So chapter 18 got pretty long pretty fast. It's over 12k words, so I decided to split it up into more managable chunks. It's still one chapter, but you'll be getting it over the course of the weekend. Part 1 is now obviously. Part 2 will be later this evening, and Part 3 will com tomorrow.
"I don't get it," Masaru was glaring at the brown cat clinched in his arms, "I thought all cats liked you, Osamu."
A month had gone by since the kidnapping debacle, and they had finally gotten the dreaded 'Track Down Tora' mission.
"They do," Osamu ground out angrily, rubbing the spot where the feline had gotten its unusually sharp claws through his arm wraps, "Tora isn't a cat... she's a demon."
Hotaka was still breaking into fits of giggles from the sight of Osamu fighting with a cat. He doubted he would ever get to see such a thing again. Even funnier was watching Yancha come to his rescue.
"You don't think Shijimi-sama will notice the the hole Yancha bit in her ear, do you?" he asked after recovering from his last bout.
"I tied the ribbon back over it," Masaru replied, "With any luck, she won't. If she does, we claim ignorance."
"Agreed," Osamu shot a glare at the brown cat, "Maybe next time we should just let Yancha kill her."
An agreeing meow followed by purring was heard from the gold and black feline trotting amongst them.
"What's taking so long, Hiroto-san!?" the shrill, worried voice of their current employer cried as they came within earshot of the tower, "Can't your team find my precious Tora!?"
"I'm sure they are just being careful to capture her without harming her," Hiroto replied diplomatically, "You did tell us she was jumpy around strangers."
"More like desperate to stay away from that crazy lady," Hotaka muttered, sending his friends into fits of barely contained laughter. Sure enough, the closer they got to the woman, the more desperately Tora tried to escape.
"OW! Little monster," Masaru was now bleeding from a fresh bite mark on his hand, "Next time I say we put her in a storage seal."
"Can they hold living things?" Osamu asked curiously.
"Not sure," the large boy replied menacingly while looking down at the cat, "But I'm willing to try it with this little hellcat."
They finally came into sight of Banshou Shijimi and their annoyed looking Sensei. The woman immediately brightened and rushed forward to snatch Tora away from Masaru, who was more than willing to give her up.
"There's my poopsikins!" she cried while embracing the cat in a crushing hug. She seemed immune to its thrashing claws and desperate bites, "I'm sure you were so scared, but you're safe now."
"You can pay in the missions office, Shijimi-sama," Hiroto told her with a false smile, "If you've nothing else for us, we'll be on our way."
He didn't even give her a chance to reply before heading down the road at a speed that could only be called walking in the most liberal terms. His students quickly followed.
"What is wrong with that woman?" Hotaka asked no one in particular once they were half a mile away.
"That woman is the Daimyo's wife, Hotaka. Remember that," Hiroto shot him a warning glare, "Also, I have no clue."
"She's the Daimyo's second wife," Osamu offered what information he knew, "His first one was assassinated by unknown enemies a few years ago."
"You're well informed," Masaru looked at his small friend with his eyebrows raised.
"Gotta know these kinds of things," Osamu replied with a shrug, "Nee-san quizzes me every morning about current events in the Land of Fire."
"That's good," Hiroto smirked, "Have the three of you been doing your individual training?"
"Ugh," Masaru slumped a little, "You mean my personal torture? Where did you get that exercise plan?"
"Gai-san assured me it would increase your endurance and strength by leaps and bounds," the jonin replied nonchalantly, "Have you been doing the whole thing?"
"Everything I can," Masaru answered honestly, "Some of that stuff just isn't possible for me. At least not yet."
"Good. Make sure you keep attempting what you can't do, though," Hiroto ordered, "How about you, Osamu?"
"Nee-san has been drilling me in her style," the small boy answered, "I still plan on never needing it in a real fight."
"That's fine," Hiroto allowed, "Just don't get complacent. Hotaka?"
"Erm..." the boy laughed weakly, "Not much progress."
"You're not even trying are you?" their Sensei fixed a disapproving look on the lanky teen, "I didn't set you to improving your hand seals for nothing, Hotaka."
