Every four to five hundred years a hiccup in a person’s DNA occurs. This “hiccup” causes them to be able to be in control of all five chakra natures. This type of power can be used to a great extent. The types of jutsu created from this trait are unimaginable. Different combinations and variants that are unthinkable to the common ninja are possible just because of this mutation. Most of the time this happens though, the person is unaware of this and goes on to use only one or two of the natures. Yet when it becomes known to the world that one of these people have been born, others vie for this power and will go out of their way to harm them and harvest this power for evil. This ability is known as Kekkei Dota, more rare than the Kekkei Touta.

The Fog Village is a distant country located far north isolated from the rest of the countries. The Kirikage, leader of the Fog village only has a select few villages in which he has decided to establish trade with. This means the people of the village hardly know anything outside of their own village. The village itself is very vulnerable but with the fog it is nearly impossible to find.

But now our story falls upon someone else. A young boy by the name of Ikari Fukazi is such a person who possesses the Kekkei Dota. He resides in the Village hidden in the fog, a village almost unheard of because of it’s secrecy. Along with him lives with mother, Mikara, his father, Zumaku, and his twin brother and sister, Hitari and Kikoro.


Enough rambling though…let our story begin…

~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

“Do you have another mission again?” Ikari pouts to his twin siblings.

“I’m sorry Ikari, being an ANBU has its pros and cons…” Hitari says slipping on his wolf mask.

“But I wanted to play.”

“I’m sorry. I promise, right when we get back we’ll do whatever you want. How does that sound?” Kikoro proposes.

Ikari smiles, “Okay. Promise?” he says holding out his pinky.

They both smile back, “Promise.” They simultaneously say as they both grab his pinky with theirs.

“Stay safe Ikari. We love you. Now we must go, see you soon.” Hitari says walking out the door with his twin sister.

“Stay safe!” The young one yells as they exit the door.

“Ikari!” A voice shouts from the other room.

“Yes father?”

“Its seven o clock.”

“Oh uh right father.” He complies following his father outside.

“We’re going to keep working on your taijutsu, it needs the most work.”

“Do we have to? I hate fighting against you…”

“What did I say about complaining…?”

“S-sorry…”

“Now come on.”

Both of them walk outside to the backyard. They both take separate sides preparing to train. Zumaku puts up his fists, as does Ikari. Instantly Ikari charges at his dad with his left fist drawn. Zumaku uses his hand to swipe away Ikari’s fist and uses his right palm to smack him in the forehead, knocking him down.

“You’re dead.” Zumaku says.

“Tch…”

“Again. Get up.”

“But dad…”

“I said again!”

Ikari reluctantly gets up and goes back to his side. This time Zumaku charges at Ikari. Ikari dodges one fist and blocks another then rolls under his dad’s legs. He straightens up and goes to hit his dad with a fist but his fist is driven aside as he’s kicked in the side sending him reeling sideways.

“Dead…again.” Zumaku states. “One more time, get up.”

Once again Ikari goes back to his side. They both charge each other, this time Ikari lands a successful punch to his father’s chest who then delivers one of his own which Ikari blocks with his arms. Zumaku kicks at Ikari with his left foot aimed at his head to which Ikari counters with his elbow then uses his father’s leg as leverage to deliver a kick to the side of Zumaku’s head causing him to stagger.

“Impressive.” His father compliments.

Zumaku proceeds to deliver a series of quick multiple punches causing Ikari to constantly block. He then delivers one good punch causing Ikari to fall flat on his back. His father whips out a kunai and puts it to his son’s throat ending the fight.

“You’ve died, three times.” Zumaku says, putting the kunai back in his pouch and sighing.

No words come out of Ikari’s mouth as he tears up from being overworked and defeated. His father stares down at him and shakes his head before sticking out his hand to help his son up.

“You must always respect your opponent no matter the circumstances.” Zumaku comments.

“Yes father.”

“Now get inside, dinner should be ready soon.”

“Yes father.”

Ikari rushes inside and washes up before heading to the kitchen. The sweet savory smell of Oyako-Don* fills the air reminding Ikari that he’s hungry. His father sits down and sips on his tea while waiting for the meal. No words are spoken between them and the only sound is the pot boiling the chicken on the stove.

“Do you know when brother and sister will get back from their mission?” Ikari eagerly asks.

“No. The ANBU’s business is very secretive they could be gone for years for all we know.” Zumaku responds.

“Oh…okay…”

The awkward silence is broken by Mikara setting down the rice, chicken, and egg on the table for Zumaku and Ikari to fill their plates. Ikari’s mouth waters at the sight of the delicious food. There’s nothing better than home cooking. He waits for his parents to fill their plates before grabbing as much as possible and piling everything on and munching down.

“Your taijutsu is getting better. You need to be better aware when fighting, don’t just pay attention to the initial attacks but the limbs that aren’t being used. That’s how I kept pinning you, you weren’t paying attention.” Zumaku explains.

“Yes father, I’ll keep practicing.” Ikari replies.

“Oh honey, why are you so hard on him? He’s only 8.” Mikara says.

“This world is cruel, he needs to learn how to fight when the time comes. Especially if he were ever to go out into the real world away from the village.” Zumaku explains.

“That’s what the academy is for. They’ll teach him.”

“Hardly…”

“Don’t mind your father sweetie. He’s only tough because he cares about you, trust me.”

“I’ll keep working hard dad I swear. I want to be just like Hitari and Kikoro!”

“Hmph.” Zumaku grunts.

“So Ikari, your birthday is coming up soon do you want to do anything special?” His mother asks.

“I just want brother and sister to come back. I don’t like when they leave.”

“They’ll be back soon sweetie they always do.”

“Yeah hehe your right mom.”

“Now help with the dishes then it’s off to bed. You have school tomorrow.”

Ikari takes everyone’s empty plates and proceeds to clean the dishes along with his mother. They make small talk and quickly get the job done. Ikari runs off to his room and throws on his pajamas, jumping into bed. His mother comes in and sits on the edge while caressing his short dark brown hair. She looks into his deep hazel eyes and smiles, doting on her son just as a mother does.

“You know your father loves you right? We both love you Ikari.”

“I know…I just wish dad wasn’t so tough all the time.”

“Like I said, it’s because he cares about you and doesn’t want to see you hurt.”

“Yeah. I want to make him happy like brother and sister. I know he’s proud of them.”

“Don’t think you have to become just like them Ikari. Your father will be proud of you no matter what.”

“Promise?”

“I promise sweetie. Now get some rest.” She finishes with a kiss on his forehead then gets up and turns out the lights. “Goodnight my precious boy.”

“Night mommy.”

-Chapter 2

Moving Forward

“Ikari Fukazi!” The proctor known as Zakumo sensei calls out.

“Here!” He responds.

“Mirashi Hayte!”

“Here!” A young kunoichi replies.

Ikari loses focus as he zones out while the teacher goes through the list of names. There’s not that many people in his class being an isolated village and all. The proctor continues down the list of names until he’s finally done.

Zakumo sets down his clipboard and addresses the class, “Ok so today we’re going to do a field exercise. When out on the battlefield you’re not going to have an unlimited supply of chakra correct? We’re going to learn how to use nature to replenish your chakra. Nature energy is all around us and it can be filtered, so to speak, through your body and changed into chakra. Follow me we’re going outside.”

The class follows the teacher outside as they exit the academy area and follow a path. Another student by the name of Kino walks up next to Ikari.

“Hey Ikari, what’s up?” He asks.

“Nothing much Kino.”

“What are you doing after class today?”

“Father probably wants to train again. He’s been drilling me with taijutsu practice.”

“Really? At least your dad trains you. Mine is always away on missions.”

“If you want I can help you. I don’t think my dad would care if I brought you.”

“You mean it? That would be awesome! I’ll meet you at your place.”

“Sounds good.”

“Okay class, listen up!” Zakumo speaks up. “Any piece of nature will work. A rock, a tree, or even a bush will do. Observe.”

Zakumo picks up a fairly large sized rock and begins to absorb the nature energy from it. The filtering can be seen as chakra from his hands envelopes the rock. “Simple as that. Now why don’t we all give it a try? Go find a piece of nature and show me.”

Everyone scatters around splitting off into different groups of friends. Each one picks up some leaves or rocks and begins trying to extract chakra from it. Some give up and begin playing; others go to show Zakumo-sensei, while others practice on their own.

Zakumo walks up to Ikari and Kino and asks, “How’s it coming along guys?”

“I think I have it down.” Says Ikari as he picks up a rock and begins absorbing chakra from it.

“Wow! Very good Ikari I’ve never seen any of my students pick it up that quickly. Good job!”

“Thanks!” He says while smiling. “Whoa, what’s going on?”

The rock begins to crack, and rumble. Eventually it crumbles apart with small amounts of magma coming out from it. Ikari rips his hand away from it to avoid the molten liquid.

“Oh my…” Zakumo-sensei trails off.

“Zakumo-sensei, what was that?” Asks Kino.

“I…uh…must have been a reaction with the rock’s geological makeup and your chakra. Who knows?”

“Oh. Okay!” Ikari happily says.

“Anyways…lets head back for lunch class!” Yells Zakumo.

The class heads back to the academy and into the classroom to grab their lunches. “I’m going to speak with the Kirikage for a moment, so don’t go too far. I’ll be back shortly.” Zakumo-sensei says before exiting the room.

Ikari and Kino find a bench outside and begin eating the lunches their mothers packed for them. Although the sun doesn’t come through the fog too often, it’s a fairly nice day outside. Not too hot and not too cold but at that perfect temperature that’s great for anything.

“That rock was weird huh?” Kino asks.

“Yeah. I wonder what that was all about.” Ikari replies, “Oh well.”

“You know a lot of things. How is it you learn everything fast?”

“I don’t know Kino. I wish I could tell you.”

“Hmm. Oh look Zakumo-sensei is back.”

The kids throw away their trash, run back to the classroom and take their seats while all the other students gather in. They patiently wait for Zakumo to speak.

“So uh the Kirikage has requested that we cut today short. So uh class dismissed!” The sensei says.

“Bye Zakumo-sensei!” Some of the students yell while exiting the classroom.

“Goodbye kids!” He says while smiling and waving.

Ikari and Kino meet up outside the classroom to talk about their plans, “Well you can come over now if you want. We can train for a little then go to the park.” Ikari suggests.

“Okay that sounds awesome! I just gotta go home and tell my mom and then I’ll be over.”

“Okay see you soon!” Ikari says while splitting up with Kino for the time being.

Ikari makes no waste in time as he rushes home excited to tell his parents his day at school. He arrives at the door, kicks off his sandals and runs into the living room where his parents are sitting, his dad sipping some tea while his mom is in her chair sewing.

“Mom, dad! We got out of school early today.” Ikari yells excitingly.

His dad raises an eyebrow, “Oh and why is that?”

“Sensei didn’t say why. Just that the Kirikage said so.”

“Hmm…odd.”

“Oh maybe the Kirikage was feeling generous today.” Mikara says.

“Perhaps.”

“Oh! Sensei said I did really well today! We did an exercise where we took chakra from rocks.”

“Really now? That’s good.” His father says with no emotion.

“For some reason my rock blew up and some lava or something came out of it. It didn’t get on my hands though.” Ikari goes on.

“Lava? Are you sure?”

“Yeah it was this red liquid with some rocks in it. At least that’s what sensei said it was.”

“Interesting…”

“Yeah! So can Kino come over? I told him we could practice taijutsu with him since we got out early. He says his father can never help him out so I figured we could help him.

“Aw isn’t that sweet Zumaku?”

“I suppose so. When is he coming?”

“Anytime now.”

Zumaku gets up with a grunt and goes outside to stretch and warm up while Ikari waits for his friend to come over. Eventually there’s a knock on the door and Ikari opens it up. Kino walks in with a bag of things slung over his shoulder and a smile on his face. Mikara looks up from her sewing and notices Kino.

“Hello Kino. How are you today?” She says with a smile on her face.

“Great Mrs. Fukazi. Thanks!” Kino responds happily.

“You boys are going outside to train right? I’ll make some food for when you’re done.”

“Thanks mom! We’ll be outside.” Ikari says, walking outside with his friend.

“See you soon.”

“Hey Mr. Fukazi!” Kino greets.

“Hello Kino. Ikari told me you wanted some taijutsu practice?”

“Yes sir. My dad doesn’t have enough time taking missions and stuff. So any practice is great!”

“I don’t mind helping out. I can teach you both a couple of moves I learned back in my ninja days. Set down your things and lets get started.”

The three of them begin working intensely hard on taijutsu. They spar against each other and even get a two on one with Zumaku. Time flies by and each of them become exhausted from working hard. It’s about three o’ clock judging by the suns position seen through the fog. They each work up a sweat and decide to call it quits for the day.

“Great job you two. Kino you’re a natural.” Zumaku compliments.

“Thanks Mr. Fukazi. You’re a great teacher!” He says with a huge grin across his face.

“I’m going to go lay down for a bit. I’m pretty exhausted.” Zumaku says, heading inside through the sliding doors.

“Your dad really is a good teacher.” Kino says turning to Ikari.

“Thanks. Usually he’s tougher on me...” Ikari says. “You hungry?”

“I’m starving!”

They race inside to find fruits and vegetables along with some half tea half lemonade laid out for them. Both begin to munch down and fill their stomachs quickly before laying down in the living room under the fan, cooling down from the training. The day has been great so far and the kids are ready to go out and play soon.

All of a sudden there’s a knock at the door, out of the kitchen Mikara yells, “Ikari honey! Can you see who it is?”

“Yeah mom I got it!” He yells back.

Ikari opens up the door to see two jonin, both male standing there. They ask, “Hello. Are your parents home?”

“Yeah. I’ll be right back.”

Ikari goes into the kitchen and to his mother, “Hey mom. Two jonin are at the door looking for you.”

She picks up a rag and wipes her hands before going to the door and addressing the two ninja. A minute goes by before she sticks her head back in and asks, “Ikari could you wake up your father too? It’s important.”

“Okay.”

Ikari nudges his father awake who sleepily wipes his tired eyes and scratches his head. The young Fukazi tells his father who’s at the door before he walks out the door to speak to the two jonin.

“I wonder what that’s all about?” Kino wonders.

“I dunno. Probably adult stuff. So what did you bring in that bag?” Ikari shrugs off then asks.

He opens it up and pulls out a few sharp edged kunai and shuriken, “I brought some ninja tools. I thought maybe we could practice with these too.”

“Yeah! Why don’t we go to the training grounds and throw these around for a while?”

“Okay! Lets go!”

Ikari and Kino open the front door at which all four adults stop speaking and look down at the kids, halting their conversation.

“Where are you going sweetie?” Mikara asks.

“We’re going to the training fields to practice our shuriken.”

“Okay. Be safe and be home before dinner.”

“I will mom. I’ll be back soon!”

The kids run off to the training field and begin throwing their assortment of ninja tools at the training posts. They practice that for a while before getting bored and playing ninja instead. Once again, hours go by before Ikari realizes it’s about time for dinner.

“Uh oh I should probably be getting home soon. I’ll see you tomorrow Kino!” Ikari says rushing home.

“See ya!” Kino yells back.

Ikari makes it home just in the knick of time for dinner. He cleans up quickly and sits down at the dinner table with his mother and father. They eat their meal slowly and don’t talk making it an awkward dinner.

Finally Ikari speaks up, breaking the silence, “Training was fun today huh dad?”

“Yeah…” He trails off.

“Kino wants to come over again if that’s ok mom.”

“Yes honey…” She too distantly replies.

“Wh-what’s wrong?”

“Nothing sweetie…just tired.” She says as she begins cleaning up the table.

“Need help?”

“No I can do it. Go play for a little.”

“O-ok.”

Ikari goes off to his room and sits there, confused why his parents are being so distant. One second they were fine and the next they’re like this. His thoughts are interrupted by a knock at the door followed by it swinging open revealing Kikoro and Hitari standing there with huge smiles on their faces.

“Kikoro! Hitari! You’re back!” He screams running across the room and tackling them with a hug. They both catch him and fall back against the wall laughing together. It’s a happy reunion as they all get up and sit in Ikari’s room listening to him go on about his day. The conversation is endless as all three talk about different things.

“So there we were in cloud territory. We’d been camping out for a good few hours waiting for the target to come by. We’re nearly compromised when an unexpected patrol comes across our camp. Luckily we disposed of them before they could alert anyone.” Hitari recounts.

“Whoa…I want to become an ANBU just like you guys!” Ikari says loudly.

“Just remember Ikari, you can’t tell anyone. Not even mother and father. ANBU business is very secretive especially in our village.” Kikoro informs to Ikari.

“I know, I haven’t told anyone I promise!”

“Hmm I have an idea…” Hitari says with a mischievous grin on his face.

“Hitari…what are you thinking?” His twin sister asks, knowing something is going through his mind.

“I was thinking. Maybe we take Ikari out into the village and teach him how to sneak around. It’s a good skill to learn and it’s perfect in the village at night with the fog.”

“That sounds good but he has school tomorrow Hitari.”

“Oh who cares? He might be a little tired but I bet he can push through a little sleepiness. Right Ikari?” He says winking at his younger brother. “So how does that sound?”

Ikari barely contains his excitement as he leaps into the air ready to yell but his sister grabs him and covers his mouth. “The first step to being sneaky is to be quiet. Understood?” She says winking at him too.

“You guys are the greatest ever. I love you.” Ikari says.

“Aw Ikari…We love you too. Now lets go.” Kikoro responds

“You’re going to need this.” Hitari says handing him his wolf mask.

“No way! Your wolf mask! But what are you going to wear?”

“I have a few extra ones.”

Hitari pulls out another mask as the three of them slip into the cover of the night. They stalk the streets making sure to stay out of sight of the guards that patrol the streets. Hitari and Kikoro show Ikari the basics of staying hidden using shadows and other tricks to keep them selves revealed. They even take Ikari on the rooftops and show him what it’s like to use different vantage points to track a target. Ikari hangs around his brother and sister’s necks as they leap from rooftop to rooftop showing Ikari the true beauty of the village at night. They laugh, they smile, they bond and have fun while teaching Ikari an important skill. An hour of this goes by before they decide to head back home as not to get in trouble with their parents.

Hitari checks around the outside of the house to make sure no one is awake before they quietly open the door to sneak back in. So it’s a surprise when the lights flash on and Zumaku and Mikara are sitting in separate chairs facing the door with glares on their faces.

“Shit…” Says Hitari audibly.

Zumaku who is sitting there, his face tired and dull of any emotion is the first to speak, “Ikari…go to your room. Right. Now.”

“Y-yes father…” He complies.

“Hitari…Kikoro. We’re going to have a serious talk.”

Both the twin’s grunt as they take a seat in front of their parents. That’s the last thing Ikari sees before he goes to his room and lays in his bed. The sounds of screaming pierce the wall. Ikari picks up on bits and pieces of the argument but tries to block it out by putting his pillow over his head. Eventually he tunes out the argument and falls into a deep, dream filled sleep.

Chapter 3

-Zero Hour

“Honey…honey…” A voice calls out to Ikari in his dreams. “Ikari…”

“Mumhpphumph.”

“Ikari sweetie wake up.”

Finally Ikari is nudged awake by his mother who is sitting on the edge of his bed smiling at him. “Ikari, you aren’t going to school today honey.”

He rubs his eyes and opens his eyes completely awake and says, “Why?”

“The Kirikage wants to preform a few tests on you. It has to do with the rock the other day at the academy.”

“The one that had lava in it?”

“Yes sweetie, that one. They’re just concerned about your chakra, nothing more to it. So get ready, I made some breakfast.”

“Ok mommy.”

Ikari takes a shower and gets the tiredness out of his body. He throws on some black shorts and a blank white shirt. Then he runs out into the hallway and sits down at the dining table that has omelets and orange juice laid out for the family. Zumaku enters the room with a newspaper and sits down while eating and reading. He stays fairly quiet with the only sound of the newspaper turning each time he finishes a page. Ikari eats his food quickly and downs his orange juice.

He cleans up his area and then says, “I’m ready to go!”

Zumaku folds his newspaper and gets up with a grunt before getting his wife and waiting at the front door to leave. Eventually his wife comes to the door too and they all exit the door, Zumaku turning around to lock the door behind him. They stroll down the street at a leisurely pace. Various villagers wave at the family as they walk by and some even come up to Zumaku and make small talk with him.

Finally they approach the gray colored Kirikage building. Such a dull color but it’s only fitting for the dullness of the village. The family walks to the registrar who immediately approves them and leads them to the Kirikage’s office, she leaves them outside the door before heading back to her desk.

“Remember Ikari bow when you enter and address him formally, understood.” Zumaku instructs to his son.

“Yes father.” He complies.

All three enter the room to which the Kirikage stands up. Zumaku, Mikara, and Ikari all bow, addressing the Kirikage with honor. In the room is Zakumo-sensei and some other ninja Ikari doesn’t recognize.

“Hello Ikari.” The Kirikage says.

“H-hello Mr. Kirikage.” Ikari nervously responds.

“Zumaku, Mikara.”

“Hello Taizen.” Zumaku greets.

“You don’t have to be nervous Ikari. We just want to make sure everything is ok with your chakra nothing more to it.” He says with a weak smile.

“Ok. What do I need to do?”

“Zumaku, Mikara, you can take a seat if you’d like. This won’t take long.”

“Thank you my lord.” Zumaku says as he sits down in a chair with his wife.

Zakumo approaches Ikari with a few tiny papers in hand, “Ok Ikari all I want you to do is grab the papers with your index finger and thumb as I hand them to you. That’s all.” He says.

“Ok Zakumo-sensei!” Ikari says with cheer in his voice.

Zakumo hands him the first paper, Ikari grabs it and it falls to ashes after a few moments. “Whoa! What kind of paper is this?” Ikari curiously asks.

“These are isolated chakra paper. Each one will only react to a specific chakra nature. Lets continue.”

Zakumo sticks out another paper and Ikari grabs it. This one bunches up on it’s own before Zakumo takes it and hands Ikari another paper. This time the paper rips in half on it’s own. The next paper is handed to him and it falls to the ground as dirt. The last paper is given to Ikari and it becomes wet and slouches over.

“Ok Ikari, the test is over. See? Easy.” Zakumo says with a half smile.

“Yeah it was easy!”

“Well that’s all. We just need to speak to your parents privately and then you’ll be free to go.”

“Ok! Wait, Zakumo-sensei. If you’re here then who’s teaching right now?”

“Oh uh the Kirikage said we could have another day off from the academy.”

“Oh! Thanks Mr. Kirikage!”

“My pleasure Ikari. Now I must speak to your parents.”

Ikari exits the room and sits in a chair while kicking his feet happily. In the other room the Kirikage and Ikari’s parents are having a conversation…

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

“I didn’t think it was possible…” The Kirikage begins.

“This hasn’t been seen in over one-hundred years. You realize how rare and powerful this is correct?” Zakumo puts in.

“I would if I knew what it was…” Zumaku says.

“It’s…the blood trait known as Kekkei Dota. Ten times more rare than the Kekkei Touta.” Says Taizen.

“Th-the Kekkei Dota? Im-impossible…my son?” Zumaku stutters as Mikara grabs his arm and leans on him.

“Yes. I have…one scroll on it. You can look at it if you want.” Taizen says handing Zumaku the scroll.

“So what do we do?”

“That’s up to you. Either nurture the power of keep it hidden from him. The Kekkei Dota requires a lot of training to master. It’s a curse and a blessing as people who desire ultimate power will try to harvest it.”

“I see. Thank you my lord…” Zumaku trails off.

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

The couple bow before exiting the room and meeting back up with their son. He looks up at them with a smile before getting up and following them out of the office. The trip home is silent and quick, the family arriving home and separating throughout the house. Of course Ikari doesn’t think much of it and goes off to his room to play. Soon enough Hitari and Kikoro arrive home and come into Ikari’s room to say hi and hang out with him.

“How was your day Ikari?” Kikoro asks first.

“It was good but weird.”

“How so?”

“Instead of going to school I went to the Kirikage’s office and had a test done on me. They handed me some paper things and each one did something different.”

“Oh you mean chakra paper?” Hitari says.

“I think so.”

“Each one reacts differently to each chakra nature. What happened to the one they gave you?”

“They gave me five. One turned to dust…another became dirt, one became wet, one crumpled, and one tore.”

“Wait…they gave you five? And all reacted? Strange…”

“I’ll be right back.” Kikoro says as she gives her twin an odd look and leaves the room.

“So are you guys in trouble from the other night?” Ikari asks.

“Mom and Dad yelled at us pretty hard but we’re not in any real trouble. They were just scared for your safety is all little bro.” Hitari says ruffling his little brother’s hair.

“Heh heh. “

“It’s still early in the day, you wanna do some training? We can work more on your sneaking.” Hitari says just as Kikoro walks back into the room. “Hey we’re going out to train. Wanna join?”

“Nah you guys go ahead. I’m going to take a nap.” Kikoro responds.

“Suit yourself. Ready to go?”

“Yeah!” Says Ikari energetically.

Ikari and Hitari pack some supplies and head to the training grounds. They practice with shuriken and then go out into the forest to practice sneaking. Hitari stands in the middle of the forest while Ikari has to make it to him without being detected. Surprisingly Ikari succeeds a couple of times. As usual, the day goes by and into the night before they decide to call it quits and head home for the night.

“You know you’re a natural Ikari. With the right training you could become an ANBU.” Hitari says.

“You really think so? That’s my dream. I want to fight alongside you one day big brother.” Says a happy Ikari.

“I do think so! I would never lie to you.”

“Thanks Hitari. Really.”

They smile at each other before arriving at the house. For some reason all the lights are off and there’s not a sound as they enter.

“Maybe everyone went to sleep…” Hitari says warily.

Ikari lets out a yawn, “Maybe. I’m going to sleep. Night brother.”

“Hold on Ikari…Something’s not right.”

“Wha-.”

Suddenly the lights flash on blinding Ikari and Hitari briefly. A fist connects to Hitari’s face sending him careening into the door.

“Hitari!” Ikari screams. “Who are yo-.” Ikari stops dead in his tracks to see his father…huffing while his dirty brown hair hangs in front of his face. “D-dad…?”

“Ikari…come here this instant.” His father spurts out.

Hitari gets up and steps in front of Ikari with his kunai drawn. “I don’t know who you are but you are not touching him!”

Out of the corner of his eye Hitari sees kunai soaring through the air. He ducks then spins around collecting Ikari into his arms and barging out the front door. He begins a terrifying run to the front gate with Ikari trembling in his arms.

“Ikari, you need to calm down. I’m here. Everything is going to be all right. I promise!” Hitari assures his little brother. He looks over his shoulder to see two figures in hot pursuit right behind them. Hitari picks up his feet and kicks his body into overdrive as he attempts to lose the pursuers. “Oh man…where is Kikoro…?”

The gates come into sight and with adrenaline coursing throughout his blood stream; Hitari makes the final dash to the gates. Passing through the gates he makes it into a rocky field of dirt and continues running. He’s stopped by a wall of rock coming up right before him causing him to smash into it, dropping Ikari, and falling back. He gets right back up and continues to guard Ikari, preparing for a fight.

He mutters to himself, “There’s not doubt about it. That’s father’s signature jutsu. It really is them…” He lets out a sigh of relief when he notices Kikoro’s chakra presence right before she appears next to him.

“Sorry, they must have knocked me out while I was asleep.” Says Kikoro as she looks up at the assailants. “M-mother? F-father? But…”

“It’s definitely them Kikoro. I…I don’t even know what to think.”

She turns around and crouches getting on the same level as Ikari, “Ikari, I know this is scary but you need to be strong right now. We’re going to get you out of this I promise you.”

Ikari gulps and tries to calm himself down while still trembling, “O-ok.”

The two figures facing Hitari and Kikoro unleash combined streams of fire and electricity at them. Hitari clenches his face in anger and creates hand-signs, “Earth style: Rock wall!” he yells, planting his palms on the ground. The wall bursts up from the ground blocking the incoming jutsus.

Kikoro moves around the wall shouting, “Water style: Water dragon jutsu!” followed by a dragon that roars as it flies through the air aimed at the parents. Zumaku and Mikara separate as the dragon creates a crater between them. Zumaku glares at his daughter while putting together more hand-signs. Spikes begin to rise from the ground heading right for Hitari and Kikoro.

Kikoro looks at Ikari and yells, “Stay behind the wall!

Ikari huddles up against the wall and puts his head in between his knees as he continues to tremble.

“Earth style: Pillar prison jutsu!” Roars Hitari. Multiple pillars of rock explode from the ground creating a cage of pure rock that traps Mikara and Zumaku. “Got them!” he says with a cocky smile. The ground begins to rumble as an explosion of spiked rocks burst from the prison, freeing the two parents.

At last Zumaku speaks, “I don’t want to kill you two. Just hand over Ikari.”

“Why?! Why do you want him so badly!?” Hitari roars back at his father.

“Are you blind?! The kid is a godsend!”

“You’re not making sense father!”

“We want…his Kekkei Dota…”

Hitari’s face goes blank. Kekkei Dota, he’s heard that before he thinks to himself. It takes him a second but he finally realizes that the Kekkei Dota is the blood trait of possessing all five chakra natures. And now his parents want to harvest that power? None of this adds up. Why would his parents want to use their own son like this?

“You’ll have to go through us first!” Yells Kikoro. “We’ll never hand him over! Water style: Violent whirlpool!” The ground begins to rumble and split in certain places. Finally a massive blast of water erupts from the ground right below Zumaku and Mikara. The water falls down like rain for a few seconds before disappearing. Kikoro is left huffing, standing next to her twin brother. “I think…I think I got them Hita-.” A spear of rock impaling her through the chest stops her words. Blood gurgles out of her mouth while she exhales her last breath and falls over, staring at Ikari with dead eyes.

“Big sister!” Ikari screams, wailing at the death of his sister.

A jet of water slams Hitari into the rock wall from earlier and knocks the breath out of him. He settles on one knee and looks up to see his mother charging at him while his father heads for Ikari. Hitari quickly gets up and shoves his father out of the way, scooping Ikari into his arms once again.

“We have to go back for Kikoro!” Ikari yells at his brother.

“She’s dead Ikari! We have to go!” Hitari manages to say through tears while sprinting for his life.

Ikari continues to wail when his crying is stopped short as he feels his body collide against the cold earth causing him to slide for a few feet before stopping. He trembles as he looks up to see his brother clutching his side and writhing in pain.

“Ikari…agh…r-run!” Hitari spits out.

“No! I can’t leave you here!”

“I-Ikari…p-please! Ru-!” Another rock spear explodes from the ground, impaling Hitari in the stomach. Bloods spatters out from his back, some splattering on Ikari. With his last breath Hitari whispers, “Remember…Kekkei Dota…” Passing away with his last words.

Through trembling and tears Ikari scrambles to his feet and sprints as fast as an eight-year-old kid can. The thick fog covers his exit and after sprinting for hundreds of yards he exhausts himself of energy. He comes into a small forest clearing and huddles up against a tree, still afraid of those two monsters that just ripped everything away from him. He shudders uncontrollably and begins sobbing into his arms. He cries throughout the whole night in fear of them coming for him. The pictures of his dead siblings flash in his mind as bright as day. From this day on his path is forever chiseled in the blood of his brother and sister, forever carved in anger, in vengeance, in violence. From this day on he will never know or feel the warmth of love again…

Chapter 4

-Destination


7 Years later…

“Shibaru today is the day.” I tell my mentor.

“Well Ikari…It’s been a long seven years. You’re finally old enough and I hate to see you go but I know it’s your destiny.”

“Yes. Thank you for teaching me everything. Now I must carve out my own path and kill those two monsters…”

“You’ve never been the emotional type hm?” Shibaru says while scratching his blonde beard.

“Not after that day seven years ago. My emotions were sanded down to nothing on that day.” I say while closing my eyes.

