HOME | DD

Description
I’ll certainly never forget this experience. I still can’t figure out how my family and I ended up in this kind of situation. All those secrets I’ve been told during the last few seconds, the truth and history behind my ancestors clan. Maybe I should begin this story from the beginning.

My name is Nakahara Hinata. I am nothing more but a simple wife and mother who lives in a small village right outside the city of Edo. The population of this village is no more but a hundred people. Everyone knows everyone. We help each other when one of us need food or money and we take care of each other as if we were one big family. I live on a small farm, my husband built with his father and brothers. I live here with my small family consisting of my husband and our two twins at the age of eight. A boy named Katsuro and a girl named Asuna. I remember the last part of my pregnancy as if it was yesterday. Every time I met with my husband, he would embrace me and kiss my forehead, as he would say

“You are my sunshine and I wouldn’t trade you for anything else in this world”
The reason he calls me his sunshine, is that my name, Hinata, means, “Facing the sun”.

One bright morning in April I woke up to a wonderful surprise. My husband had helped our kids making breakfast to surprise me. When I walked out to the kitchen, the kids ran over to me and said

“Mama, no you can’t come out now. It was supposed to be a surprise” the look in their eyes was a mix of nervousness and failure. I bent down to their height and put my hands on their heads.

“Katsuro, Asuna, thank you so much. You made your mama very happy” They looked at me with sparkly eyes and two seconds after, they embraced me in a hug while saying

“Happy birthday, mama”.

Later that day I was collecting eggs with Asuna. Both her and Katsuro was very serious about the daily chores at the farm and did it with almost no complaining. Which is new, coming from two eight-year-old twins. Asuna had always been the loud one of the two and was rarely shy, where Katsuro on the other hand, would often hide behind his sister or his parents. We have raised the both of them to be very polite and to respect other people, but Katsuro would be the one who was extremely polite and careful while Asuna would often pull pranks.

“Mama?” Asuna tugged the edge of my apron as she looked at me with pleading eyes

“Yes? What is it sweetie?”

“I was thinking, Could we maybe go on a picnic today? We haven’t done that in a very long time” Asuna was right, It has been some time since our family had taken a little time outside work

“Hmm… Allright, but only if we set a record on how fast we can finish the job” The biggest smile appeared on Asunas beautiful face as she hugged my legs and said

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She didn’t hesitate a second and ran out to the fields where her father and brother was working, to tell the news to them.

“I wonder from whom she gets that energy from” I thought to myself as I saw her and her brother dance around the fields in excitement.

I stood in the kitchen preparing a lunch basket for my daughters requested picnic. I was humming a melody my mother always sang to me whenever I couldn’t sleep or was scared, and as tradition followed, I did the same for my children. As I added the last thing needed to complete the basket, I felt two strong arms embrace me from behind.

“I didn’t think you would be finished this early dear” I said as a smile started to form on my lips.

“Yeah, Katsuro insisted on collecting the last of the crops himself” He rested his head on my shoulder and I could feel his slow steady breath on my cheek. Even though we have been married for nine years, these subtle things would still make me blush as if it was the first time I saw him when we were kids. I turned around in his embrace looking him directly in his gentle brown eyes that matched his messy black hair.

“So, what brings you to see your wife?” I asked him as I traced my fingers across his beard. He only smiled and answered,

“Well I haven’t wished my wife a proper happy birthday, have I?” He closed the gap between our faces and planted a firm kiss full of love on my lips.

“Besides, I have a gift for you” He released me from his embrace

“A gift? But we don’t have the money for that” I said with a mix of wonder and anger in my voice. He didn’t say anything. He put his hand under his black and grey kimono, and pulled out a small blue sack with a leather strap to close it. I look at it with a quizzical look

“I’m sorry Hinata dear, I worked a little extra. I hope you can forgive me” he took my hand and emptied the contents of the sack in it. My eyes widened as I saw what was laying in my hand.

“You like it?” He held my hand in his as I tried to speak, but the surprise was just too much to handle

“Toshio I…” I couldn’t say anything, I just stood there, gazing at the very expensive looking necklace that my husband had bought for me. He took it out of my hands and walked behind me. He lifted my long dark brown hair and put the necklace over my head. He released my hair and gently took at strap of my it and put it behind my ear. I grabbed the necklace and admired it. It was a simple brown leather strap, but on it were two hearts, melted together. I turned around to look him in the eyes again

“Toshio I don’t know what to say”

“Then don’t say anything” He smiled and cupped my right cheek with one hand as he held my hand with his other one.

“It is your birthday after all” He started to laugh but I managed to steal a kiss from him before that.

“Mom, dad, are you done yet?” Both of us looked over at the door where both Asuna and Katsuro stood with crossed arms, one looking scarier than the other.

