"OHAYO GOZAIMAZUUU!"
Junzo woke up blearily to the bothering pokes and incredibly strong voice, for its somewhat smallish size, of his newfound companion, the lizard summoned beast that insisted in being called Sekkou. He remembered the lizard's rather irritating introduction, which made up in a fair bit of volume what Junzo lacked in trying to ignore the creature after he had somewhat politely tried to get to sleep the night before after listening to the creature's random questions about Konoha.
"Hey look, its late anyway...I'd like to get to sleep first, then we can talk in the morning, okay?" Junzo tiredly told the lizard, who was sitting on top of his worktable beside his bed.
"Iie!"
After a while he'd lost his temper and tried to unsummon the thing, but to his dismay he realized that he didn't know any sealing techniques appropriate for that, and short of tiring it out and forcing it to use up its chakra and vanish, he couldn't do anything to get rid of the lizard.
"You could wake me up a bit less loudly...I mean, what time is it anyway?" Junzo mumbled and looked at the clock beside his bed. His eyes widened slightly in annoyance and he groaned to see the glowing numbers of 4:53 AM.
"Sekkou, what's the idea of waking me up so early you scaled moron?" The genin spat before slumping back into the softness of his pillow. A split second later the cold icy feeling of a tanto that had been chilled in the freezer touched his neck and caused the genin to quite literally freeze up as his ninja training locked in to avoid moving in a manner that would slash his own neck. "O-oi!"
"Didn't you listen to me? I said we were waking up early today!"
"You could have let me sleep earlier last night! You kept me up until midnight!"
"I had a lost of questions to ask." The lizard shrugged, nonchalantly playing with the end of the knife.
"Watch it!" Junzo barked as he managed to slip from under the edge of the knife and threw a punch to make Sekkou back off. "Fine, I'm awake. You're lucky I'm used to waking up kind of early anyways. You could at least tell me what reason you have for me to getting up at this time."
The lizard nodded and sheathed its tanto with a spinning flourish. "Hai, hai...tai-cho. Hoho." The lizardman snickered a bit at the last, before Junzo sent a glare at him again. "Well, I met your Hokage yesterday, you know?"
"You met the Hokage?" Junzo looked at the lizard, taken aback at this as he moved towards his shower with his clothes clumped up in his arms. "Okay, so I guess you weren't lying about having known a few of the older people here. The Hokage's old and knowledgeable if anything..." The genin's voice trailed off at the last as he entered his bathroom and slid the curtain over.
Sekkou hopped inside and settled himself down by the sink. "Yeah, I did. Anyways, he requested that I stop fooling around and helped you learn some new stuff. And NO, I'm not going to teach you, I'm no good for that kind of thing. But I did find someone who could help teach you, which is the point I had in mind."
Junzo shrugged as the shower water washed over his body, paying attention through the sound of the water to this new source of information. "Okay, I got that...Hayate was going on a mission starting today, I remember, so getting someone to try help train me isn't a bad idea." Junzo agreed as he thought out loud. "Anything else...?"
"Oh, well not really. I found a teacher, or at the least a potential teacher. You'll have to talk with him first of course, but I'm fairly sure he'll agree." Sekkou grew a bit quiet at this as a thoughtful look took over his expression. "He was my second choice, cause for some odd reason I couldn't find the man I actually had in mind to teach you. Ideally you would have had two teachers for different stages of mastering your Kyokuken and the other stuff of your heritage."
The genin made some sort of sound that he'd heard, just to be sure. Sekkou shrugged and touched a fingerpoint to the side of his head. "Say, what happened to the Uchiha Clan anyways? All that's left in their part of the village are caretakers."
"What? Can't hear you?"
"The Uchiha Clan, what's happened to them? I've been gone for a while and I was trying to look for someone." He shook his head. "Their compound is empty you know? Did they all die or something in the past decade?" The lizard snorted.
Junzo grew quiet at that. He personally hadn't been living in the village all that long, as it were. In fact, he'd only transferred to Konoha when his mother died and the few distant relatives he'd had of his father's side in the Hidden Leaf Village claimed his guardianship. That had been just over a decade ago, a year after the death of his father. They died in the line of duty, he knew, protecting what they held precious to them, leaving him pretty much alone though taken care off, at the age of six.
Eleven years without them now, ten years of that in Konoha. I've been here ten years. He reminded himself, and then at the sound of Sekkou his mind managed to snap back on track from that rather bitter fact of life. What was the question again? A decade? Oh, the Uchiha!
Ten years was certainly more then enough time in Konoha to have known that particular tragedy though. He winced as he pulled a towel out around him and stepped out of the shower to look at Sekkou, who was waiting impatiently. He thought for a moment and then decided that a simple answer worked best. "The Uchiha Clan was massacred about five years ago."
He stepped out to take his clothes and change, as Sekkou gaped at him. "What!? Who...?"
"Uchiha Itachi. He murdered them all single-handedly, leaving his brother." Junzo continued, though remain quite brief with it.
