"I'm not surprised that they tried to take your brother."
Itachi's red eyes only narrowed at the mention of his younger sibling. He said nothing in reply.
"It's simply amusing, though, how they thought they could fool us with those false cadavers," the slithery voice laughed, "The Rebels are starting to lack."
Itachi still didn't offer any bit of conversation, which made his superior tick but he suppressed his bloodlust before impulse took over.
"Uchiha Itachi, solemn and reserved as always," Orochimaru said, slyly smiling, "But it's such a shame that they've recruited your brother; I was close to doing it myself."
"It's better this way," Itachi said, his voice finally sounding in the silence.
"Oh? In what way?" Orochimaru mused, "Better that he's for the more moral cause? Or better that you have quite the chance in facing him one day?"
He waited for Itachi's response half with genuine curiosity and half with banter. He suddenly felt the older Uchiha's burning chakra radiating from him, making Nius's slithery leader laugh.
"Calm yourself. I'm only joking."
Sasuke lay in his bed completely awake. It had been exactly seven hours since they'd been organized into sleeping quarters and left alone till the next morning. He found no sleep whatsoever, his mind overflowing with the recent events of the past 24 hours.
He still couldn't get over how fast things were going; it was starting to look completely insane. But what was he feeling too rushed about? He'd spent most of his 17 years being bored with the routine of life, unamused with the unchallenging lessons at the academy, and hopelessly itching for some excitement. Well, he'd gotten what he wished for. He shouldn't be complaining.
As he panned over the series of events, his mind lingered more on the briefing they had the day before. Lady Tsunade had called them nins. Sasuke, and the nine others that were recruited along with him, were special in the way that they possessed the ability to create an energy force the same as the earth's.
Nins.
Sasuke pried every corner of his mind and tried to find even the slightest memory of the word. He should have come across it at least once in the secret transcripts he'd gone through. At least once. But he found nothing in his memories and only remembered the details of Imperial Soldiers- the closest thing to the word nins in his head.
And the other recruits who were in the briefing with him… who were they? He didn't recognize any of them upon his entrance and he remembered Lady Tsunade mentioning that the Neji boy and the Hinata girl were Imperial rejects. They were scouring even the Imperial rejects for help? It boggled Sasuke's mind and sparked his interest.
So the others had the same ability as he did. They all possessed the recessive gene, as they were told. It felt weird knowing there were others the same as him since he'd gone through his whole life not knowing anyone else with the ability aside from the Imperial Soldiers. What were the others capable of doing? Were they as strong and smart as he was? Who exactly were they?
Sasuke adjusted his sleeping position and faced the small room that he shared with Neji and the spikey haired boy- whose name he figured out as Shikamaru. The latter slept above him on the top bunk and Neji slept across from them on a single bed.
The three didn't exchange many words since they'd made acquaintances. The most any of them uttered was Shikamaru asking who was to take which bed. It was fine by Sasuke, he didn't like talkers much anyway and these two seemed the most intelligent of the bunch. The Neji boy had even radiated the strongest chakra out of the other nine and Sasuke took note of keeping a wary eye on the guy.
The room was dark with no windows and the only way to tell the time was from the digital clock sitting at the head of their door.
5:00 am, the clock read.
Sasuke still hadn't fallen asleep and they were to rise at 6.
He shrugged off the fatigue and let his thoughts restlessly run until they had to wake.
"Alright, gather 'round," a fierce looking woman with black hair called.
Her pupil-less brown eyes looked at each and every single nin that slowly gathered in front of her, piercing and wary. Being clad in a tight, black, full body combat suit didn't make her look any less menacing. The spikey, unruly hair was a nice touch too.
As the last of the ten finally joined her little semicircle gathering in the middle of simulation room, she approached one end and slowly paced her way down, looking each straight in the eyes. As she did, no one dared avert their sight from hers and remained still. The aura this woman emitted warned them not to speak without being spoken to and to not make any sudden movements.
This woman was a snake.
