Family Traditions

"We should call her Tenma," Karura says idly. She's sitting watching her husband do paperwork.

Sunamaru drops his brush as he stares at his wife incredulously. He puts aside the fact that she seems confident it will be a girl to focus on the more pressing issue.

"We are not calling our child 'evil spirit'," he states firmly, hoping that this will be the end of the matter.

She's not put off by his refusal though.

"How about Kijo?"

"Or 'demoness'."

Where is she getting these ideas from? All his family have had perfectly sensible names and he intends to carry on that tradition with his own children. Something about the 'names' she's suggesting seem familiar though...

"Wasn't Kijo your mother's name?"

"Yes. It's a family tradition to name children after unfortunate things in order to prevent bad luck in their lives."

He considers this. It sounds odd but then Karura's family are foreigners after all.

"So what about Henkei?"

He wonders how to get her to stop this. Maybe if he decides on a name instead... He glances around the room for inspiration. There's a ball resting on a shelf on the far side. Balls...

"Her name will be Temari."

His tone is final and Karura drops the subject.

"I was thinking that Eirei would be a good name."

Sunamaru doesn't bang his head against his desk, he tells himself later.

Inspired by the fact that Karura means 'the demon who adds to the flow [of sand or hatred]'. Added to the fact that Yashamaru means 'demon' (in Hindu mythology, Yakshas have two sides: one dark and sinister, the other benevolent and loving) and I decided that while their names make sense from a story-telling perspective, there had to be a good reason why their parents would choose those names in-story.

The custom is a real one but I have no idea where it comes from. (Apparently it's used in Saudi Arabia.)

Temari is a traditional Japanese handball game.

Henkei means monster and Eirei spirits of war dead. The others mean what Sunamaru says they do.

I have no idea if any of the words Karura suggests can be used as names. (I hope not though. xD)