7 Chapter 6

'Normal Speech'

'Thoughts'

'Bijuu/Summons/Gamer'

'Bijuu/Summons/Thoughts'

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, The Gamer, or any series for that matter. If I did the last thing I would do is write fanfiction for your amusement. I am also way too lazy to come up with new creative and funny disclaimers to post on every chapter, so I'll be copying this one and pasting it on every chapter. I've got better things to do with my time, like read fanfiction, write fanfiction, eat, do work, work out, read fanfiction...you get the idea.

(P.S. Did you guys know I like fanfiction?)

Chapter 6

After practicing with my shadow clone technique for hours while simultaneously keeping my Chakra Sonar skill on, I had eventually let Turtle take over for me and had gotten some sleep. Around three hours later, I was woken by the man with Dove already awake and ready. The rest of the journey to Kusa was relatively peaceful, but we all had been careful and vigilant the entire way there.

My thoughts were disrupted as we slowed down and eventually stopped.

"We're here." Dove stated as we arrived near the entrance of the village. I gazed at it impassively and appreciated the look and structure of the visible areas of the village. Kusagakure no Sato was surrounded by rich vegetation all around giving it an 'earthy' feel somewhat similar to Konoha.

"Halt!" A shout echoed out, causing us to focus forward. A man came forward wearing a headband with a symbol that looked like three blades of grass curved in the same direction. He looked at us seriously, "Please state your business here."

Dove inclined her head, "We are Konoha shinobi Who have come to aid Kusagakure in repelling the invading forces of Iwa." She slowly took out the mission statement scroll from her pouch and presented it to the man, "This is proof of our statement."

The man gave it a cautious look before walking up and slowly taking it. He created some distance and carefully opened the scroll and scanned through the contents. After a while he put down the scroll and looked at us with a smile, sighing in relief, "The Hokage's seal is authentic. I apologize for earlier, but we can never be too careful especially in these times."

"That would explain the 20 other chakra signatures surrounding us." Dove said simply.

"20…that's dangerous." I thought.

The man's smirk remained on his face before he made a few hand signals, probably to his hidden companions, before welcoming us inside, "Welcome to Kusa, I would tell you that you'll enjoy your stay, but I try not to lie to my allies."

Dove looked at him with humor in her tone, "We'll try to make do with the circumstances."

We moved through the village quickly, keeping pace with the Kusa ninja, before he stopped in front of a decent looking, large, multi-story complex. "This is where you'll be staying when you aren't in the front lines, courtesy of Kusa. The top two floors are empty so you can lounge there is you like." He then turned to face us, "The other Konoha shinobi should be back soon you can rendezvous with them here." He then smiled before bowing quickly, "Kusa extends its sincere thanks for your aid." With that, the man disappeared in a swirl of…grass. Huh.

Neat.

"Alright, keep your guard up while we are here, Iwa can attack at any moment, so we need to be prepared. I'll convene with the captains of the other groups when they arrive and exchange information with them. In the meantime, you two can scout the area and restock any supplies we might need and come back here after you're done. Dismissed."

Turtle and I nodded in response and casually picked a room after we entered the building. Afterward, we made our way out and separated in order to observe the landscape. The tension in the village was thick and easily noticeable; people were moving around cautiously making sure to stay on the sides of the road, while some others were shifty-eyed and scanning each corner for danger.

There also weren't many people out and about to begin with even though it was still early in the morning. I kept my gaze stoic as I gazed upon those peoples fast shuffling forms and shook my head. Most of them were just simple people with honest lives and families to take care of, but that didn't stop them from being inflicted from the effects of the war.

I took a breath before going through a single hand sign creating a puff of smoke beside me. My little show brought me little more than a fleeting glance from the pedestrians who ignored me soon after.

My 4 clones nodded went off to Scout the perimeter and obtain any information about Kusa's defensive capabilities. With that, I continued to stroll down the street with an impassive gaze.

"So we're all here." A giant of a man spoke, his figure imposing and his arms crossed. He wore the standard Anbu outfit, complete with the spiral tattoo on his shoulder. The top of his head was covered with short, spiky, orange hair and on his face was a mask depicting a Boar.

We were all currently located in the first-floor living room of the building that Kusa had allowed us to lounge in. Right before the two other Konoha shinobi groups had arrived, Dove had sent a clone to come get me, knowing that I was on the other side of town. She could sense and recognize chakra signatures anywhere in a 20 Kilometer (12.42 Mile) radius according to what she told me.

Being such a good sensor sure was convenient.

"It appears so. The third group has finally arrived." A female voice sounded out as a blonde haired woman looked at us. She wore the same standard uniform and tattoo, but this time her mask was that of a Wolf. The only reason I could tell that it was a wolf and not a dog on that mask was that I looked at her status. She and Boar were quite powerful to say the least.

Dove nodded, "We took a longer route to make our way here and faced no issues."

Wolf nodded after scanning us, but I could swear she looked at me a second longer, before she returned her gaze towards Dove, "And, is your team prepared?"

Why did I feel like that was about me?

Dove's voice turned hard, "We were personally chosen by Lord Danzo. If you have any concerns about our ability, please bring it up with him."

Boar watched them for a moment before shaking his head in disapproval, "Enough. We have more important things to worry about; Iwa has become more aggressive in their movements bringing in slightly higher level ninjas each time they fail their invasion. We need to find a way to push them back long enough for our main reinforcements to arrive."

