Author's Note: I'm back baby. First off I've written this entire story so far in just two months. That's 136k words in two months and I think it's because of that even though I know where I want to go with the story and I can see what's going to happen next in my head whenever I sit down to write it the words just start swimming in front of me. So I tried to write a different fiction, which is already up, and alternating between the two seemed to help.
Now onto a question that's been bugging me. What's so good about the Mokuton(Wood Release)? It can grow trees and supposedly suppress demonic chakra but only one person has ever had it naturally so was it that special or was he just so good that it made it seem all powerful? *Shrug*
So it had been an eventful couple of days immediately after returning from the Chunin Exams but after that things sort of just fell into a routine. Study seals in the morning, elemental training in the afternoon, physical conditioning or kenjutsu with Saiko at night and then repeat. It was an easy schedule to fall into although I did have some variation and interacted with other people like Itachi who was doing well. I also continued the nightly story session with Karin and Mito because it was fun and they both cheated by using the saddest puppy dog eyes I've ever seen. I seriously stood in front of a mirror trying to replicate it although Kushina had just laughed and laughed when I said I was trying to weaponize it. Jokes on her though because I got this.
Ding!
Learned Puppy Eyes Active/Passive(F - S++ Rank) LVL 1 – 0%
Little old ladies will be more inclined to give candy to the 'cute' little child that you are. People may develop the need to suddenly hug you at higher levels.
I could see it now. I would be standing alone against a veritable horde of enemies and as they raced towards me I would reveal my ultimate puppy eye attack and laugh as they fell before my cuteness… Slapping myself I looked back at the mirror. I think I might be becoming 'eccentric' like all the other high level ninjas.
After what I deemed my first psychotic break we gathered as a team to be told that we were to avoid killing the Taki ninjas if at all possible in the Finals. Minato had explained it as the strong being merciful to the weak but I think it was just because we would be on display for everyone to see and it would put Konoha in a good light to the masses. Of course the hidden villages would know what we had done for the first two parts but they don't pay us for missions so they didn't matter as much in this portion.
Other than that I hid from Hina for a good three weeks which turned out to be surprisingly difficult because of her cheating eyes. When we actually saw each other during the time that Minato had called us together to inform us of our mission change she had been cool towards me but didn't seem overtly hostile anymore which was good. As soon as the meeting was over I had thrown her several orders of mochi, her favorite desert, at her while running away yelling how sorry I was. Cowardly you say? I like to think of it as a discretion of valor.
A few days later she had sought me out and because I couldn't feel copious amounts of killing intent flowing out of her anymore I stayed to listen to her. 'Puppy eyes go.' She flinched slightly before she reached out towards me and I eyed her hand like it was a venomous snake until she started patting my head. "You'll be a good boy from now on." She spoke without preamble. "No more spreading rumors on how I'm a pervert or making me faint from embarrassment in front of my parents and we'll certainly never mention that to anyone, right?" I tried to take a step back but she followed me and her patting became more intense.
"Um, right." I said as my senses screamed of the danger in front me. Her eyes which had been dull and lifeless became sparkling and full of life as a serene smile graced her lips.
"Good, I would so hate to have to drag you off the Torture and Interrogation department for a full training course in interrogation resistance." With that said she turned and walked down the alley she had cornered me in leaving me to wipe some sweat from my brow. 'That went well enough. At least she forgave me or I think she did.'
My thoughts were confirmed when I encountered her next which was on the day we would leave for Suna. She acted like nothing had ever happened and she gave me a wave and a smile as I approached her. "Good morning Shiro. Ready to head out?" I thought about it for a moment. I had everything packed and ready to go but the two new jutsus' that the Hyuga had given me were only level 8 each. Apparently Earth techniques also had an experience penalty attached to them as well. Other than the slight disappointment from that I was good to go.
"Ah, yes I'm all set to go." Her smile was so serene that it set me on guard, but nothing happened and soon enough Shisui, Jiraiya and Minato, with an ANBU escort, showed up. Minato was decked out in the ceremonial robes and hat of the Hokage and he looked over everyone that had gathered before nodding.
