eyes on the square to make sure she goes directly around it. She was moving with slower speed than what she was used to, but she figured it was better that way.

He watched her concentrate and disappear. She really was getting the hang of things much faster now a days. He stuffed his hands back in his pockets and looked at her moving hand. It was going slow, she was testing it out. A small grin appeared on his face. When had she learned to be careful and precise? "Yes, like that. Keep it up and when you are comfortable with the speed you have, try to up it." He said to the moving hand, hoping that Kuni could actually hear him.

The moving hand gave Eiji a thumb up, signaling she heard him loud and clear, and then decided she wanted to see how fast she can go already. She kept focusing on her chakra moulding, but begin moulding more and more, making her movement faster. Eventually she nearly reached her usual speed, which made her very happy, and in that split second of not focusing, she felt as the arm which was above the ground suddenly pulled her back, forcing her into a stop as a crack was also heard. Feeling as the pain went through her right arm like tingling shivers, she used her left arm to pull herself up, which was quite hard since she felt her right arm was not even properly attached to her upper body. Closing her eyes to ignore the pain, she used her left hand to try and hold her right arm as steadily as she could "Eiji..." She whispered.

First Kuni speeding up was fine. She followed his orders smoothly and her speed still wasn't that great, but then her Kuni mindset kicked in and she started to go faster. Eiji opened his mouth to say something, it was dangerous to go too fast if you didn't have that much control yet. Before words could be spoken, however, it went wrong. Kuni's arm came to an abrupt halt with a crack and she appeared above the ground again. Her face twisted in pain. Eiji rushed forward and kneeled down next to her. Carefully he examined her arm, moving his hands over her shoulder and arm. He frowned slightly. "Always be careful when learning a new technique." He said, but it didn't sound very accusing. "Your shoulder is dislocated and a bone is broken. I can pop it back, but I can't set that bone. Do you trust me?"

Seeing Eiji rush to her and tell her what happened made her slightly worried. She wasn't careful enough and now she had a dislocated shoulder and a broken bone, which sounded a bit odd, but she figured it was something possible. Kuni nodded to Eiji, indicating her answer is yes without speaking due to the pain she felt. Hoping what he was about to do will decrease the pain, she bit her lower lip and closed her eyes even tighter, getting ready for whatever he was about to do.

Carefully Eiji pressed his hand against Kuni's shoulder and shot her a look. Her eyes were closed. "I'm going to push it at three, okay? One... two..." Abruptly he twisted and pushed Kuni's arm, forcing the thing back into the socket. Then he quickly steadied Kuni with his arms.

Eiji pushing her arm back into place was painful, even more than before. She bit her lip slightly harder, trying to focus on the small amount of pain from her lip instead, but she found it was useless. The pain in her shoulder made her shiver for a moment before she begin feeling only small stings of pain instead. Opening her eyes, Kuni looked at Eiji "Thanks, sensei." She said in a slightly weak voice, fearing the pain would suddenly come back to her in a surprise.

"We need to get that arm fixed though." Eiji said as he wrapped his arm around Kuni and helped her up. "Please keep your arm steady with your other. No need to make it more severe. It will be just fine." As soon as he spoke the words his mind flashed back to the previous time he had said them. That time the person had not been fine. That time she died. He bit his lip and forced the thought back and brought a smile back to his face. "Come on."

Nodding, Kuni stood up with Eiji's help and held her right her with her left hand, to ensure it won't move. She then begin following him slowly and carefully "What are we going to do about my broken bone?" She asked, sounding worried. She would hate to think that she would need to take a break from training and causing mischief just because of one lousy broken bone.

"Going to the hospital of course." Eiji said. "I am not a medical ninja, after all. So I can't fix it. Nex time though, when I said up your speed, do it slow please." He shot her a look as he guided her through the streets of Amegakure. The hospital was rather close by, which was good.
Listening to Eiji as he told her to be more careful next time, Kuni nodded "I won't need to be in there for long, will I?" She asked him, hoping that his answer will be no as she didn't want to be unable of checking on him, or Sachi, for more than a couple of days.

"Probably forever." Eiji said with a serious face before laughing and ruffling her hair. "You'll be fine. Medical ninjutsu is absolutely amazing so I am sure you'll be up and running in no time." Then he fell silent as they walked to the entrance of the hospital. If only it had been that easy with Samaki... If only she would have been saved by that amazing medical ninjutsu he was just talking about. If only... He willed himself to stop thinking and opened the door of the building so that Kuni could come inside.

Letting out a small laugh and a smile as she saw Eiji was merely joking, she nodded as he explained she will be out shortly. If the medical ninjutsu is so great, how come the shinobi who found her mother and tried treating her didn't use it on her? She wondered for a moment when she noticed Eiji opened the door for her "Thank you, Eiji." She said in a quiet voice and walked inside, wondering what would've happened to her if she didn't have such an amazing sensei.

[Mr Nim]

A Song of Care and Promise
(6 months into the Timeskip)

Another night in the rainy village. Kuni has seen so many of these, since half of the time she had a hard time resting or sleeping properly. Some nights she went to Eiji's place to make sure he and Sachi were fine, and others she just roamed the streets aimlessly, letting the rain soak her clothes.

This night was somewhat different. The rain was much lighter, and she only felt small drops. It slightly irked her, as she had gotten used to the heavy pours and the feeling of her wet clothes. Kuni figured this was fine as well, but it still felt strange. As if someone would suddenly bring a thunderstorm to Konoha, which she knew was very sunny and calm. Deciding the weather was bothering her more than it helped, she turned and begin walking in the direction of the house she had come to know very well. It took her over ten minutes to arrive there, during which she couldn't help but wonder how was Eiji really doing. Everytime she saw him, he gave her the same answer, and appeared to be the same, most likely not to make her worried. She wished there was a way for her to find out how he truly was, but decided that when the time came, he will most likely tell her, as he knew that both of them suffered a loss of someone close to them.

Reaching the house, she found the door to be open, as it was often the past couple of months. Entering, she immediatly heard something was odd. Sachi was crying, but she didn't hear any movements or any noise that indicated Eiji is going to take care of her and calm her down. Kuni carefully closed the door and went towards Eiji's bedroom, where he kept Sachi in her crib close to him. Slowly and silently opening the door, she saw Eiji was in bed, covered in the blanket, just laying there. She heard Sachi's crying become slightly louder so she entered the room, approached the crib and looked at the young infant who was crying.

"Shhh, Sache. Everything is fine. Daddy is just tired tonight." Kuni whispered to Sachi as she picked her up and turned to look at Eiji "You just rest, Eiji." She told him in a quiet voice and went out of the room and after a few moments she was in the kitchen, holding Sachi and giving the young baby girl a bottle, so she could drink a bit and go back to sleep. She hoped that since it was quiet now, Eiji was able to fall asleep, and Sachi would soon be asleep too. Seeing Sachi push the bottle away made Kuni understand the infant was done, and now she was holding Kuni's fingers instead. Smiling at Sachi, Kuni couldn't help but let out a small giggle.

Walking to the bedroom once again, she noticed Sachi was about to begin crying again, so Kuni stopped in her tracks and thought of what she should do in order to keep the infant girl calm and perhaps also make her fall asleep. She decided to try something, hoping it would work.

"Hush, little Sache, don't be sad,
Daddy is asleep, but he is not away,
You don't need to cry, but be glad,
As you will have plenty of time with him during the day.

Have no fear, Kuni is here,
And she is going to ensure you are always safe,
I give you my word that you will always cheer,
Whenever you will hear that I am near.

So you shouldn't worry, because unlike what you think,
There are plenty of people who like and care about you,
So let me give you this final little wink,
As a sign to show that I care for you too.

Kuni looked at Sachi, who fell asleep and was now resting peacefully in Kuni's arms. Smiling to the sleeping baby in her arms, she went back inside Eiji's bedroom and carefully placed Sachi in her crib, watching her for a moment as she couldn't help but smile. After the moment passed, she went to the door, gave Eiji a small smile as well and quietly left the bedroom. After making sure everything else in the house was in order, she left the room and went back to roaming the streets in the calm rain that came once again over her head.

[Mr Nim]

True Feelings and Weird Meetings
(8 months into the timeskip)

(Small note: All other chars seen here are not the real version of themselves and thus roleplayed by me and not the proper roleplayers.)

The sea around her made the young girl think. She had most likely seen a lot more of the world than most kids her age, and she had done it alone. Kuni was worried that she might become a loner if she kept doing trips like this on her own, but she knew Eiji would not leave Amegakure yet, and she felt like she needed a small break again, but she didn't want to give an unexpected surprise to Zakito and Aiko, even though those two made it very clear to her that if she was ever around she can always come and visit. Letting out a small sigh, she resumed watching the waves as an island began appearing in the distance.

Moving to lay on her back, Kuni took out a small book from her pocket, which was a small notebook. Opening it, she went between the pages until she finally found a certain page and looked at it, reading what was writting carefully. It was her own handwriting, and she was reading about an island, located between the Lands of Water and Lightning, and there was a legend about a place which allows you to face your greatest fears. Many jounins in Ame said its nothing more than a myth, but a couple confirmed that it exists and that if she has a fear and is uncertain of what is her strongest one, than that is the place to go. They claimed it can be extremely hard, but at the end, they found it to be very worth while, as it made them stronger.

Reading about the notes she took from them, she took out a pen and added a small note to thank the Jounin Commander for allowing her to take a trip there. After she had left the village for a while, she found that the trust the Jounin Commander had in all of the shinobi of her village was a lot more than respectable. Slightly foolish, to trust everyone so much, but what did she know? That could be her job for all she knew. She thought that she might tell her about her own experience there when she got back. That would probably be nice to hear about, as it could give indication if others should go there too.

Getting up as the island became slowly nearer, Kuni dusted herself a bit before placing the notebook back into her pocket. She decided she wanted to go and test this place out because of what happened in Konoha. The fact she ran away the way she did after accidently killing the soldier made her very well aware that she might not be fully capable of being a proper shinobi, as there are missions in which people are needed to be taken out, or dealt with. Walking to the inside of the ship, she grabbed a small bag which she took with her and went back on to the ship's surface.

"Now arriving at Barren Isle, our Destination! Everyone must be aware that our boat arrives here once a week and ports for exactly 24 hours each time, but other boats may arrive here too, so you do not need to worry." The captain of the boat announced to the few people who paid for a safe travel to the island. After properly porting, Kuni thanked the crew and went onto the island. Except for the very small port, the island was very... Empty. No small villages or settlements at all, and it appeared as if the entire island might as well just be completely deserted. Swallowing a bit, she wondered if she had made the right choice and took out her notebook again, this time beginning to follow directions from it.

Walking in silence, Kuni noticed the others that came on the same boat as her went in different directions after explaining they came there to relax, and not try and find a myth of sorts. Wondering if the Jounins who told her they've been there only told her that to get some peace from her, Kuni decided that she could still look for it, as she had quite some time before the boat would leave.

"A cave... Why would such a place be inside a cave..." She whispered to herself as she kept wandering around the island, looking at the notebook and following directions from it. She figured that if Eiji or anyone else in the village saw it they would think she finally lost it, since that was completely opposite of what she would be expected to do. Kuni herself felt odd holding the notebook and knowing she wrote everything in it. Suddenly she tripped forward because of a tree root she missed, but managed to keep herself from falling on her face. Facing the ground, she noticed the grass began clearing and the solid ground was shown.

Looking up, she nearly jumped from excitment. She found a cave, and the entrace suited what the Jounin's have told her! Stopping herself from shouting outloud, Kuni began slowly entering it, only stopping to take out a small torch and making it burn. Holding the torch steady, she began walking inside the cave, hoping she will find what she came looking for with ease.

Whistling a small tone which echoed across the cave walls, Kuni kept looking around, trying to see if she can see anything clear. She managed to spot some weird marks on the walls, and wondered if those had any kind of actual meaning, and this lasted for a few more minutes. She stopped after a few minutes and kneeled, taking down her backpack and getting out of it an apple. She figured that she needed something to eat since she felt a bit hungry, and after standing back up she continued to walk forward, this time slowly chewing on the apple.

After a few more minutes passed, Kuni nearly dropped her apple. There was a single pillar of light coming down from what appeared to be nothing, and it made a single lit circle on the floor. Placing her backpack down and extinguishing the torch's fire before throwing it next to the backpack, she took one final bite before placing the apple back inside the backpack. She closed her eyes and hoped everything will be alright before opening them again, stepping towards the light and after standing infront of the light for a moment she stepped onto the lit circle and sat down. Looking around, she figured that she needed to concenrate and close her eyes, and that was what she did.

---

An earthquake was felt by Kuni. She opened her eyes and saw the cave was gone, and it was in fact, broken into pieces, and she could hear nothing. She quickly stood up and ran in the direction of the docks, hoping she could reach them quickly enough and get a ride back. But before she knew it, she realised that she wasn't even on the island anymore. She suddenly found a scroll in her hand and was facing a shinobi who she had pinned down with a kunai to the neck. The shinobi had his eyes closed and the scroll opened, revealing that he was wanted dead for arson of several public places before. Understanding she was on a mission to kill him, she stood up and took a few steps from him, allowing the bandit to get up and vanish from sight, feeling she still cannot take the life of another no matter how bad he was. She looked around and suddenly heard some noise from the distance. She began heading that way, seeing a teahouse nearby which had smoke coming from it.

It looked familiar to her, but she couldn't be sure why. Deciding to run and investigate nevertheless, she begin running towards the burning teahouse. Upon reaching it, she could hear a few people either shouting or simply asking for help in a faint voice. She begin going through the flames, seeing several people injured badly, and she immediatly knew two that were stuck under a flaming pillar and appeared to be pierced by a few pieces of wood as well in their limbs.

Eiji-sensei and Aiko Cho-Hon.

Running towards the large flaming pillar, she did a few seals before the earth raised the large pillar, allowing Kuni to drag the two to safety. She went back inside, but the rest of the people inside have now died due to the smoke and other injuries. Going back inside, she saw that Eiji and Aiko were both deeply injured, and Kuni paniced. What was she going to do? She begun looking around, hoping that help would suddenly come out of nowhere, when she noticed Eiji mark to her to come to him. Quickly running to him and kneeling, she grabbed his hand and looked in his eyes.

"Take care of Sachi for me, Ekuni... You have been a wonderful student, and I thank you for the great time you gave me and all the support as well."

"No... Eiji-sensei... Don't you dare..."

"I'm afraid my time here is up. Take care and become the great shinobi I know you can be, Kuni."

"Eiji...Don't..."

Watching as Eiji closed his eyes and his hand became loose, Kuni leaned her forehead on his chest and cried. She felt nothing from it, and that only confirmed what she had just withnessed. Raising her head slightly, with tearing eyes, she saw Aiko give her a small smile before also closing her eyes. Kuni moved on her knees to be between Aiko and Eiji, and hugged the body of Aiko. She couldn't believe it. She wasn't sure if it was real or fake, but it felt very real to her.

Before she could manage to do anything else, she heard three footsteps land next to her, two from one side and a third one from the other side. Turning to look at them, she saw Zakito, Yumi and Ryoku stand and look at them. While Zakito moved Kuni away and embraced his wife, slightly tearing up but saying nothing, Ryoku and Yumi looked at Kuni with what appeared to be disappointment. Zakito now took a glance at her as well before shaking his head.

"Kuni, why did you let that bandit go... You were entrusted with killing him, but I found him instead near Konoha, laughing at how he set up a fire where two important people were seen drinking."

"I'm sorry to say, Yoshikuni, but you failed your mission and that cost us, the Fire Union, two fine shinobi. How can we trust you to be a shinobi of the Fire Union, of Amegakure, if you cannot perform one simple task?"

"I thought you were better than this, Kuni, when you saved me and Sakamoto. I thought you had what it take to do everything that was needed to ensure the protection of everyone you love and care for, but I guess I was wrong. I guess that all the faith I had in you can just go to waste, since you obviously think what the three of us think means nothing."

"I...No, I do ca-"

"If you care so much for the village, than you would've done your mission properly! For Amegakure, for Eiji! From what I see here, the only thing I can understand is that you did not love Eiji or even care the slightest towards him, and the same goes towards the woman who took you in when you were missing from your own village, Aiko Cho-Hon!"

"If you really did care about Aiko or your sensei, than you would've done what everything you can, and that meant killing the arsonist instead of allowing me to find him and kill him. And he also told me you had him with a kunai to the neck, so why did you not finish him off?"

"Yoshikuni Sadako, you are a pathetic excuse for a shinobi and should just stop being one."

---

The last sentence that Zakito said made Kuni open her eyes for real and look around, breathing heavily. She felt her face was wet, indicating she was crying for real, and wiped her face from any remaining tears from her face. She got up and left the lit spot before noticing someone was watching her. She decided to ignore the person and went to get her backpack before hearing the person approach her "You better stay away unless you want to be stuck here for a very long time." She said, and the person stopped walking towards her "I'm sorry, but you don't really look like you are in the position to make threats." A man's voice was heard, and he continued walking towards Kuni, eventually stopping a couple of steps from her after hearing no other reply or comment from her.

"Are you alright? Most people who came here, which isn't a lot, have not managed to face their fear properly. I can only assume that for a first time you did not have a very good experience in there." The man said, revealing to be around 1.9m, had brown hair that reached his neck and a couple of deep, green eyes, which made Kuni feel for a second as if he was wearing mirrors for eyes, since she had deep, green eyes. Not wanting to reply to the man, she grabbed her torch and begun walking towards the exit of the cave, with the man walking next to her "Don't tell me you are just going to give up like that? I would be greatly disappointed if another person left and couldn't give me advice on how to beat my own fear." He said, making Kuni stop and look at him "you are here for the Hall of Nightmares too?" She asked, wondering if he had managed to beat his own fear.

