Loss

by xKerithx

With a kekkei genkei that can only be used to take the lives of others, a boy named Tama swears to become a ninja who can protect all life without ever using it. Follow Tama from his first day as a Ninja in a story spanning years as he finds out more about his unique kekkei genkai, makes friends, experiences, and attains his goals and dreams. And too much to summarize! no pairings

4. Chapter 4

Title: Loss

A/N: Yooooo what's up? I usually try to post on saturdays/sundays because those are my free days but as I kept going on and on with this chapter I couldn't find a good place to end it. I decided to just say fuck it and post it now before I got any later then my personal goal haha. OK no more ranting (peace sign)

XxxxX

Genin Exams Arc: Chapter 4 - Death

Noon - The Ninja Academy, Konohagakure

Atop the ninja academy rooftop, a white haired Jonin with a mask covering his whole face except for one of his eyes read a book. It was called 'makeout tactics' and the team of (hopefully) soon-to-be Genin were starting to think that the stupid book was more interesting than his damn job - teaching them to be ninja.

"Gonna put that thing down or what?" Sasuke questioned, a knife edge tone to his voice and a keen pair of eyes boring down on the jonin. "We don't have all day."

The Jonin's only eye looked their way for the first time in a while. Tama, Sasuke, and Naruto were sitting next to each other in exactly that order. "On the contrary, you 3 do have all day. But alright, fine then." The Jonin allowed with annoyance, closing the book. "Ever heard the saying, 'patience is key'? A great shinobi knows how to bide his time."

"Or how to waste it…" Muttered Tama like an indignant teenager. "I'm sure all of our friends are genin already. It's like 1 or 2 o clock. We were supposed to start ages ago."

"Yeah man what's the deal?" Shot Naruto, pointing his finger at the white haired jonin, "Give us our test already. We've been practicing for years, y'know!"

"Alright alright alright. Quiet down loud mouths. I'll give you all your test, but I don't even know who you three are so let's start with a pre test, of sorts. It's pretty easy." The man started waving his left hand dismissively. "Tell me about yourselves, your names, likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, and so on. That way, I can make a test suitable for everyone."

"Huh, why?" Wondered Naruto, adjusting his headband.

The Jonin sighed, "I just said why."

Naruto thought for a moment and replayed what the man said in his head. Then, he snapped one of his fingers. "Oh ok, makes sense."

"You already know all of our names though." Cut in Tama, leaning forward slightly, Or else how would he have known we were team 7? He thought, "I'm sure the hotshots who made up the team told you about us. Like our abilities, temperaments, and so on?"

The man glared at the smart ass, "You think one side of the story is enough to know everything?"

Backing off, Tama replied while waving his hands defensively,, "Sheesh, seems fair.""

"Who are you, though?" Wondered Naruto, pointing a finger and wagging it, "Can't just go around demanding to know people's stories while wearing a creepy old mask. If that makes you cool or something it doesn't." It totally does! Naruto thought in his head.

The jonin sighed, "Meh, ok then. My name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes? I like food and water. My dislikes? Being hungry and/or thirsty, especially both at the same time. My dreams for the future…" All three ninjas-in-training sighed when they watched Kakashi Hatake draw a blank for 10 seconds straight. "Huh. I guess I never really thought about that."

Naruto sweatdropped.

Tama merely massaged the bridge of his nose.

Weirdly enough, Sasuke had more of a reaction than Tama and Naruto combined this time because he scoffed in disapointment. A piece of cardboard has more character than this guy… Thought Sasuke, annoyed. Or maybe he just has a lot to hide. That or he's a nutjob. All of the above is an option as well.

"Well~..." Said Kakashi to Naruto, "Your turn, orange boy."

"Orange Boy!? Tryna make fun'a me or somethin'." Yelped Naruto. He crossed his arms and then smiled, "Who cares! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, believe it! I like ramen a whole lot - actually I LOVE ramen! I also like instant ramen and I hate ramen when it gets all soggy and cold or when there's way too much soy sauce. Yuck. Sodium's good but not when there's too much." Suddenly Naruto's smile got a whole lot bigger than normal. He unfolded his arms and pointed both of his thumbs at himself, "My dream for the future? I'm gonna be HOKAGE ONE DAY! That way bastards like Sasuke will actually have to listen to what I have to say and everyone else will look at me like I'm somebody important! Someone worth remembering! not just the n-" Naruto choked when he almost said nine-tailed fox, and instead said, "no good kid everyone thinks I am…" On that note, Naruto sat back down. "It'lol happen one day for sure, believe it!"

Kakashi looked at Naruto much more closely now. Well this one's special. That old man never told me about this. Must've had a peculiar upbringing.

