[Kukui Tanku]

Things were really looking up for me. And I meant it with all of my heart. I beat an S-ranked Ninja. Albeit with help, they were injured heavily, and I got a bullshit power up like I was a protagonist. Sure, that power up was what led me to another trip in a hospital thanks to exhaustion but hey! I wasn't complaining.

And, it gave me an excuse to go find Rock Lee and Maito Gai.

[First Gate of Opening: Removes the limits of the users body giving them increased strength and speed along with a boost of chakra which leaves the user exhausted afterward.]

Interestingly enough, it didn't have a level. I assume it's because you can't exactly max it out or gain anything from leveling up. But that was fine by me. I was surprised that I got it even... I assume it's because I needed it or something like that. But I wasn't going to complain, I was really happy about it. It was like a trump card. But I'd need to go to Gai and Lee to try and learn how to use more than one of the gates.

But, I could do that later. Sometime after I got back to Konoha... 'Konoha.' I smiled thinking about it. It was home... When did it become that? I didn't know. But I had so many people there I cared about. Naruto, Hanabi, Shisui Mika, Tenten, Hayate. Sure, the last three were with me now but still. Hell, I even cared about Hiruzen a bit.

I honestly was excited to go see everybody again. I wanted to tell them so much. I wanted to share everything about the mission with them. I wanted to go show Hanabi some cool new tricks and stuff. I wanted to fight with Naruto over who was better. I wanted to go to Hiruzen and tell him about the Earth seal I was currently working on. I wanted to go to Shisui and play Uno with him and Mika.

I wanted them to see how much I had improved, mainly thanks to the quest I completed from beating the Rubber Man. Speaking of... I looked at the screen I had yet to dismiss. It was... beautiful to say the least.

[Quest Complete: Beat The Rubber Man!

Rewards:

+2 to all stats!

Warrior Perk Unlocked!]

Those rewards were probably the best thing I could have gotten... Well besides the obvious really OP stuff. But unfortunately, my system didn't work like that. But, it did give me some really useful stuff sometimes, the most recent example was the Warrior perk.

[Warrior: User's pain tolerance is increased as well as the user's strength by 15% when fighting an opponent who outclasses them]

It was absolutely beautiful. It wasn't much in the grand scheme of things, especially seeing as I was probably going to develop into a psudeo bender on steriods instead of a Taijutsu specialist but it would still be useful, especially the increase in pain tolerance.

My stats were also looking great now too.

[Name: Kukui Tanku

Title: Prodigy

Chakra: 700/700

Energy points: 700/700

Dexterity: 36

Strength: 35

Constitution: 37

Chakra: 35

Chakra control C]

I was approaching the forties. And with running I was likely in the forties and well approaching the fifties. It was forever going to be a nice thing to have running. And stacking that with just the first of the eight gates? I could probably tie Fifth Gate Lee in speed.

"You've been grinning an awful lot for the last hour, Kukui. Feeling good?" Fuu asked as we walked through the meadow. "Happy to leave soon?" Fuu looked down. "I kinda wish you could stay forever but I know that'd never happen."

"I could say the same... I wish you could go with us," I glanced forward and stopped myself from walking a tree. "I'm happy to leave though... I love Takigakure and I love being around you but I kinda miss the people back home a bit too ya know?"

"I get it..." Fuu groaned. "But still, I'd be nice to have you around all the time or to go with you. It sucks being alone here," Fuu sighed. "Maybe though I can convince Shibuki-sama to allow me to go to Konoha's next Chuunin exams."

Chuunin exa- Oh yeah... 'Kinda surprised she knows about them to be honest...' But maybe if she could stay in Konoha we could hide her and say Orochimaru kidnapped her or something... "That'd be neat, Although I think it's unlikely," I frowned... I'd have to figure out how to make my Substitutions long distance.

"Yeah... It is. But I can always hope!" Fuu's smile returned in full force and I found mine returning as well. "Besides, I might actually get to go on missions one day and maybe we'll run into each other again then."

"Maybe," I hummed. "Hopefully by then I can learn how to make long distance substitutions so I can just place a few logs here every so often and take you to Konoha for a day or so," Or I could learn the Flying Raijin one day... Oh that day would be so fucking glorious.