"That I am, and I must say, this is one of a few times I've seen a young person come here, and you are unlike the rest. You don't seem like the one to have any fears." The man said, and Kuni decided to ignore him until they reached the cave entrance. This led to a few minutes of Kuni wishing for once for earplugs, as the man appeared to not understand what wanting some silence meant, and he just kept talking, mainly making remarks to himself.

And after what appeared to Kuni like 10 very long long minutes, she turned to thank the man for his company, only to notice he was looking at the sky and was suddenly silent. Now curious, she decided to risk a lot more talking and a headache in order to make him feel better "May I ask why did you come to cave?" She asked in a sweet voice, hoping that would work on him and give her a chance to perhaps learn a bit more on what this place can do, only to see the man turn to look at her and only then she noticed he appeared to be very tired "Thank you for asking. No one who has been here in the few months I was around asked me, but simply ignored me and walked away." He said, making Kuni feel a bit ahshamed of herself for nearly doing the same thing.

"I came here a few months ago after I heard about someone who was previously close to me died, and her child... My child, was left on her own. She isn't too old, but I left before I could ever meet her, and I figured this place could help me deal with the fear I have for facing her. You cannot imagine how scared I am, scared of what she will think of me, or that she could very easily reject me and tell me she does not wish to see me anymore for the rest of her life."

After he finished speaking, Kuni looked down on the ground and kicked a small pebble. She sat down on the ground and offered the man a spot next to her, on which the man sat with a small smile. It was clear to her that he was not used to such kindness from anyone else, and she decided it was time to change "My name is Yoshikuni Sadako, but people call me Kuni. What's yours?" She asked him, and he leaned back on his hands and closed his eyes "Haru." He replied in silence after hearing the young girl's surname. It was extremely familiar to him, but he wasn't going to tell her that.

Noticing something suddenly changed in his expression and voice, Kuni decided to go on a more direct approach than before "Well, Haru, last name unknown, I think that if you come to your daugther and start talking to her so much like you did inside the cave she will kick you out for hearing your voice enough, or too much. You need to be more calm, and then she will be more calm and you will have a greater chance of getting to know her." She told him, and he nodded in agreement "I guess you're right." Haru said and gave her another small smile and his voice returned to him "So, why are you here?" He asked her in return, which made her lower her head.

"I'm here because I'm a shinobi who cannot bring herself to kill for the sake of anything. I cannot dare think about taking another person's life, no matter how bad he is. I just... The last time I accidently killed a man during the release of Konoha from that idiot's rule, and what did I do when I realised that I killed him? I ran and cried. There was a woman who helped me understand there is another way, but so far I couldn't find it. I think that I might as well just stop being a shi-"

"Stop being a shinobi. Thats the easy way out, I can tell you that. But its not always the right way out.

When Haru suddenly interrupted her, she couldn't help but wonder how come he knew what she was thinking "I was supposed to be a shinobi, as I was told I have quite a bit of chakra, and while I did learn how to use my Earth natured chakra and also learned some Lightning like people in my clan are supposed to, it still felt wrong in my eyes. So I stopped being a shinobi before I was ever assigned into a team. I decided that instead I will go help the regular people by helping build stable houses and ensure there is always power for my village and such. Of course I cannot ensure everything is fine at all times, and even though my clan has come to accept what I do is also good, I still feel somewhat wrong, because I might've been the cause of many people dying. But I helped the village, as well as Amegakure and a few small camps during the war, but I still have some regrets. So you should not stop being a shinobi and instead, find a proper way of becoming a shinobi without the need to kill."

Looking at Haru and listening to his words, he made not being a shinobi sound both good and bad. He helped people, but didn't know what the cost was. That made Kuni think. There had to be another way of saving Eiji and Aiko. There simply had to be "What I already killed a person, by accident, and I do not think I can bring myself to do it properly, while tasked to do so or on a mission?" She asked, hoping Haru will have an answer.

Turning to look at him, she saw he was now leaning back and looking at the sky "I can't answer that question properly, seeing I never killed a single person in my life. I can tell you how it feels from my prespective. I have seen many people die during the war, including ones that I loved. While I felt I was not helping, I have noticed another thing. Some people were captured. I even heard that once, Sunagakure tried kidnapping the child of one of the strongest generals of Konoha. That was a bad mistake on their hand, but it did show me that there are other ways of doing things. Killing is a choice, like everything else in the world. There is no such thing as 'Kill and survive or Let the person escape and die'. There are other options. Thats what the war taught me."[/color] Haru said and gave her a smile.

Nodding at his answer, Kuni decided to rummage a bit through her backpack "You look hungry. Want something to eat?" She asked, making Haru slightly surprised "Well, I was mainly living off fruits and fishes the past couple of months since I arrived here, so if you have anything thats not it then I would love some." He said, letting out a laugh. She took out a few rice balls and offered him a couple, which Haru took with delight "Thank you." He said and gave her a nod before beginning to eat one of the rice balls. Giving him a smile as he ate, she took a bite off one of the rice balls and thought about his answer. It sounded very real and honest, making Kuni wonder if she that was how she could face her fear. Could she find a way to be a shinobi without killing, but also not letting her mark go? She started thinking about the things she knew people did, as well as what Haru told her happened during the war.

After a few minutes passed, Kuni suddenly snapped her fingers, slightly making Haru jump and be surprised. He looked at her for a moment, trying to figure out what was that all about, when she jumped on him and hugged him, making him fall back on the grass "Whoa! Whats that all about?" He asked, sounding very surprised and curious, and she let go of him, getting up and taking a step back before giving him a small bow "You just helped me get a way to face my fear!" She said, nearly jumping from joy before beginning to make her way back towards the cave "Watch over my bag for me!" She shouted to Haru, who scratched his head and looked at the backpack which just laid there on the grass. Haru leaned his head against the grass and closed his eyes, wondering if he will hear some more crying this time or not.

---

Ten minutes later, Kuni was standing in front of the light of beam once again. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into it, sat down and closed her eyes. Soon enough, she was once again facing the same bandit from before, a kunai pressed to his neck, and a scroll in her other hand. Instead of letting him go, She threw the scroll to the ground before taking out a wire out of her pouch "Hands. Now." She told the bandit, who didn't shake his hands. She first forced him to move so his back was facing him, and then tied his hand together behind his back. She then placed the kunai in her mouth before doing a few seals quickly and creating an earth clone which grabbed a hold of the bandit, ensuring he won't go anywhere except where she would lead him to.

Walking in the direction of the teahouse, she once again spotted smoke coming from it. She marked to the clone to hide nearby before running to it. Kuni jumped inside, only this time there was no one inside. Not a single person, only burning wood. She coughed a bit and just barely made it outside, with her shirt slightly burnt, when she noticed Eiji and Aiko were both standing out of it, their clothes also slightly burnt, but both smiling at her "Ekuni, you just missed quite an entertaining show. Me and Aiko were talking about how our teams could meet and have a nice little spar contest, with the winning team learning something new from the other team's sensei, when a bandit showed up and did a fire jutsu. Both Aiko managed to block his fire jutsus with her water jutsus while I brought everyone to safety. Unfortunatly the bandit got away, but everyone is fine." He told her, to which she nodded happily and hugged him.

"You can also tell your clone to come out now. It was wise of her to hide with whoever it was you captured." Aiko said, giving a small smile to Kuni. The young girl marked to the clone to come out while Eiji appeared to be a bit surprised "Captured? I thought your mission was to terminate him." He said, sounding surprised. As the clone approached the three of them with the tied up bandit, Aiko nodded "Sometimes people alive are better than dead. And captured could mean you get information on others." She told Eiji, who nodded in agreement "Is that what you had in mind, Kuni?" He asked the young girl, who nodded with a smile "Yeah. I figured that bandits usually don't work alone, so if I captured him, we could get the others later." She said, and kicked the bandit's leg before he could speak.

Suddenly Yumi, Zakito and Ryoku landed next to them. Zakito approached Aiko and nodded to her, and she returned a smile, while Yumi and Ryoku looked at the captured bandit "A captured bandit. Could be useful intel. I could help interrogate him, Amekage-sama." Yumi suggested, and Ryoku shook his head "No help is needed. I have several people who can extract information from him without the need of brute force." He said, and turned to look at Kuni and Eiji, who stood next to each other "I believe your mission was to terminate him, Yoshikuni, why did you not do so? I understood that you finished the academy and learned that shinobi must obey their commands no matter what." Ryoku asked her, and Kuni nodded "I did learn that, Amekage-sama, but I thought that if we can capture this one and take out a lot more bandits later, why not do that?" She said, and Eiji gave her a small smile.

Ryoku took another look at the Bandit, who gave him a look of hatred "This bandit is wanted for arson. If I told you to kill him right this minute, and that is the only thing preventing all of us, and our village, from dying, would you have done so?" He asked her with a stern look. Kuni approached him and gave him a serious look in return "I would not, Amekage-sama. I refuse to have blood on my hands, no matter who it came from. I am willing to track down and capture, and even torture, as long as it will not kill the person. That is the one thing I will not do." She told him, and he simply looked at her for a few moments.

Ryoku opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when a hand was placed on his shoulder "I think what Kuni is trying to say is that she believes everyone deserves to live, and that she will not take their option of doing so. She will not give up her beliefs." Zakito spoke and Yumi nodded "It was the same when Shoji ruled over us. He tried forcing all of us to give up on who we were and look where that got him." She said, and Ryoku closed his eyes for a moment "You are willing to do anything for the village except kill, then?" He asked Kuni "I can tell you that she loves Amegakure, and no matter what she does or says, she will stay loyal to it, until the day she dies." Eiji spoke up before Kuni could say a word, making her give him another hug and a smile.

Ryoku, feeling that if many people here support her on that decision, thought about it for a moment "Usually, if someone disobeyed an order, I would have him be on suspension until I would figure out what to do him. Seeing that you already made connection with the people around here, and they all support your decision, which I must say that I can relate to, I will not do anything to you, as long as you will not make me regret this. You will continue to serve Amegakure as a shinobi for the village, but from now on I will try and ensure that-"

Kuni opened her eyes, back at the cave. Has she just pulled it off? Did she just face her greatest fear and managed to beat it? She was slightly unsure, but she felt more confident than before. She knew that if someone ever came and questioned her being a shinobi without killing, she could give him a proper answer. One which she will not let go for as long as she lived. She quickly stood up and begun running towards the exit, hoping that Haru indeed watched over her things and not just took them and left.

---

Reaching the entrance of the cave, she looked around. The skies had a nice orange to them, indicating it was beginning to become late, and after looking around for a moment she found Haru. The man moved to underneath a tree, and took the backpack so it was next to him. Kuni approached him and coughed a bit. The man did not move an inch. She decided that he will not reply to noise, then he will most likely reply to movement. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him a bit, making him wake up and look around, slightly nervous "What happened? Is someone attacking?" He said before noticing it was Kuni that shook him and then sighed "You scared the hell out of me there." He added and leaned back on the tree, now looking at her as she grabbed her backpack and placed it on her back "Don't tell me you are done already? Finished just like that?" He asked, and she nodded "I finished in such a way that even my mom would've been surprised of me!" She said and looked up to the sky.

Getting up, Haru begin walking with Kuni in the direction of the docks. He looked around for a bit while Kuni marked a couple of things in her notebook. After she was done, she looked at him "Are you going to just stay here? because I really think that what you need to deal with your problem one on one and just face what will happen. You will never know if you keep looking at might happen. Just go there and face it directly!" She said, giving him a smile, which he returned "I guess you are right. I also need to go back home and make sure my siblings are doing fine. But first I will try it one last time. So thanks for the company and good luck." He told her.

Kuni noticed he stopped while she took a couple extra steps. She turned to look at him "If you ever happen to be in Amegakure, come look for me. I'll either be in my small apartment or in the training fields. I might be in my sensei's house, but thats a low chance. Anyway, good luck to you as well." She said, and turned to run back to the boat. There were still a few hours before it left, but she didn't care. She just wanted to be able to sleep back in the aweful bunk the boat had on it, because she was feeling tired.

Haru looked at Kuni running towards the boat with a small smile.

Hanako... After all those years I thought I failed you, because of the way I was forced to leave and never came to look for you. I thought I might've done you and my daughter wrong. But now, seeing our daughter be the young woman she is, I am sure that you were happy until the end, and now, my fear of facing her is also gone, because I already have faced her. Now... I think I am ready. I am ready to go and tell her the truth. I will be able to go and tell her that she has another home waiting. The Hon Estate shall be open for her, as her new home.

[Mr Nim]

Heritage
(10 months into the timeskip)

A collab between Fieryfly and Mr Nim

Summary

SPOILER: Click to show

Kuni learns about her heritage.

SPOILER: Click to show

Looking around, a somewhat old man nodded. Haru Hon had come to Amegakure with a single purpose, and for that he first needed to find someone specific in this rainy village. He begin walking around the streets, looking at the buildings that were being reconstructed, and others who simply stood there, being wet. He saw quite a few stores, and he stopped by a few seconds to look at where Hanako's store was at previously. Smiling in sadness at the now empty and closed store, he gave himself a moment to see in his memory how he first saw her there. Deciding it was not time to mellow in memories, he continued, walking in the direction of the market.

Walking around with an umbrella was annoying. Kuni couldn't stand umbrellas. She thought those shouldn't be allowed in the village, even though she completely understood why Eiji had insisted she would take it while shopping for food. Everyone prefered dry food and not wet food. Kuni wondered how does wet food tastes like as she recieved a chicken and placed it inside her basket. Ensuring it was covered well enough, she went ahead and paid for it before moving to a different stall, now beginning to take vegetables. She wondered which one Eiji likes best. She figured that he would like Endive. Not a lot you could do with those except for a bit of garnish, but it started with an E, so it had to be something he liked. He probably liked Spinach too. It started with an S. This made her think about Samaki for a few moments before resuming her collecting. As she was reaching for an eggplant, someone grabbed the one she was about to take, making her turn to face the man with an annoyed look which quickly turned into a surprised one.

"Hey! Uhm... Haru, right?" She asked, hoping she remembered his name, and Haru nodded before handing her the eggplant. She placed it in the basket and quickly paid the man before turning to look at him again "Wow, this is a really nice surprise. What are you doing here?" She asked, and before he could answer Kuni resumed speaking "Did you manage to face your daughter? Oh, oh! I never asked you before, what village are you from? And how long have you spent on the island after I left?" She threw several more questions at him as she moved to a stall which offered several kinds of rices and garnishes. She took a bag and begin mixing rice in it, while Haru looked at how she did that without looking. How long has she been living on her own now? He wondered before realising he should answer her questions.

"Well, the name is Haru, you were right about it." He begin, and Kuni nodded, indicating she was listening "I came around because It's on my way of meeting my daughter. As for if I managed to face her, not yet." Haru said, walking beside the young girl as she now begin walking out of the market, having finished her shopping "I'm from Konoha, and I have only been a couple more days after you left. There is a limit as to how much a man can spend on an island like that. Its maddening!" He said, making her let out a laugh "I can understand why, its completely dead. Literally. And I know a couple of people from Konoha. I actually spent some time there before." She said as she turned in a street, with Haru following close to her.

"I guess that you could say I have been around a bit. I was also at Kumo before, and also Iwa, though thats not as far as Kumo." She said as they now stood in front of a door to a nice looking house. She opened the house and motioned to Haru to wait at the entrance "Eiji! I'm here! I have the groceries and I hope you don't mind but I brought someone along! Its the man who helped me face my fear!" Kuni shouted to the house and motioned to Haru to come inside but wait at the door "I don't want to invite you inside yet, since its not my house, its my sensei's. I'm having dinner with him today and I want to make sure he is okay with having company before letting you in." She said, and he nodded "Perfectly understandable, Yoshikuni." He said, and the young girl gave him an annoyed face in return as she went to the kitchen to put the food in its place.

The house was silent for a moment and then Eiji's head appeared around the corner that lead to the living room. With raised eyebrows he stepped into the hall as he dumped a pile of unfinished laundry on a cupboard and dusted off his hands. It had been cleaning day and the whole house was getting done which was why he was wearing his oldest and most ugly clothes. Not really something in which you wanted to receive people. "Ah, eh sure." He said dragging a hand through his hair. The red locks chose to ignore this gesture by springing back in the exact same position. Giving up Eiji stepped towards the man, his hand outstretched. "I'm not really dressed for the occasion so that you'll have to forgive me. Eiji Emiya. I've heard about you." He said smiling to the man while he observed him.

Nodding, Haru grabbed Eiji's hand and shook it "It's perfectly fine, I was in the same position in the past. Surprise guests while I was painting. And I can't really say I heard about you, seeing I only met Kuni once before, but she has been really kind to me then." He said and let go of Eiji's hand "So you are her sensei. You seem like a good guy, so I guess that makes her lucky." He said, and a shout was heard from the kitchen "I am lucky! And can you two drag your bottoms over here? I have assignments for both of you!" Kuni shouted to the two of them, peeling some potatos and throwing them in a large pot. Haru looked at Eiji with surprised and motioned to him to lead the way.

"Sssh!" Eiji called back as he lead Haru through the living room to the kitchen. "I just got Sachi to finally sleep, please don't wake her up." Crossing his fingers in a small prayer Eiji hoped that his little daughter would peacefully snore on so that he could concentrate on other stuff. Like the man next to him who hadn't stated his own name yet, which Eiji found rather rude to be honest. It was his house after all, he should know who came inside. For all he know it could be enemy spy. He chuckled at his own thought and turned back to the man. "So what is the name of the savior of my student?" He asked with a smile, but his eyes were stern.

