Chapter 9: Preparations

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any other references in this fanfic

A/N: So first I want to give a quick shout out for those of you that were able to get a glimpse into what my vision was. So yes, the ecosystem is changing, glad some of you were able to piece that together. I will go more into detail in the bottom section of the chapter, but it is something you should keep in mind.

This chapter is sort of to prep you for the upcoming ones and to add a little more worldbuilding. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 9

'Come on, just a little more!'

*Pant* *Pant*

Kenji grabbed the stone handhold with one hand, before applying chakra to his arm to launch himself vertically up the mountains surface like a bullet.

The shinobi in training shot passed the ledge and landed on top of the Hokage Monument with a soft thud. His exhausted legs buckled on impact and he was forced to his knees. Every breath he took felt like fire, his hands were cut and trembling, and he felt unimaginable pain in his lower body.

*Blurg*

He threw up his pitiful excuse of a breakfast all over the ground with tears involuntarily leaking out. Only after emptying his entire stomach was Kenji able to breath properly. He crawled away from the bile and managed a sitting position before reaching into his inner pocket with a trembling hand. Bleeding fingers grabbed a grey pill and brought it towards the boys lips.

Kenji managed to swallow it before he collapsed backwards spread eagle.

It was noon already, and the sun decided to be unbearably hot (that bastard). Without any shade available, he was forced to endure the scorching rays of heat, even as he could feel the muscle fibers he had torn during his workout begin to repair themselves, with his entire body looking like it was quavering. The pill was fast acting, so it should only take 3 minutes at most.

With one final muscle spasm, that caused his leg to give an involuntary kick, his muscles were completely healed, receiving a small boost to their strength in the process. However, this process left him without any energy and the newly constructed muscles were still raw, leaving him sore all over.

"Akame? Are you there?" the poor academy student called out to his best (only) friend. He managed to tilt his head to the side to where she was laying underneath an umbrella. The small rabbit was still unresponsive from the time she had collapsed 40 laps ago, her breath was the only indication that she was still alive.

Kenji hated torturing himself like this, but he didn't have a choice. After finding out that the Forest of Death was probably a breading ground for new Chakra Beasts two months ago, he knew that they needed to step up their game. It was hard enough to fight just two of them, he couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like to fight an entire forest.

After returning home, the pintsized ninja had thrown himself into his training, with the same fanatism that came from knowing that his life was in danger, which in this case it was. He devised new training regimen (with Gai's help), began a custom diet centered on strengthening his body, and practically lived in the library researching different subjects that could potential increase his chances of survival.

He had just ran 200 laps around the village's outer wall. The distance between the front gate and the Hokage Monument was 1.6 miles, meaning that just one lap around the village was 5.03 miles. He had been running since dawn, using chakra to enhance his movements as well as the Body Flicker Technique to move faster. Every time he was close to quitting or slowing down, he imagined the chakra beasts and the Akatsuki behind him and would force himself to take another step. He would have collapsed a long time ago if it weren't for all of those pills and elixirs he consumed every day.

Despite all the amazing results he had achieved in just two months, it wasn't without pain. Kenji would much rather spend his time crafting new items, inventing new pills, or simply just relaxing, but the urgency to improve his shinobi skills took precedence above all else.

"Well at least I can safely say I'm prepared for anything the genin test might throw at me," Kenji mumbled as he used his forearm to protect his eyes from the sun. "Still, I should take it easy for these next three days until the exam. A lot is riding on me passing. I absolutely cannot fail."

A few minutes later and Kenji was finally able to move without feeling like someone was stabbing him with hundred of kunai, now it only felt like they were using blunted ones.

Standing on unsteady legs, he collected his partner and placed her on his head and used the umbrella as a walking stick. Together they made their descent down the mountain and into the village.

He greeted the kind caretaker as he limped his way towards his apartment, he took out his keys from his storage ring and entered his room.

