Moons: Story has finally reached the Shippuden time! -sniff- so... happy... But so much more writing to do... -dies-
Not every difficult and dangerous thing is suitable for training, but only that which is conducive to success in achieving the object of our effort.
-Epictetus
Time went by... in a number of years one can learn a lot from a good master. But this training even with the best masters is never easy. Even with the greatest amounts of talent, it is worthless without hard work.
For Sora, a beginner to the art of fighting, this meant a lot of hard work. Even though he was more than eager to learn more about his deity, Brom had insisted fighting was more important. There were going to be a lot of people who would want to take him down, mostly skilled shinobi. He would have to at least learn how to handle a katana. So kenjustu (sword techique) was first.
"No, you're holdin' it wrong." Brom grabbed the handle and moved it so Sora was holding it correctly. He showed him the positions he could use for both blocking and attacking. In less then five minutes, they were sparing. In a matter of seconds Sora was on the ground, Brom's foot crushing his back.
"Go easy!" He moaned, "I'm still new at this."
This request resulted in a nasty kick in the shin, making him wince. "They won't 'go easy' on you out there!" Brom yelled, "And it may not look like it, but I am going easy on yah! I could have you in a state inches from death if this were for real. Now get up and do it again!"
"Can't I just-"
Another kick.
Along with that, there was a trick considered by many to be necessary to be at equal fighting level with a shinobi.
"Charka control is one of a shinobi's greatest greatest advantages. You know what it allows them to do?"
"Ninjutsu, right?"
"True." Brom told him, "But it gives them other abilities that don't exactly fall into that category." He looked over at the river. It was the middle of winter and snow gathered in clomps on the water. "Come on." He stood up with Sora. His student watched in awe as Brom made a handsign and a blue aura glowed at his feet. He walked straight out onto the water. The chakra allowed him to pass over the water without getting a drop of it above his boots.
"Now it's your turn."
Brom showed Sora a simple handsign shinobi used. "That's what they use to get their chakra flowing. Then you focus it down to your feet. It'll keep you up above the water. However, this is a hard task. It requires precise chakra control. If you have just a bit too little, you'll go crashing into the water."
Sora put his left hand in deep enough just so the water would touch his flesh. It felt like ice and sent shivers down his spine. He quickly pulled the hand back out.
"I'll get yah started. You got the chakra at your feet?"
It had taken over an hour, but Sora finally thought he felt slightly stronger in his feet. Brom carried him out onto the water. He dropped down so that he was standing with Brom holding him up by the arms. Brom dropped the arms.
Sora plunged into the river. It hit like a thousand knifes. The water rushed into his lungs, but his immortality prevented any chance of drowning. His entire body froze down to the bone. He wanted to breath so badly...
Brom grabbed Sora by the collar and lifted him out of the river. Sora began to cough up water violently. "That was terrible!"
"I- I know... -cough cough- I'm sorry!"
This training continued for days. Sora got better, but never enough to keep his balance on water. Eventually they both called it quits. Sora had a bad cold that didn't go away until spring came around. It was only then that was able to gain some basic control of his chakra in order to climb a tree with it.
If it wasn't working with a sword, struggling to control chakra, or learning the ways of Jashin, Sora was being taught the most basic way of fighting.
~*~
"Taijutsu?"
"That's the proper term for it. But it's really nothing more than physical fighting. Punches, kicks, the whole sha-bang."
"Sounds easy enough."
It was easy enough. Sora excelled in taijutsu mostly due to his speed.
"But it's still not shinobi level." Brom constantly pointed out.
"I know...!" Sora would growl back and try an even more powerful attack.
"Work with your legs Sora." Kanemaru advised from the sidelines. "Your arms may be stronger now because of the metal, but they will never improve. You must improve what can be improved."
"Sora!"
"Huh!?" The moment Sora looked at the bear, Brom knocked him to the ground.
"Don't get distracted by what's going on in the sidelines and focus on your opponent."
Above him, Brom laughed at Kanemaru's words. Sora groaned.
Even through the hard training, Sora managed to stay with Brom and Kanemaru. There were others there as well.