"Alright, let's head out." We set out at a moderate pace that ate up the miles and in two boring days' time we had arrived at Suna. We were escorted to a much nicer hotel than last time, but that's to be expected when a foreign Kage is visiting and not just some random genin. 'Still it was a pretty nice looking hotel. The gold inlay on the marble pillars is quite nice, but perhaps a tad overdone.' While I was studying the architecture I felt a familiar chakra approach me from behind. Turning around I saw Kirito. He looked far more haggard than when I last seen him but he smiled as he greeted me.
"Hello again."
"Hello." He pulled out a scroll and held it out to me.
"I said I would get something for you so here you go." I unrolled the scroll to take a look at it even as I heard the ding. "It's a wind technique called slicing bullet. I think you'll find it very effective for a C rank jutsu." I rolled the scroll up and bowed to him.
"Thank you for the gift." He waved it off.
"If anything I feel like I'm underpaying you for the technique you gave me." There was a moment of silence as we stared at each other kind of awkwardly before he gave me a grin. "I look forward to seeing you compete in the Chunin Finals. Perhaps we'll meet each other there."
"Perhaps. Once more thank you for the technique." We exchanged several more pleasantries before he left and Minato walked up next to me.
"What was that all about?" I slipped the scroll inside my inventory through my pocket absentmindedly before turning to face him.
"Kirito's girlfriend Aiko, who was the proctor for the Exam, really wanted him to learn a technique I knew and he just repaid me by giving me a jutsu." There was a curious look on his face before it dawned into understanding.
"Just to clarify it's the one…" He trailed off and I nodded.
"Yep, it's the same one I taught you." Coughing slightly he looked around as though to check to see if anyone was close enough to overhear us.
"Right, let's not mention that anymore. I need your help with something if you're up for it." I motioned him to continue. "The Kazekage is having a dinner with the Kages plus one of their genin. He's bringing his daughter along and I want you to come as our genin representative." I didn't really even need to think about it before nodding and he smiled at me. "Great, follow me then."
"Do I need formal clothes for this?" I asked before we could leave. If we did then it would probably be better to have someone else go, but Minato just shook his head.
"It's an informal dinner so your clothes are fine."
Shrugging, I followed him to the center of the village where the Kage's tower had a commanding view of the entire village as it loomed over everything else. As we entered an attendant escorted us up to the second highest floor where the Kazekage, someone who I assumed to be his daughter, the Takigakure Kage and one of the Taki genin where waiting.
Minato gave a slight bow to the room's inhabitants as we entered. "I thank you for inviting us to this gathering. I do hope that we haven't kept you waiting at all."
The Kazekage waved it away. "Not at all. The Taki representatives arrived mere moments before you." He straightened and I took in his auburn colored hair and stern appearance as he motioned towards an adjoining room. "Shall we retire to the dining room where we can all introduce ourselves?" Everyone seemed to be fine with that so we moved one room over and sat down on the pillows provided.
As soon as we did so he spoke again. "As the host I shall go first. Please refer to me as Rasa for the duration of the dinner and this," he reached out and patted the blonde haired girl next to him, "is my daughter Temari." She was wearing a simple kimono and for some reason her hair was tied up into four separate bundles. She gave us a bow as she was introduced and then squirmed a little as we gazed at her. 'Couldn't be older than 3 or 4 really.'
Moving on though the people from Taki went next as the short brown haired man that was beginning to gray around the edges spoke up. "I am Hisen and this is Katsu our most promising genin." The younger man preened under his praise and bowed to the room. Katsu was around 14 or so with dark brown eyes and light brown hair with a focus on genjutsu and water elemental techniques if I remembered correctly. He would also be my first opponent tomorrow and after seeing him now I was more confident in my victory although I by no means dismissed him as an opponent. It wouldn't do to have an inflated opinion of myself and get wrecked because I underestimated him.
