Chapter 12
Following his mission a few days prior, Shinji had a few days to rest for not only a job well done but as a reward for completing the mission with little room to question his methods. Some of the other ANBU found it insulting how Shinji walked around like one of them while others found it impressive how the child managed the feat.
The ones who were insulted believed their commander Oni was playing favorites with the boy as they heard he was training in secret. Shinji had heard the whispers of his co-workers and while they stuck with him, he knew it was meaningless until someone acted upon their ire.
Until that time, he would remain within the ANBU continuing to grow stronger. When he signed the Manticore clan contract, he spent time with the clan and got to know them a little more. The young ones were most curious about his position in the clan and never left him alone.
He secretly enjoyed it when they wanted to play with him.
Today though, he wanted to sleep. "What the hell is wrong with me…" he said to himself and the trio of heavy purring beasts on his bed. Turns out, manticores love to snuggle. 'Who knew?'
"Huh what'd you say?" one yawned, bearing her razor sharp canines before licking her jowls and staring at shinji with half opened eyes.
Regarding the sleepy beast with a tired gaze himself, "Doesn't matter. Now c'mon, everyone up." Shinji moved himself out of his bed which woke up the other two sleeping beasts. "I want to sleep all day but I'm not that lazy." he said before going into his bathroom.
He looked at himself in the mirror, and realized just what Mr. Sasaki was talking about. The bags under his eyes, his paler than normal skin and his general sickly appearance was a true sight to behold.
"Wow, I look like shit." he said to himself. Regarding his features he noticed how he also needed a haircut, which he usually did himself. Going back into his room and grabbing the sharpest kunai he had, he went back to the bathroom and began his work.
"Don't mess up half pint!" the snake headed one egged on his summoner.
Shinji growled in annoyance to himself, "Tell me why again your father stuck me with you three?" he asked pointedly as he looked to the instigator, Izaku. His snake-like tongue flickered ever so as he looked on with his viper eyes, his scorpion stinger waving back and forth all the while.
The one laying on the ground uninterested in the goings on, Fuko, explained the situation, once again to his summoner. "Sigh, father wanted us to experience the human world as he put it, and since you're our summoner, that responsibility falls unto you." He had the facial features of a wolf, and tiny nubs for horns at the moment as well as sharing the same tail as his father. Fuko was the eldest and most well spoken of the trio while Izaku was the middle child and their sister, Raiko being the youngest.
Shinji's eyebrow twitched at the answer as he resumed his work.
After a few more minutes of annoying comments from the peanut gallery and him being interrupted, he finally finished his haircut and looked at his final product. The sides of his head were shaved and the rest of his long, shoulder blade length hair was tied back.
"Not so bad. What do you brats think?" he asked the trio who was still sitting at the door. Fuko didn't care and said as much while Izaku just insulted him.
Raiko, bless her heart, said "I think it looks nice!" came her young chipper voice. Scratching her behind the ear as thanks. The resemblance she shared with her grandmother was uncanny, except for the deep red scales instead of blue and the same eyes as her father.
Shinji went back to his room and changed into proper clothing for the day as the manticores also readied themselves. Before heading out into the village proper, he felt it necessary to warn his summons of the dangers of even his own village. "Listen you three and hear my words, the village may be startled by your appearance within the village. So I want you three to stick by my side at all times, that goes especially for you Izaku."
Grumbling at being singled out yet agreeing regardless, the four of them went out into Iwagakure. 'Today is going to go horribly, I can feel it in my bones.' Shinji sighed to himself.
Thirty minutes later
'Sometimes I really hate being right.' Shinji lamented as he and Mr. Watanabe looked at the chaos causing cubs in the market district. Curious as they were, they got into trouble with the local antique dealer. Raiko apparently saw a ball she liked and went crazy for it while Izaku was busy with the local fish dealer.
Unsurprisingly, the one to actually listen and stay by his side happened to be Fuko. "They definitely have spirit, that's for sure." the fruit stand owner said with a sweat drop forming and a nervous smile.
"They're gonna give me gray hairs, at this point." Shinji stated, annoyed at the outcome already. He placed his fruit on the top of the stand and paid his elderly friend.
"You two!" Shinji shouted at the cubs who looked back at the sudden shout. "With me, now." The commanding tone in his voice was not to be trifled with as Raiko and Izaku came back to his side with heads down and Raikos tail between her legs.
Shinji walked off into the village, scolding the two runaways the whole way. Mr. Watanabe watched on with a small smile and even chuckled to himself at the sight. "It's about time that boy made some friends. Even if they are his summons." He had seen enough in his day to know a summon when he saw it, and those magnificent beasts with Shinji were most definitely not anything from around here.
Walking through the village in silence, the duo of younger cubs were wanting to go into every shop they could see. There was a clothing store that Izaku wanted to visit but Shinji for the life of him couldn't understand why a manticore would need clothing. Instead they visited the library, where Shinji planned on returning two books.
