Akito Uchiha.
Disclaimer :I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 10.
Warmth, he felt it moving on his skin, crowing on his body. The warmth slowly spread through his entire body, as the the light assaulted his eyes, slowly he opened his eyes taking a look around him. He was lieing on a soft patch if earth, warmed by the lush green grass, the light of the seting sun blinded his eyes as it colored the sky crimson.
"you're awake, good"
Turning around to see from where the voice came, he spotted him easily, sitting on a nearby stump, his legs folded beneath him, as he set in a meditive position.
The man had a short brown hair, and his eyes were closed, this was his sensei Shun Kurotsuki, the one who tested themthem just earlier today.
Looking at the seting sun, Akito made a quick colculation estimateing he was knocked out for at least six hours.
"sensei" he turned to his teacher as he slowly got up from the earth "why did you wait for me?" he asked curiousity evident in his voice.
The older shinobi just sighed deeply as he got up from his meditative position,
Without saying a word he motioned to the young shinobi to follow him, as he started to walk towards the outskirts of the village.
They walked in silence, moving through the clans ereas, than trough the less ostute parts of the village until they came to not far from the edge of the village, near the wall, it was a small clearing amidst the woods, a small pond was there and several old tree stomps.
Shun beckoned his apprentice to sit on one of the stomps as he took the other.
Silently, Akito complied waiting for his sensei to talk, after all it wasn't like he had anywhere to go.. Or anyone waiting for him.
Making himself comfortable he took lotus position and closed his eyes.
"Akito... I have a question" his senseis voice carried towards him as if through a dream.
"of course sensei, fire away" his voice through his meditation was emotionless and cold.
"tell me.. What do you think of your teammates?" the older shinobi asked, his voice holding an unidentified emotion.
"hmm... What about them?" taking a deep breath before continuing " if your question is if they are cut for being a shinobi in general... . I don't know, Rokuro and Nanami are strong, and their bond makes them stronger,.. If on the other hand your question is about being an assassin specifically... They don't have in my opinion" he finished, taking another deep breath.
"I see" said the brown haired man, "but no... My question was how strong do you think your bond is with them? How much will they do for you and you for them?"
" I believe we have a strong bond.. I doubt they will break it... We will do much for each other..."
"even if you will have to do something despicable for the village? Speaking of which how far will you go for the village"
Shuns voice was edgy, but why Akito couldn't fathom.
"in a reverse order, I will do anything for the village, and they won't blame me for it... They will understand" he answered, wondering what exactly did the jounin want.
"I hope you are correct, but to tell you the truth I disagree. Yes they are strong and their bond strengthening them, but Rokuro doesn't understand what is the meaning of being a shinobi... I am giving him till the end of year before he bails out. Nanami on the other hand is much stronger I believe she will indeed succeed. "he finished.
" sensei... Why are you telling me all of this? What is the point? "
" I will be frank with you Akito, I took you all in becouse I wanted you. You are strong and advanced. You are a genius in ninjutsu and your potential is great. But what truly drue me to you was how logical you are, how your mind will control your heart to do what is necessary even if you personally disagree. Because that is the most important part of being an assassin, your loyalty to the village and your control. Your two friends... Just don't have what it takes... I just want you to be ready if something won't work as you expect it to "
" I had a feeling it was something like that, and I understand sensei, I thank you for your concern "he said opening his eyes.
" that is all then.. You may go. Be timotomorrow sharp at six o'clock, your training will start then "the older shinobi opend his eyes and got up" until then "he said as he venishd in a swirl of leavs.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Later that evening, Akito was strolling through the village, his mind occupied with his senseis words, he hoped the older shinobi was wrong, but a feeling of dread came over his heart. After all he had no one, even though Neji was like a brother to him but he now had his own team... It was disorienting.. But he knew he will prevail.. For the village... For his friends.
He was so occupied by the thoughts he didn't even feel how somone sneaked on him and only noticed when a hand was laid on his shoulder "Yo! Uchiha" a feminine voice rang behind him.
Turning around in surprise he saw a blonde girl standing behind him, a smile spread on her face.
"oh hi Ino chan" he answered but his posture made it obvious he was not fully in there.
"what's on your mind Akito? " Inos teasing tone changed completely as she saw her friend so out of it.
"Ino chan" the black haired boy said, his hand moving to move the bangle in front of his eye "tell me... If I'll ever have to commit atrocities in the name of the village... Will you hate me?" he asked her, his voice wavering.
Ino looked astonished, she never heard Akito talk like that, and so... So vulnerable.. Sometimes she forgot he was just her age, his voice was broken.. His posture showing weakness and vulnerability.
Without think twice she swung her hand and slapped across his face "idiot!" she screamed on him, her green /blue eyes shining with anger "are you stupid? What are you so depressed for?! You are a shinobi... Of course you will have to commit what other people's will call crimes... You know the saying you can be either a hero or a shinobi! But at the end you will do it for the village! At the end you will do it to protect those who you care for! At the end while you still understand that the world should be different... If you don't enjoy it because you understand that it's wrong but neccecary, then how can I or any other shinobi ever hate you?! If anyone will resent you for it they don't feat to be shinobi! "she finished, and suddenly she leaped forward and engulfed him in a hug.
Akito was speechless, her words and unexpected actions had shaken him quiet a bit... But at the end a smile graced his face, silently he swore to himself.. He will never loose his humanity... But he will do what is necessary for the sake of the village.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The sun was barely up, the village was still deep in slumber, only the birds were up in this ungodly hour, chipering slightly as they moved from tree to tree.
On training ground fifty eight, four people were standing,this was team two and their jounin sensei.
"alright, listen closely to what I am about to tell you as I am not going to repeat myself clear?" the older man in flack jacket asked, his eyes narrow.
