Chapter 1-11
"…Daiki Ito, assassination."
'Say what?' Thankfully, I think I was able to hide my reaction behind a set of raised eyebrows, but still, despite better judgment, I raised my hand, signaling a question.
Kinoto, about to continue with his speech, paused and eyed me for a second before nodding for me to ask whatever I had on my mind.
"Excuse me, Sir, out of curiosity but what predestinates me for the role of assassination?" I asked genuinely curious.
"Your water affinity, as well as your mastery of chakra control, are factors deemed suited for our future mission." He answered matter-of-factly and continued the same way.
"Furthermore, your psychological profile made you an obvious choice."
"I see." What do you say to that?
"Before I will proceed with the general outline of the mission and the subsequent training I'm authorized and tasked with applying Danzo-sama's Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal."
He said after expecting no further questions or interruptions.
We simultaneously perked up at this, we all knew getting a seal was serious business. Kinoto paused and looked each of us in the eye for a second.
"In this, you have no choice!" He added with absolute finality.
Without further ado, he pulled three small seal tags out of his weapon pouch and handed each of us one.
"Put them with the seal-side up on your tongue." He said, his tone allowed no argument and we did as we were told.
Satisfied, Kinoto put his hands into the ram-seal and visibly concentrated for a moment until my tongue burned uncomfortably.
The sensation receded almost instantly, but I was left gagging instead, with a weird feeling like something hairy was stuck under the roof of my mouth.
I hastily tried to calm down and get myself under control, because I vaguely heard Kinoto speak again.
"…used to it."
Blinking furiously to get my vision to clear I saw Kinoto seemingly nod to himself.
"The basis for your assignment will be the impersonation of a highly promising squad from Kirigakure during the chunin exam after the next." He told us all business-like.
He motioned for us to follow him and we robotically fell into step behind him.
Leading us down a flight of stairs we entered a short hallway with three doors on each side and a window at the far end, the endless green of the forest visible outside.
"Each door on the right is a small cabin designated for each of you, the door on the far left is a small communal bathroom. For the duration of our stay meals will be provided in the mess hall we just left."
Continuing our descend of the staircase we finally reached a big open space I immediately recognized by the ginormous hand-seal at the far wall.
"The next year will consist of the following. In here I will bring in particular your kenjutsu to an acceptable level,
outside I will teach you the finer points of the silent killing method preferred by those in Kiri and for extended periods of time we will do missions in and around Kiri so you can get familiar with their mannerisms among other things.
History and profound common knowledge expected of a Kiri citizen will also be provided here."
I stared into the mist. My focus almost completely on our prey and regretfully a tiny fraction on the mist itself to keep it from dispersing.
My new Wakizashi in my hand was already drawn to avoid any noise. Except for the breathing and the occasional footstep of our prey the forest was eerily quiet.
"We attack on my mark." I heard Fuu say in my head. I still couldn't quite keep my hackles from raising whenever he did that.
"Copy!" Torune and I replied almost simultaneously.
We were surrounding our prey, I was waiting in its blind spot, Fuu slightly to its right and Torune directly to its left.
"Now!" And with that I sensed Fuu leave his spot and step into our prey's field of view.
A split second after him I made my move. I let go of my grip on the mist as it wouldn't be necessary anymore and turned my full focus and my sensing on my target, the shape of its fledgling chakra network and subsequently the shape of its body perfectly visualized in my mind's eye.
A flawless Shunshin brought me slightly behind and to its right, where I changed my course by exactly 90 degrees and into small fast leap because of my prey's size.
During my leap, which wasn't much slower than my Shunshin, my short sword flashed for slit second, feeling the tiniest resistance told me that I just neatly cut the bear's head off.
My leap was going to deposit me in the nearby undergrowth and away from sight and without turning I knew exactly what was going on behind me.
