Struggle of Assault team: Part 1

(I just wanna say that whoever is reading this, you matter to me. You readers, no matter how few of you there are, inspire me to keep going. Enjoy)


Why the fuck is it so bright? Hold up. Wait a minute I've had this dream before… That guy with the white outfit is around here somewhere, but I'm not seeing him anywhere. Actually, I can't see anything with all this light here. Wait a second… it feels like I'm being watched. Yep of course he'd be behind me, and those red eyes just go right through me. Look asshole if you want a fight out of me then I'll give-

"KOTETSU!"

"That's my name." The fifteen year old looked around and saw Shiro right beside their other teammate Rito, both were staring at him with confusion in their eyes. It took him a second to figure out why but the tugging at his calf quickly reminded him as to why they were even here. He looked down to see a man with a dark blue sandal against his upper chest, courtesy of the Uchiha teenager. "Oh right I forgot about this guy." He looked around at the plain… plain that they were standing in and remembered that they were here on a mission. He brushed his bangs over the green wrapping around his forehead and sighed.

Wearing an asymmetrical grey shirt where his right sleeve was nonexistent, pants that were black, and tapered at his ankles with light brown hair that dangled just over his eyes was their teammate Rito and confusion was spreading over his face at his teammate's words. "How'd you forget you were interrogating someone? You're standing on his airway!"

"Shut up medic, I was daydreaming about something." Kotetsu pressed his foot down harder and grinned at the guttural groan that his victim let out. "Alright I'll ask you one more time, where is your group supposed to be?" He raised his foot ever so slightly to let the man take in gasps of precious air.

"I already said that I'm not telling you-" Kotetsu didn't even let him finish and decided to stomp on the man's windpipe, and of course that wasn't an instant finisher since the man was now panicking and clawing at his neck trying to unblock his airway but to no avail.

Shiro decided to ponder their mission while the sounds of the dying man prevented perfect silence for her to focus on the situation they were in. "We got the mission to find a hideout for some group, and this is the only lead we got."

"Well he had to know something but Kotetsu just decided to take him out… Always something to prove with you." Kotetsu and Rito were glaring at each other now, ever since their team was formed they just didn't see eye to eye and this was one of their moments of disagreement.

"At least I'm not scared to get into a fight." Now the two were right in each other's faces and neither was backing down, the fact that Rito was looking an Uchiha directly in the eyes didn't go unnoticed to Kotetsu but he wouldn't give him any credit for it. Shiro looked at the two and decided enough was enough.

"Both a ya' can shut it!" The male pair found themselves grabbed by the hair and their heads became well acquainted when Shiro smashed them together and tossed the two away like paper. Her opened beige jacket flowing freely in the wind while she managed to come to a simple conclusion. "The place must be around here somewhere since he was a lookout. All we need to do is look."

"Makes sense to me, where should we look then oh great and powerful Chunin leader?" Rito joked as he held a hand over his knotting forehead. The joke wasn't that she was a Chunin leading two idiot genin, the joke was that she was a special Jonin leading two idiot Chunin, all three of them had flak jackets without pockets or compartments.

At that exact moment there was a sound of a thud against something solid, followed by crumbling. The sane members of the team looked over and saw Kotetsu standing in front of a hole in the hillside with his sharingan active. "Found it!" He spared no time in jumping in while Rito pursued and Shiro shook her head and walked in casually to see her male teammates squaring off again.

"-psychopath with a toe addiction!"

"At least I've got a hobby, all you do is stay in the hospital and help people!"

Rito didn't waver despite what his instincts said and decided to respond like any normal person would. "Are you really judging me for being a decent person?! Do you care about anything besides yourself?"

Kotetsu opened his mouth to respond but his words were caught on his tongue. "T-That's… Uh…" He pulled back and thought about the question but couldn't form a proper answer.

"If something happened to your girlfriend what would you do?" If Kotetsu wasn't frozen before he definitely was now. His eyes scanned the dimly lit passage for anything to draw an answer but nothing helped him.

The Uchiha scoffed and shook his head while turning to start walking down the passageway. "As if anything could happen to her." Rito was rightfully angry at how he was just waived off without a second thought, Shiro walked past him and just shrugged. Their medic bit the bullet and decided to walk behind them with a huff, maybe he'd get lucky and get taken off this crazy team if they failed the mission.

Their short walk brought them to a large underground chamber that somehow had grass but a quick analysis let them see that there was artificial lighting on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. "What type of maniac would have a field underground?" The field was easily two hundred yards in length and fifty in width. Rito looked around and his eyes landed on a pair of people staring straight at them.

"Oi Viola! There's some brats here and they don't look like ours!" A rough voice rang across the entire field and once Kotetsu heard it he scratched his head in contemplation. The figure that spoke was sitting on the grass while their associate stood beside them.

'Wait that voice…'

Beside that figure was one in a black robe with blue stripes along the side of it. They leaned towards the group and shook their head just as quickly. "Not ours at all Takuya-senpai… Guess this yard is compromised." Well the teens could tell that she was a woman through her voice.

