> Sunset Shimmer: Kunoichi
>  by RIPoste
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Orochimaru was a scientist, first and foremost. Twenty-four hours a day, one would easily find him standing in one of his labs, working on one project or another. An obsession, his old master would say, back before he had denounced Orochimaru as a traitor to Konohagakure.

Still, today was not one of those days, as Orochimaru found himself wandering the streets of a village near the borders of Kumogakure, dressed as if he were a rich wandering merchant. A standard get-up that he donned wherever he needed to work in the open. After all, while he had a vast following of underlings, a certain aspect of him prefer to handle his machinations himself, after all, there were no surer way of ensuring things go exactly as one plans other than to accomplish it himself.

Besides, if he wanted new subjects, he would much prefer to pick his choices out from the dregs of the village by himself.

“Stop, thief!”

The sudden shout had Orochimaru’s attention for a split second, and would have him disinterested in the next, if not for what he saw in that small timeframe. A small girl, who definitely was not more than ten years in age, sprinted along the road. That in itself was hardly interesting at all. What caught his attention was how he found his attention instantly slipping wherever he attempted to focus on the child. 

Sometimes, he would catch a head full of flame-colored hair. Others, he would see emerald eyes. At other times, a pair of emerald eyes. Others, a body covered in rags. Still, even as he found himself focusing on a certain part of the child, the other descriptions somehow faded away from his mind, almost as if they never existed.

Genjutsu, and it was not a light one in any case and to be able to bypass his defense... Let it be said that to be able to affect one of the legendary Sannin to this degree was not an easy task at all… Orochimaru concentrated, sending a pulse into his chakra veins. That would normally be enough to dispel any Genjutsu placed upon him.

But it didn’t. Orochimaru smiled, his interests had been piqued.

Follow. Capture. He signed with his finger, the gesture undetectable unless one was actively looking for it. Orochimaru may consider himself a peerless shinobi, but even he was not foolish enough to wander about without at least one or two escorts. After all, they were supposed to handle the more menial tasks such as this.

He felt the presence near him disappear, and Orochimaru allowed himself a rare smile. Looks like he would soon have a new pet project. With that thought in mind, he turned and walked, though one who had been paying attention may find that his pace had quickened.





~1 week later~

It was disappointing, to say the least, and Orochimaru had been looking forward to the results from his experiments on this particular subject. 

Unlike most of his other subjects, he had kept the child, a girl, comatose and in a relatively healthy state as he proceeded with his work. After all, she was his only available guinea pig for figuring out that particular Genjutsu that she had used only last week.

Still, what he found was nothing out of the ordinary. Normal chakra veins, a normal body, no outstanding organs. Nothing that could suggest how she had managed Genjutsu on that level.

“Mmmmh…” Orochimaru mumbled in thought. “Perhaps in her neural activity?” He said as he maneuvered his scalpel to her scalp.





~1 Month Later~

The girl had attempted a breakout.

Orochimaru grinned. His experiments that day had not borne any fruit, but he still harbored hope that the child still retained the abilities that she had shown him on that one fateful day. As such, once the child had fully recovered, he had the shinobi that captured her toss her into a cell and placed under constant duress. A monitored one, where Orochimaru could see her every move.

Like he was doing so right now.

He replayed the recordings before him. A trio depicted the prison cell, the corridor that led to it and the room after that, all playing the scenes of the red-haired girl attempting to make her way out of compound past the guards that he had stationed there.

Seven others showed the faces of the guards, playing back the recording of their descriptions of what had transpired throughout the breakout. All gave different descriptions, but what they said remained roughly the same.

The child had retained the ability. But as far as he knows, it had nothing to do with her neural activity, her chakra lines, or even her physical attributes. Eliminating each of these possibilities, there were only a few possibilities left, some less… desired than others.

Perhaps, a change in tactics was in order.

“Amachi,” He said, pressing a button in the intercoms before him. “Have Ume moved to the same cell as that child. She will know what to do.” Ume was a kunoichi who like most of his other underlings, were expendable, but was not without a valued skill set. From what he had observed in the past few days, not only was the child illiterate, but she also lacked most of the general knowledge. Ume would gain the child’s trust, but also teach her. It would smoothen communication when the time comes.

Especially since he would learning that child’s secrets with the much-desired Sharingan that he would have acquired by then…





~1 year later~

“Orochimaru-sama!” The head scientist Amachi quickly dropped to his knees. “Forgive me, I did not know that you would be here!”

No one would, in fact, considering that the Sannin came here on a whim. He had been brooding as of late, to be honest, especially since he had failed to take the Sharingan from Uchiha Itachi. That had forced him to leave that organization, and he had spent the last few months shaking off his pursuers. It was not when he was merely passing by this particular hideout when he had remembered the small pet project that he had running here on this little island

“How was the girl?”

“Which one are you referring to, Orochimaru-sama?” Amachi asked.

“The red one.” He clarified.

“Ah.” The head scientist quickly turned to bark a series of orders at one of his assistants, who quickly sped out of the room, before returning with a stack of files. Taking one from the stack, Orochimaru quickly scanned the contents before moving on to the next one.

Apparently, the child had taken well to her new ‘inmate’, and had been learning studiously under her. According to Amachi, her learning capacity was staggering, capable of mastering not only the entire alphabet, but also the literary arts within months despite the fact that all Ume was provided to use to teach her was a single charcoal pen.

Still, the child was crazy. Land of ponies? Equestria? Another world? The words were so foreign that even Orochimaru found it ridiculous. In the end, it was concluded that the child was delusional, desperately clinging onto a fairytale to preserve her sanity. A conclusion that Orochimaru found himself agreeing with.

However, despite her delusions, the child had seemed completely rational. Not an unusual case, considering that she had been living in a harsh environment when she was found, and subjects that had survived in terrible conditions were often shown to have developed eccentricities to help them cope.

Perhaps it would be time to pick the fruit. After all, Orochimaru was simply dying to learn the secrets behind that particular ability. He sat down on a nearby chair, and began to formulate a plan…





~The next day~

Orochimaru stood watching the cameras, watching the events play out. In multiple cameras, clamorous fighting erupted as his own underlings engaged in intense, but non-lethal combat. However, his eyes were focused on one in particular. 

A child was pushing herself against the wall, trying to distance herself from a man and a beaten woman on the ground. The woman was no longer moving, probably due to the two long knives buried in her chest. Not that he would care, after all, he was merely waiting for the opportune moment.

He watched as the flame haired girl pushed herself off the wall and the man staggered as though struck. He smirked, it seems that her innate power was still as strong as ever. Still, a malnourished girl was no match for a trained Shinobi, no matter how incompetent one he was, and the soon fell to the ground, a couple of what looked like kunais buried in her legs.

That was his cue.

In a burst of speed provided by the body flicker technique, Orochimaru left the surveillance room and charged down the myriad corridors. It took about a full minute before he arrived outside the cell where he had placed the girl and Ume.

He could still hear the guard threatening the child, as he had instructed, striking fear and despair into the heart of the child. However, he did not deign to tell the guard the whole plan, though one had to be understandable, considering what he was about to do next.

He stopped behind the guard, and before the other man could even register his presence, Orochimaru buried a kunai in the guard’s neck, killing him instantly. Smiling inwardly, Orochimaru kept his face passive as he walked up to the child.

“Are you okay?” He asked the child warmly, who fixed him with wide, terrified eyes.

“Are you okay?” He asked again, carefully controlling his facial features to portray that of a concerned adult. The child tearfully nodded in response. Reaching out with a hand, he smiled.

“Come.”

The girl looked at the hand fearfully. Suppressing the rising feeling of irritation, Orochimaru chuckled warmly.

“Come with me, I’ll make sure that you are safe.”

That seemed to do the trick, as the child visibly gulped before reaching out with her small hands to grip his own.

The hard part was finally over. Orochimaru smiled, genuinely this time.
> Infiltration I: Spy in the Fire Village
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Tadaima.” I said as I stepped into the apartment. The only other person in the room, my foster father Shiratama, a tall man with his brown hair tied back and grey eyes, merely nodded from his position in the kitchen as he began removing plates from a cupboard, which I soon joined him in doing so.

“So how was the assessment results, Kyoku?” He said, taking my plate from the drawer, a simple porcelain with the painting of the sun upon it and began filling it up with Onigiri that he had made beforehand.

“Hi dad, “ I said, the word still feeling foreign in my mouth. “They said that I passed and I am good to meet the class tomorrow.” I quickly grabbed a cup from the cupboard, wrapping three fingers around it before putting it back and taking another one from the drawer.

“That’s good.” Father narrowed his eyes just a fraction, enough that only someone in the room would notice, but continued placing the onigiri on the plate before sliding it towards me. I nodded, excused myself before taking the food to the room. On my way there, I took the liberty of studying the contents of the plate.

Everything we had done was in code. The cups that I handled was to inform him that there were no complications during my time in the ninja academy, and that I had about three sightings of the ANBU (Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai) within the compound. The placement of the onigiri on my plate was no less deliberate. A total of eight rays extended from the centre of the sun drawing on my plate, each one representing a certain direction on the compass. The rice balls filled with meat meant that someone suspicious was in that direction, and the amount of filling normally dictates the number. Vegetable filling generally means all clear, which was sort of a good thing, I suppose.

Why all the secrecy, you might ask? Well, probably because my father and I were not exactly citizens of Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaf. We were in fact, agents planted here by the Great Orochimaru, whose tasks were to gather as much information as possible on the current state of affairs in the village.

My ‘father’, Shiratama, was a Jounin, an elite ninja of this village. He had an almost clean record, the only stain being that he had been tutored by Orochimaru himself while Lord Orochimatu himself was still a member of the Shinobi forces here. Unfortunately for the village, Shiratama had continued to retain his loyalty towards Lord Orochimaru and had been acting as his undercover agent for the past eight years.

I, on the other hand, had been personally saved by Lord Orochimaru himself when I first came into this world. Yes, world. It was a fact that the Lord himself refused to believe in, but it was true that I was not of this world.

Before he bestowed upon me the name of ‘Kyoku’, my name was Sunset Shimmer, former student of Princess Celestia, the Last Alicorn(Redacted as of recent events), the Ruler of Equestria, Sol Invictus, She Who Raised The Sun. And I was not a human.

I was a unicorn.

To put the story short, I was once her prized student, until she replaced me with one Mi Amore Cadenza. It was the cause of our falling out, and when I knew I finally overstayed my welcome in her castle, I gathered what little possessions I could and escaped through the mirror, the very mirror she had shown me mere weeks before she banished me, the mirror that had showed me my destiny.

The mirror transported me to this world, and I immediately regretted my decision to step through it. This world was terrifying and horrible, I found myself in a town near the border of someplace I would later learn was called the Land of Lightning. I was in a new body, one completely foreign to me, and worse of all, I had almost no magic to call upon. Not that it did not exist, but the magic that I could call upon was being smothered by this other energy within me. Still, I could cast the most basic of spells between sufficient rest, and it helped me get by.

So I looked for help in that village, learning all that I need to survive.Thankfully, the first group of kids that I found managed to have a sense of compassion, something I realized was rather lacking in this world, but they took me in, for a price of course, mainly the jewels that I had brought with me. They first taught me how to walk, how to talk, before teaching me how to steal, which was their primary means of survival. Of course, stealing was something I considered beneath me, but when it was your only source of survival, well,  one hardly had the right to complain.Turns out that I excel in it, mainly because Notice-Me-Not spell worked rather nicely when trying to escape a vengeful store-owner.

For a time, things were fine, until one of the shinobi took an interest in me and stole me away from that town.

I probably spent months in that dungeon of his. It became a daily routine for him or his underlings to come in and interrogate me on that Notice-Me-Not spell that I had cast in the market on that very day that I was taken away.

I held out as long as I could. Even attempting to escape on a few occasions, though it always ended in failure. The punishment that followed was harsh, but usually non-lethal, probably because they still want my magical secrets. Thankfully I was stubborn to a fault to crack.

Then they transported another inmate into the cell. Ume. She was a good woman, brunette, and with a nice charm about her. She was a person who did not deserve the hand that fate had dealt her. I was wary of her at first, though eventually I warmed up to her. Being isolated for so long had probably made me just want to rant for a bit. So I told her about where I came from, who I was. I told her about Equestria, and about Celestia.

Like the others, she did not believe me, but at least she listened and it felt good just to let it all out for once.

Of course, it occured to me that she might be a spy sent to get information out of me, so I deliberately kept the part about magic out of any conversation if I could help it. Thankfully she did not ask, and that solidified my trust in her.

But even then, that all came to an end.

It all happened so quickly. One day, one of the guards barged into the room, yelling something about having to kill all the prisoners before sinking two long knives into Ume’s chest. He would have done the same to me too, but I was saved by Lord Orochimaru.

On that fateful day, he saved me from the hell that I was in, and took me in, along with multiple other children held captive. It was not what I had been expecting, truth be told. I had fully expected him to kill me on the get go, or worse, take me off to one of his own dungeons, like those other shinobi had. Instead, he took me in, fed me, clothed me, and most importantly, trained me.

Well, that was mostly his underlings that did the practical work, but considering that the orders came from him, I had held an immense gratitude for him.

My only disappointment was the fact that I could not teach him magic, something that had piqued his interest when he went through the recordings of my prison. I did tell him the mechanics behind it, however, though to my eternal shame, he took it for mere rubbish in the end and never called me up again for that same matter.

As such, I trained diligently. He saved my life, he offered me the choice to not be powerless, and so I owed him my gratitude. My grudge against Celestia be damned, I had lost all my hate for her in the first few months that I was here. Orochimaru had easily taken her place, and I owed him much much more than what I would have wished to give that foolish princess.

As such it was to my joy when I was called upon on that fateful day...





~One year ago~

“I, Kyoku, am here to answer your summons, Lord Orochimaru.” I knelt outside the door, my discipline keeping my panic at bay.

“Enter.” A voice rang out after some time had passed.

Standing up, I gingerly pushed open the door to see a single long haired man dressed in a simple kimono sitting beside a table stacked with scrolls in the middle of the room. As quietly and quickly as I could, I strode inside, stopping just shy of twenty paces from Lord Orochimaru.

It was the maximum distance one leap from me would be, as such, it would be disrespectful to move any closer.

Swiftly, I knelt. “What would you have of me, Orochimaru-sama?”

He stood up, taking a scroll from the table. “Kyoku, is it?” I nodded in response. “Is it true that this was the scroll that you handed in?”

I squinted at the item in question. If I was not wrong, that was one of the scrolls in which I had used to take notes about the Iwanin outpost that I had been dispatched to by my instructors. My instructions were to note down everything that I believed would be useful to take out the outpost. And so I did, I merely sauntered in, using a mix of some minor spells and other techniques to infiltrate the outpost. 

Luckily, most of the shinobi stationed there were complacent, so that was the reason why I managed to do what I did.

Still, that was indeed the scroll I had taken and it wouldn’t do to keep Orochimaru waiting, so I quickly replied. “Yes, Lord Orochimaru.”

“Good.” He smiled, and I lowered my head, not trusting my features to betray myself. Returning the smile would be highly disrespectful, after all.

“Now then, Kyoku.” He said, causing me to raise my head. “I would like to ask you a question.”

“Yes Orochimaru-sama?”

“Would you be willing to do something for me?”

“Anything for you, Orochimaru-sama.”

“Good, come closer.”

Swiftly, I stood up, but before I barely took a step. Four killing intents flared out at me, causing me to freeze where I stood. Did I do something wrong?

“Stop, the four of you.” Orochimaru said, his words cutting through the atmosphere like a clean, sharp knife would through butter. Almost at once, the hostility ceased and I released a breath that I did not know I had been holding.

The Sound Four. Orochimaru’s personal bodyguards, I had seen them once in passing, and instantly, I knew that despite our age difference, they were most definitely stronger than me.

Of course, that was something that would change with time. I swear it.

“You have skills,” Orochimaru began, once I moved close enough and was in a kneeling position. “That are rare, but extremely valued by me, Kyoku. As such, I will want you to take on a mission of utmost importance, all the while improving your own skills in the process.”

“Understood, Orochimaru-sama.”

“Very well, listen closely.” He leaned in and said in a voice that brooked no arguments, “you will meet up with one of my students and infiltrate Konohagakure…”





~Present~

And so here I am. Asagami Kyoku, adopted child of Asagami Shiratama. As far as the cover story goes, I was a child that he picked up during his two year long surveillance mission. As far as the story went, I was originally intended to make his cover more convincing, but since I had grown on him, he brought me back to Konohagakure and adopted me immediately.

My basic medical knowledge, ninjutsu and taijutsu skills were all explained to be taught by Shiratama while he was on the job. An explanation that was accepted by the intelligence bureau, but as far as we were concerned, it would not hurt to be on the safe side in case we were being secretly watched.

Thankfully, my application to join the Ninja academy was approved almost immediately, and I was placed into the appropriate skill group according to the assessment test that I underwent. School would start tomorrow. That was a good thing, as far as I was concerned. It was much easier to work when I could blend into the crowd.

I sighed as I poked one of the onigiri left on the plate, not feeling hungry anymore. I had my work cut out for me to be honest.

Of all the things I have to excel at, why infiltration? I snorted. Back in Equestria, I had always been among the more flashy variant of spellcasters. Maybe this was how the SMILE agents felt on their first major assignment.

“Seriously, what would Princess Celestia say if she could see me now?”

Saying the princess’ name unwittingly, I found my eyes travelling to an empty spot in the air near me. I almost instinctively reached for it, before remembering the meaning of covert and quickly drew the curtains close before resuming the gesture.

The air rippled as my hand passed into the pocket dimension that I had bound there. It was not that big a space, truth be told. It was only big enough for a single object, but that was all I needed.

It only took a few seconds before I held a thick, leatherbound book in my hand, one with a symbol of the sun upon it.

It had been a few weeks since I last held this in my hand. I used to take it out of the pocket dimension I conjured for it everyday in the first few months, then I stopped during the period that I was incarcerated. So why did I take it out now?

It was a question I left unanswered as I opened it and flipped it to the latest entry.

The words there were still the same as I remembered them.

I am sorry. Those three words stared back up at me as they had done so every single time I opened the book, and somehow, I felt an intense moment of irritation spike up within me. I slammed the book shut and shoved it back into the pocket space.

“No you are not.” I muttered. I quickly strode over to the bed, and tried to will myself to sleep. After all, school starts tomorrow, and so does work.
> Academy I. Meet The Class
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“My name is Asagami Kyoku, nine years old. Nice to meet you.” I said, finishing my introduction off with a bow.

As soon as I finished, whispers began breaking out in the class. At least they were all seen to be those born out of curiosity. I had had worse, back when I was still studying in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.

Overall, the atmosphere here was a whole lot better than what I expected. Blending in might not be as hard as I initially thought. Initially, I thought that my flame coloured hair might stand out too much, but truth be told, there were others that were far, far more outstanding here in terms of appearance.

A fat boy in the corner, stuffing his face full of chips. A disinterested looking blond talking to another boy with markings on his face, whose dog was perched rather adorably atop his head. Off to a side, there was a girl, with pupiless eyes that kept glancing at the afore-mentioned blond boy. There was also a pair of girls, who while were certainly attempting to pay attention to her, kept shifting their eyes over to a brooding boy near them.

This was a good class to join. There were enough of the eccentric bunch that I would not stand out too much. Not to mention, most of these children were connected to many of the powerful clans in Konohagakure. If I could somehow build a rapport with them, it would be extremely easy to retrieve some of the information that Orochimaru-sama would no doubt be interested in.

“Right, settle down everyone.” The instructor, a Chunin by the name of Iruka clapped his hands, annoyance plain across his face, most probably because not a lot of people were paying attention during my self-introduction. “Kyoku-chan, you can sit next to Sakura.” He pointed to a pink haired girl.

Haruno Sakura, a girl of eight years of age. She smiled awkwardly at me as I sat next to her. Perhaps she was not used to strangers? No. I immediately clarified as my training kicked in. A small look of annoyance here. Her eyes glancing towards the side from time to time. I turned around, looking in the direction she was in and noticed that she actually tensed up significantly as I did so. I looked in the direction of her gaze, towards the brooding boy that I had mentioned before. 

Now I was confused. Open hostility over a boy? Perhaps they were childhood friends. I shrugged and sat down disinterestedly.

She was noticeably much more friendly after that. Though I did not really interact with her that much, seeing that I should probably pay attention to class if I wanted to have a chance at catching up.

My worries was for naught, and truth be told, class was rather boring.

No really, there had to be much more interesting subjects than taijutsu theory, weapon theory or even the history of the village. At least the ninjutsu class was interesting enough, that was one of the few practical sessions that were present in the curriculum. Apparently we were attempting the Henge no Jutsu, the transformation technique today.

We were called out in alphabetical order, and I was second. The first child, a boy by the name of Izuna, managed the Jutsu within two tries. I decided that I should emulate him, people would not think me strange if I did it within two tries now that someone else already had.

My ploy worked out perfectly, and Iruka-sensei smiled encouragingly at me when I managed the jutsu the second time around. It felt genuine, that was good.

The rest of the lesson passed by quickly, with only a few minor incidents, such as the boy with the dog, Kiba, making a ruckus by turning himself into a weird wolf-man hybrid, and Naruto, the blond boy taking almost five tries to get the technique right.

Then there was Uchiha Sasuke. When Shim- I mean, when father had passed me the documents detailing my classmates, there was one that had caught my eye. Uchiha Sasuke, sole survivor of the massacre of the most powerful clan in Konohagakure. He was considered by many to be a genius for his age, capable of feats that no other kid his age should be capable of.

He managed the jutsu in one try, and Iruka-sensei was not even surprised, almost as that sort of thing was expected.

He might become a valuable ally down the road, or he may become a terrifying obstacle. I would need to keep an eye on him.

Almost as soon as the last student had his turn, the lunch bell rang. The classroom quickly exploded into a flurry of activity as kids began reaching into their bags, bringing out containers of varied sizes and shapes before exiting the class by the doors and the windows.

“Stay safe kids!” I heard Iruka-sensei shout, “and I want to see you back here in exactly an hour!”

I suppressed a smirk when I detected a hint of exasperation in his voice, before taking my own packed lunch out of the room.





Lunch was a simple affair for me, the problem was where I should have it. It would be awkward for me to simply approach any of the students as of today. Perhaps I should make use of the fact that I was new and shy to simply observe the cliques that had been formed by the various groups. After all, it would be best to determine which particular group had the most value to me before I make my decision. But in order to do so, I would need a prime position to survey the entire school-grounds.

It took awhile, but I soon found such a spot. A grassy incline nearby, overshadowed by a tree. It would make a prime position to overlook the different groups of children on the school-grounds. Not to mention, it would probably be comfortable too.

I sat down on the slope, the grass acting like a comfortable cushion as I began unpacking my lunch. Of course, it was onigiri, being the most simple and filling food that could be produced on quick notice.

“Oh, someone’s in our spot.” A bored voice drawled out behind me. Alarmed, I looked backwards in time to see two kids approaching my position. 

The bored looking one with his black hair tied back was Shikamaru Nara, if I recall properly, and his fat companion should be none other than Chouji Akimichi. The two were spectacularly ordinary, as according to my observations on them, but they were both heirs of two of the major clans within Konoha. Still, there was something about them I could not place, especially that Shikamaru kid.

It would be a bad idea to antagonise them.

“Sorry.” I bowed my head, doing my best to look apologetic, “I could mov-”

“Nah, too troublesome.” Shikamaru interrupted, lying down on the grass a little bit away from me.

“You’re Kyoku, right?” Chouji asked as he took another chip from the packet he held as he sat down beside his friend. “Nice to meet you.”

I blinked. This was not what I was expecting. Or were kids in Konohagakure always this forthright?

“Yes,” I replied, nodding at him. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“Mmmmh,” He said, stuffing his mouth with more of those little tidbits, before holding out the packet. “Chips for your onigiri?”

“He thinks they’d taste nice.” Shikamaru clarified helpfully from his position on the grass.

Sure. What do I even have to lose? I held my lunchbox out, and Chouji eagerly took one once he deposited a handful of chips into it.

Mmmmh, seaweed. I smacked my lips as I sampled one. It was the right amount of salt within too, though it would probably be for the best if I don’t take too much. Too much junk food was not exactly the most nutritious diet for a growing child.

Still, why did they even come here? I wondered as I looked at the two boys beside me, who were chatting amicably. Were they merely curious? Or did they have another motive in mind?

I sighed, inwardly, of course.

Apparently children were harder to understand than I thought.





After the break was a taijutsu lesson. It was, to say the least, a walk in the park for me. Under my instructors back in Otogakure, I was trained in basic taijutsu techniques. It would not be an understatement to say that I was probably more than a match for half of the children in the school. Still, it was probably for the best that I do not stand out too much here. It would be suspicious, after all, for a child to be so proficient in combat. Sure, I could always say that father taught me during his long-term mission, but it would probably for the best if I showed a few mistakes during the training period.

As such, it would be best to fight with a number of handicaps. A fight would be much more believable if there was a struggle to claim victory. No usage of the legs, for one. And I’d probably refrain from using chakra to reinforce my limbs.

My first opponent was to be one of the loud-mouthed boys in my class, Inuzuka Kiba, the one from a dog-tamer family. His partner, a little puppy by the name of Akamaru, was not allowed to participate. 

“Why’d I have to fight the new girl?” He complained as he got into the white round ring drawn with charcoal that served as our arena. That comment drew a bit of commotion from the surrounding crowd. I even heard a few girls yell, “Beat him up!” 

I, for one, stayed relatively unconcerned by the comment. He had the bluster down, that was for certain, but I would be lying if I didn't really take him seriously at the moment.

“Start!” Iruka-sensei shouted.

Kiba drew his fist back and I moved, preparing myself to block. It was a widely telegraphed move, easily dodgeable. But I wanted to gauge his strength, so it was in my interest to take the move head-on. 

I flinched slightly as the attack landed far harder than I thought it would. No, that was an understatement, the attack literally drove me to my knees. In hindsight, not using chakra to reinforce my limbs was probably a huge mistake.

Kiba, emboldened by his initial strike, began to rain a flurry of blows upon me. I, on the other hand, had learned from my mistake, and quickly reinforced my arms with chakra, using them to deflect and block his punches and kicks rather than take them head on like I initially had. It took me awhile, but eventually an opening presented itself for me after I swatted  aside a rather lopsided punch from him. Twisting myself at the waist to add more force to the blow, I drove my elbow directly into his chest, knocking him flat on his back and landing him just out of the ring.

“And set!” Iruka-sensei announced as he penned down more notes on his clipboard. “Please do the the seal of reconciliation, the both of you.”

Kiba was very disgruntled about his loss, and grumbled quite a lot, but in the end, pressed his two fingers into mine, completing the seal.

“Good fight,” I said, hoping that it would be enough to soothe his wounded ego.

“Yeah.” He grunted, “but I’ll get you next time!”

“Kiba-kun, your attacks have a lot of power,” Iruka-sensei interjected, clearly keen to offer his two cents of advice. “but you were swinging too wildly. You need to work more on your precision and technique.” He turned to me as he flipped the paper on the clipboard back. “Kyoku-chan, you have a good grasp on the basics, Shiratama’s work, right?” He smiled.

“Yes.” I replied dutifully.

“It was a good effort, but you need to work more on your legs instead of focusing purely on your arms. And you also need to work more on your strength.” He set the clipboard aside and chuckled. “But it was still a good effort nonetheless!”

I nodded, but inwardly, I was dismayed. Not because of the compliments, but because of the murmuring that arose from the watching crowd.

“Wow.”“She actually beat him.”“I didn’t think she was that good.”“Looks like we have another one to watch out for.”

Apparently, I had taken out one of this class’ best taijutsu users. 

Shit. So much for not drawing attention to myself.





Thankfully, school ended without much hassle. Initially, I was afraid that I would be the centre of attention thanks to the little display I had made during the taijutsu lesson, but kids being kids, quickly forgot about it.

I would be lying if I said that that was not a relief.

I stood outside the compound, looking for all intents and purposes to be a kid waiting for her parents. The reality could not be further from the truth. I was here, in fact, to note down the parents who were taking their kids home.

As expected, most of the kids here had parents who were nobody of note. Though there were a few exceptions. The pale-eyed girl, Hinata, I remembered her name, was escorted off by a group of robed figures almost as soon as she left the school compound. The sigil they wore was that of the Hyuga clan, one of the most powerful clans in Konohagakure. It would be wise, on my side, to establish a relationship with her as soon as possible. Then there were Shikamaru, and Chouji, who I had correctly deduced to be the Nara and Akimichi heirs respectively. I mean, why else would the Clan Leaders themselves, Jounin Commander Shikaku and Akimichi Head Chouza be here to pick them up?

Thank the sun that I memorized the bingo book before coming here.

Still, there was one kid that I found myself rather interested in. Uzumaki Naruto, was sitting alone on the swing, for all intents and purposes looking like a kicked puppy that had been told off for standing in the way. However, that was not what stood out to me. It was the fact that almost all the parents and kids here were deliberately steering clear of the child.

I gathered enough from my first day here that Naruto was a prankster of the highest order, but even then, that should not warrant this kind of treatment from the rest of them.

Curious…





“How was school?” Father asked nonchalantly, as though he was interested in what happened on my first day. Of course, it was for the sake of keeping up appearances, after all, we might never know if someone was listening in without us knowing.

“It was cool.” I replied, sounding as disinterested as I could. “The kids there were weird though.”

“Weird how?”

“Loud,” I said, for all intents and purposes, sounding like a selfish brat. “Boisterous and very self-assured. Though there was this one kid… Uzumaki Naruto…” Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his grip suddenly tighten on his mug. “The rest of the kids, particularly the adults, seem to be giving him a wide berth. Did he have some kind of disease?”

“Yeah, something like that.” Father said, "By the way, do the dishes, would you?" I raised an eyebrow at the sudden request but did not question it. Of course, I did notice him making a beeline to my room as soon as I began my task.

It was perhaps why I was not surprised to see three items on my desk later that night. One was a history book of Konoha, the one that I had to study diligently alongside the Bingo Book before I began my infiltration, one was a rough sketch of a fox and the final bit seemed to be some official announcement.

I widened my eyes as the implication sank in. It was common knowledge that only a few years ago, before I even stepped foot into this world, Konoha was under attack by one of the nine mythical tailed beasts: The Kyuubi, the Nine-tailed Fox. The attack had drastically weakened Konoha, who lost plenty of Shinobi in that attack, including the Fourth Hokage himself, a hero among heroes. With his sacrifice, however, the Kyuubi was sealed away, but its location was never disclosed.

I did not even suspect Naruto to be its Jinchuuriki. Why? That was the first question that came to my mind, why seal it into him, a child that was most definitely a baby at the time of the attack? It made no sense. Gingerly, I picked up the document, and my eyes widened as my suspicions that Naruto was the vessel for the Kyuubi was all but confirmed by the slip of paper. It was an announcement that told of how the Fourth Hokage had sealed the Kyuubi into Naruto, and how it was to be kept a secret that he was a vessel for which the infringement of this policy would be either death or lifelong imprisonment.

Now it made sense. Why the other villagers tend to avoid the boy. I mean, could anyone blame them? The child was literally housing the very monster that had turned their lives outside down so many years ago, not to mention that if the monster ever got free, it could very well do so again.

Still… It would be counterproductive, wouldn’t it? Ostracizing the Jinchuuriki would very likely cause them to turn upon those that antagonised them in the first place. Would it not be much more logical to make the Jinchuuriki feel more appreciated? So that the chances of them turning on their village would be less likely?

I pinched the bridge of my nose as I let out an insufferable sigh. 

Nevertheless, this was a valuable piece of information to have. Perhaps, in time, I should attempt to befriend Naruto. He was the vessel for one of the strongest beings in this world after all.

Surely it couldn’t hurt to have an ally like that?





The next few days passed by like a simple breeze. Since they did not turn me away, I joined the two boys at their spot during lunchtime each day. They were a nice bunch, truth be told. Shikamaru Nara was quiet, preferring not to speak more than necessary, often portraying himself as a lazy kid with a ‘can’t be bothered’ attitude. Chouji, on the other hand, was apparently looked down on by the other members of the class, with the only other person that could tolerate his presence among the other kids being the aforementioned Nara.

Apart from that, I was ‘encouraged’ by Iruka-sensei to attend the ‘optional’ kunoichi classes after classes, and by ‘encouraged’, what I actually meant was ‘forcibly volunteered’. The curriculum in that class was rather mundane at first glance. We were taught ikebana, the art of flower arrangement, we were taught how to sew and cook and how to act like a female from every single social circle.

It took me two days before I realized that what they were teaching us was how to infiltrate by taking advantage of our gender. Ikebana might seem simple, but codes and deadly weapons could be easily hidden within the bouquet of flowers that we were handling. Even with the appropriate, no one will really realise the presence of the deadly poisonous Nightshade in an otherwise innocuous looking pot of flowers. Embroidery and sewing taught me how to hide codes and hidden messages in something as simple as a handkerchief. Learning about different countries and their culture would eventually teach us how to blend into the crowd, how to act like a local.

Though, I was slightly disconcerted that I was the only one taking the lessons seriously. The other girls in the lesson seemed to be only interested in using the lesson as an opportunity to socialize with one another and establish their connections.

A fact that I found that I was not exempted from.

It was the fourth lesson, I was busy gathering flowers in the greenhouse for an intended flower arrangement when I found a flower slipped into my hair.

“I think yellow looks good on her, don’t you?” Said a purple haired kid, Ami, the group of girl following her about laughing in agreement. She was pretty much the boss of one of the biggest cliques in the school, with the majority of the girls following her about and agreeing with whatever she said.

I frowned at her, paying close attention to her body language and expressions. No signs of hostility, but a healthy dose of condescension. A standard bullying attempt then.

I suppressed the desire to strike her down with a well-aimed punch to her jawline. Doing so would place me in the centre of attention, and I wouldn’t want that. What she was doing here was clearly a power-play. She was the kind of person that needed to constantly reinforce her position by finding someone weaker than her to be the focus of her party’s ire. It was a standard bullying tactic. I should know, having done my fair share of it back in Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns. Still that didn’t mean that I liked being on the receiving end of it.

And no, yellow flowers did not suit me. It would blend in too well in the yellow streaks in my hair. Green or blue would suit me a lot more, brings out the color of my eyes.

Still, it would probably be best to merely just ignore them, I decided amidst the mocking laughter that I was surrounded by. Opposing the largest girl group in the academy would definitely be a huge folly.

Someone else, apparently had a different idea.

“Yeah, just as much as purple would suit you, right, Ami?” Someone else called out.

The laughter died down immediately. I lifted my head from my task, curious as to who was it that would come to aid and my eyes widened slightly in surprise. Who else but Ino Yamanaka, heiress of the Yamanaka clan, her pale hair tied up in the traditional ponytail get-up of her clan. Next to her was the pink-haired girl that sat next to me during class, Sakura Haruno.

Ami made to say something rather discourteous, but Ino’s glare stopped whatever she had to say. These two clearly had a history. She then walked past her and grabbed my free hand. I suppressed the flicker of annoyance that bloomed at the gesture, but otherwise said nothing as she led me and Sakura out of the throng of girls.

“Are you okay, Kyoku-chan?” I blinked, why was she using honorifics? Were we that close to warrant its usage? Still, there was no need to dwell on that, so I nodded

She grimaced, and I studied her, slightly confused as to why she would have such a reaction.

Then it struck me.

“Thank you for your help.” I said quickly, bowing my head. It had been most discourteous of me not to thank her for the favor that she had done to me.

“Ah,” She replied, slightly flustered. Now I was even more confused. Did I do the wrong thing?

“Um, I’m Ino, by the way.” She said, after she composed herself. “And this is Sakura!”

“Hi,” the other girl smiled.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I beamed, or at least, I hoped I did. Facial emotions were sometimes really hard to portray.

“Likewise,” Ino smiled. “By the way, do you need help?” She asked as she took a look at the flowers I had gathered. “It looks like you are still missing some of the flowers Suzume-sensei asked us to gather. Want to join me and Sakura as we look for it?”

Something about her made me want to say no. Except there was no reason to. She was the daughter of Inoichi Yamanaka, a head shinobi of the Konoha Intelligence Division. Getting to know her would help me, and by extension, Orochimaru-sama. Duty compelled me to accept.

“Sure...”

At least, I hope it was duty.
> Academy II. The Years Going By
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

First lesson the next day was about chakra control. You would think that the instructors back at Otogakure would had thought to instruct us on something so basic. No, they did not. We were instead taught how to use it as quickly as possible before they started training us. As such, these kinds of lessons in Konohagakure were the ones where I actually paid attention in class.

Chakra was, in essence, almost the same as magic, a form of energy present in all of us. It was an energy that was drawn directly from our ‘stamina’, a collection of spiritual and physical energy. Spiritual energy, or mental energy as some like to call it, was the energy that was derived from our mind’s consciousness. Physical energy was then produced from our body’s cells. These two were then combined in an area of our Chakra Pathway System called the Chakra Coils to produce Chakra, which was then spread throughout our bodies in the aforementioned system. There were also many theorists who believed Chakra to be the life force of a person as when people die, their chakra fades with them

That was where it was different from magic, I realised. While Magic was also a type of energy that lay within our bodies, as taught by Equestrian Education, it was only detectable by magical means, appearing as a haze of foreign particles of colors unique to the type of magic it’s owner specialised in.

Like chakra, however, it was tied inherently to my life force, and there was no reason for me to doubt that statement, given past… experiences. However, from what I feel, they were separate energies but the consequences of biting off more than you can chew would end in the same result. Simply put, use too much chakra, you die of chakra deprivation, use too much magic, you die of mana deprivation.

The only way out of this conundrum was simple. Practice. The chakra coils would produce more chakra as we developed our mental and physical faculties. The mana pool one could handle would also increase as long as I constantly trained my magic.

If only there was an easier way. I thought wistfully. It was not like I disliked training to better myself. I was the princess’ student for a reason. However, the fact that I had to train up my chakra as well as my magic handling skills to maintain an advantage over any adversary I would face meant that I had to put in twice the effort. Seeing that I would need to develop not one, but two aspects of myself.

I sighed. Looks like I had my work cut out for me.

At least my social skills were being put to good use. Ever since the first day, I consistently met up with the Nara and Akimichi boys on the small grass incline during lunch, taking advantage of their general tolerance of my presence. It was a slow start, but the two boys warmed up to me eventually.

On the other end of the spectrum, my relationship with Ino and Sakura got on without a hitch. Ino was glad to finally had another girl in the class that was not, as she puts it, ‘one of Ami’s mindless, backstabbing adulators.’ Truth be told, I was slightly taken aback by her vehement nature with regards to Ami and was more than a little impressed by her command of vocabulary at her age. 

She will be a good ally in the future.

Surprisingly, their relationship with me had exploded exponentially for the better when they realised that I had zero interest in chasing after the class’ eyecandy: Sasuke. That did not stop Ino from poking fun at me from time to time for being ‘hopeless at romance.’

Good riddance I say. Romance was the last thing on my mind.

It didn’t take long before they too joined my little group on the small grassy incline during lunch break. Maybe it helped because it gave them a bird’s eye view of Sasuke Uchiha.

Ino quickly established herself as the leader of the group. Alright, that might have been unfair to her, but seeing as she was the most ‘motivated’ among the rest of us, it was probably inevitable that she ended up taking up that role. That and probably the fact that she was the most sociable one out of the rest of us. Truth be told, why she bothered to stick with us was something I could not understand, but would never question.

Others slowly joined us, either by my design or by accident. Naruto Uzumaki, for one, was deliberately included by me. It was during an obstacle course lesson, where we were to form into groups of four. Ino and Sakura, starry eyed lovers that they were, managed to form a group with their crush, Uchiha Sasuke, leaving me with no potential partners. That was, until I saw Shikamaru and Chouji waiting at one side.

