Chapter 2 - Name from the Past

The boy did little but eat (very little) and sleep (very little). It seemed he was a thinker; or rather, he had a lot to think about. He was in a strange place. He was by himself. He didn’t understand a lot of what was going on. He could sense some animosity against him, as well, thanks to that bully of a chunin. And then there was the obvious.

A samurai in a ninja land.

After I was chased, I cam here. I fought well enough to not disgrace myself, and I escaped my pursuers. But now what do I do? Am I supposed to stay here? Isn’t that wrong? A samurai in a ninja world…can it be possible. Our kinds exist to kill each other, don’t we? But these people fed me and protected me. They even told me I’m not a prisoner. What does all this mean?

Each day, the boy had wandered over to the window to look outside. He hadn’t dared leave this room yet. It was only natural- he didn’t know about anything outside that door. Inside this room, at least, he was safe, and would get food and water like clockwork. The one thing missing was…

My sword.

The boy wanted that back more than almost anything. It was only a training blade, and it was barely more than a wakizashi, but to him it was a source of comfort. He could defend himself with it. Especially after that bully, the boy wanted the safety of his sword.

Knock Knock.

“Come in.”

In came the healer, Tsunade. The boy’s eyes brightened- this woman was a source of safety. She had fed him, repaired his blue gi and deep purple hakama, darned his purple tabi socks, mended his straw sandals, healed his burns and cuts, and had been the one to check on him every day, sometimes with the big white-haired guy. It was only natural the boy would begin to think of her as a safety net.

Or so it began. Today, the boy noticed something was different. The white-haired guy wasn’t with Tsunade, and Tsunade herself looked depressed.

“Excuse me, Ms. Tsunade? Are you okay?” This made no sense to the boy. The woman had clearly been crying, but she had no physical injuries. And if her injuries were mental, this woman was a healer, and more than capable of treating her own wounds.

Tsunade perked up a little bit immediately. It was mostly out of shock- this boy wasn’t one to speak, aside from ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, and a few greetings.
Now he can read moods?

“I’m alright, don’t worry. Now, how are you feeling today?”

-

Tsunade had asked all the usual questions. The boy had given all the usual answers. In the boy’s mind, for a time, things went back to ‘normal’. When he looked up again, he could tell there was still sadness behind Tsunade’s eyes. He decided not to ask, as it was clearly something she wasn’t comfortable discussing. It was best not to press into the matters of others. Young as he was, the boy knew that. As fate would have it, Tsunade needed someone to talk to.

“I’m sorry. Today is just difficult for me. My lover died a year ago today, and it’s made me think…”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” the boy told her immediately, bowing. He had no idea that she’d suffered a loss. He spoke sincerely, and that seemed to touch Tsunade.

“Thank you. You’re a kind boy. I guess that’s why I wanted to make sure I said goodbye, at least to you.” Tsunade paused, wiping the tears out of her eyes on the shoulder of her jonin vest. The green material was stained with the tears before long.

“Goodbye?” the boy questioned, not quite understanding.

“Yes. I’m going to be leaving the village today. I don’t know when I’ll come back, or even IF I’ll come back.”

The boy could relate to that easily. In fact, in his young mind, he had already decided what he would do. She had done so much for him that he felt that he needed to repay her kindness, even if it was only with a kindness of his own. It was, after all, the least he could do in thanks.

“Would you like company on your journey?”

Tsunade’s head snapped up. There was no hint of joking in the boy’s tone. There was only a bit of admiration mixed in with the one hundred percent sincerity. In fact, as Tsunade observed the child’s face, she couldn’t help but think of the serious looks on Dan and Nowaki. But those serious looks had led to their deaths.

“No, I’ll be okay. I have a companion. But thank you for offering. It means a lot, coming from you.”

The boy shifted his weight, kneeling even more upright. “Is there anything I can do as thanks?”

Tsunade felt something. She met the boy’s eyes, and it confirmed her feelings.
His eyes…they’re set in determination. For someone so young to possess this sense of duty…It’s incredible. Well, if he wants to thank me…

“Can you tell me why you left your home? Or where you came from, at least?”

