Shattered Destiny
Chapter 25: New Armaments
My parents weren't home, and while I want to stay and wait for them, I also want to speak with the Otter Elder.
It was a difficult decision to make, but eventually I slipped into the water with the Otters and they lead me off.
We encountered a few sharks, but they kept a wide berth from us, Gin and Yoritomo would slide up to me as if for protection… that's probably the case.
The otters around us call out greetings and Yoritomo returns the call in their language. A shark interrupts the exchange and the otters flee with agility I can't hope to achieve.
"Right on here." Yoritomo and Gin climb onto a sandbar in the center of Kirigakure. "By coming here, you agree to keep what you see silent."
"Of course." I nod my head dumbly as realization hits.
"Keep down, tourists love to catch us sunbathing." Yoritomo tells me.
"Is that why we're coming out on this side?" I whisper cautiously.
Yoritomo nods. "We'll go see if the Chief is available."
"Didn't he want to see me?" I furrow my brow.
"No, Gin wants you to see the Elder, can't do that without the Chief's permission."
"What-"
"Sit here, be quiet, and we'll keep you hidden."
Before I can object Gin lets out a squeak and-
…
I'm covered in Otters, they stink, but I could die a happy boy. I've lost the ability to form words and I'm about paralyzed. "I think he's happy." I can barely hear Yoritomo chuckle.
It's impossible to tell if they've left, and I don't really care.
"Everyone off." I can hear an authoritarian voice call and the otters covering me scatter. "If you knew I was here, why did you feel the need to hide him as if he'd be waiting awhile?"
"Never know, you know?" Yoritomo shrugs.
Yoritomo is actually bigger than the chief. "So, you're one of the potential summoner replacements?" He eyes me. "A little young, don't you think?" He looks at Yoritomo.
"That's what I thought, but apparently Gin, the cub the Elder appointed, thinks he's good enough." Yoritomo nods in agreement.
"Elder?" I furrow my brow, I thought Gin was talking about the Otter Chief. "I thought Gin was talking about you."
"Wait, is this the Sekine kid?" The Chief squints at me.
"Indeed." Yoritomo nods.
"Alduin." He nods as if everything made sense.
"W-pht-how!?"
"Alduin?" Yoritomo looks inquisitively towards his leader.
"News hasn't circulated yet, that's good." The Chief lets out a sigh of relief. "Let's keep this within the Clan, okay Yoritomo?"
"Yes sir."
"That includes the Mizukage."
"Yes sir."
"How do you know about the dragon?!" I demand. "Do you know more about it?" I hold a hand up and let it burst into chakra, dragonbone shines beneath the wild energy.
"Just like they said." The Chief takes my hand and examines it, my action has drawn the attention of many of the otters on the sandbar. "Our clan has been watching that island very closely, while I haven't seen it myself I am told that you have a power akin to a Jinchuuriki."
"I don't know what happened, I called him and the next thing I remember was waking up in a hospital." I explain.
"Not unusual for a Bijuu-"
"He's not a Bijuu, he's a Ryu."
"For a Ryu to take total control of their jinchuuriki."
"Do they…. Do it often?" I gulp.
"If you're not careful." The chief nods. "I can see why Gin thought it would be a good idea for him to meet the Elder." He turns his attention to Yoritomo.
"Is the elder here?" I ask looking around. The two otters begin laughing. "What?" I furrow my brow.
"No, the elder is far out at sea." The chief chuckles.
"But I can't leave Kirigakure?" I'm not sure, but I think that I'll be mobilized for the war before long, especially if Alduin's existence is made known.
My bloodline alone is reason enough to send me to war over and over every time I heal whenever I get hurt… Will I be allowed to be a normal child again?
"As for the other reason why you were brought here." The chief says, pulling me out of my reprieve.
"Other?"
"Don't tell me you're considering making him a summoner?"
Oh right, that.
"Too young, and with a wild Ryu within him we can't be sure he'd work well with us." The chief shakes his head.
My heart sinks as I'm denied. "Why was I brought here then?"
"Make no mistake, you're a candidate." The chief says reassuringly. "We'll be keeping our eye on you."
"Will we speak again?" I ask, I know where we are and I could come by whenever I have a free moment, but they'll just act like regular otters.
"Shall I take him home?" Yoritomo offers his chief, who nods.
"Careful, don't drop the box."
"I got it, you have everything else?"
"Just about, the rest is in the boat."
"Mama, Papa, where were you?" I watch my parents enter through the front door from my seat in the kitchen.
"Keiki!" The two of them shout in surprise. "H-how long were you here?" Mama asks sheepishly.
"An hour, what'd you get?"