We walked to the nearest meadow where horses was running wild and deers would come and grass. I sat in the grass with Toshio’s head on my lap while the kids was running around, playing with our dog Saki. I looked down at my husbands calm sleeping face. No worries could be seen, only love and satisfaction. I ran my hand through his hair as I watched our kids. I couldn’t help but to grab my necklace with my free hand, and think back on my past life with a wonderful husband and two beautiful kids. I had only closed my eyes for a second before I heard a scream coming from a girl. I opened my eyes, only to a horrified view. Toshio had also awakened by the scream and was now running towards the owner of it.

“Hey, release my daughter this instant” there in the middle of the meadow was a man dressed in a dark green kimono with two samurai swords in his belt and a strawhat on his head. He was holding Asuna in both her arms, not giving a second notice to Katsuro who was trying to help his sister, and to Saki who was trying to protect her owner.

“Asuna!” I shouted

“Mama! Help me! Mama!” I stood up, I was in shock, who would do this to us? My husband being an old samurai, and never leaving the house without his sword, pulled it out and ran towards our kids. I managed to move my legs and ran to him. Toshio quickly got Katsuro to safety in my arms and was now pointing his sword towards the mysterious man holding our daughter.

“Release my daughter. Now!” He shouted. The man didn’t say anything for a while, until a small laugh came from his hidden face

“You think a simple sword like that will scare me?” The wind was blowing softly, but just enough to lift the hat so that I could see his face for a short second.
My eyes widened, I knew this man, but from where?

“I see you recognise me, Nakano Hinata”

“I know no one of that name, my name is Nakahara Hinata” Not only did he hold my daughter captive, but he also thinks I am someone else.

“I see. You really have lost all your memories” He said with a calm but scary voice. Maybe I only thought it was scary because of what he was doing, but that didn’t change the fact that the way he talked annoyed me.

“Mama, Papa, help me!” Asuna cried. Toshio tightened his grip on his sword, as if preparing to attack.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you” The man said obviously talking to my husband.

“Tell me your name” Toshio asked in anger as I tried to comfort our son. The man smiled

“My name is Sakumo.” another wind blew past us

“What do you want from us?” I asked him in sorrow and fear of losing my daughter. There was a brief silence before that man called Sakumo spoke

“… Your sacrifice” As he said this he threw something looking like a small ball on the ground, making a big cloud of smoke

“Hinata, watch out!” Toshio covered both Katsuro and I to protect us from any potential danger. When the smoke had finally vanished, an even worse sight met our eyes. Sakumo had disappeared, but he had taken Asuna with him. I fell to my knees, unable to stand up from the pain my heart felt as I now had no idea of where my daughter was, or if she was even alive. Katsuro crawled over to me and hugged me, not only did he miss his twin sister, his best friend, but his mom was in so much pain, it was almost like a manly instinct that kicked in when he saw any girl cry. He would go to comfort them, was it a girl his own age or an elderly woman who mourned her dead husband. Toshio fell to his knees as well and hugged both Katsuro and I

“I promise you Hinata…” He said in between sobs

“I will find our daughter again”.

We went back to our little farm and contacted the best kind of detective that existed in Japan. Assasins. Or should I call them ninjas. Even though ninjas were expensive to hire, my husband had a big enough saving from his time as a samurai. When the ninja arrived we told him all about what we’ve seen and experienced and also what we felt. The ninja could see that I was different than my husband in the way I reacted when talking about Sakumo, the man who kidnapped our daughter.

“Hinata-san, do you know Sakumo?” He asked me. I looked surprised at the ninja. He wore a royal blue kimono with a matching bandana on his forehead. He had a black cape with a hood that would cover his entire hazelnut brown hair, which I think would be a shame because I liked his hair color. Underneath his blue kimono he wore black pants with several bags to contain knives and other materials that a ninja might need. Besides all this, he had a sword in his belt around his stomach. He looked like he could be my age, maybe a little younger. His eyes were calm, but they also showed no mercy to anyone, friend or foe.

“To be honest, I don’t know if I know him. I feel like I’ve seen him before but I am not sure where. Besides that he seemed to know me, he even mentioned something about me losing all my memories." Hardly did I finish my sentence before the ninja stood up, bowed, and left the house. I guess all we can do now is wait for his return.

During the night, I couldn’t stop thinking about my sweet daughter Asuna. I wondered if she was hungry, or cold, or if she had any nightmares. But most of all, I thought about if she was alive. Tears would start streaming down my face as I cried for the absence of my daughter. Toshio heard me sitting there on the floor in front of Asuna’s bed and cry. He sat down beside me and pulled me in closer to him. We sat there for an hour or two before I would get sleepy, and eventually fall asleep in the arms of my love.

