Heart of Iron
By: KnightofTempest
[NSFW] - Heart of Iron by KnightofTempest
Status: ongoing
Published: 2022-12-30
Updated: 2023-03-05
Words: 67586
Chapters: 26
Original source: https/forum./threads/20788
Exported with the assistance of
Heart of Iron
Introduction
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Interlude: Mizuki
Interlude: Sarutobi Hiruzen
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Interlude: Zabuza
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Interlude: Uzumaki Naruto
Interlude: Yamanaka Ino
Interlude: Rock Lee
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Prologue
The Daimyo of the Land of Rivers had been somewhat careless. Late last winter he had been captivated by the beauty of one of his assigned bodyguards, a Tokubetsu Jonin from Tanigakure named Taigāai Rei. He had to have her, and so plied her with wine and gifts until she lay with him. The fruit of their tryst was now rearing its head, screaming into the autumn evening as the physician tried desperately to save his once-lover. The boy was certainly healthy, though the same could not be said for Rei. Ironically, though she was a powerful Shinobi, it seemed as if childbirth was just as dangerous for one who routinely used the secret arts of the ninja as much as it was for any ordinary woman. Rei had lost too much blood and now only a Shinobi healer would be able to save her. Alas, for one such as them was a rarity even amongst the larger villages, let alone one as small as Tanigakure. Rei's last act in this world was to name their son. Tsurugi. It was a good name, strong.
Unfortunately, that did not ease the River Daimyo's worries. You see, the River Daimyo was engaged to be married and to a daughter of the Wind Daimyo no less. The Land of Rivers was of a decent size for a nation sandwiched between Fire and Wind as it was, but it was not large enough that the River Daimyo could snub the Wind Daimyo so and hope to get away with it. There was no way he could claim Tsurugi as his own without repercussions. Rei had not spoken much about Tanigakure, but he knew that she had no family that would take the boy, being an only child of a pair of Shinobi that had died in the Third Great Shinobi War. Sending him to the Village Hidden in the Valleys was not an option. If no solution presented itself soon, it seemed that the boy would have to be sent to an orphanage or perhaps even killed. Much as it sickened him to contemplate killing someone of his own blood, it might become an option sooner rather than later.
It was while the River Daimyo was looking at his son, weighing his options, that his second bodyguard spoke up. Uesugi Ken was a Ronin. A Samurai from the Land of Iron, the man had left the notoriously neutral Samurai Nation many years ago. Resigning his position as a captain in Lord Mifune's Army in order to better hone his skills abroad. He had been with the River Daimyo for 4 years now and was his second-longest-serving bodyguard, many of the rest having rotated out.
"My Lord, let me raise the boy. I am reaching the age when a Samurai usually takes an apprentice and would relish the opportunity to pass on my skills. With his mother dead, only you, I, and the court physician would know his true parentage. It need not go any further than it already has." Said Ken.
The River Daimyo pondered this for a moment. It was true that in this arrangement, the news would spread no further than it already had, however, he was not entirely certain that such an arrangement would not leak to any Shinobi that the Wind Daimyo brought with him to visit during the wedding. Shinobi had ways of tracking down secrets that few should know. Keeping the boy here would be risky, perhaps too risky.
"No my friend, I would not be comfortable having the boy so close when the Wind Daimyo could send one of those Suna Shinobi to search for secrets during his visit for the wedding next month." Replied the River Daimyo.
"Then allow me to leave your service with the boy. Your marriage contract stipulates that your Bodyguard be half Tanigakure and half Sunagakure Shinobi after your wedding day so I will need to leave regardless. I would simply be doing so a month sooner than anticipated and taking the boy with me." Asserted Ken.
This made sense to the River Daimyo, even if he did not like the idea of dismissing Ken before the wedding. "Very well. I will allow you to take the boy with you and give you a grace period of 24 hours before you must leave my service. May the Sage guide your path… out of the Land of Rivers." Acquiesced the River Daimyo.
Ken bowed low to the River Daimyo and said, "I shall be gone from the Palace by nightfall tomorrow, my Lord. I hear the Land of Fire is nice this time of year, though it is unlikely there will be much call for a Ronin that way. Konohagakure is likely to take up much of the contracts that way, after all."
"Very well. Take the boy, and let us speak no more of this." Replied the River Daimyo.
Over the next 24 hours, Uesugi Ken gathered up as much of his funds and equipment as he could before sealing them into a scroll. Ordinarily, Fuuinjutsu was not something the Samurai of the Land of Iron practiced. However, it was one skill that Ken had picked up in his travels among many. Sealing was a highly versatile art and could be used to enhance his capabilities in combat. Much like how he picked up the Raigeki no Yoroi after helping the Mizukage's Forces defeat an attempt by Yugakure to utilize the now 10-year-long civil war in Kirigakure to take over several of the more prosperous outlying islands in order to gain more power. His price for that mission was to be taught a Jutsu that would enhance his combat style. He had needed a year to adapt the ninja technique to the way of doing things that a Samurai practiced. Ninja were more about intuition in their usage of Chakra, whereas Samurai utilized theirs through practice and reflection, a process not too dissimilar from how the various Monk Temples taught. Still, he had managed it, much as he had managed to learn Fuuinjutsu from a traveling caravan of Uzumaki Remnants.
Sealing his belongings away and donning his sword and armor, Uesugi Ken left the Capitol of the Land of Rivers with the sleeping form of Uesugi Tsurugi nestled in a sling on his back. They headed East, towards the Land of Fire. It took them a couple of weeks to cross the border, and Ken's pace was slowed by the necessity of carrying a baby with him. The border guards on the Land of Fire Border were still somewhat jumpy, even five years after the Third Great Shinobi War had ended. The pair of Chunin guarding the Border, one with a senbon needle sticking out of his mouth like a toothpick and the other a fellow swordsman, had asked a lot of questions that would normally be brushed over or just not asked.
"Might I inquire as to why all these questions are being asked? Normally the guards tend to brush off most of them." Asked Ken.
The pair of Chunin looked at each other before the one with the sword answered, "You haven't heard? I thought it would have at least made the rounds with the bounty hunter circuit by now. Around 2 weeks ago Konoha was attacked. A lot of people died, including the Yondaime. We've been on alert so the other villages don't take advantage."
"I see. As I said, I was employed by the Honorable Daimyo of the Land of Rivers as a bodyguard until just last week when my son was born. I have not checked in at any bounty stations, as I have been traveling since leaving the Capital." Replied Ken.
"You know, if you're good enough to be one of the River Daimyo's 6 Great Bodyguards, you'd probably do real well in Konoha. The Village doesn't usually recruit Ronin, but given recent events, the higher-ups might be interested." Floated the Chunin with the Senbon in his mouth.
Ken thought for a moment on this. It was unlikely that he would be able to learn much of how the Shinobi used Chakra. Samurai simply used it differently and he intended to begin teaching Tsurugi as soon as he was able to learn. However, it was likely that his Shinobi mother had gifted Tsurugi with enough capacity to learn the way of the Shinobi, as the more intuitive way that Shinobi did things required much more Chakra than the Samurai Arts of Self-Perfection through Chakra use. It might even be the best way for Tsurugi going forwards. Life on the road as a Ronin was no place for a child. Ken considered it for a moment before deciding. There was no reason that Tsurugi could not learn both ways. In fact, learning the way a Samurai would utilize Chakra might even help his adopted son learn the Shinobi Arts.
Course set, Ken nodded and said, "Very well, I will see if the Village Hidden in the Leaves will take this Old Wolf and his Son."
The two Chunin guards waved Ken through the border checkpoint and the Ronin was soon on his way toward Konohagakure. As he traveled, the landscape changed. The valleys and rivers that dominated the Land of Rivers giving way to forested hills. Ken stopped only once, at Tanzaku-gai in order to check the local Bounty Station in order to see if the Chunin's story was true. As it turned out, it was indeed and it was during his stay at one of the various resorts in the City that he came across the man who would be his ticket into the Village. Jiraiya of the Sannin was hard to miss between his ridiculous hair and loud demeanor. The man was practically drowning himself in Sake and women, though if the rumors were true, the Yondaime had been his student. People grieved in different ways, Ken supposed.
Of course, even drunk, Jiraya was no slouch. He quickly noticed that Ken was observing him and motioned the Samurai over. "Oi Oi, don't stare at me from across the room, Samurai-san! If you have something to say to the Great Jiraiya then say it to my face!" He called.
Ken stood from his corner table in the restaurant attached to his hotel and headed over to the man. "I know you, Jiraiya of the Sannin. You have my condolences for recent events." Said Ken.
Jiraiya frowned and asked, "Do I know you, Samurai-San?"
"I do not believe we have met before." Replied Ken.
"No, I'm sure I've seen your face before." Frowned Jiraiya in thought before saying, "That's right, you're Uesugi Ken! There's 30 million Ryo on your head from Yugakure! I've seen your picture in the bingo book!"
Ken frowned and replied, "I was unaware that the Village Hidden in Hot Water was angry enough about their thwarted ambitions in the Land of Water to post a bounty."
"Yugakure generally doesn't post bounties, you're one of two people they still have a bounty out for. After all, you killed so many of their Shinobi that they had to shutter their shinobi program and focus on tourism." Said Jiraiya.
"It wasn't just me. Yugakure had forces on more than just the Island I was sent to. Kirigakure took care of those Islands themselves." Replied Ken.
"Well, it seems that they scapegoated you to Yugakure, Samurai-San. What else did you expect from the Bloody Mist? I wonder if you have a reason I shouldn't kill you and claim the bounty? You did interrupt my, night after all and Konohagakure is in need of Ryo for repairs." Asked Jiraiya.
"I have a reason and a proposal. One game of cards, if I win you take me and my son Tsurugi to Konohagakure to join the Village. If I lose, then we go outside and you may claim my head." Replied Ken.
That caused Jiraiya to laugh. "Ha! Guts, eh? I can admire that."
The next few hours were the tensest that Ken had ever been. Facing down Jonin was nothing, Jiraiya of the Sannin was an S-rank shinobi. Ken had little doubt the man could and would kill him if he lost this card game. Fortunately, it seemed that while drunk, Jiraiya was not the most judicious of players. He bet big when he shouldn't a few too many times and soon Ken had a comfortable lead on the Sannin. Finally, just as midnight was upon them, the last hand was played and Ken wound up winning the game. Jiraiya seemed in good spirits though.
"Ah, it seems you won, Ken-san. I suppose we'll have to head back to the Village and I'll vouch for you with the Third. You and your kid should be able to put down roots." Chuckled the Toad Sage.
"Thank you for honoring your bets, Jiraiya-San." Replied Ken.
"Bah, a real man stays true to his word. Still, literally, betting your life on a game of cards? The old man is never gonna believe this." Chuckled Jiraiya.
"When do we leave?" Asked Ken.
"Tomorrow, after I've gotten rid of the massive hangover I'm gonna have." Replied Jiraiya.
And so, Uesugi Ken and son left Tanzaku-Gai in the company of Jiraiya of the Sannin to put down roots in Konoha. It would be the first event in a chain reaction that would alter the future of the Elemental Nations…
AN: This is something I've tried on SB that didn't really take over there, but I think is a good story. I don't often see many Samurai or Swordsman-centric stories.
Also the POV is going to switch to Uesugi Tsurugi starting with the first proper chapter
There will be an eventual pairing and sex, but not for a while. I don't write kiddie porn or porn without plot…
Chapter 1
In the years since he and his father had come to Konohagakure, Uesugi Tsurugi had grown from a baby to an 8-year-old. For 3 years now, he had been undergoing instruction from his father, Uesugi Ken in the Samurai Arts. Being as he started at age 5, this training had first taken the form of physical conditioning for a year until he was deemed ready enough to begin on a Martial Art, or what the Shinobi called Taijutsu. There were many different styles that his father knew from his years in the Land of Iron. The Samurai of the Land of Iron were fond of Martial Arts and the culture there tended to be much more physical as compared to Konoha where Ninjutsu was King. The Samurai way was to perfect one's body and spirit through practice and reflection. It did not really lend itself to flashy displays of Ninjutsu. His father taught him a mixture of several different styles. Jujutsu for Grappling, and a mixture of the Land of Iron's own Iron Heart Karate and a form of Martial Arts that was practiced in the Land of Waterfalls and relied heavily on kicks, knees, and elbows. He had been training in that mixture of styles for a year and a half before his father had even allowed him to pick up a training weapon. When he did, he had found to his shock, that his father had not started him on the Katana, as he had thought, but on the Spear and the Bow.
"Listen well, Son. While today the Katana is the Weapon most associated with the Samurai, this was not always so. Back during the Chaos of the Era of Warring Clans, before the Village System allowed the Daimyo to hire out ninja. It was the Samurai who formed the martial might of the Lords of the Elemental Nations. In those times, when a wandering clan of Shinobi could mean death for the region it was passing through, the principal weapon of the Samurai was the Spear and the Bow. Soujutsu and Kyudo are still taught today in the land of Iron, for even the Samurai of Today under Lord Mifune will not forsake tradition in favor of the sword." Lectured Ken.
"But father, why if even the Samurai of Iron do not use them on the Battlefield, am I learning the Spear and Bow?" Asked Tsurugi.
"The Land of Iron has not had a major war in a century. The last time it did was around the time the Village System began to form. The Samurai used Soujutsu and Kyudo on the field that day to wipe out the Fujiwara, Maeda, and Tohsaka Clans who had been intent on forming a Ninja Village on the very doorstep of the Land of Iron. The Lord of that time was a man named Tessen. Lord Tessen would not allow a village so close to the Bastion of Bushido that he was forming out of the Land of Iron. He saw what the formation of villages was doing in the Lands of Fire, Earth, Wind, and Water and he knew that if he allowed a Hidden Village to form on the Border of the Land of Iron, power would eventually shift away from the Samurai and into the hands of the Shinobi, so he ordered those clans purged. The skills I am teaching you will serve you in good stead in the future." Responded Ken.
So for a year, Tsurugi was drilled in Soujutsu and Kyudo alongside his martial arts training. It was a little more than a month before his 8th Birthday before any of this changed. That day, Tsurugi was taught how to access his chakra, as a Samurai does. Unlike a ninja, who unlocked their Chakra through intuition. Samurai were taught a meditative kata to practice. This Kata was designed not only to focus the young Samurai's mind, spirit, and body into a singular task, but to do so in a way that would allow the Samurai to map out his Chakra Pathways and to actively feel out the flow of Chakra in his body. It took longer than the Shinobi method to work, but the benefit of doing so was that anyone with even minimal chakra reserves could learn it. Every day for two weeks, Tsurugi practiced this kata until on the 14th day, he had finally finished the exercise and could feel and access the Chakra in his body.
The next day, a man came to his and his father's home. He wore what Tsurugi was able to identify as the Chunin uniform of Konohagakure and had a scar across the bridge of his nose. His father let him into the home they had purchased in Konoha and the three of them retired to the drawing room for tea.
"Uesugi-Dono. My Name is Umino Iruka and I am with the Konohagakure Shinobi Academy." Began the man.
"I know who you are, Umino-san. I also know what you want." Replied Ken.
"While the Hokage is grateful for the techniques and sealing formulas you have provided the Village, Uesugi-Dono, the time has come for your son to enter the Academy and fulfill that part of the Bargain you made with Jiraiya-sama." Said the Man.
"Indeed. I know that providing Kenjutsu instruction for the Anbu Corps would not be our main contribution forever. I have prepared Tsurugi as best I could with what time I had. You will not find him wanting." Nodded Ken.
Umino Iruka looked over at Tsurugi. "Tsurugi-Kun, tomorrow you will begin classes at the Academy with the others your age. You may even have a few friends attending. This year's Academy Induction has a large number of Clan Heirs attending. I am sure you know Nara Shikamaru?" He asked.
Tsurugi did know Shikamaru, he was probably the closest thing he had to a best friend his age. They practically lived next door to the Nara Compound after all. Still, Tsurugi wasn't really a fan of Shikamaru's laziness. Sure he was good to play a few rounds of Shogi with, but every time Tsurugi wanted to do something active, Shikamaru refused and would always redirect the conversation toward another board game. At least Choji was always up for a game of tag, even if Shikamaru usually managed to wheedle the 3 of them into doing something where he could sit down. Plus the Akimichi boy always had snacks on him. Tsurugi liked snacks.
"I was unaware that Shika had the energy to even go to the Academy. The guy is pretty lazy." Commented Tsurugi.
"Is that so? Well, he and Akimichi Choji will be attending, as well as Yamanaka Ino." Smiled Umino.
That caused Tsurugi to frown. Ino was sort of… he wouldn't say bossy exactly, but she had a way of haranguing everyone into doing what she wanted. The few times he'd hung out with all three of Choji, Shika, and Ino, they'd always wind up doing what Ino wanted at some point and that was usually something girly like Cherry Blossom Watching or Shopping. it was because of that and because whenever the 3 of them were together, he always felt sort of like a third wheel that he had stopped hanging out with the 3 of them together. Still, at least there would be people he knew there.
He only nodded in response to Umino. That was when his father decided to speak up. "Son, why don't you head to the courtyard and practice your Soujutsu, Umino-san and I have to talk about certain issues that may crop up while you're attending class."
Tsurugi bowed to his father and Umino and left for the courtyard. As soon as he left, Ken turned to Umino and said, "You should be aware that I have trained him in the Arts of the Samurai."
"I would expect no less from you, Uesugi-dono." Replied Umino.
"I do not believe you are aware of the differences that entail, Umino-san. A Samurai perfects his body and spirit through practice and reflection. With you Shinobi, a lot is done on Instinct, how something feels in the moment. It allows you to train Shinobi quicker, but the tradeoff is that your recruits must meet certain minimum chakra capacity thresholds in order to be considered suitable for your forces. This is not so with Samurai, our methods, while more methodical and requiring longer amounts of time, allow theoretically anyone to become a Samurai. More than once I have broached the topic of allowing those civilian children who fail the academy graduation to learn the Samurai Arts. He has rebuffed me every time citing political concerns with the Fire Daimyo. Still, this may provide difficulties in Tsurugi's learning." Explained Ken.
"How so, Uesugi-dono?" Asked Umino.
"Well, for one thing, Ninjutsu instructions often need to be translated over to a method more suited towards the way that Samurai Learn things. It is the very reason why Ninjutsu is not commonly taught amongst the Samurai of the Land of Iron. Do not misunderstand me, however. Tsurugi's reserves are quite capable of utilizing ninjutsu in the way that Shinobi do, his mother was a Jonin of Tanigakure, after all, and I myself can boast potentially the second highest reserves of any living Samurai, after Lord Mifune. It is simply that he has learned a different way up until now." Continued Ken.
"And you believe that he will have difficulties because of this?" Asked Umino.
"If he goes about it the same way he went about learning Soujutsu? Yes, absolutely. On the other hand, his control should be impeccable. It is a more vital skill for a Samurai than a Shinobi, after all. Children are malleable, however. He should figure it out fairly quickly, though it may take him longer than his classmates." Replied Ken.
"So you believe he will be slow to learn, but ultimately capable?" Asked Umino.
"I do." Replied Ken.
"I see. I'll take your assessment under advisement, Uesugi-dono." Replied Umino.
"That is all I can ask." Replied Ken, a clear dismissal.
As Umino left the small manor house that the Uesugi lived in, he passed by Ken in the courtyard, practicing with a spear of all things. Umino Iruka shook his head at the sight. He hadn't heard of any Shinobi who used a spear, even if Tsurugi's motions with the weapon seemed fluid and well-practiced. He just couldn't see any way that a competent Shinobi of comparable skill wouldn't be able to get inside the reach of the spearhead. It was something that he was sure that Tsurugi would abandon for the sword as soon as he was able. Leaving the courtyard, Umino Iruka headed off to meet the next child on his list and shivered. It was Shino Aburame. Iruka had nothing against the Aburame as a whole, but personally, he found the idea of storing colonies of insects inside yourself to be a bit creepy. As he walked out the gate towards the Aburame Compound, he failed to see a number of practice strikes with the haft and butt of the spear that Tsurugi was practicing with, perfectly tailored to knocking back foes that had gotten inside a spearman's guard.
If he had seen them, he might not be so quick to dismiss Soujutsu as a combat form…
AN: The way of the Samurai is different from that of the ninja, requiring practice and meditation over intuition and large internal chakra reserves. It lends itself more toward chakra control and doing more with less than the way of a shinobi. it allows them to field large forces of chakra users who might not be able to call down meteors or something, but who can use chakra flow and high-level taijutsu and kenjutsu. The land of Iron can field more Samurai than any single Ninja Village accordingly. It's how they ensure their neutrality is respected.
In fact, most academy students who fail the Ninjutsu portion of the Graduation exam could still be trained as Samurai due to the nature of the Samurai Arts.
It is going to give Tsurugi a unique advantage when it comes to learning Jutsu, as his control is going to be a lot better than everyone else's.
Chapter 2
The first day of classes at the Kohoagakure Shinobi Academy dawned bright and early. While classes did not start until the start of the hour of the Rat, or as they called it in the Shinobi Villages, 9 am, Tsurugi was up at the beginning of the Hour of the Rabbit, which was termed as 5 am here in the Shinobi Villages. Tsurugi had long gotten used to the 12-hour Zodiac clock of the Land of Iron, as it was by this clock that his father had trained him, as he had been trained before him. However, the Shinobi Villages utilized a more modern 24-hour clock which Tsurugi supposed he would be trained by from now on. Regardless, he awoke some 4 hours before he was required to go to class in order to complete his exercises and morning drills with Martial Arts, Soujutsu, and Kyudo. By the time he was finished, it was 3 quarters of the way through the Hour of the Dragon, roughly 8:30 AM by the clock of the Shinobi Villages and he quickly showered off his morning exertions and changed into a suitable outfit for his first day at the Shinobi Academy, dark blue pants and top with gray accents on the legs and arms, the Mon of the Uesugi family, a Sparrow amongst bamboo, was emblazoned on his top near his heart.
What most in Konoha did not understand was that Samurai did not have clans, as Ninja did. Indeed the bulk of the Samurai Forces of Iron were drawn from average people with a talent for the arts. However, the officer class was drawn from a number of small families that while not exactly as numerous as a ninja clan individually, still served a similar function. Indeed this was how the Daimyos got into power originally in the nebulous period between the death of the Sage of the Six Paths and the beginning of the Warring Clans Period. Every Daimyo's line could be traced back to a Samurai General from an old Samurai family that had managed to amass enough forces and supplies to carve out a nation for themselves. Most Daimyo had since fallen into decadence. Only in the Land of Iron was the tradition preserved that the Ruler of the Land needed to be a capable Samurai General.
Accordingly, when Tsurugi and his father had come to Konohagakure all those many years ago, they had been awarded the status of a minor clan, similar to the Hatake. The Mon was proof of this, and Tsurugi showed it off proudly as he headed off to his classes at the Konohagakure Shinobi Academy. There were rumors that the Hatake Clan had also started out similarly, former Samurai who had left the Land of Iron partway through the reign of Tessen and Hashirama and traveled to Konohagakure to pledge their swords to the Hokage. Tsurugi's father had told him that the Central Archives in Iron had recorded their Family head, one Kojiro Hatake, had been on the losing side of a brief but intense bout of civil unrest and had been recorded as disgraced. That had likely influenced his decision to move his family out to Konohagakure. As Tsurugi's steps took him into the courtyard of the Konohagakure Shinobi Academy, he wondered if history would repeat itself. Would one day the Uesugi be as famed as the Hatake among Shinobi? He supposed it would likely rest on him to figure it out.
As he arrived he noticed that Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino were already there. Shika was laying back on the grass watching the clouds and trying to ignore Ino's grumbling about having to hike out to the Nara Compound to drag him out of bed. Choji was sitting by, silently munching on a bag of all-dressed chips and wincing every time Ino's voice got just a little too shrill.
"I swear, if it weren't for me making you, you'd never do anything! Do you even know how badly you almost screwed up?" Harangued Ino.
"Troublesome. Ino, I already told you I had plenty of time to get ready for the first day of classes when you showed up. There's no need to keep going on about it." Muttered Shikamaru.
"You had 10 minutes before we had to leave! You missed breakfast and had to make do with a piece of toast! I swear you'd never get out of bed if nobody forced you to!" Fumed Ino.
As if sensing the need for a change of Topic, Choji pointed over at Tsurugi and said, "Hey, Tsurugi's here."
Tsurugi for his part tossed a wave at the trio and said, "Hey."
Ino immediately turned from haranguing Shikamaru to fixing Tsurugi with a stare. "You've been avoiding me, Samurai-Boy. Why?" She asked.
Tsurugi knew that he had to navigate that particular minefield carefully. Say the wrong thing, and she'd go off on him for a while. Of course, he couldn't tell the truth, that she had been being very bossy the last few times they'd all hung out together and he hadn't wanted to deal with it. It was at times like these that he saw things from Shika's point of view. Ino really was troublesome sometimes. When in doubt, deny, he supposed.
"My dad upped my training in preparation for the Academy, I've been a little swamped lately." Tsurugi replied, hoping that he hadn't given anything away. Sure the Yamanaka were psychological warfare specialists and could read minds, but he didn't think Ino had done much clan training with her dad beyond the basic conditioning drills. He hoped anyway.
"So swamped that you couldn't come out to Yakiniku Q with us last Friday? Our dads booked the restaurant to celebrate us getting into the Academy." Protested Ino.
Dang, she knew how much Tsurugi liked food. This had to be some kind of trap. Well, nothing for it, double down. "Very swamped. And dad wouldn't have been able to take me out Friday anyway. He had to prepare a special training course for the Anbu in Iaido." Lied Tsurugi.
Ino looked like she didn't buy it but couldn't really disprove it either. Fortunately for Tsurugi, he was saved from whatever retort that Ino was about to hurl his way by a bright orange blur bounding into the Academy Courtyard and shouting. "Yeah! Future Hokage coming through! Uzumaki Naruto is here! Dattebayo!"
The blur resolved itself into a short, blonde, kid wearing an orange jumpsuit and a pair of blue goggles pushed up onto his forehead. The kid's whisker-like birthmarks and wild, mischievous expression made him seem like some kind of humanoid fox. Like if Kitsune were male and prone to loud aggrandizing statements rather than subtle tricks. Ino's scorn turned immediately to the newcomer to harangue him for interrupting her train of thought. With Ino's attention fully elsewhere, Tsurugi let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Right then and there, he'd decided that Uzumaki Naruto was alright in his books if he could pull Ino's sharp tongue away from him. He'd have to talk to the loud blonde later on.
Sitting down next to Shikamaru, he shrugged and said, "So why has Ino been so fired up lately? Six months and she's been bossier than usual."
"Her dad told her that her application to the Academy had been accepted before either of us even sent ours in. I guess she's just gotten a little too confident lately. Is that why you've been ducking out on group hangouts lately?" Replied Shika Idly.
"No, I already told you guys, I've been busy." Huffed Tsurugi.
"Tsurugi, my dad is the Jonin Commander. He never said anything about you and your dad being too busy with training to go to Yakiniku Q." Pointed Out Shikamaru.
Tsurugi just sighed and said, "Ok, fine. I have been avoiding Ino. The past couple of group hangouts always turned into us doing whatever Ino wants to do. Don't tell her I said that though."
"Troublesome." Muttered Shikamaru.
Choji, ever the heart of their little group, decided to take that opportunity to cheer both of them up. Reaching into his bag he pulled out a pair of fully-dressed chips and held them out to Tsurugi and Shikamaru. "Chip?" He offered.
"Thanks, Choji." Said Tsurugi, taking the chip and popping it into his mouth while Shikamaru did the same.
As the rest of the students filtered in, Shikamaru stopped gazing at the clouds to regard the others. Most of the civilian kids weren't really worth commenting on at the moment, only time would tell if they had the ability to become shinobi, after all. The clan kids were different though. One of them was a quiet boy with a high-collared jacket and sunglasses that Shikamaru Identified. "Aburame Shino. Clan Heir to the Aburame Clan. I only met him a couple of times, but he's a decent sort if a bit prone to getting sidetracked in conversation."
Another of them was a feral-looking kid with spikey black hair and red marking on his cheeks. He had a small, white, puppy with him. "Ugh, Inazuka Kiba. The guy is way too troublesome, he's prone to picking fights to try and establish dominance but he isn't exactly the sharpest kunai in the pouch. I was kind of hoping he wouldn't be here." Muttered Shikamaru.
"You don't like him?" Asked Tsurugi.
"He picked a fight with Choji the other day over his spot in line at the movies. There would have been a fight right there on the street if his sister hadn't come back from the bathroom to reign him in. The guy's just plain troublesome." Shrugged Shikamaru.
Shikamaru's gaze turned to the last two clan heirs, one a shy girl standing apart from everyone else and wearing a hoodie. Her eyes were the telltale pupilless, pale, white of the Hyuga Clan. "Hyuga Hinata. Met her a couple of times. She's shy though and usually one of her minders has to step in to end conversations before they can make her upset. My dad told me that around 4 years ago an undercover Kumogakure Shinobi attempted to kidnap her only to be stopped from escaping with her by the Anbu. Supposedly there was a whole big thing about it over at the Hyuga Compound, but I'm not sure what exactly happened."
Finally, his gaze turned towards the last clan heir. Blue shirt and shorts with hair spiking up like a duck's butt. He wore an expression that seemed to Tsurugi to scream that he thought he was better than everyone here. "That's Uchiha Sasuke. He's not technically the heir, His brother Itachi is, but given how Itachi is a member of the Anbu and how dangerous the stuff those guys get sent to do is, he might actually be the heir one day. Supposedly he's a genius, though not to the level of his brother. If anyone is going to be the guy to beat for Rookie of the Year, it's Sasuke. " Said Shikamaru.
"I didn't know you cared about Rookie of the Year, Shika." Replied Choji.
"I don't, but knowing Tsurugi, he'll try gunning for it at some point. The whole thing is just too troublesome for me to try going after it." Shrugged Shikamaru.
"So this whole analysis was for my benefit, I'm touched Shika, really." Grinned Tsurugi.
Shikamaru just grunted in reply before going back to cloud-watching. Moments later Umino Iruka and another Chunin exited the front of the Academy building and called for attention. Umino began to give a short speech about the purpose of the Shinobi Academy and the Will of Fire. Tsurugi wasn't paying attention, though. His eyes bored into the back of Uchiha Sasuke's head as he tried sizing up his main rival for Rookie of the Year. He wasn't good enough at reading people to be able to tell much from the back of someone's head though so he soon gave up on it and went back to looking around. He noticed Ino had managed to pick up another hanger-on at some point, a civilian girl with Pink Hair. Better her than him. Finally, Umino's speech wound down and the students filed into the Academy building behind him.
So began the next 4 years of Tsurugi's life as he worked through the Konohagakure Shinobi Academy…
AN: Yeah, so Tsurugi and Ken live practically next door to the Nara Clan compound, which also makes them neighbors with the Akimichi and Yamanaka since those three Clans all live close together like that.
He'll be going into his Ninja career with pre-existing friendships with Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji accordingly.
Also, Tsurugi likes food. It's going to be a running thing with him that he enjoys eating new and good foods, so budding up to the clans that contain the resident Iron Chefs in their number seemed like a logical thing to put in.
Also, I'm taking the view that certain movies and games are canon to the story, which means that yes, movies are a thing in the elemental nations.
Chapter 3
The first year of the Academy was nothing special. It focused mostly on things such as reading, writing, and arithmetic, all things which Tsurugi already knew, History, which he was rather uninterested in thanks to the heavy bias present in the academy curriculum, and physical conditioning, which he performed easily as he had been training physically for years before entering. In fact, most of the clan kids seemed to be having the same ease with the curriculum as Tsurugi. When Tsurugi had asked Iruka-sensei about this, the scar-faced Chunin had admitted that the first two years of the Academy were primarily for the civilian academy students who needed the classes to catch up to their shinobi-raised fellows. As it was, most of the clan kids took the opportunity to socialize, something that was encouraged for future political considerations. It was during this socialization period that Tsurugi reached out to Uzumaki Naruto.
It was a sunny spring day during a break in classes in the first year of the Academy. Shikamaru was lying on the grass, cloud-watching, and had cajoled Choji into joining him while working his way through a bag of chips. Ino and the Pink-Haired Girl, who Tsurugi had learned was named Haruno Sakura were off gossiping about the latest fashions, which left Tsurugi at loose ends. He wasn't as into cloud-watching as his two male friends as he preferred to be at least a little active, and the very thought of joining Ino and Haruno-san while they were gossiping gave him the shivers. That was when he spotted Uzumaki Naruto sitting alone away from everyone else. Something he had noticed the blonde did often. It was then that Tsurugi decided to talk to the orange-loving blonde.
Walking over to where Naruto sat, Tsurugi waved at the blonde and said, "Hey, Uzumaki-san, right?"
Naruto looked up from the ground and his face scrunched up, "Yeah? Uesugi, right? What's up?"
"I was wondering why you always sat alone during breaks?" Asked Tsurugi.
That seemed to take Naruto by surprise as he said, "I don't know why, but most of the other kids' parents usually tell them to stay away from me whenever I try making friends. I think it's got something to do with who my parents were. The village must have hated them if everyone tells their kids not to be friends with me."
"I see. Well, I'm not originally from the village so my dad hasn't told me to not hang out with you. Until he does, we can be friends." Shrugged Tsurugi.
"Really? Awesome! Thanks, Tsurugi-kun! Hey, do you like Ramen? Jiji showed me this great ramen place the other day! We can go after class if you want! it's a great place, dattebayo!" Shouted Naruto, enthused at the prospect of having an actual friend.
Tsurugi winced at the loud outburst, he thought Shinobi were supposed to be stealthy, but everything Naruto did was loud and flashy. "Naruto, your voice." He said.
"Oh, sorry. Sometimes I just get super loud without realizing it." Chuckled Naruto rubbing the back of his head.
"It's alright. I'm just standing two feet in front of you is all. Anyway, I'd love to go to this ramen place with you. I'm kind of a food connoisseur, so I'm always down to try new restaurants." Grinned Tsurugi.
And that was how Naruto fell in with a new group of friends. Tsurugi introduced him to Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji who seemed to accept him as well, even if he was a bit annoying for Ino's taste. It seemed that Naruto's previous attempts to make friends had been limited to the other civilian kids. As it turned out, none of Ino, Shikamaru, or Choji's parents had told them to stay away from him. Indeed when they told their parents about other kids having been told to stay away from him, and that Naruto thought it had something to do with whoever his parents were, all three of their dads got sad looks on their faces and simply told them that Naruto's Parents were good people and to tell the blonde that. Naruto was thrilled that his parents weren't traitors or anything but confused as to why none of the civilian kids would even talk to him.
The second year of classes at the academy began to pepper in new concepts that would help everyone in their shinobi careers. Strategy, survival techniques, geography, and stealth lessons joined the more mundane topics like history and mathematics. The second year also introduced the obstacle course, which was a series of obstacles arranged in order of difficulty alongside a number of kunai launchers that there practice kunai at whoever was running the course. At the start of the year, those launchers were turned off so that the students could get a feel for the course without interference but were turned on mid-year. That resulted in everyone's time on the course getting slower until they could get a feel for the course plus thrown practice kunai. In late winter of year two was also when the students were introduced to kunai safety and bukijutsu under a new instructor, a silver-haired Chunin named Mizuki who would handle Bukijutsu and Taijutsu instruction from year two onward. Everyone received a holster and academy kunai from Mizuki-sensei and after a course on weapons safety, which Tsurugi already knew due to his training at home under his father, they lined up to throw kunai at target posts.
Tsurugi was second in line behind Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke hadn't really been very sociable thus far, but he wasn't exactly anti-social either. He just engaged more with his family than with other kids his age. Tsurugi couldn't fault him for that. He supposed if he had a large extended family like the Uchiha Clan, he would be less inclined to make friends with other kids his age too. Still, it seemed like Sasuke had been training with his family as well, and managed to put five kunai into the target in five throws, earning praise from Mizuki-sensei in the process. When it was Tsurugi's turn, he only managed three out of five kunai in the target ring in five throws, his Kyudo practice tripping him up on the first and 2second throws as throwing kunai used different muscles than archery. Retrieving his kunai and returning to the back of the line behind Naruto, Tsurugi pondered how to correct this deficiency. Of his friends, Ino was up next and managed three out of five in the target ring, followed by Choji who did a bit better at four out of five kunai in the target ring. Shikamaru just complained that throwing kunai was troublesome and that he'd much rather be doing strategy lessons. He threw quickly to get it over with and only managed two out of five kunai in the target ring. Then came Naruto. Naruto missed the target four times, the first time by a lot before he managed to compensate and threw his last kunai on target.
After practice, Tsurugi spoke to Naruto, "Hey, Naruto? What was up with that kunai throw? Even Shika managed to get more on target than that and I think he was deliberately throwing quick and sloppy 'cause he didn't want to be there." He asked.
"I don't know, these kunai feel weird to me." Muttered Naruto.
Shikamaru frowned and said, "Let me see those."
Naruto handed over one of the kunai to Shikamaru and the Nara took it and tested it out in his hand. "Huh, you're right, the balance is off." He said.
"Let me see." Said Tsurugi, taking the kunai and trying it out. "Huh, yeah, it isn't enough to be noticeable if you weren't specifically looking for it, but even a little off-balance can mess up your throw."
Ino frowned and said, "That can't be right, daddy said these things are supposed to be uniform. They don't even keep the ones that are off 'cause they make them in batches."
"I don't know Ino if Shika says it's off then it's gotta be off. He wouldn't make a mistake like that." Frowned Choji between bites of chips.
"Listen, Naruto. If you got substandard kunai, then you should go to Iruka-sensei and ask for another set after class. I'd go with you to confirm, but I have things to do this afternoon." Said Shikamaru.
"Yeah, sure. Probably a nap." Scoffed Naruto.
"I'll go with to back you up. If this is a mix-up in requisitions then someone in the logistics department needs to fix it before it happens to a front-line shinobi rather than an academy student." Volunteered Tsurugi.
When they confronted Iruka-sensei about the issue, he tested out the kunai and confirmed that they were indeed a substandard set and got naruto a replacement from the Academy supply. Iruka promised to let logistics know about the issue so they could correct whatever issue had caused the mix-up and that was that. The next day Mizuki-sensei got everyone started on Taijutsu forms handing out an instruction manual for the Basic Academy Hakage style and going through a brief demonstration before breaking everyone up into self-study and watching around to correct forms. This would continue for several weeks before sparring began in late March. Of the students, it seemed that Tsurugi was the best at taijutsu, having a background in martial arts from his prior training, with Uchiha Sasuke coming in second and Inazuka Kiba coming in third. Surprisingly, Naruto came in fourth. His technique sucked, but he had enough stamina to tank hits and keep on going, eventually outlasting most of his opponents. It was after a few months that Tsurugi noticed why Naruto's technique stuck, his forms were off by enough to leave small gaps in his defenses. When he broached the subject with Naruto, the blonde pulled the manual out and showed it to Tsurugi. The manual was riddled with typos and mistakes here and there. It seemed like a bad printing, which again shouldn't have happened unless someone in logistics had messed up. They brought the issue to Iruka-sensei who corrected it again and Naruto had to go through remedial Taijutsu lessons to correct the issue for the rest of the second year of the Academy.
It was during the break between the second and third year of the Academy that something happened that rocked Konohagakure. Uchiha Itachi, elder brother of Sasuke and clan heir, murdered the entire Uchiha clan except for Sasuke in the dead of night. A manhunt was launched for Itachi, but it found no trace of the former Anbu. Itachi Uchiha was declared a missing-nin after the Uchiha Massacre, and young Sasuke became even more closed off and brooding. For some reason, the whole thing seemed to inflame the imaginations of the majority of Tsurugi's female classmates. Ironically Sasuke received a lot of attention that he clearly didn't want from the girls in the class. Ino and Haruno Sakura had a falling out over it partway through the third year of classes. Tsurugi was too tired to care about one of his friends falling head over heels for a guy who definitely did not reciprocate, however. His father had finally begun to drill him in Kenjutsu on his off-time from the academy and this ate into his downtime quite a bit. Uesugi Ken had told his son that he would not stop training him until he reached a certain minimum standard of acceptability. It left him precious little time between the Academy and kenjutsu practice and he spent much of that time resting.
