I don't own Naruto


Chapter 6

(Hisoki Hyuga POV)

I was currently sitting in the living room of our house, letting my thoughts wander for a bit.

The academy was as boring as I expected, hailing from the prestigious Hyuga clan, I was not allowed to show anything but excellence. It would be an embarrassment to show weakness in front of commoners. The elders were very strict on this, giving every kid a stern talking before sending them to the academy.

Usually, I would agree with this assessment, but in the last few weeks, my beliefs got tested a couple of times. In the class rankings, I was first place, as is proper for a Hyuga, but what surprised me was the kid who was in second place. An orphan named Masashi, a kid without a clan to help him and with no resources, whatsoever. He was ranked above an Aburame kid, Shohta, who was arguable talented enough and from a noble clan. Going by my teachings, he should have gotten the second spot, but that was not the case.

Masashi didn't look that special, he had black hair and brown eyes. A very common trait in the land of fire, and was just a little taller than the average kid our age. What made him interesting for me was his dedication and his mannerism. I knew he was studying almost every day after the academy, often joined by his friends Arata, who was also a very talented student, and the Aburame kid. The thing is, he doesn't act like a normal kid. He was always mature and didn't really interact much with the other kids in class, except his two friends. When he did, he did so with a plan in mind.

It was hard to spot for the untrained eye, but I am a Hyuga, I know the signs. Many Hyuga show similar mannerism, after all. Coming from a clan, who is notorious for producing A-ranked ninja, I could tell the kid had talent, even if he was a civilian. The elders would probably disapprove if I were to befriend him, that is why I held my distance. All things considered, I have started to see him as a rival. Maybe he can push me to become stronger, stronger than the other clan members. 'A S-ranked Hyuga…' I thought to myself.

While I was daydreaming, I didn't notice the door to the living room open and another person entering the room.

"Hisoki, quit your daydreaming!" a voice snapped from behind me, and I jumped a little. Turning around, I noticed that it was my father who entered the room. "Sorry, father." I spoke with a bow.

"It is unbecoming of a Hyuga to show such weakness, keep it in mind." he sat down opposite of me. "Now we haven't had the chance to speak about your experience in the academy the last few weeks. Tell me about your time." he spoke or much rather commanded.

It was true, we haven't had much time lately, father was always working, doing some clan business. I didn't really see him the last few weeks.

"It is how I expected it to be. The academy is no challenge for a Hyuga. Still, it was interesting." I told him. "In my class is also an Aburame boy, he is called Shohta. He is talented, currently in third spot in the class rankings. I am in first."

"Good, as is expected of a Hyuga. What kid is in second spot, a Yamanaka maybe, If I remember correctly, they also have a kid your age." he told me.

"No, the boy in second place isn't even a clan kid. His name is Masashi, he is an orphan." I told him, trying very hard not to show my amusement, when I see the slight crack in his mask at that. He took just a second to compose himself again, but I noticed it.

"Really… interesting. What can you say about him?" he inquired.

"He is arguably talented. He frequently trains with the Aburame boy and another boy after the academy. He also managed to defeat the Aburame boy in a taijutsu fight. The boy is clever and very determined, like he is working towards something, but I don't know what." I answered.

"Mhm… keep an eye on him, Hisoki. Maybe we can use him to our advantage." He spoke, with a glint in his eyes. I had a hard time suppressing an eye roll. The clan this, the clan that… It was always like this.

"Yes father." I said demurely. Seeing this as my dismissal, I stand up and leave the room. Speaking to my father was not something I liked to do, after my mothers' death he became cold and uncaring. I spent most of my time on my own or with my older brother, he recently graduated the academy and was now a member of a genin team under a jonin sensei.

Making my way towards my room and stepping inside, I looked in my mirror and saw the reflection of my face staring at me. I grabbed my headband and lifted it a bit to see the caged bird seal. I hated this thing… It felt disgusting. Knowing that you are at the mercy of others for your whole life sucks. Knowing that you will never experience true freedom sucks even more.

With a sigh, I let the headband fall back into its place and sat down on my bed. Feeling another headache approaching.


