CHAPTER 20; THE GET TOGETHER: THE FORBIDDEN EMOTION

"Is that all you need?" Tanya asked timidly.

"It's enough, let's go" Ryu muttered grumpily and turned around to leave.

"Ryu? Shouldn't you at least thank Tanya? Helping us was a lot of trouble" Atlanta frowned.

"Developing a new jutsu is a lot of trouble. I've got no time to waste. Thanks Tanya" Ryu said seriously.

Michael frowned.

"I guess you're right, let's go" Michael said silently.

The group began to walk away. Rokkan stayed behind.

"Take the lead guys, uh, I'm not quite done yet" Rokkan said nervously.

"Very well" Michael said as they moved on.

"Wh-What do you need Rokkan?" Tanya stammered shyly.

"I just wanted to say that for the first time in my life, I had fun, even with the trouble at the marketplace, thank you" Rokkan said nervously.

"Y-You're welcome" Tanya said shyly.

There was an awkward silence for a while.

"I hope I can see you again before we leave. Can you…uh…I mean…will you come to the party…um…I mean the get together this evening?" Rokkan asked nervously.

Tanya stared at him in surprise.

"Uh…you don't need to if you don't want to. Don't take it the wrong way, I just want us to get to know each other better…I mean, this would be so much easier if I were Ryu" Rokkan sighed.

He wasn't even sure he was making sense anymore.

"I understand…but…I don't think I can make it…my father…I'll be busy" Tanya said as she lowered her head.

Rokkan felt a huge wave of disappointment sweep over him.

"I see, I can respect that" Rokkan said glumly as he turned and walked towards the others.

Tanya watched him with an inner sadness.

"You shouldn't have refused him you know?" a voice sounded from behind her.

"F-Father!" Tanya exclaimed in surprise.

"He is a good boy. I can tell from the way he spoke to you. Besides, you can't keep isolating yourself from everybody. You will never be happy if you keep doing that" Tanya's father said.

"I don't think I can bear to be mocked again" Tanya said.

"He didn't mock you by saying that you had to face the others. He was right and like me, all he wants is for you to be happy. You can see that by him respecting your decision. Think about it" Tanya's father said as he walked away.

Meanwhile, Rokkan had caught up to the others.

"So how did it go Rokkan?" Nadia asked.

"What?" Rokkan stared at her in surprise.

"I figured you stayed behind to ask Tanya to the party" Nadia said.

"Get together" Ryu corrected.

"Stay out of this Ryu!" she warned.

"Oh…that" Rokkan said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"So you did ask her out!" Nadia stated the obvious.

"Did you get her to come to the party?" Atlanta asked in excitement.

"Get together" Ryu repeated in a bored tone.

"Stop being a pest Ryu!" Atlanta scolded.

Ryu's frown became mingled with pain.

"She refused" Rokkan said plainly.

"Too bad" Nadia said.

"BEGONE MUKENIN!" Ryu recalled as his frown intensified.

"DON'T TOUCH ME LOSER!" Ryu recalled Ken's mockery.

"SHUT UP YOU IDIOT!" Michael and Ken's voices sounded in his mind.

The others were still chatting busily. Ken was grumbling beside Ryu.

"SHUT UP RYU! OBVIOUSLY YOU SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN THE REQUIREMENTS OF BEING A NINJA!" Atlanta's voice sounded.

Ryu shut his eyes in anguish. He could feel tears flowing down his face. Ken stared at Ryu in surprise, then in satisfaction, a smile on his face.

"Stay out of this Ryu!" the memories continued.

"STOP BEING A PEST RYU!" Atlanta's voice resounded in his mind.

"This guy's a loser! He's not even a ninja!" Ken's mockery rang in his ears.

"ENOUGH!" Ryu yelled.

The others stopped chatting and stared at Ryu in confusion. Ryu walked a few steps ahead and turned to face them.

"I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! I JUST CAN'T!" Ryu yelled in pain as the tears flowed down his face.

"What's going on?" Atlanta asked.

