Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Warning mentions of Rape
I had successfully hidden away with Mikoto while the screams of the damned rang out throughout the town. She had seemed to think the whole thing was kind of funny as I had seen her smiling the entire time I was there.
Saiko had picked me up after the last screams trailed off and had brought me back to base. I was hypervigilant for that night and the next day when I was returned to Kushina yet both of them seemed to have no recollection of their rampage and acted no different than normal. It had made me jumpy for an entire week before my paranoia went back down to reasonable shinobi levels.
From there things had fallen into a routine again. Kushina continued to train me in water techniques, which I still learned extremely fast, and Saiko started teaching me lighting release. Apparently that was her main element. All I could think about when I started was Sith Lighting. I would be all like 'You Underestimate my Power' then bam lighting to the face. In addition Kushina had started to train me in kenjutsu because I was blowing through the water element training.
Before that we had to actually get a sword which turned out to be a point of contention between us. A good sword is around 10,000 ryo and would last me years if I took proper care of it. I thought it was a good investment to make. All I would have to do is go on three more C ranks and I would have enough to buy one and a proper cleaning kit. Kushina disagreed with the idea.
She wanted to buy a sword for me as some kind of present or something so I wouldn't have to spend all of my money on one thing. I didn't want her to have to pay for it because it wasn't an inexpensive item. Paying for a 50ryo bowl of ramen is far different than spending an entire C ranks worth of money on me. She has a house and other expenses to take care of.
I don't have to pay for lodging at the underground base and I ate food for enjoyment not necessity. All my needs were met so I should be allowed to spend that much on a blade if I wanted to. It almost devolved into a shouting match before Minato, who was sitting on the couch, suggested that Kushina would pay for the initial blade and I would pay her back in installments. It didn't make either of us very happy but that's what compromising means.
Actually getting a sword was a hassle as well. Kushina took me to an out of the way weapon shop where a huge mountain of a man was working a forge in the back of the shop. I could feel the heat from just entering the shop so the back portion must be sweltering. What followed next was a long drawn out process where the blacksmith, Tenjen, made me hold blade after blade. From a meter and a half long katana to a 12cm long tanto. In the end I exited the shop with an 18cm long tanto, with a sheathe, and proper cleaning supplies for it.
Saiko showed up at the end of the day and took one look at my new tanto and asked why I hadn't asked her to grab one from the armory. Thanks Saiko you made the entire process of today completely pointless. Whatever, I had a new tanto to call my own.
Ding!
Learned Beginner Kenjutsu (Passive) LVL 1 - 0%
The beginning level of sword play. You could chop off a limb if you're not careful.
Increases speed while using a sword by 5%
Several more weeks went by as I continued training interrupted by 1-2 C rank mission per week and on occasion Kushina would be called on to complete a mission that I wasn't allowed to participate in. At the end of the third week something different happened. Saiko had dropped me off and left as normal while Kushina had been sitting in the center of the clearing.
She directed me to begin the blade kata that I had been working on immediately and I did so with my usual singlemindedness when it comes to training. 30 minutes into it though Kushina started to groan and then leaned to the side to vomit.
"Sensei are you alright?" I stopped the exercise and quickly made my way over to her. She tried to wave it off but vomited again.
"Do you need me to get a medic sensei?" I hovered near her not really sure what to do.
"No, no I just feel a little, urp." She started dry heaving after vomiting everything in her stomach. I flared up my chakra.
Need help. I waited for a moment then felt a response.
What kind?
Medical.
Status?
Unknown.
Hold.
Less than 30 seconds later 2 ANBU dropped into the clearing. They took one look at Kushina, who was still heaving, and the one on the right move forward with their hands glowing green.
Kushina was being stubborn in her refusal to let the nice ANBU do his job but her strength didn't seem to be up to its usual par and he batted away her arms easily. His palms hovered over Kushina's stomach for a bit then the ANBU stood up and backed away slightly.
"Congratulations you're not dying horribly just pregnant." Gallows humor much. Wait what?
"What!?" Her bellow echoed through the clearing.
"You're pregnant. Have a pleasant day." Both ANBU flickered out of the clearing.
"Pregnant, pregnant, pregnant." Kushina muttered to herself over and over again. I think she's going into shock.
"Kushina." She still kept muttering to herself. I lightly touched her shoulder and the next thing I felt was my back slamming into a tree. Breathing would be helpful here my body screamed at me. I'm glad I have Chakra enhancement going all the time. Drawing a rasping breath I took stock of my body.
