So, it's come to this.
War Dog has gone on for such a long time, that I honestly want to go back to the 'good old days' of like a year ago when it was simpler. Before Akari went to such an absurd level and everything just went to absolute shit. Before the early decisions I made came back to bite me in the ass. This is basically War Dog revamped, with different characters, choices, and all of that good stuff.
Don't expect this to just be a carbon-copy of War Dog though, it won't be. There will be some copied stuff, and the very start is pretty similar because I like that sort of thing for my character, but for the most part, this is a new and hopefully better story. Also, this story might be a bit darker...well, at the very least the first chapter will be, so don't read it if you don't like dark content. It won't be explicitly detailed, but messed up events are still mentioned.
And finally, no, this does NOT mean that Akari's story is stopping. This is a rewrite, sure, but just because I'm rewriting the story doesn't mean I won't continue the original. To be honest, this is less of a rewrite and more of a complete makeover xD
Chapter 1
Peeking around the corner, Skye slowly exhaled and fired off a short burst, watching her target stumble for a few steps before the wounds took their toll and they fell to the ground.
She remained there for a few moments, crouched and waiting to see if the short spray of gunfire would be investigated, before she moved out, cover to cover, quickly approaching the body. Skidding to a stop beside the corpse, she gave it a glance over before tearing open the pouches on the chest of the dead man, taking out magazines and throwing them into her dump pouch before then doing the same to the other items, a spare cleaning kit, rations, water canteen, all of it went into the pouch hung off her back. Several times she glanced up and raised her rifle, wary of anyone approaching, but she managed to loot the body clean in a few short minutes, finishing by slinging the fallen gun onto her back to carry back home.
Rising up from her crouch, she looked around again for a final time, then scampered back the way she'd come, always staying close to cover in case someone started shooting at her. At all times around her, there was some level of gunfire going on, the entire city being embroiled in brutal combat. Every day was a fight for survival, literally as well as figuratively.
Several times already she'd had to abandon her home when it was discovered, forcing her to be more risky just to survive. Just last night she was discovered and had to flee, leaving behind all of her food, water, munitions, even a very pretty revolver she'd found that very same day, leading her to loot a body she normally wouldn't touch for fear of being seen and shot.
She had body-armour, obtained when she managed to sneak up on an unconscious soldier and slip her knife into his throat, and his helmet currently hung from her bag, too big for her to use, but she could potentially bait sniper fire by peeking it up over cover. Sure, it was a movie trick, but the fact it currently had several bullet holes in it spoke volumes about how effective it really was.
Slipping into the alleyway of the new den she was using, she ignored the corpse laying nearby and opened the lid of the dumpster in the alley, hopped inside, then through the hole cut in the back, through a hole in the wall and into an enclosed room. The doorway to the room and the hallway outside had been completely filled with rubble, sealing it away from the rest of the building. It was a really lucky find, a blast had opened a hole in the wall leading into the room, and the hole made was small enough that the back of the dumpster hid the entire thing.
Of course, she didn't assume nobody had found her den, she crept in with her weapon ready, immediately sweeping the entire room with the attached flashlight, and only somewhat relaxing when she saw nobody. There was nowhere in the room that was hidden from her, it was all exposed, and nothing had been moved to make cover, mainly because there just wasn't enough stuff in there to do such a thing.
All that was in there right now were a few odds and ends she had left behind to not take up space in her bag and pouches, and the stuff that had been left in there by the now-deceased previous occupant, whose corpse was what she passed outside. He was the one she'd gotten her helmet and body-armour from, as well as the rifle she now lay against the wall.
Sure, it was brutal, but life in the city was short and unvalued, and nobody could enter and expect to live for long.
Opening her eyes, Skye had to admit that, while she had a bad feeling, she didn't expect to run into a literal convoy of PMC grunts.
She'd been doing on her normal run around the city looking for a target to take down when she had the aforementioned bad feeling creep over her spine. Since her instincts had saved her several times already, she didn't think, she simply ran right the fuck out of there, but not so far that she didn't then set up in a building nearby a dozen stories up and kept an eye out for whatever the fuck freaked her out, her gun on her lap and aimed at the door while she looked out of the window.
Cue the arrival of said PMC convoy, who just so fucking happened to dismount on the same street her building was on and begin setting something up. Their vehicles were set up to block the road and all the other entrances to their little area were being watched by mercs with heavy body armour and heavier guns. Honestly they weren't worth even trying to pick off.
Leaving out the fact they had frequent radio checks, and any one grunt was almost always in sight of others, their gear was way too heavy for her to use. The rifle she was carrying was only a lightweight, an AKS-74U, something she could wield easily, with extremely common ammunition and replacement parts. But that also meant that the low calibre round wouldn't go through anything higher than type-3A body armour, so she couldn't afford to get into an actual firefight with these guys, not that she even would try, they massively outnumbered her.