Outskirts of Konoha

(MC POV)

Today was unusual, normal lessons got cancelled for the day and sensei took us on a trip towards the outskirts of Konoha. When asked why we were here, sensei refused to answer us, so we just followed him.

Arata and I were discussing weapons now, more specifically senbon and kunai. I had taken a liking towards the use of senbon, whereas Arata liked kunai more. We were still arguing which one is better in combat, when our group stopped in front of a large farm.

Most of my classmates got confused, what we were doing here. Meanwhile, I had an idea, what sensei has in mind. Just think about it, what could a group of academy students do on an animal farm, that was important enough that a whole day of class gets cancelled. I give you a tip, weapons, and animals will be involved…

"Sensei, what are we doing here?" a girl at the front asked.

"Today I will teach you a very essential skill of all ninja." here he made a significant pause. 'He really likes the dramatic sometimes…' I thought. "Today, you will learn what it is like to take a life. I have spoken with the owner of this farm, and he has allowed us to slaughter the pigs for him. Each of you will kill one pig, I will show you how it is done, and I expect you all to follow my instructions. Does anyone have a question?"

I took a look around and many kids went pale at that. I had to stop a chuckle, 'Really, what do they think a ninja does? Arrange flowers and rescue some maiden from danger?'.

"No? Then follow me." Sensei instructed. He led us towards a building next to the barn. Inside was a pig lined to the wall. "Watch how I do it, you will do the same." he told us sternly.

Tanaka-sensei took a kunai from the pouch on his belt and stepped next to the pig. He gives us a look and tells us to not look away. He kills the pig with a quick step in the spine and hangs it up on a hook upside down. Sensei then kneels next to it and with a simple slash, he cuts open the throat, so the corpse can bleed out properly.

When he was done I looked around, many other kids were now close to throwing up and some were already at it. Luckily, there were empty buckets already prepared. Tanaka-sensei obviously knew what would happen. Arata was also a little pale. I was a little surprised, when I saw Shohta and Hisoki unaffected. 'Figures, they probably have already been through this whole process in their clan training.' I thought.

I took the whole experience in stride. This was not the first time I saw an animal slaughtered, my father was a hunter, so I got to see this process on multiple occasions. I liked hunting, and never really had a problem killing an animal, it was after all a resource in my mind.

"Your reaction is normal, many people will react like this when seeing blood for the first time." sensei explained. "I know you may think it is cruel of me to show you this, but keep in mind, it is better for you to react like this now than on a mission, where you will endanger your comrades." he continued.

Comprehension was visible on most of the surrounding faces.

"I will call your name, and you will step forward. I will help you with hanging up the pick, but you will do the killing yourself. Arai Chiko, please step forward." he called out.

And so, it went on, many civilian students struggled with the task. But after some time it went a lot smoother. Arata showed a little hesitation at first, but completed the task successfully, he looked still looked a little pale, but otherwise fine.

There was only one incident when a kid missed the spine by a lot and the pig began to scream and trash around. It was safe to say that the screams had a strong effect on the kids, and some even cried after this.

'I wonder how many of them will end up with emotional damage after this stunt' I spoke in my mind.

When it came tome my turn, I killed the pig efficiently and gave a nod to sensei. After everyone had completed the task, sensei told us to go home and think about everything that happened today.

Arata wasn't really in the mood to train, and I understood him. So, this left me with nothing to do for the rest of the day. 'Mhm… I guess I will treat myself to some ramen.' I decided. With that decision in mind, I made my way to a certain ramen stand.


Ichiraku Ramen, Konoha

"Ahhhh Masashi-san, welcome to my humble ramen stand!" a loud and friendly voice boomed as I sat down.

"Hello Teuchi-san, one miso ramen please." I said with a smile.

As the ramen chef begins preparing my order, I take a look in my wallet and I don't like what I see… I am almost broke… again.

I grossly miscalculated my expenses now that I live alone in my apartment. In my mind, I only thought I would have to pay for except ninja equipment and food, but it turns out I have to pay for water and electricity too. So, I was back at square one.

I already had an idea to make some extra cash and practice my weapons and stealth skills. The answer was hunting. I could make money selling meat and hide from the animal. It was a win-win for me, train and get paid for it. I don't think there are laws, that forbid me from hunting animals here, there is wildlife aplenty.