"My team has two sensors: Squirrel and I. Turtle can be useful in reconnaissance due to his great natural speed in conjunction with his Swift Release. We can scout out invasion points Iwa might use and give reports of the number and strength of their shinobi." Dove explained.

Was I the only one bothered by the fact that Turtle was our fastest shinobi?

"This works out perfectly." Boar said pleased. "My team is more focused on Attack and Defense while Wolf's team excels in stealth and espionage. Having your team, however, will allow us to more safely scout out the opposition helping us reduce casualties."

Wolf nodded in agreement. "We can communicate this to the Kusa shinobi so that they can allow us to cover more ground. So far we have been splitting up our efforts on watching the border with Kusa watching over the majority of their border with Iwa."

Turtle put on a thoughtful expression before he suddenly asked, "Would it not be better to work with the Kusa nin in defending parts of their border instead of splitting the workload between us? I'm sure that they are more familiar with the layout of the land that we can ever be in the short time we've been stationed here."

Wolf sighed lightly, "Usually that would be true, especially when we have such small squad numbers but unfortunately, even though Konoha and Kusagakure are our allies our ninjas simply operate too differently. Over time we will be able to synchronize our efforts especially when reinforcements arrive, but for now, splitting up our workload is more beneficial."

Turtle nodded his head in understanding before Boar spoke up. "Any other questions? It's best for us to be on the same page." Seeing that no one else spoke up, Boar continued, "Alright let's plan out our next course of action."

The meeting delved into an information exchange where the shinobi all communicated their experience and difficulties and how to maximize their results. I was forced to take in all this information and commit it to memory not because I had to, but because Eidetic Memory didn't allow me to forget anything that I picked up.

Eventually, the meeting was concluded and Boar stated, "Let's stay vigilant and start our plan when the sun starts to set; around the time that Iwa is most likely to attack. Any objections?"

Seeing no one spoke up, the man nodded, "Then, make sure to keep yourselves alive." With that, he and his team disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Wolf looked at us and soon left as well with her team in tow.

"Alright let's move out." Dove started, standing up from her position before looking at Turtle and me, "Make sure you use a clone when you are doing your reconnaissance Turtle. If it is spotted, then make sure you have it run away and hide instead of immediately dispelling in order to lead the enemies. We want them to believe that your clone is you; increasing the likelihood that they will move to capture you. If they figure out that you are a clone beforehand, they'll be more on guard since they'll figure that their position has been compromised."

"Of course captain. Leave it to me." Turtle said earnestly.

Dove inclined her head before looking at me, "And Squirrel, don't stray too far from me. With your reserves, you should be able to make a good amount of shadow clones correct?"

I nodded in agreement, "As of now I can create around 4 clones, but I'll need more practice to increase that number. I learned the technique quite recently after all."

Turtle whistles at me in appreciation, "You're able to safely create shadow clones at your age? You must have some serious reserves kid."

"…They're alright." I replied

"4 is good enough for now." Dove said, getting us back on track, "What I need you to do is send your clones in pairs. We can use the fact that your sensory skills may alert the enemy to our advantage. If you sense the enemy and they start to shift their position towards you, you can have one of the clone pairs dispel and give you the information while the other clone pair can lead them away. Most Iwa shinobi are stubborn and such blatant flaring of your chakra will most likely provoke them into attacking you."

It was a pretty interesting plan but I showed some doubts, "Even if they are stubborn, they are still seasoned shinobi. I doubt this plan will work on them every time if at all since it is quite obvious."

"It doesn't have to, we mainly need to stall them so if they become too cautious to attack, then it works in our favor. If they become provoked into attacking, well you can just lead them around until they either get tired or fall into a trap. Either way, it benefits us."

Huh. "…Were you always so smart?"

Kotoe promptly flicked me in the head.

Worse, Turtle dared to snicker at me.

"Alright let's move out." Dove said before she stood up, us following her movements before we all activated shunshin and disappeared from our area.

Day turned to night as the sun rose from the East and set in the West. Dove, Turtle, and I were in the forested areas of the northern part of Kusa which served as the 'barrier' between the Land of Rock and Kusa. The terrain here was actually kind of weird due to the fact that the land was very rocky, yet the soil could support such large vegetation.

"Your clones haven't picked up anything yet?" Dove asked beside me.

I shook my head in the negative. "None of them have dispelled so I can only assume they haven't made contact with the enemy yet."

Dove nodded, "Very well, but stay on your guard."

We moved silently through the rocky forest, making sure to keep low and mask our movements. In but a few moments, we were half a kilometer from our previous position before Turtle suddenly tensed up sharply.

"My clone came into contact with a group of rock shinobi: 8 members, 6 of which acted subordinate to the last 2. He was able to lure them towards us before losing them and dispelling." Turtle looked forward before turning his head slightly to the right, "They are approximately 30 kilometers (19 miles) to our Northeast and should be heading in our direction."

Dove took to the trees and we followed. "It might be 2 different 3 man squads lead by Jonin commanders. I'll keep a lookout for any foreign signatures, but be on your guard just in case."

There was no argument as we followed the instructions of our leader. We moved silently towards our Northeast direction for around 10 seconds before Dove perked up, "They've entered my range of detection: 5 Chunin Level chakra signatures, 1 around Tokubetsu Jonin Level and 2 Jonin levels." She quickly created a clone which she dispelled soon after, "My clones with the other two groups should be alerted to our situation. All we need to do is stall for time and distract them: I'll handle the Jonin, Turtle use their anger at you to draw out as many of the Chunin as you can and Squirrel, I'm sure you can handle the rest."

