Chapter 8: 8. A Gift.
Inkstone has deleted this chapter 2 times already. Sorry for the delay but I can't fucking predict that I am gonna go to sleep with the chapter almost done and wake up to half of it here. I don't even remember what I wrote about... Anyway, this chapter will be shorter. Sorry.
I will also start writing shinobi ranks with capital letters, idk why I didn't do that from the beginning.
Words cannot describe how frustrated I am, next chapter will HOPEFULLY come out tomorrow, no guarantees tho. Sorry for any mistakes in spelling but I'm too done with this shitty website to care.
Its a bit under 2k words, sry.
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A few weeks later had passed, and I almost suffered no punishment. Why? Because I couldn't be punished, however, my political influence and the villages opinion of had fallen drastically. Not all is lost though, after handing the girl over to Hōtai, who was the head of the torture and interrogation division of Kusa, and also its only member, he managed to get some answers from the girl.
She and her accomplices were rogue shinobi, who had been contacted by a mysterious man, with a mission for them. They were each offered a Jutsu, one of which being the Water Bullets the girl kept using, the two others did not get to use theirs, and the girl did not know what they were given.
A substantial amount of money was also given to them for the mission, half of it before the mission, half of it after. Unfortunately, we missed the date established for it, and there were no other methods to reach said man.
This stunt was most probably pulled off by Konoha, as Iwa would have no real reason to stop such an alliance, they would most probably support the alliance, in the hope that we would fight against the Leaf in the next war. Coupled with the fact that Iwa would never send in only three genin on such an important mission, in which being discovered would be counter-productive.
Maybe I am overestimating our importance in the eyes of Iwagakure, but, with the faint bits of knowledge that I have from my old world, this seems more likely to be one of the schemes of Danzo. One of the third Hokages advisors, and an old teammate and friend of his. His hope was to probably force the carriers of the scroll to kill the rogues outright.
Whether the alliance went through no longer mattered, either both Kusa and Ame or just Kusa began to have suspicions regarding Iwa, and would inevitably grow closer to Konoha in doing so. I had considered such possibilities while I was forbidden from taking missions, and this one seemed to be the most likely option, at least in my eyes.
As I concluded my train of thought, I was awoken from my pondering by a knock on the door. Standing in front of my front door was Hōtai, with a creepy smile on his face, well a smile shaped hole where his mouth should be, being covered up in so many bandages made it difficult to read his expression. Who would have thought?
Behind him was an oversized gift box, it was a bright red, with a green bow tie that had been tied on top of it. Hōtai's smile widened, so much so that I could see into his mouth from in between the bandages. He threw his hands in the air dramatically, posing as if he was making a grand reveal, before shouting.
"ARISE!"
The top of the box got ripped open, as a pair of shoulders and a head came up from within the box. It was a girl with a Kusa forehead protector on her, guess what? Forehead. She had shoulder length brown hair, in which the bow tie got stuck, her eyes were a dark brown that was dulled and lacked light. Her complexion was fair and her face faintly resembled that of a cat, thanks to some whiskers which were drawn on her cheeks.
As I observed the girl, I realised she was the one I brought back from the ambush. From her neck down, she was covered in bandages. I turned my head back to Hōtai, while the girl continued to stare at me emotionlessly. I stared at him for a bit, but seeing that he kept his stupid pose on for a while longer, I gave in and asked.
"Why is she here, and why is she wearing a Kusa forehead protector?" My question seemed to awaken him from his posing, as he straightened himself before speaking.
"Well, because of our station as a small village, we have to make the most of our resources. You were lacking a maid, and she broke surprisingly quick. After a few genjutsus she quicly became loyal to us, she will do whatever you tell her to. This is my gift for you." He said, and for the first time since I have met him, I saw a bit of the man that became Jonin.
Even though he said everything with a friendly tone, and even with my own indifference towards this, from behind his facade of an silly man, peered an experienced killer, trained to destroy someones psyche with ease. He continued to smile as me through his bandages.
I walked by him, picked up the box in which the girl was standing, and took it inside. I wasn't going to say no to a free servant, while the modern half of me was a little uncomfortable with this, after thinking of what the Hyuuga's do to their own family, this seems tame in comparison.
I put the box down in the middle of the hallway. I turned back to close the doors behind me, only to be met with Hōtai, whom, with a wide smile on his face, held one hand in an ok shape, the other having only the middle finger extended. He started putting one in the other aggressively, and as my face contorted to try and hold a laugh coming from my modern side, he started laughing loudly. I shut the door in his face.
