Child Of The Leaf
Side Story
"Ryoukan"
by operadeglace
Eight years ago, in Sunagakure…
Ryoukan stood proudly behind his son as a green light emitted from his small hands. He watched the young boy closely, noting the particular way in which his brow furrowed into his expansive forehead as his hands hovered over a limp fish, centered in the middle of an opened scroll.
He looks like his mother.
Shinachiku's nose wrinkled as he grunted, he his glowing hands shaking with exertion.
No seven-year-old he knew of possessed enough focus to harness chakra in the manner that he was witnessing…
He is brilliant, like his mother…
Ryoukan had to admit, if he were ten years younger, he would have been jealous of the boy who had managed to impregnate the stunning leaf-nin. Not only was she attractive, she was smart, and a powerful kunoichi. She was a true heroine, worthy of the praise that the end of the war had brought her.
Haruno Sakura…
Even the stony Kazekage seemed to take a liking to the girl, offering to raise her child under the village's care and protection. He would check on their small family of two every so often to see if their needs were met, and the child was happy.
Unfortunately, the great Gaara of the Sand's face would make the boy cry, so he was only allowed to visit in the night time when he was asleep.
"Dad! Look, Dad! I did it!"
Ryoukan turns and is astonished as he sees the fish flopping lively on the table.
"That's my boy! We should celebrate!" He sweeps the child into his arms and hoists him up to sit on his shoulders. "After we clean up, what is something special you want to eat for dinner?"
"Ramen!" Shina squeals, not missing a beat.
"Ramen? But, we always have ramen, Shinachiku!" Ryoukan groans. He never could understand his son's infatuation with the brothy, noodle dish.
"Because," Shinachiku pats his father's head. "Ramen is just the best, dad. It's a fact."
The tall, dark eyed man laughs heartily as he starts to tidy up the mess with his son happily chanting, "Ramen! Ramen! Ramen!" on his father's broad shoulders.
—
Silently closing his son's door, Ryoukan slips out of the front entrance of his home and sits on the sandy steps. A red haired man steps out of the shadows and nods his head in greeting.
"How is the boy?"
The Kazekage always asked the same three questions. No more, no less. He was always to the point, never wasting a moment.
The older, seated man folds his arms over his chest.
"He's exceptional. Already healed a living organism today, and he's only seven-years-old. He will be a great ninja for our village, someday."
Gaara's face stays stony and expressionless as he continues his queries.
"How are you?"
"I'm alive."
There was one more question.
"Do you need anything?"
"I need something to take the memories away…" Ryoukan says, bitterly.
The red haired man stays silent, then turns swiftly to leave.
"Thank you for your cooperation." He says in parting as he fades into the shadow of night once more.
—
"Give him to me…"
"Sabure… he's not…"
"GIVE ME MY SON!"
She was still bleeding. There was so much blood already.
He watched in horror as her face lost all its color, flushed tones replaced with those of ash and stone. The unmoving bundle still clutched in his wife's dead arms.
"SABURE!"
He felt the warm, wet blood turning cold against his skin.
"Dad Wake up!"
Shooting up in his bed, Ryoukan's hands immediately felt his face, finding the wetness to be tears, and thankfully not blood. His red eyes connected with worried emerald ones as his son's silhouette was highlighted by the light of the moon, filtering through his open window.
"Dad… are you hurt? You were yelling again."
Shinachiku jumped onto his father's bed, scrambling over his legs to settle in the space beside him. Ryoukan was still reeling from the nightmare of his deceased wife and son, his face hidden in his hands as his breathing became labored and heavy.
"Some of the neighbor boys make fun of my forehead." The little blonde boy says, matter-of-factually as he kicks the sheets. over him. "I feel bad a lot… do you feel as bad as I do, right now?"
Ryoukan's eyes widen as he listens to the innocent banter of his son. He felt his heart change gears and transform, hurt and loss warping into compassion and love.
"Dad just had a little nightmare." The man sits against the head board and puts his arms leisurely behind his head, speaking as casually as if he weren't in extreme mental anguish just a second ago. "So… people are mean to you because of your forehead?"
"Yeah…" Shinachiku rolls under the sheets to look at his dad. "They say a person with such a big forehead will make a lousy ninja because it can be seen from anywhere…" He says softly, his young eyes watering slightly.
"I hope you don't believe them, son." Ryoukan turns slightly to look at the boy, who shakes his head in response.
"Nah! How could I be a lousy ninja if I'm your son? You're… the best…" Shinachiku says suddenly very proud, yawning and closing his eyes as sleep overtakes him.
Ryoukan waited in the silence of the room, listening to the gentle breathing of his child. He began to cry once more, this time, with a heart full of gratitude.
This boy… is my second chance.
Sabure, you would have been proud to be his parent as well…
—
"How is the boy?"
A few weeks later, Ryoukan greeted the Kazekage with a smile.
"He healed a cut on his own knee… he will be a great ninja for our village."
Gaara's face still holding his familiar stony and expressionless.
"How are you?"
The medic-nin laughs.
"Quite happy."
This earned a slight raise of a brow-less brow.
"Do you… need anything?"
Another laugh.
"No. Not anymore." Ryoukan says, grinning with pride and gratitude.
The red haired man nods in response.
"Good."
-End of Side Story.
—Story by ODG