"You said yourself the combinations you gave me don't do anything," the boy replied defensively, "What's the point in that?"
"The point is to improve your ability to string any combination of seals together," Hiroto replied dryly, "Practice, Hotaka. I can make your life miserable."
The boy spent the rest of their trek to the training field grumbling to himself, but brightened considerably when he remembered that they were sparring today.
"I'm gonna last longer against you today, Sensei," he claimed with determination.
"Actually, I'm going to work with Masaru today," the jonin replied, "I want you to spar with, Osamu."
"But that won't even be a challenge," the boy complained.
"Thanks..." Osamu interjected sarcastically.
"Osamu needs to improve in taijutsu, Hotaka," their Sensei ignored the small boy, "Masaru is good enough to do that, but he's slow enough that Osamu can rely on pure speed to dodge. He needs to learn blocking and parrying, too."
Hotaka saw the reasoning and sighed, "Okay."
"Good," Hiroto smirked, "Remember, Hotaka. Osamu can't boost, so go easy. Light taps when he gives you an opening."
"Yea, yea," Hotaka turned to Osamu and took his fighting stance, "I've sparred before."
XxXxXxX
"I'm so sorry, Osamu," Hotaka was hovering near the dazed boy, much to Hiroto's annoyance, "I swear I was holding back."
"You broke three of his ribs," Masaru chimed in from nearby, heightening the jonin's irritation, "If that's holding back, I don't want to see all out."
At least the large boy was doing something useful by keeping Osamu's distressed cat out of the way. Despite her apparent intelligence, she couldn't quite get that her interference could cause more problems.
"Shut up! Both of you!" Hiroto barked while maintaining concentration on his first aid technique, "What did I tell you, Hotaka? Light taps! Remember that conversation?"
"It was a light tap!" Hotaka protested desperately, "His ribs snapped like twigs!"
"He can't boost," Hiroto reminded him. There was a massive bruise on his patients side, but the ribs beneath were mending slowly, "That means what you thought was a light tap was actually a full force punch."
"I'm sorry, Sensei," Hotaka said dejectedly.
"No..." Hiroto sighed as he finished what he could do with his limited knowledge, "It's my fault. I forced the two of you to spar knowing that Osamu could easily get hurt."
"I thought you said he was stronger than us," Masaru looked up from Yancha who was still struggling to get to her partner.
"He is... adjusting for size and weight," Hiroto agreed, "That doesn't make him durable or knowledgeable on how to leverage it to his advantage."
"Is he gonna be alright?" Hotaka seemed overly nervous.
Hiroto smiled to try and calm him, "He's gonna be fine, Hotaka. He's just a little sedated from the technique I used."
It was strange to see the boy who had burned a man alive with almost no reaction fret so much over a few broken ribs. At least his priorities were straight.
"You two head home," Hiroto ordered, "I'm gonna take him by the hospital for the medics to look over."
They nodded their understanding and headed out.
"So how hard did you hit him?" Masaru's voice asked when they got out of sight. A soft thud could be heard, then, "OW! No wonder you broke his ribs, you idiot!"
Hiroto just shook his head and picked his smallest student up. He turned to Yancha who was still purring in distress, but managing not to assault him in an attempt to get near her human.
"He'll be alright," Hiroto assured her, "Can you tell Ren-san he'll be running late for me?"
The cat turned her eyes to the half asleep boy in his arms, "Brrrow..."
"I know you're worried, Yancha," he said gently, "But it isn't that serious. Please go tell Ren-san."
He thought for a moment she wouldn't comply, but then she trotted off. She only looked back once before disappearing into the brush.
Hiroto took off towards the hospital, taking care not to jostle Osamu too much.
"Don't think I should go to the academy today, Nee-san," the teen said blearily, "Feel terrible."
He really needed to figure out how to attenuate the sedation effect of his healing. It was on or off with him; no middle ground to speak of.
When he arrived at the hospital emergency room, he was happy to see it was a slow day for the medics. One of the nurses spotted him with his load, and upon seeing who it was, rushed off.
"That was odd..." he mused to himself.
