Growing from Death

The day was not a promising one for the young and new genin. Emilia had started her day off going out to train with some of her classmates, knowing that she had a conversation ahead of her with her father, though she wasn’t sure exactly what it was about. To make matters worse, it seemed like a serious sort of talk with her father and his health has rapidly been declining recently. ”This really is not a conversation I want to have today. I wonder if I should even go – maybe spending my time training would be a bit more wise…”
 
As these true but harsh words escaped her lips – rain began to pour down from the sky. Was this going to be a sign of what was coming for this conversation? The timing of the rain was certainly ominous to Emilia and made her wonder what sort of obstacles she might be facing today. She grew up superstitious and believing in karma, so the thoughts of her not going home and speaking with her dad had completely subsided. The kunoichi did not want to give the world an opportunity to bring any sort of bad karma her way. She quickly headed home as the rain began to pick up, worrying Emilia just a little bit more.
 
--
 
”Mom – I am home. Is dad in his room?”
 
The young genin didn’t waste a lot time as she barged straight through the door, almost running over Ame as she was leaving the kitchen. Emi was moving so quickly through the house that she almost didn’t really have time to answer the question that she asked as she entered. It wasn’t like it was a large place to live, but they did have two stories, with the master bedroom being on the bottom floor and Emi’s room being on the 2^nd floor. Emilia dashed across the wooden floors and past the stairs – she didn’t even wait for her moths answer before opening the door to the room her father was most likely in.



”Yes dear – he’s in the room laying down.” These were the only words that Ame could get out before Emilia had gone in and closed the door. Thankfully the young girl hadn’t seen the look on Ame’s face. The tears must have been flowing down her pale cheeks all morning with how red her eyes were. Her voice also showed no strength or happiness to it, all you could hear or feel was the sadness that was being driven by the giant crack that had appeared on her heart. She knew that Fuji wasn’t likely to make it past the week… she just had no idea how Emilia or even herself were going to be able to handle this situation.
 
Fuji was never anything but kind to the two ladies who meant everything to him. As much as Emi and Ame were hurting right now – she wondered how Fuji was handling this and what it must feel like for him to know that he’s the one passing on from this world. Ame decided to head over to the door and possibly enter the room if she didn’t hear anything coming in. She knew it was nosy of her and not her business, but she also cared deeply for her family and couldn’t stand outside and not comfort them through this terrible time.
 
As Ame closed in on the door, she placed her hand gently on the handle. She never got the chance to open it though. She could hear Emilia crying. The crack that had been placed on Ame’s heart and just gone right through the entire thing – breaking it into little pieces. She fell to her knees and let her head lean against the door. She knew… Ame knew what had happened and she didn’t know how to face the situation. Fuji was the love of her life – the man that had protected them in a time of need and brought so much joy and happiness to her. She wanted to grow old with him and hopefully see the grandchildren that they may have one day.
 
---
 
Emilia opened the door and watched as her mother’s head and body fell towards her. She bent down as quick as she could to catch her, making sure she didn’t hit the floor and hurt herself. ”She.. she must have heard me..” Emi knew that her crying wasn’t all that quiet, even though she was trying to not to signal her mother about what had just happened. It may have been selfish of Emilia… but she couldn’t bear the thought of hurting her mother’s heart more than it had already been. Emilia wanted to be strong for her mother and be the hand that lifted her up… not a child that continued to need.
 
Life wasn’t supposed to be this difficult. Having hardship after hardship was taxing on a person. How could it be fair that some people get to skate through life with nothing but treasures, while others get to enjoy the trash that they throw away at night? The latter part of this was not literally true for the Kaneko’s, but figuratively… they had endured so much and never once complained to a higher power. They pushed through and strived to become stronger. Why was this the families fate?
 
Emilia had picked her mother up and began to carry her to the living room. She wanted to place her on the couch and let her lay and cry until her hearts content. Once she was ready – she would let her go in and see her father. Emilia would take care of making sure funeral arrangements were set. She had thought her mother and father had already done so in preparation… but she just needed to make sure and also… let them know that they would be needing the service.
 
Sniff… Sniff..”
 
The young girl tried to keep the tears back as she placed her mother onto the couch. She looked her and realized that she had yet to say a word or even make a sound since she lifted her from the floor after opening the door. Why? Was there something wrong with her mother? Was she simply in a catatonic state that wouldn’t allow her to move or cause her to be unresponsive?  Emilia looked down at her with her golden eyes – a confused and worried look came upon her face.
 
”Mom? Mom?! Wake up mom!  What’s wrong? Why aren’t you breathing?!”
 
Emi began to administer CPR to her mother, though it was too late. Her heart had stopped beating as soon as her head hit the door. The amount of pain that her mother felt broke her heart because she couldn’t stand to live without Fuji. It wasn’t as if she left Emi on purpose… but do to an underlying heart defect that she didn’t even know about.. her heart was too weak to handle the stress and pain that was dealt to it. 
 
