Chapter 35 - Appeal of Silence

Silence. Ekyt opened his mouth, facing Okkuu. Okkuu mouthed off, and now he got it- he should have shut up. All the same, Ekyt’s words weren’t what he expected.

“What a disgrace. A waste. You’re nothing but a little brat with a trashy mouth. Do you understand that I put my life on the line to save you?” Ekyt said softly. But he wasn’t done. His voiced raised a little.

“I haven’t regretted it. Don’t make me regret it. Regret does things to a man that you wouldn’t believe. It forces our morals aside, sometimes even makes us SNAP!” Ekyt took a few steps forward, toward Okkuu. “You know nothing of real combat. And when you got your chance, you didn’t even last ten seconds. And you think you’re ready to talk about Orochimaru? You think you’re in some special position where you can talk crap and never get hit for it? Because I’m going to tell you right now, in front of all these people: You will never be a real warrior. You’re not worthy to pick up dog crap in this village. You’re not fit to EAT that dog crap. You’re lucky you’ve made people afraid, even your sensei. You don’t scare me, all you do is piss me off. And right now, you opening that little rat trap you call a mouth again…that would be suicide for you.”

Ekyt dropped his wooden sword. “Kindly proctor this match, Naruto. It’s time I did some teaching…”

Naruto stepped forward, but tried to reason with Ekyt. “You can’t fight him! C’mon, it’s not a fair fight! One hit from you and he’s toast!”

“I’m not going to hit him. Not even a punch, not even once. I don’t need to. I guarantee he’ll lose this match without me ever taking the offensive,” Ekyt muttered darkly. “In fact, just to make sure that little loudmouth isn’t scared, I won’t use ninja tools. What do you say, you little punk?”

Okkuu laughed, thinking of Ekyt’s cousin. “You know what, you’re a fine one to talk. You had your cousin and his girlfriend defend you. You’re not so scary, you just talk big and choose good people to hang out with!”

Ekyt didn’t know that Temari and Kimimaro had done anything. But he didn’t care right now. All he wanted was to make this rotten little kid shut up.

“Take all the time you need to beat me, and used whatever means you need to. I don’t really care if you cheat. Just try your best, hotshot, and see where it gets you.”

Okkuu, momentarily stunned, decided to make Ekyt put up or shut up. He reared back and threw two shuriken. Ekyt stepped to the side, letting them whiz by. Okkuu, counting on Ekyt being distracted, was running headlong into him. Before he could stop, he saw Ekyt’s hand whiz down.

Push.

Ekyt pushed Okkuu lightly in the chest, shoving him back a couple steps.

“Don’t look surprised, I SAID I wouldn’t hit you,” Ekyt said. But the hatred in his expression was gone. Instead, he looked thoughtful. As Okkuu rushed again, Ekyt decided he had to know. As Okkuu stabbed with a kunai, Ekyt caught his hand and yanked it around behind his back.

“Who is it that hits you?” Ekyt asked, out of nowhere. Okkuu’s eyes went wide. Naruto and Sakura were shocked. How had he noticed something so quickly?!

“S-Shut up!” Okkuu yelled, kicking Ekyt in the shin. But Ekyt didn’t let go.

“You’ve lost a parent, haven’t you? To Orochimaru, right? Is that why you can talk about him so freely, when everyone else is afraid to?”

Okkuu was stunned. How had Ekyt figured it out.

“It was my Mom…she was a jonin…she died protecting me and Dad. Orochimaru killed her. Ever since then…Dad’s always blamed me, and hit me! It’s…always been…my fault!” Okkuu sobbed, crying wildly. Ekyt didn’t let go, as it was clear he wasn’t hurting Okkuu.

“Okkuu, we’ve all lost someone or something to Orochimaru…acting like you do won’t do anything except get you alienated even more…once you understand that, you’ll be ten times stronger, and maybe…maybe you’ll be the warrior your mother was.”

Ekyt let go of Okkuu and walked away, leaving Naruto and Sakura to wonder just what the hell had happened. How had Ekyt known? And what was he thinking about all that time?

