79. secrets and loss

In a random forested part inside Konoha three girls stood in tense silence. Tomoka's heart beat had ramped up to the point she felt like it would crawl out of her mouth. The other two weren’t in any better state than her. 

“All right, I have two secrets. I believe the two of you as my girlfriends have the right to know. One has to do with the village and the other one is entirely mine. Which one do you wish to hear first?” Tomoka spoke her words slowly and with an even tone hiding her nervousness.

After muling over it for a while Hinata took a step forward and spoke which surprised the other two. Normally Hinata would leave decision making to the two of them so this one was a first. 

“How about you tell us the one involving the village first since it might be less personal than the other?” Even though she had collected her courage and spoke in the end she was still the usual Hinata so it came out as a suggestion. 

“Sounds good” Nozomi said while nodding.  

“Alright, before I start I want you, Nozomi, to stay calm and let me finish. It will be hard for you but please understand. With that said I will need to give the two of you a bit of a history lesson.

After the warring era when the five great ninja villages were created, our dear first Hokage wishing for peace did the most foolish thing I have ever heard of in my life. He captured the tailed beasts which are sentient beings made of a shit ton of chakra, there are nine in total. He then proceeded to gift them to the other villages as tokens of peace.  

Each village kept two except for Konohagakure which kept the strongest of them, the kyubi. Since these beasts are sentient they had to be contained or they would cause a lot of chaos. The solution for this problem was sealing them inside a human vessel known as a jinchuuriki.

Here is where my secret comes to play… I am one of two jinchuurikis here in Konoha.” 

Silence fell as the two girls soaked in the information I had just given them. It didn’t take long for Nozomi to connect the dots. 

“Was… was the kyubi the one that attacked Konoha twelve years ago?” Nozomi’s hands balled her hands into fists that she held so tight her knuckles turned white.     

“Yes though there are other circumstances in that event that-”

“What other circumstances! That monster killed so many people! It killed my parents!” Nozomi’s sharingan had activated out of the sheer hatred she felt for the demon fox. Her entire body shook as she fought to keep herself from lashing out. However, it all melted away as Tomoka hugged her tight. She wanted to be angry but the soothing warmth provided by the one she loved was like a promise that all would be alright, I promise she wanted to believe.  

“I will explain everything, just calm down okay?” 

Hinata felt a little left out at the moment but she understood this was important to Nozomi. Afterall, Hinata had lost her mother not that long ago. After Hanabi’s birth Hinata’s mother contracted an unknown sickness. By the time Hanabi became one her mother passed away. That was very recently only three months ago. Hinata felt hurt at the time but Tomoka had helped her out.

~Flash back no jutsu~

Hinata was devastated. Her beloved mother had passed and now here she stood, at her funeral. Her heart ached with the knowledge that she wouldn’t be able to see her smile again. That she wouldn’t be pampered by her again. That she wouldn’t be able to feel that motherly love ever again.

“When happy memories turn sad you need to remember that when the pain goes away they will become far more important. Hinata you're lucky.” At that Hinata felt a tinge of anger. How could she be lucky when her mother died!

“How could you say that!?” Tomoka gave Hinata small sad smile. Even though she did have loving parents in this life. In her past they couldn’t be called loving at all. Her childhood, her true childhood, had been ruined by those two unloving people. Even though the wounds have been healed somewhat, the scars remain. 

“I say it because it’s the truth. Unlike others you at least got to feel the love of a mother.” Saying that Hinata noticed that Tomoka turned to look at Nozomi and Naruto. That is when she understood what Tomoka was trying to say. 

Even though she lost her mother she at least got to experience her love and care. She got to make happy memories with her mother and overall grow loved even if said love came from only one parent. 

“Death comes for all of us sooner or later. What is important is living the short time we have in this world without regrets” 

Hinata just nodded and kept silent. Her sadness had subsided a bit and now she just felt tired and melancholic. At least, she had her happy memories with her mother and now she could make happy memories with her friends.