"Who are you lesbians and what sins are you committing down here?!" Eloquent as ever, Kotetsu drew a straight katana from a red sheathe on his back and pointed it at the two women in question. "Wait… You're the heart taking bitch from a few years ago!"

Takuya stood up from her position on the ground and realization flashed in her eyes. "You're the brat that was with Akira! How's he been? Better yet where's the kid that killed Karyama?"

"Was that the water girl? Or whoever was shooting arrows? Either way, last I heard Akira bit the dust about a month ago." Shiro's eyes looked more like plates at that piece of information and the fist that Kotetsu took to the head definitely made him reflect on his young life. "The hell was that for?!"

"Akira-san died and ya didn't tell me? He was like the uncle I wish I had."

'I feel like I'm missing some context here.' Rito just kept his eyes on the unknown women while his teammates had their domestic dispute.

Takuya herself looked dejected at that news, despite having a desire to kill Akira herself. "He's dead. Great I can't keep my promise of taking his heart. Viola! We're leaving, place is compromised." With a sharp whistle Takuya turned with Viola hopping in step behind her.

"Should we really be leaving them alone here senpai?" Viola questioned and Takuya only chuckled.

"Don't worry about them. There's nothing here even if they survive Yuko."

"Oi! I ain't done with you two!" Shiro started running after them with Kotetsu right by her side.

Shiro stopped them both right when something smashed into the ground ahead of them. They backed up to see that it was a man built like a wall, and easily more than six feet in height. The most noticeable fact was that he was in a patient's outfit that had tears and rips all across it, a scar on his abdomen and a crazed look across his face were the smaller details. "Hope you're ready to die! I'll rip your dicks off and shove me down your necks after I chop your hea-" Shiro had enough and decided to shut up the vulgar brute with her sword. She punctured straight through his sternum and kicked him off the weapon entirely.

By the time he hit the ground the man was marked as dead by the trio. Rito was looking in his bag for a sealing scroll. "Well whoever this was might've had some secrets of whatever this place was supposed to be."

"Those bitches got away! Rito send out a pulse to-" It wasn't easy to disturb Kotetsu, and the same can be said with his… whatever Shiro can be called, but the sound of an elbow driving into Rito's back definitely shook him to some degree. "How is that freak still kicking?!" Lo and behold Yuko was there with black lines spreading across his body, his eyes went from brown to orange and his hair turned grey while growing down to his shoulders.

"One down, two to go!" Shiro saw that his sternum was, for a lack of better words, leaking orange liquid out of the wound and eventually the fluid stopped showing that the hole was entirely mended, save for a slit shaped scar. In a swift movement, Shiro threw her blade straight at the berserker and orange chakra seeped from her skin to form a cloak around her body that gave her the boost to leap after her blade. Yuko put an arm up in defense right as the weapon and the teenage girl that owned it made it to him. "HAH! Nice try bitch!"

Shiro's sword and fist were caught inside of a wall… A wall coming from Yuko's arm, his skin was now taking on a gray hue and the shield of flesh coming from his forearm was even weirder. 'This is gettin weirder and weirder.'

The sound of sparks rang through the air right as a ball of lightning slammed into Ruko, freeing Shiro's hand from his shield. The man recovered and stood with a manic smile on his face. "Quit making things harder for me and just die already!" He lifted his shield arm and the mass shifted from his forearm to his hand and turned it into a wide axe-like blade.

"Is this freak made out of clay?" Kotetsu was already going through hand signs when Yuko decided to make a break right for him. The ace didn't make contact since Shiro got in the way and with two wisp like tails flowing from her lower back, the crazed man didn't hesitate to raise his normal hand and send the girl into the ground with a vicious backhand. "Katon: Goryūka no jutsu!" A massive dragon shaped flame came from Kotetsu and struck Yuko, and the screaming was like music to the Uchiha's ears. 'That's a bigger cost move but it pays off, of course my cousin can use it… cheater.' Eventually the screams died down and the man collapsed to the ground.

"Wait, is Rito okay?!" The jinchuriki worked her way out of the ground and was carefully flipping the boy over. "His eyes are wide open, and he's limp like a loose condom. I don't know anything about medical ninjutsu."

'You don't need to know much about medicine to heal him.'

Shiro went ramrod straight and almost facepalmed once she realized where the voice came from. 'Octo-gramps? What do you mean by that?'

The eight tails shifted in his giant cage, the stone floor offering a surprising amount of comfort. 'You have the second strongest tailed beast in you, all you have to do is cut a finger and let your blood drop into his mouth. Our chakra will at least be enough to get him on his feet.'

"Say less." Shiro dragged her wakizashi along her index finger and a trail of crimson followed. 'How much should I give him?'

'A few drops should be enough.'

