The next morning Kioshi's stomach was in knots. Today was the day he was going to reveal his Dojutsu.
Akio had gotten instructions on where to go last night. Right now they were headed to Konoha's outskirts. Kioshi carried his sword with him. It wasn't engraved yet since the Hokage had intruded on his plans. A seal was not something you could rush.
Kioshi sighed. At least the Hokage had decided to do the demonstration in the morning. That meant he didn't have to skip his training with Itachi. That was his favorite part of the day. The Uchiha didn't ask a lot of personal questions. They simply learned and trained. Testing his skills in the quiet forest was always something he looked forward to.
Akio took him into a dense forest which, after a while, opened up into a large open green field. The field was empty except for a small group of people off to the side near its edge.
The figures were all recognizable. The Hokage was wearing his classic red and white robes. Standing next to the Hokage was a man wrapped in bandages with a cross-shaped scar on his chin. Kioshi's frowned. That must be Danzo. Great. The shady advisor's personal attention was the last thing he needed.
Standing next to Danzo was a man with a black spiky ponytail that had two scars on the right side of his face. He also had a goatee and pierced ears. Kioshi assumed this man was Shikaku Nara, head of the Nara Clan.
The last person made Kioshi's eyes widen in surprise. Standing next to Shikaku was a teenager with white silver hair. He had a slanted headband across one eye, and the bottom of his face was covered with a black mask.
I was Kakashi Hatake. At least, it looked like him. What was he doing here? Wasn't he supposed to be an Anbu right now? There was no sign of an animal mask or the standard Anbu uniform. Kakashi simply wore a black flak jacket with a long sleeve shirt.
Looking closer, Kioshi could see that there was a ninjato strapped to the teenager's back. Was Kakashi going to be his opponent? Why pick Kakashi out of all people?
Looking at the teenager, Kioshi guessed Kakashi's size might have something to do with it. Kakashi was taller than him, but the teenager was still a head shorter than all the adults present. Kakashi was also an Anbu and the son of the White Fang, so the teenager was most likely very good at Kenjutsu.
Kioshi swallowed.
"Hello Kioshi," the Hokage smiled once they were near. "I'm glad you could make it."
Kioshi kept studying the people around him in response. It was bizarre to see so many characters from a TV show. He still didn't quite believe this was reality.
"This is Danzo and Shikaku, my good friends," the Hokage said, gesturing to the men, "And this is Kakashi. He will be your opponent today to help you demonstrate your abilities."
Kioshi looked at the silver-haired teenager. Kakashi stared dully back. There was no emotion in the expression. The teenager gave a brief polite nod, and Kioshi nodded back in greeting.
"We don't know anything about your Dojutsu abilities," the Hokage continued. "I thought it would be easier for you to simply show us. Since we are unaware, please start out slow and do not do anything that will permanently hurt or kill Kakashi. That goes for your other skills as well. Kakashi will do the same."
Kioshi blinked. The silver-haired boy was a jonin, an Anbu, and a genius. Did the Hokage seriously think he could hurt him?
The old man had a point though. His portal technique was dangerous. Since Kakashi didn't know its capabilities, the teenager might end up like the powerful rock ninjas Kioshi had murdered. He would keep the Hokage's words in mind.
"This is a friendly duel," the Hokage continued. "So be careful. Are you ready?"
Kioshi straitened and nodded. He then gestured to his sunglasses as he looked at Akio. Akio nodded and Kioshi took off the glasses and handed them over. The glasses would get in the way and made things harder to see. Besides, this was supposed to be a Dojutsu demonstration.
He and Kakashi then walked to the center of the field and then turned and walked to opposite ends. The four audience members stood watching on the sideline.
Kioshi unsheathed his sword from his back and got into a ready stance. Kakashi did the same. Seeing that as his cue, Kioshi immediately rushed at the teenager. He wasn't one for dramatics. They clashed blades and started up a quick series of shrikes and dodges. As they quickened the pace, both covered dulling chakra over their swords.
Kioshi was grateful that Kakashi took the precaution. Even if the teenager was more skilled, accidents could happen. As the duel continued, Kakashi's movements got faster. Kioshi was already pushed to the limit, so it wasn't long before Kakashi got a strike in. Kioshi was sent tumbling across the grass.
