Icha Icha Paradise

~~~~Icha Icha Paradise - Chapter 1~~~~

“Alright kid! That’s it for today.” The elderly man smiled as he approached the blond, pulling out what he had promised to pay for the days work. “I’m surprised you were able to do so much today. Not many can move so many bales of hay at once. Three is something I’ve only seen done by strong men.” The man laughed, handing the kid a small wad of cash. A little extra for the hard work. “What did you say your name was?”

A bright smile was returned for the wad of cash as it was tucked away in the back pocket of a pair of slightly dirty overalls. The white shirt on top of tanned skin was smudged brown with dirt and it was easy to see the small patches of dirt in the boys blond hair. “Naruto. Thank you sir.” He sighed dragging his arm across his forehead. His blue eyes turned skyward and he watched the clouds pass for a few moments. “I’ll be back tomorrow if you’re still looking for some help?”

Clapping Naruto on the back, the man laughed heartily. “You sure do like work don’t you kid? Well, I could use some help. The horses need to be groomed. You got a place to stay tonight?” He looked pointedly at the kid, having seen him show up this morning looking for work with what looked like all his belongings.

Naruto nodded scratching the back of his head. “Ya. Thanks for the concern. But don’t worry about it.” Stretching, he turned to leave, the man following him to the gate to say goodbye. “I’ll be back tomorrow then sir. Thank you for looking after me.” A bow and a small scoop to pick up his belongings, he was off down the road towards town. He intended to buy some food and then head to the river off to the east to wash his cloths.

Walking into the town a short distance from the farm, he smiled at some of the passing people. The youkai country seemed to be so peaceful. It really was beautiful. Children didn’t have to worry much about things happening to them at night, there was nobody on the streets from what he could see, everybody was hard at work to support the country and it showed in the beautiful surroundings. The sight of two children playing with some wooden toys made him smile.

Then as he passed a small group of children with balloons, he finally remembered something. Today. His birthday was today. He was 18. Well, traveling could do that to a person. He had lost track of the days quite a while ago, and it didn’t really mater to him. He simply didn’t mind not knowing what day it was. He had nothing particular to do day after day.

‘Well, it cant really be helped. Its not like I have a method of keeping track.’ he laughed to himself and sighed. Well, it had been a while since he had treated himself to something really nice. A small cake would be perfect for the occasion.

He waved with a smile towards a pair of women walking down the street, who turned to each other with darkened cheeks and whispering behind their hands with smiles on their faces and while looking at him. Walking by them, he winked before entering the bakery door behind them.

The scent of fresh baked goods hit his nose and he was suddenly very hungry. The smell was heavenly and he closed his eyes, picking out certain scents that he knew were very distinct. Muffins, blueberries, strawberries and a few other small pastries that just happened to be his favorite.

Quickly, he bought a small treat before he changed is mind and decided to buy something he really couldn’t afford. Next, the supermarket for a quick bowl of ramen before his dissert. He had herd of a nice place they called Ichiraku’s. It was a small stand, not exactly what Naruto had expected, but he sat down anyway, deciding it disserved a chance.

“What’ll you have?” The man behind the counter was a little older, but he had a kind face and was dressed fairly well for a ramen stand owner.

Naruto’s eyes traveled down the menu, finally stopping and setting said menu back down. “Miso ramen!” The man nodded and poured the blond a glass of water, which Naruto gratefully downed. And, like magic, about 5 minutes later, there was a fair sized bowl of ramen sitting in front of him. The grin came back to his face and he grabbed a pair of wooden chopsticks.

“Itudakemasu!” He broke the sticks and dug in. It was amazing. The flavor was rich, but not overpowering, and the scents filled the nose making it smell full and rich.

A sudden twinge of extreme pain in his shoulders stopped him mid bite. The noodles fell from his mouth back into his bowl, the chopsticks dropping as his fist broke them in an extreme grip. His teeth ground together, pain evident on his face, and it was only getting worse.

He had never felt such pain. It was excruciating, shooting up and down his spine, and soon was too much to bare. He let himself fall from the stool, to the ground, clutching his chest in an attempt to breath. Words from who he assumed was the shopkeeper were floating through his mind and the kind face, now taught with worry swam in his vision. He had assumed that the man had come around to see what was wrong, but his mind was loosing its concentration.

He ground his teeth harder, crying out in pain as something snapped between his shoulder blades and seemed to reshape. A group had formed, now watching all the commotion. From the back, one could see shifting under the skin of the shoulder blades and between them. Something was forming in his back across his spine, and whatever it was it was causing an excessive amount of pain.

A ripping sound split through the air and suddenly all went silent. Naruto’s eyes shot open wide with sudden pain that took a few moments to register exactly how painful it really was. His scream broke the silence as it ripped through the air, blood curdling and agonizing.

At the same time, the ripping sound returned to the air, and women and those weak of stomach had to move away and stop watching as blood pooled around the blonds torso, something sprouting from his back from under his shirt.

The ramen stand owner pulled a knife from his boot and soon had the shirt torn off, letting whatever was sprouting have its air instead of constricting it, which was obviously causing more pain as the boy slowly settled down, though the pain was still there. The overalls were ripped down to his lower back and the shirt now lay discarded by their side. The two unformed lumps slowly began to rise out of his flesh, slowly sprouting and growing what seemed to be soft, but bloodstained feathers.

Realization struck the crowd and someone called from the front to call the authorities.

The shop owner glared at the crowd, but his attention was soon back, focused on the boy. Turning, he quickly grabbed one of the shop stools, easily ripping one of the support legs off, the slender pieces of wood breaking in half. He took one of the more slender pieces, opening the boys mouth, and shoving it in to prevent him from biting his tongue off. He had already lost enough blood.

Another scream erupted from the boy suddenly when the thicker and larger part of what was now evident as wings were sprouting, tearing his flesh apart to make room. The bone between the wings were forming and could be seen shifting under the skin between the wings. The strait bar of bone soon sinking lower into his back to make itself almost unknown to the world.

Within minutes, though it seemed like hours, the wings had finally finished sprouting and Naruto slumped into the mans lap, face down and eyes at half mast, happy that the pain had dulled down to a small ache. He could take this, but the ripping pain was nothing like he had ever felt.

The shop owner went about pulling his apron off and using it to soak up the blood that had sprouted from the wound, finding that they were already almost healed. He stared in utter amazement, but wouldn’t say anything to the boy, slowly lulling him into sleep with his soft hands, being careful to be gentle with the tender skin.

