Wardrobes And Weapons

Adrik sat in front of the Hokage. Just yesterday, the old man had given him a solo mission. Today would mark the beginning of said mission. With plenty of time to prepare and perfect timing, Adrik was ready for anything.

"Just so we are clear, you will be here as an assistant. You will be taking note of the teams that wish to enter the Chunin Exams in one month's time. The Elder Advisors will be here along with the Shinobi Council. Be civil with them and show them respect. Remember, you are just a genin right now. Everyone who will be here is of a much higher standing than you, as harsh as that sounds."

Adrik nodded with his serious expression. He and Hiruzen had already checked for any spies prior to the last minute discussion.

"Is there anyone that I should be careful around, aside from the Danzo guy?"

Hiruzen nodded.

"Yes. The Shinobi Council is composed of the various clan heads and different department leaders. None of them are to be underestimated. The ones I would be most cautious around would be Shikaku Nara and Hiashi Hyuga. The Nara clan head was estimated to have an IQ of nearly two hundred. He may seem lazy, but even the slightest unexpected detail could snowball into the mission being discovered. As for the Hyuga clan head, his Byakugan can see in a full three hundred sixty degree field around him, spanning over half of the village or further if he strains his eyes. He can see through objects and can see chakra. In that sense, he is of lesser concern than Shikaku."

Adrik nodded, waiting as he saw Hiruzen contemplating over something.

"Every jonin will be present as well. This is merely to let everyone know of the teams entering the exams. There is one jonin that can be as deadly as Shikaku. Ibiki Morino is the head of the Torture and Interrogation department. He specializes in psychological torture to gather any and all information. His assistant, Anko Mitarashi, is more on the physical side, but can be just as effective."

Adrik nodded with a slightly narrowed gaze.

"Those are the standouts in terms of mission threats, but do not underestimate even the few chunin that will be present. You are up against some of the most experienced and battle hardened warriors of the village. You will have attention drawn to you for reasons I know you will be able to answer. Play your part well and true, as this will possibly be the most dangerous mission you will partake in for some time."

The Hokage ended his speech with an authoritative glare. Adrik bowed deeply.

"I understand, Lord Hokage. I will ensure this mission does not go wrong."

Hiruzen nodded with a proud smirk. Adrik was definitely one of his favorite 'grandsons', the other two being Naruto and Hiruzen's actual grandson, Konohamaru. The old man had never once been let down by the boy in any way. Adrik broke the momentary silence with a question.

"Since the meeting takes place in an hour, what should I do?"

Hiruzen looked thoughtful as he responded.

"Well, I could always use some help with my paperwork... Though, you would only be organizing the stacks by their contents at most. It always helps to have another brain on the job."

Adrik tilted his head slightly in confusion.

"Why can't you just use shadow clones for that? They have brains, too, don't they?"

Hiruzen's eyes widened at the boy in front of him. The boy in front of him that had no chakra to speak of. The boy that figured out a use for a technique he doesn't even have. And that boy was standing in front of the most powerful shinobi in the village. The shinobi who was given titles such as 'The God Of Shinobi', and 'The Professor' for his knowledge, skills, and experience in the ninja arts. The shinobi who hadn't once considered using a technique that he had every right and ability to use.

Adrik was caught off guard when Hiruzen slammed his head into the desk.

"You stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid old fool! You actual idiot! You complete moron!"

Adrik looked on, stupified, as the man stood up, created three shadow clones and sat back down as if nothing happened. The old man looked as if he didn't even know his forehead had a growing bump on it from repeatedly slamming it into his desk.

"It would seem you are cleared for the next hour or so. I will send an Anbu to retrieve you before the meeting begins. You may take your leave, now."

Adrik nodded with his jaw still hanging open slightly. He stood up almost robotically and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Heh, that kid's gonna go places. Took long enough for someone to come along and tell you. I mean, Naruto literally told you about his training method."

"Jiraiya, shut up. That kid is a blessing brought forth by Kami. There is no other explanation."

Jiraiya had to keep himself from falling out of the window from laughter. What made it harder for him was the dead seriousness on his sensei's face.

X

Adrik strolled through the streets of the village's shopping district for ninjas. For the past few months since he appeared in the Elemental Nations, he hadn't once done more than buy fresh produce. Since his wallet was still heavy from the raid on Gato's mansion, and the money that Wave payed to make up for the mission's false ranking, he figured he would go out to buy himself something nice.

Adrik walked up to a store with an exaggeratedly large kunai and shuriken with a wooden board underneath them serving as the sign. 'Higarashi Ninja Supply', is what it said. Entering, he saw the shelves weren't fully stocked. Then again, this was the throwing weapons and practice weapons section. Ninjas would run through the supply pretty quickly, he'd imagine.

At the back left corner of the store sat a girl who seemed to be sharpening a small tanto. Her brown hair was put up in two buns with her headband covering her forehead. She wore a sleeveless pink qipau with dark cyan pants. She had the customary weapons pouch attached to the back of her waist and right thigh. At the very least, she looked friendly.