” Ikari, I know this is scary but you need to be strong right now. We’re going to get you out of this I promise you.” Kikoro…

”“You’ll have to go through us first!” I miss them so much…

“I-Ikari…p-please! Ru-!” Blood everywhere…

” Remember…Kekkei Dota… Death…

I clench my fist and stare at it before going back to packing my things. I pull out my map and look over it once more before throwing it in with my other supplies. After preparing my things, I’m ready to go. This day marks the beginning of a long awaited journey.

“Come back and visit sometime eh Ikari?” Shibaru says to me while patting my back. “You’ve matured into a fine young man. I still can’t believe it’s been seven years since I took you in. I found you alone in the forest…and felt so bad for you. Ahh but I digress…Good luck on your journey Ikari.”

I give him a quick nod before opening the door and stepping out into the fresh sunlight. The picture of the map flashes in my mind and I pull out a compass to head southeast. My first destination is cloud territory. I’ve still yet to figure out what Kekkei Dota is. Those were the last words my brother told me to remember. I haven’t exactly ventured outside this little shack and everyone I’ve asked has no idea what I’m talking about. I know that Kekkei Touta is the ability to possess three chakra natures so maybe it could be related to that. Who knows, it could be anything.

As I continue venturing through the forest, I turn around to notice Shibaru’s shack disappears from my sight. These forests are all too familiar to me but after a few hours of walking, the landscape begins to change from forestland to mountainous. I check my compass and notice it’s going haywire. I have to be near the cloud village that means. I see a donkey caravan and head towards the man leading the cart.

“Sir. Do you know where the Cloud Village is?” I ask.

“Who wants to know?” He replies harshly.

“I don’t have time for your bullshit. Now I’ll ask again, where is it?”

“Why should I tell you? You’re an asshole.”

I instantly turn around while shaking my head and head back the way I was going. The compass is still going crazy so I decide to pull out my map and look at it. My thinking is stopped when I run into something and bounce back landing on my rear.

“Watch where you’re going.” The figure and I say at the same time.

“Hn.” I grunt while picking up my map and standing back up. “Could you possibly tell me where the cloud village is?” I say, irritated that I haven’t found the place already.

As I ask this, the person turns around and faces me. It’s a girl with long flowing brunette hair that reaches her legs, white pale eyes, a very suggestive outfit and a headband with symbols resembling clouds around her waist.

“Who wants to know?” She says with attitude.

Ok if someone says that one more time I swear I’ll…nevermind.

“If you’re not going to tell me then I’ll find it myself.” I dully say.

“You don’t have a headband. Why is that?” She asks curiously.

“What’s it to you?”

She scoffs, “Don’t give me that attitude.”

“Oh you mean the same one you gave to me. Sorry I was just returning the favor.”

“You got a lot of nerve!” She says getting up in my face, so close I feel her warm breath on my cheeks.

I give her a neutral look and keep my ground, “Look, either help me or not. It’s your choice otherwise I’ll find the damn place on my own.”

“What’s wrong with you?! That’s not how you treat a lady.” She begins to lean in so close that she falls forward and lands on top of me. Instantly I feel my face get warm and my eyes shoot to the left, avoiding her stare.

She scrambles to her feet, “Oh my gosh I’m so sorry…I uh…Hey you’re blushing!”

“Look I’ll just go now…” I say as I begin to walk around her.

“Now wait a minute. I can help you if you tell me what it’s for.”

I close my eyes and let out a sigh, “I’d rather not.”

“Well then I guess I can’t allow you in my village.”

“Look I possess a blood trait called Kekkei Dota. I don’t know what it is but I need to find out information about it. Please.”

“Hmm…It sounds promising but I don’t know.”

I sigh again, “Look I lost two people close to me over my blood trait. I need to figure out why.”

“You don’t seem like a menace to the village. So I suppose, but I’ll have to keep a close eye on you.”

“Deal.”

After going up a mountain slope and walking across a plateau for a while we come to what I assume is the village. It sits upon multiple mountaintops with clouds surrounding the entire place. A basin holds the water in like a big bowl accompanied by natural rock formations of columns and arches. The place would be breathtaking if I cared but all I care about is finding out what I need to find out.

“Come on I’ll take you to the Raikage.” She says, still holding my hand as she leads me.

“You know it would be nice if I knew your name…” I solemnly say.

“Oh my I’m sorry, how could I forget to introduce myself? The name is Rayne Sayomi. What’s yours?”

“Ikari Fukazi.”

“I like that name Ikari.” She says with a big grin. “Now come on.”

She leads me through the busy village. People are walking past us and bump into us while carrying on with their business. Shops are conducting trade left and right. The murmur of conversations fills my ears as people go on with their daily lives. My village was never like this…It was never alive and vibrant.

Finally we come to a massive hulking building that overlooks the whole village. I assume it’s the Raikage’s office and we head on in past the registrar and right up the stairs to his office door.

She lets go of my hand and says, ”Ok he’s a bit intimidating at first but he’s just a big teddy bear.”

“Uh. Ok.” I say following her into the office.

“Hello A!” She says taking a seat upon his desk.

“Hello Ray-.” He stops and eyeballs me before yelling, “Is this an outsider you’ve brought into our village!?”

“Oh hush. He needs our help.”

“What could he possibly need help with?”

“If you’re not going to help me at least let me scan your library…” I say.

“Hmph. Very well. But try anything funny and it’ll be your head hanging above my desk!” He roars, trying to intimidate me.

“Come on A you don’t have to be harsh on the kid. He’s had a rough life.” Rayne says, sympathizing with me.

“I just don’t want any thing to happen, not right now. In fact since you brought him in, you can follow him around.”

“Fine. It’s better than listening to your hot head all day.” She says while sticking her tongue out.

“Why you!” He screams just as the door closes to his office.

We exit the building and make our way towards the library. Since I’m not really in the talking mood it’s a pretty silent trip. The library is fairly large and I immediately go to work on searching for the book I need. The girl…or might I say Rayne follows me around looking very bored as I look for what I need. Unsurprisingly I only find one book on the subject and sit down at a wooden desk as I read.

I look up at Rayne who looks bored to death at this point and say, “You can leave you know.” I numbly say.

“I would but A would have my ass if he knew I left you to wander the village.”

“Suit yourself…”

I shift my eyes back to my book and continue reading on. “The first ninja to ever possess…ever since the second shinobi war…has been known as a legend…” I continue reading and skip past the unneeded information until I finally come across the definition. “Kekkei Dota is the blood trait caused by a mutation in the DNA that allows the body to possess all five chakra natures.” I read aloud before shutting the book closed.

“You just found out what it is and you’re not happy? Come on this is what you’ve been looking for.” Rayne says.

I give her a blunt look before setting the book aside, “Now I know what I must do.”

“Which is…?”

“Who’s the strongest ninja in your village?”

“What? Why?”

I push on the desk, sliding my chair back. Then I make for the exit with Rayne following close behind.

“Hey, I asked you a question.” She says grabbing my arm and spinning me around.

“You can be a nuisance some times…” I coldly say.

She gives me an offended look, “You sound like someone I know…”

“Unless he’s proficient in using lightning release, I don’t care.” Turning back around for the door.

“You know…I lost someone close to me too.”

For some unknown reason I stop walking and turn around to face her. Something…boils up inside me, something deep, something angry. “Are you trying to sympathize with me?” I say accusingly.

“Well…I just know how you feel.”

“You know how I feel? You know exactly how I feel?”

“W-well yeah…”

“No. No. Don’t you ever say you know how I feel. You don’t know what it’s like to lose two people you cared for your entire life. Who nearly taught you everything you knew. Who loved you so much that they would die for you and then have them ripped away in an instant. No, you do not know how I feel at all.”

“You know what Ikari? How about you fuck off. You have no right to tell me what I know and what I don’t know. You don’t know the real me so how about you shut the hell up before you judge me!” She screams back, slamming the door on the way out.

I look around and notice everyone in the library staring at me so I exit the library too. Glancing around outside, I see no trace of Rayne. I shake it off and decide to find my own way around. The Raikage had a huge chakra signature so I guess I’ll head back to him. Once again I make it into the Raikage’s building and head back into his office. As I arrive his face turns into that of a bull’s as he slams his palms on his desk and grits his teeth. The pure force is enough to shake the ground a bit. This guy must be strong.

“I leave you alone for fifteen minutes…and you decide to cause a scene like that in my village?! I could hear her scream from up here! Now you have two choices: A. You get out of my village this instant or B. I drive your head so deep into the ground you come out on the otherside of the world!” He says trying to keep his rage down.

“Sir, if you will please let me explain.”

He puts his hand up, “I don’t want to hear it. Choose right now because I’m getting pissed.”

”Sir. Seven years ago my older brother and sister were murdered right before my eyes.”

He puts his hand down, deciding to listen to my story.

“By my own parents…”

He sits down in his desk, putting his hands under his chin.

“Hmph. Go on…”

“All because I possess a blood mutation…The Kekkei Dota.”

His eyes go wide and his jaw drops all at the same time, “K-kekkei Dota. That hasn’t been heard of in…”

“I know, a long time. All I’m trying to do is perfect each chakra type so I can have the power to kill those two…Now I’m sorry I burst out at your…”

“Daughter.”

“D-daughter. I’m not used to anyone trying to empathize me and I don’t take it well.”

“I’ll make a deal with you. You apologize to her and do something nice for her and I will let you train with us.”

“Wh-what?”

“What? Have you never done anything nice for anyone?”

“Well I uh…” I sigh, “A deals a deal. I’ll do it.”

“You seem like a nice kid. Don’t disappoint me. Don’t worry I won’t speak of your situation to anyone else.” He finishes, going back to his paperwork.

I walk back outside and try to locate Rayne. At this point she could be anywhere so I decide to begin my journey for the girl. I walk around the village aimlessly, half hoping she just magically shows up and half not caring. After an hour of wandering around the village I find myself at a park and look who just happens to be sitting on a bench alone…so I approach her with my hands in my pockets.

“Hey…” I say.

“What the hell do you want…?” She numbly says.

I stand there awkwardly before scratching my head and saying, “Look I don’t know how these things work and I’m not much of a people person. But for what it’s worth…I’m sorry and I was wondering if you would like to join me for dinner…”

She pushes her hair out of her face and looks up at me, “I guess I can go to dinner with an ass like you and I accept your apology.” She playfully says. “So where are you taking me?”

“I uh…I have no idea. I’m new here, remember?”

“I’m just teasing you. I’ll show you. I guess you need a place to stay too huh? You can crash at my place.”

“Thanks…”

She gets up energetically as if nothing happened and proceeds to lead me to her place of residence. I walk in to her apartment to find a fairly tidy place. Not much to it besides a couch, T.V., kitchen, bathroom, and a bedroom.

“You can watch something while I get dressed. I figured since it’s getting pretty late already we could grab an early dinner.” She says as she walks into her room.

“Yeah.”

I flip through the channels and find absolutely nothing so I decide to just turn it off and wait for her to get ready. I’m not lying when I say that it took her two hours to get ready. Finally she walks out wearing a black kimono like dress trimmed with red along with some other designs.

“You look…decent.” I say, attempting at a compliment.

“ Um…Thanks. Lets get going.”

I look down at my clothing; I don’t see anything wrong with it…but whatever. I just want to get this over with so I can get on with my main objective. We exit her apartment and I let her lead the way to whatever restaurant she’s decided. I find myself in front of a small little restaurant with the smell of food wafting out of the front. We enter and quickly grab a booth when the waiter comes with some water and lets us look at the menu. I’m not exactly feeling hungry so I decide on some egg drop soup.

“I’ll have the Oyako-Don.” She orders, snapping something in my mind.

Mother’s Oyako-Don…

“I-is something wrong Ikari?”

“N-no…nothing.

“ Um S-so what can you tell me about your village? I never caught where you were from.”

“I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“Oh. I’m sure it was a nice village though.”

“Sure…”

“Did you have any siblings.”

“Heh. They were the greatest…” I say while pushing my soup around and staring at it. “Always looking out for me…always caring for me…”

She puts two and two together, “Ikari…” She says placing a hand on mine. “They sound like the most amazing siblings ever. I’m sure they were so proud that they had you as a younger brother.”

I move my hand away, “Thanks…”

“You don’t talk much do you?”

“I don’t really notice…”

“You’re so quiet and reserved with dark intentions. I want to unlock the real you.”

“Kind of weird for someone you just met…”

“I know but I want to help you Ikari.”

“I can do it myself.”

“Not without me to teach you lightning techniques.”

“Hm?”

“I live in this village, what? You don’t think I know lightning release?”

“I never really thought about it.”

“Well I could show you a thing or two.”

“Interesting.”

“You haven’t touched your food. Are you ok?”

“I’m not that hungry…I see you ate your food.”

“Ha! I was starving!”

“Hn.”

“It’s getting a bit late don’t you think? We should head back.”

“I suppose.”

I pay for the bill which is the right thing to do I think. Shibaru said something about that one time but I wasn’t exactly paying attention. The nightlife of the village is definitely a change from the day. The lights hurt my eyes and give me a headache so I throw on the hood to my cloak and make it a goal to get back into the apartment as quick as possible while keeping my head down. Out of the corner of my eye I notice Rayne give me an almost sad and worried look but I ignore it. We make it to the apartment and just as she goes to unlock the door she stops and turns to me.

“I just wanted to thank you for taking me out tonight…it was really sweet for someone like you.” She says giving me a kiss on the cheek, “You have great potential, you just need to unlock it.”

Once again I feel my face get really hot and I notice Rayne giggle at it. I’m not used to affection like this at all so it’s so foreign to me when I have to deal with it. She unlocks the door, goes into the closet and comes out with a handful of blankets and pillows.

“You’ll have to sleep on the couch, I hope you don’t mind.”

I shrug, not caring at all. She sets up the couch for me and smiles before heading into her room for a second and coming back out wearing pajamas. “If you need anything just holler.”

I nod and sit on the couch while kicking off my sandals, taking off my shirt and lying down, exhausted from today. “Goodnight Ikari.” I hear her say from her room.

“Night.” I quietly say before my eyes begin to flutter shut. This day has been strange and all these things are so odd to me. At this point I feel absolutely nothing and I don’t exactly understand her emotions or emotions in general. Well at least I’m making progress…hopefully the training goes well so I can move on to the next village and learn a new chakra nature but for now I guess I’m stuck here until I master the lightning release.

Chapter 5

-Thunderclap


The sun shines brightly through the curtains waking me up from a sleep that wasn’t great anyways. As I open my eyes I notice Rayne standing over me, which doesn’t surprise me at all.

“Mm I could eat that body right up.” She says.

“Uh…”

“I’m just teasing you. Get up, today begins our training.”

“Finally…” I say, getting out of bed and putting my shirt on.

“You hungry?”

“No.”

“You know you should eat something at least.”

“I’ll be fine…”

“You’re so difficult sometimes.”

“Can we go?”

“Ugh fine. Lets get going.”

We exit the apartment and make our way to the Raikage’s office. Finally we can get things on the road. The quicker I master this style the quicker I can move on to the next village. Rayne stops and talks to multiple villagers making the trip longer than needed. I notice that I’m getting a lot of stares which doesn’t bother me but I’m beginning to think that they suspect something of me. Can’t blame them though, I am a foreigner walking around without a headband of some sort, not that a headband identifies everyone in the village but it’s common.

After taking forever to get to the office we reach the building and as always walk inside without any interruptions. There, the Raikage is at his desk doing paperwork as usual.

“Ikari, Rayne.” He acknowledges us.

“Good morning A!” Rayne greets cheerfully.

“Hello.” I say flatly.

“Not really a morning person, are you Ikari?”

“When can we begin the training?”

“Quick to the point hm? Well I have some bad news. I have too much paperwork today to train with you two so Rayne I’m leaving it up to you.”

“Fine. I’ll teach him a thing or two.” Rayne says.

“Also Ikari take this headband. I want to avoid any suspicion the villagers might have about you.”

“Fair enough.” I say, smirking that I called it earlier while tying it around my arm.

“Oh and if you see B tell him I said, GET IN HERE!” He roars, emphasizing the point.

“Will do! See ya A!” Rayne says closing the door behind her.

We leave the building and make our way to the training grounds. Most of the fields are filled up with various ninja practicing their own skills. We spot an open place and head over to claim it to ourselves. Just as we arrive, two ninjas arrive at the same time causing a very awkward scene.

“Hey can we use this field Nazumo?” Rayne asks.

“As if! We’ve been waiting to train all day!” The ninja says.

“Oh come on. Pretty please.”

“How about this, we fight to see who gets the field. Me and Daisuke versus you and…Hey I’ve never seen you before…” He says pointing at me.

“He’s a uh…transfer student. Training in our village for a while before heading home.”

“Ok. Well are you up for the challenge?”

“Look kid I would love to play games but I have more important things to do.”

“Whoa Mr. Cool, calm down.”

Rayne grabs my arm and takes me aside, “Come on Ikari. We can totally kick their asses. Plus it would give me a good gauge on your skills.”

“Rgh…fine. But lets make it quick, you know I need to get through this quickly.”

She smiles and turns around, “Ok you’re so on!”

We back up to our respective sides and face each other. I drop into a battle stance and relax while bobbing around on my feet, ready for anything. I suppose I forgot to mention I only know a couple of basic jutsu but it doesn’t matter. Out of the corner of my eye I see Rayne doing some stretches before sliding her feet into a fighting position. Clearing my mind, I slam my foot off the dirt and immediately dash into the battlefield to which everyone does the same.

Since I never exactly focused my skills on jutsu, I was able to practice more practical things with Shibaru such as footwork and taijutsu. I would say my speed is above average. I’m the first to send a punch, which Nazumo blocks, leans back and cocks back his foot to kick back at me. I put my forearms up and successfully deflect his kick. He immediately crouches after I block his kick and sweep kicks my legs. Luckily I manage to catch my self with my hands and cartwheel off to the side landing on my feet. I barely have time to notice him charging at me with his fist drawn back so all I can do is catch his punch in my palm. He swings back his other fist to which I catch again with my other hand. We struggle for a moment before I force his fists down which causes him to lean forward allowing me to knee him in the face. He staggers back clutching his nose before shaking it off, getting angry at the same time.

I watch as he makes hand-signs followed by a lightning bolt firing out of his fingertips. At the very last moment I dive to the side, avoiding the blast. A cheap shot but we never said no to using jutsu. I find myself on the ground just as another blast is headed for me. I roll backwards as the jutsu slams into the ground right in front of me. Quickly scrambling to my feet I throw together some hand-signs roaring a fireball at him. He heads off to the side to dodge it so I use that moment to sprint towards him, delivering an aerial kick to his jaw. His face swings backward but he doesn’t go down and comes back at me. He goes for the kick to my ribs so instead of blocking I spin in the air sideways, dodging the kick. He plants a foot and swings his knee at my chest so I roll to the side and get up. Another fist appears in my sight, headed for my face so I do a front flip over him and sweep kick his legs, causing him to fall flat on his back. Then I spin around and place my left foot on his chest with my right fist aimed at him.

“Ok ok! I give.” He surrenders, the fight ending quickly.

I look over to Rayne who’s already dispatched Daisuke and has him pinned to the ground. “Looks like we get the field.” She says sticking her tongue out.

Nazumo gets up and dusts himself off, as does Daisuke. Nazumo shakes his head before leaving the training field along with his acquaintance.

Rayne runs over and screams, “We won!”

I flinch at her volume and give her a bored look before asking, “Can we get on with the training now?”

“Oh come on, celebrate a little.”

“Hn.”

“You have a very elegant fighting style. A rough start but for the most part elegant, almost like an assassin.”

“My brother and sister were in our village’s ANBU program. I learned a lot of fighting from them.”

“That training really paid off huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok I suppose you’ve been patient enough. Lets begin on the basics.”

At last, Rayne and I go over the basics over lightning release. She tells me to begin learning it I need to learn how to increase the frequency of vibrations in my chakra. Easier said than done. She tries to get me to observe her chakra but without an ability to see chakra flow it’s still a hard concept to grasp. By the end of the day I’m exhausted beyond belief and still haven’t gotten the damned thing down.

“Ikari I think you need to stop for the day. You’ve nearly exhausted all of your chakra…” She says softly.

“N-no…I HAVE to get this down.” I reply trying one more time.

Once again I attempt to increase the frequency but I feel my body lock up as I fall flat on the ground.

“Ikari!”

Rayne runs over and slides on her knees next to me. “Can you move?”

All I can do is look up at her and do nothing. Every muscle in my body feels paralyzed and it hurts to even try and move. Rayne wipes the sweat away from my forehead while staring at me unsure of what to do.

“I’m going to try something. I think if I use lightning correctly I can relax your muscles so you’ll move.”

I feel a small jolt shoot through my abdomen followed by my muscles decompressing and relaxing, allowing me to move freely again.

“Ikari you have to be more careful. You can’t overwork yourself like that, lightning style has dangerous repercussions if you can’t control it.” She explains.

“Y-yeah…”

I stumble to my feet nearly unable to walk with my whole body sore as ever. I try to take a step forward but almost collapse again. Rayne catches me before I hit the ground and puts my arm around her shoulder as we make way for her apartment. It’s a struggle because my body doesn’t seem to want to listen. Sometimes when I try to take a step forward I feel the muscle in my leg tense up again causing me unimaginable pain before it relaxes again. Out of nowhere I feel my body go into a cold sweat and my vision gets hazy.

“Ikari, are you ok?” Rayne asks.

Gibberish is all I can speak as my legs give out and I feel my face and body crash into the ground even with Rayne’s support. I suppose I really did overwork myself…She pulls all her strength together to help me up which she does as we continue making our way to the apartment.

“Yo Rayne!” A voice from the crowd of people calls out.

“Is that you Bee? Thank the heavens, can you help me?”

“Yeah who’s this?” The man says in an almost sing-song voice.

“This is Ikari. I was showing him lightning release and he completely overworked his body. His muscles locked up earlier and now he can barely walk.”

The massive man puts my other arm around his shoulder as they both practically drag me to Rayne’s apartment. We arrive there soon enough and they toss me on the couch. Rayne gets a cold wet rag and puts in on my forehead. I lay there not being able to move from fatigue as Rayne and the man known as Bee go outside to talk. After a few minutes Rayne walks back in alone and sits on the couch next to me while flipping over the rag.

“So lets not try to do that again huh?” She says teasingly.

“Tch.”

“I’m just kidding with you. But in all seriousness you can’t go that far again. If you do, it could cause permanent muscle damage.”

“Ok.”

“You seem like you’re tired. I’ll leave you alone, night.”

She retires for the night and flips off the light leaving me alone peacefully in the pitch-black living room. My eyes get as heavy as a ten ton weight and I feel myself fall into a deep sleep. Night goes by and I find myself awake for some unknown reason. I look over at the digital clock, which reads 3:42. Unable to go back to sleep for the moment I force myself up and go outside on the balcony to get some cool air. A nice breeze sweeps throughout the air and blows my brown almost black looking hair to the side. I look up into the night sky, which is spotted with millions of stars. Closing my eyes, I begin to meditate just as the door swings open. Turning around, I see Rayne sleepy eyed in a nightgown.

“Can I join you?” She asks.

“Sure.”

“I heard you get up I was awake too.”

“Oh.”

“Ikari…I want to ask you something.”

“Hm?”

“Why are you so bent on vengeance? So much that you were willing to put yourself in harms way?”

I sigh, “It’s something I must do. I can’t let those monsters, those demons live after what they did to me. I was lucky to get away and I got away for a purpose. I must avenge my brother and sister because if I don’t then who will? If I don’t then they died for nothing on that day.”

“I see. Ikari you have to understand something.”

“What?” I bite back.

“Revenge…twists people in ways that are almost inhuman. Trust me you aren’t the first person taking the revenge trodden path I’ve seen.

“Really now? Who was the other?”

“I won’t go into that only because it’s personal but this is what happened because of it.”

She lifts up her shirt and shows me a scar unlike any other I’ve seen. The skin is melted and twisted up almost like someone blew a hole in her stomach.

“What happened there?”

“I was trying to save a friend from darkness…the attack went all the way through.”

“How’d you survive?”

“Great medical ninja but that’s not the point. The point is that I don’t want to see you consumed by the shadows of vengeance. Whatever you do Ikari…don’t walk that dark path…”

“I’ll do what I must.”

She looks off to the side with sad eyes and turns around to go back inside. I let her do so as the door clicks against the locking mechanism. I take one deep breath and look back at the heavens where my brother and sister are right now before turning around and heading back inside myself. This time I’m tired enough to go back to sleep right as my head hits the pillow and I drift off into a deep slumber.

Chapter 6

-Battery

The next morning I feel well enough to train so I decide to get to work early. I hop out of bed, or might I say the couch, and head outside to once again attempt the basic training. First things first I sit down and meditate, settling my chakra as well as my mind. After a while of that I get up and try to increase vibrations in my chakra. I feel as if I’m getting close, each time I try, I feel my chakra beat almost like a whip but slowly. That must mean I have the frequency change down, now I just need to learn to speed it up. So again, I try to quicken the pace, I see Rayne walking down the steps from the apartment and just as I look up at her, my muscle spazzes out and a lightning bolt explodes out of my fingertips. Rayne lets out a sharp yelp and ducks down at the last second, nearly avoiding the blast.

“Trying to kill me off huh?” She asks, checking her hair to see if anything is gone.

“Sorry.” I say, rubbing my muscle. “Still can’t get the damn thing down…”

“It’s ok, you’re slowly getting there. You just nearly killed me with lightning so that says something.”

“Rghh…”

Two ninja in masks drop down from the sky out of nowhere, startling Rayne. Their masks tell me that they’re ANBU, which must mean they have important news. “Rayne, the Raikage requests you and your…friend’s presence.” The one wearing a bird mask says.

“Will do. Come on Ikari.”

I can’t exactly refuse to go as much as I want to continue practicing so I reluctantly follow along.

“Don’t worry Ikari we’ll get right back to training once we deal with this.” Rayne says.

“Whatever you say.”

Quickly we find ourselves at the Raikage’s office and head straight into his office. He looks up from his papers and sets them in a file before looking back up at us with an odd look on his face almost like he’s worried about something. I look to the left to see the Bee fellow from yesterday sitting in a chair with his arms crossed.

“Rayne I have some bad news.” A starts off. “You know the Akatsuki of course.”

“Yeah what about them?” Rayne asks putting her hands on her hips.

“They’re on the move and not casually, they’re after the jinchuriki.”

“So what do we do? Shouldn’t we stop them?”

“We? No you’re not going anywhere. Or Bee. Not even for missions. I cannot risk you two getting caught.”

“That’s not fair A you know I have important things to do outside of the village.”

“I’m sorry we just can’t risk it. I’m having ANBU watch over you to make sure you don’t leave.”

“I’m not a child anymore I don’t need a damn babysitter!”

“There’s no arguing about this. It’s final. Please, understand where I’m coming from.”

“No! You’re treating me like a five year old I don’t need this!”

“Rayne! It’s final!”

She pivots on her heel and storms out of the office, slamming the door with a loud bang. I stand there awkwardly before asking, “So what’d you need me for?”

A rubs his temples and says, “I knew she’d put up some resistance so I need you to do me a favor.”

I stare at him listlessly, telling him to go on with my eyes.

“Since the Akatsuki are after jinchuriki, I need you to watch over her. You’ve been spending a lot of time with her and it’s the least you could do for me.”

“The Akatsuki?”

“You’ve never heard of them? They’re an evil organization, no one knows their true motives yet but we do know they are after all the jinchuriki.”

“Ok. Well it’s not my problem.”

Quicker than the speed of light the massively muscled man appears inches before me, his face scrunched up in anger. His speed even surprises me that I stumble back a bit.

“You’ll do as I say. Understand?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Get out.”

I slowly turn around and exit his office heading outside to look for Rayne. I quickly spot her on a sidewalk bench and head over to her, sitting down next to her. She stays silent, only looking at the ground with a depressed look on her face.

I break the silence by saying, “Your father is strict.”

“That’s not even the half of it. I have important…things to do outside of the village and A’s new enforcement really isn’t good right now.”

“I’m not stopping you, do what you want.”

“Thanks…”

“So about that training…”

“Yeah. It’ll get my mind off of this.”

Rayne mopes her way to the training field with me in tow behind. I can tell she’s pretty down about the situation but it’s not my problem so I’ll just go with it. Going to the training field takes forever but we eventually arrive there.

I notice the look on Rayne’s face and sigh, “Look if you’re not in the mood to do this we don’t have to.”

“Sorry. I’m just stressing out about all of this.” She says.

“You hungry?”

She looks up and smiles, pushing her hair out of her eyes, “Yeah.”

I don’t know the village that well yet, so again Rayne leads me to a restaurant of her choice. We enter a blue and white painted building, which turns out to be a dumpling shop. We take a spot next to the window and quickly get what we want. As usual I get nothing because I’m not hungry.

“Sometimes I worry if you’re going to die of starvation…” She says.

I stare at her, “I’m just not hungry.”

“Suit yourself. So do you ever miss your home?”

“Sometimes.”

“Did you have any friends?”

“I remember one.”

“Oh.”

I stay silent and look out the window at the crowd of people walking by.

“What was your childhood like?”

“It’s kind of foggy…”

“Oh…”

She munches on her dumplings and looks out the window too. It stays silent for the remainder of the time. Rayne finishes her food and pays for it before we exit the building. Unsure of what to do now we stand around before I speak up.

“I can go practice alone if you’re not in the mood for it.” I suggest.

“I think I’ll go take a nap. See you later Ikari.” She says walking off to her apartment.

With nothing else to do I head over to the training field and begin training on my own. I go through the usual routine and relax my chakra and mind. Soon enough my chakra begins beating like before. I slowly but surely begin increasing the frequency, remaining calm and focused it speeds up one by one. Already I can feel my body stressing out from this change, I start sweating and become uncomfortable and then that feeling from before creeps up on me. Trying my hardest to keep the tiger seal my arm begins shaking and twitching and eventually spasms, firing off another electric bolt from my fingers.

“Rgh!” I grunt, clutching my right bicep and falling to my knees.

I wipe the sweat from my forehead and struggle back to my feet and attempt to try again. After hours of struggling to master this I finally give up and fall flat on my back, heaving and sweating profusely. By this time it’s pretty late so I decide to call it a night when out of nowhere the hairs on my neck stand up, an obvious sign someone is watching me.

Standing up and looking around I yell, “Who’s there?”

Dozens of crows explode out of a tree and begin to materialize right in front of me. I whip out a kunai and slide into a weak battle stance while the birds continue to mass together. A young man in his early twenties with a black ponytail and onyx eyes is the result of the crows. He’s wearing a black cloak with red clouds spotting the entire thing. One arm rests inside his cloak with the other hanging freely. He continues to walk towards me and gets within stabbing distance of me so I swing my kunai at him. He grabs my wrist and contorts it so I drop the kunai then he proceeds to drive his knee in my stomach so I clutch it with one hand while he releases my other hand, letting me fall to the ground.

“Wh-who…are you?” I angrily ask.

“I apologize. I knew you wouldn’t listen if you were hostile and I need to speak to you.” The mystery man says.

“What do you want with me?”

“A few answers.”

“Hm.”

He looks me dead in the eyes and hesitates a little before continuing, “I’ve been following you around since you got here.”

Since I got here? This guy sure is a master of stealth, “So then why should I answer anything?”

“I’m not going to harm you. This is about Rayne.”

I attempt to stand back up but my muscles prevent me from doing so, I notice him crouch down to get on my level showing me he isn’t hostile. I suppose I’ll hear him out.

“I’ve noticed you’ve been spending a lot of time with her. I have a meeting with her in a few days and I want to make sure there are no obstacles.”

“Hn. Then there might be a problem.”

“Which is?”

