I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto Masashi does.

Himawari loved her mother's garden.

There were lilies, sunflowers, pansies, tulips, irises, lilacs, hollyhocks, chrysanthemums and all the other pretty flowers whose names she couldn't quite remember right now.

There were also apple and cherry trees right at the back of the garden, really deep in where it was dark and you couldn't even see the house - not to mention she loved it when the sweet fruit dropped to the grass for her. She would pick them and eat them before shouting for her aniki to come then scrambling up a tree. When he came into her little wood, she would take all of the pits from the fruit she had eaten and pelt them at him, then he would run off back home shouting for their mother and Himawari would almost fall out of the tree laughing.

There was a tree hut that their father had built for them on the huge tree next to the house, where she and Boruto would sometimes pretend to be powerful shinobi planning an attack in a safe house; sometimes pretend to be high ranking medics in a busy hospital, rushing to save the lives of the injured jounins; sometimes pretend to be high in the Hokage tower, ruling the village while her aniki ran the ANBU and Sarada-nee-chan ran the T&I department.

There was a large pond too, where koi fish swam lazily through the water, ignoring the little girl who sat hidden in the bulrushes as she drew them. Lilies pads floated, sometimes causing ripples that made the light dance slightly. She liked to throw pebbles into the water, not to hurt the fish, but to cause her own ripples. These ones were bigger, and she liked to watch them grow wider and wider until they pushed the earth all around the edge of the water.

These were all things she loved about her mother's garden.

But the best thing that was in it, of all the brilliant things, were the ones she had yet to find.

Himawari's favourite thing to do in the entire world was to explore.

She climbed the trees with bare feet until the soles of her feet hurt finding nests and golden feathers, juicy fruits and huge leaves. In the pond she found things like small water skaters, frog spawn, and shining rocks that she gave to her father, and that he always put on a special shelf in his office.

The best place to explore though, was her woods.

They weren't big, but it was deep enough that she couldn't hear anything from outside it except the birds and the leaves swishing in the trees. It was quite dark there, and she supposed she should be afraid, but she wasn't. It was so calm, different to when tou-chan and Boruto decided to run and shout through the house. She did that sometimes too, but she supposed she was more like kaa-chan.

The greatest bit was though, the ground was full of treasure!

Her mother had told her it was because someone really powerful had come and pushed everything away really hard. She said that lots of things had gotten forced into the ground, and that it was the same all over Konoha. Himawari wasn't really sure what to think about someone that strong - although her father had to be stronger - but she liked that it meant she could be a treasure hunter. Like a pirate, looking for buried gold!

She found so many wonderful things - some strange, some broken, some useless, but very rarely, on a very special day, something shiny!

Today was a shiny day.

The sun was shining too as she ran as fast as she could out of the house, leaving her sandals behind and enjoying the feeling of the warm grass between her toes. She had been out with kaa-chan at the market today, but she spent all day bursting to get home. Boruto was away to Chouchou's house to play, and finally, Himawari had the garden to herself!

She didn't feel the fond look of her mother as she bolted past the pond and the flower patch and vanished into the forest. Instead, she was focussed on her mission.

Today, she was going to find something really good to show her parents, something that was going to impress them, and maybe make her mother look less tired at the sight of her muddy hands and feet.

She ran deeper into the woods, revelling in the way it got darker and quieter. Finally, she reached her bush.

This bush was special, because for some reason it grew hollow - she could get inside it, and hide all of her important things!

Kaa-chan once read her the story of a young mermaid who loved to explore deep in the ocean, and used to collect all of her special finds to keep in a huge cave - Himawari pretended this was her secret cave, and once she had even pretended to swim into the bush, imagining a strong blue tail where her legs were. But pretending to swim through air was hard, and she had completely stopped when Boruto had seen her once and made fun of her.

It was sad she wasn't a mermaid, but she wouldn't be able to explore her woods if she had to breathe the water; it was best up here.

She squirmed into the bush past the prickly leaves, and squinted in the near darkness to see all of her objects were still where she had left them yesterday.

Good.

She crawled back out, and took a deep breath before starting to dance in and out of the tree trunks. As her feet slid through the thick grass, she began to sing.

"Sakura, sakura, yayoi no sora wa. Mi-watasu kagiri, kasumi ka kumo wa? Nioi zo izuru, izaya izaya, mini yukan..."