When I woke up I was laying in my own bed. I slowly opened up my eyes and saw that Katsuro was sound asleep beside me. I guess he had a nightmare. I kissed him on his forehead, and as I did I noticed that Toshio wasn’t in bed. I figured he had already gotten up and started on the daily chores on the farm. Even though none of us was in any capable state of doing in now, it had to be done, and we couldn’t afford to hire people to help us with it. I got up and put on my kimono, ready to cook breakfast for my family. I walked out in the kitchen and saw that Toshio was already there, sitting at the table and starring out the window. I walked over to him and put my hands on his shoulders

“Good morning dear” I said to him. He didn’t say anything right away, but when he replied me I could tell that he had been crying. I figured he was waiting for the ninja to return as he sat there not moving a muscle. I started preparing some hot water over the fire for some tea, something we could all use right now. Soon after there was a knock on the door. It took us few seconds to realize it, but as we did, Toshio was the first one at the door, opening for whoever was there. What met our eyes was truly the ninja we had been waiting for. However, he had cuts everywhere. He must surely have had a hard time getting away from his attacker. Toshio helped the poor boy inside and tended to his wounds. As he laid there he told as about how he found Sakumo and was attacked before getting any chance to negotiate or get any information out of him. However, there was one thing that Sakumo told him before he let him flee.

“Hinata-san, you must go to the city of Kyoto to confront him. He will not give back your daughter before you’ve done your sacrifice” I couldn’t stop thinking about this “Sacrifice” that he kept saying. I turned to the ninja and asked him confused

“What sacrifice? What does he want from me?” He coughed a few time before he answered me

“That I do not know, but I do know that you have to go alone if you want your daughter back alive” He put his hand down in one of his pockets and gave me a note.

“Sakumo said that your mother had this on her when he killed her” He handed me an amulet with the words

“To the supremacy she shall rise, the lost heir of the clan” Written on it’s back.

“What is this supposed to mean? Please, tell me!” The ninja coughed again before he smiled

“I’m sorry, but you must find the answers yourself” I had a hard time understanding all these things that had suddenly happened to me. It’s like there is so much information that I am missing to complete this puzzle. I looked at Toshio in search for an answer to what I should do. He took my hands and looked me directly in my eyes. I could tell that he was scared, and worried.

“Hinata…” Just by saying my name almost made him cry, which automatically made me cry with him

“You must do this… This might be our only chance to get Asuna back”

“No Toshio… I can’t do this without you” both our voices were broken, we were both crying as if this was our last farewell.

“You must Hinata, I know you can do it” He took a grip of my necklace and said

“I believe that you will succeed in returning our daughter back to this home, so that we can live on as a happy family again” I rested my forehead against his as I cried harder.

“Just remember everything I’ve taught you, and you will be fine” Toshio was a legend in his time as a samurai, no one could ever beat him. Ever since I met him, I had asked him to train me in the art of being a samurai. He taught me how to fight with nothing more than two swords. He taught me all kind of tactics of how to beat your opponent. Until the day that I finally beat him in an honest and fair fight.

I took a deep breath and walked into my room where Katsuro was still sleeping. I pulled out a big box from under my bed and opened it. Inside it was my very own, samurai outfit for if I ever had to protect anyone dear to me. I slowly put in on, trying not to wake up my sleeping son. As I had finished changing, I looked in the mirror. It was a simple sleeveless lavender colored kimono with a big white belt to hold both of my swords. I had small Iron plates on my arms to use as a shield or to knock my opponent down with a hit from my arm. Underneath the kimono, I had a pair of white short that were easy to move around in. I had tied my long hair up in a ponytail so that it wasn’t in the way if it came to a fight. Just as I was about to leave I heard someone rustle on the bed

“Mama… where are you going?” a quiet and scared voice said. I turned around and sat on the bed with Katsuro.

“Mama is going out to save your sister Asuna”

“Is papa going too?” I shook my head “No, papa will stay here with you Katsuro. But he will be scared and sad, so can you promise me to protect him for me?” It took a while before he nodded slowly, but insecure

“Thank you Katsuro. Mama loves you so much” I gave him a big hug and kissed him on his forehead as I walked towards the door. Standing there waiting for me was Toshio. He still had few tears running down his cheeks. He pulled me in to a tight embrace as he cried and prayed for my safety. As we both pulled back from the hug, he gave me some kind of cloth.

“Here Hinata, take this to hide yourself. It’s the cape I used in my days as a Samurai to stay hidden from curious eyes.” I took the folded piece of brown clothing

“Thank you dear. Take care of Katsuro, he will need you there with him” Both of us knew that there was a chance for me not coming home ever again, so we tried not the make this farewell to a hard one. We shared one last kiss before I took my leave. As I walked the road towards the city of Kyoto, Toshio practically fell to his knees in fear and sorrow of both losing his daughter and me, his wife. I couldn’t control the fright of losing my love either. My tears didn’t stop running down my cheeks for several minutes, if not hours.

Later that day I arrived at Kyoto. Honestly, I didn’t know what or who I was looking for, but I could see that the people looked frightened and it didn’t make it any better that a unknown samurai in a brown cape entered the city. I neared something that reminded me of a trading market, except that it was destroyed, with both vegetable and fruit juice, mixed with actual human blood laying on the ground. I scanned the area to see if I could spot Asuna, but with no luck.

“Is it this one you are looking for, Miss Hinata?” I looked towards the voice and saw Sakumo standing on a roof holding a rope, that was tied around Asuna’s hands.

“Asuna!” I yelled as I removed the hood from my head.

“Mama…?” she said in a weak voice.

