Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Important question to the readers at the bottom.
The run back to Konoha was just as silent and brutal as the last time. We neared the walls of Konoha and Ni sent out a chakra signal that I didn't recognize but we were allowed in without a glance at us. The first stop was the cadaver and research section of the hospital where we dropped off the four ninja before proceeding back to base. Once we were settled in everyone but Saiko left me to write out the mission report. Lazy bastards.
It was easy enough to write except the last portion with Hiko as I wasn't sure how to properly convey what happened in the standard mission format. Saiko's advice of writing from a third person perspective helped and I finished the report shortly afterwards. Handing the report in to an office within the base we received our pay and Saiko brought me back to our training room.
She motioned me to sit and I did so as I slid the money into my inventory. "You know the deal. After action report. Think on what you did wrong and right and then I'll go." I gathered my thoughts before I began to speak.
"I was faster than my opponent and I used that to my advantage but also weaker than her physically. When I saw that she had earth release jutsu's I switched to lightning to gain a type advantage when necessary. I should not have engaged her in close combat when it became apparent that I was winning the jutsu fight as I had no idea of her proficiency in that area. I'll reserve the portion with Hiko for later."
She nods at my view of how things went. "Good you identified that it was a mistake when you engaged in close combat. Your fight went well otherwise and you survived without a mark against an ambushed low level genin. Your handling of her body was cautious but fine and you kept mission standard operating procedure even after there were no confirmed presences in the area. Now we get to Hiko."
"Hiko was something unexpected and I want to know if there were any options that I did not consider that could be used in the future." She tilts her head at that.
"So you aren't regretting your decision?"
"No, you said to be decisive when you make a choice and I chose. I'm simply seeking more options so I can make a more informed decision if this happens again." She was silent as though considering something.
"Alright tell me what your thought process was and I'll tell you some more options." Okay here it goes.
"Taking her back to the base was a nonchoice from the beginning." She made a grunt of approval. "I considered simply leaving her alive but her posture and words made me think she would commit suicide if I didn't kill her. In addition after leaving she might have chosen to live and I had no idea what, if any, information she had that could potentially endanger us. Therefore I made the choice to grant her request."
She nods at that. "It was a well thought out decision but there was another option that I could think of off the top of my head. She had no connections or anything tying her down. You could have brought her back to be mind wiped and sent out as a programed deep cover agent to hotspots where information is needed. She would have been a street urchin or prostitute but she could have given valuable information in the process."
That is horrifying. "Sensei did you suggest something far more horrible just to make me feel better about my choice?"
Her answer is short and to the point. "No."
"I see. Have you ever used that option before?"
She hesitated for a moment and then nodded. "Yes." I needed a few seconds to process that.
"Anything for the sake of the Village, huh?"
"Anything and everything. That is what it means to be a ninja."
"I understand sensei." And I do. Those that don't embrace the darkness will be consumed by it. She must have seen something or heard something when I spoke because all she did was nod her approval. I did want to ask something though.
"Was this mission picked just so I could fight to the death against a genin level opponent?" I inquired.
"Yes. It was used to give you a taste of ninja fights in a moderately controlled condition."
"You guys wouldn't have stepped in unless I was about to die, right?"
"Correct."
Not giving me time to stew in this new information she switched topics. "Now that Kushina is pregnant you will be spending more time with me as she gets further along. In addition you will be called on to complete more B rank missions like the one you just completed. Do you have any questions?" I did not and I was dismissed to train for the rest of the afternoon.
Ding! Task Complete.
~Interlude~ Danzo
I'm actually taking a break from the nonstop paperwork right now. It feels so good to close my eye and just take a sip of tea. Saiko interrupts my peace by flickering in front of my desk. Suppressing the urge to sigh I mentally shift back into work mode. "Report."
"Shiro has successfully completed his first assigned B rank mission." I motion her to continue. She wouldn't have come if there wasn't a complication. "Upon completing the objective of killing the enemy ninja we discovered a civilian girl still alive within the camp." Ah, I could see this becoming a test for him.