The boy managed to roll into a crouch ten yards away. Kakashi stood ready and waiting. Kioshi turned to the audience and figured that they had probably seen enough of his sword skills, so decided to switch tactics.
His red and purple-ringed eyes illuminated. Kakashi tensed, having either seen or felt the difference.
The outside purple rings of Kioshi's eyes blinked in brightness as he pushed and cut off five purple wisps from his eyes. They were short and small like commas. A portal's size did not affect the energy's strength or sharpness. Making them small would save Chakra.
Flipping all the wisps counterclockwise, quarter-sized purple portals flared to life. Kioshi let Kakashi and the four audience members examine them for a moment before he sent them towards his opponent, the portals swarming around in the air like bugs.
Kakashi flared chakra into his sword and swiped at one as it came close. The chakra-covered sword was immediately sliced in half when it touched the purple energy. Nothing so far had been able to stop Kioshi's portals. The boy also didn't know how to make them harmless. Because of this, Kioshi allowed the attack so the teenager knew what the energy was capable of.
Then Kioshi picked up speed, rotating the portals around in a frenzy. Kakashi dodged out of the swarm and put some distance between them. The purple portals came at the teenager again, and Kakashi flashed over to a different part of the field.
At a distance, Kakashi blasted the portals with different techniques. New elemental awareness flared into Kioshi's soul sporadically and the boy smiled. He deactivated the purple portals and pushed out matching red wisps from his eyes. Five quarter-sized red portals flared to life.
Kakashi watched the red portals come towards him warily. The teenager tried destroying the red portals with techniques as well, but the red portals were solid and unbreakable. In addition, firing at red portals proved to be dangerous. The red energy reflected back some of Kakashi's techniques when they hit at the right angle.
Kakashi retreated, and Kioshi waited, biding his time. The boy had attached the five red portals to the bubbles that held Kakashi's elemental jutsus. Since the purple portals had been open for a time before being blasted, the red portals had to get rid of some empty air before any jutsus came out.
When the jutsus were nearing the exit point, Kioshi swarmed the red portals close to Kakashi again and began attacking the teenager with the teenager's own techniques. The red portals sent out only parts of jutsus since the purple portals had only absorbed what had hit them, but it was still effective. Lazers of water, fire, and lightning flashed out and around Kakashi randomly, causing the teenager to retreat again.
Kakashi's eye narrowed in Kioshi's direction. Kioshi deactivated the red portals and pushed out a series of purple and red wisps out of his eyes, ready for what the teenager had in mind. It seemed like Kakashi had finally concluded that the portals could not be harmed. Kioshi would have to be attacked directly.
Kakashi made a few hand signs and then sent out a huge blasting spout of water toward Kioshi. It was slow enough that Kioshi could have dodged, but this was a demonstration.
Kioshi did something different this time. Instead of making a purple portal to make a water-filled bubble, Kioshi connected a purple portal to a red portal inside his golden realm. When the portals were activated, this would make an instant transfer between them, instead of something delayed.
Two human-sized portals flared to life at the same, one purple, which Kioshi formed in front of him as a shield, and one red, which Kioshi flipped around and sent up to hover in the sky. The purple portal swallowed the water. At the same time, the red portal sent the swallowed water towards Kakashi.
The nice thing about sending out a technique through a portal was that Kioshi could rotate and move the portal how he wanted. When Kakashi moved to get out of the way of the water blast, Kioshi turned the portal like a hose nozzle after him.
Kioshi ended the technique when the water attack was completely swallowed. His chakra was half gone. This was a lot more than he could have ever done as a toddler, but the portals took a lot of energy. His breath was becoming labored.
What else could he demonstrate? As Kakashi rushed toward him, Kioshi made a new set of interconnecting portals. Time to teleport. Interconnected portals were the only portals that Kioshi could enter. Since interconnected portals bypassed the golden realm, the rules changed. The technique worked on his body, just like everything else.
He had to be careful though. An interconnected portal still only worked one way. Once you entered, you had to go all the way through. It would also only transport the parts of your body that were in its range. When he entered, Kioshi needed to make sure that the portal was big enough, and that he kept all his arms and legs tucked in.
