Author's Note (2021/05/04): I added in some portions of the fight between Edō Tensei Rasa and Gaara from manga chapters 564, 565, and 566.

Chapter 32
The Man Called Father

An eerie white sunlight broke across the clouds that plagued the Land of Lightning.

Within the vast holds of the southern desert, the Fourth Division laid in wait for commands to pursue with their battle strategy against the enemy. Hundreds stood idly behind the path of Gaara and Ōnoki, the elderly Third Tsuchikage. Many of them were wind-release users, long-range and mid-range fighters, and some were sensors. Nomasaki fit in all three. The team she was part of with Moro, Sōhei, and Maki merged with the division seamlessly. Already it was difficult for her to differentiate their chakra amongst the hundreds that clouded her senses. Since she was informally forgiven for her crimes, Nomasaki had scarcely seen the Kazekage other than the times where they had to work alongside another before the time for war. The last council meeting was the last she saw of him. Although his attitude towards her remained unchanged, she could still sense a fracture within their shaken relationship. The dulled tone to his eyes signified that – unless it was his insomnia that painstakingly returned with a vengeance. War was no longer approaching – war was here. There was simply no time left for pondering possibilities, and she reminded herself that again and again but to no avail.

She heard whispered praises from her new comrades wearing the colours of many villages from where she stood in wait. Gaara's speech to the Allied Shinobi Forces was already being echoed by the troops a day after it was spoken. "In this war, we are not bound by allegiance - Suna, Iwa, Kiri, Konoha, and Kumo. We are only shinobi!", she heard many of those around her say to each other. She may not have been there, but she felt the warmth of his words and caught herself hanging onto hope for the future once more. From the ostracized jinchuriki she met that moonlit night three years ago, she saw the dignified and courageous leader whom the village now adored with their praises. His growth made her proud to be his friend – and made her realize how far she was willing to go to protect the person she cared for most. With her lilac eyes gleaming from the blinding sun as she stood waiting for war, her trembling heart of fear calmed for a brief moment. Just as he wanted to protect the future, she wanted nothing more than to protect him – to repay the debt she owed for all she had done. Even though he was far ahead of the platoon with the other commanders, she could still feel his strong chakra lingering upon the winds. In her senses, he felt so close yet so far all at once. Worry creeping into her mind, she plead silently for him to stay safe.

Hopefully when the war is over... I can tell him everything, she thought to herself.

Following the front of the Fourth Division, Nomasaki accompanied Temari's lead with her heart heavy with duty. She noticed a sudden quiet between them since that day she was questioned in the corridors, Temari's narrowed green eyes piercing her in her memory. Fortunately, the familiar air of comradeship returned following Kenzō's imprisonment. If she knew what occurred with Kenzō, all was settled – nothing more. Behind a large stone pillar that broke out from the earth, Temari opened up the scroll with their plans onto a wide boulder as the nearby shinobi circled around it. Close by, Nomasaki stood as she scanned the plans with narrowed eyes, taking in the diagrams and measuring distances in her mind.

"As you can see with our plans, our task is to support Kazekage-sama as the pillar that breaks through our enemy's defenses." Temari spoke, pointing to their current location on the scroll. "The wind-release faction will take the front as the first break, followed by the regular troops to plow through to our targets." Looking up towards the shinobi who encircled the map, she gave them a serious glance. "The sensory faction of the division will guide us to the enemy's location. Nomasaki, you will be guiding the front of the formation since you have the widest range of chakra detection."

Turning to her, Nomasaki gave a brief nod. "Right."

"The other sensor-types will be scattered throughout the perimeters of the formation to detect enemy attacks," Temari continued. "Gaara is our commander, so we should do our part as finetuned as possible. I will act as a captain amongst Gaara-sama and Nara Shikamaru, who is our proxy for the second half of the shinobi division –,"

"Temari-sama!"

To their right, a shinobi with an Allied Forces headband appeared before them during their tactical meeting – an alarmed expression on his exhausted features. "What is it?" Temari questioned, her emerald eyes narrowed in seriousness. "Is it news from Kankuro and the Surprise Attack Division?"

"Yes," The man nodded. Looking down with wide eyes, he gulped in contained fear for what lay ahead. "The enemy… Just as other reports confirm, they're resurrecting fallen shinobi to do battle! Our source believes it is the Edō Tensei Jutsu developed by Orochimaru of the Sannin."

Jarring the listeners and Temari, she stood in shocked silence from the ninja's intel. Edō Tensei was a jutsu rarely ever spoke of or performed, as it was a highly forbidden technique. The only known users of it were its developer – the Second Hokage – and the deranged missing-nin Orochimaru – both of whom were dead. "Edō Tensei?!" Temari barked. "Are you certain?"