"We left the girl for Shiro to deal with and the impression that this was a test of some sort. The girl, Hiko, turned out to be suicidal and requested that he kill her. Questioning her briefly he granted her request and then immediately turned to me to validate his choice."
"Was he disturbed by it?" She shakes her head in the negative.
"He seemed to be just seeking whether his choice was the correct one. I told him that no choices are right just make sure to have the ability to decisively follow through with his choice." I hummed at that. Good so far.
"Later back at the base after our after action report he questioned me once more about his choice whereupon he explained his thought process before killing the girl. It was sound and he asked me for more options that would allow him to make a more informed decision." She paused and I motioned her to continue.
"I told him about mind wipes and reprograming to test him for squeamishness on a necessary tool available to us and he seemed to understand that to be a ninja is to give anything and everything for the village." My mind couldn't help but go back to his words.
"Make the enemies die for theirs." I muttered. "Continue."
"It is my belief that certain missions could be stepped up without adverse effects on his psyche." I filed that away and dismissed her so I could enjoy my last moments of peace before my tea grew cold. Unfortunately it was not to be as another Root agent kneeled before me. God damn it.
~Interlude end~
The next few months seemed slow to me. As Kushina got further and further along in her pregnancy I found myself becoming more of a glorified gopher and foot massage peon than an apprentice. Wait maybe that was the other way around? Either way I found that Kushina was in no mood to teach many new things which was fine as I got to improve what I already had. A solid foundation is more important than a multitude of jutsu that I barely knew how to use. She did teach me one new technique though.
Water Wall (C Rank Active(250(174))) LVL 10 MAX
Creates a 5x5 meter wall of water that can be used further after being created.
Decreases casting time by 50%
* Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX
Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.
My training with Saiko had also cut down as she was called to the frontlines and the bloodbath that was taking place there. She did manage to teach me one new lightning jutsu though. My first B rank jutsu.
Lightning Spear (B Rank Active(500(384))) LVL 10 MAX
Creates a spear of lightning that shoots from the user's mouth to penetrate their target.
Decreases time by 50%
* Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX
Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.
*Lightning Machine (Passive) LVL 2 – 45%
Creates up to 2 more spears when the skill is used
Leveling up lightning spear took most of my time as it leveled the slowest and I got kind of excited to have my first B rank jutsu so I focused on it more than I probably should have. The rest of the time was spent focusing on improving my base stats and taking the odd mission that popped up. They were mostly C ranks that Kushina felt comfortable, and able to do, but there were a few B ranks mixed in there as well.
Right now I was meditating in the base to regain my chakra after I had depleted it. I was nearly full when Saiko showed up next to me. I opened my eyes to greet her and I was startled at what I saw. She looked like a mess. Large splotches of dried and drying blood were splattered all over her armor and clothes. Her body language screamed exhausted and she had a finger stuck in the webbing of her jacket. I think I should mention that.
"Sensei are you alright?" I quickly stood up and made my way over to her.
"I'm fine. I got hit once or twice but the medics patched me up and nothing a good day or three of sleep won't fix. I'm only up to inform you that you have a B rank mission waiting for you at the office and now I'm going to go to bed." Oh this'll be the first mission without Kushina or Saiko with me.
"Of course sensei. Have a good sleep and did you know that there is a finger stuck in your webbing?" She looks down.
"Huh, when did that get there?" She picks it out and burns it to ash. "Night brat."
"Goodnight sensei." She leaves and I make my way over to the mission desk. I finally know the route to some specific places. It took so long because I found out that Saiko was purposely leading me in circles sometimes. When I confronted her about it she muttered something about finally getting it.
I made my over to the mission desk as quickly as I could and when I got there I saw another Root agent waiting along with one sitting behind the desk. "Shiro, no name, reporting for B rank mission." The person behind the desk pulled a scroll towards them and read it.