Hands behind his head, Tama thought, So that's why he wants to be the hokage. In all honesty, Tama didn't know much about Naruto and the same went vice versa. He could infer a few things though. It was obvious the blond didn't have a family either, or at the very least they weren't involved in his life at all. He acted way too rambunctious and he'd never once seen the blond go home with his parents or anywhere for that matter after school ended. Not only that, but it was almost like he was always trying to prove something to somebody. That wasn't inherently a bad thing, per se. It just… wasn't characteristic of your usual kid-

-"What about you, Sasuke?" Tama's thoughts were interrupted when Kakashi asked that of Sasuke.

Sasuke sighed. He shot a glance at Naruto who put his all into that answer. Should he do the same? Just… be brutally honest? "How important is it that I actually try here? Given the shitty answer you gave us I kinda just wanna bullshit too."

"Do what you want." Kakashi shrugged, "It's not like I'm grading you three on this. This is purely for my own educational purposes." Not exactly, but… I can't reveal all my cards just yet, can I?

"Oh I get it," Chuckled Sasuke ominously, his voice and expression thickening to the point that it was tangible in the air. Tama and Naruto both gulped at how serious Sasuke suddenly got in the span of three seconds. Kakashi, though, simply narrowed his eyes at the Uchiha. "As you all know, my name is Sasuke Uchiha. Remember it or discard it, I couldn't care less. My likes? Nothing. My dislikes? Pointless crap like this and anything else that wastes my time or gets in my way. Dreams for the future? It's not a dream because I'll make it a reality one way or another." Sasuke paused, and then started looking past Kakashi, past the land of fire and toward the open world outside the village, "Someday I'm going to wipe a certain someone off the face of the earth. They'll regret ever being born. I'll accomplish that goal even if it's the last thing I do."

Naruto shrieked and scooted 5 steps away from the edgy Sasuke, I sure hope he's not talking about me?! He thought, scared.

Tama merely looked at Sasuke, who was glancing into the distance, Damn… Was all he thought, and even though the boy's mind ran a blank he was still thinking. Just, thinking with his heart. Trying to think about what the hell this guy just said. Eventually, he gave up. He knew the Uchiha clan had been wiped out. Maybe it had something to do with that.

Meanwhile, Kakashi's eyes were narrowed. As he gets stronger, this'll deal with itself on its own. If this ends up becoming a problem though I won't hesitate to send him back to the academy. He thought. Sasuke being talented was amazing, sure, but Kakashi Hatake knew that being blinded by your own power would only hurt the team in the long run.

…

…

…

Soon enough though, all eyes were on Tama, the enigma of the group. Throughout all of the years in the Academy Tama was just… there. He existed. People knew his name. People would say hi to him if they saw him and even bye too. He wasn't easily forgettable by any means and if he up and disappeared people would wonder where he went.

He wasn't exactly nice but he wasn't rude either. In fact, he was actually pretty talented at ninjutsu, taijustu, and genjutsu too. Not as much as Sasuke by any means but the other students in class would often go to Tama for help because the alternative was a little too scary.

But that was it.

No one knew why Tama was there at the Academy. Why he wanted to be a ninja. It was tradition for those hailing from the great shinobi clans to become ninja. but… Tama was just a normal person without any clan jutsu. What was his reason for being there? Why would he even bother? He seemed pretty mature too so it was safe to assume he didn't want to be a ninja because that was the 'cool' thing to do. So why? Why was Tama even here?

Even Sasuke, who usually didn't care, was looking at Tama and wondering what he would say.

Kakashi's one eye was narrowed and Naruto gulped, curious.

"I uh…" Tama started, then paused to clear his throat. He disregarded the entirety of team 7 and looked to the sky for an answer or inspiration. "I… uh…" He mumbled again, confused as to what he should say.

It had been years since Tama sat down and asked himself basic human questions like 'what do I like' and 'what do I want from life'. He decided to just wing it. "I like playing guitar and listening to bands perform at night while I'm serving at the hotel I work at." Sasuke's eyebrow raised when he heard that as well as Kakashi's, but Naruto already knew that, "I dislike it when girls try to sing. I mean don't get me wrong I'm hella jealous at how easily they can hit high notes, but I swear they all sound the same. None of them actually try to go outside the norm and sound different. I'm not gay or anything but when guys can hit those high notes it truly blows my mind because we all sound different due to how hard singing is for us guys. Listening to music makes my nights go by much faster. I'm glad the hotel I serve at has live performances all the time." Tama paused, "Now, my dreams for the future…?"

Tama didn't know how to answer that question. He looked to Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke.

Usually when people hawked him about why he wanted to be a ninja he'd say he's doin it for the money. People would call him shallow and it definitely was one of his reasons for wanting to be a ninja, but. But… it was much more than that. The answer to what his goal was was simple enough but to vocalize it he'd have to…

I'd have to think about them.