"Hey Sora-chan~"
"Twin...?!"
The devil of himself blocked his path, smiling cleverly as always. He seemed to grow with Sora, not only with age. He had this dark aura around him that seemed to glow with evil.
"Sooo..."
"No I haven't killed anyone lately. There's no one around to kill"
"Ah... I see your point. Anyhow, I'll be 'round. Do what-the-fuck-ever you want."
Sora groaned as Twin practically skipped away from him. He was lucky the demon had shown up when he did, and not around Brom or Kanemaru.
"Sora-chan-an-an~"
This demon's voice carried, like there was more than one. It was childish and playful even. The demon slowly came into sight.
It was white and resembled a small ghost. It was small, about two hands tall and had a pointed nose like a cone. There was a blurry light around it that blurred more whenever Sora blinked.
"Who are you."
"We-are-The-Threesome-ome-ome." The ghost had three separate voices that Sora could make out. "We watch over you-" "-just likeNighro-akuma-" "-Watching and waiting for you to snap~!"
"Ah... I'm guessing there's more of you demons to come."
"*giggle* hehe *giggle*"
Even though they showed up at what seemed like the most annoying of times, the demons were friendly people. They did no harm to Sora and helped him stay on the path of Jashin. Or at least Twin did. Nighro, The Threesome, and many other nameless demons watched over Sora just for the entertainment. There was blood lust in their strange eyes as they watched him sacrifice. Each time they appeared to want more. They wanted him to make a gory show.
Eventually Sora just had to give in to their wishes... not that he minded really.
Things were looking up for him.
He was growing up, becoming a fighter. A real serial killer, mass murderer, top felon. His body became used to the feeling of pain. He still hated it... but when shared with others, he felt so powerful. Seeing them suffer while he knew he had god on his side. The feeling was so enjoyable to a Jashinist. He loved it and could actually manage to smirk at his foe's misery.
And aside from all the harsh training he put him through, Brom was a nice guy.
"Here yah go Sora."
"Senpai... you know you just handed me a bottle sake right?"
"So... it's New Years. It's an exception."
"You sure it's a good idea?"
Brom smiled, "You were raised in a bar right? With all the experience you've had, you should be responsible enough to know your limits at thirteen.
"Just on New Years..." He promised.
Sora sighed and pushed the bottle away.
Next morning, Brom found Sora curled up in a sleeping position. His face was flushed red. His eyes were closed along with his mouth that curved to form a huge smile. Brom smiled as well and took the half empty bottle from Sora's hand.
Things were looking up for him... for once in his miserable life. Sora continued to grow up, unaware of the directions his life would take.
Setting: Shippuden; Kuma no Kuni (Land of Bears)
Sora was falling behind. "C'mon Sora!" Brom called back. No one came. "You're too slow, Sora!"
"No you are." Brom looked to see Sora sitting down far ahead of him. A pack carrying their supplies rested next to him. "I was waiting for you. You must have spaced out or something if you didn't notice me passing you. You getting old for once, Senpai?"
"Huh.... Hah, nah. I'm just too used to you bein' behind me." 'I'm not the one getting old...You're going to be an adult soon Sora...'
The fifth of May had passed by a months ago, making Sora almost fifteen and a half. He was starting to imitate shinobi a bit by the way he dressed. His shirt was a fishnet one now and his shoes were shinobi standard. Because it had been warm this week, he had tan shorts on. He still wore a red jacket/white glove combo to hide his automail and his hair had only grown a few inches. It was like almost nothing had changed. He just got older is all.
"So we going or what?" He asked cheerfully as he got up.
"Yeah, yeah, just don't rush ahead this time. I know you're fast paced and all, but-"
"Whatever." Sora agreed. He grabbed the pack and started walking again.
"That 'im?"
"Yeah that's him."
"Waz his name again?"
"Brom. He's a well skilled fighter and hasn't been captured easily. Rumors say he's immune to pain!"
"No wonder. The guy's a freakin' giant!"
"We can take him!"
"We have over two dozen here! Oh course we can take him!"
"What about the kid?"
