The Cloud Over The Leaf

I woke up feeling pretty refreshed today.

I stretch my arms out and was about to get ready for another day.

That is until I noticed a huge black wolf laying next to my bed!

"Akumu?!"

[Morning.]

I shoot up to my feet and kneeled next to him.

"Why are you out?! Did something happen?!"

[Quiet down. I'm close to being fully grown. I can't stay in you forever. I won't be able to get out without hurting you soon.]

"I definitely wouldn't want that!"

[Me neither. We just have to deal with it like this from now on.]

"But how are you going to come with me?"

I mean, he's nowhere near small enough to hide.

[That's actually pretty simple now.]

Akumu came close to me and disappeared into my shadow!

[I'm still close to you, just not on the inside anymore.]

"That's really cool!"

[Well I'm glad you think so. I've made up my mind. You're going to train with me from now on for a while.]

"Really?!"

[Yeah. Go eat breakfast first and enjoy your morning. We'll leave at noon.]

I can't wait! I wonder what kind of things Akumu would teach me?!

I head out of my room, excited about the new training I'll get.

"Morning, Hii-chan. You look pretty happy today."

"Yeah! I'm going to train with Akumu!"

"Oooh~! Well, you better eat up! I don't know what a Biju would train you in, but you'll need your strength."

Grandpa nods at Grandma's words and rubs my head. 

The twins on the other hand...

"I wanna go."

"Yeah! We wanna go too!"

[Sorry. I'm only bringing Hii for this training.]

The family watched as Akumu slowly formed his head up fron my shadow.

The twins went nuts!

"How do you do that?!"

[It's a special skill. I'm probably the only one who can do it.]

"Cool."

The three were playing around behind me as I sat to eat my breakfast as fast as I could.

[Slow down. Savor the food. You'll regret it if you don't.]

Grandpa's ears perked up at Akumu's words.

"What kind of training will Hii be doing?"

[Intense training. More than what he's done so far.]

The table goes silent as I continue to eat without a care.

"What exactly will you be doing?"

[It's a surprise.]

Mom's face scrunches up while Grandpa nods his head.

"He must come back stronger."

[Don't worry. He'll have to.]

"I'm done!"

I finish my breakfast and quickly go to the sink to wash my dish.

"Do I need to bring anything for this?"

[Just the bare essentials and your sword.]

I clean my dish and head back to my room.

Akumu comes out of my shadow and lays next to my bed.

[We will be gone for a good while, so spend some time relaxing. I have a lot to teach you in a little bit of time.]

"Sure. I guess I'll talk to Grandpa for a bit."

I head out of the room and see Grandma about to leave with the twins.

"Hii-Nii! We're gonna train too!"

Yozora nods with Moya's words while Grandma laughs heartily.

"I'm happy I didn't have to resort to any tricks to get them to come this time. It's quite refreshing."

Grandma rubs my head and starts to head out with the twins in tow.

"See you when you come back!"

I wave back at them as they head off to the training grounds. Hopefully, they'll figure out Earth Style soon.

I head back in and sit next to Grandpa and Dad who are inspecting some weapons.

"Are you excited to train with Akumu, Hii?"

"Yep! I really can't wait!"

"Make sure to learn as much as you can. It's a rare thing to have a Biju as a teacher."

Dad encourages me as Grandpa just inspects the weapons. They must be in need of repairs.

"How long?"

"Huh?"

Grandpa asks a question, but Dad and I don't really understand what he's asking.

[A month or two.]

Akumu answers him and he nods his head slowly.

"Hii, remember what you learn and instill it into your movements. You still have to learn the rest of the Storm Blade."

"Y-Yes Grandpa!"

....I'm suddenly getting the feeling like this training is going to be different from what I expected.

******

It seems I was on to something.

I'm now standing in front of a very insidious forest. A gate with many "Keep Out" signs posted on it for whoever would want to get in there. 

Or is it to keep everything in from getting to you?

"What is this place?"

[The Forest of Death. You'll be very intimate with traversing it by the time this training is over.]

*Gulp*

"Ugh.."

I don't know about this.

[You can't chicken out now. You will become a strong ninja, one way or another.]

Akumu comes out of my shadow and comes next to me.

[Come on. Let's go.]

Akumu jumps over the fence and urged me to come.

I jumped over the fence as well and I followed him deeper into the forest.

All I could hear was the sounds a wildlife and insects.

