What You Wish For [Complete]

Only Birds Were Meant to Fly

"Why are you always sitting here? You can't see, silly!"

Akuryo turned to the voice and smiled softly. He had always been told he had a cute smile, but he reserved it for one person, and that was the girl coming to sit beside him. He had only been with the samurai for a little less than a year at that point, but he had grown to fancy the young cooking girl they kept with them. He had heard the samurai talk about her like she was beautiful, but he didn't know firsthand.

He turned back towards the sea breeze. They were sitting on a cliff. "What do you think is on the other side of the ocean?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know... Nothing, probably..."

"At the farmer's house, some of the slaves talked about the land across the water," Akuryo muttered. "They said that all people are free there."

The girl let out a soft giggle. "That's a nice dream, Akuryo, but not a realistic one. Even if that place existed, you and I will never get there."

"I know... But I'd like to go there one day, and not be trapped here," he whispered, pulling his knees to his chest. She patted his shoulder and he gasped, spinning towards her. "D-don't touch me!" he snapped. No one touched him gently. The samurai often touched his body, since only his hands were the lethal, but he didn't let anyone touch him if he could help it.

But he wouldn't mind her touching him like they did, but he was also afraid of hurting her. He had never killed a person with his curse before, but he had killed animals with it before. The smell of rotting flesh always made him sick. He hated his mutated chakra.

"Sorry, Aku..." the girl whispered sheepishly. "Does it hurt you when you use it?"

"No," he lied. In truth, it was agonizing. He lived in constant pain, but he healed faster than his chakra could kill him.

"Why don't you use it to kill them?" He turned away, closing his dull eyes. "I hear you screaming. They hurt you, don't they?"

"I can deal," Akuryo muttered. His whole life he had been used one way or the other.

"We shouldn't have to deal!" the girl groaned. He understood her annoyance, but what could they do? Their families had been owned for centuries. No one was going to come and save them, and if they escaped, they would have nowhere to go.

"I want to learn to fight," he told her finally.

"I'll convince them to teach you how," she promised. He smiled again. As long as she was there, he could handle it.

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

"Family?!" Akuryo laughed, throwing Ansei back. "You come back from the dead and all you care about is family?! Spare me you sentiments, Ansei!"

Boruto looked up as Ansei landed beside them in a squat. He hadn't known Akuryo long, but through ever interaction they had, even when Akuryo was beating Boruto, the younger boy had been the picture of calm. This was not the same boy he had been a few days ago. Boruto stood, rubbing his newly healed flesh. "Stay down," Ansei snapped.

"As if."

Sarada and Mitsuki also stood. Ansei did handsigns and the room lit up in brilliant white light, illuminating the battle field for those who needed to see. Akuryo laughed with an almost unsettling, manic tone. "You're all sickening!" he shouted.

"He has no ninjutsu," Ansei explained.

"Yeah, but he's got some wicked chakra," Boruto countered, "and it's gotten worse."