Shadow of the Snake - Inhumane

I've reached a limit…

I thought as I continued to practice kicks and kata's in my room.

…I'm not getting any stronger.

Kick, stop, return. Shift footing.

I can drill these motions as much as I want, but it is only one of three pillars:

Kick, stop, return. Shift footing.

…skill, experience, and power.

Skill was knowing a move, and how well one could execute it, on a technical level. Like tools in a toolbox that varied in quantity and quality.

Experience is about when and where to use a skill. How quickly you can figure out which tool you need and apply it.

Then there was power. When you have the tool you need at the time you need it, there is only you left. A hammer needs strength, a kitchen knife needs some degree of dexterity, and a power drill has batteries.

I had skill, I'd taken every kick, punch, and block I knew to the best I knew it could be. That didn't mean those skills couldn't be better. The 'how' was beyond me without a real master. At this point practice was just to make sure they didn't degrade. That was discounting archery, where I'd be generous to call myself an amateur.

I was lacking experience. I needed to think with every action during the spar the day before. That meant openings closed and blocks came too late. I had two options on that front, fight a sound ninja and die, or beat up kids in the fight club. Neither was appealing.

Then there was power… which was not happening. At my best, I could maybe maintain a workout for a week before dropping it. Which is why I'd never be a taijutsu specialist.

All in all, that meant I was stuck. Obviously not good. With this strength, I might have a chance against academy Sakura. Yup, worse than the character commonly hated for being useless… before they appear on screen.

I needed something, anything.

There is really just one option… Orochimaru.

I had spent a lot of time thinking it over. I got nowhere on my own; I had nothing to convince any of the ninjas to teach me, even if they gave me the chance to make an offer at all; and scrolls were locked away behind those same ninja.

Which left: Orochimaru.

I could be strong, or I could be weak.

Weakness would bite me in the future. A price would be taken.

Strength would come at a cost, one I might not be able to pay.

I couldn't decide, so instead: I focused on the present.

"I think it was a little better, try playing it again."

No it wasn't, I can't quite get the rhythm, this is pointless…

…

"Since you're skipping class until you can speak, let's continue our lessons…"

Right, 'skipping' class…

…

"You can do another set, go!"

Ugh…

…

"Collect the arrows, go again."

She's not here this time…

…

I found myself lying on my bed. I was wound up like a spring. Martial arts, archery, general studies, and music. They'd all been fun, but it had become work. I'd probably stopped altogether if Natsuhi and Issai hadn't begun insisting I continue. The constant activity was distracting me from the negative thoughts at least…

I considered the roof. I'd only been here a week, but I was already pretty tired of this space.

Screw it, who cares if I die: I'm taking a walk.

Nothing's off limits so there was plenty of space.

I got to my feet and went off on my little adventure.

…

Wow a concrete hallway…

Where was I? I certainly didn't know.

…and would you look at that, another concrete hallway…

There really weren't as many ninjas walking around as I thought there were. At least not in these random hallways.

I really let my paranoia get the better of me earlier.

I noticed a sign over a larger door.

Training hall.

Might as well have a look.

I opened the door.

Stared for a couple of seconds.

Then I closed it.

I kept going down the hallway, took a turn, and then stopped.

Breathe in… and out…

Forget.

Breathe in… and out…

Forget.

Breathe in… and-

Drip… drip…

I heard the drip of water, and the scene flashed into the forefront of my memory.

A slumber party. They're all lying on the floor. Three are standing, two of them are clearly tired and want to join the party, I don't think the third is going to sleep anytime soon.

It's not a slumber party, they're stretching, it's why all their limbs were in those strange angles. The two tired ones must be reluctant, the instructor rectifies that.

The room is illuminated red by a single lamp. The light's not actually crimson. They must have poured some sort of jelly on it or something. It flowed off the bulb in a little hesitant stream.

Drip… drip…

It's blood, those were corpses. That ninja was: 'training'.

Those people…

Analysis Begin.

What do I know?

1. None of the corpses were wearing headbands.

2. A couple were in chains.

3. Their clothes were plain and regular.

4. The ninja was practically untouched.

Subject: Who were they?

From fact 1, probably not ninja. Supported by fact 4.

From fact 3, I'd seen similar clothes on the townspeople back home, so probably civilians.

Objection! Why're they here?

Take That! Fact 2, they were prisoners.

Objection overruled.

Conclusion, they're civilians kidnapped for the 'benefit' of the hidden village.

Analysis End.

