chapter 141

"Why don't you," Suigetsu groaned, his greatsword slashing through the air with a lot of force. Ultimately though, its blade moved harmlessly, far away from any target. "Just," the boy continued, with another slash that was not even the smallest bit closer to anyone. "Stay," he hissed, dashing forward and thrusting his blade forward. Once more, the sword met nothing at all. "Still?!" he finished, halfway between a scream and a wail.

"If you insist," Eiji said, a slight smile on his face. He did as his new teammate asked and stood in one place, waiting for the next attack. His right hand rested inside the pocket of his coat while his left prosthetic one scratched at his bare chest. "I'm waiting, man," he added, his grin widening as he saw Suigetsu struggle for a moment before turning to water to get away from the thread prison Eiji had trapped him in.

Almost reluctantly, the squad leader stopped the incoming blade with his armored puppet arm.

"Now what, Sharkboy?" he asked, giving the new member a lazy smile. "Gonna whine at me till I give up?" Eiji continued, speaking as his hand twisted and turned, blocking all the blows that were directed at him. "You need more than a sword and a water body, you know?"

"I really don't," the boy said, turning to water once more to make his sword pass through Nuibari.

"You really do," Eiji shot back, stopping the blade with his wires. "That's not as original an idea as you think it is," he added with a slight grin. If Obito hadn't done anything with that trick, Suigetsu sure as fuck wouldn't either. "Now, when we arrive at Konoha, I'll throw a bunch of Water Release jutsu your way, and if you don't have a bunch of them in working condition by the time we have to leave again… You don't wanna know."

"Piece of cake," Suigetsu muttered through gritted teeth. "Now, fight me seriously damn it."

"I didn't know you were suicidal, Sharkboy," Eiji commented, making the already angry expression on the swordsman grown even worse. The snorts and chuckles from the rest of the squad around them certainly didn't help.

"Fits even more with our damned group, huh?" Tayuya commented from off to the side. "Come on, Sharkboy, I have good money bet on you at least making Fearless Leader use something other than his sword and his threads."

"Easiest money ever," Fu announced, making Eiji shake his head. Although, to be perfectly fair… She wasn't wrong. There was no way Suigetsu would get anywhere close to making him use anything other than what he was already using.

Well, at least he was doing his best, Eiji supposed. Unfortunately for him, not only was his style of fighting a cheap version of something he'd already faced without trouble, but he also had less going for him all around. With some work though, Eiji swore that he'd make Suigetsu better than Obito, if only out of spite.

Plans of pettiness aside though, Sharkboy was doing decently well, Eiji supposed. Especially then, as the boy became water once more, faking reappearing in front of him before continuing through. He only reformed behind Eiji, twisting his body to slash at the leader's back.

"Close," Eiji said, his threads once more catching the blade. "But no dice. Let's end this here, yeah?"

"Uh… Yeah… I… Yeah, that sounds, erm, fine," the boy stammered. Eiji smirked as Suigetsu's eyes pulled towards the middle, looking at Nuibari poking at his forehead, a single drop of blood running down the bridge of his nose. "Sounds great, Eiji," he mumbled as the leader pulled away the needle-like sword.

"Good," Eiji replied, twirling Nuibari in his hand before placing it on his back, holding it there with the thing's own wires acting as scabbard and securing it. "Who's next?" he asked then, wiping his team's smiles from their faces. "All of you?"

"Fuck," Temari cursed.

[}-o-{]

"Take that, fucker! I'm not weak!" Suigetsu announced triumphantly.

"Well, he's enjoying his win, at least," Eiji commented idly, drawing hums from the rest of the team around him as they watched their new addition. As for the aforementioned Sharkboy, well, he was having some fun fighting some Missing nin they'd come across. It was only made even more apparent by the way the boy kept gleefully riding the waves that reached the shore to mess around with his opponents.

Although, come across might be the wrong way to explain how they found themselves in that situation. Tsunade had, after all, sent them an easy mission in response to Eiji's request for something to do on their way back. Preferably someone to smack, if at all possible.