I nodded seriously and continued following my leader at high speeds, however, it only took less than 30 seconds before we met up with the opposition coming in our direction.

"They're here." Dove said silently, signaling us to stay up in the trees.

Coincidentally, the rock shinobi stopped their movements as well before one of them, a guy around 15, sneered, "All those fucking tree huggers are the same; as soon as they see us they run and hide like insects."

His compatriots agreed before one of the larger individuals, probably one of the two Jonin leaders, spoke up, "It's true that they are slippery, but you have to admit that they at least stick to what they are good at." His eyes turned sharply towards our direction in the foliage, "Hugging trees."

At his epithet, all 8 enemy shinobi, in a fluid motion, drew their kunai and launched them towards us. All three of us dispersed causing the kunai to either hit bark or fly through the tree leaves.

Dove launched sharp needle projectiles at the two Jonin in a bid to catch their attention. They were most likely coated in poison like the ones she had used to kidnap me almost two years ago.

No. I wasn't still sour about that.

It worked as one one of the senbon grazed the shoulder of the previously trash talking Jonin, his kunai failing to deflect the numerous projectiles. His face twisted in agony at the fast working poison and he cried out in slight pain. "You fucking bitch!" He roared as he charged into the foliage.

His Jonin comrade, a woman with black hair, barked out a few orders, "There shouldn't be many of them so stick together and take them out!" She yelled before following her brash companion.

I had quickly scanned all their levels beforehand so I knew that, when Turtle had suddenly sped out and blown away one of the remaining 6 rock shinobi, that he had attacked the one who had Tokubetsu Jonin levels of chakra.

The man impacted the trees as astonishing velocity, breaking through a few of them and causing splinters to fly. The rest of the Iwa shinobi froze for a moment at Turtles sudden appearance before they snarled.

"Why you…"

"Enough." A voice sounded out causing the rock ninja to stop and turn his gaze towards the fallen trees. The Tokubetsu Jonin threw away one of the tree trunks on top of him and dusted himself off. His clothes were slightly tattered but otherwise, he looked perfectly fine from the attack. "Your love tap can't even break through my Rock Skin." He said as he turned towards Turtle.

He looked at my direction before sneering and stating to his comrades, "3 of you help me tie down that slippery bastard, the last two of you should be able to take care of the kid." He then dashed towards the now retreating Turtle with his comrades in tow.

That now left me with two rock shinobi, interestingly enough, one of them was the kid who had insulted us earlier. The other one was a female with dark brown hair who looked to be around 16 or so.

[Rock Shinobi 1 (M)]

Level 43

HP: 20000/20000

CP: 7500/7500

His name is irrelevant; all you need to know is that he wants to kill you

[Rock Shinobi 2 (F)]

Level 40

HP: 15000/15000

CP: 9000/9000

Her name is irrelevant; all you need to know is that she wants to capture or kill you.

As I finished scanning the rest of their stats, the black haired boy turned his gaze towards my direction before he suddenly looked startled. I guess he had never actually noticed me before as his eyes widened in surprise before he started laughing.

"HAHA! Ohh this is rich! Are those fucking tree huggers so pathetic that they have to send a kid to a battlefield?! And a Squirrel?!" He sneered before looking at me mockingly, "Listen kid, I'll do you a solid and make your death painless, courtesy of the Rock."

I looked at him strangely, though I doubt he could see my expression under my mask. "…was that supposed to be a bad pun?"

He looked confused before the girl next to him widened her eyes in realization, "Ohh I get it, Rock Solid!"

The boy looked irritated before he snarled, "You know what?! Now I'm going to make your death excruciating!"

"….But I actually thought it was kinda funny."

He didn't seem to think so.

With a cry of outrage, he dashed towards me to which I hurriedly unfurled two shuriken from my pouch and threw them towards him, however, I raised a brow when they simply bounced off his skin. The only reply I got in return was a sneer as he used his long reach to his advantage, rocketing a fist towards my masked visage.

I ducked under his swing and, while grabbing his outstretched arm, used his momentum to throw him over my shoulder. He flipped in mid-air and landed softly on the ground, however my Danger Detection suddenly went off causing me to jump straight into the air narrowly avoiding the earth spikes that had emerged from my previous position.

I turned my head and noted that the girl's hand position was fixed in a hand seal before she looked at me seriously, "Don't underestimate the kid, regardless of our feelings about the Leaf, they're not stupid enough to send someone weak to the front lines. He must be really skilled as a shinobi for his age."

The guy frowned before he grinned sinisterly at my direction, "Killing someone so young but talented from the Leaf-" he smacked his lips, "There's nothing more pleasurable!" He screamed as he lunged at my direction.

Instead of moving backward, however, I went forward to confront him with more shuriken in hand. I threw them at him, but of course, they only bounced off his skin. His natural reflex however, had been to close his eyes for a single moment which was all I needed for my plan.

I had thrown the shuriken knowing that they would bounce on his defensive technique and with that in mind, I used it to my advantage. One of the shuriken ricocheted off of him and towards his partner causing her eyes widened at the incoming projectile. She quickly reacted and ducked under the unexpected attack causing it to impact the tree behind her.

The girl looked at me in trepidation, focusing on my every move, however not before I had used their momentary distraction to carefully seep my chakra into his and his partner's system.

Illusion Mastery (Active) Level 75 [56.76%]

Illusion Mastery embodies the level of achievement you have in casting illusions. Each level increases the of your illusions affecting your opponents.

