Fictionless Reality
Ch.1- A Week Long Catastrophe
Monday morning, the alarm goes off, his hand grabs the phone and presses every button without even opening his eyes and turns it off. Just a daily routine. He turns over and searches for the remote next to his pillow and turns on the television. The dampened sound of electricity running into the wires rings out as a picture forms, the volume is too high still. He turns it down and opens one eye to see what the screen had to offer it was a rerun; always a rerun, and always a dumb show. He stretches in his bed and hears the sound of his brother turning over above him making the bunk squeak. His brother lets out a growl as he sees the television, he hates reruns too. After fifteen minutes, its 6 o'clock and time for a shower. He gets up and grabs a towel from the hall closet next to his room and enters the bathroom. The tiles are cold, dirty and the paint on the walls is ruined, but he doesn't care. The burst of steam and heat makes him sigh as he quickly becomes more active by scrubbing. Ten minutes later, he comes out, his dark brown hair draped down; his brother goes in. A loud "Dammit!" proves that he had used too much hot water, again.
He gets dressed and so does his brother, they are up before everyone and ready to leave for school. After almost an hour of sitting, eating, and listening to music, the rest of their family is ready and they get into their car and go. They go class to class and then the day ends, but each of them has practice, one band, one sport. At about 6 o'clock at night, they see each other again and enjoy the night resting and watching television. Next day, same routine, and the day after that, the same. All week, everything is the same, down to who they talk to, to what they eat. Nothing ever changes, except for the one thing that keeps them entertained and happy, their cartoons, a.k.a, anime.
"Dude, dude! It's here! The new episode is here!" yelled Al.
"Really? Hells yeah! Load it and wait for me!" said Mark from the bathroom.
"Finally! Now we can see what he can really do!" Al said to himself as the episode loaded on the screen.
Mark joined him in the seat next to the computer as each of them got comfortable to watch the newest episode of one of their favorite animes, Naruto Shippuuden. They had been watching it since the beginning and even went as far as keeping track of the manga online. They knew which ninja could do what, which was their favorite, and even knew how to do what they could do. They were not fanatics, but they knew the following their show had. Often times, they had discussions with their friends, of which had no idea what they were talking about, and could tell them the mechanics of any show they talked about. If anything, they enjoyed it for the thrill of action and the art of it all. In any case, they were excited to watch and that was all that mattered.
The show began, twenty minutes later, they would share opinions on the episode, complaints of compliments alike, and then move on to the next show. This interruption of the normal was the very thing that kept them as imaginative and go-lucky as they were. They were as average and normal as anyone else, two of the most common brothers they knew. One day, however, while visiting two of their greatest friends, who shared in their passion for anime, an idea struck them that had never crossed them before. Al was playing video games when he spoke to all of them, each wrapped up in their own activity.
"Hey, we know what it takes to be ninjas, why don't we try and do some of those things?"
D looked to him, his earphones attached to his braided head, "What do you mean? Climb trees? Walk on water? We ain't no squirrels or Jesus so I don't see how we can." Ed laughed from his computer chair, his gangly libs bunched up in the seat, and brushed his light brown hair away from his eyes.
Al paused the game, "Not that stuff. I mean the exercise stuff. Like vertical push-ups, meditation, stuff like that. The science of ninja."
"Its not that I doubt we can," said D. "But only three of us are semi-fit. Ed's too fat so he's ruled out."
Ed gave him the middle finger, "Fook you!"
Mark walked by with a phone to his ear and heard the conversation, "Maybe Al is onto something. Me and him both have books and stuff on all sorts of inner energy stuff, and so does your mom Ed. I think it'd be a good way to burn away the break and stay hella-fit."
Both Ed and D shrugged and nodded. Al chuckled, "Okay then. We can start tomorrow then. We will begin with comprehending the science of it all and then the work will begin."
Ed frowned and looked to his computer slowly. D spoke harshly to him, "Dammit Ed! You have a phone, and so does she so you can talk during the breaks. There will be breaks right?"
Al nodded.