XxxxX

8 Years Ago - Konohagakure Orphanage

After being born in a cesspool from his own villager's blood, Tama Jinsei was taken back to Konohagakure by Team 10 - The Ino-Shika-Cho. Countless tests and procedures were performed on the boy to figure out what exactly he was and where he came from. However, one thing was abundantly clear. He was a human. Inoichi Yamanaka had even delved into the deepest recesses of the baby's mind and discovered the same thing.

Tama Jinsei was a human being. Whatever that entity called Jashin had done hadn't altered him in any conceivable way.

When there was nothing else to gleam from studying the boy he was taken to the Konohagakure orphanage at the age of 1.

3 years later, and now he was 4. In Konohagakure when a child turned 6 they didn't need an orphanage to take care of them anymore. So he still had 2 years left.

But during this time war was still raging on and the young boy was ignorant of such things. He had made friends of his fellow brothers and sisters. Made relationships and even started to have dreams of his own. Dreams to be rich enough to buy a huge house so he and all of his fellow brother's and sisters could live happily without any worries.

Tama was dead wrong though. It did not take long for him to fall head-first into the darkness of the Shinobi world and see the bitter truth behind the glorious and unblemished image that Konohagakure presented to its civilians.

In truth none of the leaf villagers really cared about the orphans of the village. In fact, the orphanage was located on the very edge of the village right next to the recently wiped out Uchiha clan providence.

The orphanage consisted of people just like Tama. Kids who had been abandoned by their parents or guardians (dead or not) and left to rot in Konohagakure, who had taken them in. To Tama's surprise, they had gotten along very well. Many of them made fun of the white streak in Tama's hair, teasing him while having fun at his expense. He had not minded, after all, if his oddities were funny, then at least he could bring some joy into people's life rather than sorrow. And they were all just like him.

But that moment of peace had been shattered like glass as misfortune finally struck the orphanage, changing his life for the worse. A gang of about 12 rogue ninja from the village hidden in the mist - deciding to test their jutsu for sport and see how solid the defenses of Konoha were - attacked the orphanage and proceeded to 'test' their abilities on the orphans. Because the orphanage was on the edge of the village when leaf shinobi found out it was already too late. The Uchiha Police force being wiped out months prior didn't help either.

It was a bloodbath, a slaughter. Death had struck the orphanage and it came in the guise of human beings that laughed and cried tears of joy at the panicked screams and cries of the innocent. It was the first time Tama had been exposed to the darkness of the Shinobi world. While he had been exposed to death, he had not been prepared for the searing finality of it, the fear and horror that would permeate his soul as one by one, his brother's and sisters were killed all around him. He was only 4.

Tama had run, grabbing one of his sisters and trying to escape with their life. But they had been cornered, the hidden mist ninja taking pleasure in their every cringe and cry of despair. As one of the faceless ninja raised his blade to finish the job, something snapped. Tama had moved, his body taken over by some strange ominous force as he flew forward, dodged a swing easily, and closed in, jumping upward and grabbing the man's face in his hands.

The enemy ninja's face shifted from one filled with a giddy expression to one of death. Blank. Expressionlessness. And then the man's lifeless body crumpled unmoving to the ground, its soul extracted from it in mere moments. Tama's hands which had done the deed were glowing with a rich, thick white chakra like aura. That aura was then absorbed into Tama's body and boy felt more energetic than ever before. Tama's eyes were a sickening purple color as well as opposed to its usual black.

This was the first time Tama Jinsei realized that he wasn't normal. That he had an ability meant only to reap the souls of others. Everyone he managed to make direct contact with, he was able to drain of their stamina in moments and even kill them if he held on for too long.

"Just don't let him touch you and he's harmless!" One rogue nin shouted with sweat streaming down his face.

"He's already killed two of us!" Another yelled, narrowly avoiding a grab from the little kid who was blitzing grown men and oozing off an ominous purple aura.

"Just focus! We can take him down!"

And so they did.

Despite Tama's revelation, he was overpowered as they wisened up to his strange kekkei genkai and ganged up on him. They started punching and kicking him and stabbing him and choking him to death when they realized he couldn't activate his ability unless he maintained his focus. Tama struggled to use his power to defend himself but he was only a 4 year old kid. The boy had managed to kill three of them in total and they were angrier than ever now. They punched and kicked him, bones breaking and blood flying everywhere.

But then, to save his life, the girl Tama helped escape earlier stepped forward out of hiding, offering her life in exchange for his, to stop the brutal beating that she was witnessing before her eyes.

"NO!" Tama screamed, blood and tears going down his face, "Don't do it, Kairi! Just Run! They'll kill you just like everybody else!"

"I can't leave you to die, silly!" She screamed back even though she was shivering in terror. "T-Take me instead and let Tama go!" She begged.

