Out from the Shadows
WARNING! Story contains: an OC, that's about it. DISCLAIMER! I don't own Naruto, or Tadashi Ookami. He belongs to my friend, Tadashi Fire Wolf. HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY! Now, you've waited, so enjoy!
As Kiba Inuzuka napped in the afternoon shade of a tree, with his brand-new puppy Akamaru curled up in is lap, a boy younger than he watched him with icy-blue eyes. The child wore raggedy, faded clothes and had strips of red cloth wrapped around his hands and wrists, the only things he had of his favorite color. Well, that and his hair, a wild mixture of black and crimson, cut short to keep it clean.
Even though he would easily blend in with the street urchins and homeless kids of most cities, the boy was special. Abandoned by his thief parents shortly after his birth, he knew no love, or almost any emotion, for that matter. The third Hokage took him into the village, but Danzo swooped down on him like a hawk, erasing almost any trace of the boy. The short version: he was in Root, but he knew how keep himself from being like the other children. Rather than have a hobby or find a friend inside the groups, he spent as much time as he could people watching.
He learned what was acceptable, what made some people laugh, what made others cry…how to get them to stop, more importantly. But hours of sitting in trees and listening to women gossip was boring and dumb, so he started stalking guys around his size. Ideally, the goofball blond who everyone shunned and his friend with the red markings on his cheeks. Then, he just started following him around.
Which was exactly what he was doing at the time, until the jerkoff in the raccoon mask called him back to base for another taijutsu match. Not wanting to blow his cover and confront the kid named Kiba, he silently stood up when the agent appeared behind his back and said his name. "Tadashi."
"I'm coming," he whispered. When in the world was it possibly okay for a six-year-old boy to kill the people he grew up with? Any time of the day, according to that bastard Danzo. Tadashi may have been young, but he knew that at least.
What he didn't know, was that it would be three more years until he ever saw Kiba again.
"Shino! Slow down!" a now twelve-year-old Kiba Inuzuka yelled at his teammate as they sailed through the trees outside their village. Hinata hung back, leaning up against a tree as she felt their shadows pass over her through the leaves. Tsunade had been mad Hokage, and they had the day off, so why not play a wholesome game of tag? Jutsu-enhanced, of course.
"Why would I do that? The point of this game is to outpace you, and losing an advantage because you told me to would be ridiculous." As Shino explained Akamaru leaped from his hiding place on a branch and tackled him, but the curly-head ducked, landing the pup in a tree trunk. Too busy fussing over his canine friend and cussing Shino out, Kiba failed to notice the pair of eyes watching him.
They weren't Hinata's, but she saw the person they belonged to.
"Hello. Why are you here? Do you need something?" she questioned the boy crouched in a nearby tree. Spooked, he fled without a sound. Upon hearing their soft-spoken friend's voice, Kiba and Shino dashed over to her.
"Was someone here?" the bug-lover demanded in his usual monotone.
"Yeah. A little kid with weird hair. I think he was watching you guys…" she neglected to tell them that he was in a black flak jacket and forehead protector. And that there was an ANBU mask tied to the side of head, obscuring everything but the tip of his nose.
"Well, I don't smell anything out of the ordinary. Maybe you were seeing things," Kiba half-teased.
"I swear, there was an actual kid there!" Hinata argued, standing up for herself.
"Yeah!" the Inuzuka laughed. "You've totally lost it!"
"Kiba…" Shino began as Hinata turned red with anger for once. A three-way argument ensued, but wasn't very serious, given the amount of laughter pouring from Kiba. It soon ended with Akamaru launching himself onto Shino's face with a yip, and their game of ninja tag resuming, with Hinata being it. This all greatly amused Tadashi, who had relocated to another tree, further away and higher up.
In the three years that it took Kiba to graduate from the academy and become a genin, his old stalker had become a medium-level member of Root. Far from the top, but soon getting there at the rate he was excelling with his fights.
That girl almost caught me. He sighed inside his head. What has changed in you, Kiba? Certainly not your love of Akamaru… What could it be?
That would take a nine-year-old Tadashi another three years to figure out.
Kiba was walking home with his fully-grown furry friend from the Hokage's office, head held high. The next day, he was going on a B-Rank mission! Apparently, a nomadic tribe of thieves and criminals of all types was passing by the village for the first time in about a decade, and they were going to need all hands on deck for the job. The Konoha 11 teams and some former Root member named Tadashi were going to take care of the problem.
"Any idea why Tsunade-sama looked upset when she said that guy was coming along?" Kiba asked Akamaru, who barked in answer. "Maybe he's got some sorta connection with them… Eh, who cares? Wonder if he'll be like that Sai guy…" the scruffy teen was happily lost in thought.