"Nona, no name, and Hiro, no name, age 8 were seen leaving the village 4 hours ago. Both were allowed to leave but they missed their duty stations and are now considered AWOL. Find them and ascertain if they were held up somewhere or turned traitor. You will be partnered with Fumi and for the duration of this mission he will be Ichi and you will be Ni. Ichi will be the tracker and you will apprehend them. Are there any questions?" I have one actually.
"Do either of them have any unusual abilities?"
"No, both have fire affinity and D rank fire jutsu at their disposal." I nodded and as we were dismissed I followed Ichi.
Ding! Task gained.
Traitors to the Leaf? B Rank
Find and if necessary kill the traitors.
Rewards: 500xp, 5000ryo
Ichi led me to what I assume was their rooms and he picked up several articles of clothing for each before we left their rooms. Next he led me to where they were seen exiting Konoha and brought each article of clothing to his mask giving them all a deep sniff. Some type of bloodline or maybe just a really good sense of smell. Hopefully it's a technique so I could learn it.
My musings were cut short as Ichi shot off like a bloodhound and I had to race to catch up to him. We stopped several times for him to sniff the clothing again and once or twice we had to double back but 4 hours later we came upon their camp. My turn. I sent out my chakra senses to their limits but found nothing but the two genin and a fuzzy awareness of Ichi. Congratulating myself on finally being able to vaguely sense high level people I approached their camp cautiously.
They were conversing quietly by the small fire that they had going but they sprang to their feet once I entered the light. "Nona and Hiro you have missed your assigned duty times and have been found to be AWOL. What do have to say for yourselves?" My voice was modified to sound as monotone as possible and it seemed to freak them out a bit.
Hiro was the one that spoke up. "We didn't want to." Nona tugs on his shirt desperately.
"They already found us. Please Hiro let's just go back." She doesn't seem like she wanted to be here at all. It would seem that Hiro wanted to leave and she was trying to convince him to stay.
"No, I don't want to be a ninja anymore." He sounds like a whining child which he is I suppose.
"Hiro and Nona is it your intention to abandon your duty as ninja and be declared as traitors?" At the word traitors Nona starts shaking violently.
"Yes we're never going back and they're nothing you can do to stop it." Hiro shouts out. Idiot I gave you so many chances. I turned my attention to Nona.
"Nona, Hiro has declared his intention to turn traitor. What is your intention? Will you turn traitor as well?" She's shaking so badly now it looks like she's having trouble standing up.
"N-n-no." It was a stutter and barely loud enough to hear but her intentions are clear. Hiro turned towards her looking stunned and betrayed.
"But Nona he's so small we can take-" Three lightning spears create 3 fist sized holes in his chest and penetrate into the ground in front of him. They both stare wide eyed at the sudden violence before Hiro coughs and collapses on the ground dead.
As soon as his body hit the ground Nona started to vomit. "As a loyal ninja of Konoha please lay face down on the ground with your arms and legs apart for your detainment." She didn't seem to be registering what I said so I repeated myself.
Slowly she came out of her shock and sent me such a hate filled glare I thought I would have to kill another person today. She surprised me by complying and I tied her up then searched her for weapons. The entire time she just glared at me as though willing me to die. Right before I slapped the prisoner seal on her she spat out one thing. "I hate you."
Pausing I replied. "As long as you remain a loyal kunoichi of the village I don't care." I applied the seal to her forehead and she slumped unconscious. The water clone fell apart as I walked out from behind a tree. Collecting the body of Hiro in a scroll I set Nona's limp body on my shoulder and jumped to Ichi's position.
"You talked quite a bit there." He said as we began the journey back to Konoha.
"I wanted to make sure I didn't kill a loyal member of the Leaf." I was being completely honest with him and I think he saw that because he didn't question me again. The journey back didn't take that long now that we didn't have to 'slowly' follow a trail someone left behind. Ichi left me as soon as we entered the South Gate and I went to the Torture and Interrogation (TI) department with Nona.