Minato gave a smile before he introduced us. "My name is Minato and this is my informally adopted son Shiro." I gave a bow as I kept an eye on their reactions. Temari didn't react at all except for perhaps confusion but Katsu's eyes narrowed and I'm sure that both Kages purposefully didn't show any reaction but calm indifference.
The door slide open quietly and several geisha glided into the room. I gave them half a glance before labeling them civilians in my mind. I suppose it's bad to simply dismiss them as such but literally everything about them screams civilian to me. One of them knelt down behind me and whispered into my ear, "Young Master, what do you desire to drink?" Several of the geisha were settling down in the corner of the room and pulling out lutes before beginning to serenade the group with the soft sound of their music.
"Green tea please." There was a brief pause before she set a filled cup of tea before me as the other geisha attended everyone else. Katsu, in particular, seemed to be entranced by one of the geisha slowly dancing to the music but I kept my focus on the Kages in the room.
Rasa took a small sip of sake before he spoke. "Truly? How did that come about?"
"Hmm, I suppose that would be because my wife gained him as an apprentice when he was 3. Then he wormed his way into our hearts even before my wife had my twin girls Mito and Karin." I took a sip of tea as Minato lied, but I had no idea why he did so unless it was to throw off Kusa from finding Karin.
"Ah yes, children of your own can be such a joy." He glanced at his daughter and a small smile grew on his face before it was replaced with sorrow. "I only wish my wife had survived giving birth to our third child." Everyone offered their condolences to him as the music continued to play in the background.
"Thank you for your kind words but we cannot become bogged down in the past and lose touch with the present no matter how painful things may be." Temari looked downcast at the mention of her mother and he reached over to gently pat her head. After that small display of emotion he turned to Hisen. "You must be very proud to have one of your teams make it to the final round."
"Yes we are very proud that Taki will be participating in the final round. Hopefully this will paint us in a favorable light to future employers." There was a pause in the conversation as bowls of miso were placed before us and we started eating. "In fact I do believe that Katsu will be fighting Shiro in the first match tomorrow." A sneer appeared on Katsu's face as he looked at me and I gave him a pleasant smile in return. The surrounding Kages appeared to ignore our little byplay as they continued talking.
"It is regrettable that Suna was not able to participate in the final round but I'm told that this Chunin Exam has had the most teams fail ever." Minato spoke up.
"Ah yes. The Caverns of Despair did indeed live up to their name this year. I do also have to thank your team for rescuing one of our own teams down there." Rasa spoke directly to me for the last part and I spared a glance at Minato to see if it was alright to speak. Receiving permission I set down my cup of tea before I spoke.
"It was only natural to help our allies. I only wish we had gotten there before they killed each other." I took a sip of tea before the next part. "Would you happen to know what became of the genin we saved?"
"Hmm," he tapped his fingers against his cup. "I do believe he committed suicide shortly after waking up and realizing that he had killed his sister." 'Well shit. That's fucked up.' "Enough of the depressing topics though. Let us talk of the future."
What followed was a long in depth discussion about trade agreements, tariffs, and potential military actions against Kumo if they broke the current truce between us. I just sat there and absorbed everything as the three leaders talked on and on even after an excellent assortment of sushi was served. Which was a little odd in my opinion but I suppose it showed wealth to be able to serve raw fish in the middle of the desert. I also kept half an eye on the geisha performers because they were quite talented and I've never seen a professional traditional dance before.
Eventually the dinner came to an end and after a short while exchanging several more pleasantries we left for the hotel. On the way back Minato motioned me to be quiet and once we got back to his room I followed him in to see Jiraiya up and writing something in his ever present notebook. He glanced up briefly before he slapped his hand down on the floor and I felt a small wave of chakra wash over me as the room was sealed up.
"So," Minato ambled over to one of the chairs and sat down. "What did you get out of that dinner?" I hummed in thought as I took the only other unoccupied chair in the room.
"Well I don't quite know why the genin were invited but the entire thing was one big show with the expensive geisha and hard to keep fresh sushi. The Kazekage also seemed quite eager to gain any type of guaranteed income but I don't know why."