Sekkou grumbled softly as he moved from the bathroom to perch grumpily on the wall. "Tch. A traitor to the clan huh. I didn't love the Uchiha as a whole personally, but it had quite a few good people. Damn." He shook his head and closed his eyes. "Why is it that those who betray are always so stupidly spectacular, just like..."
"Mmm? What was that?" Junzo asked as he finished changing into his daily outfit. He went to his mirror to check his clothes out quickly. He had semi-loose, gray shorts that extended to below his knees, and a plain white shirt on top with three dark blue lines crossed on his right shoulder. He fixed the Konoha band on his left arm, then finished it off by tugging on the blue cap on his head with the Konoha symbol on it. "All right, I think I'm done."
Sekkou tossed him his ninja sandals.
"So where are we going. It's what, five thirty? Who's going to be up at this time for a meeting like the one we're probably going to make?" Junzo looked at the lizard that was leaping off the tree branches with him as they moved through trees of Konoha to another part of the village.
"Quiet. We're almost there." Sekkou replied simply.
Junzo frowned at the lizard summon's words but decided it was too troublesome to argue. He looked up ahead at the section of the village they were nearing to try and guess exactly where or whom they were about to meet. The genin was prone to wandering around the village whenever he needed to think, which was quite often even when he started getting a bit friendlier with Hayate.
Hmm, let's see... He looked at the buildings that were quickly becoming more and more visible and studied their layout. He did his wandering more during the late afternoon and night though, when the cool forest breeze and the darkening sky suited being outdoors, so it was a bit different from in the morning.
The houses appearing before him were classic in architecture and spaced out evenly in a traditional design. That would probably mean that Sekkou was taking him to one of the clans of Konoha. Among the various clans, he knew that only a few built their homes in such a manner, or had large enough families to merit building their estates as such. If anything, he could tell that the clan was fairly wealthy, as he looked on the various homes that were gathered together, though set a noticeable distance from each other and from the village proper in particular. He eyed their location in reference to the village, to try and guess who lived in this part of Konoha.
His eyes widened in realization as he managed to figure out where they were headed. Or rather, to whose residential area they were about to enter. The genin came to a rather abrupt stop on a tree branch at this point and called out to Sekkou. "Are you insane? You're taking me to the Hyuuga?" He barked out incredulously at the lizard.
Sekkou came to a stop and looked oddly at Junzo, then sighed and hopped back to talk with him. "Yeah, the guy I know is a Hyuuga. So what about it? I'm sure he won't be unhappy to see you."
"Huh, and why should that be so?"
"Well, you see...this Hyuuga knew your father. He was friends with him before, about ten years ago last I remember." Sekkou winced a bit at that and shook his head. "Well anyway, that's that. Are you coming or not? Time is precious, you know."
"Hnn, fine." Junzo sighed in a mix of trepidation and resignment. It wouldn't be the first time the Hyuuga shoved him off their property for accidentally wandering in again anyway. Junzo leaped off to follow Sekkou, who had moved on ahead. They came up eventually to the main pathway leading inside the estates.
"Okay, I'm going to hide for now. Go look for Hyuuga Jiten, and say that you've come to collect the favor he owes Tokage Sekkou." Sekkou quickly whispered as they neared and poofed into smoke before Junzo could do anything.
"This is going to be so easy, huh..." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Ugh, yeah right." He resigned himself to this and walked up to the rather large doors to the Hyuuga estate. Just before he managed to knock on the wooden door, a faint motion behind him signaled the arrival of a Hyuuga guardian.
"Well, you look familiar." The Hyuuga behind him murmured softly, his hands crossed over his chest as he eyed Junzo. "Starting the day out a bit early aren't you?" It was a rather tall Hyuuga ninja, though his features were about the same as most of the others. It was a face one wouldn't recognize unless he or she interacted with the person on a somewhat more frequent basis then Junzo was prone to.
"Oh, hi! I'm not wandering around this time though." He managed a nervous smile to try and put some semblance of levity into the situation. "I'm here to, uh, well find someone. Yeah." He coughed a bit and cleared his throat. "Could you help me find Hyuuga Jiten, please?" The genin added the last as an afterthought, which wasn't quite lost on the Hyuuga before him.
The Hyuuga debated on whether the genin was joking or not then decided he wasn't; after all he did name a specific person amongst the Hyuuga. "Well, fine then. For what reason are you visiting Hyuuga Jiten?"
"I'm here to uh...deliver a personal message." Junzo decided on that particular variant of excuse, as it seemed to be the best way to term what Sekkou had told him before bumping into the Hyuuga ninja.
"Name?"
"Mizushin Junzo." The genin answered easily. What was easier then his own name anyway? Of course he supposed there were situations that would make giving a name difficult, but this was hardly one of those theoretical situations.
