>>5799167>>5799175>>5799184>>5799261“When I was growing up, adults referred to me as a spy and traitor’s son. No direct violence, but still. Mother has always been distant or threatening towards me, so not much to see at home either. She’s never explained her background, all I know is that my family is from Kiri and my older sister died. Everything turned around when I joined the academy. I made friends for the first time with the other students, and Juro-Sensei has been a wonderful teacher, and so was Shigure-Sensei for a time… He once told me that my chakra appeared ‘blue’ when he looked at it with his sharingan, I wanted to ask you about that.”
You trail off. Lord Hokage smokes in silence while he contemplates your words, until you mention your ‘blue’ chakra at which point you notice his body noticeably stiffening before he lets out a sigh and relaxes again.
“... I’ve long tried to isolate the younger generations from the problems surrounding those who came before them. However, my will is far from omnipresent, so I’m displeased though unsurprised that I’ve once again failed. But the Will of Fire is a strong thing, and it’s good to hear that it made itself known to you.” He takes another long puff from his pipe, and you realize that despite having his back to you he’s studiously watching you through the window’s reflection. “Know that in my position as Hokage, I see all the ninja of this village as part of my extended family. Your origins are meaningless to me in that regard. You were raised here, you wear our symbol, and you carry the Will of Fire. But your background is something I want to make clear to you, so that you’ll understand what’s going to happen next.”
He sits back down and begins refilling his pipe with fresh tobacco before sorting through some papers. Probably just shuffling them around while he collects his thoughts.
“... I’ll try to be as blunt as possible for brevity. Your mother was once known as ‘Death’s Whisper’. Many shinobi earn titles like that on the battlefield because their enemies don’t know them by their real names and need a moniker to identify them for clarity’s sake. Harumi Mizutani was a Kirigakure jonin and assassin who was active in the Third Shinobi World War, pulling off assassinations on both sides of the conflict. She had a daughter, who attended their own version of the academy. As you may have heard, Kirigakure's graduation event is brutal. By now everyone knows about it as a dark rumor, but in their own village the prospective genin are kept in the dark until it’s too late. When your sister was told to fight one of her classmates to the death, she refused. Knowing very well that refusal meant death, she turned on her instructors and fought them to the death instead. Her own mother, Harumi, struck the final blow to clear your sister’s dishonor and failure from your family name.”
Lord Hokage pauses to let that sink in while your mind reels. He somberly examines the smoke rising from his pipe.
