The Hidden Waterfall Village was a curious thing. It differed wildly from the wandering shinobi clans and the oath bound samurai. One thing really made us stand apart from the others, and that was the hero water. All the Shinobi in the village knew about it, but very few suspected where it actually was. Why this affected us so much was that we were bound to a single location. No wandering for missions, no fleeing if we were about to be destroyed. We won, or we lost.
This has led us to having a rather defensive doctrine overall. We had to protect our home which was the only known source of the hero water, so we had to be more diplomatic with the surrounding civilians. Can't annoy your clients too much, especially since they might know and reveal the location of your village. Kinda hard for that location not to spill from time to time too. after all there was only so many places we could hide and still accept missions. We tried to stop leeks, but it was best to remain on good terms regardless. That meant no local assassination. Too easy to piss off the wrong guy.
Additionally, about thirty years ago we had a number of refugees come in from the land of water. Someone had the bright idea to hire them as guards in the land of fire, and the shinobis from the land of water were looking to expand their influence and markets. Which apparently worked just fine until their political opponents hired the Uchiha. The cheap bastard thought he wouldn't need the Senju because of his blood thirsty water ninja. After all, water beats fire, right?
So, after the erasure of that man's entire house the remaining water shinobi fled out here to the land of waterfalls. Their clans back homes didn't want back the 'failures' and simply abandoned them. They eventually stumbled on the small proto-village here. It was tense for a while, but diplomacy actually won for once. The strangers from the east were better trained, but the hero's water was an effective deterrent after an initial scuffle or two.
It also helped that the Hero's water was replenished every ten years, not every one-hundred from like in the show. It was learning this fact that really hammered in that this world was different from the show. I wondered what else might be different. The water could also be given in lesser doses to preserve it if the full boost wasn't needed. All in all, this led us to become a stationary shinobi force, which wasn't really seen in these times. Even shinobi that occupied certain regions of the country semi permanently still moved around within that region. It was simply too dangerous to remain in one place. Too much bad blood that would see forces gang up if they had set location.
Which brought me back to our current mission. A war to the East had broken out. Something more than just the Uchiha and Senju fighting. What this meant for us (for now at least) was an increase of shinobi and civilians either entering or leaving the country. Increased bandits, desperate shinobi, ex samurai causing trouble, all these would need to be watched for. Currently we had a bandit camp to eliminate, but our mission went war beyond that. We would be patrolling the main routes around this country, and any natural hideouts that we knew about. We even left some juicy spots intentionally clear to help herd bandits.
We were waiting near an entrance to a nearby town. In many of the towns we had a representative that kept in contact with the local equivalent of mayors or elder councils. They also kept their ears out for rumors and news. We would check in with them every week unless stated otherwise. This was to coordinate our efforts and to gather additional forces if we suspect shinobi or samurai activity. Any bandit group larger than twelve was also to have at least two experienced shinobi. Often enemy shinobi would try to blend in with such groups while secretly controlling them. If shinobi traveled openly in smaller groups, they tended to be all shinobi minus potential clients.
We would patrol for about three months, then be relieved for about a month unless pressed for numbers. Which we might very well be. My grandfather was considered semi-retired but still an elite shinobi. His 'retirement' was mostly based on how much trouble our council felt it would be to force him into the field. Or how much Sake they were offering.
In any case we had about eighteen men to the south of us that needed elimination, and we were currently waiting for our other experienced shinobi to show up. Apparently, the man was something of a sword specialist. A second generation from a land of water shinobi with some samurai training. A samurai trained water ninja. No wonder he was a sword specialist. I was mostly trained in the use of knives. Though that may be a matter of money more than preference on Isu's part.
While I sat around waiting a rock quickly found itself hitting my head. I turned to Isu just in time to see him launch a second rock, and despite my efforts to dodge it got me clean in the chin. "You were zoned out there," he said grinning, "that can mean death in the field. So, during this fine trip I'm going to keep you on your toes."
I held in a groan. This was going to be a nightmare. Before I could think of some way to get out of this, I heard a call coming away from the wall.
"Hey Isu!" a broad-shouldered man carrying a sword and decked in samurai looking armor called out. "Looks like they managed to pull you back into business! I missed my old sempai grumbling about every mistake we made!"
"Yeah, yeah you brat. Why you wearing that stupid armor anyway? This is shinobi work, not some war band. Need to keep a low profile." Isu grumbled.
"I know, but first impressions are important and I wanted to leave a good one on your grandkid! Is this him? Hah! He looks just as sour as you!"
Well, these two obviously had a history together. Strange that I never saw him with Isu's war buddy drinking band. Not a question that I particularly wanted to bring up though. I preferred the peaceful nights without the drunken babbles and revelry. Kept me up all night sometimes. Last thing I wanted to do was add to that number if this man didn't know about it.
It was then that I noticed a figure running in the distance toward us. It was shorter, so probably a child. Was this a random kid or had this man brought his own tag along? As the figure grew closer, I could see that it was a young girl with black hair. She had the look of a girl just entering puberty so maybe just two or three years older than me
As she finally ran up to us, she leaned on her knees panting. After a second, she straightened out at pointed a finger at the man. "You cheated! You said if I didn't fall behind looking for wild foxes you would take me to see a real bear! You didn't say you would run way ahead!"
The man simply looked down at her and smiled. "Well, I never said I wouldn't run ahead. Really, if that pace tired you out than you need to work on your stamina more!"
The girl looked about ready to strangle him till she saw us against the wall. Instantly she was in my face, mouth running a mile a minute. "Hey, my name is Kuri! What's your name? Are you the one teaming upon with us? Do you know how to use a sword? I want to become the greatest swordswoman in the land! Do you like animals? I love them! I hope to have a tiger someday but daddy says I should start with a cat. Will you be my friend? No one in the family plays with me enough…."