Clearly, this caught the boy off-guard. He thought hard about his answer for a moment, but concluded that he owed this lady an answer.

“I came from the border of the Land of Fire. My home was a small village. Or, it was…” the boy stated, his fist tightening as he flashed back to another time. “Our village was small, and mostly peaceful. There weren’t many children around, so I had no one to play with. Eventually, I met a sage, of sorts. He taught me the art of the sword. I learned more and more from other people, and that became my playtime. It was…fun. To me, anyway.”

So he was lonely from the start…that explains a lot… Tsunade thought.

The boy continued. “Because of where we were positioned, our village was always trampled under the foot of war. Even when the war ended, thugs still came. No one would stand up to them. Even our police force…It seemed everyone was corrupt. Only a few dared to fight back, and I was one of them. My parents didn’t like the thought of me fighting, but they liked the idea of me growing up as a coward even less. So they let me fight. Along with the sage who taught me, we won the village back from the thugs. But by then, our leader was corrupted. He had my teacher arrested. Before he was taken away, he told me to run as fast as I could, and to escape. My parents were already in hiding. They trusted my sensei’s advice.”

I see. So, his village getting attacked is why he ran here. It also explains why he was getting chased.

“But…my sensei asked me one favor before I left. He asked me to be his kaishaku-nin*. He wasn’t going to allow himself to be captured, and he wanted at least his head to escape with honor…” Now the boy’s face was tear-stained. The memories were hard on one so young; hell, they were hard on anyone.

(*Kaishaku-nin: ‘second’. When a samurai committed seppuku (or ritual suicide), he had a Kaishaku-nin, or ‘second’, there to cut his head off upon completion of the first part of the ritual in which the one committing seppuku cuts his stomach open.)

So he was the witness to his teacher’s final moments…No, he was involved in his teacher’s final moments. How awful…

“I buried my sensei’s head just outside of the village. But then the bad guys found me. I had to run for it. I know I got hit with an arrow. Another set fire to the village. But there were so many swords; I couldn’t fight them all. And the way they chased me, I wound up here. And…that’s everything.”

“…”

Tsunade didn’t even know what to say. Now she felt as though she were deserting a little boy who might have just found some safety. She had to set things in order before she left, or her conscience would haunt her.

“Listen, promise me something, okay?” Tsunade began, sitting down next to the confused boy. She could see some pain in his eyes now, the same as he saw pain in hers earlier.

“Promise me you’ll become even stronger. You’re already brave enough; now you just need the strength that comes with age and experience. Can you do that?”

The boy bowed. “I can.”

When he picked his head up, Tsunade kissed his forehead, just as she had done with Dan and Nowaki. As she got up to leave, she hoped that it wasn’t that kiss that had doomed her brother and her lover. She didn’t want the guilt of an innocent little boy dying because of her dangerous lips.

--

Lord Hokage looked through the crystal ball in his office, watching the village. It was peaceful. There was no war, the economy was stable, and the effects of the nine-tailed fox had been repaired. Some scars had yet to be healed, but progress had been made for sure.

“Lord Hokage! Sir!”

Lord Hokage lifted his head to find Iruka Umino standing in front of his desk, clearly excited. It was also obvious as to why.

“I see you’ve expanded your wardrobe, Iruka,” Lord Hokage said around a smile. To think that this boy…no, man…was once a class clown. Now he’s become a chunin, and a solid one at that, I’m told.

“Thank you, sir! I’m so happy to have made chunin!”

“It was well deserved, Iruka. You and Mizuki stole the show at the chunin finals, I daresay. Such a fine display of textbook work.”

Iruka flushed with pride at the Hokage’s words. “Thank you, Lord Hokage. I’m ready to accept further responsibilities, as designated by my new rank.”

“Oh? Have you considered a career path, then?”

“Well, sir…I thought I’d like to be a teacher. I know the Shinobi rules of conduct very well, and the basics are my strongest point. And…well, the kindness you showed me helped inspire this choice as well. I just came here to ask for your permission to take the teacher’s exam.”

