mylegacy | ic inbox / drift fleet

That's right. He never knew his father, so he never really got the stories. The history.

Right ...

But what about his grandma? Or is that person not related to him?

She is. But she never fought like they did, and she didn't tell him about it, either. I think she wanted to keep him out of it.

Oh. So she was worried, huh ...

Either way, I can see why that would be frustrating. The place I come from is a lot like Italy in that way, I think -- our families and names are all very important, and the history behind them too.

You told me a little bit about that when I first got here. It was good to hear something familiar.

That's right. Well, glad to help, I guess ... it's kind of annoying how little that sort of thing matters around here, but I've gotten used to it by now.

How long did it take you to get used to it?

[ There's a pause. Not because she doesn't know the answer, but because the answer involves a lot of explaining.

But. She'll put it out there, and he can ask if he likes. After all, she did say he could ask her things, too. ]

I guess after a year or two I stopped expecting anyone to care about that sort of thing.

[That wasn't what he was expecting. But then again, he couldn't pinpoint what he was expecting, exactly.]

Do you know why they didn't?

Just not the same for them, I guess.

Like, obviously most people care about their family, but it seems like most places there's just not the same type of structure. I guess that's the best way to put it.

And in a place like this, people are more interested in you instead of the family you come from - not that that's necessarily a bad thing, it's just that I grew up with people immediately knowing a lot about me just based on my name, you know?

I know. It's strange not to have that shorthand. Even though most people growing up didn't know what my grandfather had done, they knew my father, the kind of man he was.

Yeah, exactly. My dad was in charge of one of the major departments that run the village, so everybody knew him. And like I said before, a lot of specific chakra techniques are passed down through families, so in general, when people ask for a Yamanaka -- it's for a certain reason.

I'm sorry you had to leave that behind.

. . . I used to think family was everything. I know it's not now, but. It's still a lot.

[ There wasn't much left to leave behind, if she's being honest. Now that her dad is dead, it feels like there's a whole lot of nothing, there. ]

Doesn't have to be the whole world to be pretty damn important, yeah.

Okay, so there must be a lot of stories you heard about your family, right? Do you have a favorite?

I do. But it's not really a happy story, and it's one I saw, not one I was told.

Still, if it's your favorite, I'd like to hear it.

[Another brief pause, as he decides whether or not he wants to leave anything out. Maybe "favorite" isn't the right word, but - it's the most important one, and he knows he made a mistake not telling Joseph sooner. He doesn't want to make that mistake again.]

My father was a little like Joseph. He didn't want us to be involved in the family legacy. So he left when we were young and didn't say why. He was chasing the creatures responsible for creating the man who killed my grandfather. But we thought he'd just . . . left.

I met him again later, when I was an adult. I don't think he recognized who I was, but I recognized him, so I followed him. I wanted to [beat the shit out of him until he died] ask why he'd left. And then . . . there was a sculpture in the wall that I'd never seen before, and I reached out to touch it, and he pushed me away, and it absorbed him and killed him, just like that. It was what he'd been chasing all that time. And that's how I found out. He saved me, even though he didn't know me.

[ Well, he did say it wasn't HAPPY ...

... But that's his favorite? There's a pause where she ... figures out how to react to that. ]

I'm sorry.

[Spoilers, Ino: Caesar Zeppeli is not a very happy person.]

That's all right. It was a while ago.

[ IT'S OKAY, DUDE, SHE FEELS YOU. It's more the whole statue in a wall thing that's got her kind of weirded out.

There's another pause ]

Just because it was awhile ago doesn't mean it has to be all right.

It was awhile ago, but my dad did something similar for me. We were at war the last time I was home, and that's one of the last things I remember.

What does it feel like to you when people say they're sorry?

[ Another pause. Because she just did it, even though she knows it's ... not actually helpful in any way. Still, she understands the sentiment behind it, even if it is pointless ... which is why she offered it at all. Because there's nothing much else to say, and "me too!" seems a little bit off the mark. ]

Like they wish they could make it better, even if there's nothing that could change the way things happened.

That's fair. Then I'm sorry.

I never really told people, that's why I asked. Just my teacher, and she doesn't react to things emotionally.

Not even Jojo?

[ She's actually kind of honored, now, wow. ]

No. Someone else told him. He wasn't happy about it.

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