Notice: I do not own Naruto, and make no claims of copyright on the
characters who are not my property. Original characters, however, are mine.
Author's Notes: More stuff with new characters, that's about all. Thanks to all reviewers, and I hope to hear from people about what they think of Gosain and Shiren.
Nighttime Tales
It was a very strange meal. Neji prevailed upon his family without warning, springing that he had guests for dinner upon his branch family relatives without any notice. "Xi?" They had asked in disgust, and when Neji had given the answer there had been even more indignation.
So, in the smallest dining room of the smallest annex of the Hyuuga estate, a room not even being heated with so many Hyuuga's out on missions, Neji was given to treat a meal to his new teammates.
"My apologies." He began when the shouting was over. Shouting that Gosian had reacted to with utter contempt, and a refusal to leave his weapon behind, and that Shiren had utterly ignored, acting as if Neji was the only person present. "I expected something like this, but I cannot offer anything else. My money is almost entirely given into the family's pool." It was a cold apology, filled with the old angers at everything Hyuuga, a name Neji was glad he did not officially share anymore. "Had I the funds, I would have gone somewhere else."
"Everyone makes sacrifices." Shiren told him quietly. "Especially ninja."
"Heh. At least the food is good," Gosian told Neji once the meal had begun. "That can make up for anything else, especially since I'm not paying." That last was hardly a remark made in fun, and Neji wondered even further about this ninja. He knew now he would have to ask Xi.
There was little conversation during dinner, since they were hardly the most talkative of ninja, and the chilly atmosphere was not encouraging. Still, Neji felt he must make some effort to associate with his team members as their leader, so he discussed the only thing he ever felt comfortable discussing, ninja business. "Have either of you been to Hidden Stone before?" He asked them when the meal was over.
"Ah." Gosian responded. "Three times. All for the exam."
"What should we expect then?"
"Heh." Gosian shrugged, a weighty motion under the chains beneath his torso, chains that he continued to wear hidden even while eating. "Things have changed, no? The Stone ninja are stoic people, living up there in the mountains. They don't talk much and don't make a lot of enemies quickly. They're strong on defense, nobody can root them out of their mountain holds, and they don't care too much for the rest of the world, so they don't have a lot of missing-nins. Real tough though, don't give up easily. I'd gather that this exam will be real reserved, as little spectacle as possible, especially since it's the winter one, and with what happened in Konoha last time. The winter is the worst part, it makes this exam really dangerous, snow and ice and blizzards. Ninja freeze by the dozen during the survival stage, and the examiners have to go out and haul them back before the cold kills them. Very few teams ever get through that during the winter. I think the record for the past fifty times is five. Most years it's only two or three. You have mountain experience Neji?"
"No." He replied.
"Neither do I." Shiren added.
"That makes it real hard. See, if you get stuck out in the second stage without knowing how the weather works you'll never build up enough strength to succeed after that. Almost all teams that get by that stage do so in less than a day." Gosain said sagely. "It's messy."
"I see." Neji replied, already considering what this would mean. He had not considered the cold previously, but now he knew it would be an enemy. And I do not know any fire element jutsus to produce heat. That makes it even more difficult. "Well. I will consider that carefully."
"See that you do," Gosain replied stonily. "I'm not going to haul your carcass around a mountain side."
"If we perform correctly it should not be a problem." Neji said with certainty. "This team is sufficiently talented to deal with any genin group I have yet encountered." That was Neji's honest assessment. Indeed, he felt he could likely defeat almost any team of three genin by himself. The mountains will be more of a threat to us than the ninja. "Beyond that, I suppose I release you to your rooms, since morning will come early." He stood up, ending the meal.
The rooms that had been officially allotted to the lightning ninja were little more than lofts in one of Konoha's taverns. Feeling that this was improper given the large space available at the Hyuuga estate, Neji had arranged for the team to remain there. He had justified it by saying they should be within reach of each other. Of course, the rooms his family arranged were likely the worst available, so Neji offered his own room if either of the ninja wished to use it. It was small and sparse, but likely more comfortable and warmer. Shiren declined politely and modestly, saying she was content with whatever was offered. Gosain took Neji up on it. He gave Neji a grim smile. "Don't give up comforts so easily, Neji." The older ninja told him. "There's few enough of them in life."