I shouldn't be surprised. Orochimaru casually ordered the eradication of small towns. That was in one of the sound ninja's flashbacks I think. Prisoners were a thing too, most of Guren's team had been that.

The prisoners had to come from somewhere.

This was what fuelled the hidden sound village's strength. Bodies for experiments and training.

I got up and kept walking.

In hindsight, aimlessly wandering was not a good idea.

Why?

Well, because I ended up completely lost.

On the bright side, the very traumatic mass murder I witnessed was keeping me very distracted from thinking about the future! Yeah, not the best joke…

Looking around, I definitely hadn't passed by here earlier.

It was another crossroad. Notably, to the right, a sign indicated one of the prisons. So I decided to head left-

"Don't ignore me."

The memory stopped me. He'd been a beggar

"I'm not asking for anything more than that, just acknowledge that I exist. Don't look away because you don't like it."

The faces of my old family were lost to me, yet this memory stayed…

With a sigh, I steeled myself, and went to the right.

I saw the bars first, made of that simple blackish metal that was used so commonly in this world.

It was hard to make out anything beyond that, the cells didn't have any lights, just the light from the hallway.

Calling them 'cells' was inaccurate, it was just one large cage. If I hadn't seen the silhouettes of people in there I'd think I was at a zoo. One of those low funding concrete zoos animal rights activists post videos about.

"What are you staring at, boy?"

The voice with a timber of steel sounded from somewhere back in the cell like a crawling stream of magma.

I flinched at the tone, but shook it off.

"Needed… to see."

The man lumbered out of the shadow, leaning forward uncomfortably close. He was a large dark skinned man with a mane of red hair that reached his shoulders, with a brickish face adorned with a frown and an accusatory glare.

"So, you entertained, boy?"

"No!"

The words weren't hard for me to find, they'd been on my mind the last hour.

This is all wrong, this is horrible.

"This.. wrong… horrible!"

He didn't buy it. His accusatory glare held, but he leaned back again, sitting down just within the outer reaches of the light.

"We don't need you pity boy, if it actually mattered to you, bring us some food or water."

Of course they were being starved. Since this clearly wasn't depraved enough already.

I flushed the anger, and nodded, somberly.

I was about to head off again when I felt a light gust of wind and a hand on my shoulder.

"Ho, ho, ho? What's this, a little boy visiting the prisons?"

I recognised the shrill voice. I heard it when I saw the bloodbath in the training room.

"Ooh! You're the boy from earlier!"

I froze, of course he saw me. He was wearing a jonin vest. Which meant he probably was a jonin.

He patted my shoulder a couple of times with a laugh.

"No need to be so embarrassed. It must have been quite a sight for you. I know I loved every second of it."

Drip… drip…

I turned, grabbed the kunai of his belt and then dug it in his chest. Then I pulled it out, and put it back in. Again, again, and again until my hands were bathed in the same crimson that he'd inflicted upon my mind's eye. I abhorred the waste of life, I despised those who tossed it aside so lightly, and I screamed. What gave him the right? What twisted world let someone who could do that exist? It was too damn quick for a monster like him but…

…I didn't commit to the vision. It was in my head, and that was where my anger would stay.

Instead I cooled my features, equipped a smile, and looked back up at the man.

You were really cool sir.

"You.. cool… sir."

The poison coming out of my mouth was sickening, and his cheshire grin was even more so.

"I know right? But unfortunately, you have to wait until you're a fully fledged ninja until you can practice with live targets."

Somewhere In the back of my mind I felt I'd seen this man before. I shrugged off the feeling.

Oh, thanks for explaining sir. I was just asking for directions.

"Oh… thanks… sir. I.. asking… directions."

The vile thing rustled my hair.

"Sure you were."

Then he walked off, and I realized who it might be. Black ponytail, actually wearing the sound village jonin vest, black jumpsuit with bandages. It's the man who would act as the sound village team's jonin sensei during the chunin exams.

…or rather, the man whose face Orochimaru would wear to watch Sasuke during the preliminaries after the second test. My anger and disgust dimmed out, replaced with pity.

Once he was out of sight, I turned back to the prisoner. His frown had lost his edge and he seemed a bit more relaxed.

"You're lucky he was standing behind you, boy."

I cocked my head to the side at the statement. But the man gave no answer.

"So you wanted directions?"

Surprisingly, the prisoner knew the way back. Neither Issai nor Natsuhi were pleased with my spontaneous 'bout of individuality'. I couldn't quite fault them for it.

I had my day's lessons with Natsuhi. It seemed that, despite my best efforts, I'd actually made progress on the listening front. Things had started to click into place on their own, but speaking was still hard.

