Urzikstan: Training Ground of the Al-Shuruuq Liberation Forces
Arjuna dodged left, narrowly evading a knife strike as she grabbed the arm, quickly twisting the wrist, causing a grunt of pain in the person she was fighting while also causing said person to drop the knife. Arjuna quickly took advantage of the falling knife by grabbing it by its handle, all while twisting her body where her back was now pressed against her opponent. Using her momentum of the twist, she gracefully pulled her opponent over her shoulder, causing them to fly over her before landing with a thump and a gasp on the ground. Arjuna quickly pressed the blade of the knife to her opponent's throat before calling out, "Dead! You know, you're getting better at this, Huma." She said with a cat grin, as her hair flowed with the breeze.
Humariah snorted, "Hm, you make that sound so easy while I'm the one getting my ass kicked. Mind helping me up, oh great MMA specialist?" She said in a tone laced with sarcasm. Arjuna's grin stayed on her face as if it were stone before helping her friend up from the ground, "It's not my fault you were on bored-room duty for the last week, ya gettin' all rusty n' stuff, aren't ya?" Humariah smiled sheepishly before pouting, "Yeah, and I still have to get sent on recognizance tomorrow, it'll be good if my back is in working shape too." Arjuna sighed, "Hm, I guess your right." "Ya darn tootin'." Responded Humariah as they walked to the nearest tire with their water bottles for rest.
Arjuna, the up-and-coming Captain, sat down with a sigh as she heard a sigh and a groan from her longtime partner. "You know, this is like, the 3rd recognizance mission? And it's still off the books." Asked Arjuna. Humariah looked at her slightly tiredly before responding, "Yeah, and I'm still Captain D-bag's favorite little puppet. Something about, "You shorties are always so easy to use for the tight spaces." It's strange honestly." Arjuna glanced at her with a puzzled face, "But, I'm shorter than you by a couple of inches, you're like 5'9?" Humariah chuckled, "Yeah, but compared to him, I'm about as good as a garden gnome and as slippery as a cockroach." Arjuna giggled before taking a sip of her water, completely missing how the amused look on Humariah's face quickly disappeared into a face of sadness as she also took a drink of her water.
Residence of Haruka Misamoto: Katomi, Age 5
Today is the day, finally. Looking around my room as the afternoon sun lights up my baren room with ease and the house's silence speaks loudly in my ears. My mother just left the house to go get some groceries in the village and should be gone for what I can guess is about an hour, as usual on Fridays, my father is not here in the daytime, but he will be back later tonight for the usual drunken argument with my mother. I looked around my room as my crib sat in the corner of the room, unused for over two years now that I can fully travel on my own legs. My plan today is simple, I have been told quite forcefully after I was first able to start walking, that I am not allowed to go into my mother's room. And my plan? To do exactly that.
I quickly finish rolling up my small futon into another corner of my room, placing my pillow on top of it. There has to be a reason why my mother was so forceful against me going into her room or else she likely wouldn't care. At least, she wouldn't want to see my face, but she wouldn't be exclusively upset about being in her room. I have no knowledge of her background, I don't know if she is a retired shinobi or if she has been a civilian for much of her life. Unfortunately, this gamer ability doesn't have some kind of feature where I can check someone else's stats. If she is a retired shinobi, I can probably find some scrolls I can use for basic training, and if she isn't, then I would need to politely find someone who does, and take it for myself. It's not like I already don't have years of experience in that field anyway.
Walking up to my door, I let out a breath as I opened it, still not feeling as comfortable outside of my room as the rest of the house, this house. My room was like my safe space, as the rest of the house was like enemy territory, like a small island standing firm in the middle of a rushing lake current. I glanced around the house after stepping out of my room and closing the door. Not much to see in this shithole honestly. It's a small house, only two rooms and they were both facing each other. A small living room with more than a few cracks in the walls from either age or one of my parent's punches. I swear, I want nothing more than to get the hell out of here, the constant arguing triggers this feeling inside me. It's not just anger or annoyance, but like how I might feel if I was drowning, like I need to escape like I'm being crushed by the pressure and I'm gonna pop.
When I get that feeling, I start breathing slightly faster, my heart beats at the speed of a jet fighter, my body gets weak, and I feel like passing out. No matter how many times it happens, I can never get used to it, but, I could also never get enough of silence, however rare it may be. Sweet, sweet, silence, or even the chirps of birds and the breeze, it's addicting. I keep forgetting the cage that I am in when I open my window at night or early in the morning, and let the wind flow through my room. A bright, shining moon and the stars in the night sky became my drug since my previous life, and I can only guess my Misamoto clan genes further enhanced it. at night I can truly be what I want, and then the day comes and takes away my freedom. I'm either trying to block out the distant gunfire and bombs or the yelling or uncomfortable silence of my parents when they ignore me.