"Excuse me, It must've slipped my mind. My name is Haru." He said as they entered the kitchen, at which point Kuni turned to them "Haru, I need you to start peeling those potatos, and Eiji, if you could start cutting the eggplants open and remove their insides please. I have a special dinner prepared for us. And in the meanwhile I'll go ahead and start preparing the rice and other things!" She said and moved away from the potatos and towards a different pot, which was filled with water and rice. She placed it on the stove and got ready to open the small fire when Sachi was suddenly heard crying from above "Must've been my shout. I'll go put her back to sleep, Eiji-sensei!" She said and ran out of the room before Eiji or Haru could speak another word. Confused at all of this, Haru decided it would be best for him to just go and peel the potatos.

Eiji couldn't help but look amused at all Kuni's antics. It was just so... Kuni. Though it did annoy him that Sachi had woken up again. So much effort gone to waste. "I thought you were doing dinner and I was doing the house." He called after her, but picked the eggplant up anyway. It was a good vegetable. His eyes shot back to Haru as he started to cut the plant open. "So, where are you from, Haru.....?" There was a gap at the end of his sentence where he hoped Haru would fill him in with his last name.

"I'm from Konohagakure, and lets just say my actual home was sieged over a year ago." Haru said, giving Eiji a clear hint as to what his last name is "Excuse me for not being any more direct." He said and threw another peeled potato in the pot. He picked up another and begin peeling it before speaking again "If you wonder as to why I came here, it was to see my daughter and inform her of her true heritage. She is completely unaware that I'm her father, or that she is a..." He stopped talking mid sentence, indicating that if Eiji has not picked up on what his last name is, then he was not gonna get it from him with ease.

Haru's first comment made Eiji look surprised. A home in Konoha that had been besieged a year ago? There was only one Eiji could think of. The Hon Estate. It had been a great battle in which many lost their lives. So this man was a Hon? That was... surprising to say the least. However when Haru continued to speak Eiji's eyebrows dropped. "You came here to see your daughter?" He asked as he carefully placed his knife down next to the cut vegetable and faced the man. His eyes were dark.

"By here, I mean Amegakure. I was looking for her, as I have a general description of my daughter, when I encountered Kuni. And I was merely wanting to talk to her when she dragged me along. I figured she could help me look for my daughter later on, as she was native of Ame and I am not." Haru fully explained himself and lowered the peeler as he noticed Eiji lowered his kitchen knife "You don't think I mean..." He said and let out a small laugh, turning to look at Eiji. The direction the crying came from started to become weaker, indicating Kuni was beginning to make Sachi fall back asleep.

"I don't know what you mean, what do you mean?" Eiji said. "You decided to come here with Kuni instead of searching for your daughter. Now I know Kuni can be pursuasive with her demands and that she has a knack for pulling people along with things, but you could be looking right now, I am sure she would have understood. So why are you here?"

Haru began wondering if this was an interrogation, or was it two men just talking and preparing food, because it sure felt like an interrogation "If you had a child, and wouldn't know about her for over 13 years, and only learn about her then, by being notified her mother and your past love died and left your daughter behind, would you have the courage to just keep looking? I came here because like I somehow helped Kuni, I was hoping she would help me by... Pushing me in the right direction. I still fear my daughter's reaction when she finds out." He said, sounding slightly scared.

Eiji was silent for a moment and picked his knife back up. As he cleaned the other eggplant he thought about the man's words. "A child needs parents." He said finally. "It needs someone who loves them uncondicionally, regardless of who they are." He dropped the parts he didn't need in the garbagebin. "They might do fine on their own, but they still need it. So it is not a question if you are scared to find the courage to step up to her. It is the question if you are okay with leaving you child alone another day!"

Now it was Haru's turn to be silent, only his silence was longer. The house became very quiet as Kuni managed to make Sachi fall back asleep and begun heading back on her toes. After a few moments, during which Haru returned to peeling the potatos, he finally spoke in a whisper to himself "I didn't leave her alone." and then allowed the quiet to resume "You didn't leave who alone?" Kuni was suddenly heard as she entered the kitchen merely a moment prior, still on her toes, to ensure there was enough quiet and that Sachi won't wake up "Did I ever tell you how cute Sache looks while she is asleep?" Kuni asked Eiji, going to turn on the small fire and allow the rice to finally begin cooking. She then turned to begin cutting the chicken and removing the bones from it. Haru simply remained in silence as he kept peeling the potatos, leaving Kuni's question unanswered.

"You did and it is Sachi, Ekuni." Eiji corrected his student though he did it with a smile. "And I cut these for you, I hope they are to your satisfaction." He gestured to the eggplant before him. He didn't direct any more words to Haru. "Now, maybe I can finish my laundry now since that was my job today. I am sure you and Haru have enough to talk about."

'Thanks, Eiji-sensei! And you know its Kuni! no E's!" She said and stuck her tongue out at him. She finished cutting the chicken into small pieces and then threw it into the boiling water with rice, stirred a bit and made the fire slightly larger before moving to the potatos and pushing Haru away "Thats plenty, thanks. Now I just need to put those in the oven over a flat surface with the Endive and a few other spices. So you can go on and sit outside, so you won't interfere with Eiji's laundry." She said, and Haru simply nodded "Alright, glad I could be of help." He said and moved out of Kuni's way as the young girl began moving between the different things.

Eiji had retreived the laundry he had put in the hall and was busy putting it up outside when Haru stepped outside as well. The Amekagure shinobi didn't acknowledge the man at first and continued with his work until everything had been neatly hung up to dry in the soft wind that was blowing through Ame today. There was a small break in the clouds that Eiji eagerly used. Though he might have come to love rain, sun was still definitaly better to dry laundry and for sitting outside. "Isn't sitting around being scared the same thing as leaving her alone right now?" he asked suddenly without turning around.

Haru turned to look at Eiji after the man asked his question "Uhm.." Was his reply, as the Hon was unsure of how he could counter that. Eiji had a point there, and he begin thinking about what he could try and say to direct the conversation in a different way "So you have a baby daughter. Thats really nice. Where is your wife?" He asked, hoping the woman was around to save him from another interrogation.

"She is dead." The answer was flat and immediate. Unintentionally Eiji's hands clenched into fists and he tried to distract himself by straigthening the shirts that were hanging before him. It did not work. Even now, after more then a year since Samaki's death, he could not stop himself from being sad from time to time. "Don't think that you are the only one with lost loved ones. But at least I have the courage to answer a question."

"Sorry to hear, and I never thought I was the only one with lost loved ones, but to lose her mother at such an early age... I wish you luck., or rather, you don't need it, seeing the way Yoshikuni helps you out." Haru said, looking in the direction of the door leading inside. Nothing was heard, so he assumed Kuni remained silent to ensure Eiji's child stayed asleep. Looking back at Eiji, the Hon sighed "And I guess avoiding questions is something even more cowardly to do. Sitting around scared is the same thing as leaving her alone." He said and moved to look down at his feet "I need to do this now, huh?" He said in a frightened tone.

"It is the answer you avoid." Eiji said. He had finally turned around and had picked up the basket that had been standing next to his feet. "But you can't be afraid of an answer you have not been given yet, because who knows, maybe it won't be as bad or maybe it will be worse." He walked up to the house and spoke as he passed Haru: "So yes, yes you do." before disappering into the house.

Sighing, Haru followed Eiji back inside, and saw Kuni wasn't in the kitchen anymore. Instead, she was now in the dining room, finishing to place the food on the table and preparing everything "Eiji! Haru! Come eat, dinner's ready!" Kuni said, making sure she was loud but not too loud, in order to keep Sachi from waking up. The Hon went in the direction of Kuni's voice the Eggplants now served as eadible plates for the baked potatos, Rice with chicken and a few other small garnishes, a salad and three bowls of ramen with Menma. She gave a smile to Haru and took her seat before offering him the one next to her, while leaving Eiji's usual seat on her other side.

"Looks good." Eiji said as he walked past the table and disappeared into the hall to drop of his basket. Moments later he returned and sat down. It felt weird to have a table of three again, that hadn't happened in a while. For a moment his eyes shot to the picture on the mantlepiece. It smiled to him and he dropped his gaze to his plate, shaking his head ever so slightly. He placed his hands together. "I pray before I eat. You are not obliged to join me." He said to Haru before he closed his eyes, his mouth forming soundless words.

Closing her eyes, Kuni joined Eiji in prayer before dinner, while Haru was unsure, He was not to praying before dinner, so he simply waited politely until both of them were done. When Kuni finished praying, she looked at Eiji and waited for him to take the first plate. The Hon decided to continue being polite and wait for Eiji to take the first dish as well.
Now that that was taken care of Eiji reached over for the ramen. Taking up his chopsticks he motioned for Kuni to start eating too. It would do no good if the food got cold. He took the first bite and nodded approving. "Pretty good, Ekuni." He said with a wink. "You can stay as my cook."

"Only if you say my name correctly." Kuni said teasing and grabbed a bowl of ramen as well "Wait until you try the rice and chicken. That should be a delight." She said smiling and took the first bite off the ramen. Haru grabbed the final ramen bowl and took a bite from it, learning for himself Kuni knows how to cook well. He looked at Eiji for a moment before turning to look at the young woman next to him, who noticed this and gave him a small wave with her free hand while the other hand held a bit of the ramen inside of her mouth with the chopsticks "Yoshikuni..""Its Kuni. Stop calling me Yoshikuni, it sounds like a boys name." She said, interrupting him and complaining. Haru nodded and watched as Kuni kept eating "Fine. Kuni, there is something I need to tell you." He said and looked at Eiji, wanting to make sure now is the right time.

Eiji finished his bite, placed his chopsticks down and whiped his mouth. Then his head shot up, like he had heard something. "Sachi is awake again." He said. He shot an apologizing look to Kuni. "I'll be back in a second." With that he stood up and left the room, his gaze not even brushing past Haru. Slowly his feet dragged him up the stairs until he finally stood before Sachi's small bed. She was sleeping soundly, her left thumb stuck in her mouth and a smile couldn't help but find itself to Eiji's face as he sat down on the bed next to her and waited.

"Eiji has such amazing hearing sometimes. I didn't even hear a peep!" Kuni said, looking at the way Eiji left through as Haru coughed, understanding this was meant to give him and Kuni some time alone. He decided to calculate his words properly before he begun speaking.

"Yoshikuni..."

"Kuni."

"Kuni. I need to tell you something important, and I need you to promise me that you will stay calm while I do."

"Okay, I promise. Whats up?"

"Remember how I told you about the fact I need to find the daughter of the woman I loved and lost, and tell her the truth?"

"Yeah. You said you haven't found her yet."

"Well, the woman I loved and lost was named....Hanako Sadako.

"...Thats my mom's name."

Slowly and carefully, Kuni pieced everything together. Haru had told her he was in Amegakure in the past. He told her that he loved a woman and lost her due to being forced to move away, and now he wanted to do right by his daughter. And now he said the woman was her mom. So that means...

"I don't think I have propely introduced myself. My name is Haru Hon, from Konohagakure, and you are my daughter, Yoshikuni Hon."

Kuni just stared at him for a few moments. He was a Hon. Zakito was a Hon. Aiko was Hon by marriage. She was a Hon? No, that seemed wrong. She was Sadako. She was Yoshikuni Sadako, not Yoshikuni Hon. That didn't even sound right one bit. It sounded extremely wrong in her eyes. But, there was a man right in front of her telling her that was the truth. That couldn't be the truth. It wasn't the truth. She was sure of it. Haru must've chosen to mess around with her just because he knew she never had a father. Except....

She never told him that.

Looking at him carefully from bottom to top, sitting in front of her, there was one thing that confirmed his whole story. Something she had noticed before. His eyes, which she considered to be mirrors. Those dark green eyes she had come to know so well from looking at mirrors or reflections half of the time. She got up, shook her head a bit and began walking towards the door "Yoshikuni..." Haru said and got up after her, wanting to hear what she has to say on the matter. He grabbed her shoulder only for her to suddenly try and push him away and block him. Shocked from her being so aggresive, he was even more shocked when she crumbled into dust.

Kuni was now sitting next to Eiji on his bed, staring at him with a blank look. This was the first time in her life she did not know what to do, or think, or act, or speak or... She couldn't even think about proper things she could perform. She just stared at him, as if she wanted to hear that he did not know of this.

The shinobi didn't look fazed when Kuni was studdenly next to him. He placed his finger against his lip before wrapping an arm around Kuni and pulling her close. "What is wrong?" He asked though he was pretty sure what the problem was.

"Did you know?"

"Before he stepped inside this house? No. And no, he didn't tell me, I.... guessed so to speak. His answers to my questions provided a lot and besides, he has your eyes. Very pretty eyes" Eiji dragged his hand through her hair. "So what is wrong?" He asked again.

That wasn't good enough for her. He still knew at some point and didn't tell her. He was her sensei. He was the one she trusted, not some guy she met once and he helped her out once. Eiji helped her countless times, yet he learned something so important about her and didn't tell her? Pushing Eiji away, she performed the seals for the defensive replacement earth clone, allowing her to leave the room without making noise and waking up Sachi. Haru managed to get a glimpse of Kuni at the entrance of the house before she left, making him look up before going to the door as well and closing it behind him, wondering if he could catch her in time. When he was outside, in the cold wind, he noticed she had completely vanished, and only moments passed. She must've used a jutsu, Haru figured and sighed before looking back at the house and wondering if he should go in and ask for advice as to where he could find her.

"Kuni..." Eiji started but she already disappeared. Sighing the man got up, shot a last glance at the baby and left the room. The house was empty. Well that went well, he thought slightly annoyed as he stared at the unfinished food. What a waste... He turned around and grabbed his jacket, however when he opened the door he found Haru standing outside. For a moment he considered his options. "Trainingsfield E would be a good option." He said. "Or you might want to try to graveyard. For more then one reason really."

"I'll go to the graveyard then. Thank you." He said before beginning to run, already knowing where the graveyard is located at from his past time in Amegakure.

Kuni stood in front of her mother's grave, staring at it with the same blank look from before. Her mom never told her anything about her father, so she figured he was either a jerk who left on purpose or someone who died fighting. She hoped for the latter, but now she wasn't sure what to think at all. The only thing she knew was that at first, her mother was the most important person to her in the world, and she died, leaving the knowledge of her father to die with her, or so she though. Now, Eiji managed to figured it out, and he was currently the most important person to her, and he also concealed it from her. When she heard footsteps, she turned to see Haru approaching her "Yoshikuni, please wait. You need to time to fully understand, but I ask you, just... allow me to ask you one thing. When you do decide to try and learn about my side, the Hon Clan, then come to the Hon Estate. I'll be there, and I'm sure plenty of people would welcome you happily. I'll also make sure our clan leader is there to welcome the latest member of the right Hon Royal Branch. I'll just go and..." He stopped speaking when he saw the name on the grave. Hanako Sadako. He approached it, standing next to Kuni. Kneeling, he kissed his hand and placed it on the headstone "How much I miss you." He said quietly before getting up and moving away, giving Kuni a nod for listening to him and then ran out, wanting to give Kuni some space.

After seeing Haru leave, Kuni moved a few rows and looked at a different grave. Samaki's grave "You have a wonderful husband, you know?" She whispered quietly to the grave "And Sache is a beautiful kid." She added before moving to sit in front of the grave.

"She is. And she is lucky to have someone around to play with." Eiji's voice came from behind Kuni. "Someone who is entertaining and energentic and who can cook pretty well." He walked up beside her. "Can I sit down, or would you rather want me to leave?" He asked her. "Samaki can be a better listener then me."

"You can stay. I just needed a moment to figure everything out." She said, still whispering, as if they were among a lot of sleeping people and she didn't want to disturb any of them "Haru was here a few minutes ago, and he offered to me to come to the Hon Estate and learn about his side more properly. Would you be fine if I left for a couple of weeks?" She asked, turning to look at him with concern.

"Sachi will miss you, you know." Eiji said as he sat down next to her. His eyes moved back and forth over the letters on the tombstone. "But I'll guess I'll live. Just promise me you won't disappear on me again?"

"I'll be back. I promise." Kuni said and leaned on Eiji, allowing the two of them to sit there in silence before going back to Eiji's place, as she regained a bit of her usual attitude and insisted that i the dinner was simply heated up a bit then they could still finish it, and it would still taste as good.

[Mr Nim]

Teachings of a Clan Member
(11 months into the timeskip)

A Collab between Little Alice and Mr Nim

Summary

SPOILER: Click to show

After finally finding the Hon Estate, Kuni learns about the Hon clan from a young but very experienced member. She also makes a big choice here.

SPOILER: Click to show

Walking around in a constant forest made Kuni feel confused. It kept feeling as if she was taking the same turns over and over again, but luckily for her she had a small dust road to follow, plus there were a few nice traders who gave her proper directions. She kept on walking between the trees, missing the rain that was pouring over Amegakure, until she finally saw it in the distance. A very impressive looking Estate, which appeared amazing to her. All she had was a small apartment, and all this time her father lived there? That seemed like quite a secret to keep. She ran towards the gate, taking a few more minutes, until she reached it and then looked around, trying to find a guard or someone that would let her inside. She had no idea what she was supposed to do, and felt really confused now.