Filling them in about the circumstances of her arrest and a possibly traitorous mindset I left to go turn Hiro's body over to the cadaver section of the hospital. I knew that they would have a Yamanaka come in and look through Nona's head later. If she planned to betray the village later then she would die as simple as that. Feeling slightly peeved at having to do all the paperwork again I finished my report and brought it back to headquarters.
Standing in front of the desk I handed over the report and began my verbal recounting. "Shiro, no name, and Fumi, no name, successfully completed B rank mission number 34872 retrieval of two AWOL genin. No casualties sustained. One traitor dead, one possible loyalist at TI awaiting processing. No other abnormalities." My report was skimmed over and I was given my payment then dismissed.
Ding! Task Complete.
The rhythm of training and missions continued. Sometimes I would go with Saiko on easier missions and sometimes I wouldn't. Kushina had stopped going on missions completely now and she was about 9 months pregnant. Whenever I saw Minato nowadays he always looked tired as he juggled a pregnant wife, his missions for the war effort and his genin team whom I've never really met.
Sure we've introduced ourselves to each other but we didn't have any time to just hang out. All of us were busy in our own ways and I don't think they really wanted to hang out with a 3 year old no matter that I'm already a ninja or not. So my life continued onwards until one day I opened up my status page and saw something had changed.
Name: Shiro
Age: 4 year - 0 months
Title: Rookie Root Shinobi
LVL: 14 - 4% to next LVL
HP: 690/690
Chakra: 13,041/13,041
Elemental Affinity: Water
STR: 79(86.9)
VIT: 69
END: 75
DEX: 92(101.2)
INT: 60(62.4)
WIS: 58(60.32)
LCK: 15
Points: 70
Money: 74,540
Oh, I'm four now. Funny how time seems to just fly by you sometimes. The extra year doesn't really change anything for me personally. I didn't receive any sudden power up or message changing anything it was just a number change on a screen. That's kind of a sad way to look at being one year older actually.
I pull myself out of my thoughts as I reached Kushina's house. She could go into labor any day now and any training I get from her is curtailed by this fact. I mostly practice pure chakra or water manipulation when I'm with her now so she doesn't need to leave the house. Politely knocking on the door I wait for Kushina to yell "Come in" before I enter.
I could feel the chakra of three other people besides Kushina in the house and I idly wondered why Rin and Obito were over as I shut the door behind me. "Come on into the living room Shiro." Kushina called out. As I rounded the corner 5 people jumped out and shouted, "Surprise."
I'm very proud to say that I merely jumped onto the ceiling instead of unleashing a jutsu. "Shiro get down from there." Kushina yelled up to me good naturedly. "We have cake." They did indeed have a cake. Two in fact.
"Why do you have two cakes?" I asked as I dropped down from the ceiling.
"One's to celebrate your birthday, silly, and the other is to celebrate Kakashi getting promoted to jonin recently." Really a jonin at 11? That's amazing. I turned to him and he just looked bored or at least his body posture did. It was kind of hard to tell with the half face mask he always had on.
"Congratulations on your promotion, Kakashi." He waved it off like it was nothing and maybe for him it was. Rank doesn't necessarily mean ability. Whatever. Rin and Obito had wished me a happy birthday and now they were quietly talking in the corner. About what I expect from them really as we don't really know each other. Maybe I should get to know them better soon.
I made a mental commitment to do so as Minato walked over. "Happy birthday Shiro and congratulations for the first year anniversary of being a ninja." I think he meant good job surviving for a year but I'll take it.
"Thank you. I didn't expect a birthday celebration at all." He rubs his head sheepishly.
"We kind of didn't know until a day before that it was your birthday." I wave it off. I don't really remember telling anyone either so either Kushina looked it up or maybe Saiko told her about it. Doesn't really matter either way I get cake.
"Shiro." Kushina was sitting down at the table next to the cake. "Come over here and… Oh." Everyone stopped and looked at Kushina when she made an odd sound. "Minato I think my water just broke." It was said so calmly and matter of fact that it took a moment to register in everyone's brains as being important. Then everyone was in a flurry of action as we all shouted at each other and ran around aimlessly. Kushina's furious shout cut through all the noise.