75% chance of illusion success

-1% per level your opponent exceeds you by

Due to my amazing chakra control, when I had begun studying Genjutsu I had improved very quickly at the art. Kotoe also made it mandatory for me to learn some medical ninjutsu, but there were just so many things that I had to study which made it nearly impossible for me to dedicate much time for the art at all. Nevertheless, I decided to focus on the matter at hand.

"This must be the Rock Skin…Dove's needles must have been coated in chakra for them to puncture the Jonin…but this still works fine." I thought idly, ducking under one of his blows and making sure to keep track of his female companion movements.

"Why. Won't. You. Stay. still!" The guy yelled, yet his movements never faltered and he kept his attacks sharp and precise.

"…I like living." "Not as hot-headed as he seems…the girl seems to play mid-range support." I made sure to use my Eidetic Memory to my advantage by memorizing their movements in order to exploit any weakness in them.

We continued this game of cat and mouse where the guy would rush me, utilizing his greater build and defense to his advantage, while his partner would support him from behind. The battlefield was littered with all the shuriken that I had thrown at the boy, all of which failed to penetrate his skin. Our movements where immensely quick and the entire battle had consisted of hundreds of exchanges in no more than a few minutes.

The guy looked around at the battlefield, no doubt taking note of my failed attempts at harming him, before he mocked with a sigh, "Look kid, if all you can do is run around and attack me with those scrap pieces of metal, then you might as well give up and drop dead now. It'll be less painful."

I looked at him apathetically, "I don't have to beat you, I just keep you here for now."

The man's eyes widened before he chuckled and soon those chuckles turned into full-blown laughter. The girl next to him looked at me with thick amusement in her visage, "You think you Leaf Nin are the only ones capable of using diversion tactics?"

My eyes widened, not from her information, but the one I had received from one of my 2 clone pairs. There was a group of shinobi currently located far outside Kotoe's range that was heading for us at high speeds. 2, 3 man squads of high chunin to Jonin level fighters with a Tokubetsu Jonin who didn't seem to be part of their squads. Judging by their trajectory, they would probably make contact with our reinforcements before they made it here.

The Konoha shinobi here had split guarding the Kusa border with their ninja: Konoha focused on around 200 km (124 miles) of the eastern part of Kusa's Iwa/Kusa border while their ninjas focused on the remaining 950 km (590 miles). We obviously overlapped in certain areas of our patrol, however, Dove has already notified us that there hadn't been any Kusa ninja in our 20 km vicinity, only us Konoha-nin.

I looked at the two still smirking ninja and commented "…You had another ninja with you, but they probably splintered off far before Turtle made contact. They somehow knew he was coming and left to notify another group of your shinobi." My eyes narrowed slightly, "A sensor."

The Iwa pair stopped smiling before the boy looked at me seriously, "I'm not sure how you got that information, but sometimes knowing too much isn't a good thing kid."

"In war, I'd beg to differ."

"Cheeky fucker!" The guy yelled with a grin before he rushed towards me with his larger build. "Let's see how you talk with your throat ripped out!"

I leaped into the air before tossing more shuriken at my charging adversary, but he knocked them away in annoyance. "I've said it before but if that's all you can do then just drop dead already!"

He leaped after me, as I landed on the top of a tree branch before he lashed out with with a vicious kick. I could almost feel the air compressing from the force of the attack and I hurriedly ducked before I lost my head. The half of the tree above me was wrecked as it splintered into numerous pieces, however with me now under his outstretched leg, his weakness was exposed.

Every man's weakness.

"YOU BITCH!" He yelled as I smashed his family jewels causing him to fall off the tree and plummet to the ground. Rock skin or not, no man could take that hit without issue…unless they weren't a man.

"I'm going to enjoy torturing you!" He stayed harshly as he shakily picked himself off the ground with tears in his eyes.

"…All's fair in love and war…and this is war."

He didn't seem to agree.

"ARRG!" He yelled as he charged at me like an enraged bull, but before I could move to escape, the landscape behind me changed as a huge wall of rocks blocked my path.

"There's nowhere to run little bastard!" My opponent yelled as his female partner stood behind him, looking at me seriously with a hand seal in place. I could see the manic grin of assurance on the boy's face as he edged closer to me, intent on causing me harm, however-

"It's about time I stopped running anyway…"

From the beginning, I had been making sure to analyze their movements and personalities to increase my advantage. The boy seemed brash and easily angered, but he never actually made too many mistakes in his fight and seemed to have a decent head on his shoulders despite his personality.

The girl played support and seems to have a more analytical mind where she used her earth techniques to box off or manipulate her opponent's movements and cover for her teammate's weaknesses. I could more or less predict how they would react to certain actions and how they would move.

Which was why when the boy seemed about ready to secure his victory, his face couldn't help but twist in surprise as his movements suddenly halted. "W-what?"

"I can't move! something's wrapped around my body!" His partner behind him screamed in surprise.

The boy looked at me, flames nearly visible in his eyes, as he snarled. "What retarded tricks did you fucking use bitch!" The guy yelled as he tried to break the restraint on his body through sheer force.

I grunted slightly in exertion before I twitched my right index and ring finger. Suddenly, the guy's arms clamped straight to his sides, as his efforts went to waste, and he roared in fury, "Bastard!"

The woman behind him looked at me sweat dripping from her brows, as she stated, "I can't see any restraints on me…" her eyes suddenly widened, "Genjutsu!"