[I want to explain some things to you, Hii. It's about my past. You deserve to know about it more than anyone else.]

"Eh?!"

He never talked about it before!

I eagerly head up next to him and wait for him to begin.

He sighed seeing my eagerness, but kept his head forward as we continued to walk.

[I was born as Takashi Rendou, but don't call me by that name. I'm just Akumu now. I was born with only my father to take care of me. My mother died during childbirth.]

I felt a cold shiver at how nonchalant Akumu was describing his past.

I didn't know it was that bad.

"I..."

[Don't apologize. You've done nothing wrong. My life is just shitty. There's still a ways to go, so let me finish it now while I still think it's a good idea.]

Akumu shook his head and continued his story.

[I had a good 4 year run with my dad, but he was couldn't hold himself together without Mom. He couldn't cope, so he offed himself. Found him in the living room laying out on the couch. Thought he was sleep, but he never woke up no matter how much I shook him. They said he overdosed on sleeping medication.]

Akumu shook his head as he stopped near a tree.

[Let's stop here. This'll be our little rest stop for now.]

It was a hollow tree that stood close to a river. It was oddly beautiful, but I couldn't focus on that. I wanted to know more about Akumu, but I was getting anxious of what happened to him. I don't know how, but I can feel the pain in his story.

Akumu just laid down near the tree,looking out at the river.

[After that, I was sent to be with my Grandpa. He lived out in countryside, so I got to experience what that was like. My Grandpa was a pretty strict guy. He always called my Dad a coward for killing himself, so we never really got along the first few months I knew him. After a while though, he grew on me and I felt pretty happy around him.]

Akumu felt the breeze go through his fur and took a deep breath.

[That went on for about 4 more years when more bullshit came my way. I always knew my Grandpa was probably a part of some shady shit when I saw that giant tattoo on his back. I still remember the way that tiger was drawn so fiercely. I told him I wanted one just like it and he smacked me in the head.  He'd always say,"Just study and be productive, brat!", and I'd always tell him he was an old fart. We'd go back and forth like that for a while and the neighbors were used to seeing me run to the fields or the nearby creek afterwards to cool off. One day, after another fight like that, I ran and went to the creek again. I sat there just throwing rocks on the water and just venting at why he didn't want me to get a tattoo again. When I came back,however, the house was surrounded by cops and there was blood everywhere.]

Akumu's let out a heavy sigh as he continued.

[Some young bastard had beef with my Grandpa over something and got some guys to head with him to put Grandpa in his place. Grandpa tried to be civil at first, but he wouldn't back down, so a fight broke out in the house. Grandpa held them off, but his injuries were too much. Someone called for help, but it was too late when they arrived. That's how I lost my Grandpa.]

Akumu paused to look over at me and sighed.

[Stop crying. This is just an old story.]

"B-but! It's so sad..."

[It's the cards I was dealt. Wipe your tears. It's old wounds now.]

I wipe my face with my shirt, but the tears doesn't seem to stop. Akumu sighs as he sees my failed attempt to calm down.

[Come and lay down on my fur. There is still more to tell.]

I nod and lay myself on his side. His fur is still soft and cool, but I can't help but squeeze him close.

Akumu chuckles and leaves me be.

[I met a friend of my Grandpa at his funeral. Ryu Oniyama was his name. He looked like a middle aged man in shades to me, but he had a presence that demanded respect. He found out about me on that day and immediately took me in. Said he owed my Grandpa too much to let me go to foster care. I learned that Grandpa was what was called a Yakuza. It's like a bandit here, but more refined I guess. Ryu-san swore he'd find whoever did it and make them pay if the police couldn't find them first. I volunteered myself to kill them at that time. He laughed at me and told me I was too weak to hurt anybody.]

Akumu chuckled and turned to me.

[You wanna know what I said?]

" *Sniff* What?"

[I told him to make me strong enough so I could kill them then. That started years of training, weapon mastery and other things Ryu-san let me do to get my chance. I went to school, trained, and even barely made a few friends on the way. All that time though, I always remembered my Grandpa's beaten body and swore I'd find them. It wasn't until I graduated High school did I finally get the opportunity to get my revenge. Too bad Ryu-san was far too smart and savage for me.]

Akumu paused and took a deep breath again. Some of his words don't make sense to me like High school, but I still pay attention.