"Uhh, hi."

The girl glanced up at Adrik with a customary grin.

"Ah, welcome to the Higarashi Ninja Supply, how can I help you today?"

Adrik grinned slightly as he walked over to the counter.

"Well, I was just taking a walk through the area to see what I could find. I've only been using equipment and clothes that were given to me, so I wanted to do some shopping of my own."

"Well then our shop must have caught your eye. Need any help?"

Adrik nodded and the girl walked around to his side to lead him over to a section of the store with various weapons on the walls.

"So, what might you be looking for? Sharp things, blunt things, anything in between?"

The girl looked over to Adrik to see a confused look on his face.

"I actually don't know... I've barely used a kunai and shuriken aren't my style..."

The girl raised an eyebrow at him.

"What's your name?"

"Oh, it's Adrik."

"Well, Adrik, I'm Tenten and right now, I'm confused. You're a ninja aren't you?"

Adrik looked down as the girl, Tenten, pointed at the headband hanging loosely around his neck.

"Yeah, why?"

"What kind of ninja doesn't use basic kunai? Unless they're low quality, they should be perfect for genin."

Adrik scratched the back of his head.

"I haven't actually tested my aim with throwing weapons much since I became a shinobi. To be honest, this is the first time I've seen any of these weapons."

Tenten looked at him like he was stupid. She sighed as the conversation continued.

"Well, Adrik, if you want to keep being a shinobi, you need to practice so your skills don't get rusty. Throwing aim is very important in our field. Wait..."

Tenten gave Adrik a look over and narrowed her eyes slightly.

"You don't even have a weapon pouch anywhere. Nothing for kunai, shuriken, or even senbon. Granted, you don't look like the senbon type. Don't tell me you've been running into fights barehanded..."

She facepalmed as Adrik looked away sheepishly. Adrik looked back at her before looking at his wrapped hand.

"Hey, Tenten?"

The girl looked back up.

"Is there anything in here you don't mind having sliced in half?"

Tenten raised an eyebrow as she looked around, deciding to humor the boy in front of her. She walked over to an old bo-staff made of worn down and rusted metal. She smirked, knowing she picked something that likely couldn't even be dented by whatever the boy would do, and that was after considering the weapon's terrible condition. Adrik nodded at the choice and held it with his left hand, Tenten staring at him and thinking if he was actually stupid enough to follow through.

Tenten's eyes widened as a pitch black hunting knife instantly appeared in the boy's right hand. The tiny embers in the pitch black material glowed bright enough to be seen as Adrik made a quick motion with his arm before the girl could blink. Moments after the boy made the weapon disappear, the metal staff collapsed into two pieces. There was a clean cut where the knife had gone through, not leaving any imperfections behind.

"How in the hell did you do that?!"

Adrik grinned as he picked up the other half of the staff.

"Trade secret, tell no one you saw it. Understand why I don't have weapon pouches now?"

Tenten nodded dumbly with her jaw still hanging open slightly.

"So... What kind of daggers do you have? I'd make my own, but they wouldn't be very durable. That knife would've broken in half of I used it on anything half decent. I can make a weapon sturdier, but I wouldn't be able to hold together it in a longer fight."

Tenten pointed behind Adrik and a section of the store with smaller blades mounted in the wall. Each weapon looked well crafted but dusty. Apparently, there weren't many people who used them. There were four sets of twin daggers.

The first two at the top had straight blades and knuckle guards. The metal was a pale grey in color. The pair below them had longer handles and longer blades. The two handles appeared to connect at the bottoms. The metal was a glossy black that shone even from under the dust.

The next two pairs of daggers were to the right of the previous two. The first pair to the right at the top had short handles with rings at the bottoms, almost looking like one sided kunai. The metal was navy blue in color and had a slightly wavy pattern, looking like dark ocean waves. The last pair really caught Adrik's eye. The daggers had one handed handles that were wrapped in a mix of dark red and black leather. The handles lead straight into the blades, which were black with a slight coppery hue. They were both double-edged, ending in a point. For whatever reason, there didn't seem to be any dust on them.

Adrik walked over to the last pair and took them off the rack. He held them in his hands, giving a few careful test swings. He flipped them from a regular to reverse grip and back again easily. He did this a few more times to get used to them. All in all, they felt far better in his hands than any other bladed weapon he could make.

Adrik nodded with a small grin as he looked back over at Tenten. She had settled back down with an eyebrow raised. She gave him a weird look as she gestured for him to follow her back to the counter. Adrik quickly grabbed the sheathes as he followed her.

"I don't know why you'd want those, but suit yourself. They absorb chakra when unsheathed. It's some sort of fuinjutsu etched into the metal. I think even the Third Hokage tried them once when he first got the position and he was stuck in a hospital for a few days after holding them for barely five minutes."

