Snake In Bush

"In these trying times, It's heroes like you that Konoha needs. You may not believe you are up to the task, but I'm here to tell you I believe differently. Konoha is only as strong as we are together. We fight for our beliefs, our homes, and for the love that each and every one of us harbors for one another. I believe that the people of Konoha need you! If that doesn't give you confidence, let me add that I, the Hokage, need you! Why? Because all of you burn brightly within this room. The one thing I am most proud of is the ability to recognize the Will of Fire, and that's what smolders inside each and every one of you!"

Rolling my eyes, I look for my favorite volunteer. That's what these chunin are, volunteers. In a way, It's like an internship for desk jobs as a shinobi. None of the jobs will be glorious, but they are the safest jobs while still being a ninja. Not finding Orio, I start looking for other familiar chunin. There has to be someone here that knows where she is. Ignoring the Hokage, I start wandering around the crowd. Not finding a familiar chunin, I wait for the Chunin leader to finish inspiring a blonde. Cutting off the next hopeful in the crowd, I slide in front of him. Recognizing me, he raises an eyebrow, "First time in four years. What can I help you with?"

Pushing back at the crowd slowly inching closer, I ask, "Where's Orio? I can't find her." Glancing at the Hokage, he crouches down lower, "She's out on a mission right now." Patting my head, he ushers me away, "She'll be back in no time, so why don't you go and talk to the Hokage? I'm sure he has plenty to tell you." Scowling, I clench my fists. Breaking out of the crowd, I run my hand through my hair. On a mission? She hasn't left the village in years. Orio Chinatsu, a middle-aged career Chunin that normally does desk work. She, in the current state of imminent war, decides to take a mission outside? I doubt it!

Looking around, I notice that the Chunin leader is the only familiar Chunin. The others are all new faces. Huffing, I shove my way out of the orphanage. She's been drafted. They've all been drafted on a mandatory mission. The war hasn't even been declared yet. What could they possibly be doing? Intercepting and analyzing communications? Logistics? Communications? They can't be on border patrol. You can't expect someone who hasn't seen action in years to patrol our borders can you?

Kneeling down on the grass, I quickly check my duffle bag for my belongings. Finding everything in place, I zip it up and sling it over my shoulder. Ignoring the odd straggler looming around the orphanage, I make my way into the sparsely wooded area behind the orphanage. This is just too sudden.

There was supposed to be a warning. A sign. An obvious breaking point. What do we get instead? A quiet change. First, it's the deployment of active troops to the borders. Now it's the drafting of noncombat-oriented shinobi. What's next? Fresh genin getting free experience on the border? I get the best internship as cannon fodder? When will war be declared? When half my graduating class dies?

Stomping through the trees, I make my way onto the main street. Bumping shoulders with someone, I glare as he walks past. Muttering an apology, the absent-minded jounin continues to trudge onward. Glancing at his torn gear, I look back at his face. Tired, that's all I can say about his face. Dark bags under his eyes, sunken cheeks, unfocused gaze, and a perpetual frown. He should have just gotten back from a mission or patrol. Something must have gone wrong. Not good, but not new. There's always a tragedy. There's always a sob story.

Watching him slowly meander away, I jump when someone's hand falls on my shoulder. Jerking around, I find a tiredly smiling Chunin crouching down. I'm not that short. "Just a rough day, It'll get better. It always does" he says before walking after the jounin. Continuing on, I sigh. The Chunin seemed to be convincing himself more than me. Biting my lip, I catch several silhouettes continuously streaking across a small rectangle of sunlight hitting a local bakery. Something is terribly wrong. Glancing up at the sky, I notice several shadows dashing across the roof. Rule number one of shinobi traffic, don't use the roofs if not in a hurry. Glancing back at the bakery, I feel my gut squirm. There's no activity. Bakeries always start early to prepare.

Jumping onto the side of a building, I use chakra to adhere myself just below the roofline. Peeking over, I see several squads running towards to Hokage building. Feeling something wet splash on my face as someone rushes over me, I wipe it with the back of my hand in annoyance. feeling the wetness on the back of my hand, I reflexively glance at it before wiping it on my shirt. Glancing back down, I freeze. It's surprising how beautiful blood looks on your skin. Vibrant and mesmerizing, but once it gets on clothing it looks so dull and displeasing.

Wiping at my shirt again, I stare blankly at the continuous traffic across the rooftops. Clenching my teeth, I feel my stomach churn. It's starting. If this isn't the tipping point, I don't know what could be. Dropping back down to the street, I numbly walk toward my usual training area. It's too soon. I should have a few more months yet. I don't understand! I still don't have enough preparation to survive a war.

Walking to my usual tree, I immediately jump and grab onto the worn branch. Starting my pull-ups, I forgo the chakra exercises. I'll just have to finish my technique in the next couple of days.

++++====++++

Huffing as I jog to the stream, I groan as I finally reach the bank. Gently laying the duffle bag down, I plop down on a flat boulder. Taking my sandals off, I place them next to my duffle before starting to remove the needles in my hair. Can't be losing those now can I? Gingerly arranging six colorful needles side by side, I finally dip my feet in the water. Curling my toes as the cool water runs over them, I slowly lay down on the boulder. The sun's late today. Just barely cresting over the tree line, it dimly illuminates a seemingly desaturated blue sky. Feeling my nerves finally relaxing, I start focusing on my chakra.