It was mostly empty at this point, since he had taken to packing everything he owned into different storage rings for easier travel. The only things still outside was his shrine to Kaguya, his cooking utensils, a couple glass cages stacked against the far wall, and some plotted plants; the bed and the fridge had come with the room so there was no need to place them in his storage.

He collapsed on the bed, placing the Akame on a separate pillow besides him. Taking out a stone brick, he used his remaining chakra to upgrade it three times, then he felt his eyes begin to close by themselves.

(Research and Development Facility)

The Third Hokage walked down the long stone corridor of the underground facility. A guard that was blocking a large metal door saluted him, "Hokage-sama! Good day sir!"

"Haha. No need for that, at ease." Hiruzen said amiably to the shinobi, "anything I should be made aware of?"

The guard looked contemplating, almost as if he was unsure if he should say anything before finally deciding, "Ahem? I should warn you that the researchers have been getting rather frantic as of late."

Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "Frantic?"

"Ummm… it would be better if you see it yourself?" the man said as he opened the metal doors.

Chaos.

Chaos summed up the scene that greeted the aged shinobi. The shouting was the first thing that reached his scenes even before the door was fully open. Angry words and insult were flying around the room like a barrage of arrows, insults comparing the other's mother to dogs being the most common. Next the smell hit him, frankly speaking it smelled like an unwashed foot locker, causing him to involuntarily flare his nostrils. He was forced to see the best and brightest minds that the village had to offer reduced to simple brutes as the shouting match had turned into a fist fight.

"Enough."

With a simple word and a pulse of his chakra, the third quieted down everything in the room, leaving an awkward silence behind.

"Anyone mind explain what this is all about?"

All the researchers straightened their lab coats and dispersed, trying to save the small amount of dignity they had left. The head researcher, an old man with a clean-shaven head and bottle-lens glasses wiped the small amount of blood from his mouth and greeted the Hokage with a friendly smile.

"Ah Hokage-sama, sorry you had to see this shameful display. We weren't expecting company you see," the old man, that must have been the same age as the Third, said as he extended his hand for a handshake.

"Please Tatewaki, no need for formalities among friends."

"Hehe, I suppose you are right Hiruzen?"

Looking around the laboratory the Third gestured to all the scientists that were going over piles of data, "So what caused the fight?"

"Ah, just some divided opinions. I wouldn't pay it too much attention, this is just their way of letting out steam," Tatewaki said as he scratched his chin before gesturing for the Hokage to follow him further into the lab. "Most of these guys, haven't even left the lab in over a week."

"A week you say," the aged ninja said as he looked toward the sleeping bags cluster against one of the walls and the empty containers of takeout overflowing from the trash bin.

"Tch. It is mostly your fault Hiruzen," the bald senior said as they continued to ignore the others.

That caused the Third to pause momentarily, "My fault? How so?"

Shaking his head, the researcher chastised his long-time friend, "Really, you come barging in almost two months ago and all of sudden ask us to study something so interesting. What do you think was going to happen? You should know better than to leave such an enticing lure in front of us."

"Hahaha, forgive me old friend, but it was rather urgent. Speaking of which, what have you found so far?" the Third gave a friendly chuckle at the reason.

Tatewaki punched some buttons on the keyboard connected to the large computer monitor. Data began to fill the screen, showing different graphs and diagrams.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but we haven't found much. We did soil samples all along the river bed leading to the Forest of Death. Trace amounts of some foreign substance was found mixed into the dirt and plants. We collected a few specimens to see if there were any noticeable mutations," he explained before bring up different before and after pictures of plants. "As you can see, some of them hardly changed, while others are completely different, we are still trying to figure out exactly how they changed however, and if they have any new properties."

"What of the wildlife?" the Third asked, remembering the two bear corpses that had been brought to his office.

"You mean those two mutated bears, Subject 1 and 2. Yes well, we've had a little more luck on that end. Diagnostic jutsu confirm that the cause for their mutation was indeed triggered by the mysterious substance in the water. Most of Subject 2 was damaged when it was brought in, but luckily Subject 1 was left in pristine conditions, besides the missing heart, and that strange foam-like substance covering most of its head. By the way, some of the others have asked if you could provide a better sample of that growing-foam if possible."