That attitude was completely different from Neji's own. He had made the offer to make up for the lack of respect his family had shown, as duty demanded, not out of any kindness. Still, he would suffer if duty called for it. Would Gosain not?
Neji therefore slept in the small guest room next to Shiren's, in the cold and on a hard floor. He found it impossible to sleep, not from discomfort, since sleeping in the trees with Xi had been far worse, but simply from the strangeness of it. I feel like a foreigner in my own home, he thought. Beyond that he wondered, is this place really my home?
The dragon ninja ended up walking the halls of the estate, and eventually out into the garden. The night was cold, and the air sparkled with hints of frost. Winter was about to descend in earnest upon Konoha. It must already have blanketed Stone, Neji realized, up there in the Mountains. Gai had put them through survival training in the snow before, a terrible time. Neither Rock Lee nor I were pleased with the patient conservation of energy required by the cold. Yet, there are ninja who thrive in the snow. It was disturbing to consider.
Then Neji sensed an unknown presence behind him.
The Byakugan came up in an instant, turning the night away and revealing everything around him, and Neji was already rolling and reaching for his weapons. Then he recognized the intruder. "Xi." He hissed.
"Getting quicker." The dragon ninja said coldly as he separated from the darkness. "But not quick enough. I could have let loose a lethal attack easily before you were ready to avoid it."
"You didn't come here to debate the finer points of my skills Xi." Neji retorted, somewhat angry.
"I didn't." The older ninja responded. "I came here because I suspected you'd be looking for me, and morning comes early enough that neither of us have the time to waste forsaking whatever sleep we can achieve."
Suspected I'd be looking for him? Neji turned the words over in his mind. Then he had it, remembering what Shiren had told him earlier that day. "About my companions." He affirmed, and Xi nodded. But was it really to save time as you say? Neji wondered. Or do you not wish me to learn whatever it is you do at night? Well, it doesn't matter now. "I do have questions."
"Of course, and I will give you access to what I know, as I did the same for them." The other ninja replied, emotionless.
"Why do you do things this way?" Neji asked suddenly. "Why this forced sharing of secrets? It seems a way to destroy friendships."
"A difference of philosophy." Xi replied, still emotionless. "Konoha wishes its ninja teams to be united by bonds of friendship. Cloud Village wishes to insure fighting trust. For us it is made sure you know all about the abilities of your teammates, so that you can react to their strengths and weaknesses and not be surprised in battle. Friendship is considered unimportant." Xi's voice was toneless, hiding his feelings completely. Neji could not tell which way the dragon ninja thought was better. Does he honestly not care?
"I see." Neji looked at Xi's closed face. "So, do I ask questions?"
"If you have something specific, but I suspect you wish to know the history of those two more than anything else. I will tell you what I know, they rest you will have to ask yourself. Now, who to start with, Shiren or Gosain?" Xi asked.
"Gosain."
Xi's face betrayed a tiny expression that this was the answer he had anticipated. "Very well, I will explain the unfortunate history of Kabure Gosain, called by some The Cursed Genin."
The Cursed Genin? Neji was surprised. He settled himself down on a bench, and listened to Xi's steady and low explanation. The words had little added to them, a bland history, and one that told facts only, and forced Neji to interpret the words to form his opinion of the older genin.
"Kabure Gosain was born to unimportant parents, his father a chuunin and his mother a metalworker's daughter. His father died during the war with Konoha when he was six years old. Gosain had already begun the first stages of ninja schooling, but this dedicated him firmly to the path, though he bears Konoha no grudge now. He graduated the Lightning academy at age twelve, with no special skills. The jounin he was assigned to initially is unimportant, save that he allowed Gosain to begin learning the Chain fighting style of Lightning that he still uses." Xi paused here, and after this his voice grew darker, as the story grew more important, and more terrible.
"He was three months a ninja when, on a C rank mission that was clearly misclassified, Gosain's team fought with other ninja. His two genin teammates were killed, and the jounin seriously wounded so that he was bedridden for months. Gosain suffered minor injuries. He was reassigned to another team and another jounin. That team too would suffer great danger. Their jounin died on a mission with them, assassinated by another ninja, and one of his companions was permanently crippled. The other gave up being a ninja after that. He was assigned to a third team, and eventually went to his first chuunin exam, in Konoha. In the second stage both his companions died, slain by predators while under the influence of enemy genjutsu. He survived the dangers of the area on his own until the examiners picked him up once time expired." The litany had by now begun to bear down on Neji, as he saw what had happened to Gosain. To have his team killed again, and again. How did he bear up to that? But Xi's tale continued.