Minato had been nodding along but Jiraiya was the one that answered me. "Suna's Daimyo has cut off most of their funding from guaranteed missions and outsourced it to us." I tilted my head at that.
"Is he an idiot? Even I can see that it would cause a decline in Suna's military might leaving them vulnerable to attack." Minato frowned at me before shaking his head.
"Even in a sealed room don't mock daimyos, Shiro. They might not have personal power but they can certainly pay enough to have you killed if they feel you've offended them." I ducked my head at his rebuke. It was stupid of me to do that and he was right to call me on it. "To answer your question we don't quite know why he has outsourced us all these missions but we won't leave our allies out to dry. Konoha might be strong but we can't take on everyone and win." He gave me a rueful smile. "Of course we can't just give the missions away so I'm thinking a 20% service fee to resell them back to Suna."
'That sounded like a good deal for us. All we had to do was be a courier service and we could pick and choose which missions to actually pass on to Suna, but it still didn't answer my original question.' "Okay, that sounds good for us but why was I invited along and why are you telling me all this?"
"Politics." Minato said succinctly and I frowned. I was hoping for more of an answer than that actually and his knowing grin wasn't helping. "As you go up in the ranks you'll have to deal with politics more and more often as higher ranked mission frequently deal with the nobility." He cleared his throat. "And as you're practically my son you'll have to deal with them at an earlier age as well. In fact tonight Rasa was presenting his daughter to us banking on that fact."
I felt like face palming but resisted with a titanic force of will and instead let out a sigh. "He was looking for a betrothal to tie our villages together wasn't he?" Jiraiya's not so quiet chuckling didn't help me at all.
"Yes, but I'm letting you know I would never force you to take such an offer unless there was no other choice. Kushina would probably kill me if I did." He shivered theatrically. "If that's everything though why don't you get some sleep or whatever it is you do when everyone else is asleep."
Almost done, but not quite. "I do want to know what was up with Mito and Karin but you don't need to answer if it's important."
"Ah that." He shrugged. "It was a small lie that people can direct their searches towards when they discover it instead of something bigger. Good job on not reacting to it though."
"Bait and hook strategy then?" He just gave me a small smile and then sent me on my way. The seal faltered as I crossed it but returned to full strength as soon as I was fully out of the room. It didn't take long to get to our team's room and both Hina and Shisui were sleeping when I entered. Of course they woke up from me coming in but went back to sleep quickly enough after verifying that it really was me. I settled onto a bed after a rushed apology for waking them and spent the rest of the night meditating.
Everyone was up early the next morning and after a quick breakfast we showed up to the arena where the final exam would take place. The first thing that came to mind when I saw it was the Roman Coliseum except for the fact that it was sunken into the earth so the top level was at ground level and the pit was lower. The actual field where we would be fighting was mostly sand with quite a few jutting spires of rocks littered about.
We were the first ones there but soon enough the Taki team filed into the waiting area and settled into a corner away from us. Ignoring them as they ignored us was easy enough and slowly the masses trickled into the seats above us. After about 2 hours or so a loud gong resounded throughout the village and we leapt down to the ground to stand in front of Aiko.
The crowd quieted as the Kazekage strode to the front of his box, in full ceremonial gear, and raised his hands. "People of Suna and our honored guests here today. I welcome you to the first Chunin Exam since the cessation of hostilities brought upon us by the Third Shinobi War." There was a short pause as the crowd roared in approval. "Today these 6 young ninja will compete for the honor of becoming Chunin. May the best ninja win." He took a step back and Aiko motioned for Katsu and I to step forward. We did so as our teammates went back to the waiting area.
"On my left we have Katsu of Taki and on my right we have Shiro of Konoha." Her voice seemed to cut through the background noise of the crowd as she announced us. "The fight will continue until one of you is unable to continue, forfeits or death. If I tell you to stop fighting you'll do so unless you want a broken leg." She looked between us and seeing that we were on the same page she took a step back. "Bow to the Kages and to each other then I will start the fight."