But the problem was that she couldn't leave. Her building had no rear exit, the other way out were the windows, and unlike in the movies, slipping through a window with gear on was not exactly a quiet event. Plus, they were all locked, and trying to open one with force would also attract attention. Maybe there was a key somewhere around, but searching for one, again, would generate noise, and the last thing she wanted was to get heard and have nothing to show for it, being trapped and forced to either break the window and try to flee, or hide in the building, an even worse notion.
No, the safest thing to do would be to sneak up to the second from top floor and find somewhere to hide, a closet or furniture. With her course decided, she slowly rose from where she knelt and crept out of the room, each footstep sounding like she had stomped the floor. Of course, that was just her heightened senses that were exceptionally on edge, but it didn't help her fear of being discovered.
As she moved, she strained her ears to hear anything, any change, an alert, something to indicate that she had been detected and forces were moving on on her. The bonus to her wearing her level of equipment instead of the juggernaut-style gear of the PMCs was that the noise they made as they moved was like comparing the noise of a cat to the noise of an elephant. if they detected her, they'd make a massive ruckus and give her warning.
Reaching the staircase, she slowly pulled the bolt back on her rifle, blocking the bullet from escaping and carefully putting it into a pouch, then setting the safety and slinging the rifle across her back, pinning it under her bag and drawing her pistol. In such close quarters, the rifle would be detrimental, especially going up a staircase. her pistol would give her more manoeuvrability and control.
She stepped up each step with the same caution as the first, if not more, though as she reached the halfway point she relaxed just a little, the PMCs were now a considerable distance away from her and wouldn't as easily hear her. But she didn't let that make her complacent, she constantly checked her rifle to make absolutely sure it didn't create noise by hitting a wall or the metal rungs of the bannister, sweeping each staircase landing all the way up, making sure she didn't fall into a rhythm and run into a sentry by being incautious.
Reaching her chosen floor, she stopped for a few minutes to listen, just in case there were PMC somewhere nearby that slipped past her, maybe through one of the many holes the building had connecting it to other buildings. After hearing nothing, she crept away from the staircase and eventually found a room with an unlocked door. Opening it, she swept the room carefully, and once done, she pushed the door mostly closed behind herself and began trying to decide on what was a good place to hide. There was a piano, that wasn't usable since it was just too small and the insides would generate noise trying to clear them out, plus anybody who searched the room would definitely notice if the piano innards were all outside and investigate.
There was a desk with a computer, and upon investigation there was a small nook underneath she could potentially hide in if she absolutely needed to, but would leave her cramped and very uncomfortable, hindering her performance if she suddenly had to burst out and fight. No, there was only one object in the room that was useful to her, and it was the chest of drawers.
Putting her pistol in its holster, she very slowly drew out one of the drawers, glad to see that it and the one beneath it was empty. She took it all the way out, then took out her knife and carefully began prying the wooden bottom off of the frame. It took her some time, but she managed to force the wooden bottom off entirely, leaving her with a bottomless frame.
The thin wooden bottom was then sliced in half and placed in the nook of the desk she'd found, hiding it entirely. She repeated this process on the other three drawers, the entire thing being thankfully empty. Once that was all done, she placed the top two drawers inside their slots, then slipped inside the empty space, before reaching out to grasp one of the drawers and place it in line with the bottom row of drawers.
She drew it inside and stepped into it, sliding the drawer closed before repeating the same process somewhat more awkwardly with the last drawer, leaving herself in almost complete darkness, just the barest hint of illumination coming from the small gaps in the front of the drawers. Folding her legs, Skye slowly sat down, her hearing focused as she was almost deprived of sight, allowing her to hear absolutely nothing. Patiently, she shut her eyes, waiting in the hopes that the PMC convoy outside would finish whatever they were doing and would leave.
If they didn't, she was kinda fucked.
Feeling another pair of hands lay themselves upon her, Skye regretted hesitating.
The PMCs hadn't left, and she had eaten the only food she was carrying, forcing her to try and escape, only to get caught. She tried her best to fend them off and escape, but when she got herself cornered, she knew what was coming next, and thought she was ready to take her own life to avoid it, but, when she had that pistol under her chin and the trigger under her finger...she couldn't do it.
That meant that to the victors went the spoils, and that included her. She knew she was detaching from reality and not accepting what was being done to her, but when the alternative was dealing with it, with what those fucked up bastards were doing to her, detachment was the lesser of two evils. Didn't mean she wasn't feeling it, every cut, every punch, and every...penetration, but as it went on, it became easier to just...fade, to not let it affect her. She might have been dying, but honestly, that would be preferable.
A sharp pain in her eye snapped her back to reality just in time to scream as a knife gouged out her eye. She bucked her head, ending up shoving forwards. The knife plunged deeper, and the pain mercifully stopped. But...she was still aware. Confused, she reached up to her face, only to see that her arms were a pale, ethereal white, rather than the moderately-tanned skin she had grown accustomed to.
Turning her hands over, she ran one hand over the other, poking and prodding, before raising those hands to her face. As her hands laid themselves on her face, she let out a choked sob. She had to be dead, her arms weren't natural, and that meant death wasn't just a release where she would never have to...have to deal with what was done to her. She strangled off a second sob, forcing back the pain and the memories, her focus firmly on finding out what was going on. "Took you long enough."
