Naoko
Growing up the child of someone who is legendary isn't all its cracked up to be. To be honest, sometimes it down right sucks. People have all these crazy expectations of you. They expect so much from you that there is no way you can possibly measure up. Don't get me wrong, being the daughter of one of the most prolific shinobi ever is great, I love my dad with all my heart, but sometimes it can be frustrating. Luckily for me, I have a brother and a sister who know how it is, probably even better than I do, and I've got a bunch of friends that have the same problems.
I'm sure you want to know how I have so many friends that have the same issues as me, well my father, the Kazekage of Sunagakure, happens to be the best friend of the former Hokage of Konohagakure, who just so happens to a founding member of the Konoha Bojan, the most legendary fighting force in the hidden villages. I guess I should mention that my mother is a member too. So several times a year all the old members of the Bojan get together for a picnic or party or something or other, we call them retreats, and reminisce. A result of this is that all of their children have to spend this time together, and hence we're all friends, well we're sorta friends, some of us get along better than others, and some of us are family so that's a little different too, but basically we all get along. So while the adults all talk about how great it used to be when they were active ninja in the prime of their youth, we kids all get together and talk about how it would have been better to be born to some of the more average shinobi. Its because of these bonds that school is manageable, I have some trouble fitting in sometimes and they help me out when I'm having a rough time at school. My cousin Sayori in particular is a life saver. While sometimes I'm not really sure she even likes me, she always keeps other kids from making fun of me, I guess she figures she's can tease me because she's family, but nobody else better do it because she'll kick their asses. It probably helps that she's one of the prettiest konoichi in Konoha and everyone wants to be her friend, but still it means a lot to me that she sticks up for me. I'm not from this village, my home is in Sunagakure, but my parents and my Aunt Temari and Uncle Konkouro, sent me, my brother and sister, and my cousins to the ninja academy in Konoha.
My dad, Suna's Kazekage, said sending us to school here would help solidify the alliance Suna has with Konoha. Plus I think it was really important to my mother, and my Aunt Tenten and Uncle Shikamaru, that their children spend some time growing up in their home villages. My mother doesn't ever say it, but sometimes I think she misses her old home. With us all going to school here though, they get to come visit it pretty often so every one wins but us kids. When I started school here I got picked on a lot because I'm not from here, Sayori put a stop to it eventually but for a while it was pretty awful. My brother and sister didn't seem to have a problem fitting in from the start, but I've always been different and handling the celebrity of my family along with the difficulties of being from another village was not easy for me.
Some of us handle the burden better than others, but than some of us have it better off than others. I for one, think I've probably got it the worst. To start with, my father Gaara, was the youngest person to ever become a kage, in the history of the hidden villages. Talk about pressure, I'm only 14 and already I'm older than my dad was when he became Kazekage. I totally can not even imagine having that kind of responsibility right now, and there is no way anyone would give it to me. I'm really not that respected in the village. I guess that's because my older brother and sister are way better shinobi, and they are really well liked in both Suna and Konoha. So besides not living up the greatness of my father, I can't even hold a candle to my own brother and sister, what a disappointment I must be to my parents.
So like I said, I've probably got it the worst. People always expect so much from me, and constantly I let them down. I think its because I've inherited the most distinguishing looks of both my parents and yet hold none of their promise. My hair is a bright flame red mop on the top of my head, I've tried to grow it long like my sisters, she has this long lilac tinted black shiny hair that cascades down her back and blows in the wind like something out of a magazine, but my hair is thick and rough, not to mention the color of a fire truck, and just got knotted and started looking more like dread locks than the beautiful flowing locks I was hoping for. Needless to say I cut it off, I figured looking more like an unkempt pixie was better than looking like an albino Jamaican with red hair. So right away people see my hair and know Kazekage Gaara is my dad. And as if that wasn't bad enough, I've got my mothers byakugan. So my eyes are the very pale violet color that identifies all members of the Hyuuga clan, and while its true that I lucked out and have the byakugan, (my sister didn't get it), I'm very unskilled in its use. My brother, Ichigo, is a genius with it, the teachers at the academy call him a prodigy and my mother has sent him to train with my Aunt Hanabi and her cousin Neji. I've always wanted to train with Neji, his control of the byakugan is legendary. Even people from the Snow village have heard of him, and they hadn't even heard of the Rokudaime.
Neji's control over the byakugan is amazing, people from other villages sometimes think he's a myth that the Hyuuga clan made up to bring more prestige to the clan. Neji is the first branch member of the Hyuuga clan to become a leader of it, before him that was an impossibility. Originally my mother, Hinata, was to be the head of the clan. Neji's father was my grandfather's twin brother, and a branch member of the family. Because of this he'd been given a curse mark that allowed the main branch to cause him great pain or death if they chose to, in order to keep him beneath them. His main purpose was supposed to be to protect the main branch of the family. My mother loved her cousin Neji and wanted to set him free from the curse. She turned this practice on its head when she turned down the head position in the family to marry my father. I've heard that my grandfather was pissed as hell, he ordered her to come back and said she would be disowned if she didn't. My mother, the awesomely strong woman that she is, told him that she would only come back if he removed the curse mark from her cousin's forehead.
Uncle Neji, I call him my uncle even though he's not because he asked me to and I can't refuse him anything, plus it feels more like he's my mother's brother than anything else, was not aware any of this was going on. Hei had been in Cloud country with my Aunt Ino, before she was actually my aunt, on a mission to retrieve the two tailed Jinchiriki, and only knew what happened because Ino noticed the mark on his forehead had disappeared. My grandfather wanted my mother to come back so badly he'd given in to her wishes and removed the mark. When she returned my mother took up her position as head of the family and used it to change the whole family structure. She made it so there would always be two heads of the family, so that there could never be a dictator-like head of the family again, and she banished the practice of cursing family members. She also deigned that the heads of the clan should be those who had the greatest control of the byakugan, rather then someone who had just been born into it. As a result of this my mother's sister, my Aunt Hanabi, and my Uncle Neji, became the heads of the Hyuuga clan, and my mother married my father and moved to Suna.
I'm actually glad my mother moved to Suna. Konoha is a pretty place and I do like the trees and forest, but the land of Sand is truly my home. When I'm in Konoha camping in the woods I dream about the sand dunes of Suna. I know its hot and dry there, but its also really beautiful. There is nothing better than watching the sun as it rises over the mountains of sand lighting the sky brilliant pinks and oranges . I really miss Suna when I'm in fire country, but it would all be worth it if some day I got to train with my Uncle Neji. I get so jealous of Ichigo sometimes, I know I shouldn't but its hard not to, when he gets to do the one thing I desire more than anything else.
I'm excited though. I'm hoping I can fulfill my dream and get my uncle to train me soon. In three weeks we'll be going on another retreat, and we always have a competition that lasts the whole time we're there. We get broken up into ten teams of four and compete all week. Each member of the winning team gets a set of shuriken with all of their teammates names carved into the blades. I know that doesn't seem too amazing but my Aunt Tenten is the one who makes them. She is the greatest weapons expert in all of both Suna and Konoha, and its said that she makes the finest armaments in the five nations. People would pay untold sums of money for just one shuriken if she was its creator, and the winners of the contest each get a whole set. Yet that is not why I'm most excited, I'm most excited because I plan to ask Uncle Neji if I can be on his team. If I'm on his team than I'll finally get the chance to train with him that I've been waiting for. Man, I am so excited. I can not wait for this summer's retreat.