Hey everyone! It's chapter 9! Only one more to go!
As the man in black laid down Himawari's sleeping body to the ground, he slowly began to turn around. Bolt backed away with a little fear. He didn't know what to expect from a stranger who was jumping around the outskirts of a village dressed in all black. As Bolt met eyes with the man, he noticed the man's solid, chiseled chin and cold, examining eyes. The man stared at Bolt, and as both their eyes began to adjust more and more to the dark the man's eyes slowly grew wider and began to twitch. The man leaned his head closer and closer toward Bolt. Now, only his eyes but his whole face was also twitching all over. Slowly, the man's mouth began to open, his lower jaw twitching. Bolt, shaking with fear backed away, not knowing what to expect. They stayed in that position for a second or two until the edges of the man's mouth began to curve upwards.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" laughed the man in one of the loudest voices Bolt had ever heard. The man, howling with laughter, backed away from Bolt as he clutched his stomach in his hands, lifting his face up to the sky.
At the first sound of the man's loud voice, Bolt became afraid, but upon realizing the man seemed to be laughing at him, he became annoyed. As he sat for a good two minutes listening to the man drone on and one in laughter, rolling on the floor and grabbing hold of a tree for a while, Bolt eventually spoke up.
"What?" questioned Bolt, an annoyed look on his face.
The man, still continuing in laughter, "that hair…that face…those eyes…those…whiskers…"
"HAHAHAHAHA!" the man exclaimed again as he did his best to gain his composure.
Bolt, still annoyed, continued watching the man as he burst out in laughter a while longer.
"Getting really tired of this shit…"
"Forgive me," laughed the man, finally gaining his composure. "It's just…undeniable. You must be the son of the Seventh Hokage."
Bolt's eyes widened. "You know me?"
The man gave a half smile, still holding back the laughter. "Let's just say, I'm well acquainted with your father."
The two of them sat in silence for a moment , when suddenly a realization came to Bolt's head. "Wait! Inojin and Sarada! We have to bring them back to the Village!"
The man nodded. "I will take care of it. Don't worry, rest here for a while until your sister wakes up."
The man made a hand sign with his good hand. "Release," he said. The little girl began to squirm.
"She's fine," said the man, "not hurt at all. We'll just wait until she wakes up naturally."
Bolt nodded. "Okay."
Bolt noticed that the three of them had been transferred to a cliff from which Bolt could see the entire village. The sun had almost set over the horizon, but it was still an etching of daylight that enveloped the entire premises.
"It's beautiful, huh?" said the man with a smirk on his face. "The Village Hidden in the Leaves…or Village of Dancing Leaves…whatever, it's the Leaf Village."
Bolt gave a shrug. "It's okay I guess."
The man raised an eyebrow. "What? The son of the Seventh Hokage doesn't love his Village?"
Bolt shrugged. "It's kind of stupid you know? I mean, it's a military village, but it tries to play this big peaceful game. It's downright phony."
The man scoffed, "Alright Holden, don't get your whiskers in a twist."
The man chuckled for a bit about the jab on whiskers.
"Everyone needs a place to call home," he said, "It's really something special. Especially when you have good friends…who would do anything to bring you back. I was really lucky to have people like that…"
Bolt raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you wandering around like some sort of spook? If all these people want you back so bad, just go?"
The man in black looked toward the village. While his hard, determined face did not seem to change, Bolt noticed a small hint of sadness from one of his eyes.
"Sometimes," the man began, "sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I went back. Sometimes I even want to go back. To hold my daughter. To kiss my wife on her large forehead. To have a cup of tea or a bowl of ramen with my best friend. To go back and pretend like, like I never left. As if I always belonged there. As if, somehow, in another time or place, that I had always been a part of their lives and they a part of mine."
Bolt frowned a little bit. "I guess…" said Bolt, "I guess we all just want to belong somewhere. But, what's keeping you from going back?"
The man took a hard look at the Village. It was lighted up for the festival. The streets were filled with colors of lights and the city that emerged was also lighted up.
"They used to call these places Hidden Villages," said the man stoically, "Guess they're not very hidden anymore."
Bolt scowled at the fact that the man didn't answer his question. "Places are always hiding something. This city might look chipper and peaceful as fuck, but really, it's in as much of a war as in the before times."
The man smirked. "And what do you know of war?"
"War is the way we get what we want without having to go through stupid negotiations! It makes things fast and quick! A few soldiers here, a ninja squad or two there, and bang! No more wasted time traveling to villages to negotiate or holding conferences to keep the peace!"
The man let out a huge laugh piercing the night sky. "No way!" he exclaimed. "is that what you really think! I mean, you're just a kid, but considering who your father is, I figured you'd probably know better!"
The man sat down on a stone and reached into his bag, pulling out something wrapped up in paper.
"No kid," said the man with a confused tone of amusement and depression. "'Dying like trash…never ending hatred…pain that never heals…that is war.'"
"Sounds like a quote," peeped Bolt.
"It was."
"Was it from an important person?"
"Kid," smirked the man, "you don't know the half of it."
As he removed the paper, the man ran his fingers along a head band that had a huge scar running across the metal. Feeling the cut, a small tear manifested in his eye, but he quickly wiped it off before the kid would notice.
As the two sat in silence for a while, they heard a small scurry next to them. Looking to their side they saw Himawari's eyes open.
"Big Brother?" called Himawari in her adorable little voice.
Hearing her voice, Bolt rushed over to his little sister.
