Shattered Destiny

Chapter 32: Grandpa.

+4 one Handed XP (2578/2575) One Handed is now level 100. +100 Character XP (803/725) You are now level 27(76/750).

My Grandfather deflects the training wooden sword and taps me in the chest with his. "How long have we been training?"

My Grandfather is a samurai, I didn't know that until we arrived in Iron, and I was excited by it that I tolerate the raising in stats. "T-three years." Health.

Your max health is now 260.

"And you still have horrible posture." Wakuni Sekine tuts, shaking his head in disappointment.

Without warning he lunges at me, and muscle memory takes over.

+1 Block XP (2574/2575)

I push the blade out of the way and shove my shoulder into the old man, pushing him back.

+1 Block XP (2575/2575) Block is now level 100. +100 Character XP (176/750)

"Good!" Grandpa says with pride, and I can't help but grin like an idiot.

And then I really am an idiot as my legs get swept out from under me.

-1 health.

"Hey!"

"Don't let your guard down, training isn't done yet." He lets me get to my feet.

"He's right!" Koi-sama calls, chuckling.

I get into my stance and grandpa groans. "That's not a stance, that's asking to be whipped!" He knows as much as my parents about my contribution to the war, sans Alduin as per my request that we try and pretend that he doesn't exist.

That dragon will be forgotten.

Grandpa lunges and I deflect the blade, hopping back to avoid being kicked in the chest, getting a grunt of approval.

I step forward and thrust my blade at the samurai, who locks his blade with mine, and uses his superior strength to push me back and to the ground. "Too headstrong, it'll get you killed."

The remark makes me flinch, earning me a smack on the wrist.

"I don't know what happened while you were mobilized, but you need to get over it." Grandpa says, putting his training blade away. "We're done for now, I'm here if you want to talk, as are your parents." He rests a shoulder on my hand.

"Thank you, grandpa." I say with an appreciative smile. But what bothers me, is something to be forgotten.

"No, thank you for letting an old man feel young again." Grandpa chuckles, rustling my hair. "Tomorrow, same time."

"Okay!" I nod enthusiastically, watching the old man walk away. Once he's out of sight I let out a sigh, the smile vanishing from my face.

I don't feel any different than when I first arrived in Iron, He must be sleeping. "Something on your mind?" Koi-sama approaches.

"One Handed and Block are a hundred, and I still don't feel anything different."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yes?" I guess. "I don't know, it bothers me… Father Akatosh I wish I knew why he hasn't tried anything!" I grip my head and shake in frustration. "Jinchuuriki can speak to the monsters within them, but I've never spoken to him!"

"Keiki-san, you are-"

"No! I am not him! He tried wiping all life off of Skyrim, I am not a genocidal monster!" I angrily interrupt her, keeping my voice low in case someones eavesdropping.

"And you aren't." Koi-sama gives me a hug. "I've never met a sweeter little boy."

"I'm a pre-teen." I mumble.

"The sweetest little boy." Koi repeats, and I sigh in annoyance.

"Where's Goro-sensei?"

"Planning your next lesson, he's determined to see you succeed."

"Hope it's not science." It's so boring!

"I thought so too when I was your age." Koi-sama chuckles, letting me go.

I frown. "Is Papa still out fishing?"

"Teaching how to fish is more like it." Koi corrects. "No nation is better at fishing than the Land of Water." She boasts of our home nation.

"I hope the war ends soon." I say quietly.

"Me too." Koi ruffles my hair as we walk back home, Grandpa was more than happy to house my tutors as well. Grandma passed away when I was two, so I never had the chance to meet her, I bet she'd have liked Koi.

"Ow!' I slap the back of my neck, but when I pull away there's nothing.

"What is it?" Koi asks concerned.

"Something… bit me!" I exclaim.

Koi-sama gives me a look. "Insects, in this weather?"

"Something just bit me! Didn't damage me, but it still hurt!" I insist.

"I'll ask Goro-san if he knows anything about snow insects when I see him." Koi tells me reassuringly as we head inside.

I close the door to my room, next to my bed is the suit of armor that I commissioned Yoshiyuki-sama for, it's a bit big right now, but I can't wait to be able to swim in it! It has flipper attachments, and a place for an air tank on the back, the helmet has goggles and a rebreather built into it, and the entire thing is skin tight to keep me dry... Yoshiyuki-sama is the best!