"Oh well aren't you three just precious!" Mrs. Kamizuki gushed over the three trouble-making cubs. She was squishing and squeezing every which way on Fukos face who reluctantly accepted the appreciation.
Grimacing and leaning against the counter, "Please don't encourage them Mrs. Kamizuki."
"Nonsense sweetheart! These three are just adorable." Raiko purred at the chin scratches she was receiving while Izaku was pushing for pets himself. Mrs. Kamizuki happily obliged the snake headed cub.
Instead of saying anything, Shinji just watched on, even drawing an unconscious smirk at the sight that Fuko happened to be paying attention to. After sticking around for a while longer, Shinji decided it was time to go and bid farewell to the librarian.
Because the village was a brand new landscape to the cubs, Shinji allowed them to explore while he and Fuko watched from behind as they walked. "Your siblings drive me crazy." Shinji confided in Fuko who only gruffed in agreement.
"For all of their excitement, I just wish they inherited fathers tact." Fuko sighed aloud.
"Not sure if tactful is how I would describe your father but whatever." As they continued to walk through the village, Shinji realized they were in a part of the village that he had never seen before that happened to be pretty close to his home.
This is how they found themselves in front of an orphanage. Shinji had never seen this before but even he could tell the sad state of affairs the building was in. It wasn't melting at the foundation, but the building was in desperate need of some repairs at the very least.
A curious eye followed the group of strange creatures being led by an older kid all the while remaining hidden. He may have been young, but Fuko was the most skilled of his siblings and alerted his summoner when he smelled the fact someone was onto them.
"Where are they?" Shinji whispered to his companion.
"Roof of the orphanage, they smell like…clay?" nodding in understanding to his companion, Shinji played it cool and pretended not to know and continued to converse with Fuko and watch over the younger cubs.
'Clay? Intriguing.' Shinji thought to himself.
The onlooker continued to watch the strange group with a curious eye. "Wonder what those things are." the boy said to himself.
"Why not ask me?" The boy heard Shinji's voice and, being startled, started to fall off the roof of the orphanage. Balancing on the edge, the boy swang his arms frantically to regain balance. Shinji just watched with a smirk to see if he fell off. Deciding the boy's life was not worth his amusement, he grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back.
Plopping down on his rear, the blonde child looked up at Shinji who wore a raised eyebrow and a deadpan stare. "What're you doing on this roof kid?"
"Who are you calling a kid? You ain't much older than me!" the boy shouted with crossed arms.
Dragging a hand down his face in exhaustion, Shinji crouched down. "Let's start over." he held up his hand for the kid to shake. "The names Shinji, what about you blondie?"
Looking at the outstretched hand with confusion, the boy reached out his own hand which was covered in bandages. Actually, both of his hands were covered in bandages now that Shinji saw it. "Deidara, and I was relaxing like I do everyday." the boy said with a grumpy attitude.
Chuckling at the boy, Shinji responded, "there's a lot better places to relax than the roof of a building deidara." Shinji looked off the roof to the ground where he saw Fuko sitting patiently looking up at him while Izaku and Raiko ran circles around him.
His expression was one that held endless patience, however thin it was getting. "You hungry? I know a pretty damn good bao shop."
In that moment, Deidara's stomach resembled Honotora's growl which the boy went red faced upon hearing. "I'll take that as a yes." Shinji turned around and beckoned the blonde boy to hop on his back.
Deidara climbed on Shinji's back and the older boy jumped off the roof, landing in front of his summons. Deidara was let down and introduced to Shinji's summons, Izaku surprisingly took a liking to the boy and stuck around him.
"Afternoon mr. Sasaki." Shinji said as he went into the stand and sat in his stool. Deidara sat next to him while his summons took the remaining seats.
"Hey shinj- woah a full house huh?" Mr. Sasaki had a nervous smile at the three large beasts sitting at his bao shop, but probably the most curious was the little blonde kid with half his face covered by his hair.
"And who are you young man?" he asked in a kind manner to deidara.
"Names deidara! Nice to meet you." the boy said with a shy smile as he introduced himself.
"How old are you, young man? And the most important question is how hungry are you?" Mr. Sasaki asked as he flipped open his notepad, ready to write down the boys order
Deidara went red faced as his stomach once again growled to an extreme level that caused both Shinji and Mr. Sasaki to chuckle. "I'm four."
"Can I please have the beef bao?" the boy asked in a shy tone to shinji.
Clapping his hand to Deidara's shoulder and with a smile, promised the boy the meal was on him and to order whatever he felt like. Shinji ordered for himself and his summons and together, the five ate in silence. Deidara must have been really hungry since he had three orders of extra large bao buns.
Handing over the wad of cash with a tear rolling down his face, the group left with full bellies and a new memory. Since deidara was presumably an orphan, he didn't have much to do and instead stuck with shinji and his summons all day.
However good times must come to an end and the sun begins to set on this day. Realizing the time, Shinji sent his summons back to his home and decided to walk Deidara back to the orphanage.
The walk was silent but not unpleasant as the two made their way through the village. "Do you have any friends, Shinji?" deidara suddenly questioned.