The Fifth Hokage had delivered without a problem, even if the mission was barely B-ranked, and that was only because of how much money was put on the guys' heads. Apparently, these bunch of idiots had pissed off the wrong people, even if they didn't have the skill to back up their actions. Well, at least they'd do to bring Suigetsu's confidence back up a little bit.

Just a lil' bit.

"Anything interesting on these guys?" Eiji asked, turning to see Kabuto shrug.

"They had some scrolls for low level Jutsu. Not sure what they were planning to do with that, but Suigetsu will get to learn the Water Clone technique before we even reach Konoha… Or at least get started on it," the medic replied, making him nod. That was nice, he supposed. As for the rest…

"Anything worth mentioning about the other scrolls? Are those around that level or worse?" he asked, wondering what to do with that. If Kabuto was that dismissive, Eiji doubted it would be worth giving to Konoha or anything, but maybe he could find a use for that…

"A few of them are about the same level and some are worse," Kabuto answered, turning to look at Suigetsu finishing off the last of the Missing ninja. "Seems like he's done."

"Hm, gather up all those scrolls. Might come in handy if we want to get started on other elements. Maybe it's time I get on with that," Eiji mused, standing up and offering a hand to Tayuya who had been sitting next to him. He then took in the pale faces that were directed at him before grinning. "Aren't you looking forward to that?" he asked, making all of them shiver. "I'm sure you are."

"God help us all."

"God can go fuck himself. Ain't no way he cares, not if he's pulling this kind of shit on us."

"Worst part is… She's not wrong."

[}-o-{]

"Fun stuff, huh?" Eiji asked, grinning at the scroll before him.

"Waveweaver, I like it," Suigetsu mumbled, smiling just as widely as he checked the new entries in the Bingo Book for them. Then his happy expression was swiftly wiped away. "Wait, what the fuck?" he asked, eyes wide.

"Ha! You have a lower rank than the Mutt, Sharkboy," Tayuya laughed, pointing at the swordsman. Next to Eiji, meanwhile, Yuki was giving him the dog equivalent of a pout.

"I'm sure you'll get a title eventually, girl," he said, petting the poor ninken. Apparently, nobody had the courtesy to give his dog a name for the Bingo Book. Hell, her entry was basically an attachment to his, really. "At least you got A ranked, right? Better than Suigetsu's B," he reassured, making the poor boy throw his scroll up in the air in frustration.

"Flameweaver… Guess it could be worse," Yugito mused, apparently not really caring.

"Windweaver, eh, good enough, I think," Temari commented with a shrug. "A rank though…" she added, her eye twitching as she continued looking through the information on her. "I might have to take a more proactive role on things. No way I'm staying a rank lower than Tayuya."

"Sucks to suck, huh?" the aforementioned redhead said, looking supremely smug. "Don't feel too bad, Bimbo Number One, you'll get to our level soon enough."

As he left his team to that, Eiji looked at his own entry.

Eiji Satou.

The Weaver.

The Stormbringer.

The second title was not a surprise, really. The system had given it to him with his rewards for defeating Obito and Zetsu, after all. He guessed it had been there in the works since that day, considering what he'd done that day and the show he'd put on for the Nations and their ninja.

Almost distractedly, he looked to the side calling for the title's screen.

[The Stormbringer

Increases the effects of Lightning Release techniques by 100%.

Increases the efficiency of Lightning Release techniques by 100%.]

A very simple pair of effects, but what effects they were. A lot better than The Weaver's boost on that area, that was for sure. Or at least, than how that title's had been, since Stormbringer seemed to have stolen those effects from the other title, even if it'd vastly increased them. As for the other title… Well, it had seen chances, more than just losing its boost to Lightning Release.

[The Weaver

Increases stats when fighting alongside members of the Spider Clan by 25%.

Increases stats when fighting with Nuibari by 50%.

Increases the effects of Bloodlust when using threads by 50%.

Increases the effects of thread-based techniques by 50%.

Increases the effects of Fire Release techniques by 25%.

Increases Energy Point regeneration by 200%.]

'Beautiful,' Eiji thought to himself with a satisfied grin.

