Sorry it took me like forever to update… I had a major author's block on this one… I managed to get through it, but I'm still not totally happy about how this chapter turned out. But I hope you'll like it at least as much as the previous one.
Before going any further, I think I'll give you the pairing of the original crew so you won't get confused who's kid is who's… also, don't worry about the many characters in the clans, I'll tell you right now that they'll play a minor part in the story (the most important are current eight-year-old's). So, here it is:
Naruto x Hinata: Iruka (boy, 13 years old), Toramaru (boy, 8 years old)
Sasuke x Sakura: Reiko (boy, 14 years old), Momoiro (girl, 11 years old), Gouka (girl, twin of Naraku, 8 years old), Naraku (boy, twin of Gouka, 8 years old), Homura (girl, 6 years old)
Kiba x OC: Tsume (girl, 13 years old), Garou (boy, 8 years old), Hanone (boy, 5 years old)
Shino x OC: Kumo (boy, 8 years old)
Shikamaru x Temari: Buryaku (girl, 8 years old), Shikaru (boy, 4 years old)
Chouji x Ino: Choumaru (boy, 8 years old)
Lee x Tenten: Gai (boy, 8 years old), Ibuki (girl, 2 years old)
Neji x OC: Hashira (boy, 10 years old), Hitomi (girl, 8 years old)
Kakashi x Anko: Jun (boy, 8 years old)
Well, not too much action in this one, but the next one should have lots of that, so if you'll still be interested, review and I'll continue writing this fic.
Now, without further to do, hope you'll enjoy this:
THOSE WHO INHERIT THE WILL OF FIRE
Chapter #2: The Freaks and the Furious
Title Page: Shunrai is balancing on the rail smiling, in a dress and a hangbag on her shoulder, above the with a lighthouse in the background and Toramaru's head is sticking from the surface of the water with goggles on as he stares at the kunoichi with a tiny blush on his cheeks
"Come on, Garou, get a move on!" yelled Toramaru as he stood in front of the Inuzuka estate. "We're already behind and we still have to pick up Naraku at his place!" it was their third week of the Academy and Toramaru, Garou and Naraku manage to become pretty good friends during that time. They did most of the things together and quickly got the opinion of troublemakers as both Garou and Toramaru loved to pull pranks on everybody. The young Uchiha didn't find it too funny, but decided that his friends could use at least one person who thinks clearly, so every time he joined them anyways.
Finally the young Inuzuka jumped out the window with Hanomaru holding tight to his head and landed right before the blonde with a sandwich still in his mouth. "Ofey, I'm fedy to go (Okay, I'm ready to go)" he said without letting go of his breakfast.
And so the two of them jumped from roof to roof, heading towards the Uchiha estate. As they reached the gate, they almost bumped into Gouka who was just leaving the house. Naraku's twin sister gave them a cold, uncaring glare and turned to look at the house.
A moment later her brother ran out to the yard and headed in their direction, earning a comment from his sister: "Naraku, your bodyguards are here…"
The boy just ignored her and walked to his friends. After exchanging greeting they all headed to the Academy. They still had some time, so there was a possibility they'll make it on time. However they didn't took one thing under consideration:
"Where's the hurry, shrimps?" asked Gaki as he stood right in Toramaru's way. The blonde was barely able to stop in order to avoid crushing into the bully. The four, other boys that stood behind Gaki laughed and crossed their arms.
"Unlike you, Gaki, we prefer not to skip classes… too often" replied Garou and Hanomaru barked loudly on his head, but soon started wincing quietly and hid deeper in his master's hair.
"Is there a problem?" asked Iruka, who just appeared next to them.
"Of course not" assured Gaki. "We're just playing around…" and with those words he turned to the three boys with a smirk on his face. "You know we wouldn't want to break any, Academy rules, Iruka-sensei…"
"Then get to class" said the chuunin with a little ordering tone. "The classes are about to start…" and hearing that all the young ninjas headed to the classroom. "You can tell he's a troublemaker…" sighed the scar-face. "But I can't do much about that…"
The history class that day was pretty boring to Toramaru, especially compared to last week's subject, when Iruka told them about founding of Konoha. Garou, as usual, slept it over, getting slightly elbowed by Naraku from time to time, in order to warn him that he's snoring too loud.
The white-eye boy looked at Kumo, who was sitting right next to him. The Aburame heir barely moved, which wasn't a big surprise. Toramaru's eyes did widen at the sight of a small spider walking on the boy's face and then disappearing behind his overcoat. "He just keeps getting weirder and weirder…" the blonde shook it of and then turned to the far end of the class, where the girl named Shunrai sat, as usual, away from other students. "Not much is changing…"
Finally launch break came and Toramaru, along with Garou and Naraku occupied their favorite spot, which was the roof of a nearby flower shop. Choumaru joined them, since the shop was run by his mother anyways. The three friends looked with eyes widen as the chubby ninja kept picking more sandwiches out of his bag, along with few rice balls and sushi.