"That'd be neat," Fuu hummed as well, placing a finger on her chin. "Although, I imagine that'd be hard and chakra consuming. Jutsu can only be bent to do so much," I winced at that... she had a very good point. She was learning though! Which was always a great thing. Maybe she could stop Hidan and Kaku-

Wait. Hidan and Kakuzu... "Fuu," My mint haired friend snapped her head to me. "I need you to listen to me."

"What Kukui?" Fuu stopped walking as I did. Looking mildly alarmed. "You sound... serious."

"I need you to be careful," I looked at her before taking a deep breath. "If the Rubber Man was here for the reason I think he was than someone else, stronger will come," I wanted to say more... Bu- No. I had to be honest. "You ever hear of Kakuzu?"

"Of course I have! He's Takigakure's most infamous Ninja... What does he have to do with this? Shouldn't he be dead by now?" Fuu asked, tilting her head but the look of worry was still there on her face... I wish I could stay, since in the timeline somewhere between now and before Shippuden Fuu would get caught...

"The Jiongu is likely keeping him alive. It's well known that he stole it before leaving Takigakure, it's likely that he's still alive and better than ever thanks to it," I said before looking up to the sky... Damn, it was getting late. I couldn't say much more... "If he comes here then he's looking to piss off Takigakure more by killing you. Don't let him or anyone get a drop of your blood."

After a moment of silence, Fuu nodded. "I won't let them get even a drop! Don't worry Kukui, if that old pile of dust shows up I'll just kick his ass."

I chuckled... I just hoped she would.

[Mika Uchiha]

Mika was very excited to go home. That was something big on her mind. Home. She couldn't wait to go ack and see her family. Her brother. But she also didn't want to go back. How could she face them all? How could she face Shisui?

She did nothing.

Nothing useful at least.

Mika wished she could turn back time so she could go warn everyone so they could set up a trap for the Rubber Man. Just so she could do something useful in the end like breaking the mans arm or maybe even cut his stupid face off.

She just wanted to be useful. She couldn't protect her friends. She couldn't protect Hayate-sensei... She was weak. Pathetic. She needed to improve. She needed to be better. She needed to do more. 'Kukui did more than I did. Tenten did more than I did. Fuu did more than I did.' Her friends were all stronger than her. All better. But they weren't good enough.

And she couldn't protect them. If she couldn't even protect her friends, how could she even hope to defeat him? Mika knew she had to up her training. And she also needed to unlock her Sharingan. But that wasn't as important at the moment. How would her Sharingan be useful if she wasn't even fast enough to make use of its benefits?

Mika began thinking of things she needed to do. Mainly upgrading her weights immensely and having Hayate-sensei train her more. Not just her but her friends... She wanted to be strong enough to protect them but they also should be able to protect themselves.

It wasn't because she didn't think she'd ever be able to protect them. Not at all.

This mission opened Mika's eyes. She'd never be strong enough at the rate she was going. She had to hope that increasing the weight of her weights and getting Hayate-sensei to train them into the dirt would help. For some reason, Mika didn't think it'd be enough. 'I'm gonna have to ask for more help.'

Maybe her brother had something she could do? The Uchiha clan had plenty of techniques and her brother knew a lot of them. Maybe he'd be willing to teach her some of them? Mika knew that jutsu wouldn't be enough if you couldn't be fast enough to cast them.

Mentally, she added increasing the dexterity of her hands to the list of things she needed to do once she got home.

Speaking of home, looking up Mika saw they were already almost about to leave Takigakure. Then they'd need to put blindfolds on again... ugh. Looking to the side, Mika saw Fuu... Mika smiled at her before mentally frowning. 'I wish she could come with us...' Unfortunately, not all things worked out the way she wanted them too. "Fuu!" Mika shouted, getting her attention. "We'll have a spar when we net see each other, right?"

Mika watched the other girl's face light up. "Of course we will! And I'll be sure to beat you!" Fuu waved. "And I'll beat Kukui and Tenten too while I'm at it!" At the mention of his name, Kukui appeared beside Mika.

"Say that all you want but the next time we spar, I'll win!" Kukui raised his hand in the air. "Mark my words! Mark them," Mika giggled. She believed him. When he set his mind to something, Kukui would do it eventually.

Same with Tenten really.

Speaking of Tenten, Mika's other teammate lightly chopped Kukui on the head. "You're shouting even louder than Mika. Stop acting like you're Naruto," Kukui turned to Tenten and Mika knew what he was going to say next.