Walking on a calm pace, Lilia could see the Hon Estate. It was something not many could miss. Unless they were likely blind. But as Lilia approached the main gates, she didn't see the might and beauty of the place. She briefly saw the conflict that had lingered over the place. When she had fought in the defense of the estate against the soldiers of Shoji. When Hiroshi, Masami and the others were all fighting for the survival of the shinobi world. Shaking the images of that memory away, Lilia noticed somebody that likely had little idea where she was. With her hands in the pockets of her pants, much in the same fashion as her guardian, Lilia frowned at the sight of another girl that was trying to find somebody to let her in. Raising her right hand out of her pocket, it went to her kunai pouch to find what was needed to convince the guards to open the gates. But first.
''Good day.'' Lilia said, to the other girl as she kept the kunai with the symbol of the Hon clan hidden. After all, she had the time. Or at least, around a day or two before she would need to go on a mission or another assignment.

Turning to look at the other girl who approached her, Kuni gave her a short bow "Good day. Can you help me? My dad told me I'm invited here, so I can learn more about my heritage as a Hon. His name is Haru Hon." She said, looking at Lilia and hoped the young girl won't think she is just plain dumb for not knowing how to get the guards to open the gate. She also bit her lip as she kept looking at the gate. She was too curious as to what was hiding on the other side.

Hearing what the other girl said, Lilia wondered. She simply nodded. ''Oh, I certainly can. Problem is that you need an evidence that you're part of the clan.'' Lilia said to Kuni. Trying to figure out if she had heard that name before, she concluded that she was likely then a regular Hon and not part of the Royal Branches. Placing her left hand on her hip, Lilia looked up to the gatekeepers that kept the area under watch. ''But why didn't you dad brought you here, himself?'' Lilia asked, glancing back at Kuni.

"After he told me, I still needed a bit of time to properly arrange my things for the trip, and also make sure my sensei and village are fine with it, and he had to go help back at Konoha, or here, I think. I can try and find him, or maybe you could ask the guards about him?" Kuni suggested, looking up and giving a small smile and a wave of her hand to them, but nothing happened. Slightly disappointed, she lowered her hand and returned to look at Lilia.

Thinking, Lilia then made a decision. The kunai in her light hand was lifted up as she told the guards to open the gates. The big and strong gates slowly started to open as Lilia nodded towards Kuni. ''Good luck on finding out about the clan.'' She flipped the kunai and in a swift move, stored it back in the kunai holster as she placed her right hand back into the pocket of her pants and started to walk past the gates, into the first section of the Hon Estate.

Seeing the large gates open in front of her and Lilia made Kuni excited. She just shortly nodded to what the other young girl said before realising she still had no idea where to go or what to do, so she quickly went into the first section of the Hon Estate. Her jaw slightly dropped when she saw an entire town behind the walls, and in the distance she could even spot the edge of a market. It seemed incredible to her, that a clan would have so much within such a place. She quickly spun around, trying to figure out where her father might be living in, when she bumped into someone and fell backwards "Watch it, pup. You better learn how to walk better." The man said and then laughed for a moment as he walked away. Annoyed, she got up and looked around again, trying to find a guard she can ask for directions, or anyone else who might help.

''You really are a pup.''' Lilia said as she came from behind Kuni and looked how she got up. The expression on Lilia's face revealed she wasn't really finding it funny, but she was a bit curious. ''Where are you actually from?'' Lilia asked, deciding she could visit the place she wanted to visit later. The people and place she had in mind to visit wouldn't just disappear out of nowhere. And she still had some time to spare.

Seeing Lilia appear again made Kuni lower her sight. The way the man and Lilia called her a pup sounded slightly insulting "I'm not a pup. She mumbled to herself before looking at Lilia again "I'm from Amegakure. Its the village I was raised in since I was born, seeing I didn't know my father was alive until only recently." Kuni said and looked around once more. Sighing, she kicked a stone and looked at Lilia "I don't suppose there is any way of finding out where someone lives in here?" She asked, hoping the answer would be a simple yes.

Amegakure? The answered earned Kuni a frown from Lilia, who pondered on the answer Kuni had given her. ''Haru Hon? That was your name, right, pup?'' Lilia asked back. The question was asked because Lilia found it very strange. What was a Hon doing outside the Fire country? Judging by the age of how the girl looked, she was probably not born after that the Rain country had joined the Fire Union. Deciding to wait what the answer would be on her question, Lilia said something else. ''You are a pup unless you passed the rite of age. So, sorry, but if you're a Hon then you're a pup among us.''

Again with the pup. What is it with people and calling her a pup? She wasn't a dog! Kuni, feeling annoyed, and even more that the young girl got a bit confused and thought her dad's name was her own, shook her head "My dad is called Haru Hon. My name is Yoshikuni Sadako. Hon. I don't know how to name myself properly, so I'll just stick with Sadako for now. Just call me Kuni though." She said and offered her hand to shake.

Taking the hand and shaking it, Lilia grinned. Most found it annoying at start to be called pup. ''I will try pup, but its a mere tradition or use of the clan. You need to prove yourself before called otherwise.'' Lilia told Kuni as she pulled her hand back. ''But judging that you seem to be annoyed, I take it that you're really new to the Hon clan, so likely you know nothing about our traditions or how the clan is?'' Lilia asked, trying to think about the name of Haru. It wasn't a name she could remember. Meaning she wasn't part of the Middle Hon branch or the Left. At least, she knew the Left and Middle for most part.

"I only learned that I am part Hon a couple of weeks ago, so you can say I am really new." Kuni said, rubbing the back of her head and letting out a small, awkward laugh. It felt weird talking about being a part of a clan, let alone one which appeared to be such a big and impressive one "I don't suppose you can explain about it a bit, seeing I can't seem to find my dad anywhere around right now?" she asked, and tried to spot Haru, but she did find a couple of guards who were on patrol, so she figured they might know, so she begun walking in their direction.

''I can explain some things.'' Lilia began. But seeing that Kuni went to talk straight to a patrol, Lilia grabbed the wrist of Kuni's right arm. ''What were you planning, pup?'' Lilia frowned as she glanced in the direction of the guards. Though Kuni was maybe new, Lilia wondered if it was a habit of the girl to approach guards who were out on a patrol. ''First thing you need to learn is that you shouldn't bother anybody because you want to ask them something. Certainly not a few Hon shinobi that are sent out on a patrol. Most Hon's tend to be...'' Lilia paused, trying to come up with the word for it.

"Unfriendly to pups?" Kuni asked, stopping on the spot after seeing Lilia grab her arm and hear what she said "Alright then. How do you suggest I'll find my dad's house then?" She asked in a tone which clearly meant to try and challange Lilia to do the task without using the regular channels. Kuni figured thar if she can't do things the proper way, then she might as well make it into a fun challange.

''Well, first also see yourself as a pup. You're a pup, meaning that you need to listen to those who are older or else more viewed in higher regards.'' Lilia explained, releasing Kuni's wrist. Eyeing the guards, she knew that it wouldn't be much trouble for her to ask them the question. Her name was known and respected in the clan. But she didn't want to bother them. After all, the question of Kuni was actually close to what Lilia meant. ''First I need to know if Haru is a member of the Regular Hon's or member of the Royal Branches. That could ease the search.'' Lilia told the other girl.

Nodding, as what Lilia said made a lot of sense, Kuni figured there needed to be a way of finding out if her father was from a royal branch thingy or not "So... Is there a library or somewhere we can find out if my dad is a Royal branch member?" She asked, figuring the answer is very much obviously yes, but she thought that if she kept playing dumb then Lilia would keep doing all of the hard work for her, which made things really easy for her.

''Not sure.'' Lilia shrugged. ''Besides, why didn't you asked your father all these things when you found out you were a Hon?'' Lilia asked with a frown. It was clear that she wasn't really fully convinced that Kuni was a member of the clan. Sure, there were non Hon's living in the outer section with the regular Hon's. Still, it was weird to hear that there was an actual Hon residing in Amegakure.

"Lets just say that finding out that my dad was alive after 14 years was quite a bit to take in, and I nearly kicked him out, let alone the fact I belong in a clan. And all of this after my mom died over a year ago." Kuni said, sounding sad and serious "Where can we find out if my dad is from a royal branch or not?" she repeated the question, only in a different, more serious sounding tone. Since she brought up her mother, it hurt, and knowing the fact her mom would never know her dad came stung even more.

Nodding, Lilia showed no sign of symphaty. Truth be told, she found it sad, but it was only for a moment. The mind of Lilia was working on how she could help Kuni, not to feel sorry for her. After all, she wasn't able to feel sorry for Kuni. Lilia had went through the same with her own mother and how many more hadn't? To pity this girl for it was in other words unfair in Lilia's opinion. ''I think maybe somebody inside the inner section of the Estate might be of help. The problem is that its off limit for you.'' Lilia told Kuni, then starting to ponder more on it. ''I will send a shadow clone. I know several people that might know the answer.'' Lilia said as she produced a shadow clone who went in the direction of the inner section. ''I reckon it will take some time, so I am going to take a bite somehwere.'' Lilia announced as she already half turned around.

Seeing Lilia turn around as she said she is going to eat somewhere made Kuni remember how hungry she really was. All she had to eat was a couple of apples. She quickly moved beside Lilia and waited for her to start leading the way "I'm pretty hungry too." She said, hoping Lilia would properly offer her to join, and that she won't need to follow from behind and then also eat in a distance from her. She hated situations in which people appeared to ignore her. That made her try and attract attention in extreme ways, or at least, shout out loud, since she had learned to be a bit more calm.

Glancing at Kuni, Lilia nodded. ''I know a nice spot. It has some good food, can recommend their tea as well.'' Lilia told Kuni as she would lead them to the place. It was around five minutes walking and once they were inside, Lilia continued to lead Kuni to a table at the window. Settling down on a chair, Lilia glanced at Kuni. ''So, you have been living in Amegakure? What are you doing now then? As in proffession?'' Was the question Lilia asked.

Taking a seat in front of Lilia, Kuni looked at the menu "I'm a shinobi. Still a genin, but I think my sensei is going to put me in the next Chuunin exams. Not sure though, I mean, its his choice." She said and passed her finger down the lines of the menu. She had a hard time choosing what to eat "You haven't told me your name, by the way." Kuni added and gave a small glance at Lilia, thinking its a bit odd that she followed her around and still had no idea what her name was, but that was who she was, a very trusting person.

A genin? Lilia simply nodded when Kuni mentioned that Lilia hadn't mentioned her name. ''I thought you wished to learn more about the clan? I am just a Hon. Not that important either.'' Lilia responded, waving as if she was pushing the need to tell her name away. ''But you're thus a genin? Heh, that means you're really a pup. What is your affinity?'' Lilia asked as she then looked at the card menu.

"I never actually checked, but I have a natural gift with earth. My dad told me he had one too, but he also learned how to use Lightning with efficency, so he is better then me, obviously." Kuni said, even more annoyed by the fact Lilia said she is just a Hon. There was no such thing as 'just a Hon.' She was keeping her name from her. Now she was really curious as to why "And you are just a Hon? Then you should have no problem with telling me your name. But you cannot be just a Hon if you can access somewhere which is off limit to someone who is unsure of what kind of a Hon she is, like me. So, can you please tell me your name? I have told you mine." She said and decided to order a bowl of rice with a very nice sauce and a couple of fish pieces, along with a glass of tea.

Ordering just a bowl of noodles and a glass of water, Lilia glanced back in the direction of Kuni. ''Cause I am like that, pup. I already passed the rite of age and managed to get recognized among the clan.'' Her right hand went to her kunai holster to hold up the kunai with the symbol of the Hon clan decorated on it. ''Its a way to get some prove you're respected by a recognized Wolf when you managed to get a kunai like this.'' Lilia explained as she stored the kunai away again. ''Besides, my name isn't that important is it now?'' Lilia asked, amused.

Shaking her head slightly, Kuni first appeared to agree with what Lilia said, until she raised her head and looked at Lilia "Names are what make us who we are. If we do not use them, then we might as well be a no one. And I do not care about this rite of passage. I came here to learn about the clan and choose if I want to fully join it, or not. And I rather spend time with someone who thinks they are worth something rather than be around someone who thinks they are nothing." She said and placed both hands on the table, in a position which indicated she was thinking about standing up and leaving.

Shrugging, Lilia found it a bit amusing to play such a game of words with the girl. Leaning on the table as she let her head rest on a hand, she eyed Kuni with a smirk. ''I never said that I was nothing. I am a Hon and regarded as a Wolf, pup. I already told you that you need to learn that you're a pup. To demand something from a Hon that is on a higher level or rank is a bit foolish. Like you managed to find out.'' Lilia paused. ''We're unfriendly to pups in general. Besides, so far as I understand you're not a fully member until you're accepted. Meaning we can't even call you a pup.'' Lilia explained, now becoming a bit more serious. She started to think about what she knew about her clan.

''In other words, you might need to get recognized first by the council, leader or somebody that has something to say in the clan before you can decline to become a Hon. Else you might find out that you're declining something that was never offered in the first place.'' Lilia ended, wondering if Kuni would stick around. She had already made a decision what she would say if Kuni would swallow her pride and accept she was like what some had named her : a ''pup''.

Hearing everything Lilia said made Kuni think for a few moments. Her dad told her to come here, so why would he do that unless he had no way of ensuring she would be recognized by someone from the clan? And in fact, she knew someone else from the clan, now that she thought about it. Someone who was surely a highly respected person in the clan, as he was the third Hokage. Not moving from her position, Kuni closed her eyes "Even if my dad doesn't know anyone who can make me a proper Hon, I do. Zakito Hon. And I do not mean that I know he was the Hokage, I mean that I saved his life, along with two other people. Think they were both Senju. But, I'm pretty sure that if I went to Zakito, he would happily acknowledge me as a Hon, if I told me and he could confirm it." She said, not caring for the fact Lilia cannot even call her a pup, or the fact that according to her, Kuni wasn't even officially invited to the clan yet.

Now Lilia was a bit surprised and wondering if Kuni was speaking the truth. An Amegakure genin that saved the life of Zakito? That he was known as the Third Hokage wasn't strange with his fame. But it was strange he was saved by a genin, while she knew he was one of the strongest shinobi she had ever seen and met. ''I think that won't matter much, if you would say that the Hokage or a past one would recognize you as a Hon. The Hon clan are in a mixed position..'' Lilia thought about the lessons of Hiron about the clan. She could remember also what she had learned at the time before that, when she had been at the Hon Estate. When the clan was led by Katsuro. ''If I may advice, I wouldn't try to bring up that a high ranked person of Konohagakure favors you. The Hon clan doesn't see itself yet as a part of the Leaf. Though, he could make you a Hon or at least one that would be accepted into the clan. As he is the leader at the moment.'' Lilia informed Kuni.

Zakito was the head of the clan? that was a new surprise for her. She wondered for a few seconds if there was anything he wasn't, but decided against asking "I only mentioned Zakito because he is a Hon, and even if the clan doesn't have a good relation with the Leaf, they must've had some respect for him even if he wasn't the leader of the clan. But I guess I can just go and talk to him then." She said and then lowered her hands, but quickly one shot to her head, scratching it "Wait... I think I actually remember one of the Senju's names. I think Aiko asked back then if he was alright, and Zakito said that he would take... Sakamoto! Yeah!" She clapped her hands after the old conversation from over a year ago, where she first met Aiko, ran around in her head "Zakito took him and the other Senju to the hospital while Aiko and I begun talking. Aiko is awesome. Slightly scary." She added, and the realised that added nothing to their current conversation. Knowing the Senju's name didn't really mean anything to her, so she just looked with happiness as the dishes came and were placed on the table.

Again, Lilia was surprised. Now she named the name of the Senju she respected and cared for, which was also a veteran ANBU. ''Full of surprises aren't you?'' Lilia asked, actually a bit amused. But she became serious after the question. ''And Aiko can be scary when you're facing her. I know it.'' Lilia said. But she felt nothing for stating she had managed to defeat Aiko, as it would mean nothing actually at the moment. Neither was it something to brag about in Lilia's opinion. ''But you could approach Zakito about it. I doubt he can just make you a member without any proof. Neither does the Hon clan have a negative relation with Konohagakure. Its a bit... hard to explain.'' Lilia said, rubbing the back of her head as she thought how she could explain it. Deciding to talk about something, she spoke up again. ''But my name is Lilia Hon. Actually, you're the second Amegakure shinobi I have ever met. Do you know Eiji-san by any chance?'' Lilia asked.

Kuni was about to take the first bite from her food when Lilia finally said her name. She had a really nice name. Taking the first bite, Kuni chewed for a moment while Lilia asked if she knew anyone named Eiji-san. She knew Eiji-sensei. Maybe she was talking about him? Would be odd, but she also knew the other Eiji she met in the past was long gone by now. She swallowed and then nodded "My sensei is called Eiji Emiya, if you mean him." She said and then grabbed one of the fish pieces, dipped it in a bit of sauce and then started chewing that, waiting to see if Lilia meant him.

This was really getting strange. So she knew Uncle Z and Aunt A? As well Mister Sakamoto and Eiji-san? ''Yes, him. How he is doing? Is Sachi- I mean, his daughter also doing well?'' Lilia asked, feeling the need to plan a trip towards Amegakure to visit the two persons again. But she had more pressing matters that she had to take care off. As she took a bite of her noodles, she wondered what kind of sensei Eiji was.

"Eiji and Sachi are both doing well. Eiji still has a bit of a hard time, but that is understandable. I also promised him I won't be too much time here. He is like a dad to me." She said, feeling a bit odd saying that out loud. Kuni suddenly realised she should've went to Konoha first. She knew several people there, but didn't went to visit any of them. That made her feel bad "You wouldn't happen to know a crystal user by the name of Yumi? I just remembered I want to go visit her on the way back, and also Zakito and Aiko, but I know she is a very experienced shinobi so I rather be certain she isn't in a mission or something first." Kuni said, hoping she didn't just confuse Lilia anymore.