The mist ninja merely laughed, mocking her words as they switched targets, increasing the severity of their beating as they proceeded to force him to watch as they began to mutilate her, brutalizing her in every way possible to get back at him. They tore off pieces of her skin and ears and when that wasn't enough, they started cutting off body parts like fingers and toes and gouging one of her eyes out. Tama had struggled, had screamed powerlessly as the girl he wanted to protect broke after having one of her arms cleaved off by a water based Jutsu, her hollow eyes etching themself into his soul forever.

"Partial Expansion Jutsu: Human Bullet Tank!"

And then, salvation came in the form of a giant spiked ball, one that swept past the enemy nin like a juggernaut. As the enemy nin finally experienced the terror of death, shadows wrapping around their throats and choking them to oblivion, Tama had cradled the broken, dying girl in his one arm that wasn't broken and wept. He didn't know how long a time had passed when one of the men who saved him finally peered down at him, his gaze full of pity as he offered his hand to Tama.

Tama had stared dumbly at the proffered hand, cringing as the man patted his head lightly.

"Come on, kid," the older man rumbled, trying to force Tama to let go of the now dead girl. Tama refused, his grip tightening instead on the cold body.

"She's not dead." He insisted, his eyes pleading, "She's not! Please, save her!"

The man with platinum blond hair seemed to wilt, his expression twisting in a look that seemed like grief and anger. "You have to let her go. She's dead," he said bluntly.

"NO! SHE'S NOT! YOU'RE LYING!" Tama roared as he let her go, his small hands reaching for the man's neck. But he was too small, too powerless and his tiny hands could only beat at the man's legs weakly as he tried to deny it. But the truth was there and he knew it. She was dead. Tama had caused it. No matter where he went, death had followed. The village Tama came from… everyone there had all died because of him, and now here Tama was, slowly killing those who took him and protected him. "It's all my fault," Tama rasped as he sank to his knees, "It's all my fault. I always bring death to everyone. Everyone dies because of me!"

"Tch," the man hit his head lightly, "Kid, you are too young to be talking about such things." He got to his feet, towering above Tama like a God, his expression grim. "Why don't you come with me, kid?" he offered gruffly, "You say you bring death? Then bear that death upon your soul. Use it. Bear all of the death and pain in the world inside yourself so that other people don't have to experience it. Protect everyone like how that girl protected you."

The words resonated within Tama's soul and he had looked up, desperately wanting to believe in the words this man was saying. "Can I really… protect someone?" he whispered, paralyzed in hope, wanting to affirm his existence, his purpose.

The man knelt down before the sole survivor, his face breaking into a stiff smile, "If even a failure like me can do it. So can you."

Tama nodded furtively, wiping his tears away from his face furiously as he tried to look brave.

The man grinned, "Heh. That's good kid. The name is Inoichi Yamanaka. And these are my best friends, Shikaku Nara and Choza Akimichi. Yours?"

XxxxX

A Day Later - Konohagakure - Yamanaka Clan Residential Area

In the center of the Yamanaka clan compound, the Yamanaka clan head drew eyes from every single sensory shinobi present. As he passed by his subordinates houses, passed by the clan training fields, the clan's moonshine brewery, playground, and so on, everyone who saw the clan head thought the same thing. Why?

Presently, the man was steadily walking through the compound while holding a little boy's hand softly, the boy's opposite hand in a cast. The little boy did not have the dominant blond hair gene all Yamanaka had. In fact his hair color was the opposite. It was black with a streak of white running through it on the left side of his head. The boy had darker than black eyes as well and if one looked closely it was almost like one could see through the glass that were his pupils and into another world. It was abundantly clear that the boy was not from this prestigious clan and a strange… almost malignant chakra radiated from him in droves. Only those trained to sense chakra could notice it, and EVERYONE here was trained in that regard. And yet, here the Yamanaka clan head was, holding that strange boy's hand as if he were his son.

The 4 year old Tama Jinsei held onto Inoichi Yamanaka's hand tightly, fearful that if he let go the older man would vanish and he'd be left all alone in this world. "A-are you sure this is ok, Yamanaka-san? I-I don't mind staying at the orphanage. I'll only be alone for a little bit…" until more people become orphans too.. Went unsaid.

"That place might still be livable… but trust me. You don't want to be reminded of that every single day." The older man with platinum blond hair said that with a smile, leading the boy onwards. When the two arrived to the biggest house in the compound he started taking out his key and unlocking the door.

"Will I still get to see them again? Nara-san? And Akimichi-san too? I like eating potato chips with Akimichi-San."

"You might not see them as much, but when you get older you can see them whenever you want."

"Oh… ok." The boy mumbled, his voice hollow.

"Hey don't be sad. This'll be a new chapter of your life, Tama." Almost as if on cue, the door to Inoichi Yamanaka's door opened up. "It's not like those lazy and fat pricks are going anywhere anyway-"

"-Papa!" A little girl's voice cried from somewhere upstairs, interrupting Inoichi.