"Everyone shut up!" Her hair was beginning to form into its beast mode. "Minato we need to go tell the Hokage and then go to that place." Why would they need to tell the Hokage about a baby? My eyes slightly widened in realization. Could having a baby affect the seal? Shit, this could be bad. I was brought out of my thoughts as 4 ANBU appeared in the room.
"Kushina Namikaze-Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze you are to follow us." They both nodded and ignoring her protest Minato picked her up princess style. All 6 of them flickered out of the room leaving the 4 of us behind.
"Well that was exciting." My deadpan humor was not appreciated if the 3 sets of glares was any indication. Everyone's a critic I thought irritably as I sat down at the table. Pulling the cake close I cut a slice and proceeded to eat it.
"How can you eat so calmly? Right now your sensei is having a baby." Rin's shout was right next to my enhanced ear and I stopped eating the delicious chocolate cake to rub at it.
"I can't do anything to change the outcome right now. All I can do is wait for her to return and I have faith that sensei will come back unharmed and be back to kicking my ass by tomorrow." I paused. "New born baby included."
They all seemed mollified by that and the next 10 hours or so were spent in terse silence. Nobody seemed really willing to talk and despise my mental note to get to know them better it wasn't really the time to do so. Finally Minato appeared looking haggard but incredibly happy. Good news I hope.
"Gather round everyone." We did so and he started talking again. "First let me start off with the fact that Kushina gave birth to a beautiful baby girl." He grinned widely as we congratulated the new father. "Secondly, Kushina is going to be fine. The birth was hard on her but almost immediately afterwards they almost had to sedate her to keep her in bed. Now as much as I would like to show you guys my child we have an important mission tomorrow so go home and prepare for that."
Rin and Obito started protesting immediately while Kakashi had resumed his bored look. In the end both of them left while Kakashi and I stayed. Kakashi because he lived here and myself because I had nothing better to do at the moment. Once they were gone Minato started to talk to me.
"First off Kushina said she was sorry she interrupted your birthday party." I had to raise an eyebrow at that. Did she really think I would hold it against her or the baby for deciding that it wanted to be born?
"It's completely fine. The intent was there and that's all that mattered to me." He smiles at that.
"Good. Secondly, my team and I will be gone for about a week or so on our mission. While I'm gone could you watch over your sensei and my child?"
"Of course I will. Do you have a name for her yet?"
"Kushina wanted to name her after her mentor so her name is Mito Namikaze-Uzumaki." Mito, I test the name in my head. It's a good name.
"Could I go see sensei now?" I asked. His face scrunched in thought.
"I don't see why you couldn't go now. She's in room number 348. They might not let you in though and don't try to sneak in. It'll end badly for you." He started slowly but at the end his voice was more of a warning.
"Please excuse me I want to go try to see her now. Congratulations on becoming a father." I gave a bow and he ruffled my hair as I stood up.
"You're a good kid. Kushina's lucky to have an apprentice like you." I gave a slight smile for his praise and then left to go to the hospital. At first the receptionist was entirely unhelpful and kept rebuking my efforts to enter even after I told her I was Kushina's apprentice, as good as a son in ninja terms, until she pulled a complete 180. After that she was completely helpful as though she had been given some signal that I was trustworthy enough to visit Kushina.
That was probably the case I mused as the door to room 348 opened. Kushina was laying in the hospital bed looking more rumpled than usual with a small baby nestled against her chest. She looked up as I entered then put a finger to her lips in the universal sign to be quiet. Closing the door as softly as I could I made my way over to her bed.
Sitting on a conveniently place chair I motioned towards the sleeping Mito. Kushina smiled proudly and carefully moved to allow me to see her sleeping face. She was wrapped up in a blanket so that only her head was sticking out. On top of her head there was a small amount of fuzzy red hair and while I couldn't see her eyes, obviously, she had cute little baby cheeks. The motion disturbed her and she grumbled slightly before settling back to sleep. Kushina smiled at me then signed.