Due to the danger, his father had been tense when Kioshi discovered and practiced this. His father sometimes told Kioshi that maybe it was better to forget about the technique. But Kioshi had loved it too much. Teleporting was fun and it could end up saving his life sometime.
A purple portal appeared in front of him, and a red portal appeared far across the field where Kioshi had stationed a red wisp just for this purpose. The purple human-sized portal blocked Kakashi's path to him, and before the teenager could move around it, Kioshi stepped through the backside of the purple portal, and out of the back of the red one across the field.
Kioshi immediately deactivated both portals after exiting, just in case Kakashi decided to follow him through. Kioshi then did two other teleportations, playing cat and mouse with the Kakashi until he was out of chakra.
The boy surrendered then. Thankfully, Kakashi acquiesced.
As they walked back over to the group who had been observing the fight, the Hokage clapped. "That was very impressive."
Kioshi nodded, exhausted and a bit unbalanced. A bed sounded really good right now.
"It's definitely a unique ability," Shikaku Nara stated.
"Yes," the Hokage agreed. "I don't think any of us has seen something quite like it. Is this your eyes' only ability?"
Kioshi shrugged. "It's the only one that I know of."
The Hokage nodded. "Keep it secret for now. The council and I will discuss it."
Kioshi nodded. Akio smiled and gave him back his glasses.
Kioshi fell asleep the minute they got home.
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Itachi didn't ask questions the next afternoon. Yesterday was the first time that Kioshi had not shown up for training. Kioshi gave an explanation that fighting another person had left him exhausted. The Uchiha had just nodded.
They continued with their training, getting back to their routine. Kioshi would teach Itachi different moves with the sword, and Itachi in turn would teach him sound and sight stealth along with long-range throwing. They would then fight and play ninja games to test their skills. They were both improving quickly because of this.
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A day later Kioshi engraved his sword. Testing the sword seal on the green field by his house, Kioshi found it worked perfectly. All he had to do was send pure chakra into to seal, and it would transform the pure chakra into lightning which would bolt out from the sword's tip at incredible speed.
Kioshi needed to wait for the academy year to end to become a ninja. During this time, Akio had him study and pass the academy written exam, which basically consisted of ninja terms, math, geography, and history. Kioshi had already learned most of it from the library, so it wasn't too difficult.
Once Kioshi saved up enough money, he also bought seven knives which he engraved. Three knives had a seal that acted like a grenade. The seal could hold any form of chakra within it, which could then be activated with spiritual chakra at a distance.
Two of his other knives had seals that coated the blade with sharpening chakra which could pierce armor or hardened skin.
His last two blades had a seal that made the entire blade incorporeal. It resembled what the cloaked rock ninja had done. Basically, you activated the seal, which allowed the blade to pass through solid defenses, then you would deactivate it with spiritual chakra, which would cause damage.
It took weeks of practice to get competent using the knives, but the results were promising. Kioshi was called to the Hokage's office, once it was reported just how extensive and useful his seal knowledge was. Apparently, the seals were not common.
After some persuasion, Kioshi agreed to make a book of seals for Konoha's archives. If he expected to be taught techniques from Konoha, then he should be willing to share information in return. Kioshi however made the argument that it would be a fair exchange. For every seal he shared, he would be able to pick out a similar ranked technique from Konoha to have. Before, it was understood that if he ever quit the military, then anything he learned inside it was to be kept secret. Not obeying this rule meant he would become a criminal. Now though, he could take a few techniques from Konoha, and use and teach them as his very own. The Hokage agreed to the arrangement.
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Academy graduation finally came, and Kioshi was both excited and nervous. This was the day he was going to start official duties and finally meet his team.
Akio refused to tell him who his teammates were. Two days ago the man broke the news that he was going to be the team's sensei, but he said that Kioshi would have to wait for further information.
Kioshi was still curious. What kind of people would his teammates be? Would they get along? Would any of his teammates be from any of the major clans?
At least Akio was going to be his sensei. That was good news. The man had become a meaningful figure in his life. He was like a surrogate father. Now his caretaking duties would simply extend to training and missions as well.