"Following the first Chuunin exam Gosain was placed in a chuunin led platoon. Again disaster would strike soon, and repeatedly. Gosain would serve in four different platoons for a year and a half. Out of sixteen different ninja, only four remain as ninja today. I should stress now that none of these loses were Gosain's fault. Indeed, his own determination to keep fighting against all odds is likely the only reason he is still alive. He went to several additional chuunin exams, and brought back at least one seriously wounded comrade each time. Twice he managed to reach the finals, both times in Stone. The first time he did so he literally dragged his teammates on snow-sleds to the objective, and collapsed across the threshold. In the final matches he hadn't even recovered from frostbite and hypothermia enough to grip his pole. The second time went better, but he lost his first match to an extremely skilled Mist ninja, and was not awarded chuunin rank. It has been a year and a half since then. Gosain has drifted from platoon to platoon, performing whatever missions he can get on, and trying to find a team willing to take him to the chuunin exam. However, no one wishes to serve with him, though he is among the most skilled genins Lightning has ever had."
Xi stopped again, letting Neji assimilate all that he had said. When he continued, not waiting or encouraging any response from Neji, it was in a somewhat more hopeful tone. "Gosain took my offer to join you in the Chuunin exam because he was desperate. He has to become a chuunin if he hopes to be a member on any missions. He has the skill certainly, only his leadership is questionable. I do not say that he is a bad leader, but only that he has been in too many terrible situations. He is somewhat like me in that fashion, he has learned to depend upon himself, to not operate as part of a group, since the group always dies. He will except orders, but remain detached, and form his own contingency plans. He fights with absolute determination, and has defeated many opponents by his willingness to go all out and force the issue. His chain style is powerful, a versatile mid ranged effect, his strengths much the same as most ninjutsu users. I believe that is all."
When Xi stopped speaking Neji sat quietly for a long time. Cursed huh? I believed so long that fate was absolute, but is such a thing fate? That a man's companions should always die? This has nothing to do with his ability, or his decisions. Neji had himself sensed the Gosain was competent if he was anything, a man of little brilliance but very few mistakes. Everything he knew said such a ninja should be successful, if not notable. If this is a fate, it is one to fight against, for it is not only unfair, but also pointless. Neji resolved that he would not become part of Gosain's list of fallen comrades. He would not give this ninja another reason to have to force himself on everyday, shouldering the weight of the lost. Neji was far more impressed with Gosain now, to learn that the older ninja had continued to struggle even after such terrible things. He did not himself know if he could have endured something like that. It also explained Gosain's gruff exterior, and his unwillingness to easily give opportunities up. He has had far too much taken away to make willing sacrifices easily anymore. "A harsh past." Neji told Xi finally. "But there is obviously much to be gained from his experience, however harsh, and it certainly gives him a reason to work with me."
"Indeed." Xi muttered. He looked Neji in the eye, under the cold starlight. "You have more questions though. Gosain is less curious than the other, isn't he? It is Shiren who truly confuses you?"
"Any older ninja who had not become a chuunin might have taken up your offer, Xi, if he felt it a true chance." Neji replied knowingly. "She is not a older ninja, so why is she here?" Those were the reasons Neji gave to satisfy the other dragon ninja, but not the true puzzle he found himself contemplating. Shiren was unusual, she reminded Neji of Tenten, but more than that, she seemed very different from most ninja he had encountered. Her goal is not something to be attained as a ninja. It is being a ninja. That was how Neji thought of it.