“Want to form up?” I asked as I headed over to them, giving the two a smile.

“Sure,” Shikamaru replied in his own typical way of conversation. Chouji did not say anything, but merely smiled and offered me some of his chips.

We still needed a fourth member, and that was when I saw him. Standing off to the side, shunned by the majority of the class. It was then I knew that a perfect opportunity presented itself.

Walking over, I ignored the murmurs of the others as I made a beeline towards him.

“Naruto-kun? We need a fourth member. Want to join?”

The look of joy that he gave me was almost painful. Almost.

Thankfully, the other duo did not have any complaints about the arrangement. Shikamaru complained about it as he did everything, muttering “Troublesome”, but was otherwise friendly to our newest addition. Surprisingly, Chouji and Naruto got along fine, mostly because Naruto had enough tact to not insult the other kid.

It was only when we began hanging out more during lunch period when I realized my mistake.

It was not tact, it was merely because the child himself was an attention-seeker. If there were a phrase to describe the little blond, it would be that he was ‘attention-starved’. He would do anything, cause any amount of headache just to get a lick of attention from anybody in the vicinity.

Ino had complained a bit, though she soon accepted the fact that Naruto being around us would soon become the norm. Not that I could blame her. We were probably the only kids in the class that were willing to give the ‘dead last’ some time of our lives.

The only constant voice of dissent was Sakura. Apparently Naruto was very smitten with the pink haired girl, and had only redoubled his efforts to woo her with each rejection, however physical, that she had handed him. The rest found the scenario rather entertaining, and it even managed to get a smirk out of the reserved Shikamaru.

Honestly speaking, I could not help but wonder why Sakura would want to become a Shinobi. True, her parents were Shinobi, but they were only part of the Genin Corps, a collection of those shinobi who were judged unsuitable to advance into the Jounin Course after multiple failed graduations from the Academy. Not to mention that she was much more focused on romance than was healthy for a person who wanted to become a shinobi. Unlike the other three, who I could understand due to familial pressure, and Naruto, who actually took becoming a shinobi seriously despite his joking nature, Sakura had absolutely zero motivation to become a killer, a ninja whose sole purpose was to protect this village. She was much more suited to be a healer, seeing how natural she was with medicine and the healing salves that we were taught in our lessons.

It was quite painful to watch, seeing her waste her talent like this.

On the other hand, I had been portraying myself as the quiet but helpful girl in the class. Thanks to the skills I learned in Otogakure and in my kunoichi lessons, I had managed to grow onto Iruka-sensei. His general favoritism allowed me easier access to some materials in the school library. Nothing overly sensitive, of course, Konohagakure was not that incompetent, but it was still a baby step. After all, it would take a miracle to know a secret that my ‘father’ did not already know, considering his rank and all.

Of course, that was way out of my job scope. My work simply consisted of letting Shiratama know the location of the sentries were out of the compound, or whenever the Hokage had left his office.

It was a simple job, but a grueling one nonetheless. After all, he had impressed upon me the consequences of being found out as a spy. And considering the stories that he told about Konoha’s Torture and Interrogation Division? Let’s just say that I would much prefer  to not be exposed as one at all.

Still, I could hardly complain. Orochimaru-sama had given this job to me personally and I intend to fully capitalise on this to win his favor.

Still, Shiratama was such a confusing man. Sometimes he would act cold and distant, at other times, he would act as a nice parent would. There was this one time, where I finally beat Sasuke in a taijutsu match(it was a fluke, lucky strike to the side of the head), when Shiratama invited me to a meal at his favorite restaurant.

It was called Shirobeko, a quaint little place that served plenty of different types of Rice Bowls. The two of us would sit and chat, almost like a father and his daughter would.

“How did you beat him?” He asked, seeming genuinely interested.

“Luck,” I replied after swallowing the rice in my mouth.

“Then you gotta make sure that you don’t need no luck next time.” He grinned before downing a bowl of miso soup. “Still a good effort tho, congratulations, Kyoku.”

It was a good experience, and I found that I enjoyed these trips we had, even though it was only make-believe. Even though it was all fake.





Two months into the Academy curriculum, and I found myself once again sitting with the five of them during lunch break. Shikamaru had brought a shogi set, the result of complaining that he needed someone else other than his father to play with.

That was when one of the things that I had been dreading finally happened.

“Come to think of it, where are you from?” The dreaded question was finally asked by none other than Ino, as she was watching Shikamaru and I face off in a game of Shogi.

The attention of the entire group was focused on me as the question sunk in. Shikamaru appeared disinterested in the question, seemingly focused on the game, but I could tell that he was listening intently. Even Naruto had stopped his incessant chatter with Kiba, who had recently joined our little clique, and Sakura and opted to listen in. The only sound that broke the silence was Akamaru’s growling at me, for some reason, that dog could never stand my presence.

Of course this would eventually happen. It was too much to hope that Shiratama’s request to Iruka-sensei to keep my background a secret from the rest would be enough to dissuade the rest.

And I must give them an answer. Children, after all, were very inquisitive at this age. Refuse to tell them anything, and they will beg you incessantly for it. I should know, I was there.

I sighed, to steel my nerves. I didn’t need to fake it, either.

“A small village at the edge of Kumogakure.” I lied, remembering the story that I was trained to remember. “ It was where I met Shiratama-san.”

“Met?” Ino asked, an eyebrow raised.

“He’s not really my dad.” I chuckled darkly, mixing truth and lies in the same statement always made it more convincing. “On one of his missions, he found me, and brought me here.”

Silence descended upon our group. It was awkward, to be honest. “So you’re like me, huh?” Naruto said, breaking the silence.

“Sorry?”

“I mean that you don’t have parents either… So I kinda get how you feel.” He looked away.

I blinked, was he trying to comfort me? “I… already accepted it long ago.” I said carefully. “Besides, Shir- Father, was trying his best too.” It was a lie. Of course it was, Shiratama was a spy, and I was his accomplice. He did not have time to play parent with me. 

For some reason, my eyes felt wet at the thought, even as an image of an alicorn flashed into my mind and was banished just as quickly. I quickly rubbed at them. Tears? I started, I did not cry, ever. Not since I had left that cell with Orochimaru-sama…

A pair of arms wrapped themselves around me. It was Ino. She had this insufferable look of pity on her face. But for some reason, I was okay with it.

Except that I couldn’t be okay with it, I reminded myself.

I had read my fair share of spy novels back in Equestria. Some dealt with mystery and intrigue, others dealt mainly in action and adventure. However, none of them actually told you how simple and ordinary a spy’s life and work actually was.

Everyday, I woke up and went to school. I bonded with my ‘friends’, studied for the next upcoming tests and returned to my home at the end of the day. Sure, I kept an eye out for any outstanding information which I steadily relayed to my ‘father’, but such occasions were far and few between.

I was falling into routine and on multiple occasions, I almost lost myself in it. I almost forgot that this village was an enemy of Orochimaru-sama. That the kids that I was talking to now would become my adversaries later down the road. That when the order was given, I may even have to dispatch them before they become a threat.

Being a spy is hard. I sighed internally, even as I smiled at Ino and returned the hug. But Orochimaru-sama has saved my life, and so I owed it to him. If it was his order, I would fight all these kids. Not happily, I realised, but I would do it all the same.

That night, I took out the Diary again.

I miss you. Those three accursed words stared back up at me as my pen hovered at the line beneath those words. Yet even as I stayed in that posture, I couldn’t form the words. I don’t even know how to start.

“What do I even want to write?” I sighed, closing the book and tossing the pen aside. I eyed the book. “Why am I even writing when she has not even apologised yet?”





“Kyoku, tomorrow’s the graduation exam, am I correct?”

I looked up from the book I was reading. “Yes father.” Two years had passed since I had been placed into Konohagakure alongside him. Funny, I had already grown comfortable enough to call him that. Of course, it was all for the sake of appearance but...

He grunted. “You know what happens after the exam, correct?”

I nodded. Of course I do. It was something that I had researched in advance. The Shinobis were separated into the failures and the graduates immediately after the examination. All the graduates were to be promoted to Genin and placed into three-men cells, overseen by a Jounin instructor. It was an accelerated course, so to speak, in which the three Genin will be trained and tutored by the Jounin instructor, being groomed to be the next generation of Jounin in Konohagakure. This was the Jounin course, where the next generation of leaders of the village would be nurtured. 

“Good.” He nodded, “make sure you pass.” The underlying meaning was clear as day, as it was obvious that the higher the rank you possess, the more secrets one would be beholden to. Secrets that can prove useful to Orochimaru-sama. Hence, the Jounin course was pretty much a course which I MUST qualify for, for the alternatives were much, much worse.

To explain, those who failed the graduation exam would need to join another class at a later date. However, the instance one had failed more than three times, they will be drafted into the Genin Corps. In the Great Shinobi War many years ago, the Genin Corps were a reserve unit, meant to reinforce the numbers of shinobi in the combat cells fighting on the front lines. Nowadays, in times of peace, they became almost a byword for ‘failures’. It was nigh impossible to rise up above one’s station once drafted into the Genin corps. Those that were recruited would spend the rest of their days constantly doing rank-D missions in an effort to get by and hoping that they would be lucky enough to pass a Chunin exam in order to have a shot at a better future. It was, all told, a rather bleak path to walk.

As such, it would be in my best interest to pass on the first try.

Of course, there were alternatives. The Medic Corps were always looking for personnel to join them, and all one had to do to join was to pass an entry test and interview with them. There, one would be trained in their chosen specialisation for three year. The two specialisations were field-medic and hospital personnel. Field-medics were shinobis who were deployed on missions like regular shinobi squads, while hospital personnel were pretty much self-explanatory. Assuming that I fail, becoming a field-medic would be in my best interests, as like with the shinobi in the Genin Corps, the chance to attend a Chunin exam was always there, but considering the training I would receive, the chances of passing was significantly larger. Unfortunately, it was still a much longer route to Jounin than the aforementioned Jounin Course, so it was still a much less desired outcome.

“I understand.” I replied. “Though I don’t see why I should be worried.” The graduation exam was reported to be a physical test, a written test and a jutsu test. It was as simple as it could get and nobody that had studied for it should fail.

“Hn.” Shiratama smirked. It was not the unkind smile that he had displayed to me in my first few months of living with him(he hardly did that nowadays, in fact.) Rather, it was one of those ‘I know something you don’t’ kind of smile. “Do your best then,” he got up and patted me on the head before exiting the room. 

I frowned as I ignored the affectionate, but clearly fake gesture. Sure, we might have pretended to be close, but in the end it was all just an act to fool the general public. It was an unneeded sentiment and would no doubt interfere with my duties.

However, something about this still did not quite sit right with me and father’s little display confirmed a small part of my suspicions. I could not really place my finger on it, but something just seemed… off.

Gradeswise, I was among the top of the class for all three components of the Graduation test. In terms of taijutsu, there were only two kids that I had yet to beat on a consistent basis. In terms of pure written grades, I was one of the two who could consistently receive perfect scores on tests. 

Even in ninjutsus I was not lacking. Sure, my chakra reserves were rather small when compared to some of the boys in our class. However, I was still capable of the three academic jutsus and had tree-walking and water-walking somewhat down thanks to his dutiful instructions during our weekly after-class practice. Then there were the basic medical ninjutsu that I had been tutored in in Otogakure which while chakra-intensive, I could rely upon to heal myself. As a last resort, I may even fall back on the one water release that father had deigned to teach me, though it would deplete my chakra reserves rapidly if I did not have a nearby water source to rely on.

And if all else fails, I’d have my magic to fall back on. My mana reserves had increased over the years, mostly thanks to my constant practice with it. Most of the basic spells could be used and maintained, and my telekinesis had most definitely became stronger. It would still be awhile before I could use any major spells like teleportation without siphoning more than half of my reserves though.

However, even when I disregarded the skills I learned outside of the academy, we were still rather thoroughly prepared. So why was the examination slated to be so easy? Perhaps there would be combat involved? That seemed likely. After all, the capabilities of a graduate could not be so easily judged by these three mere tests. If that was the case, everyone would be in the Jounin course, and the Genin Corps would be empty.

Yes, I was as prepared as I could ever be. I should have all the confidence of a tactician who had all the pieces he needed to win the game on his side. But yet, for some reason, I still could not shake off the sinking feeling I had in my stomach.
> Graduation I. Team 7!!!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The test was easy, to put it in a single sentence. Almost humiliatingly so. Iruka-sensei smiled brightly at me when he handed me my hitai-ate, a metal plate on a simple piece of cloth with the symbol of konoha engraved on it. “I’ll be looking forward to your accomplishments!” He cheered, I smiled in return.

Almost everyone in the class passed. Everyone except for Naruto. It would be an overstatement to say that that surprised me. After all, Naruto was the infamous ‘dead last’ in our class, coming in last for almost every subject except for Taijutsu.

Still, it worries me. He was the Jinchuuriki, after all. The fact that he failed meant that he would probably need to repeat a year. Either that or join the Genin corps. Both were not the most enticing prospects. Still, it couldn’t be helped, it was not like I was in a position to change the results in the end.

“Kyoku-chan!” Ino squealed in delight after we were dismissed, hugging me a little too tightly for my liking. “We did it!”

I couldn’t trust my mouth enough at the moment to not outright reject her chosen method of affection, so I merely nodded. Sakura, as per usual, was tagging along, somehow smiling shyly yet proudly at the hitai-ate she held in her hands.

“Congratulations, Kyoku-chan.” She said.

“Thanks, likewise.” I smiled, but kept my words short and sweet. Especially since I was getting rather short of breath at the moment.

“So what are we doing?”

“Celebratory dinner! My place!” Ino cheered, finally letting go, allowing me to breathe in a mouthful of much needed air before smirking. Dinner at the Yamanaka compound after a particular successful test had become something of a tradition among the girls in our group, currently only Ino, Sakura and I. Truth be told, I was rather surprised when we were allowed access into their clan compound so easily, but apparently, the current head, Inoichi Yamanaka and his wife, Ryouji Yamanaka, found it very hard to deny their daughter anything. Possibly the reason why she was somehow so sociable, yet somewhat spoilt at the same time.

“Did you tell your parents?” I asked.

“They already knew!” She laughed, very clearly still intoxicated by the rush of finally passing the graduation exam. I was already starting to miss the old Ino. She glared at me, almost as if she knew exactly what I was thinking. “And mum’s preparing a proper meal today, so don’t go stuffing yourself with those disgusting onigiri.”

That was really unfair on her part. Onigiri was convenient to make and carry, and the ones I made don’t really taste that bad. 

As we begin to leave the compound, Sakura mumbled something about needing to see her parents first and dashed off after a rather clumsy apology. With Ino cheering good-naturedly after her, shouting out the time to reach house by. It was really hard to imagine that these two girls almost broke off their friendship with each other last month over their combined infatuation with Uchiha Sasuke.

It was still an episode that confused me to no end.

The Yamanaka compound was small when compared to the likes of the Nara and the Akimichi clanholds, which I had the pleasure of visiting two and four times respectively over the last two years. Once you walked past the Flower Storefront that was the entrance, you would find yourself in a huge garden filled with a huge variety of flowers and more importantly to the likes of us Shinobi, medicinal and poisonous herbs.

From there, the place split into four buildings. Two were residential areas, one was a greenhouse, and the last was their clan library, denied access to all but the members of the Yamanaka clan. Even Ino’s puppy eyes were incapable of moving her father to allow me entry when I asked her if she could bring me inside.

We headed straight to the one of the buildings, where we were greeted by none other than Inoichi Yamanaka, one of the heads of the Konoha Intelligence Division and Ino’s father. The two shared a rather over-the-top reunion with one another while I stood aside, awkwardly diverting our gaze from the honestly quite cringe-worthy scene. Perhaps it was a testament to how close I had become to her that her father was willing to act like this in front of me.

“Kyoku-chan.” Inoichi walked over after the entire debacle .“Heard that you passed, congratulations.” He smiled.

“Thank you.” I nodded and smiled in response, earning myself another grin from him.

“Hey Kyoku-chan, stop ogling my dad and come help out!”

I opened my mouth. Blinked. Closed it. Blinked again. “I…” That was all I got out as my face burned with the familiar heat that came with embarrassment. Her father was not helping things either, shaking off at the side with barely concealed laughter.

“I’m here!” Sakura came barging in, carrying a small basket of what seemed to be fruits. I thanked the princess that she had came in when she did. “Hi Yamanaka-san!”

“Hello Sakura, I heard that you passed.” He managed, between fits of suppressed laughter. “Congratulations.”

“Hey Sakura!” Ino’s voice rang out from within the building. “Get Kyoku in here before she starts seducing my dad!”

Could someone please tell me why I became friends with her again?





Dinner with the Yamanakas was a happy but quiet affair. It was a rather enjoyable event, though I regret that Inoichi was still rather unwilling to share anything about his job. Otherwise, the dinner passed without incident, and the hours flew by rather quickly, especially once I registered  that I was soon bidding them my goodbyes as I left the building. Truth be told, a small part of me would like to stay and continue socializing with them but unlike Sakura, who lived literally next door to the Yamanaka’s compound, Shimatara’s and my apartment was on the opposite end of the village. So I had to start moving if I wish to get home in time to make my report to him.

I was halfway there, jumping between rooftops, when the alarm sounded. I immediately stopped, and paid close attention to the coded message playing out.

Priority: Black. Calling: All Anbu, Jounin and on-duty Chunin. Order 1: Assemble. Location: Hokage’s Office. Priority: Black. Calling: All ninjas. Order 1: Prepare for rapid deployment. Order 2: Prepare for Evacuation. Location: Regional Shelters.

My eyes widened as the alarm registered. Out of all the priority colors, black was the highest, reserved only for emergencies and disasters. What could have prompted such a warning? Was it Orochimaru-sama?

I spun on my heels and filled my limbs with chakra, vanishing with the use of the Body Flicker technique. The Body Flicker may seem simple on the surface, appearing to be a high-speed technique to cross great distances achieved with the minimal use of chakra, but in reality, the technique was very advanced. It requires great control, as one would need to avoid the myriad obstacles while moving at that speed. I had even read records of Shinobi using it in battle, but had yet to achieve the fine control that the feat required.

I reappeared on the doorstep of my house, in time to see father step out of the door, dressed in the standard Konoha Jounin vest.

“Hi dad!” I cheered as I placed a hand on my chest, appearing as though I was out of breath. In truth, though, I was tapping out a code with my fingers, the one used in Otogakure. We were taught the Konoha sign language in the academy and I had a few confusing moments when I mixed the two up. But that was then.

Emergency? Is it Snake-1? I signed with my hand, making sure to keep the gesture as inconspicuous as possible. 

“Hello, Kyoku.” He smiled, waving back. No. He signed back with the hand tapping on his hip.

I placed my hands behind me and turned about, feigning concern. “The alarm is sounding. Will there be trouble?” What should I do? I signed before turning back to face him.

“Stay inside and await further orders.” He said, ruffling my hair affectionately, though that was mostly for show.  Still, for some reason, it felt good. Stay undercover. The hand on his hip signed. Letting go of me, he disappeared off the roof, with only the scattered leaves to mark his departure.

“Stay safe!” I shouted after him, just to keep up appearances.

I nodded and stood aside, letting him leave, before taking a seat at the dinner table, brewing a cup of tea to keep me awake. It would be several long hours before another alarm cut through the air.

Priority: Blue. Calling: All ninjas. Order 1: return to normal activities.

I relaxed as that order sounded out, but my head was still awhirl with thoughts. What could have prompted such a response from the village?

I got my answer later that week. It was the last day of school, and Naruto, the only one who failed, was seated at his usual spot in the classroom, wearing a hitai-ate with the symbol of Konoha emblazoned upon it.

Was this a prank? Probably not, considering that Iruka-sensei had not yet barged in here, yelling about a missing hitai-ate.

There was surely a story to be told here. So I headed over, listening intently as Naruto regaled to the surrounding kids of his feats.

It took awhile to get what he was saying. Seeing as Naruto was never the most acute of story-tellers. Often including unnecessary sound effects and glossing over some important feature. Still, I got the general gist.

Basically, he got duped by Mizuki-sensei, an otherwise unremarkable shinobi, into stealing a scroll of secret techniques from the Hokage office. That would explain the alarm yesterday then. Mizuki then tried to steal Naruto and murder him in the process. But thanks to Iruka-sensei’s quick intervention, and Naruto’s mastery of a powerful jutsu from the scroll, the attempt was foiled.

Still, the part about this new jutsu piqued my interest. Naruto called it the Shadow Clone technique, an upgraded version of the Academy-taught Clone technique, in which it produces solid clones rather than just illusions. Still it had to be rather impressive. The chunin instructor, or rather, former chunin instructor Mizuki, while not really that impressive, was still much, much more stronger than Naruto. And given how Naruto had said that Iruka-sensei had been heavily injured by Mizuki in a surprise attack, it would mean that Naruto would be the one who fought and subdued Mizuki. Naruto, who was the dead last, whose taijutsu and ninjutsu did not even come close to the top few of our class, had managed to defeat a chunin with the aid of a new jutsu.

Now that was really interesting.

Unfortunately, my thoughts were interrupted as a heavily bandaged but still standing Iruka-sensei walked in.

Huh, looks like Naruto was telling the truth after all.

“All right, settle down!” Iruka-sensei shouted, quieting our class for what would be the last time. I was honestly surprised that he still had the energy to shout, but perhaps our instructor was a lot more resilient than he had let on.

“First up, I would like to congratulate all of you for graduating from the Academy’s shinobi course. However! While you are no longer students, you are still mere novices in the ranks of the Shinobi. Genin, the lowest of the low. The challenges that you face from here on will only get harder, and I expect each and every one of you to be up to the task.”

As far as speeches go, I’d give that a ‘seven’ I suppose.

Holding up his clipboard, he continued. “This here will be your official listing as dictated by the orders handed down to us by the Shinobi Command…”

Shinobi Command, the organisation that overlooks the two branches of Shinobi in Konoha. The ANBU, and the General Operations, which consists of the rest of the shinobis. There used to be a third one, the Police Force, but that had ended with the Uchiha Massacre.

“Each of you will be assigned to a three-man cell, and you will each be supervised by a Jounin.” He cast a critical eye over all of us. “The cells were arranged such that your ability level would be roughly the same.” That particular comment drew a lot of groans from the class, a reaction that Iruka-sensei ignored as he looked at the clipboard and began reading the names and their allotted numbers aloud.

I listened disinterestedly, only perking up once my name was called.

“... Cell seven, Asagami, Kyuko. Uzumaki, Naruto...” Naruto pursed his lips in disappointment. Probably because he had wanted to be teamed up with Sakura. At least he quickly changed to a smile when he caught my eye. Though that quickly turned into outrage and disbelief when the next name was announced.

“And Uchiha, Sasuke.”

“Why am I in the same cell as him?” Naruto exploded. I conveniently zoned myself out of the argument that followed. Truth be told, I was rather happy with this arrangement. Getting both the Jinchuuriki and the last Uchiha on my team? That was a jackpot as far as I was concerned.

Or at the very least, I hope it was. The friction between the two of them was legendary. I just hoped that it would not be significant enough to backfire on us.

When the lunch bell rang, the gang met up at our usual spot. I tried to invite Sasuke as well, but he brushed me off before setting out on his own. Perhaps that was for the best, considering Naruto’s reaction to what I did.

Our main topic of discussion for the day was the new teammates. Sakura was in cell three, paired with two other boys by the names of Izuna Gekko and Kirigaya Ise. Academically wise, Sakura should be the best out of the three, though the other two had slightly better grades than her when it came to Taijutsu, if memory serves. Kiba was paired with a boy called Shino Aburame, from the Aburame clan, and Hinata Hyuga. They would be a formidable bunch, if their grades were any indication. Shino was a long-ranged insect user, while Kiba and Hinata were both exceptionally powerful at taijutsu. They complement each other well. 

Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji were unsurprisingly grouped together, forming the next upcoming generation of the famous Ino-Shika-Cho combination. They would be a formidable force on the battlefield, considering their skillsets.

“But. BUT.” Ino was whining as she swerved her head to look at me. “Why is Sasuke-chan with Kyoku of all people?”

I should be insulted that she placed such an emphasis on my name. I really should be.

Sakura was nodding off to the side, “Yeah, Kyoku-chan doesn’t deserve Sasuke-chan!”

“Yeah!” Ino grabbed me, spinning me around to face her as she did so. “But don’t think that just because you are in the same team as him will give you a head start! I won’t lose.” She said, her eyes with a bit of manic gleam within them.

Princess save me from these girls with all their ideas of romance. I groaned. Love was like the last thing on my mind right now. Right up there with ‘Friendship’. A spy needed no friendship, since  we must be prepared to throw all the attachments we created at a moment’s notice.

Lunch could not possibly be over quickly enough. And we found ourselves back in the classroom where Iruka-sensei was waiting with a bunch of other rather impressive looking shinobi. They were the Jounin instructors, apparently, and they left with their respective teams as soon as Iruka-sensei called out the team numbers.

Until our team was left alone in the room.

“He’s late.” Iruka-sensei groaned, quite literally, when I approached him on the subject. 

So we waited.

And waited.

Two hours had passed when Iruka-sensei mumbled something about a meeting and left the room hastily, but not before telling us to wait patiently for our sensei and not to cause any trouble. Barely ten minutes had passed when Naruto, the hyperactive soul that he was, began to complain and wander around the room. Almost half an hour passed when even I found my attention began to wander out of the nearby window.

In hindsight I should have brought some reading materials.

“He’ll never fall for that.” Sasuke said, causing me to look over at Naruto. Apparently, he had set up a blackboard eraser at the door, which would cause it to fall on whomsoever would open the door.

Silently, I agreed with him. Not even Iruka-sensei would fall for a prank like that, what makes him think that a Jounin would?

Ten minutes had passed when the door finally creaked open, causing the blackboard eraser to fall squarely upon a head of silver hair.

Naruto laughed, proclaiming that he was the prankster ever. Sasuke remained his ever-cynical self, almost as if he could not believe that the man before us was a Jounin. 

I froze.

There was no way I would mistake that face. I had seen it far too many times in the Bingo Books that Shiratama owned.

Bingo Books were a small black book that contained the information of missing-nin from their respective villages. Sometimes, however, a missing-nin would be infamous enough to even make it to the bingo books of other countries. However, thanks to the Third Shinobi War, bingo books began to keep tabs on the significant shinobis of other countries. Famous examples would include the Sannin, of which Orochimaru was a member and the Fourth Hokage, who was reputed to have single-handedly ended Konohagakure’s conflict with Iwagakure.

Another of these famous examples was standing before us now. With the bottom half of his covered by a plain mask the color of standard Konoha blue, and with his hitai-ate over one of his eyes, he looked exactly the same as the picture in his entries on the great bingo books of the other four great nations.

Kakashi Hatake. The copy-ninja. Famous for copying over a thousand jutsus and his mastery of the legendary Sharingan. A master of not only all five elemental affinities, but also the yin and yang releases, it was no wonder that he was issued a S-rank priority in all those bingo books along with an ‘engaged in your own risk’ printed at the bottom of each of his entries.

He looked so harmless now, exuding no aura at all. No killing intent, no aura of authority. For all intents and purposes, if we removed him from that outfit and geared him in civilian-wear, he would not stand out at all. That only made me all the more warier of him. And the tiniest bit afraid.

And Naruto had just dropped a blackboard eraser on his head.

Buck. I swore internally, reverting to my equestrian vocabulary for awhile.

He looked at us. I tensed as he brought his hand up to his chin, as though contemplating something.

“My first impression of you three.” He said brightly. “I don’t like you.”

Double buck.
> Graduation II. VS Kakashi!!!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Right, so let us begin!” Kakashi sensei said brightly, clapping his hands together. The rest of us looked at each other awkwardly. He had led us to the roof of the school building and was slouching rather lazily against the railings as we perched on the stairs opposite him.

He looked at us, expectantly. We looked at each other, confused as to what this was all about.

“Kakashi-sensei, if I may?” At his nod, I continued. “begin what, exactly?”

“Well,” His eyes curled, the only indication we had that he was smiling. “Let’s start by telling each other about yourselves.” He held out a hand, counting the fingers off of it as he listed the items. “Dreams, hobbies, likes and dislikes.”

So kind of like a show and tell.

“What about you?” Naruto prompted. “Wouldn’t it be better if you show us how to do it?”

Good going, Naruto. I nodded. Learning more about the great copy-ninja himself would always be helpful. I had tried to study him from afar during our walk up, but there was nothing about his posture that stood out. It was impossible to figure out what he was thinking at all.

“Hmmm, good idea.” Kakashi-sensei muttered. “Well, I am Kakashi Hatake. I don’t really like talking about my likes and dislikes, so let’s skip that. I do have dreams, but you don’t need to know about them. I do have a lot of hobbies though, but it will be a hassle to tell you all of them, so let’s just shelf that for the time being.”

I blinked. Twice. All that blabber, and all the information that I got was his name. Which I already know.

Wow.

“Right, let’s start then.” He smiled (don’t ask me how I know he’s smiling under that mask. I just know). “How about you?” He pointed at Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, then me. When it was apparent that none of us was going to save him by insisting to introduce ourselves first, he sighed.

“I am Sasuke Uchiha.” He began. “I don’t really like a lot of things, but there isn’t really a lot of things to like anyway. That being said, I don’t really have a hobby and I think that things like ‘dreams’ are pointless…”

Wow, talk about a dark past.

“But I do have an ambition. I will revive my clan and kill that person.”

Naruto seemed to break out in chills when he heard that statement and in truth, so did I. I was just better at hiding it. Still, the amount of killing intent stated in that single word was greater than any I had ever seen ever since I left Otogakure.

And speaking as someone who had been forced into a kill-or-be-killed situation multiple times, that was saying something about Uchiha Sasuke.

“Alright, next!” Kakashi-sensei said, gesturing at Naruto. That broke him out of his chills and Naruto approached the introduction in his usual way.

“I am Uzumaki Naruto!” He proclaimed in a rambunctious manner. “What I like is Instant Ramen. What I like even more is when Iruka-sensei treats me to Ramen at Ichiraku’s! What I hate is the three minutes that I had to wait for the Ramen to be cooked!”

I looked at him in disbelief. Naruto’s love for ramen was well-known among our little social-circle. Even then, I had not expected it to be such an obsession. 

“My dream is to become the Hokage!” He continued, punching his fist into the sky with what was probably all the enthusiasm he could muster. “That way all the shinobi in the village will finally acknowledge me!” He held that final pose for a few seconds before letting his hand fall down to his side. “My hobbies… probably pranking other people.” He finished lamely.

I was thankful that I was going last. It had given me enough time to figure out how much I wanted to say. “I am Kyoku Asagami. I like onigiri and learning, and there isn’t anything I particularly hate.” Except being helpless. The brief memory of my incarceration flashed before my eyes, along with the face of Ume. “My hobby is reading, and my dream, no, my goal is to become strong. Strong enough that I can survive in the world without worry.” I finished with as much conviction as I could.

“Good!” He clapped his hands. “Now that that is out of the way, let me tell you what your first mission for tomorrow will be.”

“Yes sensei!” Naruto slapped his hand up to his head in what was probably a salute. “What will be our first duty?”

“Survival exercise.”

“Survival exercise?” Naruto echoed. “Why would we need that, we had done enough of those in the academy!”

I silently agreed with Naruto, however, given the ominous feeling that Kakashi-sensei was now giving off, there must be more to this than meets the eye.

“This is not your typical survival exercise.”  Kakashi-sensei said. “You have to survive against me… And there is more to it than that.”

He was very clearly enjoying this. At least from my point of view.

“You know,” He said, looking at us in the eyes, “I don’t know if any of you know this, but of the twenty-seven members of each graduating class, only nine are allowed to continue onto the Jounin course as Genin. The remaining eighteen would either go back to the academy for more training or be forced to join the Genin Corps. That means that you still have one more test to pass if you want to become a fully fledged genin. My test. A test that has a sixty-six percent chance of failure.”

The reaction of Naruto and Sasuke showed that they had not expected this. Not me though, to a certain degree, I had expected this. The graduation exam had felt too easy. Not to mention that the structure of the entire Shinobi organization of Konohagakure was a huge enough hint in its own.

Reaching into the pouch behind him, Kakashi-sensei took out a trio of leaflets, handing it out to us. “These are the details of your assignments. Memorize it. I’d be meeting you all tomorrow at five o’clock in the morning. Training will be harsh, so don’t eat anything unless you want to throw up.”

That was a trap if I ever heard one. It appears that the test had already started despite what sensei had said. Eating too much before training had its detriments, but one still needed to eat or else risk running out of energy and stamina during the exercise. That was where the standard ration bars and other small snacks came in, bland in taste but nutritious enough to provide enough energy for the activity.

“Is there anything else that we should know about?” I asked. It couldn’t hurt to ask, after all. If the test had already started, that may mean that sensei may had withheld some information from us.

“Mmmmh?” He blinked, or winked, however you want to call it. “Not really. But I guess, do your best?” He said it in such a nonchalant way, but for some reason it felt like he was daring us.

We were immediately dismissed after that. I spent the majority of the evening preparing for the exercise the next day. The preparation was almost similar to the camping trips I would make during my time in Otogakure. A small bottle of ten soldier pills to help bolster my chakra in case it goes too low. Two braces of six kunais, a full stack of shurikens. A medkit in case anything goes awry and my medical ninjutsu was not enough. Trap tools, obviously for setting traps. Half a dozen bars of biscuits, enough to stave off hunger for a few hours, especially if the exercise would last past lunch. I stopped, then added half a dozen more. You never know if the exercise would last till dinner. Better not take any chances.

When I woke up the next morning, I immediately proceeded to do a once over the rest of my inventory after my morning stretch. When everything was accounted for, I pulled out a trio of storage scrolls, the only three I could afford, and sealed the rest of my inventory into them save for a brace of kunais. Extremely handy items, storage scrolls. Place an item in the middle of the seal and apply a bit of chakra, and it would be stored in the scroll until you release it. If only they weren’t as expensive.

Everything was ready. I was ready, but still, there was a sinking feeling in my gut that I could not quite place my finger on.

I reached the training grounds about half past four, and was surprised to see Sasuke there before me. Surprisingly, he humored me with a nod when I greeted him. Fifteen minutes later, Naruto appeared in a burst of activity, basically being boisterous and noisy as he greeted me and yelled challenges at Sasuke.

Where did he get all of this energy from?

Fifteen more minutes passed, and there was still no sign of Kakashi-sensei. An additional half-hour, and I sighed. Of course he was late. I really should have brought some reading materials.

Feeling slightly peckish, a result of having only a light breakfast over an hour ago, I retrieved the scroll containing the biscuits and unsealed it.

“Kyoku-chan?” Naruto suddenly interrupted. “Kakashi-sensei said not to eat before the exercise or you’ll throw up!”

I looked at him quizzically. He was joking, right? No, I decided when I studied his reaction, apparently he was really serious about this. In fact, I would even guess that he did not even had breakfast, and neither did Sasuke, by the look of his face.

“You actually take his word for it?” I sighed exasperatedly. Gullible kids. “Listen here, while it’s true that consuming food before a physical activity would normally cause us to be sick, it’s still important to eat your breakfast.”

“But..” Naruto tried to speak, but I cut him off.

“Some missions last days, not to mention those that last for weeks.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “If you don’t eat at all, how else are you going to have the energy and stamina to perform your tasks?”

“You should have your meals at least half an hour before the activity starts.” I continued. “Something light and rich in carbohydrates would work.” I shot him a glare when his eyes lit up. “Not ramen.” He deflated immediately after that.

“I see,” Naruto mumbled before fixing me with something that was probably a mockery of puppy eyes. “Then can I have some? I didn’t have breakfast.”

I sighed. There was no way that I could refuse him at this point, especially not with eleven bars of biscuits sitting on my scroll next to me. Still, it would probably be in my best interest to share. The exercise was a team exercise, and it would not do to have one of teammates incapacitated by hunger.

“Fine, just this once,” I was not exactly in the best position financially, so I couldn’t be blamed when I want to be stingy a little bit. “Here.” I took three out and passed them to him, which he cheered at. Looking over to Sasuke, I called out. “Want some?”

He ignored me, but his growling stomach said enough. Boys and their pride, I sighed, picking up three more bars and placing them next to him, an action he ignored. I had to give it to him though, he managed to hold out for about ten minutes before he gave in to his hunger.

About an hour had passed and still no sign of Kakashi-sensei. I was getting bored already and extremely desperate for something to do. Sasuke was still standing to the side, as stoic as ever. Naruto was drawing pictures in the dirt. That was when it hit me out of the blue, all the pieces finally falling into place for me.

“Hey,” I finally said. “What can the two of you do?”

At their questioning looks, I elaborated. “Your jutsus and fighting styles. We might as well get to know each other’s skills, especially if we want to work together against Kakashi-sensei later.”

“Work together?” Naruto laughed. “I can take him myself! Sensei couldn’t even notice a blackboard eraser!” I could almost hear Sasuke’s silent agreement on the matter.

“And how much of that was just an act?” I countered. “Think about it, if a jounin was really as weak as Kakashi-sensei had appeared to us, wouldn’t there be a lot more jounins now? By the way, Iruka-sensei was a chunin,” I mentally apologised to our former teacher, but I had to use him as an example to get the other two to listen to him. “And a jounin is supposed to be much, much better than him.”

Good, I had both their attention now. “I think Kakashi-sensei is just pretending to be weak.” I continued, getting into my element, “It may just be how he fights. Firstly, if you had noticed, yesterday he didn’t let us get to know each other beyond the basic ‘who are you and what you like’, we did not even get the chance to learn about each other properly, and we are supposed to be a team. Secondly, He told us that we are not to eat breakfast despite it being detrimental to us.” I frowned, “He was misdirecting us from the very beginning. I may be overthinking this, but I believed that the test had already started yesterday from the moment.”

Naruto gulped and Sasuke’s eyes widened. Clearly, they had not thought this far ahead.

“We should use this time we have to quickly understand each other, if not our techniques.” I said quickly, as I looked at the two of them in the eye “Kakashi-sensei had been deliberately making sure that our strengths are divided and making sure that we are all over-confident. And remember? He said that the survival test was against him. What easier way for him to defeat us when we are all underestimating him and incapable of working with each other?”

“That makes sense.” Naruto nodded and grinned and me. “Damn, Kyoku-chan, you’re smart!” Beside him, Sasuke was now looking at me with what seemed to be grudging respect in his eyes. 

“Thanks,” I replied. Truth be told, I was a little miffed at myself for not noticing this before. This was the kind of information that could cause me to fail to enter the Jounin course. It could have ruined my chances to become a useful spy to Orochimaru-sama.

I could have screwed up majorly.





We spent what remaining time we had, learning about each other and our techniques. Naruto was rather average in his taijutsu, but his Shadow Clone technique was a real surprise and would no doubt be a huge asset. Sasuke was extremely proficient in his taijutsu and had a surprising arsenal of jutsu, including a powerful A-Rank Fire Release technique.

I shared what little techniques and skills I have. Though I did keep my mouth shut about my magic. My team didn’t need to know about that.

We managed to work out a decent plan by the time Kakashi-sensei arrived.

“Hello, cell seven.” He waved at us once he arrived.

“YOU’RE LATE!” Naruto shouted, rattling my eardrums more than was healthy.

“Sorry, I forgot something at home and had to go back to get it.” He said lamely.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you’re late!” Naruto raged.

“Nah,” I snarked, my voice dripping with sarcasm, mostly because my patience was wearing thin. “We’re just early.”

He looked at me, then he brightened up considerably. No. No way, he wasn’t going to…

“See, Kyoku-chan has the right idea!”