"Funny you mention Naruto, you don't get mad when he yells," Kukui and Mika said at the same time, Mika internally laughing at the fact she guessed it right. Tenten's face exploded in crimson and she promptly tried to implode.

Fuu was laughing. "You guys be careful, okay? Don't wanna hear you died from any enemies any time at all!" As Mika, Kukui, and Tenten began to follow Hayate-sensei and their guide once more Mika turned back to Fuu.

"We won't ever die! Not now! Not ever! Not until we're old and wrinkly! And that is a promise!"

Mika just hoped it's one she'd get to keep... To keep it, she needed to be stronger.

[Hayate Gekko]

"Fortunately everything went smoothly after the Rubber Man was defeated. Although, we don't know if Kukui managed to kill him or if he ran away or not yet, unfortunately, Hokage-sama," Hayate stood still as he finished explaining everything to his leader.

He could hear the Hokage hum as he stroked his beard. "It is unfortunate that things didn't go the way we wanted them too but we ultimately came out with more positives than negatives," The Hokage leaned forward before smiling. "I am happy to hear that the Rubber Man is defeated though It is impressive that Kukui-kun had a hand in it, even if the man was injured. You two also did good as well," The Hokage turned his attention to Mika and Tenten. "You all faced an opponent you shouldn't have and for that I am proud. Konoha is proud of you all."

Hayate noticed his students preen at the praise, even though Mika and Tenten still looked a bit down. "Thank you Hokage-sama," Tenten bowed for a moment.

The Hokage chuckled. "No need to be so formal," Before Tenten spoke up again the Hokage began to speak. "You three are dismissed and off for a week, I still need to have some words with Hayate," Somehow, all three of them disappeared instantly like they knew the Flying Raijin... Did Kukui somehow figure it out when he wasn't looking? "Before I ream you out for not immediately calling for back up I would like to ask a few questions first."

Hayate stiffened as the Hokage suddenly spoke... Yeah he kind of dropped the ball there. "What do you need to know Hokage-sama?"

"I mainly have questions about your students," The Hokage began, taking a puff out of his pipe before continuing, "How are all three of them coming along? With your students having a part in beating the Rubber man, I'm sure that rumors will get out. They will become the faces of Konoha's next generation if rumors about them beating the Rubber Man are confirmed. I would like it if they were ready for any potential enemies that want to kill them before they reach their full potential."

"Kukui is so far doing the best out of the three," Hayate began, thinking about the things he saw his student do, "He's becoming more creative with his attacks and he can fight on par with most Tokubetsu Jonin I'd say. He completed a prototype of his Genjutsu seal and currently he's working on earth manipulation and he's already almost completed the first stage of it. He's also doing fine mentally," After saying all of that out loud Hayate found himself wondering if Kukui would eclipse him soon or not.

"Splendid," The Hokage smiled. "I expect great things of Kukui-kun. Especially now with the feats he has demonstrated. But what about Young Mika and Tenten? How are they progressing? They are just as important as Kukui."

"Well both of them are also progressing nicely," Hayate thought back to their group fight with the Rubber Man. "Mika is shaping up to be a strong taijutsu user who's speed will be like her brothers. Maybe even surpassing it. She's also good at using fire manipulation and she can use earth clones. Although she'll only use them when she remembers them," Hayate said before thinking about his Uchiha students mental troubles. "She isn't doing as fine mentally as Kukui is however. She thinks she is useless because she didn't do much against the Rubber Man."

"I see, that could be worrying," The Hokage frowned. "She's going to be fine though. At most it'll end with her training harder and trying to prove herself which if that becomes an issue that will of course have to be curbed. But what about young Tenten?"

"Tenten is also doing well. She is adept in a few wind jutsu and she is also skilled in Fuinjutsu like Kukui as you know. And her skills have been improving nicely. Not only that but she is only getting better at Bukijutsu," Hayate said before the Hokage made a 'go on' gesture. "Like Mika, Tenten's mental state isn't the best. She was traumatized by the Rubber Man like I was."

"Hm... I may have to give your genin more time off then," The Hokage stroked his beard before looking at Hayate. "Keep me updated. Your team will have three weeks off and then only D-ranks for another month. In that time, train them as much as you can. Dismissed"

Hayate nodded. "Okay Hokage-sama," Before Hayate left he stopped, remembering something. "Kukui knows about Naruto. Not just him but he knows about Takigakure's Jinchuuriki. He can sense them. He's not dangerous to Naruto but he might be rude to a civilian or a particularly jaded Ninja."