"Senirai Shiren," Xi began, and this time his voice was more involved. While his story of Gosain had been just a collection of facts, the story of Shiren was a true story, and a story that Xi not only knew, but also was part of. It seemed to make the other ninja uncomfortable, as if he disliked hinting at connections to others, and he always spoke so as to de-emphasize any mention of himself. "She was born fourteen years ago, her parents were both shinobi, at the time a pair of chuunin. Her father rose to the rank of Jounin after extensive service in the ANBU. I was therefore familiar with him. Both parents would die in the war between the Lightning and the Leaf, but they were not killed by warring ninja, but by Missing-nins who had deserted from both sides and taken to attacking vulnerable ninja to steal their jutsu. I was the one who killed the missing- nins, for I was a Hunter-nin then." With this Xi revealed a bit more about his past, even if it was something Neji already nominally knew. It also made Neji feel some sympathy for Shiren, growing up bereft of a parent was an unfortunate fate, as he knew well. "Shiren, then three years old, went to stay with an aunt. I was the one who delivered the news that her parents' killers had been slain, and though I spoke to her aunt, she overhead. On that very day she swore she would become a ninja."
"Shiren enrolled in the ninja academy at the age of four. However, after the war with Konoha concluded, chaos took Lightning. Factions were formed and even the youngest students were conscripted for a period in those terrible battles. Shiren's aunt died then. She was among a small group of students that we hunter-nins, when we returned amid the chaos, secreted away. However, those children were marked thereafter by several factions as 'our friends.' When we failed to kill the one responsible for the entire affair those children were unofficially outcast to punish us." It was blatantly obvious to Neji that Xi was holding something back here, more obvious than anything the dragon ninja had ever said before. Something happened during those days in Lightning, something that still matters even now. He had no idea what is was, but Neji knew this was the reason Xi traveled alone for eight years, and why he was serving with Konoha and not cloud now. "Therefore," Xi continued. "Shiren, despite her talent and fervor to learn, has been offered little opportunity. She has mostly taught herself, and managed to graduate from the ninja academy at the age of eleven. However, she was not placed on an official team, but shuffled as a substitute from team to team to fill in for members temporarily. No jounin has instructed her, yet she has mastered many of Cloud's most potent ranged techniques in spite of that, and established excellent chakra control capabilities."
Here Neji felt the urge to interject, but Xi held up his hand. "I know what you are thinking Neji. Yes, Shiren has the potential to be a dragon ninja. Her total chakra potential is at a high level, and her control skills can be developed to at least match mine in time. Indeed, for some time I had considered her a potential successor when the time came, and I have kept in contact with her for that reason. This was perhaps a mistake on my part." Xi said sadly. "Shiren looks up to me as she does few other high-ranking ninja, and has tried to convince me to train her, even by seeking to learn Thunder and Lightning Strike. However, I did not train her, for all the reasons I have given before. Still she was willing to come on this mission. This will be the fist time she has ever had a true team, and she will likely look up to you, since she wishes to be a dragon ninja. Her ranged techniques complement your close combat abilities well, and her temperament is surprisingly accepting, she tries to put a good face on things and not dwell on the past. Shiren's strength is greater than Gosain's as you have certainly noticed; she is likely ready to become a chuunin herself."
Neji silently agreed with the dragon ninja on both those points, for Shiren had indeed impressed him more than many genin. Everything he had just learned about her was hardly a solid explanation. Her story was sad and tormented; something he was beginning to think was common among ninja. Still, she seems ready to face what comes. A sudden curiosity seized Neji, and he felt he had to ask Xi, if nothing else to observe the other ninja's reaction. "Since you are now training me, will you train Shiren as well?" He asked seriously.
Xi looked taken aback, as if he had not anticipated the question. He scowled. "I will make my own decisions on such things. They do not concern you."
The reply angered Neji, but he could think of no reason for it, and so said nothing further. He moved back to the puzzling character of Shiren. What Xi had said revealed many things about her, but Neji was not sure how they shaped the female ninja he had fought with during the day. She wants to be a dragon ninja that was something of an explanation. But why? Neji did not really understand that much yet. Certainly she might admire Xi, but that's hardly a reason to take up this bloody path. Shiren is not an avenger like Uchiha Sasuke, or a ninja trying to prove a point like Rock Lee. Maybe she feels that to be a ninja she has to be a dragon ninja, He reasoned, but could not complete the thought any further. It was something to trouble him. He knew that he would eventually have to ask her.
"Is that all?" Neji said to Xi, shifting the conversation back on course. "For now yes." The other ninja answered, refusing to say more even if there was something to tell. "Get some sleep Neji, you will need it." With that Xi was gone, vanishing back into the woods of Konoha.