Another of the nurses approached him, "Take him to exam room five. Through those doors, third on the right."
"I... Okay," Hiroto was at a loss. Osamu was obviously not all that injured, and they were acting like his arm was missing or something.
When he got to the exam room, the nurse there handed him one of the backless paper gowns he hated so much.
"The hell is this for?" Hiroto asked in exasperation.
"For the boy," the nurse answered as if he were a moron, then left him alone.
"Shouldn't you be doing this!?" he shouted after him, but the nurse just slammed the door behind himself.
Hiroto sighed and set Osamu down on the exam table, "Why is nothing ever simple with you?"
He supposed with his luck, the doctor would crawl up his ass instead of the nurses' if Osamu wasn't in the hospital gown. He slipped the kids shirt off, noting the intricate seal just over his heart. There were a pair of concentric rings with multiple kanji and other less readable symbols sandwiched in between. The central area directly over his heart was blank save for the boy's full name.
At a loss for what the seal was for, he got the hospital gown on his student and sat to wait for the doctor. He didn't have to wait long, though.
The man was most certainly a Hyuuga with those solid white eyes. There was no hair to be seen peeking out from under the black bandana he wore over his head. Frown lines and wrinkles from aging crisscrossed his face. He was wearing dark blue scrubs with a white lab coat.
"The hell's wrong with him?" he asked immediately, and Hiroto was slightly taken aback by the gruff way the man spoke. Hyuuga were generally very polite in their language.
"He broke some ribs during training," Hiroto explained, "I used Naosu no Jutsu to mend what I could, but I'm no medic."
The doctor sat on a rolling stool and slid over to the exam table with glowing green hands, "Not a bad job for no medical training... left some splinters from the initial break in there."
"That's why I brought him here," the jonin confessed, "I can only get overt damage."
"You make a good example for other shinobi," the doctor told him as his hands began to glow brighter, "Every soldier out there should be able to do what you can. How did he break his ribs? Misstep in the canopy?"
"Ahh... no," Hiroto replied sheepishly, "He was sparring with his teammate."
"The hell for?" he ended his technique and turned to face the jonin completely, "I'm pretty sure I put in his dossier that he can't boost. He should be avoiding close combat at all costs."
"You're his normal doctor?" Hiroto asked curiously.
"I'm his only doctor," the Hyuuga answered, "Hokage's orders. He's not to be seen by anyone else unless it would mean the loss of life, limb, or eyesight."
"Why is that?" Hiroto continued to question.
To his surprise, that seemed to make the medical expert more irate, "What the FUCK!?"
He turned to Osamu with his hands glowing green again, and used a technique Hiroto didn't know to end the sedation the boy was under. He blinkes a few times, then focused on the angry looking doctor.
"Doctor Juro?" he asked in confusion.
"What did I tell you boy?" Juro tore into him, "I would sign off on your medical readiness so long as you explained to your Sensei your conditions."
"He knows I can't boost," Osamu shrunk down into the exam table.
"That's not what I'm talking about, you little shit," the doctor grew angrier.
"Woah!" Hiroto leapt out of his seat and pulled the doctor back from Osamu, "Calm down."
"Tell him," the doctor ordered Osamu curtly, who looked afraid and guilty at the same time, "No... show him."
"Show me what?" Hiroto was getting tired of this, "What was he supposed to let me know?"
"The Sakibou clan performed some forbidden techniques generations ago," the doctor explained with a great deal of disgust, "Fools didn't know what they were mucking with."
"What did it do that has to do with Osamu?"
"Genetic drift," Osamu answered quietly. He was slowly unwrapping the binding from his feet.
"What?"
"The precursors to the more controlled transformation jutsu, like the beast man stuff the Inuzuka use, were permanent," the doctor explained, "Early Sakibou, according to Ren-san, tried to use them to enhance their combat efficacy."
"I'm guessing it didn't go well," Hiroto sat back down.
"I'll say," the doctor let out a mirthless laugh, "Members of the clan mutating out of control as their DNA destabilized. They had no idea what was going on back then, though. How they came up with the seal was never explained to me."