[Eiji Satou

Main Title: The Weaver

Secondary Title: The Stormbringer

Energy Points: 1400/1400

Chakra Points: 1750/1750

Natural Energy Points: 0/1650

Beast Chakra Points: 0/0

Strength: 70

Dexterity: 75

Constitution: 70

Chakra: 70

Chakra Control: S-]

'Come quite far from the stats I started with, that's for sure,' he mused. There was something pleasing but odd about seeing his stats so… rounded though. However, it was a matter of time before he broke through those numbers. Even if he wasn't training quite as much anymore, he was working to improve himself still.

"Brat, get your merry band of misfits out of my office already," Tsunade growled at him from behind her desk and he looked up from the sofa he was sitting on. "I shouldn't have given you the Bingo updates," she muttered.

"Okay, guys, time to go, the old hag needs her nap," Eiji said, clapping as he stood up.

"Why you-?" the Hokage started shouting. Fortunately, he was already out of the room before she chucked a paperweight at him through the door. Behind him, he heard Tayuya cackling as she and the rest of the team followed after him.

[}-o-{]

"Oh my God," Yugito breathed out somewhere behind him, but Eiji ignored her.

"I know, right? Hopefully it won't be as bad as it seems," Jirobo agreed solemnly, clearly not believing his own words. Taking a deep breath in, Eiji tried to focus on what he was doing.

"You are doing great, Hanabi," he praised as the younger Hyuuga sister continued moving through her katas while having ninja wire dancing around her. "The movement's gotten a lot better since the last time I saw you practicing, good job."

"Thank you," the girl replied in a soft tone, not stopping for a single second. "Father seems to be fine with letting me practice this, even if it's not what I should be doing," she added, smiling widely. "I've also been training something else…"

"Oh?" Eiji voiced curiously, noticing the coy but very eager look on the younger girl's face. Then, it shifted into something mischievous before she moved. One of her arms drew an arc, sort of what he imagined it would look like if she were using a whip. One of her threads followed the movement and slapped the ground-

The very earth cracked under the hit, making Eiji blink as he looked at the thin wire. Even he would have had trouble doing that if he wasn't using Whiplash. Wires were good for restraining, after all, maybe even cutting, but not hitting.

"I have… erm, an Earth Affinity," Hanabi mumbled, breaking her stance and poking her fingers together. It made Eiji chuckle, reminding him of her sister. "Father's been helping me do my own version of your shock wires," the Hyuuga princess told him, making him grin widely.

"Great job, Hanabi. Oh yes, you'll be kicking ass soon. You are really putting Suigetsu to shame here," Eiji said, drawing a content giggle from the girl.

"Oi, what?! What do I have to do with this?!" the aforementioned boy exclaimed from where he was sitting with the rest of the squad.

"Anyway, let's keep going. I'll have you beating Sharkboy into the ground in no time," Eiji declared.

"Yes, Eiji-sensei," Hanabi happily agreed.

"The fuck?!" Suigetsu asked, but he was persistently ignored.

[}-o-{]

Once more, Eiji found himself sitting on a tree in the middle of the Forest of Death. Yuki laid next to him, head resting on his right thigh while his left leg swung freely under the branch that was his seat. His eyes weren't really focused on anything, as he took in the scene of the forest.

He didn't know quite why he was so attached to it. He'd trained in other places. He'd had interactions in other places. He didn't care nearly as much for other places though.

Eiji really would like an answer to that question, quite honestly.

"One would think you'd stay the hell away from here, considering you are basically on vacation now," a voice said from next to him as he heard the soft thud of someone's feet on the branch he was sitting on. "What brings you here of all places, brat?"

"I just… Like it here," Eiji replied calmly, a slight smile on his face. "I guess it's… peaceful, in a way," he replied, the answer to his questions coming to him as he spoke. The person next to him snorted.

"Only you would think the Forest of Death is peaceful," she said.

"I know, but… nobody comes here, at least not normally. That means it's usually just me in here. The animals leave me alone so… I have some calm for myself while here. It's also a familiar place too, which helps," Eiji explained, wondering if he was making any sense at all. He didn't think so but… Well, it was how he felt.

