Moons: I deleted the Prelude, 'cause it was a load of crap.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, just the origanal characters.
"Real life's nasty. It's cruel. It doesn't care about heroes and happy endings and the way things should be. In real life, bad things happen. People die. Fights are lost. Evil often wins.
I just wanted to make that clear before we begin."
-Darren Shan, A Living Nightmare
Setting: Shippuden; Kuma no Kuni (Land of Bears)
It was an extremely cold night. Not as cold as it got in the Yuki no Kuni (Land of Snow), but still a fall night like this could get pretty freakin' cold. Not the place Sora wanted to be without his gloves and jacket. Yet, here he was.
A few articles of clothing weren't all he was missing. All his food, most of his water and kunai, and most importantly...
"Senpia..." Sora muttered. His grey hands, colder than the rest of his body, reached to his side and pulled out the katana to defend himself. Something told him they weren't done yet.
Bastards!
Setting: 6 1/2 years before Shippuden; Ishi no Kuni (Land of Stone)
"Sora, can you dust off that table in the corner for me? Boss has been nagging about it."
"Okay, onii-san."
"That cute, little boy is your brother?"
"Yep." Ichigo told the young woman pouring her another cup of sake. "He's actually a lot of help around here for an eight-year old."
"You aren't letting him near the alcohol, are you?!" the woman snapped suddenly.
"Hell no!" Ichigo replied quickly, "I had to be a complete kiss up to convince Boss to let him work here with me- Boss thought he was cute too. He really like kids, but he thought that Sora should be somewhere like the Ninja Academy instead of helping me in this tavern for grown-ups. But I explained to him-yah see- I'm the only one looking after him. We got no parents. No body to look after him at home, an' with my income I can't exactly afford the luxury of making him a ninja. Gotta work overtime."
"I see." The women said, sipping her drink. She examined the pair for a second.'The brothers looked identical enough to tell they're related. 'Bout ten years apart in age. Dirt-brown hair cut in the same style: short and somewhat spiky at the top and in the front. Their faces are similar, but Ichigo has brown eyes while Sora's eyes look light blue. They're defiantly short on money; their clothes show that. Sora's pants are too big.'
Sora finished wiping the table and returned to his nee-san behind the counter, holding the dirty rag behind his short-sleeved red shirt.
"Great job. Just throw that thing in the sink, and then stay with this pretty lady while I see to the other customers. And remember-"
"Stay away from the grown-up drinks." Sora finished for him in his cute, little-kid voice.
Ichigo smiled and poured a drink for a man on the other end of the counter.
"Thanks." The man told him, "That kid was here last week too. How long has he been working with you?"
"I dunno. At least half a year now." Ichigo replied. "He's not only good with helping me out with work, but he helps me with the babes too." He flashed a slightly perverted stare at the woman from earlier. She didn't notice. She was ruffling up Sora's hair, complimenting on how adorable he was.
"Un, I see what you mean." The man lifted his cup to take a drink-
CRASH!!
The door slammed open breaking one of the hinges. A very large man in his late twenties stood in the doorway. This guy was huge, almost 7ft tall at least! He had a brown beard, mid-length messy hair, a bent nose, and brown, narrowed eyes. A ten-gallon hat was dangling behind him attached to neck by a string in front of a large coat.
"Stupid teenagers." He spat, annoyed by something unknown that had gone on outside.
"Crud..." Ichigo mumbled. He clutched his brown sleeve, cleared his throat, and opened his mouth, but was stopped by the stranger walking up to his little nee-san.
"Aren't you too young to be here?" He asked the little kid who was sitting in a chair too big for him next to the woman.
"Back off." She said protectively. "The child has no choice but to stay with his brother."
"Oh really?" The man didn't even look at her. He had got down to Sora's level and stared into his big, blue eyes. Then he stood straight again and looked at Ichigo approaching him. "I'm assuming you're his brother."
Ichigo nodded, "And I hate to break it to you, but just like I'm responsible for my bro you're responsible for that door. I hope you have the cash to pay for it's repair."
"You don't need a freakin' repairman!" The man snapped, "I can fix it! Just get me a couple of tools." Ichigo agreed.