She stopped right in front of Sasuke who stood at the very end and her gaze lingered on him longer than it had on the others. He looked right back at her, his height and natural glare matching hers. He felt his chakra churn in apprehension as her eyes narrowed.
"You, Pretty Boy," she said, her voice ringing loudly in the thick silence, "You look like you've already taken some hits." She nodded at the wrappings that were still around Sasuke's head. Shizune had told him earlier to keep them on for another day.
He didn't know if the woman wanted him to respond but she just stood there unmoving, as if waiting. He decided to answer.
"Yamato did a careless job recruiting me," he said, echoing Lady Tsunade's words.
The woman heartily laughed, abruptly changing personalities that caught all of them off guard. She just went from snake to relaxed in a split second. What was with this woman?
"Oh man, finally, that Yamato finally slips up," she said, her laughter dying down, "I've been waiting for that."
Her manner instantaneously changed back into the snake.
"I am Mitarashi Anko, Head Recruit Instructor and a nin just like all of you," she professionally said as she paced in front of them with her hands behind her back, "I usually train normal recruits, but Lady Tsunade's assigned me to specifically train you ten for the time being. I'm assuming you've been briefed on the situation then, yes?"
She halted with her legs in a drill sergeant's stance. They nodded.
"How many of you have been trained in physical combat before?" she asked.
Neji, Hinata, Lee, and Sasuke were the only ones who raised their hands. Neji and Hinata were no surprise, since they were Imperial rejects after all. Sasuke secretly trained himself in his own time out of boredom, programming his personal Android to act as his sparring partner with the combat spheres he'd found in the forbidden room of the library. The physical education at the academy just as mediocre as its academic curriculum. He knew the basics and proved capable.
Anko clicked her tongue seeing the small number of hands but she knew she shouldn't be surprised; eight of these kids were Nius citizens that had no opportunity to openly learn hand-to-hand combat since the government forbade such things. It was their way of extinguishing any potential threat from the people.
"Alright, then this will be a gruesome training period for most of you," Anko said, "And count on being ground to the floor because I'm just about the cruelest woman you'll ever meet."
That didn't surprise any of them at the least. The mere presence of the woman already spoke that to the world.
"Now, moving on," she said, "Our mole in the government says they aren't moving to find the rest of the six for another few months till their Sensor locates the next piece. Lucky for us they've only got one Sensor at the moment and they're not exactly the best at what they do. That lucky break seriously gives us a significant amount of time to get your little asses up, able to track, and fight."
"Sensor?" the blonde girl, Ino, asked. The older woman nodded.
"No one other than nins can detect emitted chakra and no one other than specially trained nins- Sensors- can detect the stagnant chakra the Soluroid pieces harbor," Anko said as a matter of fact,
"Each piece has a unique chakra signature that distinguishes them from each other, which makes them easy to identify but not any easier to find. Which is why we, and government, need specially trained Sensors to do the job."
Sasuke assumed she was high in rank since she seemingly knew a lot about the Rebel's operation. No low rank would know so much. He wondered how many heads she'd ripped off to get to that spot.
"With that said," Anko continued on, "You will be split into three man cells that will be your official operation team. All three will be trained in physical combat and only one will be solely trained as a Sensor.
"Hyuuga Hinata, Rock Lee, and Inuzuka Kiba will be Cell 1, with Hinata as Sensor. Aburame Shino, Ten Ten, and Akimichi Chouji as Cell 2, Shino as Sensor. Yamanaka Ino, Hyuuga Neji, and Uchiha Sasuke will be Cell 3, Ino as Sensor."
"And me?" Shikamaru asked questioningly. He was left out of the list.
"You, IQ200, will function as the Main Sensor and Tactician that will coordinate all three cells from this base," Anko smirked, "Lady Tsunade couldn't let your brains go to waste."
She reached for the console that was attached to her utility belt and pressed the red button at the center. From the metal ground rose a long wall that carried weaponry on its hinges with a hiss.