...

I’m going to murder him.

Once the mood had become something akin to ‘amiable’, Kakashi-sensei took out a rather old clock and placed it on one of the training stumps at the side.

“I’ve set the clock to go off at noon.” He announced as he retrieved two bells, which he held up. “Here I have two small bells, your challenge is to steal these from me before the timer sounds. Anyone who fails to do so will not get any lunch, and I’ll tie you to that stump and eat bento in front of you.”

That was kind of cruel. Now I was glad that I brought the ration bars.

“However, as you can see, there are only two bells, so one of you will definitely be tied up.” He looked up at us, an ominous aura emanating from as he did so, “whoever that was tied up will be the first to fail. You will be sent back to the academy in disgrace.”

That struck me as strange. Then what was the point of three-man cells?

“Oh, and a word of advice. Come at me as though you mean to kill me, or you’ll never stand a chance.” That made sense. In fact, except about the part with two bells, the entire exercise would qualify as a final test for us. After all, Kakashi-sensei was one of the best shinobis in Konoha. Despite all that I said about wanting to kill him, the very act itself would be impossible. But attacking him with the intent to kill was different, it meant putting your all into your attacks and defense. Without that intent your attacks would be weak and your jutsus would lack substance. 

The three of us shared a look, and nodded. Kakashi-sensei eyes seemed to glimmer with a hint of approval when he saw that.

“Alright, then… begin!”

The academy had taught us that when up against a greater opponent, we need to scatter and hide, delay the battle as much as possible until reinforcement had finally arrived. What they didn’t tell us was what actions to be taken in a ‘no retreat’ scenario. Before sensei had arrived, I had hammered out two separate plans. One for if we only need to survive, the other for if we need to attack him. Considering the bells...

“Plan B!” I cried out, Naruto immediately charging forth at my cry, with me following close behind. Sasuke, as agreed upon, leapt into and hid himself in one of the trees.

“Shadow Clone technique!” Naruto shouted, forming a cross with his hands. A giant puff of smoke erupted from him as about a dozen clones of him popped out from thin air. As I was in the immediate area, I would have to say this, it was one thing to hear Naruto talk about this technique, another to see it in person.

Quickly, I made a succession of three seals, “Transformation technique!” I mumbled, using the chakra smoke created by Naruto’s jutsu to cover me as I transformed into essentially another copy of Naruto.

We rushed Kakashi, many of Naruto’s clones leaping forward with the intent to clobber him into meat paste. Not. Exactly as I predicted, Kakashi was good enough that he avoided the blows with smooth and efficient movements. 

“I will educate you on the first art of a shinobi, Naruto-kun.” Kakashi-sensei said, his hand reaching into his pouch, pulling out an orange colored book. “Taijutsu.”

O...kay? Then what was the book for?

A handicap evidently, as Kakashi promptly began reading it while avoiding Naruto and his clone’s attacks, giggling from time to time like one of Sasuke’s fangirls. Still, one had to appreciate his technique. His movements were swift and precise, and he did those with such ease too. Still, at least Naruto was sticking to the plan.

I, myself hung back from the melee throng. Waiting for the opportune moment.

There! Kakashi-sensei leapt up, dodging a series of sweeping kicks from a clone. In that instant, I let loose a brace of senbons and saw them sink into his face and body, drawing quite a lot of blood. Far too much to be realistic.

As expected, a wood log soon appeared in place of our sensei. A replacement technique, coupled with a transformation genjutsu. What was most impressive was the fact that he did both of it in an instant.

I felt a presence behind me and I turned about, only to see Kakashi-sensei right behind me. Still reading that damnable book.

“If you want to deceive me, you should act more like Naruto.” He said without looking up. Reacting on pure instinct, I reinforced my hands with chakra and lashed out, but to no avail. Not once did he look up at me as I sent a flurry of blows at him. Clearly, the plan we had to beat him up was not working. But he was right in front of me, and so were the bells. Digging deep into my magic, I lashed out with a hand as though to deliver another blow, but pulled it back in a grasping action, feeling the small decrease in my mana pool. The two bells, now glowing with the green light of my telekinetic spell, almost leapt out at me if Kakashi did not grab them in time.

“Interesting.” He seemed to smile through his mask as he set his book aside. I paled. 

“Now, the second art of a shinobi.” He clasped his hands together and I felt the world start to warp around me. “Genjutsu.”

Genjutsu was the act of inserting your chakra into your opponent to affect their five senses or more. To cancel the effects, one needs to disrupt your chakra flow, though that also depends on the amount of chakra placed into you. The greater the amount of chakra used, the more the flow needs to be disrupted.

“KAI!” I clasped my hands together, feeling my chakra veins for the amount of foreign chakra. I had to do it quickly, before the effects of the genjutsu set in. Thankfully, I managed it. The amount of chakra Kakashi-sensei had used was miniscule and I managed to easily rid myself of the external influence.

I woke up in time to see Sasuke swoop in, making a kick at Kakashi-sensei who was still standing before me. He dodged it, but had to fall back over a few meters as a few Narutos followed up on the attack. Sasuke joined the combat, easily leaping over the throng of Narutos to engage the sensei in taijutsu. As expected, he was really good, though in the mess of the melee he often had to compensate that the shadow clones had no coordination with him whatsoever. Still, as the best genin to graduate, he really gave Kakashi a run for his money, even coming close to getting a bell at one point. I tried to assist when I could, but as far as team coordination went, we still had a long way to go, considering how many times an oblivious clone leapt into my senbons that were meant for Kakashi.

It was not long before said Jounin sent Sasuke flying out of the melee with a well-aimed kick. Thankfully, the attack was not as heavy as it looked as the Uchiha boy righted himself in midair before landing on his knees.

We looked at each other, and then at Kakashi-sensei, who was still engaged with a dozen clones.

“Do it!” I said, Sasuke nodded and passed his hands quickly through the handseals, before ending with the seal of the tiger.

“Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!”

“What the-” Was all I heard Kakashi-sensei get out when a gigantic fireball lit up the place he was standing in. Well, that and the many agonized cries of the clones struck by the flame and disappearing. Still, they were just clones, so no big deal.

Did we do it? Was what I thought when the fire died out. No, no way would he go down so easily. I closed my eyes, sending out a small pulse of magic, a life-seeking spell to be exact. One second, and the entire process was done, relaying all the information and more specifically, the location of the life-signs in a three hundred meter radius about me. Quickly, I opened my eyes, my body already in action.

“Watch out!” I shouted as I jumped away, the earth beneath me trembling. Sasuke reacted a second too late, his feet barely leaving when the ground when a hand came out of the earth to grab at his ankle and yanked him down into the ground, leaving only his head above ground level.

“The third art of a shinobi,” Kakashi said, even as he climbed, or rather, walk out of ground. “Ninjutsu.” He looked at the remaining clones and I, “well, that’s about the three arts I want to show you. Shall we start wrapping it up?”

By the princess, he was serious. I felt cold sweat roll down my back. Sasuke was easily our best close combat fighter and ninjutsu specialist. He was our hard hitter and Kakashi-sensei had incapacitated him so easily.

Still, we could hardly afford to give up now, could we?

Naruto shared my sentiment, apparently. “Yeah, we’re going to take you down! Shadow clone technique!” A giant puff of smoke blasted outwards as about thirty more clones popped into existence. “Get ready for a beatdown!” They yelled as they rushed Kakashi-sensei.

They would stand no chance, and based on the position of the sun, we were running out of time. Still, thanks to Naruto, we might stand a chance. After all, I had a last resort that I could capitalize on.

I casted a spell and began walking, or creeping slowly towards Kakashi-sensei, who was still in the thick of the melee. He did not notice me, in fact, there was no way he could focus on me at all. The notice-me-not spell was extremely potent in such a scenario. The spell diverts the attention of any onlookers by writing you off as ‘disinteresting’. However, when you stand out, its effects weaken immediately as people know that you were there, they just could not focus on you. On the other hand, now that I was disguised as Naruto and was creeping up towards Kakashi-sensei in the middle of a messy melee full of Narutos, well, let’s just say that it would take a miracle to discover me.

I inched closer, and closer, then swung out with my kunai. Perhaps it was my sudden killing intent, or perhaps he was looking out for all forms of attack, because at the last moment, he twisted out of the way. But he was a step too slow, and my kunai sliced the strings holding onto the bell. I reached for it with my left hand, and Kakashi-sensei, finally noticing me now that my spell’s effects had worn off, turned his waist awkwardly, his own hand reaching out to the bells as well.

Good thing I had a backup plan. I undid the transformation technique, took aim with my left hand and sent out a small burst of telekinesis, sending the bells flying out of both of our reach.

“Naruto!” I yelled, even as I grabbed onto one of Sensei’s legs. “Get the bells!”

One of the clones threw himself forward at my command and snatched the bells out of mid-air. And not a moment too soon as the clock rang, the annoying clamour sounding out over the entire clearing.

“Congratulations Naruto.” Kakashi-sensei said good naturedly. “You passed.”

I collapsed, sitting on the ground as the adrenaline left me. I never had a fight that intense before. Not even that one with my first kill…

I shook my head as I registered what sensei had said. “Only Naruto passed?” I asked him.

“Of course,” He said, “you have to get a bell to pass.” He looked at me, “weren’t you listening?”

I blinked as the words settled in. I failed. My plan worked, but I failed.

“So, looks like you get a bento and also get to be a genin too.” Kakashi-sensei smiled. “Now have your shadow clones tie up Kyoku-chan. No need to dig up Sasuke-kun, he would be fine where he is.”

Naruto looked at me, and then at Sasuke. Then back to Kakashi, determination in his eyes. “I don’t want to.” He said quietly.

“Sorry, what was that?” Kakashi-sensei leaned forward, eye glinting maliciously. “Are you disobeying a direct order?”

“Yes.” Naruto said, louder this time. “If I have to be a ninja, I won’t do it this way. I don’t want to pass, especially if it meant that I need to backstab both Kyoku-chan and Sasuke-kun!” He turned to me, tossing one of the bells at me, before turning to Sasuke, who had been dug up by the clones and tossed the second one to him.

“Well then,” Kakashi-sensei smiled. “Looks like Kyoku-chan and Sasuke-kun passed instead. Congratulations!”

I looked at the bell in my hand. It was a requirement I needed to pass, and I really really wanted to pass. But at the cost of throwing away a teammate? I frowned, trying to sort out my thoughts over the mental fatigue that came with the fading adrenaline and using a tenth of my magical reserves.

“I don’t want it.” Sasuke said, returning the bell to one of the clones. “You can have it back, dead last.”

Well, now I can’t in good conscience keep the bell, can I? At least not without portraying myself as a selfish little brat. Which was the opposite of the image I had been trying to cultivate here.

“But two needs to pass.” I said, even as I offered the bell to Sasuke. “Might as well be you too. Besides, I have decent chakra control so I could always try for the Medic Corps.” Yes, I came up with that reason in all of two seconds. It was the truth, too. I really did not not mind joining the medic corps. Sure, it may be a longer route to becoming Jounin and I would not want to attempt for anything, but if I somehow failed now… Well, let’s just say I had a backup plan. 

“Well, much as I hate to spoil this touching moment.” Kakashi-sensei interrupted. “I would like to take this moment to say that you all passed!”

We looked at him. He smiled.

“What?” Was all I managed. I was really confused.

“Funny, I thought you all heard me the first time.” He said cheerfully. “I said, the test was over and you all passed!” His eye crinkled with amusement, “I never did say that the test was over when the alarm rang.”

Yes, he never said that. I groaned aloud. So that entire conversation we had was part of the test too?

“Then what was that part about the bells?” Naruto demanded. “And that part about whoever that doesn’t get it will be tied up and sent back to the academy?”

“I said that only those tied up would be sent back to the academy.” Kakashi-sensei corrected. “And that those who failed to get the bells will be tied up. And technically, you all got the bell at least once.”

“Sensei.” I deadpanned. “That was lame.”

“Ahahaha, was it?” Kakashi-sensei laughed. Then he sobered, “but you do understand the point of the test, don’t you?”

I got it already, and since I wanted to hurry up and put this giant headache of a test behind me, I immediately offered my two cents on the matter.

“It was to test our teamwork.”

“Correct, Kyoku-chan.” Kakashi smiled. “Working together to get the bells despite knowing that one of you will have to fail is to see if you are still capable of working as a team despite such an obstacle. That is the first part of the test.” He straightened. “The second part is to see if you are willing to put your team above yourself and complete the mission. Because when the opposite happens and the individuals prioritise themselves instead, people will die and the mission will fail.” He turned. “Come, I want to show you all something.”

We followed him to a small stone tablet in the middle of the training ground. “Do you know what this is?”

“A stone for the names of all the honoured heroes of the village.” I said quietly. Naruto perked up almost immediately.

“Yeah!” He cheered, “I’m going to have my name on there one day, just watch me!”

“Naruto…” I whispered. Sasuke said nothing, but he did give out an exasperated sigh.

“What?”

“They are a special kind of hero.” Kakashi said somberly.

“Yeah,” Naruto laughed, “What kind?”

“The dead kind.” That shut Naruto up.

“Many shinobi who had died for the village had their names engraved here.” Kakashi continued, “Many of my best friends were here as well.”

All of them were heroes. Powerful shinobi and beloved friends alike. But they were all dead, that’s why they had their names engraved on that little tablet. That fate was not for me, however, I doubt that Konoha would be kind enough to engrave the name of a spy on their memorial stone.

“The test can be simply put into two sentences.” He continued, “those who violate the rules and fail to follow orders are garbage. But those who do not care and support their comrades are even lower than that.” He smiled at us, “I’m glad you are above that. Congratulations on passing, team seven! You should be proud!”

I’m not. I thought even as I smiled and cheered with the others. Because the day would come, when I had to turn my back on my ‘comrades’.

“Alright,” Kakashi clapped his hands to get our attention again. “We’ll be starting to take missions tomorrow. You get the rest of the day off. Dismissed!” 





“So, you used it.” I looked up from the entrance of the apartment, seeing father seated in his usual chair in the kitchen, his brown hair waving about in the breeze that was blowing from an open window.

“Excuse me?”

“Kakashi came by.” Shiratama sighed as he took a sip from a cup of brown liquid. “He told me about what you did.”

“What I did?” I frowned, trying to remember exactly what I had done that day. Immediately after the battle, I had moved off to do my usual surveillance of the village, and pass a scroll from father to a local fruit vendor, who also happened to be one of the Orochimaru-sama’s agents here. And by pass, I meant place it in one of his cooking pots without him noticing, it was better to work detached from the other agents, after all, so as not implicate each other. The only reason why I worked with Father was that Orochimaru intended for us to work as a team and only idiots with a death wish would question him.

Still, what could possibly make Kakashi come by? I did ensure that I was not noticed nor followed while out on her daily tasks. Unless…

I paled.

“Oh no.” I had instinctively used magic in that fight…

“‘Oh no’ indeed.” he deadpanned before standing up. “He surprised me too, showing up as he did. Still…” He glared at me, I instinctively shrunk back, ashamed. “You should know better than to reveal your Bloodlimit like that. It might get you killed.”

“My what?” I looked up, eyes wide.

“A Kekkei Genkai.” Father repeated. My eyes widened. Kekkei Genkai, a Bloodlimit. My magic was going to be listed as one of those? I contemplated. Sure, why not? Orochimaru-sama also refuses to acknowledge my magic as magic, so it would make sense that it would listed as such, especially considering that Kekkei Genkais were widely varied.

“Don’t worry though.” He assured me. “Kakashi-sensei has stated that he would want you to develop it abit more before you were to be brought in to finalise your Bloodlimit.” He said, while tapping his hand on his waist.

Coverstory. Finalise. I nodded.

“By the way.” He mumbled as he tossed a small bag towards me, which would had hit me squarely on the nose if I did not catch it in time. “Here, congratulations on making genin.”

My eyes opened wide as I took in the Ryou notes within. It was far, far more money than I had ever seen in the two years I was here, and the sum here definitely exceeded my savings, which was cumulation of fifty percent of my daily allowance. I would be lying if I said that I was not the least bit sour at the fact that father 

“Dinner’s on you, by the way.” I looked up, he grinned. “You made my life difficult, you had to pay.”

I sobered. Yeah, I did. Well, at least it was only going to cost me a bit of the reward that father had prepared for me. I must have been a little bit too tired that day, for I did not see what was coming next. That was when I flinched as I felt a sudden force strike my nose. Both my hands flew up instinctively to cover the place which had been struck as I looked up.

Did he just poke my nose? I thought incredulously

Father merely grinned down at me. “It’s a joke,” He smiled. It looked genuine. But spies don’t do genuine.

“I see.” I smiled, smothering that little spark of hope within. Father’s hand quickly clamped down on my head, ruffling it a little as he passed by me.

“Come on then,” He said over his shoulder to me. “Dinner at Shirobeko?”

I stared. Then shrugged as I let out an aggravated sigh. I really could never understand this man...
> Graduation III. Me and the Boys
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hello Sunset.”

“Good morning, Princess,” I smiled at Celestia, who was standing alone in the room. My room, in fact. What was she doing here? I wondered as I cantered in, before looking at the book on the table. Guess we were going to be going through Pyrokinesis today.

I frowned, wondering why we would be going through this subject today, considering how skilled I was in it.

I shook my head. Better not to question it. Besides, Celestia was giving me a personal lesson, meaning that she was prioritizing me over that stupid pegasus. That alone would make it more worth it to be here.

“Are you ready for today’s lesson?”

I nodded and followed as she led me to the balcony.

I followed and stopped when I saw Konoha outside. Burning.

What in the world was going on?

The world seemed to bend and distort as the Konohagakure burned. From where she stood, she could see figures darting about the hellish landscape, engaging in the bloody melee. Ponies and Shinobis fought and died, filling the streets with blood and corpses as the buildings around them burned, engulfing the sky with towering columns of smoke.

Then Celestia began to laugh.

I turned to look at her. No, I looked at him. Orochimaru-sama, laughing aloud as he looked upon the burning city of his hatred.

“Well done, Sunset.” He chortled as he looked at me. “Now, let us finish this.” He turned.

I followed him as the doors to my room flew open and stopped when I saw who had entered. Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei. They were all older than I remembered. How much time had passed since I last saw them, I wondered. Then they looked at me, and attacked.

I flinched and raised my hands. A great torrent of fire washed over all of them, and I shivered as they screamed in anguish.

Then it all stopped. And I was compelled to look down. To look down at the thin blade protruding from my chest.

“Well done, Sunset.” Celestia/Orochimaru said in my ear, I couldn’t really tell. The world bent around me, the walls curving on my as they laughed together, their voices intermingling like a terrible chorus of the end...





I awoke, shivering. Sweat made my hair cling to my forehead as I wrapped my arms around myself, taking deep breaths to calm myself.

A dream… I breathed. And such a vivid one at that. It just felt so… real.

“I am Kyoku Asagami.” I said to myself as my breathing slowed. I looked about myself, confirming my location. “I am not Sunset Shimmer.” 

The world felt a bit more real after that mantra.

I got out of my bed and looked about my room. It looked the same as ever. Small and practical. A small table, and chair leaning by my bed against the wall, and a couple of cupboards to the side. One for clothes, one for equipment.

I reached out to the mirror on the table, and that was when the calendar caught my eye. I blinked and it struck me.

I am a shinobi now. I grinned. One step closer to helping Orochimaru-sama.

And today would be my first day on the job.

Washing up was a simple and quick process for me, especially since I was never in the habit to actually put much effort into my looks, a fact that Ino had always lamented. Once it was done, I immediately headed to kitchen, both to get my breakfast and my standing orders for the day.

Father was out early today.  Not a rare occurrence considering that he was a Jounin, though it probably means that I had to make my own breakfast today. I meandered over to the kitchen counter, making sure to have a look at the arrangement of cups and plates in the corner.

No orders for today huh? I nodded. Not that I would mind, most of the time, the orders usually means keeping an eye on a certain building or going to the archives to copy some texts. I was not really in the proper skill level to be sneaking into the Hokage’s office or even the General Operations’ archives after all.

Well, at least I would get the entire day to myself, assuming that we did not run ourselves ragged doing missions.





“Of course he’s late…” I sighed.

We were told to meet at Training Ground Five, the very one that we had conducted our graduation exercise the day before, at the ungodly hour of six in the morning. Still, while I could understand the need to meeting early, the fact that sensei was not here yet somehow got on my nerves.

“What’s taking him so long!” Naruto cried out impatiently. Over to his side, I can somewhat sense Sasuke’s silent agreement on the subject.

Well, waiting would not be a problem, except that if my suspicions were right, we would probably be waiting for about two to three hours, if the past two days were any indication.

Should have brought something to read. I sighed. Well, there was no use crying over spilt milk, was there? I racked my brain to see if there was something, anything that I could do to pass the time.

After all, I hated wasting my time. If I was going to be waiting for Sensei to come, I would rather be doing something productive.

“Call me when Sensei comes,” I told the boys as I began to head off.

“Huh, where are you going?”

“Training,” I replied simply, pointing to one of the dummies set up at the grounds.

I stopped in front of the training dummy, which was more a stump with wooden logs hammered in its sides, and sectioned into a series of rotating rings, and immediately assumed the stance that was taught to us at the academy, the Konoha Katas. Created by the famed second Hokage, who was renowned for the discovery of multiple jutsus and techniques, the Konoha Katas were lauded as the easiest to learn and also the most general form of taijutsu to be taught to all leaf shinobis. Of course, as a rule, practitioners of it were often looked down upon, but no one could deny its efficiency and the easy transition from one technique to another when applying it. In fact, many different types of Kenjutsu and Taijutsu could be found to have derived their techniques from the Konoha Katas, with famous techniques such as the Juuken using the Katas as its foundation.

It was also the form that was taught to me at Otogakure, though they called it by a different name.

I lashed out with a kick, striking one of the wooden logs before transitioning swiftly to a series of blows from my arms and hands while blocking blows from the dummy. Quickly, I moved from one stance to another, unleashing a combo of attacks upon the dummy. It was more methodic than anything.

My form was not exactly perfect, to be honest. Once in a while, I had to dance out of range of the wooden log, other times, I was not so lucky and found myself struck rather painfully by the dummy.

Still, this was a form of endurance and reaction training, and as my chakra coils were still rather underdeveloped, Taijutsu was honestly the only form of fighting that I could count upon at the moment.

Palm strike, I muttered in my head. Block. Knee. Block. Arm Blade. Left Straight. Block. Right Hook, Upper Chop. Dodge. On and on I methodically worked, slowly and slowly increasing my speed.

“Kyoku-chan!”

I nearly looked to the side when I was called, and only barely dodged an incoming log from the dummy by leaping backwards, somersaulting in mid air to land on all fours. Looking up, I glared at Naruto, who grinned sheepishly at me.

“What?” I asked, a little annoyed at the sudden intrusion.

“Well, I was getting bored. And I really don’t want to talk to Sasuke…” He trailed off before looking up brightly, “so I want to train too!”

I considered, then nodded. I could definitely see the benefits for having a live training partner.

“Okay, stand over there then.”

“Huh, not beside the dummy?”

I blinked. “Oh.” I realised, “so you want to practice against the dummy instead of against me?”

“Against you?” Naruto tilted his head, then grinned. “Sure! But let me warn you that I’m not going to go easy against you!” He chuckled and assumed the standard stance of the Konoha Katas.

I winced as I saw him move into the stance. Not to be rude or arrogant or anything, but it was sloppy. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Now was the time to practice, plenty of time to criticize him later.

I assumed the same stance, though I would like to think that mine form was much better than his.

“Taijutsu only and Academy rules?” I asked.

“Three clean strikes? Bring it!” He grinned.

I nodded, then charged at him. For a moment, I took satisfaction in the surprise evident on his face when I took the initiative. He was clearly not expecting it, and that would cost him. 

I lashed out at him with my right. He ducked and tried for an uppercut, but I sidestepped it and transitioned my attack into a quick chop on his head.

One point for me.

“Urgh.” Naruto groaned. “Fine, no more holding back!”

Holding back? Well, that was rude. I deflected a series of punches from him. Not to discredit him or anything, but while Naruto’s sheer strength was definitely among the higher numbers in our class, his technique was really quite terrible. Each of his attacks, as usual, were widely telegraphed and left huge openings afterwards. Of course, they were swift and deadly in their own right, but against an opponent who was somewhat proficient in taijutsu, he would be no match.

It did not take long for me to score another two clean hits upon his chest. Of course, I tried to keep my strength to a minimum so as not to hurt him too much.

“Again!” Naruto growled. I quirked an eyebrow at him. Guess I brought the sore loser out in him.

The next bout went about as well as you would expect.

The bout afterwards though, he actually surprised me.

He’s learning. I realised, as I took stock of his attacks. Each blow, while still widely telegraphed, were much more concentrated and did not leave as much an opening as they used to. He even got a clean shot at my stomach once, driving the wind out from me for a bit and forcing me to disengage from him in order to regroup. Fortunately though, I still proved the better in that round.

“That was better.” I told a dejected looking Naruto as I massaged the spot he struck me. “But you still need to work on your form if you want to get better.”

He looked up at me with a somewhat pitiful gaze, kinda like those I’d seen on the kids back in Equestria use on their parents. I ignored that small pang in my heart as I continued. “Try not to go for wide swings unless you have the speed for it though. Too easy to read.”

“Right.” He mumbled.

“Hn, getting beat, Dead Last?”

We looked up at Sasuke, who had left our waiting spot to join us. Well, I looked. Naruto glared at him like he was the most irritating bug in the universe.

“Get lost, Sasuke!” He growled, “We’re training.”

“More like getting trashed,” Sasuke retorted, before looking at me. His eyes narrowed. “Kyoku? I’d like to request a spar.”

I frowned at the lack of honorifics used for my name, but ignored it. “Sure.” After all, Sasuke was the best in our class, getting near perfect scores in all the courses. If I wanted a challenge, Sasuke was surely one that I could stand a chance at beating.

We assumed our stances, though I could not help but notice that Sasuke’s one was just a touch different from the Konoha Standard. I narrowed my eyes, keeping myself alert. A different form would mean many things, especially different techniques.

“Same rules. Taijutsu only, Academy rules.”

“Agreed.”

As usual, I struck first, launching myself at him. Unlike Naruto, Sasuke kept his cool and dodged my attack with barest of movement before going on the offensive. To my unpleasant surprise, he was just a mite faster than me, but while his blows were slightly weaker than Naruto’s, they were still quite heavy.

To my detriment, I was only able to get one clean hit on him before he floored me with a right hook. At least he held back most of his strength for that one, or I would probably be feeling the swelling for days.

“Good fight.” Sasuke grunted as I stood up.

“Yeah,” I concurred, though inwardly, I was somewhat ashamed at my performance. I had honestly thought that I would fare better.

“Nah, you’re just tired.” Naruto consoled me, “I mean, you fought me a few rounds before he came along!”

“I don’t think that you posed any challenge against her, Dead Last.” I silently agreed, though in hindsight, he could have phrased it less bluntly, or…

“Oh yeah?” Naruto growled. “Fine, me and you! Now!”

Yeah, saw that coming a mile away.

“I’m not going to waste my time.” Sasuke muttered. “Get better and I’ll consider it.”

Okay, I’m calling it, he’s doing this on purpose. While what most of the things which he said were unfortunately true, chances were that a rather nasty fight would break out if this continues.

“Alright, that does it!” Naruto yelled. “Fight me now!”

“Oh, shut up.” Sasuke replied, clearly getting annoyed.

Yeah, I need to diffuse this, and soon. But how? Naruto wants to fight, but Sasuke would not accept unless he gets a proper challenge. Or at least that was the vibe I was getting. So how was I going to make sure that these two did not kill each other before the day even started.

Not that I was against them duking out, but I would prefer it to be after missions.

“Sasuke-kun, how about you let him use his shadow clones?” I suggested.

“Hn?” Sasuke replied, eyes narrowed in contemplation. “Not sure you would notice, but zero times anything is still zero.”

“Why you!”

“Then let him make as many as he wants to.” I folded my arms, “it would be good practice for us, especially for missions where we need to deal with huge numbers.” I jerked a thumb at Naruto, “And Naruto-kun could gain some experience with dealing with better opponents.”

Sasuke considered for abit, before nodding.

“Naruto, shadow clones please.”

“What are the rules?” Sasuke asked.

“For him?” I paused awhile, making some quick thoughts in my head. “Stop us from moving. For us, find the real Naruto.”

“Us?”

What? Did he actually think that I was going to sit this one out?

“I’m training too.” I replied bluntly.

“Right.”

“Can we start?” Asked one of the few dozen clones that Naruto just made. Or it may be the real one, I couldn’t really tell.

“On three?”

“Yeah, yeah, hurry up already!” That Naruto stuck out his tongue, “Slowpokes!”

Oh, impatient, were they? I smirked, a small devious thought coming to mind. I gave Sasuke a look.

“THREE!” I yelled as I leaped at the Naruto that backsassed me. A solid kick to his face caused him to dissipate in a cloud of chakra smoke. The rest looked dumbly at me, but sprang into action once I punched another in the chest, dissipating it.

The melee was messy and long. While I had combat experience before, it was an entirely new experience to be facing down a few dozen or so clones. While they were still rather lacking in technique individually, the sheer volume of attacks that came my way more than made up for the fact.

I lasted a good few minutes (I think) before a clone barrelled into me from behind, knocking me to the ground. A few more immediately grabbed my limbs and held me down. Effectively taking me out for the fight.

Note to self, next time, don’t face them head-on.

They didn’t hold me down for long, and by that, I meant that they disappeared in a puff of chakra smoke, leaving me to haul myself off the ground. Sasuke was about a few meters away, having taken down Naruto himself. To my immense satisfaction, it appeared that he didn’t actually get out of the entire debacle unscathed, sporting dirty clothes and a rather nasty bruise on his arm.

Truth be told, I was surprised that Naruto even managed to clock him a good one. Of course, Naruto himself was worse off, sporting a nasty swelling on his cheek.

“Well, well.” I nearly jumped when I heard Kakashi-sensei speak from behind me. “Care to explain what’s going on, my little genins?”





“So Kakashi-kun.” Hiruzen Sarutobi, Hokage of Konohagakure, an old man dressed in simple robes began, “May I ask why your genins are in such a state?”

I winced a little. We might have overdone our training a little bit. The three of us were in a rather sorry state, truth be told. Well, Naruto more than me and Sasuke, considering that his swelling cheeks had yet to heal yet, despite the healing salves we used. Not to mention how dirty we were.

“Well, they decide to hold a training session early in the morning, it would seem, Hokage-sama.” The ‘while they were waiting for me’ was left unsaid, of course.

“Huh,” the Hokage muttered. “I trust that this would not impede your team’s first mission?”

“Like hell it would!” Naruto proclaimed, before getting smacked on the head by Kakashi-sensei.

“Language.”

“Well, far be it for me to deter hard-working shinobis like yourself.” Hiruzen smiled as he picked up a scroll marked with a bright red ‘D’ on it. “How would a courier mission sound?”

“Sounds good, Hokage-sama, my brats still seem to have energy left to burn.”

“What are we taking?” Naruto asked excitedly, “treasure? Jutsu scrolls?”

I glanced at Sasuke, who merely smirked exasperatedly. I share his sentiment too. There was no way that it’d be anything important, especially considering that this was but a D-ranked mission. Those were infamous for being trivial work.

“Well,” the Hokage smiled as he took a puff from his pipe, “You are to deliver this documents to various locations in Konoha,” He looked at Kakashi, “Kakashi-san, please sign your name on this form and head down to logistics to collect the documents.”

Called it.

“Eeeeehhhh.” Naruto moaned.

“Shush you,” Sensei said as he began walking off.





Thanks to Naruto’s shadow clones, that mission was finished in record time, or it would have, if some of the clones had not gotten themselves lost. As such, we spent the better part of the afternoon finishing up a task that should have been done within a couple of hours.

“Do note that our quota each day is supposed to be two D-ranks.” Kakashi-sensei drawled. “I managed to convince Hokage-sama to let us off easy for today, but try not to make the same mistakes next time, okay?”

“Yes, sensei.” We chorused.

“Right, then I’ll see you all tomorrow at the same time. Be at training ground five tomorrow at six in the morning.”

Liar. I wanted to say as he disappeared with the use of the Body Flicker technique. Not to mention that he seemed rather happy that he only needed to do one mission today.

Still, this meant that I had the rest of the day free.

“Hey, Kyoku-chan, what are you planning to do later?”

I frowned. Normally, I would be spending the rest of the day working on whatever father orders father had given me, but as there were none today…

“Training, I suppose.” I mumbled in reply.

“What kind?” Sasuke asked.

“Probably projectile training.” I replied, looking at him. “Besides, we already did taijutsu this morning, so it would be better to work on my other areas.”

“Which training ground?” He asked.

“Probably five, since Kakashi-sensei had it booked for the year.” No, I was not kidding. He did. I checked. “Need to head home to get my senbons though.”

“Right, I’ll see you there then.” And without another word, Sasuke leaped up onto a nearby roof and left our line of sight.

“Huh?” Did he just… invite himself to my training session?

“Tch!” Naruto glared after him, “Don’t worry Kyoku-chan, we’ll show him that he’s not the best at everything!”

I blinked. Naruto too?

“Yeah…”

Well, the more the merrier, I guess?
> Graduation IV: Trees, Books, Ramen.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Come oooon.” Naruto groaned. “Can’t we do something else already?”

I grimaced at Naruto’s obvious displeasure at our current job, but I could not really fault him for it. Thing was, some of the D-ranked jobs were a little… underwhelming. In fact, many of them seemed more like chores than anything else.

Still, at least they pay well. After all, as much as picking out weeds from a herbal garden might seem as something that was beneath a shinobi, the fact that the owner was paying  around seven thousand ryou for something like that was rather generous already.

“Oi, dead last.” Sasuke called, “stop pulling out the herbs.”

“Shut up, Sasuke!” Naruto growled back.

I sighed. “Hey, if you two would stop that already? We are supposed to be working.” I looked at Naruto. “And pay attention to what you are doing, would you? If we mess up the job, the owner can choose not to pay us.”

“Hmph!” Naruto snorted and turned away. I sighed, couldn’t they just cooperate with one another for once?

Well, at least he was paying attention to what he was doing now. I supposed that was the best I could expect from him at the moment. Suppressing a sigh, I picked up the nearest basket of useless vegetation and began moving out.

“Good job.” Kakashi-sensei nodded from his spot just outside the door. “Keep up the good work.”

I nodded curtly in response, but otherwise said nothing as I began to make my way to the regional waste disposal site. It was probably too much to hope for sensei to actually help us with such an easy mission. In fact, I should be amazed that he even bothered to turn up. To be honest, I had always found it surprising that Konoha had been willing to let Kakashi-sensei babysit a bunch of genin instead of running missions that would benefit the country more.

Of course, maybe he was just the best person for the job. I mean, the Jinchuuriki and the Last Uchiha both on the same team? That was just too coincidental to be actually a coincidence. As the best shinobi in Konoha, he was probably just the best person for the job.

Of course, I was under no illusion myself. It was obvious that I was merely supposed to fill in the requirement for the one kunoichi per team rule.

I might be a tad bit insulted. However, considering my current circumstance, well, I don’t think that I had the right to complain.

I flipped the basket over, depositing its contents into the one of the containers that was in the disposal area. Once it was empty, I slung it across my back and began making my way back to the team.

On the way back, however, I took a small detour.

As I passed by a familiar fruit store, I bent down, pretending to inspect their goods while slotting a small piece of paper into a small flower pot nearby. Someone would pick it up later, who on the other hand, I would not know. Our identities were kept a secret from one another, primarily to protect each other. In a sense, it was a little like the famed ANBU of Konoha, except that we were dealing with a little bit more on the ‘information’ side.

My job done, I continued back at a quickened pace. It wouldn’t do to keep my teammates waiting after all.





“Right, good job team.” Kakashi-sensei clapped his hands together once we had exited the compound. I breathed a sigh of relief when Naruto and Sasuke finally broke off from glaring at each other to give Kakashi-sensei their attention.

“I took the liberty of taking on a second mission for our team.”

“What? When?” Naruto asked indignantly.

“Just now.” Sensei’s eye curved, an indication that he was smiling. I shook my head in exasperation. Of course he did. 

“Shouldn’t you ask us first?” Sasuke asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

“Well, I thought that I could save you all the trip back to the mission desk, so why not?” He shrugged. “Besides, once this is over, we would have cleared our quota for the day.”

“So what’s the mission?” I asked.

“It better not be a boring one!” Naruto proclaimed as he pointed at Kakashi-sensei.

“A hundred ryou that it is.” I whispered to Sasuke.

“In your dreams.” He muttered back. “I’m not betting on the losing side.”

Sensei deadpanned at us. “Should I be concerned that my genins are starting to have an interest in gambling?”

“Don’t worry about it, sensei!” I chirped back, smiling innocently. Well as innocently as a guilty party could be anyway.

“Sensei~” Naruto whined. “What’s the mission?” 

“Well,” He fished about in one of his pouches, retrieving a small slip of paper which he handed to me. “It’s for tidying a library. The details are on this piece of paper.”

“Eeeehhhh.”

“Enough of your whining.” Sensei smacked Naruto lightly on the head, silencing him. “Now if the lot of you are done playing around, start heading to the library.” He looked at us, a mild glare in his eye, “that’s an order. I have something to do now, so I’ll meet with you there later.” He vanished in the blur that was the Body Flicker.

Liar. He was probably going off to slack off. Especially if he was going to meet with us later.

“Right!” Naruto pumped his fist into the air. “Last one there’s a rotten egg!” He yelled as he dashed off.

I stared after him, “Does he know which library we are supposed to go to?” I asked Sasuke.

He sighed. As did I.

“Let’s get him before we lose him.” I muttered.

Needless to say, the librarian was not amused with the fact that we were late for the job. Though thankfully we were not too late.

“Help me sort out these books.” The librarian, a stiff old lady with her hair tied back in a bun, told us as she pointed to, quite literally, a mountain of books stacked on a nearby table. “You have until closing hours to complete the job.”

“Understood.” I answered for our team, mostly because Naruto and Sasuke was still glaring at each other over that little scuffle they had on the way here.

For real though, could they just lay off each other for just one day? Was that too much to ask?

“We should split the books and scrolls here into alphabetical order of their authors.” I told the others as I got to work. That was how the libraries in Konoha store their documents in the library if I was not mistaken.

We got to work sorting them out, though I did at least commit to memory the names of the books that caught my eye.

I mean, the History of Hashirama Senju? The Shinobi Wars? Chakra and its Uses by the Hiruzen Sarutobi? Those were quite literally gold mines worth of information.

In the end, it turns out that sorting them out was the easy part. Mostly because Naruto could not be trusted to put the books back in the place they were supposed to be quietly, causing quite a ruckus with his Shadow Clone Technique, especially once they started arguing with one another over where each book was supposed to go.

“Kyoku-chan.” Naruto whispered, “Isn’t Fujino supposed to go in the ‘F’ section?”

“They sort it by surname,” I replied as I slotted another book back into its rightful place. “So you should be looking at ‘K’ instead, for Karusu. Which is here.” I pointed to the side of the corridor of shelves.

“Oh.” He replied, looking around for the shelf that the book is supposed to go onto. “Eh, I’ll be right back.”

“Why?”

“I need a chair, it’s at the top shelf but I don’t think the librarian will like it very much if I climbed her shelves.”

Naruto actually caring about public property? Now that’s new. Nevertheless, it was a welcome change.

“No need.” I told him, “Wait a bit.”

Channeling chakra into my feet, I leap off the ground, somersaulting in midair so that I could plant my feet squarely on the ceiling. Once I made contact, I immediately gripped on the surface with the chakra concentrated on my feet, holding myself in place.

