Chapter 2: Forge Your Own Path

Gakidou sat to the side away from the other bandits in his gang, watching the sun set behind a town he had just robbed with a sense of restlessness stirring within him. The blond couldn't help it, he didn't like to sit still. There was always something to be doing out in the world. He knew that there were times when one should stand back and take a break but very rarely did Gakidou feel the need to do so, much less act upon that urge.

"Did you really have to kill them all?"

The blond eyed his father warily, unsure if the old man was going to lecture him for going on another rampage or talk to him about his future again. Neither was a conversation Gakidou wanted to have. "They aren't all dead. Only the ones who ran about trying to kill me."

Hirou 'tsked' and sat down, "Which would have been everyone in the Skulls hideout."

"No, there were women and children there. I didn't kill them, or the men who were simply defending their families. They weren't attacking me for the sake of attacking me." Gakidou argued, lighting a cigarette, "I went in, killed the big fool who thought he had gotten away from our fight, and their leader for thinking he could buy shinobi to kill me and I was going to leave it at that. But there were a couple of people who were there who just didn't seam to like me killing off their leader and wanted some revenge."

Hirou sighed heavily and took a swig of his drink, "Alright, we obviously you can handle your own enemies without need us to watch your back for you." Gakidou tensed, this wasn't going in a direction he thought it would. Nor did he like were it was going. "I think it's finally time for you to leave."

"Nani?" Gakidou snarled, rounding on his father, was he really trying to get rid of him? Hirou had never had a problem with the way he had taken care of his own business before. Even when occasionally it had dragged the entire gang into battle. No one had complained, in fact they had always told him not to mind. That's what they were there for, a fall back group for him to lean on when he needed to.

"You obviously don't need us to watch your back anymore Gakidou. You can handle your own problems and you are an alpha leader in your own right." Hirou said in even tones, "Men like you can't stand being under someone else's thumb despite the amount of freedom that comes with it. Because in the very end you are still a dog on a leash. Take this chance to leave and wander the world to your hearts content." Hirou stood, looking down on his son with hard eyes, he didn't want to cast away the son he had adopted, the blond might as well be his son by blood after everything the two went through as parent and child, friends, near brothers, then back to the safe father son relationship. He couldn't let any of that hinder him now, it was time Gakidou knew the truth about where he came from and moved on in his life. "Come with me gaki."

Gakidou leaped to his feet, anger trickling into his veins slowly with each step he took after his father into the camp. The open hostility felt from his fellow bandits threw him for a loop. Had he done something to piss off the entire camp without his knowledge? Was it the gang and not his father that wanted him cast out? Gakidou bared his teeth in response to the hostile looks shot his way, tensing uncomfortably in the unfamiliar air of being a sheep among wolves.

Hirou held open the flap to his tent and waited for Gakidou to go in before casting a warning glance over the entire camp, warning them to keep to themselves before following Gakidou inside. Gakidou sat himself down in his normal place by the bed mat, which gave him perfect surveillance over everything in the tent. Sitting across from the blond, Hirou picked up a deck of cards and began to shuffle them silently, considering the many ways to start a conversation. Deciding a gentle delicate way did not suit him nor the blond he opted for blunt approach.

"You were adopted." Gakidou stared at Hirou confused, he was what? "Stolen doesn't fit the way I took you in son." Hirou continued, dealing the deck out in two equal piles and motioned for Gakidou to take his half of the deck. "The story that I raped your mother and decided to keep you when she died in childbirth is a total lie."

"Then how did you 'adopt' me?" Gakidou asked, Hirou wasn't he kind of man to lie about such things. Especially now when he was kicking him out of the group and had no further reason to lie. Gakidou had always known that there was nothing that really linked himself and Hirou together as father and son, but ignored it. Assuming he took after his mother in just about every way possible, or that he just didn't look like either of his parents.

