Asa sat at his desk at the academy. His mind was far from the lesson that was being instructed. He had gotten little to no sleep the night before because of his excited plan-formulating. He would have to not only locate this city, Naito was it?, but also hope that they would accept him because of who his father was. As if getting there was going to be hard enough, it was getting out of this village that posed the biggest threat. Granted he had never seen the outside threats, but he was counting on the fact that the Kohona ANBU force was a force to be dealt with. He was confident that if he was able to get past them, he could arrive at his destination in one piece.
To get any maps or records of the Ookami's hometown, he would have to break into the old record keeper's home and find the files, hoping that they were still legible and correct. After class he would have to slip away unnoticed, trespass on official village property, steal a document, and hopefully make it out without being caught. Should he be seen, he would probably face either prison time or worse, be under his Uncle Itachi's punishment. But if he were successful….then he would be a step closer to tasting sweet freedom…he would know what it was like to be accepted despite the mixed blood in his veins. He would know how it felt to have friends, to be a member of a community, to not be shunned or made an outcast for something he had no power over.
Hopefully his lifelong and only friend Tomo would follow him where his adventures took him, besides, having a purebred Ookami descendant would only help him gain acceptance. Finally the bell rang and the class was dismissed, while most picked up their books and made a stampede towards the door, Asa was still staring out of the window, working the details out in his mind. The only thing that brought his mind back to the classroom was the teacher making a loud noise with a textbook beside him by dropping it on the desk. Quickly gathering his things he scurried out of the room, leaving the professor to shake his head and prepare for his next set of students.
X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X
Looking up at the dusty old windows, Asa's fingers twitched nervously. He had never done anything quite like this before…what if it was laden with traps? What if there were guards? If he were caught…were the consequences really worth it? Feeling a twinge of pain on one of his bruises from his previous torment by the other Uchiha children, he decided that yes, any price was worth paying to escape this hell. Using his chakra to keep him glued to the wall, he jumped up beside the dirty window and used the tip of his kunai to pry it open. Thankfully the wood was rotting and weak, making breaking a glass unnecessary. Though it resisted being pushed upwards, he finally made the old fixture give him enough room to slip his head and shoulders inside, the rest of his body sliding in easily. With a powerful jump, Tomo hopped through the window with ease, his paws making the old floors creek when his weight landed on them. Sniffing in the air, the young wolf sneezed as the dust covered his nostrils. Deserving a stern look from his human, Tomo went about searching for old traps or triggers, finding none. It seemed that no one valued the information kept in here for the past decade or two, no one predicted that it could ever be of use to anyone.
It was easily past dinnertime when the young boy found the records of what happened that day that the wolf-people came to Kohona. All he found was a newspaper clipping claiming that a mysterious clan of nomadic beast-people hybrids came from the far north-east. He cursed under his breath; what good was that to him?! That was it? He could only figure that the Ookami had been secretive about their origins in efforts to keep the source of their abilities a secret. Nowhere in that article did it mention the exact location of Naito, his father, the ninja-wolf that saved his life, or anything else that would whet his curiosity's appetite.
Fart to the north east…..his only option was to go find some maps, see what obstacles laid before him, and leave…whether or not he arrived there alive or forever forgotten was up to fate. Climbing out of the window he had trespassed in through, his pet following him, he brushed the dust off of his clothing and made his way home unnoticed.
He made it back through his uncle's door without incident. Thankfully his only living relative was not home, as usual. It was a long-running joke between them that one day he would die of old age on the job, but the sad thing was that it was probably true. He changed his clothing to destroy the risk of anyone noticing any of his sweat or dust from the vent-less room and began a fire in the stove of the kitchen to prepare tea. The closer to making it seem like nothing had happened out of the ordinary the better. He knew that his uncle was no idiot, anything to cover his tracks would help. He put rice on to cook as he poured the boiling water into the cups of green tea, something to calm his nerves and clear his mind.
His uncle should have a map in his study, the more he knew about the terrain and villages, the better he could prepare. He sat at the table and ate slowly, slipping the family pet a few bites here and there. The farther north they went the higher the chance of running into rough weather, they would both need body fat to sustain them during their journey, that's assuming that Tomo would join him. Yes he was a pet, but the wolf always had a mind of his own, as if he were a furry, four-legged child….
Now to pick a day to make his escape…perhaps near the evening…when fewer people were up and around, and near the end of the day the police force were worn out from their rough days' work. He looked up from his spot at the table, taking some last looks around his childhood home. It was sufficient enough, his uncle saw to it that he got anything and everything that he needed. He noticed the details in the ceiling…the carvings into the wood…the pictures on the wall….things that just passed by his eyes before he now took careful notice of. There were photos on the wall from his childhood. Itachi was not much of a sentimental guy, so there were not many pictures around of his family, but there were several of Asa and Tomo. Standing up he got closer to the pictures and looked at one inparticular. There he was, Tomo in his arms, Itachi holding him. He did not remember anything from his life from back then, probably due to lack of anything significant happening during his childhood. There were no sleepovers, birthday parties, or games with friends. A part of Asa enjoyed the solitude, and hated it. His uncle did not protest it either way, accepting him for who or what he was….
Carefully he plucked the frame from the wall and held it to himself, he would take it with him….to remember his guardian by….