“Right, now pass me that.” I turned to Naruto, who was looking at me in amazement. I quirked an eyebrow at him, “What?”

“Whoa.” He breathed. “How did you do that?”

Seriously? Was this something to be impressed at?

“Chakra control.” I replied. “The chakra in my feet keeps me from falling off the ceiling. Now hand over the book.”

“Can you teach me?” Naruto asked as he passed me the aforementioned object. I took a moment to think about it, mostly considering if it would be worth my time.

“Sure.” I replied as I slotted the book back into its spot in the shelf,  “Though I got some conditions.”





“Keep concentrating.” I called up the tree. Unfortunately, moments later, Naruto tumbled down the tree in a That was probably the wrong thing to do, considering that it broke his focus and caused him to plummet to the ground. I knelt by him, “Sorry about that.” I grinned. “Though you shouldn’t have broken your concentration either way.”

“Hn!” The sudden grunt told me that our resident Uchiha genius failed again. I looked over at him and the tree that he was climbing with a hole the shape of his foot in it. 

Yes, the Uchiha genius had invited himself to the training session after our missions. Again. Though it couldn’t be helped, I suppose, considering that it was either join us or go off by himself, and to a person that cared a lot about power, it would be a miracle if they were to actually skip out on free training.

Well, not exactly free, per se, but that was an entirely different story.

“You are using too much chakra!” I yelled out at him. He looked at me and nodded before heading back to the task at hand.

At least he was taking my advice to heart right now. Small win for me I guess.

“Urgh.” Naruto let out a snort of disgust as he looked at his rival.

“Letting him get a headstart?” I asked Naruto, smirking a little. The question was on purpose. It was one of the best ways to rile him up, after all. And true to my expectations, he tensed, made a face and dashed off.

A surprisingly simple boy. Hard-working, that was for sure, but still simple underneath it all. One would actually find it hard to believe that he was the Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi underneath it all.

Still, cultivating the competitive rivalry between the two of them would probably help the team spirit. Perhaps, they would be less likely to turn on me when I had to eventually leave.

One needs to plan for the long term, after all.

Training continued only for about two more hours, not that we couldn’t exactly continue, but it would be dangerous to continue training in the dark. Especially when you couldn’t exactly see where you were going.

Yes, you really couldn’t. Training Ground 5 at night was pitch-black.

Still, the boys made rather good progress, and I managed to get some senbon practice in as well, while getting a little bit of cash from the two of them for helping them out. So all in all, it was a rather productive session.

Naruto, as usual, was excited by the progress he had made, and well, I shouldn’t exactly rain on his parade. Sure he was not running up trees anytime soon, but he could still manage to walk slowly up. That was a huge step forward when one thinks about it.

“Who's up for dinner at Ichiraku’s?” He crowed jubilantly.

“If you’re treating? Sure.” I laughed at the face that he made in response to what I had suggested. “I jest. Though I suppose I can come.”

I just made some easy money after all, I could afford to splurge a little.

“How about you?” I asked Sasuke, more out of courtesy than anything. The chances that he would accept an offer made by Naruto was next to zer-

“Sure.”

What? I blinked. Now that was a first.

“Who are you and what have you done with Sasuke?” Naruto yelled, echoing my thoughts.

“Shut up, dead last.” Sasuke glowered, “now can we hurry up?”

Naruto returned his glare, but otherwise said nothing as he continued walking, though to my puzzlement, there was a slight spring in his step that wasn’t there before.





Cheerful, was the word I would use to describe Ichiraku Ramen. Teuchi and his daughter Ayame, were probably the most optimistic people I had ever met in Konohagakure to date. In a way, they remind me of Naruto.

“Hahaha, glad to see you bring some of your friends around, Naruto-kun!” Teuchi said, sporting a friendly smile as he welcomed us.

“Hi Teuchi-san, Ayame-san.” Naruto greeted cheerfully. “The usual, please!”

“And what will your friends want?” Ayame looked at us, a questioning smile on her face. I looked at the menu, and pointed at one of the options. “That one, with extra char siu please.” I like my meat, a guilty pleasure from when I still lived in Canterlot. Griffonian Kebabs were good, fight me.

“So, how about you introduce your companions to us?” Teuchi asked as he worked on our meals behind the bar.

“Ah, this here’s Kyoku-chan, she’s the best kunoichi in our class!” I would admit that I preened a bit at the flattery. Some habits never die, after all.

“And that’s Sasuke-san.” He continued, pointing at the Uchiha, “He’s my rival!”

Did I miss something today, or were Naruto and Sasuke much friendlier to one another?

“In your dreams.”

Nope, guess things were still the same as ever. Still, it would be nice if this lasted a little longer than usual, now wouldn’t it?
> Graduation V. Shogi and Chips
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Naruto and Sasuke are actually getting along?” Shikamaru asked in disbelief, eyes wide at my revelation.

The three of us, being Shikamaru, Chouji and I were seated just along the backyard of the Nara compound, a nice and chilly area that had enough shade to block the late afternoon summer sun. It was a complete coincidence that I happened into the two of them when I was shopping at one of the Nara’s clans medical outlets for more materials.

One thing led to another, and I found myself here, playing a game of shogi with Shikamaru in exchange for a little bit of discount off the products that I was buying. Of course, it was mostly for the conversation that we actually came together for.

To be honest, I was surprised that today’s conversation was about the others. As far as conversations with Shikamaru went, it was normally about politics, history and other stuff that was too complex for the other kids our age to even have an interest in. Still, they were enjoyable, which was one reason why I was still ‘friends’ with him

“Somewhat, but yeah.” I nodded as I slid my shogi piece forward, snapping it onto the board to bring Shikamaru’s attention to it. His eyes narrowed as he contemplated my move, though hopefully he did not notice the trap which I was laying down for him.

“Well, at least they aren’t arguing anymore.” Chouji mumbled from his spot beside us, munching on a packet of crisps. I found myself agreeing with him. Naruto and Sasuke were supposed to be the people that would be keeping me alive during missions. It would be best if they were to actually work together.

Mmmmh, another idea for when we were done with the Tree-Walking technique.

“Yeah,” I muttered, as I watched Shikamaru deciding to spring the trap I laid down for him and snap up the piece I moved forward. I looked at my formation with a judging eye, trying to see a weakness in it. After all, why would Shikamaru spring it?

“Still, at the very least, I’m glad that things are peaceful in the village.” Shikamaru mumbled, “Can’t say the same for outside though, dad says that a storm’s brewing.”

“Why?” I asked, deciding to continue with my plan and slid my lance forward to capture his bishop.

“Apparently, communication with the Sand’s been troublesome.” He drawled.

“Uh huh, everyone knows that.” I mean, Suna and Konoha had been at each other’s throat since the second shinobi war. It was only in the recent years that a truce was finally established. Obviously, the current relationship was rocky at best, after all one could hardly expect the relationship to suddenly sweeten overnight.

“Yeah, but I heard that they want to push for an alliance.”

“Uh huh.” Not exactly uncommon knowledge either, considering how the Wind Daimyo had been forwarding missions to Konohagakure in an attempt to gain the fire country’s alliance. Sunagakure’s economy really depended on the support of Konohagakure at this point. I rolled my eyes as he moved a single piece on the opposite side of the board forward. Not really news either, the push for alliance was just a matter of when at this point.

“Still, it’ll be really troublesome if war suddenly springs up.”

“Doubt it.” I replied.

“Yeah,” Surprisingly, he agreed with me, “Suna’s military might isn’t what it used to be.” He yawned, “a fight against Konoha is just asking for it.”

“Things might change if they get an ally, however.” I frowned as I prodded my rook forward into his formation and promoted it.

“Really?” Shikamaru replied lazily. “Any of the great nations in mind?”

“Nah, a small one might be enough- Damn.” I cursed as he dropped one of my captured pieces onto the board. “That was dirty.” I gave him the stink-eye.

“Well, if it’s troublesome, you can just concede,” He smirked.

“Which one?” Chouji suddenly interjected.

“The move, or the country?”

“Country,” Chouji clarified.

“Any one would do.” I replied even as I contemplated how the hell I was going to get myself out of the mess that Shikamaru had thrown my formation into. “They just need one that’s close enough for them to reinforce, and with enough manpower to harass us so that we had to split our forces.” Like Otogakure. It had not escaped my notice that Orochimaru-sama’s country was one of Konoha’s allies. It was a masterful move, if you would, and I could definitely appreciate how he had stayed under the radar for so long.

“Wow, you really thought this through, huh?” Chouji mumbled. “And yeah, I don’t think any of the other countries in the alliance would want to risk it.” He stuffed another handful of chips into his mouth, “I mean, why bother? Konoha’s way better as an ally.”

“Yup,” I nodded. It always baffles me why the other kids always picked on Chouji. For all that he looks, the boy was actually rather smart. He was the heir of one of the Four Noble Ninja Clans, after all, and was definitely being groomed in clan politics. Not to mention that he was hanging out with the only boy in our class that could keep up with me in proper conversations.

In all seriousness, it was a wonder that Shikamaru got as low as he did in the written tests. He was a lot smarter than me, a fact that I had to grudgingly admit to a year ago.

“By the way,” Shikamaru looked up, “Ino was a little out of sorts today. Any idea why?”

I winced as I remembered. “Probably because of Sakura-chan.”

“How so?

“Well, remember the test that you have to take when you become a genin?” Shikamaru nodded, but I decided to explain either way when Chouji gave me a confused look. “You guys probably didn’t have it because you are the Ino-Shika-Cho of our generation, but the rest of us had to pass a test set by our jounin.” I grimaced as I remembered our bell test. Not-really-good-times. “Sakura’s team failed theirs.”

“Ah, so they are to go back to the academy?”

“Nope,” I made a face. “Worse.”

Shikamaru nodded, “The Genin Corps.” He said solemnly.

“Yup.”

Poor girl was distressed, and no amount of consolation from Ino had been able to set her right. She had even explicitly refused to see us at first, but Ino got through to her in the end and was still meeting her from time to time. Me? I deemed for the best if I avoided her for the time now, especially considering that I was on a team that passed and had the crush of her life on it as well.

Not to mention that she was sort of… useless to me right now too.

“Can’t be helped,” Shikamaru sighed as he dropped another of his captured pieces onto the board. “Her attitude wasn’t right.”

“Sadly.” I agreed as I moved another piece, my knight, forward to threaten his position. Don’t get me wrong, I like the girl. It’s just the fact that being a kunoichi requires you to actually put in the effort and not be sidetracked by things as frivolous as ‘love’.

Yes, ‘love’ was stupid. And yes, I still dislike that stupid pegasus.

“At least the Genin Corps’ not a real dead-end if you put in the effort.” Chouji added. I rolled my eyes. He was right, except that promotion from the Genin Corps to the Chunin Corps was rather skewed. A constant factor in all of the Chunin Exams was the tournament at the end where all the finalists would be pitted against each other and would be evaluated by the judges. Now say if a Genin from the Genin Corps was pitted against one from the Jounin Course. One had nno proper instructor while the other was tutored by a Jounin. Well… It was obvious who would have the advantage right?

Still, polite as I am, I declined to comment, instead choosing to move another piece of mine forward. I did not miss Shikamaru’s smirk when I did so. That rose my suspicion.

I looked once more at the board, eyes narrowed, scanning it for any flaw in my formation. That was when I saw it, a single piece that I had somehow overlooked. Well shit. I sighed. 

“I concede.”

“Yeah,” Shikamaru nodded. “Checkmate in six.”

“Six?” I raised an eyebrow and looked at the board again. “I count four.”

“Four moves?” He narrowed his eyes, studying the board for a bit before smirking at me. “Yeah, four.” He held out his hand. “Thanks for the game, Kyoku.”

“You as well, Shikamaru-kun.” I shook it.

I’d beat him, one of these days.





Unlike my teammates, I had always felt that D-ranked missions were a godsend. Sure, they were boring work, but were hardly physically intensive and the pay was actually decent, ranging from five thousand ryou to around fifty thousand ryou. It was no wonder that the teams from the Genin Corps could subsist themselves off doing around four of this just to pay off their daily expenses.

For me though, who had been living off of Shiratama’s job expenses, the things I could do with the extra money nearly had me drooling. (For the record though, I don’t drool.)

Not to mention that the missions were often ones that can be easily solved with more manpower, courtesy of Naruto’s shadow clone technique, hence we could easily complete our quota of two missions a day. That allowed me with plenty of extra time after missions each day to complete the rounds that ‘father’ set for me and improve my skills in general.

Truth be told, I would have been content to stay in such a state.

Unfortunately, good things were not built to last.

“No! No more!” Naruto complained.

We were standing in the Mission Desk of the Ninja Academy, having just finished the infamous ‘Tora’ Mission. It was a rank D mission that involved searching for the Daimyo’s wife’s pet cat, which had a habit of going missing every once in a while, and was practically dreaded by every Shinobi of Konoha. Having done that mission three times over the course of the last four weeks, I could understand that sentiment. That little devil was just that, a devil, and given the amount of scratches that I had endured from it, I would say that I felt no shame in taking pleasure from the scene of it being roughly adored by its owner.

Still, while I could understand Naruto’s sentiment, part of me wanted to punch him for acting the way he did. We were in front of the Hokage after all.

“Naruto!” Iruka-sensei chastised. “You are only a beginner, you need more experience if you want to take on more difficult missions!”

“But we have only got boring missions~” Naruto whined.

“He has a point.” Sasuke said quietly. Iruka-sensei’s mouth dropped wide. Given that he knew about Naruto and Sasuke’s famous rivalry, no doubt that he found it extremely out of place for Sasuke to support Naruto of all people. I smirked, even I would not had thought it possible for the two of them to even get along. 

Small win for me I guess, since it was mainly my effort to improve their relationship so that they would stop giving me headaches.

Still, that did not mean that I condone their actions, of all things.

“Forgive them, Hokage-sama.” Kakashi said hastily, giving the two boys a quick smack on the head. 

I looked at the Hokage, who seemed more amused than anything. Privately, I wondered if the power of a shinobi was inversely proportional to how harmless they seemed. Especially when considering the likes of Kakashi-sensei and the third Hokage. Seriously, for intents and purposes, the third Hokage felt no more different than an elderly old man. Still, I was not fooled. Hiruzen Sarutobi was christened as a ‘God of Shinobi’ in his youth and had been a force to reckon with. Sure, age may have weakened him somewhat, but he was still Hokage for a reason.

“Well,” the Hokage chuckled as he laid his pipe aside. “I suppose it couldn’t be helped.” He took up a scroll and looked at Kakashi. “Do you think they are ready for one, Kakashi?”

Kakashi-sensei looked surprised for a moment, but quickly composed himself. “Well, they really do want one.” I tensed, surely they couldn’t mean? I looked at Sasuke, he was smirking. Surely he had figured it out as well.

“Want what?” Naruto asked, clearly being the only one to had not know what was going on.

“I will permit you to take a rank C mission.” The Hokage announced, tossing the scroll to Kakashi-sensei.

“Really?” Naruto leapt up, exploding with joy. “What is it? Come on, tell me!”

“Now now, patience is a virtue of a shinobi.” The Hokage smiled. I had a suspicion that he was enjoying keeping Naruto in the dark. Probably a small form of revenge for all the pranks that Naruto played on him.

“Ehhhhh…” Naruto groaned. I almost felt pity for him. Almost.

“You will be escorting a certain individual.” He said after taking another puff of his pipe. “And you will be tasked with his protection and wellbeing as he journeys to the Land of the Waves.” He looked up and called out.

“Tazuna-san, if you would please enter.”
> Land Of Waves I. Deception
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My first impression of our client was that he was just another pathetic old man. Tazuna, he called himself, was a self-proclaimed top ranked bridge builder. A proclamation that was belied by the fact that he looked slightly inebriated and extremely weary.

The fact that he just called us a bunch of wet-nosed brats probably didn’t help.

“Especially,” he continued, “the shortest one. He looks like an idiot. This has got to be a joke. Are you sure you’re ninjas?”

“Hahaha, the shortest one!” Naruto laughed looking at me and Sasuke, trying to determine our heights. “Who is it?”

“It’s you.” I replied, smirking as Naruto’s expression switched from ecstatic jubilation to immediate outrage.

“What! I’ll kill him!”

He leapt forward, only to be caught in the collar by Kakashi-sensei and hauled back. “No killing the old man we are assigned to protect. That’s not how it goes.”

Old? Well, Tazuna is indeed quite old, at least by ninja standards, where occupational hazards tend to prevent most of us from growing past thirty. Still, something struck me wrong about the old man. I examined him with a critical eye. His clothes were made from fine comfortable materials, but looked rather worn out. Added to that was his graying, unkempt hair and cheap sake he was holding and you pretty much would had guessed that the man had seen better days.

Still, there was a nervousness that I could not place about him. Not the typical fear of ninjas that the clients coming to Konoha would display. No. The way he held himself, was a sort of wariness that only someone that had something to hide would act. Then there was that question. The way he said it when he asked if we were ninjas almost sounded like he was trying to confirm if we were actually in that occupation, not the incredulous tone many would take when they were questioning Naruto and Sasuke’s outfits. I mean, when people think ninja, a boy in a orange jumpsuit was probably the last thing in their mind.

Regardless, I filed my thoughts away. There would be plenty of time to think about the old man’s secrets later.

Introductions were done with quickly in an awkward manner. Mostly because Naruto could not help but glare at old man Tazuna, who was needling him at every opportunity he had.

“Right, meet me at the main gate by noon.” Kakashi-Sensei said once all the introductions were said and done. “Pack enough for a week’s trip, is that understood?”

I nodded before leaping out of the window, one of our standard exits, with the boys. Personally, I took a bit of pleasure in the look of amazement on the old man’s face as he saw three kids that were probably a quarter of his age quite literally throwing themselves out of the window.

“What do you make of him?” Sasuke asked as we scaled another building, leaving the Mission Headquarters, which was situated on top of the academy, behind us.

“Don’t like him!” Naruto stuck his tongue out as he grabbed onto the side of a railing and flung himself over it.

“Yeah,” I agreed, landing on a wall at the side before running along it. “He’s hiding something.”

“Hiding something?” Sasuke asked as he joined me. I’m actually impressed that he kept up with me this time. The last time that he attempted the Treewalking technique Naruto had a blast laughing at his detriment. Not that the ‘dead last’ was any better than him. “Think it’ll be bad for us, Kyoku?”

“Don’t think so.” I replied, ignoring his lack of use of honorifics. I’ll get back at him later. “Besides, Sensei definitely noticed. He won’t have accepted the mission if it would be dangerous for us.”

Sasuke nodded in agreement, before leaping off the wall over onto the opposite roof in the direction of his apartment.

“See you!” I yelled, getting a wave in return. Naruto broke off from me a little later, leaving me alone on my journey home.

Unsurprisingly, Father was not home. It was still morning, of course, and that meant that he was probably in the Jounin headquarters awaiting orders or sorting paperwork out. 

I scribbled a small note and left it on the table before leaving for my room to pack my things. Truth be told, the bag was already packed, as a Shinobi  might never know when they had to leave immediately on a mission. Now that I had excess time on my hands, I began to take inventory, customising my pack to suit the current escort mission.

Thanks to the funds that father had given me for my graduation gift and the savings I accumulated from my D-ranks, I had managed to go through a rather substantial equipment upgrade. Extra kunais, senbons and about a dozen exploding tags. Then there was the herbalism kit I got from the Yamanakas and the medical kit I brought from one of the Nara clan’s outlets (at a discount). All this I packed into the mission pack, though I did seal some of them into the bunch of storage scrolls that dad had gotten me, though I did leave the one that I set aside for research purposes alone. The scrolls were incredibly handy, truth be told, but they were incredibly expensive. Learning how to make one would save me a lot of ryou.

As I made my way out, I could not help but feel just a little forlorn as I closed and locked the door. I suppressed the feeling before leaping out of the building and onto the next, making my way over to the gate.

Home was just a place anyway.





“YOU’RE LATE!!!” Naruto hollered, causing me to wince at the sheer volume of his voice.

“Sorry, I got lost trying to find my favorite kunai~”

Where in the hell did he even find these kinds of excuses from anyway?

“Seriously,” Tazuna muttered. “I thought that ninjas are supposed to take their job seriously? Are you sure that your sensei is up to the task?”

“Don’t worry sir, he’s a jounin elite.” I replied dryly, a hand still massaging my poor ear, “Though he doesn’t look like it.” I added under my breath. I did not have the courage to say aloud that Sensei’s skill was probably proportional to his tardiness. Yet.

Four days, by Kakashi-sensei’s estimates, we would take four days to reach make it to Tazuna’s village, where our job would end. The first day was relatively quiet, with nary a soul in sight on the road. The four of us took up our positions around Tazuna-san, looking out into the trees. Still, considering that we were hired mainly to deal protect him from bandits, I wasn’t overly worried. The otherwise boring walk was made easier as I managed to make conversation with him. Surprisingly, he was very forthcoming with the information, especially for someone who appeared to have secrets to hide. From what I gathered, the Land of Waves was a rather poor country, consisting of people who lived on a series of islands who fished for a living, though there appears to be a shipping company that was making things rather difficult for them.

“Which is why I am going to build a bridge that will link the Land of the Waves to the mainland!” He said, clenching his first in a show of determining. I could see the wisdom in that, actually. Having a bridge would definitely improve the situation. Easier access meant more trade, and more trade meant greater opportunities for the country’s economy to improve.

I could respect that sort of thinking.

 We made camp in the middle of a small clearing, no light was lit, at Tazuna’s insistence which perplexed me. Still, as escorts, we did as we were told, after all, the client’s wishes had to be respected, to a certain acceptable standard, of course.

Dinner was stale and bland, consisting of field rations and simple water. If there was a fire, we would have gone hunting and probably cooked whatever game we caught, as taught in the survival exercises back in the academy.

“Don’t complain,” Kakashi-sensei said as Naruto grumbled about disgusting food and lack of ramen, excitement and his general disappointment.

I resisted the urge to point out that he was the most excited one out of all of us to be heading out of the village and that he did beg for this mission in the first place.

Night fell and I took the first watch. It was relatively quiet, but I kept a firm lookout, even casting that Life-Seeking spell just in case. That was when I saw them. Two human shaped heat signatures perching in a tree at the edge of the forest two hundred meters away. I tensed but otherwise did not give away the fact that I noticed them. When Sasuke woke up to take over, I grabbed his hand. He tensed for a moment, but relaxed as I tapped a message onto his palm.

Unknowns: Two, location: tree southeast. Take care. He didn’t nod back at me, but squeezed my hand reassuringly to let me know that he had received the message. I released his hand and crawled over to Kakashi-sensei. Unsurprisingly, he was a light sleeper and was already wide awake when I crawled over to him.

Two unknowns in trees. Orders? I tapped on his hand.

Do not engage. He tapped back. Act normal. Stay alert.

I returned to Sasuke after that to relay the orders before slumping down on my sleeping bag, falling into a light sleep.

The next day, when we woke, I took the liberty of checking the forest. My suspicion grew when I saw the two humans gone from the forest. That was not exactly a good thing, especially now that I could not keep track of them.

“Good morning, my little genins.” Kakashi-sensei stretched in the morning sun.

“Morning sensei.” I replied in chorus with the boys. I reached up with a hand, making the gesture obvious enough to catch their attention so that they could see my other hand.

Unknowns gone. I signed. Orders?

“Let’s get on with the walk, shall we, Tazuna-san?” Kakashi-sensei asked as he turned to the old man, but tapped a finger on his waist. Stay alert.

And so we did, as we continued our walk. In our hubris, however, we appeared to be so intent looking around for anything suspicious that we totally failed to notice a small puddle in the middle of the road.

I looked at it, feeling something odd about it, but decided that it was nothing. 

That was when I remembered that it had not been raining for the past few days. As such, where did the puddle come from?

I turned around, hand reaching for my senbons, but I was too late.

Two ninjas clad in the distinctive gas mask unique to the shinobis of Kirigakure, the Village Hidden in the Mist leapt out of the small puddle, each wearing a metal claw connected by a spiked chain. In half a second, they had wrapped Kakashi-sensei in it, taking him completely by surprise.

“Wha-” I heard him say, before the two shinobis pulled.

Fear overtook me as I saw one of the most powerful Konoha ninjas ripped to pieces before me. My heart pounded as I saw the two shinobis look upon us with an almost gleeful spark in their eyes. They must have thought that now the Jounin was dealt with, the genins would have had no direction, no way to coordinate their efforts.

Unfortunately for them, I had been conditioned to act on fear.

“Sasuke, take them!” I cried out. “Naruto! Cover him! I’ll protect Tazuna-san!”

That snapped the two of them out of the reverie. No, I corrected myself, one of them. Naruto was standing stock still as Sasuke charged forward.

“NARUTO!” I snapped, breaking him out of whatever shellshocked state he was in. “Clones! Now!”

He brought his hands up unthinkingly, forming his cross seal, and a bunch of clones rushed out from the chakra smoke from using the jutsu to aid Sasuke. Unfortunately, it seemed the clones were more of a hindrance to Sasuke and me than actually helping the scenario. The melee was a mess, I had my senbon out but was unable to throw it due to the clones getting in my way from time to time.

Maybe we should start coordinating ourselves. Luckily though, the tide of numbers were somehow able to make up for our lack of coordination. While the two shinobi were definitely formidable opponents, they were soon forced to disengage their chain from their claws when a number of clones grabbed onto it and refused to let go. One immediately jumped among the huge mass of Narutos, lashing out indiscriminately while the other charged towards me.

I let loose a brace of senbons. He dodged, letting them whiz by mere centimeters of his head before pulling his claw back to strike me down.

No, he was not looking at me. He was looking at Tazuna. Our client was the target, I realised but that was something that I could deal with later. I focused on the incoming enemy, whose eyes were still trained on Tazuna.

Not paying attention to me would be a mistake.

I formed a claw with my hand and reached out with my telekinesis before making a sharp pulling gesture. The Shinobi shuddered as a trio of my senbons that he had deflected and ran past suddenly sank deep into his back, right above his shoulder blades. He looked at me, eyes narrowed as he swung his claw at me.

I dodged, drawing my kunai in the process. The senbon was coated in paralyzing poison, the most powerful that I could afford from the Yamanaka’s retail stores right now. It acts fast, but only lasts for a short period of time. Meaning, that the ninja before me should be feeling the effects soon enough.

Pity I did not get the chance to see the effects when Kakashi-sensei suddenly appeared behind my attacker, knocking him out with a single strike to the back of his neck. 

“Good job.” He said. I, on the other hand, was extremely confused. After all, I had seen him die.

Kakashi-sensei nonchalantly picked up the fallen, but still alive shinobi with a single arm before heading over to his companion, who seemed to be currently dogpiled by a mass of clones.

“Kakashi-sensei! You’re alive!” Naruto cheered, echoing my thoughts, though with much more enthusiasm than confusion. I blinked, still perplexed by the fact that sensei was somehow alive.

My question was answered when I looked over at the pile of sawed logs. Substitution technique, I realized as I turned back to watch Kakashi-sensei knock the other ninja out before tying them up. And probably a bit of genjutsu to make it seem as though he actually died. Color me impressed. Well-played, Kakashi-sensei.

“You’re alive.” Tazuna said in wonder, and I turned my head slightly. The old man was still in a state of shock, and truth be told, I couldn’t really blame him. The ambush and subsequent fight had ended in a matter of seconds, and that was actually very fast, even for a shinobi. I couldn’t really blame him for not keeping up.

“If you had been fine,” The old man demanded. “Why let the kids fight?”

“Because I needed to see who was their target,” Kakashi replied, standing up and fixing Tazuna with his eye. “Us” He pointed to himself, “Or you.” He pointed to Tazuna. He shrugged, “ besides, they did fine against these two.”

I frowned, pulling out a storage scroll and retrieving a bingo book on it. I flipped through it until I found my subject of interest.

“Gozu and Meizu.” I read aloud, “brother shinobis that tend to accept assassination missions in pairs. Missing-nin from Kirigakure. Combat strength, Chunin level. Last seen during an attempted assassination attempt on the fourth Mizukage.” I snapped the book shut. “Sensei, this is way beyond our mission parameters.”

“I agree.” Kakashi said as he turned to regard Tazuna, who had turned as white as a sheet. “This is at least a B-ranked mission. While I’m sure that you had your reasons for withholding information, it’s never a good idea to conceal the facts when you are asking for help, Tazuna-san. As it is, this task falls far beyond the boundaries of the job we were assigned.”

Tazuna sighed. “I’m really sorry about this. But I would like to say something first.” Kakashi nodded, giving him the go-ahead. “Well, as you guessed, this mission is a lot more dangerous than you were led to believe.” He paused, as though for dramatic effect. “Somebody very dangerous wants me dead.”

“Who?” Naruto asked, eyes wide.

“You know the shipping company that has been making the lives of my people difficult?” Tazuna asked. “It was led by a man named Gatou.”

Gatou? My eyes widened in surprise. That man was a leading entrepreneur in the maritime industry, if the textbooks were to be believed, and judging from what Tazuna’s expression, I could easily guess where this was going...
> Land of Waves II. Sharingan and Demon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“That’s huuuuuge.” Naruto said aloud, and I got to say that I agreed with him. We were seated on a boat under the cover of fog, steered by one of Tazuna’s contacts towards one of the islands that made up the Land of Waves. On our way there, we could just see the bridge which the old man had proclaimed that he would finish. Even incomplete, it was still an impressive side. Over twenty meters tall above the water surface and about thirty meters wide, the structure that would connect the Land of Waves with The Land of Fire would definitely be an imposing sight once finished.

“Quiet down!” the steersman hissed. “The mist may be keeping us hidden but not if you shout out like that. We’d be in big trouble if Gatou’s men catch us!”

Naruto clamped up after that, but I sighed. This job was getting less and less appealing by the minute. Sure, after the ambush that happened on the second day, Tazuna had spilled the beans. The Land of Waves was oppressed by Gatou, who was using his shipping company’s influence to very slowly take over the cluster of islands. The situation was getting worse, if the old man was to be believed. As the shipping company took over the waters around the island, the fisherman’s livelihood around the place was ruined as the larger ships disturbed the sea, causing the fishes to migrate elsewhere. Then the restriction of trade was imposed as apparently Gatou had somehow bought over the local lord.

Slowly but surely, Gatou was strangling the land, establishing his power over it. For what purposes I can only guess, but there was no doubt that this was way out of our paycheck. I glared at Kakashi-sensei, who seemed to be making a point of looking away from me. Sure, Tazuna might have fed him a sob-story and tried to guilt-trip us into helping him, but that was no reason to accept this mission.

At least now I learned that Kakashi-sensei actually had a bleeding heart. Huh, you learn something new everyday.

Realizing that I was getting worked up, I heaved a sigh, composing my nerves, opting to look around instead. It wouldn’t do to get that tense after all. 

“I’ll be dropping you at the town past the waterway.” The steersman said, talking to Tazuna more than us. “There’s a point there covered by mangroves, it should hide your landfall easily enough.”

“Thank you.” Tazuna replied gratefully.

He brought us to a tunnel, which opened up  to a town built around a river. However unlike Konoha, there were no bustling sounds of life. What few people I saw, walked about on the wooden bridges with their heads kept low, as though afraid to attract attention.

Guess Tazuna was correct about Gatou oppressing the locals.

“Alright, we’re here.” The steersman announced as he docked his small boat near a pier covered by a number of mangrove trees. “Take care, Tazuna-san.”

Tazuna thanked him, and began to tell us the directions to take to bring him to his village. As usual, the four of us took up defensive positions around our client. We kept quiet during the journey, mostly because we did not want to not gather any attention to ourselves.

Soon enough, the wooden buildings gave way to the green mangrove trees, indicating that we had left the town behind. The three of us kept ourselves alert, taking note of every little detail that might spell a possible ambush.

A bush suddenly rustled.

Faster than I gave him credit for, Naruto let loose a shuriken into the foilage.

“Oh,” Naruto straightened after awhile. “Probably a mouse.”

Seriously?

“Can you please be careful with the shurikens?” Kakashi-sensei said, exasperation plain in his voice. “They are not-” His voice cut off as he looked aside. I saw his eyes widen in alarm. “Everyone, take cover!”

It happened so fast. I saw something flung itself out of the foilage, but did not stop to check what it could be as I pulled Naruto towards me, the object missing him by mere millimeters. Sasuke had knocked Tazuna out of harm’s way as well, while Kakashi had simply crouched down, letting the object pass over him harmlessly.

With a biting sound, the object, a blade of giant proportions, struck a tree. And upon it stood a man.

Not a man. A Shinobi. 

“What gives?” Naruto groaned, as he picked himself off the ground where I left him.

“Kakashi-sensei, orders?” I asked, even as I studied the man. The build, the outfit and most of all, the sword. They all matched with a rather distinct entry within Konoha’s bingo book.
Zabuza Momochi, wielder of the Kubikiribucho, one of the weapons of the Seven Swordsman, and a Nuke-nin(missing-nin) of Kirigakure. He was wanted for attempting to assassinate the fourth mizukage. According to the book, he was almost as dangerous as Kakashi-sensei.

This was most definitely outside our mission parameters.

Kakashi-sensei probably recognized him too, considering how he merely held a hand out, a gesture to tell us to stay where we stand.

“Manji formation around Tazuna-sensei. Now.” He replied calmly, instantly erasing the worst of the tension within us with the tone in which his order was delivered. “Don’t interfere with the fight. This one is different from the other two we have faced so far.” He turned back towards Zabuza. “Still, fancy seeing you here.” He said casually, as though greeting a neighbour, “How is life as a nuke-nin of Kirigakure, Zabuza Momochi?

“Kakashi Hatake,” Zabuza rasped in reply. “So good to see you too.” He crouched on the sword, balancing expertly on the handle upon which he was perched. “Unfortunately, I am on a tight schedule. Could you surrender the old man?”

“Sorry, Zabuza.” Sensei replied. He reached up with his hand and grabbed his hitai-ate. “You know how it is.” I kept my eyes trained on Sensei. Was he going to do what I think he was about to do? It appears that he was, as he pulled up his hitai-ate, revealing his other eye, an orb with a red pupil that had three tomoe within it.

“Using the Sharingan so soon in our acquaintance?” Zabuza chuckled, a dry sound. “I am honored.”

Sasuke started at the news. Surprise written clearly on his face. Seriously? Not only did he not know who Kakashi was, but he also did not bother to find out why Kakashi was so famous? I snorted. Talk about a lack of information. You would think that an Uchiha would know about that.

“What’s a sharingan?” Naruto asked, clearly upset that he had no idea what was going on.

“It’s a Bloodlimit.” Sasuke said, “a doujutsu, a technique which resides within its eyes, allowing its user to pierce any genjutsu and see the reality behind it, and reflect any technique used upon the user back at their opponent.”

“Indeed,” Zabuza interjected, dark amusement ringing clearly in his voice. I could feel his excitement from where I was standing rather vividly, it appears that he was enjoying this a lot. Was he really aching for a fight so badly? “But its most terrifying ability is its ability to analyse its  opponent’s techniques for its user to duplicate. Isn’t that right?.” He looked at Kakashi-sensei.

“When I was still in Kirigakure, I had read up on your entry in our bingo book.” He continued. “It was really impressive. A man we had express orders to kill on sight, the shinobi who copied over a thousand different techniques. It is a real honor to meet you, Kakashi of the Sharingan.”

Wow, this man must really admire Kakashi, huh? 

“Well, it was nice talking to you while it lasted.” Zabuza rasped, almost sounding regretful. “But I do have a job to do.” He looked straight at Tazuna. “The bridge builder needs to die this day.” Finishing his sentence, he leapt off the tree and with a casual motion, freed his gigantic sword from the tree. As he did so, the mist around us thickened considerably, obscuring him from our view.

“The finest of Ninjutsu.” Zabuza announced, his husky voice echoing around the clearing. “The Hidden Mist technique.”

“Be careful,” I whispered to the others even as I tried my best to remember our enemy’s entry on the bingo page and relay it to the two boys. “The enemy is Zabuza Momochi, a former shinobi of Kirigakure. He specializes in assassination techniques.”

“Is he strong?” Sasuke asked.

“As strong as Kakashi? Maybe.” I replied. It would be best to give these boys a benchmark to work with, better they know that this opponent was out of our league than fight him unwittingly and die.

“What about this mist?” Naruto asked, annoyance clear in his voice. “I can’t see anything!”

“It’s his favorite technique, he is known as the master of the Silent Killing Technique. Keep your eyes peeled and remember to always sound off to the rest of us.” I paused, before adding. “Don’t go dying on me now.”

Morbid humor, I found, always helped in this kind of scenario to keep our nerves cooled. Unfortunately, Zabuza had other ideas.

“Eight Points.” The sudden announcement nearly gave me a heart attack. 

“What was that?” Naruto started as he looked around.

“Throat.” The voice whispered, “Spine. Lungs. Liver. Jugular. Subclavian Artery. Kidney, and Heart.”

“So many targets, what should I start with?” It muttered with barely contained glee. Sweat ran down my back as I sent out a small pulse of magic, my Life-seeker spell. I relaxed slightly when I saw his outline in my mind’s eye. At least I know where he was.

Then it hit me. A huge way of killing intent. I let out a strangled sob as my body suddenly stiffened. It was terrifying, the feeling of wanting to run, to just flee and be unable to do anything because you don’t want to move, because if you did, you would catch his attention and he would kill you. Still… I took a deep breath to calm myself down, fear was a powerful weapon, but against someone who had been conditioned to it, I could still control myself. Somewhat.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Naruto and Sasuke were scared witless, I noted with a small hint of sympathy. It was probably their first time being exposed to something like this, I should probably do something. Say something to help them. I opened my mouth.

“Sasuke!” Kakashi-sensei’s voice sounded out before I could. That snapped the two of them our of it, though they were still probably rather scared. “Don’t worry, I will protect you.” He looked back, “There’s no way I would let my comrades die.” His voice carried over soothingly, and the two boys straightened, most of their fear banished by the words of reassurance, and yes, so was mine. I blinked, actually surprised, did I actually trust this man to protect me that much?

“You sure about that?” Zabuza’s voice suddenly said behind me.

How did he get here? Were the only words I could think of as I spun around, my senbons between my fingers at the ready. He was supposed to be still out on the lake!

Yet again, Kakashi-sensei was faster than me. In a burst of chakra enhanced speed, he appeared before me, his kunai already plunging deep into Zabuza’s chest. I watched, mind still in a daze and on autopilot mode, trying to figure how Zabuza was here while my spell told me he was still out there.

My question was answered when Zabuza collapsed upon himself in a fountain of water.

A water clone! I realised. I also realized too late that there was another Zabuza behind Sensei, sword already swinging.

“Sensei!” I heard Naruto shout even as I dodged out of the way of the attack. “Look out!”

His warning came too late as we watched Kakashi-sensei get cut into two, before falling into a fountain of water himself.

“Don’t move.” Kakashi-sensei, the real one, if my spell was to be trusted, said as he placed a kunai at Zabuza’s throat. “It’s over.”

“You’d really think so?” Zabuza rasped in reply, sounding so assured and smug. Then I felt the life signature on the lake moved.

“Sensei! That’s a fake!” I shouted. “The real one’s coming for you!”

“A sensor huh? But wrong.” Zabuza’s voice said from behind me, even as a tremendous force gripped my throat. I gasped at the sudden loss of oxygen. Kakashi-sensei looked at me and seemed to be ready to leap to my rescue, but dodged aside at the last moment, causing the Zabuza’s sword swing from behind him to miss by mere centimeters.

“Now, hand over the old man.” The Zabuza holding me said. “Or the little girl loses her vocal cords.”