Nodding the ninja looked up to her. "The report doesn't lie," He replied, sternly. "The enemy summoned shinobi from all over the five nations… including some of our own from Sunagakure."

"Temari-senpai," Nomasaki entered. "Before I rejoined the Fourth Division, my team was stopped by Pakura of the Scorch Release. She was clearly resurrected by that jutsu. The only thing that stopped her was fūinjutsu, once she was completely immobilized. That's the key to their defeat, I'm afraid."

Averting her glance, she grit her teeth as she wracked her mind for an adequate response. "This isn't good… They could ruin our battle strategy… those bastards…!"

"What should we do, Temari-sama?"

Catching her attention, she covered all traces of frustration with a calm and stern expression of a natural-born leader. "There's a slight change to my commands," Stepping towards her, she approached Nomasaki – who stood silent with the others. "Nomasaki, I'm sending you to scout for shinobi resurrected with Edō Tensei. I will send a sealing squadron behind you in case of attack from the enemy. Sealing them will be our best option." Narrowing her eyes, the two kunoichi made eye contact. "Afterwards, you can regroup with the rest of the division. We will need you for when the real battle begins."

Sternly, Nomasaki nodded, acknowledging her given orders. "Of course,"

"If there are any shinobi who are from the sealing corps or know fūinjutsu, come see me immeidately before we head out!" Temari called, facing the platoon. "We need to make sure we can seal those summoned with Edō Tensei if we're to have any victories!"

They nodded. "Yes, m'am!"

As she began to peer into her senses, she could begin to sense the entirety of the Allied Forces surrounding her. She could feel the strong warm mass of chakra of the division she resided in, feeling the fibers of every single shinobi – including Gaara who was miles away in the distance. Suddenly, she could begin to sense the presence of her enemies – a strange feeling coming over her as she stood sheltered with her comrades. Intimidatingly, she could feel is grasp her in its horror, chilling her spine as she could sense both the living and the dead.

There's more of them... much more.

"I can sense a faint growing presence to the far west of here, but it feels… hollow. There's chakra, but… it feels ominous." Stepping aside from the division into the rays of the early morning sun, she bit her thumb and placed her palms together while she paused onto the cold sands at her feet. She had no choice. Her eyes narrowed with focus, she formed the hand-signs she learned as a child.

I.

Inu.

Tori.

Saru.

Hitsuji.

Her chakra ready for release, she pressed her bloodied palm onto the sands below, her crimson painted palm slamming into the earth below as a burst of energy was called forth. "Summoning Jutsu!" From the cloud of smoke, a snarling beast of white fur suddenly appeared – its claws digging into the sand below as its growl ripped through the lifeless air. The wolf's size startled some of the onlookers, his massive size burgeoning with his strong limbs and thick coat of white. Realizing he was summoned forth from his slumber, he ripped a growl from his closed jaws upon seeing the dead environment he was thrust upon.

"Nomasaki...!?" Hanone snarled, his muzzle barring his glistening fangs in the sunlight. "You know I don't appreciate being summoned on such short notice…! I told you I have no interest meddling in the affairs of humans! Even if this is war..." Directing its barred muzzle to her, it snarled once more. "What's your reasoning for this?"

"We're fighting a war, Hanone. Our enemy is the Akatsuki and our task is crucial." She spoke in a stern tone, making her way towards him. "I need you to help me locate some enemies, can you help me?"

"Help you?" He scoffed. "I'll be the one doing all of the work!"

Stepping forward, Temari approached as she watched the great creature bend down upon the sands for Nomasaki to mount his back. Grasping his thick fur in her fingers, she lifted herself upon his back, fastening her position behind his mane while she readied her palms into his coarse fur. Noticing the human approach, Hanone gave a silent snarl in her direction – sensing the similarities between her chakra and the former jinchuriki he despised. Temari may have been a human with no ties to the tailed-beasts herself, but her shared bloodline with Gaara was enough to aggravate the beast.

"Don't take too long." Turning towards the voice as she sat prepared on the wolf's back, Nomasaki met the glance of Temari. Standing before them, a stern yet confident smirk was present on her lips. "We'll catch up soon. I'll see you when the divisions regroup."

"Come back alive," was what she spoke between the lines. With a nod, Nomasaki gave a light smile. She trusted the notion that they will again meet on the battlefield soon - and alive. "I'll try my best." Looking towards the direction of the chakra, she narrowed her lilac eyes as the strong sunlight struck her. "Let's go, Hanone!"

"Right!"