The Hokage nodded. "I see... I shall talk to him at a later date then," The Hokage said before he saw Hayate begin to leave again. "Cat, you have the rest of the day off as well. Spend some time with Hayate"

At that, Hayate turned around and smiled as a Cat Masked Anbu made herself visible.

[Ryuuji]

Fire consumed Ryuuji's vision, Burning through the wall he had placed down quickly. Ryuuji channeled the last remaining bits of his chakra throughout his body as earth to try and shield himself from the inevitable, his arm and the left side of his chest were all that remained uncovered as he didn't have time to shield them.

Pain consumed him as his arm was carbonized and he was pushed back through the forest. Before his earth armor could fail Ryuuji noticed a river. He jumped into the river, feeling his back also be burned in the process.

Everything still hurt.

Ryuuji would pay top dollar to forget the events of three days ago. The day he suffered what was possibly the worst loss he's ever had. He was going to either die or have his arm taken by Kakuzu for sure because he lost to a genin without even completing the mission.

It was the most humiliating and humbling thing to ever happen to him. But because of it, he was out of an arm. Ryuuji glanced down to his bandaged body. He hadn't had time to get a change of outfit. He likely wouldn't need one though seeing as he was likely going to die... He would have ran from Kakuzu but for some reason he always knows where he's at. He couldn't escape the inevitable. So he'd rather just face it head on.

As he reached the safe house the door opened. "You failed," Kakuzu said simply. Like he was expecting it, " Who or what did you in?" The Jiongu inside Kakuzu began to come out of his body.

"A brat named Kukui Tanku did the finishing blow..." Ryuuji said before coughing out some blood. "But Hayate Gekko and two other genin along with the Jinchuuriki also were there, One of the brats and Hayate weren't there for round two thankfully. One of the brats had wind release chakra flow..." Ryuuji collapsed onto the ground. "If you're going to kill me, do it quickly,"

"I was originally going to kill you," Kakuzu said before counting some money. "But, I was paid to give you to someone else," That made Ryuuji pale... Oh god, was Kakuzu going to sell him to Kumogakure? Did he already do that?

That would be the lowest of the low.

"Did you sell me out to Kumogakure?" Ryuuji grabbed a Kunai before black Jiongu threads stopped him from even moving it toward himself.

"No. They likely wouldn't have even paid anyways," Kakuzu said, pocketing the money he was counting. "Instead, one of my associates wanted you. They said they had a proposition for you and paid me not to kill you. You may have failed but you're still useful to someone, Ryuuji," Kakuzu began to walk back inside before stopping. "Zetsu, he's all yours now."

As Kakuzu closed the door, a creature with a black and white half wearing the same cloak as Kakuzu appeared from the ground. "As Kakuzu said, we have a proposition for you, Ryuuji," The black half started before the white half smiled. "It's one you have to accept!"

"I have no choice in this, do I?" Ryuuji said as the creature came closer.

"You don't. You either can come willingly and know what we want to do to you or we'll simply knock you out and put you under a genjutsu," The Black half said before smacking the white half so it wouldn't speak. "Which will it be, Ryuuji?"

Ryuuji pondered his choices for a second before speaking up. "What do you have in mind for me?" He'd rather know what might happen to him. That was a no brainer.

"We'll make you stronger. Better. And you'll have an employer who can get you anything you want, as long as you do what he says," The black half of the duo said. "Do you still want to go willingly or are you going to try and escape?"

"I think..." Ryuuji looked down at his arm. "If you can fix my arm I'll do whatever."

"Splendid," Ryuuji heard behind him before he turned around and saw an orange masked man. "I'd introduce myself but we're running short on time," The man's lone eye glowed for a moment and then everything went black.

I'm really happy with how this chapter turned out. It was a pretty long one but I feel like it didn't overstay it's welcome. It ended at the right time and everything that needed to happen did. And forshadowing. Lots of that happened. I wonder if I'll get any theories about it.

Future Me Update: At chapter 67 right now. So, 37 chapters ahead. Figured I'd let y'all know.

As always, see y'all next time

-Tobi