Immediately on alert, Skye reached for a pistol that wasn't there, and quickly settled on balling up her fists and dropping into a crude brawling stance, looking around. She opened her mouth, and rather than the scratchy, disused voice she expected, a voice she had vague memories of from when she was younger came out clearly. "Who the fuck was that?!" She heard laughter, and her lips pulled into a snarl as she growled.
"Who I am is not important, nor what I am. However, what I offer is vastly more important." Skye simply waited. Sure, whatever the fuck was speaking to her from apparently all around her was probably waiting for some kind of question, but as far as she cared, it could go shove it. "I'm afraid that without an actual body, I cannot 'shove it', as you so eloquently put it."
Narrowing her eyes, Skye kept her head on a swivel as she ensured that she couldn't be snuck up on. "Alright, fine, fuck you, I'll bite. What the fuck kind of offer do you have, and what do I have to give up for your shitty offer, so I know what I can tell you to shove it for?" Hearing more amused laughter, she snarled, glaring into the aether. "Fuck you asshole!" The laughter only got louder, pissing her off more. She took a careful breath and reeled in her anger slightly. It wouldn't help her, not in this situation. "Just fucking tell me or fuck off."
"Now now, no need for that, unless you wish your mouth be...'washed out with soap'?" She took another deep breath and resisted the urge to curse out whatever thing was fucking with her. Maybe she'd been drugged to hell and back and was being fucked with mentally or something, or maybe she was actually dead and having some kind of fucked up religious experience, it didn't matter. "Now then, I believe that's enough pre-amble as it were."
Skye folded her arms and waited a few moments, about to open her mouth again when the thing spoke again. "You, Skye Esha, have been randomly selected from the deceased population of your planet to participate in The Game. The Game is sponsored by a being beyond mortal comprehension, and your experience will be viewed for the pleasure of our sponsor. The Game is designed after common methods of entertainment both on your own world as well as many others, in the style of a 'role-playing game'."
"This means you may level up, engage in questing, find rare items, follow storylines, participate in relationship events, there are many possibilities. The Game is a pathway to many abilities some may consider unnatural, and others would consider as normal as breathing. It is up to you to decide where you draw the line. Do you become a ruthless serial killer, or a selfless mystic healer? The Game merely exists to aid you in whatever you desire."
Skye stared forwards blankly. The Game? Like...like some kind of boardgame or something? "Is this...some kind of stupid joke? A game? I just...I don't..." She snapped her mouth shut with a click, grinding her teeth together. "After what I just fucking went through, and...you think I would..." She trailed off, her mind contemplating it. "Whatever I desire? So if I decided I wanted to rape, pillage and kill my way across the planet, nothing would be done to stop me outside of normal reactions of those I am killing?"
"That is correct. Though while you have a certain degree of ruthlessness, it is not in your psychological profile that you would be likely to do such a thing. Even if you were to do that, in the grand scheme of things, it matters not if one planet is wiped clean of life." Skye snorted at that, devolving into full-blown laughter. "Did I say something amusing? I don't particularly understand mortal humour."
She feigned wiping a tear from her eye. "You really don't understand humans. I was just...raped and fucking murdered, and you think my mind isn't at least the slightest fucking bit broken because of that? There's a fucking reason so many people want the afterlife to be nothing, because they don't want to have any longer to think about whatever the fuck happened to them!" Letting out another snarl, she shut her eyes and pushed back her thoughts, focusing on calming herself down.
"I suppose not. Regardless, The Game will simply serve to assist you in your endeavours. As you clearly are not inclined to listen to me much longer, I shall simply allow you to make your own decisions for your starting 'build'. The Game will give hints and aid where necessary, so my participation is no longer necessary. Enjoy." After the voice went silent, Skye stood stationary for a moment before looking around and humming.
Then, in front of her face, text appeared, and after another moment of glancing around, she focused on it.
Spawn Locations: These will dictate your location and what kind of beginning you can expect.
Amegakure - The Village Hidden by Rain. An industrialised Hidden Village embroiled in a brutal civil war.
Related Perks(Asterisks are forced perks, only one may be selected):
Sides* - The Civil War touches each resident of Amegakure, willing or otherwise. You must visibly support either one side or the other, which will invite retaliation from the opposing side and their supporters. Choose well, for one side will inevitably win this war.
Eternal Downpour - Amegakure is known for the rain. Growing up, the rain always seemed so welcoming to you. Chakra Sense activated/amplified if already unlocked during rain. 50% experience gain when raining. -25% experience loss when not raining. -50% experience loss when within deserts.
Waters of Life - Water is a well-known part of the Rain Village, and as such, many Shinobi, including yourself, find themselves with an affinity for water. 100% experience gain to Suiton Release techniques. 15% damage reduction when using Suiton techniques. Double attrition rate within deserts.