With a sigh I sit on my bed, place my wooden training blade on its stand, and take a deep breath.

The stars appear.

You have (20) Talent Point(s) available.

I ignore the prompt, content to watch the stars. They're so real, and so close… It's a shame that they're related to something as monstrous as Alduin.

My left arm shimmers, as if it were an illusion, shifts between my human hand, and a dragon wing. Being forced to remember the dragon is the only reason why I'm not here that often. Father Akatosh why do I have a monster within me? The constant shimmering isn't real, only I can see it… And only here.

I tuck my entropic arm behind me, lean back and look up at the stars in the distance that aren't associated with my Bloodline.

It's so peaceful, I wish I could stay forever… actually, I don't. "Keiki-kun?" I can hear Goro-sensei enter the room.

"Yeah? I'm looking at stars so I can't see you." I respond.

"Koi-chan said something bit you?"

I nod.

"Are you sure it wasn't just the cold?" He tries.

Again I nod.

"Iron's too cold for insects to live here, has 'Tutorial' told you anything?"

This time I shake my head.

"Something wrong?"

"No, no, just watching the stars." I point up at them, momentarily forgetting that only I can see them.

I can feel a tug on the back of my shirt. "Nothing yet, I can check again later for bug bites, if it really was a bug." He doesn't sound convinced it was a bug, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

"Please." I'm not poisoned, I know that much.

I pull myself out of the stars. "Lesson's in an hour."

"What's it about?"

"Aerodynamics."

"Science!" I let out distressed noises.

"It's important." Goro-sensei insists.

"Bah!" I pull myself out of the stars and scowl at my mentor

I don't care how much science is behind it, running with your arms flailing about behind you is stupid, not faster.

My breath fogs in the cold air, there are petrified trees here and there in the village, suggesting that this used to be a forest, but that time is long gone. I sigh and rest my head on the cold, lifeless branch, it feels nice to be somewhere high, there aren't many trees in Kirigakure. I never learned how to climb trees, instead I learned to walk up them, it's a fair trade.

"Something on your mind?" Grandpa asks, leaning up against the petrified tree with a pipe.

"What makes you think that?" I ask, turning around to be able to see the old man.

"You only climb up there if you're troubled by something." He points out.

"I do?" I frown, thoughtful. "I guess so."

"I may not have been a shinobi, but I've been a Samurai for most of my life, the same thing really." She shrugs.

"How so?"

"Child Soldiers."

"You were a Samurai since childhood? I thought that Samurai were honorably above Shinobi?"

"Make no mistake, we are." Grandpa chuckles. "But in the world we live in now, there isn't much choice." He looks up at me.

"Wh-"

"Monsters live in the waters as well as on land, Grandson, it is because of us that nobody sees them anymore." He takes a puff. "And they never will, so long as we do our jobs."

"What monsters live here in the snow?"

"Yeti's, Giants, Oni." He lists off as if it's no big deal. "What've you done so far in your career?"

"Most of it was in Lightning, saved a village from missing nin, took part in an assault on Kumo, not entirely willingly." I add in before my Grandpa can interject. "And… Almost died, several times."

Grandpa chuckles darkly. "Occupational hazard I'm afraid."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "We're soldiers, isn't that a given?"

"Yes, every Shinobi and Samurai are soldiers who'd gladly give their lives for those they love, some get thrown out and branded traitors because of some misunderstanding, or as part of a coup."

I stay silent, waiting for him to continue.

"I'm happy that your family came to visit, despite what's going on." Grandpa perks up. "I haven't seen you since you moved to Water just after Seyama passed away." He holds a hand over his chest.

"Grandma?"

"Aye."

"What was she like?"

"Fierce." Grandpa chuckles. "We were both Samurai, but she was in a league all her own, pushing herself to be stronger no matter what, the only time she ever took a break was whenever she was pregnant."

"Sounds like a hassle."

"She was, but I loved her all the same… I admired her determination, and yet after all these years I still don't know what she saw in me." He lets out a sigh. "But it was the happiest time of my life."