The third year of the Academy was also when chakra theory began to be taught with the goal of everyone in class being able to access their chakra by year's end. Being that he could already access his chakra, Tsurugi was ahead of the curve on that and spent the two weeks that everyone had at the end of the year for chakra practice napping. Shikamaru had gotten it down already as well, likely due to his father teaching him clan techniques in his downtime. This was one period where Tsurugi was happy to laze away the time with his Nara friend, as constant academy lessons followed by Kenjutsu practice had worn him into the ground. Choji joined them partway through the 1st week, followed by Naruto, though Ino decided to spend the time planning how best to capture the heart of her 'Sasuke-kun' instead of joining them.
It wasn't until halfway through the break between the third and fourth years of the Academy that Tsurugi's father deemed him acceptable enough with the blade to continue training on his own schedule. Finally, Tsurugi had free time again. It was liberating and he immediately went to celebrate with his friends at Yakiniku Q. Naruto grumbled that he would rather eat at Ichiraiku's and Ino didn't eat much due to her 'diet' but it was fun. They spent the time catching up.
"Hey, Tsurugi. You said your dad was teaching you Kenjutsu, yeah?" Asked Naruto.
"Yeah, why?" Replied Tsurugi after taking a bite of beef.
"Do you think he could teach me how to be a badass swordsman? I need to beat the smirk off the Teme's face." Answered Naruto, popping some chicken into his mouth.
"Naruto! Don't talk about Sasuke-Kun like that!" Exclaimed Ino, scandalized.
"Is this because of how you keep challenging him in Taijutsu spars and losing?" Asked Shikamaru, lazily.
"He's just so damn smug, I just know that if I can do something he can't, it'll wipe that smug expression off his face, dattebayo!" Shouted out Naruto.
Tsurugi winced, Naruto had been getting better about shouting and his odd verbal tick since he'd actually gained a group of friends, but something about Sasuke just seemed to set him off and make him revert to his old behavior patterns.
"Naruto, shouting." Reminded Choji between bites of pork.
"Sorry." Chuckled Naruto before asking, "Anyway, do you think your dad could help?"
"I don't know Naruto, you've got a lot of Stamina, yeah, but my dad's training is merciless. There's a reason they usually only let him train the Anbu." Replied Tsurugi scooping some rice into his mouth.
"Well, what about something that'll help me in Taijutsu?" Asked Naruto.
Tsurugi paused for a minute. Even after remedial Taijutsu courses, Naruto's ranking in Taijutsu spars had still slipped, with Choji overtaking him and dropping him to fifth in the class in Taijutsu. He probably would have even been sixth, but Hyuga Hinata was much too timid to make effective use of either the Academy Hakage Style or her family's own Juuken style. Both were highly aggressive styles, after all. He'd managed to pull ahead of the Hyuga heiress because of that. Tsurugi supposed he could help out his friend there. He wouldn't be able to teach him much of his own style in the limited free time he had that wasn't spent training or hanging out, but he could show him a few tricks here and there.
"Yeah, I could give you a few pointers in Taijutsu. My house every Friday after classes?" Asked Tsurugi.
"Thanks, Tsurugi, you're the best!" Exclaimed Naruto.
"Extra training, how troublesome." Muttered Shikamaru before taking a sip of Tea.
"Oh? Having trouble with your clan techniques Shika? Daddy says that I almost have enough of a grasp on Psychology to begin teaching me some Yamanaka techniques soon." Grinned Ino, looking like she was just thrilled to have something new to tease Shikamaru with.
"Hardly, it's just a pain is all. I'd much rather be playing Shogi." Shrugged Shikamaru.
"It can't be that bad, Shika. My dad says that he can't teach me the Akimichi techniques until I start going through puberty, so probably next year." Offered Choji after taking a bite of pork.
"Yeah, that's probably because the Akimichi techniques are all about body alteration." Shrugged Shikamaru.
The conversation devolved from there into just friends hanging out. It was a good evening. The end of break happened a few days after that and the final year of the Academy began. This was the year that actual Jutsu were taught. Iruka sensei demonstrated the basic Academy three of Kawarimi, Henge, and Bunshin before going through a refresher on hand signs and nature transformation for the first eight weeks of class. After every Friday, Naruto would head to Tsurugi's house and train in Taijutsu with him. He was steadily getting better at Taijutsu as time went on, eventually climbing past Choji to regain his spot as the 4th best at Taijutsu in the class before eventually tying with Inazuka Kiba at number three. Of course, the purpose of the last year of classes was really to get the Academy three down. In this respect, it took quite a while for Tsurugi to get them down compared to everyone else. Tsurugi had been brought up in the Samurai tradition of Chakra usage, which slowed down his learning progress. Everyone else took half the time that he did to learn a new jutsu, though it seemed that once he had gotten the jutsu down he could begin improving it at an increased rate compared to the other students. It seemed that he was better at mastering a technique than learning it. He noticed that most of the others generally didn't bother mastering a technique once they had learned it, putting only cursory work into something they already knew. It seemed an oversight to Tsurugi, but then who was he to judge?
Unfortunately, it seemed as if Naruto was having issues with one of the Academy three. His Kawarimi was serviceable and his Henge was top-notch, but he could not produce a stable Bunshin to save his life. Even Tsurugi had managed that after a while of adapting and practicing. Naruto it seemed just couldn't do it. Tsurugi encouraged Naruto to go to Iruka sensei with his problem and he would back him up. It was a week before the graduation exam when they brought the issue to Iruka.
"Hmm. Naruto, I want you to take this piece of paper and channel chakra into it." Said Iruka, producing a piece of paper.
"Why?" Asked Naruto.
"I have a theory. You use a lot of chakra to perform your techniques, even when you don't have to. My theory is that you naturally have so much chakra that you don't have the control to create the basic Bunshin. I can get you dispensation to pass with an Elemental Bunshin though. That piece of paper will let me know what elemental nature you have so I can teach you a Bunshin. All you need is to channel chakra into the paper." Said Iruka.
Naruto frowned and asked, "Why do you think I naturally have too much chakra?"
"You're an Uzumaki. Some histories about the first Hokage say that his wife, Uzumaki Mito-sama had more raw chakra capacity than he did thanks to being an Uzumaki. Supposedly, the Uzumaki clan had strong chakra. I'm sure the textbooks mentioned that?" Replied Iruka.
"No, the textbooks didn't say anything about the Uzumaki clan, except that they used to have a Hidden Village that was wiped out a long time ago and that they really only exist as nomads these days." Interjected Tsurugi.
"That's strange, you'd think such an integral part of the village's history would make it into the textbooks. I'll have a talk with Hokage-sama about that later. Now though, I need you to channel Chakra through this paper." Frowned Iruka.
Naruto did so and the paper split down the middle and the edged got a bit damp. "Hmm, strong primary wind affinity, weak water secondary affinity. Well, I can teach you the Mizu Bunshin, but I'm afraid your primary affinity means that you could only learn the Kage Bunshin for it. I don't think Hokage-sama would approve of an Academy Student learning a Kinjutsu like that just to pass the graduation test." Said Iruka.
Tsurugi was intrigued by that and asked, "Iruka-sensei, do you have any of that paper for me?"
"I wouldn't leave you out, Tsurugi-Kun. That wouldn't be fair. Go ahead and try it." Said Iruka, reaching into a pouch on his Chunin flak jacket and pulling out another strip of paper.
Tsurugi reached in and channeled Chakra into the paper. The paper immediately crumpled up and cut apart at the edges. "Strong Lightning primary and weak wind secondary affinities. You both have a wind affinity in different amounts, which is very rare in the land of Fire, though I am given to understand that it is more common the further west you go toward the Land of Wind. I understand your mother was from Tanigakure, Tsurugi-kun so that doesn't surprise me. Wind is more common in the Land of Rivers than in the Land of Fire, though not as common as in the Land of Wind. It is odd coming from Naruto-Kun, however." Commented Iruka.
"Huh, neat." Replied Tsurugi.
"I'm afraid that Konohagakure only has two qualified masters of Wind transformation though. Sarutobi Asuma and Shimura Danzo. Of the two, Danzo-sama is currently retired from active service and only serves on the Council. I do not believe he will be taking students. Asuma-dono though is one of the Jonin-sensei that will be taking teams at the end of the week. Should you both pass graduation, I can recommend he take one of you as a student." Replied Iruka.
With that, Tsurugi was dismissed so that Iruka could teach Naruto the Mizu Bunshin. As the days ticked by towards Friday and the graduation test, Tsurugi and his friends trained hard each giving it their all in order to move up the rankings as best they could. When Friday rolled around. Everyone was sitting waiting to be called up to demonstrate the Bunshin no Jutsu so as to pass or fail. The day prior had been the taijutsu and bukijutsu finals, and Wednesday had been the written part of the exam. Tsurugi had been called in to demonstrate and performed his basic illusory Bunshin. He had managed to get the number of Bunshin up to three and perform the technique with minimal smoke, he had even managed to cut out the boar hand sign, a sign of being close to mastery. The next step would be to perform it sealless, but he wasn't there yet. He walked out of there with a perfect score and a Konohagakure headband. That was better than he did on the written.
One by one his friends also entered the exam room and all of them also passed. Naruto came out last but he came out with a headband nonetheless thanks to Iruka teaching him the Mizu Bunshin. Only one of the civilians managed to pass the exam, however. To Tsurugi's delight, it was Haruno Sakura, the one civilian that he even sort of knew thanks to Ino. Last to exit the exam room was a civilian girl with purple hair, Tsurugi thought her name was Ami, but he wasn't sure. She came out with no headband and tears in her eyes. After a few moments, Mizuki-sensei came out to console the girl and Tsurugi turned away from the scene.
Iruka-sensei came out a minute after Mizuki-sensei did with the class ranking and posted it on the wall. Before he let anyone see he said, "Those who passed, I am very proud of all of you. You all have a one-week break before you will reconvene here for team assignments. Enjoy your time off, you earned it."
Tsurugi headed down to see the class rankings with everyone else. He and Sasuke had been neck and neck for the position of Rookie of the Year for most of their time at the Academy. The listing had each of the individual scores for Taijutsu, Bukijutsu, the Written Exam, and the Ninjutsu portion, along with a total score. Gratifyingly it seemed that his help in taijutsu and with the Bunshin had let Naruto evade the dead last position, which had been taken instead by Inazuka Kiba. Unfortunately, it seemed that he had missed Rookie of the year by one point. Uchiha Sasuke's higher score in Bukijutsu had put him in the top spot instead. The Uchiha just smirked when he saw that and walked out.
"Huh, you know what? I kind of get why he rubs Naruto the wrong way now." Muttered Tsurugi.
Shikamaru just nodded when he saw his position at number four and said, "High enough to not make my mom Troublesome. I'll catch you guys later." Before walking off with his hands in his pockets.
"What do you mean Forehead took top Kunoichi?" Shouted Ino.
"Hah! In your face Ino-pig!" Exclaimed Haruno Sakura in triumph.
"Number six isn't bad." Muttered Choji between bites of chips.
"That's in the middle of the pack!" Protested Kiba.
"Better than at the rear." Snarked Naruto.
"Yeah well, what did you get, dumbass?" Asked Kiba.
"I'm number seven." Shrugged Naruto.
"That's worse than Choji!" Laughed Kiba.
"It's better than you, Dattebayo!" Shouted Naruto.
"Come on, Naruto, let's go before he riles you up too much." Sighed Tsurugi as he dragged his blonde friend away from the list.
They were Genin now. That was definitely a milestone. Tsurugi began to arrange a celebratory lunch at Yakiniku Q for him and his friends. He even invited Haruno Sakura, since she was Top Kunoichi. It took some arranging, but everyone planned it for the last day before team assignments. It was going to be a big bash!
After all, starting next week they would all be Shinobi…
AN: In my opinion, given what we now know about Naruto's capabilities, he just needed a good enough group of friends to help him out during the academy.
While we have no indication in canon that Mizuki sabotaged Naruto, it does make a certain amount of sense given how quickly he shaped up into a top-tier shinobi by just being given some decent instruction. Here, I have Mizuki trying to sabotage Naruto by giving him faulty equipment and instructional materials. The reasoning behind it is more complex than him simply hating Naruto though. Mizuki is a spy for Orochimaru in the village, one of several the Snake Sannin has, and is currently the most expendable. He would need a patsy in the event his handler ever ordered him to take more risks.
What better patsy than Naruto? The village is already inclined to be suspicious of him, the civilians cause they don't know any better and the Ninja in case the seal stops working properly and the fox starts influencing him. Mizuki figures that by the time the village gets Jiraiya in to figure out the seal isn't fucked up, he'll be long gone.
Of course, he didn't count on Naruto having friends willing to go to bat for him.
He'll need to improvise accordingly…
Interlude: Mizuki
Things had started to go wrong on his very first day. He'd offloaded the shoddy kunai set onto the Demon like he'd planned only for him to immediately notice something was off with them. The damned Nara Brat hadn't helped when he confirmed that the kunai he'd given to the Demon had been weighted oddly. The Demon had gone to his old friend Iruka to trade in the shoddy kunai for a standard set and had gone back to practicing like nothing had happened. Fortunately, it seemed that they only suspected a supply mixup at logistics, which wouldn't lead back to him or Mizuki would have an awful lot of awkward questions to answer. As it was an investigation into logistics would lead nowhere, allowing Mizuki to try again.
The next day he'd offloaded a dummy Hakage-style training manual on the Demon and let him work through the kata on his own. He of course made sure to correct the other brats on their forms any time they screwed up so that it would look like he was doing his job sincerely to a casual observer and further muddy the waters that way. It had worked for a while and the Demon's unnatural stamina allowed him to even win spars despite eating hits that would kill him if taken in combat conditions by a competent shinobi, further muddying things. Unfortunately, it seemed the Samurai's Brat had noticed that the Demon's technique was off after a couple of weeks of sparring, long enough for the Demon to get the wrong basics down but not long enough that it couldn't be corrected with judicious application of remedial classes. The brats had once again gone to Iruka and swapped out the faulty manual for a real one. The Demon had even been placed into remedial Taijutsu classes, which would undo all the work Mizuki had done on him and any he would be able to do in the near future.
Fortunately, it seemed that the Demon still had a massive lack of chakra control, this much was clear by the 2nd month of the final year, when he kept shredding leaves during the leaf exercise. Mizuki had hoped that the Demon wouldn't be able to pull off the Bunshin, which required at least average chakra control to pull off. If he could wash the Demon out of the Academy, that would be almost as good as getting him killed while out on a mission. Indeed it seemed that he was unable to make the Bunshin when Iruka taught that jutsu. Any clone he made would come out sickly or vanish seconds after appearing, and in one notable instance, come out looking like a mannequin with no recognizable features before exploding into smoke. If that continued to hold true, then the Demon would definitely wash out of the Academy!
Of course, it was around the end of the final year of the Academy when his handler began to be even more insistent that Mizuki bring something of note to his boss. Mizuki knew the kid worked for Orochimaru, but it wasn't like Kabuto Yakushi was as much of a bigshot as his boss was. If he were, he wouldn't be in a long-term deep-cover mission in the very village that had put his boss in the Bingo Book as a Missing-nin. Still, he was beginning to feel the pressure as graduation neared. It seemed the Snake Sannin was growing impatient with just progress reports on his precious Uchiha. That probably had to do with the fact that Sasuke would be passing from his capability to observe in a matter of weeks. When the last week of the Academy year dawned, an ultimatum had come down from on high. Orochimaru wanted a Village Kinjutsu if he was going to continue to keep Mizuki alive. If he didn't get one, then he would order Mizuki disposed of. When Yakushi told him that, the damned brat had a grin on his face a mile wide. He wasn't expecting Mizuki to succeed.
Yakushi would be right under normal circumstances. A Chunin like Mizuki would never be allowed to learn a jutsu from the Scroll of Seals. That was a privilege only granted to Tokubetsu Jonin and up, all the better to keep the good stuff confined to the damned elites. He would have to get creative, which meant working with someone else. Yakushi had flatly denied him his help, apparently, the brat's assignment was too vital to burn his cover for someone like him. That meant Mizuki would have to trick someone into stealing it for him, probably while he made a distraction elsewhere to draw the Anbu away from its hiding spot in the Hokage Tower. Of course, everyone knew that with Sarutobi Asuma back in town, the Hokage had been spending evenings after seven pm at his long-disused clan compound with his family. That meant that the Professor would be away from the scroll at those hours, so he would just need to time his distraction and theft for that window.
Mizuki figured he knew one Academy student who would not only be dumb enough to fall for his manipulation but also wasn't going to pass the Graduation Test. Furthermore, it was the one he most wanted dead. All he needed to do was wait for the Demon to fail his academy test and then he would swoop in and act like there was some secret test involving stealing the Scroll of Seals that would let him graduate. He'd steal the scroll, hand it over to Mizuki, and take the fall for him. It was perfect! On the day of the graduation exam, he could barely keep his excitement contained. It wouldn't do to be too gleeful at the Demon's impending death and give the game away like that, after all.
Unfortunately, somehow, the Demon had learned the Mizu Bunshin when he couldn't even do the regular Bunshin, and Iruka passed him! Mizuki had tried to protest, but Iruka had simply said, "The rules say you have to perform a Bunshin, they didn't specify which Bunshin."
That had forced Mizuki to improvise. He was too committed now to back out, and Orochimaru would kill him if he tried. That meant he had to pick one of the civilian kids who hadn't passed the graduation exam, which wasn't an optimal solution. Still, he would make do. Of the civilians, the one most likely to fall for his manipulation was a brat named Ami. She'd been the last to try and had rushed out of the exam room with tears in her eyes. Mizuki followed her out into the main classroom and consoled her, then he brought her out into the hallway while Iruka was dealing with the other brats and took her aside.
"Say, Ami. What if I told you that there was a secret graduation test that we only let the most promising student who doesn't pass the regular exam take?" He asked the dumb brat.
The girl stopped her sobbing and looked up at Mizuki with hope in her eyes and asked, "Really? How?"
That was when Mizuki knew he had his pawn. "All right, this is what you have to do…" He said as he began to outline what she needed to do.
Things might turn out all right after all…
Mizuki was fleeing. His distraction had gone off relatively smoothly. He had planted enough explosive tags around Old Man Hakoda's General Store to bring down the building. Serves the old bastard right for overcharging him like he had. The explosions went off at eight-forty-five and he was long gone heading out into the woods to the Northwest of the Village some thirty minutes before then. All he had to do was wait for Ami to come to him with the scroll while the Anbu were combing the Village proper for clues and the regular ninja were helping with search and rescue. Meanwhile, Mizuki waited at an abandoned woodcutter's shack in the woods outside the village, enjoying a celebratory bottle of Sake. Soon he'd have the Scroll of Seals and be ready to travel to Orochimaru's little Village he'd been putting together in the Land of Rice. Hell, he might even take the opportunity to learn some of the jutsu on the scroll himself! That'd definitely prove his worth to the Snake Sannin.
He waited in the shack until his bottle was half empty. He frowned at that and checked his watch. It was nine-fifteen! He knew that the girl wasn't that sharp, but it shouldn't have taken her this long to retrieve something from an empty Hokage Tower. Something had happened and he wasn't sure what. He just knew that he was a dead man if he didn't get that scroll!
"The girl you're waiting for isn't coming." Growled a voice from the entrance to the shack.
"What?" Asked Mizuki, startled.
"She was a shit operative by the way. Took one look at Mitarashi and spilled her guts. She told us everything, what she was in the tower to do, who told her to do it, but most importantly, where she was supposed to meet them." Growled the voice.
Mizuki reached into his thigh holster and pulled out a kunai. His go-to weapon was the Fuma shuriken, but that wouldn't help him in the tight quarters of this woodcutter's shack. "Show yourself!" He barked out, alcohol flushing from his system to be replaced by a mix of pure adrenaline and chakra.
"Mizuki Toji, you sent someone to steal the Scroll of Seals while you bombed a general store in Downtown Konoha. I want to know who put you up to it." Came the voice.
Its owner showed himself then. A large, scarred man, in a long coat, grinned savagely at Mizuki and the former Konoha Chunin felt his blood run cold. "You! How?" He gasped as pure killing intent radiated off the man.
"Did you really think the Hokage Tower would be empty in a Crisis? The Hokage called a meeting as soon as word of the bombing reached him. You had that girl walk into an office with half the Council in it." Grinned the man.
Mizuki knew then that his time was up. Whether it be now or later, he was a dead man walking. His kunai fell from nerveless fingers as he felt like a puppet with its strings cut. "Please, I didn't do it for me!" He stammered.
Morino Ibiki, head of Konohagaure's Torture and Interrogation Force and de-facto intelligence chief for the village smiled ferally at the sight before him.
"Tell me everything." He said…
AN: For a Ninja, canon Mizuki is kind of shit at covert operations. Sure, Naruto could get into the Hokage's Office due to familiarity, but what if he couldn't use Naruto? What was his plan then?
Here we see what his plan is, make an explosive distraction. It's not a great plan for the reasons outlined above.
At any rate, I always liked Ibiki as a character, guy seems like a more black ops type than most of the Ninja we see, which, given they're supposed to be Ninja, is saying something.
I took the opportunity to use him early here.
Interlude: Sarutobi Hiruzen
Prior to the final graduation list, Sarutobi Hiruzen, known as the Professor, former and current Hokage of Konohagakure had already made up his mind about team assignments. With his surrogate grandson looking to place as dead last, it would have meant putting him on a team with the rookie of the year and top kunoichi. Haruno Sakura's grades were the best out of any of the current Kunoichi, which made her a shoo-in for top Kunoichi, and either Uchiha Sasuke or Uesugi Tsurugi would wind up being the rookie of the year. That would put them together as Team Seven, a rapid reaction and front-line assault force. This would leave Inazuka Kiba free to be placed on a scouting and tracking team with Hyuga Hinata and Aburame Shino, all of whose abilities would complement such a team, and that would allow Shikaku to have the second-generation Ino-Shika-Cho that he wanted. Of course, that would leave the loser of Rookie of the year alone, provided none of the other civilians managed to graduate, but he was certain that whoever that was could be slotted into an apprentice position until a spot opened up in another team.
Of course, the fact that Naruto-Kun had actually managed to learn the Mizu Bunshin in a week and pass the exam without being dead last had smashed all those plans to flinders. Inazuka Kiba was now the dead last, and he could not gainsay the tradition of placing the dead last with the rookie of the year and top kunoichi without a fight in the council over tradition. That meant the plan for the scouting and tracking team would need to be scrapped unless something drastic happened. It was in a way, fortunate that Team Thirteen had recently been mauled in a skirmish with some missing-nin and had to be bailed out by Team Gai, though Hiruzen would never say that out loud. During the fight, however, all of Team Thirteen including their sensei had either been crippled or died and when Team Gai showed up, one of the missing-nin, a former member of the Iwagakure Explosion Corps lead Gai away while his team fought three Chunin-level opponents. Tenten had been badly injured during the fight and likely would be placed in the reserves for at least a year because of the injury. That meant that he could slot Uesugi-kun in with Team Gai for the foreseeable future.
That still left the other teams, however. Team Seven would still largely be made up of the same people, just substituting Inazuka Kiba for Naruto-Kun. That left the Scouting and Tracking team with Naruto, a Shinobi with no abilities that could be construed as scouting-related. Hiruzen pondered his options until his eyes alighted on a report from a week ago by Umino Iruka regarding a request to teach Uzumaki Naruto either the Mizu Bunshin or the Kage Bunshin as a method to pass the Academy Graduation Exam. At the time he had gone with the more conservative route of teaching Naruto-Kun the Mizu Bunshin, however, with the makeup of the teams, the Kage Bunshin could be invaluable. Unlike the Mizu Bunshin, the Kage Bunshin returned not only the user's chakra when dispelled, but also its memories. Being both a jinchuriki and possessing the dense chakra of the Uzumaki Clan, Naruto-Kun could certainly learn the Kage Bunshin with little need to fear chakra depletion. Hiruzen would see to it that Naruto-Kun learned the Kage Bunshin and be placed on Team Eight with Hyuga Hinata and Aburame Shino. It would sadden Kakashi that he would not be able to teach Minato's Son at the same time as he taught the last Uchiha, but the council had been clear. Kakashi was the only one left in the village who could teach Sasuke how to use his Sharingan, so he must be the Sensei of Team Seven.
That left Shikaku's request for a second generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio largely untouched. That would be taught by his own son, Asuma. He had managed to badger his stubborn son into accepting a genin team this year. Hiruzen chuckled as he thought about the conversation. He had been half-convinced that Asuma's stint with the twelve Guardian Ninja of the Fire Daimyo's Bodyguard would have made his son more stubborn instead of less. He had been pleasantly surprised when it turned out that Asuma had gotten his rebellious streak out of his system while working for the Fire Daimyo instead. Oh, Hiruzen had no illusions that his son wouldn't keep things from him if he felt he had to, his relationship with Yuuhi Kurenai was proof enough of that. He probably thought that Hiruzen would embarrass him in front of her.
Hiruzen took a long pull from his pipe at that thought, coating the insides of his lungs with chakra to reduce the damage the tobacco did to them, before breathing out. "He's not exactly wrong on that count either." He mused chuckling.
Still, it might be time to let his son know that he knew. After all, all indications were that he and Kurenai-chan were serious about their relationship. An old man should be allowed to meet his son's significant other. Maybe an invitation to dinner at the Sarutobi compound would do the trick? Hiruzen chuckled at the thought of finally getting one over on his stubborn son after he had spent so long away. "It will take a fair few more years before he can hide anything from his old man." He chuckled to himself.
Yes, he'd invite them to dinner. After tomorrow's Jonin meeting, while the shock of team assignments was still fresh. It would make Asuma less ornery and more likely to accept. Speaking of team assignments, he had orders to write. The damned paperwork never seemed to go away no matter how much he did. Even creating Kage Bunshin to help out was useless. The damned clones had too much of his personality and refused to help out. First, he wrote up and then stamped his seal on the team assignments for Teams Seven, Eight, and Ten. Then he cut orders for Tenten's transfer to the reserves and Uesugi-kun's assignment to Team Gai. Finally, he wrote up an authorization for Naruto-Kun to learn the Kage Bunshin, stamping his seal on that as well. He would personally deliver that one. It had been a while since he had seen his surrogate grandson, after all. It was just a pity that he did not have the time to teach Naruto-Kun the Kage Bunshin himself. The Hokage's time was limited, however.
That done, he turned to the latest report from Ibiki. Apparently, Toji Mizuki had cracked not long ago and confessed that he had been trying to steal the Scroll of Seals for Orochimaru. He'd managed to manipulate that poor girl into stealing it while he created a distraction by bombing one of Konoha's largest general stores. He had also confessed that he had wanted Naruto-Kun to steal it for him, but that he had passed the exam against all expectations even though Mizuki had tried to sabotage him multiple times. He was unable to give Ibiki the name of his handler, however. As soon as he tried to speak his name or say anything about him, he just stopped talking. Ibiki had mentioned that Mizuki's eyes were unfocused afterward and his breathing shallow as if he had been entered into a vegetative state just by attempting to speak his handler's name. Ibiki suspected that he was trapped in a powerful genjutsu that had been triggered by his attempt to betray his handler. Without the link between Mizuki and Orochimaru, there was literally nothing that could be done to trace the betrayal back to the source. All that was clear from the report was that there was still a spy inside Konohagukre.
Hiruzen would have to keep intelligence looking for them…
AN: Yeah, there's no way that Orochimaru wouldn't take precautions against a low-level agent like Mizuki giving Konoha T a link to follow back to him. Genjutsu that triggers to turn the victim into a vegetable would be right up Oro's alley in terms of precautions. Danzo uses something similar on Root Agents via seals, and the two ARE working together at this point.
As to Tenten getting shuffled to the reserves, the fact is that she's the most vulnerable against a Ninjutsu specialist. Unlike Lee who can use his sheer speed to dodge, or Neji who can spot hand seals right as they're starting and get to cover, Tenten has no real way to deal with long-ranged ninjutsu. Accordingly, she was the most likely person on Team Gai to be seriously wounded by a Chunin-level Missing-nin from the Iwa Explosion Corps.
And really, where else would Tsurugi be placed if not Team Gai?
Chapter 4
Tsurugi passed much of the week leading up to team assignments training. He still hung out with his friends every once in a while, but if becoming an official Genin of Konoha was anything like his father's stories about taking up a commission in the armies of the Land of Iron, then he would be thrown into actual combat sooner rather than later, even if his first taste of it was more likely to be fighting brigands rather than anything truly dangerous. To hear his father tell it, his first combat mission happened not a month into his first tour of duty in Lord Mifune's Army. A group of wandering Jashinist monks had decided to test the borders of the Land of Iron. Only their upper echelons could utilize chakra in any meaningful fashion, but that was still more than most bandit groups. It had been a hard-fought affair with the Jashinists fighting to the last man, seemingly unheeding of casualties so long as they could inflict more pain on the enemy.
Tsurugi didn't think his first combat mission would be that harrowing, but it never hurt to be prepared. His Taijutsu was already the best in his class, and he was unlikely to learn any ninjutsu in the week he had, so he focused primarily on his Kenjutsu, drilling himself to the point where he felt bone-tired before taking a break. Then he would either go hang out with friends or train some more depending on what plans he had that day. His father watched him as he practiced, though he only occasionally called out advice. It wasn't until the day before team assignments that his father called him into his study.
"My son, tomorrow, you will meet your team and embark on your career as a shinobi of Konohagakure. I know you will do me proud. I have a gift for you, however. To remind you of where you came from." His father had said, before gesturing to an armor stand to his right.
On the stand was a cut-down set of Samurai Armor. The Breastplate was Hotoke Do, all in one piece like those used by officers in the Army of the Land of Iron, rather than the segmented ones utilized by the rank and file. Attached to the breastplate were tassets to protect the thighs and groin and pauldrons to protect the shoulders. The armor was lacquered in a dark blue sheen with the mon of the Uesugi on the breastplate close to the heart. It was a beautiful piece of work.
"I had it modeled off of Lord Mifune's own set. Lord Mifune is known to value speed above all else, a quality that should serve you well in your career as shinobi. The plates are made of chakra metal and the lacquer is chakra conductive, like my own suit. This will allow you to channel chakra through it to reinforce the armor, as well as aid in performing the Raigeki no Yoroi when you eventually learn it. Furthermore, I have etched seals into it so that it will be lighter than normal as well as grow with you. My own suit uses a similar array." Replied Uesugi Ken.
"Father this must cost a fortune. I know that we are not exactly poor, but to go to such expense…" Began Tsurugi, stiffly.
"No. I will hear none of that. This is an investment in both of our futures. There is much riding on your career as a Shinobi of Konoha, and I will not see your career and life snuffed out prematurely." Cut in Ken.
Tsurugi could only nod at his father and reply, "Thank you, I shall try to prove worthy of this gift."
Ken nodded back and said, "Now that formalities have been observed, it's time for a drink. You're a genin now, which makes you a legal adult, at least insofar as these matters. Have a cup of sake with your old dad, and I'll tell you a story about my first year in Lord Mifune's Army."
Tsurugi cracked a grin at that and said, "Yeah, sure dad."
Sake was brought forth and his father launched into a story about bandits on the borders of the Land of Iron and the Land of Fangs. Through a series of near misses and comical situations, his father's patrol group wound up actually chasing the bandits north into the Land of Bears, where, with some fast talking by his father's old Captain, they managed to cajole a patrol of Shinobi from Hoshigakure into dealing with the bandits for them. Tsurugi wasn't sure which parts were true and which were embellished for the sake of the tale. At the very least there was no way the situation with the chickens and the pot of curry could be true. By the end of the tale, his father had declared that Tsurugi had drunk enough for his first time drinking and sent him off to bed.
The next day saw Tsurugi, clad in his new armor, with his sword hanging off his belt for the first time in public, heading to the academy building for team assignments. On the way to the academy, he met up with Ino and Shikamaru. Ino was once again complaining about having to show up at Shikamaru's house to wrangle him out of bed. Shikamaru was once again, not really listening to her complaints and just muttering under his breath how troublesome she was being.
"See, Shika! Tsurugi knows how to get out of bed on his own! Why can't you be more like that?" Harangued Ino.
"And spend almost every waking moment training? Pass." Muttered Shikamaru.
"And what's wrong with that? I bet Sasuke-Kun does a lot of training too! He has to, to be so good at being a Shinobi…" Trailed off Ino, now lost in a fantasy world where she and Uchiha Sasuke fell in love and had a torrid romance. Tsurugi just sort of learned to tune her out when she got like this by now.
"She's still not giving up on Sasuke, huh?" Asked Tsurugi.
"Apparently not." Shrugged Shikamaru.
"Jeez, when is she gonna figure out that the guy isn't interested in anyone but himself?" Replied Tsurugi.
"Don't ask me how that troublesome woman thinks." Shrugged Shikamaru shaking his head.
The three of them walked in silence for a few moments before they met up with Choji as they walked through the restaurant district. The Akimichi was happily munching away on a bag of donuts.
"Ino in one of her Sasuke daydreams?" Asked Choji between bites.
"Yep, give her a sec and she'll snap out of it." Replied Shikamaru.
True to form not moments later, Ino let out a sigh and came back down to earth. "What?" She asked.
"That was a long one Ino. Just ask the guy out. The worst he can do is say no." Chuckled Tsurugi, knowing full well that Sasuke never actually said yes or no to any of his fangirls. It was one of the things that was so infuriating about the guy.
"I already have asked him out, multiple times. I'm not giving up yet though! At the very least I'll get a date with Sasuke-Kun before Forehead does!" Exclaimed Ino.
That caused Tsurugi to sigh, Shikamaru to mutter 'troublesome' under his breath, and Choji to wisely keep quiet. They reached the academy building not long after that and took their seats. Haruno Sakura, Hyuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and Inazuka Kiba were already there, causing something of a kerfuffle to happen between Ino and Sakura as Sasuke wasn't there yet and they couldn't know where he would be sitting to sit next to him. Strategically it seemed, for not two minutes later the Uchiha showed up and took a seat away from everyone else in the corner of the classroom. Predictably, Naruto was the last to arrive, rushing as he did so and cursing out his faulty alarm clock. Naruto took a seat near Tsurugi.
It was a good thing he showed when he did, for not a moment after Naruto had sat down, Iruka-sensei entered the classroom from his office. "Alright, everyone is here. Once again congratulations to all of you for graduating. Now, Hokage-sama himself has come up with these team assignments. As you all know, a Shinobi squad is a three-person cell, three genin led by either a Chunin or a Jonin. That said, we had an odd number of graduates this year, though fortunately, we were able to accommodate the odd person out this year. Otherwise, we would have had to either arrange a short-term apprenticeship or place the odd person out in the reserves until a spot opened up." He said.
The class listened as Iruka-sensei read off the team assignments. Team Ten was to be Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru under Sarutobi Asuma. Team Eight was to be Hyuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and Naruto Uzumaki under Yuuhi Kurenai, and Team Seven was to be Inazuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke under Hatake Kakashi. That meant that Tsurugi was the odd man out. Apparently, he was going to fill a spot on Team Three under Maito Gai, they'd had an injury put one of their team into the reserves while she recovered so he got the slot. Tsurugi didn't want to think of that as luck, cause what kind of guy takes a lucky break in the form of someone getting injured? Still, it was a benefit, he supposed, even if it came with shitty connotations.
The first Jonin-Sensei to show up was a woman covered in bandages with crimson eyes. "Team Eight, I'm your Jonin Sensei, Yuuhi Kurenai. Come with me." Said the Woman. Naruto got up to follow his teammates out of the room, tossing a wave back at Tsurugi as he left.
Next up was a burly man with a goatee and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. "Team Ten, I'm Sarutobi Asuma, get your asses in gear." He said, beckoning the Ino Shika Cho trio to follow him.
It wasn't long after that that Tsurugi's own sensei showed up. The man was certainly something, clad in green spandex and with a pair of bushy eyebrows that looked like they were alive and had a mind of their own. "Uesugi Tsurugi-kun! I will be your sensei for the foreseeable future, Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast, Maito Gai!" Shouted the man, giving a thumbs up and a smile full of preposterously white teeth.
Tsurugi figured he'd just have to bite the bullet here and go with the clearly insane Jonin. He got up and headed out the door after his Sensei, who seemed to take off sprinting towards an area on the outskirts of the village. He was so fast that Tsurugi had to resort to using Chakra Flow to keep up. Even then, Might Gai simply pulled out an extra burst of speed, shouting, "That's it, my student! Let me see the flames of your Youth!" and pulled even further ahead of Tsurugi. It took every erg of speed Tsurugi had to just keep Gai from outpacing him entirely.
Soon enough, they had entered a clearing in the woods on the outskirts of the village, several training posts were set up inside the clearing and Gai stopped running to land between what looked to be a smaller clone of himself and a Branch Family Hyuga with an amused expression on his face as he stared at Tsurugi panting as he came crashing into the clearing.
"Excellent, my student! Your flames of youth are truly magnificent for you to have passed my test!" Called out Gai.
"What… Test?" Asked Tsurugi between sucking in lungfuls of air.
"Ah, well normally a Jonin sensei tests their new students on teamwork to see whether or not they can make it as a team. However, with your unique position, filling in for Tenten while she recovers from her injuries, I thought it best to see if you could keep up with a pace that my students could normally set. I am pleased to say you passed with flying colors, my student!" Declared Gai.
"Translated from Gai-sensei speak, he wanted to see if you would be able to keep up or if you would be dead weight." Said the Hyuga.
"Neji-san, you shouldn't be so rude to our new teammate! I am sure his flames of youth are adequately stoked!" Called out the Gai Clone.
"I am simply concerned. Fate decreed that Tenten would be injured in our last mission outside the village, I wanted to know whether Fate would send us someone else who was fated to fall to such a blow." Scoffed the Hyuga.
Tsurugi sighed at the display. "Right, well I'm Uesugi Tsurugi, I'll be filling in until your teammate recovers." He said by way of introduction.
"Yosh! I am Rock Lee! Tsurugi-san, let us stoke our flames of Youth together!" Cried out the Gai Clone.
"I am Hyuga Neji. We will see what fate has decreed for you soon enough. Until then, do not hold us back." Replied the Hyuga.
And that was how Tsurugi met his team. Over the next two months, they would train together in the clearing, which Tsurugi had learned was training ground twelve. They interspersed this with D-rank missions, which, much to Tsurugi's shock, were mostly a series of chores and fetch quests for random citizens of Konohagakure. While training under Gai, Tsurugi found his Taijutsu put to the test by both Lee and Neji. Neji he could spar more evenly with, as he was not as much of a physical powerhouse as Lee, relying on his Juuken to close off tenketsu to win a match, something that was more difficult thanks to the armor that Tsurugi wore. Neji had to aim for the forearms or the legs to get an advantage, which made things somewhat more difficult for him. Lee could hit Tsurugi anywhere and he'd feel it, armor or no armor. Tsurugi managed to win one out of every three matches against Neji, he struggled to win one in five against Lee.
