answers to reviewers questions or statements:
Phantom Super Sonic: No.
Jinero: The fuck did that come from?
PrudishSet: To a degree, but we'll soon find out that Pītā have a bit in common with one another that'll somewhat help them grow closer, or at least leave Satsuki not want to kill him entirely.
Kai: What Pītā has isn't really a Kekkei Genkai in the traditional sense, his abilities are largely deprived from Orochimaru's experimentation and to a limited degree, his Cursed Seal of Earth. So there's a very, very, very slim chance that any offspring he would have would even acquire just one of his current abilities, even to a lesser extant.
I craft experiences: Pītā is currently 14, almost 15 while Karui is the same age. Samui is 17. Sorta.
demonic hellfire: Not exactly, Pītā isn't in a relationship with anyone at the moment, what he and Karui and Samui did was pretty much a one night stand for the time being. But if your asking will it become a harem fic, not sure yet to be honest, I'm kinda waiting to see if a large number of people want it to be before going ahead with it. Satsuki and Pītā's romance won't really begin until just before the events of Shippuden begin, which is like a good nine or so chapters away so I have plenty of time to decide on which route to take.
The Storm Master 567: He'll be fairly powerful, like the only ones stronger than him will be like Satsuki and Naruto because they get that upgrade thing from the Sage of the Sixth Paths. Satsuki will be more, calm, for the lack of a better word. She'll still be set on killing Itachi but her motives will somewhat change as to why and she'll more or less have a reason to want an actual life after the deed. For me, it always seemed that Sasuke had no real actually thought out plan after he killed his brother. Yes Pītā will have Sage modeamong a few others things to help him take on some of the most powerful beings in Naruto. Yes.
Also, Sora no Tsundra means Empty Tundra for any that will be wondering...
Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or Naruto characters seen, mentioned or used.
Orochimru never thought of himself as a father.
A mentor, yes, a brother in arms once upon a time, but never something as innocent as being a father. He didn't exactly hate or dislike children, he just never saw a reason to have one in the first place outside the typical 'continuing the species'. And even that never seemed likely given he's never met a woman in his long life that'd invoked such feelings in him. But watching Satsuki's slow but noteworthy progression in ability and power did ignite something distantly related to 'fatherly pride'.
Of course he knew the teenage girl would never see him as anything more than a means to an end in her goal to killing her elder brother.
'If she ever makes it to the point before I claim her body as my own. And if not, well I suppose I could honor her generous donation to my goal and kill him for her' Orochimaru thought with a small grin as he oversaw Satsuki's training with several Fire and lightning style jutsus that could be used in conjunction with her newly forged chokutō, a sword that was made of a rare chakra absorbing metal.
The girl was still a bit raw in her skill with the blade, but she was quickly mastering the various styles needed to perfectly handle the weapon. In a few years, perhaps sooner, Orochimaru believed that Satsuki could go on to rival some of the finest Kenjutsu masters on the continent. Of course her Sharingan had helped, but even the famed Uchiha Dōjutsu could only get one so far, and right now Satsuki was proving that her innate talent didn't stem solely from her clan's Kekkei Genkai.
"Remarkable, isn't she?" Orochimaru said after a few moments of witnessing Satsuki perform a series of complex maneuvers with her blade as she channeled her lightning chakra into the weapon's metal, creating a deadly weapon.
"Indeed" Kabuto said with a nod as he adjusted the position of his glasses "Though against any true sword master she'd be hard pressed to match them, even with her Sharingan"
"For now" the snake Sannin said with a chuckle before his expression sobered and he glanced at his assistant out of the corner of his eye "Any news from Pītā? I'd wager he's reached the northern coasts by now and booked passage to Yuki..."
Kabuto nodded as he held up a scroll that he received earlier from said boy, courtesy of one of his spider summons "Yes, he reached the port he was planning to ship out from last night and should now be on a vessel halfway to Yuki no Kuni. I expect to hear back from him before the day after tomorrow at the earliest"
"Excellent. Keep me informed of his progress and do make sure to remind the boy to acquire any information he can on Yuki's chakra armor" Orochimaru said before he turned to leave, he had a few experiments he had to check up on and he needed to read a urgent report from one of his agents in Konoha he received last night.
