Kurai

Wow, two updates in a row pretty much? That's like, a new record or something for me. A treat for you all, since this got done and finished so nicely. Even though this chapter is going to be a dizzy for you all. Enjoy and LEAVE REVIEWS please and thanks. 

It’s been two weeks since I was admitted into the hospital, and I was slowly losing my sanity in here. I only had a demon sealed in me, I’m not dying for crying out loud. I roll my eyes as I flop back into my pillow. A chakra signature hovers at the doorway, one that feels familiar yet I can’t fully point it out. The door to my room opens slowly, revealing a set of familiar red markings and loud yips. A smile warms its way onto my face as Hana Inuzuka walks in, her dogs following. One of the triplets jumps onto my bed, licking my face as I laugh and try to push them off me. 

“Hehehehehe, Rai, stop it! Hana-Chan, get your huge dog off-hahaha.” I can barely get the words out as Hana shakes her head at my bedside, grabbing a chair. She gently pulls Rai off, before frowning at the numerous bandages and IV drips in my arm. Her expression darkens, which sets off warning bells in my head.

“I should have been here..” Her mumble scarcely reaches my ears as she gently takes my hand. I feel a blush rise up the back of my neck while she steals a glance at me, worry and guilt gnawing away at her precious shadow. 

“Hana-Chan it’s fine alright? I’m not gonna go anywhere, I promise.” Wrong words to say. Whoops, let it be known that I, Renshiro Nara, will never understand women in any capacity. 

“I’m not letting you out of my sight from now on. Also, why do you smell lightning and rain?” I stare at her confused before a knock on the door has Mabui entering. My eyes widen in realization before I shrink back in fear. 

This won’t end well.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I shift on my feet uncomfortably as Hiruzen takes a deep breath from his pipe. His eyes roam over the scroll in his hand, his mind mulling over the contents of the scroll. The gentle breeze outside the window does nothing to lessen my anxiety as I wait for Hiruzen to speak. 

“The doctors truly thought they could release you after only two weeks in the hospital? I expected you to be in there no less than a month.” I shrug my shoulders, not truly trusting my voice just yet. 

“Renshiro-Kun, I can still see the lingering effects of what happened to you floating around you. I will have someone speak with the doctors who thought to release one of my most promising shinobi so early from their room. For now, though, I wanted to-” The door to the room opens, revealing Jiraiya and someone I thought I would never see in the village, or end up retrieving myself, Senju Tsunade. 

“Ah, Jiraiya-Kun, well done. I’m glad you were able to find her so quickly. Tsunade-Chan, it's great to see you again.” Tsunade glances at the door, as if she is about to bolt, before sighing and moving to hug the old Hokage. 

“Trust me Sensei, it’s not easy being here. I wouldn’t even be here, honestly if that damn look on Jiraiya didn’t end up dragging me here. Looks like a wounded puppy who lost his favorite toy. So why am I here Sensei? Because the pervert wouldn’t tell me shit on the way, was too busy trying to rush back here.” Hiruzen chuckles at the sheepish look on Jiraiya, which has me looking at him quizzically.

“Actually Tsunade-Chan, the reason I asked for you to come back is standing right next to you. Renshiro-Kun here finds himself in a…. Peculiar situation and we require your medical expertise to see what needs to be done before he can resume active duty.” Tsunade turns, running a critical eye over me. 

“You're a Nara aren’t you?” I nod, which causes her to rub her temple in exasperation. 

“You Nara seriously need to change your hair. I mean, come on anyone who has half a brain would recognize it. Anyways, what's your deal kid?” I scratch the back of my neck in slight embarrassment as I move to sit down on the couch by the door. 

“From what the medic-nin at the hospital could figure out, my chakra network has grown at least twice the size of what it used to be, and my reserves were nothing to scoff at either before this. Now they are afraid any Jutsu I use may burst the network, and or cause me to pull too much out since my reserves are so much longer. It's all thanks to this-” here I lift my shirt up and show her the pulsating chakra seal on my stomach, “seal I got. Jiraiya-Sama sealed it off from my network, but it still is causing my network to grow somehow without being connected at all, and nobody knows why.” Tsunade leans down as she hums to herself, peering at the seal. She traces a finger over the lines of the seal, examining the nasty piece of work. Suddenly, the lines of the seal start to move, as if they are being possessed. Tsunade almost gasps in shock, before letting the line move under her finger. 

