Board Thread:The World/@comment-44207700-20191106093346/@comment-44040794-20191206020333

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With Tarou's spear piercing Jin's skull and causing his tainted blood to spill out over him, Tarou aggressively ripped his spear up and out of his head while he pushed away to only land on his feet. Stumbling back slightly, Tarou took a deep breath and exhaled. It was finally over. With his thoughts coming back to him with the immense pain, he fell to his knees again with his weakened state incoming and close to blacking out from pain exhaustion. The boy needed rest and that's exactly what was given to him and Zhiro both.

The rest of the day was filled with spoilage for all injured and nearly broken people. Tarou on the other hand was a little hasty with accepting such a thing as it was something he didn't like however, he couldn't decline them outright. The medicine was rubbed along his ribs and face as the swelling went down from his jaw and the monks even were able to relocate it with minimal yelling from the young one. Finally being able to relax, Tarou only kept the bright smile that he always did. That was until he was given the nickname 'Child of Hope' after Zhiro recieved his. It was unbecoming of the sword wielding shinobi that accompanied him to earn such a thing. Tears welled in Tarou's eyes as he proceeded to thank each and everyone one of them for their help with the medicine, the hard fought victory they shared and above all else, their hospitality.

By the end of it, Tarou had a bag filled with many fruits and easy to pack away food for the journey as he ate most of it while recovering. He was even given a simple sash that went over him to hold his new spear that after hearing the story, he felt he shouldn't have but wasn't going to return it as it was a gift. As Zhiro went to do a small prayer for Hanegaya, Tarou unsuspectingly joined him. Kneeling down next to him, he prayed with him for the spirit of Hanegaya to rest peacefully and how Tarou will make sure the spear will live on in his memory. After a bit of time passed, the group of Konoha's ninja were to leave, he saw Buggy-Sama being given a bag and heard the coin inside jingling.

Walking away with Zhiro, instead of his fishnet shirt under his jacket, he had bandages wrapped all along his torso. Looking over to Zhiro as he put his hands behind his head like he was relaxing on a beach, he said "I still wonder what they were protecting." The boy was ever so curious still but shrugged it off as he said "Thank you for being with me on this." Looking over to Zhiro, he flashed the same big smile as usual and said "Lets do it again!" Once they reached the dock, Tarou looked around for a second but there was no boat. As he was about to speak, he saw a familiar boat in the distance. Smiling even wider then before when he heard Goru's voice, Tarou yelled out in response "GORUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!" The pure excitement crossed his body as he got to the dock. With no extra words, Tarou leaped at him and hugged him tightly, giggling like a little kid. Getting off of Goru, he looked over to Zhiro then back to Goru and only whispered to him "Give it time, he'll come around." With that, Tarou would laugh with Goru as they set off back home.

As the ride went on, Tarou told the tale of how he defeated the brute to Goru and the story he heard of Zhiro. Though, once the time of telling was over, Tarou only yawned and found his was to a seat. Looking off into the sunset that was coming, the beautiful rays reflecting off of the water, Tarou smiled and rested his chin upon his hands. Thinking to himself about the money he was going to be earning once he got home for the mission, he was going to help his mom get the medicine she needed, if it could even be found. A single tear slid down his cheek as the smile remained there. Muttering to himself, in his own space "I'm coming home, mama...I'm coming home."

With that, the warriors of Konoha would return home eventually and Tarou rushed home after receiving his reward to show his mom. The tales he told her brought horror and smiles to her face as even at so young he was so strong.