Author's Notes: More stuff with new characters, that's about all. Thanks to all reviewers, and I hope to hear from people about what they think of Gosain and Shiren.
Nighttime Tales
It was a very strange meal. Neji prevailed upon his family without warning, springing that he had guests for dinner upon his branch family relatives without any notice. "Xi?" They had asked in disgust, and when Neji had given the answer there had been even more indignation.
So, in the smallest dining room of the smallest annex of the Hyuuga estate, a room not even being heated with so many Hyuuga's out on missions, Neji was given to treat a meal to his new teammates.
"My apologies." He began when the shouting was over. Shouting that Gosian had reacted to with utter contempt, and a refusal to leave his weapon behind, and that Shiren had utterly ignored, acting as if Neji was the only person present. "I expected something like this, but I cannot offer anything else. My money is almost entirely given into the family's pool." It was a cold apology, filled with the old angers at everything Hyuuga, a name Neji was glad he did not officially share anymore. "Had I the funds, I would have gone somewhere else."
"Everyone makes sacrifices." Shiren told him quietly. "Especially ninja."
"Heh. At least the food is good," Gosian told Neji once the meal had begun. "That can make up for anything else, especially since I'm not paying." That last was hardly a remark made in fun, and Neji wondered even further about this ninja. He knew now he would have to ask Xi.
There was little conversation during dinner, since they were hardly the most talkative of ninja, and the chilly atmosphere was not encouraging. Still, Neji felt he must make some effort to associate with his team members as their leader, so he discussed the only thing he ever felt comfortable discussing, ninja business. "Have either of you been to Hidden Stone before?" He asked them when the meal was over.
"Ah." Gosian responded. "Three times. All for the exam."
"What should we expect then?"
"Heh." Gosian shrugged, a weighty motion under the chains beneath his torso, chains that he continued to wear hidden even while eating. "Things have changed, no? The Stone ninja are stoic people, living up there in the mountains. They don't talk much and don't make a lot of enemies quickly. They're strong on defense, nobody can root them out of their mountain holds, and they don't care too much for the rest of the world, so they don't have a lot of missing-nins. Real tough though, don't give up easily. I'd gather that this exam will be real reserved, as little spectacle as possible, especially since it's the winter one, and with what happened in Konoha last time. The winter is the worst part, it makes this exam really dangerous, snow and ice and blizzards. Ninja freeze by the dozen during the survival stage, and the examiners have to go out and haul them back before the cold kills them. Very few teams ever get through that during the winter. I think the record for the past fifty times is five. Most years it's only two or three. You have mountain experience Neji?"
"No." He replied.
"Neither do I." Shiren added.
"That makes it real hard. See, if you get stuck out in the second stage without knowing how the weather works you'll never build up enough strength to succeed after that. Almost all teams that get by that stage do so in less than a day." Gosain said sagely. "It's messy."
"I see." Neji replied, already considering what this would mean. He had not considered the cold previously, but now he knew it would be an enemy. And I do not know any fire element jutsus to produce heat. That makes it even more difficult. "Well. I will consider that carefully."
"See that you do," Gosain replied stonily. "I'm not going to haul your carcass around a mountain side."
"If we perform correctly it should not be a problem." Neji said with certainty. "This team is sufficiently talented to deal with any genin group I have yet encountered." That was Neji's honest assessment. Indeed, he felt he could likely defeat almost any team of three genin by himself. The mountains will be more of a threat to us than the ninja. "Beyond that, I suppose I release you to your rooms, since morning will come early." He stood up, ending the meal.
The rooms that had been officially allotted to the lightning ninja were little more than lofts in one of Konoha's taverns. Feeling that this was improper given the large space available at the Hyuuga estate, Neji had arranged for the team to remain there. He had justified it by saying they should be within reach of each other. Of course, the rooms his family arranged were likely the worst available, so Neji offered his own room if either of the ninja wished to use it. It was small and sparse, but likely more comfortable and warmer. Shiren declined politely and modestly, saying she was content with whatever was offered. Gosain took Neji up on it. He gave Neji a grim smile. "Don't give up comforts so easily, Neji." The older ninja told him. "There's few enough of them in life."
