Tick. Tick. Ding!
Hot and ready and fresh out of the typer, it's another spectacular chapter!
A slap on the back to CherryBerry12 for the beta!
And since I'm in such a great mood, I've decided to throw in a little something extra...
Enjoy!
"If your life can change once, your life can change again."
~ Sanae (Clannad)
Chapter Seven: Life's Ups and Downs
"Why are you still here?" I glared at my unannounced guest from the opposite end of the table, my gaze drilling a solid hole right through his thick head.
Why don't you just die?!
Shin paused, a steaming tea cup a few millimeters from lips. "Actually, I am quite baffled by this as well, were you not the one who invited me?" He smiled, knowing full well that was not what happened.
It's been almost an hour since this roach crawled his way into the orphanage building, using the kind ploy of lending me an umbrella as leverage.
I tried to close the door in his face, tried to go on with the rest of my day pretending that boy didn't exist and was not a stubborn scar on my psyche.
Then Kanpu arrived and saw me screaming like a maniac in a feeble attempt to get the boy to just go away. But instead of helping, the old bastard invited Shin in and even served him tea!
'Oh I have plans for you Kanpu. So many plans.' I smiled darkly.
"I think you have something on your face." Shin said helpfully, scratching at his cheeks.
And in a flash my mood turned ugly.
I rose up, eyes narrowed in hate. "I'm going to drown you." I said bluntly. "I'm going to tie cement blocks to your legs and leave you to sleep with the fishes."
Shin hummed, barely phased by my threats. "Do fish even sleep?"
That's it! He's so dead!
I only managed to leap halfway across the table before I was yanked back by my shirt. Kanpu was holding me with an inscrutable expression.
I sighed. "Put me down." I said, fixated on my mission to eradicate all annoying little boys.
"Are you going to harm our guest?" Physically and emotionally, as a matter of fact.
"He's not a guest!"
Kanpu gave me a look.
I pouted. "No promises."
Figuring that was the best he was going to get, Kanpu let me back down, handing me a cup of tea to calm my mood. It didn't help. I stuck my tongue out at my caretaker as he took his own seat at the table, ignoring my existence.
Shin looked on, with a nostalgic tenderness. "Ne, who knew Kiyohime-san was such a tsundere."
I gasped, a creeping blush overtaking my face. "I-I am not a tsundere!
"Initially hostile towards others, she gradually reveals a warmer, friendlier side of herself." Shin sipped his tea. "All of these are the makings of a fine tsundere."
I grew cold. "Y-you're wrong...I'm not..." I turned Kanpu for help.
The man looked away in shame. He didn't respond.
A silence followed that seemed to match the mood.
I was angry.
"Can I have another cup? It was very delicious." Shin asked politely.
'That's it! I've had it!'
I roared like a caged beast and pounced.
"...You know there's a lesson to be had here, but for the life of me I can't seem to find it." Hayate lamented, with his head weakly cupped in his hands.
I sat beside Hayate, flipping through a small notebook with numerous jutsu from the forbidden scroll with a handful of diagrams and sketches for demonstration purposes.
"I think your faith in humanity has been fairly crushed, Hayate-kun." I snorted, trying to memorize the hand seals of each specific jutsu.
Hayate's mouth twitched. "Believe me Hime, that's been gone for a long, long time."
"Since when?" I asked genuinely curious, with a raised eyebrow, wondering who or what could have touched Hayate's faith in his fellow man.
Hayate passed off a livid stare. "I don't know, when did we first meet?"
Oh it was me.
He said it so monotonously, as if I was the bane of his existence.
Mm-mm...I very well may have been.
I rolled my eyes. "I love you too!" I gave a feral smile, too sweet to be entirely authentic. My hand drifted unconsciously over my heart to express all the feelings I had for someone I was bound to one day smother in his sleep.
I sat against a large boulder on a rough patch of grassland in the center of a wide, open forest clearing, reading my notes and occasionally cloud gazing. Hayate stood stiff, watching with a heavy breath at something that he seemed unable to describe.