Interspersed with Taijutsu Training was physical conditioning with chakra weights that Gai insisted Tsurugi wear strapped to his legs and arms at all times. These weights were made of seal-inscribed wooden slats that offered resistance and weight training at different levels once activated. It was something Lee also did, though Neji seemed to not use them for some reason. Tsurugi would find out why during week five, when, after getting through level two of the resistance and weight training, he began winning more sparring matches against Neji. The Hyuga just snorted and used the opportunity to bust out a secret Hyuga Taijutsu technique during the next bout, striking Tsurugi sixty-four consecutive times in the space of a few moments. He only managed to get thirty-two of Tsurugi's Tenketsu thanks to the armor and Tsurugi's speed, but that was enough to win Neji the bout. Similarly, when he began to win more against Lee, it only served to pump up his fellow Genin more. Lee busted out several moves over the next few bouts that Tsurugi had with him and used them to win, dropping Tsurugi's win ratio right back down.
There was one thing Tsurugi knew then and there, and that was that he was going to need Ninjutsu to be able to win a decent number of bouts against either of his new teammates. Unfortunately, Gai-sensei did not teach Ninjutsu, he was a pure Taijutsu teacher with a little bit of Bukijutsu thrown in for good measure. He had enough sealing knowledge to be able to make storage scrolls and exploding tags and that was it, so Tsurugi wasn't going to get any help on that front. He was going to have to ask his dad. His dad relented and began to teach him how to perform the Issen Technique, using the chakra flow of his sword to strike out with chakra-infused vacuum cuts from range. It wasn't something that Tsurugi would be able to use in a spar, though, not without further fine-tuning. His father had explained to him that much like with a weapon, the Issen could be as sharp or as blunt as a Samurai could make it. However, it was designed to be sharp in its base form, and not just sharp, but deadly sharp. Tsurugi had just barely gotten down the base form before Gai-sensei had called the team together for a special occasion. They would be taking their first C-rank mission to hunt down some bandits on the merchant road to Tanzaku-Gai.
Tsurugi just hoped he was ready…
AN: So yeah, Neji is kind of a dick at this point in time, invested heavily in both Fatalism and Hyuga Superiority. He'll get better about that as time goes on.
Lee is still Lee, being an insane Gai-clone, green spandex, bowl cut, and all.
The Mission to Tanzaku Gai is going to be the first real test of Tsurugi's place on the Team.
You'll just have to read to find out how that goes.
Chapter 5
Team Gai was on their way through the Merchant Road to Tanzaku Gai when it happened. Gai had offered to henge into the form of a particularly fat merchant as bait for the bandits and so that his students could, "Show him how bright your flames of youth burned." In the meantime, they shadowed him along the road from stealth. It started with a log having fallen across the road, likely felled by bandits to block the progress of any merchants. As soon as Gai paused in front of the log, from the undergrowth to the side of the road cutting through the forest came a group of armed men. They weren't armed the best, equipped as they were in piecemeal armor. One man had a pair of gauntlets and a helmet but nothing else, another wore a rugged leather vest like you'd see in the Land of Fangs, a third had a breastplate but no tassets or pauldrons, and so on. They were equipped with a motley assortment of weapons. Most had a single sword of some kind, usually a kodachi, wakizashi, or similarly short blade, but some had bows trained on Gai. All of them looked like they at least knew the basics of how to use their weapons.
"Halt! You trespass on the land of Lord Mori! You must forfeit any goods and coin you are carrying as recompense!" Called out one of the men, this one had a more standard set of kikkogane, the hexagonal metal plates riveted to his leather tunic. He also had a proper Katana and a helmet that was more than just an armored jingasa and actually approached something like a full mempo. He also carried himself like someone who knew how to use his katana.
Gai feigned fear as Tsurugi, Lee, and Neji conferred from further up in the canopy. "That one looks like the leader, I want him." Said Tsurugi.
"I will take the archers." Said Lee, his whisper almost as loud as someone's normal speaking voice.
"Which leaves those unfortunate fools to me." Said Neji.
"Try and leave one of them able to talk. From the sounds of it, we may actually have a Bandit Lord on our hands. We need one of them to tell us where their hideout is." Cautioned Tsurugi.
"I will try, but if it is their fate to die, then there is nothing I will be able to do about it." Replied Neji, coldly.
With that, the three of them jumped out of the trees, Lee racing towards the bowmen at the side of the road, Neji landing a Juuken strike to the shoulder of a Bandit armed with a chokuto and armored in a breastplate without pauldrons, and Tsurugi landing in between Gai and the leader. Immediately, Lee's version of a Dynamic Entry smashed into a bowman, knocking the man ass over teakettle and taking him out of the fight. Neji's own Juuken strike had caused the other man to drop his Chokuto from suddenly nerveless fingers and Neji followed that up with a pair of strikes to the man's knees that sent him to the ground. Tsurugi meanwhile, stared down the leader.
"Who in the thousand hells are you?" Asked the Leader.
"Uesugi Tsurugi. I don't suppose you'd care to tell us where your hideout is?" Asked Tsurugi.
"And betray Lord Mori? I don't suppose I would." Grunted the Leader.
"Worth a shot." Said Tsurugi as he struck out at his opponent with an Iaido strike, body enhanced by chakra flow. The Bandit Leader's eyes widened fractionally on seeing Tsurugi employ a samurai technique but remarkably managed to match Tsurugi's blow with one of his own. The two blades clashed together in a clang of metal and in the blink of an eye before the pair of swordsmen separated. It seemed that this opponent at least was trained in the ways of chakra use.
"So, you're samurai? Odd that the other two brats you run with seem to be shinobi." Grunted Tsurugi's Opponent.
"I was trained by my father, who was a captain in the Army of the Land of Iron, but I am no less shinobi than the other two." Replied Tsurugi.
"Disgusting! To think that you would throw away such a tradition for this. When Lord Mori takes his rightful place as the Lord of Tanzaku-Gai, there will be no more need for shinobi in that city. We will train a whole new army of samurai in the samurai arts! Then we will crush your hidden village so that all will know which path is truly superior!" Growled out the Bandit Leader.
The pair clashed again, swords flying out and striking simultaneously, parrying each other before clashing again and again. Tsurugi seemed to be evenly matched with this Bandit Leader in terms of swordsmanship and chakra flow ability. That left only one other ace up his sleeve that he could pull at the moment, at least if he didn't want to drop his chakra weights, which was something he was saving for a truly dire situation. He would need a little space to perform the technique, though, which meant that he would have to disengage from the intense close-range duel he was having with his opponent. He struck out again, this time with a wide, arcing, horizontal slash aimed at forcing his opponent back so he could jump backward to get the necessary space. Instead, the Bandit Leader struck out vertically with a power cut. Both Tsurugi and his opponent's blades intersected perpendicularly, and the larger, more experienced, Bandit Leader's stroke pushed Tsurugi back.
This however worked to Tsurugi's advantage as he began to focus his chakra into his blade with the breathing space he'd gained from being pushed backward. His opponent was closing the gap with footwork, charging him in the hopes that he could overwhelm him again from close range, but by the time the Bandit Leader had reached him, Tsurugi had his technique ready. Striking out with his blade, Tsurugi unleashed an arc of white chakra from his sword that barreled forwards toward the onrushing Bandit Leader. The Bandit Leader's eyes widened at this and he tried to juke to the side, but the Issen technique bit deep into his shoulder all the same. It wouldn't kill him outright, but it would prevent the Bandit Leader from using his sword and it would definitely kill him eventually. The Bandit Leader fell to the ground, collapsing in a spray of blood like a puppet with its strings cut as the ruin that Tsurugi's technique made of his shoulder overwhelmed him.
Off to the side, Lee managed to defeat the last of the bowmen with a Konoha Senpu combination, sweeping the man's legs out from under him and then kicking him while he was momentarily falling, sending the Bowman hurtling over to land in the dusty track of road in a heap. Meanwhile, Neji finished the last remaining foot soldier with a Juuken strike to his unprotected chest, causing the man to collapse as his left lung was suddenly deflated. In total there had been fifteen Foot Soldiers and ten Bowmen, along with the Leader. They had been trained to a minimum standard like you'd find in a town guard, with the Leader having Samurai Training. The entire battle took around two minutes.
It was then that Gai returned to his normal form and took the more cognizant of the bandits off to the side for questioning, giving a toothy smile and a thumbs up to his team. Tsurugi just felt a little queasy at what he had done to his opponent. Speaking of which, the Bandit Leader had managed to struggle up to his knees with his good arm, though he was losing a lot of blood from his other shoulder. Tsurugi went over to him.
"Damn, got me with an Issen. Guess the Land of Iron's training regimen is still the best." Ground out the Bandit Leader.
"Why do this? You clearly have Samurai Training, you could join the retinue of some Daimyo somewhere and draw a steady paycheck legitimately. So why join up with bandits in the woods?" Asked Tsurugi, fighting down the queasy feeling in his stomach.
"Listen, kid. You might be too young to know this, but back before the last Great Shinobi War, the land of Iron wasn't the only country with a proper Samurai Tradition. Most of the Lords of the Land of Fire still had some proper Samurai Around, even if the damned Shinobi had begun to take over a lot of the functions of a real army. Then the war happened and Konoha's Yellow Flash proved that a single man could take on an army by himself if he was powerful enough. The Lords of the Land of Fire decided to do away with Samurai entirely except in ceremonial roles. Lord Mori was one of the twin sons of the Lord of Tanzaku-Gai at the time and he refused to switch to the Shinobi alternative. Of course, when his father died last year, his brother became the Lord of Tanzaku Gai and exiled Lord Mori so he could hire Shinobi to guard his treasury. I followed Lord Mori into the woods, along with his other three retainers. It's our way of life that's threatened!" Explained the Bandit Leader.
Tsurugi was shocked at that. He knew that the Samurai of Iron was the only remaining non-ceremonial standing samurai force, but he hadn't known that it hadn't been the case until recently. To think that the final switch to shinobi had happened so recently and that it would force good men into Banditry like this? Well, that wasn't a path that he wanted to tread.
"Listen, kid. I'm getting woozy. I don't want to die slowly from blood loss like this. Will you do me this favor?" Asked the Bandit Samurai.
Tsurugi knew what he was being asked to do. His father had mentioned that some of the more traditional Samurai Families of Iron would still practice this sort of thing. In the event of a slow death from blood loss or a wound, with no prospect of healing in sight, it was considered appropriate to offer mercy to a mortally wounded comrade. The whole thing made Tsurugi's stomach, which he had been successfully keeping under control until now, revolt. He didn't know if he could do it.
"I don't know if I can do that." He said to the Man.
"Please, kid. Do me this kindness, you're the only one who can." Implored the Bandit Samurai through labored breaths.
Tsurugi was going to have to do it. Voice full of emotion, he said, "I don't even know your name."
"I am Fukushima Mitsukada, one of the four generals of Lord Mori." Said the Bandit Samurai.
"Farewell, then. Fukushima Mitsukada." Intoned Tsurugi, as he struck out with his blade, impaling the Bandit Samurai through the heart.
He withdrew his blade shortly afterward and looked around. Lee was gone, probably to set up camp while Gai-sensei interrogated any prisoners. However, Neji soon emerged from the trees, veins bulging around his eyes in the telltale sign that the Byakugan was active. He had likely seen everything that had just happened. Idly, Tsurugi wondered if Neji could read lips to know that Fukushima had asked him to kill him or if the haughty Hyuga would decide that Tsurugi was a psychopath who murdered wounded enemies. As it happened, Neji just offered Tsurugi a short nod, before heading back into the woods off to the side of the road. And that was when Tsurugi could no longer keep a lid on his roiling stomach. Gai-sensei, Lee, and Neji would return to the sight of Tsurugi retching his guts up at his first kill. Surprisingly, Lee and Neji had not had any issues with those few bandits they had mortally wounded. He doubted that these had been their first kills. They had been a team for a year prior to Tsurugi joining them after all.
While Tsurugi finished throwing up, Lee and Neji began gathering the bodies of those bandits who had died, while Gai-sensei used his monstrous strength to dig a pit for their burial. Any weapons and useful equipment were gathered up, including any spare ryo. It was a lot more mercenary than Tsurugi had imagined, but then, Ninja were in the business of killing for money so it probably shouldn't have surprised him at all. Apparently, this was standard practice on all C-rank and above missions. Tsurugi took a well-crafted Hankyu bow from one of the bowmen and a quiver of arrows, along with Fukushima's Katana, which seemed better quality than the standard-issue Land of Iron Katana that Tsurugi had. It was made from a higher-grade chakra metal for one thing and the balance was better for another.
Once the burial and collection were finished, everyone set up camp off to the side of the road. Neji began sealing away the various weapons into a storage scroll, grumbling about how this was usually Tenten's Job. In the meantime, Gai-sensei began to talk. "Well done, my students! From interrogation, I have determined that this was one of four platoons of the forces of a man named Mori Hironobu, the brother of Mori Katsuyori of Tanzaku-Gai. According to the information I have gathered from the prisoners, who have been taken off our hands by one of Lord Mori's Road Warden Patrols, the Bandits have a stronghold in the woods due west of here around five miles or so away. However, it seems that they have four generals who each lead a platoon, all of whom have Samurai Training. This has officially become a B-rank mission because of that. I now must ask if you want to continue on, knowing that. I have no doubts that you do and that we will prevail, but regulations are there for a reason." He said.
Predictably, Lee was the first to speak up, "Yosh! Gai-sensei, these bandits are terrorizing traveling merchants, I do not feel right just leaving them be and returning to the Village!" He shouted.
"Lee! I knew you'd press to continue! Truly your flames of Youth are unmatched!" Laughed Gai-sensei.
"I fought one of the generals today. I managed to beat him by pulling out a technique he didn't expect me to have on him, but afterward… well he asked me for mercy. I don't know if I can give it to another Samurai in a similar circumstance." Spoke up Tsurugi.
"It was your first kill, my Student?" Asked Gai-sensei.
"Yeah." Affirmed Tsurugi.
"I see. Regrettably, killing is just a part of what we must do as Shinobi. I have tried to teach you all to be strong enough that you can capture a dangerous opponent without needing to kill, but sometimes it is unavoidable. You still did well in the fight, my Student. Do not let the unpleasant reality of this life douse your flames of Youth! If they do so, you must build your flames back up again until they are a raging bonfire, twice as large as before!" Explained Gai-sensei with a smile and a thumbs up.
"Translated from Gai-sensei speak, that means you just have to bite the bullet, move past it, and get back on the horse after killing someone." Replied Neji.
"Did you?" Asked Tsurugi.
Neji simply nodded and said, "My first C-rank mission, fate decreed that I would be forced to kill several of my opponents. I was not strong enough to take those bandits captive then, I am now. I would not have become so by wallowing in guilt."
"Yosh! Tsurugi-Kun, I too have killed an opponent! I simply resolved to do better next mission, or I would be forced to walk around the village on my hands a hundred times!" Encouraged Lee.
"Yes my student, everyone has different ways of coping with the realities of this life. You simply need to find what works for you." Said Gai-sensei with a smile and a thumbs up.
And at that moment, Tsurugi felt like the team had finally accepted him as one of them. After two months of being treated like a replacement that would only slow them down. It felt good and took away the sting and the nausea of his first kill. He could sort of understand all the lessons about the Will of Fire in the Academy if he thought about it this way. Friends help you to overcome your issues, and when your issues are the kind that shinobi routinely face, then it's doubly important to have friends. Speaking of friends, Tsurugi wondered what kind of missions that Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, and Naruto were on. He knew that Naruto's team was still doing some kind of intensive training and thus still doing D-ranks when he left, but Team Ten was supposed to be taking a C-rank mission of their own right about now. He'd have to ask them about it when they got back. Soon, however, Team Gai was turning in for the night. They would wake up just before dawn to assault the Bandit Fortress.
Tsurugi was resolved to prove to his team that he could handle it…
AN: Yeah, so it turns out that Samurai with actual Chakra Training used to be a lot more common in the Elemental Nations before somebody went and destroyed an entire army of Shinobi by himself.
Minato really was bullshit like that.
Anyway, that sort of thing tends to make people take notice and not just Ninja. The Major Daimyo began to phase out the remainder of their own forces after that in favor of solely relying on Ninja to fight their wars. Now almost every Daimyo of note has only Ceremonial Samurai Forces. It's usually cheaper to hire Ninja for specific missions than to keep a large standing force of well-trained Samurai around anyway.
Those Samurai that were dismissed tended to become Mercenary Ronin or go to Iron to enlist in Lord Mifune's Army.
Here we see a few Samurai who followed their Lord in wanting to restore their way of life and were labeled bandits simply because their lord was not the heir and the heir had other ideas. They aren't villains or even particularly wrong for wanting their position back, but this sort of thing tends to happen from time to time.
Not every Ninja mission is going to involve fighting clear-cut bad guys, life doesn't tend to work like that, sadly.
Chapter 6
The Fortress of Lord Mori Hironobu wasn't a grand castle like the one in Tanzaku-Gai, but neither was it a run-down hovel. A wood and earth rampart surrounded a scattering of wooden houses, with a large wooden stilt house in the center. It was clearly limited by what was available and clearly took inspiration from the practices of the Ancestor Period, during the time when the Sage of the Six Paths was born over a millennia ago. That was probably by necessity though, as it was unlikely that they could have done anything more advanced without drawing attention to themselves and letting the authorities know where their hideout was. In a way, it was an ingenious move, using the techniques of the past to fortify your position without giving away where you were and using what you already had on hand. There was plenty of wood and earth in the forest, after all.
Team Gai observed the comings and goings of patrols from the hideout for two days. Bandit troops would patrol in squads of four unless they were watching the road for merchant caravans, in which case a full platoon would be sent out under one of the four generals. Of course, on the third day, the pattern changed. Instead of one squad of four on a patrol route, three squads of four were sent out to vigorously patrol the surrounding woods. It looks like they had realized that Fukushima and his platoon had been lost and were combing the area to look for them. It was here where Gai-sensei decided to form a plan.
"Alright my students, it seems as if they are on alert now. What do you say we test their alertness level? Each of you will go and defeat one of their patrol squads and we will see if they have any contingency plans. I am certain that your flames of youth will overshadow those of mere bandits." Said Gai.
"What do we do if they send out more than one of their generals to take us on after we clean up their patrols?" Asked Tsurugi.
"If you find yourself in an untenable position, you must come together to prevail. Truly unity amongst friends is the most youthful way to overcome such a challenge." Said Gai.
"How will these two find me to do that? I have the Byakugan, but Lee and Tsurugi were not fated to have such a useful tool." Asked Neji.
"That is what these are for." Said Gai, holding out a pair of tubes.
"These are flares, simply channel a bit of chakra into this end of the tube, as you would with an explosive tag, and point at the sky. It will shoot a ball of green fire into the air and allow you all to find each other's position." Said Gai, demonstrating without actually lighting the flare.
The flares were handed out and stored away and Gai said, "Alright my students, go and show these bandits the power of your Youth!"
"Yosh! Gai-sensei, we will not let you down!" Called out Lee.
With that, Team Gai broke apart to go hunting the individual patrols. Tsurugi went North, Lee went West, and Neji went South. They would have little trouble with the patrols themselves, armored as they were in piecemeal armor and not capable of using chakra. It was however what came afterward that would give Gai's students trouble. Team Gai was not the only force in the area provided with flares, and as soon as the three students arrived and took out their first bandit, a red flare went up from each of the patrol groups. True their flares were more fireworks than chakra tubes, but the result was the same. As soon as those flares went up, the three remaining Samurai Generals were on the move.
Lee had decided to make his fight a challenge. He deliberately held back his speed to the level of an ordinary genin to give the bandits a fair chance. He could do no less for those who he was facing, otherwise, they would not even have a chance to defend themselves as he trounced them all with speed faster than they could even see. His sense of fair play wound up biting him in the behind though, as the second he took out a bandit armed with a pair of kama with a well-placed kick, one of the other three bandits lit a tube that looked like the one Gai-sensei had given him and pointed it at the sky. Lee was ducking the swipe of a Sansetsukon when it happened, but a bolt of red fire shot out from the tube and alerted the fortress to Lee's presence in the Western part of the forest.
Lee quickly dispensed of the sansetsukon wielder and rushed the bandit who had shot off his flare, bowling the man over with a Dynamic Entry. The fourth bandit dropped his kanabo and tried to retreat, but Lee swept his legs out from under him and sent the man tumbling into an elbow strike that rendered him unconscious. He looked around to the trees, hoping to find someone else to test his youth against, but no one was forthcoming for several minutes. Of course, that was when the first hints of a more dangerous opponent happened. A burst of chakra caught Lee's attention just before a man armored in tiger-striped leather armor burst forwards from the trees with a trident, aiming to impale Lee. Lee quickly put on a burst of speed and dodged the sudden thrust before turning to regard the man.
His opponent was wiry and had a shock of white hair. He had a scar over his left eye and twirled his trident menacingly. "You move quickly. It figures that Fukushima got taken out by Shinobi, he was the weakest of us after all." Growled the man.
"I am Rock Lee, shinobi of Konoha! I will defeat you to make these roads safe for travelers!" Called out Lee.
"Is that so? Well, I am Toruyama Ichiro, and I will not go down without a fight. Come then if you think you can defeat me!" Challenged the Samurai back.
The pair rushed each other, Toruyama's reach advantage somewhat equalling out Lee's speed. Short thrusts and jabs of the trident kept Lee from fully charging in to deliver a decisive blow. For his part, Lee would always manage to dodge the thrusts of the trident. It seemed as if the stalemate would continue for some time before Lee tried to grab the Trident below the head in order to bring the weapon out wide and allow him to rush in to score a hit on the Samurai. Unfortunately, Toruyama managed to spin with Lee's momentum, throwing the Konoha-nin off balance and allowing him to dislodge his trident from Lee's grasp. For his part, Lee managed to flip in mid-air to land on his feet facing the Samurai.
"You think you're the first Shinobi I faced? You'll have to do better than that to beat me." Rumbled Toruyama.
Lee nodded and said, "Truly you are a most worthy opponent. I admit that as I am now, this stalemate is unlikely to break. However, I have more than one ace up my sleeve!" Said Lee.
Lee unfastened the weights on his legs and dropped them to the forest floor. The thud they made as they impacted the soft earth was deafening, even though the ground was not tightly packed. For one second, Lee breathed out. Then the next second, he was gone, appearing only briefly next to Toruyama with a kick that sent the Samurai flying into a tree. This would have been enough to take out any normal man, even in armor. However, with the Chakra raging through His Body, Toruyama was merely wounded. He stood up and shook the cobwebs out of his head.
"I have not yet begun to fight!" Called out Lee.
The battle was joined once again. It did not last long after though. Lee's non-weighted speed was too much for the Samurai to cope with. Lee managed to rush in past the trident point with his new speed and hit Toruyama with a rising Konoha Senpu that sent him flying, before leaping into the air to deliver a flying axe kick that sent the Samurai hurtling to the forest floor, breaking every bone in his body and ending the fight. Lee did not even take a single wound.
"Yosh! Truly my flames of youth are uncontestable!" Shouted Lee in triumph.
He wondered how the others were doing…
Neji had little trouble taking out his patrol. Fools who could not use chakra were fated to lose to him every time without fail, after all. The one bad thing was that he had spent too much time on the last bandit, refining his hold over the Hakke Rokujūyon Shō. That had allowed one of the bandits, a man in a kusari chain tunic with a crossbow that he'd disabled the legs of with pinpoint Juuken strikes to the knees, to pull a flare tube out of his belt pouch and light it off from a prone position. A red bolt of flame shot into the air as the man collapsed from the effort of lighting off his flare while incapacitated.
Neji frowned at that, clearly, he was getting sloppy if an incapacitated foe could continue on. However if fate decreed he was to fight a General today, then that is what he would do. He scanned the surrounding trees with his Byakugan, trying to pinpoint what direction his foe would be coming from. His Byakugan only had a range of fifty meters, but he was improving it all the time. He was certain that the Samurai General would come to him anyway. Granted, his experience with Samurai and their methods was limited to Tsurugi, but his temporary teammate was fond of using his blade and taijutsu to fight, so he was certain that the pattern would hold true here.
What he was not prepared for was the whistling noise followed by a streak of a red-feathered arrow to come striking out of the treeline from beyond the range of his Byakugan. Indeed, the arrow was moving so fast that only Neji's Byakugan giving him advanced warning when the projectile was fifty meters away had let him dodge a killing blow. As it stood, what would have embedded itself in his eye instead only grazed his cheek, drawing a line of blood across Neji's face. This was followed by another pair of red feathered arrows that Neji managed to dodge entirely by leaping backward. The two arrows embedded themselves in the ground where he had been standing.
"A Hyuga? Well, I hate to say it, kid, but you got saddled with the worst possible opponent here." Called a female voice from the trees. "Unlike my fellow generals, I prefer to fight from range with my bow. It's not a good matchup against a close-range fighter like I hear the Hyuga are."
"Who are you? Show yourself!" Demanded Neji. If he could keep the general talking, he might be able to pinpoint her location by sound and the direction of her arrows. It'd be the only shot he'd get if she stayed back out of the range of his Byakugan.
"I am Kotori Yumi, and I think I'll stay back here, for the time being, thanks." Chirped the voice in response.
Another pair of arrows streaked out from the trees for Neji to dodge, and they were accurate and fast enough moving, that the Samurai had to be channeling Chakra to her senses to even shoot so well. Neji wasn't sure about how the arrows were moving so fast. He knew there were wind jutsu that could do that, but he didn't know if channeling chakra into a bow would let it shoot harder. It would definitely be something to research afterward. Regardless, the arrows embedded themselves in the ground where Neji had been standing, and the Hyuga was forced to dodge again a split second later as a third arrow streaked out from the trees. He jumped up onto a branch as the arrow embedded itself in the trunk of the tree he'd been standing in front of.
"Aww, running away so soon, little Hyuga?" Asked Kotori.
Another arrow streaked out for Neji and he jumped to another branch, just barely avoiding the arrow piercing his foot and nailing him to his perch. This was getting annoying, and so long as he couldn't figure out where Kotori was shooting from, he wouldn't be able to strike back. Fate truly was a cruel mistress to have declared he face this opponent. Another pair of arrows struck out for him and he jumped once more to another branch. Arrows started to follow him every time he jumped. Each time, Neji only escaped by a hair's breadth. However, he was starting to get a better sense of where his opponent was firing from. Kotori was firing from somewhere off to the west of him beyond the range of his Byakugan. He began leaping to the west from branch to branch, dodging arrows along the way. He got nicked twice more by grazes, but his opponent soon came into view.
Kotori was a small, petite, woman in red-colored karuta gusoku armor. The red steel of the plated mail complimented the red feathers she wore in her hair. She had a quiver of arrows on her back and her hankyu bow was masterfully crafted. She clearly spotted Neji charging her, as she drew another pair of arrows from her quiver, nocked them both, drew, and fired. Neji dodged down to a lower branch one tree away from the Samurai general, only to find a third arrow, this one with an oddly shaped head streaking at him. Thankfully, the third arrow must have been fired in haste, for it embedded itself between his feet rather than force him to dodge.
"What was that supposed to do?" Asked Neji.
Kotori just grinned in response, as the odd shape of the arrowhead began to emit a glow. Neji saw this in the telescoping vision of his Byakugan and leaped from the tree branch he had been on, just as the explosion that followed shattered the branch. Splinters flew like shrapnel, catching Neji a glancing blow and causing more nicks and grazes to appear on his arms. He would have scars after this fight, even if the wounds were superficial. However, now he was on the same branch as Kotori. The Samurai dropped her bow to the forest floor and pulled out a pair of daggers.
"It's too late, you are within the range of my divination!" Called out Neji as he struck the Samurai general. She dodged the first two strikes at her shoulders by ducking, and the second two by weaving her arms out of the way, but the next four got her in the ankles and knees. From there it was all over as Neji methodically sealed off her tenketsu. The final strike caught her in the sternum and she fell from the branch, her heart stopped.
As she fell, Neji simply said, "Unfortunately for you, you were fated to lose the second you began targeting merchants. Konoha does not take kindly to bandits preying on commerce."
These were the last words that Kotori Yumi ever heard…
Tsurugi had managed to defeat his patrol quite handily. The two bowmen were cut down with a single application of the Issen technique and a leaping knee to the head knocked out a bandit wielding a nodachi and wearing a breastplate with tassets but no pauldrons. The last man had a Kusarigama and threw it at Tsurugi before trying to run. Tsurugi dodged the chain-sickle and leaped for the hapless bandit just as he managed to light off a flare and fire a red ball of flame into the air. He caught the bandit with a kick that sent him sprawling to the ground unconscious, but now was most likely going to have to face another General.
Sure enough, it took no time at all before a man in black heavy yoroi armor, who had well-crafted gauntlets and an extremely well-crafted tetsubo appeared. The man was bald, his head the only part that was uncovered, and a scar ran down the left side of his face. He had an unfortunate bulbous nose that reminded Tsurugi of a picture he had once seen of the current Tsuchikage. The man stood and slung his tetsubo over his shoulder as he stared down at Tsurugi.
"So, you're one of the folks who've been killing our patrols. I see you have Fukushima's katana. You the guy who offed him?" Asked the Samurai.
"I am. I gave him the mercy he asked for after he was wounded in our battle." Replied Tsurugi.
That seemed to give the Samurai pause. "You did, huh? Well, if he asked for it, he must have trusted you enough to give it to him. You got a name kid?" He asked.
"I am Uesugi Tsurugi." Replied Tsurugi.
"Uesugi? Like the Samurai Family from Iron? Shit, kid, what are you doing working for the damned Shinobi?" Asked the Samurai.
"We all must make our own way in life. I see you've chosen banditry." Replied Tsurugi.
"Lord Mori says he can put us on top in Tanzaku-Gai. It's as good a cause as any to die for I suppose." Shrugged the Samurai.
"I guess. What's your name? I gave you mine." Asked Tsurugi.
"I'm Kame Goro. Now that we know each other's names, we can fight, yeah?" Replied the Samurai.
"We can." Said Tsurugi.
And with that their bout began. Goro was deceptively fast for someone in such heavy armor. He managed to check every strike that Tsurugi made with his Tetsubo. A slash would be blunted by the club, a thrust parried aside, honestly, Tsurugi was certain that if it weren't for the high-quality alloy that Fukushima's sword was made of, there would be chips and cracks along the blade by now from all the strikes he made that were blunted by the studded length of Goro's tetsubo. After exchanging a flurry of blows, Goro struck out with a gauntleted fist that blew Tsurugi backward. Even though his armor, Tsurugi had felt his ribs creak from the blow and he just knew that he was going to feel that attack tomorrow if he lived through this mission. If that was just what Goro's fist could do, Tsurugi hated to think what his opponent's tetsubo was capable of.
Goro advanced on Tsurugi with his tetsubo, swinging in a pattern that aimed at boxing Tsurugi in so he could land a decisive blow. Tsurugi though, instead of trying to dodge away and possibly get caught in the trap, rushed forwards, dropping his katana to the ground for a split second in favor of grappling the larger Samurai. The shock that Goro felt at this unexpected move was evident and it was likely that shock that allowed Tsurugi to grab onto Goro's arm, spin, and pull, tossing the larger Samurai over his shoulder and launching Goro into a tree. Tsurugi picked up his blade after that and began to focus chakra into the sword in preparation for an Issen technique. He'd probably only get one shot at this. He didn't think Goro would be taken off guard by Jujutsu again after this. Goro stood from where he'd fallen against the tree and with a shout, Tsurugi unleashed the chakra-enhanced vacuum cut from his sword. Goro's eyes widened at the incoming wave and interposed his Tetsubo between his head and the Issen. The tetsubo was cut in half by the attack, but it had managed to do its job. The Issen spent its energy on the Tetsubo, leaving Goro's head untouched with gouges torn into the tree behind him on either side of his head.
"Shit. I thought I had you." Grumbled Tsurugi.
"You almost did." Admitted Goro, tossing away the remains of his tetsubo.
"You're down a weapon, I still have my sword. I don't suppose I could convince you to surrender?" Asked Tsurugi.
"A Samurai's fists are just as good as a blade if they've been trained properly, you should know that." Admonished Goro.
Tsurugi nodded and the two clashed once again. Goro landed a punch to Tsurugi's face that blacked his eye and sent him reeling back, but Tsurugi rallied and managed to dodge the follow-up kick to the knee that would have likely ended the fight via a broken leg. Likewise, a counterattack from Tsurugi's sword was dodged aside from, only managing to cut a gouge from Goro's left pauldron. Tsurugi tried to follow up that attack with a follow-on overhead slash, but Goro managed to catch the slash between the palms of his hands and lock Tsurugi into a grapple. For a brief moment, the two were frozen like that, only for a knee from Goro to slam into Tsurugi whose armor prevented the blow from cracking his ribs, but was still forced to drop his sword as he was sent sprawling. Tsurugi rolled aside just in time to avoid a falling elbow from Goro that would likely have also ended him and soon the pair were grappling on the forest floor.
It seemed that striking was where Goro had the advantage, as getting to grips in a grapple showed that Goro's technique in Jujutsu had been neglected. Tsurugi was able to get into a superior position from a side-mount and soon had Goro's left arm in an arm bar. The larger Samurai tried to stand and smash Tsurugi into a tree to dislodge his hold, but he didn't manage to pull it off before his shoulder came out of its socket with a popping noise and a loud yell from Goro. In pain, Goro slammed Tsurugi into a tree, dislodging him from the grapple. Now Goro was down an arm. Even though he'd beaten Tsurugi pretty badly before this point, there was no way he was going to be able to win if he continued.
"It's over, surrender." Demanded Tsurugi, as he clambered back to his feet.
"I will not." Ground out Goro through gritted teeth.
As the fight recommenced, Goro was sorely outmatched as Tsurugi managed to consistently slip to his unguarded left side to slip in a blow here or there. The armor robbed the blows of some of their power, but with this strategy, two or three blows slipped in for every one that Goro managed to guard against. Tsurugi was essentially wearing his opponent down. Goro's last gasp happened when he, in a desperate attempt to reverse things, tried to use a one-armed Osoto Gari to trip Tsurugi to the ground and give him enough time to get away. Instead, he wound up being tripped as Tsurugi countered with an Osoto Gaeshi. This forced the fight to the ground once again, and soon Tsurugi had Goro in another armbar. Out popped Goro's right shoulder, and the fight was effectively over from there.
"You have no arms left! Surrender!" Implored Tsurugi.
"Fine, I surrender. You've beaten me, but if this is the level you're at, you won't beat Lord Mori. He's stronger than all four of us generals. He trained in Iron for years before coming back to Tanzaku-Gai. He taught all of us four ceremonial Samurai the real Samurai Arts. You won't beat him." Said Goro.
"He won't have to." Came a Voice from behind where the two combatants were.
Tsurugi looked around to see Neji, Lee, and Gai-sensei emerge from the trees. Neji had bandages around his arms and one bandage on his left cheek. Lee looked fresh as a daisy, though it could have been Tsurugi's imagination, but he looked like he'd been really excited by his fight. Gai-sensei just smiled and gave Tsurugi a thumbs-up.
"My students will be testing their flames of youth against the Fortress' remaining garrison. I will be handling Lord Mori." Grinned Gai-sensei.
"Really? Why Gai-sensei?" Asked Tsurugi.
"These Samurai generals, if what I've seen and heard is true, were all around low-tier chunin in strength. If what they're saying about Lord Mori is true, then he is beyond your ability to defeat my students. Leave him to me!" Replied Gai-sensei.
Tsurugi couldn't help but nod at that. He'd had enough trouble against Goro. He had no desire to face someone even more powerful. It looked like Neji had been having issues with his fight as well. Lee looked like he hadn't had a scratch on him, but then Lee was a beast physically. Against someone only trained as a Samurai, Lee would probably be hard-pressed to find an opponent that could give him trouble if he was fighting seriously. Maybe in the Land of Iron, where the Samurai were of a higher caliber, but not out here in the Land of Fire. He'd leave fighting Lord Mori to Gai-sensei.
As it happened, the end of the campaign against Lord Mori's Bandits was a bit of an anti-climax. Team Gai attacked during dinner. The fight in the mess hall between the remaining thirty-three bandits was a confusing mess, as bandits were caught without much of their equipment and used whatever was at hand to fight in something resembling more of a bar-room brawl than an actual battle. Tables, chairs, mugs, and even sushi knives used by the chefs had been employed alongside whatever sidearms the bandits had on them. By the same token, the close quarters of the mess hall made maneuvering difficult for the three Genin of Team Gai to maneuver and forced the fight to drag on for longer than it otherwise would have. By the time it was all over, and the remaining bandit forces subdued, Gai-sensei had already entered the main stilt house to take on Lord Mori.
Tsurugi, Neji, and Lee watched the house from afar, as gaping rents tore through the walls from the inside, a clear indication that Lord Mori was employing the Issen technique against Gai-sensei. Neji could see the fight through the walls, but couldn't see the combatants, both were moving too quickly for even the Byakugan to make much sense of. In moments however it was over. There was a shout and the wall of the stilt house exploded outwards as a regal-looking man in a kimono with a high-quality katana was sent crashing through the wall and out into the courtyard. He stood shakily, only for a cry of "Dynamic Entry!" to echo out and Gai-sensei come flying out of the stilt house with a leaping kick, taking him over one last Issen technique that finally collapsed the roof of the stilt house behind Gai-sensei. The path of Gai-sensei's kick landed him foot-first on the Lord's face, knocking him to the ground, unconscious.
And with that, the mission was complete. All that was left was to seal up any loose equipment and funds and deliver any prisoners to one of the Tanzaku-Gai road patrols. The sealing of loose equipment and funds took the rest of the evening. Tsurugi received an extremely high-quality Hankyu to replace the random one he had taken off a random bandit. Neji had gifted it to him, stating that he "Didn't use such tools." and that it would be "Better off in the hands of one who could utilize it." There was also an extremely high-quality trident, but it was being kept as a present for their currently injured team-mate who was on reserve duty at the moment and would be for the next ten months as she rehabbed her leg, which had been pretty badly broken in a fight with a former member of Iwagakure's Explosion Corps. Apparently, she was a bukijutsu specialist.
Beyond that, there was some one-hundred-fifty thousand Ryo in miscellaneous funds that was sealed up. There was much more in goods, a couple of million Ryo worth in a storehouse, but those were going back to Tanzaku-gai with the prisoners and the patrol from Tanzaku-gai in the morning. Team Gai spent the night in the ruined fortress before handing off the prisoners to Captain Todomasa of the Tanzaku-gai patrol and his men. Team Gai headed back to Konoha, having completed what was essentially a B-rank mission. When they returned some three days later and Gai-sensei made his report to the Hokage, they got paid accordingly, everyone receiving one hundred thousand Ryo from the office of the Hokage. The sealed Ryo from the fortress was split up 5 ways, with Konoha taking thirty-thousand, Gai-sensei taking forty-five thousand, and Neji, Tsurugi, and Lee taking twenty-five thousand each. Likewise, all of the sealed weapons and armor that were not claimed by members of Team Gai went to the Konoha Armory for reforging into ninja equipment and apparel. The Village paid out a bonus of ten thousand Ryo to each member of Team Gai for that.
That left Tsurugi with a total payout of one-hundred-thirty thousand Ryo for just about a week's work. That wasn't too shabby, he thought. Gai-sensei dismissed the team shortly after reporting to the Hokage. He reminded them to be back at the training field for team training and D-rank missions tomorrow, and let them go with a smile and a thumbs up. As they headed out, Neji stopped Tsurugi.
"It seems that you are capable of pulling your own weight. I must apologize for my rudeness when you first joined our team. I had thought that fate had placed dead weight on our team while Tenten recuperated. It seems that judgment was in error." He said.
"Don't worry about it. I know it couldn't have been easy for you, me coming in to replace your teammate and all." Replied Tsurugi.
"Still. You have my apologies." Said Neji, as he walked away.
