Intro: Hey all, I'm back. I've been having trouble deciding on what to include in this chapter, but I finally decided to move along in a way similar to the anime and manga, starting with the Genin test and then the Chunin exam. Also, I neglected to mention this in the last chapter, but the story is set in the Village in the Snow. Have fun!
Village Hidden in the Snow-Ninja Academy Graduation Exam, 2 years later
Jikiro took a deep breath in, held it, and let it out. He surveyed the other 32 potential graduates. They all appeared to be just as nervous as he, only far less sure of themselves. Jikiro was very certain of his graduation. He was only nervous because he didn't want to hurt anyone. He had been working on his greatest technique for months, and had finally mastered it just the day before. As a result, the few trees behind his house were gone.
The Jounin in charge of the graduation entered the room. The students, scattered around the room in various poses, immediately scurried to their seats. The tension skyrocketed. The Jounin surveyed the would-be ninja and frowned. There was a fire in his eyes, a burning hatred for these raw recruits. Jikiro would show him a thing or two.
"My name is Hiroshime Itsoharu. I will be conducting your exam to see who will graduate to the position of Genin. Judging by how you look, though, I bet that all those-" he gestured toward the three dozen forehead protectors on a nearby table, "will still be there when we are done." He glanced down at his clipboard. "Makoto Yamamoto, you're first!" The test proceeded as such, until Itsoharu called Jikiro's name. He was last.
"Alright maggot, get up here. We have had 20 others pass so far. Color me surprised. Let's see if we can't keep it at that number." Jikiro sighed and positioned himself in front of the students. They sniggered, not knowing what to expect from this classroom brooder.
Jikiro took a deep breath, raised his hands, and cried
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" 100 clones of Jikiro appeared from mid-air and landed on the wood floor, laughing loudly. The students started, surprised, until one shouted,
"Is that all you've got?!" Jikiro forced himself to contain his anger. He thought he had it under control, when he suddenly felt white-hot anger bubble up inside him, just beneath the surface. He had reached his breaking point. He glared at the fool who had heckled him. The boy gasped as he looked at Jikiro. Jikiro's eyes were glowing blood-red. When he spoke, his voice was tinged with the unmistakable growl of bloodlust.
"You wanna see something, Benji? I'll show you something! Fire Style:Phoenix Fire Jutsu!" Jikiro raised his hand in an "ok" sign to his mouth, sucked in air, and let it out. Along with the pure oxygen came something that no one could have expected. Fire. A huge ball of burning fire shot out at Benji. The boy shrieked and dove to the floor. This cowardly reaction saved his life. Instead of bursting into flames, he only lost the crown of his scalp. The bone was clearly visible underneath, and the flesh around the hole was charred. The smell of burning flesh filled the room, and it vaguely reminded Jikiro of when his father had once caught and roasted a boar he found in the woods just outside the village. The boy screamed in pain and rolled around on the floor.
The other students sat in silence momentarily, and then the shit hit the fan. One student screamed, and the others followed suit. They ran out of the room, the ones who passed clutching their forehead protectors for dear life. They knocked some students over and trampled others to the floor in their rush to get out of the room from this demonic hell spawn of a child. Shrieks and moans of pain echoed down the corridor just outside the room, as children who lay on the ground bled from various cuts and wounds.
Jikiro laughed a bloody laugh and looked at the screaming form of Benji. He stalked over to the younger boy and grabbed him by the throat, hoisting him into the air and slamming him bodily into a wall. The boy cried out and tears began running down his cheeks, cutting rivulets in the ash that covered his face like a mask. Itsoharu tried to pry Jikiro off of Benji, but Jikiro shrugged him off.
"Benji, I'm gonna say this one time, and one time only. If you ever, ever, mock me again, I will not hesitate to kill you." Jikiro held up his right fist, the one not wrapped around Benji's throat. "I have more power in this one fist than you do in your entire body. Now, leave me." He tossed Benji to the ground, whereupon the boy cried and scurried out of the room. Jikiro turned to Itsoharu and smiled. "Thank you for passing me, sensei," he said brightly. The red glow faded from his eyes, and they returned to their normal onyx color. He took a forehead protector from the table, tied it around his forehead, and strode out of the room, absently stepping over crying bodies as he went.
Jikiro returned home, whistling a tune to himself as he went along. He smiled at various people, who all returned the smile, some with a wave. The people in the village all liked Jikiro. He was always such a nice boy. Except for when he got that odd red glow in his eyes. He got odd when he became like that, but he was rarely like that. Jikiro always helped the people with whatever things they needed done, and he always completed them quickly and cleanly.
