Chapter 97: A vow worth Keeping (part 2)

-What is that?(Takao)

Takao pointed at something bulging from inside Homura's bag.

It was quite ominous since something resembling a hand was sticking out.

He soon pulled on the hand to reveal something in the form of a body tucked inside.

-It's a puppet.(has he never seen one this big before)

Homura and Takao were now looking at a puppet that Homura had crafted.

It was a puppet a bit smaller than Homura's size but it was undoubtedly the size of Takao.

-A doll?... I never seen one so big. Huh?... I see, but it... doesn't it look like me a bit. It has the same clothes!? T-that's kind creepy(but also a bit cool)(Takao)

-It's a puppet!- screamed Homura.

Though Homura's complain was voiced, it did not disprove of Takao's other claims.

The puppet was undoubtedly a replica for Takao.

If it were not for its joints and articulations being clearly man made and the hue of its body being an inhuman dark shade of green, one could mistake it for a human child's body at first glance.

Though it was still incomplete it was nonetheless Homura's intention while making it.

Though he didn't want to admit it just yet. 

- What's the difference between a puppet and a doll? besides you still haven't told me why it looks like me!? I-its not one of those cursing dolls is it!? Are you trying to put a curse on me!?(Takao)

-Shu~t u~p! You're thinking of straw cursed dolls (wara ningyou). This is a regular puppet and I don't have time to nail a cursed doll to a tree in order to curse you.

-And the clothes? And my face!? Huh?(Takao)

-(This kid is a bit paranoid...why is he like that?)Those are...just regular clothes that everyone from the clan wears and the face...your face is so undefined that it is easy to mistake for anyone's face. - said Homura while hitting Takao's head lightly with his right fist as if to tell him to stop playing with it.

Takao soon let go of the puppet and starts scratching his head on the spot he was hit by Homura's fist, slightly annoyed.

-Tch! That's not true! Grandma never mistook me for anyone else!(Takao)

-She's just being nice.

- Itsuki you b-!(Takao)

-Stop! Enough comedy. I hate comedy. Besides it could be useful to you.

-ha!?

A slightly confused Takao had no idea of what he was talking about.

I didn't just come here today just for your training, but I need you to help me finish this thing.

-...what are you talking about? I don't know anything about puppets nor do I need them.(Takao)

Homura's words rang hollow to Takao, he knew almost nothing about puppets and this was the first time he had seen one as big as the one in front of him.

But he was already quite used to Homura's strange behavior.

Even the machine that Homura built was made from wood both boys chopped down.

Well, Homura did most of the work, but Takao did help Homura a lot especially when it came to carry things around.

But he doubted, no, he was sure that his answer would be far from enough to dissuade Homura, though he wasn't truly against it.

A small part of him thought it could be fun.

Such as when they were building the machine that throws projectile at its target.

-Think about it. Last year's fire festival, granny didn't let you stay past 10. You had to go home with her before the end.

-...so?(Takao)

-Think about it, for once mor-!

-Huh, are you making fun of me again-ow!(Takao)

Homura pulled Takao's left hear for interrupting him again.

But the boy could not fight back, he knew by now that he was no match for his older friend in combat.

Besides, Homura never actually hurt Takao for real.

Takao had fought or tried to make friends with many people prior to meeting with Homura.

Sadly, none of them would ever give him the time of day.

However, Homura was the only one that would spend time with him while others called him bratty and refused to associate with him in any way.

They just tried to use him.

Though Homura is no different in that regards, he was the only one that seemed to be worried about him besides his grandmother.

Thus, he took a liking to Homura.

Though, he finds Homura annoying at times and get mad at every little thing he did, but at the end of the day there was no malice and he always seemed to forgive him.

Even during training, the hits that Homura's landed on him were never truly that painful.

Takao may not be very smart but subconsciously understood that Homura never had tried to hurt him.

Since he had been hit before and mocked afterwards, many times by many of the people he tried to befriend.