The afternoon dragged on. The woman next to Sora wanted him to stay there the whole time so she could babble on to him about her ex-boyfriend-baka or the gambling hall at the other side of the Stone Country. Sora couldn't care less and didn't pay any of his attention to her. Instead he focused it on the man repairing the door. Door repair wasn't something he was experienced at and the woman had gotten exhausted and left before the door was completely fixed.
When the job was done, the man sat down at a table in the corner to rest. "Can I get you anything?" Ichigo asked him. "Yeah," He said, "Two glasses of water."
"Uh, are you sure?" The man replied, "Yeah, I'm sure, because one: I'm cranky and the last thing you want to give me is some god damn sake. Two: Your brother is way to young to start drinking." The explanation surprised Ichigo. "What do you want with him?"
"Nothing. Just a friendly talk."
"...Fine, but I'll be watching the whole time. Try and do one thing and I'll make you regret it."
"Fair enough."
Sora was told by his nee-san to talk to the man for awhile while a close eye was kept on him. He sat down across from the man, a part of him excited. "You wanted to talk, sir?"
"First off, don't give me that 'sir' crap." The man said sternly. "I have a name. It's Brom."
"Brom." Sora repeated, liking the strong sound. "My name's Sora."
"Pleasure to meet yah, Sora." Brom said, shaking Sora's hand. He took his glass of water and took a sip before saying, "So are you damned to work here forever like your brother?"
Sora shrugged, "I dunno."
"It sure looks like it." Brom said flatly.
"Well it isn't that bad." Sora pointed out, "Because of working here, I know every naughty word I'm not supposed to say."
Though most people wouldn't have exactly considered that an advantage, Brom did. "So you're saying you know every cuss word in the dictionary." Sora nodded. "What does shit mean?"
"It's like crap. It's nasty junk and usually poop of some kind."
"What's a bastard?"
"A guy who's a real evil pain in the butt."
"Hmm... what does it mean to fu-"
"Off? It's like crazy kissing, I think?"
"Eh, close enough. Stick to that." Brom smiled, "I'm impressed. I guess you learned from drunk retards. Am I right?"
"Maybe. Drunks do act like morons. They completely forget the lessons God taught them."
Brom's smile turned to a frown. "What's wrong?" Sora asked.
"So you believe in God like the rest of these suckers?"
"..."
"Be honest and give me an answer Sora!"
Sora gulped and said, "I've been told to repeatedly, but sometimes I think he isn't real." He flinched like he was expected a yell, slap, or at least a scolding. To his favor, Brom's frown had become a smile again.
"You're damn right he isn't real."
"What do you mean?" Confused Sora asked, "You, you aren't from the Stone Country, are yah Brom?"
"No, I'm not." Brom said, a bit impressed by Sora's ability to discover that about him. "How'd you know that?'
"Nobody says that in Ishi no Kuni."
"Ah right. So, I assume you've been raised to believe in the God here."
Sora nodded, still not sure where this was going. "All laws in this country are made by the prests and temple. They run everything, so I kinda have to."
"Well that's just wrong if the religion's bull." Brom stated. He picked up his glass of water and chugged it. Sora took this opportunity to look around the room. No one had heard their conversation. Everyone was too far away. 'What is with this guy?' Sora wondered, 'If anyone else hears Brom talking like this, he'll be in big trouble. Is he drunk? No, he's only had water. What's he thinking?'
He was thinking this: 'I'm glad I ran into Sora. He's really intelligent for his age; that just makes his fate so sad. It's for the best that I'm putting him on the right path.'
He put his now empty glass on the table next to Sora's untouched one. He reached into one of the large pockets in his jacket and pulled out a pendant. It was a silver circle with a triangle inside it, the whole thing attached to the string Brom held it by. "Do you know what this is Sora?" The kid shook his head no, his large eyes glued to the pendant. "This is Jashin-sama's insignia."
"Jashin-sama..." Sora repeated, "So, he's a lord of some kind?"
"He's the true God."
"But, I thought God's name is unknown to us."
"That's in Ishi no Kuni. Jashinism is real truth and Jashin isn't afraid to give his name to the world. He wants his name known to spread fear into the hearts of people."
"Why fear?"
"Because Jashin-sama isn't all that nice. He and his loyal followers spread chaos across the land, killing those who defy him. For the loyalty given to him, Jashin-sama blesses us, his followers." 'Now here's the hard part.' Brom thought, 'How will the kid react?'
