Naruto entered a small bar somewhere in the slums of the capital. Looking at the patrons, he saw that they were all scattered about, drinking their alcohol in silence. One of them, a cloaked figure, sat in the back silently. Naruto made his way to the cloaked one’s table and sat down.
“My name is Naruto Uzumaki, number-one-ninja, and I’m looking to join the resistance.”
From beneath the stranger’s hood, Naruto could make out eyes looking at him quizzically. “And the reason you tell this to a total stranger is because…”
Naruto shrugged. “Well, the guys at the recruiting station said you’d be easily recognizable…and you’re wearing the band.”
The stranger’s hand with the yellow and blue ribbon darted into the confines of the cloak. Using his other hand, the stranger rubbed his chin in thought. “Uzumaki…Uzumaki…yes, I’ve heard about you. You caused quite the commotion down south of here.”
“Really? I didn’t think it was that impressive.”
The stranger blinked. “You decimated a platoon of his troops, tore down a statue and wrote ‘death 2 the emperor’ in big flaming letters.”
“Huh, yeah, I guess I did, didn’t I?” Naruto rubbed the back of his head and laughed.
“…I see. Alright then, I’ll be blunt. The resistance hasn’t a ghost of a chance. I recommend just going home and getting on with your life.”
Naruto gaped at the stranger as if he had just been slapped in the face. “What are you talking about?!”
“Exactly what it sounds like,” said the stranger as he drank from his mug. “How many romantic idiots do you think have tried to get their families back from him? Last week, there was a farmer who ran up to the palace and demanded his wife back. The Emperor had him executed…with the wife holding the axe. Just go home and-”
“You don’t get it, do you? That bastard took my whole village! I can’t go back even if I wanted to! It’s a ghost town! Some of my best friends are working in his palace…probably working in his harem! You think I’m going to just stand by and watch him do that?!”
After Naruto’s outburst, the entire bar was staring in his direction. The stranger was silent for a moment, then asked:
“Nothing I say or do is going to change your mind, is it?”
Naruto shook his head furiously. “Nope!”
The stranger just sat there in thought. Several moments later, he stood and said, “Come with me.”
Naruto stared the stranger, then grinned smugly in victory as he followed him outside onto the quiet street. “So,” he asked, “what now?”
And then the stranger punched Naruto in the gut and knocked him unconscious.
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(Posted Wed, 10 Oct 2007 21:19)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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