Finishing her bite, Lilia nodded as Kuni said she also knew a Crystal User. ''I know Angel-chan very well.'' Lilia said as she took another bite of her food. It made her wonder if Kuni ever had heard about Lilia, with her name growing fame. Then again, she wasn't hoping on that. The fact that she was recognized by people was enough for her. The need to have everybody knowing her name was a bit too much for her. It would be bad for her days off and such. Taking a sip of her water, Lilia spoke again. ''Anymore suggestions of names?'' Lilia decided to ask, amused.

Kuni shook her head and continued to eat, indicating she could not come up with any more names. She could've asked about Akimoto and Kei, but she figured that if Lilia knew Zakito and Aiko in person then obviously she would also know their little ones. She was slightly amused by the thought both of them would be over 1 year old now. And so was Sachi. So that meant that they have a chance of meeting in the future, when they go to their chuunin exam or something. Smiling at the thought, she finished another bite and took a sip from the tea, which was very nice "Nothing from the clone yet?" She decided to ask, wondering what is taking so long.

Shaking her head, Lilia asnwered her question further more. ''Not yet. It will take a bit before my shadow clone can be sure that you're a Hon. If she can't get any information about Haru Hon or that he has a daughter, then I think you should approach Uncle Z. After all, can you tell me if somebody is aware that your father is a Hon?'' Lilia asked. At first she wanted to suggest that Kuni should also ask her mother, but seeing the latter was deceased, she made sure not to mention the woman in any kind of way.

"Well, my dad told Eiji-sensei he was, but except for that I cannot know. I'm not sure if he has any brothers or sisters, so can't ask them either." Kuni said, trying to think about any other people that might know about him "Well, if your clone cannot find, we can try and ask around, and I mean the common Hon, not guards or such." She suggested and took another sip from her tea.

Shaking her head, Lilia responded. ''I am not sure if that will help. If he isn't a renowned Hon, then it won't help. The regular Hons mind their own business and the Royal Branch Hons their own. There are only very rare cases of when they meddle with each other. You need to see it that the Royal Branch is there for the security in general. The regular Hons are there to provide that they can keep mainting the security that is kept here. For that reason, no invading force has ever managed to conquer the place.'' Lilia told with pride. For some reason she felt a bit proud at these moments to be a Hon.

Rubbing the back of her head, Kuni frowned. This girl really took the air out of all of her ideas. It made her think if Lilia would ever approve of anything she has to suggest "Maybe we could just and try to find my dad then? He told me he helps by ensuring there is always power and that some places are well guarded with strong earth jutsus. Can you think of any place around that might be related to either of those? I mean, maintaining such a place must take plenty of time during the day..." She said, and finished her tea. She really hoped Lilia won't blow this idea with another one of her frown needles.

Taking another sip of her water, Lilia thought about it. She was sure that there were some Hon shinobi were assigned to take care of the mighty walls that protected the settlement. More than likely it could be that her father was part of it. Then again, Lilia wasn't keen on the idea to just bother somebody. Certainly not some guards. They took their work in high regards and to bother them would annoy them. And an annoyed Hon wasn't something she really found funny. ''The problem is that we can't just go with a direct approach. Bothering people isn't something that is taken kindly in the clan. Certainly not from a pup.'' Lilia said. ''But seems my clone has some information. Seems that Haru Hon is a member of the Right Branch. Meaning he is a member of the Royal Branches. So that could limit our search for him. If you want, I could try to see if I can take you into the inner section. Just don't be surprised if there will be some kind of measurements to it.''

Looking slightly surprised, Kuni made her thinking face. Her father was a Hon royalty of sorts? That sounded both awesome and annoying. She wondered if being from a royal branch meant getting any kind of special treatment, or special tasks, but she figured thats something she can ask Zakito or her dad, instead of bothering Lilia with those kind of questions. Looking at Lilia, she nodded "I would like to go the inner section. The more I learn and see this place, the better. I still have a choice that I want to finish making, and that can only be done after I see my dad again." She said and took out her wallet, getting ready to pay for her meal.

Taking her wallet out as well to pay for her share, Lilia let a good tip behind. Rising up from her seat, she placed both her hands into the pockets of her pants as she already went to the door. Thinking of how to approach the guards that would either permit or deny the way into the inner section of the Hon Estate, Lilia thought about the situation of Kuni. While Haru was a member of the Royal branch, she pondered if Kuni would be trusted right away. If there was one thing, Hon´s weren´t the easiest to deal with. It made her smirk a bit, as she knew that also counted for herself. ''Lets see if we can get past the guards and into the inner section first. Once we have overcome that, we'll see.'' Lilia told Kuni. Already Lilia was also thinking of her goal why she had came to the Hon estate. It would work out nicely.

After leaving a nice tip as well, Kuni followed Lilia and listened to what she said. They needed to get past some guards? Great, that probably meant she will never get inside there. Frowning, she tried to think what would be the best approach. Calm one, obviously, but what would she say? Hey, I'm the daughter out of marriage of Haru Hon. Can you let me into the inner section please? I need to find my dad.. That sounded terrible in her head, and she was sure that it would sound the same out loud "So do I need to say anything, or will you do all the talking?" She asked, hoping Lilia would say that she will take care of things. After all, she was the proper Hon.

Scoffing, Lilia shot an amused glance in the direction of Kuni. ''Pup, I am not doing any charity work today. I will see what I can do and for now it will be likely just asking something. If they say no, you're on your own. Else I will see what I will do.'' Lilia said. She found it a bit worrying that Kuni was relying so much on her and actually hoped that her answer would make it clear she wasn't there to keep helping around. Though she would try to help out a bit. Just a bit. ''I also need to attend to something while I am here.'' Lilia said, continue to lead Kuni through the outer section towards the inner walls that guarded the inner section.

Following Lilia to the inner walls, she nodded "Alright. Then if they won't let me in, I'll just go to Konoha instead. I've been wanting to visit Zakito, Aiko and Yumi, so I could do that while also talking to Zakito there to learn more about the clan." Kuni said, thinking it was an alright plan. Not the best she could come up with, but it was certainly better than nothing. Upon reaching the inner walls, Kuni made a small whistle. She was very impressed with how much security this place had. No wonder the Royal branches had no proper connection to the regular Hons, she though while looking at the walls and then turned to look at the guards for a second before looking at the gate leading inside the inner walls. She wondered how many people tried to get in but could not.

''That is your own choice, pup.'' Lilia said as she walked towards the open gate. It was guarded by several Hon shinobi, likely some that weren't to be joked with. ''One second. I will ask them about it.'' Lilia told Kuni and approached the guards. Trying to formulate the question in her mind, she had an idea how she could ask it, but was still thinking it had a low chance of success. After some talk, a guard walked away as Lilia went back to Kuni. ''They have sent a guard, but I am unsure what will happen. Best to wait here and see what will happen. I think nothing bad as there is no reason to suspect Amegakure. After all, you're also a shinobi of the Fire Union.'' It was somehow more of a statement, the last part, than actually an attempt to bolster the hope of Kuni. Placing a hand on her hip, Lilia turned her head to look at the guarded inner gate.

Nodding, Kuni still bit her lip as she waited. Lilia's words sounded slightly comforting, that there is no reason to suspect her, but she was still worried. What if her dad wasn't there at all? Did that mean she went all the way there for nothing? Closing her eyes, she pushed the thought out. She still had no idea if Haru was even in the inner guarded area or not, when the guard came back "I can arrange for you two to see Haru Hon, but due to the girl not being an official Hon, let alone a royal branch one, we cannot allow her to see or detect anything while leading her to a private room. This is upon Haru's request, as he claimed the girl is his daughter." The guard said and handed Kuni a blindfold. She took it, slightly hesitant, and then tied it around her eyes "Could you at least help me walk there? This is a weird blindfold." She said, and the guard looked at Lilia "Its a blindfold designed to block any kind of visual Kekkei Genkai. It cannot stop any abilities, but it can stop the chakra senseing." He explained before motioning to follow him.

Hearing what the guard said, Lilia realized that the Hon clan hadn't been idle. Then again, it wasn't that strange that they had developed such material. Knowing from the lessons, that the Hon clan had several conflicts against the Hyuuga, Nimatsu and such clans that it was important to block dojutsu. Certainly those of the Hyuuga clan. Nodding, she placed a hand on Kuni's shoulder. ''We could play it safer and knock her out could. But I think this will be less painful.'' Lilia said. Taking the wrist of Kuni's right hand, she moved towards her own shoulder. ''Just stay close.'' Waiting for Kuni to be ready, Lilia would help to walk there.

Nodding, Kuni walked with Lilia leading her. She could only hear the footsteps of her, Lilia and the guard, and also a few other people, but the blindfold did an excellent job at ensuring no one could sense where they were going. The guard opened a door and motioned to Lilia and Kuni to go inside, and the guard would enter the close the door behind him "You can now remove the blindfold." He said, and Kuni did so, seeing a completely empty room around her. She looked at the guard with a questioning look, and he took a moment before talking "Haru Hon will be here shortly." He said, standing next to the door. She then turned to look at Lilia "Do you think my dad would be enough to make me a Hon? I mean, him asking me, or do I need to go to someone more important?" She asked.

Thinking about the question, Lilia's answer was a short one. ''No, it won't.'' Lilia told Kuni. With being in the room, she slowly walked away from Kuni. Letting out a sigh, she crossed her arms while leaning against a wall. ''You may say that being a Hon doesn't mean you need to have real blood of a Hon. Truth be told, I am regarded as a member of the Middle Royal Branch, but I have no actual blood of a royal branch. I am actually a common Hon.'' Not being able to hide it, but there was some bitter tone in Lilia's voice. But she didn't drown herself in that bitterness. Not now or here. ''I think you'll become a Hon once you show that you want to be one. That you're willing to defend the clan and be part of it. To undergo the traditions and accept that the choice isn't yours, pup.'' After her rather serious and somewhat grim explanation to her answer, Lilia shook her head lightly. ''But don't worry about it. If you weren't given a chance, they wouldn't have brought you here.''

Understanding, Kuni wanted to say something back when the door opened. Haru Hon went inside and smiled upon seeing Kuni "I was glad to hear you came here, Yoshikuni." He said, and Kuni shrugged "You offered, so I came to see. Not a lot to see, but I guess I understand why. She said and shot a glance at the guard. Haru looked at the guard and then noticed Lilia leaning on the wall "Lilia Hon. Now theres a surprise. I thought you were living with my nephew back at Konoha now." He said, sounding surprised "It is a bit of a shame that I don't get to see Hiron anymore. He was a rough kid, but I liked him. He said and then turned to look at Kuni again. She scratched the back of her head, wondering who was he talking too, and also wondered how big the clan was.

Seeing Haru, Lilia only nodded. She wasn't aware if she knew him from the time she spent the miserable years underneath the tiranny of Katsuro Hon. If he was one of the Hons that barely lifted a finger to improve her situation. But she could understand already at her age that it was different than how she had been looking at it, while experiencing that dark period of her life. With both becoming silent, Lilia decided to put say something. ''She is wondering about joining the Hon Clan. I already told her that she is still a pup, but if her family would accept her as a pup...'' On purpose she didn't finish the sentence, sending a meaningful look in Haru's direction.

"I am more than willing to accept her as a pup. But I believe that final choice is hers. Thank you for helping her, Lilia, and when you see Hiron, tell him his uncle Haru sends his regards. I know he doesn't really want to hear from us, but I really do hope he is doing well. I think I could manage from here, so you can go, if you wish to do so." Haru said, and Kuni looked at Lilia for a moment before approaching her and offering her hand to shake "Thanks Lilia. You are as nice as Zakito." She said and gave her a smile.

Briefly glancing at the hand offered, Lilia didn't move. She kept her arms crossed as she locked her eyes with Haru. ''I doubt that, Haru-san.'' Pushing her back from the wall, she shook briefly his hand and shot a look in Kuni's direction. ''I will be back soon. Just need to grab one book and then I will be back.'' Her words were meant to comfort Kuni a bit. Lilia wasn't sure what the girl was experiencing. After all, she had never met her biological father. Walking past Haru, Lilia opened the door and closed it behind her as she left the room.

Nodding, Kuni watched Lilia leave the room. She then looked at Haru, who gave her a gentle smile "So... Any questions about the clan?" He asked, and she moved to lean on the wall across from him, thinking about it. Lilia already answered quite a bit of her questions, and she was just about ready to make a decision. She did find one question came to her mind "Back at the Hall of Nightmares, you said that you found out a few months ago that you had a daughter, and you went there to face your fear of facing her. So, if you managed to figure out I was your daughter back then, why didn't you tell me? And why go to such a place instead of going and finding me the moment you learned about me?" She asked, and Haru looked surprised.

He opened his mouth to answer, but Kuni spoke again before he could "I'll tell you why you took your time. You wasn't sure if you were ready to have a daughter out of the blue, just like after the war you didn't go to find my mom. So, thanks for offering me a chance to become a part of something bigger, but if it means being related to a coward like you, I'll pass. If I will become a Hon, it will only be because someone like Zakito or Lilia decide I am fit to be one. Not because I have a coward dad who just happens to be a part of the Hon clan." She said, making Haru close his mouth and put his hand over his face, thinking of how he could respond to that. She approached the guard "Could you maybe send him away? I want to wait here for Lilia, and I don't want to see him around." She said, and the guard simply looked at Haru "He is a royal branch member, so he can leave if he wishes to. We cannot force him unless under direct orders from the clan leader." The guard said, and Haru shook his head before going to the door and leaving on his own accord. Kuni went and sat down next to one of the walls, waiting.

After some time passed, Lilia came back with a book underneath her left arm. A frown appeared on her face, seeing only Kuni and a Hon guard. No sign of Haru in the room. ''I reckon you want to tell me something?'' Lilia asked, the question towards Kuni. But she nodded to the guard and waved with her right hand, a signal that he could leave. Though he wavered at first, the man went away. With the door closed behind them, Lilia walked to her previous post. Leaning against the wall, she opened the book and started to read in it. But her attention was divided, waiting for Kuni to answer the question.

She heard the door open and Lilia talking to her. She then heard the door close and noticed it was only her and Lilia now. Wondering for a second what would she exactly say, she took a moment before answering "My dad is a coward. I don't want to be related to a coward, so I decided I don't want to be a Hon if it means being related to a coward. I told him that only if someone like Zakito decided I was worthy, then I might accept being a Hon. But as long as it comes from him, I refuse. He took too long to come to look for me, and he never came to look for my mom. So he is not a man. He is only a coward." Kuni said, staying to sit next to the wall.

Hearing the answer didnt made Lilia look from her book. A simple response came out first. ''Aah.'' Becoming silent for some time, Lilia then asked Kuni a question. ''Don't you think its a bit unfair? He took some time, but at the same time, he was just scared. We all are scared of something.'' Lilia said, still not looking up from the book. Rather, she started to hum a soft tone.

"This is more than why he took his time with me. He never bothered to look for my mom, who he claimed to love. If he truly loved her, then he would've come look for her, and then, if they were together, then she might've not died!" She said, and then looked down at the floor. Haru could've saved her if he came looking for her, but he never did, so Kuni refused to believe he was just scared. He didn't care. Standing up, she moved to the door and placed the blindfold around her eyes again "Do you mind helping me get out of here? I think I want to go to Konoha and afterwards go back to Ame. My sensei and his daughter are waiting for me, but I also want to go see Zakito and Aiko first." She said and waited in front of the door.

Closing her book, Lilia looked up. There was a calm expression on her face. ''Its your choice. That and I don't mind to help.. Kuni.'' Lilia said as she walked towards the other girl, to help her get away. The guard that stood on the outside would walk back with them to the gate of the inner circle. Once there, Lilia waited till Kuni would return the blindfold. ''I assume that you're going to Konohagakure right away?'' Was her question to Kuni.

Removing the blindfold and giving it back to the guard, Kuni nodded as she heard Lilia's question "I promised Eiji I will back shortly, and I plan on keeping that promise. Plus, I'm sure Sachi misses me too." She said, and a small smile came to her face as she thought about the young girl. She looked at Lilia and then turn to look around "The way out of the Estate is in this direction, right?" She asked and pointed in the direction of the path behind her.

''It is. Do me a favor.'' Lilia's right hand went to her pouch as she would throw something small in Kuni's direction. ''Don't think ill of those who mean well. I suppose that I will see you later. I need to stay a bit longer.'' Turning around, she would head back to the inner section as she would be let passed without any trouble. A little smile cracked on her lips as she walked away.

Understanding what Lilia said, Kuni was slightly surprised as she caught the object. Opening her hands, she saw Lilia gave her a lollipop. Unwrapping the piece of candy and placing it in her mouth, Kuni begun heading away from the inner section gates, and soon enough also passed outside of the Estate gates. She then begun running in the direction of Konoha, or at least, what she thought was the right direction. She knew that Zakito and Aiko would probably be busy, but she figured that they would still be happy for a little surprise visit.

[Mr Nim]

A Visit in the Leaf
(11 months into the timeskip)

A collab between Lesli, Gerontis and Mr Nim

Summary

SPOILER: Click to show

Kuni goes to visit a couple of people who once helped her greatly.

SPOILER: Click to show

Walking down the sunny street, Kuni couldn't feel happier to be back, even if it was just for a short while. She loved Konohagakure, and loved the wind breezes and how nice and sunny it was compared to Ame. Taking a small detour to see the Will of Fire monument, she stopped by it for a few moments, remembering why she enjoyed sitting next to it so much. Seeing someone hooded, she thought for a moment it might've been Yumi, but she wasn't looking for her at the moment, and she also saw it wasn't her. Sighing, she continued to walk, and a few minutes later she saw a house she came to know quite well over a year ago. Approaching the door, she knocked three times and took a step back, waiting to see who will open the door and hoping both the people she was looking for were there.