Sora stared at the table, processing the information in his head. "Are you ready to devote your life to Jashin like me, Sora? Take your time, but if your answer is no," Brom's expression was cold and serious. "I may have to kill you."
The young boy continued to stare down as he said, "Can you tell me more about Jashin, please? Can you show me how we know he exists?"
"You've seen the proof yourself." Brom explained, "You told me earlier that men who get drunk forget everything their god taught them, all their morals. Jashinism doesn't have morals except for the true human nature: kill and spread chaos. When you get drunk, your true colors show an' you're not so nice anymore. You do things that you would have considered sins. Humans ever show Jashin's law without being bakas. It happens all the time with shinobi and war. Shinobi act like such kindhearted gentlemen when they're in the village and people respect them and look up to them like heroes. Then they go on missions and get into battles. There they won't hesitate to kill a man on the spot with the simplest order. Then they come back think high of themselves."
Sora stared down at the table longer.
"Got any parents Sora?"
"Ichigo, er, my brother, doesn't talk about them. I brought the topic up once. He muttered something- a dirty word I think- and then he told me he didn't feel comfortable talking about them. Ichigo's my only family." Silence followed. "Brom,...do you really kill people like you say?"
"All the time." He answered.
Sora swallowed and said, "I guess it...can't hurt to give it a try. But, I wanna see you do it first. I'm still not sure."
"Good answer. Ichigo's the only one who looks after yah. When he's asleep, meet me outside this tavern. And don't tell anyone about anything or I just have to kill you no matter how cute you are." He reached again into the over-sized pocket, replacing the pendent with a wad of cash. He slid it across the table to Sora. "For the water. Speaking of which, you might want to try a sip or something. It'll make yah look normal and not like you've just been talking with a serial killer."
Brom stood up and Ichigo came up to him.
"You done here?"
"Yeah," Brom grunted, "Money's with your brother." He turned back to look at Sora once more, before heading out the door.
Sora handed the money to Ichigo. He took arom's advice and drank the water. Ichigo smiled a bit, tucking away the green bills. "Impressive tip, Sora. What'd you talk about?"
"Oh, nothing." Sora faked a smile, "Just one of those guys who enjoys small talk."
"I noticed him show you something. A pendant? What was it?"
"It was nothing special." Sora bluffed, "Only the guy's good luck charm. I swear, he was almost as boring as some of those girls who come here. He made me so tired, I may go to bed early." He took another drink of water.
"Yeah I'm a little worn out too." Ichigo agreed, "But those girl's aren't boring! They're hot!" Ichigo grinned a bit and Sora rolled his eyes.
They went home, ate, and went to bed. As soon as Sora heard Ichigo's gentle snores, he stood up and abandoned his blankets. He carefully closed the door behind him.
It was dark out and the streets were empty. Sora knew the rote to the tavern well. In roughly five minutes the building came into sight. Outside it, next to the 'Closed' sign, Brom leaned against the wall. Even in the cloudy night, his white teeth gleamed showing a smile.
Moons: Before you complain, this doesn't show my religious views in anyway!! Part of the reason I wrote this is because I wanted to consider the view of Hidan's religion. And before you ask, yes Hidan is my favorite character, but no I'm not a crazy fangirl because he's WAY older than me, but yes he is very good looking. X3
Sora didn't know better, but if a large creepy adult talks to you in a bar and tells you he's homicidal and worships an evil god and wants you to worship said evil god, please turn him into the police or something (cause if you don't, I could get in trouble for writing this).
About the names: Sora's a name used in filler, but I already had the name so he was stuck with it. Yes, I stole the name Ichigo from Bleach. It was the only Japanese name that was in my head when I was thinking of his name. According to Bleach, the name Ichigo means "he who protects", but the word itself means "strawberry" XD. Brom is taken from a fictional character who gave me inspiration. I'll give you a bonus prize if you can figure out the original Brom (who he is and what he's from).
The lands above are all real in the Naruto world. It's a rare moment, but actually watching most of that chunk of filler before Shippuden pays off. Or you could be lazy and go to Naruto Wikipedia. It's true, Naruto has a wikipedia. I must warn you though, it's completely up to date so spoilers beware.
I think that's everything. I'll be happy to answer questions as long as it doesn't give away spoilers. PLEASE REVIEW! I'll give magical bottles of soda pop to reviewers. You know you want one.