--

Ekyt stayed silent. Again. He handed Tsunade a scroll with his report, then stalked out of the room, in a worse mood than before, but somehow showing even less of a mood. His face stayed smooth and unmarred by expression.

Except where Naruto and Sakura where involved. Apparently, part of Ekyt’s thought process was that he could talk to those two. Even then, his words were very limited. And, somehow, Ekyt’s combat skills grew. Even against Lee, with whom Ekyt had chosen not to speak. But with Lee, he had a reason: Linda, his girlfriend. At one point, Ekyt and Linda had been close, almost boyfriend/girlfriend, but Linda had ended that, and had chosen to hate Ekyt for his success. Ekyt, in turn, disdained her. He had no problem with Lee, he just didn’t need the hassle of dealing with Linda. So he stayed quiet.

Ekyt noticed that this tended to get him even more attention, especially from young females. Not that it was a bad thing by itself, but these girls were too young. They were hardly the warrior types anyway, something Ekyt knew he prized. This all led to another situation that shaped Ekyt.

One night, Tsunade asked Ekyt to walk Sakura to Ichiraku, where she meeting Naruto. It was all part of a plan to get Ekyt to talk again. Instead, it wound up giving Ekyt more reason to stay silent.

The night was quiet, and Sakura was friendly to Ekyt, no change there. Konoha had warm nights most of the time, and Sakura was friendly to Ekyt all the time, since he HAD kind of saved her life once, after all. Tonight, Sakura overhead some school girls giggling about Ekyt.

<
“I’ve heard him talk!”

“No way, Itsuki!”

“It’s true, it’s true! Gah, he’s sot hot!”

“He held a door open for me the other day. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t!”

“Come on Tsuba, be real!”

“It’s true, Mae! Ekyt’s a gentleman, we all knew that!”

“Yeah, I guess…”
>

And so on. Gossip. Ekyt didn’t acknowledge it, or the people speaking it. He HAD held the door open for the one girl the other day, that much was true.

“Ekyt, did you ever think you’d be the star of a shojo anime in real life?” Sakura joked, giving Ekyt a little nudge. “You should talk to them, it would make their day, and, you never know…one of them might grow up to be a looker! And she’ll never forget that you were kind to her! And who knows what that could lead to?”

This earned a small smile from Ekyt. Sakura happily smiled at that.

“So you can still smile after all! Well, it’s less worrisome when you show some kind of emotion like that once in a while!”

Ekyt thought about that. He hadn’t revealed what had made him silent yet, but Sakura had a point. When Ekyt had tried smiling before, even though it was fake, it had the effect of making people worry about him less. Would it be helpful to smile again? That simpering, fake smile made Ekyt sick, but he didn’t want people worrying about him. This thought troubled him until they reached Ichiraku. Naruto was waiting outside, happy to see the two of them.

“Hi Sakura! I’m buying tonight! You two Ekyt, can you stick around?!” Naruto offered. Ekyt gave what he hoped was a sincere smile, but shook his head. Nodding goodnight, he turned around and walked down a dark sidestreet. There he saw trouble.

-

“Help! Please! Mister, I didn’t mean it! Please, let go!”

The girls from earlier were being held up by a masked bandit. Ekyt saw this and immediately got involved. Since it was dark, the robber couldn’t see his face if Ekyt walked in the right places. So far, he hadn’t been heard by the bandit either.

“Heh, you stupid little girls and your fantasies! Now, just hand over your ryo and I’ll be on my way. Unless you’re waiting for your silent savior! The hero that lost his backbone and took a vow of silence! How pathetic is he? And you know something? You’re even MORE pathetic, for thinking him to be someone special!”

Ekyt had reached the robber by now. The little girl, a kunoichi in training, gave the robber a swift kick to the crotch. That only angered him, and he drew a knife.

“Now you’re dead!” he shouted, aiming the knife at the girl.

SLASH!

“Huh?!”

Ekyt held the knife in his hand. But he grabbed the blade, not the handle. The blade dug into his hand, but he didn’t cry out. he gripped it tighter, then pulled. The surprised robber fell toward Ekyt, and Ekyt’s left hand. BAM! Ekyt let the knife clatter to the ground using his left hand to pummel the robber. Jutsus were out, his hand was too hurt to make hand signs, but taijutsu worked just fine. This robber was talent less, and that was why he thought preying on some little girls was a good idea. It was pathetic, and Ekyt explained that with his fists.