Tsurugi just shrugged and decided that maybe Neji wasn't such an asshole after all, at least when he had some time to get a little perspective anyway. Still, it had been a while since Tsurugi had seen any of his friends. He knew that Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino should be back from their C-rank mission by now. He headed off to go find them. As it happened, he found them gathered around a Shogi Board. Shikamaru was playing their sensei, Sarutobi Asuma. Shikamaru was winning.
"Hey, guys, what's going on?" Asked Tsurugi.
"Shika's about to beat Asuma-sensei at Shogi… again." Replied Ino.
"Again? He's beaten your sensei before?" Asked Tsurugi.
"Twice now. Once while on our mission." Replied Choji as he snacked on some chips.
"What did you guys wind up doing on your first C-rank?" Asked Tsurugi.
"We escorted some nobles to a resort out in the Land of Hot Springs. It was fairly boring, the most excitement that happened was that we had to fight off a wild boar who the Noble's kid, Jiro antagonized into charging him." Said Shikamaru, distractedly moving a pawn into place.
"Ugh, that kid was the worst." Fumed Ino.
"You're just saying that 'cause he was annoying and had a crush on you." Replied Shikamaru.
"Exactly, I mean who would even want to date someone like that?" Complained Ino.
"What did you guys do on your first C-rank?" Asked Choji, changing the subject.
Tsurugi told them, prompting Ino to shout out that, "That's such bullshit!" and Shikamaru to groan out a single, "Troublesome."
"I think it's really cool that your mission turned out like that." Offered Choji.
Tsurugi just smiled at the byplay. It was good to be back home…
AN: So yeah, the Samurai Generals were all Low-Chunin-tier, while Lord Mori was on the border between High-Chunin-tier and Tokubetsu Jounin-tier. Not quite an A-rank mission, but also not a C-rank Mission.
Of course with Lord Mori beyond the level that any of the Genin could face, even together, it was down to Gai to deal with him. Gai didn't even need to open any of the gates to do so. That's the difference in power at play there.
Still, it's not something most Genin are expected to be able to do. Team Ten's mission is more usual, escorting nobles across the continent and dealing with any wildlife that pops up.
At any rate, this should be the last chapter I post here for now. I'm gonna let you guys catch up reading before posting more.
Chapter 7
For the next two months, life returned to a normal balance for Tsurugi and Team Gai. Training and D-rank missions were broken up by a pair of C-ranks that actually turned out to be C-ranks, one each month. The first C-rank the Team went on was a standard hunting mission. A Tea Plantation around nine hours travel inland from Degerashi Port had been having issues with a family of Chakra Boars digging up their fields. The boars had been so drunk on Nature Chakra that they were capable of using it to enhance their speed and strength. It turned out that there was a patch of wild mandra grass that the boars had been eating from to allow them to utilize nature chakra. After killing the boars, they had spent some time harvesting the mandra grass which had brought the team a payout from the village of an extra fifteen thousand Ryo each on top of the forty-five thousand Ryo they had received for a C-rank hunting mission.
The training was primarily Taijutsu-related still, though Gai-sensei had taught the team the Tree Climbing Excercise the first month and the Water Walking Excercise the second. All of them managed to learn. Even Lee, who could not mold chakra but can otherwise channel it in order to enhance his speed and strength. By the time it was time to take their second C-rank mission, not only could Tsurugi walk up vertical surfaces and on water, but he had managed to get his Issen technique to a form that he could make non-lethal if he so chose and was even on the fourth level of his Chakra-weights out of ten levels total.
Their second C-rank was just escorting a Noblewoman from Konoha to her country estate in the East of the Land of Fire. They had not had so much as a bandit attack to deal with, mostly warding off wildlife. It was while they were returning from that mission that something unusual happened. One minute, Team Gai was walking through the forest, the next a small, sparrow-like bird had landed on Gai-sensei's shoulder. There was a tiny note attached to the bird's leg with twine.
"Gai-sensei, what's with the bird?" Asked Tsurugi.
"This, my student, is a Konoha Messenger Bird. The village uses them to pass messages to teams while in the field. Every village has a messenger animal for just such a purpose, Kumogakure uses lizards for example." Explained Gai-sensei before taking the message and reading it. He frowned at its contents, before pulling a notepad and pencil out of a pocket on his Jounin flak jacket, writing up a message, before folding it up and attaching it to the bird's leg. The messenger bird flew off, winging its way back west towards Konoha.
"It seems that my eternal rival's team has gotten into trouble with some missing-nin from Kirigakure. They are due east of here in the Land of Waves just off the coast. We are to reinforce them, as we are the closest Shinobi to their position. It will be the equivalent of an A-rank mission, but with two of Konoha's Elite Jounin, we should be capable of handling our opponents! Come, my Students! Let us make haste to the Land of Waves!" Explained Gai-sensei.
Soon the Team was off, hurtling through the woods toward the coast. In nine hours, they made a small coastal town. Two hours after that, they had managed to barter passage on a smuggler's skiff east to the Land of Waves. Apparently, only smugglers would dare brave the journey to Wave these days, as the current Daimyo of the nation was essentially a puppet for the shipping magnate Gato. Gato's men searched every ship entering the ports of the Land of Waves that didn't belong to Gato and enforced steep tariffs which differed in value by what your cargo was. Higher value cargo meant more extortionate tariffs, which had led to most legitimate shipping steering clear of the Land of Waves. Gato had used the money he'd gained from squeezing the ports to hire a Jounin missing-nin to enforce his rule there, hence the request for reinforcements.
"Why did Team Seven not turn back when they realized they were up against a Jounin?" Asked Neji, during the crossing.
"Because Kiba and Sasuke are on that team." Sighed Tsurugi.
"I have not met either the Lord Uchiha or the Inuzuka heir, so you will have to explain." Frowned Neji.
"Kiba is an idiot. He's obsessed with proving himself the Alpha of any situation he finds himself in. It's a bad habit of his that you'd think half a year on a team with Uchiha Sasuke would have broken him of, if only because Sasuke has this smug sense of superiority that he can actually back up. It looks like that wasn't the case and Kiba probably voted to stay the course because of it. Sasuke, well he's the kind of person who thinks he's the best there is at what he does. He would have voted to keep going out of sheer stubbornness and if he voted to stay the course, then Haruno Sakura would have voted the same. She's one of his fangirls. Ino can get lost in her fantasies of Sasuke, but Sakura is even worse about it. One of my friends had this giant crush on her for a long time, but he finally managed to kick it after he realized what she was really like." Replied Tsurugi.
"So they need our help to back them up! Truly they must have such faith in their comrades!" Exclaimed Lee.
"That was probably Hatake Kakashi's doing. They probably clashed with the enemy Jounin and reality set in enough for the experienced Shinobi to call for reinforcements. My dad says that Kakashi is one of the Konoha-nin that would give him a hard time in a fight, so if the Enemy Jounin managed to escape from a fight with him, even he'd have to call for backup." Sighed Tsurugi.
The Team made landfall during the night amidst a mangrove forest, hiding the Smuggler's Skiff amidst the foliage out of sight. Apparently, it was a run that the Captain had made a dozen times, so they disembarked unseen into the countryside of the Land of Waves. By mid-morning, they had made it to the house mentioned in the reinforcement order. Next to a forest on stilts out in the water was a two-story house with an attached windmill. Outside, a silver-haired Jounin with one eye visible and his Konoha hitai-ate pulled down over the other stood on crutches, watching as Sakura, Sasuke, and Kiba all attempted the Tree Climbing Excercise with differing levels of success. Sakura was doing the best, she was at the stage where all she really needed to work on was maintaining the technique it seemed.
Gai-sensei was the first to speak. "Kakashi! My eternal rival! What trouble have you gotten yourself into now?" He shouted out.
Kakashi seemed to wince before pretending to be nonchalant about Gai-sensei and his greeting. "Hm? What was that Gai? I didn't quite catch that." He asked.
"Damn your cool and hip attitude, Kakashi! Just tell me who did this to you!" Cursed Gai-sensei.
"It wasn't any regular missing-nin, that's for sure. How much did the message say?" Asked Kakashi.
"Just that you ran into an issue with a Jounin Missing-nin from Kiri and needed immediate reinforcements but were otherwise continuing the mission." Frowned Gai-sensei.
"That doesn't explain everything. It was the Demon of the Bloody Mist, Momochi Zabuza." Said Kakashi.
"The former Swordsman? The one who fled after his attempted coup a few years back?" Asked Gai-sensei.
"Yeah, and he has friends. On the way in from the coast, we encountered Kiri's Demon Brothers. We managed to defeat them, though. Then we ran into Zabuza. I exhausted myself against him and we would have had him, but then another of his friends showed up. We don't know much about them, they managed to impersonate a Kiri Hunter-nin. They used a senbon to induce a death-like state in Zabuza before carting him off to a hideout. I didn't even catch the fact that they didn't chop off Zabuza's head per standard protocol for Hunter-nin because I was so exhausted." Explained Kakashi.
"So we're looking at fighting not just Momochi Zabuza but a potential Chunin? They had to be at least that good to impersonate a Hunter-nin well enough to fool you." Replied Gai-sensei.
"Plus whoever else Gato has on his payroll. Zabuza doesn't come cheap, never mind the three Chunin we encountered, but Gato has some very deep pockets. He may have more missing-nin for us to go up against yet. I heard some rumors that the Watari Brothers were headed out this way a few weeks back." Replied Kakashi.
"How Long do you think it will be before the next attack?" Asked Gai-sensei.
"Probably a week or so. We should train up our Genin while we can, because, by the end of the week, we're going to have one hell of a fight on our hands." Replied Kakashi.
"Well then, let's not waste any time." Nodded Gai-sensei.
Thus began what Tsurugi would later term the week of hell. Gai-sensei would run them ragged in Taijutsu drills every day for hours before lunch, while Kakashi would drill them on Ninjutsu in the afternoons until the sun would set. One of the Genin would always be with Tazuna, the Client during this time, though they rotated that duty. Thankfully for Tsurugi, Kakashi also had a primary lightning affinity so he started Tsurugi on the Lightning Transformation Excercise. Somehow, it seemed that Tsurugi's Samurai Training managed to lend itself well to nature manipulation, likely because it was a matter of chakra control more than power. On a whim, Kakashi had him try the exercise for Earth Release, which should have been the most difficult nature release for Tsurugi to accomplish. If Tsurugi accomplished the lightning release exercise in a single day, he accomplished earth release in three.
"Astounding, it seems that your Samurai Training means you are predisposed to being able to learn all five standard nature transformations. I can only guess that because of the nature of Samurai training and the almost constant utilization of chakra flow, that your control is good enough that you should be able to pull off what only maybe a single Shinobi every generation could accomplish utilizing the more intuitive methods of the Shinobi." Explained Kakashi.
The training was only broken up by mealtimes, sleep, and the Tazuna protection Rotation. It was during those mealtimes that Tazuna's Grandson, Inari spoke up about what he thought the chances of the Konoha Ninja defeating Gato were. As it turned out, his prediction was that everyone would wind up dead. Tsurugi wanted to slap the little brat, but his father had taught him to use proper decorum while a guest in someone else's home. Lee looked like he wanted to shout at Inari and deny everything. Sakura looked horrified, Kiba scowled, bearing his teeth at the kid, and Sasuke just grunted.
It was Neji who spoke up. "If Fate has decreed that we will die here, then so be it. I do not believe this to be the case, however. Zabuza was almost defeated by Kakashi on his own. With Gai-sensei here as well, it is unlikely that Momochi Zabuza will be able to escape from battle a second time. No, I do not believe that the fate you predicted for us will come true."
Tsurugi and Lee were just stunned enough at Neji speaking out against Fate like that that they almost missed when Inari left the dinner table in a huff. From there, Tazuna told the story of his son-in-law Kaiza, and how Gato executed him in the middle of the town. Inari apparently had not been the same since. Tsurugi could not excuse Inari's behavior though. Most of the Shinobi present had dead loved ones, Sasuke had lost his entire clan, Kakashi's father had committed suicide, Lee was an orphan, and Neji's father was killed after the Hyuga Incident. Hell, even Tsurugi himself had a dead mother. Dead loved ones were no excuse to lose all hope like that in this world.
By the end of the week, Tsurugi had managed to complete the Lightning, Water, and Earth Nature Transformation Exercises. Kakashi had also taught him the Raiton: Kaminari, the Doton: Retsudo Tensho, and the Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu. He also promised to teach him the Fire Transformation Excercise when they returned to Konoha but warned that he had no way of teaching him the Wind Transformation Excercise as even someone who had learned all the transformation exercises he could to capitalize on the large amount of Jutsu he had access to couldn't find a teacher for the Wind Exercise in Konoha that would take him. The Hokage had been too busy with administration, Sarutobi Asuma had been off protecting the Fire Daimyo as one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, and Shimura Danzo did not deign to teach students these days. Tsurugi would have to learn the Wind Excercise elsewhere.
As to the others, Lee had gone off with Gai-sensei to learn how to open the Eight Gates, a very special technique that Gai-sensei only wanted him to have for the time being, and Neji focused exclusively on Jyuuken techniques rather than learn Ninjutsu from Kakashi. By the end of the Week, it seemed like Lee was able to open the first two gates and Neji's Byakugan extended out to twice the range it had been previously and he had been able to perform the Hakke Hyaku Nijūhasshō to close every Tenketsu in the human body in rapid succession, as opposed to just the major ones like before. Of course, their Taijutsu was also improving, thanks to Gai-sensei's morning sessions.
For Team Seven, Kiba mostly went off alone into the woods to work with his Ninken, Akamaru. Tsurugi did not see the fruits of their training, as the Inuzuka would just smirk and tell him and the other members of Team Gai that it was a surprise. Sasuke was mostly working on Katon Jutsu where everyone could see him, but he would always go off to practice alone away from everyone else, so who knew what else he was working on. Of all of Team Seven, only Sakura seemingly had no problem in showing everyone else exactly what Kakashi had her working on. That may have only been because she required a partner to practice on, though, as Kakashi had her working on Genjutsu. As none of her teammates would allow her to cast Genjutsu on them, Neji's Byakugan essentially no-sold Genjutsu, and Lee could not dispel Genjutsu reliably, thanks to his inability to properly mold chakra, Tsurugi became the unfortunate victim of Sakura's practice. The Kasumi Jusha no Jutsu made the victim see copies of people or objects that weren't there, similar to the Bunshin no Jutsu, though unlike the Bunshin it did not bend light to create the clone, but utilized the principles of Genjutsu. Within the first few casts, Sakura was able to pull it off, then Kakashi encouraged her to cast it when Tsurugi wasn't expecting it as practice. Tsurugi spent the next several days dodging illusory rocks, trees, and walls before Kakashi gave Sakura something else to work on which turned out to be Suiton: Mizuame Nabara. Of course, all of Team Seven also benefited from Gai-sensei's morning taijutsu sessions as well.
By the end of the week, everyone was as trained as they were going to get. On the first day after the reprieve, six Genin and two Jounin of Konoha escorted an old bridge builder to his bridge, leaving a clone behind to watch the house. The bridge builder's daughter and grandson stayed behind. They were not needed to build or fight and so would only be a distraction. For the two Jounin, the bridge would be just one of a number of battlefields. Just the latest fight in a long career of fights. For the Genin, it would be the biggest fight of their young lives so far.
Tsurugi just hoped everyone was ready…
AN: Yeah, the Wave mission still goes to Team Seven, though without Naruto to call bullshit on Inari, the task fell to someone else. Surprisingly, it was Neji who is starting to show signs of character growth here.
He can still be an asshole, but baby steps, you know?
Leaving only a clone behind to watch the house might be a bad choice, but if the rumors about the Watari Brothers moving east are true, that's potentially another Jounin-level threat to deal with on the field. All together anyway, the Watari Brothers all have various flaws that make them weaker individually. Still, though, Kakashi and Gai thought it best to bring as much of their strength to bear at the bridge as possible.
The Watari brothers are filler villains, but honestly, sometimes you have to reach for filler, movie, or game villains to bulk out the roster of enemies. There are shockingly few missing-nin without them.
Interlude: Zabuza
Momochi Zabuza had seen better days. First, those Twin Chunin manage to get themselves captured by a bunch of brats, then he gets cornered by fucking Hatake Kakashi and forced to fight the legendary copy-nin. He would have had the Konoha-nin too, but one of the damned brats had managed to distract him in time for Kakashi to break out of his water prison. Then he was forced to rely on Haku putting him into a death-like state to get away, from which he was currently recovering. All in all, they had lost two Shinobi, even if the Demon Brothers were more cannon fodder than actual help, and inflicted no losses on the enemy. About the only good thing to come out of that debacle was that Kakashi had been similarly incapacitated, which meant that Zabuza had the week he needed to rest up and shake off the after-effects of his bout with the Copy-nin.
Of course, then Gato had just had to rub his nose in his failure. The damned Midget had come around to badger him and let him know about his newest co-workers. Apparently, the Midget didn't think that Zabuza and Haku would be able to kill Kakashi and their target on their own and had hired another group of missing-nin. The Watari Ninja weren't exactly well known in this part of the Elemental Nations. They weren't village ninja that had gone rogue like most missing-nin but were a wandering family of mercenary ninja. Only a few Ninja and Rogue Clans still did that these days. For the majority of Shinobi, that way of life had died along with the Warring Clans Era. It implied that either the Watari Ninja were really tough, or that they were undertrained idiots who had just gotten lucky. There was no in-between with those types. Some, like the Fuuma clan of the Land of Rice Paddies, had eked out a fiefdom all to themselves for a time, at least until that new Village was founded there and they were forced to either join up or be drowned in numbers. Those kinds of mercenary ninja were to be respected. Others, however, like the Ryudoin Brothers had only what training they could get from their father and thus were inferior to village ninja in every respect.
As it turned out, the Watari were a mix of the two extremes. The middle brother, Watari Nagare was an extremely dangerous Shinobi who had invented a technique that allowed him to take on the properties of any object he touched and even utilize said object to mimic other ninjutsu. He had seen the man demonstrate his technique on a rock and utilize rocks to mimic Suiton: Mizurappa. The Youngest brother, Watari Hokushin was an extremely capable swordsman and as proficient in the art of silent killing as if he'd been trained in Kiri. The Eldest brother, Watari Hoki, was a decent swordsman but was very proficient with a number of Suiton ninjutsu.
The problem was that they all had some pretty big flaws. Hoki was too reliant on cheap tricks to try and mimic other elemental ninjutsu and surprise opponents. When they inevitably saw through his cheap tricks, he really only had Suiton to fall back on. It didn't help that Hoki liked to base the majority of his plans around said tricks and other deceptions. Hokushin was gullible, to the point where the man could be relatively easily bluffed in the middle of combat by something as simple as a Kawarimi, allowing targets and opponents to escape and plan ways to come at him again. Nagare was a bit of a coward, preferring to fight himself only when it was absolutely necessary and otherwise sitting in stealth and letting clones or his brothers do the fighting for him. If his hiding spot was discovered, it was fifty-fifty whether he would stay and fight or not.
Honestly, it was a wonder the three of them had lived as long as they had and had the success rate that they did. That was likely down to their teamwork. Hokushin knew just how to motivate Nagare to fight when discovered, and Hoki's penchant for deception let him keep Hokushin on target when he was given the slip. Together, Zabuza would put them up against a Shinobi of Kakashi's caliber and give even odds of victory. Separately? Not a chance. And of course, it was no longer just Kakashi and his brats that they had to deal with. Word had come down from the mercenaries that Gato had watching the Bridge Builder's house that they'd been reinforced by another Jounin and his team.
Thankfully, the Watari would have Zabuza and Haku fighting alongside them to even the odds. Zabuza figured he could take Kakashi and the Watari trio could take the other Jounin. He didn't know whether Haku could take six Genin on his own, though he figured that he might be able to do so in the right circumstances, depending on how well these new brats had been trained. Zabuza knew that Gato kept a pair of Ronin on retainer that had been at least trained in the basics of the Samurai Arts. He didn't think they'd be capable of going up against more than two of those Genin. They weren't exactly Samurai of Iron, after all, but he might be forced to use them to even the numbers. Maybe if they attacked the bridge builder's house and took that daughter of his hostage, they'd be able to draw off enough of the brats for Haku to finish the remaining ones and join Zabuza against Kakashi? By the time the other brats got done with those wannabes, it was possible that the odds would be too stacked against them to pull out a win.
As Zabuza pondered his options, Haku returned from gathering the last batch of herbs he would need to get back into fighting trim in time for tomorrow's dust-up.
"Zabuza-sama, look who I found." Intoned Haku.
Zabuza turned to face the door from where he was sitting up in bed and he saw that the two Idiot Chunin that he'd given up on had managed to escape. "Well, what happened to you two?" He Questioned as the Demon Brothers entered.
"Those two Ronin that Gato keeps around managed to spring us." Answered Gozu.
"Guess they were good for something after all." Grinned Mezu.
"That doesn't matter. You two morons are going to redeem your failures from the other day. You and Haku are going to take on six Konoha Genin tomorrow. The Watari trio and I are going to have our hands full with a pair of Jounin so you'll need to do better than that piss-poor showing from earlier." Growled Zabuza.
"S-sure thing, Captain." Stammered Gozu.
"Yeah, just point us at those brats from earlier and we'll shred 'em." Blustered Mezu.
"I will not fail you, Zabuza-sama. I do not know if we can say the same for those two or the Watari." Affirmed Haku.
Zabuza regarded his ad-hoc force. He nodded and said, "Good enough. It'll have to do."
Then Haku began to prepare fresh bandages with the herbs he had gathered and wrapped Zabuza in them. The herbs were local variants of the kind found in Kiri's Soldier Pill recipe. The makeshift poultices not only helped heal Zabuza's wounds but restored his chakra as well. He could literally feel them working and knew that by tomorrow, he'd be ready for action. One way or another, someone was going to die tomorrow.
Zabuza couldn't wait…
AN: Yeah, so since Gato's two Ronin Bodyguards had to go across the strait to the mainland to spring the Demon Brothers from their temporary holding cell in Degarashi Port, they aren't going to be available to lead Gato's mercenaries in an attack on Tazuna's house. Kakashi caught a lucky break there since his clone should be able to handle any non-chakra users by itself.
Everything is set for a climactic showdown at the bridge.
Coming up soon, stay tuned…
Chapter 8
The first thing that Tsurugi noticed when they arrived at the Bridge was that the construction site was abandoned. Tools lay scattered about and building materials were askew on pallets as if the workers had left in a big hurry. The second thing that he noticed was all the mist. An unseasonable cloud of mist hung over a large section of the bridge, shrouding much of the prospective battlefield from sight. From his sight anyway, Neji was ready to engage his Byakugan to see through the mist at Gai-sensei's command. With a nod, Gai-sensei allowed Neji to do so and the veins in his face bulged as he engaged his Doujutsu.
"Five enemies, one has a giant cleaver of a sword, one has a standard Katana, one is a slender boy, not much older than I, one is hanging back, and one is a clone of some description. I can't tell what kind." Said Neji.
"Let's get rid of this mist first." Said Gai-sensei.
Kakashi nodded and performed a series of hand seals so quickly that Tsurugi could only make out the Tiger at the start and Snake at the end, before exhaling a great gust of wind. Kakashi's Futon: Daitoppa was powerful, wind-release exercise or no wind-release exercise. In moments the entire bridge had been denuded of mist. "You're going to have to try something else, Zabuza-san. I won't be taken in by the same trick twice." Called out Kakashi.
The large man with the meat cleaver sword grunted and said, "Spoil all my fun, why don't you."
The three other adult ninja stepped forwards and the one in the back with the odd face paint scowled and said, "Hatake Kakashi? Maito Gai? Gato didn't say anything about two A-rank Jounin. We're not getting paid enough for this."
"Then I guess you'll just have to take the difference from their bounties, then won't you?" Grumbled Zabuza.
"Zabuza-san, who are your friends?" Asked Kakashi.
"We are the Watari Brothers! Mercenary Ninja feared throughout the Lands of Claws and Vegetables! Hoki, Hokushin, and Nagare!" Called the one in face paint, Hoki.
"Ah, I thought I heard about you, didn't you recently hold up the Daimyo of the Land of Birds or something? I heard he put a bounty on your heads." Said Kakashi.
"Really? How much are we worth?" Asked the Katana-wielding Watari, Hokushin.
"Fifteen Million Ryo." Said Kakashi.
"Each?" Asked the Watari brother that was currently a clone, Nagare.
"Together." Said Kakashi.
"What? That's insane! We should be at least three times that!" Scowled Hoki.
"I guess, you're just not that great at being mercenaries." Replied Kakashi, blithely.
"Enough of the banter. Let's get down to business already." Cut in Zabuza.
"Oh? So eager to fight, Zabuza-san? You're still outnumbered." Called Kakashi.
"Hmph, my apprentice should be more than enough to play with your Brats while the adults do their thing." Growled out Zabuza.
"We'll take Maito Gai, I heard he only uses Taijutsu." Said Watari Hoki.
And with that the fight began, Ninja, splitting up into three distinct groups. Kakashi blurred into a Shunshin and entered combat with Zabuza with a flash of steel coming out of the technique. Zabuza, expert swordsman that he was, parried the flash of Kakashi's thrusting Kunai with the flat of his blade and the pair of them began to fight. Gai-sensei leaped into battle with the three Watari Ninja, aiming to dispel the clone first with a Dynamic Entry, only for the clone to run through a non-standard set of hand seals and place his hand on the granite of the bridge. When Gai-sensei's foot met the Clone, it was like kicking a slab of solid granite, which lent the Clone enough survivability to not dispel after being struck in the chest by Gai-sensei. Before he could follow up though, the flash of the second Watari Brother's Katana pressed him backward into a dodge. His fight continued like that, with the clone playing the role of meatshield, the katana-wielder striking out with his blade, and the face-painted brother supporting with Suiton ninjutsu from afar.
Meanwhile, the masked form of Zabuza's Apprentice stalked forwards toward the assembled Genin. "I am truly sorry that we must fight, but for Zabuza-sama's ambitions to be realized, he must have the funds that Gato promised him for this mission."
Zabuza's Apprentice blurred into motion so fast that none of Kakashi's genin could so much as react. Had they been alone, they would almost certainly have failed to defeat him. However, Gai-sensei had trained his students to be just as fast, if not faster than the masked shinobi. Lee blurred into motion and parried an outthrust senbon that the masked Shinobi had aimed at Sasuke's chest away from the pressure point it was going for. Meanwhile, Tsurugi and Neji moved to flank, leaving Kiba, Sasuke, and Sakura behind to guard Tazuna. Before Kiba or Sasuke could protest being left behind with Sakura, however, a pair of chains lashed out from over either side of the bridge, forcing Kiba and Sasuke to leap forwards to not be caught in the razored length of the chain.
"Thought you'd seen the last of us, eh?" Grinned Gozu.
"Too bad, we're back for round two!" Shouted Mezu, as the Demon brothers began their coordinated assault on Team Seven once again. This time, they changed up their movement patterns every so often so that Sasuke would not be able to discern a pattern in their attacks and use that to get a hit in. They were also moving fast enough that Kiba couldn't really feed Akamaru the pill he needed for the Jūjin Bunshin without taking his eyes off the enemy. As Sasuke and Kiba were put on the back foot by the demon brothers, Sakura backed away from the fighting, keeping herself between Tazuna and the battles on the bridge.
"Don't worry, Tazuna-san, I'll keep you safe." She assured the old man.
It was right after she said this, however, that something unexpected happened. A set of mirrors made of Ice appeared as if out of thin air, trapping the Genin of Team Gai in a globe of mirrored ice and further separating the Konoha force from each other. Sakura couldn't see inside the dome and could only hope that whatever was happening in there would be something that Team Gai could handle. In the meanwhile, the Demon brothers were still keeping up their relentless combined assault on her teammates. She didn't know much about the twins from Kiri, but she knew they had been Chunin, and would thus likely have more stamina than her teammates. It would all come down to who would make the first mistake.
She hoped it wouldn't be Team Seven…
Kakashi and Zabuza fought all along the bridge. Zabuza was using a combination of water clones and Suiton Ninjutsu to keep Kakashi distracted while he tried to seize any openings that Kakashi would give him. Meanwhile, Kakashi was using Doton ninjutsu to tank the Suiton attacks and Raiton ninjutsu to dispel the clones. Both Shinobi were utilizing large amounts of Chakra, hoping to tire each other out enough to create an opening, Zabuza for his sword, and Kakashi for his Chidori, or if he was out of Chakra when it happened, a well-placed Kunai. Thus far the pair were at something of a stalemate. If Zabuza was able to draw him down into the water it would probably be a different story, but Kakashi wasn't going to play his game and refused to come down off the side of the bridge when the battle got anywhere close to the waterline.
A Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu came flying out at Kakashi from one of Zabuza's water clones and Kakashi ran through the hand seals for Doton: Doryuheki. A slab of granite from the bridge rose up to block the stream of water and Kakashi sent out a Raiton: Kaminari in response, the arc of lightning spearing through the water clone and causing it to dissolve. Another clone carved through the wall with his blade, but Kakashi was already moving away from his momentary cover and firing another bolt of lightning at the clone as he moved. This clone too was pierced through and dissolved into globs of water, only for those globs to coalesce before they even hit the floor into a jetting stream of water aimed at spearing into Kakashi. Kakashi dodged aside from the incoming Suidan no Jutsu and used parts of his crumbled earth wall to form the basis for a Doton: Tobi Tsubute. The rocks flew at Zabuza in a flying landslide and crushed into the former Kiri-nin, only for that Zabuza to dissolve as well.
"Tch, another clone." Grunted Kakashi. He had been sure that had been the real Zabuza.
There was nothing for it, he was going to have to use his Sharingan. That wasn't ideal because this fight was proving to be a chakra hog already, adding the Sharingan to the mix would only further drain his reserves. In a battle of attrition against someone like Zabuza, the extra draw could prove fatal. He had no choice though, he was surrounded by Zabuza's Element and if he was going to put his opponent down, he couldn't afford to waste more chakra on dispelling clones. Reaching up to his covered eye, Kakashi pulled aside the hitai-ate he kept covering over Obito's Gift. His Sharingan uncovered, he began to use it to scan for the former Swordsman.
There! He found him hiding in a pool of water that had collected in a shallow ditch that had been gouged out of the bridge by their fight. Kakashi ran through a series of hand seals and the air was filled with the sound of a thousand chirping birds as his Chidori formed in his left hand. With the amount of Chakra he'd wasted on this hog of a battle already, he would only get maybe a pair of shots at this, and he was certain that the first one wouldn't work against someone of Zabuza's Caliber. Best to make them count. His first shot was a ranged variant meant to force Zabuza out of his hiding spot. The lightning cutter streaked forwards from Kakashi's outstretched hand toward the pool and pierced into Zabuza's hiding spot, only for Zabuza to be replaced by a log, having used a Kawarimi to avoid the attack. Kakashi was already streaking forwards towards Zabuza though, another Chidori ready and arcing for Zabuza's chest. The former swordsman himself was flowing into an attack with his blade, swinging for Kakashi's neck.
In an instant, the Chidori and blade met. There was resistance, just for a moment, before the lightning cutter tore through the legendary sword, taking much of the length of the blade off and plunging into Zabuza's Chest. In turn, the shortened blade stopped short less than an inch from Kakashi's throat.
"Huh. Didn't see that coming…" Grunted Zabuza, before the blood welled up in his mouth and he dropped to the stone of the bridge and breathed his last.
Kakashi, utterly drained from the brief but intense fight, simply breathed out a sigh of relief.
His fight was over…
At the same time as Kakashi was fighting Zabuza, Gai was fending off the combined assault of the Watari Ninja. Separately he could have defeated them easily without even needing to take off his weights. Together? Well, they were each Jounin Caliber, if only just by the standards of the minor villages who did not have the Rank of Tokubetsu Jounin like the main five. He had discarded his weights just keeping up with their combined assault. He knew that he could easily trounce them if he pulled out any of his special techniques. Even just opening the first gate would give him enough power to annihilate them. However, he was keeping that in reserve for one reason. He had not yet pinpointed the hiding spot of the Large Watari Brother who was fighting with clones of an unknown make. There was no sense in doing so until he had found him.
As he dodged the blade of the swordsman, he reflected that his technique was quite good, possibly a rival to the second-greatest swordsman in Konoha, Gekko Hayate. To compound the issue, the swordsman was able to use the Meisagakure no Jutsu to fade out of view and spring surprise attacks on Gai from hiding. If he were a less elite ninja, he might have taken a cut or two from that by now. Unfortunately for his opponents, he was one of Konoha's Elite. He had tagged the sword-wielding Watari brother a few times now, usually whenever he had almost been caught by a surprise attack. Of course, he had yet to be caught by an attack from the Watari trio.
As he dodged back beyond the range of that brother's sword, he was forced to continue dodging as a great vortex of water came crashing down on him from over the side of the bridge and barreling through part of the construction site. The Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu never touched Gai, but it did represent a ratcheting up of the intensity of the fight. Thus far, the Suiton ninjutsu that the face paint Watari brother had been throwing at him had been surgical attacks, Suidan no Jutsu, and similar techniques. The Daibakufu no Jutsu was an area attack and a quite powerful one at that. If they were getting that impatient to deal with him, Gai would need to take the offensive soon, before they got desperate enough to try something that would destroy this section of the bridge beyond repair.
It was just after the great waterfall hit that Gai got his chance, he noticed that the mist in the air didn't cling to one of the stacks of wood the way it normally would. Almost as if the wood wasn't wood and was in fact a person using Henge no Jutsu to look like a stack of wood. Certain that he had found the clone user's hiding spot, Gai concentrated for a moment, and with an effort of will, unlocked the first gate. With the Kaimon Open, and power flooding through Gai's Body, he disappeared from the view of most observers and crashed into the supposed stack of wood with a blazing kick. A cloud of smoke signaled the dispelling of a Henge no Jutsu and the clone user staggered backward, cracks spiderwebbing throughout his torso. He had clearly used whatever technique his clones had used to give him the added durability of granite, but now that Gai was no longer taking this fight easy, it would not be enough. A flurry of punches almost too fast to see were hammered into the clone user's torso and those cracks spiderwebbed until the technique could no longer sustain the damage and was forcibly ended. One final punch pulverized the clone user's ribcage and sent him flying off the side of the bridge.
"Nagare!" Shouted the sword wielder, abandoning the cover of his Meisagakure no Jutsu to rush at Gai, sword blazing with Chakra.
"Hokushin! Wait!" Called out the Face Paint Watari, but it was too late.
Gai leaped over the Chakra-infused sword of the swordsman and landed a falling elbow right on the top of the swordsman's head. Elbow met skull and skull gave, causing the sword wielder's eyes to roll up in the back of his head and blood to come out of his nose and ears as his crushed skull impacted his brain. Gai had no more time to spare on fallen opponents and was already rushing the last Watari brother.
"Damn you!" Cried the Face Paint Watari as he went through a series of hand seals.
A Dragon made of water roared up from behind the Face Paint Watari and flew through the air toward Gai. Gai concentrated once more and as he rushed to meet the dragon conjured by the Suiryudan no Jutsu, opened the second gate. With the Kyumon now open, Gai's fist met the Water Dragon and blew through it, scattering its corpse into droplets that made it look like it was raining. In moments, it was all over, Gai's fist buried into the chest of the last remaining Watari brother, stopping his heart.
"M-monster…" Muttered Watari Hoki as the life left him.
Gai let his hold on the gates go and felt a wave of exhaustion come over him. It wasn't as bad as if he'd opened any of the gates from the Shomon onwards, but it was still enough that he probably wouldn't be fighting again until he'd had a short rest. He looked at the corpses of the three Watari Brothers and frowned. They had been skilled enough for non-village ninja. They were probably on par with the upper echelons of minor village ninja come to that. But they just weren't on the same level as an elite from any of the big five. Let alone Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast.
"This was a bad match-up for you. You knew that and you fought anyway. I will honor your dedication." Said Gai, nodding to himself.
Then he turned to see how his students were faring…
As it turned out, when inside the mirrors, Zabuza's apprentice was quite fast, enough so that Lee had to shuck his weights in order to keep up. Neji could only really keep up with the aid of his Juuken techniques, which allowed him to move faster than he normally would be able to in order to deliver multiple pinpoint strikes at a time. Tsurugi could barely keep up at all and had been forced into the unfamiliar position of ranged support with Raiton: Kaminari no Jutsu, the lightning the only attack in his repertoire that was capable of even scoring a glancing blow on Zabuza's Apprentice.
Fortunately for him, the masked boy seemed to attack almost exclusively with Senbon for some reason, which Tsurugi's armor did a more than adequate job of blocking. If the boy ever aimed for the eyes, it might be a different story, but he only ever seemed to try to aim for center mass or the thighs and shoulders, all areas which his armor covered. Lee of course was able to dodge the senbon now that his weights were off and was moving as fast as the masked boy. The problem was that whenever Lee got close to hitting his opponent, the masked boy would retreat into one of his mirrors and Lee would wind up striking mirrored ice instead of flesh. The mirrors could not be destroyed, not by cutting, smashing, or even lightning. They had tried, though it had taken Neji only a few moments to figure out what was going on after Lee had failed to tag their foe the first few times.
"He's not actually going into the mirrors, he's bouncing off them to increase his speed. We need to find a way to destroy the mirrors." Said Neji, dodging a pair of senbon aiming for his shoulders.
"I think I've got one thing we haven't tried yet." Said Tsurugi as a senbon skipped off of his tassets.
"Whatever you are thinking of doing, do it quick, Tsurugi-Kun!" Called out Lee, once more failing to hit their foe as he bounced off a mirror yet again.
Tsurugi headed over to one of the mirrors and went through the hand seals for Doton: Retsudo Tensho. The technique used Earth Chakra to create fissures in the ground, but Tsurugi theorized that it might work on most solid surfaces. And since Earth Release was strong against Water Release, it was worth a shot to try it on the Ice Mirrors. He slammed his hands against one of the mirrors and slowly, cracks began to form on its surface until it shattered into pieces.
"No! I cannot let you escape!" Cried out the masked boy, as he threw a handful of senbon at Tsurugi, aiming for his legs. Tsurugi jumped up, avoiding the needles, if only barely.
"Neji! I've got something that works!" He called.
"Good, stay alert, I'll tell you when and where to strike! Lee! Keep him occupied!" Called Neji.
"Yosh!" Replied Lee.
As the three of them fought the masked boy, Neji's Byakugan worked furiously as he tried to discern patterns in their opponent's fighting style. Every time he picked up on a pattern of movement, he would direct Tsurugi to use Doton: Retsudo Tensho on a mirror. Every time that mirror broke, the masked boy would have to divert course to another mirror as the one he had been heading towards shattered. Every time he did that, it slowed him down enough for Lee to land a blow. They repeated the strategy multiple times, and with every shattered mirror, and every blow that Lee landed on the masked boy, Team Gai inched closer to victory. After the eighth such repetition, enough mirrors had been shattered that Zabuza's Apprentice could no longer use the complex strategy of bouncing from mirror to mirror to win the fight.
"I will not lose! I cannot fail Zabuza-sama!" Shouted the Masked Boy as he went through a series of hand seals.
Immediately all the shattered mirror pieces coalesced into a dragon of Ice. "I did not want to do this, but if need be, I will kill my heart for Zabuza-sama's ambition!" Shouted the Masked Boy.
The Ice Dragon shot forwards toward Lee, the only member of Team Gai thus far to land a hit on the boy. Lee frowned at this and said, "Gai-sensei I'm going to have to use it! I'm sorry!"
With an effort of will, Lee opened the first Gate. As the power flooded his body, he surged forwards toward the Ice Dragon. His fists struck out with the impact of a thunderclap as he struck blow after blow into the construct of ice, always dancing just ahead of it, skipping to the side to pummel blows into the technique. With each blow, chunks tore out of the dragon, and cracks spiderwebbed through its crystalline structure. Eventually, the final blow was struck, a looping axe kick came down on the dragon's head and the construct created by the technique shattered into thousands of tiny shards of ice.