Ed sighed and D let out an exasperated breath. They all continued in their activities into the wee hours of the morning and crashed until about noon. Al and Mark brought their books from home and raided Ed's mom's bookcase and they all started reading. The brothers were getting it fairly easy but Ed and D had to stop almost every line to ask about a certain word. It took a while, but they had finished every book with a good grasp of what to do. They went outside, it was cold, but each of them wore their coats, for some reason, they all seemed to match even though they were different colors.
Al spoke out to them as they stood in Ed's backyard, "Okay, the first thing we must do is feel the force within us. Chakra is just the manifestation of stamina and mental energy. So, what we are wanting is a swelling feeling of warmth."
"I got a swelling of warmth for ya." D bent forward and farted loudly making everyone laugh.
"Come on, lets get serious. We have to believe in this as much as we believe D is black."
"Fuck you guys!" D yelled making everyone laugh again but all of them grew silent as they concentrated.
Mark looked to Ed who had made a hand sign, "Ed, don't do that, you haven't even made chakra yet so you can't shape what isn't there." Ed put his hands down and concentrated.
They did this for about an hour before they stopped and opened their eyes. Al looked to them, "Well? How was that?"
D spoke first, "My ass was hurting from the fart, but I definitely felt something."
"Me too" said Ed.
"Yep, we made progress, bro." said Mark.
Al grinned, "Good! Then tomorrow is individual constructive exercise. We will each go about and do what we can to raise our stamina, mentality, and chakra. Agreed?"
They all nodded and all of them went back inside to eat and continue what they had done all yesterday. When the brothers went home, they both smiled and started talking about how cool it would be if all this was actually leading up to something. Of the four, they believed the strongest because, as absurd an idea it was, in a world full of fiction, there had to be a little bit of truth in all of it. That night, as Al and Mark went to bed, Al could feel a warmth racing through his body which he could feel from his cold feet to his warm face. This relaxed him as he drifted into sleep with the last bit of warmth circling around his eyes and the tips of his skin.
In the morning, a week later, another Monday, the alarm went off and Al reached for it again. He pressed buttons and turned on the television. As he opened his eyes, he could feel a slight stinging in his vision making him wince. He put it out of his mind and got ready like any other day. He assumed it was just from the exercises yesterday and went about his day as usual. At school, he walked from his second to third period class in a bit of a hurry, the pain in his eyes had gradually been building and his friends had remarked earlier that he had not been looking to well.
"It must've been a bug I caught. The exercise made my immunity drop so now I am sick. Nothing to worry about." he thought as his pace slowed. His temples began to pulse slightly as a building of pressure rose in them.
He touched them delicately and rubbed them furiously as he could feel himself losing balance. Finally, he found himself stopped in a mass of people walking by him, his backpack now slung off his shoulder. He bent over slightly as the pressure began building more and more, like his eyes were going to explode form their sockets. Suddenly, he felt his veins from beneath his temples rise and they protruded down into his cheeks followed by a quiet gurgling sound. His vision became hazy as he clenched his eyes shut; it did not help. In a staggered, wincing yell, his eyes bursted open making a high-pitched ringing echo out into the air. His vision was now inflamed with slow-moving, blue bodies that would flash back from normal looking people to the blue bodies over and over. He could see their faces, the backs of their heads, their chests, their backs, everything was visible to him at once. His eyes moved around in a frenzied panic, he didn't know what to do. He clenched his head as his fingered laced into his dark brown hair. The pain began to pull the panic away until finally, the swelling pressure subsided and his vision returned to normal. He stood there panting as he fell to his knees. He swayed back and forth until eventually, he blacked out.
He woke up on a bed with a sleepy bubbling in his vision. Was it his own? No. A hospital bed? No. It was a table, somewhere on campus. The nurses offices more than likely. He turned his head to see no one was there. He sat up and rubbed his head as he looked for his stuff. He saw his bag in the corner and picked it up. He went out the door and saw the time, fifth period had just started. No lunch he thought, but he wasn't hungry any way. As he walked, he noticed his eyes were not hurting him anymore, they were more soothing now than he ever had. He smiled and continued through the halls to his class. The teacher looked at him stunned as he nodded and apologized for being late. Apparently, a letter was sent to the teacher's about his incident. No big deal to him. As he sat though, he felt the stares of his classmates and he began to worry. Had his hair been that messed up? Was there blood somewhere? Even his teacher couldn't help but stare.