Silence, at least to me, speaks in two main languages. One, is the uncomfortable, suffocating silence that comes with being around others, while still not being with them. You're present, but not there entirely, that kind of silence drives me insane. The other one is when you are alone and are content or you can sometimes be around others, and still be content and joyful. However, as it seems, being alone is about the only thing I can be right now, and in this world, a war is coming and I do not know everyone who's involved. After all, just in my own household, I'm already fighting a battle, let alone my village. For right now, perhaps being alone for a bit will do me just fine. But first, I need strength.
I took another breath as I entered my mother's room. Still nothing too impressive, just a bed with a black blanket in the middle of the room, barely big enough for two people. A closet door to the right of it, on the other side of the entryway. And a partially open bathroom door with the light off. A simple, brown dresser stood against the wall in front of the bed as the black curtains stood still by the closed windows. I immediately glance towards the closet, no doubt there will be something in there I then start walking towards it. After reaching the closet door, I reached up and grabbed it with my chubby little hands and opened it, my eyes instantly landed on a dark green shirt hanging on the rack. I looked down and immediately spotted a worn-out red box on the floor of the closet. Guessing what it was, I bent down to open the box to see what was inside.
After opening the box, I was taken off guard by what looked like my parents, smiling in a photo while holding each other hands. They were sitting on a bench near a bunch of pink, white, and red flowers. My mother seemed to be holding one of the flowers near her face, the flower was a pale, pink with what looked like four or five pedals sticking up and the stem looked to be coming from the inside of the flower before looping to the outside. I'm not and have never been a flower expert, but if I can remember correctly, that is called a cyclamen, right? I honestly do not know fully. I felt a sense of numbness as I put the picture to the side and I then laid eyes on a singular scroll lying at the bottom of the box beside a few more photos. Picking up the scroll and opening it, it read, 'Chakra Control Exercises for Beginners and Intermediate', followed by, 'Exercise 1: Leaf sticking' and 'Exercise 2: Tree walking'.
I unraveled the scroll slightly more to see, 'Intermediate Exercises', followed by, 'Exercise 1: Water walking', and 'Exercise 2: Leaf Balancing'. I finally came to the last category which read, 'Advanced Chakra Control', followed by, 'Exercise 1: Fingertip leaf balancing' and 'Exercise 2: Advanced leaf sticking'. This is it, this is the-, "Would you like to read the 'Chakra Control Exercises for Beginners and Intermediate, Y/N?" My thoughts were interrupted as the familiar screen of the gamer system popped up in my face. I sat stunned for a second, before pushing 'YES', and to my surprise, the scroll that I was holding disappeared in the blink of an eye, and completely vanished. "You have acquired the 'Chakra Control Exercises for Beginners and Intermediate' Scroll, current chakra control is at E or below genin level. Current chakra capacity is at E or below genin level." The game system responded. I sighed slightly at my situation, fully aware of the long road ahead of me. Taking one more glance at the picture of what seemed like happier times, I closed the box and then the closet door and made my way out of my mother's room.
Katomi's Room
I sat near my opened window staring out into the nearby woods, my mother should be back within the next 30 min, near the start of evening. I need to get started with chakra control to get going on this journey, finally. With the gamer system, I do not need sleep, so, I could go out into the nearby woods to train, and later on work on my taijutsu. I should be able to utilize the Krav Maga fighting style I was trained in my previous life, however, this body that I am now in doesn't have the same muscle memory, so, that will also take some time. Glancing at a small sparrow who just landed in its nest, another thought came to mind. "Because of my clan, I will be able to fly, but, my chakra levels are far too low right now to grow chakra wings. How can I increase my chakra capacity faster? My mother doesn't seem to even be aware of her clan heritage, nor does she seem like she was that powerful when she was a ninja, which means that, due to how genetics run in this world, I am unlikely to achieve that high of a level in terms of chakra capacity." I said in thought. As the sparrow flew off elsewhere, a leaf came loose and floated down to my window, carried by the wind. I reached out to grab the leaf, getting a good idea of my training plans for the next few months, this is gonna be tough.
Firefly Village: Market District
Every day that passes, it becomes more and more unbearable to see that child. Using my right hand to move my hair out of my face, I sighed outwardly in frustration. "I tried times before to try to see her as mine, my child, my young child. But, I just can't anymore. Every time I see her face, every time I see those eyes, I can't help but think back to that day, when he-." I hesitated to swallow the lump in my throat. "When he violated me. He went completely against what I wanted as if my autonomy didn't matter." I finished, struggling to come to terms with how much my husband had changed over the years since merchants started going to some of the larger villages to set up shop, fearing the nearing breakout of the war. Merchants now want to be within the safety of a large village with shinobi, instead of being caught in the crossfire of warring villages, using smaller villages as a battleground. This has caused our village and many like it to see a reduction in the overall economy over the last several years, yet, my husband is far too stubborn to move.