"You miss her?"

"Every day, but I know that I'll join her eventually, and find her training even in the afterlife." he takes a deep puff from the pipe. "Keiki-kun, don't let fear dictate how you live, or it will strip you of everything you held dear."

"I'm not afraid!" I scoff.

"I see it in your stance whenever we train, you're unsure of yourself, afraid of something and it holds you back." Grandpa pauses briefly to puff out a ring of smoke. "I may not know what's going on precisely, but I know it's eating away at you."

"Thank you… Grandpa." I half heartedly say.

"No problem, being retired gives me plenty of time to be introspective."

"How long have you been retired for?"

"Oh… about ten years now." Grandpa pushes himself away from the tree, and empties his pipe.

"Grandpa?"

"Hm?"

"Can you teach me jutsu, sometime?"

"Why the sudden interest?"

"... I want to protect my family, but I don't want to lose myself in the process."

Grandpa strokes his beard, thoughtful. "If I am to teach you, I will need to know why you're so afraid of 'losing yourself'." He looks up at me.

I look away, how much do I tell him? "I have a Kekkei Genkai."

"Do you know what a Kekkei Genkai is?" Grandpa asks.

"It's a bloodline, something that can only be passed down to one's biological kids." I say, slightly confused.

"Every family has a Kekkei Genkai, just some have more bizarre Kekkei Genkai's than others, like the Hyuuga, or the Uchiha from Fire."

"Mine's weirder." I say and grandpa raises an eyebrow, as if telling me to continue. "I can regenerate from anything as long as it doesn't outright kill me, and I won't die until I reach a threshold, which I can push back every so often when I level."

"And you know this how?"

"I uh… had a spear shoved through my chest while I was in Lightning, I was in a coma for a while."

"You look fine for someone who should be dead, if that's true." He doesn't believe me.

I ready myself mentally, and pull out a Kunai and ram it into my wrist, severing nerves and making me bite down hard to keep from screaming in pain.

Crit sustained.

-20 health. Max health lowered by 1%

It takes as much mental fortitude to pull the kunai out as it did to go in.

-5 health.

Grandpa is up in the tree checking on my wrist. "Why'd you-"

"T-tomorrow, I'll be better tomorrow."

"You fool, you might have just ended your career trying to convince me to teach you samurai techniques." Grandpa scolds, and I laugh. "What?" His face is red.

"I've had worse done to this arm." I say hollowly. "Don't… tell my parents, okay? They'll kill me."

"I have half a mind to kill you myself." He grumbles. "House, now, no icecream for you for a month."

"But!"

"No buts."

"It doesn't even matter!"

"Yes it does, you're a cripple now."

"For today."

"For the rest of your life, baka!"

"You insolent mortal!" I hold my good hand over my bad hand, bright energy appears in the palm and I press it into the wound.

Error, you do not know this Jutsu, xp not allocated.

White light washes over the hole, sealing it and mending the damage done. "I am not a weakling, like you." I snarl, showing the now perfect wrist, moving it around to prove my point.

"Keiki-kun." Grandpa warns.

Annoyance, then confusion, then realization. "I'm so sorry!" I get up and bow deeply. "I'm sorry." I repeat several times.

"What was that?"

"A-Alduin, a Ryu living inside of me… I just want to forget about him."

"Hm." Grandpa strokes his chin.

"I can keep him under wraps, I promise!" I say quickly. "I just want to be away from people who'd want to use him."

"Do the others know about this?"

"Yes."

...

"... I'll think about it." Grandpa hops off the tree and walks towards the house.

"O-okay."

Neither a yes, or a no. I hope he keeps it a secret, or that the samurai won't kick us out. There's no doubt that they know I'm a shinobi of water, trying to escape the war.

For the first time since I moved here, I'm afraid of getting kicked out, all because of the Dragon who only wants to watch Humanity go extinct.

I let out a sigh. Can today get any worse?

Authors Notes: Thank you for being so patient while I took my break! I thought about only taking a month off, and then I caught the flu and it wasn't fun, but Shattered Destiny is back! I have a rough plan and hopefully it'll be worth the wait, thank you for being patient, reading and enjoying the story up to now, seriously, I cannot thank you enough. Take care!