Opening the door, Aiko was wearing a set of casual clothes with an apron. Her arms were a bit dirty as she had been trying to bake her bread. Even while her uncle and aunt were looking over her bakkery, ever since she fully went back into her kunoichi carreer, Aiko loved to keep her baking skills sharp. ''Y-es-'' She said at first, before she paused. Realising who her visitor was, Aiko smiled. ''Kuni. What a pleasant surprise. I would offer you a hug, sweety, but I am not that clean at the moment. Come in, come.'' As only mothers could do, Aiko would start to drive in a polite manner Kuni into the house. ''Can I get you anything to drink? You must be tired from coming all over from Amegakure!''

Smiling upon seeing Aiko, Kuni went inside and into the living room, while wondering what was she making "Well, I'm not coming directly from Ame, but from somewhere else. And I'd like a glass of water." She said and looked around. The place hasn't changed too much, except for a couple of toys that were on the table, most likely belonging to Akimoto and Kei. She wondered how those two were doing and looked up at the celling "Aki and Kei are sleeping right now?" She asked in a quiet tone.

Somewhere else? Aiko already gained the feeling that she would hear a story. Walking to the kitchen, Aiko smiled when Kuni asked for Akimoto and Kei. ''They are on their walk with Figuki. With some free time of my own, I decided to bake some bread. But I will continue that later or wait.'' Aiko's voice that sounded from the kitchen pauzed briefly. Then it was heard that she was opening the crane, water flowing out of it. After several moments, she came out of the kitchen with two mugs. Both with water. ''Come, sit with me.'' Sitting at the table, after placing the mugs on the low table, Aiko shot a worried look in Kuni's direction. ''Are you sure you're fine?'' Aiko asked again.

Sitting at the table next to Aiko, she took the glass of water and drank a bit before answering "I'm perfectly fine. Its just been a very... interesting year since I left to go back to Ame. I was coming from the Hon Estate. I met a really nice girl there who said she knew you. Her name was Lilia. She is really cool." Kuni said and then leaned slightly back "Is Zakito around? There is something I want to talk to both of you about." She said and looked at the glass of water before drinking some more and then putting it back on the table, but also pushing it slightly away from her.

''I am afraid not sweety, but nice of Lilia and you meeting.'' Aiko responded. The woman found it slightly amusing that another person found Lilia cool. Though, most did for a very logical reason. The little girl was a special person. ''Wait. You came from the Hon Estate?'' Realizing how strange it was for an Amegakure kunoichi to go to that location, Aiko couldn't help as a frown was formed on her face. ''Zakito is more here than there, sweety. Next time, just stop by here. Saves you the time to travel.'' She said, though still finding it a bit weird. Raising her glass to take a sip, Aiko managed to erase the frown on her face.

"I didn't went there because of Zakito. Heck, I didn't know he was the head of the Hon clan until I was there. I went there because of my dad. But there is a longer story behind that." Kuni said, sounding annoyed by something regarding to her dad, but she quickly gave another smile to Aiko "But aside that, how are you and Leaf doing? I assume you are both busy, but unfortunatly I cannot stay long. I promised Eiji I'd be back as soon as I can." She said.

Aiko smiled, simply because Kuni had never know that Zakito was the head of the Hon clan. Only she wasn't sure if it was alright to smile. So far she could remember, Kuni had lost her mother. But she had never mentioned her father, so Aiko wasn't sure if she had said something wrong, judging from the tone of Kuni. Staying silent, letting Kuni finish, the woman was in thoughts on how she should react. Placing her mug down after taking a sip, she would respond to Kuni in a polite manner, not sure how else she should react. ''So you father lives in the Hon estate? As for me and Zakito, we're managing. He is overal busy as the jounin commander, being the head of a big clan and a father as well. I just stay as a jounin sensei and a mother. Next to the head of the Cho clan.'' Briefly Aiko smile again. It was more than likely that Kuni didn't know that either, which wasn't strange. The Cho's weren't an important clan and it was only for around a year or so that the clan had been brought together in Konohagakure. ''How is Eiji-san?'' Aiko asked, wondering if it wasn't maybe also an idea to pay the man she liked a visit.

Kuni was slightly surprised that Aiko managed to make such an accurate assumption. She did not move at all until Aiko asked her question "Eiji is fine, and so is his daughter. I'm not sure if you knew, but he and his wife had one before his wife died fighting. She died fighting someone name Kentuke... Ketsuke... Kistuke? I'm not sure. But now he has to raise her on his own, but I help him. And it has been some time since, so he is better. Not completely over it, but I won't say nothing on that. I'm not completely over my mom's death either." She said and let out a small sigh before continuing to speak "My dad does live in the Hon Estate. He is a Hon named Haru, and according to what Lilia told me after looking for knowledge on him, he is from the royal branches. Not sure how such a coward man can be royal." She said, though the last sentence was mumbled through her lips.

Looking at Aiko now, she leaned slightly forward "I found out a month ago that not only my dad is alive, but that he is a Hon and he invited me to come see and learn about the clan a bit so I could decide if I wanted to be a proper Hon or not." She said and rolled her eyes, not believing she actually listened to him.

That was thus the story? Aiko listened to it, paying attention on how Kuni told it as well. Even the mumbling wasn't something she missed, with her senses. ''So that is why you are seeking Zakito.'' Now it was Aiko's turn to mumble. Thinking about what Kuni had told her, Aiko remained quiet for several moments. The news that Kensuke also had killed the wife of Eiji made her sad. It was a known fact that Kensuke was a student of Zakito, together that she knew that the two were having a bond. Meaning in her view that Kensuke wasn't a bad person. Only she felt sad that Eiji had lost his wife. Aiko realized that there was a different story to that. There had to be one. But for now, Kuni's story about the relation between her and the Hon clan was having a higher priority. ''Sweety, I am sorry to hear that.'' Aiko started, meaning that Kuni thought her father was a coward. With only hearing Kuni's side of the story, Aiko wouldn't continue on that. ''I know some things about the Hon, as I am married to one and a sensei to another. But I had no idea you were one as well.''

Shrugging her shoulders, Kuni grabbed the glass of water and brought it closer to her, not drinking from it but looking at the barely visable reflection of her "I didn't know either until a month ago. It came to me like a shock and made me wonder if Zakito even knew. I remembered he was a Hon, so I figured they might be connected. I just never thought the clan was that big." She said and appeared to have missed Aiko's mumble. She then let go of the glass and looked at Aiko "I figured you might know a bit, but I think I rather talk about the whole thing when both you and Zakito are here. I don't mean any offence, but I just want more than one opinion. I already heard Lilia's opinion on how I reacted and I want a couple more before taking my final decision." She said.

''I understand.'' Aiko said. Realizing that the choice wasn't only on Kuni, Aiko didn't say that. The girl had the view she could make the decision, but Aiko knew better. A clan could also decline somebody. While not looking like that, Zakito could be very strict with such things as with his clan. Maybe the fact that he cared a bit for Kuni would however work in her favor, if Kuni wanted to step in the Hon clan. The only problem Aiko saw was that Kuni was a halfbred that clearly wasn't known in the clan. Why else would she not even knowing about her own background? ''I am sorry sweety, but are you now asking mine?'' Aiko carefully asked, not sure if Kuni was waiting for hers.

Nodding, Kuni looked with slight curiousity "I want to hear your opinion. But if you want to hear more about the whole situation, or to hear it properly, then I could give more. But most of it, or at least the important things, have been told already." She said, now speaking in a somewhat quiet voice.

Taking a sip of her drink, Aiko thougth about it. She didn't mind to give an opinion. It was more that she wasn't sure if it would be helpful. While knowing some details about the Hon clan, she wasn't an expert on them. But she couldn't also just stay silent, could she? Sighing, Aiko leaned a bit forward as she lowered her head. Rubbing her forehead, the woman wasn't sure what she should say. ''I am not sure. I think you need to know what you want to achieve with becoming a Hon. It means that if you will become one that you get a clan that normally looks after each other.'' Aiko told Kuni, on purpose saying that if she would become one. Not saying that she had the chance of not becoming one. Demotivating her could lead into problems and that was something Aiko wasn't keen on. Problems should stay miles away from her young children.

"I'm not sure if I want to become a Hon at all now, but at the same time, I don't want to miss a chance to gain new experiences and meet a lot of new people. And you can say if I don't get accepted. Lilia already explained to me a bit on the fact it takes both my will and the acceptance of a high valued clan member in order to become a..." She stopped for a second, rolling her eyes "Pup." Kuni finished, sounding like the last word was stuck in her throat and she just threw up because of it. "My main concern is being connected to my dad if I do decide that I want to join and I am accepted into the clan." She said, her tone now turning a bit bitter as she thought about her dad.

''I-''' Suddenly Aiko started to laugh. It took her a bit before she managed to regain her earlier composure. But it was just hilarious as she realized Kuni had experienced how the Hon called those who weren't adults. It was one of the few traditions she was aware off. And though she was trying to be serious, it was just too hilarious at the moment. After stopping to laugh, she managed to speak again. ''But you shouldn't look at that corcern sweety. The Hon clan is very large. That and there are several groups, as a manner of speaking.'' Aiko said. She thought on how to explain it, so far she was aware off. There were the Hon's in Konohgakure and the clan in the estate. ''Even it makes you somehow connected to your father, realize that he isn't the whole Hon clan. A clan is made of people and not just one.''

Kuni scratched the back of her head as Aiko laughed. Did the word pup made her laugh like that? She wouldn't be surprised. It sounded funny, which was why she hated it. After seeing her calm down and listening to what she had to say further. She then smiled a little awkward smile "I guess he isn't the whole clan, but thats not what I meant. I was meaning that when people will talk to me, they will know me as his daughter. And I don't want that. I don't want to be known as the daughter of a coward who never went looking for his love and took more than a year after she died to come looking for his daughter." She said, the smile going away from her face as she spoke and the bitter tone turned into a slightly more angry one.

''So? Then don't be.'' Aiko said back with a calm tone. ''People never looked at you as his daughter, did they? So why would they suddenly see you as his daughter?'' Aiko asked Kuni, intending to make the girl think further than her narrow view on the whole situation. It was pretty simple to solve, in Aiko's mind. She was more open minded when it came to craft a solution. ''The surname Hon wouldn't suddenly make people link you to a certain Haru Hon. I don't even know or likely ever have met him in person. They will just maybe recognize you as a member of the clan. I doubt there will be little other assumptions.''

"You still don't get what I meant. What if my dad goes around and tells everyone I'm his daughter? Thats what I don't want to happen, because then they could suddenly start to link me to him." She said and sank a bit lower into her chair. She understood what Aiko meant, but she still had the fear of her dad trying to make her be achknowledged as his daughter. She didn't want that to ever happen. She wanted to never see the man again.

Maybe Kuni understood Aiko's words and advise, she showed actually none of it. It gave Aiko the idea that Kuni was maybe a bit too young to see that it wasn't that bad or would work in the way she saw it. But that was fine and normal. Deciding to change the subject subtly, Aiko went ahead to ask Kuni a question. ''But, how are you other than that? I hope you're keep up the good work with training. Right?'' Aiko winked at Kuni, actually realizing she missed the girl in her team. Miharu was in a coma, Koike had grown cold and Kuni was away. Most of her other students weren't that memorable.

Looking up as Aiko suddenly changed the subject, Kuni figured it was for the better to let the subject go until Zakito came "I learned a new jutsu. A better and faster version of my hiding like a mole, which I can use for fighting." She said "And I have been helping Eiji as much as I can. I got my own place now, because he needed space, but I'm often at his place since taking care of a baby alone isn't easy, and while he won't admit it, he needs help from time to time." She said, thinking about the fact Eiji always told her he was fine.

Glad to hear that she was still improving and seemed going in a good way, Aiko thought about the fact that Eiji was getting help. After learning that he had lost his wife, she had never thought about how he would raise his daughter. Memories of Eiji visiting her home and after some talk was introduced to Akimoto and Kei made Aiko grow silent. ''So that means you also may turn in up the next Chuunin Exam?'' Aiko asked. It only then made her aware that she had never taught anything to Kuni. Only that she would never have to do anything to impress Aiko. Feeling a bit guilty, as if she had failed as a sensei, Aiko added something quickly. ''I am sure that you've learned a lot under Eiji-san's training.''

Kuni nodded as she grabbed her glass of water and finished it "I have learned a lot from him. But you and Zakito also taught me things. Mainly about how I need to stay close to the people I care about, no matter what." She said after drinking and placed her glass on the table "Back then I thought that just because of a stupid thing I shouldn't stay where it happened, but you two showed me that as long as there is even one person that cares about me there, then thats where my home is, and don't think I forgot about that." She said and gave Aiko a big smile, remembering the last time the two of them spoke, which was when Aiko comforted her on the tree outside.

The woman stayed silent. Neither had she forgot the time she had talked with Kuni. Staring in her mug, Aiko smiled. ''That is kind of you to say. I think I will keep an eye out. After all, you might need some cheering when you will enter the Exams.'' Aiko said, looking at Kuni with a warm smile. ''Though, I do hope you remember my very first lesson when you will enter the fields of the Exams.'' Aiko said, her smile growing.

Kuni nodded "I'll remember that lesson, and every other one you, Eiji and Zakito taught me. You have all taught me great things. Now I just need to hope Eiji will decide that I am ready to enter the chuunin exams." She said, sounding slightly worried as she had no idea what Eiji thought of her current level. She wasn't sure if she was ready herself, but she figured that she could ask him by the time she got back.

The door that lead to the back garden opened. Walking into the house, Zakito was whistling an old war tune. However, when he entered his home, he turned his head and noticed that they had a visitor. ''Kuni? That is a surprise.'' The man said, sounding actually surprised by seeing the girl in the living room with his wife. Nodding to Aiko, Zakito stood still as it seemed he was waiting to hear what he had missed.

"Leaf!" She shouted and jumped from the couch, and soon enough warped her hands around Zakito's body. It felt like a long time since she saw him, and she missed him "Its so good to see you!" She said with a loud voice. Aiko smiled upon seeing Zakito arrive, and then looked in the kitchen's direction "I should return to my baking, otherwise it will burn." She said and stood up, sending a smile to Zakito before leaving the room. Kuni then moved away from the Hon and slightly jumped on the spot, clearly excited to see him.

Though impossible to see with the facemask he wore, he did smiled back to Aiko. Turning his attention back to Kuni, he scratched the back of his head. ''It is good to see you too. How are you doing?'' He asked. Still, he was pretty surprised and a bit confused why and how Kuni was here again. Last time he had heard about her, she had went back to Amegakure. For a moment Zakito was wondering if she had left Amegakure again.

Closing her eyes and smiling at Zakito, Kuni still slightly jumped on the spot "I'm doing good. I was in the area and thought I'd stop by and visit before heading back to Ame." She said and opened her eyes before she stopped jumping. She then looked at him and the smile became smaller "I need to ask for your advice on something. Its actually quite connected to you. Can we go outside and be on that branch you like so much?" She asked in a more quiet tone, one which was very unlike her.

Putting his hands into the pockets of his unzipped jacket, Zakito nodded. He was glad to hear she would head back to Amegakure. As a jounin commander, he should actually wonder and disagree with her traveling that much. But the more carefree side of him approved it. It was actually nice to see her, being more happy than before. ''I wouldn't mind.'' Turning around to open the door to the back yarden, he would wait for her to follow him. Once they were outside, he decided to ask her a question first. ''I do hope you had no trouble with traveling around. Or did you had any lectures about it?''

After stepping out and enjoying the sunlight for a moment, she first ran on the tree's trunk and reached Zakito's branch. She then moved further away from the edge and hung herself upside down, with her legs on the upper part of the branch and the rest of her body hanging from it "I did get a bit of a lecture before leaving Ame from the jounin commander. She is really nice and was obviously a bit worried, but I managed to convince her to get approval from the Amekage. Although now that I think of it, I could've just asked Eiji to do it." She said and felt a bit silly now "As for the travel itself, I had no trouble. I know my way around." She said and looked at Zakito, waiting for him to join her on the branch.

Following her on a rather slow pace, like he was more like a sloth, he heard what she told to him. Thinking about it, he chuckled. ''I know you do. But you might learn later that it is quite complicated to let you always travel around. But that is just politics. Nothing you want to learn now, believe me.'' Zakito responded as he reached the branch he cherished so much. Sitting near the bark of the tree, so he could place his back against it, he sighed as he closed his eyes. ''I think you had questions for me, hmmm?''

"I did have questions, but before I ask them I need to explain to you something." She said and then swung herself so she was sitting on the upper side of the branch and looked at him properly. Taking a deep breath, Kuni was getting ready to speak quite a bit "It all started a few months ago. I went to a place called the Hall of Nightmares and while there, I met a man who was named Haru. He gave the advice I needed to face my greatest fear, and I managed to beat it. I asked him what his fear was, and he told me that it was meeting his daughter who he never met before. A few weeks ago I encountered Haru again in the Amegakure market. He told me he decided to face his fear and meet his daughter, who was in the village. I decided to ask him if he wanted to have dinner with me and Eiji before doing so, and he accepted.

During the dinner, he told me that he was my father. And I never met my father, and since my mom never talked about him, I had no way of knowing anything about him. But there was only one thing to verify what he told me, and it was the fact I never told him that I didn't have a dad. How else could he know it? And how would he know my mom's name if I never told him that either? After a bit more of talking, he told me is a Hon and invited me to come to the Hon estate and see his side of the family." She now took a deep breath after speaking none stop.