Tears began to fall into the face of Ame as she laid there motionless. What was Emi to do with a parent dead in different rooms of the house? She was only 14 with no other actual living family around. She let out noise that sounded like a sad shrieking banshee.. Her body ached all over as she allowed her emotions to flow over her body and rule her. How could life expect her to deal with 1 parents’ loss at such a tender age? Now she had to deal with both parents gone and a shinobi journey that she just began. That was certainly a cruel education into what adulthood would be like for Emi – a process that was just expedited by years.




WC - 1291

(Flashback)
 
”Hi father… how are you feeling?” Emilia closed the door behind her as she went from dashing through the house to trying to be as calm as she could be. Her breath was heavy though, like she had just been going full out in a training session and she didn’t have time to catch it before speaking or doing something else. You could see her trying to slow it down though, not wanting her father to see just how worried she was for this conversation. ”Mom told me earlier you wanted to speak with me. I just got back in from training. Sorry for being all wet – it was raining pretty hard outside..”
 
Emilia gave off a little smile as she looked him in the eyes. She could tell they were glossed over and that he was in a lot of pain. He was always really good at hiding it from Emi though, never allowing her to see any weakness from him. Not that it would matter in the end, she still knew that he was sick and she knew that he didn’t have a lot of time left. The main purpose of it was just to allow her to remember her father being strong and fun, not weak and in pain.
 
With each step towards the bed that Emilia took, she could feel her body tense up – like she was folding under an enormous power. A tear rolled down her left cheek and before it could fall off completely, she saw her father smiling big at her. She immediately felt a sense of relief – like the weight she was burdening had been lifted from her completely and nothing else mattered. Emi couldn’t help but give her father a grin back, even though the sadness was hidden behind it.
 
”Hey pretty girl. I’m not doing so bad today. I’m glad you got to do some training today and don’t worry about wet. It’s just rain water, it isn’t going to hurt anything.” Fuji looked into his daughters eyes and tried to give a little chuckle, though it came off weak and resulted in several little coughs. ”Your mother was right that I wanted to speak to you. I actually meant to do it a while back, actually it was back when you first decided you wanted to become a ninja. Unfortunately I got sick and had to put all of that on the back burner – I was hoping one day I would get better and then we could talk.”
 
Emilia sat in the chair that was on the side of the bed, holding her father’s hand as she listened to him speak. Even in his current condition, he was able to keep calm and make sure that he was soothing his little girl. ”What I am going to tell you may come as a surprise, though not in a bad way. In fact, it’s a really great thing that could help you along your journey as you try and become the best shinobi that you can be.”
 
Cough, cough, cough…
 
”Dad, are you alright??” Emilia leaned in as the coughing got worse – she wanted to make sure he was okay but was unsure of anything that she could do for him right now. She hoped he would tell her if she could, that way she could at least feel better about being useful to him.
 
”I’m alright, Emi. No need to worry about me. Now back to the topic at hand here. You and I… we are actually descendants of a very small but very old clan that originated from right here in Hoshigakure. The clans original name was Aranha. For whatever reason though, many of the members split up and went their own way to start their own families in other villages, which is how our family actually ended up in Kumogakure.”
 
cough, cough, cough..”
 
”The clan isn’t what you know traditionally as a clan.. but more of a family that founded what is called hidden or secret jutsu that is passed down with-in the family. Though they can be learned by just about anyone as they don’t require special chakra or natures.”
 
As Emi’s father finished up his speech about the family that he and her are descended from, she looked at him wide eyed, never expecting that this is what the conversation would be about. This had Emi extremely curious as she was so excited to learn more about their family jutsu and what it all entailed. ”This is amazing, dad. I’m sorry it took us so long to have this conversation and I don’t know your reasons for not telling me sooner, but I really want to learn more.”
 
Her dad looked her with a big smile, just as happy as he could be to hear how excited she was about potentially learning their families secret jutsu. ”I’m so glad to hear it. I know I never spoke about our heritage and it may seem like I’m not proud of it.. but I really am and I want you to have every available resource to be successful. I just hate that I’m not going to have the opportunity to work on this craft with you…”
 
cough, cough, cough..
 
Emi noticed her father’s breathing worsening. He didn’t have long to live and they hadn’t even gotten to the part of what sort of techniques they are or how she’s supposed to figure them out. Now she began to feel bad as she was more worried about not knowing the secret techniques than her dad currently dying in front of her. It was a selfish act on her part and the amount of shame that rushed over her after realizing this was indescribable. ”I can’t belie….”
 
Fuji stopped her mid-thought, he could see that she was beating herself up over wanting to know the techniques and realizing that he was on his last leg.
 
”Don’t worry so much Emi. There are some scrolls I have hidden away about some of the techniques and explaining what they do in greater detail. The room upstairs that is across from yours has a desk that holds all of the scrolls. When you’re ready – go get them.” His golden eyes met hers and he squeezed her hand as hard as he could. Letting himself drift off into a life that they could only hope would bring him piece and joy and he could look down and watch over them.
 