Torune having left his position just after me would use his emerging sealing prowess and one of his self-made storage scrolls the size of a finger and seal the head midair. A tap with his palm would transfer a sizeable portion of his bugs into the body, which would disintegrate before it had time to keel over.
Alternatively, when such drastic measures weren't necessary, he would use his earth-nature to create a grave or Fuu would use his fire-nature to turn the remains to ashes.
Jumping back into the clearing I saw Torune pocketing the scroll and Fuu frowning at a spot where our victim stood just a few seconds earlier.
Following his gaze I saw a singular clearly visible footstep, mine to be exact, from when I changed direction and went for the kill.
Seeing movement to my left I saw Torune raise his foot and we all saw a less prominent but still noticeable footprint where he just stood.
"We have to work on that." Fuu grumbled and I nodded along.
"Any ideas?" I asked both of them.
"Maybe there's an application of chakra to prevent footprints? You know, along the lines of tree- and water-walking." Torune suggested with a shrug.
"Maybe." Fuu conceded not entirely convinced, probably sharing my own thoughts.
"It depends on the situation and the skill-level of the target. Continuously using chakra in the target's vicinity to prevent footsteps might alert him or her to our presence." I voiced my thoughts, somewhat enjoying this little brainstorm session.
"And there are still the target's footsteps." Fuu added.
"Maybe we don't have to prevent footsteps, it should be enough to erase the footsteps when the job is done, shouldn't it?" I asked and glanced at Torune, our man for earth nature.
"That sounds like a very delicate jutsu. You would have to make sure not disturb any single detail surrounding the footprint otherwise the whole point of the jutsu is moot."
He answered thoughtfully, maybe already thinking of the requirements such a jutsu would need.
"Both options are viable and a common method depending on the situation." Kinoto landed next to us and neatly integrated himself into our conversation.
We turned to him and nodded in greeting as it was the first time in three days since we saw him after he left on a mission.
Kinoto returned the nod and we stood in a lazy circle, after the couple of weeks together we tended to stand at ease with each other, the constant at attention position having made way for a more relaxed atmosphere.
It probably helped, that the three of us so far exceeded expectations and showed good working chemistry with Kinoto probably content to keep the flow going the way it is.
"I will teach you the intricacies during our next mission." He said and held up a scroll with the color code for c-rank visible.
I was about to kill a few people.
Again.
And yet, I just couldn't shake the feeling, that this was just another tedious job I wanted to get done with.
When did I become so unabashed about this unthinkable act?
Is this normal or am I just a 'victim' of successful Root conditioning?
Going with the option that wouldn't force me to reflect on my life's decisions I went with Root conditioning. Yeah, that sounded good. We started our hitlist with bandits and various missing-nin, human scum to precise, continued with less unpleasant criminals and last but not least we went after various enemy combatants and 'undesirables'.
We killed people that were justified, that literally had it coming, and then without much fanfare, we ended up killing people because it was a mission.
I'm fairly certain, that the victims being all adult males weren't a coincident either, because I was reasonably sure I would have hesitated significantly more if it had been children or women.
'Whatever' I shook my head.
That I could daydream while sticking with my legs to the bow of a middle-sized junk in the middle of the ocean was rather telling, too.
Forcing some tension into my body, I hoped the observing Kinoto would assume my relaxed posture for confidence rather than boredom.
Peaking over the bow I spied one of my victims still dangling in the shrouds near the top of the mast. Bored and utterly relaxed he kept watch of the horizon, which suited me just fine.
My unassuming victims consisted of five older genins and a lone chunin of the same age. Given that all six felt rather lackluster to my senses I had the feeling the chunin got his rank for his nautical abilities and possibly for some leadership skills given their mission.
Said mission was to pose as pirates and harass merchant ships between the coast of the Land of Noodles and the edges of the Land of Water territory.
All in all, I was given the green light by Kinoto to use them for a practice run.
Since Kiri was currently in a shitty situation given their internal struggles they wouldn't be able to raise a fuss on the off-chance I got caught red-handed somehow even if they wanted to.