Looking at Zakito for a moment, she decided to continue "I went to the Hon Estate a few days ago. A girl named Lilia helped me out with entering and finding my way around, and then also finding my dad in there, while inside the inner part of the estate. Lilia told me he was a royal branch member and after seeing him again, I realised that Haru was a coward. A coward who needed to hear his love died and then still over a year to finally go find his daughter. He never tried finding out before. He never tried to look for my mom or find out what happened to her after the war. So I told him I don't want to see him again, and after he left, Lilia helped me go back to the gate and we departed. She is really nice and explained some things to me." Kuni finished speaking and now looked at Zakito, waiting to see if he could figure out what her questions are going to be.

Zakito stayed silent and kept listening to Kuni as she told and explained to him what she wanted to talk about. When she mentioned Haru Hon, the man briefly tried to remember the man. He thought he knew who she meant, but he wasn't sure. It came as a surprise she was thus actually half Hon. Not that his opinion of Kuni changed. It was just a surprise. Hearing that Lilia had also some part in it, Zakito wondered if Lilia had helped for some other reasons. Deciding that it wasn't something he would need to tell Kuni, as it wasn't in his right to do so, he decided to reply back on Kuni's story. ''That means I have to call you a pup now, is that what are you trying to tell me?'' Zakito chuckled as he asked the question. He was still trying to place every bit of information she had told him on the right place. He already suspected something she would say or ask of him, but he realized that he couldn't be sure what Kuni would do or say about it all. Only thing that was clear that she now resented her father. Not really something he could argue against as she had some reasons that were valid.

Now she wanted to slap Zakito "Please don't call me a pup. I hate that. And thats actually relating to one of my questions. I understood you are the clan leader, so there is probably no one better to ask. I have a split opinion if I want to be a Hon or not because of two reasons. One is that I fear Haru will claim I am his daughter, which is something I want to avoid. I don't want to be connected to someone who is such a coward. The second is that I slightly fear it will make me need to change who I am. I have no idea what traditions the clan has and if I will need to act in any kind of particular way. So I wanted to know if there is a way I could avoid being connected in any way to Haru and also stay the way I am." Kuni asked.

''Hate to break it to you, but nobody likes it. But it serves a certain purpose by calling most Hon's a pup.'' Zakito told her, sounding amused. He remembered that he really disliked it. To the point he would grumble and send glares to almost everybody. Her reasons however made him ponder on how he would react to that. He was also a bit split on what he would do. Personally, he wouldn't mind to accept Kuni into the clan. But as the leader of the clan, he would need to be sure that no complications would arise. And thinking about it, there were a lot that he could think off. ''I think we need to talk about your father. But let me tell you this first. You don't have to change. It is true that as a Hon, you will likely need to remember some traditions. But nothing that would really trouble you. Other than the pup thing. But I can try to explain that one later.'' Pausing, he wondered how he would start the topic about Haru Hon.

''I sadly can't fully remember Haru Hon. Means that he isn't a council member nor somebody that has a lot of influence in the clan. But as a father, I can maybe try to relate to why he was afraid of not telling you the truth. In the war, many soldiers and civilians were desperate. I have seen it more than enough myself. During desperate times, people tend to come together and in some cases start to hate each other. In other cases, they can start to love each other. When the latter happens, it can bring some problems. Like you are having now.'' Zakito told her. His voice was calm and friendly, like usual, but there was a certain serious undertone in it that made it clear that he wasn't going to be nice. Kuni wouldn't benefit from his advice if he would just tell her what she hoped to hear. ''I can imagine that Haru met your mother during the war and that they felt something for each other. I don't know, but it makes some sense. Remember that until some time ago, the Fire and Rain country weren't that friendly towards each other. As nations, it is often better to distrust and fend off neutral nations then to just trust them. That is why Haru was maybe in the position to stay with your mother or having any contact. Not to mention that the previous leader of the Hon clan wouldn't likely accept it anyways. These days, the clan is a bit less strict with things like this, but if you would've come five or ten years ago, you would have been killed.'' Zakito told her. It made him feel a bit disgusted by revealing the ugly side of how a clan like his worked. But it was all for the safety of their future. Trying to not ramble or changing the subject, he continued.

''I understand that you're angry and calling him a coward. To be honest, I can actually both relate to you as to your fath- Haru. Only remember that we all have our fears. And sometimes they are too big to be faced within a certain hall or place.'' Zakito told her, hoping she would understand he was talking about himself now. Hopefully it would make it her think about his words.

Lowering her sight to look at the grass below her, Kuni remained quiet for a moment. So it wasn't completely Haru's fault. The Hon clan was also a factor "So back then, the clan would've killed me if they knew? No wonder he waited so long." She said and then looked at him "With you as the leader of the clan, he probably felt it was safe to finally try. But he could've still tried in other ways." She said and hesitated before speaking again, this time wanting to ask a question "What do you think about your clan? How would you describe it, and I do not mean from the clan leader sight. From before that." She asked.

Realizing that he should have explained it better, Zakito briefly scratched his temple with his left hand. ''It might have been a bit more complicated. But they would have likely done so. Or at least attempt to secure their own safety first. Having somebody run around that is a Hon, but is out of the clan's control can be dangerous for the clan. With being an infamous or rather big clan, who knows who would have tried to use it to harm them? So don't worry too much over it.'' Zakito said, hoping to ease her a bit. He was wondering if he should explain that there was also the factor she was from Amegakure that should be take in consideration with the whole situation, but that was maybe a bit too much. ''I am not sure on how to answer that. There was a time I despised them. That I wanted to be free of them all. Then when I had the time that I was away from the clan, I missed them. Though we Hons might be harsh and often cold towards others, I can't think of a tighter formation of families.''

Pausing for a moment, he then chuckled. ''But my opinion is that I wouldn't be able to do without them. They are like an extended family. Both with its advantage as disadvantages.'' Again he paused, wondering what more he could say. ''Though you shouldn't rely on the opinions of others. It is your choice. I do need to think about it, but I think it is possible that you can be part of this extended family. Without fearing that people will a strong connection between you and Haru.''

Nodding to herself as she listened, Kuni figured she understood what he meant by saying a clan is like an extended family, but at the same time, she had no idea how it felt, and if she will be able to handle such a large, extended family. And having more rules to follow wasn't something she was really found of hearing. She looked at Zakito for a moment and then raised an eyebrow "I just realised that you always wore that mask over your face, and hide your eye with the headband. Bit shy, huh?" She said in a teasing tone, but was somewhat curious as to why he did that. She didn't ask directly what was underneath both due to being unsure if it would be extremely rude of her or not.

At first Zakito was confused. They had been talking about the Hon clan and such topics, while she now suddenly started about his face mask. ''I have done that cause it is one of the traditions of the clan. When we go to battle. It is just something I also prefer to wear for a more personal reason.'' Zakito explained to Kuni, wondering why she suddenly started about that. ''The reason why I cover my left eye is to conserve chakra.'' Zakito said, wondering if she had never seen the sharingan that was in his left eye socket. Raising his right hand to rub his chin, Zakito raised his eyebrows. ''Kuni, I know that this isn't an easy choice. I can only guarantee you that are some things that might change, but nothing too drastic. You're still free to be who you want to be. But think about it before you make a decision.'' He adviced her as his hands then moved to the back of his head, leaning against the tree.

Tilting her head a bit to the right, she tried to figure out why would Zakito need to save chakra for his eye. He had special eye jutsus? She knew those existed, but she didn't know he could use them "I don't quite understand why'd you need to conserve chakra for your eye, but okay." Kuni said before moving to lean backwards on the branch with her entire back, eventually laying on it as if she was at the beach "I know its a serious choice, but I noticed the mask and couldn't help but wonder. And I don't really think I'll be too well suited for a large family. For a very long time it was just me and my mom, and afterwards Eiji became a kind of dad to me, and now its me, him and his daughter. So I'm more used to small families. Not to mention, I don't really want to need to start to prove myself to a bunch of people whom I don't even know." She said.

Suddenly Zakito started to laugh as he had heard what she had said. ''I think you have a very wrong idea about how a clan works. But if you feel like that, then you shouldn't do it. Just know that a clan and a family work very different. Not to mention that everybody was once a pup. I could give you the reason now why one is called a pup, but traditions eh?'' He said, clearly meant to joke a bit with it. With her reply on his left eye however, he realized she didn't know about his sharingan. Zakito however saw no reason to suddenly show it off. It wasn't something that he was proud off or found anything really special. ''So that was it, hmmm?''

"That was it, yeah." Kuni said in a calm voice and looked at the branched above her, watching the wind make the leaves and smaller branches move. It looked a bit odd to her, but at the same time very calming "Just so you know, you and Aiko are both invited to my house if you are ever in Ame. Or to Eiji's place, as I'm sure he would love seeing you two and give you a proper 'Thank you for taking care of my student while she had her own issues' meal." She said and then rose back to a sitting position "I should probably start heading back now. I know that with Eiji slowly going back to full activity, he needs more help taking care of Sachi. Thanks for your advices, Leaf." She finished speaking and gave him a smile.

''Thanks for the offer, but I am not aquinted with Eiji. But tell him that I am honored with the offer.'' Zakito said back. Truth be told, he was fairly busy and such trips weren't really possible for him. If he wasn't needed as Jounin commander, then he was as clan leader. If not as clan leader? Then he had always his duties as a father at home. Zakito hummed briefly before he spoke again. ''No problem, Kuni. Just know that I am here in case you will need some advice. Think about it and then decide when you really thought about it. Decisions that have been made in a hurry are often ones you are going to regret later.'' The man thought for a moment about the countless decisions he had rushed. And most were ones he was still regretting.

"I think that my choice won't change unless something big happens. But I will give it a bit more thought, just because you said I should." Kuni said before jumping to the ground, landing like a cat on her legs and looked at the white haired Hon who was still on the branch "If you are still writing that little book of yours, make sure to have the final chapter open. You can never know what will happen with Aki and Kei around. I can already know Sachi would be lucky if she met them. They are fantastic infants, so can't wait to see how they will be at my age." She said, her smile still on her face.

Opening slowly his right eye, Zakito looked down. ''I was planning to leave that chapter open.'' He said, a bit amused. Though Kuni meant it alright, it wasn't really something comforting to tell a parent that they never knew what would happen to their children. But he understood she meant it with a positive meaning. ''Take care Kuni.'' Zakito told her as he assumed she would head away now.

Smiling and giving him a wave of her hand, Kuni opened the door to the house "Take care Leaf." She said before walking inside, going through the house and looking at Aiko in the kitchen for a moment "I have to go now. It was nice seeing you Aiko!" She said and before the woman could respond, Kuni had already opened the door and walked outside before closing it behind her. She then proceeded to run towards the Konoha gate, not wanting to let Eiji or Sachi wait for too long and figuring she has been away for long enough. It was time for her to go home.

[Mr Nim]

Eiji and Kuni's Mission!
(12 months into the timeskip)

A Collab between Ms. Fieryfly and Mr Nim

Summary

SPOILER: Click to show

A week after Kuni came back, Eiji and Kuni get a little mission.

SPOILER: Click to show

Kuni was running, as always, across Amegakure. Instead of heading in the usual direction of Eiji's house or the training fields, she was headed towards the Amekage's office building. While she had only returned from her visit to Konoha and the fire country a week ago, she had recieved a message that she and Eiji will be going on a mission, and they needed to arrive at 9 am at the Jounin Commander's office for debriefing. She slightly wondered why Eiji couldn't just tell her the mission, since he was the Amekage's assistant, and decided that she will ask him that later. Right now, she had an office to arrive at, and she managed to reach the outside of the office just 2 minutes before nine. She looked around for a moment, wondering where was Eiji.

From behind her Eiji opened the door. He had been at the office for a minute or five, happy that he had managed to arrive on time. With Sachi around it was always the question if he could leave when he had to. But the nanny had been there and he had arranged that she could stay over to take care of Sachi while he was gone on a mission. "Come in, come in." He said smiling. It had been a long time since he and Kuni had been out by themselves. His daughter and his new position had messed many things up.

Smiling upon seeing Eiji, Kuni approached him and hugged him "Hey Eiji!" She said before letting go of him and entering the office. She could see Hoshi sitting at her desk, finishing writing something, while there was another woman, clearly younger, who looked out of the window which gave a clear view of Ame. She wondered for a few seconds who she was before the jounin commander looked up and spotted her "So you are both finally here. Good. Now I can start debriefing all three of you. Mei, go and stand in front of the desk. You know its annoying when you stand behind me." She said, and the younger woman sighed before walking and stopping next to the youngest girl in the room. Mei gave her a smile before looking at Hoshi, and appeared to be somewhat more serious now "Now, Eiji, I believe you can already assume what you and Kuni need to do." Hoshi said before looking over what she had written again.

Eiji inclined his head politely towards Hoshi and then also towards Mei. He didn't know much aout her, but considering that she was here and Hoshi had called him and Kuni he could indeed assume certain things. "I'd say that Kuni has an escort mission to complete." He stated simply. "Which should be good for her because miss Sadako has done way too little of those." He shot his student a wink before turning serious again. "Where would you have us go?"

"You will be escorting Mei here to- Is everything alright Kuni?" Hoshi suddenly asked upon noticing the young girl turned her gaze down to the floor. Kuni took a few moments before jumping and hitting Eiji on the back of his head, knowing he will know why she did that. She then closed her eyes and turned her head back to face the floor again "I'm listening. Escort mission with Mei." She repeated, and Hoshi nodded "Mei has to deliver this message to the border patrol of the river country, and you two will be sent with her to ensure her safe travel. Nothing overly complicated, but I still need to make sure the message will reach its target." She said, and Mei nodded upon recieving the now sealed messaged from Hoshi "Understood sis." The younger woman replied, which made the jounin commander slightly irritated that she called her that in front of her peer.

Slightly wincing Eiji rubbed the back of his head. He knew why she did it, but this was no way to behave before the Jounin Commander. She could do as she please with him, they were good friends, but before Hoshi, they were shinobi, they represented this city. He straigthened up as Hoshi briefed them on their mission, his hands again behind his back. "Understood. Any particular details we have to keep in mind?" He asked when she finished. He did slightly wonder why Hoshi would need him for this. But then again it was good to do some fieldwork again. He had missed it.

"Only the fact the young miss you are escorting can be a tad too friendly, so I want you to ensure that she will remain somewhat serious. As her older sister, she does not understand what its like to listen to me very well." Hoshi said and stood up "Besides that, I am sure that you won't have any problem." She finished speaking, grabbed a couple of files from a drawer and headed to the door "I have some things to discuss with the Amekage, so I'll let you show yourself out. Have a quick and safe mission." After that final sentence, the purple headed woman left the office, making Mei turn and look at Eiji and Kuni.

Before Eiji could react, Mei grabbed his right hand and shook it "Ignore my older sister. Ever since she became the Jounin Commander, she has become somewhat more uptight, even if she means well. I am friendly, but I know how to be serious. My name is Mei Miwa, by the way." She said, and let go of Eiji's hand before grabbing Kuni's and shaking it as well. The young girl didn't mind the handshake and sent a smile towards her "Nice to meet you! I'm Yoshikuni Sadako, but call me Kuni." She said as the older woman let her hand go.

Eiji raised his brow slightly at the forward action of Mei as she shook his hand up and down. "Eiji Emiya." He said completely unnecessary because he was pretty sure that Mei was well aware who he was. "And your sister has a busy job. You will have to forgive her for wanting to do it well." He took a step back towards the door and turned slightly. "But let's get going. We should finish the mission as soon as possible." He said as he opened the door for the two girls. "Any more talking can be done along the way."

Nodding, Mei went out the door, and Kuni moved next to Eiji and stopped for a moment "How long has it been since we did a mission together?" She asked him before going out the room as well. She walked a bit more slowly than Mei, wanting to be with Eiji behind, as even though the young woman had a friendly appearance and showed a nice personality, she still didn't know her that well, so she figured that since they are doing a mission together, they will get to know each other better during it.

"A long time." Eiji replied as he closed the door behind them. "But you did gain a lot experience through other things so..." He nudged towards Mei. "Since you need to gain more in this field we are going to arrange it like this. You are leading this mission, meaning you give the orders, determine how we move, how fast, etc. I'll still be here of course, might something... go awry. But I am sure that that won't happen. You're up for that?" He asked his student as they walked out of the building.

Her eyes widened up a bit. Eiji wanted her to lead the mission? Before she could answer, Mei moved to walk with her and Eiji on the same line "That sounds good to me. Only way to gain experience is through training and learning from mistakes, but it seems mister explosive here is certain you'll do fine. Seeing he is the Amekage's assistant, who am I to speak against him?" She said in a calm tone, and then put her finger to her lips "Since you are going to be leading the team, you should be aware of what capabilities each member has. I possess water release, and skilled it with." She added.

Kuni now turned her gaze between the two. Why did they both think she could lead a mission? She was only 14! And never lead a mission before. Deciding that arguing against the two would be a waste of time, she looked forward as they made their way towards the village gate "Alright. Well, I know Eiji is good with fighting close to others with his explosive release, and I have earth release.. Uhm..." She thought about it for a few moments as they closed in on the gate. About a minute later she looked at both of them again "Alright. We'll be heading out in a row. I'll be taking the lead, so I could try and block any incoming hits with my earth release at a case of an attack. Mei will be in the middle, and Eiji will be at the end. I don't know exactly how well Mei's abilities are, so I'd rather have Eiji on the back at the case someone tries and attack from behind. Plus you could always prepare yourself if you see either of us suddenly put up a defence of sorts." She said, unsure if this tactic was even good, but that seemed like what would make the most sense at the time. She looked at Eiji, wanting to see if he will approve.