"I had wandered away from the group one night, looking for something to occupy my time. Mostly a woman. And I found one." Hirou tossed a card into the growing pile in the middle of the table waiting for a pair to slap. "And I found a woman alright. Locked in combat him other shinobi. I was tempted to walk away and let them kill each other, after all I had no reason to interfere in shinobi buissness. But it was a beautiful battle to watch. Three on one. Your mother was out matched and out numbered but she fought like a demon. I stayed trying to figure out why she didn't just make a run for it, to try and out run her opponents. I knew she would have a better chance of survival running and keeping her attackers on guard in the trees. Where there were more places to hide and lay the traps that shinobi do. Then I heard the reason why." Hirou looked Gakidou dead in the eye, "You were there, hiding and watching her fight for the two of you. She killed two of her attackers, but was seriously wounded. And finally she was in a choke hold against a tree, dying. You snapped, ran out screaming like a little devil yourself. I hit you on the head, meaning to stop you, not to knock you out. I don't hurt three year old children with the intent to seriously hurt them. I stabbed the shinobi attacking your mother, to this day it still bothers me that I was able to do that. Why didn't he just move out of the way? There was no way he didn't hear me coming, I had spoken aloud to you. But anyway he stumbled away from your mother after that and she slit his throat. In some weird way I wanted to be a little kind to this dying woman. Even though she was spirited to the end, giving me attitude right away. I told her that I intended to rob her when she died and she didn't bat and eye at me when I said that. But what really threw me was when she asked me to take you away. To keep you away from your father. I did what she asked because I at the time wanted a son for myself, because I didn't have one and there weren't any women around who would willingly bear a bandit a son, much less travel with him. Before she died she gave me a ring to give to you," Hirou reached into the collar of his shirt and produced a thin chained necklace, handing from it was a simple silver ring. "She said you were three and died before she could tell me your given name."

Gakidou stared at the ring, mind reeling. He had the occasional dream of such events, hiding in a tree as a red headed woman fought and died with shinobi. The blond had always assumed it was a dream, nothing more and he quickly forgot it afterwards anyway. Nothing that bothered him to much. But Hirou was telling him about his dream, no his memory. If Hirou knew so much detail about a dream he had never been told about then it was real, Hirou wasn't lying to him.

Hirou eyed Gakidou curiously, this wasn't the way he expected the hot headed blond to react. He had been expecting some violent form of denial and perhaps some death threats. Not the deadly calm look in icy blue eyes that were so entrapped but the simple ring he was holding in front of him. "When you woke up, you had a case of amnesia which suited everyone just fine, we didn't need a screaming little brat running around with us until you calmed down and accepted the reality around you. It was easier to lie to you than to explain the truth, a truth that I didn't want to tell until you were ready."

"Have I been kept around in pity?"

The older man's anger flared up in response immediately, "I do not take in people out of pity Gakidou and you know it! I took you in because I was greedy and wanted a son. I kept you and raised you because I loved you like a son. I kept the truth from you because I didn't want you to hear it until you were ready because I saw you as my very own son. There is nothing more to it than that."

Blue eyes remained fixed on the ring as Hirou took the necklace off and handed it to him. The blond stared at the simple silver ring. A quarter of an inch wide, a little thicker than most rings but he figured it was made to last through battle since all shinobi fought for their lives on a constant basis. The inside was engraved with "Forge your own path", Gakidou thought that it was something his father had engraved for his mother. A sign perhaps that she was a free spirit like he was who preferred to choose her own fate.

"Thanks. I have had dreams of that, seeing my mother getting killed and all. But I always thought it was a dream. I guess that's why I'm taking this so calmly." Gakidou muttered under his breath, finally putting out his cigarette that threatened to burn his lips should he let it burn more.

Hirou crossed his arms over his chest, "I know you want some time to think about this and you can have that time. After you leave to go out on your own. Your place is no longer here, apart of this gang."

"Why are you making me leave if I'm such a son to you!" Gakidou demanded, going on the defensive immediately, Hirou had just admitted that he was a son to him, so why was he pushing him away so hard? Especially after telling him where he really came from.

"Because you don't belong here Gakidou! You are the son of shinobi, no doubt powerful ones. Your presence is drawing the attention of other shinobi. And don't you dare tell me that you don't know what I'm talking about. You know as well as I that the number of ninja we run into is increasing by the month. You can fight them on even grounds, and win. But the rest of us can't. You are a danger to us now and we can't allow you to stay with us because of that." Hirou growled furiously, hiding the pain it was causing him to push Gaikidou away, "Do what ever you wish with your life, but you can't drag the rest of us down with you!"

Gakidou scoffed just as angrily, "I can take care of myself! The gang shouldn't worry about that."

"What if they wise up and start killing us? You don't belong here anyway, you are too strong, too fast, you are more of a demon then even the most sadistic of yakuza here. And what ever it is that makes you literally turn into a demon, makes that red aura come over you like a fox, that's not normal. I don't even think it's normal for shinobi." Hirou stood up and grabbed Gakidou's bag, something he had already packed for him. "I want you out of here son. Go out and make your own yakuza gang if you so wish, but you cannot stay here. You are no longer welcome here if you mean to stay. In the future if you wish to stay for a few days and visit than you are allowed. But that's it."

Gakidou rose to his feet as his bag was thrown in his face, all pleasantries between father and son dropped now and the only thing he could feel coming from his 'father' was open hostility. It bothered him that this was happening so soon without warning but it was obvious he had no say in the matter. Gakidou had to much respect for Hirou to challenge him for leadership of the gang. Not if there was a chance of being murdered in his sleep in part of a mutiny to put Hirou back in charge.