As Jikiro walked onto his family's property, his father came out of the house. Jikiro prepared to call out to him, when he saw the look on his father's face. It was nothing but rage. He must have heard about the incident at the academy.
'Dammit, this isn't gonna be good. Not good at all. He's going to beat me. I don't stand a chance against him, not against father.' Modo strode up and immediately grabbed his son around the neck and flung him to the ground. He slammed a foot upon Jikiro's chest and ground it down. The boy let out a yelp of pain. He tried to reach for a kunai to get his father off of him, but the man kicked them away.
"We don't need these, do we Mr. Fancy Ninja?" He kicked Jikiro in the head, drawing blood from his ear. "No, you should be fine on your own." He lowered his face to within an inch of Jikiro's own. "No, you certainly don't. You're a freak. You destroyed half of a room in the academy, almost killed another boy, and other children were hurt. I'm going to beat you to within an inch of your life for this one, boy." With that, Modo let loose on his son with everything he had.
His legs were bent at unnatural angles, the jagged bones sticking out of his ankles protruding from jagged holes in the skin. One kunai was jammed into his side; another had just pierced the skin of his stomach. One eye was swollen shut, and the other was blood-red. He moaned, and received a kick to his broken leg for his trouble, which caused him to shriek with pain.
Jikiro looked down at his pathetic and broken father, grinning. The baka mono hadn't known what he was getting himself into when he had attacked the newly-crowned Genin. When he had begun to attack the boy, something inside had snapped, just like during the exam, only different. This time, it was darker, threatening, and it could kill without a second thought. At least Jikiro had had hesitations about killing Benji before. Now, fighting his father, he could have killed him with now trouble. But, he enjoyed watching the man suffer. Now, the fool would never dare even think of lifting a finger to his son ever again, not after the beating he had suffered. Hell, he would probably never even walk again.
Jikiro calmed himself, checked his clothes for blood, saw that he was clean, and got his father around the waist. He heaved and began to drag the man inside the house. When he pushed the door open and dragged Modo inside, Ochiro came running from the kitchen.
"Oh my god Jikiro, what happened to your father?"
"The baka attacked me when I got home for absolutely no reason. I had to defend myself, and this was the only way I could do it. I'm sorry, Mother." Ochiro just shook her head and whispered,
"Don't be, sweetheart. You know how your father can be. I'm sorry I wasn't there to stop him." Jikiro just shook his head and headed to his bedroom. Ochiro went to her husband with a damp rag and dabbed at his forehead, cooing his voice softly.
"Ochiro." She jumped when her husband said her name.
"Yes, darling?"
"Ochiro…what are you hiding from me?"
"Whatever do you mean, Modo?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Ochiro. Your family's Kekkai Genkai. I know you have one. When Jikiro slaughtered me earlier, I looked into his eyes. They looked like my family's Kekkai Genkai, only they gave off a dark, foreboding feeling and were a deep red color, not black like mine. Tell me."
Ochiro hesitated, then muttered,
"All right. My family has long had a hidden Kekkai Genkai. No one knows the name of it, as it was created generations ago. But, in essence, it allows the user to experience exponential increases in speed, chakra control, and brute strength. The signs of this are red eyes. Now, tell me about yours."
"Well, ours allows the user to study the opponent carefully and predict their next attack from subtle movements, such as a slight twitch of the finger. The only visible sign of this technique is a small, almost invisible black dot that constantly circles the pupil." The two sat in silence for a few moments, when Ochiro said,
"What does this have to do with our son, Modo?"
"I think that he has adopted both of our family's Kekkai Genkai's and is somehow combining them and twisting them to his own uses. This doesn't bode well. If both of our abilities are as powerful as we both say, then a combination of the two alone could be deadly. And, knowing the boy, if he is able to twist them, they will become unstoppable. I only wish we had confirmation of this and that we could stop him. I would rather he was a weakling than he use it for evil."
"Our boy? Jikiro? He is a good boy, he would never do such a thing."
"I'm not so sure, Ochiro. I'm really not."
"On the other side of his bedroom door, Jikiro listened and smiled. His own parents were afraid of him. He loved it. He loved the feeling it gave him, and stepped away from the door. He smiled again and crawled into bed.
All right people, that's it for this baby. The next chapter is going to include the end of Jikiro's training and at least part, if not all, of the Chunin Exam. Ja ne!