Apparently, a long thought dead ghost from the past had returned to Konoha after close to thirty years of exile. The ramifications for their re-emergence was bound to be far reaching, and the former Konoha nin was very interested to see how things proceeded in the village and how this could affect Satsuki's apprenticeship to him.
"Of course Orochimaru-sama..." Kabuto bowed to the departing Sannin before he turned his attention towards Satsuki and continued to observe her training.
She was progressing quite far under Orochimaru-sama's tutelage, far more than she ever had under Kakashi's at any rate. Though she was still a long ways off from ever being a true rival to Itachi. Even Pītā would still have little difficulty in defeating the young Uchiha heiress if the two ever fought again in the imminent future, though she'll at the very least last a few minutes longer than the last time.
'And perhaps she'll even land a admirable blow on the boy' Kabuto thought with a snort 'Before he beats her into the ground that is'
While Pītā may not be a tried and true front line combatant like Satsuki was turning out to be, he was far from worthless. His unorthodox puppetry, skill in Fūinjutsu, unnatural speed and strength and intellect made him near perfect for commando style operations, something many Shinobi outside of ANBU in the Great Nations were unaccustomed to facing in the current 'Peaceful Era'. In fact, had the Sound Four still been around or at the very least Orochimaru intended to continue it, Pītā would've been rolled into the group to replace Kimimaro as de facto leader when out in the field.
'Oh well...' Kabuto thought with a metal shrug as he continued to monitor Satsuki's progress 'Still, the two's next fight should prove interesting to watch. Perhaps Satsuki's advancement and power will compel Pītā-kun to better himself, if only to stay alive. Kami knows that while he may have excelled academically these past few months, he's seriously fallen behind on the more physical attributes of being a Shinobi and maintaining his current skill level'
Or perhaps his current mission will compel him to improve... assuming he survives of course.
'It'll be such a pity if he doesn't, but oh well. He'll have no one to blame but himself for allowing himself to fall lax in his training' Kabuto thought with a nod.
Though, there was a time where Pītā did actually seek to improve himself, if nothing else, so he could experiment with a new puppetry method or seal he concocted, the latter which Orochimaru seemed to encourage. Though after Guren's deployment to another base to the far north, along the boarders Oto and Tsuchi no Kuni, and Tayuya's death, Pītā had... well Kabuto was sure it was some relative of depression.
'Odd, he never gave off any indicators that he held any actual attachment to Tayuya' Kabuto thought with a frown before he mentally shrugged 'Then again, she was his eldest, and often, only friend. Losing someone like that is bound to affect you in some manner. And Guren was his first 'crush', or whatever his teenage mind labeled her as-'
Whatever were Kabuto's next thoughts were quickly forgotten as he found himself suddenly struck by a glancing arc of lightning, flung wildly from Satsuki's blade. The jolt he got from it wasn't painful, in fact he's been injured more from those joke pens that shock you when you press down on them, but it was still bothersome in his opinion, especially since it singed a bit of his shirt. With a frown, Kabuto briefly examined the damage before he turned his attention back to Satsuki to see her face contorting into a frustrated snarl as she struggled to maintain the lightning chakra flow through her blade. Dark blue arcs of electricity were shooting out from the blade as the young Uchiha tried to find the right amount of chakra to have flown into the blade and maintain said flow so it wouldn't 'fizzle out'.
'Should've just started with simple chakra flow before incorporating your elemental nature' Kabuto thought with a grin as the lightning in Satsuki's sword suddenly erupted into a shower of electrical discharges, electrocuting Satsuki, causing her to yelp in pain.
Sometimes, pain was the best lesson a person could learn when it comes to mastering such techniques...
...
"I already hate this place... and everyone in it"
Those were the first words that Pītā had used when he took his very first step off the ship that brought him to Yuki no Kuni and took in the sight of the land's port and people.
Despite still being 'spring' for the nation, the air was already beginning to grow cooler even though the heat generators that allowed the country to be free of snow and ice for a time were only just shut down for research and maintenance weeks prior. Because of this, the people of Yuki were already beginning to bundle up in much warmer layers of clothing, much of which was an annoyingly bright series of colors that left Pītā with a small headache.
And everyone was so damn nice!
Not the good considerate nice, but that annoying if they help you in any way than they've done some great service to Kami or something kind of nice.
