Chapter 6
Special thanks to the folks on pa-atreon for making this possible. Now without further ado let's get into it.
We moved across the grounds, heading towards each other for the umpteenth time. However, this time was different because our ace was ready. I could feel it underground, just at the edge of my senses, a sea that felt practically limitless. Of course, it wasn't limitless, but with how little I had gotten to use in the past week, it was heaven for me. It was a form of safety that I could not overemphasize. We moved at great speeds, and right before our blades were set to meet, I stopped. I stopped right at the end of his swing, and as he prepared to block an attack that would never come, sand rushed out from the ground beneath him and surrounded him as he stood there, shocked. Yellow, almost golden sand burst out, and my heart sang.
For the first time in what felt like an eternity, I was home. I was safe. I took control of the sand as my duplicate ceded to my influence and I wrapped it around the first of the root anbu before he could overcome the surprise at the move. The second one, cold as ever, calmly dodged out of the way of the first few tendrils I sent for him, but after that, he found himself quickly overwhelmed by their speed and number. "Sand Burial," I whispered to myself as I used Gaara's signature jutsu for the second time in this life, but on two targets at the same time. As I dropped the crushed remains of their bodies, I felt myself drawn in by how the sand looked with blood coating parts of it. It was almost beautiful. No, it was. It had a beauty to it. Not of the traditional kind, but the kind of beauty one could see in art.
Donna Tartt's quote from 'The Secret History' came to mind: "True beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before." Reciting the rest of the quote that I had been obsessed with for so long, I found it calming, freeing, and beautiful. I turned away from the sand and searched out Baki, only to find him staring straight at me, having dispatched his own share of the root agents.
"Not a complete failure, then," he said as he looked at me with a glint in his eyes that I couldn't fully understand. In some ways, it was like he was seeing me for the first time. In others, it was like he wasn't even looking at me at all, and was seeing into, and beyond me. Like he was beginning to recognize me. I pushed the thought out of my mind before I dwelled on his insanity and led myself to join him with my own hands.
"Still a failure, however. You realized the attack and moved to engage without bothering to ensure the safety of the client. Not just that, though, you also failed to seek out the client's safety even after dispatching your first opponent." I accepted the chiding with what I hoped looked like good grace to any onlookers, but inside I was boiling. Three Anbu ninja, and he wouldn't even acknowledge my efforts. Any child in my place would have been devastated. Me? I was just fucking pissed off. I could see what he was doing clear as day. He was trying to starve me of approval to ensure I craved it even more than any other drug or addiction. With Gaara, it might have worked. With anyone else, it would definitely have worked. With me? It was a waste of both of our time and a source of displeasure.
"Pack up your things; we return to Kaze no Kuni once the sun rises," he said, and I had to do a double-take at the news.
"The attack has spooked Lord Chigiri, and he no longer seeks to visit his cousin in Mizu no Kuni. We will be taking him back to the capital, where he will return to his place in the Daimyo's court."
I nodded at the news. My first real mission, and it was a failure. A failure on my very first try definitely wasn't the best start to a career that I hoped to crown with the achievement of becoming Kazekage. In any case, it didn't go according to plan, and it was not my fault. I'd done even more than I should have ever been required to. I'd done my share and then some.
I turned away from the bastard and dismissed my clone, returning the sand underground. I'd move it under our feet as we moved to ensure I'd never be so unsafe again, and when we returned to Sunagakure, I'd definitely have to look into sealing as a way to solve the weakness of not being much use outside the desert. I could already fantasize about the idea. Maybe a gourd with the same kind of seals as a sealing scroll, able to contain an actual ocean of sand. Or maybe even something like the bandages Sasuke had in Shippuden with seals on them to allow me to basically call upon sand right at my fingertips. Not bandages, of course; that would look stupid. But I could just imagine having a tattoo right on my palm, allowing me to use my sand wherever I went no matter what happened.