20 points of health gone. Burning pain in my chest and back with a bump on the back of my head. Nothing feels broken though just battered. "Oh, my god Shiro I'm so sorry." Her hands are roaming over my body checking for cracks or breaks. Mental note don't startle a ninja. Second mental note if the ANBU run away consider following their example.
"I'm so sorry I just felt your hand and reacted." I tried to wave her off.
"I'm, cough, fine just got the wind knocked out of me. That's not important though you're pregnant." She freezes and then her entire face lights up.
"Oh my God you're right I'm pregnant. I'm going to have a baby like Mikoto. This is my dream coming true. Oh no what should I name them? What if they don't like me or if they have my verbal tick? What if they don't like Minato? Minato! What am I supposed to tell him? We're not even married what if he leaves me? I can't tell him."
The babble is strong right now but it's leading to a bad direction. "Kushina sensei." I yell out breaking her from her downward spiral. "Talk to Mikoto first and don't even believe Minato would leave you. You live in a house together and have a live in teenager you're already basically married."
Her face which had been getting darker brightened back up again. "You're right let's go to Mikoto she'll know what to do." I'm unceremoniously grabbed and draped over her shoulder as the world blurs around us. We skipped going through the gate and landed right in front of Mikoto's house.
"Mikoto open up right now." She started to bang on the door. The door had barely started to open before she barged in almost smacking Mikoto as she retreated into a defensive position. The door was slammed closed and I was dropped on the ground as Kushina hug tackled Mikoto off the ground to carry her further into the house.
Itachi came out of a side room as Kushina ran down the hall carrying his mom and babbling. He seems to take it well enough and looks to me for clarification. "Hello Itachi. Kushina just found out she's pregnant." He tilts his head to the side quizzically.
Right can't forget he's only 3 he can't know everything. "It means she's going to have a baby soon. So what were you working on today?"
"My father deemed me ready to practice the Uchiha's signature move Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique. I have already succeeded in creating it and now I am simply working on increasing the speed at which I cast it." Damn he's a genius. I mean that in a good way.
"Hm, have you worked on any chakra control exercises? They would help you waste less chakra when you cast the fireball." He has maybe enough chakra to cast it four times before he's out of chakra. Pretty good reserves for his age actually. I of course don't count because I'm totally not normal.
"I have mastered the leaf sticking exercise but nothing other than that." Cool I can help him out then.
"If you show me to the garden I can show you the next step." He nods amicably and we proceed to the garden. I walk up to one of the trees there and then straight up the side of it. Doing that takes way more than just sticking your feet to the tree it also involves a butt load of core strength.
I toss a kunai to land at his feet. "As you can see you can use your chakra to stick to surfaces and walk up them. Some people prefer to learn this by getting a running start or you can lay on your back and practice sticking your feet to the tree first. Either way you can mark the tree with the kunai to see how far you've gone. Don't worry about falling I'll catch you." I make my Chakra strings visible and attach themselves to him then go invisible.
I heard excited shouting from inside the house as I jumped up onto a branch to get comfortable. Drawing a small stream of water from the nearby pond I had it circle around me in pure water shaping exercise that never showed up in my skills. It levels my Water Manipulation like crazy though.
Itachi went with the slow and steady route instead of running headlong into it. I kind of expected him to do it this way actually. He doesn't seem like the guy that would rush into things. We each did our own thing as the noise from inside the house would ebb and flow. It would seem that Itachi has gained enough confidence to try the actual exercise now.
Standing up and backing away from the tree he gave it a running start that took him half way up the tree. He didn't quite have the exercise down and as he started to fall my strings grew taunt enough to lightly set him on the ground. Nodding his thanks he tried again and this time succeeded in reaching the top of the tree. He stood horizontally for a moment then started walking back down the tree.
"Impressive. Now that you've gotten the exercise keep at it to improve your control and chakra capacity." I kept my strings on him as he walked up and down the tree. That was what Kushina and Mikoto walked out to later. Myself with 8 spinning circles of water around me while Itachi ran up and down a tree.
Mikoto calling out to us was enough for Itachi's focus to slip again and I had to set him down on the ground. I think I heard her breath hitch when he slipped. I looked up at the sky and blinked. Wow I must have been extremely focused it's mid-afternoon now. Kushina was apparently done talking as we left the Uchiha household and went to get a late lunch/early dinner ramen at Ichiraku's.
I like ramen I really do but I would prefer some variety other than tasteless meals at the underground base or ramen. I don't dare say it out loud otherwise the beast mode I saw Kushina transform into might come back again. The meal was mostly in silence as we both didn't want to discuss such a delicate topic out in the open with nosy ninja about.