With that Shiro held her finger over Rito's opened mouth while Kotetsu looked straight at the fallen enemy they had. Three drops of blood passed Rito's lips before Kotetsu spoke up. "Something doesn't feel right, Shiro don't let-" Some things happened in that moment. First the ground under them split in half and from it came Yuko and he looked even less human than he did before, he was bigger and there were two tubes pointing upwards from his back. The next thing was the heavy strike to the rib cage that Kotetsu had to take, it was too quick for a substitution and he wasn't fast enough to dodge it so suddenly, and it sent him a distance away.

"I'm done playing around with you fucks! I'll make sure you're all deader than an old man's cock!"

The Uchiha got up despite the tear inducing pain, but he didn't cry over it since he, "ain't a bitch". Staying down may have been the better alternative once his red eyes locked onto what was ahead of him and made him freeze. There weren't any words to describe what he felt once he saw a spike of grey flesh going right through Shiro's stomach, but his mind flashed back to the last time he felt this way…

The moon wasn't in the sky that night, and the darkness was all consuming. The sound of clanging pots and pans roused a boy with black hair from his sleep. Usually the boy was never scared, much less intimidated, but the sound coming from his kitchen made him nervous. The stairs creaked lightly as he went down them but it was an unnoticed noise among the sounds coming from the floor below. He was in the doorway of the kitchen and the first thing he saw was that the entire room was a mess with cutlery and pans all over the floor, and the chairs for their table were scattered across the room. His vision locked onto his parents but he took his mother being crumpled on the floor as a higher priority, and his father being just a few feet away wasn't overlooked.

"Lying bitch! A scroll of Uchiha fire jutsu?! I knew something was wrong when he cut off part of a kid's foot when he was six!" The scroll in his hand was thrown straight at the downed woman and that spurred Kotetsu to run out and push his father with everything his ten year old body had… which was more than the man expected out of nowhere since he hit the countertop hip first. "Little shit! I knew there was more to you being fucked in the head than her dropping you!"

"Kaa-chan!" He cried out but the only response he got was labored groans and heavy breathing. His eyes opened wide and he ducked to the left to dodge the kitchen knife now in the table he stood by. "You're doing this just cause we're Uchiha?!"

"I'm doing this cause you're from a treehugger clan. They've always been against us in the stone and if they think that we needed to be given one of theirs just to not seem weak… I'm going to kill you both, and nobody loyal to the stone would blame me." Despite his cracked hip bone, he moved faster than Kotetsu could react to and punched the boy dead in the jaw. "Whether it starts a war or not, I can't wait to send your heads to the Hokage bitch!" The floor was as cold as the expression on his father's face but it was more forgiving since it only hurt him when he landed from the punch, while his father was still after his life. "Not as tough as you thought? Your little mind and ideas of being special don't matter here, in the end you're just a helpless kid."

Everything slowed down as the boy saw the situation for what it was, he was against the odds and one of the two people that were supposed to care for him was trying to end his existence over some feud he was too young to understand. His father hesitated and stared him straight in the eyes with contempt. In that moment the boy reached out and threw a broken chair leg at his assailant. "I'm not helpless! I am a God!"

Shiro was flung away like a broken tool and Yuko grinned at Kotetsu who clenched at the earth beneath him whilst emotions spread through him. Yuko charged with his pointed limb drawn back while Kotetsu slowly stood up with soil still in his hand. The gray skinned freak was barreling forward but Kotetsu's face showed that he was calm, patient even.

He dodged the fist by the skin of his teeth and returned the hit with his own, straight into his father's stomach.

Kotetsu flipped over the breathless berserker then dropped his heel onto the crown of Yuko's skull. The teen landed behind the now prone man and looked at Shiro's still crumpled form. The burn of the fresh cut along his cheek wasn't even noticeable as his anger rose. He unsealed a fuma shuriken from his thigh and planted it into the ground.

Seeing the person closest to him like that on the floor drove him up the wall, and with that anger he flicked every dial on their gas stove to the max then ripped them off the unit. "Even if it's somehow not me, that God complex will get you killed!"

"Ready to die by God's hand asshole?" Yuko was up and his grin turned even more manic despite blood dribbling down his face from his head.

"HA! It's even more fun to break a bitch with a God complex! Thinking you're so great then I can lick up your bloody tears when you're dying on the ground!" Both his arms shifted and holes formed in his palms while tubes came from his elbows.

"Nothing complex about it." Yuko was the one who was shocked at a sudden transformation this time. Kotetsu's eyes turned from three tomoe to something new, something much stronger. Four black lines came from his outer iris while his pupil grew into a sideways, shuriken-like, mark with four pointed ends. The lines connected to the mark between its points and gave the effect of Kotetsu's eyes looking 'cracked' if nothing else. "I am your God, and that's why I'm here…" He pulled a kunai out right when Yuko had enough.

"DIE!" His arms buzzed and a blast of blue chakra came from both of his palms and elbow vents. The blast went right through Kotetsu's chest without any resistance… and that was the problem. It went through him. "What the-?! Explain you piece of shit!" He blasted again and watched the chakra phase through the raven haired youth once again. His arms turned normal again, at least as normal as they could be for a gray skinned man that can change the shape and function of his body. "How aren't you dead?! You're not any kind of God!"

