Hello Everyone~

The story is mostly about a character I sent to Blackright709 when he requested OC's for COTK Classic a little over a year ago. Sadly, it didn't end up getting used at the time, but it is now the MC of this story.

I, personally, have been wanting to write a story/fanfiction for a long time. So when Blackright offered to work with me to write a story based around my OC, Jin Arashi, I was thrilled.

Also, besides just writing about my OC, this story is intended to fill out and expand the Land of Water in the COTK Universe. (Which is Black's take on the Naruto Universe.)

I want you all to be aware that Black and I won't be responding to reviews in chapters, as we don't want to affect the word count like that. Never the less, we love getting feedback and encourage joining the discord server for this story and others written by Blackright709. (The join code for the Discord Server will be at the bottom of every chapter.)

Before writing this story, I'd experimented with some writing, but I didn't think the writing life was for me. Today, though, I can say that I'm enjoying writing quite a bit. Black's an asshole, however.

I hope you all enjoy it!

- TheLegendaryOne

Chapter 1: Bloody Waves

Katsuo Village, Shikoku Island, Land of Water, EN.

Breathing deeply, Jin psyched himself up before getting down on his hands and knees. Putting his feet together, he stretched them out behind him. He made sure his back was straight. The ground was slightly damp beneath his hands, but he was used to that. It was always damp here, the mist made sure of that.

Breathing in deeply through his nose, Jin lowered himself as close to the ground as he could, and pushed up, breathing out through his mouth sharply. This was his favorite part of his exercise routine, but he could feel the exhaustion in his limbs. Ever since his father learned he liked push-ups, he wasn't allowed to do them till last. Something about how it made everything better if one did the hard things first. He hadn't been listening.

"Four... Five..." Jin grunted, counting as he pushed up. Nearby, his sister Hikari was playing with one of her many dolls on the only bench in the small fenced-in backyard. She'd followed him out of the house half an hour ago and had been playing with her toy the entire time. How she managed to keep herself entertained with something so simple, he couldn't understand.

Shaking his head, he returned to doing push-ups. "Six... Seven..."

"Hey. Can I ride on your back?"

The question made him falter, and he barely caught himself before landing face-first on the damp ground. Taking a moment to get his breath back, he sat up and looked at his sister in amusement.

"No, Hikari. There is no way I could lift you."

His sister made her trademark pouty face, the one that always got her father to bend to her wishes. However, such a trick didn't work on him. He simply raised an eyebrow at her, curious to see what she would do. Besides, he was taking full advantage of the distraction to get some energy back.

"Dad lets me ride on his back when he's doing those..." Hikari complained.

He just laughed, "Well, I'm not Dad. You don't see me punching holes through stone walls, do you?"

Hikari pouted harder, and he just chuckled. She always tried the same thing on him, even though she'd never succeeded in getting him to do what she wanted.

"I can punch through walls too..." Hikari said, just loud enough for him to hear her.

Jin just nodded in mock agreement, "Of course you can, Hikari, I'd never want to get punched by you."

Making sure to get back into the correct position, he continued with his push-ups. He only got through four more before he was interrupted by his mother calling from the house that food was ready.

"Come inside you two, your father has the night shift tonight, and needs to leave soon."

Before Jin had gotten to his feet, Hikari was already running inside the house, narrowly squeezing by her mother's legs. He shook his head and picked up the doll his sister had abandoned before wiping off the slight bit of mud on its clothes.

—

Tapping his sister's shoulder, he got her to look at him long enough to take her doll back. After scolding her lightly for dropping it again, he made his way to his seat on the other side of the table. He paused for a moment to let his mother by as she headed toward the kitchen.

His father, after inspecting the food his mother had just placed in front of him, looked up at him.

"How was your exercise, Jin?"

He smiled ruefully, "I almost finished it, but Kaa-san called us, so I missed the last ten push-ups." He replied as he sat down in his chair. His father waved it off.

"That's fine. It's getting dark, so it's best that you came in anyway."

Jin nodded and gratefully accepted the bowl his mother handed to him. He could see the steam coming off the soup's surface, and he immediately recognized it. Looking across the table, he was unsurprised to see his sister with an excited look on her face.

He realized she'd known what was for dinner long before he had, which was why she was so excited. Her favorite food was Nyonya Fish Maw, and that's what they were having for dinner.

"Calm, Hikari. Let your mother at least put the bowl down before you eat it all." Kingo said, getting a distracted nod from his daughter.

"No, no, no." Satsuki chided, stopping Hikari mid-bite. "I haven't even gotten my food yet, you can wait."

Jin watched his sister's expression with amusement as they waited for their mother to return from the kitchen with her food and sit down. In sync with his father and sister, Jin thanked his mother. As soon as Hikari had said her thank you, she had a spoon full of soup in her mouth.

Her father looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Slow down there, Hikari. You're gonna choke on your food, and then you won't be able to eat any more of it."

Jin snorted, "How terrible that would be."

He was barely able to keep himself from laughing at the horrified expression on his five-year-old sister's face as she realized. Very carefully, she lowered the spoon into the soup and put it back in her mouth.

