Chapter 1: Taketomi

Man this job sucked.

His eyes scanned the room. There was a small boy sitting at a table next to his sister, ribbing her in the side, repeatedly. She protested quite loudly, causing her father, who was sipping his tea and reading the newspaper to chastise the boy, abstinent mindedly. Apparently, his evening tea and paper was more important to him than his misbehaving child.

Three seats down from them was an old married couple who, he suspected, was celebrating their anniversary. They seemed quite happy together. They must have been, to be still married at such an age, or at least, he thought so.

The boy had begun again.

All the way down the end, in a corner booth sat four teenage boys. Well, four delinquents, to be more accurate. He knew these kids from school. Two of them used to bully him when he was young. That ended when he came back to school from summer break, having learned how to defend himself. They had all been terrified by his newfound strength and sought easier prey after a very benevolent beating. He had nearly been expelled for that. He supposed the school didn't like having to explain to the parents that another boy had broken their kids arms. Maybe if those parents had raised their sons to not be such worthless pieces of human garbage, their limbs wouldn't have needed snapping.

The second oldest member of the group in age, and the one who had instigated his torment, Mako, had lost a lot of weight and not in a good way. The once morbidly obese boy was now rail-thin and had a weathered look about him, particularly in his face. Mako looked more like a man in his forties trying and failing to pretend he was still a teenager. It wasn't natural for someone to look so old at such a young age. Nor was it natural for Mako to have lost so much weight so quickly. He had his suspicions on what was going on with his former bully but couldn't prove it. Nor did he care enough to. After years of bullying those smaller than him, and then, upgrading to thievery in his teen years Mako was getting what he deserved, especially after he and his goons had stolen Naomi's bike she had gotten from her now deceased-grandmother two years ago. Nobody could prove that Mako and them had done it, but he knew those bastards had to have been the ones. They were known to loiter in the area where the bike had been when it disappeared. He probably sold it for money to fuel his "needs."

His eyes fell upon the third and newest member of the group. This one was new. He didn't know much about him. But what he did know was that Mako's health started to decline not long after meeting him. The third one also had a weathered appearance about him.

"Hey! Takashi! Are you ignoring me?!" Said the voice of a woman.

"Huh? Wha?" He replied, absent-mindedly, turning his attention toward her.

Poking out of the kitchen window was the head of a young-looking woman with hair like the sun, the same color as his own and eyes the color of coal, protected by glasses, much unlike his own. She was his mother.

"Hey, Chiharu wants you to make a delivery to the next town."

"Isn't food delivery Izuku's job?" Replied Takashi.

"He left over an hour ago to take care of something with this family. Shesh, kid. You need to pay more attention when at work. And look more lively, too, or Chiharu's gonna fire you, and you know how much we need the money."

How could she possibly expect him to "pay attention" and "look more lively" in a job like this? It was so mind-numbingly boring. All he did all day was sit the customers down and wait for them to order. The monotony was only occasionally broken up when he had to sweep something. And seeing as this place didn't get many customers, what else was there to do other than people gaze or get lost in one's own head?

His mother had gotten the more exciting job: Assistant Cook, despite the fact that he was objectively better at cooking than she was.

The curse of being an "inexperienced teen" he supposed.

"Here," Said his mother, handing him a plastic bag filled with boxes of food stacked so high Takashi feared they would spill out. She also handed him a sticky note with the address.

He needs you to head to the town next door and deliver this."

Takashi sighed.

"Fine. I'll be back soon." He said.

Wait. You'll need the keys to the bike lock."

She dangled the keys in front of him. And when he reached out to grab them she yanked them away.

"Ah-ah-ah," She said, waggling her finger. "You know what you've got to do to get these."

Oh there was no way in hell he was doing that!

Takashi glared at her, and her smile became ever greater. She knew of the awkwardness and the discomfort it would cause him to do it. She was enjoying herself, clearly.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to give your mommy a kiss goodbye before you leave?" She said, in a faux child-like tone.

There was no way in hell was doing that. Not here, not in front of those three.

"Oh. Hey, Mr. Chiharu." Said Takashi, staring behind her and waving.

Her head whipped around. He snatched the keys out of her hand, grabbed the food and ran for the door. The little white lie had worked.

"Hey! No fair! That was a cheap trick, Takashi!" He heard his mother exclaim. "You're going to be sorry when you get back, boy!"

Well, the bike was still there. He had half expected it to come up missing, even with the lock on it, given their current customers.

Takashi put the food in the front basket. Mounted and took off. He stuck to the less populated roads so that he wouldn't be slowed down by too many pedestrians. Not that people were much of a hindrance in a town this small.