"Are you seriously gonna eat all that, Chou?" asked Garou in disbelief as he gave Hanomaru another, small piece of meat and took a deep bite of his own sandwich.
"Yeah, why not?" replied the heir of Akimichi a bit surprised.
"Well, next we'll have physical exercise, so you shouldn't stuff yourself up…" reminded Naraku. "You might throw-up…"
"Have a heart, I haven't eaten anything in… four hours now…"
Toramaru just smiled under his nose and took a bite of his apple. As he chewed, he kept thinking about a thing that wouldn't leave his mind since the day he joined the Academy. Finally he decided to ask his friends about it: "Hey, guys, do any of you know something about that Shunrai girl?"
"Huh?" Garou turned to face him. "Why do you ask?" but then he smirked and winking to him started to hit him softly with his elbow: "Let me guess, you dig her…"
"No, pinhead!" yelled Toramaru, yet blushed slightly. "I mean, don't you find it strange that even though it's already been three weeks she hasn't spoken to anyone yet?"
"All I heard are probably rumors, but I can tell you, if you want…" announced Naraku, gaining all the boys attention. "Okay… well, from what I know, she's not originally from the Leaf! It's said she was found on the battlefield when she was less then one year old and got adopted by a single mother… however she died about a year ago and so she's living all by herself… if all that is true, I guess that might also explain why she has no last name…"
"That's rather sad…" stated Choumaru as he stopped eating his sushi halfway.
"So she doesn't feel any attachment to Konoha…" Toramaru thought to himself as he looked at the sky. "That's also why others don't approach her: since she's not a leaf-nin, they don't feel like they can trust her..."
During the physical exercise Iruka had some important business to take care of, so he allowed the kids to do whatever they desired. The girls decided to play volleyball, which gave Garou a dumb idea to peek on them, however Toramaru quickly convince him not to, reminding about Hitomi's Byakugan. "She'd spot you the moment you get close…" he said.
The girls quickly divided themselves into two teams: first was Hitomi and Akemi, the other was Gouka with Hinako. Buryaku, as usual, decided to skip the exercise and in stead fell asleep under a nearby tree.
"Okay, so who's in for some dodge ball?" purposed Gai, which didn't surprised too many people, since he usual picked games that required good, physical conditions. No-one was surprised that Gaki and his gang joined in also immediately either… after all, that was a good way to give someone a bruise or two.
Shimiru decided to go skating somewhere near the schoolyard and neither Kumo nor Akumo had much of determination to play anything.
"Then… how about… soccer?" suggested Gitou between the coughs, as usual.
"Not a bad idea, but we'd have an odd number…" announced Akai as he looked around.
It was then that Toramaru noticed Shunrai sitting on a branch and looking at the sky. The blonde walked over to her and asked out loud, so that everyone heard him: "You wanna play with us?" The girl gave him a surprised glare, but said nothing, so the white-eye boy continued: "The number of players in teams won't be equal, so we need one more player anyways and since you're not playing volleyball with the girls I figure you could join us…"
"What is he doing?" Jun whispered to Akai, looking at Toramaru. "Doesn't he know?"
"No thanks…" Shunrai finally replied as she got up and walk back to the Academy.
"Boy, she's a weirdo…" announced Jun as he walked over to the son of Hokage who was observing the blue-haired girl entering the Academy. "Let's just play… Toramaru, are you still on?"
"You know what guys, start off without me…" replied the white-eyed boy. "At least the teams will have equal numbers…" and with that he walk towards the Academy as well.
"Told you he digs her…" joked Garou as he whispered into Naraku's ear.
----------
Shunrai was propping herself on the rail and observed the sky from the Academy roof when Toramaru found her. He walked over to her and propped on the rail as well, turning his gaze to the clouds, yet he said nothing.
"Why did you follow me her?" she finally asked after a long silence.
"And why did you just ran off when I asked you to play with us?" the blonde replied with a question. The young kunoichi kept quiet, so Toramaru continued: "Is that true what Naraku told me? That you're not from the Leaf?" the girl only nodded, after a moment of hesitation. "So I figure you're afraid of being judged just by that… I can understand your fear towards people, but you know, finding emptiness and having no-one to fill it is one of the worst pains I know…"
"What do you mean?" asked the girl puzzled.