"I'll go slow," Hikari answered fearfully, causing her mother to crack and start laughing. Jin just shook his head and took the first bite of his own food. It was, of course, delicious. His mother was a fantastic cook, according to his friends.

The family ate in silence for a few moments until Satsuki pointed her spoon at Kingo. "Didn't you say something about Montasu being on duty?"

Jin jumped in shock as a loud clang interrupted his mother. Instantly, both of his parents got to their feet, knocking over their chairs. He looked between them rapidly, trying to understand the look on their faces. His mother nodded to his father, and the next second, his father disappeared in a swirl of water.

A pained cry from his sister made him look over at her. She'd dropped her spoon in shock, and it had splashed hot soup all over her face.

"Kaa-san, what's going on?" Jin asked as he got to his feet, quickly walking around the table to help his mother clean his sister's face. The entire time the clanging was constant, and Jin realized it was a bell.

His mother ignored his question, "Jin, I want you to take Hikari and go to the flood shelter. Lock yourselves inside, and do not open the door for anyone. Do you understand me?"

She had to shout to be heard over the bell, even at such close range, and he nodded his head rapidly. Carefully taking Hikari from his mother, he considered asking whether or not he should let in his friends, but she was already gone.

He looked around and noticed his mother's katana on the wall was gone as well. Shaking his head, he tried to calm Hikari, who was crying. Hoisting her up in his arms, he stepped over a fallen chair and opened the back door.

The bell only got louder, sounding like it was right next to him. He could barely hear Hikari's crying. Reaching the backyard gate, he kicked it. He didn't have time to fiddle with the rusted lock. It splintered into pieces under his heel.

Stepping out into the back alleyway, Jin turned left, sprinting as fast as he felt safe on the wet ground toward the main road of the village. It was the fastest way to the flood shelter, which was at the end of the road.

A second later, he was on the main street, and he couldn't help looking toward the beach, where the noise was coming from. Shinobi were leaping from rooftop to rooftop, all heading toward the beach as fast as they could. He could barely make out a massive ship through the trees and bamboo on the ocean surface. He didn't recognize it.

Is someone attacking us? Who would do that? Jin thought, turning away and running toward the flood shelter. Whatever it was, he believed his parents would protect their village.

"Whoa!" Jin shouted, barely keeping his balance as the ground shook violently. Continuing to run, he didn't look back again, reaching the flood bunker a few moments later. He set Hikari down and pulled her into the dimly lit room after him and slammed the door shut.

—

Crouching down, Jin pushed a piece of debris aside, revealing a torn and slightly damp book. It had been his favorite one, a book about plant life in the Land of Water. Standing back up, book in hand, Jin surveyed the rubble that was once his house.

He wasn't entirely sure how long it had been since he and his family had been sitting in the dining room. The kitchen was now barely more than collapsed walls and a splintered table. Fear had made him wait for at least an hour until he couldn't hear anything outside before he dared to open the flood bunker door.

"Jin... Where is Kaa-san?"

Sighing, he just shrugged his shoulders, even though he knew his sister couldn't see him. He'd already told her he didn't know. I do know, though... I know what happened... they're...

"My doll!"

Hikari's cry of sudden happiness made him look up, and begin walking through the mess toward his sister. "It's stuck!"

Rounding what little remained of the wall between the dining room and kitchen, Jin saw his sister trying to pull her doll out from under a large smoothed stone.

"I got it, Hikari," Jin said. It took some effort to lift the stone, but as soon as he did, Hikari pulled the doll free. He was impressed the arm stayed attached, considering how hard his sister was pulling on it.

Carefully setting the stone back down, Jin walked over to his sister and sat down. His back complained from the uncomfortable wood splinters he was leaning against, but he didn't care.

"Hi! My name's Hikari!"

Jin opened his eyes, sitting up straight immediately. He'd barely had his eyes closed for a second, and somehow this stranger had snuck up on them when he wasn't looking. Jin hadn't even heard them. It was too dark for him to make out their face, but he recognized their clothing as belonging to a Shinobi.

Are they one of the Shinobi who attacked us? Jin wondered, trying to search for a way to escape. He was at a horrible disadvantage. The Shinobi would undoubtedly catch him before he even got to his feet.

"There's no need to be afraid, I'm not here to hurt you."

Their reassuring tone didn't make him feel any better, and he wished he'd gone to look for a Kunai in the rubble instead of the useless book in his hand. Glancing at Hikari, he noticed that she didn't seem the least bit bothered by the stranger.

"Are you Jin and Hikari Arashi?"

Something made him pause, not immediately responding as he tried to consider whether telling the truth was the right choice.

"Yep!" Hikari said happily, unknowingly taking the choice out of Jin's hands. Jin looked at his sister, then back at the Shinobi. I can't outrun him...

Jin flinched as the unknown Shinobi raised their hands, "I'm here from a friend of your parents. I'm going to take you to them, okay?"

He barely managed to grab his sister before the Shinobi touched both of their shoulders, and everything vanished.