Oh God, she's an Extrovert
Our quarry was to the east of the town, and we would be traveling more or less as civilians. We would go as ourselves the first time, but every other time we would go disguised or transformed in some way. All this was more or less standard. What wasn't standard was the excitable girl bouncing up and down, endless questions on he lips. Did the man (now identified as Ketsu, her father) inject straight caffeine into her veins? Did he even know what caffeine was outside of green tea?
"So, I know that ma was lying when she told me about elephants that use giant ears to fly, but I thought that it would be amazing if I could teach one of the gliding squirls to flap their arms and fly for real! So, I caught one and decided to raise it to really fly! Didn't work out to well but then I wanted to see how many acorns it could hold in it's adorable little cheeks. It got three in before it… "
I tuned her out with all the experience I had with my family in my last life, but it wasn't easy. She was just way too excitable. I tried to distract myself by looking at the roads. The roads here were just standard dirt paths, big enough but a wagon would have real trouble if it rained, which was common. Earth ninjutsu weren't too hard right? Could a ninja simply make roads and bridges? It seemed like a simple task, if you knew earth release. Which Isu did. He was the most skilled in water but he knew earth and a little fire too. I steeled myself. This was going to suck, my throat would be so dry.
"Isu" I spoke probably the first words I had said in three months. My voice was so raspy, it sounded like I had chained smoked for years.
Isu instantly was alert. If I was speaking it was either important or something I really wanted to know. I had to hand it to him, he actually actively encouraged my curiosity. Even if he didn't do much experimentation himself.
"You see something brat?" he said. Kuri had gone quite at my voice.
"Roads, ninjutsu? Stone." I spoke about as few words as possible. It caused him to stare at me for a few seconds, deciphering my speach.
"Ah, you're wondering if ninjutsu can be used to turn the roads to stone roads. Thought you saw something for a moment. The answer to that is a bit complicated. Ultimately yes, but there are a few problems, and most ninja don't bother with such a thing, don't stay in one place long enough. Though I suppose with our circumstances…. Huh. Hmm…" He stopped in the road for a minute, scratching his chin. Finally, he nodded.
"Okay, a quick lesson on how earth ninjutsu works. Your chakra goes in the earth and becomes part of it. This is especially useful if the material around you isn't right for what you want. Need a stone wall? What if there is no stone around? Then the chakra moves part of the earth and takes on the properties of stone that you need. A clump of dirt acts like stone, and even looks like it for a while. Problem is that eventually that chakra dissipates into the environment. So that stone wall suddenly acts like normal dirt again. You would need the structure to actually be sound on its own without chakra holding it together"
Isu continued, "Furthermore, when making such things you need to be aware of what's underneath you. Making a wall Isn't useful if underneath there is nothing. Makes the wall unstable. Knew a guy who actually made an earth wall only for it slide right down into the earth because he forgot to support it properly. It would have been hilarious if he wasn't burned to death from the fireball he was trying to stop."
I nodded at that, then looked up at the sky pondering. Kuri poked at me causing me to let out a little yelp.
"Why do you care about roads anyway? What does that have to do with being the best swordswoman ever? If you ask me- "a rock suddenly hit her forehead causing her to recoil.
"Quite brat number two," Isu commanded. "He's thinking. Best to let him get it out of his system. Sometimes he's even got good ideas."
This actually took me back a bit. That was probably the nicest bit of support he had ever verbally given me. Seems like if you give him an outside target he would band together with his kin, even if he beat the crap out of me otherwise. I would have to learn how to use that at some point. Still, roads. Those where essential in any economy. We could theoretically build them easier and cheaper. If we had a standing contract to build and maintain roads, we could theoretically make a killing. Problem was we were in a relatively poor area. Maybe we could take a small tax?
I looked up at Isu. "Find stone workers, learn road. Gravel fusing? Find stone, make road but clients' poor. Small toll for maintenance?"
Isu frowned. "Maybe if we connected to a richer city, it would encourage more travel. But that would also mean more bandits, and curious shinobi. Not sure how wise it is to bring any attention to us. We aren't strong enough if some big clan walks by. Not to mention differing guilds might catch wind."
I looked at him for a moment, thinking. Guild guarded their secrets jealously. They would often hire shinobi against their rivals, but the guilds weren't all powerful. The world was just too war torn for them to be more than a regional power. Still, we would have to account for them or a local lord hiring Shinobi to find and eliminate a new threat to their markets. Okay, so a regular tax or toll was asking for trouble. Short term profits then. A few skilled shinobi traveling around and selling road making service for a quick buck, then vanishing to never be seen again. A bit slap shod but could be profitable. Increase trade would always be more useful anyway.
I finally nodded. Isu had been rather patient with my question so far. "Quick job. Travel disguised, not near home. Build road, leave. Growing towns or big towns with no stone roads or need better dirt roads. Increase trade. More bandits attracted to wealth. More jobs. Start east, move west till reach waterfalls. We 'chase' off builders, sell ourself to guild for that work. Adapt as needed"
Isu just stared at me. then he nodded. "You will be a ninjutsu specialist. Don't think I will let you slack off physical training though." A long sigh left his lips. "Fine, fine. I'll talk to the council about it. You and I need to make it work first. So, we will be preparing for that while we complete this mission. Three months to figure it out. I'm going to work you harder than ever brat."
I nodded and turned my eyes back to the path. There would be a lot of preparation in the next few months. The bulk of it would be in Isu's hands as I didn't have enough chakra or earth ninjutsu. No way was he going to let me off the hook though. I bet at least I would be doing most of the spying and investigation for how to build roads.
