To Tame a Different Dawn
Chapter 2
By: FortressMaximus
A/N-Hello everyone! Just another small chapter in a story that I love writing but have no clue as to where it's going! Thanks to everyone who read and posted a review on chapter one! I really appreciate it!! Please let me know what you think of this chapter and I hope you enjoy seeing what happens next!!
Fortress Maximus
Feb 27th, 2009
PS-A BIG shout out to Lord Archive for some major clarification on some of Naruto's jutsu's and for some overall advice on this story as a whole. Thanks L.A….you rock! BELIEVE IT!
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"Why…"
"won't"
'she"
"listen!?"
Takato growled as he landed blow after painful blow against the wooden training dummy; his pent up frustrations at his mother's stubbornness surging fourth as fists and feet struck at his inanimate opponent.
"I just wanted to help that girl; what was so wrong with that!?" he yelled, a spin kick landing squarely against the dummy. With another growl of frustration the boy used the pole to push himself into a backwards summersault. Even before landed upon his feet, his right arm reached around and pulled several kunai out of his hip pouch.
With all his might he threw them at the target.
And missed with every one.
Landing on his feet the young ninja sighed, shaking his head as he walked over towards the training dummy picking up his scattered weapons along the way. When he finally reached the post he just stood there, looking at it for a moment before flopping down on the ground in defeat.
"Maybe…maybe she's right. Maybe I'm not supposed to be a ninja." he said to the dirt and rocks around him.
He didn't even try to move as the half-dozen kunai 'plopped' into the ground without warning, trapping him within a circle of iron.
"Heya Henry."
Takato's best friend sighed as his idea to get Takato up and out of his funk failed miserably. Jumping down from the tree branch, he walked over to his buddy. "How'd you know I was there?"
"Felt your chakra a moment ago…"
"Hey! That's great Takato! A few weeks ago you wouldn't have even…"
"Well, that and Terriermon's over there peeing on a tree."
Henry blinked and looked at his canine partner with a frown. To his credit, the dog seemed to look at his owner in embarrassment having forgotten that 'staying hidden' is a key rule for being a ninja.
Watering the trees…not really in the spirit of that rule.
Sitting down beside the goggle-clad ninja, Henry nudged him with his elbow. "So, what's got you so down?"
Another sigh escaped Takato's lips. "Mom."
"She giving you grief about being a ninja again?"
"Not as bad as she was…"
"See.? She's coming arou…"
"I yelled at her before I left though."
Henry winced. "Ouch?"
"Tell me about it. My butt is going to be so grounded when I get home."
"Can I ask why?"
The young ninja fell silent for a moment, closing his eyes.
"Hey; if it's something personal you don't haveta…"
"Na, it's not that Henry. It's just…" the boy paused once more before finally opening his eyes and looking at his friend…"there was this girl…in the park…".
At that Henry blinked; even Terriermon stopped from his sniffing around to stare at Takato in surprise. "A girl?"
"Yea Henry, you know…girls? The people that aren't guys? The ones with you know…*stuff*…"
A flush passed over Henry's cheeks. "I know the difference Takato! I mean, this is the first time you've even mentioned a girl that wasn't Jeri."
A frown passed over Takato's face as he thought his best friend who was a girl. "I haven't seen her in almost two weeks Henry…ever since she…"
"Hey…come on TK…" Henry said softly, using his old nickname for his best friend. "We both know she did what she had to do when she left the academy to work in the restaurant. They needed her there a lot more than the village needs another ninja."
"And it's what she wanted…"
"AND it's what she wanted…" parroted the orange-vested boy as he sighed, remembering how heart-broken Takato was when Jeri told them she was leaving school.
"Henry…?"
"Yea?"
"Remember that day when Jeri left? What I thought about…."
"No."
"But.."
"No, Takato. We've talked about this!"
"No, I've *tried* to talk about it, but you won't let me get two words in about it!"
"Because it's a stupid idea!"
THAT made Takato stand up. "What, so you're calling me stupid now?!"
"NO, I'm calling your idea stupid!" countered Henry as he stood too, now eye to eye with the other youth.
"Gee, some friend you are!"
"Dammit Takato, I'm not going to take the advance placement test and leave you by yourself the rest of the year!"
"Henry, don't you see you've GOT to! You're a much better ninja than I am, and without Jeri or someone else we can't form a three-person team and if we don't do that, we won't ever get more training than D-ranked missions! As good as you are one of the upper level sensei will put you on a team for sure!"
Resisting the urge to grab his best friend and shake him till his teeth fell out, Henry tried to keep his opinions to himself and let Takato finish.
"Henry, you're my best friend; sometimes…I think you're my only friend." His gaze fell upon the other youth, silencing the counter-argument that Henry felt welling up in his throat. "And if I am your friend, then I should be thinking of you and what will help you the most before I think about my own feelings."