—

At first, it was too overwhelming, and he'd been forced to close his eyes and bury his head between his arms to block out the roaring wind in his ears. After several minutes, he'd slowly gotten used to the experience and tentatively raised his head.

The only still thing was the Shinobi, who'd introduced himself as Heiji and on whose back he was now riding. Everything else was a blurry speeding mess of blue, green, and misty hues. It wasn't an entirely new experience. His father has once carried him around their island at speed when he was young, but he couldn't really remember it.

After a few minutes of trying to focus on things around him, Jin gave up and let his head drop back down. Exhaustion was catching up to him, and he wished he'd been able to fall asleep as Hikari had earlier.

He didn't know how he and his sister had suddenly appeared in a boat after Heiji had put his hands on their shoulders, but he'd been too tired to try to figure it out.

Heiji had explained again that he was taking them to a friend of his parents. He'd just nodded as they said something about going to the new Resistance's base. Hikari fell asleep a few minutes later with her head in his lap, and despite trying to get some sleep himself, he couldn't.

His parents were dead. The realization plagued his every thought. They had died protecting him and his sister, and now it was up to him to protect Hikari. He didn't feel like he could do it.

Anger seethed within him, but he had no one to aim it at. He didn't know who had killed his parents, but whoever they were, he knew that he hated them.

"Jin! Are you there?"

Hikari's voice, barely audible over the rushing wind in his ears, made him lift his head and look around. Of course, he couldn't see her, but it sounded like she was off somewhere to his left. She was being carried by another Shinobi.

"I'm here!" He yelled in response.

"Are we there yet?"

He felt like laughing, but it didn't come.

"We're almost there," Heiji replied for him. Jin was surprised at how easy it was to hear Heiji's voice.

After a few minutes of high speed traveling, Jin felt his head spin as Heiji came to an abrupt stop. Immediately dropping to his feet, he stumbled for a few steps as he tried to regain his sense of balance.

He felt someone place their hand on his shoulder, steadying him.

"You'll get used to it, everyone has that reaction at first," Heiji said, and he nodded, still rubbing his eyes. After a moment, his vision cleared, and he was surprised at what was in front of him.

Sprawled out in an uncharacteristically dry clearing for the Land of Water was a camp. Tents the size of his house were everywhere, and in between were more tents, but smaller.

Jin was in awe of the number of Shinobi absolutely everywhere. He knew that his village had a decent amount of Shinobi, but there were more here than he'd ever seen in his life.

His attention was drawn to one of the larger tents as a man stepped out of the entrance. They weren't wearing the regular Shinobi clothing, but it was clear they were a Shinobi. He was amazed by the size of the sword attached to their back. It was taller than the Shinobi was!

"Follow me, you two," Heiji said, gesturing for them to follow. Jin jumped as something touched his hand, and turned to find it was Hikari. Taking her hand, he followed Heiji down a small path into the clearing.

They had to stop for a moment as a Shinobi carrying a massive bundle of metal poles with one arm passed by. Jin couldn't even begin to imagine how heavy all of those were.

After a few minutes of walking, Heiji stopped in front of a smaller tent and stepped to the side.

"In here," he said, pulling aside one of the tent flaps.

Jin was more pulled in by Hikari than anything else, her grip on his hand not faltering in the least. It took a second for his eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness, but when they did, he saw a girl who didn't seem to be that much older than him sitting at a desk.

"Ameyuri!" Hikari cried, letting go of his hand and running across the tent to grab the red-haired teen. After a moment, he recalled Ameyuri coming to visit and having dinner at his house multiple times when he was younger.

How did Hikari remember who she was before I did? Jin wondered.

"Hello, Hikari, I see you're just as cute as ever," Ameyuri said brightly, helping Hikari up into her lap.

"Uh, huh!" Hikari replied happily. Jin saw Ameyuri gesture for him to come, and he realized he was still standing at the entrance of the tent. Shaking his head, he walked over.

"I'm glad to see that both of you are okay," Ameyuri said. Jin nodded dumbly.

Biting his lip, Jin decided to ask the question that had been at the front of his mind since he'd first heard the bell ring.

"Ameyuri-san, what's going on?"

Ameyuri's smile faded away immediately, and he wondered if asking was the wrong choice.

"A war has broken out in the Land of Water, Jin," Ameyuri replied, her tone grave.

Jin started to ask another question when Ameyuri cut him off.

"Let's get you two a bath and then to bed, I can tell you're exhausted, Jin. Though this little runt seems full of energy." Ameyuri said as she picked Hikari up. Hikari just giggled.

6 to 12 more chapters are always available or in development over at our discord.

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This chapter was posted on: 2/20/2020
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Co-authors:

TheLegendaryOne

Special thanks to those that helped create this chapter:

Qibolu
TheLegendaryOne

Beta Readers:

Tensleep
Qibolu

OC Creators of OC's in this chapter:

Jin Arashi (TheLegendaryOne)
Hikari Arashi (TheLegendaryOne)
Satsuki Arashi (TheLegendaryOne)
Kingo Arashi (TheLegendaryOne)