Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Angel ❯ My Responsibilities ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1. My Responsibilities

 

 

On the island of Salandria, the villagers were pondering about the current chief. Their last chief had died because of rare disease. Although many thought about just having his daughter stay the chief, it was against tradition. Perhaps we shall see what our heroine will do.

 

“Tankara-sama!”

The white haired girl turned back to spot her friend, Aya, running after her. Tankara smiled at her friend and then continued to walk home, which was on the other side of the island, away from the village.

“Tankara! Wait, will you?”

“I'm just walking,” came Tankara's sweet angel voice. “You can catch up.”

“Finally!” The running girl reached her destination and stood breathlessly next to her friend. “Are you going home already? It's only like… 10 in the morning!”

“I'm going to have a visitor,” Tankara said, tucking her hair behind her ear as the wind blew. Her long white-silvery hair was swaying as the wind played with it.

“A visitor?” Her friend questioned. She only pondered on the subject for a few seconds. “Anyways, forget about it. The villagers are going to have a meeting soon and they want you to be there.”

“If it's about being chief, I already said they can give it to another person if they want,” Tankara said with her eyes closed.

“Traditions won't allow that,” Aya continued.

“Fine, I'll go to the meeting. As long as you stop bothering me,” Tankara said, staring straight into Aya's eyes. Aya froze as she stared into Tankara's sapphire eyes.

“Y-yeah, I'll stop bothering you for today,” Aya said, looking down. “But you have to promise not to leave until the absolute end of the meeting.”

“I still have to check on the sick anyways,” Tankara said as she followed Aya to the village center.

“By the way, who is this visitor you were talking about?” Aya was currently leading Tankara. Tankara didn't like to go village meetings because everyone would always look towards her for the answers. Tankara was after all, the chief's daughter.

“I foresaw it in a past dream,” Tankara said. She looked down at her white halter dress and then watched as it flowed with the wind. “It would be a disaster if he got out of hand here.”

“So it's a he?” Aya asked.

“Yeah, but you can't tell anyone,” Tankara said. The two continued to walk, passing the hut stores and watching the children laughing and chasing each other around.

Now that Tankara was the age of 14, she was deemed not a child anymore. It was only four years ago that her father died. Since then, Tankara had taken care of the villagers' problems as a substitute chief. Her house would be visited at least five times a day with a different problem.

Even if she were 11 at the time, the villagers would trust in her pure ways. Tankara was pure, the kindest of humans but not naïve. She was also rendered the Avatar as for being able to control all elements.

“Tankara-sama is here,” Aya announced as villagers parted and the two entered the circle. In the circle were some parents and some elders that have far passed the age of living.

“Good morning,” Tankara said with a bow. The first thing as a chief and being a good child was respect. The others replied with a good morning also.

“Shall we get this meeting started?” It was an elder named Dai. He had wanted to be chief when Tankara's father had died. The villagers had thought him too old and evil so he didn't get the spot. “We need to address the problem of chief. We can't have a girl handle all our problems.”

“It goes against traditions,” said a male villager, siding with the elder. “Who do you think should be appointed chief, Elder Dai?”

“I say we should vote and chose a male for the part.”

“But traditions also say that the blood must continue if possible.” Another elder had replied. Her name was Kaede and she believed that Tankara would make a great chief.

“Then Tankara should marry and continue the line. Who ever she should marry will become the chief and all will be fixed.” The same male villager from before replied. “She is within the age of marriage and child baring.”

“Marriage?” Tankara whispered to herself.

“That is a great idea,” Elder Dai stated. “There are plenty of single males on this island and she can chose any one of them.”

“Marriage isn't the only solution to this problem,” Tankara said, quieting the people that had begun to question. “Tradition also has it that the blood can always choose who he or she wants to be chief.”

“That is true,” Elder Dai said, gritting his teeth. “But the blood won't continue.”

“My father wasn't blood of the chief before. He was adopted and grew to be an excellent chief,” Tankara replied.

“Lady Tankara tells the truth. Her father, Souta, was great man even without being blood.” Elder Kaede defended the girl. “We can't force marriage on a young girl like Lady Tankara. You can see by looking in her eyes that she will be a caged bird if she remains chief and is chosen to stay here.”

“Where else can she go?” Elder Dai snickered.

“My father was an outsider,” Tankara announced, getting heads to turn in surprise and shock. “He told me once that he wasn't of this island and came from a different world.”

“Ha! Impossible!” Elder Dai laughed at the suggestion and his followers also.

“It's is true.” The shaking elderly voice stopped everyone. The eldest of Elders had spoken. Elder Manzo was by far the wisest of all Elders and his wife, Elder Kaede, was among the top best healers. “Chief Souta was from a world where element controllers rarely exist and technology was nearly forgotten. He told stories of ninjas and unbelievable powers. Do not go against the facts. Do not doubt Lady Tankara when she is wiser then many of you here.”

Everyone was again shocked and then whispers started up.

“Then what should we do?” a villager questioned Elder Manzo.

“Lady Tankara will choose herself and we all should follow her choice,” Elder Manzo said with his wife nodding beside him.

`Thank you,' Tankara whispered in her head. Out loud, she voiced her thoughts. “I believe that I should have the choice to pick the appropriate next chief. I will try to choose as soon as possible.”

