Naruto: The Birth Of Fenrir and his Keeper

Caleb found himself panting as he ran towards the bridge. The sound of his beating heart ponding in his ears was all that he could hear as he made his way through the park. He didn't care about the fingers of passerby that pointed his way as he made his way through the park nor did he didn't care about the burning sensation coursing through his body as his muscles screamed out in protest at his mad sprint. His focus was solely on the feeling of foreboding that had been crawling through his mind all morning that by now had bloomed into full blown panic.

All this time he'd been running along the edge of the river and the more he ran the more the small boats floating along on the surface of the water stood out to him slowly consuming what little sanity was still present in him.

The now unfolded paper boat he had pulled from the water weeds was still clenched in his hand as he made his way through the park, and had anyone been able to see it, they would have noticed it looked like a page torn out of a comic book. 

Finally as he came up to the small pathway that led to the underside of the bridge he slowed his steps as he noticed the signs that others had been through before him. Pushing aside the overgrown weeds he finally came to the underside of the bridge and the sight the meet him cause his breath to hitch in his throat.

His alcove had been raided. The items that he knew belonged to him that were now scattered all over the ground covered in muddy foot prints was proof enough. The suitcase that he used to store his clothes had been thrown into the river, while its contents had been stomped into the mud along the river side. He stepped closer to the carnage and with shaking hands reached out to pick up his blankets, only to notice that they had been slashed to shreds. He spun around looking for anything that he could salvage, but everything had been damaged in some way or the other. Shirts' had had their sleeves removed, pants legs had been cutoff and what undergarments he could find had been reduced to little more than rags.

Still he kept looking, digging through the pile of tattered clothing looking for something, anything that could have managed to survived, until he was forced to accept his reality. With nothing else to do he turned towards the space under the bridge and made was way towards it. The sounds of laughter that he' ha been ignoring was now grating on his ears and the emotions that he'd been suppressing starting bumbled up again. He grit his teeth as the red hot anger started coursing through his veins and he clenched his fist as his eyes focused on the group of boys that were scattered around his now ransacked alcove.

He looked around at the other scattered and broken items that littered the floor before locking unto a familiar figure crouching by the rivers edge. Silence fell as everyone stopped what they had been doing and stared between Caleb and Jackson who seemed to not have noticed anything amiss as he continued to do as he pleased. The sound of paper being torn rang out as Jackson tore another page out of the book he held in his hand before slowly and meticulously folding the paper several times before revealing the final result. The delicately folded paper boat was then placed unto the water as gently pushed unto the current.

Caleb watched as the boat gently floated away before the sound of Jacksons voice drew his attention once again.

"So what do you think? It's not my best work but still pretty good if I do say so myself." Jackson was no longer crouching and had not fully turned to face Caleb.

"Surprisingly  this scrap paper is pretty damn sturdy, perfect for a little arts and crafts project." Jackson flung the book that he had been holding towards Caleb, hitting him in the chest before it fell open unto the floor.

Caleb glanced at the now tattered Naruto manga and his heart ached at the sight of the torn out pages and crumpled cover. He looked around and saw several more of them scattered all around with their pages clearly torn out and scattered all over the ground. He could only assume that the other missing books had been dumped into the river as he could clearly see that a good few of them where still missing.

"I have to thank you though. It's thanks to you that me and boys managed to find such a good hangout spot. Well hidden, not too far and out of the way, plus its also quite spacious." Jackson slowly sauntered over towards Caleb, his drawling voice the only sound Caleb could hear.

"Of course we had to get rid of the trash that we found laying around here before we could claim it for our own. Sadly there didn't seem to be anything of importance so we just threw everything out. Found a couple books laying around and I managed to practice some origami that I'd alm-"

"Why?" Caleb cut off Jackson and his spiel, glaring daggers at him.

"Hmm? Why we threw out the trash? I figured even an idiot like you could figure th-"

"Why are you targeting me?" Caleb took a step forward and Jackson stooped walking around to glare at him "What have I ever done to you that made you want to make me suffer?" 

Jackson locked eyes with Caleb before snickering. If looks could kill he'd have been six feet under with the way Caleb was glaring at him but it didn't faze him. 

"Does it even matter if I answer you or not? What could you do about it hmm? Nothi-"

Caleb lunged at Jackson catching him and his cronies off guard as he actually managed to reach him without being intercepted before punching him full force in the face. Jackson clutched his now broken and bleeding nose and fell backwards unto the ground. Caleb didn't waste anytime before straddling his fallen foe and raining punches unto him.

"Why do you target me you useless piece of shit! I never did anything to you, never confronted you! Why huh?! Why me yo-" Caleb didn't get a chance continue as by now the other boys had already managed to wake up form there stupor and had started to yank him off their boss. He wasn't going down without a fight though and Caleb punched, kicked, scratched  and bit anything he could reach before finally being subdued.

Jackson scrambled to his feet still holding unto his furiously bleeding nose and glared with hatred in his eyes at the now forced to kneel Caleb. His clothes were torn and he was sporting some new bruises from his scuffle with the group but he still glared back at Jackson as he continued to struggle with his captors.

Jackson wiped his blood that had run down his face before stalking over to Caleb. He looked down at Caleb's defiant eyes. He reared back his leg before slamming it into Caleb guts, leaving him curled up on the floor like a cooked prawn as he emptied his stomach of its contents.