"Is something the matter?" he asked simply.
His teacher replied, "Well Al, we are all just wondering how you got to your seat, let alone this class, given your current state."
Al looked at him puzzled, "What do you mean my current state?"
"Well, the thing is. Can someone get him a mirror? The thing is Al, your blind."
His eyes widened as he looked around at everyone. He saw a mirror make its way to him and grabbed for it quickly. He saw his reflection and gasped, his eyes, they were covered in a white film and were tensed up. He didn't know what to say so he simply grabbed his things and walked out of the class. He went clear off campus to his home, it was only a block away. He entered his room and flopped onto his bed. He closed his eyes and went to sleep. A sharp shaking woke him up as his mother stood there worried. The rest of the family had been behind her as she shook him.
"Al! Are you okay honey? Can you see?" she said.
"Yes mom, I can see just fine! Why did you wake me up and why are you down here?" he replied.
She clutched him and began to laugh, but it was the laughter that covered a sob. It took only one phone call to inform the entire family of Al's mishap. He told them that it was just a bit of irritant and nothing more. When they all left, Al saw his brother standing in front of him.
"Hey, you alright?" he said.
Al chuckled and stretched, "Yes, bro. I am fine. It was just a random thing. Don't worry."
Mark smiled and nodded, "Okay then. Wanna go over to Ed's for a bit?"
"Sure. But tell me, what color are my eyes." he said.
"Let's just say your full of shit." both of them laughed as they went to their friend's house and enjoy the company and the food.
At Ed's home, Al told his story to his friends, well, only what he wanted to tell. He knew if he told them what he thought had happened then they would think he was crazy. So he kept the details to himself and continued through his day normally praying that whatever took place that day would not repeat itself soon.
That night, Al laid in his bed staring into the top bunk lost in his thoughts. Through the sound of his brother's slumber, his mind raced with ideas to decipher his phenomenon.
"It doesn't make sense. Why did that happen today? How did it happen? What caused it?" the words echoed in his mind. Suddenly, in the myriad of thoughts crossing his mind, an epiphany occurred.
"Wait, maybe. No. But, it would make sense. The way everything looked. It was too familiar. But then, that would mean the training was a success. Which would mean-" he grinned to himself as he whispered, "I have Byakugan."
The next morning, Tuesday, he heard the television turn on. He sluggishly turned over to see the rerun of the same show that has been shown over a hundred times. He sighed as he heard his brother creak beneath him. He wondered how today would be for his brother and felt slightly concerned. After his incident, he didn't know if his brother should go to school or not. In the end, it was his brother's choice and so he rested while the show played. Fifteen minutes later, the routine began and so he hopped into the shower. He yelled aloud as his brother had used too much hot water again. In the shower, however, his body began to ache. The pain swelled and dug deep into him, down to his bones. He gripped himself as the sensation traveled through every limb and turned into a building pressure in his bones that felt like they were being crushed. His palms hit the wall in front of him and the pain subsided. He panted slightly and coughed as he dried himself off. He tried to remain composed and went along with the day without one word to his brother about what had happened. They got dressed, went to school again, and after school was practice time.
"Ready? WRESTLE!" the coach bellowed. Every paired up person moved in sequence and began their practice matches.
Mark was always ready for his matches. He was always the first to act and take on anyone who wanted to go. Today, he wanted to try his luck against heavier weights than himself, fifty pounds or more to be exact. The behemoths of muscle came at Mark but he was fast so he could get away and get points little by little. The truth was that they were stronger than him, which meant one good hold and it was over. Today, he went against a 215, fifty-five pounds heavier than he was, and it showed. He tried his best but the 215 was just too massive. He was tossed around and basically bent in every move possible. Mark would not accept this. He would get up and try harder every time. On his final attempt before his time was up, he had already built up enough irritation to start venting from his mouth. Suddenly, he felt the stinging pain in his bones only this time, it felt like his bones were moving. The awkward sliding and shifting of bones beneath his skin made him lose focus as he staggered back. It was a bad move. The 215 came barreling at him and got his legs with a double. He went into the air like paper and was slammed into the mat with a bone-crunching thump. His eyes widened as he laid sprawled on his back. From the corners of his eyes, he could see them, his ribs, sticking through his skin. He felt it too, his spine twisted and his shoulder blades displaced. Everyone looked at him in horror as overlapping voices of the coaches and the 215 apologizing like crazy, along with a few screams and cries filled Mark's mind.