Her partner widened his eyes before he smirked in my direction, "You think this petty trick can hold me!" He suddenly opened his mouth and bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, before smirking as clarity returned to him, the other Iwa ninja following suit.

However-

"What the fuck!" He screamed as he noted that he was still bound, but now he could see the culprit that had been previously invisible to him. Wrapped around him and his partner was high quality, chakra conductive, black metal wire. "H-how? When?!"

"The shuriken!" His partner yelled as she looked at me in trepidation.

It was only then that he noticed that the field which had been littered with shuriken was now devoid of any and instead all the star-shaped projectiles were wrapped around him and his partner along with the wire.

"Y-you?!"

"…I would usually not bother to explain." I started, before looking at the trees beside me, "but I think I have enough time to humor you."

Ignoring his snarl, I continued while gazing at him lazily, "Every shuriken I had thrown at you was wrapped with high-quality ninja wire which was connected to me. I blocked you from seeing the wire with genjutsu and analyzed your movements so that I could trap you efficiently." I finished while bringing their attention to both my hands which was wrapped with wire, all of which connected to the ones that restricted their movements.

"This…can't….hold me!" He yelled as he tried to push his arms outwards to break my hold, yet I replied by slowly closing my right hand in a grip. His movements halted as both his arms and legs clamped together and he glared in my direction.

"While you are normally stronger than me." I started explaining. "With your current limited mobility, the amount of force you can exert has been lowered drastically. Give up, you've lost."

The man ceased his attempts but looked at me in disdain, "Even if we can't move, you won't be able to damage us either, not with those toothpicks. We're at a stalemate."

"Normally that would be true, however-"

I flipped through a few hand seals causing the two ninjas to move erratically at the motions of my fingers.

God, hand seals were inconvenient.

I completed my actions, relishing in their looks of surprise, "-Just because I haven't used ninjutsu, doesn't mean I can't. And-" I continued looking at them emotionlessly, "Lightning dominates Earth, and I'm sure that your Rock Skin technique is earth-based."

Before they could even voice out curses or pleas, I allowed my chakra to flow and vibrate before lightning appeared in both my hands. The electrical energy flowed through the metal wires, as they conducted the energy, and into the bodies of the two ninjas.

Critical!

550% ENGY = 2112

2112 + Damage Bonuses = 3505

3505 x 2 = 7010

[Rock Shinobi 1 (M)]

Level 43

HP: 12990/20000

Critical!

550% ENGY = 2112

2112 + Damage Bonuses = 3505

3505 x 2 = 7010

[Rock Shinobi 2 (F)]

Level 40

HP: 7990/15000

They screamed in agony as lightning literally coursed through their veins from my Lightning Strike, easily bypassing their earth-based armor. They dropped to the ground, electricity arcing from their downed forms and their bodies twitching, as they glared at me.

"You…bastard-"

"Not bad kid." A feminine voice sounded out as a woman with a wolf mask appeared next to me. "Not bad at all for your first time out."

My enemies looked at her in shock as the female Rock ninja called out, "Reinforcements? How?!"

The woman barely regarded her before she threw something she had been holding in her hand in front of them. It rolled to the ground and stared straight into their eyes.

A severed head.

"YOU BITCH!" The boy yelled, seeing the decapitated head of his comrade, yet Wolf didn't even pay attention to him.

"How long have you been watching?" I asked.

"Around the middle." Was her reply before she looked at my victims. "So? What do you plan on doing with them?"

Ignoring their heated glared, I replied blandly, "...No clue. They'll probably be useful for information or something."

"Like we would tell you Leaf fuckers shit!" He yelled before glaring straight at Wolf, "I swear if I get out of here, I'll make you my fucking bitch!" He suddenly chuckled madly looking at Wolf's masked visage, "It's true when they say that your mask is a representation of your true self. I bet you enjoy moaning like a dog in heat."

The brown haired Konoha ANBU didn't even react to his words as she looked at me, "You've never killed another person before correct?"

"….No."

She nodded before looking at the now slightly alarmed faces of the two Iwa ninja, "Then it's time you experience the more desolate aspects of shinobi life." Her gaze concentrated on the female before moving to the male, "My team has already captured one of the enemy shinobi, but we can use one of them to fact check the information they give us. We only need one, however so-" She looked back at me, "Kill the boy."

At this moment, the clouds parted allowing more light from the moon to shine upon the earth, granting me the ability to see the increasingly pale faces of the Land of Rock shinobi. The boy then looked at me before he sneered, "Come on kid what are you waiting for? Or are you so spineless that you can't deal the finishing blow huh?! Do it!"

I looked at Wolf who gazed at me through her mask, before returning my gaze towards the Iwa shinobi and pulling a kunai from my pouch. With quiet steps, I made my way towards him before looking at his downed form

The boy suddenly spit at my face, but I simply tilted my head and it flew past me. "Do your worst kid. If you even have the balls." He taunted.

My gaze never left his as my mind split over my decision. The 10% of my mind dominated by emotion was adverse to the idea of taking another human life. I could maybe convince Wolf to spare them for more information after all 3 was better than two right?

But the rest of me, the 90% of my being dictated by logic, knew that once way or another, I could not escape fromt taking a life.

"Wait don't-!" his female partner screamed

"Shut up!" the boy yelled before looking at me, "I would rather die a shinobi of my village than a traitor who sells out its secrets. Now stop hesitating you fucking twat!"

