Hey, guys! Unlike to what I've anticipated, this took my longer to finish. This is mostly due to some unexpected events that occurred somewhere in the middle of writing and which occupied most of my time. Sorry that I made you wait, but at the time a friend of mine required my help, so…
Either way the chapter is finished now and while I must say I'm rather satisfied with the overall result, I think the short fight in it is kinda… simple. Recently I found myself having problems writing action scenes (a fact discovered when I was finish new chapters for my original works on FictionPress… and as always I wanna invite you all to give them a try XD). Maybe it's because I've already written so many? At the very least the battle in this one was never meant to be too spectacular, but still…
As always I wanna thank everyone who took their time to review the previous chapter and even more those who also decided to read the side story I've made for Valentine's Day. Glad you enjoyed it. As things stand right now, that one shot will be made into a series, though as I said the updates on it won't be regular. Currently I'm working on a single chapter and afterwards I'll be putting up the first mission arc (that one will circle around Hinata's cell), when it'll be done however I cannot say.
Word from our beta:
What's going on, ladies and gentlemen? There's not much else happening on my end of the boat, other than assignments and the like. Anyway, I have nothing else to say, and I hope that you'd enjoy another chapter of Naruto: Next Generation.
Now, one final thing before I'll get to the chapter itself. I'd wish to dedicate this piece to a friend of mine, who's currently going through a very rough time. Be strong and have hope. Things will turn out for the better!
Chapter #111: Monster – Takai's Story part V
Title Page: Honemaru is standing with two, large tibias that cross each other behind his back
"Here you go, Konpaku-san," the salesman announced, handing the young kunoichi a bag of groceries. Rei took the package and with a deep bow, she thanked the man. Thus far there was nothing unusual in the scene. What was strange however, happened afterwards. Or rather what did not happen, for the girl was not raising her head. The man stared at the picture confused and finally decided to speak up again: "Umm… Konpaku-san?" he asked, making the genin's head shoot up as a cry of someone being awakened from a nightmare.
"Yah!" she screamed, but as her eyes traveled around, her face turned red, while an apologizing smile appeared on it: "Sorry, I must be more tired then I thought," she stated, making the man sweat drop as he watched the kunoichi run out of the store. Little she did not know was that there was also someone else observing here.
Tasuki stood in the nearby alley with his arms crossed and back propped against the wall. His eyes narrowed as he watched Rei's figure disappear in the shadows of night while she ran down the street. A twitch of his eyes outstripped his sudden turn of his head as he gazed into the dark of his hiding spot. Finally, with an annoyed tone, he asked as he glanced away: "What the hell do you want?"
Teela slowly walked into the moonlight and looked in the direction that her teammate was staring, before speaking up with her usually calm voice: "This girl seems to interest you for some reason," she noted simply, her face indifferent. "It's because of her bloodline limit, isn't it? You think she holds the answer to your question, don't you?"
"Even if, what's it to you?" Tasuki shot back suspiciously, throwing her an anger glare. The kunoichi seemed to ignore his reaction however and just went on, which annoyed the boy even further: "I fought her in the eliminations and quite frankly I do not think she's the one you should be looking for. While connection between you two seems logical, what makes you think she has any idea of what occurred all those years back? She's roughly the same age as we…"
"If I wanted your opinion, I'd have asked you," the greenhead responded coldly. "I do not butt in your business and I'd appreciate it if you'd just return the favor. I may accept you as my comrades now, but some things are still meant to deal with alone," he concluded as a sad expression crossed his face for a split second.
Yet even that was enough for Teela to notice it and while her facial outlook did not change, there was something different in her voice when she spoke again: "Hinami-sensei wishes to see us. We shouldn't make her wait." And with that she was gone, leaving Tasuki alone in the alley. His eye only twitched again, before he followed suit, disappearing.
---Five years ago in Hidden Sand Village---
"Monsters," the single word echoed in Takai's head as he stared at the ceiling. He didn't pay much attention in class today, possibly the reason he did not even notice the bell ring and his classmates began to get up. Torune, who happened to sit next to him, elbowed him in the ribs lightly, gaining his attention: "What're you thinking about, Takai-kun? A girl?" she asked with a teasing smile, making a small blush appear on the boy's face as he instantly shot up from his seat: "What the hell? Who would think of something like that?"