Shocked at the destruction of his technique, slowed by the hits he had taken and the exertion of controlling the dragon of ice, Zabuza's Apprentice was unable to get out of the way of Neji as he unleashed the Hakke Hyaku Nijūhasshō on him. One by one, Neji sealed off each of the Masked Boy's tenketsu, rendering him unable to utilize chakra at all. Still, the boy refused to quit fighting, he pulled a kunai from a pouch on his hip and tried to clumsily stab Neji, even though he could barely stand. Neji lazily stepped backward avoiding the attack.
"What do you think you will accomplish like this? Fate has spoken, you lost." Intoned Neji.
"I cannot fail Zabuza-sama!" Insisted the Masked Boy, once again swiping at Neji with the Kunai.
Once again Neji backed away, frowning. "You should surrender now before we are forced to kill you." Snapped Neji.
Of course, it was at that point that Tsurugi planted his fist in the back of Zabuza's Apprentice's head, knocking the masked boy unconscious. "I couldn't in good conscience let him continue to make an ass of himself like that." Grunted Tsurugi.
The three boys turned to look at the others and see how their fights were doing. Lee was exhausted, barely able to stand, and forced to lean on Tsurugi for support. The effort of opening the first gate in combat conditions for the first time had drained him utterly. Tsurugi was still able to fight if need be, as was Neji, but as they turned to look at what was going on around them, they didn't think they would have to.
Everyone seemed to have things well in hand and only Kiba and Sasuke were still fighting…
Kiba and Sasuke had their backs to the wall. The demon brothers weren't slowing down as much as the pair of them were, and they knew it was only a matter of time before one of them made a mistake. When that happened, it was a slippery slope from there to losing the fight. They'd been playing cat and mouse with the demon brothers for too long already and if they didn't go on the offense soon, they were going to lose. Kiba hadn't even been able to use any of his clan techniques, as he hadn't been able to feed Akamaru his special pill without taking his eye off the enemy. It was annoying since he'd pretty much solely focused on training Clan Techniques he could use in combination with Akamaru. Sasuke meanwhile wasn't doing much better, sure the Uchiha had fired off a Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu every now and again, but he was rarely able to do so, and after almost getting caught the first time, the Demon Brothers had taken to using Suiton ninjutsu to extinguish the great fireballs whenever Sasuke shot one at them. Something had to give.
As it turned out, what gave was Sasuke. The Uchiha had jumped away from the bladed chain only for the Demon Brothers to change up their attack pattern yet again in the middle of his jump. In mid-air, he'd been unable to fully dodge the incoming claw attack from Gozu, though he had been able to spin enough to turn what would have been a fatal blow into a graze across his stomach. Sasuke landed in a heap in the middle of the bridge, pushing himself to his hands and knees and sucking in lungfuls of air. Unfortunately, Mezu seemed intent on finishing what Gozu started, rushing in with his claws to rip into the Uchiha.
Fortunately for Sasuke, the Demon Brothers' moment of focus on him had allowed Kiba to finally feed Akamaru his pill. With a puff of smoke, Akamaru took the shape of Kiba and the pair of them blurred into a whirling tornado before spiraling off toward each Demon Brother. The Gatsūga technique smashed into Gozu and Mezu and knocked the pair flying away from Sasuke before either of them could finish the Uchiha off.
"Damnit Sasuke! Use the Kawarimi next time!" Scowled Kiba.
"About time you joined the fight, Mutt." Muttered Sasuke, standing.
"What happened to your eyes?" Asked Kiba.
"What do you mean?" Asked Sasuke, looking at Kiba through a pair of red eyes with a single tomoe set in them around the pupils.
"They're red and have weird shapes in them! Is that what the Sharingan looks like? It's fucking creepy!" Grumbled Kiba.
Sasuke frowned as he really looked at everything for the first time since he got up. He could see… everything. Individual grains of dust floating in the air, minute twitches in Kiba's body language, the individual hairs on his teammate's head. He could even tell which of the two Kibas was Akamaru just through sight alone. Sasuke grinned at this revelation.
"You know what, Mutt? Now I think we can actually win this thing." He said.
Then he paused and said, "Wait, you've never seen a Sharingan before?"
"By the time I was let out of the grounds enough to do so, your clan insisted on keeping themselves cooped up in your compound most of the time, and since I wasn't a criminal I never had the opportunity to meet one of the damned military police. Why?" Asked Kiba.
"Nevermind." Grumbled Sasuke.
It was at that point that the Demon Brothers made a reappearance. "Lucky shot Brat!" Growled Gozu.
"We won't be caught like that again!" Snarled Mezu.
As the pair continued their attack from earlier, they found themselves stymied. Now that Kiba and Akamaru were free to unleash their clan techniques, and Sasuke had his Sharingan, it was child's play for them to fight back. Where before they could do nothing but dodge the Demon Brother's attacks, now they were quite capable of slipping in blows of their own. Kiba and Akamaru blurred into a Gatsūga, twin points aimed directly at the razor chain that Gozu and Mezu snaked between them. Chakra-infused claws met with Kiri steel and the steel was the one that gave. The chain snapped in two, the recoil of it shaking the Demon Brothers out of their attack sequence. Sasuke capitalized on this, slamming a jump kick into Gozu before using his face as a springboard and flipping into the air. While in mid-air, he ran through the hand seals for another Great Fireball and the Katon technique slammed into Mezu, cooking the former Kiri-nin inside his gear.
"Mezu!" Shouted Gozu as he rushed towards Sasuke, intent on gutting the brat who had fried his brother.
He didn't reach the Uchiha, as another Gatsūga from Kiba and Akamaru slammed into either side of him, crushing him between them. Gozu fell to the bridge in a boneless heap, out of the fight for good. Shortly afterward, Akamaru transformed back into his normal, white, puppy form and Kiba scooped him up and placed him inside his hoodie. Akamaru was soon fast asleep and Kiba would be doing no more combination techniques for the foreseeable future. He walked up to Sasuke and the Uchiha regarded his teammate with a careful eye.
"Not bad, Mutt. Not bad." Said Sasuke with a nod.
Kiba just snorted and said, "Don't get all cocky on me just cause you've gotten your fancy new eyes."
Sasuke just grunted and said, "Whatever, Mutt."
Sakura was relieved to see that everyone had made it through their fights and that nobody was seriously hurt. Sasuke-Kun would have a few scars, but she would be there to nurse him back to health. Besides, scars were sexy sometimes. She reached into her equipment pouch and pulled out a roll of bandages and some wound treatment ointment. She was fairly good at first aid, and now was her time to shine! Ino-pig could only dream of being the one to soothe Sasuke-kun's wounds like she was about to be!
"Sasuke-Kun, let me help you with those cuts!" She called out, heading over towards her Uchiha teammate. Tazuna-san trailing behind her, forgotten.
"What's this? Are those Konoha-nin I see standing there? What the hell did I pay Zabuza and those Watari assholes for? They didn't even do the job I initially paid them for! Useless!" Came a mocking voice from down towards the landward side of the Bridge.
Sakura turned from her precious Sasuke-Kun to see a small man in an expensive suit standing at the head of an army of armed thugs. He was looking disdainfully at the Konoha-nin, all except for Sakura, who he seemed to be leering at like some kind of pervert. The army behind him was a motley collection of thugs and mercenaries, with all kinds of weapons and various makes of armor. All of them seemed to be on the rowdier side, more like bandits than soldiers.
"Well, I suppose you don't send a Ninja to do a man's job. All that skulking about in the shadows doesn't count for shit in open battle. Ah, well. Not like I was gonna pay up anyway." Sneered the small man.
The Small man turned to his thugs and said, "Kill the Male Ninja and the Bridge Builder but leave the girl alive. I know some folks who'd pay top dollar for a Kunoichi Slave."
With that, a cheer went up from the assembled mercenaries as they moved forward intent on killing everyone. Sakura froze, they were going to kill her friends and do unspeakable things to her! This wasn't what she signed on to be a ninja for! Then Sasuke and Tsurugi stepped in front of her and placed themselves between her and the Mercenaries.
"This shouldn't take long. It's only untrained mercenaries." Said Tsurugi.
Sasuke just grunted and said, "No need for more than two of us to handle them."
"I'll take the twenty on the right, you take the twenty on the left." Nodded Tsurugi.
The next few minutes were a blur to Sakura, interspersed with bolts of lightning, blasts of fire, and the clang of steel on steel. The mercenaries never had a chance against trained shinobi that could use chakra. Even drained from fighting other ninja, Sasuke and Tsurugi had plenty left in the tank for mercenaries. These weren't even particularly skilled ones either, more armed thugs than disciplined soldiers. Soon much of the army was dead or dying and what wasn't had been put to flight. The small man in the suit had been the last to die. He had tried to bribe his way out of his predicament, but neither Sasuke nor Tsurugi were inclined to let him weasel out of it. Tsurugi ended Gato's stranglehold over the Land of Waves with a single stroke of his sword.
Ironically, as the assembled shinobi made their way back to Tazuna's house to rest up, they found that the stragglers of Gato's hired army had been captured and tied up by an ad-hoc militia led by none other than Tazuna's grandson Inari, who was carrying a large crossbow that looked comically oversized in his tiny arms. When questioned about his change of heart, Inari could only say, "You spoke so well about defying fate, I thought I'd try it out myself!"
The Shinobi rested up for the next few days as work on the Bridge Finished up. The first day had been spent just repairing the damage that had been done by the fighting, but with Gato dead and his stranglehold over Wave gone, everyone in Wave was willing to put forth the effort to see the project done. Even the Daimyo, who had been just another puppet of Gato's until recently, was willing to put forth men and resources to finish construction. Soon enough the bridge was finished and the Konoha group could leave the Land of Waves and head back to Konohagakure, this time over the newly named Kaiza Bridge. This time, however, they had a prisoner in tow. Zabuza's Apprentice, who they had learned was named Haku, had submitted to the Hokage's Judgement now that his Master was dead. The boy seemed aimless, wanting for purpose. He hoped to find it in Konoha.
When the group arrived in Konoha and reported back to the Hokage, Haku was led away by the Anbu. They were all paid one million Ryo for an A-rank mission of the highest caliber, along with splitting the bounties for Momochi Zabuza, the Watari Brothers, and the Demon Brothers. In total that was sixty million Ryo worth of bounty money, mostly from Zabuza and the Watari Brothers, but the Demon Brothers had a five million Ryo bounty all on their own. Of course, Kakashi and Gai took the Lion's share and Konoha took a fifteen percent cut of any bounty, which left only six million Ryo for the six genin to share between them. They divided it equally, one million Ryo apiece. Most of them wouldn't need the money, but two million Ryo was more than Sakura and Lee had ever seen in one place in their entire lives. Team Gai also got paid seventy-five thousand Ryo on top for the C-rank mission they had been on their way back from when the messenger bird had reached them.
The teams split apart after reporting to the Hokage, with Team Seven going one way and Team Gai another. Soon after that, Gai-sensei dismissed his team with a reminder to meet back up for training tomorrow morning. Tsurugi was excited, he couldn't wait to tell everyone about what had happened while he was away. He was pretty certain that Ino was gonna go ballistic again when she heard that he'd been on another high-level mission.
It was as he was walking past Ichiraiku Ramen that he noticed a familiar head of Blonde Hair. He entered the stand to find Naruto working his way through his third bowl of Chashu Ramen, his teammates, Hyuga Hinata and Aburame Shino sitting down next to him while a woman in a Jounin flak jacket with red eyes and covered in bandages sat on the other side of Naruto.
"Hey, Naruto. Long time no see." Grinned Tsurugi.
"Tsurugi! When did you get back? I thought you'd only be gone a few days and it's been two and a half weeks!" Accused Naruto.
"We got called away on an emergency A-rank mission." Replied Tsurugi.
"You're shitting me! Really?" Asked Naruto.
"Would I lie to you?" Grinned Tsurugi.
"Damnit, how come you guys get all the cool missions? First, it's that thing with the Wannabe Samurai, now it's a super awesome A-rank? When's it gonna be my turn, Dattebayo?" Complained Naruto.
"Naruto, don't be rude. Introduce us to your friend." Admonished the Jounin Woman.
"Ah, right. Kurenai-sensei, this is Uesugi Tsurugi, he's the first person other than Jiji who wanted to be my friend. Tsurugi, this is Kurenai-sensei." Said Naruto.
"Pleased to meet you, Tsurugi-Kun." Smiled the Woman.
"Likewise." Replied Tsurugi.
"And you remember Shino and Hinata-chan from the Academy, right Tsurugi?" Continued Naruto.
"Shino, bugs still healthy?" Asked Tsurugi.
"My Colony is thriving, why? Because I take good care of it." Replied Shino.
"Still doing that, huh?" Chuckled Tsurugi.
"Hello, Tsurugi-Kun. Neji-nii mentions you often." Said Hinata, shyly.
"Hey, Hinata, right? We never really spoke much at the Academy. Neji mentions me? Nothing bad I hope?" Asked Tsurugi.
"I would not know. He does not speak to me much… I-I hear things through the rumor mill." Stammered Hinata, sadly.
Tsurugi got the feeling that Neji had some strained relations with his cousin. He never really spoke up about what life was like at the Hyuga compound all that much. Whatever was going on, though it wasn't any of Tsurugi's business unless it seriously started to affect the team dynamic, so he was going to keep his mouth shut.
The pause in conversation stretched just a moment too long and Kurenai decided to break the tension. "So, Tsurugi-Kun, you said you were called away on an A-rank mission? Tell us about it if it isn't classified." She said.
"Oh, yeah, so you'll never guess what happened! Sasuke and Kiba got themselves into hot water and had to call in Team Gai to bail them out!" Began Tsurugi, as he launched into the story of what had gone down in Wave. Team Eight listened intently to the conversation, with Naruto grinning like a maniac every time mention was made of Kiba doing something stupid or Sasuke getting in over his head. By the end, everyone was listening enraptured. Tsurugi figured that if this Ninja thing didn't pan out, he could always go into business as a novelist. He seemed to be pretty good at telling stories.
"That's such bullshit! Our last mission outside the village was literally just pulling weeds!" Complained Naruto.
"It was more than just that, Naruto. Those Daimato roots will be put to good use in medicines for wounded Shinobi." Admonished Kurenai.
"It was still pulling plants up by the roots! Just once I wish we could actually fight some other ninja!" Complained Naruto.
"Be careful what you wish for Naruto-san, you just might get it, why? Because the Chunin Exams are coming up in three months. How do I know this? Because my father mentioned it." Said Shino.
"A-ano, will we be entering though? I was led to believe that the Chunin exams were for more senior Genin." Cut in Hinata, nervously.
"Well, I can't say whether I'll enter you yet or not, but I will say that Lord Hiashi has been pushing hard for Hinata-chan to be entered into the Exams this year. I am sure he will just be the first Clan Head to demand their heir take part, though." Hedged Kurenai.
"This seems like a private team conversation. I'll head out and let you guys talk amongst yourselves." Interjected Tsurugi before leaving through the flap in the front of the stand with a wave.
"Chunin exams, huh? I wonder if Gai-sensei will let us enter?" Wondered Tsurugi aloud as he walked back home.
One thing was for sure if Team Gai did enter, he would have to train harder to not be the weak link on the team.
Lee and Neji both had another year as active duty Genin on him after all…
AN: Yeah, so Team Gai manages to defeat Haku by working together because that's fuckin' teamwork.
Honestly, I think Team Seven in Canon could have probably done it too if their teamwork wasn't so god-damned awful.
Here, Sasuke gets a glancing cut from the Demon Brothers and the pain and adrenaline cause him to develop his Sharingan.
Haku survives and is taken prisoner. T is going to pump him for information and determine if he's a threat before allowing him to fully defect. Expect to not see him again for a bit. There will be butterflies from that though.
I've already alluded to it, but the Hyuga Incident played out somewhat differently than in canon here. Neji still has reason to despise the main Branch, but the details are a little different. It'll come up later.
Anyway, the Chunin Exams are coming up, which should be a whole barrel of fun. Of course, Naruto not knowing about the Fox this time around is going to cause some different interactions with Gaara.
Stay tuned…
Chapter 9
The Fire Transformation Exercise was more difficult than the water and lightning exercises, but not as bad as the earth exercise owing to affinities. There were also differences from water and earth. With earth and water, you could take advantage of natural forces, the dirt particles in the air, and the moisture in the air respectively to complete the exercise. Fire on the other hand required precise control and you could not utilize pre-existing sources of flame. It wasn't as bad as the control required for lightning, which had you covering one side of a leaf in an even coat of static electricity to stick to your clothes, without destroying the leaf, but it did require you to scorch a single hole into the center of the leaf without the whole leaf catching on fire.
Tsurugi took five days to get the hang of the exercise itself, the most amount of time he had spent on a Nature Transformation yet. Kakashi had told him that just performing the nature transformation exercises was just the first step. If Tsurugi wanted to be truly great, he would have to keep practicing the nature transformation exercises until he mastered them. Much like the leaf-sticking exercise could not be considered mastered until you could stick multiple leaves to different parts of your body, or the tree-climbing and water-walking exercises could not be considered mastered until you could fight for a full hour while using them. With three months until the Chunin Exams, Tsurugi was determined to master the four nature transformation exercises he knew in addition to his normal training.
When he declared his intention to do such to Kakashi, the silver-haired ninja just nodded and said, "You know, if you do master them, I'll teach you an additional elemental technique for each exercise mastered. However, I'll only do this for as long as my own team doesn't need my sole focus. If they actually start to improve, then I'll have to focus on them since I'll likely be entering them into the Chunin Exams."
"What about Sasuke? Are you saying the Lord Uchiha isn't ready for the Chunin exams?" Asked Tsurugi.
"If my team were just Sasuke, you'd be right. He has the skill to pass the tournament portion, but the first two sections of the exam are traditionally team exercises." Pointed out Kakashi.
"And Kiba and Sakura just aren't ready yet." Nodded Tsurugi.
And so that was how Uesugi Tsurugi spent the first two months of preparation for the Chunin Exams. He would train with his team in the mornings or sometimes take D-ranks, then in the afternoons he would alternate working on his nature transformations or his kenjutsu. In two weeks, he had mastered the lightning-release nature transformation exercise sufficiently for Kakashi to teach him Raiton: Raikyu. This technique created balls of electricity in the air that could be hurled at an opponent all at once or in succession. Tsurugi's current limit was three balls per casting of the technique, but it was still good enough to use in a fight. The next two weeks saw Tsurugi master the earth-release nature exercise sufficiently for Kakashi to teach him Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu. The Hiding Like a Mole Technique allowed Tsurugi the ability to hide and travel underground, which when combined with his Doton: Retsudo Tensho meant that Tsurugi had a decent shot at causing mass chaos by hiding underground and using Retsudo Tensho to create earthquakes undetected. It was a week after that that Tsurugi mastered the water nature transformation exercise. For this, Kakashi taught Tsurugi Suiton: Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu. The Water Clone Technique added some much-needed depth to Tsurugi's repertoire as prior to this, he only had the basic illusory bunshin to fall back on. Clones were something that Naruto had that Tsurugi didn't that was a point of contention between the two friends, mostly because the one time that Naruto tried to teach Tsurugi the Water Clone as a favor, it turned out that Naruto was a worse teacher than pretty much anyone in the village. Tsurugi's friend was too impatient and brash to really be a good teacher. It had led to an argument and the two had made a pact never to speak of it again. Now Tsurugi could finally say he had a clone technique that was worth a damn, even though his current clone limit was two clones as opposed to Naruto's seemingly endless horde of them. The Fire Nature Transformation Technique on the other hand took Tsurugi almost three weeks to master and Kakashi had given him a pair of Scrolls to learn from instead of one-on-one instruction, one scroll for Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu, and one scroll for Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu.
"I'm afraid you'll have to learn these without my instruction. Our deal ends today." Intoned Kakashi on handing over the scrolls.
"Why? What happened?" Questioned Tsurugi.
"Sakura and Kiba have caught up to where Sasuke is. I'm going to need to focus on them for the time being." Answered Kakashi.
Tsurugi frowned and nodded. Intellectually he knew it was a possibility that this would happen. Hell, even just getting to benefit from Kakashi's Ninjutsu knowledge at all was extremely rare and he doubted he would have even been able to do so if not for the fact that Kakashi and Gai-sensei were close friends combined with the unique circumstances that allowed him to master elemental affinities better than the average shinobi. Konoha tended to only allow substitute Sensei in very special cases, as most Jonin guarded their techniques carefully and only passed them on to their own students. Tsurugi doubted that he would be able to get much of an education in say, Genjutsu for example, as the most qualified Jonin-Sensei for Genjutsu was currently Yuuhi Kurenai, the Sensei of Naruto's Team and she didn't really have a relationship with Gai-sensei beyond being colleagues.
"I understand, Kakashi-san. Thank you for your aid in this." Replied Tsurugi.
"Maa, don't worry about it, Tsurugi-Kun. You have a gift, what kind of responsible Jonin would I be if I didn't encourage it." Waved off Kakashi.
And Just like that, Tsurugi and Kakashi parted ways. Tsurugi studied the pair of scrolls and managed to learn the Pheonix Sage Fire Technique in a matter of four days, though he could only output four fireballs at a time at the moment. He also learned the great fireball in another four days, though this was not the thirty-foot monstrosity that he had seen Sasuke fire off, being only around twenty square feet. The Uchiha had fire in his blood though and Tsurugi did not, so he felt it was an even trade. For the next few weeks until the Chunin Exams, Tsurugi devoted himself entirely to Taijutsu and Kenjutsu. He finally managed to max out his current set of chakra weights and Gai-sensei got him started on another, more challenging set of them. These were the ones that Lee was currently using and their level one made Tsurugi feel like he was moving through water all over again, even when he tried his hardest. By the last week of training for the Chunin Exams, Tsurugi was finally able to move normally on level one of the new weights. Predictably, Lee was already on level six without needing to open any of the Gates, which just went to show you what an absolute beast he was.
For Neji's Part, the Stoic Hyuga had been working on a Juuken technique apart from training with Tsurugi and Lee. When he was asked what it was, he simply said, "I'll tell you before the Exam if I manage it."
Lee had been working on opening other gates to make him even more of a ridiculous bruiser. He managed to open gates three and four before Gai-sensei took him off somewhere to teach him something he called "The Reverse Lotus."
For the last few days before the Chunin Exams arrived, everyone was seemingly training on their own. Neji had his Juuken Technique and Lee had his Reverse Lotus, which left Tsurugi with nothing to work on for the moment. It was his father who came to his rescue. Uesugi Ken took Tsurugi into the Dojo attached to their small compound and sat him down on the wooden floor while he demonstrated a technique. Ken took his sword and concentrated on his chakra, infusing it into his blade and moving the chakra around in a vibrating manner. The blue glow of his chakra in the sword took on a raging appearance as if it could barely be contained and a growling noise could be heard from his sword. Finally, Uesugi Ken faced a metal training dummy covered in Samurai Armor, raised his sword, and struck. His blade cut through armor and metal dummy as if it were butter.
"That, my son was a Technique that only three Samurai currently know. One was my father, your grandfather, Uesugi Byakko, the White Tiger General of the Western Gate, who invented it. Another is Lord Mifune, who weaseled the Secret out of him in their youth. Then there is myself, your father, and the current head of the Uesugi. Now I am passing it on to you. This technique may appear similar to the Hadan technique known to all Samurai of the Land of Iron. I assure you that this is not the case. While it uses Hadan as a base, it is quite unique to our family. The trick is in the direct manipulation of the chakra infused in the blade. You have to vibrate the chakra in place so that your strike will tear through any opposition, violently enough to cause the effect, but not so violently as to destroy your blade. If done correctly, there is no defense that is capable of stopping this strike, your opponent must either dodge or die." Explained Uesugi Ken.
Tsurugi was stunned at that. A strike like that which could tear through any opposition was very rare. He could think of only a few techniques that had that kind of power, the Third Raikage's Jigokuzuki, Hatake Kakashi's Raikiri, maybe the Fabled Black Fire that the Uchiha were rumored to be able to shoot, but that was it.
"I am honored that you would teach me this, father. What is its name?" Replied an awed Tsurugi.
"It doesn't really have a proper name, back when your grandfather used it he called it his Roaring Fang. I suspect the Inuzuka would object to you utilizing that name for it, as it infringes on the naming scheme of their Clan techniques, however." Replied Uesugi Ken.
"When can we start?" Asked Tsurugi, excited.
"Patience, I need to teach you the Hadan first, otherwise you won't have a base to build off of. We can start that right away, however." Chuckled Uesugi Ken.
And so Tsurugi trained the Hadan technique. It was a technique that was superficially similar to his Grandfather's Roaring Fang, but instead of using vibration to cut through an opponent, used fracture force to smash through an opponent. It was far less deadly than the Roaring Fang but still effective. While he was training the Hadan, Tsurugi received a letter from Ino. It seemed that she was gathering up everyone who was going to the Chunin Exams from their Academy Class at Yakiniku Q for a party. Tsurugi was never one to miss good food and had replied that he would definitely attend. The Party was slated for Friday Night and the Chunin exams would start on the following Monday so there would be plenty of time for final preparations in-between the Party and the start of the Exams. Fortunately, Tsurugi was able to manage a crude Hadan by Friday afternoon and felt he could probably get the technique to a basic state by the end of Sunday, so he was able to go to the Party.
When he arrived, he found Sakura and Ino in a glaring contest. Shikamaru was shaking his head at them and Choji was eagerly picking out slices of beef and pieces of vegetables to put in the hotpot. Off at a second table, Naruto sat with Hinata, Shino, and Kiba and was gesticulating wildly while telling a story that involved Land of Rivers Curry Powder, a cup of sake, and someone named 'Ero-Sennin'. From the sound of it, Naruto had pulled a prank on the guy after he had told Naruto that he would teach him an awesome technique but only wound up jerking him around as they hopped from bar to bar for most of an afternoon.
"It wasn't until after I pranked his ass that he finally taught me something. Stingy bastard, Dattebayo." Grumbled Naruto.
"Oh? You learned something cool, Naruto?" Queried Tsurugi.
"Hey! Tsurugi's here! Yeah, I learned something real cool!" Beamed Naruto, waving Tsurugi over.
Tsurugi came over to Naruto's Table and asked, "What was it? A new Jutsu?"
"Better! I got to sign a summoning contract!" Grinned Naruto.
"Bullshit! Everyone knows that summoning contracts are super rare! Like hell, you got to sign one just for pranking some old man!" Barked out Kiba.
"No, it's true! I got to sign the most awesome contract ever! Toads! I met the Toad Boss and everything!" Grinned Naruto.
That brought Kiba up short and Tsurugi frowned. Hinata looked mortified and Shino was at a loss for words.
"What? Did I say something wrong?" Questioned Naruto.
"Naruto, you may have insulted someone very highly placed in the Village. Why? Because the only summoner of Toads still around is Jiraiya of the Sannin." Explained Shino.
"And you just pranked him." Sighed Tsurugi.
"What? Who's this Jiraiya guy and why does that matter?" Asked Naruto.
"Jiraiya is an S-ranked Shinobi, one of the Third Hokage's original students. He's the village's only qualified Fuuinjutsu Master." Explained Tsurugi.
"He could royally fuck your shit, Naruto!" Exclaimed Kiba.
"Oh. Um… oops?" Grinned Naruto Sheepishly.
"Well, if he still let you sign the Toad Contract then he's probably not mad about it." Sighed Tsurugi.
"You think?" Asked Naruto.
"I don't know the guy, but Shika's dad is the Jonin Commander so he probably does. We could ask him?" Suggested Tsurugi.
"Unless Hinata-san's Father has any insight. Why? Because he is on the village council." Said Shino.
"Ano, Otou-san does not speak often of council meetings, I don't think he'd be willing to share his opinions of Jiraiya-sama." Replied Hinata, quietly.
"Ah, that sucks, Hinata-chan. Welp, guess we'd have to ask Shika then, Dattebayo!" Exclaimed Naruto.
With that, they all went over to the other table where Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, and Sakura sat. It seemed Sakura and Ino's glaring match had broken up and devolved into simply them not looking or saying anything at or to each other. They sat pointedly ignoring each other and picking out bits of shrimp and other leaner foods from the hot pot in the middle of the table with their chopsticks. Meanwhile, Choji sat with a bowl of fried rice and was basically inhaling the rice. Shikamaru was sipping from a small bowl of miso soup. He looked up at his approaching classmates and asked, "What's up guys?"
"Naruto just told us that he pranked Jiraiya of the Sannin and Jiraiya still let him sign the Toad Summoning Contract. We want to know if he's screwed or not." Said Kiba.
"Troublesome." Muttered Shikamaru. "Why do you think I'd know?"
"Shika, your dad's the Jounin Commander. He has to at least know Jiraiya, right?" Implored Tsurugi.
Shika just sat there with his hands in his lap curled into his thinking pose. After a while, he spoke up. "Dad says Jiraiya is an odd guy. If he likes you, he'll usually let dumb stuff slide unless you cross a major line. I'd say if Naruto still got to sign the summoning contract, then he should be in the clear." He said.
"Yatta! I'm good to go!" Exclaimed Naruto, punching the air in Triumph.
With that, Naruto, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino went to go back to their table while Tsurugi stayed. "What's up with Ino and Sakura?" He asked.
"Troublesome." Muttered Shikamaru again.
"Ino-pig had the audacity to call Sasuke-Kun Ill-mannered earlier!" Explained Sakura.
"What forehead girl neglected to mention was that he totally stood us up and didn't even have the decency to tell me that he wasn't coming! Just complete silence!" Fumed Ino.
"You know he's the strong silent type, Ino-pig! He's probably too busy training to be the best Shinobi in the village! This is why you'll never marry him! You don't understand him like I do!" Ranted Sakura.
Ino looked ready to retort before Tsurugi cut in. "Hey, Ino, these two tables are pretty full. Would you mind sitting with me over there?" He asked pointing to a third table away from the current one.
Ino paused for a moment before saying, "Sure. I'd be glad to sit with you away from Forehead girl here."
The two of them left the table and sat down at their next table and began to discuss what they'd been up to over the past few months. As it turned out, Ino had gotten into gardening in her downtime. "Makes sense. You always had a knack for flower arranging." Shrugged Tsurugi.
"Yeah, and Daddy was so happy to have the extra help in the greenhouse that he's been teaching me a few extra Jutsu. Not clan stuff, but still useful stuff. I've actually been looking for something more challenging than local flowers to grow. I was thinking about maybe growing Waterfall Jasmine next. What about you? I know you're mister train-until-you-drop but I also know how you like to go restaurant hunting. Been to any great restaurants lately?" Asked Ino.
"Actually yeah. There's a place that's tucked into the visitor's quarter that has some great Lightning Country Recipes. If there's one thing I have to give them over in Kumo, it's that they damn sure know how to cook. The owner was a refugee during the last war that set up shop here and just never moved back. He calls his food Soul Food and he's got all kinds of good stuff. I haven't had fried chicken and short noodles and cheese before, but apparently, they're staples of Lightning Country cuisine and they're really good." Replied Tsurugi.
"Sounds fattening." Said Ino.
"Well, yeah but we're active duty Shinobi. Any fat we put on gets burned off the next day cause of our lifestyle. Well, at least if you're not an Akimichi." Shrugged Tsurugi.
"Yeah, but they eat so much 'cause their Clan Techniques require it. I don't have those techniques, so I need to maintain my girlish figure." Protested Ino.
"Ino, you guys train every day on your team, yeah? Taijutsu and Bukijutsu along with other stuff right?" Asked Tsurugi.
"I mean a lot of the time is spent going over tactical drills, but sure we do a couple of hours of that stuff too. What's your point?" Asked Ino.
"Ino, just by the very nature of doing those couple hours every day you're burning calories. Honestly, you're probably burning more calories than you're taking in if you're dieting on top of that. That can be dangerous if it goes on for too long." Frowned Tsurugi.
"What? Are you sure?" Queried Ino.
"Yeah. You don't feel tired when you're on your diets or anything do you?" Asked Tsurugi.
"Sometimes…" Hedged Ino.
"Yeah, that's bad. That's your body tapping into your Chakra System to equalize the calorie loss. It's no wonder you and Sakura kept getting winded during sparring at the Academy. With the dieting on top of the training, you two probably had no stamina to speak of." Groaned Tsurugi.
"Well, what do I do? How do I fix it?" Demanded Ino.
"Well, the first step would be to stop dieting. The second would be to eat more. Here." Replied Tsurugi, picking up a slice of pork from out of the hot pot and holding it out in front of Ino.
Ino ate the pork slice off of Tsurugi's chopsticks, "That was good. But Tsurugi-Kun. Feeding me from your own plate? How forward." She said with a giggle.
Tsurugi sputtered a denial that he didn't mean it like that, and just like that, Ino had forgotten her argument with Sakura in favor of teasing Tsurugi. For his part, Tsurugi was just glad that his friend was both no longer grumpy and would now no longer be dieting to dangerous levels. If he did nothing else tonight and just sat there eating quietly, he would still call tonight's party a win. A couple more hours passed as everyone socialized and caught up before it was time to pay the bill and head out. Thankfully, the bill was on Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino's fathers as they had arranged the entire thing. Everyone went home satisfied and full.
Over the next twenty-four hours, Tsurugi managed to get his Hadan to an acceptable level where he would feel comfortable using it in a fight. Beyond that, he mostly slept, ate, and did some last-minute prep. His father had done a little digging and told him that there was usually some form of written test in the first stage of the exam, so Tsurugi did a little studying up on what subjects he could in the day or so he had to study for a written test. Finally, he closed his books and set his alarm for the Hour of the Dragon by the traditional Samurai Clock, or seven in the morning by the modern Shinobi Clock.
He would meet his team at the Academy at eight in the morning and they would begin their Chunin Exams…
AN: So yeah, Soul Food from Kumo makes sense, given that they have Black People and Hip-Hop there. I figured there'd at least be a restaurant that sells it in Konoha that Tsurugi could have come across. The Elemental Nations aren't all a monoculture, after all. I have a lot of Thai and Southeast Asian Influence coming from Waterfall, for instance, and Iwa has a more Chinese feel to it than Japanese here. We just haven't gotten to see it yet.
Also, Ino and Sakura dieting is stupid with them both being active Shinobi. They should be burning more calories than they take in like that, which is probably the cause of their shit stamina. Here, Tsurugi is trying to get Ino to break the dieting habit.
The Roaring Fang is something I made up for this fic. This will come up later, but the four big Noble Families in Iron each tend to have specific techniques and positions related to the Four Heavenly Beasts of the Zodiac. The Uesugi were patterned off the White Tiger of the West, so their techniques and position reflect that theme. The current White Tiger General of the Western Gate is Ken's Father Uesugi Byakko, though the Old Man doesn't take the field much these days. He IS Mifune's age after all, and Mifune is the same age as Salamander Hanzo and the Third Hokage. The other three follow their own themes, Takeda Seiryu is the Blue Dragon General of the East Gate, Toyotomi Suzaku is the Red Bird General of the South Gate, and Oda Genbu is the Black Tortoise General of the North Gate. Mifune was known as the Yellow Kirin General of the Palace.
As you may have guessed, these were all titles granted by the Iron Daimyo to various ancestors before the founding of Modern Iron Country by Lord Tessen. They kept the titles and the theming, even though Iron is run by Samurai Generals now and not Daimyo. I'll go into more detail once we actually get to Iron Country. Just know that Tsurugi's Grandad is a big deal.
Anyway, the start of the exams will be next. Stay tuned…
Chapter 10
The Chunin Exams had a long history dating back to just after the First Great Shinobi War. Once the alliances between villages had been set up and mutual animosity from the first war had set in, each Hidden Village realized that they needed a way for them and their allies to promote worthy candidates for Chunin that was not dependent on outside factors. While some felt that promotion could be earned on the battlefield, the time for such promotions had ended with the war. The vast majority of missions in peacetime were nothing special, most were D or C-rank missions where Genin could be expected to face nothing more threatening than bandits or criminals. These missions were not worthy of consideration for promotion. It was the Nidaime Raikage who came up with the idea of Alliance Wide Chunin Exams, though the other alliances would soon copy the practice. The original idea was to simulate combat conditions through a series of trials that would filter out those Genin unworthy of promotion and leave only the worthy at the top. It was expanded upon to include more comprehensive mission types shortly after the very first series of Chunin exams. Every village in an alliance had the right to participate and send Genin to their alliance's Chunin Exams. Even Neutral Villages were invited to attend, though being neutral they theoretically could participate in any alliance's exam.
Thus began the tradition that Team Gai was participating in today.
Tsurugi met up with Lee and Neji outside the Academy building around half an hour before the official start of the exams. "I passed by teams from Kusagakure and Amegakure on the way here." He said.
"Amegakure sent someone? I thought they'd be too busy with their civil war to send a team?" Asked Neji, surprised.
"They sent more than one, Neji-Kun. Assuming Tsurugi-Kun saw a different team than the one I did. Yours wasn't full of parasol users was it?" Asked Lee.
"No, I saw a guy with Kunai, a guy with a sword, and a guy with a crossbow. No parasols." Replied Tsurugi.
"I saw a team from Takigakure, it seems like a lot of the minor villages sent at least one team. That's not important. I didn't get a chance to tell you, but Lord Hiashi mentioned that the Kazekage sent his children and their Jonin Sensei." Said Neji.
"That isn't good. If they're the Kazekage's kids…" Trailed off Tsurugi.
"They'll likely be the best that Suna has, yes. It seems this Chunin Exam is fated to be an interesting one." Intoned Neji.
"You ever get that secret Juuken Technique you were working on down?" Asked Tsurugi.
"It's usable, but not in rapid succession at the moment. Pray we do not need it." Said Neji.
"Well, no use standing here musing over hypotheticals. We won't know what everyone else has till we see it." Nodded Tsurugi.
"Yosh! Let us make haste to the exam!" Exclaimed Lee.
Team Gai headed into the academy building only to be beset by their first challenge. A pair of older genin were fending off a group of genin from entering the exam classroom. Lee looked about ready to jump in and attack the older Genin, but Tsurugi put a hand on his shoulder before he could even get going, halting Lee's movement. Shaking his head, Tsurugi said, "Remember, Gai Sensei said the exam room was on the third floor."
Neji nodded and said, "He's right. It's a Genjutsu. That door really leads to a supply room."
"How can you tell, you are not using your Byakugan?" Asked Lee.
"Lee, we spent years in this place. Don't you remember the layout?" Asked Tsurugi.
Lee chuckled sheepishly and Team Gai moved on toward the stairs. Up on the third floor, team Gai finally made it into a room full of desks and genin. A trio of older genin from Konoha was currently talking quietly amongst themselves. Nearby Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji were sitting around in the corner. A trio of Genin in gray and white urban camouflage was staring daggers at the Konoha teams in the room while slouched against the wall. Huddled in the corner was the Kusa Team wearing their Jingasa and studiously ignoring everyone else. The only other team this early was Naruto's Team. Neji took one look at them and scowled, before dragging Tsurugi and Lee over to where Shikamaru's team was sitting, almost the exact opposite corner of the room from where Naruto and his team were sitting. Tsurugi couldn't help but think that there was definitely some family drama going on there.
"Hey Shika, Choji, Ino." Greeted Tsurugi.
"Why Tsurugi-Kun, come to say hello to your Ino-chan?" Teased Ino.
Tsurugi sighed and asked, "This isn't going to stop is it?"
"She can be troublesome that way." Nodded Shikamaru, sagely, before grunting as Ino dug her elbow into his ribs.
"Is this your team Tsurugi?" Asked Choji.
"Yep. Guys, let me introduce you to Rock Lee and Hyuga Neji. Neji, Lee, this is Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Choji. They've been some of my closest friends since I was old enough to walk." Introduced Tsurugi.