"You were always a weird little thing," the woman said, chuckling a she took a seat next to him. "Why am I even surprised?"

"You were always a weird not so little thing yourself," Eiji replied with a shrug, his eyes firmly on the nature around him. "Not sure you can talk."

"Are you calling me old?"

"I wasn't the one that said that, no," he said with a grin that he was sure wouldn't help his case. Whatever, it wasn't like he was in danger of more than a slap. Which was exactly what he got, really, but he just shrugged it off.

"Cheeky brat. What happened to the polite little thing you used to be?" she asked then, lamenting her loss as Eiji chuckled.

"I guess you rubbed off on me or something. I certainly had where to learn," Eiji answered, giving Anko a half-smile as he turned towards her. "Didn't set a very good example, did you?"

"Bitch please, I set the best example. Myself," she told him, which only had him raise an eyebrow. "You could at least be happy to see me, you know? Little shit. It's been forever. Too cool for your old teacher, huh?"

"See, you even admit to being ol-" he received another smack, which made Yuki raise her head momentarily before resting it back on his thigh. "So violent," he commented, still grinning. "It's not like I was avoiding you or something. We were both kind of busy."

"That's putting it mildly. You got any idea the kind of shit everyone's had to deal with around the world?" Anko said with a huff. Then, suddenly, her expression turned soft. It was… a little strange, to see her like that, quite honestly. "Not quite as bad as what you've got on your end so far though, I'll admit. At least from what I've heard."

"It was probably worse," Eiji told her, turning away, back towards the woods around them. "It was… bad… But it's over, and that's all that matters right now. I'll enjoy myself and that'll be it. You finally free from whatever has had everyone so busy? I'll admit I was a bit disconnected with it all, considering I had other things to focus on."

"It's fine," Anko waved off. "Most people were sent around, preparing for the peace. There's more to the world than the Five Nations. Had to make sure the smaller ones weren't or wouldn't bring in any trouble."

"Had a fun time?"

"Oh, you better believe I did. There was entirely too much snow for my tastes, but it was nice regardless. Had a fun little adventure with a princess and all. I might tell you that story some other time," Anko explained, a slight grin on her face. It wasn't like her usual ones though. "From what I hear, most everyone found themselves in… strange situations all over the place, if they were lucky."

"I might have Kabuto and Yugito look into getting some more information. I'm a little… uninformed. Guess it might be time to cut the vacations off a little. Shouldn't have too much to worry about for some time, at least," Eiji mused out loud. If he were to be honest, he was getting a little bored. He wouldn't say no to a good battle…

Maybe he'd grown used to having some actual stakes and challenges, he supposed.

"Sure thing, but first, we are going to get some dango," Anko said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We have much to talk about, gotta catch up and all, right?"

"Sure thing, sensei," he told her with a grin.

"Now, that's more like the brat I remember."

[}-o-{]

"We could have waited to do this, Sasuke," Eiji said, following after the aforementioned Uchiha. As soon as Team 7 had arrived, the boy had jumped straight to business, as it were. He didn't think he'd ever seen Sasuke so… adamant about something. "You didn't even get to go home or anything after arriving."

"I can go there and do everything after you are all settled," Sasuke said, and if Eiji didn't know better, he'd have thought the Uchiha was giddy. 'That can't be though, right?' he wondered as he continued walking.

"You sure everyone else can come too?" Eiji asked, getting a roll of eyes in response. Well, excuse him for being worried his friend was acting weird and rushing things.

"They can. They are like the group to you, right?" Sasuke asked, getting a nod back. "That's what I thought. It's fine then… Honestly…" he slowed down then, his good mood dampening and making Eiji feel guilty all of a sudden. "I can't wait for this place to not feel so… empty anymore. I just didn't want to fill it with strangers."

"It's fine then, if that's what you want," Eiji finally relented as he continued following after his friend, his brother. That word, that they'd already been using for quite some time, would take on a much more serious meaning though.

"You can choose whatever house you want," Sasuke said as they entered the Uchiha compound. The day had finally come, it seemed. The day when Sasuke would actually go through with his words from a while back, about letting them live in his family's, his clan's place. The place looked downright depressive as it was, but that was nothing new.