At the same time, Tadashi Ookami wept in frustration. Sure, going after his parents' clan—the people who abandoned him just because he looked different—might help him gain some solace, but when the people found out… Worse, Kiba Inuzuka would be there; the now teenage chunin who he had idolized for most of his life, who he had stalked almost every day of his childhood. Tadashi just hoped that they could become friends at least. If they were, he might be able to confess the fact that he was able to grow some humanity by following him around. Interestingly enough, after Kiba became a genin, Tadashi stopped following him to learn how to be human. He followed him because he wanted to be friends. To be able to laugh with him, fight alongside him, protect him.
Tadashi just hoped Kiba liked him.
"Okay everyone," Tsunade boomed at the Konoha 11, who were crouched in front of her on her roof, "two kilometers outside the village is an old threat. While the enemy has maintained a nomadic stance, they are still wanted criminals; this being said, we have warned them that if they come too close, we will arrest them. They have sent a reply consisting of a human skeleton dressed in a Konoha nin uniform, and are within range. It is up to you to arrest as many of them as possible, but do not engage unless they attack first."
As she continued on, a pre-teen male with a red-and-black wolf ANBU mask appeared to her left. Without missing a beat, he was introduced. "This is Tadashi. He knows the identity of the clan leader, and is one of the best young fighters we have." Tadashi took off his mask (Hinata had instantly recognized it) and flashed everyone a sharp-toothed smile. Even though the clearness of his eyes contrasted the mixed shades of his hair, and he was several years younger than everybody, he was attractive. Well, not at Sasuke's level if you asked Ino or Sakura, but his even stature, longish locks and sharp features made him quite the looker.
For a twelve-year-old, that is…
"I'm going to tell you all now," he began, stepping forward, "the relation between me and the enemy is that I am technically the heir to the clan. I would be, but I wasn't satisfactory to them." A low muttering spread over the small crowd. "I have inherited the kekai genkai of Life-Fire. It will be likely that they will use it against us, and it is incredibly crucial that you avoid it at all costs…"
After Tadashi explained the abilities of the jutsu, Tsunade gave the strategies and then left. With only the sensei's keeping an eye on them, everyone introduced themselves; Naruto went first, of course.
"Hey. My name's Naruto. Nice to meet ya."
"Tadashi." Pleasantries were exchanged, but when Kiba and his team came up, the kid stiffened.
"My name's Kiba and this is Akamaru," a toothy smile, a handshake, and a sniff. "That's weird; you seem familiar…"
"Kiba, that's rude," Shino scolded, even though it was a normal thing.
"I remember your mask. You were the kid from that day," Hinata muttered in his ear. Tadashi nodded quietly as the two guys continued to argue.
"Just like that day…" he whispered, nostalgic. The navy-haired Hyuga girl had no quarrel with Tadashi, but she was a little creeped out by the fact that he remembered their close encounter. Kakashi interrupted the meeting by telling them it was time to head out. As he watched the teams launched themselves off the roof, a sickening chill came over him; something terrible was about to happen.
They came upon the tribe in their team formations. Tadashi was just there for backup in case someone came along his father. It was insulting, really; only being there to handle the really dangerous, dirty work wasn't exactly fair, but when your daddy is the only other carrier of something so powerful that even Sharingan was easily defeated by it, you couldn't afford to complain.
Have to be some weak-ass Sharingan for it to be taken down quickly… the wolfish pre-teen mused inside his head as he crept through the bushes behind everyone else. It was also rumored that his mother was kidnapped from the village at a young age, and that she was an Uchiha, but Tadashi also knew that was bullshit. He had one memory of his mother, and that was right before she threw him into a river—the so-called "maternal instinct" was bullshit, too. Anyway, most people of the Uchiha clan had dark hair and eyes, even though the shading could differentiate, but he remembered a solid flash of green. Unless there was something he didn't know, she most certainly wasn't the aunt of Sasuke.
Stuck in thought, Tadashi almost didn't notice the tripwire coming up fast. Using only his arms, he sprung up and over without making the leaves rustle. Spinning around to face it, he sliced it in half with his sharp middle fingernail to keep it from bothering them later. He really didn't see the net pinning him to the ground coming, or the two fighters with spears.
"Man, are you kidding me?" Flipping over onto his back, he waited until the very last second to launch himself into the air, feet first, and smash them in the throats with his sandal heels. The only regret was the amount of blood they coughed up on his black pants and the fact that his cover was blown. With his duo assailants writhing on the ground, Tadashi stood up to his full height (not very much, really) and took up a fighting stance. Suddenly, the sound of a gong and maniacal laughter rang out.