Walking through the village, Kioshi and Akio headed to training ground 2. This was where their team would meet. It would be their team's personal training ground until he and his teammates were promoted to chunin.
A teenage girl was already waiting there, sitting on the grass. She had brown shoulder-length hair and was wearing a brown sleeveless jacket with a fur hood. Her cheeks had red triangles on them, and in her lap rested a small gray and white puppy.
"Are you Emi?" Akio asked when they were a few yards away.
The girl look up and nodded. Her face held a solemn note to it, almost as if she was depressed.
"It's good to meet you Emi. My name is Akio. I am the sensei for this team, and this is Kioshi. He will be one of your teammates."
The teenager looked at Kioshi. She didn't seem surprised by his age, that or she didn't care. Kioshi waved, and the older girl tilted her head up slightly in greeting.
Akio looked around the clearing. "Well, I guess we just need to wait for our last team member…"
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Itachi walked toward training ground 2, confused. Actually, a lot of the academy graduates were confused. Two days ago the instructers had passed ten students to graduate. Ten! It was a strange number. The Acadamy had always graduated up to a number divisible by three. The lowest scores always had to wait till the next year. But for some reason this time was different.
Every single person who had passed their exams had been called to be put on a team. As they called out the teams, Itachi had been the one left out. For a moment the Uchiha thought that they had decided to put him into a personal apprenticeship, but his theory was disproved when he was told to meet his team at a different location.
Walking to the place instructed, Itachi wondered at the situation. Who were his teammates if it was none of the graduates? Was it a more advanced team that was missing a member?
Coming into the grass clearing, Itachi saw three people sitting on the grass. He froze when he saw one of them.
It was Kioshi. The olive-skinned boy was also wearing a ninja headband. How was that possible? The boy had never attended the academy.
Kioshi was a mystery. Itachi had been greatly surprised by his skill the first time they met. No one else his age could compete with him. Kioshi was even better than him in some areas. Itachi had wondered many times about the boy's identity but felt it was better to observe than ask.
Kioshi was someone important. The amount of Anbu always shadowing the boy attested to that. Itachi was a natural sensor, so he could easily detect the Anbu operatives. They hadn't attempted to hide their auras.
Itachi's high level of spiritual chakra brought great pride to his father and clan. Spiritual chakra was needed to perform genjutsu. The sharingan enhanced genjustsu. If an Uchiha had a high spiritual chakra, then with the sharingan, their genjutsu could be unstoppable. It was one of his father's great hopes.
Itachi knew that Kioshi had high spiritual chakra as well. The boy had a strong natural aura. He could always sense him before any of the Anbu.
This created a problem whenever he and Kioshi practiced stealth. They both had needed to learn how to expand their auras before they could truly test their skills. They were both competent in the technique now. It was now part of their routine to rely on their physical senses, playing hide and seek, surprising and attacking each other from hiding. Itachi appreciated the practice, even if Kioshi had a devious side that made him flinch.
Itachi really hated lightning bolts. They were his bane. A few weeks ago Kioshi had started to use a long-range sword lightning technique that made the Uchiha spasm just thinking about it. He'd been caught by it many times.
Itachi waved at the lighting monster, and Kioshi waved back, looking just as surprised as he was. Then they both smiled. If Kioshi was on his team, it was a pleasant surprise. Kioshi had become someone that he looked forward to seeing, even more than his friend Shisui.
Kioshi was also someone outside of the clan that his father approved of, which was rare. Itachi had been reluctant to tell his father about his new training partner, but when he had, his father had not only not rebuked him but had actually seemed pleased by the news.
Did his father know about Kioshi's abilities? That had to be the case. He had recognized Kioshi's name. His father must believe that the boy would make a great ally in the future or that Kioshi would help Itachi grow stronger. The clan came first. Only things that benefited it were considered.
The fact that his father knew Kioshi added to the boy's importance. Just who was he? Why had he not come to the village until now?
When Itachi reached the group, the adult, which Itachi assumed was his sensei waved. "Hello, you must be Itachi."
Itachi nodded.
"Well, why don't you come sit down." The black-haired man gestured. "Now that we're all here we can start with some introductions."
The group formed a circle.