With a heavy sigh, Pītā reached up to adjust his jacket, activating several heating seals within, and proceeded to make his way towards the town's markets for some fresh supplies before heading to the nearby train station. It was a good day's travel by train alone to reach the region the base was located in, and than another two day's of travel from there on top of a day and a half deviation from his path to scope out the massive heat generators that were constructed to manage Yuki no Kuni's climate. If Pītā wanted to beat the snow and ice that'll soon form, he needed to get moving now before his week and a half long stay in Yuki extended.
'And getting out of this country as winter hits will be an even bigger pain in the rear' Pītā thought with a scowl of annoyance underneath his two masks and hood, causing his face to be completely enveloped in shadows barring the glare of light that'll reflect off his mask's lenses.
Thankfully the town he was in wasn't very large and thus was able to reach what constituted as a market district fairly quickly. But the town being small also came with it's drawbacks, there wasn't a wide selection of things he could purchase that'll make his journey to Orochimaru's base somewhat tolerable. Most of the more heavy winter coats were too bulky and restrictive for Pītā's taste, and they were all a bit too pricy for his liking. And the food wasn't much better, most of it was wild game that the town's local trappers and hunters acquired before it was given to the local butcher to... well butcher.
'I hate this place, I hate this place, I hate this place, I hate this place...' Pītā mentally repeated to himself like a mantra as he went from one store to another looking for items that could aid him on his journey to Yuki's more remote areas.
Currently he was in a shop that sold specialized footwear that's designed to help someone, be they a shinobi or not, traverse the icy landscape without risk of slipping or worse, catching some form of frostbite.
'Now that'll suck' Pītā thought as he held up a closed toe sandal and flipped from side to side while the store's owner stood nearby, watching him.
"I take it this is your first time in Yuki?" the man asked with a trace of amusement in his voice.
"What gave it away?" Pītā asked with a hidden eye roll before he glanced at the man "The lack of winterized gear? The accent? Or the fact that I'm in a shop clearly made for outsiders that come to this place right when it's about to revert back to it's infamous snowy existence?"
"All of the above I guess" the shop keep said with a shrug.
"Good guess" Pītā said before he glanced at the sandal again and sighed "I'll take a pair of these please"
"Very well" the shop keep said with a small nod as he gestured for Pītā to follow him to the store's register "If you don't mind me asking, what is your destination?"
"Sora no Tsundra, there's a place out there that I gotta look into for my master" Pītā replied as he followed after the man.
The shop keep paused and glanced back at Pītā with a dumbfounded expression on his face "Your seeking to travel to... Sora no Tsundra?"
"Considering that I said that place when asked where I'm going, I'd assume so, yeah" Pītā said sarcastically "Is there another Sora no Tsundra in this heat- oop, forgot it's still kinda spring-ish now, soon to be heat forsaken land? Yeah, that's it, soon to be heat forsaken land"
The shop keeper frowned at Pītā's response "No, but it's still odd for someone to want to travel to that place of all things"
"Yeah well I'm on a mission and it takes me through there" Pītā shrugged as the two made it to the shop's register and the owner of said establishment began to run up the teen's purchase "So is there anything you can tell me about the place outside of what I already know"
"What do you know of it?" the shop keeper asked.
"It's close to several hundred square miles and get's below zero during your 'winter' seasons" Pītā said.
"Do you know why we call that place Sora no Tsundra?" the shop keeper asked as he placed Pītā's purchase in a bag "It's because there's no life out there. No people, no animals, nothing. If your planning to spend any length of time out there, I highly recommend stocking up on food. Lots and lots of food"
"My next stop after this" Pītā explained as he took the bag of his new sandals from the shop keep and slung it over his shoulder "Anything else recently going around about that place? Any weird stories about monsters or something akin to that? People going missing?"
If there were, it'd give Pītā an idea of what to expect when he did reach Orochimaru's base. He hoped nothing escaped, it was going to be a pain in the ass to scrub the base and retrieve anything of value, but hunting down escaped experiments was a chore in of itself. One he'd prefer not to do in near below freezing temperatures and raging blizzards.
"There used to be an old prison out there, built a hundred or so years back before the Shinobi Villages became a thing" the shop keeper explained with a distant look on his face "One of the previous Daimyō was a... well he was a pretty ruthless man. Used to send his various political rivals and well anybody that wanted someone gone there to rot. If you did somehow manage to escape that place, you'd be so far from civilization that you'd either die of hunger or hypothermia long before you ever saw another human again"
"Sounds like a lovely getaway" Pītā remarked dryly.