The Hyuuga nodded and told him to stay where he was until he or another Hyuuga ninja allowed his entry into the Hyuuga compound. Junzo nodded and walked off to the side as the Hyuuga ninja vanished. He waited for a short while before the same Hyuuga ninja reappeared and opened up the door for him. The genin thanked the guardian, who he discovered was named Hyuuga Kyokki, not that he was certain he'd remember the name but it was easy enough being polite.
A Hyuuga servant met him at the entrance, a completely normal person with normal eyes Junzo noted, and led him around towards one of the Branch House section of the estate, which flanked the Main House areas in all directions. He soon reached what seemed to be their destination, as the servant bowed at him slightly and gestured at a closed doorway which led into what seemed to be a training dojo. Junzo gave the servant a nod and the hint of a half-smile, then turned to put his hand on the door and slid it open.
His guess that the room was a training dojo was correct, and he was greeted to the sight of two Hyuugas having tea on one side of the room, one of them without a hitae-ate around his head, showing him to be of the Main House family, which was rather curious. Junzo wasn't familiar with the intricacies of the Hyuuga family, but he knew enough to know that the Main House and Branch House members usually didn't mix much.
In the center was yet another Hyuuga, of the Branch House it seemed, practicing the forms of their famed taijutsu style, Jyuuken. This one was a rather young male, probably ten or eleven it seemed. Despite the similarity is most Hyuugas, he could tell that he probably was the son of the other Branch House Hyuuga in the dojo, who was talking with the Main House Hyuuga as they observed the child's practice. The man noticed Junzo standing at the doorway and motioned for him to come in around the dojo center floor to them.
The genin moved at that and made his way around the Hyuuga practicing, then set himself in front, though not in blocking view, of the two. "Ah, I'm here to talk to Hyuuga Jiten? I was told to deliver a personal message to him." He looked at the two, settling eventually on the Branch House member.
"I am Hyuuga Jiten. Come then, and tell me this message." The House Hyuuga spoke clearly, his white eyes looking straight into Junzo's. He suppressed a shudder, instead clearing his throat to speak.
"I've come to, the favor you owe Tokage Sekkou." Junzo said, realizing how silly the message seemed. He had little doubt at that moment that he was going to be taken out, but hoped that the lizard was giving him something concrete to work with.
"Tokage Sekkou..." Jiten's eyes seemed to widen at the name, then he turned to the Branch member beside him. "Forgive me, but I need to speak with this one alone. Perhaps we can meet again tomorrow."
"As you wish, Hyuuga-sama." The other Hyuuga nodded and gestured for his son to stop. Their pair left Junzo with the Hyuuga who seemed to be Hyuuga Jiten in silence.
"Come, sit." Jiten nodded slowly at Junzo and gestured at the now-unoccupied place beside the low table where he had been drinking tea at. The genin hesitated for a moment before he moved to sit down. The silence was quite palpable, as Jiten simply sat there and sipped at his tea. "So, Tokage Sekkou. I assume you are the one who summoned him?"
"Hai. I did, Hyuuga-sama." Junzo replied, deciding to place safe with the honorific.
Jiten shook his head. "Iie. Hyuuga-sama is a habit carried by most of the Branch House members, despite my wishes for them not to call me as they call most of my House. Referring to me as Jiten-san is good enough. Or perhaps for now you would feel more at ease with Hyuuga-san." Jiten gave Junzo a small, amused smile.
"Oh, and please do come out, Sekkou." The Hyuuga's smile quickly vanished as his hand raised up and the lines of his Byakugan appeared. The shift was startling and sudden, and caused Junzo to tense up. A low chuckle filled the room, one that was familiar to Junzo, as Sekkou appeared from the ceiling and landed lightly on the floor.
"Aah, the place is exactly the same as I remember it. Not that I forget much, mmm?" Sekkou chuckled softly. He sighed after a while and looked at Jiten. "Well, it's been a dozen years, Jiten. The boy tells me the Uchiha have been annihilated by one of their own. I have to assume that even Aiko-chan is dead, huh?" Jiten nodded, a somber look on his face despite the Byakugan deactivating.
"Tch. Well, with Aiko gone, you're the only one left who knows on what to teach this one. I'm sure the Sandaime is too busy for that." Sekkou shrugged. "Unless you wont accept to teach him that is...?"
"Hmph." Jiten's eyes closed. "I'm far too old now for you to try taunt me, Sekkou. I'm no longer the hot-headed young man I was. Twelve years changes a person, remember?" The lizard chuckled on, and the Hyuuga turned to look at Junzo. "So, you're Mizushin Junzo. I assume that Sekkou has told you that I knew your father. I used to serve with him on missions back in the day. Quite a taijutsu and seals-specialist that one."
Jiten breathed in deeply and exhaled. "You know about Kyokuken, yes? I know that the Hokage has the scrolls on it somewhere..."
"Ah, he gave it to me already. At the same time that I signed the Summoning Contract with Sekkou and his kind...although, I haven't seen any of the others yet." Junzo trailed off at the last and flashed a glare at Sekkou, who shrugged nonchalantly, much to Junzo's distaste. "Sorry for the interruption."