[He had already found the culprits some years ago. Had the bastards beaten and tortured long before he told me. There was only one guy left out of four, but he was pretty much a husk of who he used to be by the time I was introduced. Ryu-san handed me a weapon and told me I could finish him off. I stared into his lifeless eyes and.... I couldn't do it. I punched him and kicked the shit outta him, but I felt like killing him was too much. Ryu-san didn't think the same and killed him right after I handed the weapon back.]

Akumu bitterly chuckled.

[He said he was proud of me on our way back home for not killing. I still don't know why he said that to this day. I lived listlessly after that, working a job he got me through connections. I lived the day to day monotonous life for around a year before I felt it. This growing  sense of despair filled me up and made me depressed. I didn't know what to do with my life anymore.]

"Did you ever decide to do something with your life?"

[No. Life decided for me.]

Akumu rose up and went towards the water and drank from the river. He faced the river and shook off some residual water on his face.

[I used to go to a bridge near my job and stare off of it everyday. I always contemplated whether I would jump or not looking down at the rushing water.  Everytime I felt I could do it, I always remembered everyone, Ryu-san, Grandpa, and....Fuyuki. She was... a friend of mine, more or less. Always thought she was annoying, but she always popped into my head when I felt like ending it all. She was always around to help somehow.  One day, however, one event changed all of that. Come on, let's keep going.]

Akumu gestured deeper towards the forest and we slowly walked towards the center of the forest.

[That day, a man came by me on the bridge holding a small infant. I glanced at him and saw his eyes were dull and listless. He turned to me and I saw him light up as he approached me with a surprisingly animate conversation. I was surprised, but I never really thought much of it. I chatted with him for a while and he seemed to need to take a phone call. He looked angry as he read whoever was calling and he asked me to do something I thought was truly strange. He told me to hold his baby. I thought perhaps he'd be loud and wanted to let the baby sleep, so I decided I'd help him. I held the baby and I felt like time stopped. She was a beautiful little girl with a small face and little curly hairs. I watched the child as the man started to scream on the phone. I just ignored him for a while and just focused on the child, trying not to wake her up. I suddenly heard a screech and a hard thud. I quickly looked back only to see the man I just meet had been hit by a truck. He was dead on impact.]

I'm shocked, but confused at the same time. What exactly is a truck or a phone? I'll ask later.

[The authorities came and the driver described him  jumping in front of the truck.No relatives known to him besides the child in my hands and the mother was nowhere to be found. I found out her name was Miyu. Once they planned to put her up for adoption, I immediately volunteered. I didn't know a thing about kids, much less babies, but something pushed me to keep her. Sure enough, I became her Guardian. I'll tell you it was hell raising a kid! So much crying, diapers, and endless nights of staying up and feeding a baby. Her happy little smile made it all worth it though. I applied for maternal leave from my job and told Ryu-san about my decision. He laughed and said, "I thought I'd never be a Grandpa!", and helped me take care of her. Fuyuki helped me out the most. She found out I suddenly had a kid and scared the hell out of me with her questions. She basically turned into the Mom for Miyu.]

Akumu chuckled as we slowly walked. 

[With help and time, I like to think I became a decent Dad for Miyu. Our favorite time together was actually watching a show about ninjas. We'd watch it every week together and she'd always quiz me on what's happening and who was who. She always loved this ninja in orange and I favored an avenger of a ninja a bit more. He was a bit more relatable to me. We kept watching and reading the story whenever we could together. It was our little bonding time.]

I can feel Akumu's smile as he happily trots forward.

[We followed it to the very end. She cried at the ending, happy to see someone's dream came true. She wished the family and friends he lost on the way were there to see him realize his dream. I told her they will always be with him in his memories. Even if you can't remember them, they'll always remember you. I still remember how her wish came in my head right before I died. It was a rather lame death when I think about it. Dying to save someone is a rather generic way to go, but it was rewarding. A child got swept away in a river during a typhoon. I saw it happen and immediately reacted, despite getting on in my years. I Didn't have enough energy to make it out after I got him to safety myself. Guess I didn't continue to train hard enough. Only thing I regret is not telling Miyu I loved her more. Well, maybe also about....]

Akumu looks thoughtful as he looks at the setting sun. He shakes his head and sits down once more.

[That's my story of who I was,and as far as I'm concerned, you'll be the only one I care to know it.]

I nod my head slowly as he looks my way.

[Tonight starts the night I teach you all I've learned and also the night you'll learn what true battle is really like. Prepare yourself well for this will be a night you will remember, whether you like it or not.]