Bringing my hands together, I gather a bit of chakra between them. Instead of just ejecting the chakra as I did before, I start breaking it down. The basics describe chakra as part physical and part spiritual. I've figured out two ways to separate the two, the first being brute force extraction. Using twice as much chakra as the amount I'm separating, I can gather most of the physical energies as chakra. The only problem is that this method is relatively inefficient, using 3 units of chakra I'd get roughly three-quarters worth of a unit of physical energy. Using better numbers, I can say that for every nine units used, I'd get roughly two units worth of physical energy.

The second method is using spiritual energy, leaving only physical energy with intent. Not only is it more efficient, but it also gives physical energy a purpose. This is where the problems start. Without intent, I can barely use the physical energy. Pushing it into the ground, I get a short snapshot of what my surroundings. The more physical energy, the bigger the snapshot. It's an ideal ability for scouting, but it's too exhausting to use. Too inefficient. Intent makes physical energy pliable, but its time consuming to use. As it is, it takes around five minutes to use the second method. To long.

I need to think faster. I can move, bend, throw and shape chakra easily, but I need to command it. I use it like it's an object, but I need it to be alive. Responsive. Possibly autonomous. Just how? Massaging my forehead, I stop scrunching my eyebrows and start trying to clear my mind. No time for frustration! From the top, what is the problem? My version of chakra radar uses too much chakra when using the field version. The preferred method requires faster thinking. I can't speed my thoughts up, that would be a long-term process. The other method is making it muscle memory and being able to do it faster due to habit. Scratch that, time is scarce and I can't practice it to perfection that fast. Not with the current chakra cost and my reserves. Back to thinking faster.

If I can't think faster, something else has to. Let's avoid a second stream of consciousness or something ridiculous like a second brain. That leaves me with something automated. How is chakra manipulation facilitated? A simple question with a simple answer, seals. The answer is fuinjutsu, the problem is can I complete it? Splashing some water on my face, I turn to a tried and tested method, rambling out loud. licking my lips, I stare into the rising sun, "What I need is to put my intent into physical energy using spiritual energy. It takes me too long to do it myself, so I need fuinjutsu to do it for me. The intent shouldn't be too hard, but I need only the spiritual energy to fuel the seals and I need to retrieve the results and interpret them as well. The general direction and distance might work, but how to specify what is found is also a problem."

Looking away from the burning ball of gas in the distance, I start blinking my eyes stupidly. Of course, looking at the sun was a terrible idea. Everything has been a terrible idea today. The more I talk, the worse this seems. Sitting up, I hold my head in my hands. I can't finish this anytime soon. I'll just have to wing it. Being paranoid can help, but when the enemy is just as paranoid it may not matter. Armor, I can get armor like that Hyuga. It may not be pretty or mostly metal, but I should be able to do it. Poison, I need to have contingencies for poison. Tourniquet! I should get at least one of those in case I almost lose a limb. Close but not actually lost. Yeah, I'd like to keep my limbs.

Stretching back, I notice a haggard and pale figure peering at me from the bank. Jumping onto my feet, I frown as Orochimaru folds his hands while watching me. Blowing a strand of hair out of my face, I huff, "I don't suppose you're here to help me out?" Rolling his eyes, he walks toward me casually stepping over the current. Crouching down, he points at my head, "Use the justsu inside of yourself." Pokeing my head, he snorts, "You're overcomplicating things. Just separate the energies inside and immune the physical energy inside before letting it out. Don't try to condense the physical energy either." Rising back up, I notice his vest is dyed red in dried blood. Not noticing any lacerations on his person, I frown. walking back to the bank, he leans against a tree before sliding down onto the ground, "Using one of the energies outside of your body requires the use of yin or yang jutsu and frankly, you just aren't there yet." Pouting I sit cross-legged on my stone, "Thanks, so you were just here today, or are you always in this area?"

Giving me a glare, he looks down at his lap, "Just here to get some time away from things. I heard you screaming about your problems so I came to check it out." Mimicking him, I fold my arms too, "I was ranting, and it was nowhere near as loud as you make it seem!" Not even looking up, he just stares at the ground. Falling into silence, I try doing it his way. Separating the chakra into energies inside me, I focus on what I want the physical energy to do and slowly separate more to increase the effect. Letting the energy move to my hand, I touch the stone and let it flow out. Like a sphere, I feel it disperse like a gust, causing small ripples in the water.

Waiting a few seconds, I feel residual energy rush back in with a sparse amount of information. It's like coordinates in three planes but with a fourth 'dimension' for chakra size. Like a value instead of a point name, the point reported is in chakra size. Judging by the sizes, I picked up a few animals and Orochimaru and the energy went between 20 to 30 meters out. Nodding my head in satisfaction, I relax my posture. Everything is going to be fine. Everything is back on track. I will be as ready as I can be when something happens.

Focusing back on my impromptu instructor, I grin, "Thanks, that was exactly what I was missing." Looking up momentarily, he gives me a wry smile before pushing himself up and turning around. Blinking in confusion, I watch him walk a few meters away before calling out, "Hey, I noticed that you're not hurt, but your vest is soaked in blood. Did something happen? Did you fight the enemy?"

Pausing, he slowly turns around frowning. Running a hand through his hair, he looks at the sky dismally, "Uzushiogakure fell tonight. It's been massacred. As for the blood... It's from my genin, or what's left of him anyway..." With that, he dashes away faster than I can see. Glancing back up at the sky aimlessly, I wonder if Kushina knows yet.