"I can't believe you did this." Hayate whined or cried. I could never tell with him.
I yawned, starting to feel sluggish from my chakra exertion for day. "Blame Yuugao-chan." That was a beat we could all dance to.
Hayate grunted. "I plan to, believe me, I plan to." He growled, watching from a distance as Yuugao sparred with an exact replica of me, a clone I tasked with all my leisurely assignments for the day.
And unlike the flimsy clone technique we learned in the academy, which were more or less practical illusions to trick an enemy, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was much more corporeal, dividing a user's chakra evenly amongst every one of their clones, giving them a fraction of the caster's overall power.
Best of all, they were completely sentient and capable of adapting.
"Please tell me you haven't been using them too sporadically."
"Of course not." I lied, because seriously why wouldn't I? A great bonus of this technique was that any experience the clones gained during their brief existence was sent back to me when they dispersed, which made them ideal for training purposes and attending the academy in my place.
So long as I didn't strain myself too much it was a win-win situation.
A sudden sharp pop caught both of our attentions and I instantly felt the conscious aura of chakra energy recede back into me, refilling my supply.
Yuugao walked over to us sweaty, with a satisfied expression on her lips, casually twirling a kunai in her hand, after having hacked my clone to pieces with it. "Well that felt good. Who's hungry?"
I raised my hand, both of us ignoring Hayate's menacing scowl, before he eventually sighed in defeat and too raised his hands.
Yuugao and I hid our triumphal smiles.
"Hello! Welcome to Yamanaka Hana!"
Clenching my nose at the overwhelming floral aroma, I walked to the front counter where the store owner waited with a friendly grin.
He was a refined man, well-built, if not a little on the lean side, with ash blond hair tied into a long ponytail. His facial features looked as if they were carved from rough marble, but what was most captivating about his appearance were his eyes. A rare aquatic-green, worn, perceptive, and calculating.
A shinobi. This man was a shinobi. Trained to fight and kill. So what the hell was he doing working in a flower shop?
Yamanaka Inoichi was no slouch; the man may have acted the part of a fool because his daughter thought she had him wrapped around her tiny fingers, but he was still the Yamanaka clan head responsible for guiding them through the last war and becoming a decorated war hero, by extracting crucial information for the village as head of the Kaisekihan.
The Yamanaka were an august clan in Konoha, known for their contributions in the field of medicine and their specialization in mind related techniques, which were especially useful in the art of interrogation and intelligence gathering.
Like many other clans in Konoha the family made their trade in private businesses. The flower shop was a front used by the Yamanaka to appease the civilian population, which made them popular with foreign merchants and feudal lords who came far and wide to purchase fragrances and negotiate steady contracts in medicinal herbs, skin care, and rare plants.
The Yamanakas were still a ninja clan, though, and were crafty, observant, and meticulous. In times of war they would be as dangerous as the Nara and Akimichi for their fatal advancements in fast acting drugs and poisons. It was that very knowledge that could make them more formidable than any adversary holding special blood or weapons.
It was the reason why I was here.
"Ano, Yamanaka-sama." I bowed, tensing up my muscles and softening my voice to make for a more persuadable appearance.
"Please call me Inoichi-san." The older man's grin grew. "How can I be of service?" He asked coolly, with a looming interest and a small sprinkle of caution that didn't seem to reach his charm.
"Mm...I was hoping you had any flowers that could make someone feel...icky." I asked, with a husky whimper of mortification.
"Icky." Inoichi mused.
I swallowed my pride. "He~...I want to make a whole lot of people icky."
"And why would you ever want to do something like that?" Inoichi asked, with a twinkle in his eyes. The lousy bastard was enjoying this!
"I want to be a really great ninja! But..." I slouched, downcast. "Kanpu-ojiisan said that only clan kids who have special talent can become awesome ninjas." I raised my head up high, adding a few crocodile tears for super effectiveness. "That's why I want to make people feel ill! So that I can protect the village as good as everyone else!"
