Lost In Eternal Darkness (Naruto various x OC)

Tick Mark and Sweat Drops (Part 5)

*This is how Yashiro looks at age 11*

Shiro's POV:

"ess...your highness...your highness!" Akio yelled. I jolted awake, nearly falling off of his back and let out a groan of annoyance. "We have arrived your highness." I gave him a curt nod and climbed off. "Thank you Akio, you are dismissed." He gave me one last bow and disappeared. I looked around seeing I was on a dock. If you looked out into the distance, you can't see anything but mist hiding everything it was in front of. Deciding to go exploring, I walked into the small village. It was quiet, some people were smiling as they walked along while others were picking fights or trading money for drugs in alleys. I let out a sigh. 'I wonder if there's a grocery market near here..' I was cut out of my thought when a little boy who looked around seven years old bumped into me. He stumbled back and was about to fall but I grabbed his hands and pulled him up.

"Um..are you okay?" I looked down at the chocolate haired boy. He was wearing overalls and had on a bucket hat. He looked up at me and widened his eyes for a moment- 'My...what adorable puppy eyes he has..' -but then went back to his original face and sent me a glare. "Who are you? I've never seen you around here. You don't work for Gato do you?" He raised an eyebrow and shuffled back looking as though he was about to run depending on my answer. "My name is Yashiro Takashi. It's nice to meet you..?" "Why should I tell someone who just waltzed into my village my name? Ah?" He snapped. I frowned a little. "I'm just a traveler, exploring the villages I stumble upon and such." "A traveler huh.." He mumbled. I squatted down I front of him and asked, "If it's okay I'll ask again..what's your name?" "...Inari." I smiled kindly at him not noticing the small blush in his face. "It's nice to meet you Inari-kun." He looked away and fiddled with his hat. "..do you have a place to stay?" I tilted my head to the side. "No I don't, I usual just walk around and scope out the village. If I plan on staying I usually just check out a hotel room. Why?" "He looked down, his hat casting a small shadow over his eyes as his blush deepened to a pink. "Well..um..if you want to, you can stay at my place until you want to leave." I let out a giggle and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, embracing him in a hug. "I would love to. But is it really okay? I would hate to intrude." His eyes shot up to look at me and he quickly shook his head. "No no no it's really okay don't worry!" I gave him a small nod and stood up, giving him a small bow. "Thank you very much for showing such kindness Inari-kun. I will be sure to return my debt to you one day." He huffed and turned away. "Come on or else I'll leave you behind." My smile never left my face as I trailed behind him. 'He seems to act tuff when he's a softy. But he looked sad at the mention of a traveler...' I thought to myself as we arrived to a nice house surrounded by forest. Inari walked through the doors and I shyly walked in behind him. "Okasan! I'm home! Did Ojiisan arrive yet?" "Welcome home Ina- oh, who might this be?" A woman with jet black hair walked into the room, she was wearing an apron and was drying her hands with a rag. "Okasan, this is Yashiro Takashi. She's going to stay here a while, is that okay?" Inari asked taking off his shoes. "Oh yes it's fine, nice to meet you Shiro-chan. My name is Tsunami. You can sleep in our guest room, and dinner will be ready soon. I hope you make yourself at home." She gave me a sweet smile. Normally, around people I don't know, I usually act shy or quiet. That is, unless they do something to aggravate me, then I'm rude. And I act normal if I find them friendly. I gave her a nod and a small smile, taking off my shoes as well and followed behind Inari.

He stopped in front of a room and said, "This is the guest bedroom. If you need me my room is the one on the very end of the hall on the left." With that, he walked away. Sighing, I opened the door and looked around the room. Shell white walls with a tan bed, there's a desk and a window that has a view of the ocean. The room has its own bathroom too. Deciding to unpack, I take out my scroll and summon all of my belongings. I began putting all my clothes and other essentials away along with my weapons, but still keeping a hidden kunai in my pocket. When I finished putting all my things away, I walked out of my room and in the direction of Inari's. His door was open a crack and I heard shuffling inside. Peeking through the crack, I see Inari sitting on the window sill with a photo in his hands. His eyes were filled with pain and sorrow. I wanted a better look at the photo so being the curious person I was, I took a step forward. My mistake. The floor creaked causing me to flinch.