"These are your propulsors that we've specifically designed to accommodate each of your strengths from the intel we've gathered from observing you," Anko explained as she gestured to the wall behind her,
"From what you've undoubtedly seen, these are similar to the Imperial Soldiers' weapons because they are, indeed, the same in the way they function. These propulsors only activate when its designated wielder channels their chakra into them and stay stagnant when not."
Sasuke's eyes were riveted on the wall, soaking in the incredible sight of the propulsors in front of them. They, indeed, looked similar to the Imperial Soldiers' weapons in the way they were designed and crafted with their silver and dull chrome frames shining in the light. Each was unique and looked specifically designed for different purposes and harbored colored lines that were just as unique to each other.
They looked grander than the mass produced ones the Imperial Soldiers wielded- though more stylish would be the more appropriate term. There was a staff with a large portal shield beside it, two pairs of heavy looking gauntlets, a pair of equipped nun chucks, a sword with an incredible hilt and other formidable weapons.
Sasuke itched to see which one was his.
"We're going to jump right into using these because frankly, I believe the longer you work with these babies the more you're gonna get out of them," Anko said as she unhooked twin swords at one end of the wall.
She spun them in the air and gripped them tightly as they landed in her hands. She flicked her wrists and a tan light glowed from her blades along with the crystal emblem and lines on her hilts.
"This is my propulsor, which I've personally dubbed as Medusa," Anko said coolly, "My blades only respond to my chakra and mine alone. They're just ordinary swords without it. Now, my chakra signature is colored tan but the color of your glow will be different from mine. However, the way to activate them is the same: you channel your chakra.
"Your propulsors placed on the wall are in the same order that I listed out your teams, with Miss Hinata's down at this end and Uchiha Sasuke's down at the other. Shikamaru, I'll introduce you to yours later but pay just as much attention. Let's say we try them out, yeah?"
Neji, Sasuke and the Rock Lee boy were the first to move to retrieve their weapons and the others gradually followed suit out of hesitance. Sasuke unhooked his designated propuslor from the wall's hinges and admired the straight shape of the blade and intricate design on the sword's hilt. So this one was his. The sword was a lot heavier than he'd expected from eyeing it, but the feeling of the armament in his hold felt invigorating. He liked it.
As everyone familiarized themselves with their weapons Anko moved them to gather around her once again.
"Every propulsor has different means of offense and defense," she construed, "You can channel your chakra and manipulate its shape, reach and intensity, using your propulsors as the medium. Today, we'll just start with the basics: learning how to control how much chakra you channel and how to use it."
"Sounds easy enough," the Kiba boy smirked as he slowly channeled his chakra to the armor sleeves on his arms, making its crystal and lines lightly glow red.
"But I'll warn you about this now," Anko said with the most solemn tone, "Chakra is made up of your stamina, so when it hits zero… you will die. Bless the poor soul that taught as that fact."
Sasuke heard someone behind him gulp.
So that explained why fatigue came faster to him when he used his chakra. That energy was directly related to his physical capacity. Anko's warning suddenly made him hesitant to use his chakra so easily.
Their instructor continued to explain how to activate their propulsors and the importance of being able to control them. Too little chakra and the weapon are just as weak as they are stagnant. Too much chakra and the energy backfires on the wielder right off the bat. Most of them had no trouble in stimulating their propulsors, though it was proven to them that this required all their concentration. They channeled their chakra slowly from fear of the backfire Anko warned them about.
Sasuke and Neji were the first ones able to successfully stimulate their propulsors with ease, though it did take a few tries. It felt odd and comfortable in Sasuke's hands at the same time; it was as if he'd made a spiritual and physical connection with the thing. His crystal and lines glowed indigo, with a lighter glow engulfing the blade.
He glanced over at the others to see their progress as Anko went around and explained propulsor-specific details to each of them. Hinata was having a little trouble pumping enough chakra into her gauntlets, her white color glowing then receding. Kiba was getting close with his and was able to make his color glow brighter than he had the first time. The Ino girl was just as close as Kiba, with her sleek battle rifle glowing light purple.