“The Raikage isn’t allowing Rayne to leave the village.”

He nods, understanding, “Hmm. This isn’t good.”

“That all?”

“No. I need to ask you for a favor.”

I shut my eyes in annoyance, “What.”

“You need to help Rayne get out of the village temporarily so we can meet.”

Why does everyone insist on pulling me into their crap?

“Look I would love to help but I have things to do.”

He sighs, “Is there any way I can sway your mind?”

“Unless you can help me master lightning release…then no.”

He smirks slightly, “I believe I can help. Just make sure Rayne gets out ok and go with her.”

I don’t want to trust him but I suppose I have no choice especially if he helps me achieve my goal, “Fine.”

“Thank you.” He says, exploding into a dozen crows.

All of a sudden I’m able to stand, regaining my strength out of nowhere. I look up into the night sky and decide it’s time to head home. Rayne might be awake so this will be interesting to talk about. I sluggishly make my way to the apartment and find the door unlocked for me. I walk in and see Rayne sitting at the kitchen table sipping on some tea.

“Hey.” I say.

“Hey.” She replies looking up at me, “You look tired.”

“Yeah. So…how do you plan on leaving the village?”

“I’m not sure. Why?”

“Lets just say someone asked me for my help to get you out.”

“What?! Itachi confronted you?”

“Who?”

“He didn’t say his name? Nevermind, what did he say?”

“He wants me to get you out of the village safely.”

She shakes her head, “Always one step ahead. Well then lets figure this out I guess.”

We begin firing off ideas to one another and by that I mean she does most of the work. Since I don’t really care I don’t put in much to help but I tell her what’s good and what’s not. After talking through the night we finally come up with a plan. I glance at the clock, which reads 2:34. Didn’t realize time could fly by so fast. Rayne retires to her room and me to the couch. Itachi is an interesting character and I’m intrigued to see what he can teach me.


***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***


The next day is a blur and our training continues. By this time I was sure I would be able to get the technique down but so far I just haven’t. I thought I would be gone by this time too but it looks like I’ll be here a little longer than expected. Rayne helps slowly but surely, eventually I’m able to contain a small amount of voltage in my fingertips but any attempt to release it in a powerful blast is futile. My muscles continue to spaz out sometimes and other times Rayne has to relax my muscles with lightning. By that night I’m totally drained of energy and as usual, Rayne has to help me back to the apartment.

“Ikari, I really envy your work ethic but you need to take it slower. Exhausting yourself every day like this is life threatening.” Rayne says.

“Huff…huff…huff…I’ll…do what I must,” I tell her.

She stops walking and shoves me into a bench, standing over me like she’s about to lecture me, “Get it through your thick skull. You’ll die if you continue to wreck your body like this.”

I slowly nod my head to which Rayne places my arm back around her shoulder, continuing to the apartment, making it there in due time.

“Why don’t you take a hot shower? It’ll help your muscles,” Rayne suggests.

I shrug and decide to do so. After the shower I lazily crash on the couch and nod off into a deep sleep. Exhausted from the day’s burden.

“Wake up.” A voice sternly says.

My eyes slowly come apart and I make out a blurry figure. I finally adjust my sight and it’s Rayne standing over me. I glance over to the clock, which reads “5:00 A.M.”

“What the hel-“

“Don’t complain. Just get up, get ready, and go to the training field,” She commands, walking out the door quickly.

I stand up and throw on my shirt, cloak, and sandals and head out the door. When I arrive at the training field, I see Rayne standing at the far end with her arms crossed.

She gives me a serious look before saying, “Lets see how far you’re willing to go.”

“Is this some sort of te-“

I’m cut off when Rayne immediately appears centimeters from me with her fist drawn back. With no time to react, her fist connects to my face and I feel a sharp volt in my cheek. I’m sent reeling back, crashing into the earth. I get back up, still shocked from the speed.

“Cheap trick,” I say tearing off my cloak and tossing it to the side.

The sun shines through the foggy morning creating a misty field of glittering sunlight. For a moment it’s peaceful before I pick up my feet and run at her. She kicks her foot off the ground and begins charging at me too. When we reach each other she slides down to try and knock me down. I jump over her and toss three shuriken that barely miss her. She eases back onto her feet and swings her foot at my head so I counter it with my left palm, bringing up my right knee at the same time. Rayne slams it with both her hands, blocking it. Seeing my opening I grab her wrist and yank her down while pushing her up and over me with my other hand. She flips throughout the air and lands on her feet gracefully.

Quick as lightning, she makes a set of hand-signs and slams her palms on the ground. Electricity bolts leap out of the ground like a shark jumping out of water. They stay in the air and zip across the field at me, quickly I dive and roll to the side, the other two loop around and head back for me. I throw together my own set of hand-signs and yell, “Fire style: Fire ball jutsu!” cancelling out the lightning with my fire. A huge electric surge comes up from beneath me and causes me to convulse uncontrollably. It stops and I collapse to my knees. I look up to see Rayne smirking.

“Always keep an eye on your opponent. Get back up,” She says.

“Rgh…”

I surprise her by exploding into a sprint, making it to her in near seconds. Suddenly she disappears from my sight in a blur. I stop and look around before I feel something connect with the back of my head. I slam into the ground and quickly get back up.

“You’re quick…” I say.

“Can you keep up?” She replies cockily.

Once again I get back up instantly and reach her in near seconds, and once again she blurs from my sight, this time I plant my foot mid sprint and swing my fist around, colliding it with her foot. She bounces back landing on her feet. As she lands my clone appears out of hiding and dashes by her swiftly, slicing her side with a kunai. Rayne stumbles back and clutches her side, glancing at the blood on her fingers.

“How far am I willing to go?” I ask. “You’d be surprised.”

The air seems to shift and I feel something explode against my body, sending my body careening through the air. I slam into the dirt, sliding across it for several feet before rebounding off my foot and jumping into the air to stop myself. I look up at the girl and feel pure power radiating off of her with pure chakra wielded as claws for fingers. Looking at the ground, I notice blood dripping from my chest onto the dirt. It begins to sting but I take the pain, blocking it out. I didn’t even have time to blink, what is this power? I never would’ve guessed she was capable of this strength.

My fist begins to tremble and I begin approaching the girl whom is consumed with power. I notice her hair looking a bit more frazzled than before with a certain intensity in her eyes. Before I can lift another foot I feel the force of a ten-ton weight crash into my side. I roll on the dirt and get up, a bit hazy from the hit. I stumble and look up to see Rayne again. That speed is near unimaginable. But I can’t stop; I won’t surrender at this point.

I launch a fireball at her and see her flicker to dodge it. Shadow clones explode all around me and we begin to charge in full force. One by one, clones begin to disappear in explosions of smoke. Glancing all around me I attempt to locate her but all I can make out is a blur flying around the field, destroying all of my clones. With no warning, she collides into me again, slicing my chest with her claws. I tumble backwards on the ground before coming to a halt. When I open my eyes, my sight is very fuzzy and I can barely make out Rayne standing in front of me. Rising to my feet, I feel my whole body begin to tremble. My blood feels like it’s boiling and my breathing picks up. I clench my fists and with nothing to lose, make a set of hand signs.

Out of the rising dust and smoke an electric bolt fires and slams into Rayne’s chest. She staggers back a little but because of this power she’s wielding, the lightning barely does anything. Slowly I see Rayne’s features morph back to normal as she gives me a grin. I look down at my still trembling hands and clench them in satisfaction.

“I knew you’d get it. I just needed to push you to your limits.” She says.

Just to make sure I make the hand-signs and try to fire off another bolt but my muscles lock up and cause me great pain. So much for that…

“Hm. Maybe not…”

“Rgh…”

“Don’t worry, you’ll have it down soon enough.”

I shake my head and look back up at Rayne, “What was that power? It was not human.”

“Hehe. Well… long story short, I’m a jinchuriki.”

This girl a jinchuriki? No it can’t be.

“To the six tailed Raijuu.”

“Hm.”

Now it all makes sense. She can wield lightning to some of the greatest ability I’ve ever seen and she’s able to call upon that power.

“That’s enough for today,” She says, “How about we get some rest hm? We have a long day tomorrow.”

“Sure.”

Chapter 7

-Rude Awakening


At about six in the morning something shakes me awake. Startled at first, I calm down after realizing it’s Rayne. I rub the sleep out of my eyes and sluggishly slide my sandals and shirt on. Rayne seems up and ready to go, a bit eager for her meeting. I suppose I am too but for my own reasons.

We hastily leave the apartment and make our way to a cliff over looking a waterfall. Water gushes over the edge into a pool of water and rocks. The plan is to leave our clones here while we take care of business. Maintaining a clone for this amount of time will require a lot of chakra especially if anything goes wrong and it needs to take a hit. Rayne and I sit down and begin focusing chakra intensely. After a few minutes of that two clones poof behind us, fully prepared to do what is necessary. Now here comes the difficult part: getting out. If we jump off the cliff, according to Rayne there is a spot with no rocks where you can dive in safely.

Rayne grabs my hand and unknowingly I blush. She laughs at my awkwardness and proceeds to cloak us in an orb of lightning just in case anything fatal happens. We step towards the edge and reluctantly dive into the eternal abyss below, leaving our clones behind. The wind streaks past my face along with water from the waterfall. At the last second, Rayne cuts the lightning orb so we don’t get electrocuted. We plunge into the water and shoot straight down into the deep waters. Bubbles explode around us before we begin swimming up, using chakra to propel myself upwards to the surface. I emerge from the blue water and begin floating down the second river that connects to the pool we landed in. Glancing around I notice that Rayne isn’t near by and also notice that another waterfall is closing in. As I go back underwater I spot Rayne floating, unconscious. I successfully grab her hand and yank her back to the surface, tugging her to the shore.

I pull her up on the bank and lay her on her back, noticing she isn’t breathing. I do my best to preform CPR and eventually she begins hacking up water and gasping for air.

She sits up heaving, “Ikari…thanks.”

I pull her to her feet, “Come on.”

We check our surroundings before scaling down the side of the cliff. By doing this we won’t have to worry about any ANBU bothering us and our clones will be able to deal with them easily. The bottom of the cliff opens up to a large green pasture. Down the field I notice a rock formation of some sort. By the time we arrive I realize it’s a shrine of some sort. I read the scribe and it’s a shrine to the Raijuu…Rayne’s bijuu.

“We’re here.” Rayne says.

“Cool.” I say, spotting a tree not too far away.

“Where are you going?”

I don’t respond and slink back against the tree, relaxing. The open blue sky, calm wind, and green pasture make me sleepy. The flowers dance in the wind with no care in the world. Rayne stares at me before shaking her head and sitting down against the shrine. Soon enough my eyes grow heavy and I drift off into a soothing sleep.

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

The sound of muffled voices is enough to interrupt my pleasant sleep. As I awake I notice Rayne and the fellow that told me to bring her here talking in front of the shrine. I shrug it off and decide this is a good a time as any to practice my lightning release. So I stand up and walk away from the other two. They glance at me before looking back at each other and continuing their conversation.

Ok lets do this. Step one settle my mind and chakra…step two, focus my chakra…step three, beat like a whip…step four, increase the frequency. I stand up and get prepared for step five…releasing it. I point my fingertips outward, I feel the chakra transform into lightning and…the usual sensation from before, my arms lock up and my muscles spaz in extreme pain. My rib cage suddenly feels like it’s wrapping around my lungs and I can’t breathe. I collapse to the ground and any attempt to breathe fully or get up is futile. I feel two fingertips touch my forehead and all the symptoms seem to disappear in an instant. Calming down, I look up to notice the man Rayne was talking with standing over me with a stale look on his face.

“Your doing it wrong.” He says flatly.

I give him a bored stare before saying, “Thanks.”

I stand up and face him, “You’re Itachi correct?”

He nods his head.

“So how can you help me?”

He smirks, “I suppose I do owe you a favor. Come with me.”

He leads me back to the shrine where Rayne is standing. He looks at her then looks at me, “I suppose you haven’t told him the step he’s missing…”

Rayne trips on her own words, “Well I uh…um. I thought he would find it out by himself. Hehe.”

I feel my eye twitch, “You knew the whole time…?”

She rubs the back of her head and shrugs.

Itachi sighs, “It’s the most important step so sit down and listen.”

He goes through the process of explaining the properties of a wave to me. There are four parts to a wave- the wavelength, the period, the frequency, and the amplitude. Lightning release consists of an intricate balance between these four components. Itachi tells me I have the frequency part down which is ok but I need to balance the other four. He draws a diagram in the ground and labels it for me. After receiving a lesson on how a wave works, whether it be a sound or light wave, he explains the process of balancing all these parts. About an hour later he finishes up his lecture and looks at me.

“Now try it out.” He says.

I stand up, determined to get this thing down. Slowly but surely I go through all the steps making sure to create a perfect balance of all the components of the wave. After focusing for a while I feel like my chakra waves are balanced and so I prepare to release it as lightning. My fingertips point outwards and my chakra steadily reaches my fingertips.

“Release!” I yell, firing a perfect thunderbolt into the tree I was sleeping on earlier.

I open my eyes and look at the tree while smirking. Finally…after all the agony and difficulty, I have this element down. All I have to do is learn different jutsus and I’ll be prepared to move on to the next village.

“Thank you Itachi.” I say.

“No need to thank me. Thank you for bringing Rayne here.” Itachi replies.

Rayne smiles brightly as her hair flows in the wind. I suppose doing good things for others will bring good things for your self.

“Now if you’ll excuse us we have important business to finish up.”

I nod slowly and go back to the tree to practice lightning release over and over. The more I do it the better I’ll get and the less difficult it will be to learn new jutsu. A few more hours go by and eventually I’m exhausted. Not from failing but from succeeding in my trials. It’s a way better feeling. Rayne and Itachi seemed finished up by the time I get done practicing, assuming it’s time to leave I approach them.

“Thank you Itachi.” Rayne says as I arrive.

“Thank you Rayne.” Itachi says back before exploding into dozens of crows and disappearing.

Rayne faces me and smiles again before tackling me with a hug.

“What the-“

“Thank you Ikari…without you this would’ve been impossible. You may be distant, and have dark motives but you’re a really good friend.”

“You’re welcome I supp-“

Out of nowhere I feel her lips lock with mine. My face gets so hot that it could melt steel. Rayne sits up and laughs at my embarrassment before getting off of me and pulling me up. At this point I’m really unsure of what to feel or say so I say nothing at all.

“Come on we should probably get back to the village.” Rayne says.

Chapter 8

-Horizon

I wake up this morning with my muscles tense as hell. Yes it hurts but in a good way, and I am still very pleased with my progress yesterday. It seems my time here is coming to an end. Rayne will teach me a few jutsu and then I’ll be on my way and onto the next village I have marked.

“Good morning Ikari.” Rayne says.

“Hey.” I say flatly.

“Want anything to eat?”

“Toast is fine.”

“Ha! You’re actually hungry? This is the biggest change I’ve seen.”

“Hm.”

“Happy about yesterday?” She says, winking.

“I suppose so.”

“Don’t worry we’ll get to some jutsu later.”

“Good.”

She hands me the food on a plate and I scarf it down quickly becoming full right after. She smirks at me before going back into her room to change, coming back out in no time. Rayne motions her head at the door and we exit. Immediately, I spot two ANBU placed strategically in case Rayne was to pull anything. I can see how it’s annoying to have people permanently keeping watch over you.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

“Believe it or not, A wanted to meet up with us. I think he wants a good gauge on your skills. Probably making up for not training you at first.”

“I see…then this should be interesting.”

We make our way to the destined meeting spot. I thought we were just going to a training field but we seem to be headed away from the village. We walk down a set of carved rock stairs that continue on forever. We walk across a plateau and then Rayne slides down a sharp drop off. I shrug and while balancing on my feet slide down after her. She waits for me at the bottom, which opens up to a luscious forest bountiful with trees and plants of the sort. I knew there were forests surrounding the place but none as fruitful as this. The green is very vivid to my eyes speckled with an assortment of flowers and fruits who’s colors are set off by the trees and bushes.

I continue following her until we come to a dead stop in the middle of the woods. In the center sits a lone tree trunk that seems fresh as if the tree it held was just cut down. In the blink of an eye a figure flickers through the tree line. The blur passes right before my face causing my hair to flit a little. Once again the shadowy figure darts across my field of view before coming to a rest on the tree stump. They settle down and turn to face us, revealing himself to be the Raikage, A, in the flesh.

“Rayne, Ikari.” He says, nodding at each of our names. “You’re probably wondering why I’m here.”

I nod my head slowly.

He clears his throat, “I understand you’ve recently grasped control of lightning. Is this true?”

Once again I nod slowly, keeping fierce eye contact with the massive man the whole time.

“I see. How well do you think you have this technique down?”

“Hn. Not as well as you or Rayne that’s for sure…”

“Mhm. Well I did promise to train you at first. I know I didn’t go through with those plans but I shall make it up to you.”

“Hm. Why the sudden burst of generosity?”

“Don’t test your luck kid. This is a good day for me.”

“Fair enough. So what do you have for me?”

“A sparring match. I would like to see your skills. A simple assessment if you will.”

I glance at Rayne then back at A, “Very well.” I say dropping into a stance.

“Rayne, if you’ll excuse us?”

“Ok.” She says, backing to the sidelines to watch.

“I hope you can keep up kid. I am the Raikage for a reason.”

“Hmph, and I possess the Kekkei Dota for a reason…”

From his sitting position on the stump he rockets at me with blinding speed, even faster than Rayne or anyone I’ve come across for that matter. I manage to dodge it at the very last second but I’m surprised when a small cut appears on my arm. I was one hundred percent sure I dodged that though…he must be faster than my eye can perceive. I sure as hell won’t be able to defeat him with pure strength so I’ll have to resort to stealth. Using what I was taught, I slip into the shadows of the forest and conceal myself, masking my chakra signature too.

A comes to a sliding halt and looks around the woods. Not sure of where I am he continuously checks his surroundings. Silently I begin to make shadow clones, keeping my chakra signature as well hidden as I can. Almost immediately A begins firing off huge charges of lightning into the woods, killing off some of the clones. They disperse throughout the forest and eventually I have A surrounded somewhat.

I duck and weave throughout multiple branches, at the same time making sure to dodge whatever A sends at me. I use one of my clones to drop from above and two come at him from the side. They make it to him and seem to strike him but A still manages to push them off of him and sustain no injury. By the looks of it, it must be a chakra shield of some sort and it seems like I’ll have to disable it somehow. Another blast of lightning shoots past my head, popping a few more of my clones that were sitting behind me. I shift through the forest to another position and prepare to strike him when he least expects it.

I make it to the other side of the forest keeping A distracted by sending out a few of my clones at a time. Settling down on a branch, I aim my fingertips at A and begin charging a lightning bolt. As I’m about to fire, pure chakra wraps around my arm in a spiral formation causing the lightning bolt’s power to greatly spike so much it pushes me out of the tree as I shoot it, causing me to fall back onto the forest floor.

I sit up and rub my head, looking through the shrubbery to see if I hit the man. What I see is the Raikage right before me with his fist near inches from my face.

“Crap…” I say. He must’ve sensed me falling or sensed the great increase in chakra.

“You’re dead.” He says.

I feel my eyebrow twitch, “Please…don’t say those words.”

He raises his eyebrow and opens his fist to help me up. I grab it and jump to my feet staring at my arm as I stand up.

“Everything ok?” He asks.

“Something weird happened…”

“Care to explain?”

Rayne walks up just as I’m about to describe what happened. I suppose she should hear this too.

“Hm. As I was about to shoot a lightning bolt, pure chakra wrapped around my arm with my finger tips as the focal point.”

“That is odd. I thought that bolt was a bit stronger than usual.”

Rayne speaks up, “Maybe it’s a trait of the Kekkei Dota?”

I turn my head and look at her then back at my arm, “Maybe…”

“We can look into it later. Anyways, that was pretty good for someone such as you. The fight was short but you took a good approach in the way you fought me. Most would’ve taken me head on but you didn’t. I suppose you were taught to fight as an assassin?” A says.

“My older siblings were ANBU they taught me some basics and those basics is where I began crafting my fighting style.”

“I see. Well shall we get back to the village?”

I nod holding my arm with my other hand. I still have to figure out what in the hell that was. If it is a part of the Kekkei Dota then I will be greatly pleased. Now I know I must learn new jutsu. If only I could find a way to re enact what happened. I suppose I’ll just have to figure it out on my own.

We go back the same way we came and find ourselves in the village in no time at all. A goes his own way, probably back to his office to do paperwork or whatever a Kage does. Rayne and I head over to the training field to get right to work on new jutsu.

“So I guess I’ll teach you a couple of jutsu that I know plus some scrolls I have back in my room.” She says.

“Sounds good to me.” I reply.

“This first jutsu is Lightning style: Pulse stun. It’ll help you in a tight pinch. What it does is, well, send a pulse of lightning throughout the ground to temporarily stun your enemies.”

She shows me the hand-signs then presumes to demonstrate…on me. My whole body locks up like from before when I was just learning to control lightning. I fall flat on my back but the effects wear off within minutes. I stand back up and prepare to try for myself.

“It’s pretty simple. Just use a small amount of electricity but make it spread out like water.” Rayne explains.

I make the hand-signs and try the jutsu out on Rayne. Not surprisingly I preform the jutsu with ease.

She gets back up from the stun and says, “Wow I’m surprised you got it down.”

“I suppose since I learned to control lightning new jutsu will be easy.”

She chuckles, “We’ll see.”

The rest of the day consists of her hammering me with new jutsu to learn. Some I master in one try, some take me a few tries, and others are going to take me a few days to learn. At least she’s generous enough to even teach me these things. I am very grateful otherwise I would be at a loss.

By the end of the day we’re both exhausted. So exhausted that we have to support each other just to get home. We stumble throughout the night through the streets of the cloud village. Sometimes we nearly collapse but eventually we manage to make it back to the apartment in one piece. We bust into the apartment heaving from lack of energy as well as chakra. She basically throws me onto the couch and stumbles into her room. I lay back and catch my breath letting my body relax. Soon enough I hear the door to Rayne’s room open and I see her walk out with a bottle of something and two glasses.

I raise my eyebrow, “What’s this?”

“I thought we should celebrate.” She says with a bit of excitement in her voice as she sits down next to me.

“Celebrate what?”

“Umm…how about…your time here?”

“I guess…what is it?” I ask.

“Sake.”

“Alcohol hmm? Didn’t think you liked to drink.”

“I enjoy it every once in a while. I’m not an alcoholic.” She says playfully.

Rayne sets down the glasses and pours her self and then me a glass of the beverage. She raises the glass and looks at me in the eyes, “Cheers.” She says.

I shrug and grab my glass and raise it to hers. The clink of the glass fills the room and we each down our drinks fairly quickly. A warm sensation fills my stomach as well as a bit of lightheadedness but nothing too serious. Rayne fills her glass up again and looks at me asking if I want some more with her eyes. Once again I shrug and hold out my cup. She fills it up again and we drink up once more. A couple more glasses later I feel…odd. The room feels like it’s spinning but when I look around it isn’t. Rayne begins talking non-stop but I don’t really mind it. I feel carefree and very relaxed, probably the effects of the alcohol. I even notice myself begin to open up and talk a bit more than usual, which is very weird for me. Again it must be the alcohol talking. I think I’m pretty drunk.

“S-so Ikari…*hic** how’d you get here?” Rayne slurs.

“Um…hehe I don’t remember.”

“Haha! S-seriously though!”

“*hic* Well um lets see…I walked through the forest…a-and I bumped into you!”

“I think I *hic* like the drunk you better!”

“That’s grape!”

We both begin laughing our asses off, enjoying the effects of the drink. Hours go by and we continue talking about everything. She pours her self and me another small glass and like usual we drink it up.

“So Ikari…y-you never t-told me. What happened w-with your brother and sister?” She says still slurring.

Instantly I feel my joyful mood sink into the depths of my heart. A dark, cold, foreboding feeling rises out instead. Ten times worse than any feeling I’ve ever felt before. I feel the weight of depression hit me like a train and it’s so noticeable on my face.

“I-Ikari I didn’t m-mean to ask that. It’s the alco-“

It’s odd though, for some reason I feel myself wanting to talk about it. As if there’s a need to get it off my chest, “T-they were murdered…right before my eyes…” I say, still slurring my words.

She places her hands over her mouth, “Ikari I’m so sorr-“

“By my own parents…”

Rayne chokes on nothing and remains speechless, “I…d-don’t even know what to say…”

“All because I possess this trait. It’s a blessing…and the worst fucking curse imaginable.”

I glance over at Rayne and see her lip trembling. She sets her glass down and does nothing until she wraps her arms around me.

“All I can say is…I-I’m so sorry. No one deserves that.” She says sympathetically.

“I don’t need your sympa-“ I stop in my tracks remembering her reaction in the library, “T-thanks…” I say instead, embracing her hug.

I feel my body tremble followed by a few tears escaping my eyes. At this point I feel so numb, so dead, so cold inside that it’s not even sadness I feel. Just my body reacting on it’s own. Rayne wipes the tears away and smiles as we make eye contact. I look back down at the table and fiddle with my glass, a bit embarrassed. No one has ever seen that side of me. Damn alcohol…

I feel her grab my hand and hold it with both of hers, “I…I didn’t experience what you did…so I don’t know exactly how you feel.”

“It’s fine *hic* at least you have a father who cares for you.”

She sighs, “They abandoned me…all because of the demon inside me. A’s my adopted father and B is my adopted uncle.”

“I see…I *hic* don’t understand emotions. But that is sad and I am sorry.” I say trying to sympathize with her, but obviously failing.

“It’s ok…well it’s not but you know… looks like the bottle is empty hehe.”

“I don’t think I can drink anymore anyways.”

We both chuckle and soon enough I feel a wave of tiredness sweep over me quickly. I lie back against the couch and feel my eyes go heavy. Soon enough I find myself in the blackness that is slumber.

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

“Ungh…” I groan looking around at the room I’m in, “Where am I?”

I look around to find myself stuck, laid out across a wooden table with my arms and legs tied down with metal cuffs. I struggle to escape but they are too strong but I cannot panic. Soon enough an ominous figure walks in through the door. The shadows of the room keep them hidden until they walk up to me. The figure is…my father.

“It took us a while but we found you Ikari…” He says.

I growl at him, “Why don’t you uncuff me and we can settle this! I can kill you now!”

“Shh…it’s ok son. No need to struggle.”

“Grr…you shut up!”

“Your mother and I never thought you would grow up to be anything special. This trait is such a blessing to our family.”

“This curse is mine! You won’t take it!”

“Interesting…you call it a curse. Don’t you see what we can do with this? Think of it unlimited amounts of chakra at our disposal!”

“You fucking monster. You can’t just exploit me, your own son!”

“Quiet now. We’ll begin the process.”

“What process?!”

He tapes my mouth shut and leaves me struggling. Out of his pocket he pulls a scalpel. He’s just about to put it to my stomach and-

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

“STOP!!!!” I sit up screaming.

The noise of glass shattering fills the room and I accidentally push Rayne off the couch too. She slams into the wooden floor and wakes up. Seems like she feel asleep on the couch too.

“We’re under attack!” She gets up screaming.

“Huff…huff…huff…”

She gains her senses and looks around the room then at me. I find myself heaving and sweating profusely with my heart going a mile a minute. Looking down at my hands, I notice them trembling beyond belief. I bring them closer to my body to stop the trembling.

“Ikari…are you ok…?” She asks with worry in her voice.

I look over at her and shoot up from my seat to head outside and get some fresh air. I lean over the railing and slump down, laying my head in my arms. The dream must have been from the alcohol. Rayne steps outside and places a hand on my shoulder.

“I had a nightmare…” I say.

“I’m sorry Ikari.”

Once again I look back up at her with fierceness in my eyes.

“Rayne…I have to become stronger.”

Chapter 9

-Reclamation

Training with Rayne has increased by ten fold. I explained to her that I needed to become stronger and she’s really been drilling me with jutsu practice. Every day results in me exhausting my chakra to the point where I can barely walk by day’s end. Nothing pertaining to my Kekkei Dota has resurfaced yet but I’m not too worried. Rayne has noticed that my chakra pool seems a bit larger than a normal person, which is still nothing compared to her chakra having a bijuu inside of her and what not.

Three months after my arrival, my arsenal of lightning is bountiful and I feel content on my progress so far. Which means it’s time for me to go. I’ve planned to leave tonight. Also I don’t know how I’ll break the news to Rayne, I’m kind of afraid of how she’ll take it. Hell I don’t even know if I’ll tell her at all but I must keep pressing on and head to the next village.

“Hello Ikari.” I hear a voice say from behind me.

I turn around to see Rayne walking up the incline to meet me. She walks up next to me and we both turn around to look upon the village. The sun is just setting and the wind is slightly breezy playing throughout the air and the trees. I could get used to having this kind of alone time and quietness.

“What are you doing up here?” She asks.

“Nothing…just…thinking.” I say.

“I can’t believe it’s been nearly three months since you’ve arrived.”

“Yeah.”

She giggles, “Still the same ol’ distant Ikari.”

“Hm.”

“Ikari…I’m glad you showed up when you did. There’s been a lot on my mind lately and you’ve taken my attention from those things.”

I shrug not knowing what to say.

“So…thanks.” She says giving me a kiss on the cheek.

“You’re welcome I suppose.”

“Lets go back shall we?”

“Sure.”

We arrive back in the village and walk around aimlessly not really sure of where we’re going. We make small talk and talk to a couple of the villagers but like usual I keep quiet. Since these are my final hours here I don’t really have much else to do or say. I can’t tell if it’s obvious or not that I’m being more quiet than usual but I don’t really care. I’m a bit anxious to leave and my objective is the only thing I care about.

Soon enough the sun dips below the horizon and the villagers retreat into their homes. The nightlife of the village just begins to peak and Rayne and I decide it’s time to head home. We make it to the apartment and lazily crash on the couch. Neither of us says anything until Rayne speaks up.

“You’re awfully quiet…more than usual. Anything on your mind?”

“Some personal things…nothing important though.”

“Are you sure? I’m always here to listen.”

“I know…and thanks but I’m not really in the talking mood.”

“Ok…well I’m off to bed. Goodnight Ikari.”

“Night…”

She closes the door to her room and shuts off the lights in there too. I decide it’s best not to fall asleep. So for four hours I lie awake, staring at the ceiling until it’s time for me to go. Time seems to go by slower than it ever has but eventually the digital clock next to the couch reads “3:00 A.M.”. I sluggishly sit up and pull my pack out from under the couch. Before I go though I, as best as I can, silently open the door to Rayne’s room.

I stare at her for a while, whispering under my breath, “Thank you…” before closing the door and exiting the apartment.

I make my way out of the village and keep a steady pace at that. There’s no need to second-guess myself. I weave through crowds of villagers enjoying the nighttime and keep my sights set on the exit to the village. Soon enough the rocky stairway from when I first entered the village comes into sight and I quicken up the pace.

I’m about to take a step down the first stair when I hear, “Ikari…”

“Shit…”I murmur, turning around to face Rayne.

“I was afraid this day would come…the day you would leave just like Sasuke did.”

“Rayne you have to understand. This is something I must do.”

“You could have at least told me! You were just going to ditch me like that!”

“Rayne please calm down…”

“Why do you have to go?! You’re the first real friend I’ve had in a while, it won’t be the same without you.”

“I have to avenge my brother and sister! Don’t you understand?! I’m not letting this crime go unanswered! They deserve vengeance! They deserve justice!”

“Then stay! There are others in the village that specialize in different elements. They can help you!”

“You know I can’t stay…”

“Why?!”

“You think my parents are going to sit around until I come for them?! No, they are going to be tracking me. I can’t stay in one place for too long or else I’m doomed.”

“We’ll protect you! A and B and all of us we’ll…we’ll”

I walk up to her, “Rayne…this is why I can’t make bonds with people, why I don’t make friends.”