As Lee and Neji introduced themselves, more genin started to arrive. First a pair of teams from Amegakure, then a team from Takigakure, followed by Konoha's very own Team Seven. Kiba spotted Tsurugi and made a beeline for their clump of Konoha Genin, Sakura was half a step behind him and Sasuke was hanging further back, disinterested. "Hey, guys! Look at some of these chumps! Looks like Konoha is gonna clean up in these exams!" Laughed Kiba in greeting.
"Kiba!" Exclaimed Sakura, scandalized.
"What? You can't honestly say I'm wrong? Look at all the minor village genin!" Protested Kiba.
"Excuse me. You probably shouldn't boast like that. It's liable to start a fight, and fighting outside of the exams themselves is a disqualification." Came a voice from outside the clump of Konoha Students.
Tsurugi turned to see one of the older Konoha genin with silver hair and glasses standing around. "Good advice. Kiba, stop before we get disqualified." He said.
"How does this guy even know that? We didn't get told that!" Protested Kiba.
"Experience, I'm afraid. I'm Yakushi Kabuto and I've retaken the exams more times than anyone." Sighed the Older Genin.
"If that's true and you're still a genin, why should we even listen to you?" Asked Sasuke, speaking up for the first time.
"It isn't for lack of trying. I'm quite capable as support, but the third round is usually a one-on-one combat tournament. I'm no good in a solo fight, I'm afraid." Shrugged Kabuto.
"If you've taken the exams a lot, you should have info on the different tests, right?" Asked Shikamaru.
"Unfortunately, the tests of the Chunin Exams change every time they hold one, with only the tournament at the end remaining consistent. Usually, the second round is some sort of tactical exercise, but the first round could be anything. If we're in a classroom it's probably a written exam though." Shrugged Kabuto.
Neji frowned, "If you have taken the exam multiple times, and failed due to the tournament, logic dictates that you will continue to fail if the tournament remains consistent. It seems you are fated to remain a genin." He said.
"I prefer to think of it as providing a wealth of experience. Here, let me show you a trick I picked up two years ago at an exam in Kusagakure." Replied Kabuto, before producing a series of blank cards. He channeled a bit of his chakra into the cards and they transformed into Orange and Green cards with pictures and writing.
"Behold my Ninja Info Cards. I learned how to make them from a genin of Jōmae Village. They contain all sorts of useful information on the participants of the exams." Grinned Kabuto.
"Any participant?" Asked Tsurugi.
"Even you, Tsurugi-kun." Grinned Kabuto.
"I don't believe you. There's no way something like that would be allowed." Said Tsurugi.
"Tsurugi is right. That's a huge breach of village security." Affirmed Shikamaru.
"No it's true, I'll prove it. Here's your card, Tsurugi-Kun. Uesugi Tsurugi, all statistics are rated on a scale of one to five. Ninjutsu three, Taijutsu three-point-five, Genjutsu one, Intelligence two-point-five, Strength three, Speed three, Stamina three. You're proficient in kenjutsu, taijutsu, and multiple elemental ninjutsu. Your family is from the Land of Iron, you were born in the Land of Rivers, and raised in Konohagakure. Your sensei is Maito Gai. You've completed twenty D-ranks, two C-ranks, one B-rank, and one A-rank. My, you've been a busy boy, Tsurugi-Kun." Explained Kabuto, reading off the card.
That caused Tsurugi to frown and he could see that frown mirrored on the faces of both Neji and Shikamaru. Kiba and Choji just looked puzzled, Ino looked bored, and Sasuke… Sasuke had a gleam in his eyes that wasn't there a moment ago. He regarded Kabuto with a hungry look and asked, "These cards have info on all of the participants?"
"All of them. Did you have someone you wanted to ask about?" Replied Kabuto.
"Rock Lee and Gaara of the Desert." Replied Sasuke, nodding.
Kabuto handed over a pair of cards to Sasuke before Shikamaru said, "Let me see those."
Kabuto handed Shikamaru the stack of cards before the Nara reached into his pocket, withdrew a lighter, and lit the cards on fire. Sealed they might have been, but the material used to make them was still paper. They went up in flames. Kabuto looked shocked, Tsurugi just nodded and Kiba let out an outraged cry. "Hey, I was gonna look at those!" He exclaimed.
"You should thank him. He just covered for your egregious breach of village security." Said Neji.
Before Kabuto could say anything in response or Kiba could start a fight, the door to the classroom opened again, and in walked three Sunagakure genin. One was red-haired with a large gourd on his back and an intensely murderous glare. Another was dressed in a black bodysuit and wore face paint. The third was a girl with an enormous fan strapped to her back and her hair done up in pigtails. As they walked in, the conversations stopped.
"Gaara of the Desert, Temari, and Kankuro. The Kazekage's children. I'm just gonna head back over to my team." Muttered Kabuto, before he sidled away to his team, which was standing in the corner furthest from where the three Suna Genin were.
"He's creepy with that psycho glare." Said Ino.
"It's like he's radiating killing intent without meaning to." Agreed Tsurugi.
Choji swallowed his mouthful of chips and put the bag away, seemingly put off his appetite for once.
Kiba just scowled, "What makes him think he's the big dog? Just cause his dad's the Kazekage?" He growled.
Lee had a look on his face like he was intrigued. "I would like to test my flames of youth against him." He said.
Sasuke and Neji said nothing, but the looks on their faces betrayed their agreement with Lee.
Obviously, Gaara would be the one to beat in this exam. The situation bore watching. Before any of the three interested genin could even do anything, however, the Oto Genin made their move. The three urban camouflaged genin seemed to be on edge the entire time they were in the room, but Gaara's presence seemed to send them over the edge. One of them, wrapped up in bandages spoke up. "Oi! Psycho-fucker! We're not afraid of you! You might have all these chickenshits from the other villages cowed, but Oto bows to no one!" He shouted.
The girl on the team spoke up next, "Dosu, maybe we shouldn't antagonize them."
"Shut up, Kin. Dosu's taken lessons from the Four, he knows what he's doing, hm." Scowled the third member of the team.
Gaara didn't respond at first, just glared at the three Oto-nin for a moment. It seemed the killing intent from before had magnified and focused on the Oto-nin. Finally, he spoke up. "Quiet, or I'll kill you."
That caused even the foul-mouthed Dosu to pause. The Oto-nin took a step back from the Sand trio. Thankfully before they could rally and start a fight, a trio of adults appeared, with a scarred man in a bandana and trenchcoat at their head. "Alright, kiddies shut up and pay attention! I'm Morino Ibiki, Proctor for the First Stage of the Chunin Exam! Shut up so we can go over the rules!" Bellowed the veritable bear of a man in the trenchcoat.
That stopped the confrontation in its tracks as everyone listened up.
The first stage of the Chunin Exams was about to begin…
AN: So yeah, there are a couple of things that make no sense about the Exams as presented in Canon, such as why Iwa, Kiri, or Kumo would go to an exam held in Konoha. Sure the chance to show off to potential clients is there, but so is the loss of prestige for having to travel to your rivals every time you want to promote a Genin. Here, both the Konoha-Suna alliance and the Iwa-Kumo Alliance hold exams for them and their allies. Kiri also holds their own for themselves and their minor village allies, which is mostly just them and the Remnants of Hidden Sky at the moment. Neither is in much of a position to do anything internationally right now.
Kabuto's Ninja Info Cards also never sat right with me. They're a huge security breach and for someone who can't afford too many questions being pointed their way due to being a spy for Orochimaru, it seems like an unnecessary risk to go about flaunting that you have actionable intel on every prospective Chunin in the exams. Here, Shikamaru burns the Ninja Info Cards so nobody else can get intel on the Konoha Teams.
Anyway, next up is the written exam, stay tuned…
Chapter 11
The questions for the written portion of the Chunin Exams were very difficult, Tsurugi reflected. Almost too difficult for any Genin to be able to answer, in fact. Tsurugi was able to answer enough of the questions thanks to his unique circumstances. The one about the difference between how Shinobi, Samurai, and Monks use chakra was easy for him, as he had first-hand experience with both the Shinobi and Samurai methods, and the Monk method only really differed from the Samurai method in ascetic practices. At the same time, his father was well-traveled enough and had partaken in enough work for various Daimyo, that the answers to the question about the relationship between the Daimyo and the Hidden Villages was easy enough to answer. He could see how the average Genin would not have the background or breadth of experience to be able to answer those questions, however. Other questions, such as the one that asked a genin to name two advanced Kenjutsu techniques seemed like questions that he was the only one who would be able to answer. Konoha didn't teach kenjutsu to genin, in fact, the only villages that did were Kumogakure and Kirigakure, both of whom had their own Chunin Exams. Then there was the question that asked him to name three nature transformation exercises, which he only knew because Kakashi had been kind enough to teach him as an extracurricular. Nature transformation was considered a Jonin-level technique in Konoha, so there was no way outside of special circumstances that anyone could be expected to answer that one. Finally, there was the question about Technique Modification and what the two components of it were. Tsurugi knew because he had learned Nature Transformation from Kakashi and Shape Transformation was vital to the differentiation of the Hadan and the Roaring Fang of his grandfather. A normal Genin could not reasonably be expected to know about technique modification.
All of this made Tsurugi suspicious. There were nine questions on the test and he was only able to answer six of them thanks to his unique circumstances. The other three were things he had never learned. A math question about using a thrown kunai to direct another thrown kunai via mid-air collision that Tsurugi was sure was entirely theoretical, a question about some treaty from eighty years ago between the Fire Daimyo and the Nidaime Hokage that was too specific for Tsurugi to have even heard of, and one question regarding Fuuinjutsu that Tsurugi was absolutely certain that only Jiraiya of the Sannin could have answered. Honestly, it seemed like the objective of the written test was less to see who was smart enough to pass and more to force genin to cheat without being caught. There was no way most of these genin would ever have the answers to these questions on their own.
A quick look around the room confirmed that to Tsurugi. He saw Neji using his Byakugan to lift answers from multiple people, though each time one of the proctors would get near him, he would deactivate his Byakugan to not get caught. At the same time, Kiba had placed Akamaru on his head and the small puppy seemed to be looking around at various papers and somehow letting Kiba know what he'd picked up. A few bugs were flitting about the room only to circle back to Shino's seat and somehow bring the answers back to him. Honestly, it seemed like everyone who could cheat was cheating.
Of course, this didn't mean they were cheating well. Several of the older Konoha genin were caught red-handed enough times to get their entire teams ejected. One of the pair of Suna teams was also expelled, much to the ire of Gaara of the Desert, who seemed to glare at the other Genin team with barely concealed disgust. A team from Takigakure just barely managed to avoid expulsion thanks to some quick thinking by one of their teammates leaning back in their chair far enough to tip over and causing a distraction. Honestly, it was kind of a wonder that had worked as well as it did.
Thankfully, Tsurugi reflected, that with six of nine questions answered correctly, he would still have enough points to pass the test even without the ability to cheat, though he was worried about Lee. Tsurugi's unique upbringing may have let him answer enough questions to pass, and Neji was able to rely on his Byakugan to pass by cheating, but Lee had no such advantages. Thankfully, his teammate was sitting just in front of him in the assigned seating, and Tsurugi figured out a way to get his attention and pass him the answers via Konoha Tapcode. He got Lee's attention by flicking him in the back of his head with a crumpled-up piece of paper and began tapping out a sequence of taps and spaces with his pencil. Thankfully the sequence of answers was short enough that Lee could get them together in the space between the rounds that the proctors were making, honestly, it was a lot like trying to sneak something past a guard rotation that way. With that, Team Gai would be assured of passing to the next phase of the exam.
A few minutes after passing answers to Lee, Morino Ibiki stood up and bellowed out from the front of the classroom. "Alright kiddies, pencils down! It's time for the tenth question!"
Once everyone's attention was on Ibiki, he continued. "This one's a doozy kids, if you get it wrong, your team will never get to take the Exams ever again!"
"What?" Asked Tsurugi.
"Bullshit!" Exclaimed Naruto.
"What about those guys over there? They've taken the exams multiple times!" Asked one of the Ame teams, gesturing over to Kabuto and his team.
"You heard me! This is no joke, I got to be proctor this year and I'll be damned if I let some dumbasses through on my watch!" Growled out Ibiki.
That stunned the assembled Genin enough for Ibiki to continue. "If you quit now, while you're ahead, your team gets disqualified, but I'm not gonna bar you from future exams for knowing your limitations. So, how about it? Anyone want to quit?" He asked.
A few individuals raised their hands, three older Konoha teams, a team from Ame, and one of three teams from Kusagakure all were disqualified in the next few minutes. Tsurugi looked around and it seemed like all of his classmates from the Academy were still ready and willing to go through with the last question. All except for Sakura, who seemed to be internally debating on whether or not to quit. Honestly, Tsurugi thought that if anyone could answer the tenth question correctly it'd be her. She was kind of a bookworm, after all. However just as it seemed like Sakura was about to raise her hand and quit, Naruto came to the rescue.
"Bullshit! Quitting is for losers, I'll never give up on my dreams! Just give us the last question already, Dattebayo!" Shouted out Tsurugi's Blonde friend.
And like that, it seemed the spell of fear that everyone was under from Ibiki's statement vanished. Naruto had cut through it with all the subtlety of a battering ram.
"Oi! You sure about that? You could be throwing your future away, you know!" Growled out Ibiki, trying to regain control of the classroom.
"Just give us the question, Dattebayo!" Exclaimed Naruto.
"Very well. You all pass!" Pronounced Ibiki.
"What? What was all that suspense for then?" Complained Ino.
"Sometimes knowing all the answers isn't enough. Sometimes the enemy is just better than you. Sometimes you get unlucky. That's when you need to make a decision. Do you call off the mission to preserve your team? Or do you go through with it anyway, take losses, and still try and complete your objective? As a Chunin, those are the kinds of calls you'll have to make. We need to see if you're capable of making them. That's what the tenth question is all about. Do you have the guts to continue on with the mission, even in the face of losses like that? By sticking around through the tenth question, and not giving up in the face of potential career suicide, you've shown us that you all have the ability to soldier on and complete the mission, even in tough circumstances." Explained Ibiki.
Just then, a ball of sealing tags blew through the windows of the classroom in a loud crash, and a puff of smoke, sending glass shards everywhere. Tsurugi and the others were only halfway to their feet when the smoke cleared to find a banner draped over the frame of the broken window frame and a Tokubetsu Jonin in a mesh bodysuit, short skirt, and overcoat, with her purple hair tied back in a spiky ponytail. "What the hell Ibiki? Seventy-five kids passed this part? You're losing your touch!" Grinned the Woman.
Ibiki just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in response.
"Alright kiddies, I'm your proctor for the second stage of the exam, the incredibly sexy Mitarashi Anko! Follow me to the testing grounds!" Grinned the clearly insane 2nd stage proctor, as she jumped out of the broken window.
Tsurugi sighed at this and made to follow, Lee and Neji following after him. The rest of the genin took the stairs. Soon enough, everyone was assembled outside of a large gated woodland area being told that the second stage of the exam would take place inside. "Training Ground Forty-Four, the Forest of Death!" Exclaimed Anko, gleefully.
Apparently, each team would be sent through a separate gate with a scroll, either Heaven or Earth, and would need to defeat a team with the opposite scroll, take that scroll, and make their way to a pagoda in the center of the training ground to pass to the next stage. Killing was apparently allowed in this stage of the exams as well, so the teams would be forced to sign a waiver before entering the training ground. The kicker was that you needed your entire team alive and able to fight to pass the exam. They would have three days to do so, after which they would be disqualified.
"What? That's Crazy!" Shouted Kiba.
He shouldn't have done that, cause that only caused Anko to toss a Kunai at him faster than Tsurugi's eyes could track, scoring a thin red cut along Kiba's cheek. Then in a swirl of leaves, Anko appeared behind Kiba, caught the Kunai she'd just thrown, and licked the blood off of the blade before giving a savage grin.
"Does it look like I care?" She asked.
At that point, everyone was cowed into signing the waivers and soon enough, Team Gai was stacked up outside of their gate and given an Earth Scroll by one of the proctor's assistants. "Ok, we have a few options. We could try to find another Konoha team and form an alliance, we could wander around fighting other teams until we get what we need, we can play it by ear, or we can head straight to the Pagoda and set up an ambush." Said Tsurugi.
"There are enough teams left that simply wandering about, we are fated to run into one. Why not simply wander? We'll see who we run into and decide based on that?" Asked Neji.
"I would like to test my flames of youth alongside the other Genin of Konoha. It would give me a better idea of what I would be up against in the tournament!" Exclaimed Lee.
"I don't know. If we run into Gaara while wandering we might take losses. You heard what that Crazy Instructor said, killing is permitted. Gaara seems to be all for killing. I'm going to have to go with Lee on this one. More allies mean fewer potential losses. Plus there are enough teams that we should be able to accommodate most Konoha teams with a scroll if we hunt together." Said Tsurugi.
"Well, it appears I have been outvoted." Shrugged Neji.
Plan set, Team Gai entered the Forest of Death, hoping to run into another Konoha team to ally with…
AN: It turns out that having an upbringing that differs from the normal Konoha experience is a good way to learn some of the sorts of things that would be on a test full of questions that no reasonable Konoha Genin could be expected to answer. For example, questions about Kenjutsu, which Konoha doesn't teach until Chunin-level, are child's play for someone with a Samurai upbringing.
Presumably, since Lee can't cheat with Jutsu thanks to his unique circumstances, he passed the first round the same way Naruto did, by refusing to quit and just leaving the rest of his test blank. Here, he actually has someone helping to cheat him on the answers with Ninja Morse Code. Makes him look less like a dumbass to the council when it comes to promotion time, anyway.
At any rate, next up is the Forest of Death survival round. Stay tuned…
Chapter 12
Team Gai leaped through the trees, looking for another Konoha Team to partner up with. Neji used his Byakugan to help scout, but only in bursts. They were going to be in the forest for a while, after all, so he was conserving Chakra to stay active as long as possible. Tsurugi and Lee followed Neji through the trees, trusting their Teammate's capability to see them safely to another Konoha team. Even in bursts, the Byakugan was a frighteningly effective tool for scouting, as Neji had steered them around several ambushes prepared by the giant predatory spiders that made their homes in the canopy of the Forest of Death. Tsurugi had never before appreciated his Teammate's dojutsu as much as he now did, traveling through the Forest of Death.
Suddenly, Neji pulled them up short. "There is a battle ahead. Looks like an Amegakure and Takigakure Team has cornered Team Ten." He said.
"What's the situation look like?" Asked Tsurugi.
"Not good. The Amegakure and Takigakure teams seem to be cooperating to try and hem in Team Ten. Thus far, it seems Nara's traps and strategies are staving off defeat, but they do not have the combat power to break out of the fight." Frowned Neji.
"Yosh! Let us help our comrades!" Shouted Lee before moving forward again in anticipation.
"Lee! Wait! Damnit, we'd better go after him." Exclaimed Tsurugi, before heading off after his erstwhile teammate. Neji followed behind smirking.
Soon, Team Gai emerged from the tree line into a clearing near a river cutting through the Forest of Death. Three black-robed and jingasa-wearing Ame Genin and three teal-robed Takigakure Genin were currently pinning down Team Ten behind a group of rocks near the riverbank with a combination of wide-area senbon techniques and Suiton jutsu. In the no-mans-land between the three teams, a number of scorch marks from detonated explosive tags, broken lengths of ninja wire, and discarded kunai showed where Team Ten's field defenses and Shikamaru's battle strategy had kept the other two teams at bay. Now, however, it seemed as if their only options were to try to swim for it against a trio of Suiton users or emerge from cover to become human pincushions from the Jouro Senbon Jutsu currently pinning them down. Tsurugi was certain that given time, Shikamaru would be able to come up with a third option, but it was better that he not have to.
As Team Gai tore out of the trees at their opponents, Tsurugi launched a leaping kick at one of the Ame Nin, the largest one with several umbrellas slung across his back. Neji backed him up, while Lee went after the lone male Takigakure nin who was using Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu to discourage Team Ten from trying for the river. Tsurugi's kick was nowhere near the force of Lee's, which caught his opponent so hard that he was sent flying into a rock by the riverside, but he did manage to knock his opponent over, even as said opponent turned in time to lessen the impact. Tsurugi landed on his feet as his opponent fell and immediately dropped his elbow on his foe's head, knocking him out. It was a less elegant takedown than Neji's, who quickly defeated his foe by sealing his shoulder tenketsu with a double Juuken Strike and followed that up with a rising knee to the guy's chin for the knockout, but it worked well enough. The Jouro Senbon technique cut out abruptly as its caster was now unconscious, stopping the deadly rain of Senbon.
With their attack force suddenly halved, the Takigakure and Amegakure teams found themselves suddenly on the back foot of an engagement they had previously been winning. The last Ame Nin, a short male wearing a jingasa and black sunglasses leaped back to try and group up with the two remaining Taki Nin. It wasn't to be, however, as Team Ten chose that moment to emerge from cover and attack. Notably, it seemed that Choji had taken a Senbon to the right shoulder and was down an arm until he could get medical care. Now that the tables had turned, however, it didn't seem to matter as much. Choji barreled into the last Ame-nin, just as Tsurugi took care of one of the two remaining Taki Nin via elbow strike to the temple and Shikamaru used his Kagemane no Jutsu to capture the last remaining Taki Nin.
As Ino fished through the unconscious Ame and Taki Nin's clothing for scrolls, Tsurugi approached Shikamaru, still maintaining his Kagemane no Jutsu. "Shika." He nodded in greeting.
"Tsurugi. Thanks for the assist." Replied Shikamaru.
"No problem. We were hoping to link up with another Konoha Team to ally with while we were in here anyway." Said Tsurugi.
"Looks like these guys had the same idea. Odd for Nin from two separate, unaligned, villages." Replied Shika, beads of sweat starting to form as he continued to hold his Kagemane no Jutsu.
"Let's find out why. Can you hold her while I tie her up?" Asked Tsurugi.
"I can, though normally I'd have forced her to knock herself out by now." Sighed Shikamaru.
"All right, keep her in place for a bit longer." Nodded Tsurugi, heading back towards the last remaining Taki Nin and pulling out a length of ninja wire. Shikamaru placed his hands behind his back, forcing the Taki Nin to do the same, and Tsurugi bound her with the wire. Finally, Shikamaru let out a breath as he released his Kagemane no Jutsu.
"So, you're working with Ame?" Asked Tsurugi.
"Allies of convenience!" Protested the Taki Nin.
Neji, who had joined Tsurugi and Shikamaru engaged his Byakugan and frowned. "She's lying. Her heartbeat just sped up a bit. I can see it beating faster." He said.
"You don't want to lie to us. Tell us the truth." Intoned Shikamaru.
"Fine! Kusa got us all together last night and proposed we ally in the test!" Spat the Taki Nin.
"Who's we?" Asked Shikamaru.
"The Minor Villages. We don't really stand much of a chance against Majors like you or Suna. Not separately. Taki, Ame, Oto, Kusa, and that team from Tani all agreed. Fat lot of good it did the Tani team, they didn't even make it to the written." Snorted the Taki Nin.
"I see. And you just happened to come across a Konoha team first?" Asked Shikamaru.
"Pft, no! Have you seen that Suna Team? Everyone's looking for you Konoha teams. You're easier targets than them." Scoffed the Taki Nin.
"Thanks, you've been most helpful." Replied Tsurugi, before knocking out the Taki Nin with a fist to the back of her head.
"Troublesome." Muttered Shikamaru as he crouched down in thought.
Ino came walking up then with a pair of scrolls. "Both teams had Heaven scrolls. I can't believe they attacked us and didn't even bring a compatible scroll!" She complained.
"We need a heaven scroll to pass, Ino-san!" Informed Lee, brightly.
"Ok, loud." Hissed Ino. Then she turned to Tsurugi. "Why's Shika in his thinking pose?" She asked.
"We have other problems than just getting an appropriate scroll. The minors have teamed up for the Exams and are targeting Konoha Teams first. Shika's trying to think of a plan." Replied Tsurugi.
"Has Akamichi finished with the senbon in his shoulder?" Asked Neji.
Tsurugi looked over to Choji, who had removed the senbon and was wrapping his shoulder in a bandage, a jar of salve lay opened at his feet. "Choji, you good?" He called out.
"I'll be fine, Tsurugi! Just need a day or so for the salve to work!" Called back, Choji with a Thumbs-up.
"He'll be fine, but he'll need a day for the salve to work, whatever that means." Repeated Tsurugi.
Shikamaru, who'd been thinking up till now, stood up and said, "That's Akamichi healing salve. Its got special extracts in it that promote healing faster than the body could on its own. The wound will close fully in about 24 hours. Before that time limit, he'll be at risk of reopening his wounds if he fights."
"That's awfully specific for what sounds like a clan secret, Nara." Frowned Neji.
"The Akamichi, Yamanaka, and Nara have been allies since the time of the Warring Clans. A certain amount of secret leakage has occurred. That's not important right now. We have an alliance of minor villages hunting Konoha Nin. Choji's hurt and won't be good to fight normally till this time tomorrow, which means we focus on finding the other Konoha Teams and building alliances against the minors. We need to set up camp in a defensive position while we gather strength, then we can turn the tables on any Minors still around." Explained Shikamaru.
"Sensible." Replied Tsurugi
"Agreed." Replied Neji.
"Yosh! Let us find our comrades so that they might add their flames of youth to ours!" Exclaimed Lee.
"Seriously Tsurugi, does your teammate have a lower volume setting?" Asked Ino.
"Lee can be a little too enthusiastic a lot of the time, but he's a good guy to have with you in a fight." Shrugged Tsurugi.
"In the meantime, take one of the Heaven scrolls these guys had on them. You've earned it. We'll keep the other in reserve in case another Konoha Team needs it." Nodded Shika, handing over the scroll. Tsurugi tucked the scroll into his armor.
Just then, Sakura burst through the canopy, huffing and puffing, pupils dilated by fear. Her pink hair was matted by mud and a trickle of blood. "Help. Sasuke-Kun. Kusa. Too strong." She gasped out.
"Sounds like our cue." Said Tsurugi.
If Kusa had attacked Team Seven, things were going faster than they'd anticipated…
AN: So yeah, Orochimaru got all the minors to gang up on Konoha to cover his attempt to test and possibly mark Sasuke. Plots are afoot and the Second Part of the Exam is just a little bit tougher than in canon because of it.
You may be wondering about Gaara's Team. Well, Orochimaru basically fed them the non-Orochimaru Kusa Team. They've got their scroll already and have made it to the Pagoda in record time.
Anyway, next up will be the continuation of the Second Part of the Exam, stay tuned…
Chapter 13
After Sakura caught her breath, she lead Team Gai and Team Ten to the site of the Kusa Ambush. The assembled group had to pick their way through a particularly overgrown section of the Forest of Death to get there. The trees were close enough together that the group almost couldn't traverse the thicket. What's worse was that the thicket turned out to be a major nest of the giant carnivorous spiders that infested the forest, further delaying the team, but Sakura insisted they travel straight there to reinforce Sasuke. She refused to guide them around the thicket.
By the time the group arrived, it was all over. Kiba was unconscious with a probable concussion, and Sasuke had not only been knocked unconscious but also had been marked with a strange and vicious-looking seal. There was no sign of the Kusa team that had done this. Tsurugi frowned at the scene. The trees in the area had been uprooted and carved into, likely by Kiba's Gatsūga. The forest floor was littered with lengths of ninja wire, broken kunai, and the shattered remnants of a Fuuma shuriken. There were no bodies of any attackers, however.
"With this much damage to the environment, you'd have thought they'd have gotten at least one of their opponents." Remarked Tsurugi.
Neji scanned the battlefield with his Byakugan but only shook his head. "No blood spatter anywhere. Whoever is on the Kusa team so outclassed Uchiha and Inuzuka that they were able to knock them unconscious without taking a scratch, using only non-lethal methods." He said.
"You think Kusa sent a ringer team?" Frowned Shikamaru.
"How unyouthful!" Scoffed Lee.
"Maybe. It wouldn't be the first time something like that has been pulled." Shrugged Choji.
"To what end? I thought Kusa only sent three teams, and if one is a ringer, that seems like a lot of trouble to go through just to get a pair of teams promoted. Especially since one quit at the Written." Asked Tsurugi.
"It's possible they sent a ringer to try and do well enough to steal some of Konoha's business away. Make a good showing in front of the Daimyo and their courts to get a bigger share of missions. That would threaten the alliance we have with them though if it got out they sent a ringer. Something isn't adding up." Frowned Shikamaru.
Meanwhile, Sakura and Ino were fussing over the unconscious Sasuke, bandaging the cut on his cheek and applying bruise salve to his bruises. They were completely ignoring Kiba in favor of the object of their mutual infatuation being in distress. Tsurugi saw this and sighed.
"Choji, would you mind checking over Kiba and applying any of that salve to his face? It looks like he took an elbow to the forehead that busted him open and the girls seem to be busy with Sasuke." Asked Tsurugi.
"No problem Tsurugi." Nodded Choji as he moved off to patch up Kiba.
"Speaking of Kiba, has anyone seen Akamaru? The Inuzuka never go anywhere without their Ninken, but I don't see him." Frowned Shikamaru.
"I would use my Byakugan, but I should conserve my chakra, not use it to find Inuzuka's animal." Frowned Neji.
"Yosh! Leave the search to me! I am a friend to all animals!" Enthused Lee as he began to search for the small Ninken at high speed.
"In the meantime, I would suggest fortifying the area. It does not seem like we will be able to move Inuzuka or Uchiha soon. Fate, it seems, has dictated we must camp here." Said Neji.
"Agreed. Shika, you can worry about potential shady dealings once we're set up." Nodded Tsurugi.
Shikamaru just frowned at that but didn't argue. Safety was a priority right now, after all.
Together, the three of them began to fortify the battlefield. Using the stumps of destroyed trees as bases to string ninja wire, setting up kunai traps, and using a few of their precious explosive tags in key areas. They set up a perimeter in the clearest section of the battlefield before pitching tents and digging a firepit. Choji even revealed he'd learned Doton: Doryuheki from his dad in anticipation of needing more than just Clan techniques to compete in the exams, using it to create a fortified embankment inside the trap perimeter for extra defense.
Lee came back just as the ad-hoc fortified camp was finished with a wounded Akamaru. The poor pup seemed to be suffering from some kind of sickness brought on by a puncture wound in his leg. He was shaking like he had a bad fever.
"I found Akamaru, but it seems he is not doing well." Frowned Lee, oddly subdued.
"Let me see." Said Tsurugi, gesturing for Lee to hand over the pup. Lee did so and Tsurugi sniffed the wound on Akamaru's leg.
"Almonds. He's been poisoned. Does anyone have a general anti-toxin on them?" Asked Tsurugi.
"Can we give that to a dog?" Asked Choji.
"He's a Ninken. The Inuzuka breed them to be human-like in terms of intelligence and capability to learn techniques. Maybe they breed them to be able to use general issue Konoha medical supplies too?" Asked Tsurugi.
"That seems like a stretch." Frowned Shikamaru.
"Well, it's the best I can come up with right now, Shika. Unless you suddenly acquired a veterinary license I don't know about, it's the best we're going to get." Snapped Tsurugi.
"Troublesome." Sighed Shikamaru before handing over a syringe full of green liquid.
A few more moments to find a vein and Tsurugi injected the anti-toxin into Akamaru. Nobody knew if the Ninken could handle the drug made for humans. Even if he could, the Konoha General Issue Anti-toxin was made to deal with common poisons, snakes, spiders, that sort of thing. Nobody knew what kind of stuff Kusa had access to, so nobody knew if the injection would even work. Fortunately, as the minutes passed, Akamaru's breathing evened out and the shakes began subsiding. It seemed he was on the mend. Choji bandaged his leg wound and placed him in the same tent that Kiba was in.
The teams reconvened as the sun set to begin to try and plan their way out of this. Shikamaru started things off.
"Alright, so what do we know and what do we think we know?" He asked.
"Kusa incited the minors to team up against Konoha and Suna. The Minors have been going after Konoha teams first." Replied Tsurugi.
"Right, and Kusa attacked us, knocked out Kiba and Sasuke-Kun without taking a scratch, and poisoned Akamaru." Added Sakura.
"Kusa might have sent a ringer team to do all of this for unknown motives." Added Neji.
"The team used a poison that our general anti-toxin was able to neutralize to take out Akamaru in a most unyouthful way." Said Lee.
"Which seems, odd given that Kusa should have stuff we'd need a more specialized anti-toxin to deal with. There's also that weird seal that Sasuke-Kun has now. That thing gives me the creeps." Frowned Ino.
"Right, which doesn't add up." Frowned Shikamaru.
"Yeah, I don't know much about Seals, but my dad says the most advanced ones tend to be specific to the Majors. Kusa shouldn't have something that intricate." Frowned Choji.
"You looked into seals?" Asked Tsurugi.
"I was looking into how to make storage scrolls. I can carry more snacks in one." Shrugged Choji.
"Right, so. Local, general, poison. Intricate seals that shouldn't be in a minor village. Are we sure this is Kusa?" Asked Shikamaru.
"What? I saw them attack, Shikamaru!" Protested Sakura.
"Or you saw someone who wanted you to think they were Kusa attack." Pointed out Neji.
"A third party screwing with the exams? Who'd try that?" Asked Ino.
"Kumo or Iwa maybe? Trying to gather intel on how the latest group of clan heirs in Konoha fight?" Asked Tsurugi.
"Maybe, but you'd think Jiraiya-sama would be keeping tabs on the Kumo-Iwa Alliance as a matter of course." Frowned Neji.
"So a third party?" Asked Choji.
"Who, though?" Asked Shikamaru.
"It could be Orochimaru. Was not he supposed to be a master of poison and other unyouthful tricks?" Asked Lee.
"I don't think Orochimaru would have left anyone alive, Lee." Frowned Neji.
"All we have are theories. Let's just tell our sensei at the end of the stage. There could be bigger picture stuff we can't see 'cause we're just Genin." Shrugged Ino.
"Agreed. In the meantime, we keep on the lookout for Minor Village Nin. Whatever is going on, the fewer of them that make it through, the better. Especially if they're being used as part of a bigger plot." Nodded Shikamaru.
Murmurs of agreement went around the camp. Then the teams broke up into watch arrangements and camp duties, preparing field rations for dinner, keeping watch at the wall, and watching over the wounded. When nighttime fell fully, they slept in shifts, adding it to the duty roster.
It would be four in the morning, or the Hour of the Tiger by the traditional Samurai Clock before something happened. Lee was on watch when out of the trees came two figures in orange. One of them pointed out the fort in the middle of the battlefield. The other one nodded before disappearing in a puff of smoke. The one who had pointed dissolved into a puddle of water.
A few minutes later, Naruto and Shino came bounding out of the tree line, an unconscious Hinata slung across Naruto's back. Lee sent out the alarm and soon everyone not unconscious was awake and rushing to let the fellow Konoha team inside the trap perimeter, just as soon as Neji confirmed it was them with his Byakugan.
"Naruto, what happened to Hinata?" Asked Tsurugi.
"We fought two teams of Ame Nin and beat them into the ground, but those Oto assholes got the drop on us and took out Hinata-chan! We had to run or fight three on two!" Growled Naruto, clearly displeased.
"Were you followed?" Asked Shikamaru.
"Yes. I estimate that the Oto Team is perhaps ten minutes behind us. It should not matter, however. Why? Because with all of us here, we should be more than capable of defeating them." Said Shino.
"What scrolls do you have?" Asked Ino.
"Both Ame teams had earth scrolls. We need a heaven scroll." Frowned Naruto.
"We have a spare heaven scroll, we need an earth scroll. Trade?" Asked Choji.
"Sure!" Grinned Naruto, trading scrolls.
"We still need a heaven scroll to pass." Frowned Sakura.
"Maybe the Oto team has one?" Asked Tsurugi.
Suddenly a fissure opened up in the woods out beyond the perimeter, drawing everyone's attention to the woods. Naruto frowned before saying, "One of my mixed clone groups just got taken out by a Doton Jutsu."
"That's not good. Why? Because the Oto Team had no Doton Jutsu." Frowned Shino.
"Looks like they found another team to group with." Said Ino.
Ten minutes later three other Minor Village teams emerged from the woods outside the perimeter. The Oto Team was joined by the last Ame Team and a Taki Team. Standing in front was the bandage-wrapped Oto-nin that had provoked Gaara before the first test.
"Hey! Konoha Fuckers! Looks like we found you!" Laughed the Bandaged Oto-nin.
Tsurugi frowned at the numbers. With their group being down Kiba, Sasuke, and Hinata, both they and the Minors had even numbers. They had the trap perimeter and the walls, but the Minors had Doton jutsu to neutralize. It'd come down to skill.
"Get ready to have your asses stomped! Oi! Taki fucker! Do the thing!" Grunted the Bandaged Oto-nin.
One of the Taki-nin, an older boy in a green tunic, went through a series of hand seals familiar to Tsurugi before slapping his palms against the ground. With a rumble, the Doton: Retsudo Tensho demolished the trap perimeter and the camp wall to even the playing field. Both sides stared each other down for a few moments across the now-cleared battlefield.
Then they charged each other, beginning the battle…
AN: Next chapter will be the battle and the end of the second stage of the Chunin Exams.
As to what happened with Team Seven? Orochimaru and a pair of mud clones posing as one of the Kusa teams ambushed them as in canon. Sakura got hit with a fear genjutsu and ran to get help, Kiba and Sasuke refused to work together and were knocked unconscious easily.
Orochimaru gave Sasuke the curse seal even though Sasuke didn't impress him because he just wants the Sharingan that badly.
And of course, now there are three teams to face off against the three Konoha Teams, two of which are down members.
Stay tuned to see how this wraps up…
Chapter 14
Both sides rushed towards each other. Tsurugi went for the Taki Doton User as a priority. He looked right and saw Lee heading for the Bandaged-up Oto Nin and Neji going for the other male Oto Nin. To his left, Naruto was charging towards another Taki Nin, this one wielding a pair of Taki-style Mai Sok clubs. To Naruto's left, Shino was sending his kikaichu against the last Taki Nin who was trying to ward them off with fire jutsu.
That brief glimpse of the field was all that Tsurugi could see before he needed to focus on the fight. Doing as his father had taught him, he infused his sword with chakra and began to manipulate its shape, altering it until he had formed a Hadan. His opponent threw up an earth wall via Doton: Doryuheki just in time to avoid being hit, but Tsurugi unleashed his Hadan on the wall instead. His Hadan struck the wall, and the wall ruptured, collapsing in on itself around a great rent torn into it by the Hadan. Tsurugi did not slow pace and kept moving forward, focusing chakra into his sword for an Issen even as his opponent began spitting bullet-sized rocks at him with Doton: Iwadeppo no Jutsu. The rocks may have been fast and hard enough to be lethal, but Tsurugi channeled more chakra into his armor, hardening it against the impacts, and the rock bullets shattered against his breastplate, tassets, and pauldrons.
With a shout, Tsurugi unleashed his Issen at his opponent, whose eyes widened fractionally at the incoming technique and who sped through hand seals to try and bring up another wall with Doton: Doryuheki. He succeeded at the very last second, his wall eating the force of Tsurugi's Issen and being cut in half, only for Tsurugi to nail him in the face with a flying knee. The Taki Nin went down with his nose crunched flat and Tsurugi finished him off with a heel kick to the back of the head, knocking him unconscious. Takigakure was an ally, after all. There was no sense killing him now.
Looking to his left, he saw Naruto had managed to lock his opponent in a chokehold and actually had pretty good form. His opponent wasn't going to be able to get out of the hold without some tricky jutsu. Tsurugi scarcely had time to wonder where his Orange Friend had picked up a grappling style before his attention turned elsewhere. One of the Ame Nin on the right flank had managed to trap Ino in a Genjutsu and was threatening to turn that flank by hitting Choji with a Fuuma shuriken.
