Chapter 4: Setting the Stage

The streets of Konoha were crowded this day. It was the day just before the Chuunin finals, and Junzo could easily feel the anticipation for the event that was going to come tomorrow. He felt another twinge of regret in his heart that he'd only gotten off his ass and out of his shell recently and started looking forward. But he supposed that it was better then nothing. Better late then never, right?

The genin sighed softly as he continued on his way to the Konoha hospital for his monthly check up, as was required of all of Konoha's ninjas when they were in town. It helped make sure that they were in top shape and didn't fall apart during a mission, especially with the weakened medical corps they had. The Sandaime probably was trying to help shore that up, but even the old man wasn't infallible. As wise and experienced as he probably was, the medic corps needed a specialist ninja to lead them. Junzo recalled that back during the end of the Ninja Wars, that troublesome period that forged Konoha through its founding almost a century ago, one of the Sannin was an unrivaled medic nin.

My dad was trained by one of the Sannin too... He remembered, from the words of Hyuuga Jiten, which was confirmed by Sekkou, Hayate, and Genma, though the last was quite wasted last night. Junzo sighed, a frown on his face as he saw the arch that led to the front courtyard of the Konoha hospital. He took a turn and went straight for one of the side entrances where he knew would be the shortest route to where he had to go.

Whoa! He stumbled a bit as his foot suddenly plunged into a large depression. "What the heck?" He mumbled, annoyed, as he recovered his balance and moved out of it. "That's a weird looking hole..." He continued after looking it over once more. It looks like a huge footprint. But that can't be possible, nothing's that big. Right?

"No." He answered himself softly as he continued onwards. There were things that big, he recalled. The greatest of the summoned beasts often reached massive sizes many times that of their smaller brethren, the largest of them massive enough to devastate a town by itself in moments if unhindered. The Sannin were said to have all been summoners of such massive creatures, capable of calling even the leaders of the summoned beasts of their contracts. "Hmm, I wonder if dad was ever able to call out something like that."

He tsked again. "All I ever manage to get is Sekkou, that annoying thing." He sighed soft again, and began to think that his face would permanently get disfigured from all the sighing he'd been doing recently. The door was just up ahead and Junzo moved up to push the glass doorway open. He came into one of the secondary stations and moved to start down the hallway, when a shock of pink hair smashed into him.

Huh?

"Aah, you're so clumsy Sakura-chan. Your forehead's too big you can't see anything anymore!" A girl with blond hair came up in a slow run. The girl turned to Junzo as he helped the pink-haired girl get up. "My apologies, sempai." She clasped her hands together and bowed just a bit in apology.

"No, its fine. I wasn't paying attention anyway." Junzo waved it off as he finally got a good look at the two, including the girl who had bumped into him. Both were fair-skinned as it were, one with surprisingly pink hair and an embarassed look on her face. He had to admit, she did have a touch sizeable of a forehead. The other one had a rather radiant smile on her face and a look that was anything but demure.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention either." The one named Sakura apologized to him as well.

"Its your forehead I tell you, forehead girl. There isn't anything left in that head of yours, except maybe for Sasuke-kun. Why don't you give up already, I'm far more sexy then you are. Why don't you look for some other guy." She winked at Sakura, and then at Junzo. "Hey, hey, sempai here is kind of cute, why don't you take her on a date? Hmm?"

What the hell?! Is this girl insane?

"What are you talking about, Ino!" Sakura retorted, another blush crossing her face, though Junzo could hardly tell if it was embarrassment or anger. "I'm a hundred, no, a THOUSAND times more sexy and pretty then you are, Ino-pig! I tell you me and Sasuke---"

"Ano...I think I'll go now." Junzo backed away from the pair slowly as they got into their argument, raising his hands up as he moved away. He quickly turned after a few steps, and hoped that he wouldn't have any more such encounters for the day.

"Hmm, so there has been movement?"

"We think so, Hokage-sama. Although we don't have much knowledge of Otogakure's forces, or the exact numbers, our information leads us to believe that recently they have grown particularly quiet."

The Sandaime nodded slowly at that, listening intently to the ANBU captain's report. "I see. We shall have to be on our guard even more now. Orochimaru will likely make his move very soon. Perhaps even during tomorrow's Chuunin Finals."

"You think he will risk an attack then? Not only the Fire Country have dignitaries coming then, there are a fair number of nobles and leaders from Earth and Wind Country as well." The Konoha ninja advisor, Koharu, spoke up.