Digging his paws into the dried earth below, Hanone leapt into the desert at a vicious speed, anticipating the feeling on having a human's head in his massive jaws. Strangely, as they departed into the winds, she felt a frigid air pass through her. She loved the feeling of sitting upon her wolf, feeling the wind in her thick gold hair, the exhilaration she felt in her heart as his paws bounded through the sands below. Just as when she was a child, there was nothing more she loved than feeling safe with her summon. Hanone was her mother's final gift - the last surviving summon of her long forgotten clan where he roamed the sacred Yamamori forest with his brothers and sisters. They were long since extinct save for the giant wolf she claimed as her summon and guardian, killed by trappers and enemy shinobi by the time Yamagakure was founded close to one hundred years ago.

And now the two were the last ones, fighting against the odds that sought to destroy them many times over.

She never before had felt so free – so alive.

Memories of the snowy lands entered her mind briefly as the coldness of the winds struck her, reminding her of his protection while they lived upon the secluded mountain. Startling her thoughts deep inside, the sudden thought of the last time she would experience such a feeling rang through her, chilling her senses from the intrusion. She knew the day would come - but she did not know when. Ignoring her gut feeling to the best of her ability, she proceeded upon her wolf with narrowed eyes – prepared to follow through with her mission.

She wondered if summoning him was a mistake – but nonetheless they continued.

Breaking from the division, Temari started on her fan upon an updraft of winds and headed towards the pillars of great clay rock that pointed upwards from the coastal desert. She saw him within her sights beyond the dune crest. "Gaara!" Once she was close enough, he turned to glanced down at her from his lookout. "We sent a few of our own to scout for more Edō Tensei shinobi."

He turned back to the horizon. "How many?"

"Six two-man teams in total," Temari nodded. Her words hesitated briefly. "...Nomasaki is leading her own pursuit to the coast."

A silence passed between them.

It had been weeks since he last lay his eyes upon her, not since she was sent away to the Land of Frost. She did not fail him there, finishing the task with the others from Suna as seamlessly as could be before the war approached in its fury. Although her forced treason left a rift between them, he still could not think of her within a bad light. She was still his assistant, his comrade, and friend. And someone who was precious to him. The fact that he knew how she cared for him only made his thoughts conflict even worse. Still, he forgave her. As he looked off into the horizon in silence, he found himself beginning to worry about her. Even though he was confident in her abilities as a jonin, he could not help but hope she would be alright.

"I see." He finally spoke.

Temari turned on her heel. "I'll let you know what intel our units gather."

As he heard her walk upon the sands, he placed two fingers over his closed eye and summoned the Third Eye Jutsu. In a swirl of grains, the eye floated in the grey skies, taking in all that the horizon had to offer. All seemed clear. A flicker appeared from the far west, drawing the eye's attention. Gaara flinched at the sight. It can't be...! Curse those bastards...!

Temari took notice. "What's wrong? Is it the Edō Tensei?"

"It's the jutsu for sure," He said, flatly. "I'm going to take a closer look. I'll signal for our attack strategy to take effect. Stand by."

Nodding, she quickly took her leave and returned to where the division lay hidden. As the winds picked up that early morning, Gaara stared down his enemies that lurked over the pale yellow horizon. It had been four years, but no time had subsided his deep-seeded hatred for the man he saw approach closer and closer with two unknown shinobi on either side of him.

Containing himself, he glared into the distance. "...Father."

Once the elderly Tsuchikage joined him, Gaara covertly approached the resurrected Kage hidden by a veil of sand. His father Rasa was among them, his sclera dark and ghost-like. Studying the reanimated, Gaara saw him standing between the past Third Raikage, Second Mizukage, and Second Tsuchikage. Four Kage reanimated and two Kage living. Devising the strategy, Gaara summoned a tidal wave of sands crashing towards them. Soon enough, they scattered and were trapped by his sand's hold while Ōnoki briefly fought off the reanimated Tsuchikage with his Particle Release.

Gaara glared down at him. "Father... it's been a while."

"Gaara -?!" Rasa suddenly realized. "Where's Shukaku?"

Gaara's expression turned cold and stern. "Long gone. I'm no longer the jinchuriki that you created, father."

"You're... no longer a jinchuriki?"

"The ones who brought you back with Edō Tensei extracted the tailed-beast from my body... and killed me." Gaara said. "I was brought back to the realm of the living by Chiyo-sama and my friends."

Rasa stood in shock. "Wait... You have friends -?!"

"Six times you tried to kill me. Six." Gaara reminded, his ringed-eyes studying the dead-man before him. "And each time has only made me more afraid of you... But I don't hate you, father. And now I understand why you did it." His glare eased. "I'm the Kazekage now. It's a leader's duty to eliminate threats from one's village, we must protect it."

"You -!" Rasa stammered, stunned. "You're the Kazekage?!"

"That's not all!" Ōnoki entered. "He is the Regimental Commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces! And the youngest Kage, to boot. Quite a feat, I must say - especially for his young age."