"Come on you two," Isu said to Ketsu and Kuri. "We have a long walk before we get to the encampment. With any luck and good weather, we should reach it tomorrow"
I realized the two had been staring at us for that entire conversation. I looked back at them. Kuri looked like she had no idea what had just happened and looked like a lost kitten. Ketsu on the other hand had a considering look to his face. Like I was a particularly interesting cat he found on the side of the road. I didn't like that look. It meant trouble, I was sure.
"Hey Isu," he said.
"Yeah?"
"Your grandkid is scary"
"He will be if he survives, but that could be said about a lot of young Shinobi."
"… How do you feel about a betrothal between him and Kuri?"
I sputtered, Kuri went scarlet, and Isu just let out a full bellied laugh.
It took until about noon the next day for us to reach the encampment. Luckily the 'engagement' was mostly a joke. 'Mostly' was the key word. There was no guarantee either of us would live to see adulthood, and we didn't come from really prominent or wealthy families. Well, mine was once prominent but that was well before I was born. I wasn't guaranteed to survive the Earth Grudge stringification especially. What worried me more was if this would get revisited in a few years. Might accelerate my plan to leave the land of waterfalls.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate Kuri, but aside from the issues of my being dropped here from my previous adult life, she was just not my type. She talked at me, not too or with me. She was way too young, and frankly too high energy for me. I liked my quiet. Quite was soothing. People drained me of my will to live. If I ever got married, I would also have to take into account my possible immortality as well. Frankly she just wasn't high on the possibility list.
Putting that aside, we were waiting in the woods as Isu scouted the bandits. Ketsu was left behind to guard us and to flee if necessary. If Isu didn't return in an hour we would consider him dead. I doubted this rabble could pull off such a feat though.
Kuri at least had finally lost interest in me, though she still got a bit red in the face if she looked at me. She was currently cloud watching. I got the impression she didn't have a lot of friends her age. Hopefully she didn't form a crush or anything, because I was not going to deal with that. I amused myself with putting my ear to a rock and tapping it. My project with the roads was going to be a long one, and what better time to start working on it then now?
I tapped the rock in different patterns, sometimes with chakra and sometimes without. I wasn't a sensor, but you could feel your own chakra outside of your body. The longer it was out the faster that sense went away as it merged with the world around me. But, if I wasn't horribly off, I could perhaps replicate something like Toph's seismic sense. Being able to sense vibrations and the earth around me would pull quadruple duty as a great tool for fighting, scouting, predicting ambushes, and for finding stone beneath the earth. Maybe one day I could do more, if I could get this blasted technique to work. I feared I would need to learn Earth release first.
Of course, if Isu caught me doing this so near an enemy he would beat me black and blue and force me into a ten-kilometer run while throwing rocks at me. Best to not tinker with this too long. The rock was another material that didn't absorb chakra very well, which means that my chakra traveled along the surface more than through it. Earth chakra might behave differently though. It also remained stubbornly the same when I tried to shift things around on or in it. Basically, it refused to bond with my chakra altogether. Regular earth would move, though it was hard, but the rock remained one solid mass. Even smaller rocks had this consistency. I could move a pebble with sheer chakra control. But not morph it into a different shape or infuse it. My chakra would just surround it.
Another idea stuck me. didn't chakra exist in nature already? Not Sage energy, but actual chakra? It was way weaker than the energy concentrated within me or other living things, but maybe I could mix it, or even change my chakra to match it? Would that be elemental transformation or something else entirely?
Before I could ponder this further, I heard a rustle in the woods around us. I immediately stood up and acted like I was paying attention to my surroundings. I took out my knife and looked at the direction of the rustling, only to see a brown rabbit hoping away. Kuri saw it to, and took off after it with a happy squeal. I refused to let my guard down though. Isu liked distractions, he could be nearby.
A few minutes went by, but it seemed to be a false alarm. Still, I kept my eyes peeled. It was about half an hour since Isu left and I suspected he was close to finished. If he deemed there to be no shinobi or samurai then it would be left to us to eliminate them with their supervision.
About ten minutes later a rock hit the back of my head. My only consolation was that a rock hit Kuri and Ketsu as well. I rubbed my quickly forming bump as Isu walked into the clearing with a smirk.
"So, I checked it out, seems like no one can use chakra." He announced.
"How do you know?" I asked asKuri whined on the ground. Ketsu look annoyed too but apparently, he was used to that type of behavior from my grandfather.
"Well, it's quite simple if you pay attention to how they move. There is a smoothness to even a partially trained Shinobi. A confidence about their walk or a strength to their grip. The other bandits will also move at least slightly different around someone they know is stronger, except for some of the arrogant ones. Granted I have been tricked before, but it's too generally to much effort for such a temporary arrangement. Still best to be careful but I think were clear." I nodded at that
"So, the kids will be the ones to eliminate them?" Ketsu spoke up.
"Yeah, figured I give them a run down and let them choose how to approach it. They recently got a good haul so they won't be going anywhere for a few days. It would be smarter if they moved but I think their numbers are giving them confidence. They are about 2 miles south from here, they have two lookouts at all times from what I saw. Seem to just be deposed from their homes. Would feel pity for them if they hadn't started raiding our meal tickets around here. Many appear to be boyhood friends, they have couple girls with them that are also part of their operations. In an old abandoned barn in a clearing. They have the girls beg for help on the road before ambushing travelers. A few knives, two bows, two axes between them. Some seem to be hunters because I saw a few deer carcasses."