Once he had KO’ed this loser and tied him up, Ekyt faced the prospect of dealing with the girls he had just saved. Ekyt never had fangirls, and wasn’t quite sure how to react, so he stared. They stared back, not believing that their Shojo-manga fantasy boy had just come to their rescue.

“Yo-you’re you!” the one Ekyt knew as Mae sputtered. In his mind, there was a great conflict. To talk, or not to talk? In the end, shattering a girl’s hopes and dreams wasn’t something Ekyt could do. He would simply say enough to make the situation end peacefully, then go home and think silently.

“Everyone okay?” Ekyt asked, seeing the girls eyes widen as he talked. They nodded, looking at each other in disbelief.

“Good. Be safe, then…” Ekyt said, turning to walk away, but feeling a tug on his vest. He turned around, trying to stay patient.

“Thank you. But are YOU okay?” the girl asked. This struck Ekyt as strange, but he didn’t react as though it did. Instead, he used his new-found knowledge and managed a smile.

“I’m fine. Nothing to worry about. All of you, go home, okay? I have to take care of this and write up my report.”

Ekyt walked away, somehow feeling that this wasn’t going to be the end. In talking to those girls, Ekyt had done the right thing- but now the gossip would spread like wildfire. Not that it could be helped now.

-

Tsunade looked mildly surprised to see Ekyt. When she saw he was depositing a robber on her desk, she was less shocked.

“Another one? Damn it, this place is becoming a cess pool…alright, I’ll expect a report-”

Ekyt dropped a scroll on her desk, giving a small smile.

“-in the morning? Okay then. Thank you, I’ll take care of this from here…” Tsunade’s voice trailed off. Did he just smile at me? It’s what I would expect, but not from him…just what happened to him the past few days? He’s a different kid now…he’s doing his job, so I can’t yell at him…but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to know what’s wrong!

Ekyt had silently left the room, leaving Tsunade to think. She soon came up with an idea. Ekyt was cursed with the most bizarre/worst luck on exams- now there was another he could take!

“The Exam Proctor/Teaching Examination! It’s perfect for him! And he can finally take A and B ranked missions, so I’ll get him to jonin as fast as I can! Maybe that will cure whatever it is that’s wrong with him. At least, I hope so…I hate seeing him like this…I even liked it better when he and I fought…”

--

The girls walked home, still stunned by their rescuer.

“Hey ladies! I see you like that silent kid, huh?!” A shadowy figure said in a jolly voice. “What would you say if I told you I could get you…action figures! T-shirts! Posters! Panties! And Manga, all with your favorite silent superhero! Huh, Whaddaya say?! Who’s interested? For the right price, I can get you almost anything with him on it!”

The girls immediately ponyed up cash. This was too good! They gleefully snapped up everything the shadowy man had in stock, not thinking of or caring where this stuff came from. They had something to wear to the academy the next day!

--

“Hehe, in a few years they’re gonna be lookers, and I’ll get ‘em then, too! Now, how to do this without Ekyt wanting royalties…”

--

Orochimaru’s words ran through Ekyt’s head again.

Was he right? Training will never fill the void…he must be. It would be different if I was like him and had no need for relationships…but I want one. I can’t deny that. The desire, that it. But I can certainly deny myself that kind of relationship. Any girl I liked has been taken, that’s fact. Until one becomes available, my desire for female companionship does not exist. Only myself and training.

But that’s not right…

This was only part of the thought process Ekyt had been turning over in his head for days now. Only a part of the reason for his silence. The rest was just as hard, if not harder, to filter through in his mind. His road to recovery was going to be long and steep.

NEXT ISSUE: EKYT’S NEW CAREER OPTION! AND- WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SILENT, GIRL-SHY EKYT HAS FANGIRLS? AND, EVEN BETTER- WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HE BECOMES A STAR IN A RACY SHOJO MANGA WRITTEN BY AN ‘UNKNOWN’ AUTHOR? ALSO, UPDATES ON YUUSHI AND OKKUU!

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