"Father, there's something I need to know before I seal you away into nothing." Gaara began. "One of your councillor's conspired to overthrow me... and he apparently had a hand in your death. I need to know..." His ringed-eyes narrowed. "Was it Kenzō?"

Rasa was off guard for a moment. His fragmented memories of his past life flashed through his decayed mind, struggling to piece together what became of his fate. Blinking his eyes, he suddenly remembered it all. And the painful twist of the katana that killed him. "Kenzō? That outsider, you mean." He said. "I had my suspicions of him... I made him advisor so I could watch his movements more carefully. He appeared to have grown too comfortable with the tracker-nin I gave him, carrying out cruel deeds saying it was for the sake of the village... During the last great war, he insisted we attack Yamagakure rather than defend it, and demanded even deserters be executed to send a message." He averted his eyes in suspicion. "He had a tyrant's way about him and I should've seen it by the time he contacted Orochimaru on my behalf without my knowledge. And for that I paid the ultimate price... as the snake murdered me in cold blood."

"I've since imprisoned Kenzō before he could usurp my seat." Gaara spoke. "And the deserter is a now free man."

Rasa looked up to him, surprised. "Kyō?" Guilt suddenly entered his decaying expression, remembering all he had done. The memory of sadness still tinged him from that day. "I should've pardoned him when I was still alive... I tore him away from all he had, even the little one..."

His words confused him. Little one?, Gaara thought. He brushed aside the phrase, thinking nothing more of it. "And Yamagakure is destroyed. One of the survivors is my assistant, she's fighting under the emblem of Sunagakure."

Rasa lowered his head in shame. "Time has indeed been cruel..."

"And I hear tell that she's one of those wolf-people, too. A strong sensor type with a swift blade." Ōnoki added with a smug grin under his beard. "Times certainly have changed for Suna if they allow outsiders with Kekkei Genkai to take refuge behind their walls."

Surprised, Rasa met his son's glance. "Gaara, you... -," Containing his emotions, he remembered his long-lost friend who was swallowed by the sands. He was unsure if Gaara realized it or not, but regardless his guilt finally left him after years of torment. You've done a mercy.

Gaara rose his arm and his sand bent to his will.

The waves of yellow grains swelled and heaved behind him, preparing to go forth and swallow his enemies. Unlike Shukaku, the mere power Rasa saw was greater than even the jinchuriki before him. Only Gaara was now free of a jinchuriki's curse. Forming a hand-sign, Rasa activated his Gold Dust and prepared himself to summon his strength.

"I'm done talking with you, father." Gaara spoke, his eyes stern. "Like all relicts of the past, it's due time that you should disappear."

Rasa nodded. "Very well... Let me test your worth."

It was not before long that Gaara had bested his own father in skill and power. Soon enough, the past Kage were imprisoned within mounds of sand that rose from the great desert. The sand wrapped its arms around them, constricting their movements and suffocating their will to fight back. As the sands swallowed, seal tags slowly rose to bind them.

"You've really grown up, Gaara..." Rasa lamented. "Parents should trust in their children... Just that fragment of trust is the most valuable treasure..." He glanced up to the sands that held him, noticing the eerie resemblance to his late wife. "Isn't that right, Karura? I guess... I never really had the ability to judge the true value of things. It's ironic..."

Gaara's eyes widened. "What are you saying -?"

"That sand that has always protected you... It's not the power of Shukaku, but of your mother. Karura." Rasa glanced up to him, meeting his hurt and confused eyes. "...She loved you."

Gaara froze.

"My mother... loved me?" He repeated, shocked. "No, Yashamaru... he said I was never loved -,"

Rasa shook his head, averting his eyes in shame. "I told Yashamaru to lie. I did it in order to provoke Shukaku to see if you could control the tailed-beast... and it failed. If there was a person Yashamaru hated, it was me... it was never you. I'm the one who ordered Shukaku be sealed inside my pregnant wife... I took his sister away from him. Yashamaru was a Suna ANBU and followed my orders... knowing full-well it was a mistake... like many thing's I've done." Sadness swelled inside his decaying body. "Everything I did as Kazekage was a mistake. I couldn't save my friend, I betrayed the heroes of my village... I burdened you with the fate of a jinchuriki, I took away your mother, I destroyed your ability to love others... and I even tried to steal your life... In the end, all I ever gave you as a father was pain. I gave you a hole in your heart."

When Rasa looked up, he saw his son in tears.

Under the cover the hands from the sand's manifestation, Gaara wept. The sight was one unexpected for Rasa, but it hurt him dearly for all he had done. He considered himself a failure as a Kazekage, and a failure of a father. The only favour time had done was reverse all his wrong-doings. "Mothers are powerful." Rasa acknowledged. "Karura still protects you, even long after her death. She's made you who you are today... She gave you life, your role as Kazekage, you friends, the ability to care for others... You now have all that I've taken away from you."