"You damn bastard!" Jackson shouted as he continued to stomp on Caleb "Who do you think you are to hit ME! You should be grateful that I even spoke to you!" Finally content with the beating he had inflicted onto Caleb, Jackson backed away panting only to be handed a handkerchief by one of his cronies.

"You want to know why?" Jackson spat, cleaning his bloodied face before once more kneeling next to the panting Caleb.

"Your right. There is no real reason why I should target you, no reason why you have to suffer at my hand. No reason, other than because I want you too." Grabbing Caleb by the chin Jackson yanked him to face him as he continued. "You have nothing, no one to turn too, no one willing to lend you a helping hand. You never have. Your own father threw you out of his house after eighteen years without a second thought, even your own bitch of a mother left you to your bastard father after pushing you out of her cunt and skipping town. No one has ever cared about you, and yet you still struggle." Jackson chuckled to himself before waving his hand towards one of boys in the crowd who placed a lite cigarette into his hand.

He inhaled before blowing a puff of smoke into Caleb's face, the smell instantly making him cough which only serve to bring a smile to Jacksons face.

"You know, people like you who keep struggling even when its perfectly clear that your struggles make no difference always intrigued me. I've watched you, you know. I made it my busyness to know everything about you. I've seen you fighting against your lot in life time and time again. You struggled against you father and anyone could see that was a losing battle. How many days did you go to sleep hungry not because there wasn't food in the houses to eat but because father dearest didn't want you to eat. How many beatings have you had to endure and even when you screamed for help no one came to your rescue. Everyone knew but no one bothered to help. I wouldn't be surprised if he molested you a few times just for the hell of it." Jackson watched as Caleb's breath hitched and nodded his head as he had already figured as much 

"You struggled in school to keep your grades up, spent hours in the library studying and researching for classes. Putting in one-hundred and ten percent in every class; yet, though you did end up graduating, your grades weren't anything to really celebrate about. You didn't get any of the scholarships that you applied for and since your old man was never going to support you through college you were bound to never get anything above a high school diploma. Even then you still applied for community college when you knew full well you couldn't even afford that. Still fighting for something better but once again a losing battle." Jackson huffed while shaking his head.

"Funnily enough, had you just accepted the fact that you were never meant to go to college and struggled to find a job instead, chances are even thought your old man kicked you out you would have at least had some money saved to rent somewhere." Jackson cackled with laughter at the sight of Caleb's scrunched face.

"Haha! That's the face I wanted to see. You know that I'm right, that's why you can't say anything. What people like you never seem to realize is that the more you struggle against your fate, the more you fight back? The worse things will always get for you. You can keep fighting all you want but nothing you do will make a difference. No matter how much you struggle, no matter how hard you fight, no matter what you do, you can't make difference. The cards have already been stacked against you." Jackson took another dredge for his cigarette before standing up and looking down at Caleb. He had stopped struggling by now and seemed to be thinking about something. though it didn't matter all that much to Jackson. Exhaling another cloud of smoke he decided to pose his own question towards Caleb.

"Now that I've already answered your question as to why, I think its only fair that you answer me about mine. I'll ask you the same thing. Why? Why exactly are you fighting against your reality. What reason do you have to do the things that you do? Who are you really fighting for? I mean you could die today and it wouldn't make a difference. Your death wouldn't sadden anyone, no one would worry about you or the fact that you disappeared. Your very existence was more of  bother than anything else and your erasure might make people happy instead of sad. You have no one to rely on and yet at the same time no one relies on you."

Jackson once more yanked Caleb's face so they could lock eyes before speaking once more "So I ask you again, Why?"

Caleb's eyes became unfocused as he began to process everything he had listened to. He wanted to refute it, wanted to scream at Jackson that he was wrong, that his fight was not in vain, that he had a purpose, that his drive was worthy, that there was worth in his struggle; and yet, even as he struggled to open his mouth no words came out.

In a way Jackson wasn't wrong. All his life he had fought to become someone better, to rise above his station. He refused to give up and give in to the darkness that always seemed to want to sallow him, to take the shitty hand that life had delt him and still manage to make something out of it. But nothing had ever changed. No one acknowledged his struggle, no one acknowledged his pain, no one acknowledged how hard he fought to make a difference. Instead all of his efforts was for naught. He had no one, no real reason to keep fighting other than to prove that he did have worth, that he could make a difference, but even then why did it matter if there wasn't anyone to prove his worth too. 

A blanket of silence covered everyone as time ticked on. Jackson watched as Caleb's eyes slowly dimmed and a smile broke out across his face. He let go of Caleb's face and turned to walk away. In reality He had hoped that Caleb wouldn't have broken, He enjoyed toying with people like him. People who had a flame of hope and defiance that kept burning no matter how much you tried to put it out. He hoped it wouldn't have ended like all the others that he had the pleasure of playing with, but it seemed Caleb's flame wasn't as resilient as he had thought. He took once last look at Caleb's poor crumpled broken figure before continuing on.

Caleb stayed on the ground in the pool of vomit, sweat and blood as the words of Jackson were bouncing around in head dragging him deeper and deeper into a spiral of despair. What did it matter if he kept trying if nothing seemed to get better, why was he struggling in a world that clearly didn't want him in it? Why was he even fighting anyway, was he fighting for himself? Did it matter in the end. Nothing he'd done had mattered, nothing he'd been fighting to do had made a difference. He was still struggling, still in pain, still suffering, still fighting-

Caleb was fed-up with struggling everyday with no end in site.

Caleb was tired of the pain that never seemed to want to go away.

Caleb just wanted it all to end.