Bolt yawned.

Watch duty was boring. Blinking away his tiredness, he glanced at the clock. Only 2:39 in the morning. His shift wasn't over until 4:00.

Bolt sighed.

Eiji, apparently, had thought he had "proved" himself, somehow, during the brief clash with his friends. Therefore, as his "reward," he was being given extra "freedoms." Which mostly consisted of extra duties. Watch duty during ungodly hours of the morning. Swabbing the deck. Running into town to buy food—most of which consisted of booze—all under the watchful eye of Hikari.

They were moored just off the shore of the largest island in the Land of Water. It was home to the majority of the country's citizens, as well as the seat of power for the Water Lord and his government. The exact location of the Hidden Mist village was unknown, but was rumored to be on the far east side of the island—which was constantly blanketed in a thick mist, all year round.

All Bolt knew for sure was that at some point in the next one to three days, a shipment of very valuable chakra metal was to be shipped to the Hidden Mist, and they were supposed to liberate the men delivering the metal of their cargo.

Bolt yawned. He couldn't stay awake a minute longer if he was forced to stare out over the misty waves for a ship they didn't even know would be arriving tonight. Bolt stood and stretched, sighing in relief as the joints in his back popped. Taking a quick look around the bridge of the ship and noting that he was alone, Bolt allowed his chakra to flood his eyes. He felt the veins writhing in his temples, bulging with blood in the presence of so much chakra. The disorienting sensation of seeing everywhere at once assaulted Bolt's senses. After a few moments, the sensation passed.

Looking at his feet, Bolt saw through the floorboards. If he focussed, he could see the sleeping forms of men and women several decks below him. Their hammocks rocked with the sway of the ship, but all were accounted for. Even Eiji, passed out with a bottle of rum in his hands.

Satisfied that he was safe for the moment, Bolt resumed his seat before the ship's wheel and withdrew the scroll from the seal on his forearm. As he did, he caught his reflection in the glass that separated him from the harsh cold of the Land of Water and the spray of the sea. His eyes were so very... alien, especially on him. The Byakugan had always been his mom's, or sister's, eyes. Never his.

Now they were. Bolt smirked, and opened the scroll. The scroll had advanced to the next lesson, somehow judging the amount of work he had done to mould Yang chakra to be sufficient—even though Bolt couldn't make any.

"The Elemental Disturbance Seal is, quite possibly, one of the most useful seals you will learn," Bolt read in the Uzukage's voice. "It is one of the very few seals which can be used with little prior preparation, making it ideal for combat. The function of the seal is thus: to disturb the flow of an opponent's chakra, specifically, making it difficult, or impossible, for them to practice nature transformations. In the war with the Land of Water, this technique was widely feared. The Lava and Boil Release bloodlines, common to the Hidden Mist, were easily defeated once their control of the basic five elements were no longer under their control. The one weakness of the seal is that the user must have prolonged, direct contact with the skin of their target. Be careful when applying to ninja who excel at taijutsu."

The writing on the scroll blurred, changing to a series of diagrams and instructional passages. Bolt groaned when he saw the seal required nearly fifteen hand seals to use. No one in their right mind would let him touch them for a "prolonged" period of time after he weaved fifteen hand seals while he ran at them. The number of hand seals was apparently necessary, too. "Each set of three seals corresponds to one of the elements; Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, and Lightning. In total, all fifteen seals must be performed to cover every possible chakra nature. Thus, this seal was especially powerful in the hand of sensors, who could tell a person's chakra natures with a mere glance. Knowing which natures needed to be disturbed, a sensor could cut down the required number of seals to only those needed."

Bolt sighed and began to go through the motions of weaving hand seals and memorizing their meaning and order. He was glad he had decided to keep his Byakugan activated. He didn't even need to look up to make sure no ship docked at the port they were moored in. "And... Dog—Horse—Tiger," Bolt muttered under his breath as he weaved the seals, allowing chakra to travel to his fingertips.