"That's true. But I think that Orochimaru will strike very soon nonetheless. If anything, being able to strike at Konoha during our Chuunin Finals will speak of bravado, if not strength. As long as he doesn't directly slaughter the nobles during an attack, he won't necessarily earn their ire." Sarutobi explained. He breathed in and turned to the ANBU captain. "It is prudent that we step up our defenses tomorrow. You are dismissed, Captain."

The ANBU leader nodded and the masked ninja vanished. The Hokage turned to the few other jounin who were there as well. "Ibiki, Hayate, have you tracked the internal spies down yet?"

The two jounin appeared from the shadows and bowed towards him. Ibiki stepped up forward first. "We have been tracking the movement of certain people, Hokage-sama. If an attack is imminent tomorrow as you believe, it is safe to say that these potential spies will make their preparatory moves tonight."

"I have assigned ninjas to keep tabs on these suspects, Hokage-sama. I personally will follow up some of our leads myself." Hayate added, coughing once more. "We are fairly sure of a few of these people, but do not know their exact identity. Some of them seem to be quite talented with disguise. Rest assured that we will capture them tonight. Morino will supervise their interrogation, of course."

The Sandaime glanced over at the stone-faced jounin and nodded. "Very well. Dismissed, I wish to be alone for now to think." He looked over at Koharu and Homura, who exchanged a glance with each other before moving off as well. Soon enough, he was alone in his office.

Sarutobi moved off towards the room behind his office and pushed at a panel. The panel led to another hidden path, which he moved along briskly, leading to the secret chamber behind his bedroom. The Hokage tower was full of such passageways, he knew. This one was a very convenient way to moving to and fro from his room to his office, and that only the Hokages and a few others knew.

The panel opened up and he stepped into the small chamber that was itself hidden behind his closet. He looked up at the array of scrolls he had there, most of them special kinjutsu he had worked with or helped with in the past, such as the Nine-Tails Seal with the Yondaime. But besides that was also his old battle gear. The same one he wore about fifteen years ago by now, since he had last confronted Orochimaru.

Can I face you and deal with you properly this time, Orochimaru?

The Sandaime closed his eyes as his hand touched the glass case that protected the outfit he had not had to wear for quite some time. Silence grew as he thought back to that time, to the times of long past. Then he sighed softly and reached out to open the latch on the casing. Why could you not have seen?

Baka deshi...

"So, we're done with the check up?" Junzo asked the doctor simply as he released the flow of his chakra to his hands.

"Yes, we're done. You're in perfect health as far as I can tell." The man nodded at Junzo with a smile on his face. "You're free to go. Just don't push yourself too hard." The man paused as the genin rose from where he was. "It's a shame though..."

It is a shame...

The words echoed in his head, the words that Jiten mentioned that day, a week ago. Junzo grit his teeth in annoyance and shook his head. "What?"

"Oh, I mean, it's a shame you aren't in the exams." The medic nin nodded at Junzo. "You seem to be quite strong as a ninja. Its not too obvious, but I can sense the strength of your chakra. I am a medical specialist after all, so detecting the flows and manipulating chakra is quite my field. Your body seems suited to channeling chakra."

"Oh, well I didn't have a team." The genin turned away as he answered simply.

The man shrugged as he fixed his papers. "Well, there's always the next one. Perhaps when winter comes, hmm?"

The genin shrugged and moved outside with a nod of his head. He sighed and moved out of the office to enter the hallway. Tch, how annoying. It was doubly so now, now that he felt the shadow of his father behind him. There weren't many who would connect him with one of Konoha's dead heroes, but nonetheless he felt it. Was it a subconscious comparison to the specter of his father whenever his abilities were spoken of? It couldn't be could it? After all, he'd only been brought to that knowledge recently. It was rather ridiculous, he admitted to himself, and decided that it was simply something that was brought on by the stress ofthat daywhen he had been shocked by Jiten.

He blinked as something got into his eye, which he rubbed at. What? He blinked again and looked around him. A cold, menacing atmosphere seemed to descend around him for a while as he moved along the hallway. His hackles rose at the eerie feeling. He could hear a loud sound from far down the corridor as he descended from the stairwell to the ground floor, and the fearsome air seemed to dissipate slowly.

What was that? My senses...? He looked at his hands, clutched into fists. Was there danger? He asked himself, despite the apparent scene of peace in the empty hallway. He shook his head and moved towards the exit, when his sandals stepped on something. Had he not been a ninja, or perhaps, had he not been honing his skills and senses in particular recently he might have missed it. The sound of that faint crunch as he took a step towards the exit might have been missed otherwise.

He knelt down and trailed a finger over the floor to check it. Hmm? Junzo rubbed his fingers together. Is this...sand?