Anyway, what might have been a high c-rank or low b-rank mission for a regular Konoha team was made into a test for me to show my understanding of the Kiri methods we were trilled in. I was currently in the midst of the second half of this whole endeavor.
The first part was rather straightforward. Sneak on their ship, find their pirate flag, a mock secondary objective if you will, and poison the chunin with a vomit-inducing concoction courtesy of Fuu.
I couldn't help but smile at the memory as I readied the two Water Clones on either side of the ship to deal with the two other genins doing the night-shift.
It was glorious, it was silky smooth and I literally had to refrain from patting myself on the back again.
Two days ago, it was late evening and thick clouds blotted out the remaining light. With just my head breaking the surface I positioned myself in the path of the fake pirates some distance away and gently raised a heavy and murky mist.
Like a ghost, I slipped on board the moment the stern passed above my position where I was lying in wait just below the surface of the opaque ocean.
A few quick and silent steps brought me below deck where a part of the crew including the captain were sleeping in hammocks.
Keeping my breathing and chakra relaxed I glided into a dark corner just a scant few feet away from the captain. I opened the tiny vial containing the poison and prepared my party trick.
Crouched, I held the vial in my left hand and put my right index finger above the opened top.
Slowly, inch after inch I extended a barely visible chakra thread into the vial and a few seconds later I had a softly shimmering bundle of chakra coated with poison before me.
Centering myself again, eyes fixated on my little chakra construct I watched as the thread unknotted itself and made its way to the sleeping victim.
After what felt like eternity but was actually just a few heartbeats the end of my thread rested just above the slightly opened mouth of the captain and I saw drop after drop follow gravity.
I couldn't help but smile, it wasn't fast and it was overly complicated compared to a coated senpon stabbed into some soft tissue, but I could guarantee no remaining evidence like a wound and there was almost no chance of the victim waking up.
Finding the fake pirate flag afterward was just a minor matter since it was literally in the same room on a nearby desk.
All in all a job well done in my own humble opinion and watching the captain vomit his heart out over the railing during the next day was just the icing on the cake.
Given Kinoto's positive nod during our observation of the captain I also seemed to have passed his little mock-infiltration slash assassination test, which meant I was cleared to tackle the Kiri Hunter-nin part of his little challenge, that had me end up at my current position clinging to their boat.
As easy as the first part had seemed, this one was a bit trickier, because while I would eventually kill them all, my objective now was to capture them alive without getting caught or alerting anybody.
My saving grace, which kept this from becoming a real headache however, was the fact that the second I completed my objective my targets would be offed anyway. Meaning, I wouldn't have to be overly cautious with my methods since lasting damage was a factor to be ignored.
'Let's get this show on the road!'
Forming the Tiger handseal I started to gather a big gulp of water in my mouth. Content with the size I split my attention between condensing it and my two water clones.
I concentrated for a few heartbeats on all three targets, the two at the railings and the one hanging in the shrouds, as I would have to nudge my clones into the desired action.
It was high time to ask Kinoto to upgrade to Shadow Clones. It was really getting annoying to constantly split one's focus between clones and more and more finicky techniques.
'Fuck it, let's go!'
'Water Release: Gunshot'
I reared slightly back, aimed and let my little ball of water fly.
From the corner of my eyes, I saw my two clones quickly rise over the railing and smack their intended targets with the necessary force across the temple. Simultaneously my little pebble of water literally shot through the air and also hit the genin across the side of the head leaving him precariously dangling in the ropes.
Wide awake and despite my earlier grumbling loving every second of the action I sent a quick pulse with my sensing to make sure all three were still among the living and forced my clones to catch their downed victims and gently lower them to the deck.
Meanwhile, I jumped up into the shrouds to keep my sleeping beauty from tumbling down and waited for my clones to position themselves beneath us so I could let him fall into their waiting arms.
Everything said and done I surveyed my handiwork. Two Water Clones at my side and three unconscious genin in front of me.