"Hmm, it is fine. This is all quite abrupt however, Junzo. You are a genin still, yes?" Jiten looked at the youth, who flushed red with embarrassment. Jiten shrugged. "A shame...it will be difficult to teach you. If Uchiha Aiko were only here as well..." The Hyuuga sighed softly and shook his head. "Do you know your heritage, Junzo? Tell me what you know."
The genin shrugged and tugged on the end of his cap. "I don't know all that much really, just a general thing. They told me that my father was a ninja of Konoha, and that my mother was a Mist ninja. He died fighting the Kyuubi when I was four, back when I lived with my mother. She died a year later, and I came here afterwards." He shrugged. "They passed me to genin level because of them, or so they tell me. That's all I know...I don't know anything about my father, or my mother as a ninja."
Jiten nodded slowly at this and took another sip at his tea. "I see. It is the truth, though there is much of it that you do not know. Your father did die fighting the Kyuubi, as did a great many of us then, before the Yondaime stopped him." He breathed in deeply and grew silent for a while, then turned to Junzo again. Sekkou had vanished by now.
"I shall tell you something on your parents, for now. And to gauge if you are worthy to follow in their footsteps." The Hyuuga breathed in as he began his tale. "Of your mother, I do not know all that much. She was a Mist ninja after all. But of what your father told me, I knew her talents, Shinsui Hana. She was exceptionally proficient at manipulating water-based jutsu, and he called her the "Sword of Water" on more then one occasion."
"She was good at forming blades and stuff with water-jutsu!" Sekkou interjected at that point, which drew an eye from Jiten. The lizard raised his hands, or claws, up and moved on to go off elsewhere in the dojo.
Junzo found that amusing, that Sekkou had finally been effectively scolded before his attention was drawn back to Jiten. "I didn't care too much for your mother or news of her before. I never paid much attention back then, although perhaps I would have if I knew this would happen." Jiten shook his head. "Your father's name was Kyotetsu Kenji. He was one of the students of the great Sannin, Jiraiya, of the same genin team as our late Yondaime. Kenji was already a talented taijutsu fighter with Kyokuken, and developed the Shingan well as his own father before him."
The Hyuuga nodded at Junzo. "If you master the style, you will be the second generation to have mastered it. Unlike many taijutsu, yours is a very young one, its original concepts made by your grandfather then brought into being and truly born by your father. It was created for a specific purpose in mind, and that is to combat doujutsu. Like my Byakugan." Jiten turned to look gravely at Junzo, and continued with barely a pause. "And the Sharingan."
Junzo's blood chilled at that. A fighting style created to counter the Byakugan and Sharingan? He'd never heard of that before. Nor did it make sense, especially since simple taijutsu, no matter how formidable, did not seem to be a foil to the two fearsome Clans' powers. His throat dried and nodded.
"Obviously this secret style, this hijutsu, is not known to most. In fact, only I and Sekkou and his kind know of its purpose, although I think so does the Sandaime." Jiten shrugged, speaking in a low, but steady voice. "Its history is not too long, but I shall get too deep into it nonetheless. Simply put, it combined the ability to combat Jyuuken, which we Hyuugas use with our Byakugan, and to combat the illusionary powers of the Sharingan with an ability that your ancestors hoped would become a bloodline trait, the Shingan."
"S-shingan...?"
''Apparently you have not unlocked it. It is the hoped-for ability that would have been partnered completely with your Kyokuken, just as the Byakugan is partnered with the Jyuuken." Jiten exhaled tiredly. "I can see that you have much to learn. I tell you, although the basics of your father's Kyokuken may be in the scrolls, there is no way to truly master it unless you learn from me. But you must bear this in mind, your fate and destiny if you chose to pursue learning Kyokuken and to unlock your Shingan." The Hyuuga slowly rose from his seat and stepped onto the central floor.
Junzo watched the man as he took up a place on the training floor and gestured for the genin to move to step up before him. The youth complied shortly thereafter, and stood up a short distance from Jiten. My fate? My destiny?
"You are probably wondering what I meant back there. About the words on what your fate and destiny is, should you chose to learn." Jiten looked intensely at Junzo.
How did...?
"It is easy to read your thoughts. It is natural, and made even more obvious with the insight and details I can detect with my Byakugan." The Hyuuga cut him short, as he activated the eyes which his clan was famous for. "Your destiny, Mizushin Junzo. Kyokuken and the Shingan are a powerful combination, having the potential to be able to destroy either the Uchiha or Hyuuga clan, if the former were not already gone, and if placed in the right hands."
"It is because of that, I have to see if you have the strength to carry out your destiny as one who might wield power to rival the Hyuuga." His eyes narrowed slightly as the lines from his Byakugan seemed to radiate chakra with its activation. "Or to eliminate it from you. If you take the stance of Kyokuken before me, I will take that as a sign that you are willing to fight me. If you take one step forward from that stance, I will not hold back. I will fight to kill you."