Tears begin to roll down Emi’s face and land softly onto the two hands that were holding each other. It was a sad time and she never imagined that she would be the one to witness his passing. As the moments passed it began to get tougher to control her emotions… Emilia’s crying began to intensify as she could be heard from the outside – prompting her mother to stop immediately as she was about to enter the room herself. She wanted Emilia to have this moment with her father, the father that had done nothing but care for her and show her tremendous love for her entire life. Tears rolled down and she fell gracefully to the floor… her head leaning forward against the door.
 
”Huh? Was that mom?” Emilia turned her head as she wiped the tears from her face, not really doing a whole lot of good though. It was so tough for Emi to make herself get up from the chair she was in… but she had to. She had to go and see if her mother was alright. ”Come on Emi, you can get up..” She finally mustered enough strength to let her father’s hand go, escape from the chair, and then head towards the door. Though what she would find… would be a nightmare that she may never escape from.
 
(End Flashback)




WC - 1305 | TWC - 2596

The days were longer now for Emilia, who was getting ready for both her mother and fathers funerals. She had decided it was best to host them at the same time and luckily enough they had already purchased burial places next to each other. Since her father had gotten sick, the parents had really made an effort to plan for the future – which when you have kids is always good to do. You never want to leave anything to chance, and they certainly did not.
 
Emi didn’t want to wear her normal attire for this occasion – so she made sure she went into her closest and made to find something that was all black and appropriate. She also decided to wear her hair up in a nice design in honor of her mother who always loved seeing Emilia with her hair up. Her mother always thought that because she had so much hair and it was so luxurious – that it made her look older and more distinguished. Emilia never really cared that much about it, but she figured this would be a nice gesture since her mom loved it so much.
 
Once Emilia finished getting ready, she headed off to the ceremony site. She wasn’t sure exactly how many folks would be there, especially since neither of her parents were shinobi of the village. They did have quite a few civilian friends though and she thought that they may show up and provide some support for her. Support is what Emilia needed most right now – she really wasn’t ever sure if she was going to make it through to the next day. Anyone who was put in this situation would need some sort of support… unless you were the one that killed your parents. At that point you’d just need a bunch of psychological help. Really in the long run, getting psychological help would be a form of support…  so yeah, everyone needs support.
 
After walking a ways by herself, Emilia had finally been able to make it to the ceremony. Of course, she sat up at the front as the only remaining family member. It hurt Emilia so much to have to sit there and watch as both her father and mother were being buried. She was supposed to have her mom here for this – to be able to grip her hand hard and lean on her shoulder to cry. ”Why? Why did things have to end up this way?” She could feel herself starting to cry once more and just couldn’t stand it. She felt weak and like a whiny kid who couldn’t do anything for themselves.
 
”I have got to stop this. I can’t continue on crying every five seconds. I need to show some strength and be happy. My father and mother would want me to find happiness in my life. It may suck right now… but it has to be done.”
 
Emilia wiped the tears that had started to form in her eyes and straightened herself to sit up right and then took a deep breath to control herself. It was just about time for her to make her way up to the front and provide her eulogy to the audience of people that were there. She was never one to do a ton of public speaking like this because of her nerves… but right now, Emilia didn’t feel nervous. She felt like she had the strength of her family with her and she just wanted to let the world know how amazing they were and how deeply they would be missed.
 
As Emilia made her way up to the front, she turned her head and looked out at everyone… noticing just how sad they all looked. She was glad that she was getting a chance to speak to all of them now, she wanted to help lift them up and let them remember the good times they shared.
 
”First, I want to thank you all for coming here. It means a lot to not only me… but also to my mom and dad. I know they are looking down at us and smiling. Emilia began to choke up a little bit as she realized just how difficult it is trying to speak about her parents to this audience.
 
”I… The two of them really were inseparable. Anything we ever did.. we always did it as a family, and it taught me a lot on how to treat others. I remember when we traveled her from Kumogakure after an attack had happened, and my mom was so furious with my father because the travel and not understanding why he wanted to come to this place. Honestly we never got the reason..” Emilia chuckled slightly, watching the audience do the same. It helped calm her down and let her golden eyes shine with brightness for just a little bit.
 
”But it never mattered in the end… because he always promised that we would love Hoshigakure and it would make us happy. Of course he was right and that pretty much ended my mother ever being mad at him. I know in my heart that neither of them would want us to feel sad for them or waste our time by sulking and hiding in depression. They would want us to fill our lives with happiness and enjoy it to the best of our ability. So that’s what I am asking each of you to do today. I want you to smile, I want you shine with happiness, and I want the rest of your day today to be filled with fun and loving activities.”
 
Emilia finished her eulogy there, smiling out over everyone to let them know that she was going to be okay. She let her hand lift up and wave to the people as she walked back to her seat. It was time to let them both go and let them lay in piece. Emi made sure she stayed until the last drop of dirt was poured over the bodies that were in caskets that had the spider web symbol on top of them. Some thought it strange... but Emilia had her own reasons. She had already read through her fathers scrolls to learn what she could about the family’s history and some of the jutsu. Learning them would have to wait for another day though.
 
”I think I can head home now and let them rest in peace. They deserve it.”




WC - 1079 | TWC - 3675


Exit

Claims:

[/i]

Approved