The town had soon disappeared behind him. Before him lay a long stretch of dirt road, who's only other inhabitants was a horse drawn cart coming his way. No doubt, a merchant. There was also a man sitting in the back of the cart. But Takashi thought he made for an odd guard, as he had no visible weapons or armor on him like most guards would to deter would-be bandits. He must be a traveler, then.

Odd. Merchants normally didn't let people hitch rides with them. It endangered their wares. Never could tell if a hitchhiker was a bandit in disguise, scoping out the potential loot for his friends, or waiting for its protectors to lower their guards to receive a blade in the back.

Maybe he was just hiding his weapon.

The driver waved Takashi down.

"Hey, kid. Is this the town of Taketomi?" Asked the driver after stopping next to him.

Takashi nodded.

"Yes, it is." Said Takashi.

The driver turned to look behind him.

"Looks like you're in luck. We're almost to the Land of Lightning."

"Oh thank the gods. I didn't think I was going to make it." Said the man at the back of the cart, whose legs were dangling over the edge, dangerously close to brushing along the ground.

He was a bald, middle-aged man with coal-colored eyes and an uncomfortable look about him. Maybe he wasn't a guard, after all. And from how the man sounded, Takashi would have suggested that the guy just "go" in the forest. There was a lot of it around, and no one would be able to see him doing his business. But then again, he's supposed not everyone carried toilet paper while on the road.

An idea popped into Takashi's head.

"Hey, if you've got to go to the bathroom, there's a place in town called Chiharu's Legendary Grill. It's got the best food around." Said Takashi.

Damn that was a lie. But Chiharu would definitely be grateful to him for steering customers his way. Maybe he'd even give Takashi a promotion to cook or something. Maybe then, his mother would let him teach her how to actually cook, but he doubted it. That woman could catch a cast iron skillet on fire, and she was more stubborn than a mule.

"What?" Said the balding man. "That's not what I was talking abou- N-nevermind! Just leave us alone!"

Well, somebody certainly was friendly.

"Hmm. Chiharu's Legendary Grill, eh? Said the driver. "Might be worth checking out."

"I'd appreciate it if we kept moving." Said the nervous man.

"Sorry, hitchhikers don't get a vote."

So he was a traveler.

"But I need to get across the border before…"

The balding man started to argue but stopped short. He looked back at the dirt road, a worried look on his face. After a moment, he turned back to the driver and continued his argument once more in a vague sort of way, never getting to the actual reason for his need for haste.

Takashi chose to ignore their argument and continued on his way.

It didn't take him long to get to the other town. It wasn't that far away, maybe fifteen minutes. But when he arrived at the edge, he was stopped by a peculiar set of people. Two men. One was shorter than the other one, and both wore matching cloaks.

The shorter one had silver hair that was slicked back. He carried a tri-bladed red scythe with him. Takashi hoped he wasn't planning on using that thing on him.

The second, taller one, carried no weapon with him, at least, none that Takashi could see. He wore a gray hood underneath his cloak, and a black mask that covered the lower half of his face, revealing only his eyes. His eyes were green, with a disturbing scarlet scapula as the background to them.

Takashi didn't like those eyes very much.

Wait a minute, their cloaks weren't the only thing they had in common. They also had headbands.

The shorter: around his neck.

The taller: on his forehead.

The headbands had symbols carved into their faceplates. Both symbols were unique and notable from one another. The only thing their faceplates shared in common was the single line, carved through the symbols horizontally, reaching from one side of the faceplate to the other.

Were they ninjas?

"Hey, kid," Spoke the silver haired one. "Have you seen a short, fat, balding bastard anywhere around here?"

Takashi's mind was instantly drawn back to the man in the cart. He was the only one who came close to fitting such a description that Takashi had seen. The guy was sort of short and kind of fat.

"Uh… there was a guy like that on the back of a cart not long ago," Said Takashi. They were headed that way."

He pointed down the road, toward his home.

"See, Kakuzu," Said the silver heard, with a particularly nasty smile on his face. "I told you he'd be on this road. It's the fastest way to get to the Land of Lightning."

Takashi didn't like that smile all too much, either.

The one named Kakuzu grunted.

"Then let's hurry up," Said Kakazu. "I want my money for this one."

And without so much as a "thank you" the pair ran off, down the road at speeds Takashi knew only ninjas could make.

So they were ninjas, then. That explained the weird outfits and the scythe. If those two were after that guy for money, then they were working for a village. Probably hired by a debt collector. Or maybe they were part of an elite task force. That would explain the red clouds on their cloaks. Probably symbols of their village's elite ninjas or something like that.

Takashi didn't envy the guy in the cart right now.

And he was glad those ninjas were gone.

"One rack of barbecued riblets, a side of chicken fried rice and fried calamari on your order." Droned Takashi, after the door opened, reading the order off the paper he was given.