Finally, she looks back up to Hiruzen, fear lingering in her gaze. Tsunade bites her fingernail nervously, glancing back at my seal, before closing her eyes in thought. With a heavy sigh after some moments, she opens her eyes again. 

“I’ll just come out and say what my preliminary findings are. Something’s lurking in the kids seal, practically defending the seal. It’s as if whatever is in the seal is happy to stay there and doesn’t want to leave anytime soon. With how stubborn the thing seems to be… I don’t think I can get it out. Though I can say that he won’t die from it, the only thing is that his chakra network is likely to expand a lot.” Crossing her arms under her chest, she shakes her head as I put my shirt back on. 

“How much do you think his network will expand?” Tsunade shrugs at Jiraiya, raising her arms in the process. 

“Probably double what the kid currently has.” Jiraiya and Hiruzen stare at Tsunade flabbergasted and shocked. 

“What? Kid, do you have large reserves or something already?” I shrug, sitting on the couch and leaning back as I put my mask back on. 

“Hokage-Sama has stated that my reserves were exponentially large, previously ranking in quite possibly the top twenty within the village. After your statement, it is possible that my reserves will rank within the top seven now. Which means I will have to train more.” Tsunade simply stares, before turning to Hiruzen. 

“You enjoy hiding little gems like this, don’t you, you old geezer. Let the kid live a little, before you have another Kakashi on your hands. No offense kid, but you seem like a good nut, and I would hate for the senile fool to ruin you.” I simply stare, not voicing my opinion for fear of upsetting one of the many superior ninja currently sitting in the room. Tsunade ruffles my hair, smiling down at me as my mask keeps my face blank. Though sweat profurates within my mask, as who is quite possibly the strongest woman alive, is ruffling my hair as if I am some innocent child. Though of course that is not the case, as I have the highest kill count in anbu, behind Kakashi and Itachi. 

“Tsunade-Chan, if you were in the village more often, you would know I am not hiding nor ruining Renshiro-Kun here. In fact, his being in anbu is at his persistence, against my own wishes, might I add.” Hiruzen turns a baleful gaze to me, causing my body to quiver as I recall going over his head and appealing to the commander. He smirks at me, before turning back to Jiraiya-Sama and Tsunade-Sama. 

“Tsunade, I’ll have to ask you to check up on Renshiro-Kun here every once in a while, and we can talk about you starting your med-nin program later. For now, I would like to speak with Renshiro-Kun, alone please.” Jiraiya-Sama waves at me, before leaping out the window as Tsunade-Sama pinches her nose, shaking her head and walking out the door, not without ruffling my hair first. The door closes gently, leaving me sitting on the couch whileHiruzen takes a puff from his pipe. My knee taps anxiously on the floor as Hiruzen just stares at me, before sighing. 

“Renshiro-Kun, come here and give me your mask. I’m afraid you're going to be too high profile of a ninja to stay hidden in the shadows now.” I nod, gripping my mask as memories wash over me; some good, great even but many awful and horrible. My hand shakes with my mask, a tear slowly falling down my cheek as I set the mask down on the oak desk gently. The pristine porcelain suddenly looks like it’s covered in blood for a moment, making me shudder as the sight passes. 

“You have the same look Kakashi had when I asked him to resign as well. Loss, wishfulness, regret and relief all at once. It will always amaze me just how attached the members of ANBU become to the mask. You have served this village with honor, Renshiro and I believe your talents need to be put to use elsewhere now. I’m granting your original request, you will be a Genin instructor for the upcoming graduates. This class is actually going to be pretty important, considering your cousin, as well as eight other clan heirs are in it.” Shock hits me like a club in the stomach, as suddenly my mind catches up with Hiruzen. 

“You want me to train my cousin, don’t you?” Hiruzen shakes his head, amusement flickering in his eyes. 

“No, as fun as that would be to watch, I had planned on handing your cousin over to my son actually, might do him some good to have a kid more intelligent than him around. God knows, keeping you around has done wonders for me. No, I have a different team in mind for you…” 

⍱

Slowly, I make my way down the narrow hallway, my hands shoved into my pockets as children run about. My destination? The classroom at the end of the hallway, full of hopeful aspiring Genin. A smile works its way onto my face beneath my beige face covering, as faint memories swell to the surface. 

Not that I was here all that long, I skipped all the grades and graduated within one year. Made my Genin year difficult, for sure. 

Stopping outside the door, I nod to Asuma and the rest of the Jōnin lounging outside the door, ready to pick up their teams. One of the Jōnin walks up to me, fury in her eyes. 