Junzo took a step back, his hands clenched up in fists as he swallowed in fear. What is this? It did not make sense to him. Jiten here obviously knew quite a bit about his father, and Sekkou's banter of sorts confirmed that. But to test him in this manner was just ridiculous! He couldn't be serious, could he? A look into Hyuuga Jiten's eyes was all it took to rid that thought from Junzo's mind. Jiten was not joking. He knew that if he took that step, he would risk dying to try and learn his father's legacy.
The genin was frozen, this completely unexpected situation. A duel to the death, out of the blue. It makes no sense! He shouted in his mind, as he grit his teeth, his body trembling with frustration and fear.
"So...you will not come at me?"
The question rang in his mind. The man before him could reveal more about his father that Sekkou and his own probably couldn't. He could help him master Kyokuken and his father's legacy. And also teach him the secret of this Shingan that he had mentioned. All right, this man was father's friend right? He is a ninja of Konoha, he's a good actor of course, he won't kill me, right? Junzo gulped and shakily forced himself to take the stance for Kyokuken, his feet moving slowly. Jiten waited patiently for Junzo, his eyes remaining the same. Cold and emotionless. The genin forced himself to move. All right. Come on!
"I will fight to kill you, you know." Jiten's voice came out in a steady manner, as if he was declaring a fact. Which Junzo realized he was.
Damn it! Move! The genin screamed to himself. But flashes of memories from the past constricted him. He cursed silently, again and again. I...can't. I'm still the same after all. Damn it! I must, move...please.
A moment passed, then another. After a short while Jiten relaxed and shook his head. "Hmph. It is a shame. But I am not sorry to say, you are no ninja. You may not have known your father and mother all that well, but is for the best. They would have been ashamed of you." The Hyuuga turned to look at Junzo with a look of disappointment and disdain. "Come back in five years, child, and maybe by then you'll have just enough backbone. Until then, get out of my sight."
Jiten stepped off the dojo floor, and slid the door open then vanished around the corner. Sekkou was nowhere to be seen. The genin dropped to the floor, his breath quick and heavy, his arms shaking.
Junzo was quiet the journey home, where he eventually was met up by Sekkou. The lizard was normally quite boisterous, but the heavy aura around Junzo was enough to tell him not to try and talk to him. He departed for his own world shortly afterwards when Junzo had reached his apartment on the other side of Konoha.
The genin closed the door and locked it, then checked that the curtains were pulled over. His room darkened despite the fact that it was now becoming the bright part of the day and dawn fully arrived. He certainly didn't feel like a bright new day was beginning. His thoughts were confused if anything.
He'd expected to find someone to teach him taijutsu, that was a given, someone who knew about his father. But to discover that he had to reach to satisfy Hyuuga Jiten's expectations of risking his life to learn something, even for a ninja that was harsh. His mother remained a mystery, even if he had lived with her for five years, he knew nothing of her life as a ninja. And just what kind of man was his father? Just yesterday he knew next to nothing, and today he found that he was being measured up to a ninja who was trained by one of the Sannin.
Compared to a great specter he did not personally know much about, if anything at all! It wasn't fair, he cried to himself. It was hardly the kind of revelation he would have chosen, if at all. Now that he knew his father was a great ninja, if not someone like the Sannin or Yondaime, his fellow genin teammate, he was nonetheless one of skill that he perfected a taijutsu style equal to Jyuuken.
Why is it I'm always grasping at shadows?! First the shadow of not knowing, and now it's the shadow of your greatness? He grit his teeth in anger and frustration. Who the hell are you anyway?
He remembered all the times he'd asked his uncles and aunts about his father, all the uneasy and uninterested stares. He had often wondered why they had taken him or asked for his custody in the first place. It was some years later that he discovered why. He was a son of their family, and Konoha wasn't just going to simply let him roam free and be used by the Mist. Simple politics was the motivation. That had been years ago.
Mother... He murmured softly, as he recalled the halcyon days when he was with his mother in her clan, before it was wiped out in the annihilation of the clans in Mist. He shuddered with the memory, and stopped himself from crying out. That had been eleven years ago. His mother's death. Their deaths. For ten years he'd been alone in this village, so unlike his younger years.
His dark thoughts were broken with a knock on his window. He blinked his eyes and looked at the clock by his bed, which glowed 7:43 PM. All day already? Junzo thought tiredly. The knocking continued, and Junzo wiped his face before peering out the window. The figure of Hayate was standing outside. The genin sighed and unlocked the window, letting his sensei in.
"You missed our training session today."
"I thought you were going to start your mission today."
Hayate shrugged. "I did. But it consists of various members, and right now I'm free to do what I want." He coughed and eyed Junzo. "I can see you've been moping around. Did something happen today?"
The question was a simple one, but one with weight. A month ago, Junzo wouldn't have said anything much. Maybe even two weeks ago. But today he started talking to Hayate. About his discoveries of his father. About his feelings of living in his father's shadow ever since he came to Konoha. He didn't say anything about his mother, choosing to leave that part of his past out of it. It wasn't something that directly affected him about today.