"I'll see what I can do, but I fear that the inventor would be rather reluctant to part with it?" Hiruzen said.

"A shame," the bald scientist commented, as he switched to another diagram showing an overhead map of Training Ground 44, with part of it highlighted in red, "anyways, from the samples we were able to extract from it, we noticed that the bones were 4 times denser than the norm, the muscles were 5 times stronger as well, and even the organs were harder to damage. Truly fascinating, and from the reports you said that they were able to use elemental attacks and had a crystal imbedded in their heart. Any chance that the shinobi that took them would be willing to hand them over for study?"

An Anbu escort hidden in the ceiling let out an involuntary snort at that, having observed the boy's greed first hand.

The Third decided to ignore that before answering, "I wouldn't get my hopes up, the person who took them is known to be rather selfish. I'd sooner expect the First to come back from the dead."

"Now I'm really curious to know who it was that took down these beasts and created those artifacts," Tatewaki said as a glint formed in the corner of his eyes.

"I'll introduce you, when the time presents itself," Hiruzen added at the end.

"Ahh, you truly are my friend. How about we have a few drinks later," the man gestured in a pouring and drinking gesture.

The Hokage gave a genuine laugh, "I wouldn't say no if you're offering. But back to the matter at hand."

Shaking his head, the bald man got back on track, "Right. Right. Anyways, we sent in a couple of field agents to report back on the ecosystem… it wasn't pretty?"

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Pressing more keys, video footage of different exotic animals filled the screen. There was a white snake that had blue crystals growing out of its head that shot out ice spears from its mouth. A tiger with blue skin that gave out sparks of lightening. A green bird that was able to launch razor sharp winds capable of cutting full grown trees in half. "These are all the results caused by the river, we've been able to capture a few of them to study, but they seem to have some innate ability to sense us making it harder. Right now, the whole ecosystem is in chaos, the entire food chain is being written with every new addition, and territory lines are being drawn as we speak. I wouldn't be wrong in saying that we should rename Ground 44 from 'Forest of Death' to 'Forest of Certain Death'. The few men I sent in, almost didn't make it."

"That does present a problem," the Hokage said grim-faced.

"Not really. It would seem that they are content in fighting it among themselves for the time being. Right now it's a race to see who can get the most amount of power and claim the areas around the river. Frankly, it is a bit fighting to learn that they are starting to think for themselves, and unlike summoning animals they have no desire to partner with humans," the aged man told his friend, remembering that large catfish covered iron scales they kept in a water tank in the lower levels. He swore it was observing them when it thought they weren't looking.

"How much of the forest was affected?"

"I'd say anywhere between 45% to 55% and spreading as more continued to drink from the contaminated water. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I'm actually excited to studying all of these knew subjects. It's been awhile since anything new appeared around here?"

"And what can you tell me about these so-called chakra artifacts that I sent here awhile ago. Are you any closer to finding out how they work?"

The old man's face darkened for a bit when he heard mention of the chakra artifacts. Those that were close enough to overhear them also let out dark chuckles as they took out kunai from the depth of their robes thinking off all the things they would do to the person responsible for all of their suffering. "Unfortunately, no. Despite how many hours we have spent doing test after test, we have been unable to figure out anything about them. All that we do know, is that their structural makeup has gone through a drastic change by some unknown method, making them respond with the user's chakra. The chakra readings suggest that there might be some type of link between the artifacts and the mutations, but we are still missing a critical link."

"I see, and good work. I also think I might have a clue on that missing link. Cat," the Third commanded and the Cat masked Anbu dropped silently from the ceiling and took out a book from a scroll. She handed it over to the old researcher to look over.

"What's this, a novel? 'The Immortal Road?'" the man said as he looked over at the cover of a young man holding a sword and covered in a golden aura.