“Of course you may, Iruka. You would be well-suited for that career.”

While Iruka flushed with pride, a knock came at Lord Hokage’s door. At his ‘come in’, the boy shuffled in, bowing immediately.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt you, sir. I can wait,” the boy offered, backing towards the door. It hadn’t occurred to him that Lord Hokage might have company when he came to talk to him. As it was the first time he had left his room, the boy was immediately nervous, and now here was another new face to add to that trepidation.

“Not at all. Please, come here. It’s good to see you leave that room. I was just congratulation Iruka on his promotion to chunin.”

The boy snapped his feet together and bowed to Iruka. “Congratulations on your promotion.”

Lord Hokage laughed good-naturedly. “Iruka, this is the little samurai that gave your friend, Mizuki, such a runaround.”

“I apologize for Mizuki! I can’t believe he would try to hurt a defenseless boy!”

“He did it twice, Iruka. The first time, our little samurai had his sword, and he gave Mizuki quite a time. The second time, it was his bad luck that Tsunade and Jiraiya were present.”

The boy listened quietly, not knowing what a ‘chunin’ was, much less if it was a big deal to get promoted to that or not. He DID perk up at the name of that bully, though he stifled his anger quickly. There was a friendly aura about this ‘Iruka’, and the boy didn’t want to make an enemy of him for that reason.

Iruka seemed to notice the boy for the first time. He bent down to his level. “Hi there. I’m Iruka Umino. What’s your name?”

The boy froze. “…I can’t remember, sir. I’m sorry.”

Lord Hokage puffed on his pipe, exhaling smoke that twisted happily into the ceiling. “I’ll tell you the story later, Iruka. Or, rather, I’ll leave it up to him to tell it.”

At Iruka’s smiling face, something struck the boy. He closed his eyes.

War…that’s right. I remember my sensei calling my name, just before he died. But what did he call me? As he was kneeling on the ground, his tanto poised…he said my name. But what was it? What was it?! It was…I can see him saying it, but I can’t read his lips! No, I can’t remember! But what he called me during training! It was always ‘little dragon’ or ‘little tiger’…tiger and dragon…Ryouko!

“Hey, are you alright?”

The concerned voice of Iruka shook the boy from his trance. He had come close to remembering the name. This was something Tsunade had told him. Something about certain events being so traumatic that his mind sealed them away, and that it might take years to remember, or he might not remember at all. Bad memories or not, the boy wanted to remember. But he couldn’t force himself to. He just hoped it would come with time.

“I’m fine, sensei, thank you. I was just…lost in thought,” the boy finished lamely, again bowing in apology.

“Iruka, will you pardon me for a moment? I’d like to speak to you again later.”

“Oh! Uh, certainly sir! Thank you for your time!” Iruka dashed from the room, heading off to study for his teacher’s certification exam. That left Lord Hokage and the boy alone.

“Did something happen to you? Did you remember something?” Lord Hokage questioned calmly. He didn’t wanted to press the boy into answering too quickly. It was important, especially at that age, to gain trust slowly over time. You had to build a repoire that way, especially with such a fragile child.

“I almost remembered my name, sir. But I could only remember the nickname my sensei gave me.”

“Oh? What was that? Calling you ‘boy’ must be degrading. If it holds no ill memory, we could call you what your sensei called you.”

For a moment, the boy thought of refusing. But in the end, he decided it would be hurtful to his teacher’s memory to refuse to remember.

“He called me ‘Ryouko’, Lord Hokage. When we would attack the enemy, he called me that so the enemy wouldn’t hurt my family. They couldn’t if they didn’t know my real name. I thought about his last moments, and he used my real name, but I don’t know what it is. Even worse, I don’t know why I can’t remember to begin with!”

“It’s alright, Ryouko. Your memories will come with time. Now then,” Lord Hokage said, reaching behind his desk, “I believe, in your culture, it’s customary to give a sword when you receive a new name. I think now would, perhaps, be a good time to return your sword.”

Lord Hokage held out Ryouko’s sword. It was one of the few times Lord Hokage had seen the boy seem at peace.

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment