23 Chapter 23
The first four chapters weren't that good, thanks for sticking around while I found my voice...
This is my first time writing anything, so the story will get better as I put out more chapters.
...
Anyways, I'm getting mixed messages...
Some of you love the story, some of you hate it.
Some people like the newer chapters and think the first few suck...
And some people like the older chapters and think the new chapters suck...
Some like the humor and some think that I'm turning this into a crackfic...
People like different things, if this fic isn't for you then stop reading it...
There's other entertainment to be found on this lovely site.
...
Another week passed.
I was now no longer being "punished" and could now roam free.
Thankfully my home remained uninvaded and I didn't have to worry about Kushina ambushing me when I didn't expect it.
We now had another mission to do for the month.
I had requested a mission at or around another ninja village.
I wanted to nab some jutsu.
Put the Byakugan to use.
…
My mom arrived home scroll in hand.
"I got us a C-ranked mission to Suna."
Good stuff!
"What's the mission?"
My mom had a mirthful smile on her face.
"An escort mission."
Fuck!
…
We were escorting a merchant from Konoha to Suna.
Which sucked…
What sucked, even more, is, we likely wouldn't be allowed into Suna...
…
I was escorting our client to the gate where my mother was waiting.
I tried to use rock, paper, scissors, to get out of merchant walking duty but it was not to be.
Mom was much faster than me, even with my perception slowed, she still beat me…
…
Goda Hidetoshi was the name of the merchant, he also brought his son Ide along for our journey.
Hidetoshi had grey hair and brown eyes, his son had both brown hair and eyes.
Hidetoshi and his son had what I'd call an average build.
They weren't fat which was a plus.
Merchants who could afford to eat whatever they wanted and are not fat, were admirable.
Most merchants I've met were so fat, that their body started storing fat in places it shouldn't be.
Like their face and forehead...
…
We arrived at the southern gate, the plan was that we'd travel southwest through River Country stoping at Tani, which was River's capital, and from there we'd make our way to Suna.
A nice plan
The Village Hidden in Valleys or Tanigakure was located in River Country, and maybe I could send a Shadow Clone to have a peek and see what they had while we were at Tani.
There was a second hidden village called Takume village or The Village Of Artisans, though I wasn't too interested in them, so, they'd be left alone for the time being.
I looked at my mom, she looked bored.
I looked to Ide he also looked bored.
I looked at Hidetoshi, he didn't look any less bored.
"So, what are you selling, Hidetoshi?"
I used my hidden move cultivated over many merchant escort missions.
Hidetoshi perked up and a smile appeared on his face.
"I've got a lot of honey, grain, and glassware, most of which I plan to sell in Tani, I'll fill any space I've made with water and bring that to Suna…"
Social Fu: Ask a merchant about his product!
Works every time.
…
The trip was quiet, none of us seemed to be much for conversation.
Usually this is when Minato would carry the conversation with his charisma.
But he was not here and thus it fell to me to make small talk.
Ide and I were at the back of the cart, watching the trees pass.
"Why are you traveling to Suna, Ide?"
I didn't care, but idle talk made the journey seem shorter.
"My mom and pa are on a break, mom said she needed space, and pa's been upset and throwing himself into work, so I'm traveling with him, tryna make sure he's alright yanno?"
Yikes, now I have to fake sympathy.
"I'm sorry to hear that, what's your mom's name?"
Social Fu: continue the conversation with a question!
"Mum's name is Fuime."
Fuime…
"Nakayama Fumie?"
He blinked at me.
"Yeh, that's mum's family name from before she married pa."
Tokuma's has a new girlfriend called Nakayama Fumie.
"Oh, I've met her before."
When your mom said she needed space…
She meant she needed some dick…
…
It took us three days to reach Tani, Ide and Hidetoshi are going to set up shop and sell what they could for the next two days.
That left me and mom to wander around Taki and entertain ourselves.
...
I was far outside of town standing with my mother preparing to release my seal.
I needed that extra chakra to make my clone last.
"I'm going to release the seal."
Mom nodded.
Alrighty…
The first use of the seal is a go.
I brought a tendril of chakra to my seal and gave a twist.
…
Chakra flooded my body and I felt a tingling as the seal spread across my face.
I smiled and laugh bubbled from my throat.
"Hahahahaha!"
My grin could only be described as manic.
…
"Shiro!"
I let my head loll backwards so I could make eye contact with mom.
"That's me!"
I eyed my mother.
"Stop smiling like a creep and make your clone."
Oh, yea…
I made a clone, giving it a good part of my chakra.
The clone stared at me with a raised eyebrow.
"Get going idiot."
The clone stuck his tongue before disappearing with a Shunshin.
I blew a breath out of my nose.
I hate clones…
I sent a tendril of chakra to my forehead and deactivated the seal.
That done I sat cross-legged and started sending my chakra back into the seal.
…
Phew!
What a trip…
Having that much chakra saturating my body, made me a bit crazy.
"Let's get going, any nearby ninja will be coming to investigate the spike in chakra."
Alrighty…
…
We were seated in our room.
"So, how did I look with that seal active?"
Hopefully like a badass.
"You looked insane."
Or not.
"Did It look cool though?"
My mother was silent for a moment.
"… It looked cool."
I smiled.
Good.
…
We had to lay low for the rest of our stay.
The clone should have dispelled by now, as the trip to Tanigakure only took half a day.
The clone had been active for a day and a half, which wasn't good news for its sanity.
Clones get a little silly after a day of exitance.
Tomorrow we'd set off to Suna, hopefully, the clone dispelled before then.
…
It was mid-day and I was sitting in our room when my clone dispelled causing me to sigh.
…
I arrived at Tanigakure.
Henged as my brown-haired cannon fodder teacher minus the headband.
Compared to Konoha, this place was hot garbage.
Though it did look nice nestled between the mountains.
I easily snuck past the walls and into their city.
Their sensors were hot garbage as well.
I looked at the sun.
It was mid-day, and I had plenty of chakra.
So, I'd take my time and explore the city.
…
I walked all around the city Byakugan active mentally marking places of interest, there was a bank, the village leaders tower, the academy, the market, and so on, so forth.
I spotted a pretty redhead selling vegetables.
I approached her with a smile.
"Hello miss, has anyone told you how beautiful you are today?"
She looked at me with disdain, a mocking smile on her face.
"No, they haven't"
Bitch.
"Well good luck tomorrow."
Her jaw dropped and I left feeling victorious.
…
The day passed and I accomplished nothing of note.
I wandered around Taki and pondered robbing their bank/treasury.
I decided that I'd give it a try if I had the time, and things went according to plan.
I snuck into someone's house and slept on their couch.
…
I got up bright and early and was leaning against the tower Byakugan active and reading Tanigakure's version of the scroll of seals.
I was slowly browsing the techniques while deciding my plan of action for robbing the bank.
Barrier Shattering Technique.
If a barrier is active, the user can see in enemy territory and shatter the barrier's source from within while his team lends him chakra.
Needed more than one Pearson
Nope.
Earth Release: Coil Of Earth.
The user releases a row of rising earth towards an opponent.
Nope.
Self Detonation Technique.
The user can cause themselves to explode with varying effects from simply blowing open a door to destroying a home. They may be able to control the strength of the explosion, blow up portions of their body, or severe parts of their bodies and let it explode at contact with the enemy.
No thanks…
Hiding with Camouflage Technique.
Maybe…
Hiden: Animal Possession Technique.
The user is able to take over the bodies of non-human animals and...
I blinked.
…
I focused on an "innocent" bird that had been staring at me the entire time I had been leaning on the building.
"…"
Ok then…
I focused back onto the scroll.
…
Body Elimination Technique.
The user self immolates...
I didn't plan on dying so…
Nope.
Mutual Death Technique.
The user grabs one of their intended victim's hands and forces it to assist in performing the necessary hand seals. Once this is done, the user and the victim die.
That's a dark technique.
Nope.
Yin Release: Jibakugan.
This Genjutsu brings out the victim's subconscious negative or hateful emotions. The caster can take advantage of these feelings and control the victim's actions.
Nope.
Ultimate Death Beyond Terror.
More useless Genjutsu.
…
All of Tanigakure's techniques were useless.
They had nothing good.
I looked at the Anbu in the ceiling.
There were only two...
I focused on the village leader sitting at his desk doing paperwork, he had high-Jonin level chakra, nowhere near as much as the Hokage.
Weaklings...
I focused back on the bird, sitting on the ledge of the roof.
It did have a stupid amount of chakra.
...
I started tapping my foot.
What do I do now?
I focused back onto the scroll...
Self Detonation Technique.
I started cackling.
I knew exactly what to do.
...
I walked a distance down the street humming a cheerful tune.
I stopped, spun on my heel, and broke into a run straight towards the Kage tower.
A manic grin stretched across my face.
I jumped and started making hand-seals.
...
I broke through the window.
"Surprise Mother-Fucker!"
Boom*
...
I sighed through my nose and started rubbing my eyes.
My clone just tried to assassinate the leader of a village...
Why didn't the Anbu react to that?
Maybe they were surprised...?
It's a shame the clone didn't see the leaders face...
I sighed.
What happened to robbing the bank...
The clone should have stayed away from the tower...
Clones are so stupid...
I need to lie down...
The mental stress of absorbing a day and a half of memories is a bit too much...
...
It was still dark when I woke up, I looked at the clock.
It seems I've slept for fourteen hours.
I've got three hours until everyone's up...
I sighed...
...
I used my time to make another bone senbon.
My mom woke up, just as I was about to start on my second senbon.
"Morning."
Mom blinked at me with half-lidded eyes.
She was still half-asleep it seemed.
"My clone didn't get anything good."
Other than the Self Detonation Technique.
Mom Yawned and then buried her head into the pillow.
Alrighty...
I focused back on my senbon.
I rolled it between my fingers.
Could I make them hollow and fill them with poison?
Or are they better coated with poison...
Or can I use a hollow senbon to extract stem cells?
...
Mom had showered and was now awake and ready for the day.
"The clone I sent to Tanigakure didn't find any worthwhile jutsu."
Mom wrinkled her nose.
"Not even a Hiden technique?"
There was one.
"There was an animal possession technique, but there was a high risk of your human body dying and getting stuck in an animal body if the jutsu was done incorrectly."
Which made the technique too dangerous to learn.
"How do you plan to look at Suna's jutsu?"
I didn't know...
I certainly couldn't use clones, I didn't want another assassination attempt on a foreign Kage.
"We'll see how it goes, it depends on the layout of Suna."
...
Everyone was packed and ready to go.
The only change to our appeal was a wide-brimmed hat and some sunglasses.
Hidetoshi and Ide had replaced a lot of their goods with water.
They both looked to be in a good mood, so I assumed that business was good.
"Everyone ready to go?"
"Yeah."
"Yep."
"Yup."
Mom blinked at the variation of yes's that she got.
"Alright let's go."
I scratched my chin.
How was the cart going to get through the sand?
...
Suna had a sandstone road leading directly too it.
Which was good for both my chakra and the cart.
I figured I'd have to "Water walk" on the sand for the next two-days...
...
Even walking on the sandstone path, sand still managed to get into my shoes.
I taped the front of my left shoe on the sandstone letting the sand escape from the open toe area.
I looked at my shoes.
They were called "tabi boots".
They were a boot, with no covering for the toes.
The only plausible reason for no coverings was ventilation...
I tapped my right shoe dislodging sand from it as well.
Perhaps I can target my enemies toes...?
...
We finally arrived at Suna after three days of travel.
The trip to Suna was painful.
Though my pain was only mental.
We ditched the father and son pair, they would make their own way into the village.
They would employ Suna ninja for the return trip and make their way back to Konoha at a later time.
Thus we were no longer needed.
...
I assumed foreign ninja would not be allowed into Suna.
My assumption was false.
Mom and I were welcomed quite warmly.
We got visitors passes with strict instruction not to wander after dark and we were sent on our way.
The only thing of note was that they assigned us a room at a inn.
It was a nice place so I had no problems with it.
...
Suna's was much bigger than I had expected...
The village was in fortified valley behind cliffs of rock, with passage in and out restricted to a single entrance, making the area very hard to attack from the ground.
I couldn't imagine how they kept their people well-fed and watered...
Then again, they probably didn't...
...
We were sitting in our room.
I was in the bed curled up in the blankets.
Mom was leaning against the wall, head bowed with sunglasses covering her eyes and using her Byakugan, probably looking for any hidden danger.
"Why were we let in so easily?"
I figured it was because they wanted us to spend money in the village.
"Their grateful we escorted some merchants supplying water and goods..."
They want us to escort some more merchants here, so they treat us well...
"...and they want us to spend our money here."
That's more like it.
"So, how's it looking?"
Meaning is it safe?
"Not too good."
I saw the veins recede from her face.
Meaning keep my mouth shut we're being watched.
Alrighty...
"Want to go explore what products Suna's got?"
Mom picked up her backpack and slung it over her shoulders.
That answered my question...
I copied her and slung my own backpack over my shoulder.
Time to look at the market.
...
Suna was doing extremely well.
I figured they would be on the verge of economic collapse.
But that didn't seem to be the case, the market was bustling and full of life.
I looked at their street food, some of it normal some of it not.
I eyed a fried scorpion.
Hmmm...
I wonder how crunchy that is...
...
I walked side by side with my mom, a stick of small fried scorpions in hand.
I was currently trying to summon the will to start on it.
I took a deep breath and took a bite.
Crunch*
I chewed the scorpion and swallowed.
Hmm...
It tastes like beef jerky with a slight fishy taste.
It's not that bad...
I took another bite.
Crunch*
...
Crunch*
I finished my last bite of fried scorpion.
Alrighty...
I looked at the Kage tower in the distance.
I just needed to find a bathroom within my Byakugan's range so I could take a peek at their scroll in privacy.
Or at least that was the plan.
Their big round and stupid looking Kage didn't have any easy shops around it.
It seemed to be mostly administrative buildings...
Hmm...
I guess I'll keep looking...
...