Confused, Tama looked up at Mr. Yamanaka's face and saw a huge smile. I've never seen him smile so widely like that before. Who is this? The little boy thought innocently and curious.

Not before too long, a little girl about Tama's age but a little taller then him careened from up the stairs. "Papa! Your back home!" She yelled and threw herself into Inoichi's arms, who picked her up and started hugging her tightly.

Tama watched with dead eyes as he remembered hugging his brothers and sisters like that at the orphanage. Before he knew it he was biting his lips so hard the lip split and blood was about to-

-"Who's he?" The little girl suddenly asked, her dad putting her down. "And why's his arm broken?"

Tama's eyes widened as she came up to him and poked his hair, "He's not from our clan, is he papa? Look his hairs so different."

"No he's not," Inoichi replied, "Actually he's the reason I had to leave during dinner last night. I sensed a lot of chakra signatures disappearing and, his house was…" The man paused as Tama's body started shaking, and then he just continued with, "His house got on fire somehow so we had to help put it out. He's just gonna stay with us for a little while longer until we get it all figured out."

"Oh, well I hope your family is ok whoever you are. Are they coming too? Your family?" The girl walked past Tama and stuck her head out the door, looking for more people. "Hello? Is anyone there? Where's his parents? Is he seriously here by himself?" She asked to the air.

Inoichi just took his daughter's hand and guided the ignorant girl back inside. He then closed the door and told the girl, "They… died on a mission a long time ago. That's why I brought him here. So he can have a place to stay until he's old enough to make enough to get his own place."

"Oh..." The girl went silent and started looking down. It was just like her to assume things and fail to read the room. She shook her head and fervently apologized to Tama. "I'm… I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being so insensitive. I always do that - just say things without thinking - my bad."

"It's ok. You weren't being insensitive." Said Tama, smiling. Inoichi could see that the smile was fake but his daughter couldn't. "You were just being normal. Nothing to be sorry about. In fact, that just made me happy. Thanks for worrying about me."

The little girl grinned widely at the slightly younger boy when he said that smiling at her, "Cool!" She chirped, walking right up to him, "I'm Ino by the way! If you're gonna be staying here for a bit you might as well call me by first name so there's no mix ups with my dad. What's your name?"

"I'm Tama. Tama Jinsei."

And so began 2 of the happier years of Tama's life.

But all good things must come to an end.

XxxX

About 2 Years Later -

Tomorrow was the first day of the Academy. Anyone who was 6 was allowed to go. Ino turned 6 before Tama did (which she bullied him relentlessly for) but he was right on the cusp of turning 6 so they were going to be in the same year at the ninja Academy regardless, which they were super stoked for.

Inoichi, Tama, and Ino sat at the dinner table this evening, food laid out between everyone.

"This is sooooo goooooood!" Yelled Ino, digging in.

Tama started sweating bullets at how messy an eater Ino was. Chewing and gulping sounds rang out from her. When a cute guy was around Ino Yamanaka was just the nicest, prettiest little innocent flower ever. But if there wasn't anyone she liked close by she acted like herself. Currently, she was stuffing her face full of pork chops.

"Isn't that cannibalism?" Tama mentioned, a bit freaked out, "I mean, 'Ino' stands for pig, right? Look at what you're eating right now. You're eating a pig. And you're eating all messy too. Just like a damn pig. You sure you're not actually a guy?"

A tick mark appeared on Ino's forehead. She tried to yell at Tama but because of the food in her mouth only gargled noises came out instead.

"Huh? What was that? I can't hear you over all those pig noises. OWWWW!" When she kicked his shin under the table Tama yelped in pain. "GOSH that hurt! What's wrong with you, birdie?!"

"Heh heh hahaha." Inoichi couldn't help but laugh at the two.

Ino started punching her chest and almost choked and when she swallowed down the last bits she yelled, "What's wrong with me?! What's wrong with you Tama, you can't say things like that to a cute girl! Especially while she's eating! That's why none of the girls like you and no one ever will! You should really take notes on how to be cool like Sasuke is! And dad, why'd you name me after a stupid pig?!"

Inoichi started sweating, "H-hey, don't bring me into this. I'm innocent, baby girl."

"Maybe you are, maybe you're not." Ino shrugged, taking an actual bite-sized portion of her food this time. When she was done chewing she pointed her chopsticks at her father, "Why'd you name me Ino anyway?" She didn't ask that question harshly. She honestly wanted to know. She was curious. "Did mom seriously let you name me Ino?"

"…"

"…"

The air suddenly got heavy.

Everyone stopped eating and silence reigned. Tama started to feel very out of place all of the sudden. Maybe I should hop ship. He thought, This happens whenever her mom comes up…

Slowly, Inoichi looked down at his lap, pondering, and then he looked Ino straight in the eye and answered, "In all honesty, I wanted to name you 'Inobuta'. But your mother said that was no name for a beautiful baby girl."