"Takato…"
"Face it Henry; sooner or later you're gonna start to hate me cause I'm holding you back! Even if you don't want to feel that way, you will. And…and we'll start fighting with each other and…then…we won't be friends anymore!"
"But if I take the test Takato, we might not have time to STAY friends! If I'm training and always doing my schoolwork AND getting those C and maybe B ranked missions, when are we going to have time to hang out? Don't you see, if I advance and you don't--all the cool stuff we want to do as a team will never happen!"
The young goggle-headed ninja looked away, unable to face the worry in Henry's eyes.
"Takato…I…"
A deep, low growl brought both boys' attention from their own personal struggle back to reality as Terriermon gazed off towards the far side of the training ground, teeth bared and hair standing on end.
Instantly the two young ninjas were on the alert, falling into traditional…if a bit unsteady…battle stances. "Terriermon, what is it boy?"
Canine looked at owner and with an all-too human grimace on his muzzle sped off like a shot with such a speed it took the two humans a second to realize the dog was on the move.
"Has he ever done this before Henry?"
"Nope….and that worries me."
"Yea…I'm betting says this ain't gonna turn out well."
"No bet there. You ready?"
Pulling a kunai from his pouch Takato mirrored Henry's motions and with a shared nod of agreement the pair took off after Terriermon.
"Kenta, man, this is not a good idea!" harshly whispered the youth as the elder of the two finished setting his genjutsu. With a disgusted look over his shoulder the Sand Ninja stepped back to survey his handiwork.
The girl stood unmoving, frozen in place by the terrors that only she could see.
"Will you grow a pair already Kazu?' spat back the off-green haired boy as the moonlight reflecting off the Sand headband cast his face in a sinister glare. "Why do you think I picked this place? No one uses this part of the training ground due to sinkholes and this shed's not been in use for who-knows-how long! Perfect place to have a little…'fun'… ."
The younger of the two Sand ninja looked around, unsure if to believe his brothers' words or not. "Come on man…you're the son of the Kazekage! You can get it whenever you want back home! What makes this girl so special you wanna risk getting caught by the Anbu Black Ops?!"
The elder of the pair sighed, looking over at his sandy-brown haired brother with a deep sigh. "Kazu, will you grow up? We're sons of the leader of one of the most powerful Hidden Villages! The Anbu can't do much more than try to scare us with a lot of fancy talk and threats! In the end they know they can't lay a finger on us or they'll be war and I doubt the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf will go to war over this girl."
Kazu frowned. While he couldn't argue with his brothers logic, the young ninja was once again painfully reminded of the fact that the 'benefits' of being the Kazekage's son didn't exactly apply to him. Having come into this world only as the by-product of an affair between Kenta's dad and a servant in his house, Kenta's linage was called constantly into doubt by those who didn't want a bastard child to even get a taste of the life that Kenta took for granted on a daily basis. Pushing his hurt down once more, he looked back over at his brother.. "But why her Kenta? I mean, she's hardly got…."
"Because this cold little witch brushed me off when I tried to talk to her in the park the other day! We've been stuck in this lame village for weeks while our father works with their Hokage on finalizing the rules for the upcoming Chunin Exams and I wanted to have a little fun! But she thought she was too good for me! Well, Little Miss Iceberg, lets just see what you've been hiding inside that frozen shell of yours….".
Deep inside her own mind, Rika stood transfixed by the horrific sight before her; a monster with nine-tails and filled with blood red rage feasted on every living person in sight as the once beautiful village of Kohana was reduced to smoking rubble. But it was not the face of the Kyuubi that brought tears to her own cheeks; the face of the monster who would forever be known as the 'Devourer of Hope' was her own….
Inside the prison the Kyuubi roared as she too could see the devastation playing across Rika's mind. She tried to break free, but the seal held against her most powerful assaults. +Rika, you must not believe what you see!+ the Elemental Beast called out, desperate to break the girl free of the hell she was trapped within. +You and I…we are not the monsters others see us as! Please Rika, you must believe me-YOU ARE NOT A MONSTER!+
The mental silhouette that had stood motionless before the Kyuubi's cage suddenly blinked and slowly fell to her knees. Tears unabated fell down her cheeks as the terrors of the jutsu continued without pause as her voice…tiny and fragile…echoed throughout the mental realm that surrounded them…
"Then why doesn't anyone love me…?" the young girl asked of the world.
Silence was her only answer as the tears fell faster.
+Oh great Father of the Beasts…+ whispered the Kyuubi as she felt the despair rise in her own spirit…+I know you bear malice towards those who have imprisoned your daughter, but I BEG do not hold that anger against this child! She is innocent in all this and does not deserve the fate that looms before her now! Please, send a miracle to restore this girls' hope once more!+
Unbeknownst to the Kyuubi, Rika or her tormenters, Fate had already played its hand and hope was on the way…
…in the form of three very unlikely heroes.
To Be Continued