I nodded at that information. Kuri simply blinked.
"Can't we just march in and kill them then?" she asked.
And there went my idea that she wasn't cut out for this life. Seriously girl that's a bit cold. Are you even thirteen yet? Also, not a good idea, too many with too high risks for injury. I doubt their weapons were pristinely kept in these conditions. Infection was dangerous.
"No, too many, too dangerous." I spoke. "Infiltration bad. Bush instead"
"You want to ambush them?" she asked
"Yes, but bush."
"What does bush mean then!" she threw out her hands in exasperation.
I shrugged, then formed a seal. I transformed into a bush. Transformation jutsu was an illusion, but it had limits. First it required a picture of the object in your mind. It needed an anchor to a physical object, and a continuous supply of chakra. It wasn't a lot, but the bigger the illusion was the more chakra it took. A tree would be a lot harder than a bush. Also, making it smaller than the original object was harder than bigger. So, a pebble took more energy than a boulder. It resisted any attempts at true invisibility, though I was unsure why. Perhaps it was the hand seals involved though I only had a passing understanding of those so far. It originally took me four hand seals, but I had it down to just the one seal now. Still moved the chakra in the same way though so I was pretty sure it was a hand seal problem.
I transformed back. "Bush, wait, kill as they leave. They search, eliminate till they meet back up. Final confrontation with lesser numbers. Infiltration bad, know each other to well. Poison?"
It took her a second to realize I had asked here a question. She shook her head. "I don't have any poison"
"Then bush. Unless suggestion?"
She shook her head. So, she seemed a bit straight forward in her methods. Hmm…
I looked over at Ketsu, and remembered the armor he had worn. He wasn't a ninja at heart was he? This man was a ronin, a lordless samurai. That was an interesting tidbit. I'll just store that away for a rainy day. How such a man became survived as a ninja was a mystery for later. I bet Isu had something to do with it. Speaking of which,
I turned over to Isu and Ketsu. "Perimeter." Isu nodded and Ketsu went along with it as well. I was not confident in our ability to eliminate all of them, but luckily, we were here for a different reason. These two of them just wanted us to get our hands bloody. Perfection in our execution could come latter. I had been trying to distract myself from this inevitability, but it seemed like my time was up. Time to become a killer.
Nam
Nam was a simple guy with simple needs. He never worried about things he didn't have to. Why should he? He was the biggest guy from his home, he was the best shot with a bow. As long as he got food and drink, he was sure he would live a good simple life. That was until the monsters came.
He had seen some smoke on the horizon one afternoon, something to keep an eye in case it spread but not something to overly worry about. One of the village hunters would scout it out and warn them if it spread. He was wrong, oh so very wrong.
It happened quickly. One moment he were enjoying a nice lazy afternoon, the next there were tremors, fire and earth exploding everywhere. A number of figures seemed to fly about the village. They leapt as tall as the houses and moved so fast he only caught glimpses. Houses shattered and the very elements seemed to want death on everyone he had ever known. For a brief moment he saw two of them. Both were covered in armor, and one of them had blood red eyes that seemed to glow under the setting sun. Nam had never seen a demon before, but now he knew what they were.
Afterward he and some of his surviving friends headed northwest to escape all the fighting rumored to be going on around them. Supplies were low, and while they could hunt, they had to stop for days to do that unless they got lucky. One of them, Ken, came up with a plan. They could just take what they needed from some of the other travelers. Nam was hungry and missed alcohol enough that any objections were distant thought.
That led them here, to this little slice of paradise. They probably wouldn't stay long but for now there was fish, there was fresh water, and after yesterday's raid on the road they even had some sake! There were a couple of girls with the small caravan but they had fled with two of the guys dying to buy them some time. Nam was secretly glad. He knew some of the others wanted some girls to enjoy but he was reluctant for that to happen. He had killed his first man yesterday and he wasn't fond of the feeling. Messing with girls would have had his mama rolling in her grave.
Still, things were looking pretty good here. The sun was setting and he had a full belly. It might almost be camping. Wish he had his original bow though. The one he had now was a bit to weak for his strength.
"Hey, Nam!" Ken called out. "Kenjo hasn't returned yet. He went to the bathroom half an hour ago. Go make sure the idiot isn't lost."
Nam sighed, but got up. Kenjo was always making trouble. He grabbed his bow and knife and started out where he had saw him leave. He saw his footprints lead out into the woods. As he followed far into the woods, he got increasingly uneasy. Kenjo shouldn't have gone out this far simply for a piss. He moved through the shrubbery until the footprints simply ceased. What? This was still soft ground. There should still be-
A sharp pain hit his back. He tried to scream but only wheezed. He couldn't breathe. A hand clamped around his mouth as he tried to thrash around. Another sharp pain and his throat couldn't even wheeze anymore. He brought his hand up to his throat, only to find it covered in blood. Ah, he was going to die, wasn't he? Why? The weight left his back as he tumbled forward. He looked up only to see a small child. No, it's eyes were a strange green. He was like that other demon. Why? Why did any of this have to happen to him?
That was his last thought as darkness crept into his vision.
Kakuzu
The man lay still on the ground as I wiped my knife. Two down, sixteen to go. Kuri had gotten the first guy. It was fortunate that the big one had come out this early. This secured one of the bows while also getting rid of their probable strongest member. They would keep this up, taking the shoes and making false trails. If he was more confident in his and Kuri's strength and intel, he would suggest trying to infiltrate or assaulting the camp, but this would do for now. They would hunt them down one by one until they realized what was happening.
They got another two that way, they came out as a pair looking for their missing companions. The rest seemed to smarten up after that. They weren't sure exactly what was happening but they knew not to send more people out into the woods. They all huddled together in their encampment. I doubt any of them would sleep tonight, which was fine. Tired men made mistakes.
