Nano Rain: Sorry to anyone who ever bothers to pay attention to my stories. I've been busy for like, forever. Yes, I'm not continuing my other stories. Oh well. This is just a simple one-shot I came up with the other day. It's so hard to find Naruto fanfictions that have nothing to do with the main plot/characters... Even harder to find a fanfiction without romance -_- My god people, don't you have anything better to do than right about fictional love? It's especially silly with Naruto because the actual series has maybe .5% romance in it. If even. (Go ahead and ignore my rant, I'm 10000% anti-romance anything.)
Enjoy!
Also! I do not own Naruto. Duh.
Amegakure. Most would consider it bland or depressing. However, the constant rainfall makes it have its own slick shine. The darkness allows it to be viewed in a new way, without the harsh glare of the sun. Its metal buildings are a change from that of most villages. Under the tough exterior it has a few hidden gems. Lovely little restaurants, trinket stores and more. There's good business in umbrella making, though some people don't even bother with those contraptions. Sometimes the refreshing feel of cool rain is enough.
This is the village where I live. My name is Nao Fūma, of the very same Fūma clan. I could jump right into my latest battles or horrible tragedies, but I'd like to start from the very beginning. Perhaps you will see the same as me, how my life is no different from any other shinobi's.
I was born into the esteemed ninja clan of Fūma. My parents and I lived in a nice little house in crowded neighborhood in the center of the city. Amegakure itself is a rather large place; however the buildings are built too close together. Where I lived and grew up was no different.
For six years I lived there comfortably, and began to go to the academy in order to become a good shinobi like my grandparents. My father came from an ordinary civilian family, and my mother chose to stop being a ninja in order to sell pottery. But from a young age I showed talent in the ninja arts. The idea of such an adventure was enough to excite me, and I wasted no time in informing my parents of this. A short time afterwards my father left us, moving to a far away land. It's unclear to me why, but I knew he would never come back.
I was at the top of my class from the start in all but taijutsu. But my mother was not impressed, or at the very least did not care. That was how she was. Unlike me, she'd never been interested the slightest about the art of combat. She was unhappy the day I told her I wanted to become a kunoichi. Because of this we became distant.
In my spare time I would draw or paint. I had somehow inherited my mother's artistic skills. When I would make something beautiful was about the only time she really offered compliments to me. It didn't bother me; I'd begun to understand already how different we were.
Most of my days I spent with my friend, Madoka. We were in the same class and I soon found out she lived down the street from me. After that we would study and train together. We decided we wanted to become famous kunoichi and be feared across the land.
The day we graduated we were put into separate teams. It didn't budge us one bit with our decision. Instead we turned into a competition, to see who become famous first. Despite my wonderful grades- which had only improved because of the promise I'd made- I severely lacked social skills and team work. I did not get along with the other two members on my team. The sensei was more tolerable, but I still didn't like him.
One day we were assigned a C rank mission. Our mission was to locate land mines near the outskirts of the village and detonate them. I figured it would be a simple matter, with my arsenal of long range attacks and weapons it would be no problem. Except I didn't account for the fact the boy on my team would be difficult. He thought I did everything, and wanted to do this on his own. Our sensei only shrugged and told us to let him. What a fool he was.
It was going well at first, but then a small accident happened. The boy, who was not very good with long range attacks and mostly just specialized in genjutsu, threw many small hand bombs at once hoping the weight would set off the mines. However, one of them landed too close. There happened to be mine there. Our mission was failure as we had to immediately return to get him help. He almost lost his arm that day, and had to quit being a shinobi.
I was always more cautious after that. I took in everything, and trained my mind to strategize. For even the most simple of things I came up with a number of outcomes. Even for things such as peeling potatoes. I could slip and cut off too much of the potato, or miss entirely. My hand could cramp and drop the potato. So I would then take extra precautions to prevent any such possibilities.
Then one day I received news that Madoka had died on a mission. I was sad for a while, moping around and scribbling out almost anything I began to draw. I would think over her mission, which was to rescue a shinobi captured by another village, and I would think of how it could have gone differently. If only she hadn't done that, or she'd done this…
I decided I was tired of these what if games. They could be saved for actual missions. It was annoying to dwell on something for so long. Madoka, my only friend, was dead. I accepted it. It wasn't as if she was the first ninja I'd known who'd died. She just happened to be my friend.
A week after her funeral I asked my mom to make a special flower pot for Madoka. She was surprised that I'd even spoken to her, and agreed. In the meantime I'd gone off to find some sort of flowers to put in it. The variety of flowers in Amegakure is few because of the lack of sunshine. Sometimes the sky will be clear, but it's generally very rainy.