Tama grinned when he heard that, bringing some levity to a situation that was getting a little too serious.

Ino smiled too but it was a little strained, she merely commented, "Haha. I guess that would've been even worse." Slowly, Tama and Inoichi watched as Ino drank a full cup of water, put it down, stood up, and then said, "I'm full. Gonna go for a walk and then go to sleep before school starts tomorrow."

In the span of two minutes Ino silently put her dishes away, put her sandals on, and then left the house.

Tama and Inoichi didn't say a word for a few minutes. They just kept eating. A heavy feeling was in the air. It was a feeling that could never go away. It can be ignored. It can be drowned out or filled up with other feelings, but that inherent feeling would never disappear.

That feeling was loss.

Eventually though, Tama couldn't handle the depression anymore and wondered, "I never asked you before because I knew it was a sore subject, but… how old was she… when it happened I mean?"

"Just a few months old." The older man answered. Tama could hear the break in his voice when he said that, "It happened when the nine tails attacked. I wasn't in the village at the time because I was on a mission. She was just a baby and… I left them… all alone. My wife wasn't a ninja, but she was more than one when she protected my daughter with her life…" Inoichi stopped when he could feel his fists clenching on the table so hard he could hear it start to splinter.

"..."

"..."

Silence.

Tama didn't know what to say.

There was nothing to say.

What was done was done. What happened happened. Time travel didn't exist so there was absolutely nothing anyone could do to bring Ino's mom back. But Inoichi was still here, and it didn't take an orphan who never had parents to see how amazing that was.

"You should go to her." The orphan said, taking his last bite of food. "I'll wash the dishes and take care of stuff here. But, you should really go talk to her."

"Yeah. I will." Said Inoichi, standing up and leaving out the front door but not without looking back and saying, "Thanks."

Tama just smiled.

XxxxX

An Hour Later

In one of the 6 rooms in the house (which was pretty crazy considering the fact only Ino and Inoichi lived there) Tama laid down on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

He thought about where he'd come from compared to now and he was very thankful that the best family ever had taken him in-

-he heard the door open downstairs.

Curious as to who it was, Tama closed his eyes and focused on their Chakra nature. It was Inoichi. But where's loud mouth birdie? That's strange I thought for sure they'd come together. Whatever. Maybe she's still a little sore about what happened and wants to clear her head a bit more.

Tama merely shrugged. That girl was made of bricks and mortar. It was nothing worth worrying about.

XxxxX

Another Hour Later

He couldn't fall asleep.

Tama sat up in his bed staring at the wall in front of him. There was a painting of a cat chasing a string ball in the center and girly stars and flowers adorning every which way. This was his room, and yet it seemed to belong to a girl.

"What's up with you boys being so boring?" A voice rang out in his head, "How can you live your life in such an empty room?! I'd go crazy and kill myself in seconds! Tell you what, I'll fix this up for you."

"Where's that smile now?" He wondered to no one in particular.

It had been a whole hour and still no sign of that troublesome idiot. This was starting to worry him. It was strangely quiet too. Like the calm before a storm.

He had flashbacks to when he was younger. Back at the orphanage with flames all around him. All his brothers and sisters dying as he ran away. His hands were caked with blood. Cry's and pleas for help rang out in the air. Tama tried to look away but he was held in place and forced to watch.

His sister who died protecting him appeared in his mind.

Had she been able to feel pain throughout the whole thing? Had she been able to speak, would she have cried out for him to help her? Would she have? Or would she have cursed him and called him a coward? Was she on the other side of the vail ridiculing him right now? What was she thinking of him in heaven?

Did heaven even exist?

Tama closed his eyes tightly and buried his head into his hands as he started hyperventilating.

The crazy thing about life was that it was far too easy to take it for granted.

Life was a precious, precious thing and if he took it for granted it could easily slip out of his hands just like water. If he got too comfortable again, like how he was before, it was bound to happen again. And once again he would feel that horrible feeling again.

Loss.

Even worse than being alone was losing everything precious to you and being left alone as a result. Being alone on the onset is a far better tradeoff than knowing what it's like to have everything just to lose it and have your rug pulled out from under you.

And right now Tama had it. He had everything. By some miraculous strike of fate he lost everything and then got it back all over again in the form of the two greatest people ever.

The chances were low, oh so very low but what if he was about to lose all of that again tonight?

He could feel the onset of a headache setting as images flooded his of a summoning of some sort…

The 6 year old Tama stepped out of the bed and looked toward the window, unfastening the locks in seconds and peering outward.

In just a few quick moments he was flying through the clan compound. He jumped to the highest point of the compound and balanced on the pole, closing his eyes.

He had lived with the girl for years now and Inoichi had even taught him the basics of sensory ninjutsu. Tama focused and then-

-boooooom…

An invisible wave of Tama's Chakra pulsed outward in all directions. In order to sense chakra in this universe, one first had to pulse out their own chakra just like how a bat creates sound waves in order to observe how the sound waves reacted to its environment.