"I'll start," the adult said. "My name is Akio Zambura, but you can call me Akio Sensei. I am 27 years old and I've been a jonin for five years. I like music and reading. This is my first genin team, but I've led other teams in the past. My dream is to protect Konoha.
"Okay, why don't you go next." Akio pointed to Itachi, who was to the left of him.
Itachi nodded. "My name is Itachi Uchiha," he stated flatly. I am 6 years old and I am the heir to the Uchiha Clan. I like to train and spend time with my brother Sasuke. My dream is for there to be peace in the world."
Akio smiled. "That's a nice dream Itachi." He then nodded toward the girl in their group. "Okay, you go next."
The girl shifted slightly and held her dog tighter. "My name is Emi Inuzuka," she said, tense. "I am part of the Inuzuka Clan. I am 14 years old and I have been a genin for 2 years. My team members were killed on a mission 3 months ago. This is why I am here. My companion was also killed." When she said this, her eyes teared up. She nodded down at the gray and white puppy in her arms "This is my new companion Koru. He is a young Ninken, but will be very powerful once he is grown and fully trained. He is what keeps me going."
At this Koru yipped in acknowledgment and licked the girl's arm. This caused Emi to wipe her eyes and smile softly.
The rest of the team didn't know what to say. Losing teammates had to be a lot like losing a family member. Losing her dog had to hurt even more. An Inuzuka and their dog were practically inseparable.
"I'm sorry that happened," Akio said solemnly after a moment of silence. "Welcome to the team Emi." Akio then nodded to Kioshi, deciding it would be best to move on and take pressure off the girl. "Okay, why don't you tell us about yourself."
Kioshi nodded. Akio had told him that it was fine to tell his teammates about his past and Dojutsu. Teammates were supposed to trust each other, and his Dojutsu would help him on missions. Still, Kioshi decided to keep things simple.
"My name is Kioshi Hirano." The ninja registry had needed a family name, so Kioshi had made one up recently. "I came to this village a few months ago, and I am currently living with Akio sensei. I like to train and eat ice cream." The last part was true. Rosie's cold sweets had the best ice cream he had ever tasted. Maybe it was something about this world, but he had never been so addicted to something. "I also like to be in nature and my dream is to protect others and help bring peace to the world."
Kioshi and Itachi looked at each other at this. They both had similar goals. The Elemental Nations, even in times of peace, were full of violence and pain. Opposing nations still skirmished or attacked in stealth. The land was also full of missing-nin and bandits. Kioshi hoped that one day everyone would learn to live peacefully with one another. He wanted to be a part of making that happen.
"Oh, and I'm 6 years old" Kioshi added. Kioshi's birthday had been last week. Akio had bought a cake and had gotten him a gallon of his favorite ice cream to celebrate. The man was observant. It was also the day he had been given his headband.
"Alright, very good," Akio said after the introductions were over. "Well, I guess the only thing now is to have the team test. Team tests are for the jonin senseis to make sure that their students have what it takes to be genin.
"I have little doubt in your ability." the man said. "Itachi, I am told that you are top in your class, and Emi, you already have two years of experience. And I have seen Kioshi's skills. I think, for the test, it would be best for you to fight each other. This will give me the chance to observe you, and for you to become familiar with your teammate's abilities."
The students nodded.
For the next hour, they had a total of three matches. The first was Itachi vs Kioshi. This basically consisted of what they did every day. Itachi and Kioshi fought with swords while simultaneously throwing projectiles. Itachi would also send out fire jutsu's from his mouth or hands while Kioshi sent out lighting bolts from his sword.
Kioshi still could outmaneuver Itachi with the sword, but Itachi was better at long range. They were equal in speed. This made it anyone's match. Kioshi got hit with one of Itachi's fireballs, and Kioshi surrendered. If it had been full-powered, he would have been disabled.
The next match was Itachi vs Emi. Before getting up, Emi left Koru by the sidelines to watch. Koru barked in frustration. He was still too young and untrained to fight. The puppy obeyed though and settled to growl in Itachi's direction. When Emi and Itachi started to fight, the puppy snarled louder and literally shook with the urge to rush forward.