"hai" the three genin said in chorus.
"good, as you are aware we are team two, an assassin squad, assassins are masters of the shadows and stealth, we breath invisibility we live stealth. Because of some special circumstances" he paused noting the narrowing of the youngest and ironically the most skilled genin of his squad before continuing "we will not be going on D rank missions, you will be training for the next three months and you will get a stipend from the treasury. Now the training will be in two different ways... Unlike most of the konoha squads we do not emphasize so much about team work, do not forget you are assassins, we mostly work alone and because of that we will mostly train one on one as I'll will work with each of you individually, we will have some teamwork exercises but that will be a minority. Any questions? "
Rokuro lifted his hand" sensei what are the special circumstances? "he asked with curiosity visible in his tone, he was moving from leg to leg jumping in anticipation.
" that "said the brown haired shinobi" is classified, any more? "his question was left in the air for a moment before Nanami lifted her hand" how will you work with each of us individually? Will it mean you alone? "she asked hesisentaly.
" I am glad you asked "a broad smile appeared on the man's face as he made a handsigne" shadow clone jutsu " he said, as suddenly out of nowhere two more brown haired people appeared.
" well, I guess it is time to start training "he said smiling," Akito with you two will go with the clones "he said nonchalantly, gesturing towards Aktio he motioned him to follow him, which the boy complyed.
As they arrived at the far end of the training ground the older shinobi came to a halt" ok Akito, it is time for me to start training you, for today we will start with one ninjutsu which may prove very useful for you, and then we will proceed toward a very common but very imperative Taijutsu move, it's even more important for somone with your vocation, the assassin should be able to predict the move of his enemy as the assassin is a light striker not a juggernaut "he said, his voice brisk, he had none of the amusement from before.
Akito nodded, his body posture changed into one of readiness with his hands a bit higher than his stomach.
" the jutsu you will learn today is the shadow hiding, the ability to blend into the shadows seamlessly, which is much more than what is possible without chakra, the idea is to create a field of concealing chakra, blending with the shadows as they cover you the seals are rat - snake and tiger " the jounin made the neccecary signs and suddenly melted into the shadows completely.
Akito tried to find him but he couldn't even fill his senseis chakra. The young shinobi felt excitement swelling within him, the things he can achieve with that tectechnique! But a frown appeared on his face as he pondered the cons of the ability. First it was a c rank jutsu which means above minimal chakra cost, second :it did not conceal the Chakra... That was a different technique, chakra suppression which he will still have to learn, and third : even with high level chakra suppression a skilled sensor will be able to sense him, so also the technique was highly effective and useful it was not absolete.
Shun kurotsuki appeared once again "I see you understand the implications of the jutsu both its pros and cons, I would suggest to be careful with it as carelessness might kill you easily, now you try" he said as he sat down down on the grass in meditation.
"OK, here goes nothing" said Akito and followed the instructions, doing the correct signs, to his surprise he became partially concealed under the shadows, even if it was not perfect, not even close.
For the next twenty minutes he tried it again and again, each time getting better but still far from perfect, on the other hand he felt his reserves deplete rapidly, so finialy he stopped, waiting for his sensei to open his eyes.
"now Akito" his sensei voice came abruptly "tell we what do you know about the irimi" he said, his voice detached.
"sir, irimi is a basic move of most martial arts, it's a way to move into the technique while still facing the enemy and is a way to either intitate a technique or avoiding the opponent"
"good Akito, now what is the difficult part of the technique?"
"one should initiate it just at the moment of the attack, otherwise it's pointless, so if someone is faster than you, it won't be affective" came the reply.
"good, now what we are going to do is train you to be able to read the enemy movement before they initiate it, giving you a huge advantage, and although you have the sharingan, you will master it without it as to enhance your ability further" the older shinobi got up "let's do this" he said cheerfully, and Akito felt a sinking feeling within his stomach.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
Two hours later, a bruised and bleeding Akito was heading back toward the center of the training grounds, his sensei near him, smiling a setesfied smile.
There in the middle, were his two friends and teammates waiting for them, looking no better than he did.
"good" said the older shinobi "now that you all had a small warm up we will move to your training as a team, right now we will start working on the tree climbing exercise, but my plan is to teach you the water walking, teach you about poisons and cures, some anatomy and improve your control, infiltration and maybe even start working on your element "
The two others groand while Akito said nothing.
" now the tree walking is basically to let your chakra build up...
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
At the end of the day the three were exsousted and fatigued, they wanted nothing but to put their head and body to rest, their sensei was ruthless, even the usually upbit Roku didn't talk at all only wanting to rest.
It was only when they came to the crossroads did he speak "I don't like Shun sensei" he said.
At first Akito just thought he was ranting but reconsidered as he saw his friends serius face and tone.
"all this talk about poison and assainaton... It makes me sick" he finished, as he turned toward the road to his home.
Akito stayed silent, his thoughts from the previous day and his senseis words resurfaced in his mind.
"in any case" said Rokuro, his voice cheerful again "good night and see you tomorrow" he said as he walked towards his home Nanami right behind him as the shy girl waved to her other friend.
Waving back Akito skidded along the road to the Uchiha compound, not noticing a black haired boy looking at him with disdain in his eyes.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
As the next day came, and the three genin stood in the training field. All three of them had a tick marks on their head, and their annoyance was clear, it was already three hours since they should have started their training but the jounin didn't even appear.
Akitos eyes narrowed slightly, and even further when a silver haired shinobi who he easily recognized appeard "yo!" the man said smiling his famous eye smile "unfortunately your sensei couldn't come today so I am in charge, so kiddos care to introduce yourself?" he asked.
Akitos suspicion just grew even more... He will come to the bottom of it!
End of chapter 10