When all was collected and ready, I drew a picture for her. I took everything to her grave and placed them before her. It started to drizzle. I stayed there till my drawing wasn't even recognizable anymore, wishing her a farewell.
"I promise to climb higher," I murmured. I would keep the promise made between she and I.
After that point in time, things only went well for me. I made enough money to the point I decided to move out. My mother didn't say anything when I told her. I'm not good at reading people, so I don't know if she was secretly sad or not. Maybe she truly just didn't care.
So I moved into a small apartment closer to the edge of the village. It was less crowded than the neighborhood of before, and I was near a delicious dango shop. Once, on my home from that restaurant, I found a cat. It was scrawny brown tabby kitten. I took him home and decided to keep him. Ironically, I named him Nezumi. He was a very sweet cat, but wasn't too clingy.
As I had sworn, I continued to improve. When the chunin exams came by, I passed with flying colors. I joined a mismatch of different teams for increasing numbers of missions. I remember one in particular.
I was with two girls, Atsuko and Nobuko. Our mission was to protect a daimyo's grandson and escort him to the daimyo himself. He was a very talkative little boy. He asked too many questions. He tired of walking very quickly, and pestered us to carry him. Once we gave in he made more ridiculous demands.
When we encountered rouge ninja he turned into a scared little baby. After we dispatched them he asked me a question. "What if I die?"
I raised my eyebrow to him. "What if you die?" my tone was uncaring. "Does it matter?"
He almost turned into a sobbing mess after that. We continued on, and the sulky boy soon grew quiet. When night fell Atsuko took me away from the group to talk to me.
I raised my eyebrow. "Is there something wrong, Atsuko?"
The blond girl shrugged. "It's about earlier, what you said to him. About how it wouldn't matter if he died."
I didn't bother to mention that I only asked him if it mattered. Instead I nodded for her to continue. "Well, you shouldn't say things like that. May I ask you something else?" I shook my head again. "Nao, why did you become a kunoichi?"
I opened my mouth to reply. But my voice caught in my throat. It seemed exciting? That wasn't a good answer. I could already think up several different responses from Atsuko, and none of them were appealing. It began as a childhood dream. Then it became a promise.
Atsuko frowned at my hesitance. "The answer should be simple. To protect the village, and to protect the people." I blinked. I was stunned. How had I missed the possibility? I nearly did a double take as I realized that such had never occurred to me in all my time as a shinobi.
"That is, in my opinion, the only reason to be a ninja. Because life is sacred. I want to return to Amegakure and see the warm smiles of the people I love." Her gaze softened. "Nao, don't you have anyone precious to you?"
My mouth went dry. This girl who I barely knew was acting as if she understood me like an open book. As a shinobi, I hid my true self. I should not be so readable. She was irksome, and getting under my skin. Her words were like sandpaper against my eardrums. I didn't want to know the answer to the question.
"Things like that will only hold someone down," I mumbled at last. "A good shinobi will throw away their personal feelings."
Atsuko looked sad at my response. " I'm sorry I bothered you then." The air became silent, and eventually we slowly made our way back camp. The next day we safely handed the boy over to the daimyo, and it was mission success.
Today I can think of that mission- no, that question and not hesitate to answer. But I will tell my answer at a later time.
When I sixteen I became a jonin. And not long after I transitioned to special jonin, or ANBU. I took on many dangerous assassination missions. One earned me a lovely scar over my right eye. It was only a light wound and my eyesight went undamaged. But that became the mark I was soon known by.
They called me the Red Right Eye of Amegakure. Red because that's all anyone would see once I started a battle and the field was died red with blood. I wore a simple half mask over my face, so only my eyes were visible. I had mastered the art of stealth, and was quick on my feet. Quick would be understatement I suppose. While I was nowhere near as fast the yellow flash or Raikage, I was considerably faster than an Uchiha. All my enemies could see before I slaughtered them were my two eyes, one with a scar.
Once or twice I might have let one live. It depended on my mood. It's not that I felt merciful or anything, but sometimes I would feel lazy or bored after a few dozen were felled by my blade. And that's how my nickname began to spread throughout nearby lands. Eventually the name shortened to the Red Rain of Amegakure. I didn't mind because it meant my status was growing. I was keeping my promise.
It's been two years since I became a jonin. Yesterday I received a solo mission to assassinate a powerful enemy ninja from Nadeshiko no Sato. I'm excited because she is a well known, famous kunoichi. If I defeat her, I may perhaps complete my promise. I had specifically requested to do this mission alone.