"Yes, it is a copy of a novel that we were able to acquire. You should know that the author is the same one that made the artifacts," Hiruzen confessed, although he was feeling guilty of having taken it from the young boy's room during their initial investigation.

"I see. I'll get right on it," Tatewaki said, as his interest was piqued.

"Of course, I'll leave you to your work. I'm sorry I can't stay any longer but I don't think I can put off my paperwork any further," the Hokage apologized sadly.

The old man waved him off, "Don't worry about it friend. Just don't forget we're going out for drinks later, I still need to boast about my darling granddaughter Shiho.

"Hahaha, agreed!" Hiruzen smiled as he left.

As he was exiting the facility, he called to his Anbu in charge of watching Kenji, "Cat, you heard. What is your analysis of Kenji?"

Knowing what he was really asking, the purple haired shinobi spoke honestly, "I don't think that Yamamoto-san knew exactly what he was doing when he contaminated the water. I am almost positive that it was purely accidental."

"Oh? Are you that certain?"

"If I might speak frankly Hokage-sama?"

"You may."

"After observing Yamamoto-san for almost three months, I can safely say he does not harbor even one iota of malicious intent. While we can all agree that he is perhaps the most black-hearted merchant that we've ever had the displeasure of meeting-"

"I wouldn't go that far Cat," the Hokage said coughing into his fist.

"- I can not imagine him causing anyone any harm. His personality just doesn't add-up to that of a mastermind."

"His personality?"

"I've watched the same boy that's taken hundreds of ryo from his customer, pick up food off the ground and eat it with a smile. I witnessed first hand, how he dived head first into a sewer because he saw someone accidentally drop a 100 ryo coin down the drain," Yugito said seriously.

"Right. No need to get any further?" the Third said with a sweat drop at the examples. "Continue observation just to make sure."

"He is currently in his room resting from his run."

"Oh right. Why did he have to meet Gai of all people," the aged shinobi rubbed his temples in stress, "Well, at least he doesn't shout about youth every five minutes. Are the sensors and Hyugas still unable to penetrate that strange barrier he has set around his room."

"That is correct. We currently have no visual inside the room."

"Okay, I want you and your squad to pull back the 24-hour watch around his apartment for the time being. He's been careful to hid most of his abilities so far, but with it being so close to his genin test, he will be more likely to let something slip in a more open area. Plus we will they will be needed around the village, some very important guest will be visiting soon."

(Next day)

"Over there! To the left. Now to the right! There! You can drop it," a buff muscular man shouted.

Kenji complied with the orders and dropped the two-ton barrel of sake softly on the ground.

"Good work, that was the last of them. I really appreciate the help kid," the man said in jovial voice as he bent down to clasp a hand on Kenji's shoulder.

Despite the large amount of nutrition pills and elixirs he had consumed, Kenji was still stuck at 4 foot 6 inches.

"Don't mention it Uncle, I thank you for the opportunity to learn from you," Kenji said as he bowed to the older man.

The barely man almost cried at the honest answer, "you're a good kid, unlike that lazy good for nothing I call a son."

The man's teenage son that was in the same cellar room looked up from his position and flipped him the bird.

"I don't have much to give you, but why don't you take a couple caskets of sake as my thanks," the man said as they walked toward the above section of the sake factory, where even now, clones of Kenji were moving around like busy worker ants. It was a shame that Kenji couldn't gain their memory.

"I'll happily take them off your hands Uncle, good sake shouldn't be rejected," Kenji said kindly, even if he would much rather like a cash reward.

"Haha! Spoken like a true man!" the sake master spoke as he slapped Kenji on the back with enough force to send a normal person stumbling forward, but barely budged him.

Looking to the side, the small boy saw one of the large fermenting tanks that had been left discarded to the side. It was about 9 feet tall and 6 feet in diameter, with the outside being made to look like a wooden barrel and the inside being metal. "Are you going to throw it out?"

"Huh? Yeah, it was getting kinda old and it was easier to just get a new one instead of always fixing it again. Why? You want it?"

"I'll take it, if you have no more use for it?"

