I knew Kakashi-sensei would be late, and all that time that I had in the training ground, I knew I could use it to set up traps or recon to know the area better. I also didn't want to set him off in case he was trying to watch me from afar, so I used clones instead. I was already getting up early, I knew I would need to eat, even if I was told not to, and I needed a plan. I didn't know if Kakashi-sensei would just have me try to get a bell from him, or if we would spar. I wasn't here for teamwork, I was his apprentice to get stronger and protect the small family I have.
My only trump card was that Kakashi-sensei probably didn't know I had already unlocked my Sharingan. If there was a way to hide my eyes, so that I could catch him off guard, I would. But it would be very suspicious, and instead I wanted to freak him out a little bit. I had my own face mask, and instead of dark blue like his was, it was white. Sure blood would show very easily if I got it on my face, but it would look cooler with my hair. Which I actually wanted to get cut again. But that can happen later.
Right now I'm stretching in the clearing of the training ground, and a clone is carefully looking around to see where I can hide or set traps. And if a place is good, the clone will set a trap. My only other problem is that I don't have a huge arsenal of jutsu to use. I have the basic three from the academy, and the great fireball. Sure I can walk up trees and walls, but that won't help me much here.
Iruka-sensei had told me my taijutsu wasn't on a level that would let me learn at the academy, but it was actually just barely above genin. I was still pretty much nothing, but I had decent endurance and pain meant little to nothing to me.
It wasn't hot or anything yet, so the sweater I was wearing wasn't too bad. And my cargo pants with pockets galore allowed me to feel a nice breeze, and keep everything I needed on me. I stashed a bag with food nearby, just in case Kakashi-sensei tried to starve me out. You can never know with him.
I figured he would show up right around ten, and sure enough, that was when my new sensei poofed into the clearing. I had been done stretching for a while, and there were a few exploding tags in places I figured he might hide. I put my own chakra in them, so I would be able to sense if he was in range of them. It kind of gave me a mental map of the area. I decided that anything else might be too obvious, especially since he was a jounin. Sure he could also probably feel the tags, but he might not know what they were until it was too late. And even if he stays out of range, I could fight with my eyes closed this way.
"Jah- Sorry I'm late Mirai-chan, there was a black cat on the road I normally take here, so I had to take the long way." He was giving me a close eyed smile, and he knew I wasn't buying it.
"Uh-huh Kakashi-Sensei. This better be fun. Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun wouldn't mind me being able to help them train right now." I stood up and crossed my arms. I still wasn't sure what game he wanted to play, and I needed to be spontaneous. Naruto-kun was able to catch him off guard, maybe I could too.
"Well you see Mirai-chan, I wasn't sure how to test you, but you gave me an idea yesterday. I know how much you care about your family, what little of it that hasn't been taken from you. So, I know the perfect way to make you show me your all today. Turn around Mirai-chan."
The pit that had slowly been building in my stomach was making me sick. I turned slowly, and when I saw snoring, dozing Naruto, and a peaceful sleeping Sasuke, both tied to the logs that I hadn't had my eyes on, it felt like ice went into my veins, and my anger started to build and grow in my chest. This wasn't like every other time.
This time my brothers were being held hostage like it was a game, like he thought he could just mold my emotions because he had the two things I hold most dearly. He thought this might just make me try harder, no, this makes me want to strip his skin off and then his muscles separately. I focused chakra to my eyes, and for a second the world was spinning, but then I knew I was able to see what was going to end up happening. I calmly centered myself, I would let the anger he was getting to rise out of me help me fight better. I turned, and didn't even wait for him to say anything, he should know that doing this kind of thing could make someone lose it.
Kakashi-sensei's only visible eye actually widened, and he tried to get distance between us, but I had decent stamina, and he seemed caught enough off guard that when he wandered near one of my explosive tags, I jumped back and made the seal to activate it. It wasn't a strong one, that one was under the ground near the tree.
Right, I could deal with copying seals. I had been a decent artist before, still was, and seals were fun. Sue me.
Kakashi-sensei flew forward from the force of the blast, which wasn't much, and he landed fine, but he obviously wasn't expecting an ambush. While he was distracted I made a clone, and it made itself small enough to run off towards the boys to let them free. Before Kakashi-sensei could try and make a move on me, I pulled out a kunai and jumped at him, he had one out to meet me, and I obviously got thrown off of him like a rag doll, but I landed well.
"Kakashi-sensei, if you ever put my family in danger you are going to face something you'll never want to revisit. I might be a child but I know things that would make yours knees weak, things that would make you remember his sacrifice."
I didn't have the full Sharingan, but I had two tomoe in each eye, I guess since facing Madara/Tobi and seeing my entire clan murdered and then had to relive it for forever, each time thinking it was my brother, that was all a traumatic enough experience.