In Tama's mind he could feel many of the Yamanaka sleeping tonight. A few even stirred because they probably sensed him moving as well but Tama paid those Yamanaka no mind. He was looking for a particularly annoying 6 year old bird after all.

Despite everything though Tama couldn't find her. Either she was using a technique to hide her chakra or she wasn't in the Yamanaka compound. He was willing to bet on the ladder.

Standing up, Tama started jumping down from the highest point of the compound and started scaling rooftops in an effort to head inward toward the village.

Towards the village cemetery.

It didn't take long for him to start being able to sense that familiar glowing ball of Chakra. She wasn't trying to hide it at all. It was almost like she wanted to be found by someone. Anyone. Anyone who cared enough about her to look for her.

He stopped scaling rooftops and opted to walk instead. She was the only one in the cemetery right now, kneeling before one of the many graves. When the nine tails attacked many years ago so many lives were claimed that they had all been given their own section in the Konaha cemetery, separate from regular civilians and shinobi alike.

Tama stepped closer and closer toward her, not bothering to mask his foot falls. When he was within arms distance he sat down and just stared at the gravestone along with her.

In loving memory of Keiko Yamanaka

The boy with black and white hair stared at that name blankly. As hard as tried he evoke any emotions within himself at just those words alone he couldn't.

"Most of us don't remember any memories from our early childhood." Ino suddenly said, her voice monotone. Tama could feel his throat drying up when she continued with, "But when I first started learning my clan Jutsu with dad, I started to remember for some reason. I remembered my mom and the rest of my childhood memories. And I realized how much I loved her. It… didn't sink in for a while. In fact I didn't feel anything. It was like I was stuck in a dream, and everything that was going on wasn't really happening…"

"And before you know it…" Tama whispered softly, "You're on autopilot."

For the first time now Ino glanced over her shoulder and looked at him. Oh yeah. He knows this feeling too, doesn't he? She gulped down the saliva accumulating in her mouth and looked back toward her mom. "Yeah, but eventually everything I was running from caught up to me and I started to feel less and less numb. Why don't I have a mom? Why did she have to leave me? Why did the Nine Tails attack for no reason? We're just puny humans compared to it so why?"

Ino asked Tama all those questions with all her heart but he held no answers for her.

"How'd you get over it?" She suddenly asked. Her mouth moved once more but no words came out. Even if Tama was deaf though or even if he was in the vacuum of space and couldn't hear her, he still would have heard Ino say, "How can you still smile?"

"It's…" Tama started, his voice a little rough. He cleared it as Ino looked at him with shiny blue spheres, "It's hard to even put into words how it feels to lose something precious to you…" he said slowly, speaking from his heart. After what happened two years ago he realized the key thing to keep in mind was that there was no normal way of reacting to loss. Maybe this applied to losing a parent too? "When I lost my family… I didn't just feel one emotion. I felt several. If I had to explain it more simply, my experience was more like traveling the world. Each stage of the journey completely different, and as I wandered through my grief, emotions came and gone. Nowadays when I look back at my family all I see is-" -blood, "Pain. But who's to say that's all I should see? It's definitely what I shouldn't be seeing but it's all I see anyways. Ino… I guess what I'm trying to say is…" Tama looked down, "I… really can't… It's really hard for me to... smile. If you loved your mom as much as you say you do you'll never get over it. At least, when you're alone. When I'm by myself I can't smile no matter what I do…"

"…" Ino's head sank. So it's true… She thought, This feeling will never go away-

"-But when I'm with Yamanaka-San…" Tama suddenly began again, "And when I'm with you too, birdie, despite how much you annoy the hell out me..." Ino's blue eyes widened when she realized what he was about to reveal to her. "I can truly put all that behind me and-" suddenly Tama stopped speaking. He stood up and whispered to Ino, "Hey, do you sense that?" A feeling of dread made his throat start drying up.

Tama could sense a foreboding chakra signature, one remarkably similar to his own, but as soon as he sensed it it disappeared. All he knew was that it was full of bloodlust, malice and dread.

"Sense what?" Ino replied standing up as well and getting creeped out.

Tama looked around suspiciously, "That strange Chakra nature. It disappeared though. I could've sworn it-" Suddenly, he felt a blast of chakra from behind him! The 6 year old sprung forward past Keiko Yamanaka's gravestone just in time to avoid a huge red scythe slicing down on him!

CRASHHH!

The scythe slammed into Keiko Yamanaka's gravestone, absolutely obliterating it. Tama spun around to see who it was who attacked him. The man licked his lips, "You've got some good instincts for a kid, Jashin." A man with distinctive purple eyes and medium-length grey hair that was slicked back said. The most notable detail though was the long, black cloak with red clouds he wore and the long red scythe he held in his free hand came in second. "You should quit playing ninja with the softies in this village and come with me, though. I'll teach you how to really USE your power, my lord!"