Papa brings the box into the kitchen and places it on the table. He opens it, revealing a cake.
"Whoa!" My eyes bug out.
"We thought we'd have a proper welcome back party." Papa tells me. "But you got here before us."
"Mama, papa." I say softly as tears start forming. "I missed you." I get up from my chair and give the two the biggest hugs I can give.
They don't say anything, only hold me closely, and tightly.
And then my stomach growls. "We'll get dinner ready, and then we can have cake."
"But-"
"Dinner first, desert later." Mama taps my lips to silence me.
"Okay." I pout, looking at the cake.
I then drop my head onto the table, today has been a strange day. I turn my thumb into chakra while it's hidden by the rest of my hand.
Why does that feel more natural than my actual skin? While I dwell on the thought I don't let my thumb remain as chakra, I don't want to deal with the questions that would be brought up if my parents saw.
I want my stuffie.
Silently I get off of my chair and head for my room… it's strange being in here after so long, and grab my stuffed otter plushie before returning to the kitchen and sit petting my favorite toy.
"Something on your mind?" Papa asks without turning around.
"Hm?" I ask, snapping to attention.
"You get your stuffie whenever you're upset or sad."
"Oh." I turn my attention back to the stuffed animal. It's as soft as I remember. "It's nothing, just a rough past few weeks."
"Where'd you go?" Papa asks, chopping the head off of a cod.
"North, along the border." I take a deep breath. "We met up with a few teams, a few from Frost actually, and saw the boats making their way towards Kirigakure… we couldn't sit by and let them go uncontested."
"You… fought with the raiders?"
"Distracted a few ships, but I think everyone survived? I can't remember." I shake my head helplessly.
Mama puts down what she was doing and comes to me. "You did your best, and you came back to us in one piece." And gives me a tight hug.
I don't dare mention that I grew an arm back. "Okay, mama." I'm in no position to return the hug. "I wish I tried harder."
"I know you do."
"I wish I was better."
"You are, they're lucky to have you."
I am safe here.
I am safe here.
I got so close to dying, several times. "Get the oven please?"
"Yes honey." Mama lets me go, the separation felt like a stab to the heart.
I cuddle my stuffed otter tightly. There's a knock at the door and I'm there in a heartbeat. "Is Keiki Sekine here?"
"Me." I say, prouder than a child with a stuffed animal at his side should be.
The messenger hands me a note. "The shinobi mission desk is swamped right now, so we've decided to deliver payment notes in the meantime."
"Thank you." I close the door and return to the kitchen.
"That's going to take some getting used to." Papa shakes his head and chuckles nervously.
"D-did I surprise you?" I changed a lot in the weeks I was abroad. Discovered a dragon, fought a Jinchuuriki.
"Just a little, what're you going to do with that?" He gestures to the note.
"I uh… was thinking about buying some armor?" I suggest sheepishly.
"Sounds like a great idea." Papa's shoulders relax. "Won't have to worry too much about you if I know that even a Bijuu couldn't even hurt you." He jokes, but that's the baseline I'm going for.
I know that I'll be called out to fight Lightning's Jinchuuriki when we're ready to launch a counter offensive. They sent everything at us and we held.
When I see the Jinchuuriki again, I'll have to rely on Alduin's power. I'm not looking forward to that.
I sit back at the table and use a kunai to cut the envelope open and read it.
Mission complete: C-rank changed to S-rank. 250,000 ryo. Turn in at the Kirigakure treasury[temporary].
"I need to go turn this in." I say without being phased, how much is two hundred thousand ryo? It sounds like a lot.
"Be back in time for dinner."
"Don't forget about getting some armor!"
"I won't!" I'm already out the door.
We live near the outskirts of Kiri, so I'll need to leg it if I want to be back before dinner's ready.
"Could you be anymore obvious?" I call out to the otter tailing me. Hopefully someone did something about the sharks swimming around Kirigakure, wouldn't want it to die following me.
It's been following me for a good ten minutes now, I know it's following me as I'm Flickering my way through the village and it's managed to keep up. Upon being called out it dives under the water, pretending as if I never saw it.
I huff and continue, passing the otter clan's sandbar. If I didn't know otherwise I wouldn't have known that the otter clan lived within Kirigakure.
That would make Kiri's fourth clan. With a shake of my head I continue on.
"Greeting Shinobi, what can I do for you?" The teller at the treasury greets me.
"This." I pass the opened envelope to the teller.
"Name?"
"Keiki Sekine."
"Teammates names?"
"Zabuza Momochi, Satu Matsuo."
"Name of Jonin?"
"Koi Serizawa."
