8 A Leaf Holding Dreams (1/2)

It was night with dark, stormy and depressing clouds on the sky. The clouds parted a little and the light of the full moon sifted through them illuminating the earth. The moonlight had a red, bloody sheen on it. The earth was bathed in blood of the corpses that were lying on the ground. There were weapons, tools, various other objects scattered across the ground. The earth was razed with devastation with signs of battles and wars everywhere as far as one could see. On the center of the battlefield, on a small mountain of dead bodies of shinobis, samurais and various other people, sat a lone man holding a black sword in his hand, dripping blood. Suddenly, thunder started booming in sky and lightning struck a tree nearby, scorching it up and lighting the surroundings a bit and in this sudden light one could see the features of this man. He was a tall man with muscular but lean build. His clothes were in disarray, cut, shredded and stained with blood. The man's oval face was sharp with chiseled jaws. He had black hair, brown eyes and had a stoic look on his face. The man was staring at the horizon when he suddenly sensed something and turned to face the observer with a sadistic and cruel smirk on his face.

Takeru gasped as he woke up from the nightmare. His clothes and the bed were soaked with sweat. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself down and when finally he was coherent enough, he got up. Takeru got out of the tent to see the people of the caravan packing things up. His father, Toru and mother, Akane were helping them. Takeru used a little of his fire chakra to dry up his clothes. He then washed up a bit with some water and went to dismantle and pack the bed and the tent. His parents were soon done with the packing and saw him carrying their luggages as he put them up on the carriage.

”You had a good sleep?” - asked Toru.

”Yeah, somewhat.” - replied Takeru as he suddenly spotted 4 graves beside the clearing.

”Let us have a talk, son.” - Toru followed Takeru's line of vision and saw what Takeru was seeing. Akane had a concerned look on her face. Soon the carriages were all loaded and packed and the caravan continued his journey. Akane went inside the carriage and left the father and son to talk among themselves.

”Have you killed someone before, dad?” - asked Takeru while walking with his father.

”Yes, I did. I did it many a times.”

”How did you feel after that?”

”Let me tell you my story first. When I was a kid, I lost my parents to bandits. They were simple farmers with a small land. It was just a regular day when I got home after playing with my friends and found out that I had lost everything. I did not have any purpose for living from that day. The life of an orphan in the Land of Iron was better than any other nation but it was still a cruel and worthless one. But I survived struggling, scraping for food, searching for shelter until one day a few samurais found me and some other orphans and street urchins. All of us were trained in the traditional arts of a samurai. We were given a purpose, to serve our lord faithfully. We were given the tools for survival, power to keep on living. When I found that I could move faster than any normal person, and do things they could not do. I found a new sense of purpose. I thought that I could maybe stop all the suffering in this world, all those needless wars and conflicts. If I could do that then maybe I would be saving other children from having the same fate as mine. But, soon I had found that though it was a noble cause, it was a fruitless one. I wanted to be a hero, you know, saving the world and all that. But I got my reality check when I first killed a man. I was just a 16 year old teenager then, a samurai greenhorn. I had no experience of life or death battles. He wanted to kill me. I had to kill him in order to save my life. He was a wanted criminal, more a monster than a human but he was a human nonetheless. Heroes do not kill people, they save them and I was no hero. I was disgusted of myself. I thought I too would turn into the very monsters I had hoped too defeat. Soon, I understood something. I found that this world is not so black and white. There are no heroes or villains. We are all normal humans, products of our own circumstances. Everyone is a hero to some and a villain to others. It is relative. I had killed people many times after that day but I never enjoyed doing it.

I know, I am not a good man but I am not a monster. I did what I had to do to survive. Otherwise I would not be here talking with you. It is a very thin line, Takeru, that seperates humans from monsters. Humans feel remorse, guilt and responsibility. Monsters do not. They do not feel any guilt or remorse. Monsters kill for the sake of killing, not for some cause. They just enjoy killing. We live in a world full of them. So, all we can do is to endure and keep fighting the battle. Both the battle against the world and the battle against yourself so we do not turn into a monster. Find yourself a worthy cause that you can devote your life to. You have to endure and keep fighting. Do not ever give up the fight and never stop hoping that one day it will all be good. Taking a life is never easy and it can never be justified by anything but what you can do is to kill only for a worthy cause you believe in. You have to have faith, son, that one day we all might be able to live in harmony, the world will be in peace. Till that day you just have to keep enduring.” - explained Toru. Takeru listened to every word his father said and sighed. Takeru was slowly starting to feel somewhat relieved. It was like a huge weight fell off his shoulders. Takeru knew what his father said was true. He would have to do much more horrible things in the future and he could not keep breaking down like this. Yes, he killed those bandits last night but not because he wanted to kill them. He did it to protect his family. Takeru looked at his father and his mother with a smile, Toru smiled back. Akane was watching them from the carriage. She too smilled at him. Takeru, at that moment had set a firm goal in his mind. He would do whatever it is, kill whoever it is, just to keep those smiles.

Soon, another day passed. The caravan stopped at an intersection in the forest. The lead merchant told them that Toru and his family would have to stop here and wait. The shinobis from the Hidden Leaf Village would come and take them to the village. Takeru and Toru unloaded their luggages from the carriage. The caravan started going again, leaving them in the forest. Toru, Akane and Takeru stood at the side of the road with their luggage and waited for leaf shinobis to show up. A few moments later Takeru sensed 4 people watching them from inside the forest. All of them were leaf shinobis wearing the headband. Two shinobi showed up walking in front of them from the forest.

”Who are you? What are you doing here?” - one of them with a stoic face asked as the other one, an Uchiha activated his sharingan and silently observed Takeru and his family.

”Hello, I am Toru Yamamoto. This is my wife Akane and our son, Takeru. We recently bought a house in the Hidden Leaf Village and are going to move in. I came here last month to buy it.”

”Do you have your identification papers and the documents of the house?”

”Ah, yes. Here it is.” - Toru took out the papers and gave them to the leading shinobi. The shinobi took them, closely examined them. After verification the shinobi nodded and Takeru sensed the 2 shinobis hiding in the forest left. The Uchiha shinobi's face relaxed, after deactivated his sharingan he also left.

”Everything seems to be in order. Please follow me closely.” - the lead shinobi smiled for the first time and led them into the forest. The Yamamoto family followed him silently. Takeru was observing and sensing his surroundings. The leaf shinobi started a conversation with them.

”So, what do you do for a living, Yamamoto-san?”

”I was a samurai in the Land of Iron serving under commander Musashi for a time. Then, due to certain circumstances I left my post and settled down in a village in the north. I did farming for a living after that, taking care of my family. What about you..uh mister?”

”Call me Mitsuki please. I was raised by my clan as a shinobi and served them until our village was established. Now, I am a proud shinobi of the Leaf Village.”

”Yes, this village is surely a miracle. I never thought a day would come when I coud see this with my own eyes.”

”It was Lord Hokage's dream for shinobi clans to live in harmony and it has surely bore fruit. This village holds all of our dreams. All we have to do now is to keep the leaf safe to keep our dreams alive.”

”I agree. Mitsuki-san, I would like to ask you something.”

”Please ask.”