"They're here! They're here~!" someone with a scratchy voice screamed as more men flooded the forest clearing from the trees. Fearing that it was his fault, Tadashi whipped his head around to see his fellow ninja in the midst of battle. Wondering why he didn't hear it sooner, the blue-eyed boy rushed a trio of tribesmen, taking them out with shuriken as he continued on to the tents on the opposite edge of the meadow. Along the way, he saw Kiba fighting alongside his puppy friend, holding his own against a hoard of ragtag, ugly-ass men with dulled swords. Nothing to worry about…
Until he slammed face-first into a man the size of the First Hokage's memorial carving.
Stumbling backwards and holding his bloody, but fortunately not broken, nose and cussing up a storm, Tadashi forced himself to look up at the massive man's face. Puffy eyes and minimal teeth, he snatched the red-and-black haired tween up and squeezed him in his elbow. Hearing his ribs crack and air leave him as the pressure around his torso increased, Tadashi forced the enlarging black spots out of his eyes and tried to break free. It wasn't working.
"There is no way I'm dying like this!" he screamed as he activated his kekai genkai. Fire the color of his hair suddenly burst from his body, scaring the massive man into letting him loose. Crumpling to the ground, he gasped for breath until his vision cleared; ignoring the shocked stare he was receiving from all around. The bi-colored fire swirled around Tadashi in circles, making it look like his hair had come alive and was trying to eat him. Standing up a quickly as he dared, the Ookami heir prepared for a fight of epic proportions.
It would start with the giant in front of him. Fatso was about to have the lard kicked out of him.
Messy, but fun.
With his latest adversary out of the way, Tadashi moved on to finding he center tent. He knew his father would be in there, probably waiting for him and ready for anything. Well, the kid wasn't disappointed. The man sat in the center of the room, in an elaborate maroon-and-gold kimono and surrounded by thick carpets and lit candles. It had to be at least ten or more degrees warner in there than outside! But, he was there, eyes shut and in meditation, like the heat and noise was nothing. His eyes opened, the exact same color as Tadashi's; it was like looking in a mirror, aside from the obvious wrinkles and greying hair.
"Hello, son," he greeted him, smiling like any father would. But Tadashi could tell that he was insincere, that the grin was masking shock and manipulation. No, it wasn't just the fact that he was thrown into a river as a baby that clued him in.
"I am not your son," Tadashi snarled, his fire burning hotter and hotter. It could have been cool to the touch if he wanted it, but that wasn't exactly helpful in a fight to the death.
"Then why do you still carry the name of Ookami?" he chided, standing up to his full height. His head barely brushed the top of the stuffy tent, but he wasn't too intimidating; the robes hid his boniness.
"I had no choice. Nobody wanted to adopt me, and I wasn't about to create a new identity over something so trivial as attempted infanticide," Tadashi's voice slowly grew louder and more sarcastic as he continued. His father sighed and shook his head, chuckling slightly.
"My dear boy, your mother is the one who tried to kill you, not me, and I think you know that." His tone was completely even and calm, which frustrated Tadashi to no end. "You see, she hated me for taking her from her family; it was a tiny settlement on the edge of the Land of Mist. I gave her money and servants, everything she could ever want, but she resented me still. When she refused to bed with me, I took her by force, and she became pregnant with you."
"You raped my mother?" the young nin felt like he was going to be sick, spitting the word out like something vile. He could see where this was going, and he didn't like it.
"I suppose that is one way of putting it," he made the matter seem like it was nothing. What disgusted Tadashi even more was that she could have been under his control for years until he stole her innocence. "Anyway, we traveled like normal, and she gave birth to you not far from the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Now, her family had a custom that if a mother were to abandon her baby in one way or another, that they would be monsters and shunned for life.
"Since you looked like a miniature version of me, she could hardly stand to nurse you, much less raise you. In order to maintain the tradition of a bloodline she missed and respected, she threw you into a river, the killed herself by following suit. How you survived is beyond me."
Tadashi was in shock. He had always had a feeling that it was his mother who carried out the deed, but her motives were ghastly.
"What was her name?" he whispered, facing the ground as tears filled his eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's been so long since then that it has slipped my memory. I selected more wives over the years and they all had similar characteristics. If you return to your rightful clan, you can have all the women you want when you're older," he offered, brimming with confidence.
That was the final straw.
"Die, you filthy son of a bitch!" Tadashi screamed as he lunged forward, his special fire chakra blades white hot and deadly. He aimed for his father's neck in a scissor formation, but was easily dodged, causing him to fly through the tent wall, setting it ablaze. In a fit of rage, he slashed at his father, missing each time. Eventually, they had destroyed half of the tarp colony from their ridiculous game of cat and mouse.
