-Two hours ter-
Pov: Kenzo
I wander into my training ground and walk past the two genin doing ps, it seems that Satsumi and Raiki are training their own little versions of themselves at this point, and it seems the rest are training under the normal schedule while Katsuko and Kanata watch over them.
"Halt! Private training grounds!" Satsumi unches in front of me with a lightning enhanced body flicker.
*Boom!*
Dirt covers me as her power control is still cking.
"Satsumi I assume? My name is Kenzo, Ryū has made me just below him in terms of power meaning you follow my orders when he isn't around" I hand her a page from the clipboard I have and she reads it over.
Raiki approaches and I hand him a page as well.
"Well I cant understand all this technical word py- so leave until Ryū tells me otherwise" Satsumi shoves it into her pocket like a paper ball and pushes me a little.
I flip a few pages and check off one of the boxes... this is the official side affects list that Kenzo needs to confirm about, which Ryū made before leaving... its odd how all I did was create work for myself for no reason.
"Hm? Ha! You are aggressive! This guy seems smart enough for me" Raiki peaks over and looks at the checked box belled 'Boiling blood = Boiling Aggression'
"How long have you been in lightning mode?" I ask.
"Why you- I said leave!" Satsumi stomps her foot down.
"Three minutes" Raiki whispers.
"That's funny, Ryū said to keep three minutes of energy in reserve for testing... may I ask why you are ignoring his commands?" I ask her and Raiki chuckles as Satsumi gets even angrier.
*Boom!*
Raiki grips the hand Satsumi was about to hit me with, cloaking himself in lightning as well before turning it off.
"Kenzo right? Names Raiki- sorry about her, we were testing aggression limits before you came" Raiki shakes my hand and I smile.
"I can see that, have you checked on damages to the body yet? Or perhaps affects of Lightning nature chakra over a long time?" I read off the list and he smiles before walking away.
Ok- seems he doesn't understand a thing I just said... still can't tell if they are spies or not.
I walk past the grumpy Satsumi who turns off her lightning cloak and sits on the ground and I move to the two teammates of mine.
"Kenzo! Hey man!" Kanata runs up and punches my shoulder.
Katsuko bows a bit as she walks closer to me.
"Kanata, Katsuko, how have you been?" I ask.
"Plenty good, Katsuko and I haven't been scking in training so you better have kept up with us" Kanata chuckles.
"Oh I have had plenty of time to learn on the job don't you worry" I smile as they do.
"Spar?" Kanata smugly smiles.
"I can be the judge" Katsuko says and walks to the side.
I throw my clipboard and raise my hands into a taijutsu pose.
"Ready when you are" I widen my stance.
...
He rushes me and attacks at my openings which I defend with a suddenly bursting tail from my back, deflecting his attack I shape my tails end into a boulder and spin to hit him, he dodges back and I suddenly jolt forwards and lean into a jump that catches him off guard.
*Sm!*
I turn my legs to him and kick downwards which he blocks and pushes to the side before throwing a kunai at me.
Getting faster with those quick draws- I deflect it with my hand and continue a set of moves that forces him to deflect for a few moments.
"Tail... interesting additions, if I stab it do you get hurt?" He asks.
"Think of my shape shifting like adding a yer of temporary flesh over my actual stuff, the stuff doesn't make me immortal and as soon as you destroy it I cant make it again... with the same Yang energy that is" He grabs my wrist and pulls me into a kick that I block with my tail again.
"Damnit- a whole new limb to get around" He tsks.
"Why not use ninjutsu?" I ask.
"Oh I am certainly better at ninjutsu, I just know you will use Genjutsu in retaliation and I don't want to be on the other end of that" He admits.
Hmm... his taijutsu has certainly skyrocketed, getting trained by Kurenai a fully fledged Jonin, getting help from me as Ryū and using two Root dummies to train seems to have improved them.
I am sure Katsuko has improved her basics splendidly as well... I don't want to call her to spar though, she looks very uneasy in my company.
...
Katsuko is fine to continue her basics as it allows her to learn from a greater vantage point ter in life... Kanata wants to beat Neji and that could happen anytime or at the next chunin exams seeing as they haven't taken them as well.
"This is a stupid question, but did you destroy a town and kidnap like- five kids?" Kanata smirks as he jumps back and throws kunai for me to deflect.