"I can somewhat relate to your situation…" responded the white-eye boy. "With my father being the Hokage, he's rarely at home… there are time I don't see him for days… my mother is the head of the strongest clan in Konoha, so she has duties as well… and my brother recently become jounin, so he's out on missions all the time… even though I have a lot of people in the family, most of the time when I come back, my home is empty, just like yours…"
Shunrai lowered her head and turn away. Toramaru gave her a glare and then, taking his eyes of her, he continued: "But I have friends now… sure, Garou is loud and can be extremely annoying and Naraku is so stiff that joking around with him is a real pain…" he joked and the kunoichi couldn't help but smile a bit. "… but they fulfill the emptiness that my family unwillingly creates… sure, the more you open up, the bigger are the chances that you'll get hurt, but if you won't take the risk you may end-up not trusting anyone at all… and being alone is the worst hell imaginable… my father told me that…" and with that he walked away, leaving Shunrai alone on the roof.
-----Later that day-----
"Well, this day turned out long…" yawned Buryaku as she headed to the exit. "Akemi, where's your bag? Aren't you going home?" she asked her friend the moment she noticed the green-haired kunoichi wannabe was carrying a small shuttle and a watering can.
"I want to working in the Academy garden a bit…" replied the other girl smiling. "Sorry, but I won't be going back with you this time… hope you don't mind…"
"Working in the garden that's not even your own?" the lazy girl's eyebrow went up. "How troublesome… but whatever, have fun…" and with that she raised her hand as a 'goodbye' and went on her way, leaving Akemi by herself.
The green-haired girl watched as her friend disappeared behind the Academy gates and then headed back to the garden. Singing under her nose she started to plant the flowers and water the bushes around.
"Hanomaru, get back here!' she suddenly heard a loud yell and before she knew it, Garou's pup jumped into the garden, followed by his master. The canine instantly hid under the nearby bushes as the dog ninja entered the garden. "Hanomaru, I don't have time to play 'hide and seek' with you! I wanna go home! Come on, Toramaru and Naraku already left and we're probably the only ones here…" just then he noticed Akemi sitting on the ground and planting another flower. "What are you doing here at this hour?"
"I'm just taking care of this place…" replied the green-haired girl with a smile.
"Taking care of the Academy gardens?" Garou was a bit surprised and then noticed his pet 'marking' his territory. "AH! Hanomaru, stop that! You want Iruka-sensei to put me in detention because of you again!"
Akemi just stared at the dog ninja and giggled at the sight.
"Okay, I see…" announced Garou after he talked with Akemi for a while. "So you just like gardening and since your family doesn't have a garden you asked Iruka-sensei to let you take care of this one… but why do you stay so late after school? I mean, it's almost lunchtime…"
"I know, but I really want to finish what I've started and I still have five flowers to plant…" replied the green-haired girl as she started digging another hole.
The dog ninja just stared at her for a while and then got back to his feet, walked over to her and kneeled next to the young kunoichi: "Then let me help you…" he purposed with a smile. "That way you'll finish faster… but don't expect me to be any, big help, the only holes Hanomaru and I ever dug were for his bones…" and hearing that Akemi gave him another shuttle, smiling widely.
They just finished planting the last of the flowers when Hanomaru started barking loudly at the entrance to the garden. A second later Gaki, along with his gang, entered with a smirk on his face: "Well, look at that, hydrant boy is planting weeds… what for, so you can 'mark' them later on?" he then laughed at his own joke and his followers soon followed (A/N: somehow this line sounds really bad).
"What do you want, Gaki?" asked Garou, giving him an angry look.
"Hey, we just came here, coz our ball flew in here through the window…" replied the bully. "As soon as we find it, we're gone… so we'll just search the bushes…" and with that his gang started to go through the plants, stumping on every flower that was in their way.
Akemi covered her mouth as she hold back her tears. All the effects of her work that she put in those plants was getting crushed in an instant. Garou threw a quick look at her and then, standing back to his feet, he called out: "I'll only warn you once: get out of this place…"
"Or what, dog boy?" asked Gaki with a smirk.
Without a second thought, Garou crouched down after performing a quick set of hand seals: "Ninpou: Hikayaku no Jutsu!" and as his claws and fangs grew a little longer, he charged towards the bully, ready to ram him.
As Garou crashed into Gaki, his eyes widen seeing that he only made the bully take a single step back: "So much for the famous technique of the Inuzuka clan…" smirked Gaki as he landed a powerful blow on the dog ninja, that made his opponent crash hard against the ground. "You were fast, but I am strong…"
"Just shut up!" yelled Garou as he bounce of the ground by using his right hand and spinning wildly came right at the bully with a call: "Tsuuga!"
Gaki instantly covered his head with his hands, yet couldn't help but yell in pain as Garou's attack reached him. He fell backwards with blood coming from his lips. The dog ninja on the other hand landed safely few meters in front of him.