That attitude was completely different from Neji's own. He had made the offer to make up for the lack of respect his family had shown, as duty demanded, not out of any kindness. Still, he would suffer if duty called for it. Would Gosain not?
Neji therefore slept in the small guest room next to Shiren's, in the cold and on a hard floor. He found it impossible to sleep, not from discomfort, since sleeping in the trees with Xi had been far worse, but simply from the strangeness of it. I feel like a foreigner in my own home, he thought. Beyond that he wondered, is this place really my home?
The dragon ninja ended up walking the halls of the estate, and eventually out into the garden. The night was cold, and the air sparkled with hints of frost. Winter was about to descend in earnest upon Konoha. It must already have blanketed Stone, Neji realized, up there in the Mountains. Gai had put them through survival training in the snow before, a terrible time. Neither Rock Lee nor I were pleased with the patient conservation of energy required by the cold. Yet, there are ninja who thrive in the snow. It was disturbing to consider.
Then Neji sensed an unknown presence behind him.
The Byakugan came up in an instant, turning the night away and revealing everything around him, and Neji was already rolling and reaching for his weapons. Then he recognized the intruder. "Xi." He hissed.
"Getting quicker." The dragon ninja said coldly as he separated from the darkness. "But not quick enough. I could have let loose a lethal attack easily before you were ready to avoid it."
"You didn't come here to debate the finer points of my skills Xi." Neji retorted, somewhat angry.
"I didn't." The older ninja responded. "I came here because I suspected you'd be looking for me, and morning comes early enough that neither of us have the time to waste forsaking whatever sleep we can achieve."
Suspected I'd be looking for him? Neji turned the words over in his mind. Then he had it, remembering what Shiren had told him earlier that day. "About my companions." He affirmed, and Xi nodded. But was it really to save time as you say? Neji wondered. Or do you not wish me to learn whatever it is you do at night? Well, it doesn't matter now. "I do have questions."
"Of course, and I will give you access to what I know, as I did the same for them." The other ninja replied, emotionless.
"Why do you do things this way?" Neji asked suddenly. "Why this forced sharing of secrets? It seems a way to destroy friendships."
"A difference of philosophy." Xi replied, still emotionless. "Konoha wishes its ninja teams to be united by bonds of friendship. Cloud Village wishes to insure fighting trust. For us it is made sure you know all about the abilities of your teammates, so that you can react to their strengths and weaknesses and not be surprised in battle. Friendship is considered unimportant." Xi's voice was toneless, hiding his feelings completely. Neji could not tell which way the dragon ninja thought was better. Does he honestly not care?
"I see." Neji looked at Xi's closed face. "So, do I ask questions?"
"If you have something specific, but I suspect you wish to know the history of those two more than anything else. I will tell you what I know, they rest you will have to ask yourself. Now, who to start with, Shiren or Gosain?" Xi asked.
"Gosain."
Xi's face betrayed a tiny expression that this was the answer he had anticipated. "Very well, I will explain the unfortunate history of Kabure Gosain, called by some The Cursed Genin."
The Cursed Genin? Neji was surprised. He settled himself down on a bench, and listened to Xi's steady and low explanation. The words had little added to them, a bland history, and one that told facts only, and forced Neji to interpret the words to form his opinion of the older genin.
"Kabure Gosain was born to unimportant parents, his father a chuunin and his mother a metalworker's daughter. His father died during the war with Konoha when he was six years old. Gosain had already begun the first stages of ninja schooling, but this dedicated him firmly to the path, though he bears Konoha no grudge now. He graduated the Lightning academy at age twelve, with no special skills. The jounin he was assigned to initially is unimportant, save that he allowed Gosain to begin learning the Chain fighting style of Lightning that he still uses." Xi paused here, and after this his voice grew darker, as the story grew more important, and more terrible.
"He was three months a ninja when, on a C rank mission that was clearly misclassified, Gosain's team fought with other ninja. His two genin teammates were killed, and the jounin seriously wounded so that he was bedridden for months. Gosain suffered minor injuries. He was reassigned to another team and another jounin. That team too would suffer great danger. Their jounin died on a mission with them, assassinated by another ninja, and one of his companions was permanently crippled. The other gave up being a ninja after that. He was assigned to a third team, and eventually went to his first chuunin exam, in Konoha. In the second stage both his companions died, slain by predators while under the influence of enemy genjutsu. He survived the dangers of the area on his own until the examiners picked him up once time expired." The litany had by now begun to bear down on Neji, as he saw what had happened to Gosain. To have his team killed again, and again. How did he bear up to that? But Xi's tale continued.