"I saved two children and put out a fire while defeating a few people, I just looked less than great while doing so" I attempt to march closer but every time I do Kanata shuts me off with a impressive set of deflections.
He is better than me at that now... I definitely need to upgrade some skills.
"I believe you, better stay silent for a while Kenzo because no one else is believing you even when btantly wrong" Kanata warns me and I stop approaching him and lower my attacks.
"I do not care for my appearance's, if need to get something done I will do it" I tell him and forfeit the match.
Being Kenzo again has really put a bad taste in my mouth.
"Kanata wins..." Katsuko says and hugs her sheathe closer.
I pick up my notes and walk with them to the genin recruits, better not build up a foul mood due to Danzo and his campaign against me.
---
Pov: Ino
"Thanks for dropping by" I wave to Kenzo as he leaves the flower shop.
...
"What's wrong?" Mother asks me as I walk back around the counter.
"I don't know, he seems different, like he is someone else entirely- he looked different but the smiles were all... extra? As if he was faking them" I think on his behaviour.
"Hm? Maybe he is just getting back into the spirit of Konoha, people need cooldown periods after a long mission" Mother tells me and I nod as she pats my back and leaves to water the pnts.
...
Nothing drastic... just didn't feel like him anymore, I am being dramatic over minor changes, I should just wait a bit and see what happens.
'If' we hang outside of the flower shop that is, but rarely seeing him is bound to happen with a busy job and him being Kenzo.
Maybe Sakura is right, I can admit that we will probably only ever be friends since he turned me down...
Psh- this flower shop is so boring its gotten me overthinking things.
---
Pov: Danzo
"Hm. That will be all" I dismiss my root agent as he hands me a scroll, he flickers away immediately.
After opening it I use it and examine the corpse that came from it... cw marks a massive, he can shift much rger than advertised... strong too with how clean these wounds are.
This Root ninja should have been on the level of Jonin... Kenzo in all rights should not hold that level of power yet- the genjutsu is easy to counter and his transformations only strive to make Jonin more creative when killing him.
No, something is different- Kenzo did something in those four months I am sure, polishing his monstrous abilities.
At least this root ninja served me well and made Kenzo out to be a worse- helps me along in my objectives, him being in Konoha is no longer an option when he decided to defy me.
I cant control him so it is best to remove the rapidly growing internal intelligence ninja before he can become a bigger thorn.
Plus, the deal offered by Oorochimaru to get him the boy if I could- would make my pockets much heavier and allow me to rebuild what Hiruzen that old fool has been destroying.
...
What to do... how do I get him to reveal this form in public?
The chunin exams will be my best bet- I must wait and make him think I have given up, seven months till the next one... I will thoroughly prepare for his performance and make sure that everyone sees him as a monster, it will be so easy to have my Root agents 'help' bring him down and take him away.
Best make sure my ninja do not attempt to harm him until the time is right.
---
-Kenzo Age 12-
Pov: Kenzo
...
*Chatter* *Chatter* *Laughter*
I tap my foot as I listen as intently as I can to hear when Naruto emerges from the building.
Today is a day that is most stressful for the both of us- I want him to succeed and he wants it ten times more than me.
He passed the st exam but failed two others before it, he is capable of being a ninja- I should know considering that I have been training him to resist genjutsu and improve his basics for a while now.
Haaa- this is more nerve racking than dying in that fire... if I could remember how it felt to die in that fire- well, to be fair I have died in ways that would make me believe that fire isn't that bad.
...
"(Distant) Congratutions Shikamaru!" I hear another kid come out and his mother cpping for him.
...
When is it going to be his turn? Did they leave him for st? Why? Gods this is the worst feeling in the world.
...
"CONGRATULATIONS SASUKE!" I hear Sakura, mental note: Naruto's crush- and a few other girls scream in congratutions as the parents cp for him too.
I give him a cp as well and I receive a curious gnce from him.
*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*
"Nervous?" A parent approaches me and asks, Naruto's friend, Shikamaru's? Dad.
"Only a bit- maybe a bit more" I reply and he chuckles a little.
"Congratutions by the way" I tell him and he nods in response as he leans on the tree next to me.
"Shikamaru told me that Naruto was being loud and was put at the end of the line so he will be ten minutes" He informs me.