"Choji! Watch your Three o'clock!" Shouted Tsurugi. The warning came just in time as Choji, one arm giant-sized, turned to the right just in time to swat the Fuuma shuriken out of the air with his giant-sized right arm. The sheer amount of meat on his forearm meant that the nicks left by the Fuuma shuriken while it was in contact were far from debilitating. The larger boy turned his attention to the Ame Nin afterward and Tsurugi rushed to fill his spot fighting his former opponent.
This Ame Nin was a lightning user and his chest and arms crackled with static electricity. The odd Nintaijutsu let him hit with the shock of a taser to back his punches. Tsurugi wouldn't mind asking for pointers once this was over because that definitely seemed like a neat trick but it would have to wait. He dodged a punch from the static-clad Ame Nin and threw a horizontal cut with his blade meant to press his opponent back. The Ame Nin stepped back, as Tsurugi had hoped, which gave Tsurugi space to withdraw. Getting into Taijutsu with that technique would only numb his limbs and slow him down. Instead, he sheathed his sword and pulled his bow, firing a pair of arrows at his opponent. His opponent swatted the pair out of the air but paused his forward momentum to do so, letting Tsurugi fire a third arrow, this one with an attached concussion tag on it. The arrow sunk between his opponent's feet and the tag went off, bursting his opponent's eardrums and knocking him to the ground. Tsurugi raced forward and knocked his opponent out with an elbow to the temple as he tried to rise.
By this point, the fighting had broken off into smaller engagements. Neji had managed to defeat the Spiky-haired Oto nin by disabling his arms with Juuken strikes. He only looked somewhat ruffled. Lee was doing less well, as he seemed to have come down with some kind of vertigo while fighting the bandaged-up Oto nin. Fortunately, Lee fought even better when unsteady, as he slipped into the Drunken Fist, something Tsurugi had only seen him use once before after mistaking a bottle of sake for one of tea and downing it. His opponent was unprepared for the onslaught and Lee finished him by knocking him to the ground and falling atop him with an elbow drop. Naruto had knocked out his opponent and had moved on to helping Shino with his. Shikamaru seemed to have his Ame Nin wrapped up in ninja wire, and Choji was busy pounding his into the ground like a tent peg with his oversized arm.
That just left Sakura. Tsurugi looked around for her, only to find her being held hostage by the last remaining, female, Oto Nin, senbon coated in some substance held to her throat, arm locked behind her back.
"Alright! Everyone fuck off or Pinky gets it!" Shouted the Oto Nin. That caused the battles to pause as all eyes turned to the hostage situation.
"Yeah, that's it! Nobody wants the girl to die, yeah? Then you all should stand the fuck down while I get ready to leave. Hey, Taki guy, go get my teammates, we're out of here!" Demanded the Oto Nin.
The Taki Nin that had been battling Naruto and Shino looked over towards the situation and said, "What about my teammates?"
"Taki and Konoha are allies, yeah? They'll be fine. It isn't like these Konoha guys will kill downed shinobi from an allied village. Get my teammates!" Ordered the Oto Nin.
The Taki Nin shrugged before breaking out a capsule of smelling salts and using it to wake up the other two Oto Nin. The four of them hobbled over to where Sakura was being held hostage.
The Female Oto Nin continued, "If any of you have an earth scroll, hand it over!" She growled.
Nothing happened for a few moments before the female Oto Nin pressed the senbon harder into Sakura's throat and shouted, "Do it, or else Pinky gets it!"
The silence was broken from the site of the Konoha Camp. "Sakura you seriously got captured? I guess dead weight can't change, no matter how hard it tries." Came a sneering voice.
Everyone turned to see a sweat-matted Sasuke approaching the combatants, a wild gleam in his eye. The Female Oto Nin spoke up and said, "Oi! Back off asshole, or else!"
Sasuke cocked his head and simply said, "None of you will leave here alive." Before moving so fast only Team Gai could track his movements. He blurred right up to the Female Oto nin, kunai in one hand, and just planted it into her forehead before she could do much more than take a single step backward. Her 2 teammates tried to attack Sasuke, only for him to take them apart with lighting-fast taijutsu.
"Fast!" Exclaimed Choji.
"I didn't think he could move at Lee-speed." Muttered Tsurugi.
Naruto just scowled at the display.
Sasuke glared once at the remaining Taki Nin who cried out in panic and ran from the field. A smirk crossed his face briefly before his hand shot to his neck and he passed out with a grimace on his face. The odd seal on his neck was pulsing with a sinister glow. Tsurugi frowned at that, before saying, "Whatever that seal is has something to do with Sasuke's sudden speed upgrade, I'm sure of it."
"We can ask our sensei when we see them at the tower. That Oto Nin demanded an earth scroll, which means they have the heaven scroll Team Seven needs. Grab it, grab an unconscious teammate, and let's head for the tower. I don't want any more issues to crop up right now." Sighed Shikamaru.
The Rookie group did just that, moving quickly to minimize potential attacks. By noon, they arrived at the tower in the center of the Forest of Death, where the proctors demanded they show the proper scrolls, before swiftly whisking injured teammates off to the infirmary. Shikamaru, being the smartest one, was volunteered to be debriefed about the odd stuff that had happened in this stage of the exam and was promptly shanghaied by the Weird Proctor Lady for a full debrief.
Team Gai, for their part, just wanted food and a little rest. Their quest was briefly interrupted only twice. Once by Gaara doing his thousand-yard stare and muttering under his breath, and then about an hour afterward, when a bunch of Anbu arrived at the tower. Tsurugi didn't much care about all that, though. He had some honest to gods real food! Chicken fried rice, gyoza, miso soup! After two days of eating field rations, it was heavenly! He savored every bite! Devouring several helpings as stunned onlookers watched.
"Where does it all go?" Asked Sakura, quizzically.
"That's just Tsurugi. At least he'll stop after three servings. You should see Naruto eat sometime." Chuckled Ino.
The rest of the day passed in relative comfort and the last day of the second stage of the Chunin Exams came and went the same way. Only one more team made it to the tower, Kabuto's team of veteran genin, in the allotted time with proper scrolls. As the deadline passed, the proctors gathered all the passing contestants in the basement of the tower for an announcement. It seemed there were still too many candidates left on the field.
There would need to be a preliminary round before the finals…
AN: A lot of stuff happened in the background after the Konoha Eleven showed up at the tower.
The second Shikamaru mentioned Sasuke's seal, Anko pretty much kidnapped him for a full debrief, which gave T enough intel to call in the Anbu. Unfortunately, Orochimaru is long gone.
Kakashi was sent for to apply the Evil-Sealing Method counterseal, which he did, but Sasuke is still unconscious even a day later. Lucky for him there's an odd number of combatants, seventeen, just enough to give him a bye for the preliminaries.
I'm sure politics had nothing to do with him getting the bye.
At any rate, next up will be the start of the Preliminaries.
Stay tuned…
Chapter 15
The proctor of the preliminary tournament was someone who Tsurugi recognized. Gekko Hayate was one of three active, accredited, Kenjutsu masters in Konoha, aside from his father and the Lord Hokage. Technically, there had been five Kenjutsu masters, but Shimura Danzo had retired years ago and Orochimaru had turned traitor. As an aspiring Kenjutsu master himself, Tsurugi had kept tabs on the number of Kenjutsu masters in the village.
"Congratulations on making it this far. Unfortunately, there's too many of you to go straight to the final round, so we'll be having a preliminary round now." Said Hayate.
He paused to take a breath before continuing. "There's an odd number of competitors, so one of you will get a bye to the finals, selected by random draw. Please watch the screen." He said.
Up above the arena floor, mounted high up on the wall was an electronic screen that lit up as Hayate pointed to it. A selection of faces of the various contestants flashed across the screen in a random order for a few moments before Sasuke's name appeared and the random draw ceased.
"Looks like it's the Uchiha kid. Lucky for him since he's still laid up in the infirmary." Said Hayate.
"Bullshit!" Shouted Naruto from among the contestants. Tsurugi frowned at his friend's outburst, but couldn't deny that it was super convenient for the only guy still in the infirmary to get the bye. Still, Sasuke was the Lord Uchiha, so if anyone was going to get a bye due to politics it would have to be him.
"Alright kiddies, settle down so we can go over the rules. It's a single-elimination tournament with the preliminary bracket chosen by random draw. The fights end when your opponent gives up or is unable to continue. These are one on one fights, so if you interfere in another contestant's match, you get disqualified. If you continue to attack after the match ends, you get disqualified. If you fight an opponent outside of a match, you get disqualified. This round will go until there's seven of you left, so some unlucky bastard is going to have to fight twice." Said Hayate, before taking another breath.
"Oh, and try not to kill anyone. If it happens in a match, you won't get disqualified, but I don't want to do the paperwork that involves, ok? Now, let's see our bracket!" He called before pointing at the screen again.
Displayed on the screen was a bracket for the preliminaries. Tsurugi looked for his opponent and saw he was up against one of the older Konoha Genin that had been on Kabuto's team, Yoroi Akado. He figured he could take the older genin from the way the guy moved, too stiff. His wasn't the first fight though or even the third. The first to fight was going to be Ino and Sakura. He sidled over to Shikamaru as the pair of Kunoichi descended to the arena floor.
"Hey, Shika. You know Ino's going to win this, right? Sakura has like, zero front-line capability." Asked Tsurugi.
"I do." Replied Shikamaru.
"You know they've been rivals for a couple of years now." Continued Tsurugi.
"Yes." Said Shikamaru.
"You know she's going to be insufferable after this, right?" Asked Tsurugi.
"Troublesome woman." Sighed Shikamaru.
"Better you than me. Just saying." Said Tsurugi.
Shikamaru turned to Tsurugi and said, "What do you mean better you than me? You think she'll stop at just my team? You're in this too."
Tsurugi looked at Shikamaru and sighed. "We're doomed." He said, simply.
Down on the Arena Floor, Sakura and Ino stared each other down. They had been rivals for years now. It had started over schooling but increased to a fever pitch once Sasuke had become the target of it. In her head, Sakura was imagining taking Ino down in front of everyone and finally claiming her rightful place as Sasuke's true love. Ino on the other hand was having doubts. Once she would have relished the opportunity to defeat her rival publicly and become Sasuke's sole remaining prospective girlfriend. After the Forest of Death, though? Well, she supposed it didn't matter. She still had to win for the sake of her career.
"You should forfeit, forehead. You won't beat me." Said Ino.
"I'll never give up, Ino-pig! I'll beat you down and claim Sasuke-Kun for my own!" Shouted Sakura.
Ino just frowned in response but didn't say anything else. Instead of spouting a witty comeback, she just charged Sakura. Sakura raised her arms to defend against a punch, but instead of throwing one, Ino reached into her belt pouch, grabbed a capsule of some kind, bit it, and went through a series of hand seals. Once she'd finished, she spat out a large glob of purple fluid at Sakura. Sakura had been preparing for a Taijutsu fight, but instead was hit by the fluid.
"What the hell was that, Ino-pig?" She sputtered before taking a few steps forward. A few steps were all she got, though, before falling to her knees.
"That was a Yamanaka Clan jutsu, Dokutsuba. I just hit you with a contact paralytic. This fight is over, forehead." Replied Ino.
"Alright, I'm calling it. Winner, Yamanaka Ino." Said Hayate, making it official.
As Sakura was being loaded onto a stretcher, Ino said, "By the way, you can have Sasuke. I'm done with him." Before heading up to the rest of the waiting contestants.
When she arrived, Tsurugi asked, "So you're over Sasuke?"
"You saw how he looked in the Forest against those Oto guys. There was just something in his eyes like he'd kill anyone who got in his way. It was Super Creepy. I just can't see him the same way as before." Sighed Ino.
Tsurugi nodded. Shikamaru looked over from where he'd been sitting and asked, "Dokutsuba? I didn't think your dad studied the Yamanaka poison techniques."
"Daddy doesn't. Mom does." Shrugged Ino.
Shikamaru just shrugged and went back to laying down. The next match was Gaara of the sand versus Kankuro. The puppet user took one look at the screen before shouting, "I forfeit!" And the brackets moved on. Next up was Neji versus another one of Kabuto's teammates, Misumi Tsurugi. Neji nodded once before hopping down to the arena floor. His opponent slinked down the stairs instead of hopping the wall.
"A Hyuga, eh? Heard you're all Taijutsu guys. You got unlucky with the draw, kid. I'm a rubber man, your strikes are just gonna bounce right off me, and then I'll be able to grab you. Might as well give up now while you still can." Grinned Misumi.
"And it is unfortunate for you that you began this fight within my field of Divination." Replied Neji, simply.
Before Misumi could reply a series of lightning-fast Juuken strikes struck out at Misumi. The first two didn't seem to have any effect, nor did the next four, but Neji adjusted his blows with each set of strikes and by the last set was finally able to seal off some of Misumi's tenketsu. If the rubber man had been counting on his abnormal body type to let him weather Neji's strikes, he clearly wasn't informed of the Byakugan's full capabilities. He probably didn't know that Neji could adjust his aim mid-technique.
As soon as Neji sealed off the shoulder and knee tenketsu on Misumi's left side with his last two strikes, it was over. The rubber man collapsed in a boneless heap to the ground. "What? How did you do that? My rubber body should have let me take that attack!" Protested Misumi.
"Curious, it seems you can only move when like this through extremely precise chakra control. It seems that once I figured out where your Tenketsu actually were, striking them disrupted your ability to move at all." Said Neji.
"You can adjust on the fly?" Asked the bewildered Misumi.
"Indeed. It seems you were fated to lose today." Replied Neji.
"Winner, Hyuga Neji. If you kids want to keep talking, do it elsewhere. We've got more fights to go through." Said Hayate.
Neji nodded before heading back upstairs while Misumi returned to his normal form and hobbled away.
The next fight was Naruto vs Kiba. Tsurugi thought this one might actually even be interesting. As Kiba leaped down to the arena floor, Akamaru in tow, Naruto moved to follow. Tsurugi stopped him though.
"You've got this, Naruto. Just watch out for his team techniques with Akamaru. I've seen what they can do and it's brutal." He said.
"Thanks, Tsurugi. I'm gonna kick his mangy ass and move on to the finals, Dattebayo!" Shouted Naruto, making Tsurugi wince at the volume. Then Naruto was heading down to the arena floor for his match.
It would be the first actually competitive one so far…
AN: Yeah so Sasuke's little curse seal fuelled outburst in the forest of death freaked Ino out enough to get her over her crush on him. Who knew chicks weren't into psychopaths?
As to the poison techniques, well the Yamanaka are experts on plants in canon. Ino even seems to know about various poison flowers in canon. It's not too big of a stretch that they'd have poison techniques they cooked up over the years. Dokutsuba, or poison spit, is a stepping stone to Dokugiri, which we see Shizune use in canon.
Misumi is a gimmick character, he's got his rubberized body and that's it. When paired up against someone who can adjust his attacks to match his biology, like Neji with his Byakugan, he's toast. As to why he didn't know about the Byakugan's full capabilities. The Hyuga like to keep that sort of thing under wraps. Most folks just think the Byakugan lets the Hyuga target organs and the like, not the Tenketsu. Orochimaru knows, but Misumi is expendable. He wouldn't have told him. After all, only Kabuto himself is necessary for his future plans.
At any rate, the preliminaries continue next chapter with Naruto vs Kiba.
Stay tuned…
Chapter 16
Naruto and Kiba stared each other down in the middle of the arena. Kiba looked confident in his ability to eke out a win against Naruto and Naruto had the same expression on his face he always did when it came to fights, utterly unshakeable in his belief in his ability to pull off a win.
"You sure you wanna tangle with the big dog, Naruto?" Grinned Kiba, cockily.
"Big dog my ass! I'm gonna kick your ass back to the kennel, Dattebayo!" Shouted Naruto back.
"All right, don't say I didn't warn ya!" Shouted Kiba before reaching into a belt pouch for a pill.
For his part, Naruto was moving through hand seals, capping things off with the rat seal and spitting out a bullet of water. The Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu arced for Kiba's hand and wound up washing the pill out of his opponent's grasp, sending it flying into a puddle where it dissolved.
"You're gonna have to do better than that, Kiba!" Shouted Naruto as he charged forwards, making a single hand seal and spawning a trio of Kage Bunshin. The four Narutos then engaged Kiba in a taijutsu fight.
For his part, Kiba proved that he had obviously improved his taijutsu since the battle in the Land of Waves, effortlessly popping a pair of Naruto's Kage Bunshin with a pair of Inuzuka-style claw swipes. Another of the Narutos lashed out with a roundhouse kick that Kiba blocked on his forearm, but the last one caught Kiba in the back with a thrust kick, sending him stumbling forward. For their part, the two remaining Narutos charged forward, intent on scoring another hit. Kiba caught one of them with a thrust kick of his own to the solar plexus and sent him careening into the other Naruto. As it happened, Kiba had caught the real Naruto with his kick, and Naruto's collision with his last Kage Bunshin popped the last remaining clone in a puff of smoke.
With breathing room established, Kiba reached into his pouch for another pill that he could feed Akamaru, but as soon as he did, another Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu struck forth to smash into Kiba's hand and knock the pill out of his grasp. Kiba looked up to see yet another clone over by the puddle created by Naruto's first Suidan no Jutsu. Naruto himself was just standing up from the ground.
"Mizu Bunshin?" Asked Kiba.
"Mobile artillery!" Shouted Naruto back, as he rushed forward to engage Kiba again. Kiba was better at taijutsu than Naruto, but every time he started to get the upper hand in the fight, Naruto's Mizu Bunshin would fire off a Suidan no Jutsu and force Kiba to give ground or get hit. With this strategy, Naruto was able to wear Kiba down enough to throw him to the ground with a technique Tsurugi recognized as a Hane-goshi hip throw. Naruto even retained control of Kiba's arm long enough to apply an armbar on the Inuzuka. Kiba tried to counter, but couldn't quite manage it before Naruto had his hold locked in. He tapped out soon after.
"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto." Called out Hayate.
"Awesome! Told you I'd kick your ass, Kiba, Dattebayo!" Shouted Naruto, kipping back up to his feet.
Tsurugi was left to wonder who had been teaching Naruto grappling techniques as the next match got underway.
Down in the Arena, Lee faced off against Temari of Suna. The fan-wielding Suna Genin regarded Lee with a cold look and said simply, "You should forfeit. If all you have is Taijutsu, I'm the worst matchup you could have drawn."
"I am sorry, Temari-san, but it is not in me to give up!" Replied Lee.
"Whatever, it's your funeral." Said Temari, taking the fan off her back and opening it.
Lee took up his normal stance and asked, "Are you ready?"
"I'll show you ready, eat this! Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" She shouted, swinging her fan and causing a great vortex of wind. Lee was already moving, though, and Temari's vacuum cut of wind just barely missed him. He closed on her with speed she was unaware he possessed and forced her to block his leaping kick with her fan. The power of Lee's blow dented the metal part of the great war fan and sent Temari skidding away.
When she finally collected herself, Lee was moving again and only emergency employment of her Kamaitachi no Jutsu forced him to detour from his path towards her. She followed that cut up with another frantic cut, hoping to keep the Konoha Genin at bay, but Lee kept dodging the vacuum cuts. As she threw cut after cut with her fan, Temari reflected that at least if he was dodging, he wasn't hitting her.
That all ended when, after the fifth cut with her Kamaitachi no Jutsu was dodged, Lee reached down to his ankles and stripped off the chakra weights he wore there, dropping them to the arena floor as he blurred out of sight to dodge another vacuum cut. Temari only had time to put her unfolded fan in the way of Lee's oncoming kick before he connected. Her war fan wasn't meant to block blows unfolded like this, and the metal rods bent and the paper tore under the force of Lee's blow. Temari's primary weapon was now rendered useless. She was going to have to forfeit.
Unfortunately for her, Lee's follow-up kick smashed into her before she could utter the words to give up. A whirling leg sweep that took her feet out from under her. While she was in the air, Lee blurred into an axe kick that slammed into her and smashed her into the arena floor, with enough force to crack the tile and knock her out.
"Winner, Rock Lee!" Called Hayate.
Lee stopped to bow to Temari's unconscious form and say, "Thank you for the match!"
Temari was carted off on a stretcher to the infirmary, escorted by her sensei. She could not respond.
The next match would be Akimichi Choji against Hyuga Hinata, though a short break was called for the cracked arena tiles to be repaired with a Doton jutsu. As the cracked tiles were being smoothed out, Tsurugi turned toward Neji to ask about Hinata.
"Hey, Neji, answer me honestly. What do you think Choji's chances of winning are?" Asked Tsurugi.
A dark look came across Neji's face as he answered. "Hinata is a disappointment to the Hyuga in many ways. She is too timid to use the Juuken to its full extent. At the same time, she sits in a position of power and luxury that she does little to prove she deserves. It is one of fate's many cruel ironies. I do not believe she is capable of defeating Akimichi as she is now." He said before clamming up.
Any attempt Tsurugi tried to make his teammate open up further only seemed to make Neji more taciturn on the subject and Tsurugi was forced to drop the line of questioning. Fortunately for everyone, the arena was repaired before the awkwardness of the terminated conversation could fester and the match could begin.
The match started with Choji performing the Baika no Jutsu to shift his body around to avoid Hinata from easily sealing his tenketsu. Moments later, a Juuken attempt to do just that was foiled by Choji spinning around at high speeds to knock Hinata's precision strike off-course. Hinata leaped away from a potential counterattack, but that only gave Choji room to perform the Nikudan Sensha technique and become a human boulder. From there, the fight devolved into Hinata dodging away while Choji chased after her in Nikudan Sensha form. Eventually, Hinata was cornered and had to fight back. She threw a series of Juuken strikes at Choji and even managed to seal one of his tenketsu, but Choji had built up enough momentum that it didn't matter. Hinata was crushed against the arena wall and knocked out, even as Choji stumbled to a halt.
Both combatants were unable to continue so Hayate announced a draw. Neither combatant would move on to the finals proper.
"Lucky. Guess nobody will have to fight twice after all." He said.
Next up, it was Tsurugi's turn. He descended the arena stairs, even as his opponent, Yoroi Akado, leaped down from the stands. Tsurugi eyed his opponent to see if he could get any hints as to his fighting style. The masked man seemed to be a taijutsu user from the way he moved, but his movements were stiffer than Tsurugi was used to seeing. Like the man relied too much on rote katas and movements. Taijutsu like that wouldn't be enough to get him this far in the exams, so that could only mean he had some kind of secret technique. Nintaijutsu perhaps? It wouldn't be the first time Tsurugi had encountered it in the exams, though it was rarely taught in Konoha.
"You should forfeit, kid. My touch will drain you dry." Said Yoroi. Tsurugi didn't know what exactly he meant by that but assumed it confirmed his Nintaijutsu theory.
"I will not withdraw." He replied. If Taijutsu was a bad idea, then Tsurugi would hammer Yoroi with ninjutsu.
As the match began, Tsurugi ran through hand seals and cast Doton: Retsudo Tensho to force Yoroi to abandon charging him. The fissure created in the arena floor caused Yoroi to stumble to a halt and opened him up for a casting of Raiton: Raikyu. Five small spheres of lightning shot forth at Yoroi and forced the Older Nin to dodge back away from the incoming barrage. While he was dodging the lightning, Tsurugi went through one last set of hand seals and spat out a Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu. The water bullet splashed into the floor at Yoroi's feet and several of the lightning spheres plunged into the highly conductive ground, shocking Yoroi through contact with the water. As he seized up from the electricity, Yoroi was easy prey for a flying kick from Tsurugi smashing into him and knocking him unconscious.
"Winner, Uesugi Tsurugi!" Called out Hayate. Tsurugi headed back up to the stands while the water drained away and the arena floor was repaired with Doton jutsu. Soon enough, it was time for the last match of the preliminaries, Shikamaru vs Kabuto. Both combatants tried to forfeit, but an elbow to the ribs from Ino forced Shikamaru to be just a fraction too slow. Whether he liked it or not, Shikamaru was going to the finals.
Speaking of which, the Final Round would officially be held in the Konoha Coliseum one month from now. The who's who of the Konoha-Suna Alliance would be attending including both Kage, so everyone was going to need to be at their best to impress the Kage in attendance.
As he was dismissed, Tsurugi was already thinking about what training he was going to try. Wind Transformation, maybe a basic Futon technique, or two.
And of course, trying to learn his Grandfather's Roaring Fang…
AN: There you have it, folks, the roster for the final tournament has been completed.
We also saw a little bit more about Neji's feelings vis-a-vis the Hyuga. It hasn't come up before, but the Hyuga Affair played out differently than in canon. Hizashi still died, even though it was stopped by the Anbu. Essentially, Hizashi was implicated by Kumo as a traitor, and even though he protested his innocence, and Hiashi believed him, the rest of the council didn't thanks to Danzo's plotting to grab a set of Byakugan as well as the pilfered Sharingan. Hiashi activated the Caged Bird Seal on Hizashi rather than let his brother be executed by the Anbu, which only furthered suspicion.
Neji grew up knowing his father wasn't a traitor but was forced into going along with the charade anyway to avoid making Lord Hiashi and the Hyuga as a whole look worse. That combined with Hinata's seeming incompetence as an heiress has left him bitter about the Hyuga in general and his place in the Clan in particular.
Anyway, next up will be some interludes from various Jonin Sensei and others as they train their Genin, followed by a training Chapter for Tsurugi.
Then we'll be ready for the finals and the imminent Sand-Sound Invasion.
Stay tuned…
Interlude: Uzumaki Naruto
Naruto was super pumped about having made the finals. He was the only one on his team that had thanks to Shino dropping out after the second test due to losing too many bugs to Fire Jutsu in the last fight in the forest and Hinata and Choji knocking each other out. Still, that meant he'd just have to be extra awesome so he could represent the whole team! Kurenai-sensei had even arranged for more tutors, which was awesome since her specialty was Genjutsu and Naruto wasn't the greatest with that. The last tutor she arranged for had been a big help, too! Old Man Hanma may be retired, but he was a beast when it came to Taijutsu! The Old Geezer had to be pushing sixty, yet he was still able to fight, it reminded Naruto a lot of Jii-san. He hadn't known where Kurenai-sensei had found him, but Naruto was thankful she had!
"So, who have you lined up to teach me this time, Kurenai-sensei?" Questioned Naruto.
"Well, aside from more lessons with Hanma-san, you'll be working with a Jounin of Konoha, Sarutobi Asuma." Answered Kurenai.
"Eh? Shouldn't he be busy with Shikamaru and Ino? Why isn't he training them?" Queried Naruto.
"Because they've got training with their families to do in their Clan Techniques. Besides, Asuma is one of only two people in Konoha who can help you with Wind Transformation. I assume you do want training in your primary element?" Retorted Kurenai.
"Hell yeah! Even Tsurugi doesn't have that one! I'm so gonna hold this over him, Dattebayo!" Cheered Naruto.
"Learn it first, kid. Gloat after." Game a gruff voice from behind them. Naruto turned to see the large, goateed, form of Sarutobi Asuma walking up to the training field. The man had a cigarette in his mouth as he walked up to stand beside Kurenai-sensei, who immediately plucked the cigarette out of his mouth and crushed it.
"Damnit woman, I was gonna smoke that!" Protested Asuma.
"Not around me you're not, and not around my students either." Denied Kurenai.
Naruto looked between Asuma and Kurenai-sensei and frowned. "You two are acting like Tsurugi and Ino have been lately, what gives?" He asked.
That caused Asuma to bust out laughing for some reason while Kurenai-sensei just frowned slightly, which usually meant he'd said something wrong. When that happened, usually there was remedial training involved. That usually meant being randomly hit by Genjutsu and needing to break out of them. He'd better apologize before Kurenai-sensei got any ideas.
"I'm sorry, what'd I say?" Questioned Naruto in apology.
"Hell's Bells, kid! Don't let Ino catch you talking about her like that." Wheezed Auma.
"It's fine Naruto, just pick your words more carefully." Sighed Kurenai-sensei.
Naruto was confused, but if it meant he wasn't about to get mind-whammied by one of Kurenai-sensei's freaky-ass genjutsu, he'd take the win and let it go. Eventually, Asuma regained his breath and Kurenai-sensei left to go do whatever it is she had planned for today, leaving Naruto ready to absorb whatever Asuma had to teach him. The Gruff Jounin reached up to a low-hanging tree branch and plucked a leaf before he started to talk.
"Kurenai tells me you learned water transformation already, am I right?" He asked.
"Yep! It's my secondary affinity." Grinned Naruto.
"Well, Wind's different than water. With Water, you try and gather all the dew on a leaf into one area while keeping the rest of the leaf dry. It's about controlling your element. Wind doesn't like being controlled, you can point it in a direction, and tell it to do general things, but trying to control it like you would water is folly. Wind's destructive by nature, water can be used to cool, to soothe, wind wants to rip and tear and rage with the fury of a howling gale. It's called the War Element for good reason." Lectured Asuma.
Honestly, Naruto couldn't care less about the poetic crap that Asuma was spouting. He tried to pay attention, but he was a more hands-on learner. It must have shown on his face, 'cause Asuma stopped the lecture part-way through.
"Right, should have figured the Old Man's speech wasn't gonna work on you. Ok, listen up, 'cause here's what you need to do. Take the leaf and cut it in half with your chakra. Without cutting up the rest of the leaf too bad." Grunted Asuma.
Naruto grinned, finally some concrete instructions! He snatched the leaf and pulled up his chakra, trying to cut through the leaf with just his chakra. Unfortunately, in his excitement, it seems he pulled up too much chakra and absolutely shredded the leaf. Asuma plucked another one and he went at it again. This one was shredded too. Naruto stripped half a tree bare of leaves before he got the right amount of chakra for the exercise, and by that point, several hours had passed. This time he tried to imagine his chakra thinning out into a razor-like Asuma had told him and managed to cut part-way through the leaf. He tried again but got no further than the last time.
"Keep practicing, kid. You'll get it in a few days at this rate, now though, I think Kurenai has you training in Taijutsu. We'll pick this up tomorrow." Nodded Asuma, before walking off.
Naruto turned and saw Old Man Hanma walking onto the training field. His gray hair and stooped posture may have fooled Naruto once, but after over a month of being beaten into the ground by the Old Man, he knew that shit was deceptive. Underneath the baggy pants and loose shirt, the old man was totally jacked and frankly covered in an obscene amount of scars.
"Ready for today's session, Uzumaki?" Questioned Old Man Hanma.
"Hell Yeah! Let's get this show on the road!" Affirmed Naruto, projecting confidence he didn't feel. Old Man Hanma nodded before taking up a fighting stance. Naruto did the same. For a few moments, both stared each other down, then Naruto charged in with a knee strike. Half a second later, he was staring up at the sky with Old Man Hanma looking amused. Growling, Naruto got to his feet and threw a kick. Once again he was thrown to the ground without even so much as time to blink. He tried again, and again, and again, before finally giving up.
"All right, I give. What's the secret here?" He asked.
"I blended my movements with your own and used the leverage of your own attack against you. The technique is one taught by masters of Jujutsu where I'm from. I was quite the fighter in my day if I do say so." Grinned Old Man Hanma.
"Teach me!" Demanded Naruto.
And that was how his training went for a good two weeks. Asuma taught him Wind Transformation, and later wind jutsu such as Futon: Daitoppa and Futon: Reppusho. Old Man Hanma taught him more Jujutsu techniques. He didn't know how lucky he was to have the teachers he did. At least not initially. It was only when he met up with Tsurugi for a prearranged sparring match they'd set up to gauge each other's progress before the finals that he figured it out. The first time he'd pulled the technique Old Man Hanma had been teaching him out on Tsurugi, his friend knew right away what he'd learned.
Standing up, Tsurugi had asked, "Aiki! Where the hell did you learn that?"
"Kurenai-sensei got me a tutor, Old Man Hanma's pretty cool." Answered Naruto.
"Hanma? Did you say Hanma? Naruto, Hanma Baki was known as the Beast of Tetsumachi around thirty years ago! The man was a legend in half the dojo of Iron Country and he up and vanished around fifteen years ago! Now you're telling me that not only has he turned up here, but that he somehow has done so incognito, and that you're taking lessons from him?" Exclaimed Tsurugi.
"Yup. Pretty badass huh?" Grinned Naruto.
"Can I join you?" Asked Tsurugi.
That was how Tsurugi joined in on Naruto's Jujutsu training for the last couple of weeks before the finals started. Honestly, Naruto was actually relieved to have a sparring partner, since trying to practice against Old Man Hanma typically ended with him being planted into the dirt. Old Man Hanma had made Tsurugi promise not to tell anyone he knew who he was though. Naruto didn't get it, but Tsurugi told him it was a Samurai thing and Naruto let it go. In the end, Naruto figured it didn't really matter anyway if the Old Man had been let into Konoha. It's not like Jii-san would let someone into the village who couldn't be trusted.
As the days ticked down, Naruto felt like he was as ready as he could be for the finals. He'd even managed to wheedle a third Futon technique from Asuma he was keeping up his sleeve. Futon: Gofusen was an improvement on Futon: Reppusho, using that jutsu as a base. It was also a B-rank Jutsu, which was a lot better than what most of the others had. Plus it was a Futon jutsu. As he set his alarm before bed the night before the finals, Naruto reminded himself that Futon jutsu were something that not even Tsurugi had right now. Even if he'd weaseled his way into Jujutsu lessons with Old Man Hanma, Naruto still had that over on him. He fell asleep that night to dreams of using his Futon jutsu to sweep the finals and being declared the best Genin in Konoha, promoted to Chunin on the spot.
Reality would have other plans for the finals, however…
AN: So yeah, little cribbing from another series here. Took Baki Hanma from Grappler Baki, aged him up, and Naruto-ized him. Naruto had to have learned Jujutsu from somewhere, and sadly, there aren't any good Jujutsu users from canon or even in supplemental stuff like games or filler. And hey, if you're gonna steal characters from elsewhere why not do so from the best? Grappler Baki is pretty much the gold standard of Manga where the protagonist uses Jujutsu, after all.
Anyway, next up is an Ino interlude as she picks up more Yamanaka Family Poison Techniques for use in the finals.
Stay tuned…
Interlude: Yamanaka Ino
The moment Ino had made it into the finals, her Mom had appeared to sequester her away for further training. Of course, Ino wanted to win, and she didn't mind the fact that the Yamanaka Poison Techniques her mom was teaching her tended to be less physical training than she was sure that some of her competitors would be doing, but even still she would have liked to have enjoyed a bit of time to celebrate! That wasn't to be, though. When her Mom put her mind to it, there wasn't anything that could dissuade her from her chosen path. Ino had learned that much after the Tea Ceremony Incident when she'd been six. Even Daddy had tried to dissuade her from going through with that, but it hadn't worked.
At any rate, that was how Ino found herself in the restricted greenhouse helping her mom harvest some sort of leafy creeper vine with an odd white fuzz for preparation. Her mother didn't even let her do any of the active parts of harvesting or preparing, she was just supposed to carry the basket and observe. It was outrageous that this was supposed to be helping her learn, especially since they were on a deadline! Ino said so to her mother, only for her mom to frown back at her and go into what Ino had long since dubbed, 'Mom Mode'.
"Ino, do you know what this poison even is? How it works, where it comes from, and how it can be countered?" Asked her Mom.
"Well no, but you haven't told me, just had me watch!" Pointed out Ino, accusingly.
"So if you poisoned yourself while trying to help me, you not only wouldn't realize it until it was too late but also wouldn't know what to do?" Pressed her Mom.
Ino frowned, not only because she knew her Mom was right, but also because she sensed a lecture coming on. "Fine, so what is this, and how does it work?" She sighed, giving in to the conversation.
"This is a plant from the Jungles of Sea Country the poison that is refined from it is called Curare. It's a powerful paralytic that can paralyze an opponent so thoroughly that they find themselves unable to breathe. It can even paralyze the heart so it can't beat. Depending on the type of plant and preparation, you can make all sorts of types of Curare poison, from blood-based to inhalants, even to contact poison. Further, because it's a foreign poison requiring specialist preparation, the General Issue Antitoxin won't work on it. You'd need an actual medic to cure it, or you'd need the specific antidote." Lectured her Mom.
"So how does this help me with the exams?" Questioned Ino.
"I'm going to teach you to make the blood-based form of Curare while your father teaches you a Genjutsu. I don't know if you noticed this, but most of the other competitors are… well they've certainly taken being a ninja more seriously than you have. To stand a chance, you'll need to hit them with the Curare and to do that, you'll need to ensure they won't see it coming." Explained her Mom.
"Hence Daddy's Genjutsu?" Frowned Ino. She couldn't deny that most of the others had gotten really serious about being ninja. Maybe not Shikamaru, but Tsurugi definitely took it seriously, as did his team, and Sasuke, well she didn't want to think about him right now. Not after the Forest.
"Yes. He's going to teach you a variant of the Genwaku ni Hiseru Ha that can be used with Senbon. He thinks you should pick it up in a week or two since it's just a C-rank Genjutsu. After that, we're going to work on your Senbon throwing technique." Confirmed her Mom.
"It sounds like you're training me to be a one-trick pony." Protested Ino.
"Honey, sometimes having one trick up your sleeve is all you need to pull ahead of the pack. Plus, there's three parts to this trick that should show you're ready for Chunin. Not just the poison, but the Genjutsu and Senbonjutsu on top of it." Refuted her Mom.
Ino couldn't fault the logic. Even if she lost, having three separate, Chunin-level skills to show off as part of her tournament strategy would show she was ready for promotion. Hells, she might even take down an opponent on the way there too! Put like that, how could she not get into this training regimen?
"You know what? I'm in. What do we work on first?" She queried.
"You need to mash the plants into a pulp first, then distill that pulp down to get the poison. There's a few extra steps I'm going to show you to make it undetectable at a glance too. Watch carefully and don't get any on you." Intoned her Mom.
And that was how the first week or so of her finals training went. Just learning how to prepare the poison. The middle week and a half were spent getting the Genwaku ni Hiseru Ha variant down. The trick was to use the first few thrown decoy senbon to draw the opponent's attention while you used your own Yin chakra to invade their chakra system. If it's done right, they should see a second handful of thrown Senbon in the same pattern as the decoy handful, allowing her to hit them with a poisoned senbon from a different angle. Practicing with blunt and unpoisoned senbon on various clansmen helped Ino to get the technique down to a usable level.
That left a week or so to refine her Senbonjutsu. Normally, Senbon weren't a weapon that Konoha Genin used. The Academy taught Kunai and Shuriken for throwing, with optional classes on ninja wire tricks and the Fuuma Shuriken. Some clans, however, taught Senbonjutsu to their kids. The Yamanaka was one of them, as had been the Senju and Uchiha. The Senju Clan has mostly been relegated to a few retired ninja, however, and the Uchiha… well it was just Sasuke and he'd never shown any aptitude for Senbonjutsu. That was good since it meant that Ino was likely to be the only contestant in the finals using Senbon unless that psycho creep Gaara used them, though Ino doubted that. That guy seemed like the type to prefer something as drawn out and painful as possible instead of the swift and painless. He was creepy like that, and Senbon were definitely the latter.
By the time the end of the week was coming up, Ino felt, if not ready to take the Finals by storm, then at least ready to show off a strategy that would get her promoted. Idly, she wondered what her friends that had made it into the Finals were doing for training. Shikamaru was probably doing everything he could to get out of training, and what he did was probably work on clan techniques and strategy, but he was probably the only one lazy enough to do that. Tsurugi would train until he dropped and his dad probably had him on some kind of Secret Samurai Training for Kenjutsu or something. Naruto, well he wasn't as bad as Tsurugi was about training, but he was still pretty dedicated once you wrangled him onto a training regimen. Plus, Ino knew he could make Shadow Clones, which Daddy had told her let you grind training easier if you could spam them like Naruto could. Asuma Sensei had mentioned doing a favor for Kurenai this month, so it probably had to do with Naruto. Hadn't they both mentioned having a primary wind affinity at different points?