A notification to the side of my vision reminded me that I hadn't noted all the improvements I gained during that attack or even the success of the quest itself. Being careful to ensure no one was paying much attention to me or seeking me for any purpose, I took control of the sand and formed a dome around me before plopping down in the lotus position. In my first life, I detested sand with a passion. It was itchy and had the infuriating ability to get everywhere. Now, sand felt like home. It didn't itch, and it felt so fucking comfortable, even on my pale, soft skin.
I checked out the quest rewards first of all.
Quest Success:
Main Objective: Survive the Attack of the Root Anbu ✔
Rewards: 500 XP, Five Stat Points, One Rare Loot Roll.
Bonus Objective 1: Kill 1 Root Anbu ✔
Rewards: 250 XP, One Common Loot Roll.
Bonus Objective 2: Kill 3 Root Anbu ✔
Rewards: 250 XP, One Special Loot Roll, Increased Rep with Samurai, Increased Rep with Lord Chigiri.
Bonus Objective 3: Ensure Chigiri's Safety - Failed
Rewards: Nil
Bonus Objective 4: Kill Baki in the chaos - Failed
Rewards: Nil
Bonus Objective 5: Capture one of the Root Anbu for interrogation - Failed
Rewards: Nil
Well, the bonus objectives were a bit disappointing, especially since the game had been willing to reward me for killing Baki. I won't lie that the idea did not cross my mind at all, but I weighed the odds and found that even making the attempt was not worth the risk. I'd keep it in mind for the next time we found ourselves in a situation like this one at all. I'd be getting Baki's head sooner or later.
Now, the rewards. The XP gains meant I leveled up twice. 1000 XP from the quest plus another 200 XP from each of the anbu I killed was just barely enough to push me over the threshold for that double level up. That also meant I had an extra ten stat points to play with from the level up itself. All in all, it was a good haul, and that wasn't even including the rolls. A rare loot roll was pretty much the holy grail. I could get anything from one of those. Well, not anything, that needed a legendary roll, but even the rare ones had some good stuff in them.
'Game, make the rare roll,' I thought at the game and watched as a wheel appeared in my vision. The wheel began to move at speeds I couldn't keep up with, flashing intermittently during every spin. Eventually, it settled down, and I got a look at my reward.
New Affinity: Fire Type Affinity Unlocked.
Fuck. Niceeeee. A fire type affinity was going to get a world of use. I mean, it would be difficult to explain away, but I didn't really care right now. I just wanted the ability to set shit on fire on demand. Besides, call me biased, but all the really cool jutsu in the anime had been fire type. Just look at that Fire Release; Great Fire Annihilation shit Madara pulled out in the war. I wanted to be able to do that kind of shit. The rare roll didn't disappoint at all.
'Game, make the special roll,' I thought at the game next, excited for the possible rewards I'd get from that one. A different wheel flashed before my eyes this time, and I patiently waited for the reward to get chosen. This time it was a jutsu.
New Jutsu Scroll: Earth Release; Swamp of the Underworld.
I looked through the scroll and whistled appreciatively.
It had to be the jutsu Jiraiya had used so often in the anime. It was A-ranked, required only two hand seals, and the size of the swamp was entirely dependent on the amount of chakra the user pumped in. Was it the perfect jutsu for me to expand my earth release repertoire? Maybe, probably, most likely. It was ideal for my purposes and would probably be a challenge to learn, but that was fine by me.
"Now, for the common roll. 'Game, make the common roll,'" I called out in my mind and waited as it spun through what looked like hundreds of options. That was the thing about loot rolls: the names were deceiving. They had nothing to do with the availability of the items or boons, just the value. Rare meant I was getting something immensely valuable. No one can deny that a brand new nature affinity without any training is immensely viable. I'd received the boon and suddenly had the knowledge of how to mold fire chakra in my head. I could do it. If I wanted, I could pick up any leaf here and set it on fire in an instant, all without any training.