Kotetsu pointed his kunai up and narrowed his eyes. "I'm here to make you believe."

"Doton: Domū!" One with an arm encased in rock, and the other a simple kitchen knife. Father and son lunged at the same time with the same intent. One missed… and the other was Kotetsu.

'Right in the thigh.' Kotetsu was breathing heavily behind his father, said father just fell to the floor clutching his inner thigh. The boy was both emotionally exhausted and physically drained. He smelled the air and decided to get out of dodge.

'I went right through him!' Yuko was barely standing with a trail of blood at his inner thigh. 'He dragged the kunai against my leg!' Kotetsu flicked his wrist forward and a glint of light caught across some ninja wire. The shuriken he stuck into the dirt unraveled and sailed right for where it was pulled to, the problem was that something was in the way. Yuko was sent to the ground once the shuriken slammed into his back and dug into his flesh with little resistance. His skin and hair were turning normal while his extremities were retreating into his body.

"Uchiha shurikenjutsu: Oboroguruma." Kotetsu turned and saw the man coughing up blood while he turned back to… relative normal. "Whatever that shit is, looks like it's only good for a burst. Your body can't handle the output now." All Yuko could do was look up as blood loss started hitting him hard.

"I'm still back here you little shit! I'm not letting you and your whore mom get away like this!" His unconscious mom beside him and in a much better position on the ground, Kotetsu could still hear his ex-father from inside the house as he clutched a picture in his hand. "Those eyes are only gonna bring you to your death! I read about your clan killing everything close to them, it's your fate!" The picture showed him looking away from the camera while his parents smiled brightly towards it, and he wanted to laugh at how different real life was from this photo now.

"You don't pass my judgement…" The picture started to burn from the center before the boy let it go, and it floated with such grace that it almost looked like someone was directing it by hand. Once the burning photo went into the doorway the house turned into a bonfire. The boy watching this felt his blood rushing through his veins and couldn't help but smile, it was such a rush! Killing his father lit something in him, clearly he should see a therapist about why he felt so much joy, but it was something that made him happy about his place in the world.

Yuko could see the flames and a blinding moon illuminating his killer… and he was awestruck by the beauty of it. "What is this?"

Kotetsu turned back with a grin barely hidden by his collar, eyes back to their normal three tomoe state. "This is your judgement. Now burn. Katon: Gōkakyū no jutsu." With that Yuko was ablaze but didn't scream, no, he accepted his death by the hands of his newest deity.

Kotetsu didn't think twice about rushing to Shiro and kneeling beside her, he clenched his chest while gritting his teeth. "She has to be ok, she is ok. FUCKMOTHERING WHORE! Why do I feel like this?! This annoying girl, this girl that I've known since I was a kid. Always bothering me at the academy and calling me stupid, but- But it hurts my chest seeing her like this!"

"Maybe you aren't as much of a psycho as I thought." Rito was limping to his teammate, joints popping with every movement. "You care about Shiro and if she isn't okay then you aren't okay."

"What a drag…"


In a particular village only so far away from their current location, every member of a certain lazy clan sneezed at once.


"Don't just sit there! Run a diagnostic! Heal her! I don't care which, just help her." The Uchiha slammed his hand on the ground to ensure that his point was made. Rito held his hands up and a soft green aura came from them, he held them to Shiro's midsection but his expression turned sour. "What is it?" Rito put his hands down and shook his head. "Heal her you fucking-"

"Aww does Baka-tetsu really care about me?" The Uchiha blanched at the voice. His eyes slowly moved to see a girl with a shit-eating grin across her face. "Don't look so surprised, that fool couldn't take me out that quick." This time it was her turn to be surprised, Kotetsu… Uchiha Kotetsu… Hugged her.

Rito was frozen in place and Shiro almost looked uncomfortable at the contact. "Don't ever do that again…" That was all he said but he didn't let go, as if she'd run off if he did.

"Kukukuku, it's been some time since I've seen an Uchiha with this much emotion." Kotetsu was up and facing the raspy voice quicker than a kid to his room after getting money from grandma. The… man? Had skin that was stark white and hair that was pitch black. He had a sleeveless beige tunic with a black long sleeve under it, and black pants to match.

Rito stiffened and slowly looked towards his aggressive teammate. "Kotetsu, I think you should calm down."

"Like hell I would. I'm on a bloodlust highway already and if this girly boy wants to add-"

"Your friend is right, after all you wouldn't want that beautiful sharingan plucked right out would you?" Not only was that voice much closer but it was also an obvious threat. Kotetsu saw that the pale man was right in front of him with a hand right over his eyes. "Of course I wouldn't do that unless provoked so I'd prefer to gather what I can from here and go."

"What are ya getting? I swear that lady said there wasn't anything here." A pair of golden slitted eyes looked at her.

"Well my dear, the experiment that your underling killed is something I could use. I'm not sure how my research was defiled and used in such a way but ensuring that I at least understand how this curse seal works will be beneficial."

