Hey guys, I know the past here isn't all that eventful, but bear with me now, I wrote it for a reason. Anyways, this is the last chapter in the past for now; next chapter I'll be continuing what happened in the prologue.
Dean waited outside the store while his father was inside, buying feed for the animals. He was twirling a kunai knife in his hands when Bela Talbot approached him. Bela was Dean's age and always seemed to find a way to annoy him whenever they ran into each other.
"What do you want?" Dean asked, none too kindly.
Bela smiled that annoying, stupid smile of hers. "Nothing. Just bored."
"Well go away, no one wants you here."
"You can't tell me what to do. I'll stand here if I want,' she sniffed.
Dean threw her a dirty look. "Fine. Then don't talk to me."
Bela put on what Dean knew was a fake pout. "That's not any fun." When Dean ignored her, the pout dropped from her face and was replaced with impatience. "Whatcha got there?" she asked, snatching the kunai away from him.
"Bela give it back!"
"I thought you were ignoring me," she sneered, inspecting the knife.
Dean gritted his teeth in anger. He pushed Bela to the ground and took the kunai back. Bela glowered at him from the ground. A mischievous smile crossed her face before she suddenly broke out in tears. Dean took a step back, caught off guard by the sudden outburst. Before he knew it Bela's mom and his dad were there.
"Dean Winchester." Dean gulped at the tone his father used; he was in trouble. He walked slowly over to his father, dreading every step.
John heard the sound of a child crying and looked out the store to see Dean standing over Talbot's girl. He quickly made his way outside and, looking upon the scene, demanded his son tell him what happened.
"She started it! I was just standing there and she took my knife from me!"
John sighed, still angry. "Come over here." He led them over to a bench where they sat.
"Dean, you know what you did was wrong, right?"
Dean refused to meet his gaze. "But why? She was the one who started it." His eyes quickly darted up to his father. Seeing the look on his face, he must have realized he was still in hot water and added a "sir" on to the end of his sentence.
John sighed. "You never hit a girl, Dean. You should respect women."
"But they can't even fight! Only men can become shinobi, shouldn't they respect us?"
"It's shameful to hit someone who can't fight back. A man who hits a woman is a coward."
Dean eyes widened and regret crossed his face. John could see the threat of tears forming. "But..." Tears started to trickle down his face.
"Stop crying Dean. Shinobi don't cry. Women do a lot for this village. When you get hurt who takes care of you?"
"Mom," he sniffled.
"Thats right. And she'll continue to do that until you find a wife of your own someday."
John had to repress his smile when Dean's face scrunched at the mention of a wife.
"I don't want to get married to some girl," he pouted, clearly still bitter about what happened.
"You won't think that forever." John paused, wondering how to handle the situation. "Without women, nothing good would come of men. You'll understand when you're older."
Dean seemed to think about his fathers words. Wiping his face with his sleeve to dry his tears, he mumbled, "Yes, sir." A moment passed before Dean looked up to him again. "Is that why you let Mom boss you around?"
John's face fell with indignation, though only for a second. He chuckled as he realized the truth behind the words. "Yeah, I suppose it is. Your mother is a strong woman. I don't need to tell you how scary she can be when she's angry." Dean and John shared a grin. "Now you know you have to go apologize to Bela."
"What?" his son squeaked. "But I don't want to!"
"A shinobi doesn't do what he wants to, a shinobi does what he has to. Now go apologize."
Dean's face scrunched in discontent, but he hung his head and said, "Yes, sir." John watched as he jumped down off the bench and approached Bella and her mother.
"Another mission? So soon?" Mary asked her husband as he changed into his mission clothes.
The clothes that shinobi wore on missions were all black. He wore a black military flak jacket with a spandex shirt and mask underneath, with only a small horizontal opening for the eyes. John currently had his mask off, allowing it to bunch around his neck like a hood. Strapped to his forearms were black metal arm guards. His loose fitting pants were tucked into his boots, and he had a small pouch strapped to the side of his right leg.
"An emergency came up. I have to leave right away." He said, strapping his ninjatÅ on his back.
"John, you promised Sam his first lesson today."
"Mary, I'm sorry, but I can't. I'll have to do it when I get back." John picked up his backpack for travel and quickly made his way out the door.
"John, wait!" Mary called before he could leave the room. She looked at him with worry, disliking the suddenness of this mission. John's eyes softened as he looked at his wife.
He walked back and sat next to Mary on their bed. "Air Nation shinobi were spotted crossing the Earth Nation border. We're just going to intercept them." He leaned in to give her a kiss goodbye. "I love you."
"I love you too," Mary whispered back, defeated. She knew that John didn't have an option in this. "Aren't you at least going to say goodbye to the boys?"
"I don't have any time to track them down. We were ordered to leave immediately. I'll be back soon though, alright?"
Mary nodded her head. "Just be careful."
John smiled at her and got up to leave. "I always am."
John began walking to the rendezvous spot at the village gates when he heard someone shout,"Dad!" He turned around to see Dean running toward him. Seeing him wearing the clothes for a mission, Dean's face fell.
"You're... leaving again?"
"I received an urgent mission from the Tsuchikage. I won't be gone long." The Tsuchikage was the leader of their village. The position was held only by the strongest of shinobi.
"But... Can't you stay?"
John looked to his son and laughed. He took a knee in front of him, so he was eye level with him.