He was saying it to Naruto and Sasuke, as Kakashi-sensei seemed to had been sent flying by a brutal kick from the real Zabuza. He landed in the lake with a rather large splash and was in the process of climbing out of it when Zabuza disappeared and reappeared before him, handseals already in motion.

“Water Release: Water Prison!”

A great sphere of water formed about Kakashi-sensei, enveloping him within. From the look on his face, this was most certainly not part of the plan.

“So, now what will you do?” The Zabuza holding me taunted. By the princess, he was strong. I was using my telekinesis to prevent him from choking me completely, allowing myself to breathe abit but even then I could feel my spell wavering. “Your sensei was captured, and I hold your little girlfriend hostage.” I could hear the smirk in his voice. “What are you going to do now?”

I gasped, but for some reason, his grip loosened?

I didn’t dwell much on it, however. Escaping this scenario takes the most priority. Even as I used my hands and telekinesis to strain against his immense strength, I reached into my senbon holder with my magic in an attempt to find my needles.

“What, unable to come to a decision?” Zabuza mocked. “And you call yourself ninja? Did you think that merely wearing a hitai-ate would make you a shinobi? Hmmph, little ninja wannabes like yourself probably had never wandered the lines between life and death before.”

That drew Naruto’s attention. “You! YOU! Shadow Clone Technique!” He called out in rage.

“Shadow clones, huh?” Zabuza laughed. “Fine, you can have your little girl companion back. Catch!” And he proceeded to toss me none too lightly at them. I’d probably have gotten a few nasty bruises if some of the clones had not caught me in midair.

“Are you okay?” Naruto, the real one, asked as his clones dashed off.

“Yeah,” I replied as I looked up, seeing the water clone of Zabuza walking rather calmly over, having cleared all of the clones that Naruto had sent against him with a single swing of the Kubikiribocho.

“Get Tazuna-san out of here!” Kakashi-sensei suddenly yelled. I would confess, at another time, I would probably had been amazed by the fact that he can speak, much less yell, out of that blob of water he was stuck in. Unfortunately though, the water clone before me had my utmost attention.

“This is a fight you can’t win!” He continued. “He can’t leave if he wants me in this water prison! Get a certain distance away from him and his water clone will fall apart!”

That would be a wise option, actually. Except that there was a high chance that we would lose Kakashi-sensei, and if Zabuza was in a condition to pursue, well that was a situation that I would not want to be in.

“No.” I replied loudly. “That’s not an option.” I looked at Sasuke, and at Naruto behind me. “If we lose Kakashi-sensei here and Zabuza comes after us, we will be in a worse situation than this.” 

“Yeah,” Sasuke agreed. 

“True,” Naruto echoed.

Having already gotten their affirmation, I looked at Kakashi-sensei. “Sorry sensei.” I looked back at the water clone, trying to formulate a plan.

Priority one, protect Tazuna. That was our mission, and it would be easy to do so long as he hung back and we could prevent Zabuza and his water clones from reaching him. Priority two: free sensei. If what he said was true, there was no way we would be a match for Zabuza’s water clone, much less Zabuza himself. Hence, Sensei would be our best bet at defeating him.

“Sasuke, cover me.” I whispered. “Naruto, hang back with Tazuna-san, but leave your clones here to take on the water clone.”

“Still trying to play at ninja?” The water clone mocked. 

“What are you doing? You need to protect the bridge builder!” Kakashi yelled.

“Ignore him.” I said aloud. “Sorry about this Tazuna-san, but this is the best way to protect you.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Tazuna said as he smiled regretfully. “You know, just forget about me. I kind of had it coming to me and since this mess was because of me, just do what you have to to free your sensei.”

I nodded gratefully at him. Now Sensei had nothing to complain about since the client had spoken. With a flick of my hands, I sent half a dozen senbon flying at the Water Clone, who deflected them with an almost casual sweep of his greatblade.

“Did you actually think that would work?” He taunted. “That attack barely had any killing intent behind it.” He huffed. “Seeing brats like you, it makes me sick. You’d probably haven’t even killed anyone at your age. Like I have.”

“What?” Naruto stammered, clearly shocked.

“Zabuza, the demon of the Hidden Mist.” Kakashi-sensei clarified, as if that name actually meant something.

Apparently it did, as Zabuza replied. “Ah, I see that my reputation has preceded myself.” Was that… regret I heard?

“What demon?” Naruto yelled from beside Tazuna. He sounded extremely irritated. “What are you talking about?”

“Long ago, Kirigakure, was known as the Bloody Mist, there was an inhumane final test on one’s route to becoming a full-fledged ninja.” Kakashi said.

“Ah, so you heard about our little graduation exercise.”

“Inhumane how?” Sasuke asked, echoing our thoughts.

“A ‘killing spree’, if you would, against classmates who had bonded with you throughout your school life.” The water clone chuckled, a very morbid sound. “Divided into pairs, you and your friend will be forced to fight each other to the death.”

“But one day, they had to change the rules.” Kakashi-sensei added. At our curious yet disgusted expressions, he continued. “A small boy, not even qualified as a ninja yet, murdered over a hundred members of that year’s graduating class.”

“Truly meaningful,” The water clone of Zabuza, who was no doubt the protagonist of that little tale, chuckled. “You see now, when I was your age, my hands were already drenched in blood!” He exulted, “which one of you could say the… same…?”

His voice suddenly broke off, and I realised that he was staring at me. I blinked, then realised that I was scowling. Though could anyone blame me after hearing that story? Sure, killing over a hundred people was probably an achievement, but talking about killing someone at our age?

I already did it before, and I fail to see what was there to be so proud of.

“You,” the water clone whispered, loud enough for only me, Sasuke and the clones around me to hear. “You have killed before, haven’t you?”

I felt a spike of irritation when he said that.

Three things happened simultaneously. Unwittingly, I raised my hand,  and the six senbons which I had been levitating over the wateredge flung themselves at the real Zabuza. The water clone, seeing my sudden gesture, lashed out at me with a kick, but found himself beset upon by Naruto and Sasuke, who had flung themselves at him. Meanwhile, the real Zabuza, upon seeing my senbons suddenly flying to him, seemed to have realised that they were thrown in such a way that could not be dodged while stationary with an arm in the Water Prison technique, so he did the sensible thing, and pulled out.

The fight that followed as Kakashi burst out of the water prison and leapt at Zabuza was on another entire level. Gone were the subtlety, trickery and stealth that were typically employed by shinobis, and in its place were two man who fought each other as though their very lives depended on it. Zabuza began showing his mastery in using the Kubikiribocho, swinging that sword about as though it weighed no more like a feather in his hand, attacking at angles that would had been impossible if an amateur were using a weapon of that size, and mixing in a fair amount of taijutsu to cover the weak spots of his greatsword. More impressive, perhaps, was Kakashi-sensei, who matched him blow-for-blow with merely a kunai in his hands. It was as though as he had Zabuza read like a book, the way he casually deflected the swings from the Kubikiribocho.

The two then broke apart, performing handseals at a speed that I had thought impossible. Both completed their jutsus at the same time, and two dragons made out of water rose out from the lake beneath their feet and smashed into each other, the body of liquid churning about them as the shockwave spread throughout the lake.

Of course, we were not idle during their entire fight. The water clone was still here, after all. He seemed absolutely livid, as though he could not believe that he had been outsmarted by a bunch of kids. A dozen shadow clones fought him, with Sasuke and I darting in for a cheap strike from time to time. Of course, our teamwork was not ideal, seeing as a clone seemed to get in my way from time to time. However, slowly but surely, we chipped away at the water clone, finally downing him when Sasuke himself planted a kunai in its neck, causing the clone to drop down into a puddle of water.

And barely a moment had passed when we witnessed a giant wave crash past us, leaving a gigantic gorge in the ground. And Zabuza was in the middle of it, trying to stand up.

He never got the chance as four kunais planted themselves each in his limbs, causing him to collapse pathetically to the ground. Kakashi-sensei then appeared behind him with a Body Flicker technique, kunai in hand, ready to deal the finishing blow.

Or he would have, if a pair of senbons had not found themselves embedded in Nuke-nin's throat. Zabuza looked almost shocked, but he rolled over nonetheless, and slumped limply onto the ground.

We stared. Then Naruto looked at me, the question clear on his face, to which I shook my head. Those senbons were not mine.

“Hehe~” A voice suddenly giggled. We found ourselves looking at the tree from which it originated. There we see a boy, a young boy roughly about our age wearing the traditional mask of the famous, or infamous, Kirigakure Hunter-nin corps. 

“Thank you very much.” He bowed, somehow keeping his balance upon the branch he was standing upon. “I had been hunting that man for quite a long time. Please accept my thanks for helping me kill him.”

“Huh,” Kakashi muttered, shifting his hitai-ate back over his sharingan eye. “You’re from Kirigakure, right? Hunter-nin corps?” He shifted his gaze back to Zabuza, knelt and placed his fingers at the man’s throat. “No pulse. He’s dead.” He declared.

“Yes, though if you would please step away from the corpse?” The Hunter-nin asked politely, surprisingly genuine in his request. “I have orders to not allow anyone near it.”

Kakashi-sensei merely shrugged and stepped away. When he was about ten meters away, the boy appeared next to the fallen Zabuza with the use of a Body Flicker technique. He draped the corpse over his shoulder and grabbed the Kubikiribocho with a hand before turning to us.

“Now, I should be going.” He nodded politely, “Farewell.”

And he was gone.

“Who the heck was that?” Naruto asked, his voice incredulous. I raised an eyebrow at him. What was he annoyed about this time?

“A hunter-nin from Kirigakure.” Sensei replied. “They specialized in hunting nuke-nin like that Zabuza from just now. It was just our luck that we had to help do his job for him, I suppose.” 

“Are you kidding me?” Naruto cried aloud. “That kid just killed Zabuza! The shinobi that went toe to toe with you! There’s no way that that’s possible!”

“Well, I can’t say that I don’t understand how you feel,” Kakashi-sensei patted Naruto on the head consolingly, “but the truth is that  there are plenty of ninjas who are stronger than me, and younger than you in this world.”

The way he said it, made it seem like it was actually possible. Huh, talk about a grim premonition.

He shrugged, walking forward. “Well, now let’s get moving, we have a mission to...” And collapsed.

Our sensei just collapsed. That can’t be good.





Thank god for shadow clones, I thought as I pushed open the door to Tazuna’s house. It was a quaint place, cozy, simple and spacious.

“Tsunami, I’m home!” Tazuna announced, causing a young lady to walk out from what was probably the kitchen.

“Welcome back, father.” Tsunami was a homely woman, with dark eyes and black hair to match. Truth be told, she looked a little young to be married, but considering that this was the Land of Waves, I refrained from asking that aloud.

As a girl, I can attest that asking a lady’s age was very rude.

“Sorry to interrupt your reunion, Tsunami-san, Tazuna-san.” I interjected, clearing my throat to get their attention. “But is it possible if we could have a place for our sensei to rest?”

“Oh!” Tsunami started as she took in the four of us. Well, seven if you count the clones carrying Kakashi-sensei. “Sure, I’ll get a futon out.”

Once Sensei was tucked in, I turned to Naruto and Sasuke. “Sorry guys, but can I trouble the two of you a little? Sensei’s out of commision from chakra deprivation, and while Zabuza is dead, we can’t be sure if Gatou is going to send anymore assassins after Tazuna-san.”

“Don’t worry, Kyoku-chan, I’m ready!” Naruto said, pumped as usual. Sasuke was silent, but he nodded. I smiled a little at their vote of confidence.

“Right, here’s what we’ll do. Naruto-kun, please send a clone to each corner of the house as a lookout.” Naruto grinned and nodded in response. “Sasuke-kun, stay here with Sensei, rest up while you can, but keep an ear out in case we call for you.”

“Right.” He nodded.

“Yeah, rest up, Sasuke-chan! You clearly need it.” I rolled my eyes at Naruto’s comment. Could he not needle Sasuke now?

“Naruto…” I muttered warningly, pinching the bridge of my nose as I did so, taking a deep breath to calm myself. I so do not have time for this.

“Sorry…”  He apologised sheepishly, in a manner which suggests that he was not apologetic at all.

“Just go.” I sighed. “Please.” I turned to Sasuke as Naruto clambered out of the house. “Call us if Sensei wakes up.” I said, “I’ll be up on the roof if you need me.”

Sasuke nodded, an inscrutable expression upon his face. That’ll have to do, I suppose.

“Hey, Kyoku.” I turned to face him. He fixed his eyes upon me, meeting my gaze. Like his passive expressions, they were guarded, unreadable. “That…” His look flickered, and he gazed aside, as though suddenly unwilling to say what was on his mind.

“Nothing.” He finished, in a tone that suggests that he would not expand on the topic. I was too tired to check however, and merely shrugged before following after Naruto.





Sasuke looked at the retreating back of Kyoku, a frown upon his face.

“Huh,” Tazuna commented, “Never pegged her as the leader of the three of you.”

“Hn,” Sasuke huffed indignantly. “She’s not our leader. But she’s good enough.” He added as an afterthought.

“Well, must be great to be friends with her, eh?” Tazuna grinned at Sasuke, who merely quirked an eyebrow in response.

“Bah, kids these days.” Tazuna snorted. “Well, I think I’m long overdue for a good rest in a proper bed.” He let out a yawn as he stretched. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Sasuke nodded in response, though his mind was  awhirl with other thoughts. Specifically, thoughts about the kunoichi on his team.

Kyoku Asagami was a person that he had thought would be inconsequential. Just another stepping stone on his journey to avenge his clan and kill his brother.

But surprisingly, the girl had shown herself to be quite unlike the others of her gender in his class. Not only had she displayed a lack of interest in him, at least romantically, but she had also proven herself a skilled shinobi, for a genin, and a reliable partner. Not to mention her drive to improve herself.

It was not just her. In fact, at the start, he had thought that this team would drag him down, but even the dead last had proven himself quite dependable. Not that Sasuke would ever admit it to his face, of course.

Sasuke had grown rather tolerant of this team, especially since he had found that his skills had improved rather drastically over the short time in which they were acquainted.

Still…

He had thought that he had understood his teammates, even just a little, but the most recent revelation had thrown his own evaluation of one of them out of the loop. 

You had killed before, haven’t you? Zabuza had asked. And she had merely answered with an irritated gaze.

There was apparently more to his teammate than meets the eye. Still, there was no time to dwell on such things. Sasuke sighed and closed his eyes. Kakashi-sensei was down, and Kyoku was right, there was the chance that Gatou may attack Tazuna in his own house. Not to brag, but Sasuke knows that the reason why Kyoku wanted him to rest up was because he was the next hardest hitter on their team, after Kakashi-sensei.

He drifted off into light sleep for who knows how long when a voice suddenly woke him up.

“Sasuke-kun.”

His eyes sprang open and he looked at the man lying down on the bed beside him.

“Get Kyoku and Naruto in here, we need to talk.” Kakashi rasped, and fixed him with his single eye.

“Zabuza is alive.”
> Land Of Waves III. Revelations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What? How?” Naruto asked, gaping openly in shock and surprise. I did the same, though with less gaping and more thinking.

“Remember the hunter-nin from before?” Kakashi-sensei said as he sat up, propping himself up with my help. “Did you see how he disposed of the body?”

I actually felt the blood drain from my face. I know what he was talking about, but a mixture of tiredness and incredulity had taken over my higher thought functions, leaving me to respond in a rather base manner. “But what you’re suggesting is impossible!” I blurted out aloud.

“Huh, what’s impossible?” Naruto asked, looking at me. I ignored him.

“Senbon, in the end are just twenty centimeters of steel!” I continued, eyes looking at sensei, trying to see a hint of what he was thinking. No luck. “Sure, if you strike the proper part of the neck, you can incite a state of pseudo-death. But if you miss by even a millimeter, the person will just die. Not to mean that he did so from such a distance.” I ranted at sensei’s passive face. “Doing so is a huge risk and may endanger his partner!”

“But not impossible.” Sensei replied calmly and in a tone that brooked no argument. I shrank back, blushing a bit from my outburst. “Especially when the person doing it specializes in that technique.”

“Can someone please tell me what you’re talking about?” Naruto wailed.

“Quiet down, dead last.” Sasuke muttered, causing the other boy to shoot a sharp indignant glance at him. From the look on his face, he also knew what was going on. “They are saying that the Hunter-nin is in cahoots with Zabuza and had probably saved him.”

That was a really good summary actually, and I was even more surprised by the fact that Sasuke was willing to elaborate the situation to Naruto. Huh, guess their relationship may actually be improving?

“Indeed,” Kakashi-sensei said, nodding at Sasuke. “Which means that it will be likely that he is coming back for a second attempt. On another note, what is the situation?”

“The house is secure.” I reported. “We have shadow clones at the four corners and one on the roof, ready to call out at the first sign of danger. I had asked Sasuke to stand by and rest though, as he would be our best chance to take out any hostile that would approach at this time.”

“Hey-” Naruto started, though I silenced him with a glare. I only recently noticed that I was getting pretty good at that. Huh, the things you learn about yourself.

“Mmmh, I see. Good thinking.” Kakashi-sensei replied, though the way he did made me wince. It just felt so dismissive.

The silence that descended afterwards was deafening, in the awkward sort of way.

“I think that I've had enough rest.” Sasuke said, his words knocking me out of my reverie. “I’d take over outside.” He nodded at me before turning to Naruto. “Come on, dead last.”

“Why you!” Naruto started, but Sasuke had already exited the house. He huffed in annoyance, before following the other boy out, all the while muttering about arrogant Sasukes and how to punch them.

Leaving me alone with sensei.

“Uhhh, sensei.” I asked meekly. “Is something wrong?”

He looked at me, before laying back down without saying a word.

Sweat flowed down my forehead. He might not be showing it, but it was clear that he was mad. At me. However, try as I might, I could not tell what would warrant such a reaction from him.

Unless it was…

Oh…

He was mad about the time I openly defied his orders, did he?

“Ummmm….” I bit my lip, unsure of how to go about this. On one hand, I did manage to salvage the situation and technically save Kakashi-sensei’s life, yes, it was a technicality as I had no way of knowing if he could escape from that life and death situation, so in a way, I did manage to avoid the worse case scenario.

But on the other hand, I did commit insubordination, as I openly defied my commanding jounin’s orders…

Guess there was nothing I could do but apologize, huh?

I swallowed my pride and bowed my head, my face parallel to the ground. “I am sorry, sensei.” I said, trying to sound as apologetic as possible. “For disobeying your orders. I am willing to accept any punishment you would mete out.

No response.

I waited a little longer, holding that pose.

Still no response.

I then decided to chance it, looking up. And felt my nose hit something.

…

Did he just booped me on the nose?

Kakashi-sensei’s eye was curved, evidence that he was smiling. For some reason, I felt a deep inclination to return the blow a hundredfold. Instead, I took a deep breath, to calm myself. I’m not at the level where I could attack a jounin after all, even if he was injured.

“Maa, it's not a shinobi rule but... a good friend once told me that you should always keep your word to your teammates.” Kakashi-sensei chuckled good naturedly as I rubbed my nose. “But don’t worry,” His hand patted my hair. “You did a good job.”

“Ah…” Was I forgiven?

“However, you will still be punished.”

Oh. So much for that.

“Get some rest, you look terrible.”

Huh?

“Go and sleep, Kyoku-chan.” Kakashi-sensei clarified gently. “And get Naruto back in here for some rest. Sasuke can hold the dawn watch. You’ll be needing it for tomorrow’s punishment.” His eye glinted maliciously.

“U-understood…” I sighed. I’m not going to like what's coming tomorrow, was I?





Tazuna was surprised when he saw Kakashi-sensei up and about, but glad enough that the ninja was well. Breakfast was a simple affair, plain bread and a simple cup of hot tea, which still tastes a whole lot better than rations, at least in the fact that it was a warm meal to a certain extent.

“What are you putting in your tea, Kyoku-chan?”

“Poison.”

All of them sans Kakashi-sensei stared. Then Naruto giggled.

“Nice one, you nearly had me there!” He laughed, only for his glee to slowly die down when he realised that I was serious.

“Ummm, why?” Tazuna asked.

“I use senbons coated with poison.” I shrugged, “Don’t want myself to get poisoned by my own methods.” I held up the small packet. “So I regularly take small amounts to develop an immunity to them.”

Granted, it would not work for all kinds of poisons, but I had ensured that it was effective for mine.

“Okaaaay,” Tazuna blinked, then turned to Kakashi-sensei, “So you’re saying that the ninja from yesterday is still alive?” He asked, in an effort to change the subject.

“Yes.” Kakashi-sensei replied. “And that means that the chances of you being targeted is very high.” He looked at the rest of us, expression unreadable. “While our mission was a escort-only mission, on the account of my current state and the fact that we failed to properly finish off one of his assailants, we’ll be extending the duration of our mission, at least until the bridge is built.” He turned to Tazuna, “though that would mean that there would be a high chance that this mission will be upgraded to a B-rank when we report back in, will that be acceptable, Tazuna-san?”

“Well, I can’t deny your help.” Tazuna replied, “but, Kakashi-san, there is the matter of payment. As you can see, the Land of Waves is not a very wealthy nation. I don’t know if we could gather money to pay it off…”

“Mah, don’t worry about it.” Kakashi-sensei replied, shrugging nonchalantly, “the people at the mission desk will work something out. I’ll even drop in a word so that they won’t do anything outrageous, how about it?”

Tazuna nodded, though it was not like he had a choice in the matter. He did need our help after all, and we were his best shot at staying alive. 

“Now then,” he turned to the rest of us. “I suppose that I must say that I was impressed , especially with how the three of you acquitted yourself with the fight just now.”

The three of us exchanged looks. Did Kakashi-sensei just… compliment us?

“Be that as it may, I believe that it is time for you to train. The next time Zabuza comes, his hunter-nin friend would most certainly be there. So some training would most certainly be useful if you would want to stand a better chance.”

Naruto perked up. “Yeah!” Then he blinked before smiling sheepishly at the sensei, “How though?”

“How are all of you at tree walking?”

“Their chakra control has improved to the point in which they could run on walls already, sensei.” I reported.

“Good, then we’ll move on to the next stage then.”

“Sensei,” Sasuke suddenly interrupted, “but what would our arrangement be? Someone still needs to look after Tazuna-san.”

“We’d do it in rotations.” Sensei replied. “One of you will accompany Tazuna at all times, switching with one another on the next day. “

“And if Zabuza turns up?”

“Bring Tazuna back immediately. But considering his injuries, I doubt we’d see him in a week.” Sensei replied dismissively. “We’d just have to hope that Gatou doesn’t have another shinobi of his caliber.” At our worried looks, Kakashi-sensei laughed. “Maa, don’t worry about it. Considering the fact that Gatou is hiring a nuke-nin means that there will be no proper village ninja helping him out, and nuke-nins are expensive and competitive. The chances that he has two under his paycheck are quite impossible.”

“Still, what kind of training are we going to be taking on?” I asked, “if we only have a week, I don’t think that we’d stand any chance against Zabuza no matter how much effort we put in.”

“Says you!” Naruto stuck his tongue out at me, “by the end of the week, I’m going to be able to take on Zabuza, and any other thug that that Gatou would be able to send against us!”

“Keep dreaming.” A voice said, coming from the stairs.

“Inari!” Tazuna cried happily, as he beckoned the pint-sized child with an oversized bucket-head over to him. “Where were you?”

The boy walked over dutifully, giving his grandfather a hug as he did so. “Welcome back grandpa.” He said in a rather deadpan voice.

“Say hello to the ninjas that protected grandpa.” Tsunami said as she exited the kitchen.

He looked at us, before looking back at Tsunami.

“Mom, you know they’re going to die, right?”

“What did you say you little brat!” Naruto yelled.

Inari merely looked at him with soulless eyes. “There’s no way you can defeat Gatou.”

“You brat! I’ll have you know,” Naruto pointed at himself, “I’m going to be the hero that will one day become Hokage! This Gatou guy will have nothing against me!”

“What are you, stupid?” Inari glared back as he turned to leave, “There’s no such thing as a hero!”

I winced. Of course he was going to hit Naruto where it hurts most. As a person that was seeking recognition, being a hero meant everything to Naruto, denying it was effectively refusing to acknowledge every thing that Naruto himself seeks to embody.

It was a tactic that I was planning to use should I ever face off against the Jinchuuriki, though hopefully it would never come to that.

Still, incoming outburst...

“You little brat!” Naruto yelled up at the boy’s departing figure.

Yeah, figured.

“Leave him be.” Kakashi-sensei muttered. “I sense that there’s a story to be had, but I won’t pry.” He looked at us, “Now for the rest of you, Tazuna-san is going to be leaving for the bridge in an hour, I’d want you all to decide who among the you is going to accompany him. The other two will follow me, understood?”

“Understood.” We chorused. It was then when Naruto got this look on him. Almost as if he was thinking about something. I shivered slightly. The words ‘Naruto’ and ‘thinking’ were not to be used lightly in the same sentence.

“Oh yeah!” He clapped his hands together, before turning to me. “Kyoku-chan!”

“Y-yes?”

“How did you do that yesterday?” He asked, eyes sparkling. “You know, the thing with the flying senbon!”

Oh.

Come to think of it, I never did tell them about my magic, had I?

“Ah,” I stalled, before recalling the story that I had cooked up with my father on the go. “It is my bloodlimit,” I explained as I pulled a senbon out of my holster and gripped it in my telekinesis, levitating it before Naruto’s awestruck’s expression and Sasuke’s general curiosity. “I don’t really know what it is though. I only found out about it before I made genin.” I lied. “Kakashi-sensei also knows about it though, but he doesn’t really know what to make of it.”

“Wow.” Naruto said in wonder, “think of all the things that we can do with this!”

“Hn,” Sasuke nodded in approval. Huh, they seem to be taking this rather well. Guess I don’t really need the rest of that elaborate story now…

“If you are all quite finished.” Kakashi-sensei interjected. “Mind if you start getting ready?”





Sasuke, being the most well-rested out of the three of us, volunteered to escort Tazuna for the first day, leaving Naruto and I to accompany Kakashi-sensei along to the village coastline, a place not really too far from the bridge so that we can respond wherever possible.

The first agenda of the training was chakra control. Seeing that we were able to use tree-walking to a certain degree already, sensei tasked us to work with our Water-Walking technique.

Water-walking may seem similar to treewalking at a glance, but in truth, it was a completely different style of chakra control. While you use your chakra to form ‘hooks’, in a manner of speaking’, to grip the surface of trees and walls so that you can walk on them, when it comes to a water body, it was more solidifying the water beneath you such that one can walk on it without sinking.

I can manage it just fine, though as sensei had left mid-training, in the end, it fell to me to help Naruto with his technique. Chiefly me standing next to him as he tried his best and giving him pointers wherever possible while trying to simultaneously levitate a dozen senbons about me with my telekinesis. Thankfully, Naruto and Sasuke had stopped bugging me about it once I had presented them with a levitating senbon which I had then flung straight off into a tree.

Still, now that they knew about it, it meant that I could practice my magic freely about them, and more practice was always a good thing. It took me two years of secret practice for me to even build my mana pool to the level that it was right now, and to develop some of my more basic spells, like telekinesis.

“Hey Kyoku?” He asked, face scrunched up as he was concentrating, trying his best not to sink into the water below.

“Hmmmm?”

“That Zabuza guy, he said that you killed before.” He continued quietly.

I almost lost my concentration then and there, but managed to gather myself quickly enough before I could drop into the water.

“Where did you hear that?” I asked, grabbing him. Apparently, that broke his concentration and he sank into the ocean with a ‘plop’.

“Blurgh! What was that for?” Naruto spat water as he resurfaced. At any other time, I might have had an ounce of sympathy for him, but now? I was too preoccupied with what he had told me.

“I said, where did you hear that?” I hovered over him, I was glaring, I know, but this was something I did not want people to know about. I thought back to the short exchange of words I had with the water clone. Naruto wasn’t there, his clones were, but Sasuke was also there. Did Sasuke tell him? “Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun told you, didn’t he?”

“Tell me what?” Naruto looked up at me suspiciously.

Sasuke did not? Then how did Naruto know? Only his clones were there, if I recall properly.

His clones… No… Wait… No way…

“Naruto-kun, tell me,” I grabbed him and pulled him back to the coastline.  “How did you know Zabuza told me that?”

“Uhhh…” Naruto mumbled. “I don’t know, I just know, I guess?”

That just confirms it. Sasuke did not tell him, so either he has enhanced hearing, or it’s the other possibility...

“Naruto, can you help me with something?” At his curious prompt, I continued, “lend me one of your shadow clones.” A poof of chakra smoke and two Naruto’s were standing before me. “Now can I have the shadow clone follow me aside, please?” They both gave me quizzical looks.

“Uh, so what do you want us to do?”

“I’ll tell you afterwards, just have the shadow clone follow me please.”

Sure they might not understand what I was doing, but if my suspicions were correct, it would all be worth it. All that was needed was just to see if my hypothesis was correct with a simple test.

“Right.” I told the shadow clone. “Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to ask you a question, and then I’m going to see if your original knows what I ask and what you answered, okay?”

He nodded.

“Do you like Sakura-chan?”

The clone stiffened and blushed. I suppressed a smirk.

“Stay here,” I ordered as I made my way back to Naruto.

“Kyoku-chan!” The original Naruto whined as soon as I came back into hearing range. “So? What was it that you were doing?”

“So you do not know?” Huh, I was wrong? I had thought that the clones and Naruto would share a hive-mind or something.

“No,” He replied incredulously, “I was here the whole time!”

“I see.” I muttered, disappointed. I would need to think about this more later. “Well, it was nothing important. Let’s just get back to training before Kakashi-sensei returns.”

“Awww….” Naruto pouted, but formed a handseal all the same to dispel the clone. Then his eyes lit up.

“Naruto-kun?” I asked, a little worried. Did something wrong happen when he was dispelling the clone?

“Y-you…” He blushed and pointed at me. “You asked me if I like Sakura-chan!” He wailed.

I blinked. Huh, that was easier than I thought.

“Hey Naruto.”

“Yes?” He replied, still blushing furiously.

“Can you teach me the shadow clone technique?”
> Land Of Waves IV. New Skills, New Thoughts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing I noticed was the light.

The second thing I registered was the splitting headache I had. It almost felt as though a troop of Yaks had been dancing on it, brought me out for a round of drinks and then tossed me straight into a wall.

Basically, it really hurts.

I groaned aloud, and tried my best to sit up, before a hand pushed me down.

“Stay down, Kyoku-chan. You are in no shape to move.”

I opened my eyes, and blinked a couple of times as my sight readjusted itself before finding myself looking upon the masked face of Kakashi-sensei. He wasn’t looking at me though, and had his one eye trained upon his signature copy of ‘Icha Icha Tactics’ in his hand.

Yeah, sensei likes a porno book called ‘Make-Out Paradise’. Ew.

“Urgh, hi sensei… What happened?”

“You tried to use the Shadow Clone technique without the appropriate chakra pool.” Sensei replied, not looking up at me.  “Though one might question why you would such a reckless thing.”

Ah, so that’s why. I winced slightly as I remembered Naruto teaching me the jutsu. I tried if for myself for a little while, even managing to bring forth a clone before I felt something like a brick wall slammed into my head and caused me to black out.

That was probably what sudden chakra deprivation felt like. Oh joy, now I get to feel what sensei feels.

“On the bright side, you are not dead nor in a coma.” Kakashi-sensei continued brightly, “which one can attribute to a miracle.”

I paled. Was the Shadow Clone Technique really that dangerous?

“Yes it is,” Sensei said. Apparently I had said my thoughts aloud. “The shadow clone differs from the remaining clone technique because it divides the user's chakra  evenly among the number of clones you made.” He eyed me though his expression was unreadable. "As such, there was a reason why it was a forbidden technique. Still, why did you want to learn the technique?"

"Eh," Should I tell him the truth? I shook my head, which was hurting like hell. Making up a lie was too risky at this point, better just say the truth. "Naruto and I found out that information could transfer between the shadow clones upon their disappearance, it seemed like something useful to have..."

"Mmmh, useful indeed." Kakashi-sensei nodded as he closed his eye, seemingly in thought.

“Right…” I looked at him. “Sensei, any pointers for increasing my chakra pool?”

“Mmmmmh,” He thought for a moment, though he still kept his eye trained on his book. “You could always strain your chakra coils by making sure that you reach your maximum usage of chakra each day. It would help condition your coils to produce a little more chakra each day. I wouldn’t recommend it, though.”

“Why, sensei?”

“Because it would mean that you would end up being very sore the next day.”

Really? Seemed like a small price to pay. I also did not miss the fact that it was also the same method I was currently using to grow my mana pool. Perhaps magic and chakra were somewhat related?

“Now enough of talking, you need your rest.”

Unfortunately, now that I was awake and slightly aware of the soreness within me, I found that falling asleep was not really an option at the moment, due to the sharp aches throughout the body rendering myself unable to drift off into sleep. With nothing better to do, I stared up at the ceiling and did the only exercise that was possible for me to do at the moment that could also help me ignore my current plight.

Reimagining the fight the other day. Specifically, the one with our most formidable adversary yet, especially since Kakashi-sensei said that we would meet him again.

He was truly a dangerous foe, now that I think about it. Cocky and arrogant? Definitely, but also extremely dangerous.

I spared a glance at Kakashi-sensei. There had been rumors that Kakashi-sensei was the top ninja in Konohagakure, and the closest one to becoming the next Kage, despite his lackadaisical attitude. The fact that Zabuza Momochi could push him to such an extent spoke a great deal of that nuke-nin’s skill. 

But still, something just did not seem to add up. In fact, the more that I thought about Zabuza’s actions, the more that I felt that something was out of place.

Perhaps it would not hurt to get a second opinion on this.

“Sensei, can I ask you a question?”

“Hmmmm?” He did not look up from his book, but I could tell that he was paying attention.

“When you fought Zabuza, did you feel something weird about him?”

“Oh, how so?”

“He could have killed Tazuna-san at any time, don’t you think?”

Kakashi-sensei pondered my words thoughtfully. I took his silence as approval to continue, “Then there was the hunter-nin, he could have killed Tazuna easily while Zabuza was fighting us, but they did not.”

“True, but then, would it have mattered?”

I widened my eyes, surprised, “Pardon?”

Kakashi-sensei closed his book and looked at me. “Even if Zabuza would have an ulterior motive when facing us, would it have mattered if we know what he wants?”

“But wouldn’t it be easier to know what he wants?” I replied, a little bit more defensively than I would have liked but I was shaken by his uncaring attitude. “If we could work it out with him…”

Kakashi-sensei sighed. “What is our mission, Kyoku-chan?”

I blinked, why the sudden change of topic? “To protect Tazuna-san.” I replied.

“And that is what we will do.” Kakashi-sensei said. “We are shinobis, first and foremost, and fulfilling our duties is what we must do. Protecting each other, for example.” He smiled at me, “and completing the mission, for another.”

“Our foremost concern is to protect Tazuna-san. So Kyoku-chan, so long as Zabuza and his hunter-nin friend seeks to kill him at the behest of Gatou, we will do our job, and protect him by any means necessary. Sure, knowing his motive may help us, but as long as he still seeks to kill Tazuna-san, we will have no choice but to face him in battle.” He smiled at me, “regardless, that was helpful of you to bring to my attention, I will keep what you said in mind.”

He went straight back to reading his book after that, leaving me to mull over what he said in silence.





The day passed and soon I was considered fit for duty. Of course. Duty meaning training, as Naruto volunteered to take my shift on the bridge. He probably felt a little guilty about what happened to me, when I knocked myself out trying to perform a jutsu out of my league the other day.

He was a nice kid that way. I resolved to treat him a little better.

On another note, I managed to convince Kakashi-sensei to impart me a nice little jutsu, citing a possible encounter with Zabuza as the reason. Besides, I was already rather proficient in the art of Water Walking, and having a counter to Zabuza’s Hidden Mist Technique would be a godsend.

Fine, I’ll be honest, I just wanted another technique in my arsenal.

So here I was, in the woods not too far off from the village, learning. Considering that this was a D-ranked ninjutsu, I should be able to learn it within the week, though I was currently stuck on step one.

Dog. Horse. Bird. I thought, forming the handseals respectively. Dog. Horse. Bird. Dog. Horse. Bird. Dog. Horse. Bird. Dog. Horse. Bird. Dog. Horse.”

“Faster.” Kakashi-sensei called out from his little spot under some trees.

I nearly cursed aloud when he broke my concentration, but dutifully collected myself and sped up. Handseals were a requirement when learning new techniques, as they provide a focus for the shinobi in question to channel their chakra. There were twelve standard ones, with certain handseals associated with certain jutsus. Of course, there were other variations out there, like Naruto’s cross seal for his shadow clone technique, but in the end, the function they served was the same.

To use a technique, one must follow three simple steps. First, they had to gather the chakra they wish to use for the technique, next would be to mould it, to turn it into the appropriate form for the jutsu in question, whether that be a simple body reinforcement jutsu or a nature release technique like Sasuke’s Grand Fireball technique. Finally, they would release it, achieving the desired effect. Handseals forms the basis of the second step of the equation, helping the shinobi in question concentrate as they ‘prepare’ their techniques.

Simply put, they were mnemonics.

Why? One need only need to look back at the shinobi history, where they will find clues of powerful shinobis that do not need handseals to release their jutsu. Of course, the process was not highly recommended, as a lack of fine focus and chakra control might lead to said chakra being needlessly wasted when moulding the jutsu. Wasting more chakra on the technique than necessary as a result.

So, in short, start from the basics: Handseals.

Which was why learning a new ninjutsu was always a rather tedious process. First, one needs to practice the handseals for the technique, to the point that it becomes natural and swift enough to be efficient on the battlefield. Then they need to learn how to channel the chakra to the appropriate element. Lastly, one needs to properly control the technique so that it would have the desired effect that the user wants.

“Kyoku-chan, you need to speed up.”

“Yes sensei,” I replied, groaning internally.

Dog. Horse. Bird.





The days passed by quickly, or slowly if you would. Each day was a standard mix between training and standing guard. Truth be told, Naruto and Sasuke’s progress at the Water Walking technique was faster than I had predicted. Sure, they weren’t masters at it yet like Kakashi-sensei, one does not simply become experts at the flow of chakra over the course of a single week, but they were at least proficient enough at it.

I’d actually resent that. Or at least, I would if I was not running myself ragged by the end of everyday that I was not standing guard. My routine was actually simple, either training with the boys in the day, or practicing my new ninjutsu, all the while trying to hit my chakra and magical limits by expending as much of it as I possibly could without impairing myself.

Of course, it appears that Kakashi-sensei was not lying about the soreness that comes with chakra and magical depletion. I winced as I attempted to reach out for one of the bread on the table. Truth be told, I had not expected the situation in the Land of the Waves to be so dire. Inflation was insane here, food prices cost six times the prices that you would had gotten them for in Konoha, and even then, there were not enough in each store to go around. Tazuna-san was one of the wealthier ones, capable of putting food on the table for all of us for the time being, but even then, he had confessed that his funds were getting low.

“Where are Naruto and Sasuke?” Kakashi-sensei asked.

“Probably still out training.” I shrugged, wincing a bit as I did so. Though I did not miss how quickly Inari had excused himself from the table. Not surprising, considering how heated Naruto had been when he had argued with and lectured the younger boy on his weakness the other day.

“Mmmmh, how is that new jutsu for you coming along?” Sensei asked.

“I think I got it down.” I smiled as best as I could, “though I still lack a bit of control though.”

“Are you sure that you’re not pushing your kids too hard, sensei?” Tazuna asked. “These days they seem so much more tired than usual.”

“Mah, the important thing is that they are learning.” Kakashi-sensei smiled, shrugging as he did so. “Besides, they bounce back really fast.”