"As you wish." I thought before pulling out a kunai and running my lightning technique through it before plunging knife into his neck. The lightning easily made its way into his body and brain, killing him instantly, yet a smug grin was ever present on his face. I watched as the light left his eyes and his body slumped forward.

Dead.

Fatal!

[Rock Shinobi 1 (M)]

Level 43

HP: 0/20000

You have gained 4,300 EXP!

I ignored the wail of sorrow of the Iwa Kunoichi as my brows furrowed. My knife-wielding arm shook so I took a breath and forced it to stop as Gamer's Mind kept my bubbling emotions stable. With that, I dropped the knife and gazed upon the first life I had taken, before my attention was brought back by the angry curses of his teammate. I looked to her, seeing her eyes red, "You killed Soru!"

"So that was his name…" I thought before standing up and dusting myself. "And you would have done the same to me."

I could hear her grind her teeth before feeling her gaze bore into me as is trying to memorize every single detail on my body, "If I ever get out of here-" She started, her voice slightly hitching, "I promise I will kill you!"

I looked at her for a moment before turning my back and walking away, "All is fair in love and war...and unfortunately...this is war." I muttered quietly. I untwined the strings from around the fingers of both my hands and walked past Wolf, uncaring about her reaction, and dropped them to the ground. "She can't move much and you're the one who wants to take her in for interrogation. She's your responsibility now."

I couldn't tell if it was because she felt for me or because she simply didn't care, but regardless she didn't move to stop my departure so I hopped into the trees and made my way out of that area. I made 2 shadow clones and had them go towards the direction where Dove and Turtle had run towards. By using Chakra Sonar I would be able to easily let Dove know I was alright and not in distress, but my other clone would have to physically find Turtle and let him know.

With that done I continued to jump around the area, looking to see if I could aid my allies elsewhere. I had absolute confidence in my teacher's ability to stay alive not because of some misplaced faith, but because her stats were greater than those of the two enemy Jonin shinobi. As I traveled through the dense forest in the blanket of night, I thought about the Iwa Shinobi I had killed.

I didn't feel regret for what I had done, after all, this was war and they no doubt would have done the same thing. However, seeing the life fade from his eyes really opened mine to how fragile life really was.

I knew that I didn't want to die as he had.

I chose the same lifestyle he had and so the only way that I could guarantee my life would be to get stronger, faster, smarter, and better. I needed to use all my abilities to my advantage and increase my repertoire of skills if I didn't want to die like Soru; killed by an enemy because of his weakness and negligence.

I suddenly stopped my movements as my Chakra Sonar pinged and I received feedback of a group of 4 chakra signatures on the edge of my detection range heading in my direction: 3 familiar and 1 foreign, but familiar as well. In but a few seconds, they all arrived in front of me, noting that it was Boar and his shinobi.

"So you're still alive kid?" The lead man, Boar, asked though I could tell he seemed slightly sluggish. He seemed to be carrying a sack over his shoulder while his two other teammates carried wounds all over their bodies.

I responded with a nod to which he sighed, "Your clone did good in leading those Iwa shinobi towards us and you've done well in keeping yourself alive, but I can tell you've had a long night." He stated as he looked straight into my eyes. How he could notice anything by only looking into my eyes from my mask was beyond me.

I didn't reply, but I suppose I didn't need to. Boar carelessly took off the sack on his shoulder allowing me to see that it was actually a constraint that was used to wrap up an individual.

"This is…"

"It's the sensor which was able to detect your clone. She apparently had splintered off the separate group of Iwa nin, the ones that your team had been facing." He then tossed the person at me, allowing me to notice that she was out cold, before he continued, "Wolf's group captured her, though they suffered heavy injuries so we made clones to take them away."

I looked at the tired but still well teammates of Boar and couldn't help but ask, "…What happened?"

The man sighed in exhaustion while his teammates seemed to shudder in anger, "Wolf's team made contact with the enemy first, however they were very skilled and had more numbers. If not for the fact that Dove had left some clones with our teams and warned us ahead of time, Wolf's may not have survived at all."

He didn't seem to want to explain any further, but I got the general gist of it. Wolf's team had probably held them off due to the fact that Dove's clone had helped allow them to prepare in time. They most likely managed to hold them off long enough, and maybe even killed a few, before Boar's squad got the jump on the rest. Well, that was my working theory based on the information I knew.

Nevertheless, I focused on Boar as he continued to speak, "The Iwa sensor might have some valuable information, so I need you to bring her back to base and make sure she is secured. My squad will patrol around and help out the rest of your group; we've already made contact with Dove and aside from being a little bruised she's alright. She should be looking for Turtle since he was out of her range."

I thanked him for the information that assured me that my teammates were alright, before carrying the sac containing the Iwa Kunoichi in a bridal carry.

"Take a break kid, It's been a long night for all of us." Was all Boar said before he nodded to his two companions and disappeared into the foliage, them two in tow.

I looked at the direction they retreated to before my gaze focused in the direction of Kusa's main city. I hopped from tree to tree and made my way back to our base with the prisoner in my grasp. The woman was unconscious, so the journey was relatively quiet all the way through except for the occasional wolf howl and chirp of insects.

Eventually, I arrived at our base of operations and went to the first-floor lounging area where the earlier meeting was held. As I unceremoniously dumped the body of the Iwa sensor on the couch, I noted that the other couches contained the downed forms of what seemed to be Wolf's comrades.

They wore bloodied bandages that covered their bodies and one of them had a wrapped up stump on their right arm. It appeared as if Boar had done what he could to stabilize them, but I couldn't help but look at the stump that used to be a right arm. No wonder why Wolf seemed so vindictive when she appeared next to me.