The world was a beautiful array of color. I could see better than I ever remembered, and I knew where everything was around me, and I could feel every sensation that could lead to me winning his game. Kakashi-sensei narrowed his eyes, and took a step back. I started doing the hand seals for Great Fireball, and since I wanted him to get closer to the tree, I blew it straight at him, and as expected he jumped back enough to give it room.
I decided to be theatrical about it, instead of just forming the sign of the tag below him, I put both palms on the ground, and tried to connect to it that way. I didn't expect it to work, but after a few seconds I could feel where it was, only a little to the left of where Kakashi-sensei was standing, eyeing me warily. I could tell he wasn't about to move, so I sent a pulse of chakra towards my seal, and I didn't expect the ground to crack like it did, but since the explosive tag also went off, I would have to say it was a success.
I made sure to jump off of the ground, because the ground isn't always a safe place, and I sprinted towards where the boys were. I wasn't sure why my clone did, but it seemed like the boys were still here, but I had a strong sense not to touch them. Then I felt the chakra pulse coming from the log they were tied to, and I knew what my clone did.
I was about to start laughing until I felt a hand on the back of my sweater, and I was lifted off the ground, and ceremoniously dumped on the other side of Kakashi-sensei. He was glaring at me and he was angry, but he didn't know that I had actually won.
"You have no idea what the objective was! You weren't supposed to try and kill me you gaki- we were going to spar and if you did well enough I was going to release them and let them eat lunch, but now they've been asleep too long for the jutsu I put on them." His rant sort of rambled off and he seemed confused. So I held up my left hand in the genjutsu release sign, and released it.
There was a small poof from the log, and it turns out it was really just an empty log.
I faced Kakashi-sensei, and couldn't help myself. "Well sensei, since I was able to take your leverage from you while we were sparring, I would have to say I did well. And the boys are already eating. OY! Naruto-kun Sasuke-kun! Get over here to meet my sensei!" I could see the grass moving around and then a blonde head popped up. Then the blonde head was grinning, and was jumping out of the bush, dragging a raven haired companion.
Kakashi-sensei was glaring at me. He probably didn't like that I managed to get around his plan, or that I was able to distract him well enough to hide the boys, but also feed them and not get anyone hurt. I turned to Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun, who were both oogling Kakashi-sensei like he was a new celebrity.
"You two should go home and clean up. I know you have homework to do, and please actually do your chores today. That's why you guys should clean up after each other. Then there isn't a mess to clean." I ruffled both of their heads, Naruto-kun giggled and ran off, while Sasuke-kun grunted and hugged me tightly before following Naruto. I turned to Kakashi-sensei. He was no longer irritated or mad it seemed. What he must have just seen probably reminded him of his own memories.
"S-so Kakashi-sen-"
"Shishou. Call me Shishou, minarai. This could have gone better, but now I know you don't want to leave people behind, and that you can plan ahead, think on your feet. Our first order of business is going to be speed."He was giving me what he thought was a sweet smile, but I felt my gut churning. "If you are too fast for the enemy to hit you, you can hit them first."
Kakashi-sensei took me back into Konoha, down a few streets I had never seen, and suddenly there were better tools and weapons and clothing and shoes than I had ever seen. He wanted me to wear more protective gear, because I am supposed to go with him on missions soon, since he's one of the strongest ninja in Konoha. I would be there to learn what I can, even help if possible. He let me get my money from my house, and I decided to wear a half face mask, like my Shishou. Although mine was white, mostly to contrast from the fact that we had opposite hari colors- like ying and yang. He informed me that the outfit I was wearing was good for in village missions, but I needed different gear to actually go off with him on missions.
I needed clothing that fit well and wasn't baggy, because it would get caught on trees or enemy ninja could grab onto me easier. I needed under armour to take blows from hits, and the under armor also doubled as weights. I could gradually apply chakra to them, and I would get used to that amount, then add more, and so on. I got similar ones for my shins. Unlike Gai and Lee, I wore mine underneath my clothing, and used bandages to wrap the bottoms of my pants tighter.
I got more sneaker like shoes, flat on the bottom, dark blue. I didn't get a vest like upper ranks did, but I found a decent weight vest that pockets and gave some protection, and actually fits. The cargo pants I bought were much more durable, and the merchant who sold them to me told that that if I let the clothing absorb some of my chakra, it would be even stronger and much much less likely to tear. I got a bag that dwarfed backpacks in my old world. I needed to ask Kakashi-sensei about learning about scrolls for storage. Explosive tags were easy to find and copy, but storage seals were expensive and I didn't know what stores to go to for them.
The tools in this area were much better made, so I bought several new sets of kunai, shuriken, and senbon. I had fairly good aim, and in order to keep that I needed to keep practicing. I wanted to learn how to use a weapon, swords a blade, something that could give me an edge. I wandered around the weapon store, until i found the kodachis and katanas, all of which were beautiful, but they seemed too big for me. Then I saw a set of two matching swords, and I didn't know what they were called, but one was slightly longer than the other. The hilts were black and white, braided together, and the cases for the blades had black on the edges, and a bold stripe of white down the middle of both.I saw the price, and while it was quite a bit, a weapon like this could easily turn me into something to fear one day.