The battle will take place in Tsuchi no Kuni, as long as the information is fresh. The only description of her I know is she has short red hair and vivid violet eyes. Her real name is unknown, but she goes by the name of Black Rose.
I've been travelling for twelve hours. I'm not very far into Tsuchi no Kuni, but I am very near the location she was last spotted. My heart races with expectancy and excitement. My senses are hyperaware, and my muscles tense.
The air screams. I swing expertly off my branch and land like a cat on my feet. I waste no time in taking shelter behind a tree. A few yards upwards six shuriken are implanted in a branch. Their angle is all I need to know to find the enemy's location.
I leap into the air, throwing up an umbrella in the enemy's general location. Simultaneously I unsheathe my katana. "Koūton: Koūyaiba!" A thin layer of moisture encases the blade, becoming ultra sharp. The umbrella is still high in the air so I pull off two more jutsu. "Koūton: Koūdan!" The water in the air comes together in a ball, which I launch in a specific area. A shadowy figure leaps out of the way as the ball disperses into hardened shards. Now knowing her location I launch one more attack. "Jōro Senbon!" A rain of senbon hurled down onto my target from the umbrella. From my distance I could make out her form ducking under a log.
With my superior speed I appeared behind her. She fit the description perfectly. She didn't even see me swiping at her neck with my sword. This was too easy… My mind raced with possibilities. But I was too late.
"Kanashibari no Jutsu!" It looked as if my sword would connect. But I knew that jutsu- it would momentarily screw up my sense of movement. "Koūton: Housenka!" the voice repeated next. As my senses returned I only had a moment to react. I turned and saw multiple balls of fire shooting towards me, originating from Black Rose.
"Koūton: Koūdan!" The ball of moisture condensed before me, just a moment in time. The fire went out like a light, and shuriken hidden within them were embedded in the wall of water.
Next I decided to use a wind attack. By the time I'd become a jonin I was able to master two types of chakra- water and wind. Before I could give her another chance to attack I began making hand seals. "Kaze no Yaiba!" A blade of wind formed in the air, dashing towards her.
"Kawarimi no Jutsu." As the blade of wind sunk into her, her body vanished a puff of smoke, replaced with a log. I grit my teeth at the child's play.
"Shishi Rendan!" Suddenly she was before me. I was taken aback at being caught off guard. Was she really as fast as I?
I blocked as best I could with my arms as several punches and kicks were aimed at me. One final blow sent me flying to the ground. I rolled back as a wave of fire washed against the ground.
I formed a simple hand seal. "Koūton: Jinkōkoū!" A light rain began to form. I followed it up with another jutsu. "Koūton: Koūdangan!" A wave of droplets sharpened and turned mid air to Black Rose.
Black Rose was momentarily stunned by the sudden presence of rain, but managed to move out of the way at the last minute. She appeared to be a fire style user, so my rain would hold her ineffective to that. But in a flash she was over it, dodging the bullet rain in an attempt to land blows on me. "Rakanken!" She began thrusting her palms and shoulders at me. I was getting battered, but moved my sword in just the right way. She made a mistake.
By taking me on directly she was open to my close-range weapon attacks. The blade glided against the side of her thrust fist and bit into her shoulder. She let out a cry and jumped back. A few of the rain bullets made contact before the jutsu faded away. But Black Rose quickly was back on her feet and sending jabs to me again.
"Anshōsui!" An explosion of cherry blossom petals burst forth from her mouth, straight into my face. A chakra infused punch smashes against my jaw. "Ōkaretsushō!" As my body toppled to the ground, it broke apart underneath me, jolting my body back into the air. The next thing I knew, her leg was smashing across my midsection. The air was knocked from me, and my I let go of my sword. My body left a crater in the ground.
I curse at myself for screwing up so easily, but jump to my feet. I wince at the pain in my ribs- they're surely broken. My chest heaves and I begin coughing. My palm comes away red. She truly deserves her title as a fierce kunoichi. But I have an ace up my sleeve.
"Koūton: Gogatsuyami!" I watched her freeze. That move was a genjutsu that would encase her in her darkness and deprive her senses. I limped over to my sword and picked it up. I could finish her now with no problems.
As my back was turned I was jolted out of my thoughts by her loud voice. "Kai!" I swung around to see she'd already escaped my genjutsu, as if it was nothing. My eyes darted around for an escape. They landed on my fallen umbrella.