'Better safe than sorry.'
Snake, Ox and the clone to my left dissolved to form a perfect sphere with my prisoners piled inside.
Gently bringing my palms together the sphere solidified and the clone to my right brought his hands forward to maintain the Water Prison Technique.
Nodding in satisfaction I quietly but confidently made my way below deck.
Standing in near darkness between the three remaining members of the screw still sleeping in their hammock my right hand took on a gentle green hue.
I wasn't as proficient as that nameless nurse all these years ago, who switched me out like a light, but what I could do should be more than enough anyway.
Going from hammock to hammock I placed my hand on each of their foreheads and just pushed them further into dream-land.
That done I kept my hand on the head of the last guy and used my other hand to drag him out of the room, confident the others were dead to the world and this guy was firmly under my control.
I dumped him into the Water Prison and repeated the process twice until I had the whole crew gently floating in the sphere in front of me.
"Good job." Kinoto commented as the last wisps of his Shunshin dissipated around him.
Knowing that it wasn't over yet I wordlessly prepared the messy finale.
Spreading one medium-sized scroll about half a meter in width before me I let it roll out rather tellingly to the length of an average-sized adult. Despite being fascinated by the elaborate seal design I quickly unfurled a small second scroll. This one a meter in length with ten circular seals evenly spaced along it.
Forming a one-handed Ram seal I robotically reached into my watery prison, dragged one guy out by his scruff and laid him length-side on the bigger scroll while making sure the water remained firmly in the bubble so nothing messed up the ink on the scrolls.
What followed next would be right at home in a butcher store or meat processing plant.
Draw the blade, cleanly lop the head off and seal it in the small storage scroll. Apply a constant amount of chakra into the larger scroll and watch the body burn and rapidly turn into a pile of ash.
Repeat the process five more times.
Two minutes later and my prison was vacant. I rolled up the small scroll, six previously empty seals now filled, shook off some ash of the bigger scroll and rolled it up, too.
Standing up I pocketed the two scrolls, wiped some imaginary dirt off my pants and dispelled my two jutsu, which washed the piles of ash overboard.
"Sooo.." This particular chapter closed I put my hands in my pockets and relaxed. "How about some Takoyaki?"
You know that weird feeling during a funeral when everybody is looking properly sad and teary-eyed and you just feel bored, uncomfortable and most of all oddly detached?
You just don't really know what to do with your hands and you desperately try to put on a face that looks the right mixture of composed and sad instead of constipated?
Well, this felt similar.
I let my gaze wander over Team Ro plus one Itachi Uchiha, who were currently traveling in a diamond formation in front of me and the rest of Team Kinoto.
I should be focused on my upcoming mission, my mind should be locked in the here and now and yet I couldn't help but feel it stray constantly.
My mood was stuck in a weird, childish and impatient loop, where I had to restrain myself from doing some unnecessary commentary.
Seeing those… celebrities… just reminded, with the force of a freight train no less, in what kind of world I was living in.
What a stupid idiotic world I was calling home.
Little kids being these super serious uber competent soldiers, plots and events happening because of stupid reasons.
I am on my most important mission yet and all I could think of was how I miss my old life where you could live a lifetime without weirdness and the only crazy stuff you saw was on the news in a far far away place you didn't give a shit about.
Seeing our grey-haired lanky leader ahead give the signal, that we just crossed the border into the Land of Rice Fields, I forcefully reminded myself, that from now on mistakes had potentially far-reaching consequences even for people I actually cared about.
God, I hated this small world.
Staying in formation my team veered off to the west, while the big boys went into position for their mission, which was to intercept a group from Kirigakure heading towards Iwakagure for the upcoming Chunin-Exams.
Hours passed until I sensed Kakashi pulse his chakra twice in quick secession. The signal for us to rejoin them.
"All clear, 2 klicks, East-northeast, let's go."