The special roll gave me a jutsu used by one of the Sanin. Not knowledge of the jutsu, but a scroll. Knowing a jutsu without learning it might have been too valuable even for a special roll. The common roll gave me a sealing scroll filled with kunai from the Land of Iron. "That wasn't bad at all," I thought to myself as I took a good look at the blade I had in my holster. Enhancing it with wind chakra had worn through the metal, and clashing so much against a blade enhanced with lightning chakra had not done it any favors. It was brittle and would probably break if I applied any force to it.
Kunai from the Land of Iron, though, were something else. Made from stronger, purer metal, they'd last even longer than the ones I'd been previously using and would resist wind chakra enhancement. They weren't made of chakra metal, though. If I wanted any of those beauties, I guess I'd have to save up and buy them myself. That was something I actually looked forward to. The pay for this mission would be a good addition to my bank account. Okay, I don't actually have a bank account. Did ninja even have banks? But you get what I mean. There are very few things money won't be able to buy, maybe even a fuinjutsu teacher since I needed knowledge of the art to take my sand carriage to the next level. A gourd would be inefficient, cumbersome, and make my taijutsu close to useless, considering that was my second greatest weapon behind my sand control.
Speaking of weapons, I took a look at what had happened to my skills during the attack. "Stat sheet," I thought at the game and whistled at the improvements.
Name: Gaara of the Desert
Age: Six
Level: 7
Title: Genin of Sunagakure (10% increased growth when trained by Suna ninja); Jinchuriki of the Ichibi (+50 Sand Control; +20 Ninjutsu; 50% increased growth when training in the desert)
Chakra Capacity: 20,000/20,000 (Regeneration: 100 cp per minute)
Stamina: 102/120 (Regeneration: 1 sp per minute)
Strength: 15
Dexterity: 12
Endurance: 59
Intelligence: 42
Durability: 19
Stat Points: 40
Skills:
Taijutsu: 38;
Ninjutsu: 41;
Genjutsu: 2;
Sand Control: 63;
Pain tolerance: 19;
Meditation: 13
Chakra affinities: Wind: 36; Earth: 30; Fire: 25
Jutsu:
Sand Release: Sand Clone - 54;
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough - 42;
Wind Release: Wind Bullets - 26;
Earth Release: Earth Wall - 10;
Earth Release: Earth Flow River - 17;
Shunshin no jutsu - 41
I gained ten levels in taijutsu alone in just those few minutes. My evolution in the Shunshin jutsu was also noteworthy. I had been using it throughout the fight to keep up with the ANBU operatives and even move ahead of them, not to mention all the use my clone got out of the jutsu. Gaining 14 levels was not unexpected. From what the stat sheet, and hence the game, were telling me, I would keep growing from training. But if I wanted anything like this kind of growth, this kind of leap in ability, I would have to put my life on the line. I gained levels and grew because my neck would have been slit if I didn't. I could already see the facts coming into place in a new meta in my head. I wanted, nay, I needed to fight for my life. It was the only way to gain the strength I needed as quickly as I needed it.
After all, in five years, Suna would be invading the Hidden Leaf, and I needed to be strong enough to take on a Kage by then. I needed to have the kind of strength that would have the elders of Suna backing me as the next Kazekage the moment my father's death became known. I needed to not just be strong but known as strong.
My stat points itched at me to spend them. I had forty of them, and quite a few stats I needed to strengthen right now. If I increased my strength, chakra enhancement would become even more useful when I needed it. If I increased my dexterity, shunshin would be even more effective. Intelligence was always a stat worthy of investing some resources into. Durability is durability. I closed my eyes and dumped 10 points into each stat with the exception of endurance. The rush as my muscles grew and adapted, and I felt my mind itself beginning to expand was just indescribable.
A/N: That's the chapter, guys. Thanks for reading. We've got the next chapter of this story, along with the first chapter of another Naruto insert I haven't uploaded yet (It's an Itachi SI) and 57 chapters of my other fic, all available on pa-treon, and you can read all of that right now just by heading to the link on my profile or searching for my username up there. Feel free to have a look