The Hidden Namikaze Princess

BUILDING BONDS

"Good night guys." I said.

It was decided that I'd take watch first tonight since I had a nap earlier.

"Good night Kota, my angel!" Jok grinned, blowing a kiss in my direction while Reggie just grunted in response. I blushed and turned away in embarrassment, causing Jok to laugh lightly before deciding to go to sleep.

I sat by the fire in boredom, not wanting to get distracted by music in case someone made it past the traps.

"Hey Kota?" Jok asked with a yawn some time later.

"Hm?" I mumbled.

"It's midnight. My turn"

"I got it" I said with a shake of my head. "Go back to sleep."

"Go to bed Kota" he sighed, sitting down beside me.

"I'm not tired"

"No? Aren't you bored out of your mind?"

"I've been thinking the whole time" I explained sheepishly.

"About what?" He asked with interest as he rested his elbows on his knees.

"My family, and foster family, and other stuff...." I sighed, running a hand through the bangs that fell out of the clippy.

"Care to share?"

"About my families?"

"Yeah"

"Well... alright. My biological family where great shinobi of the leaf. My dad was powerful and really kind. My mom was also kind of eccentric at times, and they were both pretty funny. They died when I was little though, so I don't remember much about them." I said softly, hugging my knees.

"Oh.... I'm sorry" he mumbled sadly. I shook my head and smiled.

"They died protecting Konaha from a powerful and dangerous demon. They were incredible. I'm proud to say they're my parents."

"I see. So what about your foster family?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Oh.... Them...." I sighed, turning to stare into the fire thoughtfully. "As much as I hate to admit it, I don't really miss them too much. I'm kind of glad to be away from there"

"Why?" He asked gently.

"It's a long story"

"We've got time"

"Alright. I had three sisters and one brother. My older sister was very immature, and she was eighteen. She caused all kinds of drama and did nothing but bring stress into the house. She was a daddy's girl and treated my mum like garbage. It made me sick. My younger sister was a brat. She would gripe about every little thing. She was thirteen and made messes, left them for me to clean, then whenever I sat down she would nag at me for being lazy. My youngest sister and little brother would cry over everything, something would be wrong and if we couldn't fix it, they would throw a tantrum......." I paused and took a deep breath. "That's not why I don't miss them. The real reason, and you can't tell anyone this, even my closest friends down know, was because my mom and dad.... They were always fighting. It started out as just arguing, then moved on to yelling, then pushing, then my dad would get carried away and every time they fought I would have to fix at least three holes he left in the walls." I hugged my knees tighter, keeping my eyes on the slowly dying flames. "I remember one night..... It was awful. They were yelling and screaming at each other from their room. The kids already knew what to do, and left to the farthest room away from theirs. My older sister was just crying, and my younger sister was glaring at their door, so I decided to do something about it. I walked to the door and opened it. My parents stopped and looked at me. My dad screamed at me to get out. I can still remember his angry, red face. I was scared, but I didn't move. Then he grabbed the door and slammed it so hard, it flew off the hinges and hit me in the head, knocking me to the ground. It hurt so bad, but he didn't seem to care anymore about what happened to me, cause all he did was yell at mom again. Then he started punching the wall. He made a hole so big that a canon ball could have easily been put through it. Then they moved the fight to the living room. I could tell dad was going to seriously hurt mum, so while Madison and Katie screamed at them to stop, I got to my feet and jumped on my dads back and got him in a head lock. He grabbed me and threw me to the floor, but me being the idiot I am, I got up and kept fighting him, keeping him away from mom. He was bigger, stronger, but I was faster, and I had an advantage. He was drunk, he couldn't think or move right." I was lost in the flames, reliving the whole tale as I told it. My hands and shoulders were trembling. "I remember, I was shaking so bad. It took all I had not to fall unconscious. I had a migraine forming in my head as I tried wrestling dad back. He kept throwing me to the side and I kept getting up. Finally, I don't know how, I got him outside. It was raining. I was cold. I screamed at him and he screamed back. I kept telling him to leave or I'd contact the authorities. He finally left and as soon as he was gone, everything went black. I assume I fainted or something. I think mum told me I had an anxiety attack. I still have nightmares about it. And at the most random times I'll remember his red face screaming at me, or I'll think of that door flying at me, or I'll remember him punching through the walls. A month after that night I was taken from my foster family and brought to Konaha."

"Kota......... How about we talk of something else" Jok suggested.

"Yeah" I nodded with a sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"So with your birth family, were you the only child?" He asked. I felt a smile slip onto my face as I turned my attention from the fire to the moon.

"No, I had one younger brother. And he's still alive"

"Really?! Does he live with you?!" He asked, excited.

"Not with me, but he does live in Konaha. And I see him every day. But there's a complication with our relationship"

"Oh, what? Did you have an argument or something?"

"The thing is...."

>Reggie POV<

I had heard the whole story and I was pretty surprised as I laid in my sleeping bag. I had no idea she had been through something so traumatic. I thought she was just some annoying girl who had the perfect life. She sure acted like it, always smiling and laughing and joking around.

"The thing is..... He doesn't know I'm his sister....." She said. I almost opened my eyes in shock.

"W-What?!" Jok yelled, speaking my thoughts.

"When he was born we were.... Seperated. And no one ever told him. So I see him all the time, I watch over him the best I can, but I can't let him know...."

"Why not?! Why can't you tell him?!"

"I want to, trust me. I do. But if I do, if anyone knows, he could be in danger"

"Danger? How?"

"I can't tell you, or you'll be in danger too. The point is, he can't know. So I've just resolved to protect him. I won't die until he's completely safe. That's my ninja way." She said cryptically.

All I could do was lay in shock.

What is threatening her so much she has to push the last of her family away?

>Kota POV<

I yawned suddenly.

"You should go to sleep" Jok said softly. I nodded and stood.

"Right. Thanks for the talk Jok" I smiled at him. He gave a half hearted smile back.

"Anytime. Good night Kota."

"Good night Jok"

I walked to my sleeping bag, which was a little further from where the others were sleeping, and laid down on my back, staring at the sky.

Clack clack clack.

I turned my head and looked at the edge of the forest. A little figure hopped from the hushes and toward me with little mysterious clacks. When it got close enough I very vaguely saw it was a little bunny. It hopped toward me and set something a foot away before taking off again. I watched it leave, sensing something off about it, before looking at what it had left me. I picked it up.

A black rose.