“Asuna, are you hurt?” After the second time I yelled, I could see on her face that she was certain that it was me

“Mama! Help me”

“Don’t worry sweety, Mama will save you” The mysterious man laughed

“Is that so miss Hinata?” I put my hand on one of my swords

“Who are you? Show yourself!” I yelled as I took my battle stance

“Hmpf, I guess I owe you that much” He removed his strawhat only to reveal a familiar face. He had a long scar from the top of his left eye and all the way down to his upper lip. He had the same dark brown hair color as I did, only his hair was more curly while mine wasn’t.

“I know I’ve seen you before, tell me where I know you from!”

“Why Miss Hinata, we grew up together. We were actually pretty close friends, actually more than friends” I looked at him with a questioned look, taking a better grip on my sword

“You see miss Hinata” he continued

“We are actually siblings” My eyes widened as pictures kept coming into my head. Memories of my past, of my family and friends.

“We were both born into the Nakano clan in the city of Nara. I was born as the eldest son, and you my 3 years younger sister. You and I grew up to become good friends miss Hinata. I would cover for you every time you messed up or ruined anything” I held my head in pain as he continued to tell me our background story.

“I grew up to be the heir of the clan, which was hard, considering our mother not liking me. You, were her all time favourite. When I would go with father to train for my future as a leader, you would go pick flowers with mother or even cook with her, stuff I did with her before you were born”

“Ngh.. Stop it..” I said in pain

“I was jealous of you Miss Hinata. But I had no need to, because I was gonna be the next leader of our clan… or so I thought” I looked up at him while still trying to overcome the giant headache I had gotten because of my sudden memories returning.

“One day, a servant came running into the mansion with important news for our father. Of course I was curious about what it was, so I followed them in secrecy. What they had found was a prophecy, written on an amulet” He jumped down to the ground where I was

“Do you know what it said? Miss Hinata” There was a moment of silence before he opened his mouth. But before he could say anything I came before him

“To the supremacy she shall rise, the lost heir of the clan” He looked at me surprised before he came with a small giggle

“That is correct” He turned his back to me and continued on his story

“I was no longer the heir to the clan, you were. You were now both mother and fathers favourite kid, and I just had to watch from the sidelines, but one day something wonderful happened to me. A rival clan had hired some ninjas to kidnap you, and they succeeded. Our parents was crushed, the heir was no longer with them. Of course I thought I would take my place back as the heir, but no. They decided to wait for you to return yourself” My headache was slowly disappearing and I stood up, standing with as much pride as I had

“Your hatred to me grew stronger for every day that past by” He looked at me as if I had read his thoughts

“You are right, sis”

“Tell me this, brother. What is this sacrifice you keep speaking of?”

“I am glad you asked” suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my stomach as he had hit me with his fist.

“That is your death of course”

He only laughed at the pain I felt

“Mama!” Asuna came running towards me

“Asuna stay where you are” I yelled to her. She was against my orders, but as her mother, she couldn’t disobey me.

“I just got a brilliant idea, you wanna know what it is sis? Or should I perhaps show you” He began taking his sword up in front of him and walked towards Asuna.

“No Asuna”
“Mama, I’m scared” Sakumo had no sanity left and was still walking towards my daughter with his sword pointing at her. He began drawing his sword back ready to stab her

“Don’t you dare touch my daughter” I yelled as he put all his powers in his attack.

It was a perfect hit. There were blood on his sword and on his face.

“Mama…” a soft cry said. I tried to catch my breath

“Asuna… are you okay honey…” Behind me was Asuna unharmed, and in front of me was my brother with his sword pierced through his own sister.

“Well, I guess I got my will” Sakumo grinned. I looked at him with a look of anger and hatred. I held onto my own sword in my right hand and my left hand held onto Sakumos sword that was pierced through me. I drew my sword towards his throat

“You wouldn’t do that to your own brother, your own brother Hinata”

“Asuna.. close your eyes and ears” Asuna shaking in fear put her hands up to her ears and closed her eyes. I looked down a moment before I looked in my brothers eyes

“Everyone who tries to hurt my family, is nothing but enemies to me” as I said this blood came from where Sakumos head used to be.

Both my hands was now resting by my sides, before I fell to the ground.

“Mama? Mama wake up” I slowly opened my eyes only to see a frightened and crying daughter of mine.

“Asuna..”

“Mama, we have to go home. Papa and Katsuro are waiting for us…”

“Right.. Asuna go look in my bag…” I could feel I was losing both powers to speak and to move.

“Look for an amulet Asuna…”

“I found it mama”

“Good… Make papa read it to you, because written on this… is the story of you…” I could barely feel Asuna taking my hand in hers

“Mama… don’t die… please don’t die” I used the last of my powers to move my hand to Asunas cheek

“Mama is so proud of you Asuna… both you and your brother” With that said I couldn’t hold my arm up anymore. I guess that this was it, this is the end of my story.

“HINATA!”

Huh? I thought I could hear Toshio’s voice, but that’s impossible. Because everything I see is black, and everything I can hear is nothing.