Hiroto looked over at Osamu, "The one on your chest?"
Osamu nodded as he pulled the last of the bindings off his feet and stood. Unlike normal, his stance was... off.
"Lose the pants, too," doctor Juro ordered, "Show him what happens when people muck around with things they don't understand."
Osamu sighed and stripped down to his boxers. He even stripped away the hospital gown to give Hiroto an unobstructed view.
"I'll be damned," Hiroto whispered in amazement.
"Yea," the doctor agreed.
Osamu's legs were shaped oddly; a strange mix of beast and man. His thighs were thicker and more heavily muscled than anyone his size or age, and his calves were similar. It looked as if his ankles had a greater range of motion, and he kept his heels off the floor with his knees flexed. His feet were probably just an inch or two longer than normal and just an inch too thin, but the overall effect was animalistic. All he was missing were the fur and claws.
"How did this happen?" Hiroto asked, "You looked like a normal baby..."
"I was," Osamu replied vehemently as he began to don his clothes again, "My seal wasn't applied until almost two weeks after I was born."
"The seal on his chest protects him from the instability of his own genome," the doctor picked up for the boy, "Problem is, he was given time to mutate. The effects would be unnoticeable at a when he was young, but would grow more pronounced as he ages."
"It's going to get worse?" Hiroto turned worried eyes to his student who was facing away as he put his shirt back on.
With him clothed again, Hiroto could pick up on all the little tricks that Osamu used to disguise his odd anatomy. The dark colors of his clothing, along with the slightly loose fit hid the contour of his legs. The foot wraps used lateral striping to produce an optical illusion, making his feet look shorter and thicker. He also forced his heels to the ground while standing to keep his profile more human.
"I haven't detected any new changes recently," the doctor replied, "Speaking of which, might as well give you a check-up while you're here."
The doctors hands began to glow green again as he went over every part of the downcast boy, "Muscle mass is still ten percent denser than normal. That seems to have stabilized. Your light to color receptor ratio has remained the same... any more gain in color vision or loss of night vision?"
"Not since I was ten," Osamu answered sullenly.
"Your tapetum lucidum hasn't degraded. That's good," the doctor continued, then moved his hands over the boys ears, "Any noticeable change in your range of hearing."
"None," the boy replied, "Still seems normal for a human."
"When was your last rabies vaccination?"
"I'm not due for another six months," Osamu answered after a moment of thought.
"He needs a rabies shot?" Hiroto asked in disbelief.
"Oh yea," the doctor replied, "I tested him against common animal pathogens. He's susceptible to rabies, feline corona virus, and feline leukemia among other things. You don't want him going rabid, either. Look at his teeth."
Osamu sighed yet again and pulled his lips out of the way to give Hiroto a good view.
"That looks like..." he couldn't quite place where he'd seen those particular shapes before.
"Bear teeth are the closest comparison," Juro supplied for him, "His incisors still look human enough, but everything behind them is sharp as hell. Kid has some mean jaw muscles, too."
"If his teeth are like that," Hiroto was beginning to see why Osamu would want to keep all this a secret, "What about the rest of his digestive system?"
"Good question," Juro commented as he test the boys reflexes, "As he aged, his tract began to become more sensitive to cooked meat. He has trouble digesting it."
"If he ate it raw, though..."
Juro answered by digging in his pocket and tossing the jonin a pair of pill bottles.
Hiroto looked at them, and realized what they were, "This is heart worm medication for dogs."
"Other one kills off intestinal parasites," Juro explained.
"Damn, Osamu," Hiroto breathed, "I can't believe you managed to hide this so well."
"I've had help," the teen looked at Juro thankfully, who just scoffed softly.
"Channel some chakra for me," the doctor ordered his patient.
The boy complied, and Hiroto saw the veins around Juro's eyes bulge as his kekkei-genkai activated.
"I'll give you this kid," the doctor smirked, "You got the prettiest chakra I've ever seen. Like looking at opals turned liquid. Any new developments with your kekkei-genkai."
"I'm getting more sensitive," Osamu replied, stopping his channeling, "It's taking more chakra than I'm willing to spend to completely shut out. Crowded areas are starting to give me headaches."