We went back to Kushina's house but Minato was gone on a mission so nothing happened that night and I went back to base with Saiko leaving Kushina alone. The situation continued for the next couple of months. Both Mikoto and I pressed Kushina to tell him about the baby on the way and she kept on making excuses not to or he wasn't home. It was getting pass the point of being ridiculous and being stupid.
Her baby bump was growing bigger each day and I felt sure she must be using all her skill to keep Minato from noticing or he was just completely oblivious. I was going with the first one and it annoyed me. Final it came down to a shouting match in training ground 3.
"Kushina this has to stop."
"I don't know what you're talking about?" She tried to deny. I tried a different tactic.
"Do you love Minato?"
"Brat! How dare you ask that of course I do." Her face was growing red and she shouted the last part.
"Then you have to tell him." I shouted right back.
"Tell me what?" We both turned Kushina paling and myself in shock. There was Minato standing as carefree as ever right next to us.
"I- We- That is." Kushina sputtered, white in the face, before something snapped in her and she shouted out, "Minato I'm pregnant."
"Oh, is that all?" He said it with a nonchalant attitude like it was nothing big at all. Kushina immediately burst into tears.
"Ah, no, wait I mean I knew you were pregnant." He ran up and wrapped her in a hug. "Did you really think you could hide something like this from me? Getting sick in the mornings and trying to pass it off as the flu. Honey you've never been sick a day in your life and you expect me to believe you can't get better after a month?" He took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is I love you."
Moving away slightly and going down on one knee he took out a box. "Kushina would you marry me?" Kushina was sobbing as he opened the box.
"Yes. Yes I will." Grinning widely Minato slipped the ring onto her left ring finger then stood up and kissed her. It was a lovely scene with them standing in the middle of a clearing and the water sparkling in the sun behind them. It was almost perfect except I could hear giggling.
What? Looking away from the lovebirds who were lost in their own world I looked for the source of the giggling. My eyes widened when I saw the man who started the whole orange book fiasco. He looked ridiculous with two small sticks tucked inside his headband as though they were a form of camouflage. Against my better judgement I made my way over to him.
"Hey mister Jiraiya." I softly called up to him.
"Shh, quiet brat I'm trying to write." He was indeed writing things down in a little notepad. I considered my options. Supposedly Jiraiya was one of the Sannin so he should be super strong so that could mean…
"Hey pervert if you don't teach me a technique I'll alert Kushina you're spying on her." The scratching of pen on paper stopped as he looked down at me.
"Are you trying to blackmail me kid?"
"If I say yes will you teach me a technique?" He snorted at that and put the pen and paper away to jump down next to me. It looked like he took a moment to consider before a wide grin formed on his face.
"I think I've got the perfect technique for you. Now this technique can only be used on the most dastardly of foes. It'll penetrate deep inside them and make them scream for hours. Now watch closely." He made a hand sign and I felt his chakra flow into his mouth. When he opened it his tongue flew out for about 2 meters and wriggled around. Slurping it back in he wiggled his eyebrows at me.
"Uh, okay it looks odd but if you say so." I want it. Making the necessary hand sign I pumped my chakra into my mouth and I felt my tongue extend from it while I had full control over its motion.
Ding!
Learned Tongue Extension Jutsu(E Rank Active – 20(16.5)/min) LVL 1 – 0%
A jutsu used to extend the tongue to grab… No, just no. This has almost no practical purpose except to freak people out and make the ladies love you. Enjoy it you pervert.
I think I broke my power. "Well aren't you the little genius."
"I like to call myself adequate."
"Shiro." Kushina's voice yelled out. I looked over to see her running towards me waving her ring hand. "Look what Minato gave- Jiraiya what are you doing next to Shiro?"
Before he could talk I acted. "Oh sensei it's great. Jiraiya wanted to apologize for giving me that book so he taught me a jutsu to penetrate deep into my foes and make them scream. Watch this." I could see Jiraiya waving frantically not to do it but it was far too late. My 2 meter long tongue shot out and I waved at Kushina with it.
Instant beast mode engaged. Jiraiya gave me a glare then ran away screaming. I didn't even see Kushina pass me I just felt the wind suddenly buffet me as she disappeared. My tongue sucked itself back into my mouth as I let the jutsu end. Minato ambled over to my side.
"Congratulations by the way."
"Thank you. So was this some kind of revenge?" He asked politely as we stared into the forest. I paused for a moment.