"Thanks for the information" I say.
"Do you mind if I take your focus away for those ten minutes?" He asks.
..?
"Go ahead" I stop tapping my feet but leave an ear out for the door.
"I'm going to be blunt- your mission scroll was faked. I have yet to ask the Hokage about it because I already know the answer and wish to cheat the system a little bit... what did Ryū send you to do?" He asks.
Oh, I see... hard to get past the Jonin commanders inquisitive eyes I see- and better to come to me before he is told to not pursue this path by the Hokage.
Double smart.
"Why do you wish to know?" Lets just deflect with a question.
"Buying time? So the answer is complicated and your trying to find a suitable substitute to repce it" He confidently guesses.
Right on the money, except I need an answer and I am not repcing anything.
"Don't like the mind games at all- look, I was told to keep it secret and so I will do that until the Hokage or Ryū says otherwise" I tell him.
"Buying even more time eh? Ryū is secondary in your sentence which is normal but in this case where the Hokage should have a real scroll and only Ryū would know the exact details on your whereabouts... to the point where he is reporting to the Hokage privately and monthly- he should have been the first name mentioned, you thought him as an addition to the situation not the head of the situation, I would have called that all nonsense had you not stopped focusing on the door and instead started paying attention to me verifying that something caught your interest in my rambling" He deduces.
...
Damn he is good- did he wait to confront me on the day I would be most easy to read?
"Don't you have a child to congratute?" I ask.
"Deflection, so I hit harder than I thought... my 'child' went home with his mother to prepare for the celebration dinner tonight, me and my two buddies are staying behind to congratute others due to being cn heads- this conversation is just a bonus, does this answer your question?" He smugly replies.
I cant just walk out of this conversation can I?
"Ryū is not the head of this situation... and the Hokage needed meetings with him- your mission was not discussed in those meetings, I wonder what they were about? Your mission is still important in this equation I just don't know how much- Ryū give you a Bio-Rune?" He asks.
"No he didn't" I reply bluntly...
I mentioned him second because he is me, I just forgot alright? How is he digging this deep with so many vague answers?
"Bio-Rune, a term that the Hokage wrote down in the Battle-Sage unit folders as Ryū's unfortunate naming sense on the notes section, something he renamed a few months ago- meaning he told you about the Bio-Rune name when he met up with you, which is odd considering he renamed it ages ago... perhaps you knew about the discovery of these seals before they where invented- unless you can time travel that's unlikely, meaning for some reason he calls them by the magical fantasy them in front of you... but not others, why?" He asks.
...
I don't have an answer to that question, that's the internal thoughts of Ryū and me, I said too much and don't have the memories of non-existent events to help me climb out the hole I dug.
...
"Nothing? Hit something deep huh? All I can gather from that is you and Ryū have a deeper connection than I thought... did you know that you and Ryū share D.N.A? It was tough getting Kurenai to secretly steal some blood from Ryū, but he and you are reted" He states.
What? Really? But I thought that I shifted my body... do my Dna strands change when I shift? I don't have nearly enough knowledge about dna to say anything concrete.
"Did you know that I just made that all up? Did you know that you have a tell? Ill give you a that much, your foot twitches to tap when you are nervous" He smiles.
"Sure" I reply.
... don't change any of my behaviour, yang energy act as normal, body don't be different...
"Hmm? Made that one up too, either you caught on or I just met a dead end... not directly reted, at least not likely to be- that also means you have a personal connection without retion... you have been cagey about being connected to him in any way, meaning the nature of your retionship would be troublesome to let out... to you or him I ask?" He speaks so fast I don't have time to process his masterpiece of an interrogation.
"This is a happy day, hopefully, for me and Naruto- can you stop with all of this and let me be exited for my brother?" I ask of him.
...
He says nothing and stares at me as he leans, a stare that seems to be devoid of emotion, but I can tell he is amused... the ancient song screams of joy, he is happy to talk to me.
Due to finding out things? Or joy of the challenge... why does he want to know who Ryū is?
...
"Why do you even want to know any of this? It doesn't change anything if you figure it all out" I ask.