"I see." Inoichi placed his hand under his chin and nodded in understanding like a wise guru. "In that case, let me see if I have something that can give you a leg up." He winked.
I smiled, clasping my hands together as if I was praying. "Really? Oh thank you so much Inoichi-san!"
"It's my pleasure, but I'm afraid I can't promise anything too...icky." He chuckled naughtily, making his way to the backroom, completely oblivious to my dark smirk.
Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?
It wasn't long before Inoichi came back with two small vials of black goop in his hands, setting both down in front of me, with a stern look. "Now I need you to listen very carefully, these two glasses contain a lot of nasty chemicals. Do you understand? They are not toys, so you have to be very careful in how you use them." he warned.
I blinked several times, nodding. "Ok. But why are you giving me two, Inoichi-san?"
"I'm glad you asked. Well you see, if you wish to become a poison expert, first you have to build up an immunity for the substance first. In order to do that you're going to have to take some yourself."
"So I'm going to have to die?" I said with innocence as pure as snow.
"Ah...well...no...you see..." Inoichi stumbled over his words as he tried to come up with a response to correct his blunder. "This brand of toxin isn't made to kill. Rather, it's a unique brew created by my clan to inhibit motor skills and cause sensory deprivation. So no...uh...dying is involved in any way." He made the last part very clear.
I frowned. "So if I take it I won't be affected by it?"
"That's right, but only if you take it in small doses, that way your body will slowly conform to the toxins."
"That's great! How much do I owe you?" I pulled out a small stash of money, humbly donated from the trusty bank of Hayate, whose life savings happened to be located right under his mattress.
Ninja stealth, ladies and gentlemen.
"Exactly. Chibi-chan, I had something else in mind as way of payment." Inoichi held out his hands in refusal.
"What do you mean?" I said carefully.
Inoichi smiled. "You know I happen have a daughter who's around your age."
Oh no.
"And you seem like such a nice young girl."
Please no.
"So I was willing to give you this purchase on the house if you'd agree to spend some time with my darling little Ino-chan."
NONONONO!
Inoichi laughed, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Gomen, I don't want to make you feel pressured, it's just..." He sighed, that one huff oh breath taking all the energy out of him. "Lately she's been...moody. She had a fight with one of her friends and won't let anyone near her. Her mother and I don't know what to do. I know it's not my place to pry, but as a father it breaks my heart to see my poor Ino-chan suffer so much when I can't do anything about it."
My face was starting to get heated. 'Dammit people! Stop sending me your kids!'
It was clear from his words he was talking about Ino and Sakura breaking up their friendship out of their shared affection for Sasuke-kun. I sneered in disgust.
To my credit, I didn't let any of my demons show and gave a stoic smile. There was no way I was going to take on a crying Hyuuga and a bratty Yamanaka. It's just not happening!
"Well you see…" I gritted, the need to kill growing.
Before I could deject, Inoichi brought out a third bottle, this one a different shade from the rest. "I'm willing to upgrade your purchase of course, a paralysis elixir." He then took out a slip of paper. "I'll even give you the instructions on making the contents."
I was stunned. "I-I...aren't these Yamanka secret recipes?" I said slowly, trying to get a feeling for what the man was doing. You couldn't just divulge clan secretes so casually, could you?
"Nothing is too costly from my baby girl." He said sharply, with all the raging flames of a father's love.
I weighed my options. On the upside I was getting a bargain in getting inside information on restricted clan poisons. On the other hand, I would have a gun aimed at my feet if I took another brat.
I cursed the world and shot myself in the foot
"You have a deal..." I said with a voice devoid of hope.
Inoichi bounced up and down in excitement, joy written all over his face. "Thank you so much uh..." He didn't even know my name.
"Kiyohime." I deadpan.
"Yes! Arigatou, Kiyohime-chan!" The Yamanaka was practically glowing. "You won't regret this! I just know you and Ino-chan will hit it right off." He shook my hand gleefully, sealing the deal before I could change my mind.