“I don’t know who you think you are, but showing up this late to pick up your team is a poor example of leadership! I should report you to Hokage-Sama for being so late! Especially since I am sure this is your first team since I have never seen you before, ever! What’s your name, because I am going to be making sure you don’t stay a Jōnin for this!” She huffs, her hands on her hips as she glares up at me. I simply stare at her, before I merely look over her towards Asuma, who rolls his eyes both in laughter and sympathy. Asuma puts a hand on her shoulder, turning her to him.

“Hanae-San, I would suggest moving out of that young man's way, considering he essentially outranks every single person currently standing here. That’s including myself, by the way.” She glares at Asuma, about to say something before he walks up to me. “It’s good to see you walking again Renshiro. I heard you took a nasty injury on a mission a little while ago, it would've been bad if we lost you.” I shrug, lifting my shirt up slightly to show the bandages peeking out from beneath my black undershirt. Asuma nods solemnly to the bandages, reaching out his hand as he nudges the, now known Hanae out of the way. 

“Asuma, you can’t treat this lazy person with respect! There has to be some form of order and-”
“Oh, would you give it a rest, Hanae! I know you're just upset in Kurenai’s place since she got the boot for him but trust me, Renshiro here knows more and has seen more than everyone here combined. He will probably teach his team a lot better than any of us here.” I simply nod, keeping my mouth shut as I shake Asuma’s hand. Just as I let go of his hand, Iruka pops his head out into the hallway, motioning for us to come inside the room. We file in, standing in the front of the room as all the hopeful kids look at us with stars in their eyes. Iruka coughs into his hand, before continuing. 

“These will be your Jōnin instructors for the foreseeable future. You all have been assigned to your teams already, and for one last time, I’m proud of you all.” Iruka motions to Hanae, who is at the front of the line. I lean back against the wall, crossing my arms as I let my eyes simply roam over the class. I spot my three Genin, marking them and smirking underneath my covering.

“Team one, follow me!” Hanae’s bright green hair bobs up and down as she walks out the door, three Genin following her. I tune out the rest, preparing to wait for a little bit as the rest of the teams continue to get called. 

Asuma nudges me as he walks past with his team, a glint in his eyes telling me to meet up later. I dip my chin in acceptance, before letting the silence of the room wash over as my three Genin sit in their chairs silently. I simply stare forward, waiting for one of them to make a move. After a few minutes, the one I guessed would move first, finally does. 

“Oi! Are you our Jōnin Instructor, or are we supposed to wait for someone else?” I shrug, finally getting up off the wall as I stuff my hands back in my pockets. 

“Team fifty-four, please follow me to Training Ground eighty-six.” With my calm words, I make my way out of the room, feeling the silent stares and judgment of the kids following me. 

Slowly walking through the village as the Genin follow me, I silently snicker to myself as I can feel them getting antsier and antsier. Stepping off the main road finally, we enter a giant clearing surrounded by water and many trees. I continue to walk on the water, standing in the middle of the river as they stand at the edge of the bank. 

“I suppose I shall introduce myself first, then you three may introduce yourselves to me. My name is Renshiro Nara. You will either call me ‘Nara-Taicho’, ‘Nara-Sensei’ or ‘Renshiro-Sensei.’ I am twenty years old, and recently given the rank of Jōnin not too long ago. Now, who would like to go first?” The boisterous young teen bounces up, raising his hand. I simply nod, motioning for him to go. 

“My name is Kiba Inuzuka, and this is my ninken Akamaru!” I nod, moving my gaze to the next young boy. 

“Shino Aburame, it’s a pleasure sensei.” Last, but not least, the young girl. 

“My-my name is… Hinata Hyuuga. I hope to learn a lot from you, sensei.” I simply nod approval in my gaze at the last two. 

“So, three heirs, or heiresses in the case of the young lady, on the same team, huh? Well, like I said this will be Team fifty-four, a team meant for tracking and capture. Now, I have read all your files and know all your skills. What I would like to know is, what is your reason for being here? Why do you want to fight?” 

“I want to be the best ninja I can be, and become clan leader! That’ll show all those who doubted me before how wrong they were!” Kiba exclaims loudly, before Akamaru puts a paw over his mouth while covering his eyes with his ears. I simply stare, before nodding at Kiba. Shino speaks up next, adjusting his shades as he does so. 

