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Hatako : Animals
Seeing a tall, thin boy ploughing in a field, while he may not be older than 12 is not very out of the ordinary. His home island on which he is working is dedicated to agriculture and animal life after all.
No, what was out of the ordinary about this was that the child was ploughing… without a plough.
He pushed something invisible along in front of him, parting the turned earth like a great sea. His face showed deep concentration, beads of sweat were running down his face, his dark hair plastered against his head and green eyes squinting through the heat haze of the late autumn day sun beating down on the land.
He reached the end of the field and let out a deep, long sigh. Stumbling over to the shade of a great oak in the corner of the field, he collapsed near the trunk, wiping the moisture from his forehead. It was definitely hard work, ploughing using only his chakra. However, this, his sensei said, was the only other way to help him gain better control over his chakra. He preferred taijutsu anyway, but no. Ah, it had to be done anyway. Why not multitask? Picking up the water carton he had discarded there earlier, he drenched himself in it's contents.
"Tch, what a waste of water."
The boy on the ground lazily looked up at the source of the sound, seeing exactly who he thought he would.
"Yo, Takumi."
"Chuck that up here would you?" asked the boy. It was actually more of a demand than a request, but the heat of the late autumn was enough to make any non-natives to the climate cranky.
"Sure." he shrugged and tossed the half full carton up to his companion, who caught it with practiced ease. There was a short silence with only the twittering of birds and the sound of Takumi gulping down the water heartily filling the gap.
"Why do you even bother Hatako?" asked Takumi wearily. Hatako looked up at the long haired boy in the tree above him. He was staring at the field blankly, but his face was mostly like that whatever mood he was in these days. There was an over-stuffed backpack on the branch next to him. Hatako sighed.
"Responsibility." he replied at last. Takumi looked down at him with a raised eyebrow. "I have a duty to my island, as you do to yours, to protect it and try to make it and it's inhabitants flourish." Takumi frowned, clearly not getting it. "I have to do this kind of thing to help those who can't help themselves. That is my responsibility, as it has been since all five of us took that vow all those years ago, in front of those graves."
Takumi nodded, though he was still frowning. Hatako smiled. "See that bird over there?" he pointed to a black bird perched on the fence opposite them. Takumi nodded again, though a bit confused. "She has to get food or she will die. One of the first reasons I plough the field is so I can upturn some nice juicy worms for her to eat." he looked up at Takumi. "One of my responsibilities is to make sure the animals on this island don't die out and the ecosystem isn't upset by the human activity. Her responsibility is to make sure her family lives. You follow?" Takumi nodded a final time. "So it is for us to all be responsible in different ways. Like taking care of our families, especially our distressed and easily frightened mothers and our vulnerable younger siblings. He put emphasis on each key word and enjoyed the way Takumi's eye twitched as he glared at him. He jumped out of the great oak and landed gracefully beside Hatako, swinging his bag over his shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Geez, I'm not Alaida, no need to spell it out for me." he took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, a small smile forming on his face. "I'll go back. Thanks Hatako." he turned and showed his older friend his rare and grateful smile.
"Any time…" smiled Hatako to the empty space where Takumi had been seconds before, letting his words be carried away by the winter winds.
Aww Sweet! Reveiws are love!