Technocratic - Amegakure is a very advanced nation, using technology far superior to surrounding nations. Unique gadgets and items available from general stores and traders. 100% experience increase to engineer trait. Spawn with Tinkerer perk - Able to work with simple and advanced machinery.
The Akatsuki - Home of the S-ranked Missing-nin organization, you found yourself drawn to them, and were accepted into their ranks for your skills. Spawn within a hidden base of the Akatsuki. Relations with all Akatsuki members set to Allies. Relations with all Shinobi factions will be set to Hated after certain key story events are procked.
Iwagakure - The Village Hidden by Rock. A harsh and unforgiving land of stone, inhabited by hardy Shinobi.
Related Perks (Asterisks are forced perks, only one may be selected):
Conscription* - Iwagakure was hit hard by the last war, and as such is still struggling to raise its numbers up. Forced into Shinobi Academy without exception, barring perk choice of Dust-storm/Street Rat.
Explosive Art - The Explosion Corps of Iwagakure is feared, for good reason, they create giant explosions! Explosion Release available. Spawn with Explosive-lover perk - Strong urges to explode things at random. Forced to acknowledge explosions as beautiful artworks.
Dust-storm - The Kekkai Tota of Iwagakure's leader, the Tsuchikage. Capable of disintegrating targets on a molecular level. Dust Release Available. Greatly sought after, beware Bloodline-thieves. Inclusion to Tsuchikage family.
Darkness of the Earth - The Shinobi of Iwagakure are most at home under the ground, and you are no exception. 100% experience increase to Earth Release techniques. 15% damage reduction when using Doton techniques. Partial blindness.
Street Rat - Living on the streets and avoiding Shinobi was a hard life, but you managed. Spawn with Pickpocket/Sleight of Hand skills. 100% experience increase to Pickpocket/Sleight of Hand skills. Natural proclivity to be blamed for missing items. -50% Chakra Capacity from disused Chakra Coils.
Tanigakure - The Village Hidden by Valleys. A dense network of rivers and valleys act as natural defences for this Village.
Related Perks (Asterisks are forced perks, only one may be selected):
River-runners* - Shinobi of the Land of Rivers are forced to learn how to traverse the numerous rivers in the land without bridges or fords. Spawn with water-walking ability.
Raava's gift - Inhabiting the water-rich lands gave you a natural inclination towards using water offensively. 100% experience increase to Suiton techniques. 15% damage reduction when using Suiton techniques. 50% increased chakra cost to Katon techniques.
Underwater Operations - You were trained from a young age for warfare, but from an unexpected angle. Nobody thinks to look for an enemy beneath the surface of the water. Spawn with Water-breathing technique. Shark-like features may lead you to be ostracised.
The Iryo-nin's Oath - Your proficiency for medical techniques was noticed by a band of missing-nin, and you find yourself as their regular stop for medical treatments. Spawn with Mystical Palm Jutsu. Relations with Akatsuki set to 'Liked'. Will be forced to heal severely-wounded criminals on occasion.
The Wanderer - You never stayed in one place too long, never had a settled home. This gave you a great skill for foraging and long trips, but left you without a home to turn to. 100% increase to foraging proficiency. Will spawn in the wilderness with no shelter.
Sunagakure - The Village Hidden by Sand. A massive desert hides this village from the world.
Related Perks (Asterisks are forced perks, only one may be selected):
Sand-stalker* - Living within a desert brought some necessary skills for survival. No attrition suffered within deserts. Oases are marked on map within certain radius. Extra attrition within Snow regions. Probability to get lost increased within Snow regions.
Go-go Gadget Magnetron! - The Kekkei Genkai of the Kazekage, and it's yours! Iron Release available. Inclusion to Kazekage family. Potential to be kidnapped for bloodline.
Puppets, not Dolls - The much-feared Suna Puppet-Brigade have included you as a member. 100% experience increase to Puppeteering. Frequent taunting ahead. Spawn with Carver perk - Able to work wood into puppets and other shapes.
The Winds of Suna - In the deserts, the air is ablaze. With your own release, the heat is yours to command. Blaze Release available. Natural resistance to Katon techniques. Weakness to Suiton techniques. Bloodline thieves abound.
Eye of the Storm - Sandstorms are feared within Sunagakure, for good reason. Yet, whenever you walked in the storm, it never harmed you. 100% Resistance to Sandstorm attrition. No visibility modifier within Sandstorms.
Kumogakure - The Village Hidden by Clouds. A rather militaristic and aggressive village.
Related Perks (Asterisks are forced perks, only one may be selected):
Ride the Lightning - Kumogakure is known for its Lightning Release techniques, and you are following in the footsteps of many others. 100% experience increase to Lightning Release techniques. 15% damage reduction when using Raiton techniques. May cause electronics to malfunction randomly.
Cloudrunner - Your clan was known for its Hiden techniques, and now, so are you. Swift Release available. May become targeted by Bloodline thieves.
Lightstorm - The ability to harness light has always been a powerful tool, one that is now within your grasp. Light Release available. 50% chance to gain temporary blindness debuff when using Hikari techniques. Will blind allies and enemies temporarily when used.