Congratulations big brother.
A warm tingly feeling spread throughout my body before calm acceptance washed it away. I didn't care. The fact that I felt it meant everything to me.
Name: Shiro
Age: 4 year - 0 months
Title: Rookie Root Shinobi
LVL: 14 - 4% to next LVL
HP: 690/690
Chakra: 13,041/13,041
Elemental Affinity: Water
STR: 79(86.9)
VIT: 69
END: 75
DEX: 92(101.2)
INT: 60(62.4)
WIS: 58(60.32)
LCK: 15
Points: 70
Money: 74,540
Skills that have changed or been added.
*Chakra Manipulation (Passive) LVL 75 – 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 18.75%
Increases Chakra control by 75%
Increases Chakra Capacity by 37.5%
*Water Manipulation (Passive) LVL 61 – 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 15.25%
Increases control of water by 61%
Increases total chakra capacity by 6.1%
Lightning Manipulation (Passive) LVL 35 – 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 8.75%
Increases control of lightning by 35%
Increases total chakra capacity by 3.5%
*Kenjutsu (Passive) LVL 10 MAX
The beginning level of sword play. You could chop off a limb if you're not careful.
Increases speed while using a sword by 50%
Intermediate (Passive) LVL 6 – 54%
Increases speed while using a sword by 30%
*Learned Meditation (Passive/Active) LVL 46 – 18%: Warning cannot use in battle. To know oneself body and mind. Meditation has been used for centuries to center oneself and for relaxation now you have started on the same path as though before you.
Passive Effect: Increase INT and WIS by 4%
Active Effect: Increases Chakra Regeneration by 56/min
*Sneak (Active) LVL 64 – 0%
Sneaky, sneaky, stabby stabby. A ninja must be able to move through the shadows as if he is one himself. A master can emerge from hiding, kill, and fade away like a ghost. 44% movement penalty while using this.
64% chance of going unnoticed while sneaking.
*Sense Chakra (Passive/Active) LVL 40 – 5%: Your senses expand and you can feel the Chakra of others all around you. To actively scan you must remain still for 20 seconds and costs 10(8.1) Chakra.
Passive Range: 40 meters
Active Range: 200 meters
Lightning Spear (B Rank Active(500(362))) LVL 10 MAX
Creates a spear of lightning that shoots from the user's mouth to penetrate their target.
Decreases time by 50%
* Silence is Golden (Passive) LVL 10 MAX
Congratulations. You can cast the skill without shouting it like an idiot.
*Lightning Machine (Passive) LVL 8 – 5%
Creates up to 8 more spears when the skill is used
Alright question time. As soon as I got to the point where Shiro saw Mito for the first time my brain basically exploded in thought. In my original plan Mito was going to be a small side sister figure that wasn't going to impact his life much until later down the line(No this does not mean as a lover or anything of that nature it would have been familial love). Then I thought most OC stories have main characters that ultimately stand alone at the end of a story because they've grown so strong no one could stand as their equal. Even if they find love their lover usually never makes it to the big boys table and ends up just being someone the main character can come back to. So I thought 'hey why can't Mito be someone who's story has already ended and they were already strong in their own right? Why can't he have a light to his shadow like Hiruzen and Danzo?' Shiro would still be the main character but there would be another player on the board causing even more ripples than he already has. Ripples that we will see later down the line. So what I'm asking is should Mito be a character pulled from some other genre? I have a good idea of who but I'm open to suggestions.
Thanks for reading and have a great day.
p.s. Did you know the reason Shiro doesn't have tons of skills is because I have 3 separate word and excel spread sheets just to keep track of modifiers, buffs and debuffs? Skills that make it onto his character sheet and then skills that don't like clan politics and geography. During those months that I don't show he isn't just mindlessly grinding at a skill. It's getting confusing to keep track of it all.