When I walked into the house, all dressed in my new ninja gear, along with the haircut I had been dying to get, I could hear Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun in one of their rooms, reading what must have been a history textbook. Sasuke-kun was actually reading it out loud for Naruto-kun, and from what I could hear, it seemed like Naruto-kun was enjoying it, and he would repeat something Sasuke-kun said, and from what I could tell, Sasuke-kun found out how to get Naruto-kun to study.
I trudged all my stuff to my room, and changed into a tshirt and shorts, and promptly tackled the two in hugs, then sat legs criss cross, and grabbed the book from Sasuke-kun. Sure I wasn't in class with them, and I already read the book, but if it's speaking it out and getting into it, that's one thing I can do to help them.
Eventually we got to the end of the chapter that they were supposed to read, and I led them both to the kitchen. I had a surprise for them, because I remembered a recipe from my old world. I didn't really see cookies around here like in my old world, and I thought if I could make them for them, it would make them happy.I pulled the plate that was just in there to keep the cookies warm, and set it on the counter. Both boys looked confused, but I picked one up and took a bite out of it. I had put as much chocolate as I thought the boys would be able to handle, and within an instant they were eating the cookies to bits. I left them with the plate, and went to my room and closed the door.
I was only a child here, and I felt like I was their parent. They are doing things kids do right now, not that they will be for long, but they are getting the chance. And I'm sitting alone in my room, trying to prepare myself for the fact that I'm going to see things that will give me nightmares for life. I'm trying to tell myself that I'm doing this for the family that has been made in where a family was taken, but it's hard. It's hard to know about what is going to happen, and know that I'm still not good enough and I might never be. I still had a couple of years to do better and try to get myself there, but I'm afraid I won't be able to. I need to stop moping like this, because that's not what heroes do. Sure not a hero that anyone is going to see, but I want to keep my village safe and I want to stop the monsters out there that I know of. And I have a mission to prepare for.
I wasn't supposed to see any combat on this mission, Kakashi-shishou told me there might be some and I was going to stay behind cover and out of sight. I knew with the level of opponents Shishou could take, I really didn't want to try and fight.
There were two rogue ninja harassing a local village, and Kakashi-shishou was hired to make them not be a problem anymore. I knew what that meant of course, I wasn't stupid, and I knew things could happen that could get me in danger. I was going to prepare like I already knew something bad was going to happen, and hopefully get out of it okay.
I knew I wouldn't be able to try and get out of it, because I was a ninja now, and as an apprentice I had to stay with my shishou, and I knew I was going to get even more attached to him.
I knew he would do his best to keep me from getting hurt, but also knew that he might do something that he thinks might help me get stronger, and I might not be good enough.
Traveling there is supposed to take a few days, and we might have to stay a couple days to complete the mission, then head back. It wasn't cold, so bringing a tent was useless. All I brought with me was a change of clothes, food and extra weapons. I didn't know if chakra pills were something I needed, but I bought some and had them in my bag as well.
It was my first time out of the village, and since I had never tree hopped before, it took me an hour or so before I got used to doing it. I knew Shishou was slowing himself way the hell down, and even though I was trying to go as fast as I could, my stamina was flagging by lunch time. We traveled like that for two days, camping in caves or dense cover. It felt weird to be out of the village with someone I didn't know well. I knew he was trying to teach me things, Shishou would show me how to cover our tracks or give me tips on tree hopping easier, and it was useful, but I felt like I was going into this fight with no firepower, and I didn't want to be useless and get in the way.
Kakashi-shishou actually noticed that I was on edge the second day of travel, and during or stop for lunch, he actually talked to me about it. I explained that I didn't feel like I would be able to help or that I was going to be useless, and he seemed to understand.
"Mirai-chan, you just graduated from the academy. The Hokage and I don't expect you to be able to fight. I was concerned that he wanted to send you with me on this mission, because I would normally be sent alone, and the mission would be done within a few days, but Hokage-sama wanted you in the field. I would suggest you don't look, but it's up to you. You live the life of a ninja now. You will also get to do things like this, because while you think you are weak, I can tell you aren't just going to give up. You have people to protect and a reason to get stronger. I don't know how I'm going to be able to help you besides show you things and have you come on missions with me, but I think you can handle this."
When Shishou put it that way, I didn't feel as bad about it, but I still didn't think I would be able to help. When we did finally get to where the rogue ninja were supposed to be hiding out, Kakashi-shishou couldn't find their tracks, and I could feel unease stirring in my gut. He looked at me, and I could tell he was frowning.
"Mirai-chan, you need to do everything I tell you. This mission has turned into an ambush."
Yo! Another chapter, and I changed a couple things. nothing big, same stuff happens it just seems a lot more likely to happen now. Man I had an odd way of imagining fights the first time I went through this. Just no, no.
Anyway, be safe and stay hydrated!
3 K-