"Oh God. This is bad. Really bad. My body, I can't move it." his eyes moved frantically. "What the hell am I going to do?!" he clenched his eyes shut trying to hold back the tears but then, a thought came to mind.
"Wait, my body is wrecked, so why don't I feel any pain? This is too weird. And before now, my bones, they were moving. Why?" he took a deep breath and sighed which caused something in him to snap. He stopped breathing and took in another deep breath. Another snap. He looked over his chest to see everyone at the other end of the room. He looked down at his chest to see his ribs; they were retracting. His eyes widened as he took another breath making the last rib retract inward. His mind raced as he came to one conclusion.
"This must mean that what my friends said was true. Al did have white film over his eyes. Wait, white film? Tensed eyes. No. It couldn't be. But it would make sense after what we did last week. And that would mean that I-" he clenched his eyes and focused on his body.
Suddenly, his bones began to slide and shift. The cracking made his skin crawl, literally, as he could feel his limbs again. After about a minute, he moved his fingers and neck. With that, he let out a chuckle as the paramedics arrived. They hoisted him onto the table and took him to the hospital. On the way, all he could do is smile as five words repeated in his mind.
"I have Corpse Bone Pulse."
That same day, Mark's mom came down from her home again and everyone was worried. He smiled at them and assured his health. When they all left, Al stood by the door and stared at Mark. He walked up to his bed and stared into his eyes. Mark wasn't sure what to do except stare back. Finally, one of them said something.
"You've got it too, don't you?" said Al.
Mark looked at him puzzled, "What? You have it too?"
"No shit, why else would I ask you?" Al replied.
"Then you know why we have it?" Mark asked.
Al smiled, "Yes, and I'm willing to bet pretty soon, Ed and D will get it as well."
"But wait, all of us will have the same thing? That's gay! I thought I would have Corpse Bone only!"
Al looked at him puzzled, "You have Corpse Bone?" he chuckled. "That's a relief then." he looked at his brother as a gurgling forced his temple veins to become visible and his eyes became tense. "That means I'm the only one with Byakugan."
"Whoa! No way! How did you do that?" Mark sat up and looked at his brother.
"I've been practicing all day since last night. I've learned how to activate it slightly but not at maximum potential. Only once. And that was when the film was on my eyes. It feels natural but it is very powerful. This is all my speculated guess of course. What about you?"
Mark looked at his hand and concentrated on it. The bones moved around slightly and he sighed. "I haven't done anything with it. Except at the accident. All I did was concentrate on my body and it began to heal itself."
"Really? Did it hurt at all?" Al asked.
"Not really, but the feeling is, indescribable. Its like a joyous and empowering feeling." Mark laughed.
"This is incredible. Can you think of the possibilities now? What we are capable of? It is everything we've dreamed of!" Al gripped the bedside eagerly.
Mark sat back on his pillow, "Well, what we can do is limitless, but we can't do anything too drastic. I think before we do anything. We should wait for Ed and D to get whatever their bodies give them."
"Hmm. Good call. Alright, we'll wait." Al jumped into his bed and could not stop shaking from excitement. Both of them soon drifted asleep eagerly waiting for their friends to become realized.
The next day, Wednesday, Ed woke up whenever he did and looked around in his room. It was almost noon. All the training had made him even more tired than usual so he did not stay up as late anymore. He heard D in the kitchen making breakfast, the sound of cereal hitting the inside of the bowel made Ed hungry. He got up lazily and turned on his computer screen, he never turned the damn thing off. He pulled up his IM and sent "Good Morning, Hunny." to his girlfriend who had been up since seven already. This was his day. Talk to his girl via computer and surf for useless things to occupy the day. D, on the other hand, after eating his bowl of cereal, made effort to clean his room, Ed's, and eventually, the entire house. Afterwards, he sat down at Ed's mom's computer and opened up his favorite writing site and read for most of the day. It was more productive than Ed who half the time was looking for or downloading porn. As unorthodox a day was for them, it was peaceful, until Ed's mom came home and the chores ensued. Ed, being the lazy, sometimes rude person he was, waited until the last possible minute to do things. D would get up and do it and go back to reading. Simply that.