I snorted at the small humorous slight that Sensei had tossed at me, turning back to the meal at hand. 

“We’re back!” Naruto crowed as he made it through the front door, on the back of Sasuke.

“He trained until he was exhausted again didn’t he?” I asked Sasuke, who nodded in affirmation. Looking at Naruto, I shook my head. “YOu shouldn’t do that, what happens if Zabuza attacks in the middle of the night?”

“Says the one who have been draining her chakra coils dry each day.” Sensei muttered.

“Touche.” Though inwardly I resented that. I was still relatively fit for combat, and if I did need a chakra boost, the soldier pills which I had bought would have been sufficient.

“Well,” Kakashi-sensei nodded, closing his book, causing the rest of us to look at him. Rule one of Team Seven, when sensei closes the book, he was serious. “Tomorrow Naruto will be guarding the house. Sasuke, Kyoku, the two of you will be accompanying Tazuna-san along with me tomorrow.”

“Kakashi-sensei,” Sasuke asked. “You’ve fully recovered already?”

“More or less,” He shrugged. “The reason for the sudden change in deployment is Tazuna-san’s bridge is nearing completion. As Zabuza was hired to kill Tazuna-san to prevent the completion of the bridge, there will be a high chance that he would strike within the next few days.”

“But,” Naruto raised his hand, “Wouldn’t it be better for all of us to be present?”

“Because there’s a chance that they would strike here.” He answered before looking to the rest of us, “anyone knows why?”

Right, learning on the field with Kakashi-sensei.

“Because a hostage situation will be extremely valuable to them.” I answered, “especially considering that Zabuza had been defeated by you before.”

“Correct,” Kakashi-sensei nodded, “and that means that in order to level the playing field, there is a good chance that they will attempt to capture Inari and Tsunami-san here.” He looked at Naruto. “Your job would be to protect them, understood?”

“Yes! Sensei!” Naruto saluted, almost falling off Sasuke’s back if not for the Uchiha’s quick reflexes.

“Now get some sleep.” Kakashi-sensei said, “you’ll need it.”





The next morning saw the four of us fresh and properly geared.

“Take care!” Yelled Naruto, or one of his clones, I could never really tell. Still, I gave him a nod as I moved out of sight of the compound. The walk to the bridge was relatively quiet, though Sasuke and I kept ourselves alert. Especially since we did not know when or where Zabuza would strike, not to mention that hunter-nin friend of his.

No incidents occurred on our way to the construction site, though it did not escape my notice that the mist around the area was gradually thickening as we walked along.

“Sensei,” I whispered. “This mist is not natural.”

“Trap?” Sasuke  asked.

Tazuna stiffened visibly, but Kakashi-sensei took it in in his usual nonchalant manner, walking forward without a care.

The message was obvious: Spring the Trap.

We continued on into the mist, which was gradually increasing in opacity as we moved onto the bridge. However as we neared the end of the incomplete structure, Tazuna let out a gasp.

We looked to him, only to see the man pointing at the edge of the bridge. Turning about, I grimaced as I took in the scene.

Bodies lying on the ground, motionless. From the looks of it, they seemed to be Tazuna’s workers.

“Sasuke.” Kakashi-sensei said.

Nodding, he walked forward towards one of the bodies, as he did, I watched his surroundings intently, in case he was walking into a trap and needed backup. My worries were for naught, as he arrived at the nearest corpse without incident and knelt beside it.

Alive. He signed back at us.

“They are alive.” I said, mostly to assure Tazuna as he did not understand our sign language.

“Thank goodness.” He sighed in relief.

“Don’t let your guard down, Tazuna-san.” Sensei said even as the mist began forming around us, thickening far too quickly to be natural. “Sasuke, get back here.” The Uchiha nodded and quickly returned to us.

“Hello again Kakashi.” Zabuza’s voice filtered out from the mist eerily.  “I see you brought your brats along with you again.” A chuckle rang throughout the air.

The mist dispersed, and I widened my eyes in surprise as I took in not one but ten Zabuzas surrounding us.

Water clones!

Still, we had a plan for this situation.

“Sasuke, do it.” Sensei said calmly.

Ten swords spun in motion, but Sasuke was faster still, a kunai in each of his hand swinging and stabbing in a blur of movement as he leapt from one clone to the next. In a span of two eyeblinks, where there once stood ten Zabuzas, there were now puddles of water, the only reminder that they were there. Sasuke swiftly returned to his position at the side of Tazuna, barely out of breath.

“Impressive.” Zabuza said, striding out of the mist, with the Hunter-nin that had carried him off following him closely. It did not escape my notice that they were now between us and the only escape route off the bridge, barring the water around us.

“Remember the plan, my little genins.” Kakashi-sensei said as he stood in front of us.

“Yeah…” I muttered in response.

We had a plan, a very simple plan.By right, I would have had no cause to be worried, but for some reason, when I look at that boy in the Hunter-nin mask standing opposite me, I could not help but feel a sense of unease.

And I did not like it one bit.
> Land Of Waves V. Battle on the Bridge
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Never expected to see you here so soon again, Zabuza.” Kakashi-sensei said casually, as though the earlier conflict never happened, dispelling the tense atmosphere with a single sentence.

Actually, scratch that, I was still nervous as heck and could you blame me? Our adversaries were Zabuza Momochi, a shinobi who could match Kakashi-sensei in wiles and tactics, and a hunter-nin boy who could hit two vital points on the neck from fifty yards away.

Like hell I was going to be calm and casual about walking into a fight with them. Not to mention that there was something about the boy that just puts me off.

It was weird.

“And I see that I was also right about your accomplice.” Sensei continued as he looked at the Hunter-nin. I couldn’t see his expression from here, but from the tone of his voice alone felt as though he were a little annoyed.

Probably at the fact that he got tricked. I could imagine that it was something that rarely happens to him on the field.

“Hahaha,” Zabuza chuckled. “Looks like you have pissed him off, Haku.”

“That can’t be helped, Zabuza-sama.” Haku replied. “Though it is regrettable.”

“So, you wanna take him? Or shall I?” I asked Sasuke, glancing at him. “Unless you want to do it together.”

“I will.” Sasuke snorted, “I hate guys like him the most, tricking us with that stupid act.”

Well, that was kind of his job… But I didn’t say it out aloud. Instead, I nodded and looked at Sensei, “I’ll provide support from beside Tazuna then?”

“Yeah, you do that.” Sensei replied, eye never leaving the two missing nins. I immediately took position beside Tazuna, running over what available techniques i had which could be applicable now.

Then, without warning, it started.

No words were exchanged as Sasuke and Haku leapt at one another with chakra empowered lunges. They met each other in a burst of speed, senbon and kunai swinging so quickly that I had to channel chakra into my eyes to be able to keep up with the melee.

Haku was fast, but Sasuke matched him blow for blow. For a moment they seemed evenly matched, even in strength as they finally locked weapons against one another after exchanging a flurry of attacks.

“You’re strong,” I heard him say to Sasuke, though I had to strain to hear what they said. “But I’m afraid that if you don’t stand down. I’m going to have to kill you.”

Why did that sound so weird coming from him?

“Don’t be foolish.” Sasuke retorted confidently.

“We’ll see,” Haku said, raising his hand, and it blurred into a series of motion.

One handed handseals?! Were the first thoughts that came to me. Those were practically unheard of. Handseals were done by both hands for a reason, which was a prominent factor why many ninjas saw fit to retire after losing one of their limbs.

Still, the fact that he was doing it meant that it was possible…

I did not had much to time to dwell on the thought as Haku tapped on the water left behind by the water clones with his feet, his technique making a trio of ice spikes rise from the ground, threatening to impale Sasuke. Breaking the weaponlock, Sasuke did the obvious thing, he leapt away from certain doom, only to find Haku hot on his heels.

It would have been a good idea to run, but if you knew Sasuke, then running was the last thing you expect him to do.

As such, when he turned upon Haku mid-jump, the surprised masked boy only barely brought his hands up to block a kick, which Sasuke quickly followed up with a downward chop which sent him into the ground. To his credit, Haku managed to right himself in time, landing on all fours to break his fall but had no time to recover as Sasuke fell onto him from above like a vengeful spirit.

Haku was on the defensive now and from my fights with Sasuke, I know enough that once you gave him the initiative, there was almost no winning it back.

Yes, much as I’d hate to admit it, the top of the class was just that good.

Sasuke rained a flurry of strikes onto the other boy, chipping away at him rapidly, and not giving him the chance to regroup. Then I saw Zabuza tensed.

I drew my senbon as he leapt, hands forming handseals as he dashed forward, the mist around him thickening as he charged. Faster than I could follow, Kakashi sensei met him, Hitai-ate already pulled up and Sharingan eye revealed, his own kunai clashing with Zabuza’s. The two shinobis locked weapons for a second and then, they were lost for my sight as the mist obscured the two scenes of combat from my sight.

“Tazuna-san, stick close to me.” I said to the old man behind me even as I sent a surge of magic about me, revealing the various life signatures in the area. One was standing still, with the other slowly circling it, while the other one was dancing about erratically. I frowned, wasn’t there supposed to be a fourth?

Was there a kind of ninjutsu that could eliminate one’s own life signature? If there was, then that would render my spell completely ineffective. That could not be good.

No, not good at all. I realised as the lifesign that was moving about came to a sudden stop, pulsing just a mite weaker than it was.

Not good. Especially if they do possess a technique that could eliminate their own life signature, there was no way that I could notice if they were heading towards me. Not to mention with all this mist in the way, it would make detection all the more difficult.

Guess I had to do it. I just hope I had enough chakra.

“Tazuna-san, you might want to get down.”

I brought my hands together. Horse. Dog. Bird. I felt the chakra gather in my stomach and flow up to my mouth, my cheeks swelling up with the highly pressured air. I felt the familiar fatigue from using more than half my chakra setting in, but ignored it. I just hope that the amount I was putting in was enough.

Wind Release: Breakthrough!

I still had not gotten it down properly on the control portion of the equation yet. But considering that all I needed was merely to blow away this offending mist, control was pretty much the last thing that I needed right now. I opened my mouth, releasing a powerful gust of wind which pushed back the thickening mist, clearing it from the area from before me.

Unlike what I had originally hoped for, the mist was not immediately dispersed from my technique, especially considering how much chakra Zabuza had placed into his jutsu compared to me into mine, but it was enough.

Zabuza wore a surprised look on his face as his mist was pushed back, revealing him to Kakashi-sensei who immediately leapt at him, stabbing out with his kunai as he did so. The nuke-nin reacted a lot slower than I would have thought he normally did, and that small opening cost him dearly, forcing him to go onto the defensive and into a situation where he could not put the Kubikiribocho that he was so proficient in to use.

Not exactly a position you want to be in, especially when your opponent was Kakashi-sensei.

Still, my attention was soon turned to the other combat that was currently occurring. My eyes widened in wonder as I took in the dome of crystal-like mirrors that occupied the part of bridge just beyond sensei and Zabuza’s melee.

No, not crystal, I realised. Ice.

Definitely the Haku boy’s work and from where I was standing, it was impossible for me to see what was going on inside. The life signature within was definitely Sasuke’s, because if he was dead, perish the thought, Haku would already be out here helping.

Still, I could not help but bite my lip in worry.

“You can go, y’know?” Tazuna smiled at me reassuringly when I turned to look at him. “I’ll be fine.”

I was half tempted to accept his offer, but I shook my head. “Sorry, Tazuna-san, but our job is to protect you.” I looked forward, ignoring the look that Tazuna gave me, “Unless I can ensure that, I won’t leave this place. Besides,” I smiled, though whether that was to reassure him or myself I could not say, “Sasuke’ll be fine.”

He better be.

Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza had split up already, and I was half tempted to shout out to sensei for permission to help Sasuke, but I bit back the temptation. In a fight between Jounin, every opening, no matter how small, counts. A distraction right now might just even the playing field between him and Zabuza, and that was not a hint that I was willing to take.

It was for that exact same reason why Zabuza dare not draw his Kubikiribocho right now. Unslinging would take too much time, and present too much of an opening than he could afford to make.

“Kyoku-chan!”

Wait.

What?

What the hell was he doing here?

I turned as Naruto touched down beside me. “What’re you doing here?” I demanded, “Aren’t you supposed to be protecting Inari and Tsunami?”

“Yup! Gatou sent men after them.” At my worried look, he hastily added, “But I got them good, and they blabbed about some attack on the bridge right now, so I rushed over here as fast as I could!”

“Leaving them alone? Are you crazy?” I advanced on him. He better have left some clones back there or I’ll...

“Woah.” Naruto held his hands up, “don’t worry! I left some of my shadow clones back there.” he said and I relaxed immediately. “They’re safe.”

Good. Seriously, couldn’t he have reported that first? Way to almost give me a heart attack.

“So what’s going on?”

I looked at him, a couple of scenarios running through my mind and chose one. “Make a couple more shadow clones to guard Tazuna, and go help Sasuke.” Hopefully he did not need it, but one couldn’t help but be sure.

Naruto grinned, perhaps a little too brightly at the fact that he was going to be helping Sasuke. “Right!” He jumped to the side, putting Kakashi-sensei between himself and Zabuza as he ran to help out our teammate.

“And you?” Tazuna asked.

“You got Naruto’s shadow clones now.” I said simply as I pulled out a brace of senbon, putting them between my fingers. “You’re safe.”

Our team composition was simple. Naruto was our frontliner and crowd control, Sasuke our hardest hitter and ninjutsu specialist, and me, a midrange fighter that doubles as a support. While our fighting style complements each other, in truth, I was the only one who could probably fight alongside Kakashi-sensei against an opponent of his caliber and not get in the way. Not to brag or anything, but I was pretty much the only one among our entire team who could fight safely behind him.

It was a coward’s way of fighting, but it works and sensei knows it. Considering how he had been keeping Zabuza away from me all this while. 

Snapping my hands forward, I sent a flurry of senbons hurtling at Zabuza. He noticed them, swinging his kunai up to deflect a couple of them while dodging the rest, all while still keeping his eyes on Kakashi-sensei. From where I stood, I could swear that he snorted, as though mocking my efforts to help my sensei.

I raised my hand, and a green aura formed itself around each of the six senbons before launching themselves at him again. He was smirking slightly before then, but he was definitely not smirking when he realised that he had let his guard down against me too early, and he was most definitely not smirking when Kakashi-sensei was on him.

I had to give him credit though, being able to keep up with my telekinetically propelled senbons harassing him and fending off Kakashi-sensei’s attacks to the point where I could begin to feel the strain of using my magic. He was a great ninja, that was for sure, but the cold hard truth was that no amount of jutsus nor techniques could save you when you just did not have the time to use them.

And Kakashi-sensei’s taijutsu was noticeably better than his. Chipping away at him little by little with his kunai. A small stab here, a shallow cut there, the wounds on Zabuza slowly accumulated, and it showed in his movements, especially, when my senbons darting about him begin to score hits of their own on him, sinking into his flesh.

The paralyzing mixture that I applied onto them probably helped too.

I did not know how long it took, but soon it began to show, the multiple bleeding wounds and the paralyzing drug finally taking its toll on him. He knew it too, and attempted to put some distance between himself and Kakashi, either so he could beat a swift retreat or so he could finally pull out his Kubikiribocho. Regardless, Kakashi-sensei did not give him that chance, and harassed him accordingly every step of the way.

I did my part too, my senbons darting around the two combatants, harassing the nuke-nin alongside my sensei. Still, even with our combined efforts, Zabuza proved himself a tough opponent to bring down. So that was when I took a gamble, solidifying a telekinetic grip on one of Zabuza’s legs.

I had thought that a ninja of his caliber would have noticed the green aura surrounding one of his legs. I suppose that he was so preoccupied with the threat before him that he was not paying attention to anything else. It was almost disappointing, but I would admit that I did take a bit of pleasure from when I literally pulled on his leg, causing him to stumble. His surprised expression was kind of priceless.

Not one to miss his opportunity, Kakashi capitalised on his opponent’s weakness. A quick stab, and one of Zabuza’s arms hung limply. A vicious slice later, and the nuke-nin slumped to the ground, one of his legs rendered useless by the deep gash that now ran through it.

“It’s over Zabuza.” Kakashi-sensei said as he walked over to his adversary. An outsider might call his slow gait gloating, but one need only look closely at him to notice how tense his legs were, rather to dart in any direction at the moment’s notice.

Even when Zabuza was seemingly helpless before him, sensei had yet to let his guard down. I emulated his example, my senbons floating into place around Zabuza, ready to dive into him at the moment’s notice.

Zabuza eyed my suspended senbons for a bit, before looking at Kakashi-sensei. “Over? Don’t make me laugh.”

“Don’t be foolish.” Kakashi-sensei continued, “your underestimation of my team had cost you greatly, and you are hardly in a state to continue fighting.” He glanced at me briefly, “Paralyzing poison right, Kyoku-chan? One from the Yamanaka’s brand?”

“Yes sensei.” I replied, slightly annoyed that he decided to reveal one of my assets in front of an enemy.

“Interesting technique your brat has.” Zabuza replied. “Reminds me of Haku, in a certain way.”

“Thanks for the compliment.” Kakashi-sensei interjected before I could retort.

“It wasn’t.” Zabuza rasped. “Haku is a tool for me to use, just like she is one for you.” He looked at me. “Shinobis are tools for those above us, isn’t that right, Kakashi?”

“Wrong.” Kakashi-sensei said with such certainty that it dispelled the growing anger within me. “My genins are my teammates, my students, not my tools. And I will protect them.”

Huh, that was actually kind of cool… Not that I'll ever say it to his face...

“Heh.” Zabuza snorted. “Foolish.”

“Now, Zabuza,” Kakashi-sensei said, pointing his kunai at the nuke-nin. “I’ll only say it one more time. Surrender.”

Silence.

Kakashi raised his kunai and slashed. He drew blood, but not Zabuza’s blood. I gaped openly as a person, who could only be Haku without a mask, appeared between Kakashi and Zabuza in a burst of speed that was faster than I would have thought possible, one of his arms bleeding from sensei’s attack.

More out of instinct than anything else, my hand closed, and my senbons flung themselves at Zabuza’s neck.

He was too weak to dodge, so it fell to Haku to protect him. In a blur of motion, he lashed out with his own senbon, deflecting dozens of mine in a flurry of blows.

Deflecting all but one.

“ZABUZA-SAMA!”

As that heart-wrenching cry left his lips, Haku held onto the older ninja who looked dumbly at the twenty-centimeter needle protruding from his neck dumbly. His gaze travelled up to me, before his body slumped forward lifelessly.

“Zabuza-sama!” Haku cried as he cradled his superior, gently lowering him to the ground. Kakashi-sensei took the time to move between me and him. I appreciate the thoughtfulness, I did kill Zabuza, after all, and considering how distraught the boy was, there was a great chance that he would come after me for revenge.

“Haku!” Came… Naruto’s voice?

I looked up to see Naruto and Sasuke approaching, riddled in dozens of cuts. I heaved a sigh of relief when I managed to determine that they were mostly shallow non-lethal.

What the hell happened though? When Sasuke was fighting Haku, he had been dominating the other boy, but once the mist set in, what kind of technique was that dome of ice mirrors such that Haku was able to overpower not only him, but also Naruto?

No time to dwell on such thoughts, as Haku finally stood up, drawing all of our attention. Now that I had a good look at him, he looked more like a girl than boy, though that fact did nothing to hide the grief and anger in his eyes.

He looked at us, about to speak. Except that a sudden horn blowing interrupted everything which he was about to say. All of us looked in its direction, and saw a ship docking itself at the side of the bridge, its passengers, a motley crew of thugs wielding a variety of weapons. Mercenaries, probably. I did a quick head count. A hundred, maybe more.

Then from within them, came a short man wearing a suit, his rather expensive looking cane tapping on the ground as he walked. 

Weasel. That was my first impression of him, that man had an air about him, one of self-importance, almost as bad as the nobles I had to deal with back home, if not worse. He probably did not even need that cane, considering that he was hardly limping. This was a man who dressed to show the world how important he felt he was, and I disliked him greatly.

Guess we found the mastermind.

“Well, well, well.” Gatou mused as he walked forward, flanked by a couple of his mercenaries. “I came here to see how well that Zabuza had done today and what do I find?” His voice cracked with amusement as he chortled. “He’s dead! Ha! What a joke!”

“What did you say?” Haku said frostily, turning to look at Gatou.

“Oh yes,” Gatou sniffed disdainfully. “And you, his little lackey. I haven’t forgotten how you almost broke my arm that one time.”

Huh, bad working relationship much?

“Well,” He pointed at Haku with his cane, “I suppose now’s a good time to repay that little slight.” He smiled gleefully, “but don’t get me wrong, this had always been part of the plan.”

Haku’s eyes widened in surprise, and Gatou, seeing his expression, chuckled delightfully. “Don’t worry about it, it’s just how business is done. You see, hiring a ninja from a village is really expensive, that’s why I tend to prefer nuke-nins like you scum.” He sneered, “After which I’d have you all battle each other to the brink of death before I kill them off with numbers. Doesn’t even cost me a penny, good plan, don’t you think?”

I raised an eyebrow at that. Seriously? Did he just do a full villain exposition and monologue? Was this guy dumb, or was he just dumb?

“The only problem,” he continued, blissfully unaware of how dangerously quiet Haku was, “was Zabuza. But I see that I needn’t have worried. Devil in the Mist? HA! In the end he’s just a stupid little baby de-”

At that moment, I understood something, why Haku’s words earlier had felt weird. He had spoken of killing but had not a single shred of killing intent behind those words, nor his actions. I understood this clearly when I felt his killing intent suddenly spiking now. An intent to kill born of pure rage, indignation and contempt.

I had expected him to do something, I was even looking for it, but even then, it happened so fast that I missed it entirely.

All I know was that one moment, Gatou was speaking. And the next, he was pierced by Kubikiribocho like a pig on a spit, the massive blade stabbing into ground, propping him up.

Gatou looked down at the massive blade piercing his body, made to say something, but slumped over lifeless, his last words dying in his mouth.

“Don’t you dare,” Body still bent in the throwing position, Haku growled, his features contorted into a terrifying glare, “slander Zabuza-sama!”

“What happened?” Naruto asked, but no one answered, considering how shocked we all were by the speed of what had happened in the past few minutes.

“What the heck, kid!” One of the mercenaries yelled. “That was our meal ticket!”

That set off another one. “Damn ninjas! You killed him!”

And another one. “Pillage the city!”

“Take everything of value!”

“Sensei,” I said, turning to Kakashi-sensei. “Orders?”

“If they attack, kill them.” Sensei replied.

The mob worked themselves into a frenzy, getting ready to charge. That was when an arrow buried itself in front of them.

What the hell? I turned, and right behind me, I could see a mob of the villagers brandishing all sorts of weapons. Some have crossbows, some have spears and many more were toting makeshift weapons like spears, rakes and even a couple rolling pins. At their forefront, was none other than Inari, flanked by a couple of Narutos like some sort of royal guard. 

“Come any closer to our Island,” He yelled as he reloaded his crossbow, “and the citizens of this country will stop you with everything we got!” The crowd behind him roared their approval of his speech.

The mercenary army howled their defiance and charged.

Mayhem ensued.

To be honest, this was the first large scale battle I had ever fought, and boy was I glad for all that training against Naruto. First rule of a large scale battle, once you were surrounded, you’re dead. I darted left and right, never staying in a place for two long, slinging senbons into people’s faces, slashing my kunai wherever one of them got too close and even fought back to back with Haku for a certain period of time. It was nerve-wracking, I half-expected him to stab me in the back during the entire period, and I was glad when we had to split up when a mob of mercenaries charged us.

Off to the sides, Naruto and Sasuke were helping to hold back the flanks all by themselves. Naruto overwhelming dozens of thugs with his clones while Sasuke leapt around, slinging shurikens and spitting fire to keep his opponents back.

Then there was Kakashi-sensei, a force of nature onto himself, overwhelming dozens of mercenaries with one powerful jutsu after another. At one time, he summoned forth a great tornado, sending multiple thugs flying off into the river, at another time, a great river dragon rose from the waters from the side of the village, smashing itself into the mercenary lines, sweeping them off the bridge by the dozens.

It was hectic, bloody and messy. And then, it was over.

I slumped onto the railings of the bridge, breathing heavily. My magic was almost dry and my chakra was running dangerously low. Regardless, I still kept an eye out at Haku, who was cradling Zabuza’s body off to the side.

I was soon joined by Naruto, and then Sasuke. They both looked tired, a little happy, but I could see that they had a little haunted look in their eyes, Naruto more so than Sasuke. It was probably their first time killing someone.

I should probably tell Kakashi-sensei later. They’d need counseling.

“Well, my little genins. I’m glad to see that you are all safe.” We looked up into his eye, I’d like to say that I was a little comforted by the look of concern within it.

“Glad to see you too.” I rasped, my throat was dry. “Will he be causing us any trouble?” I asked, indicating Haku with a jerk of my head.

“What? No way!” Naruto yelled. “Haku-san won’t fight us!”

Haku-san? Since when was Naruto so chummy with that boy? “Says you, you're not the one that killed Zabuza.”

"Hard to say," Kakashi-sensei said, shaking his head as he did so. "His bloodlust is spent, as far as I'm concerned. But grief makes people do things we would never imagine."

“I see.” Burying my face in my knees as I hugged my thighs to my chest. 

We won the battle, but for some reason, I never expected it to be so... tasteless.
> Land Of Waves VI. Looking Forward
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twelve dead, twenty injured, not counting Kakashi-sensei, the three of us, Zabuza and Haku. Considering that about seventy-plus villagers came by to aid us against Gatou’s hundred and odd men, it was nothing short of a miracle that we got away with what casualties we had.

Surprisingly, Kakashi-sensei acquiesced to Haku’s plea to allow him to leave our custody, on the condition that they do not resume hostility against us. Sasuke and I weren’t exactly happy about it, though since it was an order, we didn’t really have a choice about it.

Naruto, on the other hand, was perfectly elated about the fact that all of us weren’t enemies anymore.

On that note, we finally found how Naruto knew Haku.

Turns out that he met the pretty boy during one of his training sessions, and became quick friends with him. Sasuke and I exchanged exasperated looks when we heard his tale, though we couldn’t blame him, considering that Haku was in civilian clothing and the fact  that we did not even know what he looked like.

Regardless, I kept my distance from him. Especially considering the fact that I was the one who killed Zabuza, even though Kakashi-sensei was also complicit in the very act as well. Still, unlike Kakashi-sensei, I don’t exactly possess the skills needed to face him one on one even if he comes after me.

I was really relieved when he finally left, carrying Zabuza off on his back. Naruto was the only one who waved goodbye while Sasuke and I watched him leave warily. No sense letting our guard down since our mission had yet to end.

Thanks to all the ‘excitement’ that had occurred, Tazuna decided to postpone building the bridge for at least another two days, so that his workers could recover from the state that Zabuza had left them in and also so that the other villagers could settle the matter of their dead. Truth be told, I think he did it out of concern for both the three of us and Inari, just so that we did not need partake in the cleanup of the bodies.

It was nice of him. Unnecessary, but nice.

That night, we took turns to stand guard, though Naruto and Sasuke were called in early by Kakashi-sensei. From the sound of their discussion, he was probably counselling the boys on the conscience of a ninja, a thing that was taught to be necessary but also extremely fatal to a Shinobi. Necessary so that a ninja did not take to killing like a serial killer, but fatal in that being too merciful had cost more than a few fledgling shinobis their lives. Though I guess that would make me a hypocrite, since I did not actually took it to heart myself. Don't get the wrong idea about me though, while killing people never really bothered me too much, I would not say that I particularly enjoyed it myself.

Perhaps that was why I never did mix well with the other kids back in Oto.

I didn’t mule over it too much myself. I made my very first kill within weeks of arriving in this world. My first assignment in Otogakure was to kill one of the trainees in my group and I had probably killed many more since and watched plenty  others get killed with these two very eyes. Like Ume...

No idea how many I had slain though, it was far easier to forget. That way I could still sleep properly at night, unlike some of the other kids.

It was not a pretty sight, I’d tell you. Many of those other children I trained with could not get over the trauma of their first kill, it was unnerving how many of them just stopped. Those were put down mercilessly by the instructors, an example to us all of the consequences for failure. That was the moment when I realized how Orochimaru ran things in Otogakure.

Fear.

I could get behind that, considering that it was how I did things back in Canterlot. Of course, I didn’t really enjoy that feeling of fear hanging over my head, but Orochimaru-sama did save me, and let it be said that I always repay my debts.

I still have morals to uphold after all.

Footsteps behind me alerted me to Kakashi-sensei climbing up onto the roof to join me. “Hello, Kyoku-chan, you can go in now.” He said, hands in his pockets as he balanced himself perfectly off the edge of the roof.

“I’d like to stay up a little more.” I replied. I wasn’t feeling especially tired, having taken a little nap just now before my turn on the watch.

He sat down beside me.

“Couldn’t sleep?” he said, as he looked at me, concern in his eye. I noticed unwittingly that he had placed himself just on the edge of my ‘field’, my attack radius with my kunai. Close enough showcase his sincerity, but far enough that he was not too close.

“Just had a nap.” I clarified, stretching my arms a little, keeping my tone as casual as possible. From the way he was acting, he was probably going to give me the talk that he had given the boys as well. Better make sure that he did not get the wrong idea as soon as possible. “Not exactly too tired.”

The last thing that I needed was a question and answer session with him.

“It’s not your first time, isn’t it?”

I looked at him warily. Who told him? Naruto? Sasuke? Then again, it was perhaps too much to hope for the two kids to keep that thing a secret.

“No, they didn’t tell me.” Sensei reassured me as though he had just read my thoughts. “But I know that they knew, seeing how they acted just now when I was talking with them.” He looked at me, “So, want to talk about it?”

“About what?”

“Your first kill.” He replied solemnly. I looked away from him. Truth be told, I didn’t want to talk about it. Death was never pretty, and my first time taking a life in this world was not exactly something I had wanted to remember.

In fact, what if he continued asking about what happened afterwards? How would I link how I killed the child to how I ended up in the care of Shiratama?

I could lie, but something about Kakashi-sensei tells me that he would be able to see through it easily and I doubt that I was good enough to fool a jounin at my current skill level. Better to just tell the truth…

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Silence dropped between us. I daren’t lock eyes with him in case I gave myself away, so I continued looking at the moon.

“Are you sure?”  He asked, “It’s not good to keep these sorts of things bottled up inside of you.”

I bit my lip, desperately trying to come up with a reason to throw him off my tail.

“One day.” I steeled myself and looked him in the eye, giving him my best ‘determined’ impression. “I’ll tell you when I’m ready, is that okay, sensei?”

He studied me intently, and I felt cold nervous beads of sweat roll down my back. Was I convincing enough? It would really suck to be found out here of all places.

“Alright.” He replied brightly and looked me in the eye, “I’ll hold you to that.” Looking away, he stood up. “Come in and call me when you are ready for a shift change. Got it, Kyoku-chan?”

“Yes, sensei.” I nodded and was surprised when I got my hair ruffled affectionately in response. Something was caught in my throat when he did that, though I paid it no mind as I watched sensei leapt off the roof.

“That was close,” I muttered, looking back to the moon hanging overhead above us.

Too close.





Kakashi Hatake knew that he was many things. He was a worthless shinobi who could not protect his teammates. He was a pitiful man who had lost both his father and father figure. He was a hopeless cause who would much prefer reading Icha Icha Tactics rather than head off on team missions.

He was many things, but being stupid was never one of them.

He knew that there was something off about the little kunoichi in his team. Something extremely wrong with her, but he had not confronted her about it mainly because he had no idea what it was. So he watched, and waited. From what he had seen, Kakashi had deduced many things about Kyoku Asagami.

One, she was hiding something.

Two, she genuinely enjoyed the company of the other two genins on his team.

Three, she was one of the smartest people that he had ever met.

As of this moment, he had to change one of the three things he knew about her, and add one more to the list. Originally, he had thought that her Kekkei Genkai was the reason why she was so secretive. Not exactly an uncommon fear to possess, considering that she was from outside the village. That was definitely not the case, as seen from his observations these past few days. She had so casually revealed her Bloodlimit to two nuke-nins, and had hardly panicked over it. 

As such, what she was hiding was definitely something that she considers far more important than her own abilities.

As to what Kakashi had found out today, it would be no exaggeration to say that it troubles him deeply.

When he had looked at her, it was not her forced expression that caught his attention, nor her trembling fingers that gave away her fear. It was her eyes. By the Hokages, he had never seen eyes filled with so much pain before, not since…

Kakashi closed his eyes, clearing his mind of the morbid thoughts as he focused back on the issue at hand.

There was a problem with one of his genins, a sickness within the mind. That much he knows of, and as a team leader, he had to solve the problem. 

But how?

Confronting her was definitely useless. She had proven to be incredibly stubborn on that, as shown recently. He doubt that she could go willingly to the Yamanakas either, and it would be extremely troublesome for him as well, considering that he had already planned on entering his team into the Chunnin exam that was in the upcoming months, something that he had agreed to with the Hokage along with Asuma and Kurenai mere weeks ago. It would cause him no end of headache if he were to back out if the treatment came back and Kyoku was deemed unfit for duty.

Kakashi sighed. 

There was only one way about this, it would seem. He had to go to the source.

It looks like he would need to schedule another meeting with the girl’s foster father, Shiratama.
> Land Of Waves VII. Farewell
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“-ei! Kyoku! Bastard! Haku’s here!”

Training that I most definitely had not received from in the Academy spurred me into semi-full wakefulness as I jumped out from the futon that Tsunami had prepared for me. Ignoring funny looks from the Uchiha on my team, I sprinted to the door, a kunai in hand as I joined Naruto outside the house.

Surprisingly, Kakashi-sensei was already there, and he was a much more welcomed sight compared to the boy with the Kubikiribocho stuck in the ground next to him. Haku was still wearing his mask and was motionless, standing in the middle of the road outside of Tazuna’s residence, his hands by his side and his body perfectly relaxed.

It was as if he was trying to convince us that he was not here to fight. Or at least I think that he was, or hoped.

Sitting on the fence for that one.

Sensei gave me a small nod as I approached. “Try not to get you sleeping kimono dirty, Kyoku-chan. You only have one and there’s hardly any cleaning services out here.” He said in a joking manner, probably to ease whatever tension that was present in the air.

Well, I was hardly the one to leave my own team hanging while I changed. For the time being anyway. Besides, this kimono which doubles as my PJs were quite spacious to move about in. Father actually did know his stuff when he was picking out my clothes for me.

Regardless, I digress. 

It would seem that Kakashi-sensei was rather thoughtful in easing off the tension in the atmosphere, seeing how there was a brief flare of killing intent from the boy that was aimed at me when I first appeared. It dispersed as quickly as it appeared, but I was not about to let my guard down so long as I was within fifty meters of the boy now.

“Sensei,” Sasuke said as he touched down beside me, kunai in hand and also decked out in his uchiha pajamas, which was pretty much just a black shirt and pants with his clan symbol on the back, “orders?”

“Well, that depends,” Kakashi-sensei replied cheerfully even as he eyed the boy standing right in front of us. “So, what is it that you are here for, Haku-san? While I did make an exception for you the other day, if you are here to attack Tazuna-san or any of us again,” I shivered a little at the tone of his voice as he continued. “I will not be inclined to show the same amount of leniency as I did then.”

“What?” Naruto exclaimed, “but-” Only to stop when Sasuke and I struck him over the head to shut him up. He threw us a wistful look but wisely clammed up when I threw him a glare. I suppressed a sigh, it was as though he had forgotten that I was the one who had killed Haku’s… mentor? Guardian? Superior? Whatever, I killed someone close to the boy. Meaning that if this did turn out to be some sort of revenge ploy, I was going to be on the chopping block.

Of course, the irony that I might betray Konoha anytime at the behest of Orochimaru-sama was not lost on me. It would probably be hypocritical of me to say that I didn’t want to be betrayed by my allies when I might be betraying them sometime in the future.

Eh, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

“I’m not here to fight.” Haku said softly as he shook his head, breaking me out of whatever thoughts that I had immersed myself in. 

“Really,” Kakashi-sensei replied cheerfully, “that’s great news then. So… what are you here for then?”

Haku did not answer, instead reaching up to remove his mask from his face. While it had only been three days since the bridge battle, I was shocked to see how much change he had undergone within so short a time period. For lack of a better word, Haku looked haggard. Bloodshot eyes and eyebags indicated that he had not been sleeping for quite awhile, not to mention how dead those eyes looked, as if it were completely devoid of all emotion. Now that I had a closer look, his hands were bandaged and dirty, like he had been digging.

Oh.

He was grieving, wasn’t he? Alone for the past few days.

But he had said that he wasn’t here for revenge, so if he was speaking the truth, why was he here at all?

“I’m here to talk.” Haku said after a lengthy silence. He looked at Kakashi-sensei, “with you.”

“Huh.” Sensei muttered before he looked at us, “escort Tazuna-san to the bridge as usual today. I’ll be along in a while.” He returned his gaze back to Haku, “or as long as it takes.” He shrugged.

“Yes Sensei,” we answered dutifully.

Sensei followed Haku off to Celestia knows where, but in all honesty, none of us were actually worried for him. After all, Kakashi-sensei was easily the strongest shinobi any of us had ever known and would probably not even lose to somebody like Haku. Instead, we found ourselves more concerned with whatever Haku was asking.

“Well, it can’t be all bad,” Naruto spouted off to me as we escorted Tazuna towards the construction site. Predictably, he believed that nuke-nin means no ill will “I mean, I don’t think Haku wants to even fight us at all!”

“Easy for you to say.” I replied, “seeing that our team was responsible for Zabuza’s death.” Mainly me. “He has enough motive.”

This was the point where I would ask our resident Uchiha for moral support. Except that he wasn’t around at the moment, as we had left him back at the house to look over Inari and Tsunami. As such, I turned to the second best option, or rather, the only option left. “What do you think, Tazuna-san?”

Tazuna merely frowned at my question, as though contemplating it as he walked with us down the road which led to the construction site. After a few seconds, he sighed and turned to us. “I can’t really say that I’m thrilled that your sensei is talking to the boy who had worked for the man who wanted to kill me,” he turned to us with a smile. “But your Kakashi-sensei had proven himself to be a very reliable man. So I’d be willing to put my faith in him, and trust that he would keep all of us safe. Besides, the bridge is almost complete, so even if the next president of Gato’s company wanted to interfere, it’d be far too late.”

Speaking of Gato’s shipping company, according to what Kakashi-sensei had managed to find out when he had scouted around, it would appear that the entire corporation was in utter chaos following its leader’s death. What with the legitimate shareholders and directors of the company forming factions in their own bid for power. Add the underground mafias and Yakuzas that Gatou was a part of and had led and the entire situation was just one big giant mess.

Not that they didn’t deserve it.

“Oh yeah!” Naruto exclaimed, jumping up and down with excitement. I looked at him incredulously. Seriously, where did he get all these energy from? “The bridge’s almost finished, right? What are you going to call it?”

Tazuna, for his part, merely smiled secretively, “well, we have chosen a name, but you’d have to wait until the day of the opening ceremony to see it.”

“Eeeehhhhh…” Naruto whined disappointedly. “Come on, just a hint? Something related to the name?”

“Hahaha,” Tazuna chuckled. “No can do. But trust me,” He ruffled Naruto’s hair, “you’ll like it.”





The day of the opening ceremony came and went. It wasn’t anything truly special truth be told. Just a simple speech by Tazuna, and the completion of the Kagami Biraki, a ceremony to represent an opening to harmony and good fortune. 

Surprisingly, the one who got to break the barrel of sake during the ceremony was none other than Naruto. Seems like the villagers had really warmed up to the boy. Especially since they even went as far as to name the structure after the Jinchuuriki.