"Tch." Tama merely scoffed and stood up straighter, but in reality he was scared out of his mind. "My name's Tama, not Jashin or whoever the hell that is." His words may have seemed brave but Tama inwardly gulped in fear. The guy in front had a chakra nature so similar to his it was horrifying to him. What did that mean? DId he have the same power as him?

-the man suddenly looked toward Ino. Tama's heartrate spiked. The girl was shivering and looked like she had no idea what she should do or where she should even be.

"Let's get rid of the spectacters, Lord Jashin." The man whispered, but Tama still heard him.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Tama shouted as the man started laughing hysterically. "Run Ino!"

"Wh-what…?" Gasped Ino, shivering in place. This was her first time looking death straight in the face and Tama knew how crippling that felt firsthand from that time at the orphanage oh so long ago.

She can't even hear me?! He thought in horror. The 6 year old sprinted forward as fast as he could as the man swung his huge red scythe horizontally!

Tama crashed into Ino just in time as the scythe swung over them. "Ino!" He shouted, looking at her directly in her eyes. She's not even looking at me or registering what I'm saying! HE thought. Quickly, Tama started holding her cheeks tightly so she couldn't look away, "Get out of here, go and get your dad and- guhhh!" His speech was cut off instantly when something sharp and blunt rammed into his neck, his pupils sliding to the back of his head in a split second.

"AHHHHH!" Ino screamed as Tama passed out right in front of her, the light in his eyes dying out as his body went limp. He was so heavy that she couldn't even move if she wanted to.

After sustaining that knife hand strike to the back of the neck, Tama started to fall down on top of Ino but before that happened the grey haired man who knocked him out picked the kid up in one of his arms and slung him over his back. "This is definitely him Kakuzu - the kid possessed by Jashin even more than I am! He's the one I see in my dreams! The one true lord! And here Lord Jashin is paying more attention to this tit sucking breast fed BITCH more than me, his own follower!"

As Ino slowly started digesting everything, Tama's last words of 'Get out of here!' running through her head, she found the strength to stand up and shout "Let him go!" In defiance. She ran and threw a punch only for the grey haired man to grab it-

The world froze in that moment. When Ino realized exactly what was happening it was already too late. "Who the fuck are you anyway?" The man wondered with disgust.

-and then broke her wrist!

"Ahhhh!" She screamed in pain and shock when she looked at her malformed right hand, giving the grey haired man just the opening he needed to deal the finishing blow.

"Whatever, just buzz off."

The inexperienced girl was so distraught by the pain and agony that she had no chance to react and was kicked right in the chin, instantly making everything go dark for her and sending her unconscious body flying 4 feet into the air. The man simply just stepped forward before her body landed and slung his second victim over his shoulder as well.

"No help or anything." The gray haired man said, picking up the scythe he dropped, "What? You enjoy watching me beat up children or something, Kakuzu?" Annoyed, the man continued, "Is that why you're a rogue nin? Were you a predator in your past life or something?"

Far away behind the grey haired man was another shinobi in a strange cloak who had just watched everything in boredom. He was a tan-skinned man with long dark-brown hair but his most defining feature was his glowing green eyes devoid of pupils. The man merely sighed in deep annoyance, "Cruel words coming from a man playing with his food, Hidan. So this is the one you claim to be Lord Jashin? Looks like a brat to me."

"Yeah. This is him for sure. He's definitely Lord Jashin! He just doesn't know it. Ever since I became Lord Jashin's follower, memories and images of this kid have been appearing in my head nonstop. He's definitely connected. And we can use this little girl as a sacrifice to activate it. To show him just how much he loves the death and blood of the innocent. I'm sure if he kills a few people too he'll remember who he is! I'll soon show you just how real my lord Jashin is, Kakuzu!" Hidan laughed maniacally, jumping onto a nearby rooftop along with Kakuzu, "I'll make a believer out of you yet! If you think my abilities are interesting I'm willing to bet the true Lord Jashin's spawn is even better! Let's get the fuck out of here before any fuckfaces catch on to us."

"No one even knows about what happened here thanks to my barrier ninjutsu. Even seasoned sensory ninjutsu can't see through it. Hidan, this better be as interesting as you promise since I helped you." Grumbled Kakuzu, following his partner, 'Because I'll kill you without a second thought if you're just wasting my time and effort."

Hidan merely laughed at the concept.

The concept of death, that is.

Chapter End

XxxxxX

A/N: Hey guys I know these 2 characters aren't introduced until much later in the story but they're integral to setting up Tama's character (as they are the inspiration for his character), so bear with me here. Also mb for cutting the chapter off here the word count was starting to get way too big. Thanks for reading by the way. Till next week.

-kerith