That day, Ed was staring blankly into the computer screen when something caught his eyes. He began to see static around the screen. He scratched at it but nothing happened. He rubbed his eyes and it went away. He shrugged it off and continued he exploits. Five minutes later, the static returns but it begins to form circuitry. Ed's eyes begin to feel like they are swelling as the circuitry grows larger and magnifying until he can see sparks flying along them. He squeezes his eyes shut but he sees through the skin, veins, and muscle into the screen again. In agony, he looks down at the keyboard on his lap. The buttons start turning translucent as his sight goes through the board, his pants, through the skin, muscle, tendons, and bone, and right into the ground where his vision is halted by dirt. He lets outs a scream as he falls back in his chair and writhes on the ground.
D pushes in and sees Ed sprawled on the ground, red streaks on his eyes and saliva oozing from his mouth. He picks him up and places him on his bed and sits there watching him.
"Damn, what the hell happened. Hey Ed!" he shakes him. "Hey biscuit! Wake your ass up!"
Ed's eyes open slowly as his temples throb slightly, "Ow, my head. Awww. Hey D, did you see all that?"
"See what? Your ass sprawled out on the floor?" he stated.
"No, the things. Ow. My head. My eyes." he placed his hands over his face.
"Well, whatever it was, you better stay in your bed. Its probably because you've been doing nothing but staring at the screen all day."
Ed looked at D, "So have you."
"Yeah Ed, but unlike you, I actually get up and do other shit."
Ed flipped him off and turned to the wall. He fell asleep instantly. D went to Ed's computer and clicked out of all the stuff he had on and opened up his writing site. He began reading as Ed slept. As he read, his eyes began to feel dry an hurt slightly. He rubbed his eyes and got up. He held his stomach as it growled. He was hungry again. He went to the kitchen and began to search for some food. He found some instant ramen and started boiling water. He rubbed his eyes some more as the feeling of something crawling on his eye persisted. Without knowing he reached for the pot of boiling water and knocked it over. The water flew up and was aimed for his face. He saw it and placed his arms up in defense and with his arm a trail of fire followed and evaporated the water. His eyes had been clenched shut but he heard the sizzling and felt no pain. When he opened them, his eyes felt like spirals that got tighter slowly and released suddenly. He looked around and saw only the pot on the floor and the fire on the stove. He rubbed his eyes once more and began to boil water again. He ate the ramen and continued to read. He waited for Ed to wake up before giving him the details. Both of them were concerned and waited until the next day to tell their daily visitors of the phenomenon.
The next day, Thursday, Al and Mark had finished with school and practice and made their way to Ed's house. They both were grinning on the inside and couldn't wait to show their friends what they had discovered. Once they arrived, they knocked once and the door opened up. D was there and he hurried them into Ed's room where Ed was sitting and waiting.
"Hey Ed. So, what is this all about?" Mark asked.
Ed signaled D to shut and lock the door, "We need to talk, privately."
Al looked to Mark and smiled. He then turned to Ed, "Oh really? What about?"
D moved and sat on Ed's bed, "We have to ask you guys. Has anything weird happened to you guys recently?"
"Weird? Like how?" Mark said slyly.
"Like seeing things that are there, but aren't supposed to be visible?" Ed said.
Al chuckled, "Like air?
"No, like bones, muscles, tendons."
Mark and Al looked at him, "Oh. Those things." said Al.
Mark looked to D, "Have you seen that D?"
D shook his head, "No, but what happened to me was weirder. I was in the kitchen making ramen, and I spilled the water but it disappeared. No trace whatsoever."
Al and Mark nodded, "Okay you guys. The truth is that we've been through the same thing, sort of." Mark said. "Lets show them Al."
"Okay." said Al. He took in a deep breath as a silent gurgling filled the air. When Al's eyes opened a sharp ringing echoed out and his eyes became tense. The veins were visible in his temples and cheeks as Al grinned.
"What the fuck?!" D yelled. "What the hell's wrong with your face?!"
"Hmph, nothing. This is what I have. But wait until you see Mark's." he gestured his eyes at Mark.