We waited for sunset. Then when it was nice and dark I henged to look like some of the dirt and crept forward. A proper shinobi would notice a mound moving around but they weren't so observant. They kept their food in one of the tents by the edge. I had grabbed some oil from Kuri that she used for weapon maintenance. I waited
Kuri made a load noise at the other end of camp. The bandits ran to that location while walk in and thew oil around. After that I set their food on fire. That would force them to move, which put them at our mercy. It would be simple enough to pick them off one by one. As I left, I heard the cries of fire. It was too late though, I was quite through with the oil.
The next day was relatively quiet. The bandits stayed in their camp, refusing to leave for any reason. Except one of the girls. She refused to use the bathroom in line of sight of the guys. None of the boys would accompany her so she went by herself just to the edge of the clearing. Kuri was ready with the bow we had confiscated. Luckily, she had some training, and had taken a few practice rounds out in the woods to familiarize herself with her new toy. We made sure to cover the arrow head In some animal feces and poisonous berries we had found. The arrow took her right in the lower back. She died by morning.
By this point they had well and truly broken. They were hungry, tired, and were quickly running out of water. They tried to trek to the main road, in which I stabbed one who was lagging slightly in the back. Kuri also shot another one who climbed a tree to try and get a look at the surrounding area.
Their troubles didn't end when they got to the road. There were only eleven left and they were frightened out of their minds. Especially when another arrow got their leader in the heart. It was at this point that the rest bolted. I chased down two of them, a quick thrown knife took one and when another stopped for air, I dropped down a tree to get him. Kuri got another three, mostly because of her projectile weapon.
All in all, it was a pretty clean take down, Isu and Ketsu got the remaining four. They let one get away to spread the story. It probably wouldn't amount to much but it might discourage other bandits form thinking these roads were an easy target.
This also meant that our time together was at an end. Kuri and Ketsu would have their own routes to patrol now and we had ours. Kuri seemed a little disheartened to part. She hadn't seemed to mind my silence, and while I didn't think I would miss her voice it was nice to have contact with other humans. Not the least reason because Isu seemed more reluctant to hit me while in company.
We watch as they departed. Soon though Isu looked over at me. "So, you missed five of them." Without warning his fist came at me five different times. I tried to block and dodge but he simply sped up. A fist collided with my stomach, my face, by back. Both thighs were kicked hard. By the time he was though I was a bruised mess. "One for each that got away. You need to be more through. Ninja don't like to let failure go, no matter the reason. Happened to me, it can happen to you. Now get up, I thought of a new training regimen for you."
I sighed, then got to my feet. No rest for the wearyLast edited: Apr 16, 2025276BossjutApr 15, 2025View discussionThreadmarks Chapter 4 View contentBossjutApr 23, 2025#32Warning: The following chapter gets rather dark and touches on the topic of rape. I hadn't meant to make it this dark originally. It also probably won't get this dark again for a while. I don't like stories that are too grim.
Chapter 4
Isu
Isu sighed as he formed the hand signs again. It had been a month since they started patrols. And they had been practicing this road stuff for the past week. The earth surged as grass was overturned and a new dirt path stretched before him. It took a decent amount of chakra for even a small road. He couldn't just make a dirt path, it had to be compacted. At least that's what Kakuzu was telling him to do.
Speaking of the brat he was inspecting the new dirt road. Stomping his tiny feet on the ground and poking it with a stick. He would never tell Kakuzu but he was actually proud of the boy. He had a sharp mind and wasn't scared of working hard. He was a proficient killer for his age and never hesitated to draw his blade across someone's throat. Every bandit camp they came across he dispatched with a calm and focused attitude. One he had infiltrated and poisoned with local mushrooms. Another her had managed to turn against each other by disguising himself as different members and stroked their anger against each other. Easy to clean the leftover and injured members.
A little more concerning was that the boy didn't seem to show much outward passion at all. His first kill wasn't even acknowledged by the brat. Isu expected either elation or revulsion. Instead he seemed indifferent to it all. No outward anger, fear, realization at his own mortality. The brat was almost always stoic except for small signs of irritation. It actually confused Isu a bit. Isu had always been the outspoken type and rarely hid his emotions unless under disguise, or on poker night. Oh well, as long as the brat continued to perform well, he would leave it alone.
Frankly, he expected one day that Kakuzu would try to kill him for real. He didn't miss the small looks of hate thrown his way. Nor did he misunderstand how much he had beaten him into the ground over the past seven months, and frankly most of his life. The brat needed that push. He needed a target to hate yet still respect enough to listen too. At least until he was strong enough to stop him. It was the same way Isu was raised by his father after all. Until he killed him. Fond memories.
It was the way of the land of water. The bloodthirsty betrayals and slaughter until only the strong ruled. Normally he would try to get someone else to fill that role, but Isu wasn't close enough to anyone to convince to help him. Ketsu would be closet, but was simply too happy of a guy to hate for long. Frankly Isu was also tired of life too. He would train the boy until he either died or succeeded, and that success might result in his heart in that boy's body. He knew something of what the boy would one day be. He had studied the ritual extensively and all the improvements and lost parts the boy's other grandparents had found. Good. Kakuzu would need a fierce heart to guide him. If he survived long enough
The boy finally nodded and turned to him. "Compacted enough. Rocks now."