Description
I’ll certainly never forget this experience. I still can’t figure out how my family and I ended up in this kind of situation. All those secrets I’ve been told during the last few seconds, the truth and history behind my ancestors clan. Maybe I should begin this story from the beginning.

My name is Nakahara Hinata. I am nothing more but a simple wife and mother who lives in a small village right outside the city of Edo. The population of this village is no more but a hundred people. Everyone knows everyone. We help each other when one of us need food or money and we take care of each other as if we were one big family. I live on a small farm, my husband built with his father and brothers. I live here with my small family consisting of my husband and our two twins at the age of eight. A boy named Katsuro and a girl named Asuna. I remember the last part of my pregnancy as if it was yesterday. Every time I met with my husband, he would embrace me and kiss my forehead, as he would say

“You are my sunshine and I wouldn’t trade you for anything else in this world”
The reason he calls me his sunshine, is that my name, Hinata, means, “Facing the sun”.

One bright morning in April I woke up to a wonderful surprise. My husband had helped our kids making breakfast to surprise me. When I walked out to the kitchen, the kids ran over to me and said

“Mama, no you can’t come out now. It was supposed to be a surprise” the look in their eyes was a mix of nervousness and failure. I bent down to their height and put my hands on their heads.

“Katsuro, Asuna, thank you so much. You made your mama very happy” They looked at me with sparkly eyes and two seconds after, they embraced me in a hug while saying

“Happy birthday, mama”.

Later that day I was collecting eggs with Asuna. Both her and Katsuro was very serious about the daily chores at the farm and did it with almost no complaining. Which is new, coming from two eight-year-old twins. Asuna had always been the loud one of the two and was rarely shy, where Katsuro on the other hand, would often hide behind his sister or his parents. We have raised the both of them to be very polite and to respect other people, but Katsuro would be the one who was extremely polite and careful while Asuna would often pull pranks.

“Mama?” Asuna tugged the edge of my apron as she looked at me with pleading eyes

“Yes? What is it sweetie?”

“I was thinking, Could we maybe go on a picnic today? We haven’t done that in a very long time” Asuna was right, It has been some time since our family had taken a little time outside work

“Hmm… Allright, but only if we set a record on how fast we can finish the job” The biggest smile appeared on Asunas beautiful face as she hugged my legs and said

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She didn’t hesitate a second and ran out to the fields where her father and brother was working, to tell the news to them.

“I wonder from whom she gets that energy from” I thought to myself as I saw her and her brother dance around the fields in excitement.

I stood in the kitchen preparing a lunch basket for my daughters requested picnic. I was humming a melody my mother always sang to me whenever I couldn’t sleep or was scared, and as tradition followed, I did the same for my children. As I added the last thing needed to complete the basket, I felt two strong arms embrace me from behind.

“I didn’t think you would be finished this early dear” I said as a smile started to form on my lips.

“Yeah, Katsuro insisted on collecting the last of the crops himself” He rested his head on my shoulder and I could feel his slow steady breath on my cheek. Even though we have been married for nine years, these subtle things would still make me blush as if it was the first time I saw him when we were kids. I turned around in his embrace looking him directly in his gentle brown eyes that matched his messy black hair.

“So, what brings you to see your wife?” I asked him as I traced my fingers across his beard. He only smiled and answered,

“Well I haven’t wished my wife a proper happy birthday, have I?” He closed the gap between our faces and planted a firm kiss full of love on my lips.

“Besides, I have a gift for you” He released me from his embrace

“A gift? But we don’t have the money for that” I said with a mix of wonder and anger in my voice. He didn’t say anything. He put his hand under his black and grey kimono, and pulled out a small blue sack with a leather strap to close it. I look at it with a quizzical look

“I’m sorry Hinata dear, I worked a little extra. I hope you can forgive me” he took my hand and emptied the contents of the sack in it. My eyes widened as I saw what was laying in my hand.

“You like it?” He held my hand in his as I tried to speak, but the surprise was just too much to handle

“Toshio I…” I couldn’t say anything, I just stood there, gazing at the very expensive looking necklace that my husband had bought for me. He took it out of my hands and walked behind me. He lifted my long dark brown hair and put the necklace over my head. He released my hair and gently took at strap of my it and put it behind my ear. I grabbed the necklace and admired it. It was a simple brown leather strap, but on it were two hearts, melted together. I turned around to look him in the eyes again

“Toshio I don’t know what to say”

“Then don’t say anything” He smiled and cupped my right cheek with one hand as he held my hand with his other one.

“It is your birthday after all” He started to laugh but I managed to steal a kiss from him before that.

“Mom, dad, are you done yet?” Both of us looked over at the door where both Asuna and Katsuro stood with crossed arms, one looking scarier than the other.