"All I'm going to say is that I was so covered in my own blood that the drains at the Uchiha's house had to be replaced because they clogged when it dried. That's my final word on it. Plausible deniability and all that." We continued staring into the forest.
"What would it take to keep your silence?"
"That jutsu you just picked up." 'Really' my stare seemed to say. He looked sheepish but stayed firm with his desire.
"Deal." We shook on it and on the second try he got it down. We continued standing there listening to nature. The forest is really peaceful this time of year. The birds are chirping, the trees rustling, the screams of pain and pleas for mercy drift in the wind. Yes it is very peaceful.
I was dismissed early for the day and I spent the time actually exploring Konoha instead of racing over its roof tops. Despite the war people seemed generally cheerful as though it was an abstract thing that didn't really affect them all that much. It was odd and people behaved as though we had already won and everything that's left is merely clean up actions.
Hearing news directly from both Saiko and Kushina led me to believe that it has turned into a bloody stalemate as we vie back and forth through the smaller nations that sit between our countries. Good propaganda maybe? Regardless my feet took me to the Hokage's mountain and I noticed a small path leading up the side. Having nothing better to do I started walking up the path.
It took a while but the view from the top was spectacular. The entire village was laid out before me and I felt a sense of peace sitting down and watching the village below. The peace was shattered by Saiko appearing next to me.
"Brat put away your head band and put this on." She extended a familiar white mask to me. I threw my head band in my inventory and put on the mask accustomed to the momentary darkness that followed.
"From now until the mission ends I am Ichi. These are Ni and San." Two more chakras flared near me letting me sense how they feel. "You are Yon. There is a group of 10 bandits that have joined up with 3 chunin and 1 genin a day north of here. This is a B rank mission where we will take care of the chunin and you will take the genin. Questions?"
Ding! Task Alert
Kill the bandit problem (B Rank)
Kill all hostiles at the site and report back.
Rewards: 500xp, 8000ryo
I had none as I strapped my tanto to my back. "Good. Let's go." We flickered to the village outskirts and then ran in a diamond formation north with me on the right. There was no talking just hand signals and the occasional chakra flare to other konoha ninja. We set a brutal pace for myself which we kept all the way until 20 minutes before our destination and I was allowed to take the necessary time to recover.
It didn't take long and then we continued at a slower pace until the bandit's hideout was in sight. It was more of a camp than a hideout with tents sprawled everywhere without any discipline. The sun was above the horizon now and the inhabitants of the camp were up and about. We circled the camp and I was directed to target the blond haired girl, the only girl there.
It was a peaceful morning for the people within the camp and then it was not. A roaring snake of fire, even bigger and hotter than when I last saw it, crashed into the camp. Some were lucky and died instantly. Those that were not died screaming and on fire. 4 people dodged out of the way of the inferno although my target did so with some difficulty.
3 of them were met with my squad mates and I engaged my target with a barrage of water bullets. An earthen wall rose to intercept them and I wanted to curse. Of course she was an earth affinity. The wall shattered into pieces creating a shot gun effect and devastating where I had been. A poor log that I replaced with was absolutely devastated by the shrapnel.
I could sense she had gone underground after blowing up the wall in an attempt to hide. Unfortunately for her I could pinpoint her location. Lightning Senbon I thought as dozens of senbon sized bolts of lightning formed and shot into the ground. I could feel her move but not quick enough as the jutsu tore through where she was.
When she surfaced I saw she was in a worsened state. There were a multitude of puncture wounds that littered her legs and arms which she had sacrificed to protect her chest. Not giving her a chance to recover I rushed her with my tanto drawn, creating a water clone on the way. She grimaced, bleeding profusely, and met my charge with a kunai.
My blade crashed against hers and I found her strength superior. Odd and slightly worrying but I hold the advantage. She was bleeding and I am not so now it is just a matter of time. I jumped to the side and let the water whips my clone had formed try to hit her. One succeeded and smashed into her leg. Her retaliatory rock bullet tore him apart and he burst into water.
I could see that each step pained her and her breathing was growing ragged. I could see her growing desperation and with a huge puff of smoke 10 illusionary clones sprang into being and scattered every which way. It was as pointless as hiding underground. A kunai went flying into her knee and she fell to the ground screaming.
As I advanced towards her she tore the kunai out with a shout and turned towards me. "Please I can-" I could hear a meaty thump as the second kunai guided by my Chakra strings entered into the back of her head. I held my alerted state for another minute as I tried to sense the chakra of everything around me.