The Second Coming - The Six Paths Sacred Treasures, and they've been passed down to now be wielded by you. Access to all Sage of Six Paths equipment. Theft and assassination attempts will become commonplace.
Mists of the Mountain - Spending so much time in the clouds granted you a unique insight into using the water of clouds. 100% experience increase to Suiton Release techniques. 15% damage reduction when using Raiton techniques. Double attrition rate within deserts. Able to draw Suiton techniques using nearby clouds.
Kirigakure - The Village Hidden by Mist. Also known as the Village of the Bloody Mist. A ruthless civil war is ongoing.
Related Perks (Asterisks are forced perks, only one may be selected):
Damn Bloodlines!* - Kirigakure is in the beginning throes of a bloodline purge, and you're caught right in the middle of it. If no bloodline perk selected, conscripted into Shinobi Academy against rebels. If bloodline available, forced into rebel encampment against Loyalists. Can avoid this by taking Abandonment starter location.
Abandonment - The civil war was too much for your parents, so they left at the earliest opportunity, leaving you behind on the streets of Kirigakure. 100% experience increase to stealth techniques. One random Kekkei Genkai available. Homeless and wounded spawn.
I vomit LAVA! - One of the most dangerous substances on the planet, and you can control it at will. Lava Release available. Will become Hated by Kirigakure upon detection of Bloodline.
The Swordsmen of the Mist - Blades have always fascinated you, and now, you hold your very own, even at the cost of other skills. 100% increase to Blademaster Perk. Spawn with Novice Swordfighter perk - 100% experience increase to Blade proficiency. 25% experience loss to all other perks.
Silent Hill - Hiding within the mist is a staple technique of Kirigakure Shinobi, and you learned from the best. Spawn with Hiding in Mist perk - Able to hide within Mist using Chakra. 200% experience increase to Silent Killing technique. Relationship with many factions set to Distrusted.
Just Chill Out, Man - The near-extinct Yuki clan is where you trace your heritage from. Ice Release available. Will become hated by Kirigakure upon detection of Bloodline.
It's the glass eye! - When you were younger, you lost an eye in an accident, and your father stole an eye from a corpse to give to you, though the corpse was not just a normal Shinobi but a Hyuuga Main House member! Access to Byakugan Dojutsu. Relationship with Hyuuga family set to disliked.
Konohagakure - The Village Hidden by Leaves. Forests of the First Hokage's creation protect this village.
Related Perks (Asterisks are forced perks, only one may be selected):
Teamwork!* - Konohagakure values teamwork above all else. Upon graduation, will be forced into 3-man team. 100% increase to combination attack damage. May gain depression debuff if teammates die.
Lookit 'er eyes! - The Uchiha clan are famed for their red eyes, able to copy Jutsu and perceive faster than others. Able to unlock Sharingan Dojutsu. Naturally inclined towards hatred. Bloodline theft potential.
Wow, there's nothing there - The empty-seeming eyes of the Hyuuga clan are anything but empty. They can see all around them for miles, with a single blindspot. Able to unlock Byakugan Dojutsu. Bloodline thieves may attempt to kidnap you.
Aww, it's a puppy! - The Inuzuka clan spend their lives around their Ninken, and now, so do you. Spawn with Inuzuka perk - Ninken partner from birth to death. WILL become depressed upon partner death.
Queen of the Swarm - Bugs are often overlooked by many, allowing them to be excellent spies and assassins. Spawn with Aburame perk - Access to Kikaichu techniques. Will have holes in the skin for bugs traversal underneath the skin. Not for the squeamish.
...Troublesome - The laziest of the Konoha clans. The Nara are hyper-intelligent but incredibly lazy. Spawn with Nara perk - 100% Intelligence stat increase. One Skill Point increases Intelligence by 2. Crippling laziness will directly hamper progression.
After carefully going over each and every option available to her, Skye honestly found herself at a loss. Chakra? Shinobi? Kekkei Tota? Dojutsu? None of that meant a fucking thing to her. Some options, like Street Rat, Abandonment and The Wanderer made sense to her, she could understand them, but none of the other options actually gave her any context of what the fuck would be good or bad. A random penchant for blowing things up would be awful, and what the fuck was the Sharingan Dojutsu?
But, one really stood out to her, the 'Byakugan' options. Being able to see all around for miles with only a single blindspot was...insane. And that option, 'It's the glass eye!', meant she'd get access to it whilst remaining away from Konohagakure, which sounded like a hellhole. Being forced into a 3-man team? No, she'd much prefer staying as far away from that bullshit as she possibly could.
She selected that option, and growled as she was immediately met with another list.
Perks - These perks are unique to your character, regardless of location selection. You may select three perks from the list.
() Knife-fighter - You grew up around knives, and as such, you are proficient in their use. 100% experience increase to Knife-proficiency.
() It's dangerous to go alone, take this - A sword is a useful tool, and you know how to use it. 100% experience increase to Sword-proficiency.