He gasped as his thumb caught fire; a brilliant azure flame of chakra. He could clearly see the lines of his chakra pathway system flaring to life; from his thumb, to his hand, up his forearm. Bolt smiled. He truly was glad he had awakened the Byakugan, like his sister. "Alright, what's next..." Bolt mumbled, fumbling with the scroll to see the next series of hand seals. "Ox—Bird—"

Bolt nearly jumped from his chair as he heard footsteps in the hallway. His concentration broken, the seal dissipated. Fumbling with the scroll, he managed to just re-roll and re-seal it when the door to the ship's bridge opened. His heart hammered his chest as Hikari entered the bridge, eying it warily as if there were enemies hiding in the shadows at... 4:00 in the morning, already. Shift change. Bolt had lost track of time.

"What are you doing?" Hikari demanded of him, though not impolitely.

"What?" Bolt managed to squeak out. His "master" was wide awake, her eyes sharp as she focussed on his face. She didn't look tired at all. Bolt thought she was secretly some sort of machine. That, or she had pure, liquefied military discipline running through her veins instead of blood. Both were equally possible, in his opinion.

"Your eyes," Hikari said, her own eyes dancing across his temples.

Bolt realized he hadn't deactivated his Byakugan. "Oh, uh," he said with a nervous chuckle. "For the watch! Just to make sure... they didn't sneak by," he said lamely.

Hikari seemed to look him up and down, judging him. "A good idea," she said after a few moments.

No sooner did she say the words did a ship part the mists and enter the bay from the sea. Hikari shoved him up against the glass without a word. "What do you see?" she hissed.

Bolt felt a particularly large vein in his right temple bulge as his Byakugan's visual acuity increased. He could just make out the shapes of men on the deck of the ship. As the vessel drew closer, metal glinted on the men's foreheads in the moonlight. Bolt could just, ever so barely, make out the indistinct markings of the Hidden Cloud. "Hidden Cloud ninja on the deck, maybe four or five of them," Bolt informed Hikari.

"That's them," she said. "I'll wake the men. Prepare for battle."

Bolt swallowed nervously. They didn't say they were stealing from both the Hidden Mist and Hidden Cloud. Nor did they inform him they would be fighting ninja. Just some sailors who were transporting the metal. He left the confines of the ship's bridge, and the hallway was already filling up with grim-faced Crimson Tide mercenaries. They wore their standard issue fatigues, with their trademark crimson colored headbands.

Together, the company made their way onto the deck. They crouched low, hiding behind the railing. A few men leapt into the sails and rigging, or held onto the masts. The Hidden Cloud ship bobbed in the water as it passed them slowly.

By some unspoken agreement, the men in the sails and rigging leapt from their perches and crashed onto the deck of the enemy ship. Calls of alarm were sounded in an instant as the first mercenaries attacked the Hidden Cloud ninja. The men hiding behind the railing threw grappling hooks that caught in the ship's rigging and allowed them to swing over. Bolt jumped from the railing, pushing chakra into his feet. He cleared the distance and slid to a stop, nearly tumbling into the hold. Below, he could see crates with row upon row of metal ingots.

Bolt flinched backwards as a shuriken sailed from somewhere in the hold and nearly blinded him. Turning and wading into the chaos, Bolt drew a kunai. A large, burly sailor appeared from a nearby doorway. His face was slack with sleep, but upon seeing Bolt, his eyes widened in rage as he realized what was happening. Bellowing, the sailor drew a cutlass and charged, his sword held above his head.

Bolt easily sidestepped the telegraphed attack and cut the man for trying to kill him, slashing a deep gash between the sailor's shoulder blades. The man howled in pain and fury, rounding on him with rage in his eyes. Bolt shrunk back, unable to quench the fear of fighting another man.

The sailor went flying. Bolt watched as his body sailed through the air and came to a sudden stop as it collided with the mast of the ship in a sickening crunch. He looked over and saw Takeo scowling at him, his scratched headband glinting in the moonlight. The rogue gave him a quick nod, and rushed off to find another opponent.

