The Reason Why

The trees no longer covered our path and the flat farm fields went as far as the eye could see. We came face to face with a large hill. The path went around the hill due to the cliff on the other side. When we rounded the hill, a long bridge came into view as well as familiar village I had visited before.

Since the last fight, I could tell spirits were a little higher. Two of the people that attacked our village were dead and their headbands were in Kai's pack. I was in the middle of thinking about what to do in the village when I heard Bot begin to speak.

"Renki, I've been thinking, what did you do to that last one that made her want to kill herself?" he asked speaking for the first time in hours.

"Let's just say, the pain she thought she was experiencing was worth than death," he answered. His answer created more questions than it answered. I could see Bot's and Kai's eyes widen with shock when he answered.

Instead of continuing the topic, Kai decided to change it, "Why did everyone say yes to this mission? From what I understand, each of us could have said no." Before I could answer, Bot spoke up first.

"I said yes to make my branch of the Aburame Clan become more respected. The medical side of the clan is not often recognized as a powerful or even a useful part of the clan. A mission to take revenge on the attack is the perfect opportunity to make my branch proud," he said with a tear coming to his eyes. With the tone of his voice, I could tell that this was truly heart felt and this mission was as important to him as it was me.

Kia decided to answer her own question, "I've been a jonin for five years and have never led my own team. When Lord Sixth gave me a chance after all this time, I couldn't say no." It was slowly coming to my attention that everyone had something to prove on this mission. Not so much to themselves or the members of this squad, but to their families back home. Everyone looked at Renki waiting on his answer because he was the most mysterious one of us all. I figured he could feel all eyes on him when he finally answered, "I need the money." The whole squad looked shocked and confused when he revealed his reason. Bravely, Kai asked what he meant by that. He responded with, "I said what I said." For a few seconds silence fell over us and then I realized that I had not given my reason for saying yes to Lord Sixth.

"This was my first mission as a jonin. The attack was the same day that it was announced who made it. I felt like I could not say no to Lord Kakashi in front of my father," I answered. I could see the acceptance of my answer on the team's faces except Renki.

"Nabushi, at least your dad is still alive," he said with a sarcastic tone in his voice.

"You think it is so great Renki, well let me tell you something. No matter my accomplishments; being the first in my class to reach chunin and jonin, activating my Byakugan at age six, mastering the Gentle Fist style at age twelve, and leading my own team for the passed year, my father has never recognized me. Only because I was too young to fight in the war. He believes that I will never be a true shinobi because I wasn't fighting in the war. So Renki, tell me again how great having a father is!" I relied in anger.

My father has always been a sensitive subject for me, and it took me a few seconds to realize that he didn't know this. After a few minutes of just walking in silence, I apologized to Renki and he explained that I don't need to apologize and that he had asked for it.

After we finished making sure that there wasn't any more tension left within the team, we came to the bridge leading to the village. I could tell that something didn't feel right with this bridge. I could feel the presence of an unknown chakra. I told how I was feeling to the team and we prepared to cross the bridge, ready for anything that could be waiting for us.