It was early. The sun was just starting to rise peeking over the Hokage monument. Despite the early hour Maruku was already at the training ground for team 8. It seemed that Kurenai had forgotten to specify a time so to make sure he wasn't late and gave a bad impression he left as early as he could. Besides being up this early gave him plenty of time to experiment. As it was right now he only had one shot of the spirit gun a day. By gathering all of his chakra into a single point and converting it he was able to fire. It was an example of converting his chakra to plasma externally. He wondered what would happen if he converted it while it was still inside him. He closed his eyes intent on meditating. Meditation was something he was doing a lot of lately. He didn't mind however, it brought him to be more intune with chakra and doubled as a control exercise. It wasn't long before he found the familiar stream of chakra that flowed through him. As he watched the gentle stream he focused trying to convert it. There was a spark of green that disappeared almost as soon as it appeared.
He frowned and tried again. He got the same results. Maruku watched as the stream continued to flow. A thought struck him. If chakra flowed then there must be somewhere its originating. He followed his chakra being careful to not lose himself in his own power. It wasn't long before he found it. A seemingly endless well of power, but Maruku knew that it certainly wasn't endless. Mentally projecting a hand he touched the source of his life force. He shuddered at the euphoric feeling. Maruku was pensive, if something went wrong he could very easily kill himself. He shook the thought away. Plasma style was a part of him just like his chakra. He converted the well to plasma and watched as the multiple streams flowing out of it turned a bright green.
The boy slowly opened his eyes. He could feel it! The heat roiling beneath his skin. If he had a mirror the boy could have seen his eyes were glowing a light green. He briefly wondered how fast he could run now. Getting into a starting position he took off faster than ever, only to slam and crash face first through several thick trees. Strangely though it didn't hurt, the boy had never felt so powerful. Raising his right pointer finger he let his power flow to his finger.
A small shining orb of light green plasma formed at the point of finger. Aiming upwards he let it rip. "SPIRIT GUN!" The small orb shot off before it quickly expanded into the size it was yesterday when he had divided Kakashi's power. Maruku looked at his finger in amazement. That had been his own power. He sat down and stopped actively channeling plasma chakra. The moment he did so he could feel exhaustion set in. The Whole Body Plasma Style. This would require further testing but for right now it could wait. Maruku slumped down to the base of a tree and closed his eyes. He would get as much sleep as he could before he had to deal with team 8.
He was gently shook awake. His eyes snapped open and met the red ones of Kurenai. The boy blushed at being caught unaware. Regardless he stood up and properly greeted the team he would be working with.
"Hey there. I hope we can work well together." the responses he got were not encouraging. Hinata gave a small smile, Shino was silent, and Kiba seemed to be trying to burn a hole in his head with just looks alone. He ignored it and turned back to Kurenai-sensei.
"So. What's the plan for today?" The woman looked thoughtful at the question before she answered.
"Before anything else I'll need to get a comparative idea of your strength so I know how to structure training." Maruku nodded, that sounded like a good plan. She looked at him with a serious expression.
"Go all out. Otherwise this will be pointless." Those were the magic words Maruku wanted to hear. It seemed like he would be testing the Whole Body Plasma Style sooner than expected. He gave a sharp nod in reply. Falling into his stance he let his chakra rush through him. It took a moment but soon enough the familiar power of his bloodline came to him.
Kurenai frowned at the changes of the boy. His eyes were now glowing a strange green and his skin seemed to shine. His veins were visible glowing the same strange green as his eyes. He also looked far too comfortable for someone who was about to fight a jonin. A question came to her mind. Was he underestimating her? Her frown deepened at being taken would make him see the error of his ways soon enough.
"Begin!" There was no sound as the boy in front of her seemingly vanished before her eyes. He was fast! She managed to substitute just in time as his fist made contact with the log and broke it into pieces. She hid herself with a quick genjutsu. This fight wasn't anywhere near over.
Maruku wasn't sure how fast he was when in this state but something told him it was really damn fast. His eyes scanned for where his opponent was hiding. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but that didn't matter. He would find her
"It's useless." His En washed over the entire field and beyond. It kind of shocked him just how far he could sense while he was like this. He ignored the three chakra signatures of his peers. He had found foreign chakra in his bubble. He dashed over to where it was running through a tree to do so. His right hand lashed out intent on applying the White Divider. He missed by near centimeters. Not to be off put his left leg struck out in a side kick, grazing her slightly. She jumped back holding her slightly bleeding midriff. Kurenai shuddered to think what would have happened if he got a clean hit. She needed to end this before it got out of hand. Dashing through hand signs she cast a rather strong genjutsu. "Infinite Death Loop."
She watched with a grave face as the boy fell to the ground convulsing. She felt bad but this was part of being a ninja.
