Ahh! Chapter five! Much longer than the other chapters! I really hope this tickles your fancy. ;)
Genma sat on the couch the rest of the day wrapped up in a blanket. He did not want to be touched. He did not want to talk about it. He did not want to talk about anything.
Raidou sat in the kitchen. His hand was clenched around a glass full of water. Both hands were shaking. He was so…the word just indescribable. He still couldn't cry. Why? What was holding him back? Was he afraid of becoming embarrassed? He let a screech rip out of his throat and shoved the glass across the counter and onto the floor. It shattered as it hit the tile. Genma still stared out into space. He didn't even blink.
Raidou rubbed the burns on his face and chest. He was shirtless. He could hardly even remember where the scars came from. Was it from the Nine Tails?
"Probably…" he muttered to himself.
It all happened when Raidou was young. He had a scar on his face that ran all the way down to his chest on his left side. They never went away, which surprised his parents as they got older. Fortunately, his scar didn't get worse. It's been the same since it scarred over.
Raidou's parents managed to stay alive during the attack of the Kyuubi. Raidou was the only one in his family who was harmed.
It was all coming back now. He couldn't believe he wasn't having nightmares still. It may not have been scary to a person who hadn't actually been through it, but the pain was excruciating.
Raidou was studying his jutsu one evening, staying up late like he usually did, when he certainly wasn't supposed to. And today was not a good day to stay up late. Especially OUT late.
In the woods he repeated the same jutsu at least ten times. Then he moved to the next jutsu. (Although, now that he's getting older, he's become lazy with his copying. But when he really needs to do a good copy or clone, he gets right down to the details like Genma does if such a mission needs it. It's funny how Raidou is sometimes more lazy than Genma. But Genma sees his jutsu as art.)
Raidou never really had anything bad happen in his life up to now. His mother was very sick and his father was called upon by the Hokage. Raidou admired the Fourth Hokage. He was a wonderful man. Raidou loved how Hokage went around the village and no one felt looked down upon by him. Hokage was strict to a limit when the strictness called for it, but he was very laid back and loved hanging around the children of the village.
There were rumors about Hokage having a son, but nothing of a wife. It was strange and sometimes annoying, but Raidou didn't care to pry into other peoples lives. Especially Hokage's.
"Ahh… I think I should go home now…" Raidou muttered. He let himself fall down onto the ground and onto his back. There were no clouds in the sky and the trees hardly got in the way of his view of the stars. It was a beautiful, cool night. "I wonder if Mother is doing okay… I shouldn't have left her… And what about Dad?" Raidou sighed and rolled over on his side. "Dad'll be angry if he gets back before I do…"
Raidou closed his eyes, thinking. "But I have to…study. I need to get stronger…in case something happens!" Raidou pushed himself up in a sitting position as her heard a sound.
'What was that?' he thought to himself, looking around frantically. He stood up slowly and continued looking through the forest.
A massive orange/red glow of chakra suddenly appeared deeper in the woods. Raidou suddenly became too afraid and overwhelmed by the amount of chakra the beast had to even move. It was moving very fast, and already he could see its monstrous nine tails swinging in every direction, knocking down trees.
"It's…it's the Kyuubi!" The beast was right there. Right in front of him. It had stopped. He could hear other ninjas following it. What was he going to do? He couldn't move. There was no where to go. He was done for.
"What a worthless human," the Kyuubi said. It circled Raidou once, looking at his body and practically breathing in his strength. It stopped in front of Raidou again and puffed a breath in his face. He flinched and turned his head. The breath…it burns! Kyuubi hit Raidou in the chest with its head, burning his chest. The breath had burned Raidou's face. His chest felt like it was on fire. His flesh wasn't on fire but his clothes were! Raidou began to scream. The Kyuubi ran off again as the ninjas of Konoha made their way after it.
The Kyuubi was an enormous nine tailed demon fox… 'Why didn't it kill me…?' Raidou thought as he held himself in excruciating pain. He didn't even notice the figure coming up to him. Raidou began to whimper as the pain became unbearable. He didn't want to pass out…
"Raidou!"
That voice…
"Raidou! Oh my God… Can you hear me?" It was Hokage. It was the 4th. Raidou's eyelids shot open.
"Hokage! I didn't mean… I was out practicing and…" Raidou was picked up and he stopped talking. Hokage had him in his arms. "Raidou, don't worry… I'll take you to a hospital. I can't heal you right now… The Kyuubi…" Hokage grimaced. He was outrageously angry with that damn demon now. Raidou began to cry. "Hokage, it's all my fault… If I had just stayed home you wouldn't have to do this…" Hokage shook his head and smiled down at Raidou. "Just be quiet. None of this is your fault."
Raidou woke up in the hospital with his wounds wrapped up in bandages. He wasn't feeling that great, but a lot better than he did the night before… A nurse was standing beside his bed. His father was on the other side, asleep in a chair. The nurse looked…really sad.
"Oh…you're awake," she said. She had blonde hair that was put up in a bun. She was wearing the normal hospital attire—a white coat and a little hat and such.
"Yeah… I still feel…pretty bad," Raidou winced as he brushed a hand across the bandages. The nurse's expression did not change.
"Where's the Fourth Hokage?" Raidou asked, sitting up a little. The nurse pushed him back down onto his back and shook her head.
"Raidou, I'm sorry to say…but the Fourth Hokage is dead."
Raidou merely looked up at the nurse, his mouth agape, his eyes wide still with the anticipation of hearing that his hero was alive and well in his home, or even in the hospital waiting to see if he was alright. Raidou did not see the Hokage. Raidou did not get any "Oh are you alright?" from anyone. No one knew what Hokage did. Raidou never told anyone.
The Fourth was dead and Raidou was not. It was not fair.
And Raidou hasn't been the same ever since. He felt guilty for years. He kept saying it was his fault. He didn't believe the Hokage HAD to die to seal the demon in Naruto. And the only thing that Naruto reminded him of was sadness. Naruto was not a bad kid. He was a trouble maker because he had no one to look to when he was hurt, when he needed help. He didn't really have friends and the most he could do was make a fool of himself because he had no one to praise him or even look at him when he did something accomplishing or to raise his esteem even after he has lost a battle. Raidou understood. He had not felt such exact feelings because of it, but he knows the feeling of loneliness. His parents did not care as much as others about his accomplishments. They were too wrapped up in everything else.
There were good times in the bad. There always are. Raidou welcomed them with open arms.
Raidou sometimes hated to look at Naruto. He did not give him a glare or an unwanted stare. He merely looked away. He couldn't bear it. He didn't want to think of the Fourth. Naruto looked so much like him… Raidou wouldn't be surprised if Naruto was the Fourth's son. There were rumors after all. Even when he was a kid. But Naruto was just born the day the Kyuubi had come into the village. It was amazing and very coincidental. Like it was meant to be.
Raidou was too shocked the day he found out the Fourth Hokage was dead that he did not cry. And he has not since. What was there to cry about?
But now there is plenty to cry about. But cry he does not.
Wow! It took me a while to write this since I've been multi-tasking like a mad man! But I like it. A lot.
Sorry I kept calling him The Fourth Hokage or 4th Hokage or Hokage. I'll end up editing this chapter once I find out what his real name is. I used to know it, but the knowledge has leaked from my brain. :(