Bolt felt the hair of his neck stand on end. He ducked, and a kick of arcing electricity sailed over his head. Bolt turned to face the man—a Hidden Cloud ninja. The man didn't wear any boots or shoes, instead walking barefoot. Lightning covered the soles of his feet, crackling and hissing. Bolt hurled his kunai at him, and the ninja easily dodged and sprinted forward. Evading a kick, Bolt reached up with two fingers and struck the man in the back of the knee. As the kick ended, the man staggered, unable to stand upright. Bolt struck him three more times with open-palmed fists.

The Hidden Cloud ninja's eyes widened as he realized that Bolt's taijutsu was no ordinary taijutsu. The Gentle Fist's touch was light as a feather, but cut as deep as any kunai. Bolt's opponent reached for a fistful of shuriken. Bolt leaned forward, striking the man's arms. He dropped to the deck and floundered like a fish out of water. For good measure, Bolt struck him several more times. The man slipped into blissful unconsciousness.

Bolt surveyed the small, chaotic deck. There were Crimson Tide mercenaries flooding the ship, fighting Hidden Cloud ninja and sailors alike. Bolt saw no more enemies above deck, so he moved below. It was cramped and dark, with crates, spare coils of rope, and hammocks hanging from every surface. Making sure to avoid tripping on the coils of rope, Bolt moved further below deck. A few lonely candles flickered inside metal and glass lanterns, providing the only light. Somewhere to Bolt's left, down a corridor, a man howled in pain. After a moment, he was silenced.

Bolt swallowed his fear and steeled his nerves. He had his chance to go home, and he chose not to. This was his life for the next three years. He needed to get used to it. Moving further below deck, Bolt stumbled in the darkness, tripping over a step in the stairs. He clumsily grabbed the nearest thing to him, a length of white fabric hanging nearby.

The white fabric bellowed a battle cry and leapt at Bolt, pinning him to the ground. The man's hands found their way to his thin neck and squeezed. Bolt immediately raised his own hands and tore at the choke hold, trying desperately to get air into his lungs on instinct. His rational mind kicked in, and Bolt lowered his hands and struck the man in the chest with the Gentle Fist several times. He recoiled, coughing violently. In the twilight of the ship's small corridor, Bolt could see blood running down the man's chin in rivulets.

Bolt kicked the man in the head as hard as he could. The sailor collapsed to the ground with labored, gurgling breathing. Not willing to risk being ambushed again, Bolt allowed his chakra to sear through his eyes. The darkness faded as his Byakugan manifested, parting to give way to the familiar washed out blues Bolt had come to associated with the eyes of the Hyūga.

With the Byakugan, he could easily see the sailor with the cutlass hiding in the closet a few feet from him. Taking a deep breath, he stilled and weaved a series of hand seals. He exhaled, and silently sent a lance of pressurized water through the wood that struck the man in the face. The sailor collapsed instantly, his body dropping like a marionette that had its strings cut.

Smirking, Bolt turned his sight downwards. Below him was a mass of flaming chakra; men and women all standing around one stop in the cargo hold. Since Bolt hadn't seen any Crimson Tide mercenaries follow him below deck, he could only assume they were guards that had retreated below deck to protect the chakra metal they were supposed to steal.

He stilled as his Byakugan saw a figure descend down the stairs he had came from. Hiding in the shadows, he waited. From the silhouette of the person, Bolt could tell it was a woman. She crept along the corridor in perfect silence, stopping when she encountered one of the sailors Bolt had incapacitated. Each time, she flicked her arm at them. Moments later, the ball of fire in their bellies dwindled and was extinguished.

Bolt swallowed nervously as the woman who had killed the sailors crept closer to him. She was no more than a few feet away in the darkness when she spoke. "Good job with the sailors," Hikari whispered.

Bolt sighed in relief. He had heard stories of ninja killing their own allies; either to put them out of their misery, or, and more commonly, to prevent their secrets from being extracted from them. He didn't know anything about the Hidden Cloud, but he wasn't about to risk meeting one of them again. "What do you see?" Hikari asked.

"How can you even see my eyes? There's barely any light down here," Bolt whispered. Her attention for detail was disturbing. The only light this far below deck was the occasional lantern or the twilight rays of the rising sun filtering in between the boards and timbers of the ship's hull.