Instantly I grasped it, throwing it upwards once more. "Zokutō!" The umbrella spiraled upwards. I jumped and latched onto it and allowed it to carry me higher into the trees. I would need to perform more jutsu to win this fight. "Koūton: Jinkōraiu!" The rain began to pour harder. I could feel my chakra slipping further away with each moment. I needed to end this fight. Next I needed to concentrate the rain on my opponent. "Koūton: Koūshūchū!" The torrential rain left me out of it and focused solely on her. Last I would impair her movements. "Koūton: Nebaikoū," I gasped out the last jutsu feeling exhausted and out of breath. But this final jutsu would make the rain sticky with each drop.
Black Rose attempted to get out of the rain, realizing what was beginning to go into effect. But it was useless as the water followed her. Her arm moved behind her back, I reached behind mine. She pulled out threw kunai and threw them at me with force. It would be simple to block.
"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Suddenly those three became fifteen. I switched out the weapons in my hand for as many kunai as I could throw, fending off most of the kunai. Two hit. One in my thigh and the other sliced across my left arm.
Then the worst thing that could happen, happened. The rain stopped. I breathed raggedly, staring as Black Rose began to smirk. She tossed away the top layer of her clothes so as to not be held back by the stickiness. I stared miserably as her jacket and overskirt landed in a heap on the ground.
There was a tap on my shoulder. I jolted forwards, falling off my branch in shock. There was she was… On my branch smiling down at me. That 'her' disappeared, leaving only the one on the battlefield. At the very least I landed on my feet. Clumsily. I'd used far too much chakra and sustained too much damage. I was still weak in comparison to her in the field of taijutsu. And she knew it.
She yawned, taking off her shoes. She wiggled her toes in the ground. "What's your name? You sure put up a good fight."
My mouth stayed closed. She rolled her eyes. "Of course, you probably want to know the name of the one who defeated you?" Again I said nothing. But I did want to know. Perhaps I could at least tell Madoka the name of the one who ended my promise. Black Rose seemed to understand. "My name is Hinoki Wakahisa." She smiled at something, I don't know what. "It's truly too bad you didn't come from my village. You would have been a truly great kunoichi, and we would have been proud to have you. Too bad it ends here."
For some reason, I smile back. "It is. But I'm glad. I don't regret fighting you alone. I promised my friend Madoka that I would become the greatest kunoichi. It's only fair that since she broke her promise I don't have to be bound to mine. I still tried." At this point I was just rambling to myself. Hinoki wouldn't know what I was talking about. "I wonder if I lost to you because all I had was an empty promise."
Hinoki shrugged. "Perhaps. Is that truly all you had to fight for? What about your important people? I fight thinking of those I must protect, and also that I fight not alone, even when I truly am. Because I am just another shinobi from my village, and we all fight together with the same drive."
I don't understand what she meant there at the end. But it doesn't matter. "I was asked that same thing many years ago. I didn't know what how to answer it. But I do now."
She walks closer, picking up my fallen sword that I dropped once again. I don't flinch away. I could probably run and escape with my life. But I can't turn back now. "What is your answer?"
I look up at the sky. The dark clouds I had summoned are disappearing. It's too bad. I like the rain. I breathe in the clear air, and enjoy the pulse of pain coming from my ribs. It's better than feeling nothing. It distracts from the cold caused by the rain and wind.
"I have no one to fight for. I am only a shinobi as all the rest are. A tool to my country with only the goal of rising to fame and glory. I have no need for money or any real possessions. Just winning the fight is all I need. Though the purpose of shinobi is to protect their home and the people of their village, that is not the sole reason people become a ninja. My nindō is… To fight forever until I reach my limit. That is my ninja way."
Her dark, foggy violet eyes bore into my blue ones. Her face is hard to read. She almost looks sad. "Won't you tell me your name," she murmurs, raising the blade.
I sigh, looking off into the distance. "Why not? My name is Nao Fūma."
She nods to herself. "Thanks for the great battle, Nao Fūma." The blade swings through the air. My ears are already ringing, so I can't really hear the air cry.
The blade drives through my heart, and I cry out at the pinch. A small swell of fear engulfs me, but I push it back. My senses go numb and my head smacks against a tree. My consciousness slips away fast. I only hope someone will have the senses to take care of my cat.
Hinoki looks upon the fallen ninja sadly. "There are so many like you who don't know why they fight, or have nothing to protect. I'm truly amazed at how far you got all on your own." She wipes off the blade and admires it. It was in perfect condition. There was an engraving on the side. "'Reflect' huh? She must have been some brainy who thought everything out too much. Maybe she got ahead of herself in this fight." Hinoki grinned, taking the sheath from Nao, and returning it to the blade, securing it to her own belt.