Lee looked like he was having the worst time since Anko had come over and been with him longer than the others. His nun chucks' green glow merely flickered before disappearing again. The Ten Ten girl only looked about halfway there but Sasuke couldn't blame her; she had to pump chakra into her staff and portal shield at once simultaneously. It was hard enough trying to stimulate one and momentarily revered Anko for being able to activate both of hers so easily. Chouji looked about the same in his progress with his hammer and Shino with his brace and anklets.
"You two got it pretty quickly," Shikamaru commented as he approached Sasuke and Neji from observing the others. He'd taken in every detail Anko explained to each person about their propulsors. Being the Tactician and Head Sensor and all he figured he'd start his job right then and there.
Neji only nodded as his gauntlets glowed grey. His pair was similar to that of his cousin's, though hers was a bit more on the heavier side with lions engraved on the back of her hands. Eagles adorned his.
"It wasn't that difficult," Sasuke said. He powered down his sword to conserve his chakra.
"Heh, we've got a Mr. Bigshot over there," Kiba called over to them his armored sleeves finally fully glowing red, "What happened to you? You still look like a mummy."
Sasuke only grunted in reply.
"Yes!" Ten Ten exclaimed as her propulsors radiated maroon. The others were gradually making their way to success. Ino's light purple, Hinata's white, Chouji's orange, Shino's black, and Lee's still faint green.
"Alright, looks like most of you have the hang of it," Anko said and Lee hung his head in shame for his wasn't completely there yet.
"Don't worry, Bowl Cut, you'll eventually get there. Now, keep your propulsors powered up and watch your consistency… we're gonna have a test run."
The simulation room's dome walls suddenly blacked and from the ground emerged metal and earth debris making some of them topple over from the mini quake. The ceiling transformed into the night sky and the dome's walls suddenly disappeared with wide open space taking its place.
They were all taken by surprised of the abrupt change and gathered their wits fast enough to hear Anko's yell before she disappeared into thin air.
"All you ten against me! Your goal is to land one hit and this test run is over. Work together or not, doesn't matter. Just show me what you've got, tykes!"
Sasuke pumped chakra into his sword out of agitation, thankful that he remembered the right amount to activate it in the midst of disarray. Some of the others were already on the move, explosions and quakes shaking the ground. He peered around the piece of a ship's wing he was hiding behind and saw flickers of Anko's tan glow.
The woman was fast and was dodging the reckless blows of materialized chakra and reach of those who came after her. He could barely track her movements even as she traded blows with Neji and Kiba.
"Whoa! Look out!" he heard someone yelp behind him. He turned and barely dodged a purple blast that had come from the blonde girl's battle rifle a few boulders away.
"Sorry!" she called out. Sasuke ignored her and bounded his way to where Neji, Kiba and Lee were up against Anko, their blows completely futile. The others were a few yards away, calculating desperately for an idea on what to do or just confused.
"Come on! Come at me with the intent to kill or else you won't even get a chance!" Anko taunted them.
The three that were facing her continued to aggressively throw blows without avail. Not a single scratch landed on Anko and it didn't look like she was growing tired any time soon. This was almost ridiculous, putting fresh propulsor wielders against a heavily experienced one. They couldn't hope to land a blow before they all ran out of chakra.
"Get ready!" Anko hollered as she jumped onto the highest piece of debris with her blades fiercely glowing.
Chakra snakes emanated from each of her blades and circled around each other in magnificent twists before accelerating to where they were standing. They bore their fangs and large hisses split the air.
"Look out!" Kiba yelled as he and his armored dog dodged one of the snake's attacks. Neji and Lee were also able to evade but were targeted by more that were streaming out from Anko's swords.
"Watch your chakra!" Anko yelled over the crashes and hisses. She continued to pummel them with raining snakes. This was way too amusing for her, though she had to admit that they learned how to use their propulsors offensively so quickly. It was a lot more fun playing with them than regular recruits.