“So…we’re not friends…?”

“I…I don’t know.”

“I can’t believe I thought you’d be any different than Sasuke! I can’t believe I took you in and taught you all I know!”

“Rayne…”

“Just leave then! Get out of my sight! I never want to see you again!” She screams, turning around.

I put my hand up to reach out for her but stop myself. I too turn around and before walking down the stairs say, “I’m sorry…”

And that’s the end of that. I head down the stairs and out of the village hidden in the clouds for good. Soon enough I find myself in the forest unsure of where I am. I pull out my map and look for the marked location. Just north of here is where I’m supposed to go. Through the bountiful amount of trees I walk through the forest looking for the location. The white moon casts dark shadows under each tree and I make an attempt to stay in those shadows to stay hidden. About an hour later I find myself in a familiar area. To the left I see the tree with barely noticeable scratch marks on it from a kunai. To reassure myself I look to the right and see three trees set apart in a triangular formation with a small boulder between them. At last I have found the clearing so I stay hidden in the protection of the shadows.

An apparition appears in the darkness just across the clearing and we both step out into the moonlight. Their face is still hidden under a hood as is mine, keeping our identities concealed from each other.

The figure speaks up, “Ikari…”

“Kino…” I say.

We approach each other and embrace.

“It’s good to see you brother.” He says.

“Same here.” I reply.

Kino and I have been able to keep in contact for some time now. When I was training with Shibaru I made an attempt to go back to the fog village. There I encountered Kino and explained everything that happened. He told me that the Kirikage announced my brother and sister murdered by rogue ninja and that I was assumed kidnapped making my mother and father look completely innocent. We agreed to meet on certain days and times to discuss my progress and course of action.

“Any news on those monsters?” I ask.

“Nothing new…they remain in the village acting as if nothing happened still. They appeared to have “moved on” but I know they are still acting in the shadows looking for you.”

“Very well. I just finished up my training in the cloud village.”

“Congrats. Everything went well I assume?”

“It ended on a bad note…but yes it went well.”

“I see. Then you are one step closer.”

“Indeed. Have you found out anything about Kekkei Dota?”

“Aside from what you discovered I have found out a little bit.” He says, handing me over some notes. “It includes more resilient chakra and a deeper chakra pool. Other than that I haven’t found any abilities or anything of the sort.”

“Any information is good Kino. Thank you.”

“We meet again once your done with the…Sand village? Correct?”

“Correct my friend. I’ll see you then.”

“Take care Ikari and stay safe. Also be on the look out for assassins or anyone else suspicious. They may be on the hunt for you already…”

“Thank you friend. Farewell for now.”

Kino dips back into the shadows and disappears. I will see him again soon enough. His information is always reliable and he’s the only true friend I have in any of this. With that done with I turn and face the direction of the Sand Village. It’s a long journey from here and I have no time to lose.

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

It’s been two days since I departed the Cloud Village. I’ve traveled fairly far but I’m still a ways from the village I have planned to go to next. The next element I plan on mastering is wind, a very versatile element that can be used stealthily if used correctly.

The sun is just reaching its highest point in the sky indicating the afternoon. I decide to take a rest and find some water. Easily I locate a stream and fill up my canteen while taking off my sandals and dipping my feet in the water. I lazily lay back and close my eyes letting my body relax.

After a few minutes of that I sit up and gather my supplies to head out again. I leap into the trees and begin traversing my way to the Sand village. It’s fairly quiet in the forest this day, not that it’s usually loud, but I enjoy the peacefulness of it. Up ahead I notice the tree line ending so I hop onto the ground and keep heading in the same direction. Over a hill it changes from forest to plains, a hint that I’m getting closer to desert. The winds sweep across the plains making the uncut grass dance simultaneously. The peacefulness is ended when I walk up on a mugging.

“Give me all your money!” A man yells at a woman.

“Please don’t hurt me!” She screams in fear.

“I won’t hurt you just give me the damn money!”

“I don’t have any on me, I left my purse at home! Please!”

“Just kill her and lets find someone el-“ Another man says stopping when he sees me.

“Uh…I’ll just be on my wa-“

“Give me all your money!” The first man says, interrupting me and shoving the woman aside who takes off.

“I don’t have time for this.”

“Give us your money and we won’t hurt you kid.”

“I’d rather die than give up my money to some pathetic highway men. If you really have a problem then face me like a man.”

The man and his two lackeys all charge at me like rookie ninja. I drop my pack and whip out a kunai placing it backwards in my hand. I throw it and charge at the leader of the group. He dodges the kunai and comes face to face with me when I flicker behind him. He stops dead in his tracks, dumbfounded.

I make a set of hand signs yelling, “Lightning style: Pulse stun!”

The three thugs lock up and fall on their backs, paralyzed from the electricity flowing through their body. I swiftly land two kunai into the throats of his henchmen and walk up to him, picking him up by the collar of his shirt.

“You should be more careful. You’ll never know what you’re getting into…” I say.

“I’m s-sorry I d-didn’t realiz-“

“Enough.”

I take out another kunai and fill it with lightning before plunging it through his heart and dropping his limp body on the ground. I walk over to my pack and sling it back over my shoulder before pulling out my map and looking around. I seem to have lost my direction. Out of the corner of my eye I notice the woman from earlier run up to me.

“Thank you so much! Those men would have killed me.” She says.

“Hm.”

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Tell me where the Village Hidden in the Sand is.”

She points in a direction and I nod, thanking her with my eyes. We part ways and I head in the way she directed me. I shouldn’t be too far away now…

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

It’s been four days of travelling and finally the village gates come into my sight. The desert was brutal and barren but I managed to make it through with no problems. Aside from those highwaymen I haven’t encountered anything that has raised my suspicions. Though I know the time will come when they come for this power and me…

Along with some travellers I walk in with no problem into the village. It definitely resembles the surrounding area aside from the buildings. The desert floor provides a ghost town type of look but there are hundreds of villagers and ninja walking around. I notice the giant sand dome that is the Kazekage building. I figure my best bet for finding a wind specialist is there. Deciding I’m tired, I quickly find a motel and crash, tired from the four-day journey. Today marks a new journey within a new village. I plan to get through this one quicker…

Chapter 10

-Adamant

I wake up pretty early in the morning. The motel isn’t much but it will do while I’m here. It sure is different though…not having Rayne around and stuff. I shouldn’t dwell on it though, it only leads to weakness. I grab a quick breakfast then step out into the bright desert sun. I suppose I’ll need some protection from the sun before my face burns off. My best bet is to head to the Kazekage building and appeal to him myself. That sounds easy but I have a feeling something will go wrong.

With my luck, the motel is just down the street from Kage building. Within minutes I’m in the lobby and walking up the stairs to his office. I make it to the top and instantly I am stopped by two ANBU.

“Who’re you.” One of them grimly asks.

“Hm. Does it matter? I need to see the Kazekage.” I say.

“Not just anyone sees the Kazekage. Leave.”

I sigh and turn back down the stairs a bit disappointed but I should’ve expected it. My next best bet is to wander around the village and hope I find someone. It shouldn’t be too far consider this is the land of wind.

In the center of the village stands a grand bazar. Thousands of street vendors and shops are lined up and down the streets arranged in a maze. It’s a bit much to take in especially with people constantly coming up to me and bugging me to buy their product. After a while though I find my way out and I end up back in the village. Still, I’ve had no luck finding anyone and I feel uncomfortable asking someone.

I suppose my next best bet is to find the training field so I walk up to a villager and ask, “Where’s the training field?”

They point towards the field and I nod my head in thanks. Within minutes I find myself looking at several young ninja sparring against each other with what looks like their sensei’s watching. I watch from the sidelines silently observing them and how hard they try to beat their opponents. It’s interesting really… seeing the determination, the lightning in their eyes as they attempt to out do each other. For a minute I lose my focus until I see a tornado of wind rise up into the sky. Now that’s what I was looking for.

I walk down the rows of fields until I find the source. A tall man with fabric wrapped around his head besides one eye stands in the middle along with a young ninja whom I assume is a genin. Without any hesitation I approach the two.

“Good job today Sansu. That’ll be it for today.” He says.

“Thank you Baki sensei. I’ll see you tomorrow!” The young one says before running off.

Just as the genin leaves I am standing near Baki. He turns to me, startled at first but calms down.

“Uhh. Can I help you?” He asks.

“Can you help me with training in wind release?” I ask.

I see him examine me before replying, “Who might you just be?”

“The name is Ikari. Now will you help me?”

“You’re not from this village are you?”

I sigh impatiently, “No.”

“Where are you from?”

“Enough with the twenty questions. Can you help me or not?!”

“Calm down kid. Walk with me.”

“Rngh…fine.”

We leave the training field and he barrages me with a million questions. He’s obviously trying to deduce who I am and what my purpose for being here is and it’s really beginning to piss me off. I really don’t want to resort to telling him my intentions but it seems I’m running out of options.

“Look.” I start, “I can’t tell you my intentions, neither do I want to. I must learn wind release for reasons of my own. So teach me it.”

“It’s not that easy kid. Why should I teach you our village’s secrets and techniques? How do I know you won’t abuse those powers? I need to earn your trust if anything first.”

“I’ll fight you for it.”

“Hm?”

“I said, I’ll fight you for it.”

He glares at me, “Fine. At least that’ll establish something between us. You can tell a lot about someone just by trading blows.”

We head back to the training field and face off on opposite sides. He bows to me but I remain still. Baki shrugs before settling his feet into an aggressive stance. He’s quick with the jutsu, instantly making hand-signs and sending what looks like a blade of wind at me to strike me. I swiftly take off to the left and avoid his wind blade strikes. After dodging several of them I skid to a stop, noticing that he has stopped using his jutsu and beginning to charge at me. Now it’s my time to go on the offensive. Finally I’ll be able to put my lightning release to good use.

I make the correct set of hand-signs and yell, “Lightning style: Pulse Stun!”

Baki slides to a halt and makes some hand-signs of his own. Instantly a tornado forms under him and launches him into the sky, barely dodging my pulse of electricity. The tower of wind morphs and turns at me, sending the ninja right at my position. I make some more hand-signs and send a bolt of lightning at him. He easily maneuvers the tornado and dodges my attack. At the last second I manage to avoid the impact but it’s so strong it sends me careening across the battlefield. I stagger to my feet, my rage bubbling inside of me. I go to sprint when suddenly I find myself going way faster than usual. I look down and notice pure chakra wrapped around my legs increasing my agility by ten fold. Baki barely has time to notice me when I smash into him full force slamming him into the ground on his back.

I slide to a stop at the other end of the battlefield, heaving while glaring at my target, waiting for him to make his next move. He stumbles to his feet, shakes his head and gets back into a fighting stance.

“Impressive speed you have!” He yells.

“Hm.” I grumble.

I see the hand-signs from once before and notice the air morphing, an obvious sign that he’s using the wind blade technique. I attempt to dodge it but the wind slices my arm, cutting fairly deep but without major damage. If I knew more fire techniques I could probably cauterize the wound but I’ll leave that for later. Time to bust out the big guns anyways.

The images of Rayne teaching me flash through my mind, I wince at the memory but all I focus on is the set of hand-signs meant for this technique. I make the correct sequence and yell, “Lightning style: Sonic shock!”

Three crests of electricity shoot out from between my palms, aimed at the sand ninja. He flickers to the left, dodging one, rolls to the right dodging another but is slammed in the chest by the last one. I smirk to myself, thinking I have won when the ground begins vibrating violently and erupts beneath me. I’m thrown into the air by a tornado and with nothing to defend myself I come crashing back into the earth. I only have the strength to lift up my head and I see two Baki’s standing next to each other. Of course I missed the clone he created while I was distracted.

He walks over to me and helps me up. I shake my head and glare down at the sand, angry that I’ve lost.

“Impressive.” He says, “Didn’t take you to be a lightning type.”

“Hm. There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”


“The fierceness and determination in your eyes… It’s something I’ve rarely seen.”

“So wil-“

“That being said I still cannot help you.”

“What?!”

“I’m sorry but in a time like this we can’t trust outsiders like yourself.”

“There must be a way I can prove to you that I’m no threat.”

“Perhaps… stay in the village and we’ll see. I’m sorry.”

“Rghhh…”

Baki walks away and leaves me to myself. The wind picks up and blows the sand into my face and eyes. I’m to pissed at this moment to even care though. With that I stick my hands in my pockets and trudge my way back to the motel.

For the rest of the afternoon I sit around in the hotel room thinking of ways I can convince someone to train me. I understand not wanting to give away the village’s techniques but I pose no real threat so I don’t know what the deal is. I suppose I’ll have to figure out some other way but the way I see it, I’m running out of options.

After a few more hours of lying around in the motel room I decide enough is enough. I’m going to march past those damn guards and into the Kazekage’s office.

The sun is just setting, a massive shadow slowly casting itself over the village as night consumes the world. I’ve been in the motel room for a long time it seems.

At this time the liveliness of the village begins to die down, most people retreat into their houses while some stay out on the streets waiting for the nightlife to begin. I for one have no time to enjoy anything right now because I have something to take care of, getting to the Kazekage that is. I stomp my way there intent on getting what I want.

Out of nowhere a blur shoots across my line of vision. I look to the left and notice it’s a kid, then something bumps into me.

“Hey watch where you’re going!” I yell.

I’m about to forget about it and take another step when two more people blur past me nearly knocking me on my back. This time I get up, angered.

“Watch where you’re fu-“

I stop when I notice it’s two ninja about the same age as Hitari and Kikoro were when they passed. This catches my interest so I decide to follow from the rooftops. From what I can see it’s that kid from before being chased by an older looking man with two sand ninja in pursuit. I manage to keep a close lead on them in order to find out what’s happening.

After minutes of cutting corners, taking shortcuts, and nearly losing the four of them the man has the kid cornered in an ally.

“What do you want from me?!” The kid wails.

“I saw you steal that jewelry from my cart. Don’t lie to me!” The man yells.

“I didn’t steal anything I promise!”

“Get away from our little brother!” One of the two ninja yells.

I get a good look and notice it’s a young man and woman. Oh man does this bring back some memories…

“He stole that jewelry! Make him give it back.” The jewelry owner says.

“He didn’t steal anything. Now how about you leave before this gets bad.” The older brother says calmly.

“Search him then.”

“I don’t have to do anything, I know when he’s lying and when he isn’t now back off.”

“I saw him do it! I saw him take the jewelry off my cart.”

This time the younger woman talks, “Back off.”

“No! I’m not letting this go!” The man yells.

He turns and faces the kid then turns around with sword in hand…

And that’s when something inside me snaps.

I close my eyes and when I reopen them I find myself in front of the duo with my hand trembling against the blade. The shop owners face is beyond shocked and I’m even shocked at myself. The owner brings the blade back and instantly I feel my body take over. I kick the blade out of his hand and as I come back around chakra swirls around my arm. My forearm connects with his sternum and the man is sent reeling into the wall so hard he makes a small crater.

I find myself heaving over his limp body. Then I feel someone place their hand on my shoulder. Still a bit jumpy, I spin around ready to attack whoever it is, dropping my defensive stance when I notice it’s the older brother.

“I…” He begins, “Thanks.”

The sister runs over to the shop owner, “He’s not dead.”

They both run over to their little brother who’s trembling against the wall. They manage to calm him down while I just stand there still dismayed at what I just did.

“Can we somehow repay you?” The older brother speaks up.

I decide it’s best not to answer as I leap onto the rooftops to get away. What happened to me back there? Usually I have control over my actions but when I saw that blade coming for the brother I lost all focus. My train of thought is stopped when I feel someone behind me.

I turn around and notice Baki, the sand ninja from earlier standing there.

“Impressive.” He says.

“You saw?” I reply.

“Indeed, you have incredible speed. I know you can use chakra to strengthen your blows but hell I’ve never seen the chakra visible on the outside of the body like that except for a few cases.”

“Hm.”

“You defended one of our own and you don’t even know them which says something about you. I don’t know who you are Ikari but that put my trust in you. We’ll go speak to the Kazekage tomorrow… Meet me in front of the building at ten sharp.” He tells me before disappearing.

I sigh in relief, glad that I’m finally getting what I want. It seems like I’ll be learning the wind release soon which brings me another step closer to completing my goal.

Chapter 11

-Hurricane


The next morning I wake up pretty early to get prepared for the meeting. Mainly I just wait but I take care of some things such as cleaning up my hand from that blade last night. The event still has me confused but for now I’ll shrug it off. I glance at the clock and notice it’s about time for me to head to the Kazekage’s office.

It’s a pretty clear day for the most part. I look into the sky and sigh before trotting my way to the building. Immediately I notice Baki standing there looking bored but at least he kept a promise. I wonder how the meeting will go.

We nod at each other and head straight to Kage’s office, skipping the registrar. Baki doesn’t even knock on the door, which I find odd but I ignore it. At the desk sits a kid no older than I am which confuses me greatly. I’ve never seen the leader of the village this young. It actually has me speechless. Next to him stands another kid who has a black jumpsuit with purple lines drawn on his face. Not sure who that is but I don’t really care either.

“Lord Kazekage.” Baki says before he bows.

“Hello Baki-sensei.” The redheaded Kage says back.

Well that explains why Baki didn’t even knock.

“Hello…” The Kazekage says to me.

“Hm? Oh the name is Ikari. Ikari Fukazi.” I say.

“This is our Kazekage, Gaara.” Baki turns and says to me.

My only response is a nod.

“What can I do for you?” Gaara says dryly.

“Well believe it or not, this kid came wandering into our village yesterday asking for someone to train him in wind release.”

“Is that so?”

“We…sparred, so to speak, and I got a good gauge on his personality and intentions just from that.”

“Yes you can tell a lot about someone from trading fists with them. Go on.”

“Although I did that, I declined his request. Him being a foreigner, I still couldn’t trust him…”

“I se-“

“That is… until last night.”

Gaara raises an eyebrow an obvious sign he’s interested in the story.

“Two of our ninja found themselves in danger. Ikari here saved them in the knick of time and saving someone not of your own village says a lot. I would like to make a request to find him a trainer for wind release. With your consent of course my lord.”

“I’ll gladly agree to that. On one condition.” Gaara says.

I raise an eyebrow.

“I want to talk to you alone Ikari, just for a minute.”

Gaara looks at Baki who bows then exits the room.

“Sit down.”

I sit in the chair as we stare into each other’s eyes for a moment. Finally Gaara clears his throat before speaking.

“Your eyes…”

“What about them?” I say.

“So full of anger…distrust…vengeance. I’ve seen eyes like yours before.”

“Strange… I’ve heard those words before.”

“So then you must know what my next question is?”

“My true intentions? Why I want to learn wind release? Why I’m here?”

“I know you probably don’t want to tell me but if I am to trust you one-hundred percent I need to know. It’s a time of high stress and we don’t need anymore mishaps.”

“I’m getting really sick of explaining but… I suppose it’s for the best in the long run.”

Gaara sits back in his chair, ready for my explanation.

“I possess a trait known as Kekkei Dota. I can control all of the chakra natures but I need to learn them first.” I explain to the young village leader.

“That isn’t the whole story though. Otherwise your eyes wouldn’t look like that.”

I sigh, “You really want to know my story?”

He nods.

“Fine. Years ago when I was a kid… my twin siblings were murdered by my own parents. Now it’s up to me to bring justice to them and to do that I need to unlock my full potential.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear. Now to find you a trainer.”

The other kid in the room finally speaks up, “Gaara, are you sure we can trust this guy? We barely know who he is. For all we know he could be making this up.”

Gaara puts his hand up, “Kankuro. Please, trust my judgment. Ikari, my brother here will take you to my sister Temari. She is highly skilled in wind release.”

A brother and a sister? All of a sudden I find myself become really relaxed around the Kazekage. All of a sudden I feel like I’ve known the guy my whole life. It’s an odd feeling… almost like I understand him and he understands me…

I find myself smiling, “Thank you lord Kazekage.”

Gaara raises an eyebrow, “Your welcome.”

I walk out of the room along with Gaara’s brother known as Kankuro. For a moment I stare at the ground a bit, shocked at what I felt. Those emotions… I haven’t felt them in forever…

“You ok dude?” Kankuro asks, snapping me out of my daze.

“Y-yeah… Lets go.” I say quietly.

Slowly we make our way through the village not making conversation at all. Every time I glance at Kankuro I notice him giving me a stare, one that says he doesn’t trust me. Can’t blame him though.

“Look.” He begins, “I’m not gonna take you to my sister.” He says.

I stop and look him dead in the eyes, “Why not?”

“I don’t trust you at all. In fact I want you to get lost.”

“So you’re going to disobey an order from the Kazekage?”

“He might be the Kazekage but he’s also my younger brother. He’s still learning.”

“Yeah? Well how about I go back to him and tell him what you think?”

“You’re not going anywhere near the Kazekage! I’ll use force if I have to!”

Both of us get into each other’s face with our teeth gritted. I glare into his eyes and he glares into mine. Out of the corner of my eye I notice him swing his fist at my head. Quickly, I duck under it and stand back up. He goes for another punch but I step back and avoid it. He begins throwing multiple punches to which I just step back and maneuver my head to avoid. Finally I see an opening and go to swing my fist at him when my body stops. I can’t find it in myself to strike him. Then something connects with my face and sends me straight to the ground.

“Kankuro what are you doing?” A female voice says.

Kankuro backs off but is still glaring at me. I rub my cheek and get back up as I look over at a blonde girl with four ponytails and a giant fan on her back.

“This guy is trying to go near the Kazekage Temari!” He yells.

“What do you want with the Kazekage?” She asks while putting her hands on her hips.

“Temari? Your brother told me to find you to train me in wind release.” I explain.

“Is this true Kankuro?”

“W-well yeah but I don’t trust him!”

“I apologize whoever you are. My brother can be an idiot sometimes.”

“Temari!” Kankuro yells, “We can’t trust him!”

“I know your trying to look out for Gaara but trust his judgment. He is the Kazekage after all.”

“Grr. Fine you deal with him!”

Kankuro storms off in a rage and just leaves his sister and me standing there staring at him. I shrug it off and forget about it before turning to Temari. After all that crap I’m ready to learn this new style.

“So Gaara really assigned you to me?” She asks.

I nod my head, getting sick of all the questions of reassurance.

“He is the Kazekage. Follow me.” She says dryly before turning around and walking off.

I follow her to an unknown location weaving our way through the village. It’s been a rough start here in the village but at last I’m getting around to some progress. I’ll have to be weary of Kankuro but he is just looking out for this little brother, just like Hitari… heh.

“I’ll have to get more information about you from Gaara later.” Temari says out of nowhere.

“You don’t want to find out for yourself?” I ask.

“Not really, it’s more for informational purposes.”

“Hm.”

I already like her blunt personality; she should be somewhat enjoyable as a teacher.

Within minutes we arrive at the training field. The sun has just dipped below the horizon offsetting the yellow color of the desert with shades of pink, orange, and red. The wind whips across the sand and the only sound is the air whistling against the earth itself.

“So.” Temari begins, “I suppose we’ll have to start with the chakra transformation.”

I nod my head.

She sighs, “ Imagine taking two grindstones and grinding them together. You need to separate your chakra into two halves and grind them together in order for the nature transformation to commence.”

My first thought that comes to mind is how hard the lightning transformation was. Surely it can’t be as difficult as last time and less of a toll on my body, although grinding your chakra together sounds a bit more troublesome than increasing the wave frequency. Thus begins our training…

Chapter 12

-Absolution

The next morning consists of Temari drilling me with chakra transformation practice. Unlike Rayne who was concerned with me hurting myself, Temari doesn’t give two shits and pushes me to my extreme limits. She says it’s the only way I’ll be able to get it down. I suppose that’s how the body works, it only learns in extreme conditions.
After hours of training in the baking sun Temari puts up her hand to signal to stop, “Ok we’ll take a break, then we’re on to the next component of wind release.”

I nod my head and wipe the sweat from my forehead. It sure is damn hot around here…

“You must be hungry.” Temari says.

“No not really…” I reply.

“I haven’t seen you eat one thing since we’ve begun training.”

I shrug and sit down on a nearby bench to cool off. Off in the distance I see a black figure walking up. As it gets closer I realize it’s Kankuro and my body tenses up.

“Hey.” He says to the both of us.

“Hey Kankuro, what’s up?” Temari asks.

“Gaara wants to see us. Including you Ikari. Come on.”

Hm, wonder what the Kazekage wants.

We make our way through the sandy village, the wind whistling between the buildings and the sand whipping throughout every nook and cranny. Temari and Kankuro walk ahead of me talking to each other while I trail behind and keep to myself. In due time we make our way to the building and up the stairs into the Kage’s office where Gaara is sitting, reading over some files.

“Hello brother.” Kankuro greets.

“Hello. Sit down all of you.” He says in his usual tone of voice.

“What’s wrong Gaara?” Temari asks.

“It seems we’ve come to a… roadblock in our agreement Ikari.”

“What? What did I do?” I ask angrily.

“I’ve been digging around and even with my resources I haven’t been able to find a file on you. This has led me to rethink my decision about letting you learn wind release.”

“Hm. I have no reason to betray you in any way.”

“As a person, I believe you… as a Kazekage, I cannot. I have a task for you and if you complete it, we’ll resume your training.”

“Tch. What’s this task?”

“A long time ago before any of us were even born, an outpost of ours was lost during the second great war. This outpost of ours contained an archive of jutsus that was lost when the outpost was destroyed. If you can retrieve those jutsu scrolls, which I am hoping are still there, then you will be free to resume your training.”

“Fine.”

Gaara hands me a file, which contains the coordinates to the outpost. It seems to be just on the edge of wind country and river country. River country is pretty neutral so I’m not too worried about running into trouble.

“Temari and Kankuro will assist you in case you decide to try anything.”

“I don’t need any help.” I say.

“If you are to earn my trust then you will do as I say…”

“Tch. Fine. Lets get going then.” I sternly put, turning my back to the leader of the village and heading towards the door.

Without hesitation, Temari and Kankuro follow me.

We exit the Kazekage building and make our way to the entrance of the village. I look past the valley and stare into the endless desert that stands before us.

“What are you waiting for…?” Kankuro asks.

I turn around, flustered, “Uh. I don’t know where we’re going.”

Both of them drop their heads and sigh. Temari pulls out a map and peruses it before walking past me. I suppose she’s taking lead on this one. Kankuro joins her leaving me to follow them, which is fine by me.

Slowly we trek our way through the harsh desert. The heavy winds and large amounts of sand continue to barrage us as we make our way through the dusty land. None of us are even allowed to speak because of how loud and powerful the desert winds are. Every once in a while Temari stops to check the map to make sure we’re going in the right direction.

Soon enough the desert begins to change to dry plains. Small splotches of grass appear here and there as well as the occasional tree. As we continue on our way it changes from desert plains to a more forest looking terrain and soon enough we spot our first river, which is where we decide to take a break. I reach the river and look down into the refreshing waters. I look up into the sky and notice the last piece of sun is dipping below the horizon. We decide to set up camp there for the night. Kankuro quickly retrieves some firewood and I light it with a basic fire jutsu. Temari fans the fire every once in a while to keep it alive.

“So Ikari.” Temari speaks up after this whole period of silence, “What are you really looking to accomplish?”

“Hm. I’d rather not talk about it.” I say as I gaze deeper into the dancing flames.

“You’re obviously hiding something.” Kankuro accuses.

“I’m not hiding anything. I simply don’t want to speak on the subject. My motives are my own and I choose who I share it with.”

“People are usually ambitious about their goals, confident that they will accomplish them, but you. You not wanting to talk about it raises my suspicions.”

My eyebrow twitches, “Look. If I was going to pull anything I would’ve done it already. All you need to know is that I need to learn wind release as quick as possible.”

“How do we know you won’t abuse those powers?” Temari asks.

“In a way… I plan to use those powers for justice.”

“Hmm.”

“You don’t believe him do you Temari?” Kankuro whines.

“Hmph. Kankuro was wrong, you are expressing your goals ambitiously, just not in an…expressive way.”

“What?!”

“Look Kankuro, he saved one of our villagers, and even stopped himself from hitting you in the jaw.”

“But anyone can put on a fake smile Temari. You have to understand that.”

“I do but trust me when I say there is something different about him Kankuro. If I was suspicious of him at all I would’ve sliced him to death with a wind jutsu now.”

“Rgh… whatever you say… I’m going to bed.”

Kankuro angrily retreats to his tent leaving Temari and me alone.

“He just gets overprotective sometimes.” Temari says before yawning, “I think I’m going to hit the hay.”

This means that I have watch for a portion of the night.

Throughout the whole night I stare into the fire mindlessly. I don’t even feel the least bit tired so I end up keeping watch the whole night and as usual there are no disturbances.

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

“Ikari why didn’t you sleep and let one of us keep watch last night?” Temari greets as she walks out of the tent.

“Wasn’t tired… Lets get going.” I say standing up.

Temari shakes her head in disbelief but shrugs it off. Kankuro comes out of his tent too and doesn’t say a word. We pack up our things quickly and head back on the road.

“So should we be expecting any trouble?” I ask.

“No. This outpost has been abandoned for over a century so no one should bother us. We’re getting close so stay sharp though.” Temari says.

We quicken up our pace and in no time the border is in sight. The border is signified by the river the runs across. To our right I just see a bunch of boulders and to our left more forest. Which leaves the question of where the hell is the outpost.

“If I’m correct the outpost is fifty meters to our right.” Temari says.

We head off to our right for a little and almost immediately Temari shoves us into some bushes.

“What is it Tem-“ Kankuro blurts but is cut off by Temari practically slapping her hand on his mouth

“Enemies… dead ahead.” She whispers.

Just our luck, we come to an outpost that’s been abandoned for over a century and there are people poking around where they shouldn’t be.

“What should we do?” Kankuro asks his sister.

“We analyze the situation first.” I say, “We figure out who they are and then go from there.”

Temari stays in the same bush while Kankuro and I creep around in opposite directions. I make it to the top of a tree and scan them. I count fifteen wearing flak jackets, some wearing heavier armor, and some dawning very light clothing. Those must be the lookouts of which I count five. I’m not close enough to see their headbands but I continue gathering information. The heavy armored ones must be the guards and I count five of them also. Which leaves five left to do the digging. With that I sneak back around to Temari and repeat what I saw to her. Kankuro comes back too and tells us that they’re rogue ninja from all sorts of villages.

“Hmm that brings a few problems up. We don’t know what jutsu they’ll use and together they’ll be able to use a variety of jutsu.” I say.

“Well we have the advantage too. You know basic fire jutsu and lightning jutsu. Temari knows wind and I use puppets.” Kankuro replies.

“You’re a puppet user? Never would of thought… ok but that doesn’t mean we have the upper hand. I suggest we do this stealthily. We take out the lookouts first and then the guards then we can deal with the ones looking around for what we came for.”

“Hmph. I didn’t take you to be a leader Ikari.” Temari says while smirking.

“We just need to do what needs to be done. Kankuro can you make a henge out of your puppets?”

“Ha I learned that when I was thirteen.” He says proudly.

“Good. Transform him into one of them and try to distract as many as possible. When you have the chance, kill them off silently.”

“Got it.” Kankuro responds.

“I’m going to do a little bit more recon but don’t worry about me I can take out a few of them on my own.”

“What should I do?” Temari asks.

“You any good at traps?”

Temari smirks as she pulls out a bundle of wire.

“Perfect.” I say grinning, “Lets do this.”

Chapter 13

-Deep Within

Immediately the three of us split up in separate directions. I creep back over to the bush I was in earlier when I was scouting and I glance over to Temari who is setting up her wire. A small poof of smoke appears behind another set of bushes just across from me and I see a ninja looking just like the enemy walk out from there. That must be Kankuro’s puppet henge.