Wiping his tears with his sleeves, Gaara nodded. "My mother... She was amazing..." He admitted, his voice low and cracking with the sobs he contained. "Thanks to her, for the first time I received medicine from my father."

"Gaara..." As the sands swallowed him, Rasa could not help but smile at the young man his son had become. Once he was a jinchuriki, a created monster for the village to torment and weaponize - and now he stood a refined young man carrying the title of Kage. Darkness entered his vision, but his pride remained. You surpassed me long ago. I leave Suna to you... in my trust.

Turning towards the winds, Gaara looked upon the emerging battlefield with a newfound glance to his tearstained eyes. He was loved. From the short time they spent together, the words his father spoke provided the healing he was neglected all his life. Even his faith in Yashamaru was restored, once again becoming the fair-tempered and kind uncle he knew as a child. And now he understood why Yashamaru did what he did that moonlit night - he was told. He found himself thinking of his assistant, her treason, and her kind eyes that met his as she healed his wound in that painted cave.

Maybe Nomasaki was just another Yashamaru after all... she only listened to orders. He remembered her pleading words. To protect me.

Wherever she was, he hoped she was alright.

Their senses alluded them.

Dashing through the wasteland riddled with protruding stone formations, Hanone and Nomasaki could feel the no enemies close by, but another presence approached far from the fog that encircled them. Chakra faintly haunted their senses as they rapidly reached the silent coastline. "Hanone!" She shouted, as they became shrouded in a thick fog. "Can you sense them?"

Flaring his nostrils while he darted through the barren landscape, a growl escaped his jaws. "Yes," He growled. "A few close by… The enemy is farther ahead!" Something alarmed him, making the dense fur on his back stand in the chilled air. A snarl passed through his curled lips. "There's a chakra on the winds... a dangerous one! It's far, but approaching fast...!"

The winds picked up, and she soon detected it through her senses as well. The chakra was strangely alive, feather-like, and fast. And oddly familiar. Sensing the approaching threat, she leapt from the back of her wolf. Not as fast in human form, she still managed to keep the pace by running alongside him. While she looked ahead with narrowed eyes that held determination to complete her task, she suddenly sensed the chakra appear closer than it was only a moment ago.

"Hanone, let's split up! I leave the ones ahead to you! I'll handle the one here,"

"Right!"

Violently, he burst through the mist-filled landscape and disappeared from her peripheral vision.

She continued on towards the water, her senses tricking her into chasing something she did not know existed. For all I know this could be luring me into a trap. In an instant, the chakra was right behind her without any warning. Her senses heightened, she swung her katana from its sheath on her back as she whipped her body to face her adversary. As the sound of clashing blades filled the air, she saw the face of her foe.

A man.

He wore an Allied Forces headband over his forehead, his fading orange-tinged hair swaying in the winds against them while his empty hazel eyes locked onto her. Even from a mere glance, she could tell that they appeared defeated. And full of loss. He appeared to be middle-aged and had a short stubbled beard upon his chin that was nearly white in colour. Although he appeared to be in his forties, his eyes appeared as if they aged before he did. His dull eyes seemed fractured.

Broken.

Realizing it was his chakra that felt strangely familiar, the grip on her blade tightened as she held her stance in the sands. "How…–?"

As they both withdrew their blades before one another and concealed them in their sheaths, she stood in silent marvel at his fast movements and sword-wielding skills from earlier. Who was this man? Was this the swordsman Moro-sama pointed out? The Deserter? As she looked upon his appearance, she noticed his flak jacket was strikingly similar to hers. A Suna-nin. Unsettling to her, his chakra felt as if it were cut from here, or vice versa. She could not put her finger on how uneasy she felt standing before such a man. He did not appear threatening to her in the least, but the glint from his hazel eyes examined her perplexed glare thoroughly.

"Entering the battlefield alone is dangerous, especially with those of the Edō Tensei lurking around." The man spoke to her, looking her up and down with a stern yet concerned expression on his aging features. "Are you hurt?"

Nomasaki shook her head to his question, her eyes locked onto him in a suspicious glance. Her memory failed to serve her the answer she sought to her confusion, studying his face with suspicious uncertainty. "No, not at all. But… thank you." She felt the chakra bubbling up in her senses, provoking her to stay on guard. She narrowed her eyes. "Do I... know you?"

Jarring in his stance, the man suddenly stared at her wide-eyed. For a moment she thought he had seen a ghost. "It… It can't be!" He stammered. "Mi… Mikomi? Is that... you?"

She stood silent from the mention of her mother's name.

Mikomi.

No, she thought, Impossible. How was he able to know of such a person? No one from outside Yama knew mother, except...

Her thoughts froze.