"Well, its nothing too special, but-" Mark held up his arm as his fingers began moving erratically. His skin began to crawl until, finally, a sharpened bone shot from his wrist and protruded past his fingers.
Ed scooted back in his chair wide-eyed, "Holy shit!"
Al and Mark stood there laughing as they reverted back to normal. "What? This is what happened to us! And you guys too! We were changed earlier this week which is why we are able to control if better." said Al.
"It only takes a few hours of practice and concentration to be able to activate your ability at will." Mark said, "Already, I'm able to shift and grow my bones, but only in my arms."
"And I'm able to activate my eyes for almost a half hour and I and I'm able to see about 200 yards away and only sense things about 75 yards." said Al.
Ed and D were speechless. How could their friends done so much in so little time? They sat there as the brothers explained everything, about the training, the kekki genkais, everything, and decided how they were going to use these newly acquired abilities.
"Okay, first, ground rules. Number 1: Never reveal your power to anyone unless approved by everyone else. Number 2: only use your power in small instances, never large scale unless needed or around each other. And I think that covers it for the most part." Al smiled and clasped his hands.
D raised his hand and spoke, "How do we figure out what abilities me and Ed have?"
Mark shrugged, "Who knows. Just think of the ability you wanted the most from Naruto and that's probably what you have. Me and Al both got the kekki genkai we wanted so it should be the same.
"But I wanted Byakugan too and what I got was something weirder." said Ed rubbing his eye.
Al tapped his chin, "Well, think. What other kekki genkai has the power to see through things?"
Mark snapped his fingers, "Oh yeah! Remember in Naruto, the Thunder ninja's sidekick? That little kid in the backpack? Maybe you have his power!"
"You mean that Ranmaru guy? Gay! He can't do anything except see through stuff." Ed groaned.
D interrupted him, "He can see through the Byakugan though, and see life force. That might be even more dangerous. He can cast that mist genjutsu thingy can't he?"
Al and Mark nodded.
"Oh, well sweet then." Ed replied.
"Alright, we need to keep on training you guys. If we stay with it, who knows what else we can do. If we have kekki genkais, then that means Naruto is real; which means all the jutsus are real too." Al said grinning.
All of them smiled and nodded. This was what they had been waiting for. This was their dreams realized. They all continued their day as normal with no mention of their abilities until the end of the week. They convened at Ed's house and took his car to an open lot miles away from the eyes of the public. They all sat on the rocks and shared their tales of the last day in the week.
"Man you guys, I have never had this much fun with my bones." said Mark. "Its so much easier to wrestle when you can dislocate and harden your bones at will." he laughed loudly.
"Yeah, but its not as fun as walking past people centimeters from running into them. Its a trip seeing them move so slow but even more of a trip seeing through them." Al said.
Ed chuckled and placed his hand on Al's shoulder, "Don't I know it. But the fun part about having x-ray eyes is, well, x-ray vision." he laughed and nudged Al in the side.
"Okay Ed, we know what you did. Freaking perv." D said. "Well, I learned what I have and you guys aren't gonna believe it."
Everyone leaned in to hear. "Okay, you know how I moved that fire right? Well, it ain't just fire. Its everything! I have the Rinnegan!"
"No way! You serious? Damn D, we only learned about that like three weeks ago." Al said.
"Yeah, but I wanted it back then too." D explained.
Mark and Ed laughed.
"Well, since we all are here, I think its time I showed you all what I learned." Al said.
Ed and D looked to Mark. He shrugged.
"Watch this you guys." Al got up and walked over to a large rock, almost three times his size.
Mark gasped and looked at him, "No way dude, your not serious?"
Al grinned, "Hells Yeah." A sharp ping rang out as he got into a stance. He shifted his leg and arm back and centered with his other hand. He tensed up as he thrust his palm at the rock. "Jyūken!" There was a rushing of air followed by a loud crack. When he removed his hand, a circular dent rested in the rock's surface about half a foot deep and six inches in diameter.
He shook out his hand and chuckled, "So? What'cha think? Pretty good for only six hours of practice."
All of them looked at him stunned until Mark spoke out, "Dude, you are a freaking genius."
"I know. You guys can do it too. Just practice."