The others had finally joined in on the fight; Chouji hesitantly swinging his hammer at the chakra snakes' heads, Shino conjuring up swarms of chakra bugs from his bracelets and anklets, Hinata offensively pulsing them away with one swift push of a hand, Ten Ten frantically slamming her portal shield and staff into the snake's jaws, and Ino firing chakra bullets.
Sasuke was just about to jump in with the others when he felt someone grab his shoulder.
"Hold on," Shikamaru said, his eyes transfixed on Anko's figure up on the tall pile of machine debris.
"What is it?" Sasuke questioned, annoyed that someone had stopped him from diving into the fight. His instincts just wanted to throw him in there. A loud explosion sounded on the other side of the boulder they were standing behind.
"Anko," Shikamaru simply said, "She hasn't moved an inch since she started that harem of snakes. That's the weakness of whatever technique she's doing- she can't move."
A light bulb suddenly lit in Sasuke's psyche. This ponytail guy really was observant.
"Attack her from behind," Sasuke thought out loud when he connected the pieces together, "Her blind spot."
Shikamaru nodded and more quakes shook the ground.
"Take her by surprise, though I know that she'll sense you within five second's range," the genius said, "But it doesn't matter because she'll have to halt that snake harem in order to defend herself against you. Right when you distract Anko, I ordered Ino to fire."
Sasuke nodded and smirked before quickly bounding around the pile of debris.
"Hmph, already taking charge," he thought, genuinely impressed by Shikamaru's quick thinking. No wonder they wanted him as the coordinator of their operation.
Sasuke briskly made his way up the pile of debris to where Anko was standing and still controlling the chaos of snakes. It seemed that she hadn't bothered to care if all nine, excluding Shikamaru, were in her web of attacks. Good. Then she wouldn't know for sure if one of them was astray.
He suppressed his chakra as he slowly crept up closer behind their instructor, his heart beating faster by the second. Shikamaru had said that Anko would sense his presence if he got close so he figured that if he toned down his intensity it would make him a lot less detectable. Or so he hoped. Sasuke gripped his hilt tightly and stopped a few yards away from Anko.
"Is that all you've got?" she continued to taunt.
He stared at her back. What was he waiting for? A plan was in effect and the woman was pummeling the others to bits. They needed to land just a single hit and this would be over. Shikamaru had told him to just distract Anko and that Ino would land the blow from afar.
"Tch," Sasuke grunted as he took his stance.
That girl better have good aim.
He lunged at Anko's back with a battle cry, pumping chakra into his propulsor, his heart wildly beating and chakra seething. The woman turned with wide eyes at the sound of his yell and it was evident that she hadn't noticed him creeping up behind her. Anko let go of her jutsu, making the snakes disappear below, and blocked Sasuke's blade with both her own.
Bang!
Sasuke's obsidian eyes stared right into Anko's alarmed brown ones. Had Ino gotten her? They certainly heard the sound of her rifle go off… but Anko didn't fall to the ground, blood wasn't spilt anywhere, and she was still strongly holding her blades against his. Did she miss?
Small pieces of black hair suddenly fell from above and landed on the Anko's blades in front of her face. The bullet had apparently grazed the tip of her spikey black hair on the back of her head.
"What kind of crappy aim was that?!" Kiba's yell came from down below.
"Oh like you'd do any better," they heard Ino yell back, "You were just getting your ass whooped, idiot!"
Anko's eyes suddenly relaxed and a smirk came over her lips. She pushed Sasuke's blade off with her swords and powered them down in a spin. Sasuke kept his blade up and powered, wary of what she might do next. He knew he couldn't trust that girl's aim.
"A hit's a hit," Anko said coolly, "Test run over."
The setting abruptly changed again; the debris dematerialized and the night sky receded towards the middle of the dome ceiling. Anko and Sasuke jumped from the top of the pile of debris before it completely disappeared and landed in front of the others with a thud.
"Are you kidding?" Ten Ten asked, surprised at their 'victory'.
"Did we really win, Anko-sensei?" Lee asked, just as surprised.
"I just grazed your hair," Ino said skeptically. No way they could have won just because of that.