Hayate simply stayed there, listening patiently until Junzo was finished. He was quiet for a moment, before he shifted his feet and spoke. "The Hyuuga are uptight pricks with stupid standards." He stated simply.
Junzo's eyes widened at that and gaped at Hayate. "What? They're the strongest clan in Konoha, what are you...?"
"That doesn't make them socially capable or sensitive. They're one of Konoha's most traditionalistic clans. I respect them, but they have quite a lot of their fair share of flaws." Gekkou Hayate stated again, and coughed into a hand. "Hyuuga Jiten, huh? He used to be quite the draconian trainer, I remember. I'm not surprised he challenged you like that so seriously. He would have really fought you without holding back, you know."
"But don't worry about it. He might be right about knowing the full limits of your dad's Kyokuken and this 'Shingan' he's talking about. But I don't doubt that the Sandaime knows as well. If anything, that man's the most knowledgeable Hokage we ever had. Have, I mean." He amended at that last. "He might not be able to train you, but I'll make sure you do great, as will the Hokage. He takes care of all of us, and we take care of Konoha." The ill-looking nin coughed again and nodded at Junzo. "I still am your sensei after all."
"And if he sucks as a teacher, I'm sure I can throw in a hand as well!"
"What the hell? Genma, what are you doing here?" Hayate eyed the other jounin who had just suddenly popped out of nowhere and was sticking his head through the window.
"Maa, maa. No need to get angry, I was just passing by, just passing by." Shiranui Genma winked at the two inside, and totally destroyed the previously serious atmosphere with his presence. "Well, okay, maybe I wasn't just passing by. But I do have a reason for coming here anyway. Hokage-sama was planning to make me a jounin-sensei after the Chuunin exams were over..."The jounin coughed and puffed himself up, "because of my insightful and sensitive nature."
"You're drunk aren't you?" Hayate sighed and stepped closer to Genma. True to his guess, the smell of alcohol was somewhat strong on his fellow jounin. His hands patted the other's vest and managed to find two more sake bottles on him, which he quickly relieved off him as Genma slumped over and fell onto Junzo's bed.
"H-hey! Get off my bed!"
"Now, now, you should pay respect to the man who's going to become your sensei you know?" Genma chuckled, his laughter trailing off and beginning again randomly.
"You can stop with the jokes now, Shiranui." Hayate coughed as he placed the two sake bottles on a nearby table.
"Oh, no, not joking. The Hokage said so himself. I didn't have too much of a choice, he said something about repaying Kyotetsu-sensei. Pfft, how the heck do I repay someone who's dead." Genma shook his head. "And the hell I'm not going to pay anything to those pompous pricks, trace their lineage back or whatever. Not like I can teach any of them even if I wanted to."
"Hnn. Actually, Junzo here is Kyotetsu-sensei's son."
"Mmm? I must really be drunk." Genma looked over at Junzo, who was looking at Genma with a mix of disgust and some other emotion he simply failed to describe. "You know, you kinda look like that old square. Such a strict bastard, mmm..." He grew quiet for a while longer as he slumped back on the bed.
Then Genma's eyed snapped open. "HOLY SHIT, YOU'RE---!"
"Quiet, you baka!" Hayate slapped his hand over Genma's mouth, which elicited a queasy look from the both of them. As soon as he was sure the other wouldn't shout, which was an easy and thankful second or two only later, he wiped his hand off on Genma's clothes.
"Whoa, you're his kid. He had a kid. I didn't know that...must have been a bit of a hush-hush affair or something, huh?" Genma managed, squinting at Junzo, who was watching the two with an exasperated look on his face.
Well, this is distracting if anything. The genin thought.
"I used to be one of the genins your dad taught you know? He started teaching a bit later on then most of the others his age, but he was a good teacher. Strict as hell, but he taught." Genma rubbed his head. "The man was damn good at taijutsu and sealing techniques. He helped the Yondaime with sealing techniques sometimes. No one knew him better then the Yondaime and his companions, who were they again...? He used to have two friends with him all the time besides his old genin team. A Hyuuga and an Uchiha..."
As soon as Genma's voice began to slur, Hayate moved over to pick him up from the bed and helped him over his shoulder. "All right, let's get you out of here." He moved over near the window and gave Junzo one last look.
"I'm fine now, really. Talk helped." He shrugged at the last and nodded.
"Hnn. All right then, you keep yourself healthy." Hayate turned to move out, then looked back inside again. "You know, you just turned 17 right? It's a bit early, but...just don't take too much." The jounin nodded at Junzo, before he vanished into the night with not a bit of noise following, care of the half-drunk slung on his shoulder.
The genin frowned at Hayate's words then turned around to see the two small bottles of sake on his table. "Ugh, is Hayate nuts? I can't drink this..." he shook his head exasperatedly. "Its going to go to waste here, tsk." He eyed the sake bottles annoyedly and tried to ignore them. No, I've got to get rid of them. He sat down at the desk and thought of whom he might be able to drop by at this time. He snapped his fingers as he recalled that the old man he played chess on occasion liked to relax to sake at night, something he'd seen the old man do every night at around this time.