Kotetsu had to fight to restrain himself while this weirdo examined the freak he killed. "It's like everyone here just wants to be a freak of nature. Who even are you?"

Another chuckle that sent chills down Rito's spine. The pale man put a piece of Yuko's flesh into a vial before ripping into the corpse's stomach with his bare hand, he tossed what he pulled out to Kotetsu while Shiro slowly worked back to her feet. 'That's gonna go away eventually.' She eyed the massive scar on her stomach.

"Such boldness has to be rewarded, consider that a gift from the last of the legendary sannin." Kotetsu was about to speak up but Rito put a hand over his mouth.

"He's very thankful, Lord Orochimaru!" The sannin took his leave of the subterranean field the same way they came. Rito drew his hand back once he felt a tongue against it. "What is wrong with you?!" He wiped his hand across the ground while Kotetsu cleaned the item and saw that it was a summoning contract.

"Spiders… Nice."


"Not bad, but I need you to try again. It's all in the wrist." Zeko was definitely in a new territory with what he was up to that morning.

"Just cause you're a shinobi doesn't mean you have to treat us like one Ai-chan~" Kei got a slap, courtesy of Asa. The boy rubbed the back of his head but a smile was on his face all the while. The love tap didn't hurt as bad since it was officially a love tap. "Okay Asa-chan I get it, but still finding out that Ai wasn't a girl- You had to have been surprised too."

The cat was out of the bag on that one. The underground street kids knew that Ai was Zeko, and their surprise was definitely something the boy wouldn't forget. Kei in particular was the most reactive since he thought Ai was adorable in all aspects so finding out that it was a boy he considered a backup to his beloved Asa… he didn't take that well. Right now Zeko was teaching them how to throw kunai and the results were mixed to say the least.

"It's not that hard, it's hard when you try and do tricks." To emphasize his point he pulled out five kunai, he then turned his back to the wall they were practicing with. He backflipped and flung the weapons while he was in the air, and they each landed in the stucco wall with a 'thunk' one after the other.

Gin, the ever observant member of the clique, decided to voice his opinion on the extravagant move. "That was cool and all but what did that really do? It's just-" They all looked at the formation and saw that it was shaped like a heart. Kei knelt beside it and pulled out a small box that he opened to reveal a silver band.

Eyes were on Asa who looked genuinely shocked unlike her usual anger or indifferent attitude. Her hands were over her mouth even as she walked closer and to Zeko's shock, hugged Kei. "You actually got me a promise ring… I've only ever rejected you, why haven't you given up?"

"Best things in life take work so you can't quit." Cheesy as it was it worked since Asa held her hand out and had the ring slipped on. In that short amount of time "Zeko" puffed away after leaving a small package where he'd been, it was up to him where his mission pay went so what's wrong with helping friends out?

The memories of what happened came back to the real Zeko who was in the middle of training his lightning affinity under the watchful eye of- "Hiro, I can't keep the bulb bright and not make it explode." One of Uso's aides. The boy only turned down the offer because of his father doing the same. He'd never turn the chance to get even stronger down unless it clashed with the ideas of someone he cared about.

"Uso-sama, you called me here?" A freshly eleven platinum blonde boy questioned. The elderly man at the desk smiled and gestured for Zeko to sit but the boy preferred to stand.

"In the wake of the disaster that was the demise of your father, I'd like to re-extend my offer to join the ganban unit of the ANBU."

Zeko pondered at the name for a moment. "Bedrock?"

"The stone beneath the sand. We act outside of the outside that the black ops already covers. I'd like to personally extend you an offer to join this unit. I'd have you be overseen by my aides first as to judge whether or not you are cut out for it, and once you're deemed fit to enter you'll be in."

"Deal."

"I understand if you need more time t- Wait what?"

"It's a deal." Uso was nothing short of surprised at how quickly Akira's son jumped on the train. He at least expected to have to wait for a maybe, but to get a yes right off the bat? Threw him for a loop.

"Uh well then, I'll assign Hiro here to oversee you when you train and go on certain missions. To the right a man with a buzz cut and standard beige clothing appeared.

That same man was now watching the boy cause a lightbulb to explode from overcharging it with lightning chakra. "The curse of having a waterfall's worth of chakra. You'll get it down to a trickle eventually. Plus you are trying to train three things at the same time." Hiro turned his neck and saw at least a dozen more of Zeko with pieces of paper or lightbulbs in hand. Their papers were slowly burning from the middle outwards or were splitting down into two halves.

"Good point." With that all the clones dispelled in a mass of white smoke, paper and, now busted, lightbulbs scattered across the sandstone of the training ground. Zeko stopped and clutched his head from the sudden influx of memories but the pain only lasted a few moments and he managed to sort through it all without passing out like he did at first. "Any missions for today?"

Hiro wordlessly pulled out a scroll and tossed it to Zeko. "Nothing you can't handle. I'm going to go for now so you get that done." Hiro was gone in a small whirlwind of sand and Zeko looked at what he had to do… and he decided that being a shinobi could suck sometimes.