"Didn't say anything about him. Our mission is to get Brom. If you can get the boy, by all means do so, but Brom comes first!" Their leader gave a hand signal and the team scattered.
"Sora." Brom whispered, "Don't panic and act casual."
"We're being watched?"
"Yeah. Wait for them to make a move."
"Hai."
As the shinobi came closer, Sora got an uncomfortable feeling that confirmed they were being stalked. He kept his hand close to the katana.
It wasn't long until the attack.
The shinobi surrounded them instantly. They dressed in black with light armor. Their faces were covered with animal masks. ANBU.
Sora dropped the pack and whipped out his katana. Brom did the same and cut his hand with the blade. He slammed it to the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu! (summoning technique)" Kanemaru appeared by their side in a flash.
The ANBU attacked first. Most ignored Sora and went start for Brom. Brom took out the second katana so he was able to fight two or three at a time. It took a simple shove for him to knock a shinobi to the ground. His katanas defended against any weapons they shot at him. Kanemaru fought a similar way, pushing ANBU over and even throwing them with his strength.
Sora was attacking on equal grounds with two ANBU. That soon became defending.
One wore a cat mask and had her hair held up by what looked like knifes. The other one, in a bird mask, moved in to distract Sora. He had a strange marking on his arm that proved to be part of a jutsu.
"Rensei shinku ken! (Drilling Crimson Blade)" A red wave of energy shot out of his arm, pushing Sora back and knocking him off balance. The energy shot up Sora's arms as well, ripping up the gloves and sleeves to shreds. His foes didn't flinch at the sight of his metal. They were ANBU; they were trained for this kind of thing.
The cat ANBU was now in the air. She removed the knifes from her hair. "Tentou hari danmaku! (Heaven's Needle Barrage)"
She flung out dozens of needles in a shower at Sora. He jumped back and tried to deflect them with his own kunai. No luck. Even the wire that would be used to pull kunai back snapped under the pressure of the attack. He was shot down.
On the ground, he pulled out the few senbon that had suck into his face. He got up and looked to the ANBU duo. His eyes were red with blood flooding to them. In a flash of speed, he disappeared.
The cat ANBU blinked. Sora reappeared by her side slicing her down with his katana. She fell over, a cut forming in her thigh.
The bird ANBU attacked with his own katana, but Sora's skill and speed with the tool was at top level. Sora broke through the other's defense and knocked the sword out of his hand. A quick blow in the head came from his right hand. It wasn't hard enough to kill the man, but to knock him unconscious and make his head bled.
The woman was on the ground still, her injury enabling her from moving. Sora smiled ear to ear and held the katana up, looking forward to the salty taste of blood.
"Fūton: Jūha Shō (Wind Release: Beast Wave Palm)"
A wave of chakra came flying at Sora. It blinded him, so he was unable to see the attacker. He was flung back further and further as the unknown attacker repeated the jutsu. Finally after flying many feet and crashing painfully through many trees, his head hit the ground hard.
Then it all went black.
Sora slowly opened his eyes. No one was around him. Not a sign of life. He could clearly make out the damage to the environment. Burns from Katon Jutsu (Fire Release Technique) scorched the ground and there were trees with deep cuts in them and entire branches missing.
It was dark out already. It had been midday during the attack. How long had he been knocked out?
He managed to stand up and pull various senbon out of his flesh. He took off what remained of his jacket and left it there. It was useless without the sleeves. Walked on.
There was still no sign of life. He found his pack, surrounded by blood split in the battle. He searched it to find it robbed off all materials except a half empty container of water.
It was an extremely cold night. Not as cold as it got in the Yuki no Kuni (Land of Snow), but still a fall night like this could get pretty freakin' cold. Not the place Sora wanted to be without his gloves and jacket. Yet, here he was.
A few articles of clothing weren't all he was missing. All his food, most of his water and kunai, and most importantly...
"Senpai..." Sora muttered. His gray hands, colder than the rest of his body, reached to his side and pulled out the katana to defend himself. Something told him they weren't done yet.
Bastards!
Moons: Sora is an idiot! B33r is bad!! Do NOT drink underage!!
Reviews are loved and rewarded with magical soda.