Isu nodded and weaved to signs for another jutsu. A hole opened up ad a flood of rocks and loose dirt filled the area around them. Isu directed the rocks to the path to form a gravel road. There were two methods they had found to be effective. If Isu found enough big rocks underground then he could form a stone path. Chakra could make that stone malleable and he could fuse it together in segments. Have it slightly raised in the middle and it drained pretty good. The other way was to form a gravel path. Easier on the chakra reserves but not as nice.
A single ninja would not have enough chakra to cut it for their plans. He was going to have to recruit more shinobi. He was sure the Elders would approve it, though he might have to take on a few high-stake missions if this project went south. Oh well, the things he did for family. Speaking of which he had a new training exercise for the boy. It would even make them some money! Time to learn how to control chakra strings
"Hey Kakuzu!" the boy turned and look at him. "How do you feel about visiting a city?"
KakuzuWe had traveled quite far from our appointed patrol route. A few days to the East to get to a somewhat bigger town, or a city by Isu's standards. If we were caught, we would be punished quite severely, or at least we should be. Isu was a strong enough resource that actual punishment would probably be limited to just not getting paid for the mission. We had a couple reasons to risk it though.
The first was that there was a construction crew around here and we would be trying to infiltrate and steal their secrets. I was to raid their main office and try and steal whatever documents they had. Materials, mixtures, notes, anything to help in our little road business. Isu would be talking to them at the bar and maybe a member would 'disappear' for an interrogation. He wouldn't survive it of course; his body would probably be found as a tragic accident of a mugging.
The second reason was to practice my new technique. Chakra strings were apparently similar to how the threads moved, which made sense. Since I would be undergoing a complete bodily transformation in a few years I was going to need all the practice I could get. The strings were interesting little things too. They were like a weak form of telekinesis. They were invisible to the naked eye unless you pumped a lot of chakra into them. Mine were weak right now too, I couldn't lift anything more than five pounds.
Currently I was using them to pickpocket and otherwise steal whatever I could get my hands on. Such as my current target, a somewhat wealthy looking (At least for this town) woman who was going shopping for clothes. She had that shrill commanding voice that told me all I needed to know about her. She was the type of woman that bossed and complained to and about everyone around her. She apparently got away with it because she had a wealthy husband. I generally didn't approve of stealing, but as I was forced by Isu to do this I decided to try and pick someone who seemed terrible and could eat the cost better.
My strings flowed from my hand, and it took nearly all my concentration to manage them. A month to learn and I still struggled to control them, and I had pretty decent control. There were a few stands for clothes and the stings from one hand wrapped around one. The other hand had strings leading into her purse. I pulled and the stand toppled over. Everyone in the store looked over at the noise, and I pulled her money out of her purse. I quickly stuffed in the pocket of a nearby suit. After that I simply waited for her to move away, went there and collected it when no one was looking.
I continued walking around the city. Stopping by stands and inside stores every so often and grabbing wallets and purses. Without the henge I would look weird with purses strapped all over my body. As it was, I had to readjust things every so often when I ducked in an ally and changed my form. Always as a man as I hadn't yet learned how to change my voice.
I was under no illusion that I would get to keep most of this money, Isu would collect it for his own drinking expenses. Also, we would have to leave this town soon. Both because we needed to return to our mission and because this town would soon be on a witch hunt for us. One or two purses would go unnoticed but I think I had more than twenty wallets and purses, some from rather affluent people.
I stayed at it for the next few hours, only two or three wallets each hour. I occasionally bought something like food, and I never robbed someone when guards were around. As the evening approached, I met Isu back at the inn we had rented a room at. I dutifully gave him all the purses, jewelry and wallets I had acquired. It was actually quite lucrative.
As the night fell, I prepared for my excursion. It shouldn't be that dangerous. After all, why would a Shinobi need to know how to build roads? The most valuable thing they would have aside from money was probably maps. It actually surprised me when Isu informed me of that. Maps were quite valuable to the right people. Like enemy Shinobi, or Lords looking to expand or defend territory. In a world of super punch wizards, it felt surprisingly mundane. Still, I only expected a guard or two, or a late-night worker over a candle.
As I made my way over to the building, I knew was their headquarters, I had some time to think of what I wanted to accomplish in the next few years. I was going to need a source of income other than ninja work, and my little mini garden wasn't going to make anything valuable if I had to leave for months at a time. Maybe I could look into some poisonous plants? Beekeeping? Honey fetched a good price, right? Didn't need too much maintenance either. Maybe I could rent myself out to some farmers after I learned some earth jutsu. I could accomplish in a day what would take them weeks.
My thoughts were broken as I heard a crash over in an alley. I looked over and saw a big dog pilfering through some trash cans. Damn near gave me a heart attack. I really need to stop getting distracted in these places. Being a shinobi had been making me increasingly paranoid. The killing, thievery, and other Shinobi activities weren't something I enjoyed in the slightest beyond exercising my skills. My passion was the ninjutsu itself and its uses.
I turned back to the task at hand. I had arrived at the building, and looked into a window. Well, at least it was a hole in the wall for ventilation. There was no glass but wood hatch type thing. It was open with the drapes pulled back, probably to let in the cool night air. As I suspected there was only one lonely guard in the building. He was sitting in a chair with an expression that he would love to be anywhere else but here. There was a mug on his table. Perfect.
I pulled out a small vial and looked around. There was a shelf with some heavy books on it. Perfect. I stretched out a string latched on. With a quick pull the book and several others toppled over onto the ground with a loud thud. The guard started at that then grumbled several curses. As he went to pick them up, I uncorked the vial and sent it on a string over to his drink. The vial contained a potent sleeping agent, one given to me by Isu at my request. I would rather not kill if I didn't have to.