However, before he could make another move, he heard Hanomaru whine and before he knew it, he received a powerful kick in the head from one of Gaki's followers. Instantly the rest of the gang found themselves near the dog ninja and started to kick him until Gaki came closer.
"You damn dog breath…" he said, lifting Garou up by the collar with one hand. "Who the hell do you think you are, trying to fight me? I could use my special technique on you, but then again, why waste it on someone that weak? In stead I'll make you remember that freaks like you have no right to go against me!" and with that he gave a powerful punch into the dog boy's stomach, making him left out air.
Akemi started horrified as the brown-haired bully landed punch after punch on the young Inuzuka, even after the boy lost consciousness.
-----The next day-----
"I'm terribly sorry, Garou-kun…" Akemi kept apologizing to the dog ninja the next day when he showed up with small bandages on his face and around his arms. "If I only…"
"It's not your fault…" replied the young Inuzuka shortly as the two of them were standing in the hallway along with Naraku and Toramaru. "I told you that sort of things happen… it can't be helped that you tripped and accidentally pushed me off the stairs…" at hearing that the green-haired girl gave him a puzzled look, but decided not to say a word.
"Well, you seem to have few broken ribs, but except that you only got few cuts and bruises…" announced Toramaru after examinating his friend with his Byakugan. "You should fully recover in few days, if you won't push yourself… it is surprising that you got all that just from falling from the stairs…"
"Falling from the stairs?" repeated Hinako, who accidentally heard their discussion. "What are you trying to pull, Garou? Why don't you tell them that you got beaten by Gaki and his friends? You Inuzuka pride doesn't allow that?" she asked a bit pissed, however Toramaru couldn't tell what was the reason she was so upset with. "Fighting on your own against five people, did you really expected to win? How dumb can you be?"
Naraku and Toramaru just exchanged their glares.
-----Later that day-----
"Toramaru-sama, how could you act so recklessly?" Hitomi almost yelled at the white-eyed boy and the Uchiha prodigy, who were sitting in their desks with black eyes and few bruises where and there. "Did you really expect that if the two of you challenged Gaki and his gang you'll be able to defeat them? You were outnumbered!"
"That's why I asked Akemi not to tell you how I really got my injuries…" sighed Garou, who sat just a row back. "There was really no need for you guys to do that…"
"Hey, we're friends, aren't we?" replied Toramaru smiling. "We have to stick together in any situation… besides, next time all three of us will fight and we'll kick Gaki's butt!"
"Yeah…" nodded Naraku. "Plus, it doesn't hurt that much…" he said as pain shoot through his stomach and he clenched his teeth to hold a yell of pain.
"LIAR!" yelled Hitomi as she stormed to the back of the class, leaving three boy grinning.
"Well, the little 'peril eyes' does have a point…" announce Shimiru, who was sitting, or more like laying, next to them with his feet on the desk. "You know Gaki is one of the tops of the class, right? Most likely he can take all you guys by himself…"
Shunrai just stared at the three, injured boys from the corner of the class and lowered her head. Akumo noticed that and glared at the blue-haired kunoichi for a moment before returning to stare at the blackboard.
-----Later that day-----
"Well, lets get the hell outta here!" yelled Toramaru as he raised his hand to the sky. "Tonight my mother promised to make me some real ramen and I don't want to miss it for the world! You guys can tag along as well, but don't you dare eat more then one bowl!"
"You sure are lively for someone who got his butt kicked badly just few hours ago…" noticed Naraku sweat dropping.
"Uhm…" all three heard a voice from behind and they turned around to see Shunrai standing in front of them with her head lowered. "I… I was thinking that… uhm… maybe… I mean… if it's not a problem, then… well…"
The boys just exchanged glares before smiling: "You are you coming or what?" asked Toramaru out loud. "If we won't hurry, the food may get cold and if that happens, there's gonna be blood!"
"Mostly yours, coz your wounds will open if you keep bouncing up and down like that!" yelled Naraku as he gave his friend a smack on the head.
Shunrai only smiled at the sight and walked over to were the three were standing. Soon after all of them headed to Uzumaki clan household.
And that's that for the time being. Hope you liked it and that you'll leave a review with your opinion.
The jutsu encyclopedia isn't really needed this time, since all the techniques used in this chapter are directly from the manga (and anime), so I'll limit myself to just give you a translation of them this time:
Ninpou: Hikayaku no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Animal Imitation Skill)
Tsuuga (Piercing Fang)
Before finishing, I'd like to make an announcement: next time (if there will be next time that is) I'll start placing character profiles in every chapter. If you want any, particular of the OC's to be describe, let me know and I'll place his or hers profile ASAP.
With that said, best wishes and till the next update, hopefully.