The idea animals to focus on would be boar, the meat would be easy to sell, and the hide could be used for rugs or something. Foxes would also be good, their pelts will sell very well.

Meanwhile, the young Teuchi placed the ramen bowl in front of me. With a quick itadakimasu, I dig into the food. It is sooooo good, I can really understand why Naruto comes here so often in the Anime.

After two more bowls, I leave the establishment, with a happy stomach and a sad wallet.


Academy, Konoha

Class today was a lot more tense than usual. The reason was obvious, several children were more quiet than usual and didn't speak up that day. I was no expert on human psychology, but I could guess why so many ninja go crazy. Not every one can cope with so much blood and death.

I think Arata was also having some problems still, he tried to hide it, but he was spacing out a lot more than usual. 'Have to talk to him after the academy is over' I made a mental note of this.

Tanaka-sensei currently was trying to teach us more about genjutsu and illusions.

"The most effective way to escape a genjutsu is to disrupt your chakra flow. This method is called genjutsu dissipation or genjutsu reversal. This can be done by yourself or by your comrade for you. But all of this is useless if you don't realize that you are in an illusion in the first place…" he goes on about methods of detecting genjutsu for a few minutes.

"One interesting method of genjutsu detection is via the help of the kikaichu bugs of the Aburame clan." here he was looking at Shohta, who didn't react, probably because he was aware of this application.

Genjutsu is really cool, but I doubt that I will focus on it in the future. The only way I could see myself doing this is if I magically unlock some kind Dojutsu that helps me with them. But I don't see that coming… So, I will most likely only really learn how to detect and escape enemy genjutsu.

When the lecture was over, I told Arata to meet me at the roof. When we both got there, I turned to him and observed him.

"Arata… are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm…" I gave him a look. "Maybe, I am not fine at the moment… It was just eye-opening to take a life like this, even if it was only an animal. All the blood really made me uncomfortable, and I had some nightmares tonight…" he told me. I gave him a hug.

"It's okay, the first time seeing so much blood and the screams of the animal can be quite unsettling." I spoke from experience here, accidents happen. It is not always a clean kill, better get used to it, seeing animals than humans…

"Yeah, I think I just need some time to think about everything. I greatly appreciate your help, Masashi." he smiled at me.

"That's what friends are for, if you have a problem, we can always talk about it." I told him.

Thereafter, I let him have some time for himself. I also had some more errands to make.


Forrest, Konoha

I was currently looking at the results of my work. In front of me lay a fox and a boar. My first attempt at hunting in the Narutoverse was successful.

My aim was definitely good enough for hunting animals, but not perfect. I missed a kunai when I tried to kill another boar, and it escaped because of it.

I also told Arata that I would go hunting from now on, but he wasn't very enthusiastic as of jet. It was understandable, after all, the 'pig accident' was only a few days ago, and he was still trying to process what he saw.

After a few hours of work, I was left with two pelts and a lot of meat, which I had to transport back to Konoha. I should be able to make more than a thousand ryo from this hunt, which made me smile. 'I love it when a plan works…'

With the money, I can do something that I wanted to do for some time now. I was really interested in discovering what chakra affinity I have.

Most likely, I had a fire affinity, but I don't really have a preference. Every affinity has its strengths and weaknesses. For example, fire is strong against wind, but when fighting against water it is weak. The same principle goes for the other affinities as well. You can counter one affinity with another, and so on. The five possibilities were fire, wind, lightning, earth and water.

Depending on where you were born, the probability that you were of a certain nature was higher than elsewhere. Konoha, being located in Fire Country, had a majority of fire elements. People born in Suna, on the other hand, tended to have a wind affinity. And so on… You get the point.

But first things first, I had to get the meat and the pelts to the market quickly…


Ninja Supply Store, Konoha

"One chakra paper please!" I told the cashier.

"That will be 750 ryo, my friend." He responded. 'And here goes my money again…' I thought with a sigh. I paid with my hard-earned money and left the shop a lot poorer than I entered.