"And in a single night, his career as a shinobi has been cut short…if this was Kotoe lying down on that couch-"

"You know it's not polite to stare." A voice rasped out, breaking me from my thoughts. The Konoha shinobi was looking at me with a strained smile while cold sweat dribbled down his head. It was the first time I had seen him without his mask, so I returned the courtesy and removed my ANBU mask.

"Heh, if you think that's bad, you should take a look at what I did to the other guy. Don't think she's going to be moving at all without half her body." He suddenly coughed and I hastily moved forward, my hands glowing green, in order to stabilize his condition. "Eh? It seems like you were taught pretty well kid, Be grateful to your teacher." He then broke out into another coughing fit as I tried to heal him.

Mystic Palm Technique (Active) Lvl 20 [75.86%]

The Mystical Palm Technique is a medical ninjutsu which allows the user to speed up the body's natural healing process by sending chakra from their hands into a wound or affected body part. It is vital to match the amount of chakra used to the severity of the affliction or injury which requires a great amount of chakra control.

200% Increase to HP Regen

"Don't move too much, you're seriously injured." I stayed quietly before looking at the other injured individual who looked to be unconscious, but less injured, "You should rest up and conserve your energy."

The guy forcefully made himself sit up on the couch and I had to support him lest he reopened his wounds. Noting my annoyed look at his stubbornness, he smirked. "No can do kid, I feel like if I close my eyes…I might not open them again." He finished tiredly.

I took a good look at his face; he had a slim build but was above average in height. His face seemed to be the one where you would only look once or twice before forgetting, making him perfect for infiltration. His eyes were a cloudy grey while he had a mop of short black spiky hair in his head.

He looked at his sleeping partner and snorted, "That guy's suffering more from chakra exhaustion than anything else, but he's pretty banged up as well. Make sure he's not dead or something."

I inwardly rolled my eyes and healed what I could with my little mastery over the mystic palm technique. His injuries were somewhat lighter than the other guy's but were still serious. Other than that, he still had all his limbs and wasn't covered in as many bloodied bandages so he should be fine.

The grey-eyed ninja looked at me in gratitude before turning his gaze towards the still unconscious Iwa Kunoichi and sneered, "Remind me to thank Dove when she gets back, if it wasn't for her clone warning us in advance well-" he grasped the empty spot that used to contain his hand, "I would have lost more than just a hand."

"What happened?" I asked curiously.

The guys shook his head before leaning into the couch and patting his missing limb, "to sum it up, Dove's clone alerted us to the fact that there were a lot of enemies coming our way with your clone in tow, so we had time to set up some traps. Problem was that they had a sensor as well." He stayed looking at our captive. "They knew where we were so some of our traps lost their effectiveness, however worst of all was that there was a couple of Iwa Explosion corps shinobi in that group."

He glanced at his right hand and bandaged body self depriciatively, "That bitch caught me by surprise when she blew my arm off, but I cut her in half so I think it was a fair trade." He sighed lightly and grimaced from his wounds. "In the end, we managed to hold them off until Boar and his boys arrived. A couple of heads and an unconscious enemy ninja later…" He looked at the ninja I had brought in. "Well, here we are." He finished, looked at the room mockingly.

I couldn't really understand how he felt, but I knew that being handicapped for the rest of your life wasn't really an experience anyone would want to go through.

"Don't look like that kid, all that matters is that we're in one piece…" he then looked at his stump. "Well mostly anyway."

At my raised brow he shrugged, "well point is that we're tough especially my captain." He whistled in appreciation, "Man if it wasn't for the fact that she could kick my ass sideways, I would so try to tap that. The woman took on 3 of them at once yet still came out unscathed, damn how I want to just bend her over and-"

"What exactly are you teaching a child, Shark?" A feminine voice sounded.

The grey-eyed man widened his eyes in recognition, horror, and nervousness, "C-Captain?! H-how long have you been here?"

"That's unimportant." Wolf stated before dropping a body that she had been carrying.

It moved and raised its head before taking a look at its surroundings. Her hands and feet were bound tightly and her mouth was gagged. When she looked at me, her eyes narrowed and she snarled at me in hatred.

"…What took you so long." I asked blandly.

Wolf gazed at me before replying, "Well as soon as you released her she tried to run; wasn't much of a problem since she was half dead, but delayed me nonetheless."

I raised a brow as she continued, "Then I tried to be nice by keeping her conscious, but her kicking and screaming all the way made it less manageable for me."

Shark snickered as he looked at the bondage's form of the Iwa ninja, "Damn captain, I didn't know that tying up little girls was your thing."

"And I didn't know that you were a little girl." Was her calm reply.

Shark looked at her oddly, "…but I'm not."

"Then I'll make you one if you don't keep quiet."

That shut him up.

Wolf gave the sensor ninja I had brought it a once-over before she stated. "I also made contact with Turtle and other than being a little banged up, he's in good condition. The others should be here soon, so in the meantime relax here, I'm going to scout a little bit more." Without waiting for any reply of confirmation, the woman Body Flickered out of the room.

"Isn't she just charming?"

"…Sure."

"This has been an interesting night huh? Our first night and we already get to experience the joys of the front lines in full." Kotoe stated as we bathed in the mixed bath hot springs of Kusa, a towel covering most of her up.

"And the kid made it out in one piece as well. Good for you." Turtle stated as he leaned on the edge of the springs, a small towel covering up his essential components.