'We who are about to die salute you.' A cynical portion of my mind supplied me as I bowed twice. "Katsu versus Shiro, match begin." Aiko jumped back as Katsu ripped open a scroll which began spewing water everywhere. 'Smart of him really, but it also helped me as well.'
Earthen armor surrounded me as I rushed towards him tanto raised. Watery bullets were sent my way to slow me down and I dodged them easily enough. The one that barely clipped me cracked my armor but it was repaired soon enough and I continued my charge. He hadn't been doing nothing while I had dodged though and I felt his chakra flare before he started strafing to my right.
Since nothing had happened it must have been genjutsu but I continued running forward as though I didn't see him and threw in some dodging just for the heck of it. Seemingly satisfied that his genjutsu was working Katsu stopped and started gathering a massive amount of chakra. Recognizing the technique I let him continue and a huge watery dragon appeared in front of him.
I have to give him props for that. Learning an A rank jutsu is hard for normal people. With a gesture the dragon soared at me and with a crash it slammed into me. Katsu kept up the jutsu for a few more seconds and the water lost cohesion as it fell to the ground, also revealing my cracked armor lying in a crater. He cautiously made his way over to the crater and then stumbled as my hands, glowing blue, shot from the ground to cut both of his Achilles tendons. My hands disappeared back underground as he fell to his knees and I resurfaced a good distance away.
"I've severely limited your mobility, do you surrender?" He snarled at me and tried to rise but fell back down almost immediately.
"Fuck! Why was I beaten by a brat like you?" I gave him a shrug and repeated my question. I could see his frustration but hesitantly he surrendered. The clone in the armor dispersed and with nothing holding it together the armor collapsed.
"Winner, Shiro of Konoha. Would Shisui Uchiha of Konoha and Naoki of Taki please enter the arena?" Several medics came to take Katsu away and I gave Shisui a nod as I passed him on my way back up to the viewing area.
"Good job." Hina commented as I appeared next to her.
"Thanks. It went easier than I expected it to actually."
"Careful, your ego is showing."
I let out a whistle. "Wow it must be huge if a Hyuga is commenting on it." She only sent me an annoyed look before focusing on the match below and I did so as well. Shisui stood facing Naoki as Aiko talked to them. Naoki himself wasn't that impressive looking with half lidded eyes as though he had just gotten out of bed and messy black hair with odd tattoo lines on his face. He was also an Earth elemental specialist with an additional specialty in taijutsu if his file was correct.
The match began and he immediately donned the same earthen armor I wore, the copycat. Shisui let loose with a lightning jutsu I didn't know and then with a puff of smoke there were two of him. 'So he did learn the shadow clone technique. Good for him.' Both of them began flickering around Naoki as lightning flowed through their swords causing chunks of earth to fly off of Naoki as he desperately dodged. It was like watching a cat and mouse really and it ended abruptly as Naoki let out a stream of earthen bullets towards neither of the two Shisuis and was skewered by both two swords in return.
Medics rushed in as soon as he surrendered and I think he'll make it because both of the stabs were through his stomach and although it would be painful it wasn't immediately fatal. "Go get him." I softly called out as Hina left. She only acknowledged me with a nod and I congratulated Shisui on his victory as he returned.
"Hina Hyuga of Konha and Saburo of Taki, match start." Either he was an idiot or he just didn't know about the Hyuga's taijutsu because he rushed straight for her. She settled into her stance and as he entered her range she struck. With a cry of "Eight Trigrams One Hundred and Twenty Eight Palms" her fists blurred with speed and Saburo skidded to a stop in front of her before falling to the ground.
"Winner Hina Hyuga." 'That was kind of sad really.' I watched as he was taken away and Aiko spoke quietly to Hina before stepping back.
"Will Shisui Uchiha please enter the ring?" Shisui dropped down to the ground and faced Hina. "Hina Hyuga and Shisui Uchiha of Konoha, match start." Shisui did the sensible thing and leapt backwards as he shot a fireball towards Hina. She thrust her palm towards the fireball and it dissipated. My brow furrowed at the display but I got it when she thrust her palm again and I felt a mass of chakra shoot out of her palm to barely miss Shisui as he twisted away from it.