"Okay then, how about we practice on each other?" Mark said grinning.
Al raised his eyebrow, "You mean...spar?"
Mark nodded.
"Okay, I'm game. Lets do it." Al started walking into an open, flat area.
The brothers stood out in the open as their friends sat on rocks on the sidelines. Each of them stretched and took deep breaths. They looked at each other and grinned as Al's eyes tensed and Mark cracked just about every bone in his body at once. D held up his hand and the brother's got into stances. Mark had gotten into his wrestling stance and Al got into, what he observed as, the traditional Jyūken stance.
"Ready? BEGIN!" the match ensued.
Mark and Al rushed at each other as Mark shot in at Al's legs. Just before he got them, Al slid his foot one behind the other and spun behind him. Suddenly, Mark felt a sharp pain in his back as Al's palm lay in his back making him lung forward and face plant the dirt. Mark coughed and got up quickly slightly aggravated.
"What's your deal, man?! That really freaking hurt!"
"Of course, how else will we get stronger? We can't play pretend ninja anymore. We are ninja now. So grit and bear it or go home." his voice was serious and his eyes were blazing.
"Hmph, fine. I'll show you serious." Mark sighed as his body slightly swelled. He had made his bones denser.
Mark rushed at Al and pushed off harder with his newly thickened bones making him launch faster. Al grinned and backflipped bringing his foot up hard and nailing Mark in the chin. He flew up and back as Al landed on his feet. Mark rubbed his jaw as it popped back into place. He stood up and held his arm up. His fingers moved erratically as a sharpened bone stabbed up from his wrist. Mark growled as the bone got longer until it erupted completely from his wrist and landed in his hand as an elongated bone dagger. Al grinned as he now rushed his brother. He was faster, a lot faster. His Byakugan was more than enough to pursue his brother. He reeled back his palm for a thrust as Mark moved his dagger forward at his neck. Al moved effortlessly letting the dagger pass by the side of his neck as his palm laid embedded in his brother's stomach. The bones absorbed most of the force, but it would not protect against the true damage.
Al smiled wryly and tensed his hand as he yelled, "JYŪKEN!" a burst of blue chakra shot through his brother sending dust into the air. He took a step back and shook his hand out again.
Mark gasped as he coughed slightly, "Crap...you suck." He fell to his knees with a violent cough.
"You got stronger at least. Pulling out that bone dagger in the middle was smart but against the Byakugan, as you are, there was little chance." Al went to his brother smiling and helped him up. He winced and looked to his hand, it had two broken fingers and deep cuts all over it.
"Al! Your hand, its all messed up. How?" Mark asked.
"How do you think? Your bones. They are freaking hard as hell. Plus, that Jyūken strike takes a lot out of me, especially one so big." he chuckled as he held his arm up. "Hopefully my hand looks worse than it actually is, I don't want to explain how it got so fucked up."
"Yeah. Well, that was fun at least. Let's not do that until each of us can at least do one technique with our kekki genkais." Mark and Al smiled as Ed and D clapped from atop the rocks.
"That was so freaking awesome! I want to try!" D jumped down and saw how messed up they were. "Whoa! You guys alright?"
"Yeah, we're fine. But, for now, lets wait until we've had a little longer to train. Okay?" Al said.
"Sure. Okay Ed! Lets get going, I'm hungry." D yelled up to him.
"Your always hungry black man!" Ed said climbing down.
"You know what? Eat a dick, nigga!" D replied as he ran up to Ed and knocked him off the rock.
Al and Mark laughed as the four of them made their way back to Ed's car and drove back to his house. They sat and relaxed like they always did. After that day, they all devoted their time, not to relaxation, but to training themselves so that they could master their abilities. Al's display of control over the one aspect of Jyūken made the others determined to becoming just as good, if not better, than their anime counterparts. Their goals were to become the first and best real ninjas in existence.
A young man walking that night stopped over by the intersection leading to Ed's house. His eyes hidden by his low brimmed hat. He pulled a phone out from his coat and placed it to his ear.
"Hey, I'm at the place. They seem to be beginners, but the one with Byakugan is getting along a little too smoothly. We'll keep an eye on them all for now. See you back home." he hung up and walked into the darkness.