"ALL OF YOU! YOU'RE DRIVING ME NUTS! MICHAEL, YOU THINK I'M AN IDIOT! ROKKAN, ACTUALLY I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST YOU EXCEPT FOR YOUR ANNOYING SILENCE! NADIA, I CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO LIST THEM! KEN, YOU ONLY JUST JOINED THE TEAM YET YOU LOOK AT ME LIKE SHEKAN LOOKS AT GAIDEN! EVEN YOU ATLANTA, FOR ONE THING, YOU THINK I'M A PEST! FOR ANOTHER, YOU THINK I DON'T HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A NINJA AND WHAT'S WORSE IS THAT YOU DON'T EVEN BELIEVE IN MY PROMISE! EVEN CRYSTAL CALLED ME A MUKENIN!" Ryu cried in pain and anguish.

"WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT, MOLTEN'S TEASE SOUNDS SO TRUE NOW!" Ryu roared.

"Where are you getting to with all this?" Michael asked.

"None of you appreciate me for who I truly am! All you see…IS A PEST WITH ABILITIES!" Ryu roared in pain.

Ken opened his eyes as a memory flooded his mind.

"H-Hey guys, can I come to the party too?" a young Ken asked his friends.

"Maybe…if you had shared Tornado's power with us!" a bigger boy yelled in anger.

"Why? Why? You guys don't care about me. All you care about are my powers!" Ken recalled as his smile turned into an understanding frown.

"NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY, I'M NEVER ANY GOOD TO YOU UNLESS IT COMES TO USING MY POWERS IN A FIGHT!" Ryu roared.

"We do appreciate your presence. It's why we went to the Dragon Lord to bring you back" Atlanta said silently.

"YOU ONLY MADE YOUR SACRIFICE TO SATISFY YOUR GUILTY CONSCIENCE!" Ryu roared.

Tears began to flow down Atlanta's face.

"IF ANYTHING, YOU SHOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD! HAVE YOU SO SOON FORGOTTEN HOW YOU WERE MOCKED IN THE FIRE RYU?! HAVE YOU SO SOON FORGOTTEN HOW YOUR FATHER CONSPIRED TO HAVE YOU BANISHED?! YET YOU HURT ME THE MOST! IF YOUR FATHER HAD BELIEVED IN YOU, EVEN IF YOU HAD NEVER DISCOVERED YOUR POWERS, YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN HAPPY! IF YOU HAD BELIEVED IN ME, DESPITE THE INSULTS OF THE OTHERS, I'D BE HAPPY! I CAN'T STAND ANY OF YOU!" Ryu cried in pain.

"Did I…did we really make you feel this way?" Atlanta asked tearfully.

"I NEED TO BE ALONE!" Ryu roared as he disappeared.

"RYU!!!" Atlanta called.

"Don't listen to him Atlanta, he is in one of his outbreaks" Michael said.

"He's right. He has always been right. I can't believe we were so insensitive to not notice how much pain our words were causing him" Atlanta cried.

"Let's head back to the Temple, he might be there" Michael said.

Meanwhile, Ryu was running towards the edge of the mountain.

"I'll show them! They can seal Shekan alone, I no longer have any interest in keeping my promise, I'm going back to Crystal village! Gaiden, Nemesis, forgive me" he stopped momentarily and looked at his hands in sorrow.

"I bet even Gaiden couldn't do this, do you think I could be the Fire Saint?" Ryu recalled the first time he discovered his powers.

"Not a chance!" he recalled Michael's reply and his sad expression became a determined one.

"From the very beginning…" Ryu said as he started running again.

"The dragon is amazing, I can't believe it handed its power over to you" Atlanta's voice rang in his head.

"From the very beginning…no one believed in me. All this time, I was a fool. I thought I could save everyone but instead…" he could now see the edge of the mountain.

"…SEAL SHEKAN YOURSELVES, I'M LEAVING!" Ryu yelled as he leapt over the edge of the mountain.

He began to dive, feeling himself cut through the wind and empty air. He raised his ring. A flash of lightning mixed with flame announced the presence of Molten, the Fire Dragon Saint. Ryu fell smoothly on Molten's back.

"What's wrong Ryu? You're leaving the Wind ryu already? Where are the others?" Molten asked.

"I don't care about them anymore. Set a course for Crystal village. I'm going home!" Ryu ordered.