"Geez, boys sure mature way slower," the blonde responded with a slightly annoyed expression on her face. But that soon turned into another smirk as she threw her eyebrows up and down a few times, turning towards the crimson-eyed boy again: "She must be a hottie then. Go on, tell me who it is? Or maybe it's me?" she teased further. Certainly, if Takai's face was red before, then now it gathered all blood in his body to cover itself with red even more: "Would you cut that out, dumbass?" he yelled with murder intend in his eyes, while the girl only giggled.
Seeing this, Touba, who sat just few rows behind the two, propped his cheek on his arm, smiled: "It's rare to see him this carefree… and I was quite sure the whole Tarakudo incident had reverted him back. Still, there's something unnatural about his behavior. But maybe I'm just being paranoid. He's not a social type after all… he needs time, I suppose…" And with that thought, he picked up his bag and headed out of the classroom just like the other students.
The Academy soon emptied, leaving Takai alone in the hallways as he placed his books in the locker. Certainly he would've left long ago as well, should his mind be not occupied with the recent events. A sudden noise from around the corner instantly made him snap out of his trance however, turning in the direction from where the sound came. Closing his locker, he headed there and, as he was taking a peek over the corner, he saw a scene that left him confused.
There were a group of five kids, seemingly older than him by a year or two, surrounding a single, redheaded girl his age. The female was now pinned to the wall, shaking in fear as the boy who seemed like the leader of the group, a spiky blonde with a yellow and black jumpsuit, walked slowly towards her, grabbing her by the arm and lifting her back up to her feet: "Come on, Aoru-chan, don't be like that. I told you you're cute. Why won't you go out with me?"
"I'm only eight!" she yelled fearfully as tears gathered in her eyes. "And I don't like you! Please, just leave me alone!" she begged, but the blonde's face only got twisted with anger as he tossed her against the wall, making a loud 'thud' fill the empty hallways: "You think you have a say in this? You don't say 'no' to Uryuu!" he announced and as he raised his hand for a slap, a voice made him froze in his tracks and turn around.
"Leave her alone!" Takai yelled, jumping from behind the corner. The group instantly turned towards him, obviously surprised and unsure what to do. The first to snap out of it was the leader, Uryuu, whose face quickly took on an annoyed expression, as he shot back: "Scram, you freak, if you don't want us to bust you up!" The crimson-eyed boy did not move, merely narrowing his eyes, his hands automatically clenched into fists.
"Beat up that creep," the blonde ordered, pointing at Takai with his head, making the boy with brown skin wearing grey, one with black hair clipped in a ponytail and another, whose orange hair was made into dreadlocks charged at the newcomer. First to attack was the brown-skinned boy, as he threw a punch at his adversary, yet the crimson-eyed fighter managed to block the assault with his hand and spinning on his foot, he grabbed the other boy by the arm, tossing him over his shoulder.
As the first attacker crashed hard against the wall, the other two beat the distance between them and Takai, now throwing punches at the other boy's back. Letting his instincts kick in, the black-haired kid ducked under both assaults, making the fists whistle just above his head. In a flash he rested his hands on the floor, throwing his legs back in the attempt to kick his opponents, however missed in both cases as the two dodged by strafing to the sides, now located on Takai's left and right.
The first to resume their attack was the kid with the ponytail on Takai's right. As he charged with a wild battle cry, the crimson-eyed boy bounced off the ground and spinning to his right, he threw a kick, making his assault connect with his opponent's stomach, the impact causing the bully to bend forward. Landing on all fours with his adversary's head above, Takai threw a kick back, making his foot hit the other boy's chin, sending him flying back.
The orange dreadlocks, however, wasted no time and was already throwing a fist at the crimson-eyed boy. Again his body acted before his mind, making him stand on his hands as the punch went zooming right before his face. Seeing his opponent lean forward due to the attack, Takai quickly dropped a kick on his head, making the bully's face crash hard against the floor with a loud 'thud'.
Takai jumped to the air and somersaulted, landing safely on his feet, ready to continue the battle against the remaining foes. What happened afterwards took him by surprise, however. A loud yell of 'die freako' rang in his ears from behind, making his body turn around on instinct. It was the brown-skinned boy swinging his hand at him, with a kunai ripping the air in his grip.
Jumping back immediately certainly saved Takai from getting his chest cut, yet the blade still split his skin on his arm, making burning pain engulf his hand. The wound instantly closed however, not allowing even a single drop of blood to escape the body. This apparently shocked the assailant as he froze in his tracks. That was enough for the crimson-eyed boy to take action: with a quick spin he delivered a kick into his adversary's face, knocking him out, yet his face showed nothing like satisfaction.