"Are you really fighting because of your mother, or because you are angry at the world? I know what happened to you after the Third Hokage plucked you from death. A man took you into a secret organization and turned you into a man killer! After what you have done to others, you are hardly human at all!" he spat, taunting and angering Tadashi further as he summoned his own fire.
"You're wrong!" he cried. "I learned humanity, unlike the other victims of Danzo!" At this point, most of the fighting had resolved between the Konoha nin and the thief villagers. Women and children who escaped into the woods were rounded up, but many a head turned at the sound of Tadashi screaming.
"Unlike you!"
Their eyes met, clear blue against clear blue, and something sparked. Life-Fire began to swirl around them in tornados, and they clashed. Most everyone took cover, knowing that they would only get in the way. Kiba himself was captivated, thinking about what Tadashi had confessed, but was brought back to reality when Naruto shook his shoulder.
"We gotta get outta here!" he yelled over the roaring wind. Suddenly, the heat became almost unbearable, leeching moisture from everything around, including the people.
"You and your friends," Tadashi's father screamed, "are all going to burn! The human body is such a fragile thing; when I'm done here, the marrow in their bones will be dust! You know what I'm capable of! I mastered this power before you were born, and you know how hard it is to control it!"
As he verbally assaulted Tadashi, he followed up with physical damage. Fire mixed with the steam from the dying plants and sweat, boiling and roasting them at the same time. Trying their best to get everyone out alive, Team Kurenai helped the gypsy families escape with the other teams. They were attacked brutally. As balls of fire hurtled towards the cowering crowd, Tadashi tried to stop them with his own fire, but, being too late on the draw, at least half a dozen people were hit.
The only things that remained were dry, smoking bones.
"Damn you!" an enraged Tadashi screamed. Seeing it as weakness, his father repeated the assault, but snatched Tadashi up in a death-grip of flame right before. Forced to watch as more people died, the anger and hate in his heart exploded, along with his kekai genkai. His father flew back and he was released from his hold, eyes standing out the firestorm like lights. "Run! Now!" he ordered his fellow nin. "I'll stop him!"
"Oh, no you won't!" the senior Ookami snarled, face becoming more and more animalistic by the moment. "I'm going to burn you all to death, then roast that puny village of yours. Nothing will be left, and you cannot stop me, you pathetic excuse for a ninja! I'm actually glad your mother tried to kill you, because I would be unable to stand my failure of a son! A boy who can't even control the ultimate gift I bestowed upon him!
"A boy who let his own father end him."
More fire erupted, and flew towards the people and Tadashi. He dodged, but barely, and was still too slow to save more people. He saw the terror in Kiba's eyes, partnered with the faith. They had never shared a single conversation for more than a moment, but he had all of his hope pinned on Tadashi. Rushing over to defend his friends, and quite possibly throwing his life away, he braced himself for the biggest attack yet. Sure, his dad was right: he was indeed weaker. But, strength or not, he was prepared to die protecting those he cared for most.
He summoned every last bit of chakra inside of his body and turned it into Life-Fire and prepared it for defense. Papa mimicked him, but released it in one mega-blast. Tadashi felt the heat of both fires burn his skin as they collided. He would die if he didn't stop, everyone would. Absorbing as much as he could of both, he shot them both back at his father, damaging his own body close to the point of no return.
He saw his father burn to nothing.
He heard the world around his crackle as it burned out.
He felt the ground catch him as he collapsed.
He smelled the char of his mutilated flesh.
He tasted blood as it slid up from his throat.
No… I won't die here... I have to tell them all… What Danzo did… Who the Root children are… How Kiba saved me from something worse than hell…
"Please…" he coughed, "don't let me die…"
And the world faded to black.
Tadashi awoke in the Konoha Hospital, feeling no pain whatsoever. His arms and chest were all scar tissue, and he presumed most of the rest of him was, too. It was snowing outside, fluffy and white, but it was surprisingly snug in the linen bed sheets. Around him were dying flowers and cards, some of the writing in calligraphy, some of it in plain handwriting. Several had tear stains. As he read through them, Tsunade walked in.
"How am I not dead?" was the first thing he said, eyes full of curiosity.
"All I can say is, you didn't give up," she turned to leave, not wanting to press anything on anyone. "Oh, and, you have a visitor."
There in the doorway, was Kiba Inuzuka.
Okay, there we go! You're not dead, Tadashi, and you will get a sequel for Christmas. Hope you can hold off 'til then. Now, PLEASE REVIEW!