I groaned.
Later that same Day
"Life is so unfair! Why does all the worst possible shit have to happen to me?!" I bawled. "I mean, I'm a good person! I haven't stolen, cheated, or killed anyone yet, to get through life, so why do I have to be the universe's goddamn punching bag...!" I leaned closer into the damp shirt where I had poured all of my tears.
Hinata held me like a fragile doll, awkwardly patting my head. "There, there." She tried to sooth my worries, although she wasn't doing a very great job of her own if the concerned fidgeting was any indicator.
But it was appreciated all the same.
I was hysterical; before I knew it I was blabbing curses in English and felt so tired afterwards that I passed out on Hinata's lap.
I hope the poor girl didn't mind.
After I recovered from that small bout of panic, I profusely apologized to her scarlet face.
She somehow wasn't upset by it. In fact, though I wasn't in a great state of mind to judge, it almost seemed like she was happy about it.
Weird.
"Kiyohime-chan, can you please stay? there's something that I need to discuss with you."
I was in the middle of reading my notes and preparing to leave when Tomo-Sensei called on me. The other kids had already begun to leave, sending me a mix of sneers and smug looks for having done something to upset our teacher.
Tense, I made my way to Tomo. The man smiled kindly.
"Kiyohime-chan. I know you've been using the Bunshin no Jutsu to skip classes."
My heart sunk and I looked away in guilt. I had nothing to say in my defense.
"Easy. You're not in trouble; as a matter of fact, I'm impressed. While I think being a little more respectful would do wonders for you, I can't deny hard work when I see it. It's clear you possess great talent, mastering a clone jutsu at your age is an astonishing accomplishment."
I blushed. "Arigatou."
Tomo nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Which is why it gives me great pleasure to recommend you for an early graduation!"
"Huh?"
OMAKE #1
'The Youthful Tales Of Konoha's Sublime Hero! The Beast of Prey! The Green Beast!'
In Konoha beneath the dimly lit streets of this once fair village lurked the vilest scum to ever walk the face of the earth.
In his lab, far away from prying eyes, the once legendary Sannin of Konohagakure was preparing to leave his home to further pursue all of life's secrets and mysteries. It was only natural that it would come to this; for years Orochimaru had perpetrated some of the most gruesome experimentations known to man in a quest for immortality and twisted curiosity.
But now that time has passed. It wouldn't be long before the Hokage and his Anbu entourage made their way past all his booby traps and breached the doors of his inner sanctum.
"A shame." The menace smirked with a lick of his tongue. "This village truly was boring. No imagination. It matters not, I'll just have to take my fun elsewhere."
As Orochimaru made preparations for his hasty getaway, a loud crash tore through the walls above him, startling the dastardly villain and stopping him dead in his tracks.
The fiend sneered. "Who dares!"
When the smoke from the falling debris cleared, a man was standing tall with his arms firmly crossed over bulging muscles. He wore a tight spandex suit with a "B" stamped on his chest, overshorts, and a cape tied squarely around his neck. Most notable was his costumes color: green, bright green. His upper face was obscured by a mask but Orochimaru could see a bowl style haircut on top of his head and a remarkably thick pair of eyebrows.
With a stylish pose, the man spoke. "I AM THE GREEN BEAST!" He said with a passionate war cry that had the Sannin flinching from the mere volume of it. "Champion of Justice! And on behalf of Youth, I will right wrongs and triumph over evil!" The Green Beast grinned with a sparkling white smile. "And that means you!"
Orochimaru clicked his teeth. What a fool. He was an S-class ninja, feared throughout the whole ninja world, a contender for the seat of the Hokage, Tamer of the Colossal Serpent Manda, one of the only few to have faced Hanzo the Salamander and lived to tell the tale! He was fuckin' Orochimaru, one the three great Sannin and this FREAK would dare challenge him!