"Hmm," the doctor mused for a moment, "I'll see if I can come up with a decent painkiller that won't interfere with your duties. How about the other stuff."
"Other stuff?" Hiroto asked curiously. He'd only been told about the sensory aspect.
"I can calm emotions now," Osamu seemed a little proud to say that.
"That could be damn useful in the medical field," the doctor took up a clipboard and began writing down notes. The veins around his temples relaxed.
"I can't produce the healing chakra, remember," Osamu countered.
"Pfah," Juro scoffed at that, "You'd make one hell of a psychiatrist, but noooo. You just had to be a shinobi."
"You aren't going to rescind my medical readiness for not keeping my promise?" Osamu asked with a bit of hope.
"I should, you lying little shit," Juro replied in an annoyed tone, "Stay out of melee. Use that genjutsu and kekkei genkai of yours. No reason you can't support your teammates in combat; just stay out of the line of fire."
"Sure thing, Doc," Osamu told him happily.
"Now get out of my sight," Juro ordered, "If you come back in with another dumb injury, I'll have you out of the corps so fast your head'll spin."
After they had put some distance between them and the hospital Hiroto looked down at his student, "You didn't need to keep that from me, you know."
Osamu sighed in resignation, "I just wanted to be normal growing up. Hotaka and Masaru never really mentioned anything, but I caught them staring from time to time. I guess I just didn't want another person doing that."
"Honestly, being normal is kind of dangerous for a shinobi," Hiroto told him, "Think about the Hyuuga. Those eyes are creepy as hell, but they certainly give an advantage."
"Hey. They aren't all creepy," Osamu replied defensively.
"Ah yes," Hiroto grinned big, "Forgot about your girlfriend."
Osamu groaned in frustration, "Not you too."
"Do you see my point, though," Hiroto got them back on subject, "You can't boost, but your higher muscle mass and unusual legs let you move at higher than human speeds anyway. That's not a bad thing."
"It's really hard to hide if I'm trying to disguise myself, though," the boy complained, "My specialty is supposed to be infiltration, but I can't do that with freakish legs. I can use contacts for my eyes, and keep my teeth out of sight, but my legs are too obvious out of my specially made clothing."
"You do have a point there," Hiroto had to admit, "You're a smart kid, though. You'll figure something out. What was that bit about 'calming emotions?'"
"Umm..." Osamu rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I don't just sense auras around me. I can read them to get an idea of a person's emotional state and use my chakra to manipulate it."
"That doesn't fit with what I know of genjutsu," Hiroto commented.
"Yea," Osamu agreed, "Most anyone who doesn't know much about genjutsu and mind-altering ninjutsu would assume I'm doing one or the other."
"You used it to calm the Inuzuka hounds, didn't you?" the jonin asked, making the connection from their first D-rank a month ago.
"I did," Osamu confirmed, "Animals are harder for me to sense and read, but are easier to manipulate. I haven't experimented on human targets too much. Just Nee-san really. It feels... dirty."
"You can use me as a guinea pig," his Sensei offered, "I want you to know the capabilities and limitations of this power. From now on, when Masaru and Hotaka are sparring, we'll see exactly what it can do."
Osamu's face became pensive, but he finally nodded, "You're right. I need to explore it."
"At least I know to keep you out of direct combat at all costs now," Hiroto commented lightly after the conversation lapsed into a short, but awkward, silence.
"Kunai and shuriken for me," Osamu said, nonplussed.
"Maybe not," Hiroto replied, "I'm not sure I want you close enough for even that."
"I can cast genjutsu at a really long distance," Osamu agreed hesitantly, "But I don't want to be so far I can't directly support the team."
Hiroto smiled, "Don't worry... you'll be doing more than using illusions. I think we're going to skip out on a mission tomorrow and go weapon shopping."
XxXxXxX
Ayame looked up and smiled to see one of her best customers walk up to the stand, "Hey, Naruto-kun. How are you?"
"I'm alright I guess," The boy seemed slightly down. Not so much sullen as... resigned.