The villagers voiced words of agreement to Tankara's words. It was then that the meeting was announced over, the next meeting when Tankara had made her decision. Parents left to find their children and Elders wondered off, pondering about who knows. Only Aya and Elders Manzo and Kaede approached Tankara.

“I wonder who you would have picked if you had to marry someone,” Aya said with a giggle.

“No one,” Tankara said with a laugh. “The men and boys on this island are immature and irresponsible. It's almost impossible for me to pick a husband without him already married.”

“Ah, it seems that Lady Tankara has inherited her father's blood. The blood of freedom.” Elder Kaede spoke to Tankara. “Your father did like wondering and he always did tell stories of his past life on another world.”

“I know. He would tell me bed time stories of powers and skills,” Tankara said with a soft smile.

“It would have been bad if we caged our beautiful dove on this island.” Elder Manzo commented, speaking about Tankara being peace. “It would only sadden our island if you were caged.”

“Thank you Elder Manzo, Elder Kaede. I am in debt for what you did today at the meeting.” Tankara bowed low for the two Elders. They were well known for their knowledge and their skills at creating a Utopia.

“You should go now Lady Tankara,” Elder Kaede said. “The sun is high now, but it will set soon.”

“Of course,” Tankara replied and then walked away with Aya following her heels.

“Tankara! Wait!”

“You knew that was going to be about being chief,” Tankara said, her slight anger showing.

“I'm sorry! It's just that you need to attend these meetings! You know that the village would crumble if you are not going to be chief.”

“So do you approve of me marrying and that husband would be the chief?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Aya!” Tankara turned sharply towards the friend. “Are you not my friend?”

“Of course I am! I'm your only best friend!”

“If I were to marry, it would be for the benefit of the village and not my love. That is the responsibility I hold and I have pride for what my father raised me to be. You might have used this as a way to marry the one you love, but would he make a good chief? Are you willing to make a sacrifice for the village?

“I am not ready to make a sacrifice for a village where I don't even fit in. If I give up being chief, then I can give it to a responsible man that I know will do his duty. Do you understand Aya? Do you see the responsibility I hold?”

Aya stared at Tankara. Then she became furious. “What responsibility? You don't have any siblings to take care of!”

“Ha! It's funny you know,” Tankara said, pointing at Aya. “You come to my house on the other side with no consideration of your brother or sister! You are the oldest, I know. But I wonder, who does the cooking? The laundry? The cleaning? Your mother does all that. You are still a child. You don't have the responsibilities you thought you had.”

“Then what do you do? Whenever I am over at your place, you are always practicing with those throwing star type things. What responsibilities do you have? Huh?”

Tankara took in a much-needed breath. She looked at Aya who was of the same height. Tankara had grown into a womanly body while Aya had yet to get defined curves. The village boys would always approach Tankara and only speak to Aya.

“Do you not know that the villagers would always visit my house? I always have people bring problems that don't even concern me. What do you think will happen if I tell them to do something that causes more trouble? I would be blamed.

“And what do I do at those clinics? I have to heal them. If I don't, they die. I have people's lives in my hand. Do you think you would be able to tell someone that her husband died? Or mother? Or daughter? Son?”

“You don't have to heal them,” Aya grumbled.

“So I could say that I won't heal your father? Your father came to me yesterday afternoon to heal his leg. It was cut several times and was infected. If I didn't heal it, it would have spread throughout his entire body and eventually kill him.” Tankara then let out a sigh. She glanced at the sky. The sun was showing signs of moving.

“Lady Tankara, you are still here?”

Tankara looked toward the voice to find Elder Kaede.

“Yes, I seem to have been caught up in a conversation. Is there something you wish for Elder Kaede?”

“No, it is fine Lady Tankara. You do not have to come to the clinic if you are troubling with the visitor.” Elder Kaede was a healer but she could also see parts of the future, past, and present with some dreams.

“Yes, thank you. And if so, can you please tell the villagers that I won't be able to tend to their problems? I do not wish for the visitor to destroy lives. I can only hold a barrier for so long,” Tankara said.

“Wait, this visitor is dangerous?” Aya asked, forgetting all about their argument.

“Very dangerous indeed,” Elder Kaede said while nodding her head. “Of course Lady Tankara. I will tend to the villagers' problems for you. Do stay alive.” Elder Kaede then left.

“Bye Aya, I won't be seeing you for about a week. Or maybe longer.” Tankara turned and walked off.

“You never told me this visitor was dangerous!”

“It's another responsibility of mine. I keep this island safe and away from harm,” Tankara answered and then walked away.

 

Normally, it would take someone an hour to reach Tankara's home but for those that had power, they could enhance their speed. For Tankara, it only took her about 15 minutes to reach her destination.

The island of Salandria had borders made of beaches. The middle was mostly untamed forest and a few high mountains. Where the village was located was a man-made clearing. There is also a secret about Salandria that only Tankara and her father knew of. In the forest, there was a beautiful waterfall. Its location isn't on the Salandria Map and when questioned about it, no one knows.

Tankara's house was on the exact opposite side of the village clearing. There was a medium size area of sand in front of her house and right behind was the start of the forest. It was perfect for her as she could control all elements. Even the water lining the sand was perfectly clear and beautiful.

“So my visitor is washed up on the shores of Salandria,” Tankara said as she stood beside a body.