"Sure kid. Maybe you can give it a new purpose."

Kenji bid the man farewell after putting away the sake barrels and the fermentation barrel in his ring.

He had taken to doing one or two jobs from the bulletin board when he had free time. They didn't usually pay a lot and most of what they did give him was usually equipment, or maybe produce if he was helping a farmer, but that wasn't why he did them. Kenji enjoyed interacting with people, he loved learning about what normal people did. His favorite jobs were usually those that involved helping out elderly veteran shinobi, since they had the best stories, plus he simply admired them for living to such a ripe age.

Most of the time his reward was a simple meal, but sometimes like today, he would get something very expensive. Plus he learned new skills, with every job he took. Just last week he helped out a seamstress, who's coworker had called in sick. The old woman running the shop, had taught him how to sew and design simple clothes. Since he already had previous experience in the crafting of armor he was able to pick it up at a faster rate. With a bit of practice and better quality material, and he would be able to sell clothes when he reopened his shop.

As Kenji A's grandfather would always say, "There is no such thing as a useless skill". Of course, this was always followed with an order for Kenji A to practice his blacksmithing.

Still, the new Kenji took it to heart. Plus the more skills he learned, the more diverse he could make his shop. Perhaps he would even give sake brewing a try in the future.

Akame, the little freeloader, was jumping by his side.

"So what do you want to do now? We already did two jobs earlier today. We could do another one but I'm kinda not in the mood?" the little boy told his companion.

The small rabbit still couldn't talk, but she was able to make some gestured that Kenji could understand.

"So no one is us watching today? I guess we could practice some techniques outside and then we can go for ice-cream." Kenji knew that he was being watched, since Akame would always alert him when she would sense someone nearby.

Akame jumped excitedly at the thought of that rare creamy luxury.

(Forest Clearing)

Kenji sat in a lotus position in the middle of the forest, Akame was also sitting facing him.

Closing his eyes, Kenji took a deep breath and blocked everything out, only Akame was still there.

After three entire months of practice, the small academy student was finally able to release chakra from all of his chakra points. Ha, suck on that Hyugas! He did exactly that as he gained a visible blue aura around himself.

Carefully he tried to connect his chakra with Akame's. It had been an ongoing experiment to see if he was capable of using ninshu, like Naruto and the Sage of Sixth Paths. So far none of his previous attempts had worked, but he still had hope.

His chakra clashed with her own. When he first tried this, it had been like water and oil, and no matter how hardy he tried they simply couldn't mix. But now, he was able to match her chakra with his own, like to jigsaw puzzle pieces. He tried to be the yang to her yin, not trying to understand her, just accepting it all.

They duo lost track of time, as they were too busy sensing the mixing of their chakra.

Kenji let go. Letting Akame's feelings simple flow into him uncensored. He almost lost the connection, from the sudden torrent of emotions that were suddenly appearing in his mind. He could feel her surprise at their sudden connection. There were no words said, as they took turns simply sending one emotion after the other. Then they sent sensations; the feel of the grass underneath fur, the smell of the damp forest floor, the image of a tree leaf falling.

Perhaps it was because Kenji was a combination of two other people, but he had always been sensitive to other people's emotions. As such, he could feel everything about her, even her newly formed beast crystal that was pulsating with in some type of strange energy.

Hours passed as the boy and his rabbit simply sat there, deepening their bond. Finally, Kenji opened his eyes and looked at Akame with a smile.

"Well that was fun?"

'…i-ice..cream,' came the cute baby sounding mental reply. It still sounded rather fuzzy, like listening to an old radio, but it was slowly getting better.

"Well, I did promise," Kenji said as he stood up wobbly.

'Smi…smiling?'

"Huh? Am I," the small boy replied in confusion until he touched his face and found that it was stuck in a grin, "huh. It looks like I am. I'm feeling a little out of it too." Kenji felt dizzy, but in a pleasant kind of way, almost like he was drunk or high. "Maybe this is a side effect of our connection."