Anko laughed, "Like I said: a hit's a hit. Besides, you wouldn't have stood a chance against me in the long run."
Some of them grumbled in unison about how that was probably true. Ten versus one and they could only cut off a piece of their instructor's hair. They obviously had a long way to go.
"Though I can't say that I'm unimpressed," Anko said, smirking, "You learned how to offensively utilize your propulsors that quickly on the first day of training. It took me about a few days my first time, so congratulations maggots. But with that said, you've got a long, brutal road ahead of you. Keep this up and you'll be just as skilled as I am in few months' time."
"By the way," Anko added, "that sneak-attack-distract approach was pretty clever. Applause to you even though it didn't really do damage at all."
"All Shikamaru," Ino said as she rested her battle rifle over her shoulder. Anko nodded- she already knew.
"Alright, I think that's enough for today," she said as she pressed the red button on her console to summon the wall again, "Put your propulsors back here so they can be repaired. Anyone badly hurt?"
She received several responses of no as they powered down their weapons and hooked them back onto the wall.
"We'll pick up this up tomorrow morning so rest up tonight," Anko said while they all made their way to the simulation room's exit, "Lunch is in half an hour and I recommend that you get to know your teammates starting today. Remember that you'll be spending quite a long time together from now on."
Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets and walked off to the direction of their room while the others chatted away with each other about how awesome their first experience with their propulsor was or how dumb that test run went. He didn't have the slightest intention to make friends at all; the excitement of their mission was enough for him.
He did, however, find appeal in the fact Neji was in the same cell. Neji looked incredibly able when he traded blows with Anko during the test run, though he didn't land a hit at all. Even with that, his offense was much stronger than the other's. It really just seemed like Neji had he most potential out of the others and Sasuke itched to see how far he'd go against the Imperial reject.
But it confused him. How was someone as strong Neji rejected as an Imperial Soldier? From what Sasuke could tell from all his life, the soldiers were fearsome yes, but he'd never seen them wield their propulsors as easily as Neji had. The curiosity tugged on him but he refrained the urge to find answers. After all, the only people that would know would be Lady Tsunade, Neji and Hinata and Sasuke did not like asking people for favors.
He put his hand on the scanner to open the room's door and walked inside. He was hungry but honestly didn't want the company of the other nine. He was never one for friends or even just human company- Sakura was the only exception. Sasuke just decided he'd go out for food in the base's cafeteria later since they were told they could have the rest of the day to themselves after training.
He laid on his bed and dozed off, staring at the metal ceiling.
"Wow for a couple of newbies they're learning fast," a man with a short beard said as he puffed smoke out of his mouth. Tsunade had just switched the screen off after they made their exit out of the simulation room.
"Right you are, Asuma," Tsunade said, a smile lingering on her lips, "What do you think Kakashi?"
The man sitting across from her at the round table nodded, equally as impressed as everyone in the small crowd who watched the ten from the briefing room.
"They'll grow into strong nins, that's for sure," he said through the black mask that covered the lower half of his face, "Though I think Anko was a little bit too harsh with them on their first day."
"Huh," Asuma grunted at his last comment, "The government's lackies are gonna be twice as nasty with them once they head out there."
"Asuma," Tsunade interjected, "Would you do the honor of teaching them Stage 2 when the time comes?"
The said man looked at his superior in surprise. He hadn't gotten to be in this chakra game since he'd gotten slapped with the role as a pilot. Asuma smiled with a furrowed brow and nodded.
"With pleasure."
Thank you so much grisly blanco and guestfor reviewing the first chapter. You guys have given me encouraging and useful critiques that I'm definitely taking into consideration. And also thank you to those who've put alerts because those are encouraging as well! I really appreciate the support and now I'm really looking forward to continuing this story. You won't be disappointed, I promise!
And the answer your question, grisly blanco, is the very first sentence of this chapter hahaha.
I hope that I'll keep getting some feedback to make this story that much better in the future. Thank you for reading! Until next chapter~