Maruku was in pain. So far he had been beaten, stabbed, electrocuted, poisoned and eviscerated. He knew this was a genjutsu or there was no other way that he would be alive. He did his best to ignore the pain as he literally felt his heart break into pieces. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on his meditation. It didn't take long before he found himself back at the familiar site of the leaky well. It was nearly empty. But there was enough. Enough for one more final gambit. With both hands he scooped up the last remaining bit of his chakra, his weaponized life energy, and held it close to his chest. The pain from the genjutsu faded and he found the strength to stand up. Opening his eyes he pointed his finger and he could feel the last remains of his power rushing to its point. The look of sheer surprise on Kurenai's face as he broke her genjutsu would be added to Maruku's growing collection of small victories.
"SPIRIT GUN" the blast was nowhere near as big as it had been this morning as it was roughly the size of a baseball. But it didn't matter as the blast rushed it's way to its intended target, the grass beneath it being reduced to ashes. "Go!" Maruku repeated the thought as he watched the opposing jonin recover and began to dodge. It's too late to dodge now. Hold this L Kurenai-sensei. Those were Maruku's thoughts before the bullet fizzled out of existence.
"Are you fucking serious right now?" The boy fell to the ground completely exhausted and barely conscious. Kurenai blinked in surprise as the boy's last ditch effort evaporated before her eyes. She looked at the downed genin in thought before walking over to him. In her opinion he had done well. Better than she would like to admit. The fight seemed to be over in an instant. It hadn't even lasted a full minute. To be able to shake off the Infinite Death Loop at his age and level of experience she wondered if he was some type of unknown genius.
"You did well. I didn't expect you to throw off my genjutsu so easily." She watched as the boy was trying and failing to stay conscious.
"It wasn't easy. It was the total opposite of easy. I couldn't detect it at all with my En and because it felt like it was causing actual pain dispelling it that way wouldn't have worked either."
"So how did you do it?" Her question was left unanswered as the boy finally fell into a deep unconsciousness. She frowned and lightly slapped his face.
"Um sensei? I think Maruku needs to go to the hospital. He barely has enough chakra to live. It looks like he's about to die of chakra exhaustion!" Kurenai's head turned sharply to meet Hinata's eyes. She took a closer look and the girl was right. His pulse was barely there and his breathing was shallow. Damn. Picking the boy up and slinging him over her shoulder she looked at the rest of her team.
"You guys are dismissed for today. I have to deal with this." She rushed off back towards the village. She was in such a hurry that she didn't see the look on Kiba's face. "How did that loser get so strong. I couldn't follow his moves at all." As the rest of the team made off to go home he went in search of the other members of team 7. He was the top dog on this team and he wouldn't allow somebody with no last name come up here and usurp him.
When Maruku opened his eyes again he found himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. What happened? The memory came to him in flashes. He used up all his chakra fighting Kurenai. Turning his head to the side he came face to face with the angry and worried faces of his friends. "I'm fucked."
"What were you thinking?" Surprisingly, Sasuke was the one to speak first. The boy was trying and failing to not look worried. Maruku recoiled with guilt. He didn't think that his team would be this worried about him.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking, I got caught up in trying to master Plasma Style. But I'm fine it's just chakra exhaustion." This apparently was the wrong thing to say.
"Bitch, you nearly died!" He looked at Naruto. The boy was pissed. And were those tears?
"We're happy that you have some control over Plasma Style Maruku but please try not to overdo yourself. It makes us worry." Maruku looked at Sakura who spoke for the first time. Surprisingly she didn't seem as emotional as her teammates. The only thing he could read off her face was disappointment. It wasn't until he had heard all of his friends speak that he fully realized how close it had been. I nearly died. His hands shook with the thought.
"We managed to talk to Kurenai-sensei and asked her not to tell Kakashi-sensei. So you owe us." Maruku flinched on reflex. Naruto was right, he did owe them. If Kakashi found out he had almost killed himself over something stupid… He had to repress a shudder at the thought.
"How long was I out?" Naruto who still looked upset answered. "Three days. You should be out of here in two more days." Maruku nodded. He lost a whole week being stupid.
"I'm sorry." He couldn't think of anything else to say as his eyes seemed to force themselves shut. Before he faded back to sleep he heard Sasuke speak.
"We know." That was the last thing he heard before he drifted off.
It was two days later when the boy was finally allowed to leave the hospital. He couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. That place was much to stuffy and sad. He made his way back to training ground eight where he found team 8.
"I'm glad to see you're better. Come lets continue." He nodded at Kurenai as his training with team 8 began in earnest. As he trained he couldn't help but see the worried faces of his friends. I won't make them ever worry again. That was his silent vow to himself as he pushed himself in his training. All too soon the time to leave came upon them. The atmosphere was tense as several Konoha teams were by the gate ready to leave. He spotted his friends amongst the group and gave a wave. They all waved back except for Kakashi who gave a small nod.
He steeled his nerves. It was time to depart to the Land of Lightning.