"They'll be so glad that you came in to talk to them about what you get to do." A woman in heels was walking beside our young white haired lad, and he was looking up and around the hallway with some awe.

"I've never seen this part of the academy, did they build it in the last few months or something?"

"There's more to the world than what you alone see." Zeko stopped at the classroom they were meant to be at and walked right in to have an eraser land on his head.

"Fake ass shinobi, couldn't even see a prank coming." That caused a lot of laughter across the classroom while Zeko just brushed the chalk powder off himself. Calling it a classroom wouldn't have been doing it justice since there were at least fifty students seated.

The sensei that guided him there stood in the doorway and saluted him with two fingers. "Good luck here, I've gotta meet with an associate for a… special counseling." The fact that she ended that statement by licking her lips told more than enough of the story. Zeko started patting himself clean and looking over the class.

"First impressions are important. And I don't like whoever did that." Zeko sat on the teacher's desk once he got enough of the chalk off his shirt. "So I'm here to talk to you guys about my life as a shinobi for the village."

A girl piped waking the slowly dying laughter. "You're younger than us, what do you know?"

"Have you ever been in a fight?" More taunts and jeers all around while Zeko just sat there silently.

"Shut up!" With that a flood of murderous intent flooded the room, nearly choking the class. Zeko was at the front wall and wrote his name and rank on the blackboard. "I'm the Genin, Zeko, and I'm here to tell you all about what being a ninja is really like. Some kids don't know or just aren't made for that life so if you have any questions ask them."

In the calm a few hands raised into the air and the first one was a boy with dark orange hair. "How did you become a shinobi already? You look like you're eight."

An aura of depression surrounded the boy and a weak smile came to his face. "Yeah I know I'm small…" He got his composure back and sat on the desk again. "But I'm eleven since last month. And I've been kicking ass for almost four years. I've been an official shinobi for a couple months and I took the graduation exam to get here. Next question."

This time a girl with a long braid of light brown hair rose her hand with haste. "Do you have a girlfriend? If you don't then what type of girls do you like?"

"Are you a fangirl? No wait I'm answering questions, uh no I don't have a girlfriend." The boy pondered and thought about his longest standing friend and how much he liked being around her, in all that a smile came to his face and whispers of him lying started. "Well I like girls who don't care about making boys like them. Girls who want to be the best they can be are really cute to me. Next question."

"Are you the monster that-" The atmosphere turned thicker than most boys when something was wrong with a girl. The being at the front of that class wasn't exactly Zeko anymore, the students saw the face of a sand demon. "Uh- I mean… have you saved a Princess before?"

The air turned back to normal and Zeko was present again. "Not yet. Next."

A boy with a cocky smile raised his hand. "Have you ever fought anyone? You didn't even see my eraser coming for you."

"I've been in a couple fights before." Internally Zeko decided to mess with the class and see where hinges could go. "Sometimes I let the people I fight keep living." The boy was definitely not smiling anymore. "I'm joking, I'm not a monster."

Right then the teacher for the class walked in and she was clearly frustrated. She sat at her desk with a huff and looked out the window. "Sensei, I thought you were meeting with someone?" One of the students willingly spoke up but he regretted that choice instantly.

"Two words for you; Minute Man!" She dropped her head on the desk and sighed. "Apparently I'm too good at what I do and he couldn't hold it in."

"Next question!" Zeko brought the focus on himself before that got out of hand, a silent thanks from the class was given.

"How many jutsu do you know?" Orange hair boy again.

"Good question, I don't know. I know some small ones and some big ones. You can only do big ones when you have the chakra reserves for it so a lot of you can't go that far. You can learn about being really sneaky though, people forget that shinobi are supposed to be discreet. Next question."

This time the teacher tapped his back. "What bloodline you got that let you be so strong? You'd probably give me trouble." Zeko made a face that just read 'more than trouble lady' and he stood up.

The classroom grew still while Zeko's chakra gently flared. Black powder gathered around him and swirled around his body. "It's not like controlling sand at all. With sand I use my chakra and combine the two so I can move it. With iron sand I can control it by moving my chakra around and the sand doesn't have any chakra in it." Right now the classroom could see a snake made of iron sand floating in the air.

The classroom was awestruck at the casual demonstration of the village's most famous bloodline on open display. Their initial thoughts of the boy fading away and being replaced with the idea of him becoming Kage when he was older… and the oldest person in the room was picturing him as quite the catch when that happened. 'I'm not a cradle robber but nothing wrong with investing.' At that moment the classroom door burst open and revealed Hanatsu.

"Real mission time! We gotta go Zeko-kun!" She was gone as fast as she came and Zeko was just standing in the front of the class dumbfounded. His sand retreated and he walked over to the window.

"I hope you all got your questions answered, gotta go." The window opened and he jumped out without another word.

"So uh, how many of you are creaming internally thinking about the catch he's gonna be in a couple years?"