"Himawari!" exclaimed Bolt, "Himawari! Are you alright?"
Himawari smiled and nodded. "Yes I am big brother, I'm okay…what's wrong? Why are you crying?"
As Bolt forced back the tears, he held Himawari close to his body.
"No reason…no reason at all…Big Brother is just…is just…happy that you're back."
"Big Brother? Why are you crying? Wait, where are we?"
The man smirked as he watched the two little kids embrace each other. Realizing that self imposed mini-mission was accomplished he decided that he should be back to his own business.
"Alright kid," said the man, standing up from the rock, "you better be getting back to your parents, and I better be on my way."
"But wait! What about Sarada and Inojin?"
The man looked at the boy and nodded. "I told you, I'll bring them back. Don't worry, just go back to your parents."
Bolt stared at the man and nodded. "Are you sure? I can help."
"Don't worry," said the man. "I will take care of them."
Bolt nodded, satisfied by the man's answer. "Okay."
The man went on and picked up the little girl, who although a little intimidated by the hard looking man, tried her best to be pleasant when she realized the man was smiling at her.
"So this is your sister, huh?"
"Yeah," said Bolt, "she's a sweet girl…I'm kind of mad she got mixed up in all of this."
"My name is Himawari!"
The man smiled. "Well, just make sure you be a good big brother."
Bolt smiled. "Yeah. I will."
"Big Brother Bolt is the best big brother in the world."
The man smiled as if he was reminiscing. "No, that's not true," he thought to himself, careful not to say it.
"If someone bullies her, don't be afraid to flex some muscle. And if your parents push her too hard, step up to protect her," the man said to Bolt.
Bolt nodded at the man's command.
The man put Himawari back on the ground and began to turn away.
"Oh!" he exclaimed as he turned back to the young academy student. "And if you ever concoct some big plan that would determine and influence every aspect of the rest of her life. Make sure to fill her in on it!"
"...Um…okay," said Bolt, a little confused, "I will…I guess…"
"I'm not kidding, kid!" exclaimed the man, "if you ever, and I mean ever, plan on doing something that big, TELL HER!"
"Fine! Fine! I will!" said Bolt, still completely confused.
The man turned away. But seeing the back of his head, Bolt was suddenly compelled to speak.
"Hey Mister!" exclaimed Bolt.
The man turned around with a raised eyebrow. "Yes?" he responded.
Bolt, although he had seen the man in a compromising and a vulnerable position was still pretty threatened by his daunting figure which hung over him like a cloud.
"I don't know who your family is," said the young blonde haired boy, "but…I think I have a good idea. And if I'm right…then they want to see you as much as you want to see them. I think…I think you should go see them, because then…well…then maybe you'd understand each other."
Bolt stared at the man who stared back at him. Slowly but surely, a small smile emerged on the man's lips.
"You really are your father's son," the man laughed as he shook his head. The man reached into his bag and pulled out a small book. "Here you go kid," said the man.
"What is it?" asked Bolt.
"This is a special book I found in a library in the Hidden Cloud Village. I thought it didn't belong there, so I stole it."
Bolt opened the book. "Hey!" he said, "this is a book of jutsus!"
The man nodded. "That's a dossier of jutsu's used by a famous Leaf Ninja. Back during the war times, ninjas used to steal other people's jutsus to use in combat."
Bolt read the title. "'File No.38: Minato Namikaze'", read Bolt, "hey! That name sounds familiar…but where?..."
The man raised an eyebrow as if to say "…really?", but in the end he just scoffed.
"Good luck kid," he smiled before walking off into the dark.
"Hey!" said Bolt, "thank you! When the man was finally out of sight, Bolt smiled. "Thank you Mr. Uchiha…thank you for everything."
"Big Brother?" asked Himawari.
"Yeah?" responded Bolt.
"Who was that?"
Bolt smiled a bit. "He's Dad's best friend."
"Oh," said Himawari, "how come we've never met him before?"
Bolt shrugged. "I guess he's busy too."
"Oh…" said Himawari, "that's too bad. I bet his kids miss him too."
A smile materialized on Bolt's face as he nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure she does."
Himawari raised an eyebrow. "I didn't say it was a girl…"
Bolt shook his head. "Hey Himawari! Speaking of Dad, let's go see him and Mom!"
"Yay!" said Himawari. She looked down at the village. "But they're so far away…"
"You're tired?" laughed Bolt, "but you've just been sleeping."
"Yeah about that…" asked Himawari, "why did I fall asleep at your training ground and wake up here?"
Bolt paused for a second, then laughed. "It's a long story. But if you're still tired, you can ride on my back."
"Really!" exclaimed Himawari, "you won't mind!"
"Not at all!"
Himawari jumped on Bolt's back, wrapping her arms around her brother's neck and her legs around her brother's body.
Bolt grabbed on to Himawari's legs and began walking down the mountain ledges toward the Village.
"Faster Big Brother! Faster!"
"Haha! Alright," laughed Bolt as the two of them descended the mountain.
Seeing them from the distance, the man in black smiled as he watched the two siblings run and laugh together.
"Bolt…" thought the man, "you still have a long ways to go, but as long as you have those bonds, you will be strong. And perhaps, your name could be as great as your father and his father before him. You have the potential." Sasuke turned toward the road and smirked "I mean...you've already begun to make a name for yourself anyway. My throat is still sore from The Curry Incident…!"
Well everyone, I hope you enjoyed chapter 9. Chapter 10 will be out next week. It's the finale, so hopefully you'll all enjoy it!