I spot a ninja walking close to my area so I scan around to make sure none of his comrades are watching. It looks clear enough so I quietly make my way to the edge of the bush. As the ninja passes in front of me I swiftly pop out of the bush and stab him in the throat with a kunai, at the same time covering his mouth so he doesn’t scream. I then drag him into the bush and lay his body down. It’s like he never existed in the first place. That’s only one of them down out of fifteen though, so we have a lot of work ahead of us.

Deciding I should move positions I stalk behind some more trees, bushes, and spots of tall grass. I spot two enemy ninja standing guard near a patch of tall grass and no one else watching them. They have heavy armor so I’m going to have to infuse lightning into my kunai to strike them both down easily. Slowly and steadily I whip my chakra stream into lightning form and send it towards my hands, static and electricity quickly flowing into the metal. With that I dash out towards the guards and stab them both in the back, using the momentum to pick both of them up slightly and dumping them into the tall grass, concealing myself next to their dead bodies as well.

From a distance I spot two more ninja get dragged into a set of trees followed by a gust of wind that blows past me softly. Temari seems to have successfully taken down two more. So far that leaves ten left and none of the others seem to have noticed their allies missing.

On the opposite side of the tall grass I’m in I see a ninja walk up to a group off three of the rogues. The three rogues consist of two heavy armored guards and a lookout. They begin talking then out of nowhere the ninja that walked up opens up to reveal a huge iron maiden, and swallows all three of them, killing them off instantly. I gotta hand it to Kankuro, doing that stealthily takes practice.

That means we only have to kill seven more before we can grab the scrolls. Quickly we cut down their ranks till there’s only two left, I signal to Temari to use a wind jutsu to send them into the sky. They’ll never see it coming and since they’re the last two, we can go all out on the attack.

Temari leaps out of the bushes and swings her fan from left to right. Two small wind tornadoes throw the two remaining into the sky. I too leap out of the bush while quickly weaving hand-signs and shout, “Lightning style: twin thunder cannons!”

I bring both of my palms together as a huge charge of lightning fires out from my hands. The charge sends the two ninja higher to the sky and with that I look at Kankuro. Two of his puppets fly out of a tree and open their chest cavities trapping the ninja inside. Then the two puppets slam together with spikes sticking out of each and every direction, blood dripping off the sharp points. The puppets open back up and dump the dead ninja on the ground.

“Good work.” I say as we all approach each other.

“Good call taking it on stealthily, we dispatched them quicker than we would’ve if we had to battle all of them.” Temari says

I notice Kankuro off to the side digging through the debris. Almost immediately he pulls up a chest buried under several layers of debris.

“Found it!” Kankuro yells back at us.

How the hell he found it that quick is beyond me but at least we don’t have to do the digging ourselves. Temari and I take a knee next to Kankuro as he pulls out multiple jutsu scrolls from the chest. We each take a handful and stuff them into our bags emptying the chest completely.

“I think we’re good to go.” Temari says, “We’ll camp out for the night and head back in the morning.”

Kankuro and I nod our heads. We decide to find some place away from this run down outpost.

Easily we find a good spot to set up camp so we do. Once again I take the night shift for the whole night…

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

“Ikari why the hell did you not wake one of us up again for the night shift…” Temari tiredly asks.

“Like I said before – not tired. Now lets get a move on.” I say back.

We pack up the supplies and make our way back to the hidden sand. Within a matter of hours the valley concealing the village is right before us and not too long after that, we’re in the sand village. The first place we go, of course, is the Kazekage mansion, to turn in the scrolls.

Gaara perks up when we walk through the door, eager to see us.

“I see you’re back. How did it go?” He calmly asks.

Each of us empty out the scrolls onto his desk. Gaara looks through a few of them before filing them away in his desk.

“Very good. Ikari, you may resume your training whenever you feel.”

“Thanks…” I say turning around and exiting the building.

I make it outside and find a place to sit down, tired from the mission. It was a huge waste of time but at least I can continue my training. I hear footsteps behind me and notice it’s Temari by herself. I assume Kankuro is attending to some business of his own.

“Now that that’s over with I assume you want to get back to training hm?” Temari asks.

I lazily look at her before nodding while pushing myself up from the bench. We walk to the training grounds and find a good field to practice on.

“I have a question Ikari.” Temari says.

“Hm.”

“Where were you before this? Where did you learn lightning release?”

“What’s it to you?”

“You’ll answer if you want to learn anymore…”

“Rgh. I was previously at the hidden cloud village. There happy?”

“So you’re going to each village to learn their techniques?”

I dare not utter another word so I answer with silence…

“Why?”

“I’m not answering that.”

“Fine… ok show me your chakra transformation.”

I bring my palms together and slice my chakra in half within me. The first thing I do is separate the halves, bringing them away from each other. Then I slowly start brining the halves together. I feel the chakra slowly begin to strike against each other. So far so good…

I bring the halves closer together when I feel a sharp pain in my left arm that causes me to lose focus. I look over and notice a small gash leaking blood on my skin.

“Hmm I was afraid of that…” Temari says.

“Grr… why did that happen?” I angrily ask.

“Your body isn’t used to the change in chakra nature and it doesn’t help that you got used to the transformation brought on from lightning also.”

“What does that mean?”

“Don’t you get it? It means your body needs to adapt to multiple chakra natures. You’ll need to push your limits and endure a lot of pain if you want to succeed.”

“As long as it doesn’t prevent me from actually learning the transformation I don’t care. I’ll endure as much pain as I need to… I always have.”

Temari raises and eyebrow but says nothing before dropping her arms and smirking, “If you don’t care about pain then so be it, but after I’m done with you, you won’t be able to walk.”

I glare at her, “Is that a challenge?”

“Shut up and try the transformation again.”

I nod once and go back to the transformation. It’s going to be a long day…

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

“Jeez Ikari are you all right?” Temari asks, “You’ve been laying there forever…”

“It feels like someone took razorblades to my leg muscles. I can barely feel them.”

“Ha! I knew you wouldn’t survive my training, but you did make some good progress today.”

Temari says that in order for my body to adapt I can’t just go jumping into the transformation. It takes time. I have to slowly let my chakra halves strike one another before fully pushing them together to produce wind. The effect this has on my body is miserable; it’s just as bad as lightning was just in a different way.

“Come on I’ll help you to your room.”

Temari throws my arm around her shoulder as we slowly make our way to the motel. This reminds me of my time in the hidden cloud when Rayne would help me to her room. Once again I erase that thought from my mind. I can’t let Rayne dwell in my thoughts, it’ll only hinder me, and it’ll only make me feel emotions I severed long ago. Instead I look into to the sky, clearing my mind.

“What’s wrong Ikari? You look down.” Temari asks.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.” I say.

Temari asks nothing else after that. Eventually we get to the motel room and she throws me on the bed and leaves immediately after that. I literally have to pick up my legs in order to move them so I can get comfortable. With no effort I feel my eyes become extremely heavy and soon enough I drift off into a deep sleep.

Chapter 14

-Gust

“WAKE UP!” A voice screams, causing my eyes to shoot wide open.

My vision un-blurs and it’s Temari standing at the foot of my bed with her arms crossed.

“How’d you get in here…?” I ask.

“The door was unlocked.”

I must’ve forgotten to lock it last night.

“To the training field now.” She says before exiting the room.

I lazily force myself out of bed and sit on the edge letting the tiredness escape my body. Shaking my head I stand up and throw on my shirt before heading out the door. Immediately the sun’s rays blare against my face causing my eyes to squint. Soon enough I get used to it and make my way to the training field. As usual I see Temari standing there with her arms crossed waiting on my arrival.

“What’s the plan for today?” I ask.

“The usual. There’s not much else to do until you get it down.” She replies.

“I’ll get it down.”

“Today is a record high in the heat index. Sure you can handle it?”

“I can handle anything lets just begin.”

“Alright then,” Temari starts, “Step one.”

I sit down and relax my mind, settling my chakra as well. It feels my chakra is flowing as smoothly as a river so I open my eyes and nod at Temari.

“Step two.” She says.

My chakra separates into halves as I split them apart, far away from each other. The creeping strain starts from my lower back and slowly makes it’s ways upwards. It’s like someone taking razorblades directly to my skin. I can’t stop here though and must keep going on.

“Step three. Show me you can do it Ikari.”

Slowly my halves of chakra begin heading for each other. The razor sensation has flown to all parts of my body and the pain is beyond imaginable. My body begins uncomfortably sweating and I feel my face scrunch in pain.

“Ikari…?” Temari says, a bit of worry in her voice.

“I’ve got it!” I struggle to spit out.

The halves begin to barely touch, causing sparks of chakra to fire off within my chakra system. Each spark feels like someone driving a kunai into a different part of my body. This is almost worst than torture.

“Rgh…agh…”

“Ikari that’s enough you’ll hurt yourself!”

“NO!”

As I scream, I accidentally force my two chakra halves into each other. What I feel is equal to about ten swords being drug from my lower back to my upper. At the same time I feel an incredible force swirl around me. I writhe in pain grabbing my back in agony but as I look up I see Temari come sliding to a halt on the dirt about ten yards from me. I struggle to stand up but my back pulsates in terrorizing pain and I fall back to the ground.

“Rgh…what happened…?” I manage to say.

Temari wobbles to her feet and walks back over to me while wiping sand off her clothing.

“Not really sure. I can only infer that you accidentally used wind release. It swirled around you like a tornado which is why I was sent over there.” Temari sternly says.

“Accidentally?”

“Yeah. You forced both of your chakra halves together because of the pain right?”

“Well yeah.”

“Then you must’ve done it right but on accident.”

“Damn…”

I try to stand up once more but utterly fail, this element release is going to take a while to master.

“Also I recommend you try not to use lightning release as much as possible.”

“What? Why?”

“The more you use one element, the tougher it will be to learn another element. Simple right?”

I glare at her before going back to rubbing my back which is still throbbing with pain. I run my fingers on my back and notice blood staining my fingertips. Lifting up my shirt I find that there’s a lot more blood than usual which isn’t a good sign.

“I-Ikari…?”

Soon enough I feel my head get very light and dizzy. The weight of my body feels more than my feet can handle. My legs begin trembling at the same time I see darkness swimming around the outer edges of my sight. Within seconds the blackness consumes everything…

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

“We have to go back for Kikoro!” Ikari yells at his brother.

“She’s dead Ikari! We have to go!” Hitari manages to say through tears while sprinting for his life.

Ikari continues to wail when his crying is stopped short as he feels his body collide against the cold earth causing him to slide for a few feet before stopping. He trembles as he looks up to see his brother clutching his side and writhing in pain.

“Ikari…agh…r-run!” Hitari spits out.

“No! I can’t leave you here!”

“I-Ikari…p-please! Ru-!” Another rock spear explodes from the ground, impaling Hitari in the stomach. Bloods spatters out from his back, some splattering on Ikari. With his last breath Hitari whispers, “Remember…Kekkei Dota…” Passing away with his last words.

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

My eyes shoot open glancing around at the ceiling of the room I’m in. I don’t have the strength to get up so I turn my head to the right to see Gaara and Temari standing next to the bed looking at me. Gaara has the usual blank but determined stare while Temari looks a bit worried.

“You’re awake…” Gaara calmly says.

“I guess I passed out.” I say.

“You were about to bleed out had Temari not rushed you to me. I managed to pack your wounds with sand before the medical ninja took care of you.”

“Hm.”

“You should thank my brother.” Temari speaks up.

“When can we get back to training?” I ask.

Gaara laughs once through his nose, “You won’t be training for a while Ikari.”

“Grr. You’ll train me if you wanna avoid your death!”

Gaara raises an eyebrow and at the same time I notice Temari place a hand on her fan. I suppose that was a little over the top.

“Sorry… I just really need to learn wind release so I can get on to the next village.”

Both of them seem to calm down, as do I. Temari then stands a little closer.

“You still haven’t told us why you need to learn wind release or why you’re travelling to all the villages for that matter.”

I stay silent and look down at the bed sheets, angry that they won’t leave me alone when it comes to this subject. My burden is mine and I’d prefer never to speak of it again. So why do these people and everyone else want to know?

“Temari drop it. I can see from his eyes that he wishes not to speak of it.” Gaara says.

Temari’s shoulders relax and she steps back away from the bed, obeying her younger brother’s command.

“Anyways, we’ll resume your training on-“

BOOOM!

The building shakes as the loud explosion fills the outside air. Gaara and Temari wide eyed, run to the window to look outside. Temari gasps and cups her mouth. At the same time sand begins leaking out of Gaara’s gourd. Something has gone terribly wrong. I attempt to get out of bed but crash into the wooden floorboards. Temari rushes over and puts me back in bed while Gaara’s sand is floating around him.

“What is it?!” I yell.

“It appears to be a summoning.” Gaara says.

For this to be happening right now makes him a calm Kage, “Of what sort?”

“An animal summoning. Seems to be a spider.”

“Where did it come from?”

“From the looks of it, the archive building, which means…”

“The scrolls we collected!” Temari says.

“It must’ve been a trap. They wanted us to collect those scrolls… Temari we must go, Kankuro is probably already there.”

“I can help.” I say.

“Ikari, you’re in no position to help just stay here.” Temari says.

“No, I can help!” I yell, crashing into the ground as I attempt to get out of bed again.

Temari tries to help me up but I shove her hand away and manage to struggle up to my feet.

“Ikari you need to rest!”

“I said I. can. HELP!” I roar as a blast of chakra fills the room.

Suddenly I feel all of my energy returned to me and it’s easy to stand again. I feel flexible, energetic, and nimble, ready to take on an army.

“Ikari… y-your wounds. They all healed.” Temari says in amazement.

I glace around at my body noticing that all the scrapes and bruises are completely gone. Running my fingers along my back, I only feel smooth skin. It must be another ability of the Kekkei Dota I think to myself.

I notice Gaara turned to me with an eyebrow raised, “Well then. I suppose you can help us now.”

I clench my fist, “Lets go.”

Chapter 15

-Blood Diamonds

The wind streaks past my face as Temari, Gaara, and I make our way to the spider summoning. Off in the distance we see the spider releasing it’s webbing and stomping on buildings. The villagers attempt to stop the spider is futile and it looks like it’s going to take a lot to bring the spider down. I look closer to see Kankuro’s puppets circling the spider in mid air while dropping an assortment of poison bombs, kunai, shuriken, and other deadly ninja tools. It seems to be doing no damage though. The monster releases an ear-piercing shriek, announcing its strength.

After dashing along the rooftops we arrive at the scene of the destruction. The spider lifts its body up and smashes its feet down close to Kankuro. The force sends him rocketing away. Luckily Temari uses a wind jutsu to stop him flying and slowly sets him to the ground. Kankuro then joins back up with us.

“What’s the plan?” Kankuro asks, obviously looking to Gaara.

“Hmm… We go for the legs, weaken them or subdue them. Whatever it takes to knock this beast down. That’s when I’ll finish it.”

All of us nod our head in unison and split up, taking a different leg of the spider. I check to see if everyone is in their positions before I begin preparing my jutsu. My hands form the hand-signs without a second thought.

“Lightning style: Sonic shock!” I yell sending three crests of lightning at the leg of the spider.

The three crests slam into the leg, sending a shockwave into its body as well. I hear everyone else use their jutsu at the same time then the spider falls to it’s knees on the right half of it’s body.

Gaara then uses a pile of sand to lift himself in the air above the spider. Soon enough massive amounts of sand piles into the sky above the spider. Eventually a blanket of sand hovers above the spider before it begins a free fall for the monster. The sand is just about to cover the spider before it springs back to its feet and arches it’s legs. The spider leaps into the blanket of sand, cutting through it, and soaring into the sky. There’s barely anytime to react as it comes rocketing back to the ground. The force sends all of us flying in separate directions. I crash into a building and feel the shockwave of extreme pain rattle throughout my body. Pissed, I force chakra to my feet, shoot off the building, and charge at the monster. It notices me and rears back on its back legs, ready to strike.

“Lightning style: Thunder fist!”

My left fist becomes coated with voltage. The sparks and bolts of lightning leap off my fist, radiating with electrical power. I land on the roof of a sand building and force more chakra to my feet, leaping off with one more powerful spring. The spider brings its legs crashing down but I manage to maneuver around the massive hairy legs. I dodge the first set of legs then land on the next set, clambering around the side to leap off towards its face.

I cock my fist back when I feel a massive surge of power explode within my fist. I look back to see a giant fist swirling with chakra and flowing with lightning extending from my actual fist. I smirk, and look back to the spider. A large boom erupts as the fist connects to the creature’s face. The force sends it skidding backwards, crushing buildings in its path.

I land back on a building and leap backwards ready for the next move. Within minutes the whole group joins back up with me accompanied by village ninja as well as Baki, the jonin from earlier.

“What was that Ikari?!” Kankuro yells.

“Not sure but I think I can use it again.” I reply.

What’s the plan this time Gaara?” Baki asks.

“You Ikari distract it by delivering huge blows to its body. The more of a nuisance you are the better.” Gaara calmly explains.

“What do we do?” Temari asks.

“We and the village ninja will send a combined attack all at once when Ikari has weakened it. When we hit it with our combined attack, that’s when I’ll move in for the final blow.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” I say, cracking my knuckles.

Once again I feel the familiar feeling from before again but this time it’s not just my fist. It’s my arms and legs with pure chakra swirling around them. The Kekkei Dota is finally showing itself I think to myself. I’ll have to figure out how to make it appear like this on command. For now it seems to activate during outbursts of rage as well as when I have an objective I determine to accomplish. The second part is just hypothesis though, so I’ll have to investigate later.

“Ikari…?” Temari asks, “What are you?”

“For once, I am powerful.” I reply before leaping off the building in one chakra fueled jump.

Thanks to the Kekkei Dota my speed is increased at least by twice of what it is normally, perhaps even more. Within minutes I reach the spider while preparing the same attack from before. I leap up at the spider as the massive chakra fist extends from my hand again. Instead of lightning this time I’m going to try to use wind. The chakra separates in my body, more easily than usual. Slowly I place the halves together and I feel the transformation travel throughout my arm and into the fist. I dodge another set of swift strikes from the spider and go for the face hit again.

I’m about to reach its face and slam it with the fist when I feel the sword feeling stab into my back. My body locks up in midair and that’s when the spider smashes me with one of its legs. I smash into the roof of a building and skip off it like a rock skipping across water. I slam into another roof and once again skip off of it before slamming into a watchtower. I slide down onto the village floor and then get up back on my feet.

The pain disappears more quickly this time, again thanks to the Kekkei Dota. Another chakra filled leap sends me back onto the roof of another building and once again I find myself travelling quickly towards the spider. The villager’s multi elemental attacks do nothing to harm the summoning. This is becoming more trouble than it’s worth but I can’t stop. I have a duty I must complete.

This time I stop a few buildings away from the spider as my hands form some more hand signs, “Lightning style: Twin thunder cannons!”

The swirling chakra speeds up and vortexes around my arm. Instead of a thin layer of lightning coating my arms, it’s a massive swirling vortex of chakra laced with lightning. It’s like having all the power of Mother Nature in the palms of my hands.

I aim both my arms at the grotesque creature and fire both simultaneously. The vortex of chakra and lightning swirl together into an even bigger charge and smash into the spider, blasting it with pure power. It’s enough to knock the thing over as it crashes down on it’s back. I begin sprinting at high speed once again and leap right above the spider, coating my body in lightning. I then force chakra out of my feet to shoot me directly at the spider’s stomach. With the Kekkei Dota I can force a large amount of chakra through my chakra system in my feet. Since the chakra openings in my feet are small, forcing an amount too much for it to handle causes me to shoot off like a bullet.

The sound of splitting flesh fills my ears as I bounce around within the creature, tearing up its insides and lacerating everything I touch. I explode from the side of the spider lathered in blood and guts when I look to Gaara and all the others.

A combination of sand, wind, and other varieties of jutsu and ninja tools soar through the air blasting the side of the monster. It’s flips over once more but fails to stand back up on its feet. Gaara uses this moment to soar up above the spider and quickly create another formation of sand. Instead of a blanket, a massive amount of sand begins to gather from the ground up and around Gaara. Within minutes he’s in the form of what looks to be a raccoon. It looks familiar, as if I’ve read about the form he’s taken somewhere but I can’t put my finger on it and shrug it off.

The giant sand raccoon charges at the spider and lifts it up off the ground before pinning it to the floor. The raccoon then delivers a quick one two punch, obviously doing a large amount of damage to the creature. Finally the sand raccoon picks up the spider and begins tearing off its legs one by one. Heavy amounts of blood gush out of the spider’s empty leg sockets as it shrieks in agony. The last attack consists of Gaara’s sand raccoon placing its hand over the spider’s head. Sand begins to flow around the monster’s head creating a layer that envelopes it. The sound of bone and flesh being crushed explodes like a bomb. Soon enough the spider falls over, completely and utterly dead.

The sand begins to trickle away revealing Gaara as his normal self. Just as all the sand disappears, the dead carcass of the creature disappears in a massive poof of smoke. At that time also, my powers begin to fade away. The chakra swirling around my arms and legs seeps back into my skin and I feel the surge of power decrease back to normal. Within minutes Gaara, Kankuro, Temari, Baki, and the remaining village ninja who fought gather around me.

“So…” I start.

“You all did well today. We successfully defended our home. All of you are dismissed except for Kankuro, Temari, and you Ikari.” Gaara states.

I glance around at all the destruction. While we managed to keep it to a limited area the damage is still pretty bad. Already I see villagers as well as village ninja going to work on the reparations without a second thought.

“That was too close for comfort. Once again you defended our village Gaara,” Baki starts, “All of you helped too. I’ll go assist the villagers with repairs, thank you all again.”

Gaara nods his head at Baki and then turns to me.

“Ikari come with me to my office.” He says.

We walk towards the Kazekage building gazing around at the damage. Luckily the fight managed to avoid the Kage building. Gaara sits down at his desk and rummages around the drawers before pulling something out which he keeps concealed. I assume he’s going to say something before giving it out.

“Ikari… during your time here you’ve done good deeds for us. You defended our own, obeyed mission directives, and defended the village from a threat. I even think you learned some things about yourself during your time here too.” He says.

“Look, I just did what I had to do in order to learn your techniques.” I reply.

“Regardless, I’d like you to have this head band. It symbolizes that you are a friend of the hidden sand village. From now on you’re considered one of us.”

“Well thanks I guess… It wasn’t that big of deal.”

“Hmph. You may resume your training whenever you feel. And once again, thank you.”

I begin to exit when Gaara speaks up again, “Wait.”

“What is it now?” I turn around and ask.

“If you do not wish to speak on the subject, fine. But what is this power of yours?”

I approach the desk very closely, placing my palms on it, “I’ll tell you, but you have to promise me it’ll stay a secret. For if it gets out into the world I will be hunted down.”

The room stays silent except for a gulp produced by Kankuro. Gaara nods as I prepare to explain it.

“I have a genetic mutation in which I can control all five elements. With it I have a deeper chakra pool, more resilient chakra, and the other abilities you all have noticed. Though these are only a few of the techniques I’ve discovered. It’s called Kekkei Dota.”

“I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of such a thing but I take your word for it. It does explain why you are travelling to all the villages though. I suppose you want to keep your motives hidden?”

I nod my head in response.

“Very well. Please continue your training whenever you feel. Also I’ll have my assistants search the library and village archives for anything on Kekkei Dota.”

I nod my head and with that I exit the building and find myself standing outside unsure of what to do next. The battle has me pretty tired but my mind wants to override that fact and keep pushing on. The patter of sandals against the ground fills my ears and I turn around to notice Temari and Kankuro.

“Hey Ikari.” Kankuro says.

“What?” I reply.

“I’m sorry if I ever doubted you. Gaara was right you are trustworthy. I was just looking out for him.”

Somehow I feel an understanding between us. Usually I don’t care about these petty things, but he was just looking out for his younger brother… Just like Hitari and Kikoro. A new emotion rises up within me, it feels warm, wanting to extend out to those around me. I smirk as Kankuro places his fist out. We bump fists signifying a mutual understanding before he walks off to take care of his own business. Temari, smiling, turns to me.

“You are impossible to understand. One minute you’re dark and recluse and the next moment you’re fighting and bumping fists with my brother.” Temari says.

I shrug my shoulders, not caring about her observation.

“Well anyways, I assume you want to get back to training?”

I nod my head, “Lead the way.”

Chapter 16

-Restitution


“What’re you doing Ikari?” Temari asks with an eyebrow raised.

“I’m trying to re-create my power.” I reply while staring at my hands.

“Oh you mean like from the fight with that spider?”

“Yeah…”

“What seems to be the matter?”

“So far I’ve observed that my powers only activate when I have a determined objective such as when I’m fighting.”

“So why not just fight me?”

“It’s possible… but I think it has to be high stakes.”

“So like when your life is in danger?”

“Exactly. I need an objective. At least until I learn to control it fully.”

“Well I guess you’ll figure that out later. Anyways, I think it’s time you finally master wind release.”

I nod my head, “Right.”

I stand up from my crouching position and face Temari. She takes out her fan and leans on it, ready to observe me as I attempt wind release. I take a few steps back and bring my palms together to focus my chakra. It slowly splits as two halves of chakra separate to my left and right part of my body as usual. Then I start putting them together, expecting to feel resistance. Something is off though; the chakra halves begin grinding against one another smoothly.

“You got it Ikari! Now use the jutsu I showed you!” Temari yells.

Instantly going for the hand-signs I shout, “Wind style: Vacuum blast!”

I inhale a large amount of air as my chest puffs out. Out of my mouth shoots a concentrated barrage of wind that heads straight for Temari. She smirks and opens up her fan swinging it from right to left. Her wind dismisses my attack and it dissipates in the air.

I stare down at my palms once more glad I accomplished this task. Just like back in the Cloud Village I’m ready to learn more jutsu then I’ll be on my way.

“That was impressive. You know, for a beginner.” Temari teases.

“Heh. I finally have it down though.” I answer.

“I’m assuming you’ll want me to teach you a variety of jutsu as well hm?”

“It would be appreciated.”

“Well you did help protect the village yesterday so what the hell. Lets get to it.”

For five hours straight I’m drilled with jutsu practice. Temari is one hell of an instructor, never letting up and never allowing breaks. The constant chakra transformation to wind tears up the outside of my body, shredding my clothes, and leaving an unthinkable amount of cuts and bruises. Even when I think it can’t go on any longer, Temari brings in Kankuro to use his puppets as dummies for me to practice my wind jutsu on. While the training is agonizing, I feel my power increasing every time I successfully use a jutsu. Of course, some of them are going to take a longer time to master but at least I’m filling my arsenal even more.

The day is slowly coming to an end. The sun is setting and with no clouds in the sky, the sun casts a pinkish orangish glow that shimmers in the sky. Every minute that goes by I can feel the temperature dropping. The desert is really unforgiving. Hot in the day and cold in the night. Finally Temari raises her hand to stop to which I immediately collapse to my knees.

“How ya feeling?” Temari playfully asks.

“Huff…huff… I’ve never…huff…felt better in my life.” I say while gasping for air.

“You really got this thing nailed in no time.” Kankuro comments.

“I won’t be satisfied until I master everything you taught.”

“You sure are persistent…” Temari says.

I look up, dripping with sweat and stare her in the eyes before looking back down. My ear twitches and I look up to see a figure in the horizon. As it gets closer I make it out to be a child running up. As they get into close range I notice it’s a kid with long blonde hair and some bandage tape around his head, keeping his hair in place.

“Sansu?” Temari asks, “What’re you doing here?”

Sansu? I believe that’s the kid that was training with Baki when I first arrived.

“Huff…huff… I have…huff…huff…” The kid barely manages to say.

“Whoa there kiddo. Slow down. Just relax.”

The kid catches his breath and wipes the sweat from his brow, ready to deliver whatever the hell he has to say.

“I have urgent news…” He coherently says.

“Well spit it out already.” Kankuro says.

“Well… Baki sensei has gone missing…”

Simultaneously Temari and Kankuro yell, “What?!”

“How do you know?” Temari asks.

“The jonin and the students had a meeting today. Everyone was surprised when Baki-sensei didn’t show up because he usually leads the meetings. We’ve been searching around but no luck.”

“Kankuro, we need to go inform Gaara. NOW.”

“Right. Ikari you coming with?”

In all truthfulness, I want to continue training. Then again, I wouldn’t be training here, if it weren’t for Baki. He’s the one who got me to the Kazekage. I suppose I owe him this favor…

“Hm. Fine. I’ll go. I could use a change of clothes though…” I say while looking at my practically shredded clothing.

Temari and Kankuro nod their head as we leave along with Sansu. We stop by a shop as I pick out a set of clothes. I quickly slip on a new solid black shirt along with a black and royal blue overcoat that has the collar slightly popped out around my neck. To complete the set I take a pair of black pants. The new clothing feels fresh and way better than my previous set. It almost feels like a new me but it isn’t. I’ll always be the same person. Carved from blood and hatred by those two wretched demons. By the time we make it to the Kazekage building it’s nightfall and the streets are barely illuminated. Luckily, we spot Gaara exiting the building. I assume he’s heading home for the day. He notices us running up and turns to us with an eyebrow raised.

“Brother…” Temari starts.

“It’s Baki…” Kankuro continues.

“He’s gone missing!” Sansu finishes.

“What?!” Gaara says, taken aback.

“He never showed up for the usual meeting and we’ve been searching for hours.”

“That is highly unusual… but we mustn’t blow this out of proportion.”

“Where do we start?” Kankuro asks.

“How about his house?” I suggest.

“I suppose that would be the best place to start.”

We make our way across town quickly from rooftop to rooftop. Within minutes we land in a residential area in front of a house made out of sand. Gaara tells Temari and Kankuro to go around back while Gaara, Sansu, and I go in the front. To our surprise the door isn’t locked and not even closed all the way. Gaara slowly peeks his head in before walking in. Sansu and I follow suite. It’s pitch black until Sansu locates the light. Seconds later Temari and Kankuro walk in through the back room with nothing else either.

“What are we missing?” Kankuro asks.

“I’m not sure…” Gaara says while thoroughly scanning the room.

In the corner of my eye I notice something shiny. I glance to my right and see it coming out of the bathroom. I walk away from the group and slowly open the door while flipping on the light. A piece of silver paper hangs off the sink reflecting any light that comes across it. I pick it up and examine it. The Kanji is unreadable; I’ve never seen writing like this before.

“ Hey.” I say walking out of the bathroom.

“What is it?” Temari asks.

“Not sure. It’s writing I’ve never seen before.”

“Let me take a look.” Kankuro says.

Kankuro examines the paper while squinting his eyes as if he’s rummaging through his mind for the answer.

“It’s an ancient dialect.”

“There is a translator. I can’t guarantee he’ll know what it says but it’s a lead we must follow.” Gaara says.

We all nod our head and exit Baki’s house. Instead of using the rooftops to get around the village, Gaara uses a cloud of sand to fly us to our destination. We arrive at a building complex that contains hundreds of units. Since the sand village is located in a deep valley, there’s not much room. Instead of building housing outwards, they build up. The group and I walk up several flights of stairs before we come to room 732.

Kankuro bangs on the door a few times before a slightly large man with a black handlebar mustache and small glasses answers the door.

“Why the hell are you waking me up at this time of night!” He yells before looking at Gaara, “L-lord Kazekage. I’m so sorry I didn’t know it was you.”

“It’s fine Roshimaru. We need your help.”

“Yes yes, come on in.”

We all pile into the man’s apartment gathering around a small round table.

“We were hoping you could translate this for us. It’s very urgent.” Gaara explains.

“What is it?”

“It’s a sliver of paper we found. I’ll have to keep the details hidden from you since we’re not one hundred percent sure about the current situation.”

“I understand my lord. Here let me take a look.”