Inari's head whipped around and he quickly hid the picture and wiped his eyes, he sent me a glare. "What do you think your doing, entering a room without knocking. For all you know I could have been walking around in a towel!" He spat. "I-I'm sorry...I was going to knock but I saw you looking at a photo..you looked really sad.." I looked down. Inari sighed and gave me a soft look. "Sorry I snapped at you..I was just looking at a picture of my dad." I looked up at him and walked into the room, shutting the door behind me. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your dad?" He flinched at the question but sighed again, scooting over on the window sill and patted the space next to him motioning for me to sit there. Obeying what he wanted, I climbed onto the desk and sat on the window sill beside him. "My dads name was Kaiza. He was a traveler just like you. One day a guy who would bully me, named Akane, tried to drown my dog named Pochi. He threw Pochi into the water and I didn't know how to swim, neither did Pochi. He pushed me in and I almost drowned while Pochi learned how to swim and swam away. When I woke up I found myself laying down on grass to next a guy with a white rope tied around his head. He was cooking fish over a small fire he made. He was the one who saved me. And ever since he's been my role model and he taught me everything. He would always talk about how he would protect the things that were precious to him, doing so "with these two arms". He ended up marrying my mom and he became my step father. Then..one day the village was in danger. A bad man named Gato tried to take over the Land of Waves. Dad was against it and tried to stop him but Gato decided to use him as a demonstration as to what would happen if we went against him.."

Inari let out a shaky breath as tears rolled down his cheeks. "He got his bodyguards and cut off both his arms, mocking how my dad would say how he would protect the things he loved with both of his arms. In the end killing him as a public execution, and it all happened right infront of my eyes. Heros don't exist..heh..heros..just hearing the name is a joke." He let out a choked sob. Following my instincts, I brought him into a tight hug. Rubbing his back soothingly and holding the back of his head. He stiffened at first but eventually hugged back, wrapping his small arms around me and sobbed into my chest. After a couple of minutes he stopped, and now it was just us hugging rocking back and forth. "I'm sorry you had to go through that Inari-kun..he sounds like a great guy.." I whispered. "He was a great guy..thanks for letting me cry Shiro-chan. Heh, I must look pretty weak right now. Men never cry." He chuckled sadly. "Inari, know that it's okay to cry. Men who act tough aren't real men. Real men act true to themselves. If you cry every once in a while it doesn't mean your weak, it just means you've been strong for too long." I said softly looking him in the eyes, smiling sweetly. His eyes shimmered as he gave me a big smile. "Ne, Shiro-chan, your really cute." He laughed and my cheeks flushed in pink as I stared at him. "E-Ehhh?" "Come on, dinners ready. I bet I can eat more rice bowls than you." He gave me a challenging smirk as I narrowed my eyes at him and gave him a playful smirk back. "No one can eat more than me! Race you there!" I hopped off the window sill and dashed in the direction of the kitchen. I hear him yelled behind me, "Oi! No fair you got a head start!" I laughed and walked up to Tsunami. "Need any help?" I asked. She looked at me and smiled, patting my head. "No it's alright dear, just go sit at the table. Dinner will be served in a minute." I nodded and took the seat across from Inari. The sound of the front door slamming open made me jump to my senses.

I grabbed my hidden kunai and pinned the stranger against the wall. I gave him a menacing stare and I held the kunai to the side of his neck. Inari came running behind me, as did Tsunami. Inari froze, shocked at the scene displayed before him as Tsunami sweat dropped. "Shiro-chan, that's Tazuna. He lives here. No need to worry." "Oh." I said in a monotone voice and let go of him, walking back to the kitchen. "You stinking brat! You almost kill me and then you just walk away without saying sorry?! Get back here I'll teach ya a thing or two about respe-" Tazuna stopped rambling and tripped over a step. I dead pained and Inari busts out laughing. Tsunami helps him up as Tazuna says, "Cha! Young people these days are so rude." He grumbled and took another hit off of his bottle of sake. "Alcoholic old fart.." I mumbled but sadly Tazuna heard. "Ahhhhh?! What did you say?!" He hollered as I grew a tick mark. "I said alcoholic old fart! Got a problem?" I yelled back. "Yes I do! You stupid kid!" He took another hit off of the sake and I snatched it out of his hand and threw it away. "Ah! My sake! You rotten child!" He cried out. "People like you are revolting!" He gasped at my retort and continued to argue with me. Inari was doubled over in his seat laughing at our argument while Tsunami was casually pouring us all bowls of rice. Heh, the Land of Waves is pretty fun so far.