The shop keep hummed at Pītā's response as the teen headed for the door and back out into the open market outside. The young Oto chūnin took a quick look around for anywhere that was selling provisions suited for long journeys through artic landscape. Thanks to a number of scrolls he had with him that possessed 'roomy' storage seals, he'll be able to purchase quite a number of things to keep him alive. Water wouldn't be too much of an issue since it was reported that snow was already beginning to fall again in other parts of the country , one of which Pītā was traveling to. All he'll need to do is just scoop up a few handfuls, melt it down, boil it, and boom!
Drinkable water... with perhaps a few unavoidable contaminants here and there.
"Bound to be easier than when I had to wander through Kaze no Kuni" Pītā mumbled as he entered a store that seemed to sell meat and various spices and preservatives.
The selection ended up being very limited to the likes of deer, rabbit, and the odd bird like duck or goose here and there, much to Pītā's displeasure. He wasn't expecting anything like beef, pork or chicken, but something better than game meat at the very least, like lamb. Nothing could go wrong with lamb, or horse, horse was also good, at least in his opinion. Oh, and the various insect cuisines from some of the Kuge city states to the far south.
"Now I really hate this place and it's people" Pītā grumbled with a depressed sigh as he eventfully made his way out of the markets, stocked up on enough supplies to last him several weeks, all safely stored in various sealing scrolls and storage seals implanted in his clothes.
Now all he needed to do was acquire a ticket from the town's train station and begin his journey to Sora no Tsundra in earnest-
"You there, Oyo nin, halt!"
'Crap' Pītā thought as he suddenly found himself surrounded by several nin, their headbands showed that they hailed from Yuki's own shinobi village, Yukigakure.
They weren't dressed like typical Yuki nin, in that they had layers upon layers of dark grey, white clothing with maybe bits of white fur lining for additional warmth. Instead, they were dressed in thinner material, and in brighter colors, mostly a light green sort of color.
"There a problem?" Pītā said as he carefully examined the nin around him, his sixth sense faintly pulsing 'Hmm, guess these guys have already made up their minds, they just want to be polite about it. Such considerate people these guys... not!'
If there's one upside to be surrounded by four Yuki nin, it was that Pītā was surrounded by them when there's no snow or ice on the ground for them to harness for their ninjutsu. True they could potentially still use other elemental jutsus against him, such as earth, fire or even wind, but given the country's only recent transition to a warmer climate, the shinobi of the land were likely still struggling with expanding their arsenal of elemental affinities to compensate.
Though they could always resort to the tried and true method of punching the crap out of people or stabbing them with something sharp.
"Your from Otogakure" one of the Yuki nin said as he pointed towards Pītā's headband sporting the musical note of Oto wrapped around his arm.
Pītā glanced at the headband, armband really, before he returned his gaze to the slightly taller man before him "Actually I just found this thing lying around and thought it made me look cool. I'm thinking of starting a collection of headbands from all of the villages actually, you guys have a spare Yuki one I can have?"
The Yuki shinobi's demeanor turned slightly more frigid, Pītā had to suppress a snicker at the thought, and took a threatening step towards the Oto chūnin "I don't know if your aware of this kid, but Yuki is a ally of Konoha... the same village yours attacked only a year ago. Who in part is led by one of the most vile men alive"
"Are we talking most vile man in the Elemental nations or are we talking worldwide?" Pītā asked as he tilted his head slightly to the side "Cause I can think of a few guys down south and out West that can give Orochimaru-sama a run for his money in twisted asshole department. Oh and this little ass-wipe that I met a few years ago that called himself Kokuyō and seems to have a very unhealthy fixation on this girl that-"
Pītā cut himself off as he suddenly turned and grabbed the wrist of one of the Yuki nin that was aiming to plant a kunai in his back, stopping the tip of the blade inches from his body. The Yuki nin's eyes widened as he found his attack stopped cold before he et out a pained scream as Pītā casually flicked his wrist, which in turn dislocated the enemy shinobi's. With a kick to the man's abdomen, Pītā turned to grab the approaching fist of another Yuki nin with one hand while he brought his arm up and shield himself from the kunai held by another. Unfortunately the blade tore into Pītā's arm and the tip poked it's way out the other side, causing a bit of blood to squirt on to Pītā's mask, covering half of one of his lenses. With a grunt, Pītā crushed thee hand he was holding while bringing his arm with the kunai in it down, causing the Yuki nin to stumble forward and for Pītā to bring his knee up and slam it into the man's face.