The girl with a long braid looked disgusted while the cocky boy from before spoke up. "Sensei how are you still a teacher?"

"I have tenure, I could kick one of you in the face and come back the next day like it didn't happen." With that she dropped her head back to the desk. "It's looking real good since I'm the one who's still frustrated!"


Rozu was outside of Kazekage's office with her ducklings in tow, none of which knew the details of the mission they were about to embark on. They were told to pack for a week-long trip and Zeko's gourd now had clothes and the bow he got a few years ago was sealed into a scroll. Ran just had a normal ruck while Hana just pestered Zeko to carry her things, he did only because there was plenty of room in his gourd so it didn't matter. "Alright you guys are gonna hate me for this but it's a B-rank so the pay should make up for it." From the office came Touka who quickly hugged a boy that looked a few years older than her.

'Chunin or whatever she fucking with.' Ran's voice was in Zeko's head as he saw his friend lean against this unknown guy. 'I said what back then cause I didn't understand but now I get it. Feels weird seeing her with him… Eh not my problem.' With that, the team entered the office as Touka walked away with her arm locked around that boy's.

"Ah Bōkō team, this one is definitely not going to be in your comfort zone." Yuno chuckled as the team settled into her office. A quick sniff of the room informed Zeko that Kuro and Shiroi were hidden somewhere in the room, and the aide shuffling through some papers looked very familiar. "Yuuji, where's their briefing papers?"

"Right here Kazekage-sama." In an arm that moved inhumanely smooth were a few sheets of paper that related to whatever the team was doing, but that wasn't as important to Zeko.

"Aren't you that guy whose arm I ate? Sorry about that…" Yuuji sheepishly grinned and rubbed the back of his head. It was an unspoken acceptance but acceptance nonetheless.

"No hard feelings. I'm glad that my actions let Kazekage-sama decide to give me a role as her secretary, pays more than what I used to make."

With that Yuno loudly rustled some papers just to get attention back onto her. "Your mission is to escort Aisano-hime to the daimyo's estate and act as guards there for the next four days. A threat was put on her life and you're going to act to prevent any assassination attempts."

'Love the difference?' Zeko thought while Ran and Rozu nodded.

Hana squinted and tried her best to remember where she heard that name and it got right on the top of her tongue, but nothing was set in stone by the time the door opened and a girl about her age came in. Her long blonde hair contrasted with her brown eyes and her skin was oddly light for someone who lived in a desert. She was wearing a loose white blouse that revealed her shoulders and stomach with beige shorts that stopped right above her knees. She had calf length civilian sandals with white roses on the shins.

Ran was blushing lightly and swallowed his saliva out of nervousness. Hanatsu was averting her eyes either out of being nervous or just feeling awkward seeing someone she viewed as being beautiful by all means. Zeko was feeling a tightness in his chest and a light blush was present on his face. Each one of them found this girl to be beyond flawless in appearance, even what's her face from their academy didn't properly compare to the angel before them. Even as she walked up to Ran they grew even more nervous. "Gimme your shirt." Hold up. Wait a minute. Something wasn't right.

"Uh excuse me?" Ran nervously responded.

"You're excused, now give me your shirt." She held her hand out, her nails were done neatly and not even a single cuticle stuck out. Ran awkwardly removed his overshirt and was left standing there with only his scarf and some bandages wrapped around his abdomen. Aisano wiped her hands off on the garment and then added insult to injury by dropping the shirt to the floor and cleaning the bottom of her sandals off with it. That was one.

Hanatsu wasn't nervous anymore. "You can't just act like you're better than us and clean yourself off with his stuff." Ran was staring blankly at his shirt while Aisano was looking at Hana with total apathy. Rozu, Yuno, Zeko, and Yuuji were all just watching this unfold in front of them. "Pick his shirt up and apologize to him."

"So is the whole cat theme supposed to make you look cute so boys want you? It doesn't help. Maybe you should just line them up in a bathroom and wait on your knees, then they might see you, koneko." Hana's tail was out and the hair on both it and her hair was sticking up, calling anyone from her clan 'little cat' was nothing short of a slur. The only reason that Aisano wasn't being turned into confetti was that she was a client and she was under their protection for the time being. That was two.

"Okay let's get going, don't want to waste any time do we Hime?" Rozu was smiling but internally she was offended on behalf of her students, they were her team so an insult to them just as much to her. "So how are we getting her there?" Aisano left the room while Ran picked his dirty shirt off the floor. The shirt didn't stay in his hands too long since Hana needed something to take her anger out on and her best choice was the shirt.

While Hana was ripping the fabric, Zeko decided to articulate what just transpired the best way that he could. "This is gonna suck isn't it Yuno-obasan? Why'd it have to be us?"

"Well the Daimyo himself wanted to meet you three. You're an up and coming team and eyes are on you so please don't completely blow it." The woman smiled as strips of fabric fell to the floor of her office. "Her palanquin is already at the gate, have fun you four." Yuuji was sending the most empathetic look that he could for the hell that they'd be going through the next couple days, but between Ran watching his shirt be ripped apart and Hana getting caught in bloodlust… It wasn't noticed as well as it could've been.