"Focus is your tell Kenzo. When you want something or need something you can focus up incredibly well, so still... so in tune with your goals. Why do I want to know? Your curious about me and added fir to the end of your sentence to ensure I don't find any details about the 'situation', which in turn let me find out what I needed to know" He smiles and the silence kills me.
"Doesn't. Change. Anything. Three magical words so simple to you and yet so telling to me, Ryū was officially assigned to take over your team... because of you- Ryū knew you before hand it seems he is close enough to let you in on projects like his seals, it doesn't change anything for anyone else because the consequences of this conversation harm you and you alone, Ryū is not your guardian is he? He is meant to keep you in check" He says and my eyes widen a bit.
The Hokage technically let me be him to check Kenzo into Konoha from many angles, socially, physically and mentally keep me attached to Konoha... in a sense this guy is scarily accurate to the real scenario, he is so vague and yet can pinpoint the truth amongst the vague fog of truth and lies he ys out.
"Bio-runes... they were designed with you in mind no? An everchanging body that requires intense seal work plus a decent degree of knowhow in Biology? It has your kekkai genkai written all over it. I now know that Ryū at the present time is doing something to keep you from going crazy much like in the hospital before this mystery man appeared. The future is the same for now. And the past? Still yet to be found but one doesn't learn sage- no, raw nature chakra usage by being an average ninja- not any of the organizations in Konoha have heard a lick of your name... worked in seals... has some medical history, knows sage stuff... cant be the unholy love child of the three sannin so scratch that" He makes a joke at the end and takes a moment to think.
"Recently blind and has an injured knee, impressive juggling and lightning based techniques... a genuis no doubt that he learnt all that and can be a special Jonin in terms of power after receiving career ending injuries... but I don't remember anyone like that in Konoha for the past twenty eight years that he supposedly lived... came back from a really long mission? Seems unlikely but I will keep it noted... is he a survivor of the Uzimaki cn that was accepted into Konoha after testing?" He asks me with sincerity.
"No, but I heard he was really into dance fighting at a young age" I smile brightly at him which causes him to falter a little.
Figured it all out- this is an impossible question he is trying to answer, me and Ryū cant possibly be the same person because it makes no sense for us to be the same with the very different personalities, bodies, mentality and skill sets- all I have to do is smile confidently and feed him obvious lies to throw him off.
"Damn, thought I had it... to answer your questions from before, a co-worker provided me this information and it seemed like a fun case to crack, sorry about all the troublesome stuff... I also told Inoichi that I would invite you and Naruto to the celebration dinner the Ino-Shika-Cho trio's are having... there will be many troublesome distant family members and Ino supposedly would enjoy your presence- oh, don't cause any commotions as I am getting drunk and napping as soon as possible" He yawns and tells me.
"Thanks for taking a few decades of my life, we are fine, I promised him Ichiraku's and he wants to celebrate small- I will let him know but I don't think we will go" I tell him politely.
"Lucky... I have this nephew who grew up to be such a drag, would have bugged you about sensitive topics more than I just did" He shivers as he walks away.
...
...
And back to waiting, man this is worse than potential fire death yet just below a conversation with a curious Nara.
...
...
A few moments pass and I let out a breath as I hear Naruto's footsteps walk out of the Academy doors and over to me.
"So?" I ask in a hopeful tone.
...
"The test officially changed yesterday... the clone jutsu had to be performed perfectly five times in a row..." He admits and I hold my breath.
Oh helper... what do I do? I reach out a hand to touch his shoulder and smile as lovingly as I can.
"Naruto... I am so sorry, I know you are a capable ninja and this changes nothing- did I just hear metal shift in your hand" my tone takes a major turn mid sentence.
"Probably the headband I got..." He says in that same sullen tone.
...
*Pft*
He breaks just a little as the happy energy starts to burst from his body, he smiles fully before ughing and giving me a quick hug.
"I got you! Hahahaha! Best graduation prank ever! Now lets go use up all that paint, this vilge must know that it's future Hokage has just become a ninja Dattebayo!!" Naruto excitedly runs around me before dragging me out of the Academy and to the apartment it pick up some paint cans.
Sorry Lord Hokage one through fourth- me and Naruto will borrow your memorials for a quick little painting session.
I crack a big smile and ugh as we pick up all the paint tins.
Thanks for reading :)
Last four chapters at once, from now on only two chapters every week due to time restraints.
:)