Seeing that it was not truly the case for Homura.

It was why he got really attached to his friend, only friend.

The two of them had a relationship closer to that of brothers than pure friends.

That was the reason he accepted and knew Homura's personality quite well.

But it also so meant that Homura was a pain in the ass in his life; that seemed to criticize everything he did.

- Tch, after all these years you can never let anyone finish a sentence if you hear something you don't like.

- Tch...(Blah blah, something you don't like. Blah blah I am so smart!...why does he still treat me like a brat? I am quite different than I was last year. Tomorrow's sparing session, I am going to show Itsuki what I can really do...and then he will finally see what I am really made of!)(Takao)

While Takao was having his deepest desire surface inside his mind Homura kept talking and checking his puppet, thinking that Takao was paying attention to his words.

Not realizing how far off, he was from the truth.

- Anyway I want to make to make a convincing puppet as a decoy. So I need to study a bit more how people articulate.

-Articulate?- asked Takao unsure what the word meant.

-It means move! Stop interrupting or I swear your next training regiment will be 10 times worse. (I will give him one of guy san special training regiments...I don't care if it might expose me in the long run.)

To Homura if Takao discovered his real identity nothing would change.

In fact, if Takao survives thanks to his help, he plans to take care of him personally or watch over him as his way to thank Takao's grandmother for taking care of him over the years.

He could never get a good read on her, and he wasn't sure if she knew or not who he was truly but even if he told her about his circumstances, he doubted nothing would change.

She treated him like family.

So she was his family.

  He just wished he could save her as well but he knew how futile it was to worry her about such things.

She was probably already aware of the on goings between the clan and village, and nor did he know when the event in question would happen.

If he meddled without proper knowledge, not just his death was a possibility but many people might die, if the coup actually happens due to fear.

Fear that its members might believe that the village would annihilate them any day.

The Uchiha clan members were currently enduring the unfair treatment they were receiving in the village, because the vocal faction that believed in rebelling truly believed they could succeed.

However, if found out that there plans were out in the open and that they could be exterminated any day, no one could know what exactly some might do.

In the shinobi world, one rogue ninja could spell doom for an entire clan.

A powerful rogue ninja could spell doom for an entire village or a country.

Nobody in a position of power would be taking any chances with a desperate powerful ninja that could destroy all they have built and worked for; the reason that the stalemate went for so long was because the current Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen was a pacifist.

After fighting, surviving and leading the leaf village for so long, the current Hokage was tired of the endless stream of conflicts that plagued the shinobi world.

He had lost a son, a wife and far many more comrades in the sand of times than most...no one could easily object to his decisions nor misunderstand them.

At least that was true to most.

Even his old friend Danzo understood.

But while Hiruzen had decided to approach most problems with understanding and compromise, Danzo his former comrade as a coward and a sentimental fool.

Who avoided making the hard choices.

So he would make them instead.

And the day he would make that fated choice was rapidly approaching.

Unfortunately for Homura that day was a mystery to him.

It could be any day as far as he knew, but he had lived so long fearing for this day to come; that all his fears about that they happening were all but gone.

Who could blame him?

It has been so long. And he had been so busy training at the academy in diverse ways that he had gained a bit more courage as his strength and prowess in the shinobi arts grew.

He know only feared not being able to protect his everyday life.

And the people within it.

That's why protecting Takao was more than just saving his life to him.

It was a way for him to keep himself sane among all the craziness the shinobi world had in store.

- Listen, if I need you to help me build this puppet I wouldn't have gone this far...Look at this!

Homura took an arm of the puppet and removed the upper part to reveal that the puppet was hollow on the inside.

- It's empty...but aren't all dolls like that.(Takao)

- Wrong! Puppets, puppets move!  But I have no clear idea how they move or to make them move in anyway, that's why I need you to help figure out as my frame of reference.

-  Still kind a weird though.(Takao)

-What's so weird about any of this?- asked Homura with a really conflicted face, he had no idea what the big deal was.