"Well sometimes you'll have missions you really don't like, we can't always have fun with work." Rozu was in the back of their group.

"I understand that sensei, but this is definitely something I don't want to do again." Ran was on the right side of the group.

Hana was silently on the left side of the group, she didn't even want to waste words on their charge. The thunder rail was trudging along towards the city and anyone who saw it would be very confused as to why a palanquin was being held off the rearmost car by sand. The trip didn't last long at least but that might've only added to the issue since they'd have to interact with Aisano again shortly.

'She's a whole bitch isn't she? Why not just kill her and be done with it?'

Zeko deadpanned and almost lost focus as they came upon the city. "You know I can't just kill a client… even if she's the worst person I've ever met." Shukaku just shrugged and went back to sleep, of course Zeko did consider the suggestion but it'd be a lot of work for something very high risk. "Maybe we can put itching powder on her bed…"

The train came to a stop at the station and three shinobi came out to meet their teammate who went from one to four to carry their charge. "That thing's a glorified bed, she's just sitting in there not caring about any of us." Hana's nails were primed for anything whether it be an enemy or a bratty girl.

"Calm down, we can't look even more obvious than we do." Ran pointed out that people were looking right at them and subsequently the regal looking carrier that Zeko and his clones had. Their trip was oddly quiet as they followed the main road to one that had a sign that showed they were on very restricted property, but their obvious service was their pass to enter the grounds.

On a gentle hill that was decorated with green grass sat a manor by all means. One that had at least four acres worth of land surrounding it, and to Hana's joy- "A slide that goes to the beach!" Before she could run off a hand grabbed her shirt collar and left her to run in place. Zeko carried the palanquin up the hill and set it down before the doorstep.

"You can get out now, we're here."

From the palanquin came a girl so beautiful that some people would overlook how amazingly rude she really was. Once she saw Zeko she recoiled with a look of disgust on her face. "Uh who are you? Ninjas are supposed to be protecting me."

"I'm one of them, you saw me back in the Kazekage's office." Zeko's clones dispelled and he was standing there while his team came up the hill with a whining Hanatsu complaining about wanting to swim since the water is best in the evening.

"Why did a midget carry me here?! I could've fell and been hurt!" The team caught up and was inhaling sharply at the insult since they knew their youngest member was… sensitive to height jokes.

"I'm eleven…" The venom dripping from his voice would've killed a normal man but this girl was either incredibly brave or just plain stupid, and the onlooking members of team Bōkō were betting that this girl wasn't particularly brave.

The girl looked around for a moment then back to the powder keg in front of her and oh boy was she about to light a match.

"Shouldn't you be sucking your mom's tit or something?"

That was her third strike and she was about to be out for good.

It was at that moment the door to the estate opened and a butler had to step aside from Rozu rushing the girl who was about to be all but dead. Ran and Hana hurried in while Zeko was left outside to listen to the furious roaring of his internal roommate… Well most of it was the Tanuki and some was his own but he decided to save that anger for the beach and he walked inside. It was bigger than any other house he'd seen before, the floor was not only intricate in its granite design but it was somehow free of sand which in a desert seemed impossible. The house was at least modern internally. There were common amenities; couches, televisions, a computer in one room that they passed, and the servants rushed back and forth cleaning or occupying themselves. Zeko walked into the dining area where he saw his team kneeling before a man who didn't seem that old but definitely demanded respect in appearance.

'The Daimyo.' He was there in a quick leap and knelt beside Ran.

"And there's the entire group, it's a bit late in the day so you'll be shown your rooms so that you can get comfortable. Dinner will be served shortly so I would hope you can all attend." The same butler that greeted them at the door appeared and began to walk down a hallway.

"This room will be for the young lady, I hope you find it sufficient." Hana bowed then got her things from Zeko's gourd and entered the room. A few moments later they were at another door on the opposite side of the hallway. "This one will be for the youngest guest, do call if you need anything." A malicious aura surrounded the boy as he entered the room and the door slammed shut without being touched. Last but certainly not least they were at a door just a few paces down and on the same side of the hall as Hana's room. "I'll assume that you'll be fine on your own but if you need anything I'm always close by." Ran nodded and went in without a word.

He marveled at the size of the room he was in, it was more like a small living room than a bedroom in size. "A loveseat and desk, a flatscreen, full size bed…" He opened a door to reveal a good sized bathroom and a bathtub that was attached to the wall with a standing television right on the ceramic. "The other two are definitely enjoying this." He immediately started to unpack for a relaxing pre dinner soak but a gentle tune started to play through his room.

"Should they really be enjoying it? After all, you work the hardest." As fast as the tune and voice came, they were gone… leaving the early teen to wonder if there was ever something playing in the first place.

'That was creepy, but this tub isn't gonna use itself!'


To be continued... as soon as you choose next page.