The cool air brushed past her cheeks, and Himawari smiled as she breathed in all the smells of the woods. The sunlight flickered unevenly through the canopy of the leaves, but she deliberately avoided the small beams of light, weaving past them in a sort of game.

She was going even deeper into the small woods now, and she knew that if she kept going she would eventually reach the wall.

The wall was big and boring, and even when Himawari stood on her tiptoes she couldn't see the top. The brick had strange symbols carved into it, and it stopped people from coming into the woods without tou-chan or kaa-chan's permission.

She didn't know much about it, but she knew that she wasn't allowed to go past it.

So when she saw it in the distance, past a few trees, she leaned to the right and began running in a different direction. The earth was all bumpy and rocky this way, but Himawari's feet were pretty used to it by now, so she didn't slow down as she ran right over the top of them. She was breathing fast now, but her chest didn't hurt at all - it was more excitement than anything else.

She had to find something shiny today!

Then, as if some sort of god had heard her, she saw something glinting out of the side of her eye. She swerved towards it, her eyes lighting up in the hope it was something-

Oh. She stopped, and her eyebrows dropped. She could clearly see the handle of a spoon sticking out of the ground, and as she looked at it closer, she could see a very familiar design in the metal.

That was one of their spoons!

She scowled for a moment. Boruto was so going to be in trouble when she told kaa-chan he'd been dumping stuff again.

She didn't let it get her down for long though, and soon she was sprinting back through the woods, humming her song.

By the time she heard Gamakari croaking loudly from the edge of the trees to signal that dinner was ready, she had managed to collect two more sparkly rocks, another crimson leaf the size of her head, and the lovely purple head of a prickly flower.

Overall, it was a very shiny day.

But as she carefully put the flower and the leaf into her bush, and the two shiny rocks into the pockets of her dress to give to tou-chan - it felt like something wasn't quite right.

She had been sure that today was going to be the day she would find something really special.

Despite her finds, she was slightly disappointed.

But soon the thoughts of food drowned the the disappointment, and she left her bush for the last time that day. She set off running towards the house, dodging low branches and high roots as she went. She paid little attention to her path, and in her eagerness she blindly leapt over another root, with no thought as to where she would land.

"Oh!"

The first thing she noticed was an incredibly sore shooting pain in the base of her foot.

The second was the taste of the earth as she landed hard, letting out a cry of shock.

The third was the dulled yet sharp, oddly shaped blade sticking out of the earth, with her blood running down it.

She winced as she pulled herself into a sitting position, and lifted her leg up to look at her injured foot. Her lips was trembled as she held back her tears with great effort, and although she looked at where the blade hard stabbed her, she couldn't see anything past her blurry vision and the wet blood coating her entire foot.

She stubbornly clung to the nearby tree trunk, one tear escaping as she tried to stand.

"Itai!"

There was a gust of wind behind her as she cried out and crumpled to the ground, but she was unable to gasp through the pain as two large hands caught her gently, before lying her down on the ground carefully. She looked up, and through her tears all she could see was white clothes and blond hair.

"Tou-chan!"

He sat beside her and pulled her softly into his side, and she wrapped her arms around him as hard as she could.

He lifted her leg to rest on a high root, before he hugged her back, and whispered into her ear.

"Be careful, chiisai. That foot is pretty hurt."

Himawari brought one hand up to her face and wiped away her tears, not wanted to smudge her tou-chan's coat.

"I-I stood on something, tou-chan! It hurts! C-can kaa-chan heal it?"

"I know, it was my kunai. I'm sure your kaa-chan will be able to heal it when you get home."

Himawari sniffed. "Y-your kunai?"

"Yes, chiisai, my kunai. I'm very sorry you stood on it, but at least I'm here to help you now."

Himawari frowned and looked up at the kind face looking down at her.

"You're not tou-chan."

"No, I'm not."

"But you look like him?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

She knew she wasn't supposed to talk to strangers, but her foot hurt so much.

"Will my foot be okay?"

"Yes. There's a lot of blood, but it's not deep. Feet tend to bleed a lot, but you'll be fine."

His eyes closed as he smiled at her, and she found herself smiling back, even through the pain. When he opened them again, she stared right into them, and knew they were exactly the same vibrant blue as her own were.