"Soldier pills," Hikari answered curtly. "What do you see?"

"... There's a group of people below us, in the cargo hold. They're gathered around a spot in the center of the hold," Bolt informed her. "Ten people in all," he added, quickly counting them.

"Good. That should be all of them according to the intel we received," Hikari said. "Here, eat this," she commanded, handing him a small, round pill.

Bolt hesitated. "What is it?"

Hikari flashed him an annoyed, impatient look. "An antidote. Eat it," she answered.

Bolt quickly swallowed the pill, not needing to be told what it was for. Hikari reached into one of the pouches on her belt and withdrew a fistful of small spheres. "If any of them get up, inform me immediately," she ordered him. Bolt nodded swiftly.

Hikari inched along the corridor, her back to the wall. When she came to the stairway that descended into the cargo hold, she peaked down the stairs. Seeing that there was no door, she hurled the spheres into the hold. In an instant, a thick, foul smelling smoke filled the air. Bolt held his breath, but was forced to cough as the gas irritated the nose and throat; almost by design. Focusing below deck, he could see the ten guards falling to the floor. The fire in them was not extinguished, so Bolt could only assume Hikari had used some form of sleeping gas.

"All clear," Bolt said. Hikari nodded and quickly descended into the hold. Bolt followed her, wincing as she whistled loudly. The latticed gate of the deck high above them creaked open, and several men dropped down, including Eiji. Bolt blinked at the sudden burst of light.

Eiji looked around at the unconscious guards and cackled. He stalked over to one of the several large, wooden crates in the center of the hold. Bodily throwing a man from where he slumbered, he tore off the lid of one of the crates. Standing on his toes, Bolt could see the create was filled with dull, gray colored ingots of metal. Eiji held one up and channeled chakra into it. The ingot reacted by glowing blue. "This is what we came for, boys," he boomed. "Load 'em up!"

Bolt watched as thick rope nets and rigging were thrown into the hold. Burly mercenaries hefted the crates into the nets, which were then pulled above deck and presumably moved to their ship.

Eiji turned to face Hikari, and at the same time, Bolt. He smiled at the two. "How'd he do, lieutenant?" Eiji questioned.

"He showed a reluctance to take life, but fought well considering the circumstances. The Hyūga's taijutsu and eyes make him a powerful and unpredictable opponent. You would have found the face the Hidden Cloud ninja made when he realized his chakra points were being sealed comical, I think," Hikari said, breaking down Bolt's performance during the theft. Bolt didn't even know she was watching him.

Eiji barked in laughter as Hikari finished briefing him. "Not bad, kid. We'll make a merc out of you yet," he said, hitching a ride on the last crate as it was sent skyward.

"Another successful mission, boys! Drinks on me!"

Bolt was in awe. The Hidden Leaf was a bastion of wealth and technology, but the level of opulence displayed in the mansion he, Hikari, and Eiji were being led through was something entirely different.

The floors were wooden, made from a rich, dark red wood. The walls had ornate wooden trim running along the wall and ceiling. There were vases that Bolt could tell were antiques and clearly worth more than most people's houses. Occasionally, there would be a mural painted on the ceiling.

The manservant opened a set of tall doors that led into a large room with a long dining table. A man sat at the far end of the table, at the head. Flanking him were two guards; hulking, burly men that looked more like apes than men. Bodyguards, Bolt noted.

The man sitting in the chair, whom Bolt could only assume was their client, was horribly and disgustingly fat. His chin had somehow multiplied by four, and the chair struggled to contain the man's sheer girth. Fat pooled and bulged between the armrests and the seat, making it appear as if the chair was much too small to seat him. Bolt thought it probably was, but he wasn't about to say anything.

"Mr. Fukui," Eiji said, inclining his head in greetings.

The fat man looked up, his chin wobbling. "Ah, my friends from the Crimson Tide. I trust my order was fulfilled?"

Eiji held up a metal ingot, allowing it to glow a bright blue color denoting that it was chakra metal. "Excellent," the man—"Mr. Fukui," Bolt amended—said.