We walked to the nearest meadow where horses was running wild and deers would come and grass. I sat in the grass with Toshio’s head on my lap while the kids was running around, playing with our dog Saki. I looked down at my husbands calm sleeping face. No worries could be seen, only love and satisfaction. I ran my hand through his hair as I watched our kids. I couldn’t help but to grab my necklace with my free hand, and think back on my past life with a wonderful husband and two beautiful kids. I had only closed my eyes for a second before I heard a scream coming from a girl. I opened my eyes, only to a horrified view. Toshio had also awakened by the scream and was now running towards the owner of it.

“Hey, release my daughter this instant” there in the middle of the meadow was a man dressed in a dark green kimono with two samurai swords in his belt and a strawhat on his head. He was holding Asuna in both her arms, not giving a second notice to Katsuro who was trying to help his sister, and to Saki who was trying to protect her owner.

“Asuna!” I shouted

“Mama! Help me! Mama!” I stood up, I was in shock, who would do this to us? My husband being an old samurai, and never leaving the house without his sword, pulled it out and ran towards our kids. I managed to move my legs and ran to him. Toshio quickly got Katsuro to safety in my arms and was now pointing his sword towards the mysterious man holding our daughter.

“Release my daughter. Now!” He shouted. The man didn’t say anything for a while, until a small laugh came from his hidden face

“You think a simple sword like that will scare me?” The wind was blowing softly, but just enough to lift the hat so that I could see his face for a short second.
My eyes widened, I knew this man, but from where?

“I see you recognise me, Nakano Hinata”

“I know no one of that name, my name is Nakahara Hinata” Not only did he hold my daughter captive, but he also thinks I am someone else.

“I see. You really have lost all your memories” He said with a calm but scary voice. Maybe I only thought it was scary because of what he was doing, but that didn’t change the fact that the way he talked annoyed me.

“Mama, Papa, help me!” Asuna cried. Toshio tightened his grip on his sword, as if preparing to attack.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you” The man said obviously talking to my husband.

“Tell me your name” Toshio asked in anger as I tried to comfort our son. The man smiled

“My name is Sakumo.” another wind blew past us

“What do you want from us?” I asked him in sorrow and fear of losing my daughter. There was a brief silence before that man called Sakumo spoke

“… Your sacrifice” As he said this he threw something looking like a small ball on the ground, making a big cloud of smoke

“Hinata, watch out!” Toshio covered both Katsuro and I to protect us from any potential danger. When the smoke had finally vanished, an even worse sight met our eyes. Sakumo had disappeared, but he had taken Asuna with him. I fell to my knees, unable to stand up from the pain my heart felt as I now had no idea of where my daughter was, or if she was even alive. Katsuro crawled over to me and hugged me, not only did he miss his twin sister, his best friend, but his mom was in so much pain, it was almost like a manly instinct that kicked in when he saw any girl cry. He would go to comfort them, was it a girl his own age or an elderly woman who mourned her dead husband. Toshio fell to his knees as well and hugged both Katsuro and I

“I promise you Hinata…” He said in between sobs

“I will find our daughter again”.

We went back to our little farm and contacted the best kind of detective that existed in Japan. Assasins. Or should I call them ninjas. Even though ninjas were expensive to hire, my husband had a big enough saving from his time as a samurai. When the ninja arrived we told him all about what we’ve seen and experienced and also what we felt. The ninja could see that I was different than my husband in the way I reacted when talking about Sakumo, the man who kidnapped our daughter.

“Hinata-san, do you know Sakumo?” He asked me. I looked surprised at the ninja. He wore a royal blue kimono with a matching bandana on his forehead. He had a black cape with a hood that would cover his entire hazelnut brown hair, which I think would be a shame because I liked his hair color. Underneath his blue kimono he wore black pants with several bags to contain knives and other materials that a ninja might need. Besides all this, he had a sword in his belt around his stomach. He looked like he could be my age, maybe a little younger. His eyes were calm, but they also showed no mercy to anyone, friend or foe.

“To be honest, I don’t know if I know him. I feel like I’ve seen him before but I am not sure where. Besides that he seemed to know me, he even mentioned something about me losing all my memories." Hardly did I finish my sentence before the ninja stood up, bowed, and left the house. I guess all we can do now is wait for his return.

During the night, I couldn’t stop thinking about my sweet daughter Asuna. I wondered if she was hungry, or cold, or if she had any nightmares. But most of all, I thought about if she was alive. Tears would start streaming down my face as I cried for the absence of my daughter. Toshio heard me sitting there on the floor in front of Asuna’s bed and cry. He sat down beside me and pulled me in closer to him. We sat there for an hour or two before I would get sleepy, and eventually fall asleep in the arms of my love.