Then it was dinner again.

It looked and smelled really good, but…

Drip… drip…

…I didn't have the appetite for it.

Ugh, I don't need that on my conscience…

Analysis Begin!

Subject: Guilty conscience.

Point 1: I was unaware of the events.

Point 2: I was powerless to stop it.

Evidence: The others in the room didn't.

Conclusion: I am in no way accountable or responsible for what I saw.

Analysis End.

Yes brain, thank you, I know.

I poked the food a couple of times. From a perfectly logical standpoint, I shouldn't care.

To which my heart said: 'My feelings don't care about your facts'.

Yes heart, thank you for your contribution.

Sigh.

"Yumika, you haven't even touched your food."

Yea, I lost my appetite since I witnessed a mass murderer laugh while earning his namesake. No need to worry.

"Sorry, Issai. Want… to thank… man… directions."

"You want to thank the man who gave you the directions back here."

Ugh, yes Natsuhi, thank you… She's trying to help, it's not patronizing.

I nodded, it wasn't what kept me from eating, but it was on my mind nonetheless.

"If it actually mattered to you, bring us some food or water."

"Natsuhi, could I… give… him… this?"

I looked down at my food, then back up at the two with me.

"You must be really lost boy, for you to end up back here."

I sat myself in front of the man, placing the bowl of food and a bottle of water in front of me, then I slid them through the bars to the man.

"I'll be…a real saint aren't you."

He gave me a raised eyebrow, but made no moves on the meal.

I shook my head.

I'm just thanking you, I was actually really lost.

"Only… thanking. Was… lost."

I said, then glanced over at Natsuhi, waiting for a correction. One which didn't come, she was probably as unnerved about this as I was. But that wasn't enough for me to miss how the man brought his hands together in a series of motions.

"Not poisoned, good."

Then he dug in. Greedily too.

That had to have been a jutsu right? To check for poisons probably.

I tried to recall the signs he'd gone through, but the memory was already fading.

"Sir…"

He didn't stop eating, but his eyes rose to meet mine.

"...are you… a ninja?"

He broke off our linked gaze and continued to eat, until a minute later. He was done.

Slowly, I saw him place the bowl back down.

"You fed me and didn't know?"

His brick-like face remained unwavering.

I shook my head.

"You might have just given me the energy to escape and kill you."

Issai moved to take a protective step forward, while I snorted at the idea.

Sure, congratulations, you killed a defenseless child. Then what? Ten or more other ninjas bear down on the place and you die…

I gave the man an disbelievingly amused eyebrow.

"You think I wouldn't."

I shook my head again, and pointed at myself.

"Not worth it."

He stared for a moment longer, before shrugging and making generous use of the water.

"So what's it to you?"

"Can you… teach me?"

"I could, but no."

I sighed, and took the time to construct my next sentence carefully.

"I am not needing jutsu-"

"I don't need Jutsu."

Thank you Natsuhi-

"Just an introduction to chakra."

The man looked contemplative at that, as he eyed my up and down.

Then after a moment.

"If you feed me again, I'll think about it."

I moved to accept, but he held up a hand to stop me.

"You'll need enough for everyone here…"

He said, indicating to the rest of the cage.

"...or they'll have torn me apart by the time I get to a decision."

I looked over the cage. There had to be at least ten people in there. So I turned my gaze to Natsuhi, who seemed to be doing some mental math from what I could tell.

"We should be able to manage, Lord Yumika."

I nodded and turned my attention back to the man, who had clearly caught the honorific.

"I'll be back later then."

Then I turned to leave, a cool expression on my face.

Yes!

…I may have forgotten to say goodbye.

We couldn't get what we needed just yet. According to Natsuhi, if we wanted to make this work with the pocket change father gave us, we'd need to take a trip to a nearby town over the weekend.

So for now, it was back to routine.

I held my bow at the ready, and looked over the training zone's 'obstacle course'. I wasn't near good enough to run it, but with the targets being really close, relatively for a bow, it would make decent practice if I walked it.

I had tried it twice already, and being in motion really messed with my form. Even being 2-5 meters most of my shots barely qualified as hits. Then there was the quiver to think about. I really had to slow down during some of the obstacles to make sure none of the arrows fell out.

In other words, I was quickly beginning to see why bows weren't used by ninja. Ninja needed to stay on the move, because of their range of motion. While the yellow flash took it to the extreme, any decent ninja could close the distance really quickly, and any good one could position themselves with an advantage.