Gaara hands over the silver piece of paper to Roshimaru who turns on a lamp and studies the paper. We all sit around the apartment waiting while it’s decoded. Roshimaru takes his time, even going to his bookshelf to look through a few scriptures. From the couch I’m sitting on, I look to my right and notice the clock has just hit midnight. Finally Roshimaru calls us over as we gather around his small kitchen table.

“Well it’s old that’s for sure. Writing like this hasn’t been seen for over hundreds of years.” Roshimaru explains.

“What does it say?” I ask.

“Hmm. The translation I’ve come up with may not be completely accurate…”

“Just cut to the chase!” Kankuro yells.

“R-right. Well it says, “Meet us a mile from the border of the land of rivers. You’ll find a tree with a mark in it. We have one of your students.”

Everyone except Gaara and me gasps. It looks like my time here isn’t over just yet. Which really irks me because I was actually planning on leaving tomorrow morning…

“We have to go find Baki! He’s been lead into a trap!” Temari shouts out.

“I agree. The border is close; we can make it there within a few hours if we don’t stop. Lets move.” Gaara says.

“Wait,” I say, “We could be walking into a trap ourselves.”

“Hm. He does have a point. Gaara I think you should stay behind.” Temari says.

“I appreciate your concern but no villager gets left behind especially one that was my sensei. We can endure whatever the enemy throws at us. We need to act fast though.”

I shrug my shoulders, “Fine. Then lets get a move on.”

I notice Temari get on her knees to talk to Sansu, “Sansu. I think you should stay behind for your own safety.”

“But Temari he’s my sensei too! I want to save him!”

“Heh. I understand that Sansu, but if these people were smart enough to lure away Baki sensei then they must be dangerous. We’ll save him. Please stay here.”

“Hmph. Fine. Just bring him back ok?” The kid pleads.

Temari smirks, “We will kiddo. Lets go everyone.”

Gaara and his siblings bow to Roshimaru before we exit the apartment. Deciding we don’t need any supplies we make our way to the valley entrance. Sansu follows us to that point and waves as we exit the valley. I’m still concerned we’re walking into a trap but for now I’ll follow along. Gaara is a kage so I suppose he knows what’s best. All I care about is my own hide and if anything goes wrong I can high tail it out of there.

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

“Come on we’re almost at the border!” Kankuro shouts.

“How will we even know where to go?!” I shout against the harsh wind.

“The note said there’s a tree with a mark on it!”

“Ok hold up!” I roar.

Everyone in the group stops. It’s hard to see considering it’s still nighttime. Off in the horizon I notice a speck of sun start to rise, which means we’ve been travelling for six hours straight. The desert air is still cool but after continuously sprinting, I don’t feel the least bit cold.

“We’re looking for a tree with a mark on it correct?” I ask the group.

They all nod in unison.

“Ok then explain to me how we’re going to find that exact tree. The border stretches on for miles…”

“He has a point brother.” Kankuro says to Gaara.

“You are correct Ikari. Hm…” Gaara replies.

“So what’s the plan then?” I ask once more.

“We can assume the enemy didn’t venture too far off the path from the village. They wanted Baki to find the tree. It would be pointless to have him search around for nothing.”

“That’s a good point I suppose. Then how about we spread out along the border. When one of us finds the tree you drop back and send a signal into the air.” Temari says.

“Wouldn’t that alert the enemy? They could still be close by. Baki’s only been missing for a few hours. He could be near by if we’re not too late.” Kankuro comments.

“That is true. It’s the only lead we have though so we have to find it. We must be prepared though for anything.” Temari says.

“Then we go with Temari’s plan. Use a jutsu to alert the rest of us if you find the tree.” Gaara says.

Everyone nods as we continue our way to the border. Once we reach the one-mile checkpoint we each scatter. Gaara looks around in the immediate area, Temari heads north along the border, Kankuro heads south, and I run a vague check on each area. After hastily searching the area for a good hour or so I haven’t found shit. The sun is just now starting to shine brightly, bringing the heat along with it. I sit back against a tree and wipe the sweat from my forehead. As I look around, I notice no one around me. This could be a good time to leave them and head to the next village…

The sound of what sounds like rushing water fills my ears. I look up into the sky to see a huge pile of sand in the air. I suppose that’s the cue to meet up. Heading south along the border I find Gaara staring directly at a tree. Temari and Kankuro leap out of some trees and land right next to him. Soon enough all of us gather around staring at the symbol.

“The note said it was a mark right? It doesn’t look like much of a mark to me.” Kankuro comments.

“Yes but don’t you think it’s suspicious anyways?” Temari says.

“What if Roshimaru translated the text wrong?” I interrupt.

Everyone looks to me with an eyebrow raised waiting for me to speak.

“He said he wasn’t completely sure the translation was correct. What if he misinterpreted the translation for mark? It could be something such as figure… or symbol”

“Good thinking Ikari.” Gaara says.

“So then what could the symbol mean?” Kankuro

“You morons, don’t you see?” I yell finally realizing what it is, “It’s a genjutsu seal. There’s something being concealed by genjutsu right before our eyes.”

I place my hand on the seal and make the tiger seal with my free hand.

The air shifts to reveal a gaping hole in the tree trunk. I’m not sure what’s inside but my best guess is a cave chamber of some sort. I look to the group and they look back at me unsure of what to do. With that, I shrug and plunge into the dark chamber. I land easily and look around at the darkness all around me. Gaara and the other two land next to me and begin scanning the area just as I. We spot a corridor with dimly lit torches along the walls and follow that for now.

“What the heck is this place?” Kankuro wonders aloud.

“Not sure. Just keep your guard up.” Gaara answers.

After walking down the long hallway I feel an abnormal chakra signature barely lick at my skin. The hairs on my arm stand up so I put my fist up to signal to the group to stop. I glance around the dimly lit area waiting for anything to pop out. My mind relaxes when the chakra signature disappears completely.

“What is it?” Gaara inquires

“I felt a chakra signature. It’s gone now.” I answer.

“What if the enemy already knows we’re here?” Kankuro asks.

“Then they would’ve attacked us already.”

“Good point. Should we keep moving?”

I nod my head as we continue down the hallway. After cautiously traversing this long ass hallway I notice a door coming up on our right. I run over to it and peek my head inside. Noticing its pitch black, I grab a torch off the wall and walk into the room. The room is completely empty so I turn around and head back into the hallway.

“Anything?” Gaara asks.

I shake my head in response so the group of us continues down the hallway. The familiar feeling from before creeps at my skin so I order the group to stop again. “Hold on a minute…” I think to myself. I know this chakra signature… the only problem is it isn’t anyone with me right now. It’s foreign yet somehow so familiar. It can’t be Baki because I know his signature since we are looking for it. Which means…

Kino?

My eyes widen when I come upon this realization. I completely forgot we were meeting around here. It can’t be that time already can it? That means I spent too long in the Sand Village…

His signature is weak which means he’s above us wondering around the border looking for me. Hm, he must sense my signature also, which lured him around here. “Hang on for a little more Kino, I’ll be there soon.” My mind thinks.

“We need to keep moving. Your sensei shouldn’t be too far away.” I tell the group.

The never-ending corridor finally brings us to a solid wall. It looks like there should be a door here but the wall doesn’t budge at all. I step back and allow the others to think of an idea.

“We could just you know… go through it.” Kankuro says.

“Tch. I didn’t bring any paper bombs.” Temari says.

“Stand back. My sand should work.” Gaara says.

As Gaara puts his right hand up, several floating rivers of sand begin gathering on the surface of the wall. After making a neat layer of sand, Gaara clenches his hand. The door is completely obliterated with sand dripping around the broken frame. Within seconds the sand retreats back to Gaara’s gourd clearing our line of sight.

“Baki-sensei!” I hear Kankuro yell.

What I see is even a harsh sight for me. The enemy has Baki hanging by his ankles, chains bound around them. Since all of the blood rushed to his head, beating his face produced even more blood than usual. His face is covered in lacerations, bumps, and bruises of the like. Even from far away I can see blood slowly dripping down his face and onto the dirt floor below him. Everyone is too focused on Baki to notice the glistening blurs of metal so I jump into action by throwing some hand-signs together.

“Lighting style: Thunder fist!” I roar, slinging my fist at the barrage of ninja tools.

By balancing the correct amount of chakra pressure, I’m able to perfectly reflect the ninja tools back to our attackers. The tools rocket back with even greater speed but our enemies are quick to react and dodge the tools.

“That was some quick thinking.” A bulky man with orange hair, a red robe, and ninja sandals says.

“These must be associates of our friend here. And look, the Kazekage tagged along.” Another man with thick glasses, a long goatee, and a purple vest adds.

“You kids don’t understand what is going on.” One girl says.

“It would be wise of you to leave.” The other girl finishes.

Twins. Reminds me of Hitari and Kikoro except it’s two girls. I remember one time Shibaru saying how much of a hassle they were when I told him about Hitari and Kikoro. Since they grow up together and are basically identical, they’re moves are identical also. Which means they can be a nasty tag team. Both have long flowing black hair tied neatly into a ponytail. They also have menacing jade eyes, which are the same colors as the earrings they wear.

“Give us Baki sensei!” Temari yells.

“Oh him?” The big guy with orange hair taunts while grabbing Baki’s face with a full palm.

“Enough!” Gaara yells, his sand exploding out from his gourd in all directions.

Our four enemies immediately jump into action. Gaara’s sand begins to trail them around the room. There’s not much for Kankuro, Temari, and me to do except watch. Gaara has all four of them busy at once. They seem agile enough to dodge Gaara’s attacks though.

“Come on.” I begin, “We can get them now while they’re distracted.”

I whip out a kunai and begin running along one of Gaara’s trails of sand. I head for the buff orange haired man and set my eyes on him, leaping straight for him with my fist cocked back.

The ninja puts his arms in a x which block my fist. With one swift movement he grabs my face and slams it directly into the dirt. Good thing that was just a substitute. The other me poofs into a training dummy and with that opening I whip out another kunai. While he’s distracted I begin delivering as many slices as I can. After the first few successful slices the man begins trying to punch me. Since the large ninja is so big and I’m so quick, I can easily judge his attacks and counter with ease. I slice the back of his leg so he brings an elbow down at me. I dodge it and run around him delivering more slices to his torso. He brings his right arm swinging around so I duck down and roll between his legs. Lastly I gather chakra into the top of my foot and spin around, kicking the orange haired man in the side of his rib cage.

The man soars into the wall but easily crawls out of the small crater. His flaring nostrils suggest that he probably wasn’t too happy about that.

“Bring it on big guy. I’m too fast for you.” I taunt.

The ninja responds with hand-signs. Large pieces of rock begin building around his fists and up to his forearms. His punches both rock fists together before taking off towards me. His speed isn’t affected much, which means I can still judge his movements. One hit from those things though and I’m done for.

Just as my enemy reaches me I lean to the left and dodge a massive striking fist. His attack gets driven into the floor creating a large crater in the ground of broken dirt and shattered rocks. Instantly he swings both of his rock fists around trying to strike me so I duck down and roll sideways, springing to my feet and running up his body. I focus chakra to the bottom of my foot and kick off his head, forcing it into the ground. I prepare to land on the ground when I feel my face completely enclosed in a solid object. I assume it’s his fist. I’m lifted into the air and thrown at blinding speed heading straight for the wall of the room.

I prepare for the painful impact but suddenly I feel a blanket of something soft wrap around me and catch me at the last second. I open my eyes to see Gaara’s sand cradling me. When I look to him he nods and breaks off a chunk of sand for me to ride towards my enemy. At high speed I soar towards the man who notices me and settles into a stance looking like he is about to fend off an army.

I could use a wind jutsu but his attack will surely cut through mine. My mind races as I try to formulate a plan with my head. Wind…wind. It’s strong against lightning. Lighning! Lightning’s strength can increase with wind. Lightning is also strong against earth. If I can somehow combine both elements together…

Oh well here goes nothing.

Time seems to slow to a stop. Within my body I split my chakra into two halves. On the left half is lightning coursing through my chakra system. On the right side I split the half into another half and grind those two together to create wind.

Now I can hopefully pull this off before I’m smashed to death…

I begin forming hand-signs, a mixture of the two jutsu I want to use. Since the jutsus are similar attacks it’s a fairly easy transition. I’m essentially fusing my thunder fist and wind fist jutsu to create a powerful lightning attack fueled by wind. Although wind beats lightning, I can swirl the wind quick enough to create a magnetic field. With this magnetic field, it’ll attract lightning rather than dispel it. Wind begins swirling around my arm with lightning encased inside. The bolts of electricity jump around inside the wind allowing a small volt to escape and leap off my arm every few seconds.

As the distance quickly closes in between us I feel something tickling my arm. Sand is rising up off the cloud and gathering around the fist with my attack on it. The sand fuses with the wind and lightning causing sand to cyclone around my arm. The volts still escaping cause sand to leap off as well. I stare in awe when I realize I’m still soaring towards my enemy.

I leap off the cloud, rocketing towards my enemy. Both of us pull our fist back then simultaneously strike one another. An explosion rips throughout the room. The ninja’s rock arm is shredded to pieces as well as him arm. He shoots back into the wall with a right arm missing, blood leaking out of it. His body is coated with deep cuts and gashes too. The man begins screaming when his body begins disintegrating and turning to sand. It begins where his arm is missing and soon flows to the rest of his body. Within seconds, there’s no trace of my enemy left.

I stare wide eyed at where his body used to be. H-how was I able to use sand? Gaara is the only one I’ve ever seen wield it but… it conjoined to my attack. Could the Kekkei Dota have played a part? It’s the only way… but how?

“Take this! Wind style: Wind cutter jutsu!” Temari yells swinging her fan.

One of the twins is slammed into the ceiling of the underground cave and is bombarded by a barrage of wind slicing at her. Her body is shredded before falling to the floor, lifeless.

“I’ll finish this too. Puppet style: Three great tragedies!”

Kankuro’s puppets swing around one of the twins as they barrage her with multiple strikes. The twin is unable to dodge them and is left to suffer. The last move consists of Kankuro’s puppets opening up and capturing the twin within her. Spikes emerge from each hole with blood dripping off them suggesting she is dead.

I notice Gaara getting ready to finish off his enemy when I realize this is the perfect time to leave. I’ve finished my duties in the sand and since Kino is near by I need to get a move on. I look at all the three siblings before scribbling, “Thank You” on a small piece of scroll. I set it down and look at them once more before forcing chakra to my feet and sprinting out of the cave.

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

The sun, now a good ways up, blasts my face with sunlight. After being in the dark cave for so long I have to allow my eyes to get used to it. Once my vision is restored to normal I close my eyes and focus on any chakra in the surrounding area. I quickly pinpoint Kino’s location and begin sprinting north along the river border. I land on the forest floor, feeling that Kino’s chakra is in the vicinity. I begin looking around until I feel something appear behind me. Turning around I see it’s Kino. He must have sensed someone coming.

“Ikari? Finally I found you.” Kino says.

“I was taking care of some business. I sensed your chakra signature and was looking for you.” I reply.

“What were you doing?”

“Just wrapping things up with the sand. Here, lets cross the border and talk more once we’re across.”

“Are you running from someone?”

“No we just need to leave. It would be best.”

“Ikari, man, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing Kino just trust me.”

“Fine… lets go.”

Both of us walk across the river and make it to the other side. Just to be sure the sand siblings don’t find me I lead us pretty far away. Once we make it into a thick forest we find a spot on a boulder to sit down and talk.

“Why were you so hasty back there?” Kino asks.

“I was finishing up a favor for the sand when I sensed your chakra signature. Once they were distracted I left and came to look for you.” I answer.

“Oh you should’ve just said so. Anyways how did it go?”

“Fine. I learned what I needed to and now it’s time to go to the next place.”

“The Village Hidden in the Leaves.”

“Correct.”

“That’s the biggest village of them all are you sure you’ll be alright? I can come alon-“

“That won’t be necessary Kino. I need you to keep an eye on my parents.”

“Speaking of which…”

“What?” I demand.

“I’ve just been observing them as usual… Your dad puts on the perfect façade but your mom…”

“What about her?”

“I don’t know… I always remember her being so cheerful and uppity. After the incident she’s seemed so… lifeless. Like she’s possessed or something. She doesn’t even try to act happy she just walks around like a zombie all day.”

“That is odd… Keep a close eye on them.”

“Nobody has come after you have they?”

“Surprisingly no. The villages are a pretty safe place.”

“That’s good. Hopefully it’s like that for the rest of the time being.”

“Yeah… hopefully.”

“So how is the Kekkei Dota? Any new developments?”

I look at my arm and remember the sand gathering around my attack, “Yeah… a lot of new things.”

“Like what?”

“One day I was badly injured from training. Then a summoning attacked the village. All details aside something inside me snapped and all of my wounds were healed instantly. I’m not sure that’ll happen every time though. Also I was somehow able to combine sand along with a lightning and wind mixed jutsu…”

“Sand? But only the Kazekage can control sand.”

“I know Kino. I’ve also noticed that when I have a determined objective, layers of chakra spiral around my body parts. I was fighting the summoning and a massive fist made of chakra extended from my actual fist also.”

“It’s enhancing everything about you. I wonder what it will be like fully unleashed.”

“I also wonder that. Have you found any other information?”

“Not really but I thought maybe you would be interested in the history of the hosts of Kekkei Dota. You don’t have to read it but there’s not much since not a lot is known about this phenomenon.”

“I’ll take a look. Anything is helpful.”

“Ok. I suppose you’ll want to get a move on soon huh?”

“I want to make some ground before I camp out for the night. I haven’t been to sleep since last night.”

“That favor took that long? I understand. How about I travel with you till your ready? I have to travel back north anyways.”

“That works for me. Lets go.”

Kino and I dash through the sprawled out trees in river country. We make small talk and determine our meeting spot for after the leaf village. We also reminisce about the past and what good times we had. Kino is the only one who understands my past and the only one I’ll openly talk to about it. Every time I think about a good memory, I remember my parents. I was so naïve as a kid, though I suppose I was only innocent at the time. I had no idea my father could be swayed so easily by the thought of raw power. Mother still doesn’t make sense to me, she seemed entirely too innocent. Even more than me. Hitari, Kikoro, I swear I’m going to bring you justice. Even if I don’t have Kekkei Dota, I’ll still find a way. You didn’t deserve what you received. Kino here will help me with my quest as well. You will be avenged.

Chapter 17

-Omens of the Past


The thick forests of fire country are hardly forgiving. It isn’t too much of a hassle but anything could happen out here and no one would know. Luckily I have Kino with me but we should be getting close which means he will need to be leaving soon. We travelled for four days and today is the fifth day. Kino and I begin packing up our supplies before getting a move on. I’m determined to make it to the leaf village by today’s end.

“The Leaf Village is about a days journey from here Ikari.” Kino says.

“Hm. Then I think it’s time for you to leave Kino.” I reply.

“Are you sure? I can keep going.”

“Yes I’m sure. You need to get back home to watch those monsters.”

“Well ok Ikari. Stay safe and good luck in the Leaf Village.”

Kino and I clasp one another’s hand and nod. Then Kino jumps into the trees and is gone within seconds. I stare at the tree he jumped into before looking in the direction of the leaf. Then I too jump into the trees and begin dashing towards my destination.

The forests are so quiet, almost too quiet. It was nice having Kino along to break that silence but both of us have duties to get to. Plus without Kino I’ll be able to move along without taking any breaks. Every few seconds or so I scan the surrounding area, making sure I’m not about to be ambushed. It’s dull to say the least. All the leaves are the same color and it becomes a blur of green while I focus from one tree branch to the next. Eventually I begin to lose focus on my surroundings and only pay attention to the next branch I have to jump to.

Out of nowhere I’m slammed completely off path. I crash through a branch before ricocheting off another one, bouncing off one more before crashing into the forest floor.

“Ughh…” I groan from the immediate pain, stumbling to my feet while grabbing my side.

I shake the bits and pieces of tree bark and look around for whatever the hell that was. I don’t pick up any chakra signatures nor do I see anyone in my surrounding area. Slowly, I slide out a kunai prepared for the attacker or whatever hit me. I feel a sharp pain in my hand, as the kunai is knocked cleanly out. I look behind me to see it sticking in a tree perfectly. Whoever this is isn’t playing around. My biggest fear has come true, my parents have sent someone to kill or retrieve me.

The shadow of one of the trees in front of me seems to morph until someone steps out of it. They are wearing a green hood that is camouflaged to blend in with the forest, which also conceals their face completely. I am unable to make out any other features considering his whole body is covered in a cloak, which too is camouflaged. He looks like an assassin of some sort and one that’s probably been paid highly to come after me… How he tracked me down is beyond belief but I am not going down this way.

“Who are you?” I ask, though I expect not to receive an answer.

“It matters not who I am. What matters is that you will either come with me peacefully or face imminent death.” The person coldly says.

“I expected that. Look you’re highly mistaken in coming for me. Whoever sent you has misled you.”

“And how would you know that? You have no clue who sent me.”

“I know exactly who sent you.”

“Enough talk. You’re trying to trick me. I see you aren’t coming peacefully either so prepare to die!”

With blinding speed the man appears near inches from my face. Out of the corner of my eye I notice a short sword in his left hand ready to cut me down. No, no I will not die here before I complete my objective!

I manage to flicker out of there at the last second. I feel my blood boil in anger. The thought of my parents hiring someone to kill me makes me enraged. They’re too cowardly to face me?! I’ll send this bastard back to them with his head missing!

That feeling… I can already tell it’s the Kekkei Dota, though less prevalent than before. The chakra isn’t outside of my body but I can still feel it working its magic within me. Ok. I can work with it.

“Hmph.” The man utters, slipping into a shadow cast by a tree.

I make four clones of myself that surround me, keeping an eye on the surrounding area. This explains how he was able to surprise attack me. He uses the shadows heavily to conceal himself. I think within my head, I could direct lightning jutsu at the shadows and try to luckily light up the spot he’s in. That would waste too much jutsu and from this distance he would be able to judge my attack and move to a safer position. I need to think of something else.

Four blurs leap out of random spots within the shadows. My eyes go wide as I realize my clones are no match for his just from the sheer speed. The first clone ducks under mine and sweeps its leg, letting my clone fall on a short sword. The second enemy clone lands its feet on my clone’s shoulders while jabbing a knife into his chest and pinning him to the floor. A barrage of ninja tools followed by a quick strike across the chest from a kunai takes out my last two clones simultaneously. Immediately I have myself surrounded by four of the man’s clones. The original walks out of the shadows with his short sword out. He walks up to me and sets the sword to my throat while picking me up and pinning me to a tree.

“I told you that was the wrong option.” He quietly says.

I feel the cold steel press harder against my neck and knick the skin.

“You’re d-doing the wrong t-thing!” I manage to stutter out.

“Quiet kid.”

“NO!”

An explosion of chakra rips from my chest. The man is sent soaring into his clones causing them to disappear. I drop to the ground and gain my breath before slowly standing to my feet.

“I’m not going to lose. Not until I kill the two monsters who sent you!” I roar.

Chakra begins fuming off my skin before dying back down. I glare at my enemy as he stands to his feet. His grip tightens on his short sword before we both flicker towards each other. We slam kunai to sword and bounce back before doing it again. He tries to drive his elbow into my ribs but I block it with my free hand. He goes to sweep my legs so I step back at the last second and sweep my leg under his. He trips flat on his back so I bring up my elbow and go to jab him in the stomach.

As my elbow hits his stomach he grabs my arm and swings around me, using the momentum to launch me. I flip in the air and manage to land softly while sliding on the ground.

Once more the enemy reaches me in near seconds luckily I prepared some hand-signs in mid air.

“Lightning style: Thunder fist!” I yell.

The man brings his sword down at the same time I throw my punch at him. My attack beats his out as he is sent flying into a tree with the short sword sticking in next to his head. He slides down before rising to his feet and pulling out another short sword.

“You just don’t give up do you?” I ask.

“Enough.” He says.

The man dips into the shadows leaving me to only guess where he will appear. My heart drops when I look up to see dozens of the man dropping down on me. I can only stand by and take the pain as all his clones preform all kinds of combos on me. The left side of my rib cage is struck with a blade before I feel dozens of strikes slicing at my body. A clone then runs up and sweeps my legs while grabbing me in mid air and slinging me up higher. I open my eyes mid flight to see the enemy crash into me with his blade drawn. His feet impact my shoulders but I manage to grab the blade with one of my free hands as we drop to the earth. The pain burns at my hand, a sign my palm is sliced open. Blood begins dripping on to my face before we crash into the ground.

As the smoke clears I see the blade tip pointed directly at my heart. This is it. Killed by an assassin my parents sent because they were too cowardly to face me. All the work I’ve put in means nothing now, my brother and sister will go un-avenged…

“Just accept your fate. It’ll end quickly.” The man whispers while trying to push the blade down.

“P-please let me prove those two have misled you.” I say in a last ditch effort.

“No.”

“N-no! I can prove who they are!!!”

The blade slowly trembles down until the point is poking my skin. I feel a small sharp pain as it nicks the first layer, producing blood.

“The man, he did all the talking. He was tall with dark brown almost black hair like mine. His voice was calm, emotionless, yet demanding. There’s a birthmark on his collar bone that looks like he was cut by a weapon!”

“It takes a lot more to sway me. Just. Die.”

“NO! He killed my brother and sister! The only two I ever loved in this world!”

“What the…”

Hitari…Kikoro…

Every waking moment I see their smiling faces…

I see the fire that burned within them…

They were great ninja who could’ve accomplished things…

They had dreams…

Aspirations…

They had me…

And I had them…

“I’m not losing the only connection I have with them!!!”

Finally I find the strength in me and begin pushing the blade up and away.

“Grr…tch…” The man grunts, struggling with me.

With one final push I manage to push the blade up into his throat. There’s a poof as the clone disappears. I scramble to my feet and turn around; facing what I assume is the original.

He points his blade at me and says, “You have one chance to explain. You had the man who hired me down well. Which means you know something. I don’t play games though. Fail here and I’ll kill you, no holding back…”

“Rgh… The woman who he was with she had dirty blonde hair right? She probably seemed like the sweetest caring woman ever. She probably didn’t talk though and probably had a cold emotionless stare almost like she was a zombie.” Thanks, Kino for that one.

“How did you know…?”

“I was telling the truth the whole time… but you refused to listen.”

“Tell me now, who are they?”

“You surely wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“You’ll tell me if you want to avoid a bloody death. I do not like being toyed with. Explain yourself.” The man demands.

“Fine. Those two murdered my older twin siblings when I was little. Those two monsters who hired you… those are my parents.”

“Hmm…”

“See you don’t believe me.”

“It does sound absurd… why would they want you, their son, dead?”

“I assure you it is the truth. It’s because I possess a very rare trait that could’ve given them unlimited power if they had taken me when I was little.”

“You’re losing me.”

“What do I have to do to prove this to you! You’ve been misled badly. They probably gave you some bogus story like that I was part of the rogue group that murdered their children.”

“How did you…?”

“They actually told you that? That was just a wild guess…”

“Hmph. You obviously know a lot more than it seems. You need to keep talking though because I am not one to ditch a contract.”

“Fine. This trait I have, it’s called Kekkei Dota. It’s a DNA mutation that allows one to control all chakra natures. That isn’t the only thing though, since I can possess all natures, my body has had to compensate. I have a larger than normal chakra pool which also enhances some of my normal attacks and even jutsu. I’ve been travelling to each of the villages to learn a new nature.”

He squints his eyes, “Prove it.”

I look around the forest floor for my backpack. After searching around for a little bit I find it and pull out the head bands that I’ve collected so far. I walk over to the man warily while showing him the headbands from the cloud village and sand village.

“Hm… I do not like being misled.” The man angrily vents.

“My whole life has been dedicated to slaughtering those two but first I must master what I was born with so that I can show them that I am not just a weapon or a means of obtaining power. I am a human being who had two loving older siblings both of whom were ripped away from me in a single night.”

“You have swayed my mind, unfortunately that means your parents have now made my list. I do not like being lied to.”

Have I really changed this assassins mind? With just my words?

A thought comes into my head, “Well… then how about you help me?”

“Help you? I just tried to kill you.”

“I know but you won’t be the last assassin. My parents have connections looking out for me. Once they get word that I wasn’t killed, there will be more. It’s taken me a while to realize this… but I can’t do this alone.”

“What are you getting at?”

“Travel with me. Keep me safe and I’ll keep you safe. Possibly help me train and help me get to those two demons.”

“I still do not trust you completely but you were awfully correct about your so called parents. I’ll travel with you for now but know that I am keeping a close eye on you.”

“I’m keeping a close eye on you too. You did just try to kill me after all.”

“I suppose we should start with names. What is yours?”

“Hmph. Ikari. Yours?”

“Yukio, usually I don’t give my name out to people I just tried to kill. It’s been a while since I’ve come across a case like this.”

“I’m glad I can be an exception…”

“I assume your next destination is the hidden leaf hm?”

I nod at him once.

“Then we’ll head there. I have a few rules though.”

“Hm.”

“You’ll keep talking. Keep telling me of your parents and how your siblings were murdered. It will allow me to believe your alibi more. Also you will not ask anything about my upcoming. You know my name and that is it. Do not ask me where I am from, or what my motives are. They are my own.”

“I don’t care who you are or where you’re from. What if I don’t want to discuss my past?”

“Then I shall leave you now and find your so called parents.”

“Take a step in the direction of my village and I will slice all your limbs off.”

“You know I could just kill you now.”

“No one is getting in the way of me killing those two. I can assure you I won’t go down as easily this time…” I sharply and coldly say.

“I can see you are determined about your objective. That says a lot about you. Fine. We’ll travel for the rest of the day and camp out. Then we’ll enter the village the next day.”

“I don’t know about you but I plan on reaching the village by tonight.”

“Idiot and what are you going to do when we’re the only two entering the village? The guard will be suspicious. It’s better to enter when there are a lot of people and other commotion.”

“I suppose that is true…”

“Then we’ll go with my plan. When we reach the halfway mark we will camp out and talk more.”

“I’d rather not talk anyways.”

“Hn.”

“I suppose you aren’t going to take that cloak and hood off hm?”

“No.”

“Fine. Then lets get a move on.”

“Lead the way.”

Yukio and I clean up from our previous battle before leaping into the trees and making our way towards the village. I never would have suspected an ally would’ve come out of this. It’s a good thing though; I realize my journey to killing those two will be a lot easier with allies. What matters is when I actually kill the wretched scum. It will be by my own hand.

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

“We’ll set up here.” Yukio says as he spots a safe clearing.

“Fine by me.” I reply.

We land on the soft forest floor and lazily throw a camp together. We won’t need much since we’re nearly at the village. A few more hours of travel will get us there in good time.

Yukio rests his blade against a tree and sits down against it, resting his head as well. The small fire we have crackles as I stare deeply into the flames. It’s interesting how something so simple can mesmerize you. I close my eyes as a picture of Hitari and Kikoro flashes in my mind causing me to wince. I look back to the fire and look up to notice Yukio staring at me oddly from behind his hood.

“Hmph. So tell me. What were your siblings like?” Yukio asks.

“No…”

“Look it’ll be the last thing I need to hear so I can fully trust you.”

“You trust me that quickly?”

“You’re no threat. If I deemed you one, you would be dead already.”

“How do you know you wouldn’t be the dead one?”

“I cannot disclose that information.”

“What do you mean information? Are you in some top secret organization or something?” I ask, mocking him.

“Not exactly. Don’t push it.”

This has me interested actually. He seems so sure he could kill me in a fight. There’s more to Yukio than meets the eye.

“Fine. I’ll tell you if you tell me.”

“Grr… fine.”

“You first.”

“Punk. I’m ranked 13th in the deadliest group of assassins ever known.”

My eyes go wide as I realize he isn’t playing around. 13th isn’t too shabby but it still means he has flaws. At least he’ll be good protection.