"Why you…" began the girl with long, blonde hair, clipped in two ponytails, as she prepared herself to attack, but was quickly stopped by the leader, whose hand suddenly appeared between her and Takai. She gazed at her companion, his eyes narrowed as they set upon the other boy.
"I'll show you something interesting," Uryuu announced before going through a series of hand seals. In a flash his arms were engulfed with electricity, making the thunder sizzle as he threw them to the sides. "It's my clan's special skill. With this it doesn't matter whether you can't be killed or not, I can still implement a shock strong enough to paralyze you. You'll pay for interfering, you monster!" He charged forward, only to stop a second later as a sudden whirlpool of sand appeared in his way, right before Takai.
In an instant Touba's figure emerged from the sandstorm, his eyes settled on Uryuu with anger blasting from them, while the redhead spoke up: "I thought I already told you to leave Aoru alone and yet here you not only try to harass her again, but you also pick on a friend of mine. Now I'm certainly pissed. Get out of my face…"
"And there you go again, helping those freaks," the other boy shot back with an annoyed tone, holding back his fury. "Why bother? They're monsters, dammit! Do you really believe they'll be grateful for this? You can't trust people like that!"
At that point he was cut of by Touba's death glare: "I won't allow anyone to insult them in my presence… especially one of your kind. Scram, unless you want to have a visit at the medical wing." As his words sunk in, Uryuu seemed to shiver for a moment, before turning on his heel and disappearing behind the corner with his companions following soon after.
The red-haired girl slowly got back to her feet, still slightly confused, with her cheeks becoming as red as her hair, when she bowed towards the two boys: "Thank you for your help, Touba-san," she said respectfully before her gaze traveled to the crimson-eyed boy, now standing behind the son of the Kazekage, shock easily visible on his face: "And thank you too… umm…" she began, realizing she has yet to learn her savior's name.
The boy's face reddened instantly as well as his head tilted to the side, making him stare at the floor. Seeing this as he glanced over his shoulder, Touba smiled under his nose before turning back to look at Aoru, pointing at his friend: "His name's Takai," he announced cheerfully, and for some reason, that only deepened the blush the boy was already wearing.
"Well, in that case," the girl responded with a warm smile as crimson eyes turned in her direction. "Thank you for saving me, Takai-san," she bowed and ran away, her face red as a beetroot. Touba observed her for a moment and then turned back to his friend, elbowing him lightly on the ribs: "Well, who would have thought, you playboy, you," he teased, winking to the brunette.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Takai quickly snapped, raising his voice. Immediately he calmed down and gazed at the floor again, trying his best to avoid eye-contact. "It was just a 'thank you'… she probably felt saying it was obligatory. What other reason could there be after seeing what she just saw? I didn't bleed! That guy cut me and I didn't bleed! What sort of human being doesn't bleed? The wound closed just like that! And the sudden urge that I had just now… I really felt that… that I want to kill those bullies. Perhaps Horamaru was right? Perhaps they're all right? I… I'm not human… I'm a mon…" but before he could finish, a powerful punch hit his face, sending him to the floor.
"You freaking retard!" Touba yelled, his face just as angry as a moment ago. "What the hell do you think you're saying? I told you I won't allow anyone to insult my friends in my presence! You're not a monster, Takai! A monster would've just let Uryuu and his gang do as they please to Aoru! But you didn't! You stood up for her even when you didn't know her! You think that's something anyone would do? Drill this into your skull…" he said, placing his finger on the crimson-eyed boy's forehead with a serious face aimed at his friend: "You'll be a monster only if you'll let yourself become one! It doesn't matter what others say or think! Do you really think being human is just about the way you look or how you were born into this world? Or about what you can or cannot do? Trust me when I say this: you're more human than many people I know and don't let ANYONE tell you otherwise."
A little later:
Footsteps echoed in the darkness, making the man raise his head up to look into the shadows. His eyes narrowed as a small figure began emerging from the pitch-black air that surrounded the cold, stone walls. A victorious smile crept onto his face as a pair of crimson-red eyes now gazed at him. He stared into nothingness as he greeted the arrival with a playful tone: "I told you you'll come back…"
"I want to get stronger," Takai announced with determination booming from his voice. "That ability of mine you mentioned… can you teach me to use it?"
---Life moves forward---
And so this chapter is complete. Hope you enjoyed it and that you'll leave me a review once you're done. I believe that besides inviting you to drop by when this piece is updated (trying out the side story mentioned and my original works on FictionPress in the meantime), there's not much more to say.
Take care everyone, and until next time!