That doesn't even account for the disadvantage of not having hands free for signs or acrobatics… or the fact that most ninja could deflect or catch a projectile sent their way. The only times they seemed to be effective in the show were with the freaky shuriken jutsu, shuriken volleys, or when armed with explosive tags.

Would it be difficult to pull off the shadow shuriken jutsu with arrows instead? The ability to mass copy an arrow would turn me into a one man archery battalion, closer to medieval tactics than fantasy archery.

The sign for the shadow clone jutsu was iconic, and as far as I remembered, the shadow shuriken jutsu seemed to use the same. Finger guns in a cross. But which hand was horizontal, which was vertical, and which was in front? Not to mention, Naruto studied the forbidden scroll for a while before he pulled off the jutsu, which meant there was probably more to it than the sign.

None of that mattered without chakra, which I didn't have active use of yet. Though-

"Are you going to start yet or do I go first?"

Huh?

I turned to the familiar voice, which I remembered as Kin Tsuchi. She smirked, and I could already feel my competitive spirit acting up, especially as she leaned closer.

"You too scared I'll beat you?"

My lack of a mangekyo sharingan to cast amaterasu with my glare was an absolute shame.

Not that I'd fall for such childish taunts.

…it was completely unrelated to the sprint I engaged in as I started to run through the course.

Step, step, step, aim left, step, draw, step, track and fire.

On the corner, but a hit is a hit.

Step, aim right, step, draw and release.

Outer ring!

A couple of steps, and then a hurdle. I placed both hands flat on the surface, and tossed my legs over the right side of the hurdle. Sweeping left, or tucking with a launch like this would mean I would kick my bow.

As I crossed the obstacle, I released my hands and put a hand on the quiver to hold the arrows in place as I landed.

I identified the target ahead.

One of my fingers was on an arrow as I recovered from the landing, and brought the bow up.

Forward facing posture and shooting forward, wasn't a great combo. I twisted my waist to align my shoulders perpendicular to my feet. It was a stretch, literally and figuratively, but it would have to do.

The shot was barely on the target, but it was on it, even if it wasn't in the rings.

The three rapid shots to the left during this stretch were easier.

Direct hit, miss, near-miss.

I prepared myself for the next part. The stretch after the corner would be difficult.

I turned right, and tripped a wire. Which caused two targets behind and one on each side to rise up.

I fired left while running. Stepped forward with my right, while I pivoted on my left to aim and shoot back at one target. But I needed to stop to fire at the second.

Then I continued the spin, firing at the left target while spinning left to face forward and leading a run with my left foot.

A target on the left on the final turn. Shot at and forgotten.

The next obstacle was probably the worst.

A small pit to jump over. The target was at the bottom, and another hung above, only within sight at the edge of the pit.

I stepped on the ledge, aimed up to fire, drew, and released as my other leg caught up.

I tensed, to launch with my still planted leg, and leapt over. I tried to aim down, but I could get a line of sight with my legs in the way. Then I landed right foot first on the other side, with too much forward momentum.

'Face meet concrete' said gravity.

'It's nice to meet you' said face.

'Fuck you' said concrete.

Ow.

"Hahaha. Oh my god, hahaha."

"Lord Yumika!"

I don't know if it was pride or anger, but I forced myself back onto my feet before Issai could run up and help me.

I'd managed to catch myself a little bit before impact so the pain was more of a subtle thrum than a violent sting. Though I reckoned I would at least be feeling it for the rest of the day.

Didn't stop me from glaring at the laughing child.

"Why don't you try it, see if you do better."

"Haha. Not like- hahaha- that's- pfft- hard. Hahaha''

My glare intensified.

"I mean you-"

She did this wild downward swing with her arm… which obviously represented my little faceplant.

"Hahahaha…"

She wiped a tear from her eyes and regained her bearing.

"But you know what? I think I will."

She faced the course and turned her head to look back at me.

"Just to prove how much better I am."

Issai fussed over me as she ran the course, and she really was doing better. I might have just been defensive, but it seemed to be easier when you could throw with both hands rather than needing both to shoot.

Then she reached the final obstacle, and I was sure she was taking extra care to not faceplant like I did…

"See, I'm so much-woah!"

…which is probably why she forgot to slow down afterwards and ran straight into me, knocking us both down.

Pfft.

Behold, the next generation of hidden sound ninja. Fear us!

There was no holding in my laughter after the thought.

"Hey, it's not like you did better, I only fell because you were in the way!"

She was red with anger, but I didn't care.

She quickly packed her things and stomped off with indignation.

On my end, Issai seemed to think I'd had enough archery practice for the day.

Worth.