Eiji was kind of surprised that Tayuya didn't make a comment though, seeing as the rest of his squad was over and Sasuke had offered them the same honor. It had been a shock, but he'd been adamant. 'Certainly different from when we first met, right, Sasuke?' Eiji mused.

"Well, a somewhat big place would be nice. Lots of space for hobbies and training," he mused, looking around.

"And Tayuya and the little ones too, right, Fearless Leader?" Fu asked from behind him, drawing a growl from the aforementioned redhead. "I don't hear a no."

"I mean, yeah, in the future," Eiji admitted, grinning at the way the jinchuriki stumbled on her feet at his easy acceptance. The deep red blush on his girlfriend's face was an added bonus too that he appreciated. "I don't think you are quite ready to be an aunt though, Fu. You'd be a terrible influence."

"But I can be a cool big sister though!" the girl protested, pouting.

"Shut up, both of you, before you say something you'll regret," Tayuya hissed and Eiji just chuckled. Regardless, he did let that topic go. They were young still, they had time. "You are both idiots."

"Me thinks Tayuya might not want little ones," Temari commented and Eiji could practically hear the smirk on her face.

"I didn't say that!" the redhead denied immediately. A second later, she seemed to realize her mistake as the others chuckled and giggled. "You all suck."

"I think I know a good place for you, Eiji," Sasuke said, drawing his attention back to the Uchiha. His friend seemed to be quite content though, despite how hard what he was doing must have been. He even looked happy, smiling softly at Eiji and his squad.

"Lead the way then."

[}-o-{]

"Two miso ramen and keep them coming!" Naruto called out as the two of them sat at Ichiraku's seats. Eiji just shook his head as Ayame gave the blond a mock salute and set out to prepare their orders with her father. "Man, it feels like forever since the last time I was here."

"Honestly, I thought you literally couldn't go that long without coming here. Did you go through withdrawal or something?" Eiji asked, getting an unimpressed look from the blonde. A second later, he received a punch to his arm. "Such violence, and after I put so much effort into raising you, little Naruto."

"Oh shut up, Eiji," the blonde told him, rolling his eyes. "Your girlfriend is a terrible influence on you. You used to be nice."

"And you used to be short," he pointed out, before frowning with a smile as he gave Naruto a look. "Wait-"

"Fuck you, Eiji," the blonde hissed.

"Language!" Ayame chastised him with narrowed eyes. "Or there's no ramen for you, mister."

"Sorry!" Naruto apologized immediately, sitting straight in his chair. "Asshole," he added under his breath in Eiji's direction.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Ayame-neesan!" the blonde denied, sweating bullets under the judgemental look the waitress was giving him. Then she huffed and continued with what she was doing.

"I mean, people change, Naruto, it's not so weird that I'm different from what I used to be," Eiji commented with a shrug as he swayed idly on his seat. "If anything, it's weird that you are still acting the same way you used to."

"That's because I was always fine, no need to-"

"Like a ten year old," Eiji finished, making the blonde groan and glare at him.

"I'm really starting to hate Tayuya," Naruto grumbled, making Eiji chuckle.

"Bold of you to think it's all on her. I guess I just… am less worried than I was back then," he mused idly. "A few years ago, I didn't even know if I'd ever stand a chance against the enemies I have faced now. A few years back, I was just another civilian orphan in the crowd. Now though… Now I am much more, and I guess it's gotten to my head a little."

"Not that you don't deserve that," Naruto mumbled, tapping on the counter with his finger. "You reckon you will get to your goal sooner rather than later? Because I do."

"I guess I'll get there eventually, yeah. It's not a wild dream anymore," Eiji agreed with a nod. "You kinda fell apart though, buddy. Can't be Fifth anymore."

"Ugh, don't remind me," Naruto muttered under his breath. "Can definitely make Sixth Hokage though, believe it."

"I don't know, man. I fell for that before," Eiji commented, drawing a glare from his friend and brother. "You sure you aren't sandbagging because you don't wanna keep your promise to pay me well?"

"Oh, shut up, God of Shinobi."

"Sure thing, Sixth."