I finally reached the village market area, easily moving around some of the villagers who were deciding to take the scenic route, my eyes lowered, but, I was still able to keep track of my environment. I make my way to the farmer's market, pondering on what can I do about my illegitimate child. I cannot take care of her even if I wanted to since we are barely able to take care of ourselves, and I do not need the baggage when I need to make my escape. That stupid, drunk of a husband of mine may not want to leave this Kami-forsaken place, but I'm not staying here. Taking a few sacks of nuts and putting them into my shopping bag, I glanced around to see where the shop owner's attention was. Seeing that his attention was on helping a young child on the other side of the store, I took a few glances around me, seeing if they're any other customers looking in my direction. Seeing that the close was clear, I decided to secretly stuff a few more pouches of nuts and some nearby ration bars into my bra, causing my already modest chest to poke out slightly more than normal inside of my yukata. I quickly finished my activities and went to the front to pay for what was in my shopping bag.
After leaving the store successfully, I started on my way back to the house that I once called home. Glancing up into the sky to see that the sun was nearly going to start setting, I steeled myself for what was about to happen. "I'm sorry little one, but I have to go," I whispered to myself, whether I genuinely cared about the bastard child in the first place or if I was trying to justify abandoning a child in general, I do not know. It has been some time since I used chakra in any real capacity. I was never fully trained to be a ninja, although I did find some scrolls some time back that could help me survive being a defenseless orphan. All I need now is a map, and to wait until my husband goes to sleep later, and make my escape. With that thought, a small, almost unnoticeable smile made its way onto my face as I continued my walk back to the house.
Residence of Haruka Misamoto: Katomi's Room
"Damn, I thought this was gonna be worse," I said as I finally stuck a leaf to my forehead after a couple of attempts. My low chakra capacity makes it easier for me to develop control. What is also fortunate, is that with the gamer body, I can disregard the fact that a 4-year-old should not be training, shinobi heritage or not, a child was still a child. However, the durability and virtual immunity that I get from this ability means that even as a squirt, I can train myself into the dirt, and get back up. "You have mastered the leaf-sticking exercise. Your chakra control is now D-rank." Said the system as I let the leaf fall to my lap for a quick rest. After this, I will move on to sticking the leaf to my forehead again but practicing some Krav Maga stances to improve control and get this body's muscle memory in order. "Damn, I miss those knives, I need to get some kind of bladed weapon again," I mumbled out loud. I then mentally command the gamer system, "Show my full character stats and attributes, um...please." I said, trying to remember my manners, even if it's just an AI. "As you wish." responded the system, before my stats popped up in my view.
Name: Katomi Misamoto
Age: 5 (Physically)
Vitality [VIT: SS-Rank (Gamers Body)
Charisma [CHA: C-Rank
Nature Affinity [NAT: Wind(Primary), Fire(Secondary)
Chakra Capacity [CCP: E-Rank
Chakra Control [CCO: D-Rank
Taijutsu Rank [TAI: D-Rank
Ninjutsu Rank [NIN: E-Rank
Genjutsu Rank [GEN: B-Rank (Gamers Mind)
Kenjutsu Rank [KEN: D-Rank
Attributes and Perks:
Gamer Body and Gamer Mind: Provides the user with immunity to all physical attacks, and lethal or forced trauma, including poisons. Grants the user the ability not to need sleep or food, although the user can still sleep or eat like normal if chosen. Gamer mind grants user immunity from external mental attacks, but not major internal self-attacks. Gamer body also provides the user with a map of the environment and of possible enemies and allies, enemies are red while allies are green. The darker the color, the more intense their inner emotions are towards the user.
Misamoto Clan Heritage: Grant's user flight with chakra wings at birth, enhanced perception of all senses, enhanced stealth, enhanced speed, and the ability to communicate with Aves creatures of all kinds.
"Nice," I said, seeing the potential of the system. "I seriously need to get my chakra capacity up so I can start flying," I mumbled as I got up to start the next round of training, however, I was interrupted by a notification from the gamer system. "Since you have been polite, your charisma has increased to: High C-rank. By increasing your charisma, either by words or by actions, you will be better at manipulating others. In addition to your politeness, I recommend you try out gathering natural energy once you improve your chakra control. Any injuries will be healed back to normal, no matter the injury, but it would be at a cost of your remaining chakra level." As if my day couldn't have gotten better, I stood in shock at what only a little bit of politeness could get me. "Uh, thanks, gamer system..." I said, scratching my medium-length black hair. Before getting into doing basic stances and strikes after channeling chakra to stick the leaf back onto my forehead.
After finishing some basic crossbody strikes, palm heel strikes, some low kicks, and some defensive moves, sweat was starting to fall off of my body. Another idea came to me after remembering my chakra affinities of wind and fire, "If I get my hands on some blades of some kind, that wind-style affinity would be deadly." I said internally, "Due to my clan abilities, I want to focus more on speed, agility, and precision. Perhaps I can get some short swords or those battles fans I heard about in my old life, Tessen fans I believe they are called." But how am I going to get anything like that in this town? Well, I guess I'm gonna have to... borrow those as well. My inner musings were cut short as I could see my mother's chakra signature coming towards the house, her icon on my map now looks more like a pale red instead of an intense, blood red like before. I, of course, opted to stay in my room like usual, not needing to be reminded about how much she hated me, although according to her icon, she didn't seem to be as intense as before.