What followed next was a series of probing strikes by Shisui using kunai and shuriken which Hina swatted out of the air with contemptuous ease. Seeing that his approach wasn't working he created a shadow clone and sent it in while he started bombarding the area with a combination of fire and lightning jutsu. Hina just stood there until the clone got close enough and then she started spinning in place until a vortex of chakra formed around her destroying the clone and blocking Shisui's ranged attacks.
Coming out of her spinning defense Hina launched herself at Shisui as he retreated. Before he could fully escape though she slammed her hand down on the ground and a black grid spread out from her palm. Shisui let out a scream as it overtook him and tumbled to the ground seemingly temporarily paralyzed by the technique. Capitalizing on her advantage she sprung forward and a few strikes knocked Shisui unconscious.
"Winner Hina Hyuga of Konoha. There will be a thirty minute break before the final fight will commence. Please feel free to place your bets at one of our credited brokers."
I shouldn't feel surprised by the fact that people are betting on us but I didn't think it would be so blatant. 'Eh, I wonder if I could bet on myself? Probably not.' Hina jumped back up next to me and I could see she looked a little sweaty after her fight.
"Congratulations on your fight. I especially liked it when your first opponent suicided himself against you, but your win against Shisui was well fought."
"Hmph," she stuck her nose up in the air. "It was only natural that an Uchiha would fall to a Hyuga. You'll be next of course."
"If you're so sure of your victory would you like to make a bet?"
"A bet? What would be the wager?" I grinned.
"I don't know why don't you make one up?" She looked thoughtful for a minute before grinning.
"If I win you have to kneel before me and kiss my feet as you proclaim me to be the best."
"Kinky." I muttered under my breath.
"Wait wha-"
"If I win do you want to go to a tea ceremony together? I've developed an interest in them but I don't want to go alone." I totally cut her off and for some reason she blushed.
"Like a date?"
'Puppy eyes go.' I tilted my head to the side as I regarded her. "What's a date?" She twitched as she caught sight of my eyes but shook it off.
"Never mind. I accept the bet." Turning the puppy dog eyes off I smiled.
"Great. It'll be fun going to a tea ceremony." She huffed but didn't rise to the bait and we spent the rest of the time waiting for the intermission to end. With five minutes to go a gong rang out alerting everyone that the action was about to start again and on the second ring both of us jumped down into the arena.
"For our Final Match we have Shiro and Hina Hyuga of Konoha. Ready, set, go."
As soon as Aiko finished speaking my chakra strings shot out and it seemed like I flew into the sky from a stand still until I topped off at about 15 meters above the ground.
"Oh come on, that's totally cheating you bastard. Come down here and fight me like a man." I smiled down at the fuming Hina.
"I like to call it a tactical advantage." Her reply was an invisible wave of chakra that cut through several strings as I pulled myself to the side. I reestablished them immediately and then formed two shadow clones. Each of us started a jutsu and I saw her eyes widen as three different elements came barreling down at her. Of course I underpowered them. I didn't want to hurt her too badly and at this point Konoha had already won so from now on it was all about showmanship.
She spun in a circle and another dome of chakra covered her from my attacks. No matter, I kept up the barrage of jutsu with my two clones as I pulled out several kunai and attached a seal to each of them. With that done I threw them in a circle around her before shielding my eyes. There was an incredibly loud bang and when I opened my eyes to see Hina on the ground vomiting violently and blinking rapidly I knew it had worked. 'It would seem that my flashbang seal is a success.'
It paid to be cautious though and I sent a clone down to land behind her. As soon as it did so it tapped the back of her neck with its tanto. As soon as it did so I heard Aiko call out, "Winner, Shiro of Konoha." Dispelling my clones I landed next to Hina and cautiously grabbed her shoulder. Taking it as I good sign that she didn't immediately attack me I started performing mystical palms to help her recover.
