Dragon-blooded.
That is what he called me that day in Oto Village. A benediction spoken whilst facing an eight year old boy determined to protect a family whose eyes would never open. A boy who did not understand the import of those words.
That man was Orochimaru, one of the Hidden Leaf's Legendary Sannin and shinobi of unmatched skill. He had come in search of Kikurame ninja to join his cause. To find a village to become his Hidden Sound.
He found me, Kikurame Naota, the only survivor of a demon's attack and the ruins of the independent shinobi village of Oto. A devil's deal was struck that day bargaining for my heritage and the future. Which is why I have spent the last six years learning ninpo from Nakano-sensei. Surveilance, infiltration, tactics, taijutsu, and chakra channeling as well as the optional areas of medicine and herbalism.
Each and every day is spent in the mastery of these arts. Orochimaru made a deal and I will not disappoint him or myself. One day I will surpass Kimimaro and reclaim my heritage.
Which brings me to today and the genin exam.
Mother...Father watch over me.
- An excerpt from the journal of Kikurame Naota
"Hurry up, Naota!"
Tokagero - age 14, swordsman and survival expert - does indeed resemble the animal he is named for. Bald, flat black eyes, and an odd scaly texture to his skin (a reminder of his first attempt at the Dragon Hide no Jutsu or so he tells me) filled in the image. Seventy-eight inches of lanky teenager hid in a loose sleeveless shirt of black and baggy pants to match. The boots he wore we had in common - sharkskin, knee high.
"I'm coming!"
Forging my way through the crowded academy courtyard was a little harder than expected but I caught up to him soon enough. Wasting no time we hurried to Nakano-sensei's classroom feeling every passing second in the pit of our stomachs. Nervousness is epidemic when the Genin Exam comes around.
It would help if they told us what the test is ahead of time.
"Can you believe it, Naota? By tonight we will be full fledged shinobi of the Sound!" my gravelly voiced friend bounced all the way there.
Letting a confident smile flit across my face served to relieve me of my place in the conversation.
"Soon we will be performing missions..." he trailed off as we entered the eye of the storm, so to speak.
Fear choked all life from the thirty eight teenagers within the classroom. Students sat mutely at cedar desks locked in private dreams of the ordeal before them. Some saw something glorious, others saw failure.
"So the last of my flock have wandered in. Naota, Tokagero - take your seats."
Nakano-sensei, dressed as ever in his silken embroidered saffron robes, regarded his students with icy blue eyes that belied the rather poofish exterior. Once we seated ourselves he began, waving a fan in his off hand.
"As you are all aware today is the Genin Exam. Only nine will pass and become true Sound-nin."
Only nine out of forty? How is this going to work?
Whispered curses erupted in a swell of alarm as it sank into the class.
"Ouiet." Nakano-sensei's soft voice slid through the noise, a velvet razor cutting the students short "You will each be assigned one of your fellow examinees as a target. The nine who eliminate their targets in the most skilled fashions will graduate. Those who do not pass - and still live - must attend the academy another year."
Another swell of swearing surged through the room. Even the calmest of students our resident genius Isawa Mako's emerald eyes smoldered. That maniac Jin just grinned never taking his eyes of the scroll of genjutsu on his desk. Sotan tried too hard to appear unconcerned and mature nodding gravely with a grave expression.
And looking gravely constipated.
Trust Tokagero to jump up and shout the obvious "When and where?"
Sensei paused as if considering whether or not to punish his rashness - it would not be the first time - "One hour at the edge of Kikuman Forest. Chunin examiners will give you your targets there."
Kikuman Forest...that's where Father trained my cousins and I. That gives me the home field advantage.
"Class will reconvene there. Dismissed."
The students flooded out of the classroom like a dam had burst. Tokagero and I no exception.
"Can you believe this shit?! Even if we take out our target we might not graduate!" wild gesturing accompanied the tirade.
"Calm down. Save your strength for the exams." I brushed a steely blue strand of hair from my face ""We will need it."
Neither of us spoke for a long time thoughts turned towards the test. Towards our first victims.
Serpent's Tower
Home of the Kage of the Hidden Sound
"Kimimaro."
He turned gracefully, snowy locks hardly moving, hiding all signs of the illness ravaging his once perfect body. Eyes dark with the will driving them focused on me - the source of that will.
"Yes, my lord?"
"Today begins the pivotal play of my game. Today Fate show's it hand."How many years hand it been since I found him? Six years?
Kimimaro shifted bonelessly having discarded mortal motion when the disease laid him low. The curse seal on his chest writhing in response to the chakra needed for him to move. How far the leader of the Five Sounds has fallen.
"Which game is that, Lord Orochimaru?"
"The genin exam is today and my windmill must weather the storm." my eyes burned, I knew, with hunger...the hunger that I had born since he was chosen before me "Do you remember the child spared in the attack on Oto Village? The last Kikurame?"
"I have always wondered why he was spared. The Kikurame Clan is not known for any original jutsu or bloodline limit."
That is as close to questioning me as he has ever come. Is he bothered by the memories of slaughtering the Kikurame Clan or the thought that one might replace him?
Soft hissing laughter escaped my lips.
"You are right in one regard, Kimimaro," I waved one hand in concession "the Kikurame are not an advanced bloodline. His mother,on the other hand, was one of only two heirs to an old and mostly forgotten bloodline."