He let himself be pushed out of the tent and right into his horse, apparently the gang was in on it because they had packed the rest of his things for him and saddled his horse for him. Leaving it outside of the tent so he wouldn't have to stay longer than necessary.

Gakidou ground his teeth together, this was the last straw, if they wanted him to leave so bad then he would. No point in throwing a tantrum that would only hurt his pride and have him leaving, licking his wounds like a dog with it's tail between it's legs. Holding his head high he shouldered his pack and mounted his horse. Looking for the most part that this whole matter was beneath him and didn't deserve a reaction.

He cast one last angry look at his father, whose face was as stony as the men around him and kicked his horse hard. Spurring it into a gallop to get away from those hostile faces of the men who he grew up around. The men who were without a doubt the closest thing to a family Gakidou had, and he thought he would ever have.

Hirou watched the blond go, and only when he was out of sight did he and the entire gang let out long unhappy sighs. One of the men turned to him in attempt to console him, "It had to be done boss. He can't be tied to a group of old timers for the rest of his life."

Hirou nodded, "I know. But that doesn't mean we have to like the way we chose to make him leave."

"You know as well as I do that it was the only way to make him leave and stay away."


"How could you have lost him Anko?" Kakashi asked surprised with his pupils progress in her mission. It wasn't like Anko to lose track of a target. Especially not when the target could possibly be the son of the Hokage.

Anko scowl deepened and she averted her eyes away from the silver haired shinobi in front of her in favor of staring angrily at her drink. "It's not like I wanted to lose him you know. After Yamamoto gave me my new mission report and told be to stop trying to kill the man I followed him into the woods, but I got ambushed by another ninja from I don't know where and lost his trail. Apparently Gakidou has his own guardian angel, from the way he reacted to me cutting into his fight I would safely guess that he doesn't know about the ninja that attacked me."

"Describe him."

Anko nodded and told Kakashi mostly about the techniques of her attacker rather than his looks. The man had made sure he was well hidden from her. Wearing a full body cloak with sleeves to keep her from seeing even the outfit he wore under it and a simple plain white mask over his face. He used the most basic of jutsu on her too, frustrating Anko with the perfect way he had of blending into even the shinobi world. She doubted that there was anyway she would be able to recognize him even in battle.

"And after your fight?"

"I went back to tell the Skulls that I wouldn't be finishing the mission and when I got to their hideout." Anko broke off, unsure of how to describe the state she had found the gang in. It was chaos, all of their fighting men had been killed mercilessly, torn to shreds by what could have been a jutsu though some of the damage looked like it was done with bare hands. Those that had survived were protecting their families and all said it was Jinmenjuushin no Gakidou but Anko couldn't see how one man could have done that much damage on his own and leave without a trace. "Well there wasn't much left and my employer had been killed. So I started to attempt to hunt down a trail from Gakidou and have wound up with nothing."

Kakashi didn't have to say anything, Anko already knew he was disappointed in her. After all he had taught her everything he knew about tracking and for her to have failed to find a simple bandit was embarrassing. She didn't even want to admit that she couldn't even find the rest of his gang. It wasn't like bandits made it a habit of covering their trails so well that even shinobi couldn't find them.

Anko was beginning to feel like she was back under Orochimaru's tutelage, failing miserably to please her sensei despite how hard she tried, in what should be a relatively simple task. She shuddered, blocking out the memories of her punishments and the pain that lasted for days afterwards. They were memories she didn't want to remember. The only good thing that had come out of it was that the Hokage had found her himself and brought her back to the village after Orochimaru had abandoned her and allowed her to stay. Not branding her as a traitor and let her continue to train as a shinobi this time under the Copy Ninja himself, Hatake Kakashi.

"Listen to the rumors on the road Anko and I think you'll be able to find him again. Don't give up or Sakura and Sai will hold it against you. Sai might hold it against you forever, never letting you forget that you lost track of a simple bandit. Especially after all of that bragging you did when he failed in a simple tracking mission." Kakashi warned, silently letting Anko know that he would remember it it too. She nodded still not looking at him.

"Hai."


Challange: 25oo+ words

Word Count: 3,266

Sorry for the delay guys, took me awile to finish this chapter then I was waiting for False Identity to finish hers, which she hasn't yet so I'll be waiting for her to catch up before I post anymore. I'm only posting becuase she keeps telling me to.

Thanks for the reviews and support and keep telling me what you think. Otherwise I'll never know what you all think of the story so far.

FalseIdentity's Version: To be finished soon I hope

Finished: 5/31/2o1o
Published: 6/14/2o1o