“Your turn.” He says.

“What more do you want? They were caring, loving, protective, everything. They were everything to me.” I sadly respond.

“Were they ninja?”

“They were in our village’s ANBU program.”

“I see. I assume you learned some things from them?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your fighting style… It resembles that of an assassin. Perhaps ANBU in this case.”

“Yeah… they trained me a small amount when I was a kid. I based my fighting style off what they taught me.”

“It needs some work.”

“Hm. And you’ll train me?”

“Maybe. I’m still skeptical about you.”

“The feeling’s mutual.”

“At least were on the same page sort of…”

“Yeah. I’m going to sleep.”

“I’m surprised you’ll be able to sleep considering we’ve barely broken the ice.”

“You’re no threat.” I say looking back and smirking at Yukio.

Yukio will be an interesting companion. He’s no Kino to me but he accidentally stepped into something bigger than he could’ve imagined. I was surprised at first that he chose to follow me though. I would expect an assassin to not give a rat’s ass about my personal goals and ambitions. This tells me he really doesn’t like being lied to. I can’t imagine what he would be like if someone betrayed him. For now I’ll keep him as an ally.

As usual I always wonder what the leaf village will hold. One thing for sure is that I’ll spend a lot less time here since I already know basic fire release. I’m going to have to get someone to teach me more jutsu and perhaps better control in order to master it. My journey will be long but now I am one more step closer. Mother...father... I am coming for your blood.

Chapter 18

-Turn the Page

I find myself awake very early in the morning. After stepping out of my tent, I’m blasted with sunlight, which helps me wake up even more. I look around the campsite and notice Yukio already up with his things ready to go. Jeez this guy wakes up even earlier than I do.

“Finally.” He says, looking up at me, his hood still on.

“It’s still early.” I reply.

“Perhaps but more things can be done by waking up early.”

“Hm. I suppose.”

I take a drink of water out of my jug before setting it down to pack up my supplies. Fifteen minutes later I have everything in my backpack that I need. The only thing left to do now is head into the leaf and figure out things from there.

Yukio and I jump into the trees, dashing from branch to branch as we quickly make our way towards the village. We keep to ourselves and focus only on what’s ahead. The hidden leaf, home to some of the best ninja in the world. I’ve heard stories about this place when I was younger. Tales about a demon fox attacking the village pop into my head but disappears after a short while. Most of the stories I was told as a kid are lost on me now.

The sound of wind whooshing past my ears is broken when Yukio speaks up, “You need to learn fire release right?”

“I know basic fire jutsu but I can’t control it that well.” I say to him.

“So then what is your plan?”

“Hm?”

“You’re not going to walk in there and ask for someone to train you are you? No one here knows you; they’ll grow oddly suspicious. What have you done in the past?”

“Pretty much what you just described.”

I hear Yukio grunt. He’s awfully right though. Walking up to some random ninja won’t work all the time. I need to get comfortable with them. Helping others has seemed to work in the past so maybe I can find a way to help this village out. I need someone to recognize me though and that will be the tough part.

“We need to help someone.” I say.

“What do you mean?” Yukio asks.

“In the last two villages… the ones who trained me were more willing after I helped them out with certain tasks.”

“So you’ll want to use that here?”

“It’s the only thing I came up with.”

“That’s going to be difficult. First you’ll have to find something to do for them then you’ll have to make sure someone notices. Hopefully someone that knows how to help you.”

“It’ll be tough yes but nothing will stop me from completing my objective.”

“At least you’re persistent…”

After a couple hours of travel later the massive walls of the village come into sight. I’ve never seen a village this big before and the walls are even bigger than I imagined. This place is nothing close to what people described back in the fog village. It’s almost intimidating and it fits perfectly into the forest.

“Ready?” Yukio asks.

“Come on.” I reply.

We land on the main path and walk next to each other down the road. The wide-open front gates of the leaf village are actually inviting compared to the walls that have a keep out vibe. Out of the corner of my eye I notice Yukio slip off his hood. I suppose going through the gates with a hood on would be suspicious but now I can see his face for once. His eyes are probably the most notable feature. They look lifeless, almost like he’s been traumatized. They have that cold look that drives a shiver up your spine. Usually I receive comments on my cold eyes but these are like none I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t look like he gets much sun either as I look at his pale skin. He could even be a little older than I am.

“What? Never seen a person’s face before?” Yukio asks.

“No. It’s just weird seeing the face of my assassin.” I reply, “How old are you?”

“Does it matter?”

“No, just curious. You look almost the same age as me.”

“Hm. 20.”

“Only a year older and already ranked 13th in the worlds group of the most deadly assassins?”

“Yes. Does that bother you?”

“No. It just means I’m glad I have a skilled bodyguard.”

“Watch yourself.”

With ease we pass through the gates. No guards stop us, no one says anything, hell, no one even bothers to look our way. Yukio was right; it’s a lot simpler getting into here during the daytime.

We continue down the main path, taking in the sight of the village. I thought the cloud village was busy but I’ve never seen so many people in just one small part of the village. Everyone is out running errands, conducting personal business, and socializing. I don’t think I could ever live here.

Above us, three figures jump from one rooftop to another and then to another. Even the village ninja are at work.

“ANBU. Stay away from them, they can smell suspicion from a mile away. Especially leaf ANBU.” Yukio says.

“Got it.”

“Also another thing.”

“What?”

“I will not be present during any interactions that deal with your objective. I’ll stay hidden and watch over you but anything you do is purely you.”

“Works for me. Now what?”

“I doubt we’ll make any progress today. Hm.”

“True. What are you thinking?”

“Like I said earlier, your taijutsu could use some work. Lets head to one of the training fields.”

“At least that’ll make some use of our time.”

Yukio smirks as he leads us to one of the training fields located inside the village. We continue through the busy streets as I keep observing the thousands of people and the village itself. All the buildings are so colorful and vibrant, too much so for my taste. As we make our way down a street, I look to the right down another road and notice a bright red and round building with the kanji for fire written on a giant sign. I assume it is the Hokage building seeing as it’s the biggest building I’ve seen while here.

“How do you know your way around here?” I ask Yukio.

“I’ve been here a few times on missions. When you’re an assassin you must know a village inside and out if you are to conduct a mission there.”

“I see.”

Finally a metal chain gate comes into sight. I look down the line to see several training fields some occupied by other people. Yukio and I pick an empty one and head to the middle of it.

“So. What do I need work on?” I ask while facing Yukio.

“Your attacks are on the heavy side like a warrior. You need to be swifter instead of going for the kill. I noticed back when we first fought you took the time to analyze my tactics before truly engaging in battle, which is good. It won’t be enough though. You’ll need to learn how to counter most moves. An assassin must be able to adapt to the situation. You must look for every opening, every possibility… and if that possibility suddenly becomes impossible you must switch to a new possibility.” Yukio lectures.

“I see. It is easier said than done though. I’m willing to learn from you.” I say clenching my fist, “Hopefully this clears any heat between us.”

“They say you can tell a lot about a man by trading blows with him. I was trying to murder you yesterday but now we fight on a respectable level. Lets see what you are really about Ikari.”

“Same for you Yukio.”

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

A fist is coming around wide for me so I duck and roll sideways. I go to sweep Yukio’s leg but he flips backward. The second his feet touch the ground he leaps back at me. Yukio crashes into me as we tumble through the dirt. I’m launched but catch myself and slide back. I look up and Yukio is already in front of me. My arms make an X as his knee comes up. His knee slams into my arms delivering shooting pains. I take the pain and go to grab his leg to yank him down but Yukio grabs my wrist, contorts it then brings me forward and uses the momentum to lift me up and over him. I slam into the ground on my back, the air escaping from my chest.

“Dead. Get up.” Yukio says.

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***
“You’re dead.” Zumaku says.

“Tch…”

“Again. Get up.”

“But dad…”

“I said again!”

Ikari reluctantly gets up and goes back to his side. This time Zumaku charges at Ikari. Ikari dodges one fist and blocks another then rolls under his dad’s legs. He straightens up and goes to hit his dad with a fist but his fist is driven aside as he’s kicked in the side sending him reeling sideways.

“Dead…again.” Zumaku states. “One more time, get up.”

Once again Ikari goes back to his side. They both charge each other, this time Ikari lands a successful punch to his father’s chest who then delivers one of his own which Ikari blocks with his arms. Zumaku kicks at Ikari with his left foot aimed at his head to which Ikari counters with his elbow then uses his father’s leg as leverage to deliver a kick to the side of Zumaku’s head causing him to stagger.

“Impressive.” His father compliments.

Zumaku proceeds to deliver a series of quick multiple punches causing Ikari to constantly block. He then delivers one good punch causing Ikari to fall flat on his back. His father whips out a kunai and puts it to his son’s throat ending the fight.

“You’ve died, three times.” Zumaku says, putting the kunai back in his pouch and sighing.

No words come out of Ikari’s mouth as he tears up from being overworked and defeated. His father stares down at him and shakes his head before sticking out his hand to help his son up.

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

“I’m not dead!” I roar.

While still lying on the ground, I shove my foot into Yukios stomach and grab his wrist, flipping him over me. Scrambling to my feet I notice Yukio catch himself midflight and land perfectly on his feet.

“Again.” Yukio says.

“Bring it!”

Yukio and I flicker into each other fist to fist. I feel a weird feeling in my chakra but it goes away after a second. Yukio swings his leg around so I flip over sideways and land. I spin around and stick my elbow out aimed for Yukio’s face. He uses both palms to block it and knees me swiftly in the ribs. I take the pain once again and spin around twice delivering a crushing blow to Yukio’s midsection with my leg. He lifts in the air a little but settles back down. His left fist comes directly for my face so I redirect it to the side and spin around once more delivering an elbow to his face causing him to stumble to the right.

“Rgh.” Yukio grunts.

He sends a flurry of kicks and punches at me some hitting me while some I manage to redirect. His moves are nearly impossible to keep up with but I can’t falter here. I must show this assassin I’m worthy. Each smash to my face brings more pain than the one before it. A small amount of blood drips into my left eye causing it to squint. I use my foot to send his foot into the ground and swing my body to the left bringing my fist along with it. Yukio deflects it away from him and swings around to the right bringing his body behind me with his leg following suite. I smirk and duck and roll backwards forcing chakra to my feet and bringing my body up. I feel a surge in power as my left fist connects cleanly to Yukio’s stomach. Yukio slides back about twenty feet while clutching his stomach before collapsing to the ground.

I realize I went a little too far and run over to help him up. Before I make it though Yukio wobbles to his feet and looks at me while huffing.

“Not bad.” Yukio says.

“Huff….huff… thanks.” I say, wiping the blood out of my eye.

I notice the river nearby that flows next to the training field and move my head in that direction signaling to Yukio. He nods as we go and splash water on our faces and cool off from hours of fighting.

“There was a lot more to that last attack. Was it your Kekkei Dota?” Yukio asks.

“Yes. It’s hard to control. Sometimes my anger brings it out. I needed to prove to you that I could win.” I explain.

“I can tell. You have a lot of determination behind you Ikari. A fighting spirit that won’t let up.”

“Thanks. I felt something too back there. Not sure if it was from your chakra interacting with mine. All I felt was an empty feeling, cold and emotionless. A feeling I’m too familiar with.”

“ It’s nothing. We should find a motel. It’s getting late. Tomorrow you will figure out what you need to do so you can learn fire release.”

I raise an eyebrow but I just shrug it off, “Very well. Lets go.”

Chapter 19

-Eyes of Fire

Yukio wakes me up at the crack of dawn. Usually I wake up in about an hour or so but Yukio apparently likes to be up even earlier than that. He keeps telling me about how sleeping in is a waste of time and that a lot can be done in the morning. I suppose I agree with him but an hour of more sleep wouldn’t be the end of the damn world. Oh well, I guess we can get more done.

We exit our motel room and step out into the open village. It’s still dark outside until I notice fresh sunlight peeking over the Hokage stone face mountain. The warmth stretches across my whole body and a cool breeze sweeps across the dusty roads of the leaf village. I take a deep breath and look to Yukio.

“So. How are we going to go about this Ikari?” Yukio asks.

“Honestly Yukio I was up all night thinking and I can’t come up with anything.” I say in a defeated tone.

Yukio crosses his arms, “Hmph, same here. Which is why I already began working on the back up plan.”

“The back up plan?”

“Follow me.”

Yukio leads me through the village until we come to a diner. It seems to be a barbecue shop because I can tell from the smell. My stomach grumbles which is odd considering I’m never hungry but I suppose now I can eat. Yukio parts the curtains to the door and leads us inside. He tells the hostess that we’re meeting people here and she allows us through easily. Yukio keeps on leading me until we come to a booth where there sits a man with a brown cloak on concealing his face. He gracefully picks up a piece of meat and brings it to his mouth before looking up at us and standing up. Yukio approaches him and makes a hand-sign that I’ve never seen before. With that, the hooded man sits back down signaling to us to sit down as well.

“It’s been a while Dorippu-Shi.” Yukio says.

“Indeed it has Yukio. Who is he?” The man demands in a dark disturbing tone.

“An ally. One that needs my help… but so far we’ve hit a road block.”

“Name your conditions. We’ll figure the price from there.”

“Get him in as an ANBU.”

“That’s a hefty task you’re asking for. It’s going to cost you.”

“I can pay whatever. Name your price.”

“Four hundred thousand ryo…but eh, I’ll give you a discount since you helped me out in the hidden mist a few months back. Two hundred and fifty thousand ryo, that’s final.”

I look from the hooded man named Dorippu-Shi to Yukio who goes through his pouch before pulling out a stack of bills. He pushes the stack over to the hooded man who flips through the bills before looking back up at Yukio.

“This is only half…”

“Yeah. Half now and half when you get the task done.”

“Hrmm. Fine. Have him meet me at this location tomorrow at eight in the morning sharp,” The hooded man says while scribbling into a scroll and handing it to Yukio, “One minute late and the deal is off.”

“Deal. Are you sure you can do this with no trouble?” Yukio challenges.

“Hmph. You’ve known me long enough Yukio to answer that question on your own. Now leave so I can prepare for tomorrow.”

Yukio and I stand up from the table and exit the restaurant. I’m kind of irked considering I didn’t eat but my hunger goes away when I finally realize what Yukio has gotten me into.

“Wait, an ANBU? How is that going to work?” I ask.

“I’m not sure. This is the only way though and you better take the deal I got you.”

“I will but don’t you think this is a little drastic? If I’m found out I’ll be dead for sure.”

“Then don’t get found out.”

“Rgh. Fine.”

“Think about it Ikari. You’ll be a random face among the ANBU. Nobody will know you. You’ll probably get a back-story and a new identity. This way nobody will find out whom you are, leaving no trace. You’ll get the training you need and then some.”

It was my dream as a kid to be an ANBU. Though my dream was alongside my brother and sister. Now that they’re gone this doesn’t feel right… but if it is the only way to learn what I must then I will do it. This is all for them after all.

“Fair enough. So. Where did you meet that guy?”

“I have my associates. He’s just one of the few that I trust even if he seems shady. It doesn’t matter though, he’ll help us out. Dorripu always gets the job done.”

“So what should we do for the rest of the day? It’s just now seven.”

“You’re going to need to learn how to sell an identity but we’ll leave that for tomorrow when Dorripu-Shi creates you a new one.”

“Hm. Ok.”

“Familiarize yourself with the village. Part of selling an identity will be knowing the lay out of this place. I can get you a map but seeing it for yourself will engrain it better.”

I look around at the massive village around me. Just this park is a large area in itself. As usual Yukio is right, I need to learn the village inside and out. Obviously the ANBU know a lot more so I’ll have to learn quickly, “Fair enough. This will take a while. I’ll meet you back at the motel whenever I’m done.”

“Very well. I have a contract here anyways. It’s been on my list for a while but I haven’t gotten around to it.”

“Sounds good. See you later.”

I turn around and take off into the village. It’s going to be a long day but I’ll get through it. I’m grateful Yukio knows what he’s doing otherwise I would be lost. Sometimes I wonder if it was destiny that him and I crossed paths or just pure luck. Either way I made a right decision to coerce him with my words. The mind can be just as powerful as a weapon.

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

As I land onto the dirt road in front of the motel my leg gives out and I fall to one knee. Scouting around the village all day took its toll on me. My legs ache, sweat is dripping down my face and neck and I feel like I’m about to pass out. After a few minutes I manage to catch my second wind and stand back up on my own two feet. I walk down the line of motel rooms until I come to our room and pull out the key to unlock it. As I place my hand on the knob it turns with no resistance indicating it’s unlocked. Opening the door I look to see a trail of blood leading to the right corner of the room. There I see the couch flipped over and thicker blood droplets coming from under the couch.

“Yukio!” I yell running over and moving the couch off of him.

I flip over the couch and see Yukio with one hand on his side, which is covered in blood and his other hand clutching a kunai to his chest, “I-Ikari?! G-get out it’s a trap!”

I feel two intensely sharp blades pierce my back in non-lethal areas. Turning around I see a hooded man with a long blade coming from under his cloak. I wince as I pull out the two kunai and place them within my hands.

“What the hell Yukio.” I say.

“Ikari d-don’t!” Yukio yells.

“Who are you?” I ask the hooded man.

“Piss off. That little shit behind you is my business.”

“Well then I see we have a problem here.”

“Is that so?”

Immediately I toss one kunai, which the man deflects before charging at me. He draws his blade back and slices it at me right when he reaches me so I block the blade with the other kunai I have. Sparks come off of the two blades striking one another. The enemy brings his boot up to hit me in the chest. I react by stepping to the right, using my hand to knock his leg away. As I spin around to his side, I force a huge amount of chakra into my feet and tackle the man right out the window.

Glass shatters all around us, some of it cutting me up. As we hit the dirt street I hear some citizens panic and scream. My enemy goes with the force from hitting the ground and uses it to roll backwards, flinging me off of him. I crash into the wall of a building and slide down ignoring the pain rattling through my bones. Before I even have a chance to get up the hooded man grabs me by the collar and picks me up slamming me into the ground. Some blood escapes my mouth from the pure force knocking the wind out of me also. He then picks me up again and spins around throwing me directly into a wooden cart sitting alongside the road.

This time I manage to recover to my feet fighting off the excruciating pain. I jump up and land on the side of a building, using my chakra to stick there. I push off, aimed directly at the enemy. He blocks my foot, so I push off his arm flipping backwards and landing back in front of him. Out of his cloak, the blade comes right at my chest. With no time to react, I throw my arms up in an attempt to block it. I close my eyes but hear a clang instead of a blade piercing flesh.

Opening my eyes, I see Yukio standing at the window still holding his side. The wall next to me has a short sword sticking into it. While the enemy is distracted I force more chakra to my legs and jump up, kneeing the man in the face. He stumbles back while clutching his face, dropping the blade he has. The katana sticks into the ground perfectly allowing me to run while grabbing it.

With the blade in my left hand I punch the man across the face with my right hand. Spinning around and using the momentum plus a little bit of chakra added I slam my heel directly into his rib cage. He stumbles once again to the side allowing me to force chakra out of my right side, sliding to the left. I take one more step forward lining up with my enemy while bringing the blade up and holding it out, the tip pointing towards the right. With that, I force a heavy amount of chakra out of my left side causing me to shoot right, the blade jabbing the man through the ribs and lungs. I leave the blade in as he crashes to the ground the only sound is him gasping for air. After a minute he gives out his last breath, completely void of life.

“Huff….huff…huff…huff… Yukio!” I remember, turning to the window and going back inside the room, “You all right?”

“Rgh!” He grunts, clutching his side, “Wrap it up and I’ll be fine.”

I go through my pack, pulling out a roll of bandage tape. After cleaning the blood off the skin and slowing the bleeding, I wrap the tape around his body, covering the wound. Yukio slowly gets up and sits on the side of the bed.

“Thanks.” He says, still holding his side.

“Yeah no problem. What the hell happened to you?” I reply.

“I underestimated him a bit. He caught me off guard, that’s all.”

“Whatever you say…”

I gaze around at the messed up room, the owners are not going to be happy about this at all.

“You created a damn mess.”

“Yeah well he shouldn’t have attacked us.”

“Thanks anyways. We should pay for the damages and find a new motel to stay at. You kind of compromised our anonymity.

“I don’t think many people caught a glimpse of my face. They were too scared.”

“Hm. That’s good I suppose.”

After trying to clean up this wreck as much as possible, Yukio and I combine some Ryo and pay for the destroyed motel room. The owners give us an ear full but we just ignore the young man and woman and leave to find a new place.

By the time we find a new room it’s nighttime. A lot of these motels were unusually full for some odd reason but we found another decent room. I feel completely wiped after this long day. Considering I traversed the village for hours trying to learn the layout plus the fight, it only makes sense. I look to Yukio who is already fast asleep. The clock reads one a.m. and we have to be up in a few hours to meet that hooded man from this morning.

I ponder over what I’m about to go through. Being in the ANBU? Deep down it doesn’t really bother me but in the back of my head I know that something can go wrong. If I’m found out they’ll surely give me hell and lock me up. I better try to keep a low profile while I’m operating under them. Anything suspicious will cause to be brought before the village higher ups and that’ll only complicate my objective.


***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

“Wake up Ikari.” A voice says.

My eyes instantly shoot open as I look to the right and see Yukio sitting on the side of his bed. He looks ready to go as he usually does since he somehow always wakes up before me.

“Right.” I say, moving the sheets off me.

I throw on my shirt and overcoat before slipping on my shinobi sandals. I go into the bathroom and run my head under the cold water in the shower and shake it off. With that I’m ready to go.

The orange and yellow glow from the sun shows itself to the world. Immediately I feel its warmth against my skin. I take a deep breath and prepare for what today will bring.

Yukio slowly walks through the village streets. It doesn’t seem he’s his normal self but he was injured pretty badly yesterday so I don’t blame him. I feel slightly fatigued but I don’t let it bother me, my body will heal eventually. Within an hour we make it to a park that looks directly at the Hokage stone face mountain. I look around and see kids playing on the playground equipment, swinging, sliding, and running around chasing each other. Some kids also seem to be playing ninja judging from their movements and toy weapons. I remember being them once. Aspiring to be a ninja one day, looking up to my older siblings. I remember them telling me about the day they graduated to genin and how excited they were. I was barely two at the time so I hardly remember. I remember seeing the joy on their faces when they came home from a completed mission. How long they would talk about what happened, never missing a single detail. When I think back on it, I could see the passion that burned in their hearts and souls. And the two that brought them up extinguished that fire.

“Ikari.” Yukio says, snapping me out of my daze.

On a bench sits this Dorippu-Shi character gazing up at the sun coming over the stone face mountain. He hears out footsteps and looks over, his hood still concealing his face. The man stands up and faces us once we reach him.

“I was thinking you weren’t going to show.” Dorippu says quietly.

“You know me better than that.” Yukio replies.

“You sure look like hell. Both of you.”

“Fucking contract, the target caught me off guard.”

“It’s not like you to slip up Yukio.”

“Tch. Did you get his situation figured out or not?” Yukio demands.

“Yes. Here you go. This will be your new identity.”

The mysterious hooded man hands me some id papers. The name reads Idame Kokarazu. Features like height, weight, hair color, eye color, and other things are all the same as they are on me. It would be stupid to put something different. For hometown it reads Hidden Cloud Village. Hm I wonder why he chose to put that there? A picture of Rayne flashes in my mind but immediately I shake it off. I wonder how she’s doing… or if she even remembers me. Whatever. Everything else looks solid so I fold up the paper and put it away.

“It looks like a good alibi.” I say.

I feel his gaze set upon me even from behind the hood, “Unfortunately the Hokage is still in a coma which means Danzo will be receiving your file shortly. He’s the acting Hokage right now. All new anbu are to report to him an hour and a half from now. After that you’re on your own.”

“This seems too easy.”

“For now, yes. Don’t do anything stupid and make them question you though. Once you begin missions you’ll need to keep a low profile. And keep your distance from Danzo. He’ll do anything to better his interests.”

“Which means don’t go all out during fighting…” Yukio calmly says.

“Hmph. Good luck kid.” Dorippu-Shi says before turning to Yukio, “Ahem.”

Immediately Yukio pulls out a stack of bills bound together by a rubber band. Our hooded friend tosses it in his hand a couple of times before nodding. Him and Yukio shake hands before we part our ways.

“I’ll reiterate this, do not go all out on the fighting, and whatever you do, do not reveal your Kekkei Dota to them.”

“Right…”

“You have a while to prepare before you go. I suggest you go over your notes on the lay out of the village.”

“Hm.”

“Remember to be formal with this Danzo. I assume you know how to do that right?”

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

“Remember Ikari bow when you enter and address the Kirikage formally, understood?” Zumaku instructs to his son.

“Yes father.” Ikari complies.

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

“Yeah…”

“Good. You seem ready to go. Just stick to your identity and don’t bring suspicion upon yourself.”

“Got it.”

“I’ve more business to attend to. Good luck…”

“Hn. Thanks.”

Chapter 20

-Intertwined

I find myself standing in front of a large green wooden board, other people piling in around me. Before meeting Danzo, I was given an anbu armor set. It looks similar to the fog village’s set except that ours was colored differently and had elegant designs carved into them. We adopted the animal mask system as well. The only difference is where they use red paint we use a light blue paint. It was almost as if every piece was specially crafted. Someone pushes me into the room, which is mainly white with fluorescent lighting, and no chairs. I gaze around at all the people, which includes males and females, some talking to one another while others stare forward awaiting instruction. At the front sits a man in a red chair with bandaging around his left eye and his left arm in a cast like thing. He also has an x shaped scar on his lip and wears a white robe. The normal eye is closed, this man patiently waiting for the recruits to enter the room.

After we all pack into the room, two anbu with masks close the doors behind us, standing in front of it with their hands behind their backs.

“Ahem.” The man coughs, “I’ll get straight to the point. You are the anbu fresh out of preliminary testing. From here on out you’ll be acting under village orders. You’ll be assigned a squad and given a mask. Remember, keep your identities hidden from citizens and village ninja.”

His grainy dry voice rubs my ears the wrong way. He looks harmless but something feels off about him and I can’t pinpoint it.

Four more anbu come in through another set of doors carrying a long table. They line up in front of Danzo sideways. One of them wearing a rat mask speaks up, “Line up in front of us. State your id. We’ll assign you a squad and a mask.

Another anbu walks in carrying a cart full of masks, ready for the new recruits. I slip out my fake id and glance at the id number. IK2453. I get in the line with a man wearing a hound mask is in charge. He asks for the name and id and hands a mask to the person. After mumbling some other things, the person is sent off. I await my turn in line as the proctors efficiently work the line. Within fifteen minutes I find that it is my turn.

“Id.” The rat mask man says.

“IK2453.” I say confidently.

He looks down the list of numbers and stops his finger on mine, “Team Ina. Report to the seventh floor, room seven hundred sixty three.” He says to me pushing a tiger mask into my hands.

“Yes sir.” I say

I turn around and look down at the mask while walking. A tiger mask heh? Kikoro had a tiger mask. What a coincidence though… it’s almost like having them back. This is the closest it’ll ever get though…

After walking up a several flights of stairs I stand at room seven sixty-three and open the door. In there are four more anbu, sitting on the ground. Another one is leaning against a desk, his arms crossed. He wears a lizard mask and a straw samurai hat on his head. They all snap their heads, gazing at me through their masks. Luckily I’m wearing mine too.

“Welcome.” The man says smoothly while tipping his hat, “You must be the new recruit. Welcome to team Ina.”

“Thanks.” I say back, taking a place on the ground.

“We’ll keep it short. We have an assignment in a couple of days. Before that though I need to test y’all to see if you’re up to par. Nothing special just a few hours at the anbu training arena. I do this every time there’s a new recruit to see how things balance out.”

“Fair enough. Hopefully he won’t be like the last one.” A girl with platinum blonde hair and a hawk mask says cockily.

“What happened to the last guy?” I ask.

“Lets just say he was an informant and we had to… dispose of him.” The guy standing up says.

“Hm. How unfortunate.” I say.

“Anyways let me introduce you to your team mates.” He says, “I’m the captain as you’ve probably already guessed. Codename Kodokuna. Kodo for short. You’ll be following my lead on missions.”

He seems like a pretty decent guy from what I can tell. Not too strict but he seems to know what’s going on.

“Here we have this young lady who is gearing up to take control of her own squad soon.” The man says pointing to the blonde girl who spoke earlier.

“Codename Jueri.” She says confidently.

“She’s gonna make a fine captain. Any advice she gives you, I suggest you follow.” Kodokuna says before shifting his attention to the next person, “Right here we have the stealth component of our squad.” Kodo speaks towards a short boy with hair that is dark brown, is long, and sweeps back up like a wave.

“Codename Suterusu, Usu for short.” The kid says. He wears a fox mask.

A kid in the anbu? I guess all of these people range from different ages and backgrounds.

“Next is our pyromaniac heh heh.” Kodo chuckles.

“Hm. Codename Kasai.” A man probably a few years older than me says. He has short spiky orange hair and wears a regular mask with flames elegantly painted on the mask. There’s also a small mouth slit. I wonder how he was able to deviate from the animal system. I stare at the man through my mask. A pyro huh? I assume I’ll be getting fire jutsu training from him… I need to find a way to get his attention so he’ll help.

“And last but not least we have our medic. Really a vital part when we’re on the battlefield.” Kodo says towards a girl with medium length dark violet hair.

“Hi. Codename Kenko.” The girl says very concisely. She wears a cat mask.

“That’s everyone. You’ll be getting to know their abilities and unfortunately their personalities as well. Heh I’m just kidding. You’ll be given a codename after we hit the training arena.”

I nod at the man, trying to speak as little as possible.

“Quiet one eh? No worries just don’t bring that crap to the fight. Every call out is vital to the mission.”

“You got it.” I say.

“The day is still early so eh lets head on down to the arena. Get a head start on things.”

“Hai.” The group says in unison.

We all get up from sitting down and exit the room. After going back down the several flights of stairs we exit the building stepping back into the natural light. Way better than the shit lighting in the buildings.

“Hey.” Kodo says to me, “Why don’t you take lead son?”

“To the training arena?” I reply a bit confused.

“Heh well that’s where we’re headed right?”

“Yeah. O-on me!” I yell to the group.

They all look to me ready to follow my lead. Yukio was a blessing sent in disguise catered by the gods or something. Without him I never would’ve learned the village like I did. I wouldn’t be in this spot hell I would probably be kicked out already or something. I smirk behind my mask, turning to the west and jumping on to the nearest building.

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

I’ve never personally seen one of these rooms that anbu use to train in. I’ve heard stories, small bits, I remember from my siblings. I just needed to know where the entrance was that’s all. This place is quite intimidating to say the least. Colossal stone pillars line the room in a disorderly pattern. Some are connected, bridged to another pillar to go higher. Some go diagonal across the room with the option of jumping to other ones on the way down or up. It’s a bit mind bending but I’ll need to adapt quick. No telling what this guy has up his sleeve.

Everyone gathers in to the center of the room looking at Kodo.

“Lets get this show on the road.” He states, crossing his arms and looking down.

Thousands of poofs of smoke begin appearing around the room, all ready I can tell what he’s throwing at us: a massive amount of clones. After each one appears, the smoke clears revealing the clones who are also holding katanas.

I immediately react, flinching at first but then gaining myself. I look around me and everyone has all ready dispersed. Well that’s great…

Two clones appear right before me both swinging back their katana. I launch myself up wards, sticking upside down on to a pillar, which also happens to be where Jueri is fending off a few clones of her own.

“What? Too much to handle rookie?” She teases.

“Not at all.” I say back.

I cock both my arms, which begin immediately swirling with chakra, the blue substance vortexing around my arm.

“Interesting.” Jueri says.

