Author's Note: Oh my God…so…so very tired…can't…write…anymore! But must…creatively…retell…slash…reinvent…Charlie and the Chocolate Factory…with…ninjas!

…I'll be fine. Coffee makes all better. Please leave a review. Please, I'm a desperate review fiend who loves to hear people critique his work. Thank you.

13: Wonka-san's Flashback Along the Corridor

The three remaining children and their guest followed Wonka-san down a winding corridor as he pressed them to keep up. After the loss of two people so far, Hinata couldn't have been more full of questions about the factory and its inner workings. She apparently wasn't alone, as both of the other ticket winners began to ask questions as well. They fired them off to Wonka-san as they hurried along the corridor.

"Wonka-san," Naruto asked, "will Tomoe really be okay? Or will she be a blueberry for the rest of her life?"

Wonka-san smiled, "Of course not…maybe…I dunno!" he said gleefully as he strided along.

"If you and the Oompa-Loompas hate gum so much, why do you make it in your factory?" Masaru Kawasaki asked.

"What else will we be seeing on this tour?" asked Souya Ikari.

"W-what…" Hinata mumbled, trying to think of the best and least offensive question, "what was…d-do you remember the first candy y-you ever had, Wonka-san? W-when you were younger." She managed at last.

Wonka-san stopped slowly and turned to her, a vacant look on his face. "No…I don't remember…" he said a little sadly.

In fact, Wonka-san DID remember the very first candy he ever had. His memory wasn't fuzzy in the slightest. He remembered much of his childhood in great detail. This was probably due to the fact that he had detested his childhood, as it had been a very sad and traumatic time in his life.

Willy Wonka-san thought back to when he was just a few years younger than the children he had invited to his factory. He remembered wearing clothes that were very bland, uninteresting, and itchy. He remembered standing in a very large, very dark, and very cold room. There were giant stone pillars supporting the ceiling, each was adorned with a torch, which supplied the massive room with light.

He remembered holding something very cold and sharp in his hand; a cold, black, metal thing. A kunai knife. He was holding onto the handle very tightly and thrusting it in different directions. Every time he brought the blade down from over his head, he felt himself teeter forward a bit. The knife was very heavy in his hands and set him off balance. Despite this, he continued to swing it about. Finally, he spun around quickly, releasing the blade from his hand and sending it flying away. It hurtled through the air, landing with a dull thunk into a large target of wood.

Little Willy-kun gasped for breath, exhausted from his training. His forehead, face, chest, and underarms were wet with perspiration. Willy remembered closing his eyes, which stung from the oily sweat. He forced them open despite the stinging and looked across the room. The wooden target he had set up had two kunai embedded in its surface. Neither of them were anywhere near the bulls eye. Several kunai lay scattered on the ground nearby the target.

"…Kuso…" Willy-kun said, "stupid kunai practice…I'll never get any better…I don't want to get any better." He finished.

Willy-kun sighed. Then he looked around, as if searching for someone. Willy remembered that he wasn't looking for someone per say, he was making sure no one was around. Checking if the coast was clear. Once Willy-kun was satisfied, he reached into one of the pockets of his itchy clothes and pulled out a small paper bag. The bag was simple, made of ordinary brown paper, but Willy remembered that what was inside of it was immensely important.

He opened the bag, carefully, as not to let the paper crinkle too much, creating a sound. Reaching in as carefully as he could, he pulled out something and held it tight in his fist. He brought his hand very close to his face and slowly opened his palm.

It was a small ball wrapped in bright metal foil. As ordinary as it seemed, Willy-kun's eyes lit up with a tremendous light, as if there wasn't a more beautiful sight in the world. He started to unwrap the foil-covered ball when…

"Willy-kun…what do you have there?" a cold voice came from directly behind him. Willy-kun tensed as he felt a hand clap down on his shoulder. He clenched his fist tight around the ball and dropped the bag. Fear crept over and along his spine, tingling its way down his back. Willy-kun felt the hand wheel him around.

He stood face to face with his father.

"What do you have in the bag Willy-kun?" his father asked.