When I looked back at the girl, she was still in the box. Without saying anything, she took herself out of the box, before gathering all the debris and taking them outside. A smirk spread across my face, finally, a woman that does as she is told.
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I have gotten a lot of use from this gift of Hōtai. I could use her for training, organising paperwork and cleaning. With her around, I had a lot more free time to use for more important matters. I never knew women could be so useful!
I was relaxing in the living room, looking through a window and into the garden of the estate, where the servant was watering the plants. I was laying on the sofa, which was the only piece of furniture in the living room, besides a coffee table, which was right in front of the sofa, and on which I put my legs. Someone knocked on my door.
"WOMAN GET THE DOOR!" I said calmly, while not bothering to get up from my sofa.
The servant quickly rushed from the garden to the door, and opened it. She greeted the guest and told whoever it was that I was in the living room. I turned my head towards the entrance to the room, and saw Deiki coming towards me.
He was dressed in a standard ninja bodysuit, only wearing a pair of dark green pants and a Jonin flak vest above it. I don't think I ever saw him in civilian clothes. Even when he was eating or sleeping, he always wore these same clothes. While I was observing him, he made his way to the couch, and plopped himself down besides me.
Seeing as he has no intention of starting the conversation, as would Hōtai. Why do both Jonin of Kusa not have any idea how to talk to people...
"Why did you come here? The training session is scheduled for two days from now."
These training sessions I am talking about have been set mostly for sparring, and asking for advice. Karin and Baki mostly use them for help with ninjutsu and nature transformation. On the first one of these sessions, we had our chackra nature tested.
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Deiki pulled out three papers out of one of his pockets. He handed one to each of us before speaking.
"These are coming out of the next mission payment." Baki quickly asked "What is this paper for?"
I turned to Baki with a sigh. How can one man be so dumb? We were told what a chakra paper was the last time we met, even I remember it, and I don't pay attention to a word that comes out from his mouth whenever possible.
"It's a chakra paper, dumbass." Karin said, while snarling at him. "What's that?"
Before Karin could answer, I pumped chakra into the paper, which turned into dust. Earth, huh? Before I could think about my nature, Baki started shouting in my ear.
"HUH? HOW DID YOU DO THAT? IT TURNED TO DUST!" Before I could, Karin smaked him over the top of his head. "Just pour your chackra into it, idiot."
Baki did so, and the paper crumbled up. Lightning. Karin did so as well, and the paper got wet. As Deiki started explaining the basics of chackra transformation, I started to day dream.
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As I focused back on the present, Deiki started to talk.
"I came here to tell you we have been assigned a mission by the Kusakage. Some rogue Kirigakure shinobi have been spotted in our country, and besides the hefty reward for their head, we also want to prevent Kiri Anbu from coming to our country, to avoid civilian casualties." Deiki said while leaning back on the sofa. "The rogues have been identified to be a father and son duo, low Jonin and high Chunin in terms of ability, respectively. They have good teamwork, and the father is skilled in kenjutsu, while the son is an expert in water ninjutsu. We set out tomorrow, by sunrise."
After saying this, Deiki quickly left. I took a pouch of ryo and threw it at the servant, who was waiting besides the couch, in case we needed something. She quickly caught the pouch, and waited for instructions.
"Go out and get me a new set of gear and supplies for this mission."
My clothes from the clan had long been out grown, or destroyed.
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The next morning, I was awoken while the moon was still up, by my servant. She stood over me, looking straight into my eyes with her dull ones.
"It is time for you to depart."
I got up, and quickly changed into my new set of gear. My servant had bought some loose black pants and robe. My forehead protector was tied around my left arm as always, the only change from my previous clothes was the colour, and the kunai pouch tied around my waist. My legs were covered in bandages from the ankle up to halfway to my knees
I told the servant to take care of the compound, as I left for the village gates. As I approached, I spotted my team waiting there. Deiki was dressed the same as the day before, and the same way that he looked on the day I first met him.
Baki had changed his look quite a lot, from the last mission we went on. He now slicked his hair back, while letting only a strand hang loosely on his forehead. He wore a chainmail bodysuit above his shinobi one, and a black leather jacket above it. He also got a pair of loose leather pants, and a pair of fingerless gloves for better grip. He waved at me when he saw me approaching.
Karin was dressed in a black shinobi bodysuit, that hugged her body. Above it, she wore a dark-red robe that reached her waist, just as her hair now did. She left her forehead uncovered, her protector tied loosely around her neck. She wore a pair of dark red pants, just like her robe.
I waved back at Baki as I approached, before we set off.
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