He kept smiling, before giving her a light squeeze.

"What's your name, chiisai?"

She frowned and pouted. "I'm not that little."

He laughed, before nodding. "I suppose not. That means you'll have to tell me your name - I can't keep calling you something you're not, can I?"

She inspected him for a few moments, but eventually answered.

"Himawari."

"That's a very pretty name. A pretty flower too."

She nodded. "Kaa-chan said they were my ji-san's favourite flower. He died in the war."

The man looked down at the ground, and Himawari thought he looked sad.

"Oh. That's a shame. I'm sure he would have loved to meet you."

"Kaa-chan says so too."

He looked straight at her, short blond hair moving in the breeze, and smiled again.

"Well then, it must be true, if your kaa-chan says it."

Himawari nodded firmly. "Kaa-chan's always right. Tou-chan thinks so too."

He smirked, but Himawari didn't notice. I'm sure he does.

"Aniki argues with her sometimes, but he's a baka."

He chuckled, and she smiled up at him again, the wound on her foot completely forgotten. She didn't know him, but he made her feel safe like tou-chan did. She was happy she had made him laugh.

Suddenly, she stuck her hand into the pocket of her dress, and rummaged around for a moment. He looked down curiously as she did so, and when she pulled her hand out again, brandishing a rock, he paused for an instant.

"Here." She forced it into his spare hand, and he looked down at it as it shone, before glancing back up at her.

"What's this for, Himawari-chan?"

She looked away. "I give them to tou-chan, and he keeps them on a shelf in his office. But he has loads already... I want you to have one."

He looked down at the small head of soft purple hair, and smiled. He carefully slipped it into the pocket of his coat, before finding he had to look away. He blinked away the liquid welling in the corner of his eyes, and made an effort to smile at her when she looked back at him.

"Thank you very much, Himawari-chan. I'll keep it safe, I promise."

She grinned and then something occurred to her.

"What's your name?"

Silence met her request, and as he stared, she felt she had maybe asked something wrong.

"... you can just call me jii-san."

Something clicked in her, a glimmer of sudden realisation - but Himawari was only a little girl, and she didn't know how to comprehend what her mind was telling her. But something made its way into her understanding, and she nodded without a second thought, ignoring the things that told her he still hadn't really told her his name, nor was he old enough to be a jii-san.

"Okay jii-chan."

He smiled a little bit wider, and scooped her up into a hug. She rested her chin on his shoulder, and noticed his hugs smelled like tou-chan's hugs.

She wrapped her small arms around his neck as he suddenly stood up, and squealed slightly at the abrupt change in height. On the way up he dug one of his hands into the earth and pulled out the kunai that she had stood on, and laid it on her lap as he began to carry her through the woods.

She looked down at it curiously, noticing the strange glowing squiggles written on the label on the handle, and the three separate blades. This was definitely a shiny one. Maybe it was what she had been supposed to find today?

"Himawari-chan?"

"Yes, jii-chan?"

"Can you do something for me?"

She nodded, and when he was finished whispering in her ear, she nodded again.

"Uh huh. I promise."

They finally reached the break in the trees, and she looked at him in confusion when he laid her down at the base of one of them, tucking the kunai in her dress pocket.

"Jii-chan?"

He shook her head as he knelt down in front of her, a solemn look on his face.

"I'm afraid that I can't take you any further, Himawari-chan. I have to go."

She frowned. "Oh. Will I see you again?"

He smiled wistfully, staring off into the trees behind her.

"Yes, but hopefully not for a very long time."

She looked down at the ground, her injured leg straight out, in disappointment.

A hand grasped her chin, and made her look up.

"Don't be sad, Himawari-chan. I'm not."

"Y-you're not sad we won't see each other again for a long time?"

He shook his head, before ruffling her hair gently.

"No, because I still got to meet you. And I am so glad I did."

Happiness bloomed in her chest.

"I'm glad I got to meet you too, jii-chan!"

He stood straight up, and she had to crane her neck to see him. She noticed he had her sparkling rock in his hands, and tossed it lightly into the air. He caught it firmly and kept a tight hold of it.

"Goodbye, Himawari-chan."

He gazed straight at her and she did so in return. Then... his edges began to almost... fade.

Without any further pomp or circumstance, he melted into thin air.