Adrik nodded as he sheathed the daggers and put them on the counter.

"They're pretty low priced since nobody wants them. So that'll be...three and a half thousand ryo."

Adrik nodded. The average D-Rank mission is about 5 thousand ryo, which is then split between the team members. In Adrik's team, the pay was split five ways evenly, so it only took a fraction of the money he saved. It made sense that unwanted weapons would be on the cheaper side.

"Oh, right, you wanted a wardrobe change, too. We have some stuff in the back and a changing room. I should be able to fit the sheathes wherever you want them if you let me see your outfit."

"I won't be changing too much from how I look now, I just want something I can grow into."

Tenten nodded as she lead him to the back of the store. Adrik looked around at the different clothing options. There was everything from average long sleeve shirts to short shorts to...green spandex... Ignore that last one.

Adrik picked out a pair of black cargo pants and a black utility belt. He grabbed a mesh undershirt and a black, sleeveless, zip-up hoodie. He took out some white wrappings that he kept on him. He went to the changing room further back.

Tenten waited at the door to the clothing section, fiddling with a kunai subconsciously. She looked up towards Adrik as he stepped out. Looking him over, she saw he wasn't lying when he said he wouldn't look all that different. The only thing noticeable was the mesh undershirt sleeves reaching down to his elbows. Looking slightly downward, she raised an eyebrow as she saw Adrik was no longer wearing his sandals. Instead, he wore wrappings like on his arms, only they went from the soles of his feet to his shins with the ends of his pants legs being tucked into the wrappings.

"What's with the no shoes, Smokes?"

Adrik looked confused as Tenten spoke.

"I call you that because you kinda smell like you work at a forge."

Adrik slumped his shoulders and looked down with a defeated sigh.

"Is it really that bad? I mean I take like four showers a day..."

Tenten nodded with an incredulous look and turned back to the door. Adrik followed her back to the counter.

"About the shoes, they're just kinda in the way. It's easier for me to walk on walls if I don't wear them."

Tenten looked confused but went along with it.

"Alright, just need five hundred ryo for the clothes and two and a half thousand for extra sets."

Adrik nodded and payed. Even after paying, he still felt his wallet weighing him down slightly. His excitement was clear as he held up his new daggers. Tenten had taken the sheathes and began attaching them to the back of the utility belt he handed to her. Tenten chuckled as the boy, who was apparently a year younger than her, looked like a kid in a candy shop. Granted, it took her asking him about his age for her to realize. You couldn't really blame her as Adrik was taller than her by an inch or two.

"With how much you've been holding those things, you've gotta be low on chakra. Set them down so you don't die from exhaustion."

Her warnings went unheard as Adrik continued to hold onto them.

"H-Hey, you alright there? Your chakra's seriously gonna run out, man."

Adrik looked back up at her and put them on the counter.

"Oh, I'm fine. I don't have chakra."

Tenten looked at him in confusion.

"Like...you can't use chakra?"

Adrik shook his head.

"Nah, I just don't have it. No chakra pool, no chakra network, nothing. And before you ask, that's also a secret that I'd rather keep. Just know that I really don't have an ounce of chakra in me."

Tenten nodded dumbfoundedly, not noticing as she finished working on putting the sheathes in place.

"Well... I was gonna say I have a teammate like that, but after explaining it, I had absolutely no idea that was possible. I mean there's a condition for not being able to access chakra for the rest of your life, but I've never heard of being completely null of it."

Adrik blinked and tilted his head.

"Really? Who?"

Tenten sighed as she handed the clothes to Adrik.

"It's my teammate. He's a real hard worker who managed to graduate under recommendation from my sensei. The guy is a taijutsu freak who can bench press a boulder if he tries. After he got onto the team, he basically became a copy of our sensei. Neither of them use anything but taijutsu and sometimes kenjutsu. Speaking of kenjutsu, you might want to get someone to teach you how to use those."

Tenten pointed to the daggers now strapped to Adrik's belt.

"He sounds interesting. Maybe you can introduce me to him and the rest of your team? I'm in a similar boat, so I'd appreciate another perspective on it."

Tenten nodded and smiled.

"Ah, I'd love to. They're always on the move while training so you'll either have to grab us when we're getting a mission or when we're having group training. Just to warm you, they can be pretty... eccentric."

Tenten shivered as her eyes flashed bright green for a moment. Adrik decided not to question it. He would see for himself who these two 'taijutsu freaks' were.

"Have a good day, Adrik. Be sure to come back if you need anything else!"

Tenten waved at Adrik as he held his bag and walked out of the store. Before he could make more than two steps, a cat masked Anbu with long purple hair appeared in front of him.

"Adrik, Lord Hokage has summoned you. The meeting will begin in five minutes. Oh...should I put that into a scroll until the meeting is over?"

The Anbu pointed towards Adrik's bag containing his old clothes. He nodded and the Anbu sealed it away. She offered a hand and Adrik took it. It was finally time for his mission to begin.