Mikomi never left the mountains. She was born there, lived her whole life there, and died there before her time from a fever that killed her parents years before Nomasaki was born. Mikomi never once ventured from the snowy lands to see what the rest of the world offered out of fear she would be hunted down and killed like the others of her long-forgotten and hated clan. Then, Nomasaki felt a tremble where she stood. From the pained surprise upon his face, she suddenly grappled with the realization of who that man really was. It all made sense to her.

His chakra, his movements, and his allegiance – it all pointed to one strong possibility.

No, no, no.

Hanone's words rang true within her mind, the rage beginning to seethe through the cracks of her shocked expression. Within an instant, her expression promptly saddened as she remembered the man's stammering question. Looking down, she shook her head and forced herself to avert her glance from his defeated and saddened eyes. "No, I'm… her daughter. Nomasaki."

As he stood before her, his eyes greatly widened from her voice and the words it formed. Speechless. His arms trembled. Averting his gaze, he closed his eyes as he could feel tears beginning to form, holding in his sorrow with all he had left. Covering his eyes with his palm out of shame, his head of frazzled and greying orange hung low as he stood shaking in the sands. "After all this time…!" He quietly said to himself, relieved. "You're alive... Thank heavens! I heard Yamagakure was no more, so I... I thought you were dead... but you're alive! The desert gods truly haven't yet left me... they've done me a mercy I don't deserve."

Perplexed by his emotions, her eyes narrowed at him. Her thoughts getting the better of her as she desperately wished for it all to be a bad dream, she pressed him to reveal to her the truth. She wanted it to be fiction. The facts could come later - her calm composure was depending on it being a fabrication of the enemy's genjutsu. She heard of the Infinite Tsukuyomi and her heart wished it was standing before her. But her gut knew better than her heart and it was no genjutsu that wept on the sands. The man was real. He appeared the same as he did in her dream - the low voice, the orange hair, and the feel to his chakra.

This has to be a genjutsu because this is not supposed to happen... He's not supposed to be real.

Knowing how enraged she became at the mere thought of resembling the nameless man in her memories, she tightened her fists at her sides as she met his silent weeping. The shapes of their faces appeared similar to another, carved from the same genes that resided within the lands of endless desert. And she was a half-blood. She pushed the observation to the back of her mind, betting on it being a misunderstanding.

"Who are you? How do you know of my mother and myself?" She spat. "Tell me. Now."

Wiping his eyes with his black sleeve, he gathered his composure and faced her with a calm and empty expression of silent pleading. After several years of absence, he finally appeared to her – alive and well. "I am Kyō, of Sunagakure... of the Wind Blade, but I am also called 'the Deserter'" He said. "I'm your father, Nomasaki."

Her father.

It was true.

Why does it have to be him? Why, why, heavens - why? And why now of all times?

Her heart seized in her chest.

Shock soon filled her hurt violet eyes. Her fingers trembled at her sides, the realization rumbling through her like a thunder. After going her whole life without knowing her father, he was finally standing right before her eyes. The man who abandoned her and her mother – the father she never had. The ninja of the desert lands that Hanone despised to his very core – the one her wolf told her the truth about in warning. He was the man who believed her and her mother were monsters.

The Deserter.

As she stood before him, she could feel the disgust and rage begin to seethe its way into her emotions once more only more volatile. Averting his gaze, she looked down, her fists clenched at her sides. "Father, if that's what you want me to call you…–,"

As she anguished in her contempt, her fanged teeth grew rapidly inside her jaws. Raising her head, her gold hair whipped in the winds against her headband as her humanoid muzzle curled into a fanged growl. Her narrowed violet eyes glistened with tears from her surfacing anger. She could feel her grasp of control release itself. Shinobi must not reveal their true emotions – but at this time, she did not feel like a shinobi.

She was a monster.

"Why…? Why…?! Why did you abandon us?! Why would you abandon your own wife and child?!" As the tears streamed down her face, she held her head down in shame as she attempted to control herself. But it was useless. One by one, her tears dropped to the ground beneath her as her father looked on in sorrow-filled guilt. Overcome with rage, her body shook as she could feel her blood boil beneath her exterior of cracked humanity. "Mom spent the last years of her life in sickness… waiting for you! And you left us! All because you thought we were monsters! How dare you approach me now without guilt! It's your fault she's dead! Yamagakure is destroyed because people like you called my clan monsters!" Heaving in anger, her rage trembled and sorrow entered. "Part of the reason why I… became a shinobi was so I could understand you in some way… and find you. I wanted to see you for yourself and decide what should become of you... if I could take revenge or forgive you... but what you have done to us…–!" She reached for her scabbard on her back and grasped the hilt of her katana. "…cannot be forgiven!"

