"Bye, Naruto!" I called, waving to my best friend as he started down the road to his house after class was over. It had been two months since my mother had announced that she was pregnant, and she was starting to show. I skipped down the street, my house looming into view.
"Lalala!" I sang, loudly, not caring that people were staring and that I probably wasn't a very good singer. I was in a good mood today.
"Mother! I'm home from the Academy!" I called in the house and suddenly remembered that my brother was probably sleeping. Man, it seems like all Rayne ever does is sleep. And poop, I thought, and then frowned. Why is it so quiet? Usually Mother is yelling at me to be quiet or yelling at me to take off my sandals before stepping on the carpet or yelling at me...about anything really. Where is she?
Something was wrong. I could feel it.
"Mother?" I called and ran throughout the house, towards my parents' bedroom. My heart was pounding in my ears and my footsteps thudded against the floor and seemed to echo off the wall. I threw open the door and saw my mother kneeling over my father's bloody, mutilated body, sobbing. There was blood splattered all over the walls and soaking into the bed, and I stood there, frozen.
"Mother?" I choked out and she turned around, her face streaked with blood and tears.
"Tsunami!" she cried out and opened her arms to me. I ran towards her and buried my face in her chest while I cried.
"Mommy!" I sobbed. "Who did this?"
"Kashuni," she whispered in my ear. "Remi Kashuni." My eyes flew open and I sucked in a gulp of air.
"K-Kashuni?" They'll pay, I thought, angrily. They'll pay for taking my daddy away from me.
HAZUKI HALU was put up on the slate of ninja that were KIA. My mother had explained that KIA meant Killed in Action, which I really didn't understand. He wasn't killed in action, he was murdered. There was a funeral, which was where I was now. I was standing in front of the slate with the rest of the mourners in the rain, holding on tightly to each Naruto and Shikamaru's hand.
The Hokage's voice rang in my eardrums, but I wasn't listening. I couldn't hear anything besides the drum of the hard rain hitting the slate, thinking about my father's blood smeared all over his bedroom wall. I sniffled and felt a squeeze from each of the boys next to me and I could feel their concerned eyes on me.
"Hazuki Halu was a good man. I worked with him for many years and we were very close. He will be missed by everyone here, especially his family. I feel especially saddened for Rayne, who barely knew his father and for the growing child inside of Paluna, who never will." I ducked my head down as tears blurred my vision and let out a strangled sob. Shikamaru pulled me into a tight hug and Naruto enclosed my one hand in both of his and squeezed, softly. "But I know that Tsunami will tell them all about how great of a father he was. His legacy will never die, for any of us. Hazuki was a strong ninja, a good husband, a great father, and a kind man. It's a shame that he had to get involved in such a violent disagreement, but Hazuki was the kind of person that stood up for what he believed in. He will never be forgotten."
"I miss him," I sobbed. "I really do."
I felt a hand on my back and looked up to see my mother smiling, kindly down at me. She was carrying Rayne, who was dressed in nice clothing and whimpering because of the rain. He has no idea what's going on, I thought, sadly. He has no idea that Daddy's dead. That he'll never know him.
"Come on, Tsunami. They're going to put down the flowers. Shikamaru, Naruto, thank you for your support," she said, nodding at each of them and then leading me to the slate of rock with my father's name on it. I ran my fingers over the A in HALU on his name-the last name that binded us together. There were names above and underneath his name, names all around his. To everyone else, his name on this rock meant nothing: it was just another name. No one cared. It didn't matter to anyone else, but I would always be proud that my dad's name was up there. Always.