Title: Porcelain
Author: Your Existence
Fandom: Naruto
Date: 29/9/08 (September 29, 2008)
Chapter: Six
Pairings: SasuNaru (main) and others as them come…
Author's Note: I'm finally back on track. Submitting three chapters a month is not going to be a regular thing. I'm going back to submitting a chapter a month, so I hope you enjoyed it xD.
I also want to dedicate this chapter to all the people who read Porcelain, who have me on their author alerts, who have this story on their story alerts and favourites, and for everyone who leaves reviews for Porcelain, especially Misuzu Kamio for leaving such awesome reviews that always make me smile and want to write more (Don't worry, guys. All of your reviews make me happy, too~). Thanks so much :3~!
Please enjoy chapter six of Porcelain~
Jew or Jackboot
"Ah, it was magnificent! You should have seen them."
"We did see them."
"Ah! You did? Weren't they great?"
No one answered. Not even Rock Lee, who usually agreed with me and backed me up. I frowned.
"No…?"
"No."
I couldn't tell if the other boys were against them, but by the look on Kiba's face and the tone Shino had, I could tell that they weren't happy about the arrival of the Jackboots.
"Why not?"
"They are no good. They've come to kill us all."
"They can't be here to kill us. Not even to hurt us. One of them mussed my hair and gave me a chocolate." I dug in my pockets and pulled out the wrapper. "See?" I waved the golden wrapper back and forth in the air. Shino frowned dejectedly. Kiba fumed.
"You wanna be part of them?!" he yelled. Be a part of them? I didn't understand.
"What do you mean? I don't see what's wrong with them. They were friendly and kind to me. Were they not kind to you? They were mean?"
"We didn't go up to them like you did." he spat.
"Then how do you know if they are good or not? From what I see, you saw them from a distance and don't know a thing!" I was furious. How could they talk about them like that when they didn't know anything about them?
"Why are you defending them?!"
"Because you all are talking about them like they are real bad people and they are not!"
"Well, if they are such good people, why don't you go and be with them. Ask them if you can join them and see if they don't shoot you!" As Kiba was saying, well, screaming this in my face, he was backing me up against the only door leading outside. He opened the door, which unfortunately swung out instead of in like most doors, when I was fully pressed against it. I fell into the taut autumn grass. "They don't take in Jews, shitwad! They kill them!" The door slammed, almost slamming my foot in with it. I could hear Kiba growling words under his breath and Shino scolding him about what he done. The others were silent, or at least I thought so.
Jew? The fuck…
"I'm not a Jew!" I screamed. My breath started to hitch and tears blinded my view as I got myself up to my feet and started towards the cellar. I was turning the corner a block away when Shino called out for me. I didn't stop nor turn around. He knew where the cellar was and how to get in if he really wanted or needed to talk to me.
As I walked on, I began to wonder what a Jew was. I heard the boys--mostly Kiba--talk about them, but I never really understood what they were. The first time his mentioned them, he say they were dead rats. Then he said if they were on a scale, they would be lower than cockroaches. Then he said they were one of the most deadly, most dangerous viruses on earth. Well, whatever they were, I wasn't one of them.
-
As soon as got to the cellar, I lit my four big orange crème scented candles that were in each corner of the room, which lit the room dimly, and nuzzled myself comfortably under the thick covers. I was soon breathing easy, forgetting my discomfort, slowly inhaling and exhaling orange crème.
-
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Magnificent, shiny boots marched behind the sickly, dull colored tanks. A complete contrast.
All the boots moved together like they were all attached to one another. Like one giant foot. Not one boot was behind a beat or ahead a beat. They kept rhythm perfectly. The sun happened to peek out for a quick instant and shone a little light on the army boots. Oh! How they shined!
"Who are they?" I asked Sasuke in astonishment.
He scoffed. "One of the worst group of people you'll ever meet."
I sighed. "That's not answering my question."
He sighed too and didn't answer me for a long while. The boots kept marching, their thuds filling in the awkward silence for me, their hypnotizing shine holding my attention so I wouldn't focus so much on the uneasiness and discomfort faintly radiating off Sasuke.
Then, adding his silky voice to the unique music of the boots and tanks (and the sirens that were faintly crying out in the distance), he said,
"We'll call them Jackboots for now."
"Jackboots…" I whispered to myself. Those wonderful, shining boots, and, I guess, the tedious men wearing them were called Jackboots.
I didn't mean to take a step forward, or step at all really, but I found myself walking towards the enthralling gleam of the boots. Then I found myself falling. The dark grey pavement of the street came racing towards my face, my body and I shut my eyes and put my arms in front of me to help break the fall. I expected to collide with street, but I don't collide with anything. Strong hands were holding me up from the undersides of my arms.
"Huh?"
I was hoisted up high in the air. As he turned me bit before putting me down, I caught a glimpse of the hands that held me up. It wasn't the super snow white hands I thought they were. The hands that I saw were lightly tanned and calloused.
"Ah! Watch your step, little one." A moderately deep voice advised. I looked up to the source of the voice. A soldier was smiling down to me, his long thin blond mustache smiling, too. His grey uniform was decorated with different colored bands and pockets and gold and silver squares and eagle shaped things that I know Kiba would love to get his hands on.
"Ah… Um… Thank you…" I said quietly, rubbing the back of my head nervously.