Slowly, she reared her head up towards him, glaring at him as she could feel her skin begin to faintly burn upon her face. As her eyes met his guilt-ridden glance, her muzzle shifted and changed into that of a beast. Monstrously, before his very eyes, her once-human face had the same likeness as that of a wolf – feral and vicious in its tearstained and snarling state. A true monster. Startled by her sudden change in appearance, he could see the hatred within her narrowed violet eyes that were still wet with tears. Chakra soon surrounded her katana, the wind-release of the Wind Blade. As he seen her blade approaching him from the gleam of the sun, his gaze adverted hers in a somber nature – accepting his ill-awaited fate. He deserved it, he thought. With a snarl-like wail, she swung her katana.

"You bastard!"

The sound of impact filled the still air.

Quivering in her grasp, her blade was inches from striking him, clinging to the sands at his feet. Frustrated, her clenched fanged teeth concealed the oncoming sobs that rose up into her chest. Its hilt shaking in her grasp, she slowly pulled the blade from its impact upon the ground. Her emotions claimed her at last. And she surrendered. Stepping back into the cold sands, she gave in to her sadness and her rage. Soon after, her wolfishness receded as she came to a trembling pause.

And the wolf was silenced.

"I can't do it!" She sobbed aloud, tossing her blade to the ground. "I don't have it in me to kill someone so pathetic! After all these years of preparing myself... I can't bring myself to do it! I can't! Despite all this resentment I have towards you… I just can't!"

Trembling, her body and mind were overcome with despair and anger, her fingers grasping onto the top of her golden hair. She felt as if she were going mad. Never before had she felt such distress. She wanted to take revenge for her mother and herself - and the Yamagakure she had known. He was an enemy, Hanone said so, she remembered. So why can't I do it? It felt as if an ice-cold dagger was thrust through her heart. She wondered if what the wolf said was true – why else would she feel provoked enough to strike him? But yet, not an ounce of her felt as if it were possible.

Her thoughts raced.

Startling herself, she found herself thinking of her battle with Pakura and the vile creature the woman had become in death. She had turned vengeful, blinded by the hatred for Sunagakure and the other villages that wronged her in her lifetime. Not even death had filled the hole in her heart, not until Maki spoke of the price of revenge. "Revenge is an endless cycle. Once achieved, you have nothing. Just the hole in your heart, that keeps growing bigger as time passes…" Nothing was what awaited those who sought vengeance. Gaara's words to her suddenly came to mind. "Your eyes... When we met, I saw in them a shared loneliness. But there is no darkness in your eyes, only hope. You're not meant for the path of an avenger, Nomasaki. You are too good of a person. If seeking revenge is something you feel is necessary, I encourage you to give it a second thought. You could always change your path. I did."

Her path.

There it was again, plainly in her thoughts.

Washing her face clean or rage and sorrow, a shroud of ice became her expression. And she made her resolve. "I'm a shinobi - a jonin, and I can't even bear the thought of striking down someone as horrible and as miserable as you!" She spat through gnashed teeth. She grasped the fabric of her flak jacket tightly with trembling fingers, her nails clutching over chest. "I have a hole in my heart that will never heal because of what you've done to us, to me and my mother! But..." Her grasp released, her expression turning empty as a void itself. "...I want to move on with my life. Now that I see how pathetic you really are, vegeance no longer appeals to me. I now have closure... and that's worth a thousand acts of vengeance in my eyes. I never want to see you again... That's all I have to say to you." Turning on her heel, she returned her discarded blade back to its scabbard and started slowly over the dulled sands. "Goodbye."

"I'm sorry, Nomasaki." Kyō spoke sincerely, his gaze pained and tainted with guilt. "But no matter how many times I say it, it can't bring your mother back… Can it?"

She paused her steps. Turning back to him, her tearstained eyes met his expression of utter guilt and shame. Wiping her trailing tears with her sleeve, she reflected upon his words. "Nothing can."

"I know," Kyō nodded, averting his gaze. He thought hard about his words, mulling over the sorrow that twisted and writhed in his heart. "But if I can tell you one last thing... I never thought once, not even for a second, that you and your mother were monsters… That's not why I left Yamagakure."

Her eyes widened from his revelation in pure shock, gaining her immediate attention. "What are you saying…?" She asked, her quiet voice broken from the sobs that clung to her throat. "Hanone told me you left because of our Kekkei Genkai… You said we were monsters, because of our clan - like the others who wanted the Yamamori gone. So what are you saying…–?"

Kyō lowered his head. "That's not true in the slightest," He confessed. "I never left because I wanted to... only because I was forced."

Surprised, she looked up to him. Astonishment entered her hurt violet eyes, taken aback. "What... do you mean? Forced?"