Although he didn't have all too many friends his age Junzo had quite a few friends of older generations. Particularly among the parents with really young children, as the typically somber genin often grew quite active and warm among the kids whom he played with and the old people he talked with on things like Konoha's history, something he was particularly interested in. It wasn't quite the companionship he needed, but it was enough to distract him from his troubles. e took the two sake bottles and put them somewhere on his person. He stuffed them into one of the side pouches, barely fitting into it as it were, but it would hold easy enough until he got to the old man at the end of the street, from where he could begin his nightly walk. Junzo tucked them in again, just to be sure, then locked his place up and moved onto the street.
Quite a few people were still walking around in the dusk, beyond the normal night crowd. It was because of the Chuunin finals that was coming around in a week that there were just more people then there usually were, he thought. It didn't matter, as he navigated them at a quick pace. He was just about to sidestep past a trio of men, when the man he was about to move past moved to his side, not anticipating that Junzo was going to move that same way to avoid him as well. The two bumped into each other with a jolt, which caused Junzo to slip and fall back.
"Oh, sorry, my apologies." The man quickly said and offered a hand to help him up. Junzo looked up to see a very large person, a bit of the chubby side, but he could tell that underneath that was quite a bit of muscle, which he could feel in the man's firm lift.
"No, its okay. I was running a bit too fast anyway." Junzo apologized in return, managing a polite half-smile for the man. He turned to glance over the large man's companions. One was a blonde who looked oddly familiar, the other a dark haired man with a scar. Their dress and look placed them easily as ninjas. The genin turned back to look at the large fellow he'd bumped into and nodded again. "My apologies sir. I have to go though, perhaps I'll meet you another time."
The ninja smiled and nodded. "Okay, see you around then."
Before Junzo could move though, the blond ninja moved over. "Wait a bit. What is that...?"
"Huh?" The genin stopped after taking a step. The blond-haired ninja stepped closer to Junzo and eyed the somewhat large pouch that was straining at his side. "Oh this, it's nothing. I'm just bringing some stuff around." Junzo shrugged, hoping that the ninja wouldn't pursue the matter too much.
"It looks kind of like sake bottle stuffed in a ninja pouch." The dark-haired ninja sniffed at the pouch, eyeing the article suspiciously. "Why don't we check it out, hmm?"
"Hey, wait a sec...!" Junzo raised his hands up to try to ward them off, and glanced at the large man who was rolling his eyes in exasperation. What the...hey, I-I can't move! He tried to move his limbs, but it seemed that a force was restricting his motion. He grit his teeth and began to summon his chakra to break free when motion was restored to him and he staggered forward, overbalanced.
"Hah, I knew it! Sake!" Inoshin smirked, holding a sake bottle by its top and waggling a finger at Junzo who was red in the face. He flushed more with annoyance at being stolen from in the first place rather then having gotten caught.
As Inoshin and Shikato exulted over the sake and began reminiscing over the times they sneaked off with sake when they were underaged, Choumarou sighed and turned towards Junzo. "I have to apologize for their actions, kid. But aren't you kind of underaged for sake in the first place? The shuriken pouch isn't exactly the best place to hide sake bottles. How old are you anyway?"
"I wasn't trying to hide anything. I was just on my way to hand them to the old man down the street who lives on the corner for his chess game." Junzo sighed with an angry look on his face for the other two. "And I'm seventeen. Besides, I don't drink anyway." His voice trailed off towards the last, a slight hint of pain crossing his face.
Choumarou eyed Junzo's expression. "Oh? You look quite young for your age." If anything, Choumarou was a good judge of character. At least, he was in comparison to the two men he was with right now in general. "Hmm, I suppose I have to apologize for their behavior. They were out a bit early in drinking."
Man, drunks again? First Genma and now these...two. Junzo shook his head. Alcohol, he decided, was a very dangerous thing. "Hnn. No, it's okay. It was supposed to be a gift for the old man anyway." He shrugged, and turned back to head home. "Well, I guess that's rather impossible now. I just wanted to get rid of the sake actually, so I guess in a way I succeeded in doing that." The genin eyed the two other older ninjas.
"Oh, I see...hmm." Choumarou looked at his curiously then at the two who were imbibing freely of the freed sake. He shook his head at the two, then looked back at Junzo who was starting to walk home down the street. Choumarou pushed the pair forward as the genin moved off, sparing the kid one more glance before helping the two get home to their families.
"Huh, what a curious kid." The somewhat inebriated Shikato murmured softly. "He reminds me of that ninja who hated liquor we met before, back in the day. Kid even looks like what she did, doesn't she?"
"Hnn...that was well over a decade ago, Shikato. How the heck do you still remember that?" Inoshi mumbled, clearly the most drunk among the three, though Choumarou hardly seemed affected at all, as he usually was.