Together the duo made their way back to the village, going slow so that Kenji wouldn't trip over his two legs.

It was already nightfall, and many of the shops had their lights on.

Feeling even more lightheaded, they accidentally bumbled their way into the red-light district of Konoha.

He passed by gambling dens guarded by yakuza looking men, courtesan waving at passersby outside of brightly colored bars, even pleasure houses where men came out wearing big grins. He saw money being openly exchanging as scantily-clad women took men into dark alleys, or from drug users getting their next fix.

Kenji was actually very familiar with the red-light district. Most of the jobs on the bulletin board pertained to something involving this district, from serving as waiters to running errands. Kenji had also taken to coming down two times a week, to practice his medical ninjutsu. He would volunteer to give the girls regular check-ups for free. It was a win-win. He could practice his medical skills with willing patients and the Madams running the brothels didn't have to hire a doctor, who were known to cost a fortune. Plus, they knew he didn't harbor any ulterior motives since he was only a child.

As he stubbled down the street, many of the regular street walkers that knew him called to him in concern. He waved off their worries, saying that he just eat something bad.

His chakra was running wild underneath his skin, and he had trouble reining it in, all the while being bombarded with foreign emotions coming from all around him. It was then that he felt a jolt of dark emotions hit him, causing him to trip.

Looking up from his kneeling position he saw, a young girl, who couldn't be more than 14. She had dark red hair that reached her shoulders, blue eyes, a height of 5 feet, and breast that must have at least been C-cups or bigger. She was wearing a red Chinese dress and standing nervously against a wall with among a group of women that were known to perform some 'special' services for the right amount of money. From the way that she was holding herself, and the scared look in her eyes it would be safely assumed that she was still fairly new to this line of work, probably her first night too with the way she pulled into herself whenever a man passed by.

Feeling lightheaded, Kenji stood up and walked toward the group of women, just as man was getting ready to talk to the redhaired girl.

"So how much?" the stranger said to the girl. From his sluggish movements and the alcohol in his breath, it could be said that he was already drunk.

"Umm…1-1,000 ryo…" she said looking down at the floor in shame.

Just as they were getting ready to leave, Kenji grabbed the hem of the man's shirt.

The two looked at him.

"Hic. What do you want kid?" the man said turning around with unsteady legs.

"I'm sorry, but I saw her first," Kenji said with foxlike eyes and a huge grin, trying not to fall over himself.

"Grrr. Get lost kid, go back to your mother!" the drunk yelled getting irritated.

Kenji grabbed the man's hand and began to apply pressure.

"Ow. Ow, let go of me," the man pleaded as he dropped to his knees when the pressure on his hand threatened to break his bones.

"Whoops! Sorry, I can't control my strength right now?" the small boy confessed in a pleasant tone as if he just hadn't caused a man 4 times his age to kneel before him. Opening his eyes, to show twin pools of amber filled with malicious intent, Kenji released a small amount of chakra to intimidate the man. "As I was saying, I had my eye on her first."

"Yeah, sure kid!" the man said as he scurried out of there, leaving Kenji and the redhaired girl alone.

She looked nervous, but also relived.

Tilting his head to the side, Kenji looked at her up and down before asking, "Your name wouldn't happen to be Ranma would it?"

Taking aback, the girl looked confused before answering in a small voice, "No."

"How about Ranko?"

"No."

"Is your last name Uzumaki?"

"No."

"Huh. I must be more out of it than I thought," Kenji said as he was starting to see double.

"…Why did you do that?"

"Do what?" Kenji replied, unsure which of two girls in front of him he should be answer to.

"…"

"…"

Looking away from Kenji, she seemed more frustrated than scared now, "I need the money okay? I'm not doing this because I want to!"

Patiently, Kenji closed his eyes and leaned against a nearby wall, "Of course you are. I doubt you would be doing this at such a young age if you didn't have your reasons."

"…"

"…"

"…Aren't you going to ask what they are?" she said in a bitter tone.