It took thirty minutes for the guard to fall asleep. I waited an extra thirty to make sure it was a deep sleep, then I crawled into the room. It was rather sparse, just some tools and other instruments for their jobs. I quickly found a chest with a big sturdy lock. It took some doing but I managed to pick it. It was actually and interesting trick. I could mold chakra directly into the lock and move things around inside. Quite frankly any ninja worth their salt could lock pick or break any normal lock. It was actually Isu who showed me this trick, though I suspected he was the type to simply break it open.
Inside I saw a few documents and bills. I of course took the bills. Many of the documents were contracts of sorts, which I left. No easy way to make use of them and we weren't staying anyway. Finally, I came to what I wanted. It was a list of ordered materials. It listed suppliers and what and how much they were buying. This was what we needed. It served the purposes of telling us about materials that might be useful, where to get it from, and how much we should charge to both make a profit and undercut the competition.
After I swiped those, I grabbed a few of the maps I saw laying in the chest and closed it. They would realize that these were gone, but unless I wanted to burn this to the ground, we no way to cover for it. Burning it would bring to much attention to us anyways. By the time they realized what had happened we would be long gone with nothing pointing to us. With that I made my way back to the inn.
We awoke early the next day and mad our leave. We needed to make good time if we wanted to make our weekly check in. The lack of sleep from my excursion made me irritable but there was nothing for it. We made our way to the gate and left the 'city'. We traveled down the path. We walked when someone approached us, and ran when no one was around. I wasn't quite good enough at tree walking to jump between trees yet, that would be next on my list. It was about a day later when Isu called a halt. His brow was furrowed and his eyes were glancing side to side.
"Stay here and hide yourself, there is something bothering me." With that said he launched into the trees, moving faster than I had seen him move before.
Well, that probably wasn't good. I found a tree that had a hole in the side of it. I made a henge that made it look like it was whole, hid inside and waited. I wondered what had spooked Isu so much. It wasn't like him to leave me behind even for dangerous activities. He wanted me to have as much experience as possible. The minutes passed by. It must have been an hour before he reentered the clearing. I refused to move from my spot.
"Get out here brat we need to get going." It sounded like Isu, it spoke and looked like Isu. But he wasn't using the code phrase we had established earlier. This man was an imposter. My heart pounded in my chest but I kept my self still. I would hold my position unless discovered. The ability to henge and change his voice meant he was a shinobi. It also meant that he had spied on us enough to know his looks, voice, and general attitude. For all his strength Isu was not especially good at espionage tactics.
The man kept calling to me, sounding more and more impatient. Finally, he let out a laugh.
"Fine, I guess the ruse is up." His form dispersed until I saw that he was a brown haired teenager. He looked about sixteen. His features were wild and it looked like he had fangs in his mouth. Hanging from his back was a dog. A very familiar looking dog. The same dog I had seen in that alley way. Damnit this was an Inuzuka. What drew them to us? They shouldn't have had enough time for someone to hire them. Maybe they were hired guards?
"I was hoping to bluff you, but I can still find you easily enough. My puppy here has developed something of an appetite for thieves. Wonder how you will taste?" He let his dog down to the ground and it started sniffing everything. Eventually it started making its way over to my tree. I tensed. I could take out the dog first, but I doubted I had any chance against the man. And the man was to far back for any chance of a thrown weapon to reach him before he could react. Not good.
Before I could make a decision a blur slammed into the teen with all the force of a meteor. The Inuzuka collapsed and a boot dropped onto his head, crushing his skull. The dog rushed toward him but Isu's arm launched out, grabbing it's head. Threads wrapped around and dug into the neck of the dog, killing it. I sighed in relief and stepped out of my tree. I doubt anyone could replicate the threads easily.
Isu looked over at me, then back at the bodies. He stooped down and rummaged through his clothes before standing back up shaking his head.
"An Inuzuka. Nothing useful on him other than a couple knives. This is bad, they don't like to travel alone. Always at least two or three of them. They can track us better than I can hide." He spoke.
"I recognize the dog," I said. "He was there on my mission. I think they knew we were in town the whole time"
Isu nodded at that. "Sometimes ninja will hide in towns and find or create problems to then 'solve'. Kinda like what we got planned with the roads. I made a mistake taking you this far out this early"
I blinked at the admission. Isu almost never admitted to doing anything wrong. How bad was this for that to happen?
"We aren't going to shake them, so we need to out run them." Isu stated. He turned and kneeled. "Get on my back, you won't be able to keep pace."
I blinked again at that but did as he asked. Today was just a strange day all around.
We traveled very fast after that. Isu took to the trees and moved in a zigzag line. I couldn't keep track of the world around us and eventually just zoned it all out. It was almost like being in an extremely bumpy car. We didn't stop for more than a few moments at a time. Night fell and we didn't stop. Day came and we kept moving. Night fell again and we only picked up speed. Fear and the risk of falling off kept me awake. We were taking to many sharp turns for me to relax properly too.
It was on the third day that Isu finally came to a stop. He looked to be breathing heavily. I wasn't sure of his stamina but I doubt he could go another day.
"I can't outrun them, not for long anyway. I'm getting too old for this." Isu said. "Damn Inuzuka have more stamina than most."
I tilted my head at him.
"I could fight them but I doubt they will meet us head on. Frankly they could have caught us yesterday. I think they are waiting for us to tire out. Probably want revenge for the boy."
I nodded. I couldn't think of a way to force a confrontation, and I wasn't strong or skilled enough to keep watch over Isu while he rested. Especially not from an enemy who could out stealth Isu. We sat and pondered for a few minutes. I could feel exhaustion and stress deep in my bones at this point. Several days of little sleep and constant fear had taken their toll. Isu could take them out if only they would meet us head on. Stupid Shinobi actually acting like Shinobi.