Mr. Fukui nodded to one of his hulking bodyguards, who left the room. He returned moments later, hoisting four large briefcases over his shoulders. "Your payment, as promised. All five hundred thousand ryō," Mr. Fukui said.

Eiji relieved the bodyguard of the money and opened each, quickly verifying the contents. Seeing that everything was in order, he bowed to Mr. Fukui. "A pleasure doing business with you again, sir," he said. He tossed the spare ingot to the bodyguard, who stared at it dumbly as it bounced off his skull and fell to the ground. Bolt had to bite his tongue in order to not giggle.

The three of them swept out of the mansion as quickly as they had arrived. It was only a short run back to where they were docked at a nearby cove. As Bolt scampered over the railing and fell to the deck, Eiji hoisted him to his feet and shoved a fistful of ryō in his face. "Your cut, kid. Welcome to the crew," he said with a wide smile.

Bolt's eyes widened as he began to count "his cut." It was more money than he had ever held in his entire life. Ever seen, in fact. Two hundred notes of one hundred ryō; twenty thousand in all.

Eiji smirked at his reaction. "Keep it up, kid. You'll be rich by the time you're done with us," he said, laughing.

Bolt nodded. Three years with a bunch of cut throat thugs and mercenaries, where he got to learn new techniques and earn a bunch of money doing it?

That, he could do.

Annoying his father was just an extra bonus.

A/N:

Fukui means "fortunate." Mr. Fukui is a businessman of some status in the black market; also known as a fence. He buys stolen goods which would otherwise be too hot for thieves to sell themselves, and sells them later at a hefty profit.

I've mentioned ryō a few times, but I figured I should clarify for those not in the know. Ryō was a gold coin in pre-Meiji Japan that was the currency used prior to the yen based system. In the Naruto world, ryō is the official currency, though it is used in paper form. There isn't an official exchange rate of ryō to real currency, so think of 1 ryō as 1 USD. In other words, for Bolt's part in the heist, he earned a nice bonus of twenty grand ($20,000). Not bad for a night's work, eh? Money won't be a huge part of the story, but it will play some role.

I've decided not to have Orochimaru be a villain, after much thinking. I read an interesting theory that stated Orochimaru was the sannin that experienced the most change in his character. The reasoning was thus: Orochimaru's main goal in life was to master as many jutsu as possible, and to do that, he needed to become immortal. Death became his greatest fear. After dying, he realized that death wasn't as terrible as he once thought it was. He still wants to collect jutsu and live forever, and he still does all the science and experimentation stuff, but his creation of Mitsuki shows that he has realized something more important: the next generation is the path to true immortality. His legacy will live on in Mitsuki, even if he dies (again) or fails to collect every jutsu. This was the summary of it, anyway. I thought it was interesting, and at least partly true. If so, it wouldn't make sense for him to be a villain.

These next few chapters will focus mainly on Bolt, but we will also get some Sarada/Himawari/Hidden Leaf points of view every now and again and see what they are up to.

A reader messaged me and asked me if I would include a "stats" or "trivia" section to my author's notes that explained characters. Sort of like the databooks, in a way. Would this be something you guys would be interested in, or would you rather have them revealed in the story? This would be stuff like name, birthdate, gender, age, height, weight, blood type, bloodline, affiliations, ninja rank, age of graduations/promotions, family, nature types, examples of learned techniques, etc. Things like that.

Guest — Yes, Genjutsu is indeed a Yin technique. It's really the only aspect of Yin-Yang that is explained, and that is only because of Kishi's love of the Uchiha who are experts in using it. You actually sort of beat me to the punch with medical ninjutsu. I planned (in the future) to classify it as a Yang technique. As for the Ino-Shika-Cho clans, Akimichi is confirmed to be Yang, and Nara and Yamanaka are confirmed to be Yin. But, it is never explained how these techniques work. We're just sort of told that is what they are, and then left at that.

As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you guys enjoyed. Please leave a review, I'd appreciate it.

- Musica