"A timid, fragile-looking thing, are you?"
I looked fragile?
I blushed and the soldier laughed a short, quick laugh. He dove his hand into his pant pocket and fished out a small, round something wrapped in a golden wrapper.
"For you, little one." he gently place the golden wrapped object in my hand. It was a chocolate, semi-melted. He mussed my hair, then patted it twice and got back in line, going in right on beat. I thought he would stumble on a beat, but he didn't. I watch him go down the street until I couldn't see him anymore. Then Sasuke pulled me along, muttering things in German.
He seemed bothered.
-
I had slept for two straight days.
How did I know? Because, the lady who usually sat on the corner across the street from my cellar wasn't there like she was supposed to be (she was there yesterday). She'll sit on that corner all day on the days she was there (which was every other day), not saying a word to anyone. Even if they say Hello or Excuse me, Miss, she wouldn't say a thing.
I went to the river to wash up a bit and took a muffin from a bakery for breakfast. I went slower than usual, which really bothered me. I hated being slow. Moving slow, rather. It made me feel vulnerable and I won't be able to get away if I'm caught snatching things off shelves or out of ladies arms if I'm moving slow.
But as I was making my slow journey from the river to the bakery, I noticed something that seemed out of place. There were extra people (something I wouldn't have noticed going my normal pace, probably), which made me a bit more comfortable. I liked a lot of people around, but these people were foreign, something I wasn't used too. And they wore different clothes than the usual people here wore. These foreign people were male and wore grey uniforms.
The Jackboots…
They were walking around like the belonged here Like they have been here all there lives. Rich ladies in patterned dresses clung to their arms, giggling here and there. They, too, looked foreign.
After my muffin, I reluctantly made my way over to the boys' place.
"Naruto! Finally you're up!" was how Rock Lee greeted me when I peeked my head in through the door.
"How'd you know I was asleep?"
"We all went over to your place yesterday. You wouldn't wake up no matter how much noise we made or what we did to you."
I blushed lightly, "That's not cool, coming into my cellar like that…"
Shino came up to me then and gave me a small roll of sausage and a toy figurine. "I sincerely apologize for Kiba's behavior the day before." My brows furrowed. I didn't want to see nor talk to Kiba today. I wasn't ready for that yet.
"Don't worry. He isn't here."
Thank you, God. Shino smiled at the look relief on my face. But then my face got serious, and so did his.
"I don't understand. What is a Jew?"
Shino sighed and motioned me to follow him to a quiet corner (the other boys were playing a loud game). We both sat down in large heaps of hay, facing each other. Shino leaned forward, I leaned back against the wooden wall.
I could tell Shino was searching for the right words to say. I wondered if there a bad thing to being a Jew.
"Is it bad…? Being a Jew?" I asked quietly after a long minute.
"Before, no, it wasn't a bad thing, being a Jew. But now, the Jews are in trouble."
"Did something happen that the Jews have to be punished?"
"The Jews didn't do a damned thing." he muttered.
The silence got awkward, so I asked a probably taboo question, "Are… Are you a Jew?" Shino's brows furrowed and his fists curled into tight balls. I felt a sudden odd pressure building on my shoulders. After many moments, he finally replied,
"I don't know, to tell you the truth, but I know I don't want to be treated as one. Not if risks my life and his, also…" A failed suppressed shiver quivered his lean body. A hiccup escaped.
"Jews are people. People like everyone else. People who just wanted to live peacefully and be happy with their little piece of life." Shino said suddenly, more to himself than me. I thought he had forgotten that I was here. But he make me jump when he swiftly stood up, towering over him. He looked down at me.
"Always, always, remember that every little person has feelings and emotions. Even the ones who hardly show any, still remember that they have them, too. Treat everyone like they're human beings, Naruto. Treat them like they really have a significant meaning in this twisted life we all live together, you hear?"
I nodded. "Yes, Shino. I hear." He smiled and patted my head and I smiled back.
"Don't be like those people out there." He whispered as he walked over to the boys.
I picked at a piece of straw, thinking over what Shino said. But am Ia Jew? I pondered.
And pondered. And pondered. And pondered.
And I finally came to my conclusion a few days later when I saw a bearded man, two Jackboots, and a bucket of water next to the man.
The Jackboots laughed as one of them pushed the bearded man's face into the bucket of water and then made him wash the sidewalk with his beard. This didn't make sense to me.
The stores which they were in front of, a clothing and a book store, were darks and looked empty. These stores that were open and lively a few days ago and were now closed down and dead. Besides being closed down, they had something that the other running shops and stores didn't have.
A big, bright yellow star painted on the front window.
And I knew right then that the people who once owned these shops, and all the other bearded men on the street washing the sidewalk with their beards were no one but Jews.
I couldn't be a Jew.
Extra Note: I totally realize that Naruto is supposedly fourteen, but he is pretty short and looks like little kid. And, since he didn't have anyone to teach him much of anything when growing up, doesn't know about a lot of things such as the four seasons, time and numbers.
Another thing, I know the boots the soldiers wear are actually called jackboots, but I'm using it as a general name to name the actual soldiers. I didn't want to use Nazi because sounded too… too… (insert really good word here). So when Naruto is talk about the Jackboots, he's not talking about the boots, he's talking the soldiers (that are wearing the boots… xD).