It took half a minute to get her coherent again and as soon as she was she lightly punched my shoulder. "That was a cruel trick." I shrugged and helped her stand as the crowd cheered above us.
"I couldn't think of any other way to fight you so I had to resort to tricks." Out of the corner of my eye I saw the rest of the chunin hopefuls, minus Naoki, make their way over to stand in front of the Kage box in a line. The crowd quieted down as the Kazekage moved forward once more.
"We have our champion, Shiro of Konoha." The roar was deafening and he let it continue until it died down naturally. "We thank you for coming to witness this event and wish you a pleasant day." He stepped back and the crowd shifted as people began to leave. I saw Jiraiya waving from a spectator box and after gaining my team's attention we moved over to him.
"Great job you guys. That was an excellent showing out there." He clapped each us on our shoulders. "Do you all have everything packed?" We nodded and followed him to the Kage booth where Minato and Rasa were talking quietly. As we approached Minato stood up and gave a slight bow to Rasa.
"Thank you for hosting this event. I'll have the papers drawn up as soon as I return to Konoha." Rasa stood as well and gave a deeper bow.
"No thank you for your generosity." Minato gave him a smile and then walked over to us as our ANBU appeared at his side. "Everyone hold on, alright?" We did so and then there was a feeling of weightlessness as we disappeared from Suna and landed next to the North gate of Konoha.
Ding!
Quest Complete A Chunin Exam Champion
Konoha is counting on your team to show off the power that Konoha holds even after the devastating Kyuubi attack. Show the world that Konoha is still strong by blowing through the competition and winning the Exam. There will be repercussions if your team fails to make it to the final round.
Rewards: 10,000xp, 80,000ryo, Invisibility Jutsu, rank of Chunin, Title upgrade Rookie Root Shinobi
Rookie Root Shinobi - Root Shinobi – When equipped grants a 40% increase in stealth
I wasn't able to look over everything before Minato started speaking to us. "I'm very proud of each and every one of you. Take the rest of the day and tomorrow off and we'll meet in two days to discuss your promotion and the possible continuation of your team as a whole. Dismissed." He started to walk away and the devil on my shoulder urged me to do what I did next.
"So Hina." I said loudly. "When do you want to go on our date?"
"What!?" Shooting her a hurt look I continued.
"You know, our bet to go to a tea ceremony if I won. You called it a date?" I swear I saw steam coming out of her ears as she turned red. It probably wasn't helping that all the surrounding ninja were not so unobtrusively listening in. Minato had even paused mid step to listen in. 'Gossiping hens the lot of them.'
I had to quickly dodge a fist aimed at my head from Hina. "I told you to quit embarrassing me in front of other people." She roared and charged after me as I started running away.
"I don't understand. What did I do wrong?" I wailed as I ran as though the hounds of hell were on my tail. 'It's good to be home.'
Age: 6 years - 1 month
Title: Root Shinobi
LVL: 23 - 41% to next LVL
HP: 1,260/1,260
Chakra: 38,000/38,000
Elemental Affinity: Water
STR: 133(159.6)
VIT: 126
END: 114
DEX: 143(157.3)
INT: 117(124)
WIS: 104(110)
LCK: 20
Points: 49
Money: 301,546
Skills Gained
Puppy Eyes Active/Passive(F - S++ Rank) LVL 4 – 30%
Little old ladies will be more inclined to give candy to the 'cute' little child that you are. People may develop the need to suddenly hug you at higher levels.
Skills that changed
Fuinjutsu Foundations 86 - 89
Kenjutsu Adept 3 - 7
Earth Armor 1 -8
Hiding like a Mole 1 - 8
Yin Manipulation 26 -35
Yang Manipulation 26 - 35
Foot Note: Wow I was so happy about finishing this chapter I made quite a few errors that I had to go back and fix because I just wanted to get a new chapter out. Thank you for those who pointed them out. Also I can see the review count going up but the new reviews aren't displayed on the website for some reason. I still receive an email but I don't know why that feature isn't working right now.