Earlier in my fight I had felt the chakra of the other three targets vanish one by one and right now my squad were allowing me to sense their chakra to tell me that they were unharmed. The only source of chakra that I could feel in the surrounding area that wasn't one of ours was a civilian level one in the camp. It must not have been a bandit because otherwise they would have taken care of it by now.
Satisfied with the results I strung the dead body upright and cut off her head before I approached. Better safe than dead. Stripping it of all clothing and gear, with a check for traps, I pulled out a body scroll from my inventory sealing her inside for study. All dead ninja are brought back to the village for study. You can find out a lot of things from them. The gruesome task done I focused my full attention back onto the one signature left in camp.
Why one alive?
Deal with it.
Warning Rape Mentioned Ahead.
A test of some sort but what kind of test? I approached the still burning campsite with caution. Miraculously one tent had survived with minimal damage and that was where the signature was coming from. "Come out of the tent." I had activated the seal on the mask that changed my voice causing it to become monotone and gender neutral.
The tent shifted and a girl of no more than 12 left it. She was red and slightly burnt from the flames and her only article of clothing was a blanket draped around her shoulders. Her grey eyes were dull and dead as she gazed around at the wreckage. "Did you kill all of them?" Her voice was as dead as her eyes.
"Yes"
"Good." A hint of venom but it fades away. "I would ask a favor of you."
"I will listen but I make no promises." She seems to accept that.
"I would have you kill me." What?
"Why?"
"The bandits killed my family and used me. No one will take in a soiled girl and I will not become a prostitute to survive. So I ask again. Will you kill me?" As she finishes speaking she kneels and the blanket falls off to reveal a bruised and bloody body.
"Do you truly have no wish to live?"
"None." Time seems to stretch between us and then it is gone and reality snaps back into place.
"I shall grant it if you grant me your name."
"Hiko and thank you." A small smile is on her face as her body collapses without a head.
"Ichi." Saiko is right next to me in an instant.
"Did I make the right choice?"
"You made a choice Yon. There is no telling if it was the right one. If you make a choice you must do it decisively and remember that not making a choice is a choice itself."
I ponder that before nodding. "I understand Ichi."
"Good. Create some clones and gather everything useful then we'll head back." It doesn't take long and as we leave the camp is gone, pulled into the earth along with a girl named Hiko.
Name: Shiro
Age: 3 year - 0 months
Title: Rookie Root Shinobi
LVL: 11 - 68% to next LVL
HP: 650/650
Chakra: 11,800/11,800
Elemental Affinity: Water
STR: 71(78.1)
VIT: 65
END: 70
DEX: 89(97.9)
INT: 57(58.71)
WIS: 54(55.62)
LCK: 13
Points: 55
Money: 39,050
New Skills and updated ones
*Chakra Manipulation (Passive) LVL 70 – 0%: Chakra is what you and others will live and die by. By controlling it you stand above others.
Decreases the cost of active techniques by 17.5%
Increases Chakra control by 70%
Increases Chakra Capacity by 35%
Water Manipulation (Passive) LVL 40 – 16%
Allows for easier transitions between neutral chakra and water chakra as well as the manipulation of water.
Decreases cost of all water techniques by 10%
Increases control of water by 40%
Increases total chakra capacity by 4%
Lightning Manipulation (Passive) LVL 10 – 16%
Allows for easier transitions between neutral chakra and lightning chakra as well as the manipulation of lightning.
Decreases cost of all lightning techniques by 2.5%
Increases control of lightning by 10%
Increases total chakra capacity by 1%
*Lightning Leaf exercise (Active 10(8.1)/min) LVL 10 MAX
Decreases time spent changing from neutral to lightning chakra and back again by 50%.
Tongue Extension Jutsu(E Rank Active – 20(16.5)/min) LVL 1 – 0%
A jutsu used to extend the tongue to grab… No, just no. This has almost no practical purpose except to freak people out and make the ladies love you. Enjoy it you pervert.
Water Clone(C Rank Active – 250(181.25)) LVL 10 MAX
Creates a clone body with 10% capability as the original out of water.
Decreases casting time by 50%
*Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX
Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.
Lightning Senbon (C Rank 250(201)) LVL 10 MAX
Fires multiple senbon sized bolts of piercing lightning.
Decreases casting time by 50%
*Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX
Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.
Paralyzing Palm (D Rank 100(80)) LVL 10 MAX
*Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX
Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.
Kenjutsu (Passive) LVL 8 - 90%
The beginning level of sword play. You could chop off a limb if you're not careful.
Increases speed while using a sword by 40%