Two more clones join me upside down on the pillar, katanas cocked back to slice at me. I duck under both their swords and sweep the legs of the one in front of me, keeping the momentum so I keep spinning on the ground to sweep the other’s. One of them free falls hopelessly to the ground, poofing away as he smashes the earth. The clones below me look up but I’m all ready soaring to the ground, fists raised up above my head.

As I impact the ground, a shockwave shoots out, dispersing a few more clones. So far so good. Suddenly five more clones appear around me and like usual they are ready to attack. They shouldn’t have done that…

As all of them raise their sword to strike I swiftly create three hand signs. It’s a basic jutsu but should be enough to clear them away from me, “Lightning style: Havoc fist!” I yell striking the ground.

A wave of energy crests out from my fist, knocking back all of the clones. One of them smashes in to a pillar causing him to disappear. Another two disappear too, from being knocked into other clones.

Shing Shing Shing!

Three kunai come from behind, landing in front of me. At first I feel nothing until I feel a stinging sensation on my arms accompanied by blood. I touch the blood and clutch my fist angrily looking up to see dozens of clones hanging upside on one of the pillars. They gaze at me, analyzing my every movement with pure superiority. Some are crouched while others have their arms crossed. Simultaneously they flick several kunai into their hands while cocking back their arms around their backs.

“Shit.” I murmur to myself.

I drop the chakra around my arms, transferring it to my feet secretly. I tone it down, keeping the chakra from protruding visibly. The clones whip their arms around violently, bringing forth a sharp metal hell storm towards me. I wait until the last minute to flicker out of there. Quickly I launch up a vertical pillar, dashing straight up. I look behind me to see the storm of kunai continuing to follow me. Making it to the top of the pillar I push off, flipping backwards elegantly. As I begin my free fall headfirst, I pinpoint the group of clones that threw kunai at me. Once I spot them I begin making hand-signs.

“Lightning style: Sonic shock!” I roar as the wind whips around my face. Three crests of electricity shoot out of my palms, aimed at the pillar the clones are on. They unleash another storm of kunai upon me but it’s no use. My attack knocks the tools off path, slamming into the pillar that the clones stand on.

The attack crushes the pillar, causing it to crumble and fall apart. The clones were of course destroyed in the attack causing me to smirk at my successful hit. As I look down at the approaching floor from my free fall, I notice one of the broken pieces of pillar falling too. Following the broken piece with my gaze I see that it is about to fall directly on the medic of our squad, Kenko.

My heart begins racing sending me in to a panic. If one of these people die by my hands it’ll be the end for me here. I’ll be kicked out, and my own doing will squash any hopes of avenging my siblings. Literally.

Flipping over so that my feet will hit the ground first, I begin expelling a massive amount of chakra out of my legs to break the fall. The visible chakra returns looking almost like rocket fire coming out the bottoms of my feet. I crush the ground with full force, causing it to crater. Luckily the amount of chakra I was pumping out broke the fall enough so that it wouldn’t hurt. From my crouching position I zip towards Kenko and tackle her out of the way. The pillar impacts the ground, creating a massive crater and shattering into millions of tiny pieces.

I get up off Kenko who gets up quickly and turns around, smashing me directly across the face. Luckily the mask took most of the blow but damn does she pack a punch. I fall on my ass, a bit dazed.

She cups her mouth over her mask, “I’m so sorry. I thought you were one of the clones.” Kenko looks behind me to see the destruction the broken pillar caused. “Your arm!”

I look down at my right arm to see that somehow I strained myself. The cut from the kunai earlier opens up even larger, the thick red liquid cascading down my arm. Immediately a clone lands between the two of us, causing Kenko and me to split up.

“Medical rope jutsu!” Kenko yells as she jumps back. Out from her palm extends a chakra string that crawls across the ground towards me. As it reaches me, it latches on to my arm and all ready I can feel the jutsu going to work on my injury. I see, she’s a long distance medical ninja, which really comes in handy in the midst of a fight.

As I attempt to sprint out of there, I’m yanked back, the chakra rope still attached to me.

“Sorry but you have to stay somewhat near me!” Kenko yells while fighting off a clone with a kunai.

“Rgh.” I grunt, pushing myself back on to my feet.

A clone steps in front of me, ready to fight. My arm is still healing which means I’ll be restricted in terms of movement. Glancing at the rope, I begin wondering something…

I grab the chakra rope and sweep it under the clone’s feet. He flips over so I dash forward and deliver the bottom of my foot to his stomach, causing him to disappear upon impact.

“Nice.” Kenko says aloud.

“Not bad yourself.” I say back. Something flashes in the corner of my eye. I look up to see Kasai running from a group of clones. A very very large group of clones.

“Should we help him?” I say as I trail him across the room with my eyes.

“Eh. If you want.”

“Fire style: Fireball jutsu!” I roar, spewing a normal sized fireball from my mouth. The flames crush a group of clones in fiery death, scattering up the group following him.

I watch as he looks back and jumps in the air while turning around, still floating, “Fire style: Great dragon flame jutsu!” A monstrous sized mass of fire spews from his mouth, transforming into the shape of a dragon’s head. It roars, opening it’s massive jaws and running through the platoon of clones. They all disappear in a magnificent fiery blaze accompanied by the usual smoke.

Kasai continues to fly backwards, still staring at the flames. I’m a bit confused when he finally hits the ground and trips backwards, falling off the pillar. “Uh?” I wonder aloud to Kenko.

“Again. If you want.”

I transfer chakra back to my feet while removing the healing rope from my arm, which has done its job. I flicker to the nearest pillar and begin scaling it, keeping my eyes on Kasai as he continues to fall. Two clones jump in my path up ahead of me. I pump some more chakra into my arm as I leap sideways swinging under the pillar and back around, dodging the clones. I stop as I line up with Kasai, bending my knees with full force. Launching off the pillar and tackling Kasai midair, I don’t realize how heavy he is. I try to plant my feet on the pillar we’re heading for but his weight causes me to buckle, smashing us both up against the stone monolith. We both begin falling to the ground, but I see Kasai grab me by my torso armor while holding a tiger seal. A tornado of flames wraps around us and shoots towards the ground, propelling us upwards. We softly land on the ground, the flames disappearing under our feet.

“Thanks.” He says.

“Same to you.” I reply.

We both quickly realize that the fight isn’t over yet when a squad of more clones jump in front of us.

“I got it.” He says while preforming hand signs.

“Fire style: Flame wave!” He roars while smashing the ground with one fist. The flames leap out at an obtuse angle, blazing the clones in a tidal wave. Kasai leaps away, using the poof of smoke as cover. Hm, almost like my havoc fist jutus.

Suddenly I feel someone grab me by my anbu armor and yank me behind the pillar. I look around and see nobody. A bit confused I look down and see that I’m completely invisible. Is this a camouflage jutsu?

“Right here.” A voice says. I start adjusting to the jutsu and see a figure next to me.

“Usu, right?” I ask.

“Yeah. I think I found the real Kodo.”

“Really? Where?”

“He’s hiding in a corner where those two pillar intersect.” He says, pointing up above us, “You can’t see him right now. If you follow my lead we can get him.”

“Lead the way.”

While still invisible, Usu and I sprint up the wall instead of using a pillar to go up. Usu leads the way and once we make it to the right altitude, we stop. I watch as his invisible form yanks the short sword off his back while preforming hand-signs silently. Suddenly wind begins whipping around his sword. The only way I can tell this is by the chakra in the air.

Usu leaps off the wall, landing on a horizontal pillar. I pull out a kunai, infusing wind to it as well. I won’t let Usu notice because I’ve all ready revealed that I can use lightning and fire. Usu swings around the intersecting pillar that runs up, slamming into a figure that launches out side ways. I jump to the left, kicking Kodo while he’s in mid air.

Kodo hits another horizontal pillar but catches himself and swings around it, landing on top perfectly. The camouflage jutsu wears off of Usu and me so I stop the wind around my kunai.

“Well done you two.” Kodo taunts.

“Tch. It wasn’t that hard, you all ways sit down somewhere!” Usu yells, pointing at Kodo with an accusatory finger.

“Well what can I say? I get bored sometimes.”

I watch and listen as the two bicker. It seems they somewhat know each other personally. It eases my mind knowing that this team isn’t full of hard asses. I smirk as I watch my clone I created while camouflaged sneak up behind Kodo. The clone leaps off the wall, ready to tackle Kodo.

Kodo senses it and side steps, grabbing my clone and throwing him down to its death. The captain dusts himself off before looking at me, “Now that wasn’t fair.” He says while chuckling.

Hopefully this fight doesn’t go on for much longer. I’ve tired myself out a bit from continually being on the move. Kodo is obviously a skilled ninja and I’m eager to see more of his skills.

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

“I think we’ll stop for the day.” Kodokuna says while leaning up against a pillar while crossing his arms.

Finally, I tell myself mentally, slumping down on to the ground. I’m exhausted beyond belief and I pray the day is finally over.

“That was pretty good back there.” Kodo says towards me.

“Thanks.” I reply.

“Codename Tekio.”

“Tekio. Got it.”

“You adapted pretty well back there. You meshed with everyone’s abilities quite well… most everyone. Jueri is a bit of a lonewolf.”

“Heh.” Jueri half laughs.

“Some pretty interesting abilities yourself I might add. So I’ll give you a pass. Welcome to Team Ina officially.”

I sigh in relief, “Thanks, again.”

“You’re all dismissed for the day, meet at the Hokage’s office on Wednesday for mission briefing.”

“Hai.” We all respond in unison.

I watch as all of them leave together which I assume is because they’re all friends. Perhaps more than what I’ve seen here. Some anbu trust each other enough to socialize with one another after the masks are taken off. As for me, I don’t think it’s such a good idea… yet anyways.

“Tekio want to come grab some lunch?” Kasai says.

“Hm. Perhaps another time.”

“Suit yourself.”

The chatter from my new team slowly dies down as they continue to walk further and further away from me. Just as they’re out of sight and hearing distance I truly sigh in relief. It’s hard to hold up a fake persona for that long but I seemed to manage. I let them see just enough of my abilities to be interested but not too much to be suspicious. Cracking my neck, I turn towards the direction of Yukio and mine’s motel.

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

Unlocking the door I see Yukio is un-bandaging himself, taking a peak at his wound. He begins to rip off the tape as he looks up at me, “So. How was it?”

“It went fine. I’m in.” I say back.

“Nice job. At one point I didn’t think you’d be able to handle it. What’d they have you do?”

“I was assigned into a six man squad, met all of them, and then went to the training arena for a few hours. The captain tested our teamwork but it was more of a test to see if I would work well.”

“I assumed it went well otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”

“Yeah. Luckily there’s a fire specialist in the team too.”

“Even better. Earn his trust somehow, it’ll be a slow process.” Yukio says while putting new bandage tape on his wound.

“That was my plan.”

“When’s the next meeting?”

“Wednesday. We have a mission.”

“I see. Well then you are one step closer.”

“I’m going to sleep.”

“Fair enough. Goodnight Ikari.”

“Night.”

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

The next morning I wake up feeling suprisingly refreshed. As I turn over, I notice Yukio isn’t even awake yet. Heh, it looks like I’ve beaten him at his own game. Throwing the covers off my body, I turn and place my feet on the cold wooden floor. While I shake the tiredness off, I see Yukio shuffle around before he himself wakes up as well. Once he turns over and sees me awake he too sits up.

“Hmph. You actually woke up before I did.” Yukio says, half smiling.

“I’m just as surprised as you are. What should we do until tomorrow?” I ask.

“Take it easy I suppose. Hungry?”

“For once I think I am.” I say back.

Yukio and I put on our clothing and make our way through the village, looking for a place to eat. The village is pretty quiet for now. Since Yukio and I got up early, it’s actually pretty peaceful. Small sunbeams begin to appear from behind the Hokage Mountain but the sun still isn’t up yet. It will be in an hour or so. For now though I think I’ll take in the quiet and enjoy it over some food.

I spot a small hut with a blue roof and bannisters covering the seating area. The banners read “Ichiraku Ramen”. I can’t even remember the last time I had ramen. Yukio and I lift up the banners and are instantly blasted by the wonderful smell. As soon as it hits my nose, my stomach rumbles and I sit down. Yukio takes a seat next to me as whom I assume is the owner steps up to us.

“Morning! I’m Teuchi, what can I get for you today?” The large man says happily with a massive smile.

“Hm. I’ll take your spicy chicken ramen. It’s been too long since I’ve had that. A glass of water too.” I tell the man.

The woman behind him quickly goes to preparing my food, humming while she prepares the utensils.

“How about you?” Teuchi asks Yukio.

“I’ll have what he’s having.” Yukio replies.

“Great choices. They’ll be out shortly!”

The man bows before going to helping his assistant. Within a couple of minutes our food is out before us, the steam rising directly into our faces. I grab the chopsticks and break them apart before digging in. Spicy food has all ways been my favorite so it isn’t a surprise I down the bowl in a few minutes. I take in every single piece of sustenance as it settles in my stomach, providing a warm feeling that crawls through my body

I look over to Yukio who’s looking at me with an eyebrow raised. I stop drinking my water and wipe my mouth before saying, “What? I was hungry.”

“No kidding.” Yukio says before going back to slowly slurping his ramen.

“Would you like another?” Teuchi asks me.

“Sure why not?”

My bowl is replaced but instead of scarfing this one down I eat it slowly like Yukio. This time I want to savor every last bit. The sound of footsteps rings in my ear. I look behind me to see someone lift up the banner. They appear to be a trio of kids. Genin or it could be chunin it seems to be. One wears a green jump suit, which, where in the hell did he even get that? He also dawns a green flak jacket. Which means they must be chunin. Another one wears a long white robe, his hair tied back into a long ponytail. His eyes look to be lifeless, no pupils or anything. Almost like Yukio’s…but different. The last is a girl with brunette hair tied back into two buns. She looks a little tomboyish too.

“Why did you have to wake us up this early, Lee?” The girl groans.

“Because Tenten we have to train as much as possible!” The one with a bowl cut and a green jumpsuit says so incredibly and utterly obnoxiously.

“Hmph.” The one in white grunts, sitting down with his eyes closed.

I shrug and go back to eating my food. The three take a seat and order their food, continuing the conversation.

“But before we train we need a good breakfast to become powerful!”

Yukio leans in and whispers to me, “If that kid doesn’t shut up…”

I look at him and say, “No need to cause trouble. It’ll compromise us.”

“Grr…”

“Yes, Lee! But sleep is just as important too!” The girl yells.

“Too much sleep will make you lazy Tenten! We can get a lot more done in the morning!”

Yukio lifts up out of his seat but immediately I clutch his shoulder and set him back down in his chair. I ominously stare at him, speaking with my eyes for him to calm down. Yukio grits his teeth before looking back down at his food and continuing to eat it.

“Gah Lee shut up!” The girl yells, smacking the loud one across the head… with her fist.

The annoying “Lee” is knocked into me, causing me to spill my bowl and water as I’m forced to the earth, smashing into it. The bowl shatters along with the glass of water around us in a chaotic heap. In what seems like half of a second, my blood boils beyond the point of a volcanic eruption. Immediately I push the other kid off of me, grabbing him by the collar of his flak jacket. I lift up the banner and drag him outside, throwing him into the dirt. He looks up at me, still stunned and confused from being hit in the head.

“I’m sorry! I did not mean to hit you!” He says.

“It’s too late for apologies.” I say while cracking my knuckles.

Someone places a hand on my shoulder. As I turn back I see the other ninja with the lifeless white eyes, glaring at me. The girl is standing behind him with her arms crossed, staring intently at me as well. I don’t see Yukio anywhere around which means I’m alone for this one.

“I don’t think you want to fight.” The one in the white robe says.

“Oh the time for thinking is over. I AM going to kick his ass.”

“If you fight him you fight all of us.”

Obviously I’m heavily outnumbered but this green suit bowl cut has tipped me beyond breaking point.

BOOM!

Smoke fills the air followed by the explosion, blinding all of us. I feel myself yanked away, my feet being forced to run off in some random direction. As we escape the disorienting clutches of the smoke, I finally see Yukio leading me away from the ramen shop. He finds a place for us to hide, an alleyway. It’s a ways away from where we just were but I don’t think those three will find us.

“What happened to keeping your cool? I would’ve just gotten up the first time if you were going to do that.” Yukio barks.

“Grr. I lost it when he knocked me over.” I reply, knowing that I messed up by doing that.

A shadow casts itself across the alleyway. Yukio and I look up to see the one with the white robe and pupil-less eyes glaring at the two of us.

“Who are you?” He demands.

“Shit Ikari…” Yukio whispers. “Don’t worry about it. My friend here just went overboard when your friend there knocked him over.”

The chunin keeps glaring at us, examining us with his eyes. I could be mistaken but I swear I see the veins around his eyes bulging out…

“I see you’re a Hyuga.” Yukio adds.

“Hmph.” The Hyuga grunts before walking away from us.

Yukio and I both eye the ninja as he leaves our sight, “A Hyuga?”

“Yeah. They have the Kekkei genkai: Byakugan. It allows them to see chakra points and chakra flow. They can shut off your whole chakra system with one good blow.”

“Hm.”

“Look that wasn’t good Ikari. That’s two instances where we’ve been publically compromised. Our faces cannot get out into the public especially if we keep up these stunts.” Yukio lectures.

“I’m not deliberately trying to cause trouble Yukio. Besides. The first one was your fault.”

Yukio bites down, clenching his jaw, “That’s besides the pont!” He yells, stopping and taking a deep breath, “You’re in a delicate position right now. One mistake and you’ll be gut like a pig.”

“I get it Yukio…”

Yukio slowly nods at me before leading us out of the alleyway. We find our selves back on the dirt roads of the hidden leaf village, mindlessly walking around. There isn’t much to do except explore the village a little more. It’s about the middle of the day, one o clock judging by the sun’s position. I could be a little off though. Yukio and I are sitting at the on a bench in a section of the village that runs adjacent to the river. We watch as the village citizens carry out their daily lives. The cool breeze from the water leaves the air with a calm demeanor, providing some relief from the sun that is blazing over head.

“It’s time.” Yukio says.

“For what?”

“I have another meeting. You’re accompanying.”

“What happened to staying out of each other’s business?”

“Rgh. We’re going to have to work together sooner or later so we might as well get used to it idiot. If anyone asks, you’re my associate. Though I assume you will be doing zero talking.”

“Fine. Lets go.”

Chapter 21

-The Wolf’s Den

“What was that even for Yukio? I didn’t understand a thing.” I ask my shady companion.

“It really doesn’t concern you. Lets just say I’m after someone too…”

“Hn. Every time I think we’re two different people we end up having more in common.”

Yukio shrugs, removing his hood as we step out into the evening sunlight. His pale eyes gaze out lifelessly across the village scanning it, his face unreadable as ever. At least to me.

I squint my eyes at him before looking up at the sun. “Hm. It’s almost time for me to meet with my squad…”

“You sound eager.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No. It just says more about you.”

“Tch. You arrogant…” I trail off. Keeping my thoughts to myself.

“Lets head back. By the time we get to the room it’ll be time for you to go. Better be early rather than late.”

I nod my head following Yukio back to our room. This mission actually has me eager. Hopefully it won’t be too much of a hassle. I’m not necessarily in a mood to put my life on the line, although that hasn’t really stopped me in the past. I’ll do whatever it takes even if it breaks me. At the end of it all I’m going to walk out of the smoke and flames with those monster’s skulls in my hands. Then finally. finally, my siblings can rest in peace.

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

“Welcome to mission briefing!” Kodokuna yells before us, “Today is an important mission for our squad. We’ll be joining up with two other six man teams on this one.”

Kodo pulls out a map and nails it to the board. Around the map are photographs of what looks like a fortress, planted in the middle of a forest. The pictures are poor but I assume that’s what we’re going after. Some of the photos are pictures of the enemy. Ninja with long threads, a massive vortex looking symbol planted on the middle of their clothes.

“This fortress is known as So No Sokutsu, aka The Den of Layers.”

“Why is it called that?” Jueri asks, vying for the piece of information.

“It is called this because of how the enemy has set up their defenses, rings within rings of soldiers guarding the fortress. The first ring is known as Okami no ie. The House of Wolves. They guard the outer land of the fortress hiding and waiting on their prey, striking when they least expect it.”

“Who is the enemy?” I ask.

“Ninja banded together into a cult. They call themselves Shōrai no Sukui. Future Salvation. They believe they hold the key to enter “heaven”. What they really have is a dangerous artifact. We’ve tried to reason but their fanatics killed our men. The artifact you might ask? It’s called Kotei no Dokan. The Emperors Conduit. It has the ability to summon forth an ancient race of abominations that once guarded an evil emperor. We have no clue how powerful this artifact can be. According to some historians it transcends time and space, an artifact, which no one knows from whence it came. Which is why we need to obtain it. To keep it out of the wrong hands. ”

“Are we the only ones going in?” Kasai wonders.

“No. Like I said before there are two other teams being briefed on the same thing. Team Sama and Team Shiru. Now where was I earlier?” Kodo asks himself, tapping his foot. “Right. The next ring of defense is known as Bōkyaku no ie. The House of Oblivion. These are the ultimate fanatics, blind followers that will do anything to prevent the last ring from being harmed. We think they are used as cannon fodder while the final inner ring commits their acts against humanity.”

“So then what’s the final ring called?” Usu cuts in.

“The final ring? Shamen no ie. The House of Absolution. We suspect they are the most powerful. Why else would they be the last line of defense? These are the leaders, barking orders to the other two houses. We’re not very sure who the leader is or even who is in that particular house. We just know they are in there. The three rings act as a hierarchy. The House of Wolves takes orders from the House of Oblivion who takes orders from the House of Absolution.”

“What are their techniques? We can’t just be running in blind.” Kenko adds.

“You’re correct Kenko. We’re going up against something tough here. It’s an element we’ve had nearly zero contact with. Light style. Somehow they are able to channel the sun’s rays into energy. We’re not very sure how though.”

Light style? I think to myself. This could be interesting… Would I be able to wield such a thing? I was able to use sand style so it’s not completely out of the question. I’ll have to look into it. It would be another good weapon in my arsenal. My eyes reset back to our squad leader. If I miss any piece of information about the mission it could cause it to end badly.

“The only thing we do know is that they will use jutsu that will blind you. So the other two teams and I special ordered these masks. They have protectors over the eye slits that’ll protect from intense light. They are also light enough to see through without obstructing your vision so you don’t have to worry about that.”

Kodokuna tosses each of us a mask, perfectly landing them in our laps. I catch mine and run my fingers along the eye slits. It’s like having sunglasses on the mask but you can barely tell it’s there. I wonder how they designed this without having to put a heavy amount of tint in there. I shrug and clutch the mask in my hand. As I look up I notice my other teammates taking off their masks, allowing me to catch small glimpses of their faces. I quickly take off my mask and slip on the new one. The only one I catch looking at me is Jueri. Our gazes meet from behind the masks before we look back to Kodo, who continues the briefing.

“Once we obtain the artifact we are to hold it down until Team Shiru meets up with us. They’ll seal the artifact into a scroll and be escorted by Team Sama who will be the direct escort back to the village. We will stay behind and stop anyone from following.”

I wonder to myself before my thoughts become words, “Then that means we’re the first to barge in with the other two teams in tow?”

“Correct. We’re shock and awe. We’re going to blow through that first ring of defense and cut a clear path for the other two teams. Once we reach the next line, Team Sama will join us to clear another path. We need to keep the sealing scroll team alive.”

“How many enemies are we talking here?” Usu chimes in.

“Not too many but it will be a challenge. So bring your best ‘weapons’ to the fight.” Referencing our jutsu.

“Worst case scenario. The sealing scroll team dies. Then what?” Jueri blankly asks.

“There’s a back up sealer on Team Sama. We can’t let the enemy know that though.”

Everyone nods and Kodokuna looks around the room, “Anymore questions? No? Ok. We meet at exit 3b by the village entrance in forty-five minutes. Prepare your supplies.”

The squad breaks up, all of us exiting the room. As we step into the hallway I begin heading towards the exit to go back to the room and pack my supplies. Suddenly someone places their hand on my shoulder and yanks me, turning me around to face them. I find myself staring at Jueri whom has her mask off. My eyes widen, gazing at her perfectly flowing platinum blonde hair. Even under fluorescent lighting it shines. Her eyes, crystal clear blue like I’m staring into the ocean itself. This girl is…just… beautiful.

Instantly I feel my cheeks go red. Luckily the mask saves me from this type of embarrassment.

“We need to get you outfitted with the right weaponry. Come on I’ll take you to the armory.” She says, turning on her heel and walking towards one of the exits.

I blink a couple of times; I haven’t felt so awestruck in my life. Never have I felt such an emotion. At least not since-

Rgh. Nevermid. I musn’t get caught up with emotions. They’ll only hinder me in the end.

She turns her head back, “You coming rookie?”

“Yeah.” I say snapping out of it.

Jueri leads me to one of the several weapon stashes around the village. These stashes are one of the things I was not able to find the location of. Luckily Jueri just led me right to this one. We arrive at a seemingly abandoned house. Jueri pulls out a key and unlocks the front door. Inside is just a wooden floor, no furniture or anything. The walls are peeling, the white paint washed out after so long of no upkeep.

“You know. You can take your mask off around me.” She says.

“Aren’t we supposed to be anonymous faces? I thought we don’t share identities…?” I reply, an attempt at keeping my cover.

“It helps. When we’re out there on the battlefield.” She bends down and begins messing with a padlock attached to a wooden ring coming out of the ground.

“How so?”

“To know that there is a human behind that mask eases my mind. It reminds me of what we fight for.”

“That’s very earnest of you.” Her sweet soothing voice taunts my ears. I want to show her everything about me. But why? Why do I feel this way around her? I’ve only just met her.

“So please. Show me you’re human and not just some kind of mindless robot.”

“Fine.”

I slip off my mask hesitantly, her eyes interlocking with mine. She scans me, looking around at my features I’m assuming. Every time her eyes look back into mine I feel my cheeks get hot. In a panic, I avert my eyes away from hers.

“Heh. Thanks rookie.” She blushes and looks back at the padlock, unlocking it and lifting up a hidden panel on the ground. The wooden stairs go down into the ground, torches on both sides to illuminate the path, “You first.” She says.

I step down into the weapons cache, Jueri slamming down the panel behind us. At the bottom of the stairs we come to find metal boxes stacked around the room, each containing a different assortment of things whether it be armor or weaponry. Jueri opens up a solid black metal box and steps to the side, allowing me to see inside of it.

“I assume you know how to use a sword. We’re not going to baby you and force you to use a certain weapon. Just pick one that best suits you.” She tells me.

I take a look inside the box and see a tantō, a katana, a chokuto, and a wakizashi. Each blade a lethal choice if used correctly. My hand reacts on it’s own, grabbing the chokutō. I run my hands along the smooth black sheath, sliding out the blade. It’s never been used. Shibaru taught me how to use one of these… when I was still young. He always droned on about how important swordsman ship was…

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***


“Ikari…follow me outside. I want to show you something.” Shibaru says, grabbing a holstered sword as he exits the small cot.

A young Ikari eyes Shibaru’s hand, the one carrying the sword. His curiosity gets the best of him as he quietly follows his caretaker out the door. The old man scratches his long blonde beard, taking a deep breath of the crisp morning air. Streamlets of sunlight beam in through the gaps in the trees, the morning mist hanging in the air.

“Ahh…nice and peaceful. Ikari. Today I’m going to show you how to use a sword.” He says.

Ikari looks up with curious eyes, continuously staring at the sword in Shibaru’s hands. The old man notices this and walks up to Ikari, crouching on his level. Ikari’s detached gaze worries the old man. Ever since he found the kid a year and a half ago, he hasn’t said a word. Except for his name…

“I assume you know how dangerous these are?” Shibaru sternly says.

Ikari nods his head, still staring at the leather sheath.

Shibaru strokes his beard some more, wary at showing the kid a blade. He brings the sword out of its holster, the metal shining against the sunlight. Ikari watches it carefully, staring at the beauty and craftsmanship as well as its lethality. The young boy lifts his hand going to touch the edge when Shibaru sheathes it back up quickly,“Careful, boy. This thing can cut through a lot more things tougher than flesh.”

Ikari pulls his hand back, understanding the delicacy of the situation. He awaits for Shibaru what to tell him next. Shibaru pulls a couple of fake wooden swords he placed in the grass earlier. Ikari was so distracted by the real one he didn’t even notice these practice ones.

“For now this is what you’re going to use. At least until you get the hang of things. A sword will teach you honor, discipline, patience, and most of all. Respect. Respect for the opponent, yourself, and the blade.” Shibaru says.

Ikari takes it every word; analyzing it in his brain and keeping the words close to mind. Ikari takes the wooden sword, still being delicate as if it was a real sword. He holds the handle in both hands, letting them calibrate to the weight. Young Ikari finds a balance, holding the sword upright. He looks at Shibaru for the next instruction.

“Got it?” The old man asks.

Ikari nods.

“Good. We’ll practice blocking first. With blocking you learn coordination, sharpened reaction, and the beginning of your attack. You learn the pattern of your opponent, and strike their opening. We’ll start with basic strikes in a one two three pattern to begin then move on accordingly.”

Shibaru shows Ikari the patterns and within minutes Ikari gets the hang of things. He manages to block most of the strikes Shibaru throws at him, learning the basic strike pattern easily.

“One!” Shibaru yells, throwing the first strike at Ikari’s left side.

The young boy brings the wooden sword over to his left side, tilting it so that it blocks against Shibaru’s with a clunk of the wood smashing together. Shibaru quickly brings the sword back to his body, lifting it over his head and bringing it down on Ikari, “Two!” The boy’s tiny form brings the sword horizontal above his head, successfully blocking the incoming attack. Finally the old man brings his sword swinging around to Ikari’s right side, “Three!” Ikari watches the wooden sword intently, ducking under it as it comes close to him. He rolls on the ground, and whacks it against Shibaru’s shin after recovering..

“Yowch!” The old man yelps, grabbing his leg in agony and rubbing it, “Heh heh. Looks like you know a thing or two it seems…”

Ikari slowly nods his head, his expression unwavering. As Shibaru gazes at this young boy he wonders what in the world is up with him…

***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***

“Rook.” Jueri says intently.

“Yeah?” I respond, snapping out of my daze.

“You okay there? You were quiet for a minute.”

“Just checking the sword over.”

“Hm. Okay. Grab any kunai shuriken, or any other tool you think you might need. This is gonna be one hell of a mission.”

I nod my head, “Right.”

After grabbing a handful of kunai, shuriken, some wire, and stuffing them into my holsters, I follow Jueri back out of the weapons vault. She climbs up the last step and drops the door behind us, locking the padlock back up. We head towards the southwestern village exit, a door way only used by exclusive members of the village system. We’re the second two to arrive as Kenko is already standing there with her arms crossed.

“Hello.” She says.

“Hi Kenko.” Jueri says professionally.

I nod my head at Kenko acknowledging her presence. Several minutes go by before the other squad members begin showing up. Usu is the fourth after Kenko, Jueri, and me. Next to show up is the captain, Kodokuna, his straw hat hanging behind his head. The last to show up is Kasai. I look around at everyone behind my mask, they seemed armed to the teeth just as I. Kodokuna has two katanas strapped on his back in a parallel formation. Usu, Kasai, and Kenko all have Tantōs as their weapon of choice, while Jueri has nothing on her person. I wonder why that is.

The whole team gathers up at the exit door, awaiting the captain’s orders.

“So. Y’all ready to go?” Kodo asks.

“Hai!” Squad Ina yells in unison.

“Good. Lets get this rodeo over with.” Kodo says, ending his sentence with a inward chuckle. He tips his straw hat over his head, and shoves the door wide open. The six of us explode out of the door, falling into a delta formation as we run through the forest to the mission location.

My blood rushes in excitement. I’m ready to get this mission underway…