"Dean, why do I teach you earthbending?"
"So I can become strong and protect the family."
"That's right. And why should you become a shinobi?"
"I..." John watched as Dean thought about it. "It's not the same?"
"You become a shinobi to protect the village and the nation that protects your family. That is your duty. Now while I'm gone, you're the man of the house. It's your job to take care of your mom and your brother. I'm counting on you."
Dean swelled with pride over the responsibility. "Yes sir!"
John smiled and placed a hand on Dean's head, rustling his hair. Noticing his comrades for the mission, dressed in the same attire as him, standing behind him, he got up and walked out of the village with them. As they began running toward the border, John thought of the look on his wife's face as he left. He felt bad for leaving so suddenly, especially because he just got home from a previous mission just days ago. Mary didn't usually allow him to see her worry. He would have to make it up to her when he returned. Truth was, he was just as reluctant to leave. He knew their village was safe, but there was always a small part of him that worried for his family's safety. Though he liked to be with them to ensure their safety, he knew the missions he completed was the best thing he could do to keep them, and his village, safe.
Dean looked up to the dark clouds as a clap of thunder rang through the sky. The rain came immediately afterward, the sudden downpour drenching his hair and his clothes. He shivered as a harsh gust of wind passed. He debated continuing his training, but as another thunderclap rang above his head, a bad feeling ran through him and changed his mind. Something wasn't right. He grabbed his shoes, not bothering to slip them back on, and began to run back home. While Dad was out it was his job to protect their house.
He could see his house in the distance when he noticed two men dressed in black approaching his house. The uneasy feeling grew, so he ran faster, desperately trying to reach the house. When they knocked on the door, Mary answered, wearing the same beautiful smile as always. The smile dropped in an instant when the two men handed a box over to her. Dean quickened his pace, not trusting the men who would show up to their house in this storm. Mary opened the chest, and with a shaking hand pulled out an Earth shinobi armband.
Dean froze in his tracks. The chest that was in his mother's hand slipped from her fingers. Dean didn't hear it crash to the ground over the roar of another thunderclap from above. Mary dropped limp to her knees just as the last echo of the thunder reverberated through the sky.
"When a shinobi is killed on a mission, his armband is returned to his family and his name is inscribed on this stone."
The agonized scream that came after would haunt him forever.
His body went numb. He stood frozen to the spot, oblivious to the rain beating down on his head; oblivious of the shoes that dropped from his hand; oblivious to everything... Everything but the shinobi armband clutched in his mothers shaking hand, and the growing pain in his chest.
It... Couldn't be... There had to be some mistake... His father couldn't be...
...
Mary set down the sandwich on the table for Sammy to eat. It was a day after the funeral, the agony of losing her husband still fresh. Sammy wordlessly took the food and bit a small piece of it off. Of her two boys, Dean was the one she was most concerned about.
The night she received the news of her husband, they had found Dean just a couple yards away from the house. He was standing there, frozen in the rain. He made no signs of recognition when the two men approached him, only stood there dazed. Even when one of them carried him into the house he offered no resistance, just remained lifeless in his hands. Later that night, Mary heard him crying in his room. Mary hadn't been able to sleep herself, but forced herself to pull it together for the sake of her boys. An inkling of relief passed through her when she heard it, it meant Dean awoke from his state of shock. However, there was a sharp pain that ran through her at her son's misery. The sounds of his crying reminded her of her own pain, and she couldn't suppress it any longer. She cried for what seemed like ages that night, keeping it as quiet as she could so no one would hear her.
But Dean did not cry after that. Not even yesterday at John's funeral. Since that night, Dean has been spending all his time up in the mountains, training.
"Sammy you finish you're sandwich, okay sweetie? I'll be back soon, I'm going to get your brother so he can have lunch with us."
With a scream of rage he threw the boulder at the side of the cliff. As the dust settled from the collision, Dean fell to his hands and knees. Tears streamed openly down his face as he dug his fingers into the ground. He hung his head and cried. He never knew it was possible to feel this much pain, this much emptiness inside. He didn't know how long he was in this position before a gentle hand was placed on his back. He whipped his head around wildly.
"Dean," his mother said softly to him. At the sight of his mother Dean sat back on his knees and did his best to wipe his face dry to hide the tears that so desperately wanted to escape. Mary knelt to the ground and gently pulled her son into a tight hug. "It's okay Dean, you can cry."
Despite his best efforts, a few tears leaked from Dean's eyes. "I'm not crying!" he yelled past the lump in his throat, "Shinobi don't cry! I'm not..." he couldn't finish his sentence as the lump swelled.
"Dean... It's okay... I'm here."
With that the dam broke. He leaned into his mother and cried, the force of the sobs violently wracking his body. Once he started again it seemed as if it was impossible to stop. The pain in his chest was unbearable, and it never got better. No matter what he did, no matter how hard or how long he cried, it didn't go away.
Never again. Never again would he allow anyone to ever make him feel this way. He would protect his family no matter what the cost. Just to never have to feel this way again...
"You become a shinobi to protect the village and the nation that protects your family. That is your duty. Now while I'm gone, you're the man of the house. It's your job to take care of your mom and your brother. I'm counting on you."
His father's last words to him rang through his head.
"It's your job to take care of your mom and your brother. I'm counting on you."
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