A few shunshins later and we regrouped to the sight of Team Ro's handiwork.
Two Kiri Genin-Teams including their sensei were unconscious on the floor, yet I failed to see any damage to them or their belongings, which meant things could proceed as planned.
That said, we waited at the edge of the little clearing and let them focus on the finicky part of this whole endeavor. The reason why characters such as Kakashi Hatake and Itachi Uchiha were chosen.
The first to take center-stage was Kakashi as he crouched over a rather non-described jonin wearing a bandana. Unmo Samidare, my jonin-sensei for the coming weeks and if all goes to plan, a man that will find his reputation and fortunes take a turn for the worse.
Apparently, Kakashi found what he was looking for as he spread out all the necessary documents concerning Unmo's genin-squad and the upcoming exam. I wasn't able to see exactly what he was doing, but I got the gist of it since we were roughly briefed on the procedures surrounding our mission.
Spreading out a scroll of his own next to the various documents he started speeding through almost two dozen seals just two slam his palm on his scroll, which suddenly started to bleed ink.
Even now, as I watched the ink creep over the documents, I couldn't help but be impressed by stuff like this, because I still hadn't got the faintest idea how it was actually done. What it was doing however was vital for the mission. Every detail, from fingerprint to pictures was altered to perfectly fit my team for the duration of the exam and not a single day longer.
That done and the documents neatly put back into Unmo's possession Kakashi motioned for us to come closer. Knowing what we had to do, we each stepped to one unconscious genin that vaguely resembled ourselves and changed into their clothes.
After years of weird and frankly uncomfortable stuff like this, I was thankfully able to suppress any stray thoughts and just go through the motions to complete my tasks. Looking up I fazed Kakashi and studiedly ignored the three naked kids lying a scant few feet next to me and the fabric on my skin.
Wordlessly he stepped past to us finish his part of the mission. Squaring my shoulders, something pushing me to not ignore this and watched him place a palm on the chest of the first kid.
I heard him more than I saw him push lightning chakra in irregular intervals into the chest.
Ventricular fibrillation followed by Cardiac arrest and … I watched him step to the next boy…death.
I ruthlessly suppressed a grimace as I gazed at the three dead bodies and cursed myself that it was mostly just supreme annoyance that I felt towards this whole shitshow.
Snapped out of my funk by the sealing of the three corpses and our anbu get-up into three little slips of paper, which in themselves were some high-level sealing shit given that they were exactly the same size as an exploding tag and even resembled one at first glance while simultaneously still able to hold corpses in stasis for an extended amount of time.
Dutifully we took our cargo and slipped them into our rolls of exploding tags.
Now it was Itachi Uchiha's time to shine. And boy was it boring.
First he looked at Fu, Torune and me in our new outfits with his Sharingan and then he went to all the remaining Kiri shinobi, lifted on eye-lid and somehow replaced the old image of Unmo's genin-squad with us, also only for the duration of the exams.
Fucking hax-eyes.
That done he placed another genjutsu on the whole group to resume their journey as if nothing ever happened when he would eventually give the signal.
Seeing that things were about to be wrapped up on his team's side Kakashi turned to us.
"Are you ready? You know your roles?"
I couldn't help it.
"Yeah, I play the tall, dark, and handsome ladies man, with a tragic past and these two are my trusty sidekicks." I finished with a guileless smile as I gazed into Kakashi's anbu-mask.
I more or less heard Fu smack his forehead and Torune's suffering sigh and felt every gaze of Team Ro snap on me as Kakashi cocked his head.
Holding the awkward silence for just the right amount of time I rolled my eyes.
"Just kidding!" I said towards the watching Anbu in a placating manner, as if I really got them with my joke.
"We are the pride of Unmo-sensei, absolute model students, speaking only when spoken to and with just as much personality as wet planks of wood. Better?" I asked my current boss.
"…Good enough." He answered with a quiet sigh of his own as I gave him an exaggerated thumbs-up.