I, on the other hand, was in my birthday suit.

There was sadly nothing to see down there for me anyway. So I had a towel on my head, but nothing else.

It's important to note that this was the first time I had ever seen turtle without his mask and so I had taken a look at him. Silver hair, blue eyes, fair skin and an above average height were the first adjectives that came to mind and he was built like a runner which fit with his specialty.

"…Thanks." I said quietly.

After Wolf had left Shark and me at the building, I had decided to continue working on my Mystic Palm technique on the two test dumm- Leaf Shinobi in order to improve my skills. I took shark's words to heart when he told me about his this could save my life one day and since I had nothing better to do till the rest of the Konoha ninja arrived, why not practice my life-saving skill?

Turtle looked at me for a moment and sighed, "But to think that you already…" he shook his head and his brown eyes stared into my silver ones, "how are you feeling kid?"

"…I'm fine" I replied blandly

"And that's all that matters." Kotoe stepped in, looking at me seriously and bringing me closer to her, "I can't say that I appreciate Wolf making you do that, but it's a hurdle you would have had to pass sooner or later and trust me, the sooner the better."

When everyone reconvened back to the base, Wolf had gone ahead and done whatever it was she did in order to get information from her captives. That place apparently had soundproof rooms that could be used for those purposes or ones more…carnal.

The moment that Turtle and Dove had arrived, they had somehow instantly known that I had taken a life. As a result, they had come up with the idea of bringing me someplace relaxing and so here I was. That did get me wondering though…

"How does everyone figure that out as soon as they look at me?" I asked. Boar had figured it out as soon as he looked at me and that was when I had my ANBU mask on. I had no doubt that Shark also realized something, but he didn't really say anything and now Turtle and Kotoe had realized as soon as they saw me.

Turtle looked to me seriously before replying, "It's the eyes kid, windows to the soul and all that."

I gave him a dull look, "…that sounds like bullshit."

Kotoe promptly flicked my head.

"Language."

I gave her a slightly annoyed look, "It's fine if I kill, but the moment I curse I've apparently committed a grave sin. I don't understand your logic."

"Don't try to." Turtle stated, shaking his head, "Women are complex creatures and trying to decipher them is like trying to understand fuuinjutsu. Only a unique individual with a special bloodline can ever hope to accomplish such an incredible feat."

Kotoe looked at him in annoyance before bringing me closer and stating seriously, "He's somewhat right though-" she started, pulling me closer, "Your hand is shaking."

I looked down at the hand I had used to take a life and noted that it was indeed slightly vibrating under the warm water causing ripples to form. "I guess that 10% part of me is still upset…" I thought as I willed my arm to stop shaking.

Kotoe wrapped her hands around me and whispered softly, "I can't say it gets easier from here because] however do remember that I am always here for you."

Softly, I replied "…Thank you."

Kotoe smiled while Turtle nodded his head and we stayed like this in silence for a while, the only sound being that of the flowing warm water and the other people in the background.

"This half of the water seems more lively. Mind if I join?" A voice called out. The individual was a woman of around 5 feet 8 inches in height with blond hair, sky blue eyes and an amazing figure.

It was Wolf.

"…I kind of understand Shark now…too bad I'm too young."

If I had to rate her, I would say that she was around a 9.2/10, just slightly lower than my beautiful 9.4/10 teacher.

Kotoe looked at her for a moment before she shrugged, "Suit yourself."

Wolf sat down in the water next to us, her jugs floating in the water. It was important to mention that she was in her birthday suit as well and no one seemed to care. Everyone was more or less professional about it, so I didn't bother with it, besides, I had seen my teacher naked hundreds of times.

There was a short silence before the woman asked, "How're you feeling kid?"

I looked at her from on top of Kotoe's lap, my silver eyes half-lidded, before I replied, "I'm alright."

The blue-eyed woman looked at me for a while before inquiring, "Your body doesn't seem to think so."

I followed her gaze to my right hand and noted that it was shaking again. I gripped it tightly with my left hand and replied apathetically, "…mostly alright."

Without warning, I was suddenly carried away from Kotoe and found my head resting against the soft sensation of fleshy orbs. Kotoe didn't move to take me back, instead, she looked at Wolf deeply before motioning to Turtle after which they both moved away.

"Do you know how I felt after I killed a man for the first time?"

I shook my head to which she wrapped her hands around me and brought me closer, "Nothing"

I blinked at her reply and continued to listen, "I think I lost something that day, however seeing you today after your first kill-" she paused, resting a chin on my head, "I remembered that time." She used her hand to pry away my left hand from holding my right as she continued, "Don't fight this feeling because it shows that you still have something in you kid, just live with it. I think it might be healthier but don't take my word for it as I'll never truly know."

I gripped my right fist as it continued shaking and relaxed my body body against her chest. Eventually, Kotoe and Turtle came back to this area after which Wolf went back to her little area that she was relaxing in. After we had enough time of communication and relaxation, we made our way back to our residence and went to bed, the fatigue from the events of the night catching up with us. I slept with Kotoe, not because I couldn't sleep by myself but because I simply didn't want to.

And with that, I drifted off into sleep.

It had been a long night.

Shit happens, Yoru kills for the first time.

Sorry that this came out later than usual. I just finished my first semester of Junior year in college and came home a few days ago so my release schedule will be a little later on Sundays than usual. Good news is that I will have more time to write so if you're lucky, you'll get 2 chapters in one of these weeks.

Don't get your hopes up though.

Till next time