It was a bit of an awkward move to pull off, it caused the kunai in his arm to drag and tear further along his limb, but it reduced the number of enemies he was facing down to now one.
'Speaking of which, where did the fourth one go?' Pītā thought as he ignored the pained moans of the Yuki nin at his feet, one clutching a bleeding face white the other was looking at his destroyed hand with a wide eyed expression of horror and shock. The man that Pītā kicked in the chest wasn't moving or even making any type of nose, than again, the force he was kicked with may have sent his ribs into his lungs and killed him.
"Doton: Doryūdan!"
"Oh, there ya are" Pītā said as he noticed the Yuki nin he was talking to earlier had placed a few meters of space between himself and Pītā, created a pile of mud and used said mud to form a dragon's head... which was now shooting high speed mud projectiles at him.
With painful ease, Pītā rushed towards the Yuki nin, dodging the mud balls with a few jumps, a slide across the ground and a simple last minute flip before he landed in a crouch before the startled man. Pītā didn't give the Shinobi anytime to respond as he shot a hand out and grabbed the man by the jaw and pulled down until he felt and heard the man's lower jaw disconnect with his upper. The man let out a pained squeal, it would've been a scream had his jaw not been held shut by Pītā, before the Oto nin brought the man into a headbutt, knocking him on conscious... or killing him, the moment the man hit the ground, Pītā ceased any and all interest in him.
"Well that was fun" Pītā said as he looked around to see that the street had long since been vacated, leaving only himself the and Yuki nin left. Sparing a glance at the still awake shinobi with the crushed hand, Pītā took a deep breath before shouting "Okay, the fighting's done now, yall can go back to doing... well whatever it was you were doing!"
His response was met with silence, causing the teen to shrug "Whelp, I tried"
Without another word, Pītā turned on his heel and headed for the town's only train station before a voice stopped him mid-stride.
"Y-You'll p-pay for this"
Pītā turned back to see it was the man that he kicked in the chest earlier, he was now sitting on his knees, hunched over, blood leaking from his mouth at an alarming rate. He looked up towards Pītā with pure hate in his eyes "You'll be hunted down like the s-snake y-you are!"
"I'm a spider actually, snake is the other guy" Pītā teased as he turned to leave "As for the whole hunted down thing... meh, I'm good with that"
Not even in country for a hour and already he has a bounty out on him... Tayuya would be sooo jealous of him. And pissed that he beat her record of six hours and thirty seven minutes.
Seeing the casual indifference Pītā was showing to his words, the Yuki nin let out a pained yell or anger and drew a pair of shuriken from his pouch and threw it towards the Oto shinobi. Pītā didn't even bother to turn around as he continued on his path, letting the shuriken get closer and closer until suddenly a large, black spider leg shot out from Pītā's back, leaving a sizable hole in his jacket in the process, and swatted them away. The Yuki nin stared in horror at the sight while the spider limb slowly retracted back into the hole it erupted from and seemingly melded back into Pītā's body.
For a split second, the Yuki nin noticed that the coloration of Pītā's body was different from that of a normal person's, it was a dark red with glowing edges along where the skin seemed to be more normal looking and fair. Than the red skin began to glow and slowly recede, turning into glowing markings as it went until the area the spider limb vanished was normal looking again.
"W-What... what are y-you?" the Yuki nin coughed before he slumped forward as the last bits of his life drained away.
"Oh crap that reminds me" Pītā snapped his fingers as he suddenly stopped and looked back towards the Yuki nin "Do any of you guys still use that chakra armor and- oh... your all dead"
Or at the very least, none of the men were still conscious, even the one that only had his hand crushed was on the ground now.
"Great" Pītā's shoulders slumped at the sight "Now I gotta wait until another one of you guys shows up to ask"
Though considering a few people saw him kill and or cripple a couple of Yuki nin, he's bound to come across a few more before he leaves this country. And if not, well he can always spare a brief detour to Yukigakure.
After he investigates Orochimaru's base.
And finds some schematics on those heat generators.
And not die doing any of the previous two things he was here for in the first place.
...
And done.
Next chapter, Rage... merciless and unyielding.