Taken aback, Shinji stumbled to find an answer, but finally landed on "Not really, no."
"How come? You seem fun to hang out with." the blonde boy commented with a small smile.
The memories of Emi and Kaito resurfaced and how they left things last time they saw each other. Shinji resented how he handled the situation and sometimes regretted his actions. He hadn't heard or seen them ever since that day.
After Emi and Kaito, the only friends he made were on his genin team who met a gruesome end at the hand of konoha shinobi on that terrible mission. Even now, Shinji still hears the explosion ringing in his ears.
"Hey, Shinji!" Deidra finally got the attention of Shinji after pulling on his sleeve and looked worried. "Are you okay?"
Shaking his head of his thoughts, Shinji adorned a kind smile and rubbed Deidara's head. "Don't you worry about it alright? And besides, I thought we were friends." He looked down at the widened eyes of deidara and could swear he saw a tear form in the corner of his visible blue eye.
He rubbed away the tear with lightning speed and replaced the expression with a jubilant smile. "We are friends!" After that, they continued their journey back to the orphanage with Deidara, now far more talkative and happy.
Arriving at the entrance to the shabby building, deidara looked saddened that they finally stopped. In fact the boy didn't want to go back in, he wanted to stay with his new friend and continue to have fun.
Shinji got down on one knee and faced the saddened boy, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Hey c'mon don't be so gloomy deidara. Tell you what, any time you want to talk, go have some fun or even train together, just take this red tape and put an 'x' in the window. That way I'll know alright?" Deidara looked up from the ground and at Shinji who had his smirk still in place and a hand outstretched containing a roll of red tape.
Deidara rubbed his bandaged hands and asked "You'll really come back?" as he grabbed the roll of tape.
Chuckling at the boy, who in turn puffed out his cheeks in annoyance, Shinji replied, "Of course I will, it's not like I have to travel halfway across Earth Country."
In the next moment, Shinji's guard was broken by a hug from the four year old. He was stunned, but hugged deidara back anyway.
After the hug, Deidara walked to the doorstep of the orphanage and looked back out to Shinji. "Thanks big brother Shinji." He called out with a large smile and a big wave. Shinji smirked and waved back before disappearing with a body flicker, causing Deidara's eye to go as wide as a dinner plate.
"He's a shinobi?!"
Shinji closed the door to his home and saw the three cubs wrestling each other on the couch. Pushing them to the other half and sitting down, Shinji turned on the television and threw on some cartoons as background noise.
'Possibly the greatest invention in this world I've found. This world is both primitive and technologically advanced at the same time, it honestly astounds me.' While thinking, Raiko curled up onto his lap while Fuko laid beside him with Izaku laying on top of his brother.
"I liked that kid today, he's way less annoying than you." Izaku said with a chuckle. Shinji honestly didn't care about the insult, he was in too good a mood right now.
"Yea I like him too. Wonder what was up with his hands though. *Yawn* I'll ask him next time. " Shinji idly scratched the back of Raiko's ear causing her to begin purring. It wasn't long before the four of them drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
His two fellow witchers stood there in stunned silence at the truth of their mutations all those years ago. Gaston, Varric and Aldrin stayed looking at the table, on it held all of the information regarding the trials they and so many others suffered through.
"I-i can't believe this. So many trials with so little to show for it." Varric commented at the saddening sight. "It's disgusting."
"Inhumane is what it is." Aldrin said stoically with his arms crossed.
Gaston's hair shadowed his eyes yet his medallion remained gleaming in the darkened room. "Ive gone over these notes about a hundred times now and still…something must be done about this."
"What do you propose grandmaster?" Varric regarded the master of their school who at one point was their equal.
Gaston remained silent and hunched over the table. Before long, he finally stood to his full imposing height. "No more. No more witchers, the Manticore school will die with us."
"B-But Gaston!" Aldrin started, only to be silenced by a hand raised by Gaston.
"This is not up for discussion. We will be the last class and the secrets of how to create another witcher will die with us." Gaston drew his skinning knife and made a cut on his hand. "I, Gaston of Faroe, deem us to be the final Manticore witchers."
It took little convincing as the other two saw the same thing Gaston did with their own eyes. So many young boys, all dead in horrible, grotesque ways that were hidden from them for the past four decades.
Aldrin and Varric both made the same cuts on their hands with the same blade as Gaston. "The school dies with us." Together, the final Manticore witchers made a blood pact that would ensure no one would have to go through what they did, ever again.
"This wont stop the other schools you know." Varric stated.
"I know, but they are not our concern. We will do as we always have and take care of our own. The bears can brood all they want in the cold right alongside the wolves in Kaer Morhen." Gaston grabbed an oil lamp from a nearby table.
"This way though, we ensure our methods die with us." Gaston turned the flame all the way up on the lamp, and threw it on the wooden table.
The three witchers watched as their fortress, Behelt Nar, crumbled to the sands in a sea of fire, never to see the light of day again.