I think it was worth it to know my affinity, after all I could focus on what I was best at to become stronger. If my calculations were correct, the Second Shinobi World War would start in two years, which meant I needed more power, and I needed it fast.

Making my way towards my apartment, I thought about what I could remember from canon. Kushina should arrive in Konoha in the next few months. I also heard talks of higher ninja activity at the borders. So, I guess the foundations of the next big war are already starting to take shape.

There were a few skirmishes between Kumo and Konoha already, and Ame is also a proverbial powder keg.

There will also be conflict with Suna. All in all, Konoha is in a pretty tough spot. I am not convinced that we were at war with Iwa so that's good at least. Our advantage is that the other hidden villages also don't like each other. I think most of the fighting takes place in the small border countries like Ame and Rice, so I doubt that an invasion is imminent.

'I still have some time to prepare…' I sighed, I was optimistic that I would survive the war, don't want to waste the second chance to live after all.

While my thoughts ran rampant through my head, I reached my apartment and stepped inside. After eating something quick, I sat in a meditative position on the ground and held the chakra paper I recently bought in my hand. The scroll said it would suffice if I just channel some chakra into the paper.

I could identify my affinity by watching the reaction of the paper. If I had fire, the paper would burn to ash, wind would split the paper in the middle, earth would make the paper turn to dirt and crumble, water the paper will become wet and finally lightning will make the paper wrinkle with electricity.

So, my preparations complete, I started to channel my chakra into the paper. I could feel it leave my core and travel slowly to the paper. The reaction was instantaneous, the paper started to turn to dirt… and caught fire… WHAT?!

Okay, I should read the whole thing next time… Here in the small print it says: 'In a rear few cases the paper can show two affinities, this means that the person has a connection to two elements. The first element to show is usually the stronger, and the second the weaker.'

That made sense, so my main affinity is earth and my secondary is fire. 'Damn, this is so cool.' I thought.

That gives me a broader spectrum of possible jutsu to learn. I'm also capable of diversifying my fighting stile and catch my enemies off guard when I switch between fire and earth jutsu mid-fight.

I have to visit the library tomorrow and get some scrolls on my affinities, maybe I can start to learn a few D- or C-rank jutsu to help me in a fight.

Lost in my thoughts, I sat there for quite some time, long enough to see the sun rising and my bones arching when I made to stand up. I felt old at that moment. "Fuck, how can I feel like an old fossil when I am 8 years old?" I grumbled.

I decided to forgo sleeping now, I would feel only worse when I have to wake up in an hour. With that decision made, I cooked some breakfast and did a few stretches to get my body moving again and to get rid of the tiredness, that my muscles and bones felt.

With a yawn, I decided to head to the academy again.

Konoha was unusually quiet today, so much so that it confused me a bit. But being as tired as I was, I gave it no mind. With my eyes only half open, I reached the entrance door of the academy. I was surprised to find out it was closed. 'Huh? That's new, why is it closed? Did sensei say anything about different school hours?' That were the questions that were running through my mind at surprisingly fast speed, considering that I am sleep-deprived.

I spotted an older man who was preparing his shop on the other side of the street for customers later.

"Hey sir, can you tell me what happened to the academy? The door was closed?" I asked him, my confusion grew when he started laughing in my face.

"What's wrong?" I asked with annoyance obvious in my voice.

"Boy… it's the fucking weekend, haha!" he almost fell over laughing so hard at my confused look.

My confusion was slowly receding, and I realized to my drawing horror, that he was right, it was fucking Sunday. I think the old man could see my face growing steadily more red because his laughter grew louder again.

I hastily excused myself and made my way back to my apartment as fast as possible. Furthermore, I didn't trust the ground to not let me sink in because of my embarrassment.

"Fucking Sunday… I thought Monday was supposed to be the bad day." I cursed. It was safe to say that I never told a living soul about this encounter. Even when questioned by my friends, why I was suddenly embarrassed when we passed a certain shop from time to time. The old man winking at me didn't do me much favor…


Hey everyone, here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoyed it.

The pig scene was a little taste why this story will deserve the M rating, so be warned.

I had a lot of fun writing the end of the chapter.

Like always, like and review!

SSW