"Hmmm? Alright. 1000?" Kenji asked, taking out a 1000 ryo bill from his ring and tossing it toward the girl.

The redhead girl looked at him in confusion, "Huh?"

"You said it was 1000 ryo for your services right. So know I want you to tell me a story?" the small academy student said as he gave a big yawn.

"A story?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yep. But not just any story. I want to hear your story. What made you come here today?" Kenji said, as he sat against the wall to make himself more comfortable, petting Akame who had fallen asleep during their walk. He normal wouldn't ask some to tell him something so personal. He knew that everyone had their reasons, and most liked to keep those reasons to themselves, but he was feeling rather strange right now, and the whirlwind of emotions coming from the girl weren't helping.

"Fine," with a bitter smile, the girl took a seat next to him and began her tale.

Kenji was only half listening, as he was too busy gawking at the strange colors and shapes that had invaded his vision. He tried to tune them out, trying to focus sole on the girl, and succeeded in forming some type of connection. Even as inebriated as he was, he did manage to get the jist of it.

Her name was Aiko, she lived on a farm most of her life with her elderly grandfather and mother in a faraway village. Their farm had experienced a drought for a number of years already, and her grandfather had to take out a number of loans form shady people just to keep it afloat. Her grandfather had gotten sick and died a few months ago, causing the debt that he had accumulated to pass on to her and her mother. Everyone in their village turned their back on them since they didn't want to be targets for the loan sharks, even her childhood sweetheart had been too scared to be seen together with her. A few days later her mother had left in the middle of the night leaving only a note behind. Aiko was left alone, and she had traveled all the way to Konoha to hopefully raise the money in order to pay back the loan sharks, tonight was her first night. Overall, it was an A-grade sob story, and the emotions he felt during her retelling added to her credibility.

During the middle of the story she had began to openly sob, and Kenji began to pet her head in a consoling manner. At that point he was already half-asleep and could tell what was real and what wasn't. He was 60% percent sure that the dancing frog across the street was only a hallucination.

"Hmm, you really are a silly girl," Kenji said as he began to comb and tie her hair into a pigtail.

"What are you doing," she asked as she wiped her eyes.

"Hush now silly girl," the younger boy said as he finished tying her hair with a black ribbon he pulled from his kimono. He stood up unsteadily on two feet and retrieved a suitcase from his ring's inventory. Opening the lid, he showed it to the girl, and watched her eyes grow in astonishment as it was filled with stacks of 1,000 ryo bills.

"What the-"

"Shhh. Take it and use it to fix your problems," Kenji explained as he took out an empty storage ring from his kimono, and slowly pressed it against the suitcase, causing the money to disappear inside it. Then he flicked it toward the stunned girl, who just barely caught it.

Then he took out an ornamental hairpin made of ivory with a wing carved on the end and placed it firmly in her hands.

Hairpin of Fortune +10

Quality: Ordinary

Attack: 30

+300

10+: Lucky encounters increase by 500%

Chakra points Needed to Upgrade: 130

"Why are you giving me this? In fact why are you helping me at all!?" she shouted, unable to believe what was happening.

Looking up toward the night sky put on a confused look. "…I don't know? I might even regret it in the morning, but right now… right now I would feel pretty bad if I didn't help you out," Kenji confessed.

Indeed, when he woke up the next day, he would curse himself to the high heavens for giving away such a valuable artifact as well as all that money.

"I can't take this!" she exclaimed as she stood up and tried to push the ring and hairpin back into Kenji's hands, only to be rejected.

"Why not? Weren't you going to sell your body only minutes ago. If it is because of your pride, then that shouldn't be a problem. You were bound to lose it either way tonight, at least this way you can still keep your virginity. So stop acting so big, simply bow your head and take the money," Kenji said coldly.

Despite how much she wanted to retort and say something to defend herself, she really couldn't. He was right about everything, and it hurt more than she thought it would to admit that. She was really in no position to refuse, with a defeated expression she bowed her head to him and asked in a small whisper, "… What's your name?"