"I-I-It's n-n-nothing…" he stammered.

"Willy-kun…what have I told you about lies? Tell me…what are lies?" his father asked coldly.

Willy's mind sagged. He remembered what his father told him on the subject quite well. His memory wasn't fuzzy after all. He trembled and spoke his father's words verbatim:

"Lies are devious things that fool the weak-minded." he said.

"Too true," said his father, "Now Willy-kun, do you think of me as weak-minded? Am I a simpleton to you!"

"N-No father! N-no, I don't! Y-you aren't!" stammered Willy-kun.

"Then why must you continually lie to me! You insult me when you do it! Now, let me see what you have here…" his father said, reaching for the bag beside Willy-kun. His father opened the bag with one hand and poured its colourful contents into the other. Willy-kun turned his eyes away from his father. His father's eyes lit up, a grin spreading across his face.

"Where did you get this?" asked his father coldly.

Willy-kun said nothing.

"Tell me where you got this!" his father demanded, his voice much harsher now.

"…I-I-I-In t-the v-v-v-village" Willy-kun mustered the words, "at the m-m-marketplace…"

Willy-kun turned to see the glistening foils and bright colourful shapes that now rested in his father's open palm. His father's grin became a sneer.

"…Candy? Chocolate! Is this what you've been spending your money on!" his father yelled. "It's things like these that breed childishness, stupidity, and weakness!" he bellowed the last word. It was something his father detested more than anything.

"Now then, we'll have no more of…" his father motioned towards the little pile in his palm, "…this!" and with that the little pile burst into a plume of green flame! The candy bubbled and blackened in his father's hand. Then, his father tossed it to the side. Willy-kun's eyes were wide in horror.

His father turned his back to him. "Continue training…your form is not solid enough, your movements are wasteful, and your aim is terrible. Improve them and prove to me that you are truly my son…"

With that, his father walked away, disappearing into the darkness.

As soon as his Father was out of sight, Willy-kun dashed for the burning remains of his candy. The fire had been extinguished, leaving a smoldering hunk of blackish green remains. Willy-kun dropped onto his knees and scooped the hunk up with his hands, hoping against hope that it was salvageable. It fell apart in his hands, becoming nothing more than soot.

Willy-kun just sat there a moment, staring at what had once been a bag of sweets. Tears welled up in his eyes, he pounded his fist to the ground.

"Kuso! Damn, damn, damn, damn, DAMN! I didn't even get to try a tiny bit! I'll never be able to have some…EVER!" he cried, sobbing against the ground.

Then he felt something tight against his fist.

He raised his clenched fist to his face and, trembling, slowly opened it.

Inside of his palm was the small foil wrapped ball. It was slightly crushed, but very much intact. It was whole. It was untouched.

Willy-kun unwrapped it to reveal a small ball of creamy brown chocolate. He raised his hands to his mouth and ate it up in one bite. He chewed the ball for as long as it would allow, then swallowed it.

In the short time it was in his mouth, the flavour had spread all over his tongue and through his body. He felt warmth, pleasure, and pure and utter delight as he ate the chocolate. All of the terrible and awful things that had just transpired seemed as if they had never happened for those few brief moments when the chocolate was on his tongue.

Truly, he thought, this is true happiness!

Wonka-san remembered that moment well.

"W-Wonka-san? Wonka-san?" a voice called out.

Willy Wonka-san sprang to life, as if coming out of a deep trance. "Sorry?" he said blearily.

"You kind of spaced out for a while there" Masaru said hotly.

"Sorry, I was having a flashback…" Wonka-san mumbled dreamily, staring off into space.

"Do those happen often?" Hito Kawasaki asked in the same manner as his son had done.

"Increasingly…today!" he said at last. He shook himself out, seeming to come back to life. "Oh dear, I've gone and wasted several precious seconds of time that could have been spent wasted away looking at one of my marvelous rooms in my marvelous factory! We've got to get a move on!" Wonka-san cried. He then pointed forward down the corridor and began walking at such a pace that it was somewhat difficult for everyone to keep up with him.