Erity

"Kaasan! Tell me a story!"

Koroko Naitohanta chuckles at her daughter," Hai, little dove. Hmm...why don't I tell you the story of our clan, how about that?"

"Yes! I like that one."

"Okay. Our great story begins a long long time ago, a time before Shinobi when humanity was young and the six paths had not descended to the world. In those times, a family from a starving village struggled on every day to make it by. They were farmers but the rains had not come in a very long time. Their name has been lost to time, but that family found their calling, the hunt.

From the time they could walk till the day they breathed their last, they improved themselves for combat, for the hunt that they lived for. On the 12th birthday, the young Naitohanta were sent forth into the world, offering their services to all. The Naitohanta would hunt anything, man, beast, animal...all for the price. Do you remember the price, little dove?"

"Umm...oh, wasn't it Knowledge?"

"Very good. The clan collected secrets from generation to generation, big or small, creating a massive library. They did this for nearly a thousand years, then something changed."

"The great sage came?"

"Yes, and with him came the Knowledge of Chakra. The Naitohanta learned everything they could about this strange new discovery. It was the sages descendants that eventually gave the secrets of Ninjutsu over time.

Eventually, the Naitohanta changed with the use of Chakra. A Kekkei Genkai appeared in their family, the Tsunenihenkasuruchi.'

"Ssunenihenkasassuchi"

Koroko chuckled again.

"You're close. We now call it Tekio Ketsueki.

On to the story. Our ancestors discovered that the cells in their body recycled, dead cells strengthened our bones, created armor around our organs, even put an incredibly strong layer of carbon under our skin. We became impossibly sense, also much heavier. But that wasn't the most important part."

"We eballed."

Another chuckle, "Evolved, gaki."

"Oh."

"Our clan developed increasingly stronger bodies, faster, built for the hunt. At birth, we surgically removed unnecessary organs and received an extra heart, kidney, and expanded lungs, until it became a part of us naturally.

To this day, we are injected with blood from every animal and man we hunt. We are injected with poisons, diseases, venoms, anything and everything... because we adapt."

"Kaasan...when will I become like our ancestors?"

"Soon, little dove. Soon."

\(0)[•](0)/

Erity gasped for air as she broke the surface of the pond. It was her third birthday, the day her training began in earnest. She had been doing this for 7 hours under her mother's gaze, trying to walk on water, and if she fell in, to stay in as long as possible. Her clan's ability to adapt was in best effect during childhood, it was expected that she get as far as possible with it.

Erity was already considered a prodigy, even in the strict expectations of the clan, and that meant she was pushed to her limit everyday. She primarily learned through the clan elders at this time, academy subjects being forced into her as fast as possible. The special treatment was due to Erity's wonderful gift of a peak human memory. Out of her twenty or so cousins, she was the current priority. Eventually she'd be shipped of to Konoha for instruction, but until then, she got old people.

She didn't mind being pushed so hard, she knew her clan loved her and she had a dream. Erity Naitohanta would be the strongest kunoichi in all of history. But that was a while away.

She made it to the shore and dragged herself up, turning back to the lake. Swimming was hard when you had an average of 800% more weight than the average three year old, so she didn't plan on sinking again.

Steadying her breath, she gently moved chakra into her feet, letting it slightly disperse into the ground. Gently, she took a step forward, then another, and another, until she was standing a couple feet out into the pond. Psyching herself up, she took a breath and ran. Desperately keeping her control, she sprinted across the lake. She didn't stop running until her soles touched solid land again.

"YES!", she shouted in triumph. She walked back the long way to where her mother stood. Several of her and her mother's kage bunshins, a technique they received as a gift from the Shodaime Hokage for their assistance in the first Shinobi war, were going over a few school subjects and hand signs. Using them wasn't particularly efficient but they figured they might as well.

"You did well, little dove, now go again."

Damnit, Erity thought to herself as she walked towards the shore, repeating the process. It would be a long day.