"One moment." The teller vanishes with my note. I hug my Stuffie in the meantime, I don't care how childish it makes me look.
Before long the teller returns. "In this envelope is twenty five storage seal notes." The teller hands me a note. "Each one contains ten thousand ryo… be careful with it."
"I will." With that done with I walk off…
Now where was that blacksmith sensei showed us?
The bell rings as I enter. "F-Funakoshi?" I call.
"Be right with you!" I can hear the man call, there's a crash in the back room. "Aahhhggghhh!" He sounds really irritated.
"I can come back later." I offer.
"No! No it's fine." The Blacksmith comes to the front. "Well if it isn't one of Koi's genin!" He claps his hands excitedly. "How can I help you?"
"I need some armor, something like these." I put the gauntlets sensei gave me on the counter.
"Where'd you get these?" Funakoshi asks in awe, picking up the gauntlets and examining the workmanship.
"W-we found a… a crypt, most of the bodies were armored, and angry."
"Nothing I've ever seen, and I've seen the steel of the other nations." Funakoshi informs me.
That's because they're not from this world, but I don't tell him that.
"If I give you a full set of... full plate you won't be able to swim, you'd sink." He warns.
"Can you make armor that I can take above and below water?" I ask him.
"Can I-" He leans forward, resting an elbow on the counter and resting his face on his fist thoughtfully. "It wouldn't be cheap, that much is for certain." He says. "I can get you a decent flak jacket for a genin's budget if you want."
"How much would a full suit of armor cost?" I ask out of curiosity.
"Roughly A hundred twenty thousand, with what you want it to do? Two hundred, give or take ten thousand or so."
"So… Two hundred ten thousand is a safe bet?" I blink.
"To be safe? Two thirty." Funakoshi corrects helpfully. "That's including rebreather, boots and flippers, attaching a wetsuit, goggles- and I've lost you."
"What? No." I lie.
"Look, as interesting as this sounds there's no way you can afford an experiment like this." Funakoshi shakes his head sadly. "I'm sorry."
"Yes I can." I set my jaw and set my note on the table, earning an honest laugh from the blacksmith.
"You've done, how many missions so far?"
"One."
"One, a D-rank mission pays, at max, Fifty thousand." Funakoshi says entering lecture mode, just like some of the teachers at the academy. I hated those classes the most. "Okay?"
"Okay."
"How much did your first D-rank pay you?"
"Two hundred and fifty thousand."
"See? Way below what- excuse me."
The look on his face has me laughing. "Two hundred, and fifty thousand." I can't stop laughing.
"If you really have that much after your first D-rank then I'll give you the armor at a twenty percent discount."
"You want me to show off two hundred and fifty thousand-"
"You're right, if you really have that much then I'll take half now half later."
"Half being…"
Funakoshi leans back, calculating in his head. "Let's go with a total of two thirty for now, so one fifteen… One hundred and fifteen thousand."
I pick up the note and… I wish he wasn't giving me that look, it's weird, and count out twelve storage seals and place them on the counter.
He looks at them as if they were about to explode. And they did, in a way.
As the ryu is unsealed they leave tidy piles on top of the seals. Funakoshi snatches a couple off of a pile and stares intently at it. "I chose the wrong profession." He says plainly.
"I nearly died four times." I think that's an understatement, but I don't know, does my turning into Alduin only count for one time?
"On a D-rank?!"
"C-rank turned S-rank."
The Smith's mouth forms a large O as realization hits. "That would do it, would you like some bells and whistles on your new armor?"
My brow furrows in confusion and it's his turn to laugh. "Ninety five thousand now, ninety five later, sorry for the inconvenience."
"Thank you!" I bow thankfully.
"Mind if I keep the gauntlets? I've never seen anything like it before." Funakoshi turns his attention to the gauntlets in question.
"Sure?"
"Pleasure doing business with you, anything else you need?" He seals the ryu back into the storage seals and takes nine of them, he reopens a tenth one and takes half of its contents before returning the rest to me.
I scoop what's left into my envelope and turn to leave. "I wonder if Saya-chan still does customized spandex tailoring." I can hear the smith mumble to himself as I walk out the door.
Hopefully it'll be ready by the time I'm needed again. For now, I'm going to be with my family.
Author's Notes: This shouldn't have taken nearly as much time as it did, and I apologize. I've started work on another project and life's picking up just a tad, but it's no excuse. I still have time to myself to write and it's inexcusable, I hope everyone will forgive me. My other project is taking more of my attention than Shattered Destiny is but I'm not going to abandon it no matter how crappy I think it is. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this and the previous bits and that you will stick around for future chapters!