() Get Pole-armed! - A long weapon with a pointy thing at the end, great for keeping enemies away. 100% experience increase to Polearm-proficiency.
() Ink? Why Ink? - Fuinjutsu is often overlooked, but the strongest experts are capable of great things. 100% experience increase to Fuinjutsu-proficiency.
() Speed-demon - The Shunshin is a well-known speed Jutsu, but you took it way further. 100% experience increase to Shunshin-proficiency.
() Ka-boom - Explosions are pretty, wouldn't you agree? 200% Radius increase to all explosive tags used. Friendly fire beware!
() Better Barter, better prices! - You've always had a keen eye for deals. 100% increase to Barter stat.
() Weren't you just... - Hiding within a crowd of faces comes naturally to you. 100% increase to Stealth-proficiency. Hiding in crowds is easier to you. Sometimes over-looked on accident. Can be detrimental.
() Disillusioned - Genjutsu has always been a hobby of yours. 100% increase to Genjutsu-proficiency. Your illusions are harder to break out of.
() Chakra-Monster - You've always had a lot of Chakra for some reason. 200% Chakra capacity. Chakra control is more difficult for you than others.
() No coils? No problem! - You were born with non-existent Chakra coils. To make up for it, you became stronger. Inability to use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. 200% experience increase to Taijutsu proficiency.
() The Medic is always right! - Medical stuff is always useful, both for healing yourself and allies, as well as knowing exactly where important organs are. 100% experience increase to Iryo-nin proficiency. Spawn with Mystical Palm technique. Targeted by enemy Shinobi more often.
() Inner Peace - Nature always called to you, and one day, you answered her call. 100% experience increase to Senjutsu-proficiency. Unable to turn to stone during Senjutsu practice. Natural uncomfortableness within villages.
() Civilian-friend - Despite your Shinobi background, you've always spent time with the civilians of your village, much to the ire of your elitist clan. Relations with civilians set to Liked. Relations with clan elders set to Disliked. 100% experience gain to Charisma stat.
() The Summoner - Your parents have handed down their summoning contract for generations, and now, it's in your hands. Spawn with randomly-generated summoning contract. Will be unable to use any other summon techniques.
() Hidden Potential - One of your parents are descended from a clan, and their Kekkei Genkai, unawakened and unknown within them, awoke in you. Random Kekkei Genkai available.
() Uzumaki Descendant - Red hair and prodigious talent in Fuinjutsu marks out any Uzumaki clearly, much to their detriment. 200% experience increase to Fuinjutsu-proficiency, all Fuinjutsu is 100% stronger, extremely high chance of being hunted down for being an Uzumaki.
Looking through this thankfully shorter list of perks, Skye thumbed her lips as she read each description. The various weapon proficiencies...worried her. They were all melee weapons, not a single gun or bow or anything like that. She immediately selected 'Weren't you just...' because being able to hide easily sounded perfect, being overlooked occasionally would be fine for her, and while the detrimental side was a little worrying, the benefits outweighed the risk.
The next one she eventually settled on was 'The Medic is always right!'. Being able to do what she presumed was a healing ability would be utterly invaluable to her, since she intended to be alone as much as possible, and if she got injured doing so, she would need to deal with that. She knew enough first aid to patch herself up, but if there was some kind of medical technique, being able to use that would be vastly more useful than the other options.
Finally, and after a hell of a lot of internal debate, she settled on the 'Get Pole-armed!' perk. She needed an option that had a weapon buff, and being able to keep people at a distance with a spear sounded like the best option. Some things like 'Inner Peace', 'The Summoner' and 'Ink? Why Ink?' sounded good, but she didn't know whether they would actually be useful or not, and with two options already chosen, she had to have a buff to a weapon, something she could focus on to defend herself.
Looking over her three options, she nodded once and selected the large accept button. Immediately her vision flashed white and her mind burned as information was forced into it. Eight years of life that she did yet did not live were shoved into her brain none-too-carefully, and the last thing she did before she blacked out from the stimulation was mentally curse the fuck out of whatever the cunt-sucking fuck that thing thought it was achieved by doing this.
But it at least gave her a moment of reprieve from the horrible memories already twisting her mind, so maybe blacking out wasn't so bad after all.
As she blinked awake, Skye stared up at the ceiling, stifling a groan as information filled her head.
Her name in this world was Sora, apparently after the sky blue colour of her eyes. When she was younger, an explosive tag went off on a cart of weapons, and one of the shards of steel sliced across her face, which also gouged out her left eye. Her father, in a fury, took the eye from the corpse of a Shinobi and transplanted it into her head, teaching her the basics of medical jutsu so she could make sure it stayed healthy and didn't reject her body. He himself was a med-nin, a Shinobi who could use the Mystical Palm Jutsu to essentially heal people. She still carried a small scar leading from her left cheek diagonally up through her eye and curving to a stop a quarter of the way across the right side of her forehead, though it wasn't easy to see.