The Great Naruto Bridge. Heh, talk about originality, but then again, he probably deserved it, considering how Naruto had managed to bring back that sense of hope into the village.

Got to give credit where credit’s due, after all. Not to mention that Naruto’s expression when he heard Tazuna announce the name was just priceless. Though I would not deny that I did feel a little bit jealous that he got a bridge named after him.

One day, maybe. I promised myself.

After the entire ceremony was over (Naruto was not allowed to drink the sake from the barrel he broke, but he did get a piece of mochi from the ceremony), we were immediately informed by Kakashi-sensei that our mission was over and that we had to take our long overdue return journey to Konoha.

Naruto had raised a fuss, and so did Inari. The boy pretty much idolized him right now, a far cry from how their relationship started.

Guess people do change sometimes.

In the end, reason triumphed over whatever it was that Naruto and Inari had cooked up for their arguments and so we returned to the house to pack our things and begin the return journey back home.

Tazuna’s family accompanied us as far as the end of the bridge, with Inari sniffling the entire way. Naruto did a good job holding his tears in, but when we reached the midway point, even he started tearing up.

At least he stopped once we saw the figure standing at the end of the bridge.

“Haku!” Naruto cheered up immensely when he saw the other boy, who looked almost comical with the sword that was almost twice his height slung across his back. For the last five days before the ceremony, the nuke-nin had been meeting Kakashi-sensei on an almost consistent basis. Of course, the contents of their meeting was not something that we were privy to, despite my best efforts, but I had a sneaking suspicion as to the topic which they were talking about.

Nothing that was concrete enough to draw a decisive conclusion however, something which annoys me to no end.

“Hello, Naruto.” Haku smiled tiredly, though he shook the other boy’s hand most energetically, almost at odds with his lethargic look. Looking at sensei, he gave a brief nod. “Kakashi-san, I had contacted them, they said that they were willing.”

Them? I frowned internally, who was this ‘them’ that he was talking about?

“Well, that’s better than we had expected.” Sensei replied cheerfully as he held out his hand, “can I have it?”

Haku nodded, before retrieving a small red scroll from within his kimono. “Here it is.” He said as he handed the scroll almost reverently to Kakashi-sensei.

I had no doubt that the scroll was important, though I had no way of verifying the contents. Still, it was probably something to be able to verify that there was such a thing.

One more thing to add to the list which I had to hand in to Father when I arrived back at Konoha.

“Hey, Haku, sensei! What’s that?”

“Sorry, Naruto.” Haku said as he turned to the blond boy, “while I would love to stay and talk, I need to be elsewhere.”

“Eeeh,” Naruto pouted, before erupting into a smile. He had clearly not noticed that Haku had declined to answer his question. “Well, we will meet again, right?”

“I hope so,” Haku replied softly. “Farewell.”

I had thought that he would have turned and left at once, but instead, Haku surprised me by giving me a nod before flickering away.

What was that about?

“Well, guess it’s our turn then.” Sensei said as he nodded to Tazuna and his family before starting to walk away.

“Are you sad, Inari?” Naruto grinned, “It’s okay to cry!”

“Not crying!” Inari muttered, desperately holding back his tears. “But you can cry, Naruto!”

“In your dreams,” Naruto stuck his tongue out before smiling widely, “later!”

Unsurprisingly, he was crying when we left them, only stopping when Tazuna’s family was out of sight. Sadly, I had missed out on the chance to tease him about it, primarily because I was busy mentally collating the various events into a proper report for father as we made our way back to Konoha. There was a wealth of information to be processed, much more than I have ever accrued in the past two years.

I had thought that father would be pleased with my work.

Unfortunately, it would appear that things would not proceed in the way that I had thought it would go.
> Shatterpoint I. Return
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took us four days to return to Konoha, and to be honest, I was somewhat glad to see the familiar silhouette of the village again. Something comforting about it which I could not seem to place, though I soon put that thought to the back of my head in favor of that which was coming next.

Of course, that would come later. First thing we did after we had checked in with the village gate guards was to report to the mission desk regarding the special circumstances of our mission. It was standard village procedure, though I could not help but feel a small shred of annoyance that I could not report to father immediately and tell him about the new developments that had occurred.

Especially what I had suspected that had gone through during Haku’s and Kakashi-sensei’s conversation.

Well, nothing I could do about it anyway, so might as well get it over and done with.

Still, it stands to reason to assume that due to the complications that had arisen during our mission, the debriefing would probably be much more different than usual. Standard procedures merely require that we report our mission accomplished, receive our respective paychecks and then be dismissed from the desk. However, due to the unforeseen circumstances that had plagued our team’s first ever ranked ‘C’ mission, it was evident that mission desk would want to interview us during our debriefing to learn of what exactly had transpired during the course of our assignment.

Sandaime Hokage merely took one look at the scroll that Kakashi had received from Haku before gesturing at our sensei to follow him into an adjacent room. Meanwhile, the three of us were beckoned into another room where we were instructed to fill in a bunch of forms before we were to write a report on what exactly had transpired.

With the exception of Naruto, who was grumbling at the amount of paperwork which we were forced to finish, the rest of us, namely me and Sasuke, finished our work as quietly as possible. Mostly because there were two other chunin wearing the T&I (Torture and Interrogation) Department’s standard grey uniform watching over us. Well, Sasuke might not know who they were, seeing that he didn’t even recognize Kakashi-sensei, but even he could tell that they were the sort of people who could make your life a nightmare.

At least they didn’t seem to mind the noises and groans that Naruto made wherever he ran into a word which had a meaning that seemed to elude him.

Though I couldn’t really blame him, as the person who had made the forms probably was a sadist of the highest degree, I mean, asking for information as detailed as the food that we had consumed over the duration of the mission? That was rather excessive if you would ask me.

Well, here’s to hoping that it wouldn’t take too long. I sighed as I looked upon the stack of papers before me.





“And that concludes my report Hokage-sama.” Kakashi said. He was alone with Hiruzen Sarutobi in the Hokage office, with his three genins waiting in the other debriefing room where the mission desk chunins had brought them. If he were to tell the truth, it would not be an understatement to say that he was expecting some sort of ruckus to break out soon. Still, he had every confidence that the lone kunoichi in his group would help keep the boys in line, even if she did seem a bit more tired today.

“I see.” Hiruzen nodded, his eyes never leaving the scroll that Kakashi had handed him, the very same scroll that the hunter-nin boy, Haku, had passed to him. “And how reliable do you think that the information is?”

“The informant and his deceased superior was noticed to be very adamant on not seeking a conflict with Konoha, at the very least.” Kakashi replied. It had puzzled him at the start too, but the comment from Kyoku, the rather insightful little girl, had all but confirmed it. Throughout the confrontations they had during the mission with the nuke-nin, Zabuza and his little protege had seemed rather insistent on utilising non-lethal methods despite having ample opportunity to kill off his team.

Considering that this was the Demon in the Mist that they were talking about, the only reason why he would not resort to his preferred method of killing was probably because he had orders from somewhere which he had to follow. Kakashi had his suspicions as to who would give Zabuza those orders, but he would much rather leave that to the Shinobi Council to deal with.

Politics was such a pain, after all.

“Very well.” Hiruzen muttered. “I’ll be passing this off to intelligence,” he nodded at Kakashi, “and the ranking of your mission will be re-established as an A-ranked with the payment of your team  accordingly increased.”

“Thank you, Hokage-same.” Kakashi nodded, before adding, “Though I would also like to inform you that the financial situation of the Wave Country is in rather dire states right now. Extracting a proper payment from them might prove difficult.”

“Don’t worry.” Hiruzen smiled, a smile that Kakashi had long since recognized as one the Hokage wore whenever he already had a solution to the problem. “We’ll work something out.”

“Understood, Hokage-sama.”

Hiruzen nodded, “now go have the rest of the day off. Consider it part of the rewards from the mission.”

“Thank you, Hokage-sama.” Kakashi bowed, before exiting the room. Rest of the day off? Sounds good to him. That’s just more time to read the latest release of Icha Icha Tactics, though he had a couple of things to see to first.

Closing his eyes, he listened closely for the voices of the subordinates. Sure enough, he found their voices reaching him from behind the door just three rooms down, mentally preparing himself, he strode down the corridor and pushed open the wooden edifice, striding into the room.

“Sensei!” Shouted one of the voices, predictably. “What did the Hokage say? Did you tell him about Zabuza? Haku? Did you tell him what we did?”

Naruto Uzumaki. Kakashi almost wanted to sigh when he saw the state of his master’s son. He had his mother’s wilful personality, but had lacked any of the control that both of his parents had. Not that it was his fault. If anything, it was a blessing for the village that he had retained the more optimistic and forgiving traits of his parents. Still, beneath that playful personality lies a dormant but sharp mind, and one of this days, Kakashi hoped that he could awaken it.

And deep down, he also hoped that one day, he would finally be able to reveal to his genin who his parents were, with the blessing of the Hokage behind it. Not that the surprisingly stubborn jounin would ever admit to anybody.

“Naruto.” Kyoku smacked her teammate lightly on the head, shutting him up. “If you don’t let sensei speak, how is he going to tell us?”

Good girl. Kakashi smiled at her in approval. The other two boys on the team were extremely energetic and had completely opposing personalities, normally a recipe for disaster that Kakashi would much rather avoid. Thank the gods above that the Kunoichi attached to his team had one of the sharpest minds he had seen and was equally level-headed to boot. Somehow, to her chagrin and his amusement, she had become the mediator between the two boys and was also capable of diverting their boundless energy towards more productive ventures.

Heavens help him if she had been someone that lacked any form of control over the more wilful duo of his genins. Or worse, one of those girls that were extremely infatuated with his Uchiha student. Unfortunately, the girl had seemed to be hiding some rather dark secrets of her own, hopefully he would be able to shed some light on the matter later today.

“Hn.” Sasuke tsked, though whether in approval or disapproval Kakashi could never tell. There lies the problem with his third member of the team. Sasuke Uchiha was a boy who had lived through a horrifying experience kids his age should not have had to experience. The result of that tragedy was a reclusive boy who did not know who to trust, though thankfully, he had been opening up gradually to the rest of his team. However, he was still one that Kakashi would keep his eyes on, while the boy’s eyes had been regaining some of the spark that he had lost during the tragic Uchiha Massacre, it was still very much clouded by thoughts of revenge. Not exactly a healthy obsession for a twelve year old.

“Well,” Kakashi began as he pushed his thoughts out of his head. “First off, you can say that the Hokage is very impressed by your efforts.”

“Hell yes!” Naruto jumped with joy.

“The mission is to be upgraded into an A-ranked,” He continued, ignoring the jumping and posturing boy, “and you will all also get the appropriate payment for it too.”

“What about the scroll that Haku passed to you?” Kyoku, ever the inquisitive one, asked, “is it going to impact our mission results?”

“There is no scroll.” Kakashi said brightly. He watched his genins look at each other quizzically before nodding at one another, apparently getting the message. They were a smart group, he nodded approvingly. “Also,” He added, “Hokage-sama is giving you all the rest of the day off. So you are all dismissed for the day, meet me at training ground five at six tomorrow.” His eyes drifted to the ‘special’ mission reports papers that each of his genin had left on the table in the room. “Actually, eight. I’d think you’d spend all day with those.”

“Oh yeah, why don’t you need to work on these too?” Naruto demanded belligerently.

“Because I’m a jounin.” He replied brightly, which was not entirely incorrect. It mostly meant that he had more leeway to not submit the mission report unless a higher authority actually came out to demand the paperwork from him personally.

Mmmmh, that’s probably why the people at Administration hated his guts. Not like he cared anyway.

Kakashi waved goodbye to the trio of them as he left the room, before vanishing with a body flicker technique, stopping his movement right before the Jounin Headquarters. Walking in, he waved casually at the chunins at the reception as he made his way into the building. After a couple of flights of stairs and a series of winding corridors later, he found himself at the location of the second issue he decided to tackle today.

“Shiratama-san.” He called out as he walked into the administration office, causing the chunnins and jounins within to look up from their desks in surprise. It was not everyday that one of Konoha’s top jounins had deigned to pay them a visit, after alll.

“Kakashi-san!” Shiratama greeted as he stood up, shoving a stack of paperwork aside. “What brings you here?”

Asagami Shiratama was in truth, not really an outstanding ninja even if he made Jounin, with nothing especially noteworthy within his records other than the fact that he was once one of Orochimaru’s genin. Still, the fallen Sannin’s stigma never actually affected him, seeing that most of the suspicion had actually fallen on Anko Mitarashi who had been directly apprenticed to the Sannin. In fact, Kakashi would not have found him associated with the other shinobi if not for the fact that his adopted daughter was not one of his genins.

“Something with regards to your daughter, actually.” Kakashi watched the other shinobi stiffen in worry. To be honest, he did not expect that reaction from one of his fellow jounins, but he supposed that that was one of the perks that came with parenthood.

“I see,” He began walking out of the office, beckoning Kakashi to follow. “If you would follow me to the lounge? I think I would rather have this conversation in private.”

“Sure.” Kakashi shrugged, following the other shinobi out of the office and into another smaller room with a couple of couches surrounding a small table. Shiratama took one of the couches, and Kakashi took the one opposite.

“So,” Shiratama asked, his voice slightly strained. “What happened?”

“Well, as you’d probably know, Kyoku just returned from a C-ranked mission which was just upgraded up to A-ranked by the Hokage.”

“Not surprising, considering that Zabuza Momochi was involved.” Shiratama replied. Kakashi blinked, he was surprisingly well-informed, “though she returned alive and well, so I don’t see why you have to visit me over this, Kakashi-san.”

“Well, I was getting to that.” Kakashi shrugged, “you see, Kyoku isn’t exactly fine.”

“How so?”

“Well, it would seem that she had rather… interesting experiences prior to your adoption of her.”

“Which I had shared the details about with my superiors.” Shiratama replied.

“No, I am referring to the experiences that she had not shared with you about, Shiratama-san.” Kakashi continued solemnly. 

The other ninja looked at him warily. An interesting reaction, Kakashi noted, he would have thought that the other shinobi would be more worried actually. Instead he looked rather guarded against Kakashi, almost as if he knew something.

“She appears to have experienced a form of traumatic event in the past,” Kakashi continued, carefully studying Kyoku’s foster father, “while it was not affecting her in the slightest right now, I can’t really say much about how she would be in the future, especially when she’s letting it fester.”

“I see.” Shiratama’s face was as passive as a stone wall right now as he replied neutrally.

“As such, I would like to recommend her for treatment at the Yamanak-”

“No.”

“Excuse me?” Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

“I will not subject my daughter to the counselling methods of the Yamanakas.” Shiramtama replied as he shook his head, seemingly distressed. “Their methods may be effective, but on a girl like her, I don’t think that having her past be dragged out of her would be especially productive. Especially since the trauma might affect her current psyche.”

“True.” Kakashi nodded, “but I can’t have one of my genins be possibly compromised on a mission by an unknown factor.”

“I’ll talk to her.” Shiratama assured him before looking away guiltily. “While I did adopt her, like you said, she did have a bunch of luggage that I had not gotten around to resolving.” He looked up. “I had only been providing her with the comfort of a home and family so far, give me some time and I will help her through this latest hurdle so that your genin team is not compromised.”

“Please do.” Kakashi replied. “She has a lot of potential in her, easily one of the best genins I had ever seen.” Not to mention that she possessed one of the most interesting Kekkei Genkai that he had ever seen. In fact,  it had been extremely surprising that his own Sharingan could not even register the movement of her techniques during their fight with Zabuza. Something for himself to explore once he had officially registered her Bloodlimit with the administration, which should be after the Chunnin Exams.

After all, there was no sense revealing his genin’s cards to the other rival teams.

“Really?” Shiratama smiled proudly, though his expression seemed a little off. “Well, I did have a hand in training her.” The two jounins shared a chuckle at that. “Now,” Shiratama stood up, “if that would be all, I will be returning to my work.”

“One last thing,” Kakashi said, causing the other jounin to turn back to him. “I am planning to register Kyoku for that. Would you have any objections?”

He watched the other ninja closely. Carefully noting the lack of worry on Shiratama’s face.

“Well, do you think that she’s ready?”

“Yes.”

“Then I will leave her in your care.” Shiratama said, nodding to his peer as he exit the room. “Have a nice day, Kakashi-san.”

“Likewise, Shiratama-san.” Kakashi called after his retreating figure before slumping on the couch, deep in thought.

The conversation was… interesting. For a parent, Kakashi can only conclude that Shiratama was weird. While he referred to Kyoku as his daughter, there were times when his tone had almost unwittingly referred to her as a soldier or even as an asset. Perhaps it was due to the fact that Shiratama was still learning how to be a parent, but even his affection for his daughter somehow felt off… And that was coming from someone like Kakashi, who had anything but a normal functioning family.

Kakashi sighed. He was going to have to keep a closer eye on Shiratama and his daughter. Something just did not feel right about this situation.
> Shatterpoint II. When It Rains, It Pours
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Asagami Shiratama smiled as he waved Kakashi goodbye, only for it to drop into a frown as he turned back to his cubicle. 

“Hey Shiratama! What was that about?” Only to put a smile on his face as he turned to the black haired chubby shinobi that was hailing him from across the room.

“Nothing much, Chouzo-san.” He replied politely to his coworker, who loved nothing more than a good gossip, small wonder he could not become a Jounin despite his ability as one of the Akimichi clan. “Kakashi-san just so happened to be my daughter’s sensei, so he came by to tell me about her.”

“Yeah,” Chouzo whistled in admiration, “still, couldn’t believe that you struck gold like that, getting the Kakashi to become your kid’s sensei. I mean-”

“Yeah, I’m happy for myself and her as well.” Shiratama interrupted before the Akimichi could get out of hand with his fanboyish adulation for one the strongest shinobi of their generation. “But we should get back to work.” He advised as he gestured at the paperwork on his desk for emphasis.

“Right, sorry.” The Akimichi bobbed his head in agreement before returning to his desk to continue his work, completely unoffended by how he had been dismissed by his colleague, just like most Akimichis were. It was their one strength, as the Hokage would like to call it, and their one weakness, as Shiratama came to learn over his time spent here. So easy to take advantage of, he noted with humor.

However, as Shiratama returned to his work, his amusement at the Akimichi quickly devolved to a throbbing headache at a more pressing issue. Unlike what Chozo had assumed, Shiratama had been less than thrilled when he found out that Hatake Kakashi of all people was mentoring Kyoku, especially with his ‘real’ job being as hard as it already was.

Now with Kyoku under the tutelage of Kakashi, Shiratama had to force himself to not look over his shoulder every so often, especially now that various people that Shiratama had no wish to interact with were coming to find him.

Shikaku, Inoichi, Tsume and Chouza, to name but a few. Then there were those few Chunins and Genins that had been deployed to his building that he was almost certain had contained a few ANBU personnel to check on him, mostly because of Kyoku’s proximity and relation with the Kyuubi child.

Any other shinobi would have been elated to have the opportunity to connect to these prestigious clans, and if Shiratama was a normal shinobi of Konoha, he had no doubts that he would too. Except that he wasn’t, and having connections with these high profile personnel, by shinobi standards, was actually putting him in a very difficult position to continue with his job.

In fact, it did not escape Shiratama’s notice that most of these people came to find him after Kyoku had been transferred under his command by the orders of his overseer. 

 Kyoku… that child had done nothing but creating a huge slew of problems for Shiratama ever since she arrived. Sure, playing ‘family’ with her for a while had been quite fun for a while, a nice distraction from all the espionage and information theft that Shiratama had been committing under their true master’s name, and Kyoku had been a helpful assistant in that regard too.

It was for those qualities that Shiratama had allowed her to do as she pleased, he had not even reprimanded her for establishing such high profile contacts within the village since she had believed that it would be beneficial to them in the long run. Now though, it would appear that the amount of freedom that he had allowed her was coming back to bite them in the back.

It would seem that he would need to get her to fall back in line before things get worse…

“Shiratama-san!” Looking up, Shiratama noticed a brown headed girl poking her head through the office’s door.

“Good afternoon, Mei-san.” He greeted her as she walked over, holding something behind her. “Do you have something for me today?”

The receptionist smiled as she produced a stack of papers and placed it on the top of his desk. “New reports from the mission desk! I think you might want to have a look at the report I placed on top.” She whispered conspiratorially. “You must be so proud!”

What? Shiratama stared at her as she turned and left the room before quickly snatching the top report from the stack.

And stared…

The rest of the day went by in a blur for him as Shiratama found himself consumed by a burning desire to return home and talk to his ward. The report that he had read had left him with rather complicated emotions that he had never thought existed inside of him. Emotions that he had not felt even when the rest of the village had scrutinized him and his teammates for his sensei’s departure from the village.

Shiratama had only one plan in life, to serve his sensei and eventually stand by his side when Konoha fell, and now that plan was in jeopardy.

The sun was setting when Shiratama set foot into his compound, looking at the pair of neatly placed, but dirty, sandals at the front door, it was clear that Kyoku was home.

Good.

“Welcome back, dad!” A cheerful voice rang out as he pushed open the door. Looks like she had been practicing  her acting, he noted. That sentence had felt almost genuine to him.

He did not greet her when she turned to look at him from the kitchen where she was preparing the dinner, though he did give a glance to the cups that were displayed on one of their shelves.

Important information. Seal the house. Was the message this time. He raised an eyebrow, putting aside his ire at her for the time being. What could be so important that she would ask for such a measure?

Perhaps he should find out. Maybe the information that she held would be able to help alleviate a bit of… frustration that he was feeling right now.

Moving over to the kitchen counter that separated him from his ward, Shiratama brushed the wall beside him casually, stealthily activating the seal that was hidden on the other side of the planks. It was a simple seal, one that would prevent sound from escaping the compound for as long as it was active.

He had only had to use it once during his tenure in Konoha, not counting this time.

“You may speak.” He finally said.

Kyoku’s demeanor sombered almost immediately. Dropping to a knee, she bowed her head, adopting the typical shinobi’s gesture of deference to a superior. “I have a report that I wish to submit verbally alongside the usual one, father.”

Father. Shiratama’s eye twitched when he heard that, but he pushed his concerns aside. “What is it?”

“During the last day of my mission in the Land of the Waves, I had observed a boy by the name of Haku exchanging words with my sensei, Hatake Kakashi. From what I had managed to glean, I had a suspicion that this person was a member of the Revolution in the Mist, and was attempting to establish a connection with the authorities in Konoha.”

The Revolution in the Mist? Shiratama’s eyes widened as he contemplated what she had just said. It was a group that his master and overseer both had been very interested in, from what he had noticed the last time he had met them face to face. Unfortunately, the group was extremely elusive and hard to pin down, with even many unrelated sources stressing that it did not even exist.

And Kyoku had said that she had a…

“You said you have a suspicion?” Shiratama asked.

“Yes, father.”

Father, she said it again. Shiratama frowned. “You mean to say that you do not have concrete proof?”

“Ummm, yes father.”

The sound of flesh striking flesh rang throughout the house, and Shiratama shook his hand as he stared down at his ward, who was lying on the floor, a hand clutching a cheek and her eyes wide, as though she could not believe what just happened.

“Did you know what you have done?” He hissed at her. Not giving her a chance to interject, he continued, pouring out his frustration at her. “Do you even know what espionage means?”

“It means that we have to gather as much information as possible without drawing attention to us!” Shiratama spat. “Yet that was- is what you had been doing! Drawing endless attention to our little ‘family’ as though we were truly a couple of Konoha shinobis!”

She stared up at him with frightful eyes as he ranted, sometimes glancing down at his trembling hands. Good, she should fear him, that way she would learn what she had done wrong. “Killing Zabuza would have been considered an achievement for anyone else. But for us? It was the worst thing that you could have done! Now so many eyes are on you, and by extension, me. Do you know how much jeopardy you have placed us in?”

“I…”

“Be quiet!” Shiratama growled, causing her to fall silent almost immediately. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Shiratama looked disappointedly at his subordinate. “Because of what you have done, we now need to lay low, setting back our contributions to him.” Kyoku’s eyes widened, as though she had finally realised how much damage that she had caused to their, no, his operation.

“Use this time to reflect and learn from this. Remember, he would not care for us unless we could give him something useful.” Shiratama said as he turned from her. “Two months, we’re stopping all operations for two months. Use this time to lay low and not gather any unwanted attention to yourself.” He neglected to mention that the Chunin Exam was in a month’s time, but…

If she truly learned from this, she would use it as an opportunity to push the attention off of her to her teammates… if she did not… Shiratama smiled grimly.

“You may continue to talk to your… high-profile ‘friends’, seeing as you have already established a number of routines with them, breaking those routines would cast suspicion on you.” He continued as he walked towards the wall with the seal. “But do not gather any more attention to yourself than necessary. Also, Your sensei had come to find me today.” Shiratama felt a small hint of approval when she looked up in panic, at least, it meant that she had understood the severity of the situation. “He doesn’t know anything about us yet, but he has taken an interest in us. I trust that you would know not to help develop his interest in us for the next two months…”

“Ten years of work. Do not ruin this.”

And with that said, he brushed his hands against the hidden seal again, deactivating the jutsu within it. Now… Shiratama took a deep breath before turning around.

“Don’t keep any dinner for me, Kyoku.” He said warmly, acting the part of the father that he had been playing for the past two years. “I have a prior appointment with a friend. Oh, and good job with the last mission! Keep it up!”

Exiting the apartment, Shiratama sighed. Now that that is over, here comes the hard part.

Now… where is Kabuto at this hour?





What have I done? I wondered as I stared at the door where Shiratama had exited from.

As I stood up shakily, for the briefest moment, I entertained the thought of going straight to Kakashi-Sensei and telling him everything, but threw it aside due to how unfeasible it was. I would be lucky if I wasn’t killed the moment I told him everything.

Such was the life of a spy. Still, I could not help but wonder if this would all be worth it. A secretive lifestyle and the danger it had presented to me did not seem all that appealing now.

Two years had passed since I was personally assigned by Orochimaru-sama to infiltrate this village. While I was still grateful to the man for saving my life, I had had plenty of time to think things through.

Unfortunately, each time my thoughts ended in the same two contradicting lines of reasoning. On one hand, Orochimaru-sama was my saviour, the singular person who had done much more for me than anyone else I had ever recalled. But on  the other hand, I had never even heard about him from Shiratama. It was as he hardly even cared about what I was doing.

I sighed, this line of thinking was getting me nowhere. Besides it was not as though he had actually left us here and forgotten about us. If he did, Shiratama would definitely know.

I sighed as I walked to my room, one hand on my cheek. I’d probably need some ointment for the swelling, just so that it would not become too obvious.

As I walked into the room, I absentmindedly reached out with my magic, pulling my diary out of the dimensional pocket I had stored it in. I looked at it for a while, still unsure what I should do with it.

Why did I even take the damn thing out?

I growled in irritation as I finally gave up trying to sort myself out, flipping it open. Only to freeze at the contents.

Those same three words from the thrice damned Celestia were still there. Except that they were no longer the only words on the page. I froze, did Celestia write back at long last? Calming myself, I looked at them.

Hello!

This is Princess Twilight Sparkle, student of Princess Celestia. From the looks of my studies (and my own research), this is one of the fabled two-way communication diaries! First off, I would like to apologize for reading and using this without permission, but I had deduced that this was a communication device shared by Princess Celestia and one Sunset Shimmer.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but from the looks of the previous entries, the owner of the other diary, Sunset Shimmer was either a student of Princess Celestia like myself or at the very least, a trusted and missing correspondent. Hence, I will very much appreciate it if I could at the very least speak (or write) to her. So, if the one reading this is Sunset Shimmer, please write back as soon as possible! I promise you that this will not be a waste of your time!

Sincerely,
Twilight Sparkle
Princess of Friendship

I looked at the entry, stunned. No words could describe how I felt right now as I read and re-read that phrase student of Princess Celestia. I stared at those words dumbly, almost as if I were unable to comprehend them.

Then I began giggling. My eyes felt wet as I did so, tears falling to the top of the diary as I laughed even though I had no idea what was so hilarious. Nevermind this heart-wrenching feeling within me, something about this situation just seemed so absurd, so stupid that I felt that I just had to laugh.

What was I, an idiot? Was I seriously expecting Celestia to keep my post as her student vacant? I giggled at my own idiocy. Of course she had replaced me. I was a defective product, a unicorn who refused to be molded in her image.

An indescribable urge rose within me, and I swiftly left the apartment I was living in. I wandered, unthinking and uncaring, following only where my instinct led me, and somehow, I found myself in the clearing of Training Ground five.

It was dark. I gestured, muttering an incantation, and a patch of grass lit up in a small bonfire, solving that problem for me. I looked around mindlessly, until my eyes locked onto one of the training dummies in the dimly lit clearing.

An indescribable urge to punch, to destroy something rose within me and I marched over to the stupid immovable object and lashed out. There was no technique, no proper fighting style that I used, just me constantly beating the stupid little thing without any regards to my own body.

I punched and kicked until bruises filled my limbs, but still I did not stop. And when I did, it was because I was too tired to move myself anymore. I glared at the training dummy, still in a single piece, barely a dent in it.

The sight of it just infuriates me. Unmoving despite my efforts, uncaring as if to spite what I had done.

I growled and an image of that damned Celestia flashed into my mind.

A spike of anger rose within me, and something inside of me broke.

And I screamed.
> Shatterpoint III. Picking Up The Pieces
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up, vision blurry. And somehow still extremely tired.

“Ho.… she?”

“...ku… ay?”

“Sh..e...ine...re…”

And went back to the cold comforting darkness.





When I next opened my eyes, it was to a white room, bright lights and a rather comfortable bed. I tried sitting up, but my whole body ached. It didn’t hurt, but it just felt really sore. What had I been doing last night?

Thinking on a groggy brain wasn’t exactly helpful, but at the very least it gave me a reason to focus my thoughts. Breathing deeply, I cleared my mind in an effort to remember what had exactly happened the day before.

I instantly regretted the fact that I remembered.

Celestia. Twilight Sparkle. Princess of Friendship. Student of Princess Celestia. My eyes turned wet, but I quickly rubbed them dry.

Why was I even concerned with the fact that I was replaced by some no-name unicorn that was clearly inferior to me?

“Glad to see you up and awake.” A voice broke me out of my thoughts. I looked up and saw Kakashi-sensei leaning against the door, hands folded across his chest as he looked at me. We looked at each other silently for a while, before he sighed and walked over, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“So, how are you feeling?” He asked.

“I..” I tried replying, but my throat felt as dry as sandpaper. Swallowing my saliva, I tried again once my throat had moistened up enough for me to properly talk. “I don’t know.” I replied truthfully. In all honesty, my emotions were really in a mess, and the fact that my mind wasn’t as sharp and my body was aching all over was not exactly helping either.

“I see,” Sensei replied, “do you want to talk about what happened?”

Truth was, I don’t even remember what happened last night. The only memory I had was of Shiratama berating me for not being a proper spy, that stupid entry in the diary and me venting my anger at that stupid training dummy.

No, there was something else. Last night, when I was so angry, I had a faint memory of a rush of power. I had done something, only to blackout immediately afterwards.

“I can’t remember.” I rasped in reply. 

“I see.” Kakashi-sensei nodded. I kept an eye on him, but he was way better than I thought, I just couldn’t seem to get a read on what he was thinking at the moment. He seemed so calm and casual.

“What happened?” I asked, before coughing a bit. Kakashi-sensei handed me a glass of water silently, which I quickly gulped down. It was a refreshing feeling, and my throat now feels a whole lot better.

“The two boys found you collapsed in the middle of training ground five.” Sensei supplied as I drank. “And to be honest, you had made quite a mess there.”

I opted to stay silent, curious as to what had happened.

“One practice dummy ripped to shreds and the whole ground around where you were laying on shattered into bits.” Kakashi-sensei said. He eyed me. “Anything to say for yourself?”

“Uhhh… Late night training?” I replied sheepishly. It was the best excuse that I could come up with on the fly.

“Training normally doesn't end with that much bruises on your arms and feet.” Sensei deadpanned, “and they don’t usually end with you collapsed on the ground either.” He fixed me with a piercing stare. “It’ll be easier if you tell the truth, you know?”

It would be. I could tell him that I was a magical unicorn from another world whose parental figure had abandoned. I could also tell him that I was a spy for one Orochimaru. Only problem was that the former would have me labelled as insane, the latter would get me killed.

Still, I couldn’t exactly lie. Nor could I brush him off. Not to someone like Kakashi-sensei.

“Sorry sensei, I was venting out some steam.”

“Was it your father?”

“Pardon?” A flash of panic rose within me.
“I went to see your father yesterday, and then the boys find you collapsed in our usual training ground with bruises over your arms, a shattered training dummy and the ground broken around you the next day.” Kakashi-sensei looked at me. “One can’t help but think that there is something related between the two.”

I had to defuse this situation, and fast. If sensei was suspicious of me and Shiratama, the least I could do was to at the very least bring the focus off of my superior.

“No.” I replied flatly. “this had nothing to do with him.”

“You sure?” Kakashi replied, shrugging. “Well, then what was it about?”

I pulled myself up into the sitting position, using the time taken to properly consider my position. It was evident that sensei would not be denied the truth of the matter, but neither could I just tell him.

I need to divert his attention with another topic, one that was as real as it was impactful. But could I? It wasn’t something I had ever wanted to share with him. But now that I was at a risk of jeopardizing Shiratama and myself…

I had to do it.

I took a deep breath, and looked sensei in the eye, hoping that my facial expression was as somber as possible. For a brief moment, I seriously contemplated telling him about what happened.

I opened my mouth and promptly failed to get any words out.

Sensei looked at me, sighed and stood up.

I stared after him, then whispered. “Please don’t tell Shiratama-san.”

He hesitated a little when opening the door, but walked out nonetheless.





Kakashi was at a loss.

He had always thought teaching three genins would be easy, take command of them and guide them to their fullest potential. Just like Minato-sensei had done for him.

He had not expected this to be so difficult. One of his genins suffers from a desire to be noticed and another was obsessed with revenge. What was worse was the unhealthy rivalry that the two had when they first joined. However, the last member of his team had been very effective at playing mediator between the two.

So for a moment, Kakashi relaxed, allowing his team a modicum of freedom and independence. In doing so, however, he had failed to notice that Kyoku had issues of her own as well.

He needs to solve this, as soon as possible. But how?

Counselling was hardly an option. Kakashi was many things, but a counsellor? No.

He could send her to the Yamanakas, but considering how vehement Shiratama was against that, there was no way that that plan would fly, considering that parental consent for that point of approach was needed.

Then there was the matter of her father. It was a strange relationship that he had seen between Shiratama and his daughter. While he had never abused her, neither had he really cared for what she was doing all this while.

One such evidence was this very incident. Yesterday, Kakashi had visited Shiratama, informing him that his daughter had issues. On that very night, Kyoku had apparently left the house and got herself into her current state and from the looks of it, she was probably gone the entirety of the night. To Kakashi’s understanding, a normal parent would be worried about their child considering the circumstances but Shiratama was now. Even now, he was still in his office, blissfully unaware that his child was in a hospital.

Something was off.

Then there was what Kyoku had said.

Why would a child be so afraid to let their parents know something? Especially if that parent was a person who had saved her?

Something was fishy about this entire situation and Kakashi did not like it one bit. But even then, there wasn’t much he could do.

He needs more information, for one, and those would definitely not come easily. Not to mention that there were but two weeks left until the Chunin exams.

His genins would definitely be participating. They would probably fail, but the experience itself would be good enough for them. Still, with how Kyoku was right now, there was a slight chance that the event might be too much for her.

“Still, they are shinobi.” Kakashi sighed aloud. Why couldn’t all of these things ever be easy?
“I suppose I will leave it up to them.” He decided finally. After all, since one had to volunteer themselves to participate in the Chunin Exams, it would probably be the best course of action to let them decide themselves.

Still, it would not certainly hurt to figure out what was going on with his little genin.

“Looks like I’ll need to keep an eye on her.” Kakashi muttered.





I was discharged that very evening. According to the nurse, I was merely diagnosed with severe exhaustion in addition to the multitude of bruises  that I had accumulated from the previous night.

Considering the time and my current state, home was probably the best place to be at the moment.

Unsurprisingly, Shiratama was home and true to his word, the cups were arranged in the manner that told me that there were no missions for the day. Guess we were really going silent for the time being in order to ward off suspicions. We didn’t talk much either, except for our usual pleasantries. 

It was good enough, I suppose. It allowed me to at least keep what had happened last night as a secret.

The next day, I went to the training ground one hour earlier than our team usually meets up. The reason for it was simple.

I wanted to see what I had done with my own two eyes. And I was not disappointed.

Illuminated by the slowly rising morning sun, a small portion of training ground five was in a mess.

Off to one side, I could see the stumps of the training dummies protruding out of the ground. The shattered remains were nowhere to be seen, probably cleared up by the cleaning party. Then there was the upturned and shattered earth in an area roughly fifty metres wide in radius.

What had I been smoking that I could do this?

Two years, I had spent here, and never had I even felt the capacity to create this much devastation. Where had I gotten such power from?

So much power that I never thought that I had. If I had known, the things that I could have done.

I closed my eyes, thinking back to last night, as unpleasant as it was. What had been my trigger for my magic?

All I remember from the previous night had been the rush of emotions which I had felt. Still, the one thing I remember most vividly was that pure unadulterated anger that I had felt for Princess Celestia.

Could it be?

I focused on that anger within me. That vividly burning indignation against the princess, for what she had done to me, done against me and how she had forgotten me, only to replace me with another.

I shivered as I felt the magic within my mana pool respond accordingly, spiking as I growled aloud. It felt so natural, so right.

At that one moment, I felt as if I could do anything. Even return to Equestria and rip that fool Celestia to shreds.

But I kept my anger under control. Being ruled by magic was a one sure track to a quick downfall. Many a mage in Equestrian History had allowed their magic to rule them instead of the other way around. Legends like King Sombra, for one, a sorcerer king who became a tyrant, ruled by his own desires and Nightmare Moon, for another, a more significant tyrant from the dark ages who fought Celestia to a standstill and had to be banished to the moon.

I focused myself, channeling the mana brought forth by my anger into the palm of one of my hands. It glowed green, tinged slightly with black. Surprisingly, the process was smoother than I had thought it would be, considering the amount of mana I was handling now.

I gestured at a tree, forming a thought. A bright green beam erupted from my palm, blasting a good chunk of bark and wood off of it.

I smiled grimly. Who would have thought that the fact that Celestia replaced me would be the source of my power now. It would be challenging, trying to harness power in this way during battle, but that was something that could be solved with practice.

And the fact that I barely felt fatigue from that meant that my mana pool had definitely increased. I smirked as I considered that, before, I had actively shied away from using offensive magic, considering how much mana they would consume. Now? That might no longer be a problem. And if I could keep up this progress, I might finally be able to hit the advanced ones, like teleportation.

I could try that later, now that I think about it. I still had the spell matrix memorized, it was just the matter of if I could cast it that was the problem.

That was when I felt a sudden presence behind me. Without thinking, I pulled my kunai from my thigh pouch and swung it behind me reflexively.

“Kyoku-chan! You’re ba- Argh!” Recognizing the voice, I stopped the blade just short of the blond boy that had appeared in my field of vision.

“Hey Kyoku…” Naruto mumbled sheepishly, definitely intimidated by my sudden display of ferocity. “Are you okay?” His eyes travelled to the blade that was mere millimeters from impaling his eye.

“Sorry Naruto,” I said as I stowed away my kunai, before holding a hand out to him, helping him up. Behind him, I could see Sasuke watching me with wary eyes. 

“Uh, yeah.” Naruto laughed awkwardly as he accepted my help.