"Me? I'm Kenji Yamamoto, and I will become the best merchant in the world… believe it! HehehahahahaHAHAHA!" Kenji dropped to the ground clutching his stomach, laugh his ass off at the stupid joke he just made.

Aiko looked at him weirdly, no doubt thinking he had finally gone insane.

After a while, Kenji finally stopped laughing and stood up before beginning to walk away without a word.

"Hey, wait. Where are you going?" the petit girl called to him.

Now it was her turn to receive a strange look, "I'm going home obviously. It is late, and the streets are no place for someone as defenseless and cute as me. You never know what kind of crazy people roam the streets after all. …Goodbye you silly girl."

The small boy flashed her a smile and waved at her one last time before disappearing in a whirlwind of leaves.

"Kenji Yamamoto huh?" Aiko muttered as she gripped the hairpin and the ring tightly in her hands. With renewed hope in her eyes, she began to walk away from the red-light district, making a promise to herself that she would one day come back to repay the favor.

(Village gate)

"I wonder what was the reason that sensei decided to call for me," a large man with long spiky white hair said as he entered the village. "Does it have anything to do with large amount of carriage coming from the Fire Capital I saw on my way here? …Ah, who cares, I better do go to the hot springs and do some research before things get hectic. Hehehe."

Kenji meanwhile was back in his apartment sleeping soundly, unaware of the approaching events that were about to take place. Instead, he was getting ready to have a very interesting dream curtesy of a certain goddess.

A/N: Hey all my people, hope you enjoyed it.

Now then, it's time for me to explain somethings.

First off, pairing. I'm sure many of you are curious what the pairing is, and the answer is:

I don't know. I haven't really thought much about it, I might make a poll later in the story, but right now, I don't really want to think about romance. I just want it to be a little fun story or a shopkeeper and his ninja customers, maybe when the storyline advances it might change, but right now he is only interested in money.

Next off is the Forest of Death, obviously some things are going to change but worry not because I have a plan for that. As you can see, it only took a small catalyse to cause that effect and this is why. Chakra dust is crystalized nature chakra mixed with Kenji's chakra. Things that absorb it like plant and animals become pseudo-sages.

They filter nature energy in their bodies and then release nature chakra back into the world, acting like plants or a set of lungs. Every breath taken adds to the nature energy in the world and makes it easier for chakra beasts and plants to be born without the need for chakra dust.

So basically, chakra dust acts like a virus.

The genin exam will also be different for Kenji for two reasons.

One: He chose to become a part of the reserve, also commonly known as the cannon fodder or errand boys. These are the shinobi that didn't get picked for a team, and instead expected to learn everything by themselves, instead of learning it slowly and with the help of a jonin sensei. Genin that failed the team test are also part of this group, so there will be a mixture of strong and weak opponents with a lot of the ages varying. (Hint: one of the test will be a mock-war battle)

Two: The Hokage will no doubt want to figure out more about his abilities and will change some of the regular rules in order to catch Kenji off guard. From this chapter, you saw that shinobi aren't stupid, they will eventually figure out how Kenji is doing things. Learn to replicate them on the other hand will be impossible without Kenji.

Now to the reason why Kenji was acting drunk when talking to Aiko. The answer lays in Ninshu. He was still fairly new to being able to connect to others with his chakra and didn't know how to block off foreign emotions just yet. This results in him being extra sensitive to outside emotions, and in a place like Konoha with a lot of people that can be extremely troublesome. The red-light district, where a lot of strong emotions are flying around all the time, is the worst place for Kenji at the moment, and as you can see, it caused him to trip balls.

I hope I cleared some of your questions, I'm sure I missed some. Now questions of my own.

Did you like the chapter? What do you think about some of the other chakra beasts? Surprised about Kenji giving money away? Don't worry, he won't be do that again. Did you like Aiko, should she appear later in the story?

Next chapter will have Kenji finally meeting with Kaguya, yay! The Fire Daymio and a bunch of nobles will also be coming to Konoha, so that's fun. And finally the gening test.