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Chapter 35 - A Princess's Determination: Part 4 – New Resolve
The crowded streets were crammed full of people. Aina, small as she was, could easily move among the packed people, but her guardians couldn't. That's why she'd decided to go shopping during the busiest part of the day. She wanted to lose her protectors, even for just a bit. She was already tired of their constant presence, no matter how much fun she'd had pranking with them.
Besides, if she got in trouble, she had a backup plan. She reached inside her sleeve to make sure the knife she'd tied in place with strips of cloth was still there. She could take care of herself; she didn't need to be protected. Aina pulled farther and farther away from the Leaf nin. She could hear them calling for her. She ignored them, heading to a taiyaki stand. The fish-shaped pastries smelled delicious, and she hoped they had some filled with red bean paste. Those were her favorites. She stopped to count the money in her pocket, sure that she'd given the Leaf shinobi the slip.
A hand clamped over her mouth. Someone held her close as they dragged her into a nearby alley. Barely able to breath, Aina struggled wildly against her captor, sure one of her protectors had found her, until cold metal was pressed against her throat.
"Quit squirming, you brat," a gruff voice growled in her ear.
The Daimyo's daughter couldn't think beyond the feel of the steel against her skin. She couldn't even think about reaching for the knife she'd brought. But then a thought wormed its way through her fear. If someone saw her like this, unable to save herself, they might tell her father and he might think she couldn't take care of herself. She'd be coddled and babied the rest of her life, never able to show him she could be brave, that she could protect both of them.
The stranger shifted his grip on the Princess. An opportunity presented itself, so the little girl took it, biting down hard on the finger that was a bit too close to her mouth. The man swore, shoving her away and brandishing his knife at the same time. "Don't know why we have to bring you in alive. My boss is just gonna kill you. I'll be doing him a favor."
While her attacker had been speaking, Aina took her knife from her sleeve, holding it in front of her. She was ready to prove that she could take care of herself. The man scoffed and lunged forward, his blade on a path to her heart. The Princess froze, this time truly unable to think beyond the thought that she was about to die. Her knife fell from trembling fingers. She stared wide-eyed, watching her attacker's knife come closer and closer to her chest.
Something whistled through the air. Two senbon struck the man's neck and he flew sideways with the force of the impact, dead before he landed. Aina watched him crumple to the ground, his knife clattering against the wall of the alley. A few drops of blood stained the sky-blue kimono she'd picked out this morning. She wiped at them with her sleeve, but the drops had already soaked into the silk. She scrubbed furiously, unwilling to believe her dress was ruined, until gentle hands stopped her. The Princess looked up to see Haku.
"Are you all right, Aina-hime?"
His smile calmed her a bit, though she still only nodded.
"That's good. Let's get you home then."
The rest of the day passed in a blur for the little girl. She vaguely remembered her father holding her tightly. She knew food had been offered, but whether she ate or not was lost to her. The Leaf shinobi must have helped her change clothes because, as she gazed at her lap, she noticed she was wearing an orange yukata. The vibrant color did little to bring her from her stupor. The sky outside her window darkened without her knowledge, so when Haku slipped into her room with a tray, she frowned. "It's not dinner yet."
The medic-nin crouched in front of her. "Dinner was an hour ago. You refused to come, so your father asked me to bring you something later."
"Oh."
He offered her the tray. "Won't you eat something, Hime?"
Aina gazed at the bowl of miso soup, decided she was hungry after all, and took the tray from Haku. She ate as if the thin soup was the best thing she'd ever tasted.
He waited until she was done and set the tray aside, rising to sit beside her futon. "You know what you did today was foolish."
She nodded.
"If something had happened to you, a lot of people would've been sad. Me and Amaya included."
"I just...wanted to show everybody that I can take care of myself. If mommy had been able to defend herself, those men wouldn't have murdered her. I don't want to see daddy cry like that again, so I need to be able to protect myself."
"That's noble of you, to want to spare your father more suffering, but if you keep on the path you're on, you'll only wind up hurting him anyway."
"Then what can I do?" Her voice began to waver. She couldn't just give up, but the thought of causing her father pain was almost enough to make her do it.
"Let Amaya and I train you while we're here and before we leave we can set you up with someone who'll continue your training. The only thing we ask in return is that you take it seriously."
"I will. I promise!"
The dark-haired nin rose to his feet. "A promise is only a promise until you act on it. Now, get some sleep, Princess. You'll need your energy tomorrow."
When Amaya said they wouldn't be working with weapons for the day, Aina didn't complain. She wanted to but decided "complaining" and "serious" didn't go together. Instead, she sat attentively while Amaya talked.
They all sat in her room, Haku beside her, Amaya in front of them both. The auburn-haired Jonin had thought a lot about what to say and how to say it. She hoped her words made an impact on the young girl sitting across from her. "Learning to harm someone else, even in defense of yourself or others, should never be taken lightly. Because that's what you're wanting to learn, Hime. How to harm another living thing. It changes you."
"How?" Aina understood that seeing her mother die had changed her, and seeing that bad man killed had made her realize death wasn't some far-off thing. It could happen any time, but that knowledge didn't scare her. It only made her want to learn even more. But she didn't quite understand how hurting someone else would change her. She'd accidentally hit other kids before in play, had hurt them, but that hadn't really changed her, only gotten her a slap on the wrist.
Amaya held up three fingers. "There are three reasons people hurt each other. Because they're scared, because they want to, and because they have something to protect."
"So the bad guys fight because they're scared or they want to and good guys because they have something to protect," the Princess said.
"Not quite. Good guys sometimes fight because they're scared and sometimes bad guys fight because they want to protect something. But which reason sounds the best to you?"
Aina's brow furrowed while she thought. "Fighting to protect something sounds best. It's what mommy did for me and it's what I want to do."
"Good. Having something that's precious to you will make you stronger and make you think harder about your choices." Amaya was glad this had been the little girl's answer. "You already understand an idea that takes many ninja years to discover."
"Really?" Aina didn't sound convinced.
The auburn-haired shinobi nodded. "It took me a while to figure it out, even though I thought I already had. But something I did learn quickly was that it was the only good reason to fight."
"Well, of course. Wanting to fight just makes you a bully and being scared can make you do stupid stuff." This Aina knew. She'd met a few bullies, though they never dared touch her. She'd also seen a kid who was scared of getting caught in a lie blame another kid but get caught anyway.
Amaya gazed at the young child. Maybe she needed to give the Daimyo's daughter more credit; she was young but understood more than some ninja did. The Leaf shinobi continued her questions. "So you know why to fight, but can you tell me when?"
"When what's important to me is threatened. So, whenever someone wants to hurt my daddy or me." Aina was rather proud of her answer and grinned when Haku smiled at her.
The tattooed Jonin didn't quite know what to say. She hadn't expected Aina to be able to answer the questions like she had. Sure, children her age were in their last years at the Academy, but they'd grown up in an environment where they were exposed to talk of fighting from a young age. Amaya was expecting to spend most of the day trying to get Aina to understand the reasons behind when and why a person would harm another, but apparently, that wasn't necessary. Standing up, the Jonin offered the Princess her hand. "You've proven me wrong, Hime. You're ready to start your training today."