Isu looked like he was thinking deeply. He had taken out some of his gear and it looked like he was going through it looking for an answer to our predicament. His eyes darted between his equipment, me, and the trees. Finally, he seemed to reach a decision. An unpleasant one by the scowl on his face.
"I'm going to trap this clearing. We will see if we can't make them pay for their arrogance. You rest for a minute"
I had hoped for something better than a last stand.
He handed me some water, which I greedily drank down. I probably wasn't going to be able to sleep despite how tired I was. Fear kept my eyes open. The water tasted stale to my parched lips. We hadn't had time to collect any new water. Using chakra right now to gather some would be too much of a drain of chakra. We had enough for now. Still. It really did taste funny-
I awoke to a hand grabbing my mouth and pinning my arms. I immediately tried to struggle but arms far stronger than mine held me down. My hands were wrenched behind me and tied as I tried to bite the offending hand. That drew an amused snort from my captor. He smiled at me. His fangs made it very unpleasant
"Got some bite to you after all little thief! But biting is a technique we Inuzuka mastered long before you were born. On your feet." The grinning man said.
I was yanked to my feet and decided that for the time being it would be good to play along. I was lucky enough that they decided to capture me instead of kill me. There were three men in the clearing with three dogs. All were adults.
"You have some things that don't belong to you, don't you little thief? You even managed to take the life of that brat we had tagging along with us. I never cared for him, but he was infinitely more important than a bastard like you."
His fist met my stomach and I doubled over onto the ground gasping. He lifted me back to my feet.
"Not to worry. We will pay you back three-fold for all damages. In fact, I'm going to have lot of fun with you. I was looking for a new bitch! We Inuzuka have very strong urges after all."
I went very still at that. I suddenly wanted this man very very dead.
"My grandfather will stop you. He is stronger than anyone!" I tried to mask my fear and hate with the false bravado of a child. I tried to keep the fear and hate off my face.
This only seemed to excite the man more. "Your old man is trash brat. He abandoned you here for us occupy ourselves while he made an escape" He said in that infuriating happy voice. "It won't work of course. Nothing can escape our noses. But tell you what. I'll keep him alive after we take off his limbs. Make him watch as I take you"
Dead, with my own two hands if possible.
It was this moment when a hand shot out of the ground, black threads stretching out behind it. It grabbed one of men around the throat, and pulled him into the ground. One of his companions tried to grab him but a couple of threads flew out and forced him to dodge. One of the dogs ran over but the earth opened up beneath it a swallowed it whole. The Inuzuka was dragged within a hole and I heard a crack. Up from the ground Isu rose up with a vicious grin. The bastard had used me as bait!
"Well, well. Some bitches have tried to touch my grandson. Hey Kakuzu! You let these lowlife's catch you off guard. We'll need to add that to the training I'll give you!" The bastard acted as if he wasn't the one who drugged me.
The other man launched himself at Isu, his canine following him. They started turning rapidly, forming their signature drill attack. Isu just laughed, and met them head on. I watched amazed as he simply caught the man and slammed him into the ground. The dog had circled around and attacked from behind in an effort to flank him, but Isu turned and grabbed him too. Then strings flew out of his arm into the dazed man and the caught dog. They tore into the necks of both and their blood flowed out as they struggled to escape. It was a useless effort. They got weaker and weaker till they stopped moving entirely. I looked at my grandfather's body, his skin had turned a dark brown that slowly receded back to his normal paler skin. That was the flesh hardening technique the original Kakuzu used. I hadn't realized Isu knew that.
If the final man seemed surprised by the speed of the take downs, he didn't show it. He took out his knife and brought it to my throat with his same sickening smile. His dog was in front of us growling. It was an odd image, the two madmen grinning like loons back at each other. Both of their tense bodies betrayed their faces. Neither liked the situation they were in
"You seem to be pretty spry old man! I admit I don't think I can win, but I got your brat here in my arms. Why don't we talk a little?"
Isu still grinning replied "Well that would be amazing! Never seen a dead man talking before. Could you be from the circus? The three bitches and their amazing dog masters!"
The Inuzuka finally scowled. "Yeah, well I see you take one step over here and-"
I blinked. The knife was gone from my throat. I turned and saw the man collapsed on the ground. Blood was leaking from his mouth. He was still breathing, though unconscious. Isu was looking down at him shaking his hand as if he had hurt it. The dog was over by a tree unmoving and chest caved in. How? Was he truly so fast that he moved before the Inuzuka could react? Isu drew in a deep breath and it was only then that I saw that he was shaking badly. Breathing heavily he drew his knife with trembling hands.
"NO!"
Isu looked over at me and it took a second to realize I was the one who shouted. I took a deep breath and held out my had, my anger finally spreading unfiltered across my face.
"I will kill him."
Isu studied me for a long second, before nodding and handing me the knife. I took a breath and stepped forward. I aimed the knife at his eye and plunged down with all my force. I took a step back and examined him. It wasn't enough. It wasn't enough! I yanked the knife back out and plunged it again and again into the body, all at different lethal points. A scream tore itself from my throat as my hand came down again and again. Finally, Isu grabbed my hand and dragged me backwards. I spun and attempted to stab him too. I was quickly disarmed and Isu held me at bay as I thrashed and tried to break free. Isu just stared at my me as the dam finally broke and started crying. It was ugly cry and snot dripped down my nose as Isu quietly watched.
"Damnit Kakuzu" with those words I found myself engulfed in Isu's arms. I held on to him with a desperate strength as I continued to bawl my eyes out. I don't know how long I remained like that but eventually darkness overtook my vision.