~~~~~

Four hours later, Naruto woke, his mind slowly coming to conciseness. Barley registering anything but the dull throb in his upper back, he tried to sit. It turned out to be a bad idea as a jolt of pain that felt something like electricity shot down his spine, and a heavy weight pulled him back down to the hard bench that he seemed to have been laid on.

He groaned, daring to open his eyes and look around. Though looking wasn’t really what it could be called, more like trying to focus. His vision swam slightly, and a wave of nausea hit him, forcing him to roll over and bring up the little food he had in him, landing in a bucket that had been placed by the side of the bench.

After a good ten minutes of heaving, then dry heaving, he slowly brought himself to a sitting position, ignoring the pain and the extra weight looking around. Then it hit him.

He was in a jail cell.

The cold damp walls were faded grey brick and the cold almost rusty bars stood not five feet from where he lay. He went to walk to the bars, but as he moved to stand, he was pulled back down again by the extra weight on his back. Looking back, the entire event came rushing back to his mind, finally filtering through what had happened.

He had sprouted wings. Tenshi wings.

Well it was no shit he was in a jail cell. Tenshi were banned from this country, having caught many assassins, though low level and many spy’s trying to get to certain figures. Though none had ever directly attacked the lords of the land, they had still targeted high ranking citizens that would have caused an uproar had the assassination been a success.