Nara Shikato chuckled softly at Inoshin as they managed to make their way finally closer to the Yamanaka home and Flower Shop. "Kind of hard to forget that night you were hitting on a married woman, and Kyotetsu's girlfriend at that. I mean, the only way it could have been worse is if you were flirting with the Yondaime's!" Shikato chuckled, then paused to look at Inoshi. "You were quite the flirt back then, especially during that year before you got your act together to marry Nikki-san, you dirty devil you..."
"Who was flirting with whom?" A familiar voice called out from the Yamanaka home.
"Hehe, well we have to go! Ja ne, Inoshi." Shikato winked at the ninja and moved off with Choumarou who actually looked amused at the possibility of Inoshi having to confront his wife, even if it was on a topic that was long gone. "Think of it as punishment for swiping that kid's sake."
"H-hey, wait a minute, you weren't exactly...!"
"Inoshi?" The doorway to the Yamanaka flower shop, which also was the first floor of the respectably sizeable Yamanaka home, slid open to reveal Inoshi's platinum haired wife standing with a questioning look on her face.
"Oh man." He mumbled as his one and only daughter appeared with a grin on her face beside her mother. By this time, Shikato and Choumarou had disappeared from sight and were walking down the street a distance away.
He sighed softly as he turned his attention back homewards and began to walk inside. But I guess Shikato was right. That kid, really looked like Kyotetsu, but also kind of like his girlfriend. I never knew they managed to have kids, did they even get married? Inoshi turned to his wife, "Say, do you remember Kyotetsu Kenji, the Yondaime's genin teammate?"
"You have the scent of alcohol on you, I heard something about hitting on someone's girlfriend, and something about a kid?"
Oh shoot.
Hayate-sensei is right. Junzo lay down on his bed, his arms crossed behind his head as he thought on what happened that day. Even if that Hyuuga Jiten guy might have been a good trainer or something, he's being stupid with such an outrageous test like that. I mean, its not like it's a ninja mission or anything.
"Yosh! Even if he won't train me, that doesn't mean I can't learn on my own!" Junzo spoke out loud as he rose up and searched for the Kyokuken scrolls. He left the sealed scroll on Kyokuken on the table, and took the first unsealed one with him as he sat on the bed to read it again. He scanned the scroll again as he put his hands together to aid him in focusing his chakra.
"Gather your chakra over yourself, like an aura that surrounds your body completely." He exhaled and drew out his chakra over himself, creating a faint aura of energy around his body. He ejected the chakra from his whole being, which was far more difficult then emitting it from your hands or feet.
"Next, empower your aura with your strength to reinforce and unleash its power." The second step was to give power to the aura of chakra around his body, so that its presence wasn't simply for show, but effectively changed it into a field of force.
"Last, envision a sheath of chakra around your aura to contain it and give your aura its shape. Compress and control this power and mold it into your very body, into your skin, to be your invincible armor and strength." The last part was the hardest. It was easy enough to generate an aura of chakra from your body, and somewhat easy to simply exert more chakra into the aura for it to flare up into a field of sheer energy. But without controlling that and containing it, it was useless because that meant that all his chakra would quickly be drained out and would leave him exhausted.
He breathed in deeply again as his aura, flared up from the second stage, began to compress and shrink in size, though not in potency, and from a bright flame that surrounded him it turned into an even more intense field of chakra that shimmered through his skin. Or would, if he had a Sharingan or Byakugan, perhaps. The end result was that the aura of chakra had molded into his skin, quite literally turning into something like a skin of steel, impenetrable by either fists or chakra.
The perfect counter to Jyuuken! He grinned with triumph.
But the third stage was hardly something he had perfected yet, especially since he wasn't even particularly good at ejecting chakra from his whole body in the first place. After a minute or so of concentration and maintaining the third stage, his aura, compressed so much, began to fluctuate and waver. A moment later, his chakra broke free of the sheath of chakra he'd made over his aura, and the next moment his field collapsed and his chakra dissipated. He exhaled and slumped back on his bed, tired from the exercise.
How long was that, one minute or so? Well, it's a bit better then before. But, not good enough for me to use in a fight. Junzo closed his eyes for a while and let his thoughts drift.
Father, I never knew you. The genin opened his eyes again and sat back up. But I swear, I'll surpass both you and mother. Just like she always said! He narrowed his eyes and clasped his hands together. And I'll use your strength and mom's, to get justice for her.
His aura flared once again. "Kyokuken, Kongou no Gotai."
A/N: And finally some information is revealed! Junzo gets some real character development, and we see hints of his past. How am I writing him? Too much too fast? Too little development? Feels like there are character development holes? Blah blah blah...whatever comments you have for this story, please do review. Any ideas and constructive comments will be much appreciated. I do hope to stay on the proper line of OC creation.
Oh, and yes, a few translations:
Kyokuken: Ultimate Fist (Style)
Kongou no Gotai: Diamond Body