"Surrender, trash! Or face the mighty wrath of YOUTH!" The Great Beast commanded. Orochimaru's scowl deepened as he began to flow through a series of hand signs to unleash a jutsu that would terminate this pest in front of him.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough-!" Was all the supreme shinobi had time to get out as his breath caved under a vicious strike to his chest.
The Green Beast, in a blinding spectacle of youth and fashion, had jumped the distance between him and the Sannin in seconds, delivering a stunning blow to his foe, disabling him before he could even respond.
Spittle flew out of the snake's mouth as he flew across the room, slamming into his own lab equipment before smashing into the opposite end of the room, leaving a mess in his wake.
"One punch...!" The snake wheezed. "Damn you...Green Beast...I shall not forget this insult...!" He practically hissed out, as the light slowly dwindled from his eyes and Orochimaru of the Sannin lost consciousness from this world.
The Green Beast placed his hands on his hips, laughing boldly and proudly. "Once again the shining ray of YOUTH prevails over evil! HO-HO-HO!" The masked hero then proceeded to turn to his fallen adversary, walking confidently to his battered form. "However, now it is time for you to answer for your heinous acts, criminal!" And the gleam in his eyes promised just that.
Moments later...
The Sandaime Hokage entered the diabolic lab of his student with two Anbu escorts flanking his sides. Needless to say, he was disappointed. He had such high hopes for all of his students, but Orochimaru was different, he was supposed to be the guiding hand of the village's future and prosperity.
But he kissed that fleeting wish goodbye after he found out what exactly his once prized student was up to in his spare time.
The Hokage shook his head in disappointment.
A pervert.
A gambling alcoholic.
Now a mad scientist.
These were his students.
'Oh, Minato-kun.' The aging Kage reminisced fondly. 'You really were my golden ticket out of this job.'
That was until the young man decided that having his soul eaten by a god of death was a better deal than a decade's worth of politicking.
In the Sandaime's opinion, he chose right.
But this day was just full of surprises. He knew that Orochimaru wouldn't just go quietly to his dark, wet prison cell on his own recognizance and was well prepared to drag him in kicking and screaming.
That was until he found the man strung upside down wrapped in ninja wire, hanging from the ceiling, out cold.
Attached to him was a note.
~ A gift from your youthful Vigilante.
- The Green Beast.
And as his Anbu took Orochimaru into custody, the Hokage could only let out a grunt.
"Why do I feel that this is going to lead to even more paperwork?"
Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (影分身の術)- Similar to the basic Clone Technique, this technique creates copies of the user, however, these clones are solid instead of illusions. The user's chakra is evenly distributed among every clone, giving each clone an equal fraction of the user's overall power. The clones are capable of performing techniques on their own, including the Shadow Clone Technique itself and can even bleed, but will usually disperse after hit by a strong enough force. The clones can also disperse on their own, or be dispelled by the user of the technique. (Source: Naruto Wiki)
Wind Release Great Breakthrough (風遁・突破)- If used by a superior shinobi, it has enough destructive power to knock down a large tree. The wind from the squall can blow away all things in the user's line of sight. The technique can also be used in the form of a devastation stream of wind expelled from the user's mouth. (Source: Naruto Wiki)
Yamanaka Hana (やまなか花)- is a flower shop in Konohagakure that is owned by the Yamanaka clan, which has been in business since the First Hokage's era. (Source: Naruto Wiki)
Tsundere- Is s a slang born on the Internet, and it is a word to describe the nature of female anime or game characters. Tsundere is a word combining two words, "Tsun Tsun" and "Dere Dere". Both terms describe attitudes of a person. "Tsun Tsun" is used for cold/blunt/curt attitude, while "Dere Dere" is used when a person becomes spoony in front of his/her lover. (Source: Urban Dictionary)
Second edit by cordo12: October/15/2018
A/N: Who wouldn't want a dashing youthful hero protecting their streets?
Aaaaanyway, you guys like the Omake? I've always pictured most of the cast in tighty whities! Tell me your thoughts and like always...
Reviews, criticisms, suggestions?~
Laters!