They were ninjas, or aiming to become ninjas.

He's classmate Shino talks to bugs.

He's other classmate Kiba talks to dogs all the time.

He's classmate from the Gekkou clan sharpens his sword all the time and even brings it with him when they have classes with swimming exercise.

He even once saw an Uchiha kid make a deal to buy weapons with a talking cat, walking on two feet once....

What exactly was so weird about making puppets?

Perhaps being around such a weird characters all day shattered his perspective on what's weird behavior or not.

He couldn't understand why Takao was so weird about this specifically.

- I never thought you were the kind of guy that plays with dolls, I guess?(Takao)

-They are puppets! In sunagakure they perfectly are normal! (This shrimp is not making fun of me. He's too direct and naïve to even think about it...*sigh* so that means I can't just beat his ass. Tche!)

-Sunagakure? What's that a village of sand?-said Takao while getting his face really close to homura's face.

He was very pleased to find out something he never knew about, to Homura's displeasure.

Which made him grab Takao's face and move it away from his face.

-It's another shinobi village like ours, but in a sandy region or something...with wind (I guess?)

- A shinobi village in the sand....That sounds kinda cool. I wonder if we could ever go there....maybe on a mission or something... I hope.(Takao)

-You hope?(I don't know about that...those sand guys are pretty crazy...they assassinate like so many people each year. Even fathers try to assassinate their sons like it's no big deal every other day...doesn't help that the kid is crazy too.)

Though he didn't want to tell the last part to Takao.

Especially since currently all the 5 major villages are not in the best terms yet.

If they were to visit any of those villages they would definitely get murdered.

Not that such topics would be appropriate to talk with a wide-eyed child like Takao; so Homura had no other choice but not to state his true feelings.

- We have to become full fledged shinobis first, otherwise we can't leave the village that easily.

- A shinobi, huh? I have been wanting so much to become an academy student that I almost completely forgot about it.(Takao)

-...- Homura looked away as those words hit him hard.

- ... I wonder if one day we could be both in the same team. - said Takao while looking away while he sat down next to Homura

-...me too buddy. We gotta do everything for that to happen.

-Yeah! Definitely! But I am going to be leader though!(Takao)

- I am older than you; why would you be the leader!?

- Because I will be the strongest shinobi ever!- he said while lying down and raising towards the sky.

Homura just looked at Takao's happy face with a weirded out anime face.

If this world was completely unrealistic, a gigantic drop of sweat would have appeared next to Homura's head and drowned him as has imploded under his own weight.

Still.

Homura tried to think about what the boy next to him had said honestly.

What was just said...was the most generic reason he had heard for pursuing strength ever.

Even Naruto who wants to be Hokage had put more thought as to why he wanted more strength.

Though he didn't know if his reason was better as to why he himself wanted strength.

But those things are useless in a world as violent as the one they live in.

- ...Oh! I almost forgot. Take this bag home with you.-said Homura while handing Takao 2 different bags.

Takao took the bag and looked inside immediately.

-Hm? why are you giving me dirt and pebbles...it stinks too.(Takao)

- It's not dirt and pebbles. Those are seeds to grow flowers. Granny asked me to find some for her garden since I been learning how to grow plants from her.

-...and the dirt?(Takao)

-Well... that- that's something else. Don't worry about it.- Homura looked away from Takao as he said his last sentence.

Homura didn't want to tell him that inside the second bag it was soil mixed with manure.

So of course it would smell.

And Takao likes to rant.

Too much in his opinion.

He was a pain in the ass...who complained a lot.

-Now I am worried.(Takao)

-Come on don't be like that...these next few months I plan to teach you everything I know.

- Hmph...really? what else do you know? *scoff*- Takao scuffed at Homura's comment.

However Homura tried the last comment to not to affect him too much.

- Cheeky brat! Look! Ta-da! - He exclaimed while showing Takao a red notebook.

- ...A book?(Takao)

- A Notebook to be precise...look inside.