When he realized exactly what he had transplanted into her, her father belatedly helped her learn to control her eye, at least in-so-much as she could willingly stop looking in certain places. According to his own theory, because she was not a part of the actual bloodline, nor the original owner of the eye, she wasn't able to de-activate the Byakugan. It should have killed her, and he had admitted to her once whilst drunk that he really didn't know why she wasn't dead from the constant Chakra drain.
She was still furious at having information crammed into her brain, but thanks to that, she knew what Chakra was, and more details about Kirigakure, Shinobi and the other villages. Because she had a reasonable amount of Chakra, she was conscripted into the Kirigakure Shinobi Academy despite her fathers wishes, and was currently undergoing her last year of classes before becoming a full-fledged Shinobi. Aside from all the extra information, it seemed that before she took over, Sora acted almost perfectly like Skye would, probably to ease the transition. The only thing she didn't have access to was the text-box now floating above her face.
Exhaling softly, she focused on the box, reading through the text before following the 'advice' and focusing on the exit box, which closed the menu. The text had described how she could focus to bring up her character status, which was supposedly for all of her stats, like her health, chakra, experience, attributes and all of that stuff. She also had access to an inventory that was tied to her strength stat in terms of how many slots she had available to use.
Next, she opened her character status page, humming as she read through it.
Character Status
Name: Sora Metami
Level: 1
Age: 12
Experience: 247/1000
To Next Level: 753
Title: Academy Student - 50% Experience Gain within Classroom
Health Points: 210 (100 Base HP + (Vitality x Strength)
Regeneration Rate: 7/minute (Health ÷ 30) (Severe or noticed injuries can be chosen to retain scars)
Chakra Points: 220 (100 Base CP + (Wisdom x Intelligence)
Regeneration Rate: 7.3*/minute (Chakra ÷ 30)
Strength: 11 (Each point increases melee damage by 1%, adds 1 slot to inventory)
Vitality: 10 (Each point raises poison resistance by 0.1%, reduces need for sleep by 0.1%)
Agility: 12 (Each point increases top speed by 0.1m/s, increases weapon proficiency gain by 1%)
Wisdom: 10 (Each point decreases chakra cost for techniques by 0.1%)
Intelligence: 12 (Each point increases experience gain by 1%)
Luck: 10 (Each point increases the chance of something lucky happening by 0.01%, decreases the chance of something unlucky happening by 0.01%)
Techniques
Transformation Technique - A specialized Genjutsu that the user can mould into whatever appearance they can picture. Cost - 50 Chakra on cast, 2/s to maintain. Additional costs incurred for significant size changes.
Clone Technique - Another specialized Genjutsu, this one creates a clone that will dispel on anything other than light contact. Cost - 50 Chakra on cast, 5/s to maintain.
Replacement Technique - This technique replaces the caster with their target. Can swap living targets, but only if weak or inattentive, will not work on active hostile shinobi. Cost - 25 Chakra on cast.
Mystical Palm Technique - Beginner Level - The catch-all medical ability. Able to regenerate wounds of varying degrees. Usage - 25CP/s. Heal-rate - 25HP/s. Can be levelled. Levelling will increase Chakra cost and Heal Rate. Can still use inferior versions after unlocking improved variant.
After reading through the list several times, Skye...no, Sora tapped her chin.
It appeared to be that for each level, she would get 5 points, and either she started at level 0, or at level 1 and had 5 points assigned based on what she would prefer. Increasing her experience gain would have the best effect early on, so a focus on intelligence was completely necessary. Agility was also good, raising her proficiency with weapons faster. If she got that up high enough, it would make her proficiency with polearms go through the roof. And a little extra strength was also great for increasing her base melee damage.
As for the techniques she had access to, while at first glance they appeared pretty weak, they were actually surprisingly strong, especially the Replacement and Clone Technique. She could replace herself with a leaf in a forest whilst leaving behind a clone, which if timed correctly would make it appear as though she had never moved. The Mystical Palm Technique was obviously really helpful for healing injuries, and as it was now, it was basically just converting Chakra into Health. As long as she had a full bar of Chakra, she could fully heal herself from pretty much anything.
One thing she was glad to read about was that her health regeneration wasn't going to cause any really awkward questions. Say she got her face slashed up nastily, if that all healed away to nothingness in 30 minutes, people would ask some very pointed questions, ones she probably wouldn't be able to wave away as just being the Mystical Palm Technique.
The technique essentially just sped up the natural healing of the body, scabbing wounds over and stopping bleeding, that sort of thing. It would still leave scars, no matter how amazing of a medic the user was. It couldn't revive the dead nor could it save someone who was mortally wounded, like having their internal organs eviscerated. As long as whatever injury they had was feasibly healed, they could be saved. But, if they no longer had lungs to repair, the technique wouldn't work.
That also meant that scars couldn't be removed. Her arms had several pale white scars from cuts she'd received in Bukijutsu instruction, and while she had stopped their bleeding and accelerated the healing process, the scars themselves were still there at the end of the day. So, while a very useful technique for emergencies, it wouldn't be a crutch she could lean on to explain her natural regeneration.
