Naruto nodded his head quietly. Honoka continued her story. "Despite the hot tears that ran down my face, I got up and ran as fast as I could. I didn't dare to look back again. I just kept running forward, promising myself that I would get stronger and live as the surviving legacy of my fallen parents and brethren. But life as a homeless orphan was no easy life. I traveled from place to place, looking for a home to make for myself while stealing what food and clothes I could get in order to survive. All the while I studied and practiced everything I learned from my mother.
"I was eleven when a veterinarian kunoichi named Chiaki adopted and took me into her home, and raised me as her own daughter. She was very kind, and had a deep interest in studying and caring for various animals. Chiaki-okaachan's love for fieldwork and animals eventually grew on me, as did her choice of fashion, and like her, I chose to forgo the use of any kind of footwear."
"Why? Didn't you and your foster mother worry about sharp objects or other things you both might step on?" Naruto implored with a quizzical look on his face.
Honoka giggled and smiled. "I understand where you're coming from. I will admit, I asked her the same thing back then. Like you, I found her habit weird and unusual. But Chiaki-okaachan told me that being barefooted allows her to communicate with nature and the creatures living in the soil, and that having footwear on separates her from that. I didn't understand her at first until I later decided to follow her example to see things from her point of view. I tell you this, it was no walk through park getting used to the idea of not wearing sandals, and sometimes the scorching sun made the ground very hot. You can image what it put my feet through. After some time, I became accustomed to the habit while learning ninja arts and veterinarian skills from Chiaki-okaachan. She also taught me how to make herbal medicine and how treat injuries using natural herbs."
"Several years later, a group of scientists and researchers recruited Chiaki-okaachan and I for a project they were working on in Kuchiyose no Shima (Summoing Island). The island itself is located somewhere east of Hi no Kuni and south of Kaminari no Kuni (Lightning Country) where research of summoning animals and development of them were done. The Ultimate Summoning Beast was also created there. The lab was located in the mouth of a volcano, and I was assigned to restrain the beast using my sealing techniques. But one fateful day, I was unable to restrain the beast after it had gone berserk, and it killed all of the scientists and researchers. Chiaki-okaachan and I fought the creature, but we weren't able to kill it, only put it to sleep before sealing it away in a containment unit developed by one of the scientists.
"Chiaki-okaachan was badly wounded from the creature, and being cut off from civilization on a remote island made receiving medical attention impossible. Though a motor boat was available, we wouldn't have gotten to a hospital in time. I did my best to save her using what she taught me about healing herbs, but her injuries were fatal. She died the next morning in my arms. Chiaki-okaachan was the second mother I lost. After burying her and the rest of the scientists and researchers, I left the island and returned back to the mainland.
"Since then, I traveled from place to place as a bounty hunter, going after bandits, thieves, and wanted samurai thugs. It was enough to make sure I always had money in my pocket when I needed food to eat and a place to stay for a while before moving on. I later journeyed and came to this country after Gatō seized control of it. I've been trying to take him down ever since, but after learning that he hired a rogue ninja who was one of the Seven Swordsmen of Kirigakure, I went into hiding to avoid being discovered and killed, all the while trying to topple Gatō's control of Nami no Kuni in other ways. And that leads us to where we are now, Naruto-kun."
Naruto took a moment to take in everything Honoka told him about her life's story. It was very clear that Honoka had a hard life though there were some happy times. Naruto felt bad that those happy times were tragically cut short by unforeseen events. But what he admired about Honoka was that she kept growing stronger instead of giving up and became a surviving legacy of both her biological mother and her adoptive mother.
"That's truly an amazing life story you got there Honoka-neechan. You went through a whole lot over the years, but from the way you look, I wouldn't have though that about you," Naruto confessed.
"Most wouldn't, I suppose, but I try to stay as optimistic as possible, wanting to one day find the love and happiness my mother always wanted me to have," Honoka stated before changing the subject. "You mentioned earlier that you're not alone anymore after meeting me. What happened to Kushina and Minato?"
Naruto sighed, and explained, "…They died saving me the very day I was born."
Naruto went into detail, explaining everything that happened from the time his mother was pregnant with him, the incident surrounding the time his birth and Kyuubi's release, his father fighting and defeating the intruder responsible for the incident and Kyuubi's attack, to his parents using him to become the next Jinchuuriki as Kyuubi unwittingly stabbed through both of them together with one of his claws in a desperate attempt to kill him. He told her of the villagers' reactions to learning that he was the Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi which lead to the law Sandaime passed, and the cruel and bitter life he was forced to live for the first nine years of his life before he became close friends with Hinata, Hanabi, and to some extension, Hiashi. He also mentioned how Hiruzen, Iruka, and Teuchi and his daughter Ayame were among the few that treated him kindly.
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