He sighed leaning back. Though he knew they were banned, he wasn’t sure what was going to happen now. He knew that they went to the jail cells when found, but what happened to them after that was a mystery to most people even in this country.

The metal bars clanked as a screech of metal on rusty metal sounded and the barred doors opened. A guard, well dressed stepped inside, closing the doors behind him and leaving who seemed to be his partner out on the other side of the bars.

“Alright kid. Stand up.” Naruto complied, also complying when he was asked to turn and place his hands behind his back. His head hung, but he jerked forward out of the guys reach when his wing was pushed aside to reach his hands.

“Sorry kid. But they gotta be tied. Regulation and all. Why don’t you just retract them?” Naruto cocked his head to the side, confused at the request from the man. He didn’t know much about tenshi, and this seemed to be lesson one. The guy sighed and shifted his weight to one hip. “Just pull them back in. Use the muscles in your back to pull.”

Naruto nodded, wondering if it really was that easy. His back tightened as he did as he was told, and slowly, they pulled themselves back into the wounds from which they erupted. Though a little painful, the pain seemed to lessen and the weight load lightened considerably.

Looking back up to the man, Naruto nodded. “Thanks.” He sighed, turning around again and placing his hands behind his back. His bare frame shook lightly at the touch of the other, but he was happy that the coveralls had been tied up with some sort of makeshift belt. His torso was bare, but that was all. The chill of the room was getting to his skin and starting to sink in, and the guy sighed again. “Listen kid. I’m sorry I have to do this to you. But it’s the law. I herd from the farmer down the road you’re a good kid. Came down here himself and tried to get you released into his custody. Wanted to take full responsibility. Said him ‘that kid aint got nothin wrong with’m. He’s just tryin to make money to support himself. If your gonna do somethin release him to me an I’ll take care of him.’ He was pretty determined too.” Though he hoped that would cheer the kid up, he could see that the happy feeling was only skin deep. “My name’s Kotatsu. I herd from the farmer, yours is Naruto isn’t it?”

Naruto nodded, still slightly happy that the old farmer had actually said something like that to this guy. He looked to the bars and at the other guard. The scars on his face sort of threw him off, but he didn’t say anything, instead looking down to avoid staring.

“Ah. This guys Raido. He’s a good guy. Now, common. We have a wagon waiting for you outside.” Naruto nodded, but didn’t move.

The two of the guards looked to Naruto, wondering what it was that was stopping him from moving. “Uhh. If you don’t mind my asking, what’s going to happen to me?” He looked up worriedly, shifting slightly, the rope biting into his hands, though not particularly tight.

The man, Raido sighed. “We’ll explain on the way. Common.” He nodded towards the door, and Naruto followed slowly. The guys didn’t look to heart lifting at what was going to happen, which only made him worry more. God. What had he gotten himself into this time?

~~~~

It had been at least four more hours that he had been in the wagon with the two guards. They seemed friendly enough, but their unnerving silence worried him more. He was about to say something, to ask what was going to happen again, but he was cut off as Kotatsu spoke.

“We don’t always know what’s going to happen to those we catch. But usually, its not a good thing. Its up to the lords. They decide what happens, based on the story of those who found him, those who interacted with him, and your own background and story. Sometimes they are simply banished, and some of them are executed for high treason. No mater the country, trying to kill a leader is considered high treason. There have been countless youkai executed in the north simply because they were youkai and that is considered treason up there…” His brother having been one of them.

Naruto nodded. Maybe if he was banished, he could make his way to the east. He had herd that they were fairly good over there and that they had good work. There were too many jobs or something. And they were the most prosperous country around. Well, as long as he wasn’t executed it couldn’t be that bad right?

Something in his gut told him he was dead wrong as the castle loomed above them ahead, slowly coming closer as if predicting his impending doom.