Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own Legend of the Five Rings. No financial gain is made from this. This is for entertainment purposes only.
Akemi had prepared everything to the last detail; her mother had taught her to always do it so. She had thus spent the last week choosing her dress, her makeup, her hairstyle, the table cloth, where to sit her guests, the date of the event, the dishes, the perfume...
Both families sat in front of each other with her and her husband dominating the table. Everybody seemed to be enjoying the lunch. It was not often that both families met in their house at the same time. Not because of bad feelings, but because of lack of opportunities, of schedules, of invitation.
Next to her sat her mother, who had a melody in her laugh as she maneuvered socially with her mother-in-law. She owed to her the meeting today and she was extremely grateful for that. For she would not be dressed in silk, jade adorning her hair, eating delicacies from another world, if it not have been because Hina had married her to the richest merchant in Konoha.
The maids rushed to get the empty dishes away, soon dessert would arrive. Akemi knew her moment was due, she had planned it like this, rehearsed it like this.
"Father, mother," she said, taking her mother's hand in hers. "Mother, father in law," she called to the other side of the table. "I-We," she corrected, looking at her husband, "have an announcement to make."
Everybody fell silent. It seemed even the birds understood the importance of the situation, for the only sound was the water flowing through the shishi odoshi bamboo water fountain.
"Me too," a tiny voice spoke up, turning heads towards the end of the table, where the kids, including her sisters, had been sat. Far from her mother's control, Sumi stood on her chair to reach the eyes of the guests. "I have decided I'm going to become a kunoichi," she announced.
Hina rose from her chair, and despite her white eyes, all could see the ire in them. She walked to her youngest daughter, took her by the wrist, excused herself and left the room. Feeling awkward, some of her husband's family members started to laugh nervously. Akemi felt the tears threatening to waste her makeup.
Her father then said, "Well, kids' dreams can take unusual shapes." The laughter subsided. "You were going to announce something, my dear?"
Akemi recovered. She had to. That was what her mother had taught her. "We would like to announce that we are waiting a baby," she said.
"Well then, there is nothing that can ruin such good news!" Hachiro cheered with unconcealed excitement.
Akemi nodded. But a weight settled in her heart. She wished her sister had spoiled anything else, her dress, her hair, her table cloth... anything but denying her from telling her mother first.
The lunch was over and the guests started to leave. They would see each other soon, once the baby would be born, so their goodbyes were short. As less people crowded her house, she heard the mockery and the anger she had felt in her sisters' words as they bullied their youngest peer, Sumi.
"You are so dumb," Chiyo said.
Michiko snorted. "You spoiled Akemi's day. Do you always need to be the center of attention?"
"Anyway, she is never going to become a ninja. She sucks at everything she does," Naoko added and the three girls laughed.
Sumi, who had kept silent since she came back with their mother, waited for the adults to finish speaking to leave.
Akemi walked to them and they all smiled petulantly. She knew her sisters looked up to her. She had married first and was waiting a baby. She realized with a small tinge of sadness that those were the ambitions of such young girls. She put a hand on Sumi's shoulder.
"I am so sorry, big sister," she mumbled.
Akemi smiled. "I think you will make a great kunoichi."
Sumi's face lighted up. Her skin was slightly darker than her sisters', but when she smiled golden hues rose to her cheeks. "I will. So that I can protect your baby. My friend Kakashi says ninjas are here to protect the villagers, but I will protect Akemi's baby the most."
Akemi laughed and she let a single tear roll down her cheek. With one last look at her sisters, she rejoined the other adults, feeling more like she belonged with the kids, realizing it was too late to go back.
Hina saw the exchange, but chose to not comment on it. When she came back home, she joined her husband in his library. He was reading a book, taking notes, as he usually did when he was not out meeting with friends or at work. "What Sumi did..." she started, knowing he would pick up the conversation.
"She is just a kid. She has been playing with Sakumo's kid. It is normal she is interested in what the other kids do," he said, his gaze still over the careful calligraphy. A bad movement and he would ruin the page.
Hina sighed. "It's just... I don't know how to take this idea off her head. Since she met that kid is all she speaks about."
"Well, maybe..." He stuck out his tongue, last stroke and it was finished. "Maybe we don't need to take it out from her."
Hina scoffed. "What do you mean? A ninja? No daughter of mine will be a ninja."
He turned in his chair and looked at her. He could see the turmoil in his wife. Hachiro chose to pick his battles. "You come from a powerful ninja family, my dear. What is the difference?"
"A ninja does not make a good wife," Hina argued.
"I think you are in the wrong here, if you allow me. Being a ninja will bring her closer to the family you chose to marry her into. It's all they are. No bloodlines, no old clan. Just good shinobis. Maybe you will be able to win Sakumo over this," he explained. He could not help but to smile. Maybe he had not won the war, but he felt pretty confident about this skirmish.
Hina paused. Usually she tried not to frown, scared of the lines that started to settle in her front head, but now she was so deep in though that Hachiro saw his wife's real age in her face. "Do you think so?" she finally asked.
Hachiro laughed. "I've known Sakumo for more than thirty years. I knew him before I knew you," Hachiro said, bringing her to his lap. "Anyways, even if she ends up graduating from the Academy, it does not mean that she needs to go on missions later. Maybe she doesn't like it in the end." Hina nodded slowly. "But I think it should be you that tells her. I know she seeks your approval."
Hina nodded again and left him alone. He admired his work a moment before to pull out a new sheet and start drawing characters again with the patience only a simple man like himself could have. He only stopped to laugh when he heard Sumi's happy screams from the living area of the house.
He stopped in his tracks. Inspiration struck at the happiest and the saddest of moments, he thought and he took a new page. He wrote in fast, but precise, strokes the title of his book.
Bansenshukai. 'All rivers merge into the sea'.