The Sound-nin cocked his head to one side but maintained his neutral tone "Who was she?"
Walking past my bodyguard the view from the window caught my eye. Outside of the tower mortals went about pointless lives worrying about love or money, achieving purpose only when serving my will. In life or death. He had cared so much for them that he sacrificed his life for theirs.
Baka. That is why I will use his blood to complete my ascension.
"My Lord?"
"It is the blood, you see, that damns him. His mother Kazama Jun and her older brother Kazama Arashi, dead now these twelve years." How fitting is it that his blood will complete the very act he banished me for? "His uncle was Yondaime."
For the first time since he became mine Kimimaro seemed taken off-guard "You mean..."
"Yesss." a wicked grin twisted my lips "He is the nephew of Hokage the Fourth."
And heir to the Dragon's Blood hijutsus. Skills that will make me eternal. When that is done I will fulfill my debts and erase the last trace of Yondaime's blood from the face of the earth.
Throwing back my head I laughed to immortality, to irony, to revenge years in the coming. To the settling of everything.
Kikuman Forest
One Hour Later
An hour found not fourty but fifty armed and ready examinees. Ten of whom we had never seen in class. Ten who already wear the mark of the Hidden Sound.
"What the hell are they doing here?!"
Placing a restraining hand on Tokagero's arm before Nakano-sensei silenced him I whispered "They will explain if we are patient."
'They' happened to be the sensei and a dozen chunin examiners who had long since passed this exam.
The genin stood to the side easily identified by the headbands they wore. Almost bored they toyed with weapons as if eager for the bloodshed to come. Three though did not look bored rather they studied several of the genin intently.
Like they already know who their opponents are.
A pretty but hard seeming young woman clad in an odd assortment of bells stared fixedly at the crimson tressed Isawa Mako. Her wild haired friend watched Tokagero, a cocky grin plastered on his face. The third worried me.
Shorter than the others he stood, legs bent and arms dangling in simian fashion. Bandages covered what little flesh protuded from beneath the shapeless gi with it's straw cape. Only his left eye showed and it was locked on me.
"Take the paper from the instructors as they pass but do not read them." Nakano-sense's voice carried easily across the field.
"You ready, Naota?" the Lizard whispered caressing the hilt of his blade - the lion sword Sorrow.
One last check of my supplies - medicinal and otherwise - commenced before nodding.
Let's get this over with.
Soon an instructor appeared before us. He was gone just as quickly with only the profile in our hands to mark his passage.
Sensei raised his hand commanding our silence "You are no doubt wondering as to why several already established genin are participating in this exam. They are new to the Hidden Sound and this is how our great Lord wishes them to be tested."
New to the Hidden Sound? Missing-nin, then.
Pretending to adjust the straps on my pack I scanned the crowd. The Genda twins strummed their bowstrings identical looks of dismay on their faces. Akira and Mako seethed at the last minute addition but neither said anything.
So none of them knew about this either.
"Once the test begins you will have one half hour to move into the forest. When the horn blows neutralize your target. You have one day." sensei paused as if to field questions but we knew better "Now look at the photograph in your hand. This is the enemy."
Dosu Kinuta - age twelve - genin - bandaged due to severe burns...the picture is familiar. The round shouldered bandaged shinobi amongst the ten. One of the veteran shinobi.
My foe stood still staring at me as if he had never stopped. His profile lay forgotten on the grass behind him.
"You have thirty minutes starting...now!"
Everyone broke for the shelter of the trees hardly seeming to see the other examinees. Not Dosu and I. Our gaze remained bound together till the unforgiving tree line came between us.
Within the primordial woods I found my only true friend waiting for me.
"Who'd you get?"
Tokagero leaned against the aged trunk of an oak, one hand resting on the hilt of the massive sword settled next to him.
"Dosu Kinuta. One of the genin. You?"
He flashed a tight smile "Some genin named Zaku."
At first we only snickered but that soon grew into a relentless mirthless laughter. We didn't have to say anything. This is just how it always is for us. An ocean of memories spurred the laughter on. Fights, feasts, training, and trouble shared by us - the Brother-nin as the villagers of Oto had come to call us. Best friends for five years and neither of us might survive the hour.
"I have something for you." we spoke in unison.
Chuckling softly I went first. The item pulled from my pack had the look of a rectangular silver bracket with a strip of cloth ringing the inside.
"Place it on the entrance of your sheathe."
Crinkling his brow he placed it there and returned Sorrow to her home before asking "What the hell is that for?"
"It holds several Kikai Bugs." he actually turned green (what kind of survival expert is afraid of bugs?) "The bracket acts as a honeycomb collecting their venom and applying it to your blade when you draw it. Venom that can disrupt the flow of chakra within an enemy's body. In other words, if you penetrate an inner coil it will block the chakra of that line."
"Beautiful." Tokagero managed to sound both queasy and excited at the same time.
His gift struck my chest before dropping into my hands. A neat stack of a dozen ofuda but these prayer strips are not what they seem.
"Explosive tags." the grin shining on my face said more than thank you ever could.
"I thought you'd like that."
A horn blew in the distance, the cry mournful in anticipation of the killing to come.
"Strike swift..." Tokagero started clasping my forearm.
"Strike true." I finished gripping his arm in turn.
Farewells said we went our seperate ways and began the hunt.
May the gods have mercy on us all.