"Thanks, kid. I've been wanting something like this all day." Said the eager man on the other end of the doorway.

This guy had been waiting on pins and needles all day to eat this stuff? Must not have many taste buds left.

Takashi made a sound of acknowledgement and handed over the food. He was surprised a bit when the customer handed him a 50 Ryo tip.

"Uh, thanks." Said Takashi, unable to hide his surprise.

"Don't mention it, kid."

Takashi stared at the 50 ryo in his hand as the door closed in front of him. He wondered if this was a sign of things to come. A good omen, maybe? He certainly hoped so. He and his mom could really use it. Maybe she'd be able to open up that ramen shop she always said she wanted. Maybe if this kind of luck held out, they'd be able to do more than just barely keep their heads above water.

Takashi sped down the edge of town on the restaurant's bike. The sun was heading down towards the mountain range in front of him. It would soon set over that range, creating a world of vivid colors and happiness, followed by darkness.

Takashi was glad. That setting sun meant that the day was almost over. Younger children would be heading to bed right about now. It was almost nine o'clock, after all, the middle of summer. More importantly, that sun meant businesses would soon be closing their doors for the day. He wouldn't have to people-watch anymore. At least, not for today. When he got back, he would only have to clean the lobby, and maybe help his mother wash the dishes so that they could get out of there faster, and that suited Takashi just fine. And honestly, the only thing that was really ruining the moment right now, were the black clouds of rain spreading out from his town.

He thought nothing of it when he first smelled it. Maybe it was a nearby home being kept warm. But that didn't make much sense to him. It was much too hot out for an indoor fire, and it was the middle of summer. Maybe it was someone enjoying a summer bonfire in the evening hours.

He didn't realize what it really was, couldn't have imagined it, until it came into view, and its children touched his face.

"What the hell?!" Said Takashi, in a hushed horrified voice.

The town was on fire.

The embers now touched Takashi's face more fiercely as he barreled down the streets of his town. Their hot sparks were more keen to the pelting of blistering rainwater now. They stung awfully.

Making things worse were the people he had to dodge on his way. Men, women and children who were all running in the opposite direction as him, running away from the fire, running away from the distant sounds of explosions, running away from the gale force winds that grew the fire ever fiercer.

Even the police were running away.

They were all running away.

Seeking refuge from the fleeing populace and a faster way back, Takashi dove into an alleyway and sped down its long path. But as he drew closer to its end, he realized his mistake. On the other side of the alleyway's entrance was a sea of people, all fleeing down a street, from the same thing everyone else was, from the same thing he was riding towards: the devastation.

The same devastation where his work was, where his mother was.

Damnit! He'd never get through this crowd! And doubling back to the other street wouldn't do much good, either! The path was much too long and turned in the wrong direction.

He was stuck.

Takashi's eyes traveled upward.

Or maybe not.

There was one way to get there faster.

His mother had forbidden him from using it. Especially, after she found out he beat up his two bullies with it.

"It's only to be used in emergencies." She had said

This certainly qualified as such.

Takashi focused in on himself. And felt a power surge from this core to the rest of his body. The power at his feet was particularly strong. Abandoning the bike he ran forward at the wall, and without hesitation, without breaking his sprint, he placed his foot on the wall and ran up it at a ninety degree angle.

When he reached the rooftop of the three-story building, he was greeted by the site of smoke and burning buildings some distance off. They're only a small handful of buildings on fire. Most of the town hadn't been touched by the inferno. If the firefighters acted fast enough, they might be able to save most of the town.

There was a sound like a cannon going off in the distance. A giant fireball soared into the air like a rocket and then dispersed into smaller pieces. Takashi watched the pieces fall. He watched them, until he realized one of those pieces was falling towards him. Acting quickly, he took cover behind a water tower. He heard the roar of the fireball as it came barreling down towards him like a comet, sounding as though it were screaming for his death. He felt the metal of the water tower begin to rattle as it closed in. He felt the sharp rise in temperature just before the impact. And when it did impact three things happened at once: The temperature skyrocketed. The sound of an explosion drowned out all other noises. And a powerful gale kicked up, mixed with the soaring temperature, and created winds that could sear and blister the skin. It certainly would have done so to him, had he not protected himself with a layer of chakra.

Takashi stepped off the grated platform, out from behind his steel protector. The ground was wet with water. The front of the water tower was completely missing. Melted in half by the insanely high temperature. The roof of the building hadn't fared much better. At the impact point there was now a gigantic hole. There was barely even a roof left.

Takashi looked up at the sky where the fireball had split. What was with that fire? No natural fire could cause so much damage. And it came at him like it was homing in on him. Natural fire doesn't do that. Something was very wrong here.

The fireball had come from the district where he worked. He needed to get to his mother. Now.