Ino wasn't exactly sure what training her friends were up to, but she didn't have to be to make herself a promise that she would never let herself fall behind them. Not if she could help it! That promise was what kept her pushing through the last week of training before the finals. With her Senbonjutsu, Genjutsu, and poison preparation as ready as she could make them, she went to bed the night before the finals filled with determination.
She would need that determination to make it through what came next…
AN: So yeah, Ino has got a specific tournament strategy in mind. It's actually a pretty good one considering her position and some of the people involved in the Finals. Lee and Naruto are hopeless at Genjutsu and if she catches either of them in the first round, she's likely to be able to pull off a victory using the strategy.
If she gets Sasuke or Neji, both of them can see through the Genjutsu, but as far as Ino knows, Neji can't defend well from long-range attacks and she only needs to scratch him with the Curare to win, which makes her strategy still decent.
Sasuke and Tsurugi are fifty-fifty on whether she wins or loses, and Gaara is a wildcard since nobody has seen his capabilities yet.
It's a good plan. We'll see how it pans out for her.
At any rate, next up will be an interlude with Lee and his insane training schedule.
Stay tuned…
Interlude: Rock Lee
Lee had been training extra hard since he'd made it to the Final Round Tournament. He could do no less, as many worthy opponents had made it into the Final Round Tournament, including opponents such as his eternal rival Neji, his temporary teammate, Tsurugi, and the son of the Kazekage, Gaara. All of those would definitely be a challenge to fight, though no one had yet seen Gaara do so much as lift a finger. Still, Lee could tell the young Sunagakure Shinobi would be quite the competitor. He just had that feeling about him.
Of course, that wasn't to say that there weren't other potentially worthy opponents to be had. Lee was looking forward to seeing what Uchiha Sasuke could do in a proper fight. He'd barely seen him do anything in the Forest of Death, the Oto Shinobi he faced had not proven much of a challenge beyond her cowardly attempt to take a hostage. Uchiha Sasuke may yet prove the most dangerous opponent yet. Lee couldn't wait, his flames of youth were practically erupting out of his body already!
Unfortunately, Gai Sensei would not teach him to open any more of the Eight Gates once he had taught him to open the Tomon. Lee felt he could do so much more, but Gai Sensei had been uncharacteristically taciturn about it and nothing Lee could say would convince him otherwise. It was frustrating for Lee to be denied so, but Gai Sensei had told him that even opening the five gates he had taught Lee thus far was incredibly dangerous, especially as Lee was still growing. Lee understood, but still felt miserable until that misery turned to a determination within him and his flames of youth burned even brighter for it!
"Yosh! I will devote myself to other training! If I cannot max out my weights in the next three weeks, I will run one hundred laps around the village on my hands!" Roared Lee.
"That's the Spirit Lee! Truly your flames of youth cannot be quenched! Just for that, I shall show you something else that may help you along!" Exclaimed Gai before pulling out a scroll and unrolling it.
"Gai Sensei, is that?" Asked Lee.
"Indeed! This is the summoning contract for the Turtle Clan! I want you to sign it!" Shouted Gai.
"Gai Sensei, I am honored! However, I cannot use ninjutsu because of my condition. How will I summon Turtles?" Queried Lee.
"You will need to sign your name in blood on the contract, the fuuinjutsu of the summoning contract will bridge the gap between your intent and the technique! This method of summoning is risky, Lee. If you offend the Turtles, they can use the fuuinjutsu and your blood to curse you, or worse. However, I have faith in your fires of youth to win them over!" Intoned Gai with a smile and thumb's-up.
"Yosh! Gai Sensei, I shall make a good impression on the Turtles or I hop around the village on one leg a thousand times!" Vowed Lee as he took the brush and knife from Gai.
"That's it, Lee, show them your resolve and you'll be summoning Turtles in no time!" Affirmed Gai.
Lee cut his thumb with the knife and used his blood as ink for the brush, writing his name on the summoning contract for Turtles just below Gai Sensei's own name, which was done in regular chakra ink. Above Gai Sensei's name was the Name Maito Dai, who Lee knew was his Sensei's father, and above that was the name of a Senju Clansman whom Lee had never heard of, going all the way back up three more generations before reaching the time of the foundation of the Village where the name Kaguya started to appear, though only three times. He didn't have long to ponder that, however, before he felt a pull on his chakra as he finished writing his name.
With a puff of smoke a large, bipedal, turtle appeared. He was an olive green with arms and legs that seemed to be dexterous enough to support his walking on two legs and acting human-like in movements. The panels of his dark green shell faded to brown before coming to a black circle in the center. He also wore a belt with a type of belt or girdle with an attached loincloth and a pair of gauntlets on his hands. He was also approximately ten feet tall when standing upright.
"Kamakote! You've answered my student's summon, most excellent!" Grinned Gai.
"Indeed! I am Kamakote, the Gauntlet Terrapin of the Turtle Clan! I felt the young one's determination all the way from Kame Island and was moved by his plight!" Announced Kamakote in a booming voice.
"Yosh! Kamakote-san, I am Rock Lee and determination I have in spades! I will not disappoint you!" Affirmed Lee.
"It's true, he can already open five of the eight gates! Lee is a true genius of hard work!" Supported Gai.
"Is that so? Well, show me what you have learned! If your determination is true, then I shall consent to be your personal summon!" Challenged Kamakote.
"Yosh! I will show you the flames of my youth!" Roared Lee, dropping his weights and opening the first of the eight gates. He blasted forward toward Kamakote, readying a leaping kick, only for the Gauntlet Terapin to block his attack on his gauntlet and strike out with a punch. Lee was already moving backward however and beginning to open the second gate. A geyser of water arced out from Kamakote's mouth at Lee only for him to dodge and come in with an attempt to knock Kamakote up into the air for the Front Lotus. Kamakote, however, was wise to the attempt and blocked the opening move of the attack with a knee.
"You'll have to do better than that! Kame-style Karate teaches us to have a stable foundation! We turtles are creatures of water and earth on top of that! The most stable of elements!" Lectured Kamakote.
Lee retreated away from the retaliating elbow and opened the third and final gate he could open without consequences. Lee attempted to use the Reverse Lotus now, darting about his opponent at maximum speed and throwing punches and kicks from every angle. However, it seemed Kamakote was wise to such techniques and had one of his own to counter. When the dust was cleared, Kamakote had not a scratch on him thanks to tucking his extremities and head into his shell.
"Kame-style Karate secret technique, Kamekarakabe! My shell protects me from blows like a wall protects a fortress!" Called out Kamakote.
"Yosh! Then I have no choice, I will have to open the fourth gate! Shōmon!" Admitted Lee.
However just as he was preparing to do so, Kamakote called out, "Wait! There is no need for that! You have proven your determination!"
At that, Lee beamed with pride as the flow of chakra through the gates slowly tapered off and they sealed back shut, causing a wave of exhaustion to steal over him. Lee wobbled on his feet but doggedly stayed upright for as long as Kamakote was present. Gai knew he wouldn't allow himself to collapse until Kamakote acknowledged Lee as his summoner. He couldn't have been prouder of his student.
For his part, the Gauntlet Terrapin simply nodded at Lee and said, "Very well, Summoner. I shall see you when you are recovered and we may have a proper training session then. Farewell!"
Then Kamakote disappeared in a puff of smoke. Lee allowed himself to collapse onto the ground after the smoke cleared. "Gai Sensei, I did it. I am a summoner." Grinned Lee.
"Yes, Lee! You did it! Rest now, we'll come back to training tomorrow!" Reassured Gai.
So that was how Lee's month of training went. Every week he would intersperse weight and taijutsu training with Kamakote. As it turned out, Kamakote was the resident taijutsu expert for the Turtle Clan of summons. He was one of eight brothers, the others of which specialized in various weapons and weapon techniques. Gai Sensei's personal summon, Ningame, was an uncle of theirs and specialized in various elemental techniques some of which even allowed him a limited form of flight. The Turtle Boss was named Genbu, but he had gone to the Human Path two-hundred years ago and none of the other Turtles had heard from him since. His son, the next oldest of the Turtles, had decreed that each Turtle may choose their summoner, so long as that summoner had the scroll. That meant that if Lee wanted to summon more Turtles, he would need to pass their tests as well.
Together, Lee and Kamakote worked on refining Lee's martial arts to be able to use some of the Kame-style Karate techniques. The Kame-style Karate training somehow made Lee even stronger and more durable than he already was, while keeping the speed of the Strong Fist. The result was a variation of the Strong Fist that was seemingly an even greater improvement on Taijutsu than the Strong Fist already was. Lee couldn't wait to test it out! By the time the day of the Tournament arrived, Lee was the strongest, fastest, and toughest he'd ever been!
he didn't know it then, but he would need it for the trials to come…
AN: Super weird that Gai has the Turtle Summoning Scroll but almost never uses it. Wiki says it's cause he doesn't want to show it off in front of Lee, who can't mold chakra properly to use ninjutsu, but that makes zero sense. Summoning works at least partially on fuuinjutsu after all and seems to only need blood and some chakra to work. Here I have it that there are unique circumstances involving the setup of the Clan. It also makes it more interesting, I think.
Genbu is a canon turtle summon that seems to have gotten stuck out in the ocean near Kumo a long time ago and hasn't been back in at least a century, since Ningame hasn't met him before. Kamakote is an OC made for this fic since we only have two or three canon Turtle summons.
Also, yes the Turtle Summoning Scroll used to belong to the Kaguya during the tail end of the Warring Clans Era. They looted it from a settlement of a now-extinct clan they helped kill. Then they lost it in a skirmish with the Senju around the time of the foundation of the Village System. The Senju carried it until Maito Dai's teammate got killed during a mission in the last great shinobi war and bequeathed it to Dai, who passed it on to Gai. That's something I made up too, but it makes more sense than a landlocked village just happening to have a Turtle Summon.
Expect Kiri to make a stink about that at some point down the line.
Anyway, next we'll be back with Tsurugi for his training.
Stay tuned…
Chapter 17
Tsurugi's month of training began with attempting to learn the Roaring Fang of his Grandfather under the watchful eye of his father. Uesugi Ken had taken him not to their family training field, but to the small garden adjacent to the main house of their Compound. Usually, training in this garden was only done when it involved a hefty dose of meditation, which proved to be a foreshadowing of what was to come.
"Shape Transformation is not easily learned by Shinobi. Their methods rely too much on intuition to grasp much of it. Even the Fourth Hokage's Legendary Rasengan took him months to master, and I have reason to believe there was some form of external training aid involved, likely Fuuinjutsu-based, given the Man's Reputation. However, for Samurai, Shape Transformation is the mainstay of many of our techniques. Our training methods of practice and meditation are uniquely suited to such efforts. Already, you have learned more of Shape Transformation in mastering the Issen and the Hadan than most Chunin of the Leaf, as well as several Tokubetsu Jonin. Now, I will teach you how to go even further with it." Intoned Uesugi Ken.
He led Tsurugi towards the small rock garden, the sand artfully arranged in a pattern, not unlike that of a cosmological Mandala. He directed Tsurugi to stand atop the wide, flat, rock in the center that symbolized Mount Meru, the center of the cosmos where the Jade Emperor and Kami resided. Then to channel his chakra through his blade as if he were performing the Hadan. As he did so, his father bade him keep his focus on his Chakra, from the forming Hadan at the tip of his blade, through the conductive Chakra metal, up his arm, and deep into his system. Then he began to lecture again.
"Once, long ago, the Jade Emperor dwelt on Mount Meru in the Otherworld with the Kami, separate from humankind. His Five Guardians were the Celestial Beasts, all with their own strengths and weaknesses, Genbu with his wisdom, Suzaku with her healing powers, Seiryu with his control over the weather, and so forth. However, the physically mightiest of them was Byakko, whose powerful jaws and razor claws deterred all challengers. For eons, the Otherworld was at peace and the realms of mankind were in Harmony. Until she arrived. Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, the mother of monsters came crashing into Mount Meru like a storm with her ten demonic progeny to subjugate the Otherworld and make even the Jade Emperor bow to her. Their battle shook the very pillars of heaven, releasing demons out into the world of men. Only through the combined might of the Jade Emperor and his Five Guardians were Kaguya Ōtsutsuki and her progeny stalemated. Foremost among the battle lines of Heaven was Byakko, the White Tiger of the West. It was Byakko who managed to fell the most powerful of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's spawn, the Ten-Tailed Juubi, shredding him to so much spiritual energy with his razor claws and pointed fangs. In triumph, he let out a mighty roar as he finished the Juubi whose echo shook the Heavens. It was that battle that made Kaguya Ōtsutsuki sue for peace with the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor and the Mother of Monsters were wed to seal the treaty, and from their Union was born children whose line eventually produced the Sage of the Six Paths, he who gave Chakra to Mankind." Lectured Uesugi Ken.
"And I am attempting to replicate that?" Queried Tsurugi.
"Indeed, the key in the explanation is that Byakko shredded the Juubi upon his fangs. To match such a feat, you must not only rotate the Chakra for the Hadan, like you are doing now but vibrate it at the same time. When you have the correct form, your technique will roar to the heavens, just as Byakko did upon felling the Juubi." Nodded Uesugi Ken.
Tsurugi concentrated and attempted to get a feel for the Chakra currently swirling around the end of his blade, held within his Hadan. It was rotating, but not vibrating. Perhaps if he added a third vector to the rotation, one that oscillated against the current grain of rotation? He focussed on his technique and attempted to apply his idea, only for the Hadan to dissipate as he did so. He tried again and still nothing. Then again. By the end of the day, he felt something catch briefly before the technique dissipated once more. His father called off his training for the day, telling him he could come back tomorrow.
For a week he tried and tried, attempting various tactics. He had several close calls and one near disaster, as his father forced his Hadan to ground itself in the water of a nearby pool before it violently destabilized, saving his sword and likely his hand from destruction. By the beginning of the second week, however, he'd managed to get the Hadan vibrating, though at a low buzz like that of a hornet, rather than the roar of a Tiger. His father had told him he was on the right track, however, and that all he needed now was to increase the frequency of the vibration to a roar. Doing that took Tsurugi four more days, but he had done it in a week and a half! An ear-splitting roar echoed throughout the bamboo groves surrounding the Uesugi Clan Compound as the Roaring Fang materialized on the end of Tsurugi's blade, discharging into an armored practice dummy and shearing through the high-grade alloy armor, straw dummy, and post beneath in a single attack. The noise was likely heard throughout the village, but Tsurugi didn't care. He had done it! Learned his Grandfather's hidden technique in a week and a half! He couldn't stop smiling!
Unfortunately, Tsurugi didn't have time to rest on his Laurels. He had a tournament to prepare for. The remainder of the week was spent learning the B-Rank Raiton Jutsu, Raiton: Jinrai. The technique used Raiton Chakra to emit an electrically charged Thunderclap from the striking of a fist against another surface. This could be used in close quarters to augment Taijutsu, or from range by punching the ground and allowing the lighting to radiate out from the point of impact to strike enemies in a three-hundred-sixty-degree arc out to ten yards away. Of course, by the time the third week of the month rolled around, he had somehow lucked his way into joining Naruto's training sessions under the tutelage of the Legendary Hanma Baki, and every other day for the last two weeks was spent learning Jujutsu techniques such as Aiki and Chinori. The rest of the time was spent acquiring a Doton, Suiton, and Katon Jutsu to match his Raiton: Jinrai.
For a Katon Jutsu, Tsurugi selected Katon: Karyu Endan, which spat a high-pressure, variable heat, dragon of flame at your opponent. Guiding the dragon took concentration, however, and Tsurugi found that he was unable to do both that and move tactically around the battlefield. To cover for that deficiency, Tsurugi learned Doton: Tajū Doryūheki. The Multiple Earth wall would allow him to throw up reinforced barriers to defend himself before attempting the Karyu Endan. Finally, for his Suiton technique, he went with Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu. This created a torrent of water in the shape of a dragon to crash down upon his opponents. The technique was far easier to control than the Karyu Endan as well, and Tsurugi could make it just as powerful provided there was water around to draw from. Just in case, he had several storage scrolls packed with a small lake's worth of water. There was no sense in leaving things to chance, after all.
By the time the Tournament rolled around, Tsurugi felt he was as prepared as he could be, having learned two secret Jujutsu techniques, his Grandfather's Roaring Fang, and four B-rank Elemental Ninjutsu, though Wind Release still eluded him as he could not wheedle the transformation exercise out of Naruto no matter what he tried. As he went to bed the night before the finals tournament, he vowed to get the secret out of his excitable friend no matter what after everything was said and done. By the end of the day tomorrow, Tsurugi swore that he would finally get the steps to the Wind Transformation Exercise.
He had no idea just how long the day tomorrow would be…
AN: Ok, the finale of the Chunin Exams is upon us, and with it, the Sand-Sound Invasion.
Fortunately, everyone we've seen has trained harder than in canon and learned more. A lot more in some cases. Whether it will be enough for a better outcome than canon is something you'll just have to keep reading to find out.
Also, yes. I am aware that I radically altered the cosmology. Kishimoto's cosmology sort of came out of nowhere and didn't really fit in much with the rest of the series thematically. I've altered it to fit more. Some things also just didn't get passed down through the ages, so don't take Uesugi Ken's story as the whole truth.
For one thing, the Juubi being dead is only part of the story. Another Juubi could happen at any time if enough Bijuu merged. Enter Obito, Akatsuki, and their stupid plan to recreate the Juubi.
At any rate, the next update will start the Finals Tournament. Stay tuned.
Chapter 18
Tsurugi headed over to the Arena bright and early at the Hour of the Dragon, or Eight AM by the modern Shinobi clock. The finals didn't start until the Hour of the Snake, or Ten AM by the modern Shinobi clock. However, this allowed Tsurugi time to stop for breakfast at one of the various Yatai food carts that were plying the streets of Konoha. There were a lot of them, as the finals had a sort of Festival Vibe going on. A lot of local vendors and not-so-local vendors had come to Konoha to ply their trades. This morning, Tsurugi stopped at a Yatai run by an Akimichi Clansman who was making tempura and vegetable fried rice. The large, redheaded man doled out a large portion of chicken tempura and fried rice as Tsurugi forked over some Ryo. It was really good, with hints of different spices.
"I taste ginger, citrus peel, sansho pepper, sesame, and some other spices I can't quite place." Mused Tsurugi as he ate.
"Not bad, Gaki. There's three other spices in there, but if I told you what they were, I'd have to kill you. Akimichi cooking trade secret." Grinned the Large Akimichi.
Tsurugi nodded and said, "Well, whatever it is, it's great, Akimichi-san."
"It ought to be! We're not known as the Iron Chefs for nothing!" Laughed the Akimichi.
Tsurugi continued to eat his breakfast, looking around, he saw the morning traffic begin to thicken, as early morning turned to mid-morning. Various merchants called out to the various people hawking various wares. Here, a merchant from Takigakure hawked gemstones and jewelry, there a Merchant from Kusa hawked cotton cloth and tobacco, and the crowds began to gather around. Tsurugi saw nobles from the Daimyo's Court at the capitol rub shoulders with traveling Samurai from Iron Country here to gauge the martial strength of the Konoha-Suna Alliance's newest generation. Monks from the Fire Temple passed by shady caravaneers from Wind Country. A baffling amount of people from all over all crowded into Konoha, rubbing shoulders with people who they would never otherwise meet.
"Lot of people in for the finals. A lot more than I had expected." Frowned Tsurugi.
"You getting stage fright, Gaki?" Teased the Akimichi.
"No, it just seems like a security risk." Pointed out Tsurugi.
"Don't worry about that, Gaki. Security has been tightened up in the past month. Old Man Third wouldn't let something that important slide. They don't call him the Professor for nothing, after all." Affirmed the Akimichi.
Tsurugi finished his breakfast and nodded, "Well, I should get to the Arena. Thanks for the breakfast, Akimichi-san."
"Don't mention it, Gaki. Good luck in the Tournament!" Offered the Akimichi with a wave.
Tsurugi tossed off a salute and made his way through the crowd toward the Stadium. He hopped up onto the roof of a bar and began roof-hopping toward the Arena. Once or twice, Tsurugi spotted a flash on the rooftops like a mirror in the sun, but whenever he turned to look, he couldn't find the source. Eventually, he arrived at the Arena with fifteen minutes to spare before he needed to arrive. Everyone was there except for Naruto and, oddly enough, Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto he understood, his Blonde Friend was perpetually just in time for most appointments. He generally arrived at things at the last second. Sasuke, though, Tsurugi would have thought the Uchiha would have been chomping at the bit to fight in the Finals.
Over in one corner, Tsurugi's teammates were waiting. Neji was calm and collected, but Lee seemed to be practically vibrating with excitement. Over in another corner, Shikamaru lay on the concrete floor of the contestant's waiting area watching clouds and trying not to listen to Ino, who was standing next to him with her hands cocked on her hips. She was, predictably, complaining about him being so calm at a time like this. Both groups were stood well away from Gaara, who was leaning against a retaining wall and radiating killing intent. His ever-present glare kept everyone else well away. Tsurugi walked over to his teammates.
"Are you ready for this?" Asked Tsurugi.
"Fate will decide the outcome today, but I do not believe we are fated to remain Genin. We should all show sufficient skill here to be promoted unless fate is unkind." Intoned Neji.
"Yosh! My flames of youth burn brighter than ever, Tsurugi-kun!" Exclaimed Lee, earning glares from elsewhere and a spike of killing intent from Gaara.
"Troublesome." Muttered Shikamaru, getting to his feet.
"Shika, no need to ask you if you're ready." Grinned Tsurugi.
"I'd much rather be in bed, but my mother demanded my dad take me for special training. Troublesome woman." Sighed Shikamaru.
"Shika's lack of work ethic aside, I can't help but notice we're missing two contestants. I'd expect Naruto to be late, even with you helping him out, he isn't exactly punctual, but I don't remember Sasuke ever being late for anything in his life before." Scoffed Ino.
"It is a bit out of character for him. His ego usually doesn't allow that sort of thing." Agreed Tsurugi.
"Maybe Sasuke-kun wishes to stoke his flames of youth as much as possible, even in the last possible moments?" Offered Lee.
"Translated from Lee-speak, that means that Sasuke might have wanted to get in some last-minute training." Interpreted Neji.
"That doesn't seem like a particularly smart idea, especially since it might tire him out before the Finals." Denied Shikamaru.
"There's always soldier pills." Hedged Ino.
"I wouldn't want to rely on soldier pills for this." Intoned Tsurugi.
"It doesn't matter. If he shows up, I will kill him. The death of the last Uchiha will validate my existence." Growled Gaara from a few yards away, putting a damper on speculation for the time being with his creepy remark.
Fortunately, they didn't have to wait long before a mood enhancer arrived in the form of Naruto. The Orange Jumpsuit he normally wore had been replaced by a black and burnt umber-colored jacket made of fine leather etched with fuuinjutsu arrays to toughen the leather further. He also wore black pants with burnt umber stripes down the side. Tsurugi had to admit it was a lot better look than what he normally wore, though apparently, whoever had taken him shopping hadn't been able to get rid of the orange entirely. Still, darkening it from bright orange to burnt umber was a good move. As was the leather.
"Sorry, I'm late! I had to pick up my new gear!" He apologized.
"I told you it'd look good." Grinned Ino.
"You guys went shopping?" Queried Tsurugi.
"Well, yeah. Didn't I keep saying that I was going to drag him to update his wardrobe if he didn't get rid of those neon orange eyesores?" Asked Ino.
"Oi! Orange is awesome, Dattebayo!" Protested Naruto.
Tsurugi looked over at Shikamaru, who looked back at him. Shikamaru shrugged and Tsurugi sighed before turning back to Ino.
"I think Shika and I thought that was bluster, Ino." Offered Tsurugi.
"Well, it wasn't. I'm a Kunoichi of my word, after all!" Huffed Ino.
"Yosh, Naruto-Kun! It looks very protective and should serve you well as we test our flames of youth in the Arena!" Grinned Lee.
"The strengthening seals are a nice touch. It won't be enough on its own against the Gentle fist, however. Unless you have gained new techniques, it seems you are fated to lose in the first round." Shrugged Neji.
"Just you wait, Neji! I've got a whole bunch of techniques ready to put you on your ass!" Boasted Naruto.
"We shall see." Intoned Neji.
Just then, the proctor appeared. Gekko Hayate was once more acting as a proctor, and the Tokubetsu Jonin, and acknowledged master of the Konoha-ryu style of Kenjutsu appeared once again to begin the proceedings.
"Where is Uchiha Sasuke?" Asked Gekko Hayate.
"He has yet to arrive, Gekko-dono." Informed Tsurugi.
"Don't need to be so formal, Gaki." Grinned Gekko before coughing into his fist.
"Nonsense. I was raised to respect masters of the blade. My father is a Samurai, after all. Some people are due respect." Pressed Tsurugi.
"Well, now you've got me all flustered." He chuckled, before coughing again.
Clearing his throat, he said, "At any rate, I need to go inform the Kage about the Uchiha's absence. They may want to disqualify him on the grounds of tardiness." Then he disappeared in a swirl of leaves and smoke.
When he returned a few minutes later, he said, "All right kiddies, the Kage voted and it seems politics won out. The first fight will begin on schedule and Sasuke will not be disqualified unless he's late for his own match. You all know the rules by now, you fight till incapacitation, forfeit, or death. Anyone moving to help the contestants gets them and the contestant their helping disqualified. Any fighting outside the matches will see all participants disqualified. Pretty much the same as the preliminaries. The first match will be Hyuga Neji vs Uzumaki Naruto, and will take place as soon as the Hokage finishes his opening remarks." Intoned Gekko Hayate, before once again disappearing in a swirl of leaves and smoke only to reappear on the arena floor.
From the Hokage Box, the Third Hokage stood, flanked by the Fourth Kazekage and the Self-proclaimed Otokage, the ruler of Otogakure, Fuma Kamikiri. Unfortunately, the Leaders of Takigakure, Kusagakure, and Amegakure were too absorbed in internal matters to attend, especially Salamander Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure, who was facing civil war. As Hiruzen began to make a speech thanking the gathered contestants and spectators and extolling the virtues of the Will of Fire, Tsurugi spotted a Seal-masked Anbu that he'd never seen before standing guard near the Kage. While that wasn't unusual, as the Anbu were meant to be secretive by nature, there was something about the Seal-masked Shinobi that struck Tsurugi as familiar. He couldn't place it though.
Eventually, the speech wound down and the first match was called. Neji and Naruto hopped down into the Arena, with Neji taking up a Jyuuken stance and naruto forming a double ring of clones. As the pair stared each other down, Naruto grinned viciously from all twelve clones.
"Get ready to lose! Futon: Gofusen!" Shouted six of the twelve Naruto's, going through a series of hand signs before shooting their fists out and unleashing a gale of vacuum punches at Neji from all sides.
In response, Neji began to glow, spinning rapidly and forming a blue half-dome of chakra. The vacuum fists impacted on the glowing dome, being absorbed by the blue-glowing defense without reaching Neji.
"Hakkeshō Kaiten! You'll have to do better than that!" Called out Neji.
In response, six of Naruto's forward clones charged forward, seemingly intent on getting into hand to hand with a Hyuga, which wasn't the smartest thing. Neji began the sequence for his Hakke Rokujūyon Shō, but two of Naruto's six clones got through using Aiki to grab onto Neji's arms even as the other four were destroyed with pinpoint Jyuuken strikes. The clones began to glow with a white light, revealing that Naruto's plan was about more than just grappling. Neji swiftly began another Hakkeshō Kaiten rotation and threw the clones off just in time for them to explode harmlessly away from him. The Bunshin Daibakuha wasn't the only tool Naruto had though. As soon as the dome of chakra ended, Naruto's other six selves fired Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu, the six high-pressure water streams taking advantage of Neji's pause between Hakkeshō Kaiten attempts to smash into him from all sides, battering the Hyuga prodigy.
That in turn allowed Naruto the opening to rush in and apply a Hadaka-jime rear choke, forcing Neji into unconsciousness as he reeled from the six concussive blasts of the Suidan no Jutsu. Once Gekko Hayate confirmed that Neji was out cold, he declared Naruto the winner. Naruto jumped back up to the competitor waiting area after dispelling his remaining clones and Neji was carted off on a stretcher. The next fight was Yamanaka Ino versus Tsurugi.
"Go easy on your Ino-chan, Tsurugi-kun." Grinned Ino, teasingly. Tsurugi just grimaced at the teasing and followed her down into the arena. They stared each other down for a moment before Gekko Hayate called out that they could begin. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then Ino grinned and began running through hand seals. Tsurugi drew his blade.
The second match was on…
AN: Of course, Sasuke gets a break, he's the Lord Uchiha and the last loyal Uchiha in the village. Politics, baby.
As for the invasion, I've been dropping a few hints that Konoha might be better prepared here and there. Hayate being alive is one. There are two others. Let's just say Orochimaru won't have such an easy time of things this time around.
As for the Neji fight, he relies too much on the Gentle Fist, which honestly seems weak to ranged attacks and grappling to me, both of which Naruto is good at ITTL.
At any rate, next up will be Tsurugi vs Ino. Stay tuned…
Chapter 19
The fight began with an attempt by Tsurugi to immediately overwhelm Ino with a high-speed rush. He pulled out all the stops to try and end things fast, he'd make it up to her afterward, likely by taking her shopping. As he blasted forward in a rushing trio of straight, chokuzuki, punches he seemed to have taken Ino off guard with the suddenness of his attack. His fists struck nose, solar plexus, and stomach in rapid succession, only for Ino's form to bust into smoke and be replaced with a log that subsequently cracked apart under his attack.
"Shit!" Hissed Tsurugi, looking around to try and find Ino. She could be anywhere, and the various boulders and trees in the arena provided ample hiding spots. Tsurugi almost didn't catch the telltale shimmer of steel in time to avoid the incoming senbon attack. As it stood, the morning sun glinted off the steel of a pair of thrown senbon just in time for Tsurugi to draw his katana and swipe them out of the air with an Iado cut. The swiftness of the draw cut allowed him to deflect the attack a moment before the Senbon would have struck him. Ino knew that Senbon wouldn't pierce his armor, so she'd aimed for his upper arms below the sode that protected his shoulders and armpit. As Tsurugi cut them out of the air, he caught a faint aromatic, tarry, odor on the breeze.
"Poisoned Senbon?" He questioned.
The only forthcoming answer was a trio of Senbon from another angle. This time, when Tsurugi moved to cut them out of the air, the resistance felt off to him. Katana were built differently from the kunai that most Genin used, and had a different feel and heft to them when used to parry an attack. Instead of the clear ringing and the cleaving resistance he'd expect for his katana cutting a more fragile senbon out of the air, there was a dull thunk and a rattle, like he'd deflected the attack with a more cheaply made kunai. That told him that what he was seeing wasn't real. Immediately, Tsurugi expelled a pulse of chakra, focusing it into a wave to dispel the Genjutsu with a shout of, "Kai!"
As he did so, he found an actual Senbon flying for his cheek, already too close to parry out of the air! Instead, Tsurugi was forced to dodge the Senbon by the simple expedient of falling on his ass and letting the weapon sail harmlessly over his head. As he did so, he managed to spot Ino coming in with another Senbon, leaping off the top of the boulder to his right. Instead of getting pierced by the attack, Tsurugi managed to tuck himself into a kind of backward somersault in time for Ino's follow-on to hit nothing but the dirt. He stood in time to catch her attempt to follow up her leap attack with a thrust of the Senbon at his neck, melding with her movement, catching her thrusting arm with his own right hand, pulling, and tossing. Ino went sailing off to smash against another of the boulders.
This time, however instead of a solid impact or Kawarimi, the Ino he'd been fighting crumbled into rock and dust. Iwa Bunshin? When had Ino learned that? Tsurugi turned around in time to spot a glob of purple fluid arcing at him from an unexpected direction. He flew through the hand seals for Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu and sank into the dirt, avoiding the surprise Dokutsuba attack. Digging his way in the direction that the glob of poison spit had come from, Tsurugi finally found Into hiding behind a clump of rocks near the sandy part of the arena floor. One application of Doton: Retsudo Tensho saw a fissure open up beneath Ino that she had to put on an extra burst of Chakra to leap away from. Tsurugi burst out of the fissure attempting to grapple her, managing to grab onto Ino's ankle as she tried to leap away. Channeling chakra to the soles of his feet to stick to the ground, the two-person chain of shinobi snapped and cracked like a whip, allowing Tsurugi to slam Ino into the ground with a crack.
Ino once more burst into a cloud of smoke and was replaced by a Kawarimi log. This time, however, she reappeared within line of sight for Tsurugi, tossing another trio of Senbon at him that he cut out of the air with an Issen vacuum cut. He rushed forward once more, resheathing his katana and initiating a grapple before Ino could move to escape. As he grappled her and attempted to lock in a kneebar, she tried one last attempt to stick him with a Senbon. This time, he turned his shoulder just enough that the attack rebounded off his right sode and had his kneebar locked in.
"All right! I give in!" Cried out Ino.
Gekko Hayate was immediately there to separate the two combatants. "Winner, Uesugi Tsurugi! Break it up you two." He called out. Tsurugi immediately let go of Ino's leg and got to his feet. Ino stood up as well.
"I thought I might have had you a couple times." She groused.
"Almost. The indirect attacks were a good touch." Agreed Tsurugi.
"Yeah, well I know you, Tsurugi. Direct confrontation wasn't going to work. Still, you grabbed me so forcefully! If you wanted to hold your Ino-chan, you only needed to ask." Replied Ino, returning to teasing him.
Tsurugi just blushed as he headed back up to the participant's holding area. Ino trailed him, grinning like a cat the whole way and occasionally tossing off teasing remarks in Tsurugi's direction. Tsurugi looked to his friends for help, but Lee was not paying much attention and Shikamaru only gave him a look that seemed to say 'better you than me'.
Speaking of Shikamaru, it was his turn to fight, facing off against Lee. Lee was all hopped up on adrenaline and excitement and leaped down to the arena floor. Shikamaru followed at a more sedate pace. Lee was bouncing on the balls of his feet waiting for him to make his way down to the arena. Five minutes later, Shikamaru finally made it to the arena floor, and Gekko Hayate began the match.
"Yosh! Let us test our flames of youth, Nara-san!" Called out Lee.
"Troublesome as that would be, you've already lost." Intoned Shikamaru.
"What do you mean, Nara-san?" Queried Lee.
"Look down." Replied Shikamaru. Lee did so and noticed that he was standing on Shikamaru's shadow. He looked back up to see Shikamaru holding a hand seal and suddenly felt his muscles lock up.
"Kagemane no Jutsu successful. You didn't think I was taking five minutes to go down the stairs just cause I was lazy, did you? I was waiting for the hour to strike so the shadows would be right for a quick capture. You were too wound up to pay much attention to them." Explained Shikamaru.
"No! I will not let myself be defeated now!" Exclaimed Lee in dismay.
"Troublesome, it's too late for that, Lee. All I need to do is walk take sixteen steps forward, and you'll do the same action, only when you do it, you'll leave the arena and disqualify yourself. In fact, the sooner I start on that, the sooner we get this over with, so I'm gonna start now." Intoned Shikamaru as he began walking forward. Lee mirrored his movements, and while Shikamaru's course took him toward the tree-filled area of the arena, Lee's took him to the stairwell leading back up out of the arena. One last step, had Lee take the first stairstep up and Gekko Hayate appeared to announce Shikamaru as the winner.
"Winner, Nara Shikamaru!" Announced Hayate Gekko.
"Great, I'm gonna go back to the others now." Nodded Shikamaru, releasing his Kagemane no Jutsu.
The pair of combatants headed back up the stairs, Shikamaru nonplussed and Lee sulking. Now was time for Uchiha Sasuke versus Sabaku no Gaara. Unfortunately, Sasuke was still missing. Hayate frowned at that and shook his head, coughing lightly into his fist.
"Ok, Gaki, just sit tight. I need to go ask the Kage how they want to play this." Sighed Gekko Hayate.
Fortunately for the proceedings, the arrival of Uchiha Sasuke was heralded by a swirl of leaves and the crack of displaced air as Hatake Kakashi arrived via Shunshin with Sasuke in tow. The pair looked to have been roughing it in a training ground for the last month, their clothing was a little ragged and they smelled like they had taken field baths aided by Suiton techniques with little in the way of soap, but they had arrived.
"That won't be necessary, Hayate. As you can see, Uchiha Sasuke is right here." Interjected Kakashi.
"Great, then I guess we can go ahead with things." Nodded Hayate.
Sasuke leaped down into the arena as Gaara followed him, leaking killing intent at his would-be opponent the whole way. Once both were down on the arena floor, Hayate called for the start of the match and Gaara glared at Sasuke. Sasuke, for his part, seemed to simply smirk at his opponent.
"You may be a big shot in Suna, but that means nothing compared to my ambition. I will blow through you on my way to that man." Intoned Sasuke.
"You talk too much, it's annoying. I'm going to kill you so you stop." Growled out Gaara, leaking killing intent from his glare and sand from his gourd. The sand began to form a solid shell around Gaara, encasing him in an egg of sand, his ultimate defense ready to go.
Sasuke for his part, focussed his chakra into his hand, turning it into Raiton chakra as his hand began to be limbed in a blue glow and the arena began to fill with the chirping of a thousand birds. The Chidori raged around his hand as he rushed forward. Ultimate defense met with the Chidori and it was the Raiton technique that won out. Gaara's defense was pierced, though much of the strength of the Chidori was spent to do so. Instead of running Gaara through, Gaara was merely blasted out of the back of his sand egg, as the construct crumbled in his wake. He hit the ground as Sasuke smirked at the power of his new technique.
"Hmph. Looks like you won't be killing anyone today." Smirked Sasuke. A cut had formed on Gaara's forehead from the attack that dripped into his eye as he stood. Gaara wiped the blood out of his eye, staring at it in shock as it smeared onto his hand.
"Is this my blood, mother?" He asked, seemingly to nobody, just before an immense spike of killing intent emanated from him, along with a pulse of something darker. Sand began to flow from all across the arena and collect around Gaara. Sasuke tried a second Chidori, only to find himself being swatted out of his charge by what appeared to be a massive claw formed of sand sticking out of the mountain of the stuff now surrounding Gaara.
"What is happening?" Demanded Sasuke, looking up to see the mountain of sand that had encased his opponent beginning to form into a vague beast-like shape. Before the shape could resolve itself, however, multiple things occurred at once. First, soft, white, feathers began to rain from the sky en masse, putting all they touched who could not withstand the technique to sleep. Next, several explosions went off around the village as spectators and merchants threw off their disguises to reveal Oto and Suna Shinobi. Next, the serpentine form of Manda, the King of the Snake Summons arose from the forest outside the walls. Finally, a barrier erupted around the Kage box. The Sand-Sound Invasion had begun.
Konoha was now officially at war…
AN: So yeah, invasion start. A few things are gonna be different this time around, though.
As for the Ino-Tsurugi fight, she knows him pretty well. At least well enough to try and hit him with indirect attacks from stealth as a priority and to try and escape whenever he gets close. It wasn't enough to win, but she didn't get blitzed in the first few seconds either.
As to Lee, Shikamaru is a pretty bad match for him if Shika can form a workable plan. He's a pure Taijutsu guy who tends to not plan things out too much. Shika was able to make a plan based on the time of day and the length of shadows to pull off an upset. If that hadn't worked, Shika would've forfeited.
Fortunately for Lee, there are plenty of opportunities for a battlefield promotion now that Konoha is under attack.
As for how that works out, you'll just have to keep reading to find out…