When I woke up I was laying in my own bed. I slowly opened up my eyes and saw that Katsuro was sound asleep beside me. I guess he had a nightmare. I kissed him on his forehead, and as I did I noticed that Toshio wasn’t in bed. I figured he had already gotten up and started on the daily chores on the farm. Even though none of us was in any capable state of doing in now, it had to be done, and we couldn’t afford to hire people to help us with it. I got up and put on my kimono, ready to cook breakfast for my family. I walked out in the kitchen and saw that Toshio was already there, sitting at the table and starring out the window. I walked over to him and put my hands on his shoulders

“Good morning dear” I said to him. He didn’t say anything right away, but when he replied me I could tell that he had been crying. I figured he was waiting for the ninja to return as he sat there not moving a muscle. I started preparing some hot water over the fire for some tea, something we could all use right now. Soon after there was a knock on the door. It took us few seconds to realize it, but as we did, Toshio was the first one at the door, opening for whoever was there. What met our eyes was truly the ninja we had been waiting for. However, he had cuts everywhere. He must surely have had a hard time getting away from his attacker. Toshio helped the poor boy inside and tended to his wounds. As he laid there he told as about how he found Sakumo and was attacked before getting any chance to negotiate or get any information out of him. However, there was one thing that Sakumo told him before he let him flee.

“Hinata-san, you must go to the city of Kyoto to confront him. He will not give back your daughter before you’ve done your sacrifice” I couldn’t stop thinking about this “Sacrifice” that he kept saying. I turned to the ninja and asked him confused

“What sacrifice? What does he want from me?” He coughed a few time before he answered me

“That I do not know, but I do know that you have to go alone if you want your daughter back alive” He put his hand down in one of his pockets and gave me a note.

“Sakumo said that your mother had this on her when he killed her” He handed me an amulet with the words

“To the supremacy she shall rise, the lost heir of the clan” Written on it’s back.

“What is this supposed to mean? Please, tell me!” The ninja coughed again before he smiled

“I’m sorry, but you must find the answers yourself” I had a hard time understanding all these things that had suddenly happened to me. It’s like there is so much information that I am missing to complete this puzzle. I looked at Toshio in search for an answer to what I should do. He took my hands and looked me directly in my eyes. I could tell that he was scared, and worried.

“Hinata…” Just by saying my name almost made him cry, which automatically made me cry with him

“You must do this… This might be our only chance to get Asuna back”

“No Toshio… I can’t do this without you” both our voices were broken, we were both crying as if this was our last farewell.

“You must Hinata, I know you can do it” He took a grip of my necklace and said

“I believe that you will succeed in returning our daughter back to this home, so that we can live on as a happy family again” I rested my forehead against his as I cried harder.

“Just remember everything I’ve taught you, and you will be fine” Toshio was a legend in his time as a samurai, no one could ever beat him. Ever since I met him, I had asked him to train me in the art of being a samurai. He taught me how to fight with nothing more than two swords. He taught me all kind of tactics of how to beat your opponent. Until the day that I finally beat him in an honest and fair fight.

I took a deep breath and walked into my room where Katsuro was still sleeping. I pulled out a big box from under my bed and opened it. Inside it was my very own, samurai outfit for if I ever had to protect anyone dear to me. I slowly put in on, trying not to wake up my sleeping son. As I had finished changing, I looked in the mirror. It was a simple sleeveless lavender colored kimono with a big white belt to hold both of my swords. I had small Iron plates on my arms to use as a shield or to knock my opponent down with a hit from my arm. Underneath the kimono, I had a pair of white short that were easy to move around in. I had tied my long hair up in a ponytail so that it wasn’t in the way if it came to a fight. Just as I was about to leave I heard someone rustle on the bed

“Mama… where are you going?” a quiet and scared voice said. I turned around and sat on the bed with Katsuro.

“Mama is going out to save your sister Asuna”

“Is papa going too?” I shook my head “No, papa will stay here with you Katsuro. But he will be scared and sad, so can you promise me to protect him for me?” It took a while before he nodded slowly, but insecure

“Thank you Katsuro. Mama loves you so much” I gave him a big hug and kissed him on his forehead as I walked towards the door. Standing there waiting for me was Toshio. He still had few tears running down his cheeks. He pulled me in to a tight embrace as he cried and prayed for my safety. As we both pulled back from the hug, he gave me some kind of cloth.

“Here Hinata, take this to hide yourself. It’s the cape I used in my days as a Samurai to stay hidden from curious eyes.” I took the folded piece of brown clothing

“Thank you dear. Take care of Katsuro, he will need you there with him” Both of us knew that there was a chance for me not coming home ever again, so we tried not the make this farewell to a hard one. We shared one last kiss before I took my leave. As I walked the road towards the city of Kyoto, Toshio practically fell to his knees in fear and sorrow of both losing his daughter and me, his wife. I couldn’t control the fright of losing my love either. My tears didn’t stop running down my cheeks for several minutes, if not hours.

Later that day I arrived at Kyoto. Honestly, I didn’t know what or who I was looking for, but I could see that the people looked frightened and it didn’t make it any better that a unknown samurai in a brown cape entered the city. I neared something that reminded me of a trading market, except that it was destroyed, with both vegetable and fruit juice, mixed with actual human blood laying on the ground. I scanned the area to see if I could spot Asuna, but with no luck.

“Is it this one you are looking for, Miss Hinata?” I looked towards the voice and saw Sakumo standing on a roof holding a rope, that was tied around Asuna’s hands.

“Asuna!” I yelled as I removed the hood from my head.

“Mama…?” she said in a weak voice.

