Any multi-chapter story posted before 9/21/16 that is not Eve Black is officially dead.
This story is officially DEAD. I can no longer delude myself into thinking I'll manage to finish it and hope that by making it official I'll stop feeling guilty about not writing in it. I have decided to post what I have of the next chapter just for the hell of it. Continue reading with that in mind and at your own risk.
Thank you for your interest and my sincere apologies,
Rai
Chapter One: The First Dragon Squadron
The shouting could have been heard from a mile off, though there wasn't anyone around to hear. Though if anyone had been present it would have sounded like the one-sided argument of a child who was becoming very annoyed with her imaginary friend.
"Is not!" Pause. "Is not!" Pause. "Notnotnot!" Longer pause. "We are not arguing like children!" Even longer pause. "I am not acting like a petulant child with an affirmation bias!" Pause. "If I'm acting like a brat you are too!" Pause. "You are not too old to be a brat. Kade, Vince, Iaka, and Ionnae call you one all the time!"
The reality was two figures sitting at opposite ends of a small clearing marked with a small discretely placed red stone charged with a certain type of chakra that could only be sensed if you were specifically looking for it. The first was a slight nine-year-old girl who sat with her legs and arms crossed. Her jet black hair was pulled into a short side ponytail and her equally black eyes glared at the person across from her. Said person leaned against a tree with one leg bent, the other straight, and his arm propped on his bent knee. He was sixteen and had the same black hair and eyes as the girl. Diagonally across his face was a scar that only just missed taking out both his eyes. Parallel to that scar were a second across his throat and a third across his chest, but those were hidden by his high collared black jacket.
These two were Connie Uchiha and Itakki of the First Dragon Squadron under the command of Ionnae, the Second of the Elite Four.
They were also veeery bored, which always led to bizarre and petty arguments.
"I'm telling you," Connie said, "it was a frog."
Itakki spoke using a series of hand signs, "It was a bird. Get over it."
"I'm boooored," Connie whined, abruptly changing the subject from the sound they'd heard nearly an hour earlier. "When's Ionnae gonna get here?"
"I don't know."
"Can't we go find some bandits to play with?" She folded her hands together. "Please! Please! Please! Please!" Itakki didn't even bother to sign an answer; just shook his head. Although it might as well have been a shouted "NO!" for the response it got. Connie walked to the middle of the clearing and stood with her hands on her hips. "Well, why not?!"
Itakki sighed and ran his hand though his hair. "Because you've spent the past week and a half routing every freaking bandit in the bloody country. You've had your playtime."
"Aw… but—"
"No." Connie sat down, crossed her arms and legs, and pouted. For the love of… "Fine. Here. Now quit whining." Itakki pulled a pouch of red and blue gems from one of his pockets. They hovered in the air in a complex pattern. Connie squealed and lay down on her stomach in front of them. She and Itakki took turns moving their respective pieces in a game that was like an overly complicated game of midair checkers but without clear rules or movement patterns. In reality, it was more than just a game; it was an exercise in extreme chakra control. The manipulation of chakra without direct bodily contact or hand signs was a necessary skill if one wanted to be a Dragon… or even pass Iaka's god awful genin exam.
Connie's entire existence is Kakashi's fault. More specifically the "There are children younger than you who are stronger than me" line from when they first met Haku.