Who could have? He turned to look around, the fine hairs on his body seeming to rise from a fearsome passing. Or perhaps, from the presence of something of great power having passed here. Ugh, my mind is playing tricks on me. I should just go and train, yeah...that will help me take my mind of these things.

He patted his pouch to check if the scrolls were there. Okay, one, two, three. All the scrolls I need are her, okay! He nodded to himself and moved off, away from the Konoha Hospital. Only one more day until the Chuunin Finals, then I can see what those kids can truly do!

Shadows on shadows, huh?

Hayate eyed the small figure in the distance. He had kept track of this one for a while now. He moved with the familiarity of a Konoha native, which disturbed him somewhat. It was clear that he had some sort of genjutsu on him.

A traitor?

The thought was disturbing, but regardless of the identity, he was here to keep track of him. Have to be careful. He watched the figure move, then turned to glance at the horizon. Sunset already. He squinted, and then vanished as he left and shadowed his target.

"Gaaah!"

Junzo growled as he crossed his arms in front of him, concentrating on maintaining the Kongou no Gotai, the most basic but foundational step to Kyokuken. All around him were rocks and tree trunks cut and shaped carefully, each tied to a rope. The rocks and trucks moved as they swung back and forth and battered into him with force.

No, not yet!

It was a simple, but effective way for him to train himself with Kyokuken. Helping him to build up his endurance under the stress of the impacts, as well as forcing him to develop and push to limits of his Kongou no Gotai. He had forced himself on, lasting longer and longer as it went on, despite the multiple impacts.

He felt the shocks, but rather then feel the pain from the hits, he felt them as they struck his armor of chakra. Felt them as they struck, and as their force reverberated against his aura-enhanced skin. Felt them as they struck something as supple as muscle, yet as strong as the bones of the earth at the same time. Felt them as the wood and stone hit him and crack with the force of the impact on something that was simply empowered with more strength then they.

Ugh! I can't...no! Just a little longer...!

He grit his teeth as he began to feel the pain, his chakra depleted from it all until he couldn't maintain it any longer and it faded completely from his body. He barely had enough energy to leap away from the assault that had been maintained, rolling away and stopping on the ground. Sekkou appeared quickly enough beside him as he lay on the ground.

The lizard had been more behaved since their meeting with Jiten, though Junzo suspected that it was more of the fact that he already had gotten up to date with much of what had happened with the village then anything else. But he had been kind enough to help Junzo with his training by being the one who was kicking and shoving the rocks and trunks at him. Sekkou stretched out a bit, before he spoke. "Well, that was a bit better considering this is your fifth go...you lasted a full three minutes this time around, even with all the rocks and whatever pummeling you nonstop. Not like that's gonna happen in a real fight, cause you'd be dead anyway afterwards."

"I think I'm done for today, Sekkou. You can go." For the full week he'd been training as hard as he could in mastering the Kongou no Gotai. The best he could have achieved that first night after meeting Jiten was about a minute. But in the days after it had gotten easier. Water-walking practice, a tip he'd gotten from Hayate a bit before that meeting, had come in handy to helping him with this. He hadn't met his sensei since the day he met Jiten, but he made it a point to remember to thank the young jounin when he could.

"Well, I'm off!" The lizard grinned, then leaped away into the trees to meander around Konoha as he was wont to.

I've gone quite a ways. Junzo thought on that. He had actually gone quite a way since he first opened the scroll a little more then three weeks ago. Once the three steps to it were gotten though, it was all a matter of getting your body used to it and building your endurance. Which is seems my body is naturally inclined to doing, thankfully. He exhaled tiredly after that, but managed to move himself to lean against a tree. He gazed upwards, seeing the hue of red paint the sky.

"Sunset already huh? I've been training since this morning then..." He felt that time hadn't passed too much. Training the Kongou no Gotai under the assault of stone and wood, basic shuriken and kunai accuracy, shadow fighting on the water, and striking practice on the training targets he'd set up for himself to attack while in Kongou no Gotai. He wasn't stupid, and he knew that the technique was both easily implemented to offense as well as defense.

I just have no idea how it works on offense besides protecting my legs and fists from injury. Though I guess that might be in the second scroll. He eyed the sealed scroll curiously, as he'd put all three of them out beside his other pouches. He had skipped to the end of it, but discovered that to open the second scroll he had to be able to sustain the aura of the Kongou no Gotai while focusing his chakra on the seal at the same time for a full hour to break the seal. Which was something he wasn't going to be able to do for a while to come, he knew. And so he continued with the variety of exercises listed in the first Kyokuken instructional scroll.

