Thawing an Icy Heart

Protect the 'King'

What did....what did he just say? No no that can't be right, Asuma can't be.....there's no way. "Who?" Taka muttered silently whilst Ino cried upon his shoulder, an arm around her body pulling her up against his body. "Who killed him?" Taka said aloud, looking directly at Shikaku. "We don't know yet Taka, right now we're waiting on Shikamaru's debrief with Tsunade. Once we have that then we....hey. Where are you going?" Taka was by the door to the Yamanaka house, having pulled himself away from Ino. He turned to face the group before sighing to himself. "Somewhere I can process this." With that he ninja jumped away, and headed to the one place where he could find peace and be alone. "Hey. It's me Hiruzen. I'm....I'm sorry. I couldn't keep my promise, Asuma is dead, and I couldn't do a damn thing about it!" He slammed his fists into the ground over and over again, bloodying them up with the sheer force he was hitting the dirt and with how hard the ground was as well. A short while after his outburst, he leant himself up against a nearby tree, and as he looked up into the branches he slowly closed his eyes. His mind wandering away, thinking about other things.

—Flashback—

"Hey Asuma, there's something I don't understand." Asuma looked up from the Shogi board, and saw Taka sitting next to Shikamaru who didn't even seem fazed by the sudden appearance of The Genin. "Why don't you ask Kurenai? She's your teacher." Came Asuma's reply, but Taka simply shook his head. "This is something only you can answer. You said that we must 'protect the King'. What is this King you speak of?" The question asked, Asuma simply looked at Taka and gave a warm smile. "You're smart Taka, I'd say you were on par with Shikamaru, but that's only because he doesn't put enough effort in. Figure it out, it's not hard once you think about it." Taka pouted at the smoker, sticking his tongue out in more annoyance than anything. "Well that's unfair!"

—Flashback End—

The flashback soon faded away, as the sound of heavy rain woke Taka from his slumber. His entire body completely soaked with rain water, he slowly rose to his feet and began heading back onto the streets of Konoha. "Protect the King?" He muttered aloud, trying his best to think of why those words were resonating with him, and why he couldn't get them out of his head. Soon though, he came across Kurenai running across the street to her apartment, with a sizeable bump on her belly and Shikamaru in tow. That's when it finally struck him what Asuma actually meant. The King, was the children of Konoha. The next generation. But now, that took on a whole different meaning, if what he saw just now was anything to go by. He quickly bolted along the sodden street and into the apartment building after Shikamaru and Kurenai, who were both stunned by the sudden appearance of Taka. Hunched over for the moment, Taka tried to catch his breath. As he did so, he looked up from his position and saw what he thought he saw just a moment ago. "Why didn't you tell us Kurenai?" He asked finally, standing tall next to Shikamaru who was looking at him warily. "Because, it wasn't my place to say. But I suppose that doesn't matter now. My child will grow up never knowing who her father was." Tears threatened to spill out from her eyes, as the two boys looked at her solemnly. Before something inside of them both stirred, and they both looked at each other. Giving themselves a nod, before turning towards Kurenai again. "We'll make sure she knew who her father was, and we'll make sure she's trained and protected. That's our final vow to Asuma." Shikamaru stated, getting a nod of acceptance from Taka. "Yeah. We owe him that much, we'll keep his legacy his 'King' alive Kurenai. You have our word."