-...(Takao)

Takao started going through the pages inside the notebook at fast speed

- speechless aren't you!? Look at all the amazing everything inside! It would make anyone excited to learn all the amazing tricks in them. I made it myself. If you want to have a chance to become the strongest ninja ever you have to be able to do everything written on it.

-...Huh...Itsuki. I-I can't read.(Takao)

The revelation made by Takao initially came down on Homura like lightning, but Homura soon calmed down.

Not everyone had an always active translator available to them at all times, like Homura.

All he had to do for that to work was look at a dictionary and C now translate all the words in Homura's former world's language.

At least for the things he didn't know.

Still, with Takao being a year younger than himself and not yet having to go to the academy, it was obvious as to why the boy still didn't know how to read.

Both boys are still pretty young.

Even if Homura acts slightly more mature for his age due to having some memories of his previous world.

- Ha...(I forgot that I also had the same problem when I saw the notebook Shisui san gave me...my guess he never intended that I use that for practice so soon...I wonder if he's okay? )

Homura started to reminisce about the past. He had seen Shisui a couple of months ago but the fact he could not easily visit Shisui to know of his whereabouts or his current situation was something he could do nothing about it.

Though he couldn't let that revelation hit hard.

Since currently Takao needed him more.

So he started paying attention to what Takao was saying once again.

- I mean grandma has taught me how to read normal things but I can't read kanji like that though or those drawings.(Takao)

He said while pointing at a geometric figure drawn inside Homura's notebook.

- Those things are geometric figures mixed with mathematical formulas... Was math in this world this advanced?...Then why are we still kunais instead of guns? (I forgot that Shisui was quite an egghead and diligent...Why are all powerful shinobi so smart? You'd think they were a minority but all powerful shinobi seem to be quite book smart, Except for muscle brains like guy-san and guys like Naruto...but even them are far from being stupid, their just not brainiacs. Maybe...Maybe it is due to spiritual energy being an important component of chakra.)

Homura recalled that chakra's main properties are physical energy and spiritual energy.

If physical energy is the energy produced by one's cells, then spiritual energy is one energy that comes from the soul, imagination or spirit.

Whatever it was, it had to do with a person's mind.

Homura thought that the reason as to why nobody but the 4th and 2nd Hokage could use the flying raijin was because they were smart.

They were not related as far he knew.

And the 2nd was a Senju, someone with a lot of chakra.

Minato was no Senju but to Homura the fact that he managed to seal half of the nine-tails with his own power could only mean he had a lot of chakra or a very powerful chakra.

So the only thing the two Hokages had in common were for them to being among the smartest people within Konoha.

At least to him that sounded somewhat plausible, though math and ninjutsu mixed together was definitely not impossible.

- B-but I want to be able to practice on my own too. You're always busy now.(Takao)

- That is true... I guess we will start with teaching the basics on how to read.- said Homura while rubbing his neck with his left hand anxiously.

He wasn't planning to waste that much time while teaching Takao.

Especially not how to read.

He just wanted him to get strong enough so that he could use his skills to increase his chances to survive.

But there definitely was no other way around it.

- Tch! Can't you just draw pictures explaining everything?- Said Takao in protest

- No. I don't have time to publish an entire series of manga for you.- rebuttled immediately Homura.

- M-manga?- asked Takao while confused by the new term he had never heard before.

- *sigh* Forget it.(I am pretty sure a type of comic books exist in this world! WTF is wrong with this kid?)

It seemed that a long and arduous road ahead was in Homura's fate.

He had too many responsibilities for someone his age, but he could not simply abandon someone who he considered like his brother and depended so much on him.

He was the only person who did, and made him feel a bit special.

As an orphan he never felt needed but with Takao, that feeling was always running on overdrive.

If Takao wouldn't abandon him, so would Homura.

That was the only vow he unknowingly ever made since he reincarnated.

One he wanted to honor, above all else.

Chapter end