Kioshi thought it was cute. He was glad Emi had someone so fiercely loyal to her. Kioshi tried to pet Koru to calm him down, but the puppy didn't respond, standing rigged and watching the fight intently.
Emi was fast and very skilled. She was quick on her feet and kept Itachi on his toes. She could also extend her fingernails into claws, which was pretty cool. Emi's fought using mainly taijutsu and thrown projectiles. She also knew a technique that shook the ground when she slammed her foot down. Eventually, though, Itachi got the upper hand and hit her in the back with his blunted ninjato. The fight was over.
The last match was Emi vs Kioshi. The match went about the same as the last one. Emi was fast, but she soon left herself open and got hit with a lightning bolt. The match ended.
Luckily the girl didn't seem to mind that she had lost again against a six-year-old. She just blankly told Kioshi it was a good match and went back to her puppy.
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The next few weeks were spent training and doing D-rank missions together.
In training, Akio taught them tree walking, water walking, stealth, and team strategy. He also taught them how to combat faster opponents in taijutsu.
Due to Itachi's and Kioshi's chakra control, it didn't take them long to learn tree and water walking, and Emi already knew how to do it. In the other areas, it took more time. Akio was faster, quieter, and more knowledgeable than any of them. He was a good opponent and helped them figure out their strengths and weaknesses.
During this time, Kioshi thought about telling Itachi and Emi about his Dojutsu. His Dojutsu had a lot of uses. His team should learn to work with it. Still, it never seemed like the time or place. The team had many other things to learn.
It took three weeks for the subject to be brought up.
It happened on a D-rank mission. D-rank missions were chores or basic tasks that civilians hired ninjas to do within the village. Most D-rank missions could be done by civilian workers, but ninjas could do them faster and cheaper. The missions taught genin how to work with their teammates in real-life situations.
On their way back from one of their missions, Koru asked a question. This wasn't surprising. Out of all the team members, Koru was the most curious and expressive. Emi would often answer the puppy's questions mentally, but when the answer needed another's input, she would speak the question to the group.
"Koru wants to know why you always wear sunglasses, Kioshi." Emi, said emotionlessly, as they walked through the village.
Kioshi blinked at her, and then looked at the small puppy. The puppy was staring down at him, perched happily on Emi's shoulder and wagging his short tail. Kioshi then looked to Itachi and Akio. Both were also curious about what he would say.
Kioshi sighed. It was as good of a time as any. "I wear sunglasses to hide my eyes," he said. "I have a unique Dojutsu. Dojutsu's I've heard are rare, so I don't like drawing attention to myself."
Itachi was so surprised at the explanation that he stopped walking. The group stopped and looked back at him. The Uchiha blinked away his shock and quickly caught up. "You have a Dojutsu Kioshi?" He asked in wonder, not quite believing it.
Kioshi nodded. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."
Itachi looked away and walked in silence for a moment. He then turned back.
"Have you activated it? Do you know what it does?" There was great curiosity in his voice now.
"Yes," Kioshi said in answer to both questions.
This surprised Itachi even more. "The Uchiha have a Dojutsu too, but most cannot activate at such a young age. I do not expect to be able to activate mine for some time." Itachi then studied Kioshi more closely. Everything made sense now. The Anbu…his father's knowledge… "Who else knows about this?"
"Not very many people," Akio answered from the back, cutting in. "Kioshi is only allowed to tell the team about this, so don't spread it around." The man then looked at Kioshi. "Perhaps you can show your Dojutsu abilities during training tomorrow?"
Kioshi nodded.
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The next day was spent explaining and demonstrating his Dojustu. Itachi, Koru, and even Emi seemed fascinated.
After that, Kioshi started to use his Dojutsu on the team's D-rank missions. The first mission he used it on was on a large hornet hive that they had to exterminate from someone's barn. Instead, of putting the hornets asleep with gas, Kioshi simply swallowed the nest up with a purple portal.
The next mission he used his Dojustu to transport eggs from a chicken farm on the village outskirts to a grocery store in the village center. Instead of worrying about keeping the farmer's wagon smooth and steady to whole way, Kioshi just pushed the wagon into a large purple portal and had the wagon come out later from a red one at their destination.
It was pretty handy.
His teammates agreed.
One month later, they got their first C-rank mission.