There also was the other scroll of Suiton training techniques, but he never had gotten around to actually practicing those much, since he was more focused on trying to get the Kongou first. I did break three minutes under stress today though, which is enough for a short and intense match of all action. He wasn't stupid to think that he could always engage his foe in taijutsu, he wasn't fast enough just yet for that.

Besides the basic genin techniques, the Mikazuki no Mai of Hayate, which wasn't quite useful with Kyokuken he had to admit rather annoyed, and his weak form of Kyokuken, he didn't really have any jutsu he could use. I guess its better late then never... The genin groaned as he sat up to get the scroll. He held it in his hand carefully, then sighed and opened it.

"Let's see now..."

Junzo began reading the scroll, turning on the small portable lamp he'd brought along just in case. He set it beside himself, adjusting it so its light fell on the paper of the scroll cleanly. He sighed and leaned against the tree, closing his eyes. It really is quite peaceful here. He thought, the hint of a smile pulling at his face.

"I wonder, what it is about the village that my father died for." He murmured softly. He died protecting the village, that's undeniable. But what for, what did he treasure here? Did he even treasure anything in Konoha? It was a question he'd asked himself lately. His power had gotten strong, he could tell that much. But there had to be a reason for that. Duty? He had been told that duty was his father's main driving force to become stronger. Sekkou, though he was a bit scatterbrained and such, was not a liar.

It seemed like such a solid reason that was true. But Junzo couldn't understand it very well. Of all things, why duty? The genin shook his head at that, deciding to throw his concentration on reading the scroll instead for now. I can think about such things later, when I get home. "Let's see these Suiton jutsu..." he mumbled again, thinking out loud.

"First off is the basic control of water elements. A training exercise to mold chakra with the water element, and learn how to move it." He turned to look around to see if there was any body of water nearby, as he was hardly good enough to generate water from sheer force of chakra alone. Fortunately, there was a stream nearby which he could tap for practice. That will do nicely. Junzo's hands moved as he made each seal one at a time. Ox, Boar, Monkey, Rooster! He carefully executed each one, channeling his chakra as he performed each seal. "Suiton, Bakufuu no Mizu!"

It was a curious feeling, but as he finished, he could feel the chakra he'd channeled into each seal of the sequence burst into life and he could feel his spirit and chakra connect with the water of the nearby stream that he had focused on, and as his hands released the last seal, he could feel that connection with which he could manipulate and direct the water under his chakra's influence. He breathed in and moved his hand, willing the water to flow in a sudden blast to the opposite side of the stream where he was facing.

The water flow erupted a split second later as a miniscule element of chakra flowed from him to the water, and it moved to his bidding. A burst of water erupted from the stream two feet into the air and a few gallons of water exploded from the stream onto the land where he had channeled it to go. The splash of water soaked the grass and ground on that part of the river, though there wasn't all that much of it.

Well, not too bad considering I don't practice my Suiton techniques much. He smiled in relief that it didn't just explode without direction like the first time he'd tried the technique. Well, I guess I just have to master as much as I can! Yosh!

Junzo looked up to the full moon in the sky, night having truly come while he had been thinking. He looked at that moon, and a feeling of dread seemed to encompass him. A faint rumbling sound came from past the trees, from one of the outlying buildings of Konoha. As if some force of chaos had sent out ripples of its presence, laughing as its bloodlust had been whetted, and just barely sated.

Just like that feeling this morning in the hospital... He realized. What could it be? Then the terrible sensation ended, as if that disruptive force had been sealed away, its presence stifled and bound once again. It took Junzo a few moments before he returned to practicing his jutsu, just for a short while longer, before he headed back home to sleep.

Monkey, Horse, Rooster, Tiger, Ox, Boar, Monkey, Rooster.

"Suiton, Shuriken no Mizu!"

Hayate? The genin wondered how his sensei was doing.

AN: Greetings all! Thanks for the reviews, very much appreciated. While I am aware that there are those who don't review or whatever for what reason, I urge those who take the extra effort to review to try and put more then a simple "Good Work, Update ASAP" as much as possible. I'm not totally free from that particular failure myself, I've got a few "Great work, update" reviews myself (coughs) but try your best, eh? Also, if you've seen my works, you'll notice that most, if not all, are OC (in various ways) centric, or have an OC as a prime character, or totally throws the canon characters out the window and pushes them into the history and throw in a whole OC cast. You could call it my "specialty" though I might be using that word a bit too freely with myself. In any case, I do hope you guys enjoy, and as always, REVIEW! :)