Mister Explosive? Again Eiji quircked his eyebrows. That was a nickname he, for some reason, never had gotten before. Then again not overly many people knew about his explosive release. "You would be the sister of the Jounin Commander and our client." Eiji told her. "Meaning you have quite a bit of right to tell us if you disagree with my methods." With those words said he turned back to Kuni. She seemed... slightly shocked by the sudden gained leadershiprole. Still as they walked she came up with a strategy. Eiji nodded along with her words. "Sounds like a good plan. Even if Mei was the best ninja of the world, seeing as she is the one we are guarding she should be in the middle so that we can protect her." He smiled to his student to give her a bit more confidence hopefully. "Let's move."

Smiling on her sensei's approval, Kuni started running forward, and Mei quickly assumed her position behind the young girl. She wasn't sure if putting a genin at the front was the best of ideas, but she figured that if anything happened, then the young girl will learn from it "You remember where we are heading to, right?" She decided to ask, and watched the young girl's head nod "The border of the Rain and River countries. You need to deliver the message Hoshi wrote to them, and me and Eiji-sensei are protecting you. I remember the mission." She said in a cheerful tone as she headed towards the south, and into a forest that was south of the village.
Now Mei turned her attention to the man behind her "Just because I'm Hoshi's sister doesn't mean I get to complain. She has an important role, and I'm merely a chuunin. So, I rather not complain on anything my higherups choose." She said, and Kuni let out a laugh on that comment.

"I wasn't talking about complaining, I was talking about disagreement. And I would also like to disagree with the fact that you are merely a chuunin. Seeing that Hoshi let's you deliver a message means that she puts trust in you making you more then just 'merely' a chuunin. Either way," he said as they arrived at the first trees. "Let's hope for just a safe trip where everything is boring and dull." He dragged a hand through his red hair that still refused to obey that gesture. He didn't even know why he kept trying. "And one without rain. I would like it without rain." He mumbled after it.

Even though he wouldn't see it, Mei blushed a bit by his compliment. She knew Hoshi thought she should be more than a chuunin, but she didn't think she was ready yet. Looking at Kuni's back, she wondered what made her laugh previously "Why'd you laugh on what I said before? You need to listen to what the higher ups tell you to do. There is a good reason they were given the role.""I know. But that doesn't mean I won't complain on some of the things they tell me to do." Kuni said, and made Mei roll her eyes "This already feels like its going to be longer than I'd like." She mumbled to herself as they made their way through the forest. The way there was supposed to be only a couple of hours, and she hoped the weather would remain that way until they went back to Ame.

"This weather is boring. We need rain, that way at least we won't see only clear skies!" Kuni suddenly said "While I like the rain, its nice to have a break from it from time to time, so we can have a good and fast mission." Mei replied, and noticed Kuni suddenly accelerated a bit "You should also warn us if you are speeding up. Just so we could keep up with more ease." She added, and raised an eyebrow after she recieved no reply from the girl.

Behind the two Eiji rubbed his eyes. Why was he now traveling with two bickering girls? And why was the discussion about rain? He sighed. Everythig sometimes got so complicated because of something very small. Without much trouble he followed the speed up. Yet he agreed with Mei. He and Kuni knew each other well, they knew how to work with eachother, but that wasn't the case with Mei. They had never worked together once so communication was important. "Kuni." Eiji just said. He knew she had sometimes trouble with higher ups. She tended to... speak back. A lot. But now was not really the time to be arguing.

"Right. Sorry Mei. And Eiji-sensei, I understand. I'll tell you two when I'm changing something." Kuni said. Mei smiled, because even though they were slightly arguing on things, she already liked the kid. After a few more minutes of silence, Kuni spotted something in the distance "Eiji, I need you to blow up that blockade of fallen trees." She said, and Mei just barely managed to spot it ahead of them. There was a large amount of trees that appeared to have fallen off, and create a rather large blockade. Mei realised why Kuni told Eiji to do it instead of just going and running above it. She wanted to create a permanent clear path for everyone to use, and to avoid making everyone need to run above it over and over. "Mei, we will wait here for a few moments until Eiji takes care of it." The young girl said, and sounded rather calm as she stopped on a tree branch not far from the blockade. It appeared as if a recent storm made the trees fall down this way, which won't be too surprising due to the fact it was very often rainy here.

At least Kuni would pretty much always understand his words and listen to them. That was nice. When she told him to blow some trees up he nodded. He passed to two girls as they paused and kept walking towards the fallen logs. His hands moved to his pockets to get his weapons out. They spun around once before the obstacle and then crashed down on the wood. With a mildly loud bang the falled trees blew up and shattered around Eiji in smaller pieces. As the dust settled the man walked around to push some remainders away from the path before looking back to the girls. "Like this?" He asked as he rolled his poi back around his wrists.

Kuni motioned to Mei to come and quickly made her way to Eiji "Thats awesome Eiji! Now no one else will need to worry about that!" She said and gave him a large smile before looking ahead "Lets keep going!" She said and started to run ahead, and Mei, who barely had time to stop next to the two, went and made her way to the position behind Kuni "That was impressive. You are definetaly mister explosive. I bet those skills of yours came in handy along the years." She told Eiji, not looking back to see if he reached them yet, but assuming he was already there.

Eiji stared to his hands for a moment as Mei talked. His skills had come in handy during the years he had been a shinobi, but... it hadn't been enough. She had still died. And what good were powers when they couldn't save the one thing you needed to protect. "They can be useful." He said in the end and left it at that. Clearing away debris wasn't really hero worthy stuff anyway. "Thanks for the compliment anyway." With that he fell silent and followed Kuni quietly.

Mei nodded and resumed following Kuni, waiting to see how long it will be before they reach their destination. She knew for a fact it shouldn't take too long, and the way there should be clear and safe. Deciding that having a quiet mission is a nice change, she simply followed the young girl in the lead. After more than 10 minutes passed in silence, Kuni raised her hand and stopped on a branch. After Mei came to a stop next to her, she looked around before Kuni turned to look at her and Eiji "It might sound a bit foolish, but I get the feeling like we have passed in the same area three times already. Is it possible someone caught us in a genjutsu or something? Or does the forest really just looks exactly the same everywhere?" She asked, sounding curious.

Lost in thoughts Eiji nearly missed what Kuni said. He had been wondering if his explosive release really was so useful since it could only destroy. What did you build with it? He hadn't been able to build a family after all. So what did he gain from it? He shook his head. These thoughts weren't helping on a mission, but sometimes it was really hard to forget what his powers had failed to save. On Kuni's statement Eiji looked around. Genjutsu? He had to say things did look similar. Again he shook his head. He was supposed to be the professional one here, the one Kuni could fall back on. He wasn't supposed to doze off and hide in past thoughts and past troubles. "I doubt a forest can look exactly alike." He mumbled as he raised his hands to form a kai handseal.

Mei couldn't help but smile "Good eyes Kuni." She said and did the kai handseal as well, while placing a hand on the young girl's shoulder and injecting her with a bit of chakra to release her from the genjutsu "This was Hoshi's doing. Its an area genjutsu she placed all around the outer barrier of Amegakure. Nothing to serious, but due to the fact its a fairly dense forest, most people arriving at Ame will not spot it easily. What made you spot it?" She asked and Kuni pointed upwards at a bird's nest "We passed the same nest three times, and its odd that birds will have the exact same nest on the exact same branch on extremely similiar looking trees." She said and looked around. She could now see that they were near the edge of the forest. She marked to the two to follow her before resuming running, and Mei couldn't help but wonder what made the young girl look at the nest from the beginning.

If Eiji hadn't felt sloppy and stupid then he did now. He had to shake himself awake already and start acting like a sensei. Mei was being more helpful then he was and he was the goddamn Amekage's Assistant. Ryoku's trust should not be misplaced. He didn't say anything about his distress though. Those were problems neither of these two needed to know, though he expected that Kuni was already aware of some of them because she practically came over every day. "Well spotted." He just said. "I knew having Ebizu around would make you start look at birds more." He added with a slight smile on his face. He retook his position behind Mei as they continued running.

"I guess so. Someone needs to make sure he won't accidently wake up Sache, after all. Anyways, I think we are nearly there." Kuni said, and Mei didn't respond, feeling like this was a talk between the student and sensei that she was, literally, stuck in between. She half wondered if she should suggest making a stop when two shinobi appeared in from of Kuni, forcing her to a stop, and Mei bumped into her "Oi, whats the big deal Kuni?" She asked before noticing the two and seeing their headbands "Ah! You are Valley shinobi, right? I have a message from the Jounin Commander of Amegakure. She requested that I'll send this to you and that you will report this to your village's Jounin Commander." She said and approached the two. Kuni took a step back and looked at Eiji "Seems like out job is half done, right?" She asked him while the Valley shinobi talked to Mei about the message.

"Maybe. But let's talk about done when we are actually done." Eiji said as he watched Mei step forwards to the men and talk to them. Since it was none of their immediate business what the message was, he remained standing behind the woman and looked to Kuni. That didn't mean he wasn't paying attention to the two. Sure, they were allies, but you never knew. Eiji had never seen the men before and since it was their job to protect Mei they should never stop doing that until everything was done and over with.

After a couple of minutes, Mei gave them a small bow, and the two men returned it before leaving. She then turned to look at Eiji and Kuni "Alright! We are done with that. Let's head back and inform Nee-chan that the mission was successful!" She said in an extremely happy tone, making Kuni somewhat surprised. She hadn't expected her to be this cheerful, but this only made the young girl more excited for the way back "Yeah! Lets do it!" She shouted before beginning to run, and Mei let a slightly bigger smile slip to her face before she begun running after the young girl.

Somehow half way completing a mission made Kuni and Mei sudden friends. They both seemed happy to go back to Amegakure. Eiji had just gotten used to the fact that there was no rain and he liked it very much. Now they would return to a place that had it a lot. He sighed, but never the less followed the two bubbly girls anyway. "Stay focused." He reminded Kuni again before she could go all happy mode and run off without thinking.

---

One trip back to Amegakure later

Mei went and gave a hug to her sister before taking a step, allowing Hoshi to properly look at the three of them "So, I take it the mission was successful?" She asked, and her younger sister nodded "Yeah, it did, Nee-chan!" She said, and Hoshi's face turned a bit red. She let out a sigh before focusing her attention on Kuni and Eiji "Good job you two. I hope Mei wasn't too much trouble." She said, earning an annoyed look from her younger sister. Kuni couldn't help but giggle a bit "It was nothing really. And Mei is a really cool person. Not as cool as Eiji-sensei, but still very cool." She said and sent a smile to Eiji.

Eiji sent a crooked glance to Kuni, but couldn't help but smile as well before turning back to Hoshi. "No trouble at all. I think they got along well." He said. "And Yoshikuni preformed very well seeing that she was leading a team for the first time. She could work on being polite though." He said with a wink to his student. She shouldn't be telling that he was a cooler person then someone else, especially not if that someone had been their mission objective. Though it was nice to hear that she thought he was pretty great.

Letting out a few small giggles, Kuni closed her eyes and placed her hands on the back of her head. Mei moved to look at the view from Hoshi's window, admiring it, and the jounin commander nodded for a moment "Well, regarding her manners, that is something you'll need to ensure she learns. Now, if Mei and Kuni could please leave the office, I have a few more serious topics to discuss with the Amekage's assistant." She said, and turned to look at her sister. Somewhat disappointed, Mei went and left the office, and after giving Eiji a quick hug, Kuni went to the door "I'll see you at home, Eiji-sensei!" She said and then left the office.

"I know..." Eiji said. It was his job to ensure her manners were good, but... sometimes it was just funny. Still if she wanted to be a proper ninja then respect and dignity were important. He petted Kuni on her head as she hugged him and nodded. "I'll see you there. Tell Sachi I'll be home soon." He said before turning back to Hoshi. He waited patiently before the two had left the office and had closed the door behind them. "What is it?" He asked when the silence had settled in.

Hoshi went to behind her desk before taking out a couple of folders from one drawer, and then a letter from another. She took one folder and the letter and approached Eiji "It seems that the leaders of the Fire Union in Konohagakure aren't too pleased about the fact we let Kuni just go and roam, even if it was done with our permission. They wish for us to be more strict from now on. I already informed Ryoku-sama of this, but I wanted to you know as well, seeing you are Kuni's sensei. I've decided that due to the fact she had previously run away from the village, and who knows what she has done during the time she was out, that I'll issue an order regarding her. Unless seen leaving the village with a Jounin ranked or higher, Yoshikuni Sadako shall not leave the Village. And until I recieve an all clear on a request I've made, all attempts to leave the Rain country must be approved directly by the Amekage." She said and handed him the letter along with Kuni's file. The second file remained in her hands, and it had no title to it.

Listening, Eiji nodded slowly. He could understand where this order was coming from and really, he agreed with it. When Kuni had left, it had been terrible. Not only for him personally, but also for what might happen might she get captured. In silence he accepted the file and the letter. He looked over them for a second, but then returned his gaze to Hoshi. "Understood." He said. "Understood and agreed. I will see that I... bring this to her somehow. And I will make sure she stays. My duty as sensei after all."

Nodding, Hoshi went and placed the second file on the table "I'm glad to hear so. There are other matters I wish to discuss with you, but I believe that you should first go and ensure your daughter is well. I also need to go and make sure my younger sister won't turn our house upside searching for something to eat." She said and looked at Eiji "We will discuss the other matters tomorrow." She said, making it clear that he was free to go, even though it was supposed to be the other way around due to their position in the village "Good day, Eiji-sama." She added as she went and placed the file in a drawer and locked it before moving towards the door and opening it for him.

Kuni, in the meanwhile, was halfway to Eiji's place. She knew the nanny was there, taking care of Sachi, but she couldn't wait to see the young infant again. Sachi was just so cute. She also wanted to see Mei again sometime in the future, feeling like the two of them could get along well, and perhaps even challenge her to a little spar. She had no idea how she will do against her, but she wasn't going to give up before even trying. Kuni smiled as she took a turn, making a promise to herself to beat Mei one day.

[Mr Nim]

A Brand New Jutsu!
(12 months into the timeskip)

Kneeling on the ground at Training Field E, Kuni had her eyes closed and one hand on the ground. Slowly, her hand sank into it, and after a bit, she opened her eyes and raised her hand from the new hand shaped hole in the ground. Seeing that the ground was slowly reverting itself to normal, and knowing she didn't have a lot of time to use it, she formed a few seals and placed her hands on the ground, making the same hand shaped earth raise from the hole, making itself become higher than the ground. Slowly the earth tried bending itself in Kuni's direction, but quickly enough it broke, making a couple of pieces fall to the ground while the earth completely reverted to its original shape.

Sighing, she placed her hand on the ground again and let it slowly sink in once more. "Well lookie here. If it isnt Yoshikuni.""This was the girl who accompanied you along with Eiji-sama? She doesn't appear to be like much." A couple of voices suddenly spoke near her. One voice sounded familiar while the other did not. Opening her eyes, she smiled "Mei! How are you doing?" Kuni asked and jumped on her feet before approaching her and giving the young woman a high five. Mei gave her a nod and looked at the other woman, who had long, black hair "This is Naoko. She is my best friend for a long time now. We were looking for a place to train at when I suddenly noticed you. What were you doing?" Mei asked and looked at the spot Kuni was just at.

"It appeared like you were trying to make the earth move while being shaped in a certain matter. Creating a new jutsu, perhaps?" Naoko asked, and Kuni nodded "Yeah! I'm trying to create a new earth jutsu. An Earth Hand, to be exact. But so far, I have had a hard time even making the shape of a hand alone, and even manipulate it a bit." She said and looked down at ground. Mei tugged on Kuni's head, slightly annoying the girl while doing so "How about we help you make the basic version of it then? I mean, it would pass our time, and at the same time we could train our own Chakra control." She said, and Naoko nodded "That sounds good. Lets begin."

Nodding as well, Kuni went and sat on the ground while the two young women sat in front of her "Neither of us use Earth release, but I believe we can help with the basic things. In order to create a form to a jutsu, you need to concentrate on the form you wish for the jutsu to be. Before trying to manipulate it, just concentrate on creating the form. After you'll manage to create the form with ease, then you should move onto manipulating it." Naoko said, and Mei nodded. Both young women begun focusing on training their chakra control with their respective nature while Kuni placed her hands on the ground, thinking about the shape that she wished to create from it.

A small hand shape earth block came out, and Kuni looked excited. Except for the fact it had the hand shape all the way through, while she wanted to make it into a proper earth hand with an arm, not just a hand. Sighing, she let the earth go back into its place while looking at the two who sat in front of her "Thats a beginning. If you are not satisfied with the form, try focusing on how you want it exactly to be. Just don't expect to be able to produce it from the very first moment. Mei told her with a reassuring smile, and the young girl nodded.

Closing her eyes and focusing, she managed to make an earth shaped rock come out and beneath it was a rather small circle pillar that held it steady, but the pillar was still not a perfect circle and had a slight shape of a hand, just smaller than the hand it was holding. After it returned back to the ground, Kuni repeated the same action several times while Mei created a water ball in both her hands and focused on keeping those steady, and Naoko appeared to be moving lightning between her arms and hands.

After several minutes, Kuni made a small squeal of joy "I made it bend! I made it bend a bit!" She said, and the other two looked at her and the Earth hand, which appeared to be just slightly crocked. Mei started laughing and Naoko simply shook her head, smiling at how the young girl was happy from such a small thing. Yoshikuni appeared to have a lot of energy and will, so she was sure the girl would be capable of making the jutsu become real. It was only a matter of time.