"The truth is…" He began, sharing a gaze with his daughter. "…Not long after you were born, the Third Shinobi War ended. It was because of that war, I was stationed in Yamagakure to protect the Land of Mountains from an Iwagakure invasion, being that Yama lies between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth. With the insistence of the Mountain daimyo, Sunagakure was tasked to prevent Iwa from crossing the border, so I was stationed there with other Suna troops to guard the northern border by the village." Looking down, his hazel eyes closed halfway as he remembered his strife. "But… once the conflict was over, we were ordered to return back to Sunagakure by the Fourth Kazekage. Our village was experiencing cuts, and tensions with other neighboring villages were rising…"

A vision flashed before his memories. The woman in a red kimono appearing within the forest of white, her gold hair glimmering in the winter sun and haunting violet eyes that held onto every word with kindness. It seemed as if his time in Yamagakure was all but a distant dream. His hazel eyes saddened as he remembered the loving smile of his late wife and the rosy-cheeked newborn who was swaddled in a blanket in her mother's arms – his family that he loved unconditionally. His heart was broken for what time had done unto him – his wife and child ripped from his arms faster than he could begin to process. Not even his time in exile wavered his love for them. It was a distant memory that burned through his mind every day he woke.

"I stayed in Yamagakure for as long as I could, that is… until they found out I didn't return. You see... when I went against orders to return, I was labeled a deserter - a traitor. They threatened to classify me as a missing-nin with a bounty to my name… I didn't want to put you or your mother in danger because of my selfishness, so I… left." His words choked from the sobs he held back. Mustering his strength, he faced his daughter directly. "The council wanted my head to set an example to others who deserted during the war, but Rasa was merciful... In exchange for our past friendship, he banished me to the wastes of the western lands. I served my sentence in solitude, not knowing if my family was protected or alive. I didn't even know about Yamagakure's fate until I was released only a few weeks ago... it shocked me, to say the least."

Speechless, she stood appalled by his truth. "No way…" She uttered, her eyes wide in glistening sadness and relief. "How could… Hanone lie to me…?" Looking down, she gathered her thoughts. Tears swelled in her eyes. "So you loved us all along…You really just wanted to protect us…"

Trying to mask his grief, he smiled with a chuckle. "When I realized it was you that was the Kazekage's assistant after my release, I thought over how I would approach you thousands of times over. But… I knew it would be harder than any mission I was assigned or even my exile... because I was a father that abandoned his only child in order to protect them. I wanted to face you and tell you everything, but… it's much harder to do than think about."

Watching her wipe away the last of her tears, he gazed at her with a sympathetic smile. Although she took after him in appearance, she had the soft purple eyes of her mother and her thick hair of golden blonde. It warmed him to see her grown. She was the splitting image of Mikomi – much to his heart's dismay. But most importantly, she was safe – and she was alive. But he quickly realized that although she had the purple eye colour of the ancient Yamamori clan, she truly had his eyes after all. They were eyes that held understanding and the will to be strong for the ones they loved. It humbled him, near pushing him to tears himself.

"By the way, Nomasaki… How old are you now?"

She averted her eyes, masking the tears that entered. "Seventeen."

"Seventeen, huh?" He smiled with a sigh. "How about that…"

As he stood before her, his smile faded while the years he lost flashed before his eyes. Picturing her mother when she was alive, healthy, and vibrant, and his daughter who he only knew for as if an instant. Their brief memories haunted him like ghosts in his mind. Although he only lived in the mountains for less than two years, he longed to return to where his heart remained. "I was... a failure of a father." He lamented. "I can't tell you how I wish I could've seen you grow up and stayed with your mother for her final days… I regret not spending that valuable time with you. For that, I'm truly sorry… Nomasaki, I -,"

To his surprise, he felt her wrap her arms around him.

Resting her head on his shoulder, she hugged him gently with a firm grasp as the dry winds of desert blew past them. Her hold was comforting yet strong all at once. She was a shinobi, after all. And she was also a wolf - like her mother once was. While the sun's scattered dimming rays danced upon the metal plating of their headbands, tears silently streamed from her tightly shut eyes.

"Father…" She said, quietly. "You are here now…"

Smiling warmly in shared joyous sadness, he held his daughter in return. The last time he held her was when she was an infant. She was so small back then, he remembered, and not even months old the last time he saw her. On the day she was born, the blue pedals of the snow lilies bloomed within the forested meadows and around the garden behind the homestead. Mikomi decided upon the name, an ancient name from the long-line of Yamamori. Kyō agreed on her choice, honouring it by setting a wreath of snow lilies near the hearth. And in seventeen years, the infant they named from the flowers that blossomed within the white field was a young woman grown.

He wanted to weep for the time he lost…

Notes: Nomasaki's estranged father, Kyō, carries some meaning for his name. In Japanese, Kyō (杏) means "apricot". His hair color is orange, which is the same color as an apricot. Using different kanji, his name could mean "unite" (協), "capital" (京), or "village" (郷).