“Asuna, are you hurt?” After the second time I yelled, I could see on her face that she was certain that it was me

“Mama! Help me”

“Don’t worry sweety, Mama will save you” The mysterious man laughed

“Is that so miss Hinata?” I put my hand on one of my swords

“Who are you? Show yourself!” I yelled as I took my battle stance

“Hmpf, I guess I owe you that much” He removed his strawhat only to reveal a familiar face. He had a long scar from the top of his left eye and all the way down to his upper lip. He had the same dark brown hair color as I did, only his hair was more curly while mine wasn’t.

“I know I’ve seen you before, tell me where I know you from!”

“Why Miss Hinata, we grew up together. We were actually pretty close friends, actually more than friends” I looked at him with a questioned look, taking a better grip on my sword

“You see miss Hinata” he continued

“We are actually siblings” My eyes widened as pictures kept coming into my head. Memories of my past, of my family and friends.

“We were both born into the Nakano clan in the city of Nara. I was born as the eldest son, and you my 3 years younger sister. You and I grew up to become good friends miss Hinata. I would cover for you every time you messed up or ruined anything” I held my head in pain as he continued to tell me our background story.

“I grew up to be the heir of the clan, which was hard, considering our mother not liking me. You, were her all time favourite. When I would go with father to train for my future as a leader, you would go pick flowers with mother or even cook with her, stuff I did with her before you were born”

“Ngh.. Stop it..” I said in pain

“I was jealous of you Miss Hinata. But I had no need to, because I was gonna be the next leader of our clan… or so I thought” I looked up at him while still trying to overcome the giant headache I had gotten because of my sudden memories returning.

“One day, a servant came running into the mansion with important news for our father. Of course I was curious about what it was, so I followed them in secrecy. What they had found was a prophecy, written on an amulet” He jumped down to the ground where I was

“Do you know what it said? Miss Hinata” There was a moment of silence before he opened his mouth. But before he could say anything I came before him

“To the supremacy she shall rise, the lost heir of the clan” He looked at me surprised before he came with a small giggle

“That is correct” He turned his back to me and continued on his story

“I was no longer the heir to the clan, you were. You were now both mother and fathers favourite kid, and I just had to watch from the sidelines, but one day something wonderful happened to me. A rival clan had hired some ninjas to kidnap you, and they succeeded. Our parents was crushed, the heir was no longer with them. Of course I thought I would take my place back as the heir, but no. They decided to wait for you to return yourself” My headache was slowly disappearing and I stood up, standing with as much pride as I had

“Your hatred to me grew stronger for every day that past by” He looked at me as if I had read his thoughts

“You are right, sis”

“Tell me this, brother. What is this sacrifice you keep speaking of?”

“I am glad you asked” suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my stomach as he had hit me with his fist.

“That is your death of course”

He only laughed at the pain I felt

“Mama!” Asuna came running towards me

“Asuna stay where you are” I yelled to her. She was against my orders, but as her mother, she couldn’t disobey me.

“I just got a brilliant idea, you wanna know what it is sis? Or should I perhaps show you” He began taking his sword up in front of him and walked towards Asuna.

“No Asuna”
“Mama, I’m scared” Sakumo had no sanity left and was still walking towards my daughter with his sword pointing at her. He began drawing his sword back ready to stab her

“Don’t you dare touch my daughter” I yelled as he put all his powers in his attack.

It was a perfect hit. There were blood on his sword and on his face.

“Mama…” a soft cry said. I tried to catch my breath

“Asuna… are you okay honey…” Behind me was Asuna unharmed, and in front of me was my brother with his sword pierced through his own sister.

“Well, I guess I got my will” Sakumo grinned. I looked at him with a look of anger and hatred. I held onto my own sword in my right hand and my left hand held onto Sakumos sword that was pierced through me. I drew my sword towards his throat

“You wouldn’t do that to your own brother, your own brother Hinata”

“Asuna.. close your eyes and ears” Asuna shaking in fear put her hands up to her ears and closed her eyes. I looked down a moment before I looked in my brothers eyes

“Everyone who tries to hurt my family, is nothing but enemies to me” as I said this blood came from where Sakumos head used to be.

Both my hands was now resting by my sides, before I fell to the ground.

“Mama? Mama wake up” I slowly opened my eyes only to see a frightened and crying daughter of mine.

“Asuna..”

“Mama, we have to go home. Papa and Katsuro are waiting for us…”

“Right.. Asuna go look in my bag…” I could feel I was losing both powers to speak and to move.

“Look for an amulet Asuna…”

“I found it mama”

“Good… Make papa read it to you, because written on this… is the story of you…” I could barely feel Asuna taking my hand in hers

“Mama… don’t die… please don’t die” I used the last of my powers to move my hand to Asunas cheek

“Mama is so proud of you Asuna… both you and your brother” With that said I couldn’t hold my arm up anymore. I guess that this was it, this is the end of my story.

“HINATA!”

Huh? I thought I could hear Toshio’s voice, but that’s impossible. Because everything I see is black, and everything I can hear is nothing.