Didn't stop her from being pissed off that she had essentially wasted a perk point. She had no intention of working in a team, so having it for their sakes was just wasted time, and with her natural regeneration ensuring that any injury she sustained would be fully healed within 30 minutes, as long as she survived the fight, it didn't matter. But then, what if she had to heal during a battle? The Mystical Palm Technique worked a hell of a lot faster than her natural healing, in 8 seconds she'd be drained dry of Chakra but would be full health from absolutely nothing.
Beneath all that were her perks, so presumably she could get more perks by doing quests or special actions, and then under that were her proficiencies.
Proficiencies
Kirigakure Academy Taijutsu - The standard Taijutsu of Kirigakure, focused on heavy Kunai usage and brutal, crippling strikes. Increases all damage done when using this Taijutsu by 3% - Level 3 - 32.1%
Shurikenjutsu - Art of throwing and wielding small sharp things. Regards any weapon smaller than the user's arm. Increases thrown/small melee weapon damage by 7% - Level 7 - 92.7%
Bukijutsu - Art of slicing and beating people with objects. Regards wielding any melee weapon. Increases melee damage by 5% - Level 5 - 52.5%
Sōjutsu - The act of smashing people over the head with a long wooden pole or stabbing them with the pointy bit. Covers wielding a polearm. Increases polearm damage by 11% - Level 11 - 12.2%
Mystical Palm - Ability to detect and heal wounds using technique of the same name. Increases healing done by 4% - Level 4 - 78.6%
Humming, she glanced over at her desk, which had a small pile of Kunai resting atop it.
Sora hopped up off her bed and ambled over, picking one up and looking at it for a moment before mentally focusing on her inventory. After a moment, it popped open, and she saw 11 empty slots, confirming how her inventory related to her strength. She pushed her arm out, watching as the box closest to the kunai highlighted. She released the weapon, and watched it disappear, an icon appearing in her inventory.
More confident now, she poked her finger at the kunai, and saw a list of stats appear. It had 10 base damage, which was increased by 11% thanks to her strength, 7% thanks to her Shurikenjutsu, and 5% from her Bukijutsu. They all applied, but only individually, they weren't stacking bonuses, since rather than them stacking and giving her 12.47, or 12.5 rounded up to one digit, it gave her 12.3. Right now, not a big difference, but if they were stacking, that bonus would get absolutely absurd very quickly. Just 25% 3 times would mean that a 10 damage weapon would jump up to 19.5. If she managed to get 3 100% bonuses stacked onto one weapon, for 10 damage again, it would go from 10 to 20, then 40, then 80. But instead, it would go from 10 to 40, still very acceptable, but not as ludicrous as it could have been.
Shaking her head, Sora closed her inventory and stretched, absently noting that she was completely in the buff. In the city, she always had to sleep fully clothed, even if it was stifling and uncomfortable. The Sora from before obviously had agreed considering how she had slept every night she could get away with it, and that was something she wholeheartedly endorsed, even if it had caused her father a rather awkward moment when she got sick once and he'd discovered her predilection for abhorring sleeping clothes. It didn't stop her from sleeping nude, but it probably would be best if she got dressed before leaving her room.
Thankfully, the Shinobi Academy had no kind of uniform or anything like that, and after graduating she wouldn't have to wear any kind of uniform aside from when she reached Chunin and Jonin rank, they had to wear vests which identified their higher rank and gave them some level of protection against weaponry. Normally she would respect that, but Sora already had seen firsthand how ineffective those vests were at stopping a motivated attack, only good for deflecting weakly-thrown weapons and limp-wristed attacks.
Idly, she noted that her father was already doing some breakfast, then did a double-take as she realized she had been mentally blanking on the fact that her vision was different. Maybe it was the memory transfer making it so that something so...bizarre when she focused on it was in fact completely normal, so the juxtaposition of the two different perspectives meant she was ignoring it?
Whatever the case was, now that she focused on it, being able to see everything within about...fifteen or so meters was really freaky. She could see her father, the short, trimmed beard on his face, the hairs that were still remaining in the sink he'd used to shave that morning, the ruffled sheets of his bed and the senbon that were sitting on his nightstand, still laced with a liquid that she presumed was poison. Focusing more, she realized that she was individually focusing on objects, but by sort of...'mellowing' her sense of detection, she focused on the entire area to a degree, to the point she saw the ants that were in the dirt outside, and the people passing by their home, as well as an object that made her immediately and instinctively slam up her control over her eye again.
No girl should ever have to see...'that' part of their parent.
So, chapter 1.
I...err, hope people liked it! The main changes were to specify more clearly what everything did, since Wisdom and Intelligence were just there to be Chakra increases in the first story. Proficiencies now also will increase damage on top of being a general gauge of how good Sora is with a weapon. Then there's the changes to health and whatnot. I want to make it so that her enemies also have healthbars and she has actual damage to think about.
So...please review this story and tell me whether you liked or loathed it, that way I can make improvements and changes!