At that order, Molten dove until they reached the ground, then he landed. Ryu leapt off his back.

"What's wrong Molten? Why are we stopping here?" Ryu roared.

"What happened Ryu? What happened…that was so terrible that you would want to leave the world to be doomed" Molten asked.

"The others, they treat me like a pest! I can't stand it! Nothing I do or say is good enough for them. They do not believe in me as a person or a ninja!" Ryu roared.

Molten shut his eyes.

"Let your memories be revealed to me" Molten said as Ryu's memories flooded his mind.

Molten opened his eyes after a while.

"I see. The insults actually hurt you though the others mean them as jokes" Molten said.

"No" Ryu said as he turned away from Molten.

"No? Then what is it?" Molten asked.

"Everyone keeps saying I'm not worthy to be a ninja. No one believes in me" Ryu said as he sat on the ground in exasperation.

Molten shook his head.

"You're so young. Your inexperience makes me want to laugh" Molten said.

"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!" Ryu growled.

"What you are feeling now is the forbidden emotion. It is forcing you to go to extremes and abandon everything, even those you love…but if you go through with this, a lifetime will not be enough to regret your actions. Your pain will become a plague, just like Nemesis'" Molten warned.

Ryu thought about this.

"I want to make them miss me!" Ryu yelled.

"You can…but by other means. You can decide to make your presence not felt, just like Rokkan" Molten said.

"WHAT?! YOU WANT ME TO BE LIKE ROKKAN?!" Ryu roared.

"Don't forget what Gaiden told you. He believes in you…even if the others do not. The question now is, 'will you believe in yourself?'" Molten asked.

"I don't know. It's just…I'm not feeling right. My feelings are all mixed up" Ryu said.

"How can you expect others to believe in you if you do not believe in yourself?" Molten asked as he narrowed his eyes.

Ryu thought for a while.

"I guess you're right. I was too angry. Thanks Molten. Even if the others don't. Even if I doubt myself, I know that you'll always believe in me" Ryu smiled.

Molten nodded.

"Let's go back" Ryu said.

**** **** **** **** **** ****

Meanwhile, back at the Wind Temple, Michael searched desperately for Ryu.

"Ryu? Ryu!" Michael called, and then he sighed.

"I can't feel his chakra anywhere" Michael thought to himself.

The others assembled.

"We searched the whole town, we couldn't find him" Rokkan said.

"No, I don't want to think about it" Michael shook his head.

"D-Do you honestly think he ran away?" Atlanta asked worriedly.

"Knowing Ryu, he just might have" Michael said.

"Now all we can hope for is that his fun-loving senses will overpower him and drag him to the get-together" Michael said.

The sun was beginning to set. Michael and the others sat outside the Temple wondering where Ryu had gone. They stared at the sky silently. They felt quite downcast and were beginning to reflect on their actions.

"It's almost time. Let's get ready" Michael said.

"Ryu, where are you?" Atlanta looked around in worry.

"Mikey, Ryu has felt the pain of loneliness. He can never abandon anybody" Ken said.

"Thanks Ken. I hope you're right" Michael said.

"He's definitely going to show" Ken said as he walked into the Temple. "…but I still don't like you guys so don't get any ideas" Ken added.

Michael smiled.

"He can be cute at times but most of the time, he can really be a devil" Michael thought silently.

"Why are you slow pokes keeping so long?" Ken grumbled as he ran into the guys' room.

The monks had shown them a place to keep their stuff and two separate rooms to rest, one for the guys and the other for the girls.

What do we wear to these get togethers?" Rokkan asked.

Ken sighed.

"Honestly, Ryu is better than the two of you. Just get into your ceremonial clothes and let's hustle!" Ken said sharply.

"Thanks Ken" Michael struggled to wear his jacket.

Soon, the companions were ready to go to the get together.

"Just follow me. These sorts of things are held in the pub, the biggest building in this town, next to the Temple" Ken said.

Meanwhile, Lao and the other Creeping Mist ninja had already arrived at the pub. Lee met them.

"Hey guys, I'm glad you made it. We're almost ready to begin. We just need to wait for Ryu and the others" Lee said.

"Yeah, we can't start without them" Jet agreed.