"Following the first Chuunin exam Gosain was placed in a chuunin led platoon. Again disaster would strike soon, and repeatedly. Gosain would serve in four different platoons for a year and a half. Out of sixteen different ninja, only four remain as ninja today. I should stress now that none of these loses were Gosain's fault. Indeed, his own determination to keep fighting against all odds is likely the only reason he is still alive. He went to several additional chuunin exams, and brought back at least one seriously wounded comrade each time. Twice he managed to reach the finals, both times in Stone. The first time he did so he literally dragged his teammates on snow-sleds to the objective, and collapsed across the threshold. In the final matches he hadn't even recovered from frostbite and hypothermia enough to grip his pole. The second time went better, but he lost his first match to an extremely skilled Mist ninja, and was not awarded chuunin rank. It has been a year and a half since then. Gosain has drifted from platoon to platoon, performing whatever missions he can get on, and trying to find a team willing to take him to the chuunin exam. However, no one wishes to serve with him, though he is among the most skilled genins Lightning has ever had."
Xi stopped again, letting Neji assimilate all that he had said. When he continued, not waiting or encouraging any response from Neji, it was in a somewhat more hopeful tone. "Gosain took my offer to join you in the Chuunin exam because he was desperate. He has to become a chuunin if he hopes to be a member on any missions. He has the skill certainly, only his leadership is questionable. I do not say that he is a bad leader, but only that he has been in too many terrible situations. He is somewhat like me in that fashion, he has learned to depend upon himself, to not operate as part of a group, since the group always dies. He will except orders, but remain detached, and form his own contingency plans. He fights with absolute determination, and has defeated many opponents by his willingness to go all out and force the issue. His chain style is powerful, a versatile mid ranged effect, his strengths much the same as most ninjutsu users. I believe that is all."
When Xi stopped speaking Neji sat quietly for a long time. Cursed huh? I believed so long that fate was absolute, but is such a thing fate? That a man's companions should always die? This has nothing to do with his ability, or his decisions. Neji had himself sensed the Gosain was competent if he was anything, a man of little brilliance but very few mistakes. Everything he knew said such a ninja should be successful, if not notable. If this is a fate, it is one to fight against, for it is not only unfair, but also pointless. Neji resolved that he would not become part of Gosain's list of fallen comrades. He would not give this ninja another reason to have to force himself on everyday, shouldering the weight of the lost. Neji was far more impressed with Gosain now, to learn that the older ninja had continued to struggle even after such terrible things. He did not himself know if he could have endured something like that. It also explained Gosain's gruff exterior, and his unwillingness to easily give opportunities up. He has had far too much taken away to make willing sacrifices easily anymore. "A harsh past." Neji told Xi finally. "But there is obviously much to be gained from his experience, however harsh, and it certainly gives him a reason to work with me."
"Indeed." Xi muttered. He looked Neji in the eye, under the cold starlight. "You have more questions though. Gosain is less curious than the other, isn't he? It is Shiren who truly confuses you?"
"Any older ninja who had not become a chuunin might have taken up your offer, Xi, if he felt it a true chance." Neji replied knowingly. "She is not a older ninja, so why is she here?" Those were the reasons Neji gave to satisfy the other dragon ninja, but not the true puzzle he found himself contemplating. Shiren was unusual, she reminded Neji of Tenten, but more than that, she seemed very different from most ninja he had encountered. Her goal is not something to be attained as a ninja. It is being a ninja. That was how Neji thought of it.