Himawari didn't know she had shouted for her parents until she was hoisted into her father's arms, with her mother fussing over her foot - which she barely felt now - as they carried her quickly back to the house.

She could still feel the weight of the kunai in her pocket and the message in her head - jii-chan had definitely vanished, but it was real. She knew it was.

The frantic words of her parents washed over her head until she felt the cool sensation of healing in her injured foot, and she was pulling out of her revere by the concerned touch of her tou-chan.

She noticed she was on the kitchen table, her kaa-chan's hand glowing as it was held over her foot. Her father was sitting next to her, and he shook her shoulder gently.

"Himawari-chan, please - are you okay?"

When she turned to look at him, she could see his relief, and the sigh of her kaa-chan.

"Tou-chan... will it be okay?"

She looked down at her foot, and he understood. He redirected the question to kaa-chan as he took her hand, and her mother nodded gently, before answering.

"It'll be fine, Himawari-chan. It's not very bad, there's just a lot of blood.

Himawari nodded. Jii-chan had been right after all, and it just further cemented the truth of it in her head.

"But... Himawari-chan..." Kaa-chan trailed off, but tou-chan continued. "How did it happen?"

"I stood on a kunai in the woods."

Her mother frowned worriedly as she continued to heal, and her father squeezed her hand gently to sooth her. She didn't want to admit, but she tightened her grip too. She was glad to have the comfort of her parents.

"I told you to be more careful out there, Himawari-chan. You could get hurt a lot worse than this!"

She looked down at the mild reprimand from her mother. She didn't often give Himawari into trouble, but when she did it always felt worse than it did with her father.

"You're lucky you were able to get to where tou-chan could hear you, or you could have been out there a lot longer."

Himawari found herself shaking her head. "Jii-chan carried me there."

The frown that appeared on her father's face was slightly scary.

"Who? ... Was there someone else there, Himawari-chan?"

Her mother looked at her father with worry.

"Naruto-kun... are the seals...?"

He shook his head. "They should all be intact Hinata-chan."

"It was jii-chan's kunai I stood on, so he carried me out of the woods."

That got the attention of both of her parents as they turned to stare at her, and she squirmed to reach a hand into her pocket to pull out the kunai.

When the sharp object came into view, she noticed her father's face go pale, and her mother's eyes widen in shock.

She pushed the kunai towards her father, and he took it after some hesitation, staring at it with a very strange look on his face. His thumb wiped away some of her blood off the handle, and she noticed that the glowing squiggles had disappeared.

"Naruto-kun..."

"Himawari-chan... who gave this to you?"

"Jii-chan."

Her father shook his head, looking more lost than Himawari had ever seen. "... it... can't be."

She swallowed, put off and confused by tou-chan's reaction - but she made a promise to jii-chan to pass on the message. She never broke promises.

"... H-he told me to tell you that... You found the answer to peace. And that he and... kaa-san are proud of you."

He stared at her blankly with his mouth open, and she stared back, shocked when he suddenly started crying as he grinned widely at her.

"I gave him one of the shiny rocks I give you, tou-chan. Is that okay?"

He laughed and nodded, before shaking his head in ironic disbelief.

"Of course that's okay, Himawari-chan."

Her father swept her into a warm hug as her mother finished healing her, and she buried her face in his shoulder, not sure what was wrong but it didn't matter because she loved her tou-chan dearly.

"Thank you, musume. I love you so much."

Himawari hugged her father tightly, ignoring the drop of water that landed on the skin of her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw her mother wiping her own tears.

"I love you too, tou-chan."

"Sakura, sakura, yayoi no sora wa. Mi-watasu kagiri, kasumi ka kumo wa? Nioi zo izuru, izaya izaya, mini yukan..." = "Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, across the spring sky. As far as you can see, is it a mist, or clouds? Fragrant in the air. Come now, come, Let's look, at last..." (A Japanese folk song, often sung by children. I'll put a link to a video on my profile)

Itai = ouch

Chiisai = little/small (essentially "little one")

Musume = daughter

I like family hugs, okay.

I literally love the new generation so much (as is probably obvious with my other Naruto stories). And a certain "jii-chan" is my all time favourite character, so... FEELS. I suppose it could considered a parallel to Sarada and Itachi.

Some feedback would be wonderful, and thank you for reading :)