“So, what happened?” Sasuke finally asked as he gestured to the not so cleaned up wreck of a training ground around us. His eyes lingered a little bit on the tree that was missing a fair chunk of its midsection not too far off before he returned his gaze to me, a questioning eyebrow raised.

“I…” Should I tell them?...

No. I must not. Shinobis do not take kindly to spies, especially if they were loyal to the village. Naruto had a dream to become Hokage, there was no way that he would take too kindly to his teammate being a traitor. Sasuke, on the other hand, had even more reason to react negatively if I spilled the beans to them, since he had lost his entire family to his traitor of a brother.

A life of a Spy is to be truly alone. Those were the words that Shiratama had told me when I first came here. And I had been foolish enough to not take them seriously, having even thought that Shiratama was on my side, a thought that I had been proven wrong just mere hours ago.

In the end, there was only one way out, wasn’t there? I needed to please Orochimaru-sama enough so that I could rejoin the rest of the faction back in Otogakure. After all, there were no places here where I could safely reside within should someone know that I was from Oto.

People would want me dead, people who I had known and that… was a terrifying thought.

“I’m fine.” I lied at last. The two of them looked at me, concern and wariness within their eyes, or at least I think that was what I saw within those blue and black orbs.

“I see.” Sasuke nodded, before glancing at Naruto. “So, I was actually going to spar with the dead last here. Think you can keep up with us?”

“Sasuke, you bastard!”

“Sure,” I replied, somehow managing a smile. It was surprising, to be honest, it would appear that I had gotten familiar with this particular scene. It was as if I could always count on the two of them to always be at odds with one another

They were good kids, good friends, even.

I just hope that when the time comes, we would not have to kill each other. I would hate for that to happen.
> The Calm I. Those Peaceful Days
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I smiled as I casually levitated a kunai around my hand. My telekinetic control had definitely gotten better after that little incident. How long had it been since then? Two weeks? Probably.

A small shuffling in the bushes to my right. Silently, I grabbed the kunai as I steadied myself on my perch on the tree. I kept my eyes and ears wide open, as I crouched, alert and waiting.

I was not disappointed.

A trio of shurikens shot out from the bushes. Pouring chakra into my eyes, I tracked them as they flew towards me, before smacking them out of the air with my kunai. It was a nifty trick that Kakashi-sensei taught us, very useful to conserve chakra when needed.

A small prickling at the back of my neck was the only warning I had before I noticed somebody behind me. Ducking down, I narrowly avoided a horizontal sweeping kick from the orange figure behind me.

“Nice try, Naruto!” I crowed, one of my legs kicking out behind me, landing squarely in his chest causing him to disappear in a puff of chakra smoke. 

I dashed away, since my initial position had been compromised due to that clone finding out where I was. There was no doubt that a multitude of clones were now converging on my last known position, and I, for one, do not relish fighting them, considering that Sasuke was still nowhere to be found.

Or maybe he had already been found and the two of them were already engaging each other.

Nah, impossible. A few days ago, we had decided to change up our training a little bit. Expanding our training ground to cover the forest, the three of us would then try to take each other out using subterfuge and brute force. Preferably the former, but most probably the latter.

It was an extremely effective training exercise, one that Kakashi-sensei approved of recently by coming a little later than usual so that we had more time for it. Though I presumed that he was merely using that as an excuse for not turning up on time, as always.

And we actually managed to teach Naruto the meaning of patience. (That might have been a lie, but at least he was no longer yelling in the forest for us to fight him face to face)

Unfortunately, I was found out as a group of orange blurs caught up to me. Stopping at a branch, I gripped tightly onto it with the chakra on my foot and kicked out at one of them while simultaneously tossing the kunai at another. Both connected, but the remaining Narutos were not deterred as they dashed onto me.

One, two, three, four clones remaining. Too much for me to handle at the moment, especially considering how good Naruto had gotten in the recent week. Ever since he had let slip that his Shadow Clones could transmit their experiences back to him, Kakashi-sensei had drafted up a training regime for him, where he could increase his rate of training by using more shadow clones. Of course, his finesse with the Konoha Katas were still a far cry from mine and Sasuke’s own fighting style, but he was improving.

Not to mention that four shadow clones would be too much for me to handle, especially since I didn’t exactly want to use any of my spells now. Arcane Bolt was a useful spell, but to use it on a clone? It’d be a huge waste.

I formed a series of handseals, completing the technique just as the clones all converged on me. Reaching out with my chakra towards another tree, I swapped places with one of its branches right before the clones’ attacks connected.

“What the?” I heard one of them say.

“Tch! Kyoku-chan~!” Another called, “Stop hiding!”

“Fan out and find her!” A third said.

Guess he had been learning, I noted from my hiding spot in the foliage. I took a deep breath, drawing my chakra in on me to make it harder to detect me even as I cast a life-seeking spell. Information flooded into my eyes as I pinpointed the various life signs around me.

Forty-eight lifesigns that were big enough to be humans. Looks like Naruto had not been slacking off with his clones, considering how they were moving all around the place.

A certain group to the north of me were darting around too erratically to actually make sense. Which meant one thing, combat. My suspicions were confirmed as the other groups began converging on that location.

I ended the spell and moved out as well, leaping from tree to tree as silently as I could.

It took me awhile, but when I arrived at the scene, it was a sight of utter chaos. Narutos were everywhere, darting from point to point  as they tried to catch the black figure darting about them.

His eyes were still black, so no Sharingan. Knowing him, he was probably stalling Naruto and trying to cause a commotion for me to take notice of, probably because he was hoping to take both me and Naruto out at the same time.

Clever, but I had a plan for that.

I fished out a flashbang, one of the cheaper ones, and slung it up into the air even as I dived into the clearing. While there were a lot of Narutos, one in particular stood out to me, not moving and not attacking, merely studying everything before him. I landed squarely on top of him, to his surprise and flung him into a nearby tree. He impacted just as the flashbang went off behind me. Turning around, I sped towards Sasuke who was staggering about among the clones, clearly not expecting the flashbang I had set off, and kicked him squarely in the chest.

Or I would have, if he had not dodged at the last second. As he sidestepped my attack, I could just see the smirk on his face even as I flew past him. 

“Tch.” I glared at him as I landed, “you noticed, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.” He smiled even as he flung himself to the top of a tree, putting himself out of the reach of some of the clones. “Knew you were going to do that.” He called down.

“Hey, don’t forget about us!” The clones called out as they surged forward, then stopped. They looked at each other, before one of them shouted to the rest of us.

“Kakashi-sensei has arrived!”

Ah, the clone that was at the meeting place must have dispelled himself then.

“Guess we should stop.” Sasuke muttered as he dropped down from the tree.

“Yeah.” I nodded as the clones dispelled themselves, the real Naruto walking out among them. Seeing as how he wasn’t even blemished, I guess the one I tossed into a tree was just another clone.

Clever.

Dashing back to the meeting point took us less than ten seconds, though Kakashi-sensei was less than impressed when we landed right in front of him.

“You’re late.” He deadpanned. Oh the irony.

“Shut up, sensei!” Naruto snarked. “We were here first!”

I smacked him across the top of his head, shutting him up. While Kakashi-sensei was generally tolerant of us, I had no wish to find out the limits of his patience. Hopefully never.

I’d leave that to them for when I’m no longer on the team, thank you very much.

“So what is the agenda for today, Kakashi-sensei?” I asked.

He looked at me funny for a bit before smiling. It was kind of weird, to be honest. Ever since that situation two weeks ago, I had noticed that Kakashi-sensei had been paying more attention to me than normal. On one hand, he might be looking out for me more, but on the other… He might be on to me.

Still, Shiratama and I had put our activities on hold for two entire weeks already. Was he still suspicious after all that?

“Well, it’s just missions as usual.” Sensei replied as he turned around to begin walking. “Follow me.”

“Right!” Naruto pumped his fist into the sky. “Let’s get this started! Sasuke! You know the rules!”





“You are an idiot.” I told Naruto, who had a multitude of scratches on his face. Three guesses as to which mission we got for the day.

“You should know better than to grab it like that.” Sasuke admonished from his corner of the food stall that we had decided to rest so that we could get Naruto’s wounds bandaged up.

“Shut it, Sasuke!” Naruto retorted, but he winced a little when I tightened the bandage on his face. Sure I could have used a plaster, but this was much better at shutting him up. “Owwww, Kyoku-chan, that hurts!”

“Then stop doing something so stupid,” I sighed. Sure, he was kind of dependable in most situations, but would it kill this boy to think for a moment?

“Oh, if it isn’t team seven!”

We looked up as one, and took in the four figures that approached us.

“Hello!” I waved at Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji, who were accompanied by a bearded ninja with a cigarette in his mouth and dressed in the standard Konoha Jounin uniform that could only be their team leader, Asuma Sarutobi.

“Hey Kyoku-chan!” Ino waved back, before squealing like she always used to around Sasuke. “And Sasuke-chan, I missed you!”

I chose to ignore her, instead focusing on the other two members of the team. “So, what brings you here?” I asked as I pasted a plaster soaked in disinfectant upon a scratch on Naruto’s hand.

“Finished our missions for the day,” Shikamaru yawned, “heading to the training grounds for extra training.”

“How about you, Kyoku-chan?” Chouji asked, eating from his ever-present bag of chips. 

“Eh, just bandaging my teammate up.” I gestured to Naruto. They looked at him questioningly, so I decided to elaborate. “Tora.” They winced, evidently understanding the pain that we had gone through.

“Oof,” the jounin commented as he took a puff of smoke from his cigarette, “Sounds rough. He tried grabbing it around the belly, didn’t he?”

“Yup.” I replied.

“By the way, who are you?” Naruto asked, squinting up at the bearded shinobi who was towering over all of us.

“Ah, Asuma’s the name.” The jounin replied. “Leader of Team Ten. And you must be Kakashi’s genins.” He looked at us with a discerning eye before smiling. “Nice to meet you!”

I waved a hand as a waft of his cigarette smoke blew over to me. That thing just smells nasty. How could he stand it?

“By the way,” Asuma said, taking the cigarette out of his mouth and using it to point behind us. “What’s that over there?”

I looked behind, smirked and returned my gaze to him. “Just a bunch of kids that had been following us around.” In a box that was painted grey with two eye holes in the front. Talk about obvious. I had told Naruto and Sasuke to ignore it, mostly because I was curious if the people within would actually follow us around.

“What!” A voice shouted incredulously from within the box. “How long have you known?”

“Since the start, Konohamaru.” Naruto grinned. “Now get out of there.”

A few seconds later, us seven ninjas were staring down a trio of midgets, two boys, one with a ridiculously long scarf, and a girl, all of them wearing goggles on their foreheads.

“If you had known all this time, why didn’t you just call us out?” The one with the long scarf ranted.

“Eheh.” Naruto grinned before he pointed to his forehead, “by the way, what is with the goggles?”

Konohamaru grinned as he gripped his goggles. “We’re copying the old you, my rival!”

A group of kids that admire Naruto? I blinked. Somehow, I felt kind of weird thinking about that. Was the world ending already?

“Troublesome.” Shikamaru muttered as he eyed the kids. I nodded in agreement, though I could not help but feel left out knowing the fact that I was the only one among my team without a fanclub of some sort.

“Konohamaru, are you making trouble for your grandfather again?” Asuma asked.

“None of your business, uncle!” Konohamaru declared. “I am settling things with my rival here!”

I blinked as I processed that. He had just called Asuma ‘uncle’, and considering that Asuma was from the Sarutobi clan… this kid was the Hokage’s grandchild?

I shuddered as another realization struck me. Naruto knows that Hokage’s grandchild?

“You’re thinking too much,” Shikamaru said, breaking me out of my thought process.

“Right.”

“Shogi later?”

“Should be fine.”

“Ah,” Asuma interjected as he looked at me, “You play shogi too?”

“Uhh, yeah?” I replied.

“You normally play at the Naras, right?” he grinned. “I’d drop by later, then.”

“Asuma-sensei just wants an opponent that doesn’t beat him all the time,” Shikamaru translated.

“Hey, I’m not that bad!” Asuma protested.

“It’s okay sensei.” Ino chirped from her position beside Sasuke, before her eyes light up, probably because she had thought up some devious scheme or whatnot. “Actually, why don’t we all go to the Nara compound today? We can have a good old outdoor dinner!” She squealed, “Like the old times!”

“I’ll pass.” Sasuke deadpanned as he tried to find a way to extricate himself from Ino’s iron grip without hurting the other girl.

“Spoilsport.” Naruto frowned. “What time though?”

“After training.” Asuma declared. “Which is probably after seven.” He smiled at the three of his genins, “That means we have four hours. Which means if you want to make it in time and get some proper food for the dinner, you better put your backs into it!”

“Right!” Ino cheered. A cry Chouji echoed rather enthusiastically.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Shikamaru protested.

“Don’t worry, Shikamaru,” Asuma patted him on the back, “I’ll talk to your dad. Have a few favors I could call him upon.”

“But…” Shikamaru’s protest died in his mouth as he slumped back down in defeat. I patted him consolingly along with Chouji and Naruto. Sometimes, things just get out of control.

I should know.

In favor of not wasting time, Team Ten hurried off to do their training. As I eyed them moving away, I couldn’t help but smirk.

“Sneaky man.”

“Huh?” Naruto asked, as the three midgets and Sasuke looked at me. “What do you mean?”

“Asuma-san, or Asuma-sensei.” I snorted, “he used us as bait.”

“How so?” Sasuke asked.

“He used the dinner later as an opportunity to motivate his students.” I explained. “Just now, the three of them looked so unmotivated after their mission, but when Ino suggested the dinner, didn’t you notice how quick he was to jump on that idea?” I shook my head in exasperation when they answered in the negative.

“But how is that using us as bait?” Naruto asked, tilting his head quizically.

“As Ino suggested the dinner, she would take her training later seriously so that she wouldn’t be late for it as it would look bad for her as the one who suggested it. Shikamaru wants to play Shogi later, so Asuma-sensei used that as a way to get him motivated in the training later so that he could hurry up and slack off. And Chouji just likes good food, so it should be pretty obvious on how to get him motivated.”

Or at least, that was how I had interpreted that. Well, no harm done if I was wrong, no?

“Wow.” Konohamaru said in wonder as he looked at Naruto. “Naruto-nii, your girlfriend’s really smart!”

“Not his girlfriend.” I stated frostily.

“R-right.” Naruto stammered. “But Kyoku-chan’s really smart!” A phrase echoed by the three midgets, two of which had yet to introduce themselves.

I’d admit that I enjoyed it a little.





Despite what Sasuke had said, he turned up for the dinner at the Nara Compound. Truth be told, he initially had every intention of not turning up, but had changed his decision at the last minute.

Mostly because he had come to terms with how narrow-minded he was.

As the top student of his class, he had hardly paid attention to the other teams, thinking that they were beneath them. This belief was reinforced when he had become a genin. His team had consisted of one of the best students in his class, Kyoku, who not only had a sharp mind but also a rather unique bloodlimit, and Naruto, the dead last who was not as useless as he looked, possessing a seemingly endless chakra pool, given how he could keep using the Shadow Clone technique and an almost admirable optimistic spirit, not that Sasuke would admit as such to him. To top it all off, they were led by the Kakashi Hatake, the Copy-nin, a possessor of the Sharingan and also apparently the best ninja in the village, according to Kyoku.

As such, he had hardly cared for the other teams, thinking them beneath him, as they were a group of the best genins who were led by the best shinobi himself. Only recently had he found out how wrong he was.

He had been extremely surprised when Kyoku had pointed out how subtly Asuma had manipulated his team into working harder, something he had hardly noticed despite it happening right under his nose. What was worse was the fact that he realized just how well Kyoku had understood the other team to make that form of judgement about them.

“Hey Sasuke!” Naruto  waved from the front of the Nara compound. “I thought you weren’t coming?”

“Hn.” Sasuke snorted but nodded to his two teammates nonetheless. At least those three kids weren’t around Naruto anymore. They were annoying.

“Well, glad you came!” Naruto grinned, “Man, it has been months since I last came here.”

“You almost got yourself banned from here that one time, remember?” Kyoku snarked, “that one time with the plates.”

“Well, yeah.” Naruto muttered sheepishly, “I apologised though.”

“Hey guys!” Sasuke looked up to the sight of Team Ten walking down the streets, carrying a couple of heavy bags. They were also accompanied by a pink haired girl who he vaguely remembered being in his class but couldn’t exactly remember her name.

“Hello again.” Kyoku greeted. “And long time no see, Sakura-san.” Ah yes, that was her name.

“Sakura-chan!” Naruto said enthusiastically..

The pink haired girl ignored the blonde before flashing a smile at the Asagami. “Nice to see you, Kyoku. I had just finished my mission when I ran into Ino, and you know how she can be…” She trailed off and Sasuke stiffened when he realised that the girl was looking at him. “Um… I hope I’m not intruding.”

“Well, there’s no objections from me, and I don’t think that Naruto and Sasuke would say no eit-”

“Sasuke-chan!” Ino yelled as soon as she noticed him, “you came!” He suppressed a wince, glad that he was standing behind Naruto and Kyoku so that the blond menace couldn’t get him.

“Shall we head in?” Asuma said as he gestured to the house.

“Sure.” Shikamaru muttered. “You told my parents already, right?”

“Don’t worry about it. Your mum and dad agreed, even though it was a little on the ball.”

As they entered the house, Sasuke could not help but realise that this was the first time in a long while that he was going to have dinner with this many people.





Naruto was ecstatic.

He had always liked the Nara’s compound, especially the wide fields behind their clan buildings and the deers that sometimes grazed in those fields. It was always a fresh sight for him.

Sure, Shikaku-san and Yoshino-san had initially been uncomfortable around him like so many other adults, but recently they had become more tolerant of him, so long as he did not play pranks within the compound. The same goes for Chouji’s and Kiba’s parents as well.

Naruto was glad that he had friends like them.

The food was good too, grilled by Asuma-sensei over a small fire in the middle of the field while the rest of them talked and joked under the stars.

“So, in the end, Haku kills Gatou!” He gushed, regaling Chouji and Shikamaru with what had happened during his mission to the Land of the Waves a month ago. “He was so fast! Like, one moment Gatou was standing there talking, and then the next he had the Kubikiribocho stabbing into him!”

“Huh, and what happens next?” Shikamaru asked as he placed a piece of meat in his mouth and began chewing.

“Well… Haku was kind of sad that Zabuza was dead, but he didn’t hold it against us. Said that there wasn’t a reason for us to continue fighting.” Naruto grinned. “So we became friends!”

“Oh?” Shikamaru drawled, “sounds too good to be true, but since you are standing here...” He shrugged. “I find it a little hard to believe that you fought this Haku all by yourself though.”

“Alright,” Naruto replied, a little annoyed, “Sasuke helped distract him while I fought him with my shadow clones.” He shot the Uchiha in the corner a glare, an extra hard one since Ino and Sakura-chan were sitting next to him.

“Yeah, I’ll take your word for it.” Shikamaru muttered as he took Chouji’s empty plate from him and placed some of the meat from his own on it before returning it to his friend. “Still, what did Kyoku do during that period?”

“Oh,” Naruto frowned as he tried to remember. “She was fighting that Zabuza along with Kakashi-sensei.” Still now that they mentioned her, Naruto could not help but notice his recent discomfort.

Naruto knows that he was not the smartest person in the class but even then, he notices things. Flashing a glance at the girl who was playing shogi with the sensei who was managing a grill, Naruto could not help but grimaced as he remembered what had happened two weeks ago.

He was the one who had found Kyoku unconscious in Training Ground Five, with all that devastation around her. Sure, he had believed her when she had said she was fine afterwards, but he could not help but notice how Kyoku had changed since that incident.

He had always pegged the kunoichi as the brains of the group, but since then, he had noticed how physical Kyoku had been. It was as if she was angry or something, and it showed. There was this one mission that they recently had in the last week, to deal with some thug named Jako who had stolen a treasure. When they attacked the bandit, Kyoku had been unexpectedly brutal in her methods, blowing the thugs away with some sort of green wind-release jutsu.

One dead, and four captured. The one that died had broken his neck on a tree when Kyoku attacked them. The other four had been so winded that Sasuke and Naruto could probably fight them all with one hand tied behind their backs and still won.

Naruto bit his lip. Something was troubling his teammate but he just didn't really know exactly what to do. Something really serious. It almost felt as if she was in really grave danger.

Still, regardless of what was troubling Kyoku, Naruto knows that there was but one thing that he knew that he could definitely do when trouble comes to her. Like what Haku had told him, he would protect all of his precious people.

Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, Kyoku and everyone else who had believed in him. He would protect them all.





Asuma-sensei was a very crafty person, I mused as I watched him move his golden general piece forward, threatening my unprotected bishop.

The fact that he could also manage the grill and engage in casual talk shows that he was a really good multitasker as well.

Of course, our casual talk was also mostly boring too, though it was of utmost importance to me. Seeing the amount of food that Asuma-sensei had bought for us, if the costs were to be split, I would probably go broke.

Surprisingly, Asuma-sensei had offered to handle the costs himself.

“Asuma-sensei,” I muttered as I pushed my lance forward to cover my bishop. “Are you sure you are okay with that?” I asked, mostly out of courtesy.

“No worries.” He chuckled as he returned his general to a safe position. “It’s a small price to pay, especially with what’s coming up.”

“What’s coming up?” I asked as I casually slid a pawn forward.

“Oh,” He grinned, “Kakashi-san hasn’t told you yet?”

“Uh, tell us what?” I tilted my head.

“Don’t worry about it.” Asuma-sensei grinned, “He’ll probably tell you soon. He’s probably hoping to surprise you. It’s what I’d do.”

True to what Asuma-sensei said, Kakashi-sensei dropped the bomb the next day in his typical nonchalant way.

The three of us had unanimously decided to skip the morning training in favor of catching up on our sleep, primarily due to the fact that we had stayed up really late the previous night bonding with Team Ten.

And by catching up on sleep, I meant that we all decided to take a nap at our meeting place, leaning on each other’s back so that we could sleep in an upright sitting position.

A motion near us got us all awake and alert in a matter of seconds, though we immediately relaxed when we looked upon the familiar figure of Kakashi-sensei.

“Sensei…” Naruto yawned. “You’re late.”

He raised an eyebrow at me, as though asking me for the reason why we were all so lethargic. I shrugged in response.

He looked at us a bit longer, and then sighed. “Well then, I actually came to tell you that there would be no missions for this week.”

Wait, what?

“Because,” He continued cheerfully, “I had just nominated the three of you for the Chunnin Exams!”
> The Calm II. Test. Test. Test.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I have decided to nominate you all for the Chunin Exam.” Kakashi-sensei repeated.

Sasuke and I stood there, stunned, while Naruto merely looked at Kakashi-sensei confusedly.

“What’re the Chunin Exams?”

I slapped myself on the forehead while Sasuke managed a look between disgust and confusion. Kakashi-sensei merely huffed in what seemed to be irritation before he looked at Naruto.

“They are exams that you need to take to become a Chunin.” Sensei told him.

“Really? Then I’m totally on board, believe it!” Naruto exclaimed.

“Here are the application forms.” Kakashi-sensei said, holding out a trio of leaflets. “Do note that these are just nominations, whether you want to take the examination is up to you.”

“Yeah, sensei. You rock!” Naruto yelled as he flung himself at Sensei, catching him in a hug. 

“Get off of me.” Sensei deadpanned as he pushed the offending genin off of him before looking at the rest of us. “Now if you want to take it, you should sign those papers and turn them in at Room 301 at 4 pm tomorrow.”

“But are you sure we are ready for it Sensei?” I asked, “we have only been genins for two months.”

“I do.” He replied, “but if you think you aren’t ready, you can just choose not to turn up.” He looked at me, expression unreadable. “Though I am sure that none of us will think any less of you if you choose not to.”

“No need to do that, Kyoku-chan!” Naruto reassured me, clapping me on the back. “You can definitely ace this exam!”

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

“I’d need more time to think about this,” I muttered. “Is that alright, sensei?”

“Sure.” He smiled. “You have one day to consider if you’d want to attend it. Think carefully!”

And with that said, he flickered away. Once he was gone, Naruto frowned as he looked at me abit, opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something before he closed it and grinned. “Don’t worry Kyoku! You’d do fine!”

“He’s right, you know.” Sasuke added in, to my surprise. “You should at least give it a shot.”

“Yeah, I should.” I replied, nodding. “But I’d like to think about it all the same, I’ll see you guys around?”

“Yeah!” Naruto nodded enthusiastically, “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

I shrugged as I walked away, leaving the two boys behind as I left the training grounds.

Still, would I be ready for this? Sure, a promotion would mean that I would have greater clearance to information and that there would be a chance that I would gain a specialization in the Shinobi Corps, but I had heard of the tales about the Chunin exams, a series of trials so lethal that it could render the examinees horrifically injured or even dead.

The question then remains, was I ready?

I stopped at a deserted Training Ground, number seven, if I was not mistaken. It was hardly booked during this time, and as such made for a perfect spot to practice my spells, especially one.

I reached out with my hand, forcefully pulling the magic out as I constructed the matrix for one of my signature spells. Wrapping my kunai in it, I released the accumulated energy and with a flash of green light, it vanished, reappearing a few meters away, intact and whole.

Perfect, I smiled, though I did notice the sudden onset of fatigue that comes with the loss of mana. It was small, but noticeable.

“Right.” I muttered, taking a deep breath to steel my nerves. The next one would be a lot tougher, but I was slowly getting the hang of it. Crafting the spell matrix in my mind, I poured my mana into it, letting the magic from it infuse my very being, wrapping me in its intoxicating embrace. 

And released it.

I felt the familiar sense of displacement that came with the teleportation spell, the feeling of being disassembled and reassembled on a molecular level. When my vision returned, I stumbled a little, shivering a bit from the loss of mana. The spell was… taxing. It took most of my reserves, leaving me rather tired.

And I was only six or seven meters away from where I last stood. A huge improvement, actually, considering that I had barely managed five meters when I had started using the spell on myself. Though I would not deny that I was a little bit frustrated at my lack of progress.

I heaved a deep breath, trying to calm myself. Judging from how I currently felt, I probably had enough power for two more before I’d run out of mana, by which I mean mana deprivation. I sighed indignantly, teleportation was one of my most proficient spells back when I was still a unicorn, I could even cast it dozens of times. The mana pool I possess right now was a joke compared to how much I had wielded back then.

But still, progress was progress, and it was the best I had. At the very least I had made more progress on this front than when it came to my chakra. The amount that my chakra coils could produce was growing, that was for sure, but it was at such an agonizingly slow rate that it was hardly an improvement.

“Annoying,” I muttered in frustration, venting my irritation by crushing one of the stones on the ground into dust telekinetically. Thanks to that… revelation that time, my magic had become substantially stronger and refined, and my mana capacity was growing at a faster rate now, but it was still a far cry from what it once was. And the other facet of power that I possess was growing so slowly that I couldn’t even call it progress.

I was stronger, yes, but would it be enough to survive the Chunin Exams? The last time rookies had entered was five years ago, and none of them had passed, while according to the records, more than one had died.

Could I survive this?

Not to mention that there was the fact that Shiratama-san would want me to maintain a low profile. Of course, it would be a piece of cake to do so in the exams, by just relegating myself to a support role so that Naruto and Sasuke could take the stage. But the easier route would be to not participate at all.

I sighed, and then blinked. When had it become so foggy?

Drawing my kunai in one hand and grasping a trio of senbons in the other, I watched my surroundings warily. Fog was not something that came easily to Konoha, and considering how fast it had seeped in, this was definitely unnatural.
 
And way too familiar a situation for comfort.

I scanned my surroundings carefully, before letting loose my senbon at one particular spot.

Bingo.

I smiled as a figure suddenly materialized and dodged out of the way of my projectiles, revealing himself to me.

He had a robust figure and wore enough clothing that covered all of him save the eyes. What caught my attention however was the umbrella slung behind his back and the hat that had a metal plate of four parallel vertical stripes on his head.

An Ame-nin? Here?

“State your business,” I growled, moving myself into a combat stance, kunai held out in front of me. “From the looks of it, you are an Ame-nin. Are you here for the Chunin Exams?”

“Chunin exams?” He laughed, his voice too muffled by the neck guard that stretched over his mouth to be distinctive. “Ha! I hardly care about that.”

“Oh? Then I suppose you are here without permission?”

“Damn right I am,” he sneered, drawing his kunai.

“So what do you want?”

“Your life!” He laughed, flinging his kunai at me, I braced myself to dodge, though I was surprised when it split into multiple copies midflight.

A Kunai variant of the Shadow Clone technique? I cursed as I realised that dodging out of the way would be impossible. Channeling the magic into my hand, I gestured, a green wall of green energy forming before me. Throwing the limb forward, I sent it into the kunai swarm, only to gasp in surprise as the kunais continued, passing it undisturbed.

That spell I used was solid enough to knock down a tree, and it had taken a good bit of energy out of my mana pool in the process. The only way that those kunai could have passed through it undisturbed meant that they were either capable of piercing through solid stone, or that they were not real.

Ah.

I scowled as I remained where I was, letting the kunai pass through me harmlessly. On the other hand, my spell continued forward and the Ame-nin jumped out of its trajectory before he would end up with quite a few broken bones.

“Genjutsu?” I muttered, more to myself than to him. Now that I thought about it, it did feel weird that this fog had no sense of moisture to it. Narrowing my eyes, I studied the Ame-nin as he pulled out a brace of shuriken.

“This one is not a genjutsu, however!”

I sighed. “You can stop it now, it won’t work.”

“What?”

“You are not real.” I told him. Sure, the get-up was convincing, the acting was definitely on point. But it was evident that what I was looking at was definitely a genjutsu. Certain areas were missing shadows, others were a little too flat to be three dimensional. And then there was the fact that the subtle Life-seeker spell I cast returned no life signs in front of me, but one right behind me.

Casually, I tossed my kunai in that direction. The figure dodged and the fog immediately dispelled. Guess it was a technique that required him to be standing still.

“Hello, Iruka-sensei.” I said as my former academy tutor smiled at me.

“Hi Kyoku-chan, I am glad to see you.”

Still, why would he be here, and using a genjutsu on me? Then I realised, there was only one reason why this would all be orchestrated.

“This is about the Chunin exams, isn’t it?”

“Excuse me?” He replied, a little surprised.

“A test, right sensei?” I gestured at the point where the illusionary Ame-nin had stood moments ago. “A foreign ninja wielding strong ninjutsu, someone that should outclass a genin like me.” Or he would have, if I did not have my magic. “You’re trying to convince me that the foreign ninjas are way better than me.” I felt a little indignant at that, it was as though they were telling me that I was not good enough.

“Got it in one, Kyoku-chan.” Iruka-sensei replied, though he looked rather concerned when he continued, “but on that note, are you sure you want to attend it?”

Yeah, he’s definitely saying that. I scowled, but did not let it show on my face. It was as if he thought that I would fail the test or something… It was like the world was telling me that it was too far out of my reach… just like...

“I can do it.” I declared curtly, looking up at Iruka-sensei in the face.

His face twitched, almost as if he wanted to grimace, but he forced out a smile in the end.

“Alright, since you had made up your mind.” He nodded towards me, “I’ll wish you the best of luck then.” He turned.

“Oh, and sensei?” I called out, causing him to look back at me, “mind if you kept my techniques a secret for now?” While I had no doubts that I would need to rely on my magic during the chunin exams, I would really much rather keep it a secret until it was absolutely necessary. Information was a crucial resource, after all.

 He nodded and flickered away, leaving me alone in the empty training grounds.

[]

The next day, I spent the better part of the morning preparing my equipment. Shiratama, as per his recent behavior, hardly paid any attention to me, but he did at least arrange the cups in our usual cupboard in the way that told me to return alive.

It made me glad, somewhat.

Thanks mostly to the few C-ranked missions and that one A-ranked that I had completed, I had raked in enough ryous to give my equipment stores a major boost. Three storage scrolls now sat in my pouch on my waist, one for food, one for shuriken and senbons and the last one filled with wires and explosive tags.

I almost had an urge to pick up that useless diary  from that dimensional pocket where I left it. But I resisted the urge. The thought of it still infuriates me, and I really, really did not want to have it in my sights for even a second.

Reigning in my anger, I left the house and made my way over to the Academy.

I arrived at the Academy an hour before the appointed time, and already I could see a multitude of shinobis from the other nations making their way inside. Taking a perch on the fence, I scanned the crowd carefully.

Majority were Konoha genins, that was for sure, some of them even looking as old as twenty, probably those that were still stuck in the Genin Corps. However, there were also plenty from Suna, a few from Ame that looked awfully like how Iruka had constructed his genjutsu the previous day. Kusa and Taki had at least one team each, and… Oto?

There were Oto-nin here?

Why were there Oto-nins here?

I looked at them as they walked into the building. Two boys, one girl, they looked awfully familiar. All of them were dressed in the standard getup of an Oto-nin, with a cloak and snakeskin scarf, though one of the boys and the girl had opted to forgo the standard issued facemask. The last boy also had his entire face bandaged.

They looked awfully familiar too… I grimaced. What could they be doing here?

“Kyoku-chan! You’re here!”

I looked back and forced a smile on my face when Naruto ran up, Sasuke following behind him.

“Knew you would turn up!” Naruto exclaimed.

“Yeah,” I replied, putting the thought about the Oto-nins to the back of my head, “glad I could make it too.” I lied a little, there was something fishy about this entire situation. Still, if there was a plan that would involve me, Shiratama-san would tell me. Considering that he hadn’t...

“Mmmh.” Sasuke nodded in approval, before looking at the academy, “shall we head in?”

The Academy was a huge building, but as the place where the Hokage’s office was located and where missions were issued, it was made to be a very defensible building to protect the secrets within its walls. The only proper way in was through the various doors and certain windows located on its perimeter and the inside was constructed to be like a maze, to confuse and delay anyone who attacked it. Back in the day when we were students here, we often had combat exercises executed within the academy itself to familiarise ourselves with urban combat. The fact that the walls and corridors were hardly damaged as a result of our fighting was a testament to how reinforced the structure was.

Still, as former students here, we navigated the place easily, though we did stop for a bit when we noticed a huge crowd outside a room on the second floor.

From the looks of it, it seemed as though a couple of kids were beating up some of the genins who had arrived. One of the genins on the floor, a boy with a bowl cut and dressed in some sort of green spandex suit, looked especially in a rough shape.

“Seriously,” One of the kids standing in front of the door scoffed, “this is the standard of the genins taking the exam this time?” He leered at the crowd, “all of you should just quit if that’s the case.”

What? What’s going on?

“Yeah,” the other added, “it’s about ten years too early for the likes of you to get past us.”

Get past them? But why? Weren’t we on the second floor? I looked around and then snorted when I noticed the sign on the classroom stating ‘301’.

Genjutsu. Right. Also, weren’t some of these genins originally from these Academy? How did they not notice that this was not the third floor? I eyed my teammates. From the looks of it, Sasuke had also figured it out too, though Naruto remained blissfully unaware of the actual situation.

“Please,” A girl said as she walked forward, “let us pass.”

One of the kids swung so fast that I just barely saw his moving arm, knocking her to the ground with a strike to the face.

“Horrible!”

“Aw, what was that?” One of the two mocked, “listen up, this is us being kind. Pack up and go home if that’s the level of skill that you are going to bring to the exam.”

“This exam is going to thrust you into many life or death situations.” The other added. “Even we had failed it three times straight. People that quit being shinobis after taking it, people that died during it, we’ve seen it all.” He sneered at us, “and are you sure that you’ve what it takes to be different from them?”

“Chunins are the captains of military teams,” the other declared, “the failure of a mission, the death of a comrade, those are their responsibilities. You sure you can handle it?”

“Yes.” Sasuke said as he stepped forward. I mentally sighed, should have known he would do something like this. A challenge to his ego was not something Sasuke would ever avoid, he was way too proud for that.

Though in hindsight, if he hadn’t stepped forward, I would have. So I suppose that makes me a hypocrite then.

“Now step aside, and let me through.” He continued, “I’m going to the third floor.”

“What is he talking about?” “Aren’t we on the third floor?” The surrounding crowd broke out in murmurs. The two kids in front of the door merely grinned.

“Heh,” One commented, “so you noticed.”

The world around us contorted slightly as the wide-area genjutsu was released, the illusion of the place being the third floor dissipating to reveal the class ‘201’ to the crowd.

“Well done.” The other said, “but all you did was see through it. You’ll still need to get pass us!” He leapt, launching a kick at Sasuke, who responded with one of his own.

Then there was a figure between them. I blinked as I noticed that it was the boy wearing the green spandex who was originally lying on the floor. His two hands out to his side were clutching the legs of Sasuke and the other genin.

That speed was insane, and the fact that he performed that feat at that velocity suggests that he was proficient enough to be that precise in his movements. That he could block two kicks with his bare hands suggests incredible endurance.

Looks like he was merely acting when he was knocked about earlier.

Sasuke smoothly slid his leg out of the other boy’s grasp, as did the one who initiated the attack, who quickly retreated with his companion. His look was analytical, as though he was studying the boy before him carefully.

“Hey,” Another boy wearing the Konoha Hitai-ate said to the spandex wearing boy, this one had the Hyuga’s byakugan and bore a slight resemblance to Hinata from our class. A close relative, perhaps? “I thought you said we shouldn’t draw attention to ourselves?”

“I know,” He replied as his eyes travelled to Sasuke, meeting the Uchiha’s gaze, “but there is something I want to do.” He pointed at Sasuke, “My name’s Rock Lee, and I want a showdown with you!”

Murmurs broke out in the crowd at this declaration.

“I am Uchiha Sasuke,” Sasuke replied, “And I accept.” That was when I decided that that was enough, reaching out to pull him back.

“No.” I deadpanned. “We’re going to classroom 301 now.” I nodded at Rock Lee coolly, “sorry, but a fight right now is not going to be in our best interests, but I won’t interfere if you choose to seek us out during the exams.”

And considering how confrontational the past Chunin exams were, that seems very likely.

“I agree with her,” The Hyuga said to his partner, “come, let us leave.” Rock Lee seemed to want to protest, but seemed to have thought better of it as he turned to follow his companion. The crowd following suit when there seemed to be nothing interesting left.

“I’d hold you to that.” He said to me before he left. I had a strong feeling that he meant it. 

“Why did you stop me?” Sasuke said sulkily. “I could have taken him.”

“And reveal your techniques to an opponent that you hardly know anything about?” I countered, “not a good move. Besides we know that he’s proficient in taijutsu at the very least.”

“Very proficient.” Sasuke nodded.

“And all they know about us is that genjutsus are less effective on you.” I continued, “a good trade of information in our favor, I’d say.” I looked at him, “fighting him will only give him more information about you.”

“Fine.” He snorted, conceding to my side of the argument before smiling. I wouldn’t lie, it felt a little weird seeing him with such a content smirk on his face. “Still, it looks like this exam will be interesting.”

“Yeah, looks like it.” I muttered as Naruto nodded his agreement. My mind travelled to the group of Oto-nins that I had seen earlier. 

Very interesting indeed.
> Not a Chapter, but please read.
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Hello all, Riposte here.

So, as most of you know, i have been on a rather long hiatus for quite awhile, due to stuff written here.

Well, but this message is mostly directed to the readers here, because I would like to know your opinion on something. I have been considering a rewrite for Sunset Shimmer: Kunoichi ( a completely different story direction) if you would, mostly because when I have returned to SSK after a three months long hiatus, i realize that I did not have it in me to write a constant subterfuge, infiltration and spying story, not to mention some of the other reasons stated in this other blog post.

As such, I would like to ask your opinions on this. If you have anything you would like to express yourself on, please head to this blog post and post your comment. 

Thanks for reading this, and I hope to have your continued support in this hobby!

Sincerely,
Riposte