"Senirai Shiren," Xi began, and this time his voice was more involved. While his story of Gosain had been just a collection of facts, the story of Shiren was a true story, and a story that Xi not only knew, but also was part of. It seemed to make the other ninja uncomfortable, as if he disliked hinting at connections to others, and he always spoke so as to de-emphasize any mention of himself. "She was born fourteen years ago, her parents were both shinobi, at the time a pair of chuunin. Her father rose to the rank of Jounin after extensive service in the ANBU. I was therefore familiar with him. Both parents would die in the war between the Lightning and the Leaf, but they were not killed by warring ninja, but by Missing-nins who had deserted from both sides and taken to attacking vulnerable ninja to steal their jutsu. I was the one who killed the missing- nins, for I was a Hunter-nin then." With this Xi revealed a bit more about his past, even if it was something Neji already nominally knew. It also made Neji feel some sympathy for Shiren, growing up bereft of a parent was an unfortunate fate, as he knew well. "Shiren, then three years old, went to stay with an aunt. I was the one who delivered the news that her parents' killers had been slain, and though I spoke to her aunt, she overhead. On that very day she swore she would become a ninja."
"Shiren enrolled in the ninja academy at the age of four. However, after the war with Konoha concluded, chaos took Lightning. Factions were formed and even the youngest students were conscripted for a period in those terrible battles. Shiren's aunt died then. She was among a small group of students that we hunter-nins, when we returned amid the chaos, secreted away. However, those children were marked thereafter by several factions as 'our friends.' When we failed to kill the one responsible for the entire affair those children were unofficially outcast to punish us." It was blatantly obvious to Neji that Xi was holding something back here, more obvious than anything the dragon ninja had ever said before. Something happened during those days in Lightning, something that still matters even now. He had no idea what is was, but Neji knew this was the reason Xi traveled alone for eight years, and why he was serving with Konoha and not cloud now. "Therefore," Xi continued. "Shiren, despite her talent and fervor to learn, has been offered little opportunity. She has mostly taught herself, and managed to graduate from the ninja academy at the age of eleven. However, she was not placed on an official team, but shuffled as a substitute from team to team to fill in for members temporarily. No jounin has instructed her, yet she has mastered many of Cloud's most potent ranged techniques in spite of that, and established excellent chakra control capabilities."
Here Neji felt the urge to interject, but Xi held up his hand. "I know what you are thinking Neji. Yes, Shiren has the potential to be a dragon ninja. Her total chakra potential is at a high level, and her control skills can be developed to at least match mine in time. Indeed, for some time I had considered her a potential successor when the time came, and I have kept in contact with her for that reason. This was perhaps a mistake on my part." Xi said sadly. "Shiren looks up to me as she does few other high-ranking ninja, and has tried to convince me to train her, even by seeking to learn Thunder and Lightning Strike. However, I did not train her, for all the reasons I have given before. Still she was willing to come on this mission. This will be the fist time she has ever had a true team, and she will likely look up to you, since she wishes to be a dragon ninja. Her ranged techniques complement your close combat abilities well, and her temperament is surprisingly accepting, she tries to put a good face on things and not dwell on the past. Shiren's strength is greater than Gosain's as you have certainly noticed; she is likely ready to become a chuunin herself."
Neji silently agreed with the dragon ninja on both those points, for Shiren had indeed impressed him more than many genin. Everything he had just learned about her was hardly a solid explanation. Her story was sad and tormented; something he was beginning to think was common among ninja. Still, she seems ready to face what comes. A sudden curiosity seized Neji, and he felt he had to ask Xi, if nothing else to observe the other ninja's reaction. "Since you are now training me, will you train Shiren as well?" He asked seriously.
Xi looked taken aback, as if he had not anticipated the question. He scowled. "I will make my own decisions on such things. They do not concern you."
The reply angered Neji, but he could think of no reason for it, and so said nothing further. He moved back to the puzzling character of Shiren. What Xi had said revealed many things about her, but Neji was not sure how they shaped the female ninja he had fought with during the day. She wants to be a dragon ninja that was something of an explanation. But why? Neji did not really understand that much yet. Certainly she might admire Xi, but that's hardly a reason to take up this bloody path. Shiren is not an avenger like Uchiha Sasuke, or a ninja trying to prove a point like Rock Lee. Maybe she feels that to be a ninja she has to be a dragon ninja, He reasoned, but could not complete the thought any further. It was something to trouble him. He knew that he would eventually have to ask her.
"Is that all?" Neji said to Xi, shifting the conversation back on course. "For now yes." The other ninja answered, refusing to say more even if there was something to tell. "Get some sleep Neji, you will need it." With that Xi was gone, vanishing back into the woods of Konoha.