"Come on now," Ayame chided him, "You can tell me."
The boy sighed, "It's my team."
"What about them?" Teuchi asked walking out from the storage in the back, "I hear Kakashi-san is supposed to be one of the top jonin."
"I'm sure that's true," Naruto propped his elbow on the counter and plopped his chin into his hand, "But he sucks as a Sensei."
"How so?" Teuchi kept up the line of questions as he began to make enough noodles to feed an army. If Naruto hadn't ordered yet, it meant Hiroto would be here soon. The two of them could eat as much ramen as ten normal people.
"Well..." Naruto seemed reluctant at first, but Ayame gave him an encouraging smile, "The jerk is always showing up late for team meetings. Like... three hours late. He never teaches us anything either."
"Have you told Hiroto-san about this?" Teuchi looked over his shoulder, "Might be he can do something about it."
Naruto sighed again, crossed his arms on the counter and set his head down on them, "I've tried, but he's always talking about respecting my Sensei..."
"How do you try to tell him?" Ayame asked. She had an idea that the knucklehead was leading off with insults, as was his norm when angry.
"Umm..." Naruto pondered the query, but didn't seem to be able to recall.
"Do you call your Sensei names?" she made the question more specific.
"I guess I call him some names, but..." he stopped when he saw the stern look on the servers face.
"Naruto-kun," she intoned in a motherly way, "There are ways to complain about someone without disrespecting them."
"But..." she continued to stare him down, and he got the point, "I guess you're right."
"Hey, buddy," Hiroto greeted as he jogged up, "Sorry I'm late. Osamu broke some ribs during training today. Had to take him by the hospital."
"Is he alright?" Ayame asked with a worried look. The boy had seemed a little creepy at first, what with the eyes and request that they not cook his meat all the way through, but he had a polite manner that was endearing.
"He's fine," Hiroto answered, "Still sore, but all his bones are in the proper place."
"That's good," she smiled brightly, "So what'll be today, boys."
"Give me three pork, a miso, and a couple of beef," Hiroto rattled off.
"Two miso, a beef, and four pork," Naruto followed up.
"Coming right up," she gave Naruto a pointed look, and moved off to help her father.
"Erm, Nii-san," he turned to his adoptive brother, "I need your help."
"What with?" Hiroto turned worried eyes to him.
"It's Kakashi-sensei," Naruto felt himself get a little heated, but calmed himself when he saw Hiroto's eyebrow raise, "He's always super late, and never teaches us anything. He just gets us to do a D-rank or two a day, then cuts us loose."
"That so?" Hiroto rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "What do the three of you do when he leaves?"
"Go our separate ways," Naruto answered.
You don't try to train on your own?" he asked.
"Not sure about Sakura-chan," Naruto answered honestly, "I think Sasuke trains on his own, and I do, too."
Hiroto nodded, "Say you get ambushed on the road; what will Sasuke-kun do?"
"Wha..." Naruto looked up at him confused, "How should I know?"
"By paying attention to, and training with, your team," Hiroto answered.
"Well what about Sensei?" the boy asked, annoyed, "He's not supposed to do anything?"
"He is," Hiroto replied, "It appears he's not doing it too well, but you have a responsibility, too."
"So what should I do?" Naruto asked a little desperately, "Sensei won't train us, and my teammates don't really like me."
"Tell you what," Hiroto leaned onto the counter, "You get your team to meet mine for some training after your Sensei leaves tomorrow, and I'll look into solving your issue with him."
"Really?" Naruto perked up at the thought, "Will you be teaching us some cool stuff?"
"In a manner of speaking, you'll be learning it all on your own," Hiroto replied cryptically.
Their food arrived soon after, and they stopped conversing to eat. Naruto was preoccupied, though. He had to figure out how to entice his normally antagonistic teammates into coming with him.
Naosu (Curing, lit. to cure)
Type: Ninjutsu (Medical)
Rank: D
Effect: The user gets a basic idea of damage to the body and can slowly heal overt injuries. The technique can also be used to sedate the patient if necessary. This technique is the basis for other more advanced healing abilities, and is the first thing aspiring medics learn.