“My reason for fighting is to defend my clan, and eventually help my friends as well.” I nod, looking at Hinata last. Hinata pushes her fingers together nervously. I say nothing, staying patient as I let her gather some courage to speak. Finally, she looks up at me and speaks. 

“Um, well, uh, my reason… I want to be a better sister for my younger sister! I also want to protect my friends as best as I can!” Her face flushes red as she barely scrapes the last words out. I nod to her as well, clearing my throat. Walking off the water, I move to a nearby log, sitting down on it as I motion for the three kids to sit on the grass. Surprisingly, they do so with little hesitation. 

“Those are all noble goals, and I am glad to hear none of them are self-centered. Instead, they are shaped around either your clan or friends. I will be frank, normally, you would have one more test before becoming full-fledged Genin. Luckily, I am still recovering from a recent injury, and while I am sure I could handle you three with relative ease even when injured, this injury is a special case. So congratulations, you are full-fledged Genin. Now, who can tell me what entails being a Genin?” Shino raises his hand, which I motion to. 

“Genin are normally given D-rank missions around the village, such as fixing fences or helping walk the hounds at the Inuzuka compound. After the first year, most Genin will branch off into C-rank missions, though if the Jōnin instructor is confident, he may request a C-rank after completion of fifteen D-rank missions. Other than that, we train under our sensei, at their discretion.” I nod approvingly, getting a smile from underneath Shino’s coat. 

“That is a very accurate description. Well done Shino, well done. Now, today will be light training. We will get to team formations and the more advanced things later, but for now I want to evaluate each of you myself.” 

“B-but Sensei, you're hurt aren’t you? What if we hurt you even worse…” I ruffle Hinata’s hair playfully, moving past her and into the clearing. The wind starts to gently blow around me as I infuse my chakra into the air. 

“Trust me, it will take more than you three have combined in order to even scratch me, and that’s not an insult. Better have tried, and failed. Now come along, Hinata, you will be up first.” Hinata stands, timid and shy as she shrinks further into her shell. Kiba shouts encouragement to her from the side, with Shino silently cheers her on as well. Akamaru yips as I shove my hands into my pockets, letting the wind around me pick up slightly as I nod to Hinata. 

She drops into the Gentle Fist stance, though I can already see the gaps and holes filling her stance. I simply stare, waiting for her to make the first move. She continues to stand there, trying so hard not to shake that she does end up shaking anyways. Sighing internally, I close my eyes as I drop the wind. 

Damn you Hiruzen, for giving me such a timid girl. Better than a fangirl though, I suppose so that’s a plus. Dropping into my Okori no Kage style, and making sure I don’t move faster than just a low Chunin, I move. Hinata brings up her left palm, deflecting my right hook as she dives into my stomach with her right palm. She almost gets the hit off, but I knee her hand out of the way, kicking her and sending Hinata skidding back a bit. Sweat drops down her forehead as I rise, smiling underneath my mask. She looks at me, fear and trepidation in her eyes. I motion my hand forward, which sends her flying at me with a speed similar to a very high Genin. I parry several of her hand strikes, back pedaling a few steps as I let her keep her attack going. Eventually, she lands a strike through one of the holes I left on purpose, knocking my tenketsu out. I grimace in pain, as I disengage from her. I grab her wrist, stopping her in her tracks completely. She looks at me, shock visible in her eyes as I nod to her. 

“You’ve got some serious potential kiddo. That hole I left was p r e tty small in all honesty, yet you still hit it. Well done, now go grab a seat as I release my tenketsu.” Hinata nods, a happy gleam in her eye as she walks over to shino. Kiba bounds forward with Akamaru on his head as Kiba practically vibrates in place in front of me. I shake my head in laughter, before dropping down into my style. 

“No Akamaru though Kiba, just yourself. I’m familiar enough with your clan techniques that I already know what they do.” Kiba nods, letting Akamaru jump off his head before he rushes me in the standard Inuzuka style. His hooks are wild and off balance, barely causing me to even move my body. I smirk at him, causing him to launch into a rage. He stumbles on a bump in the ground, tripping and falling at my feet. I crouch down and ruflle his hair. 

“About what I have heard of ‘the rambunctious younger brother’ but still impressive.” He glances at me in confusion, but I already look away towards Shino. He steps into the clearing, as I raise my hand to stop him for a moment.

“Shino-Kun, if you can not perform without your Kikaichu, then we shall have to pause this momentarily. Sadly, I don’t know enough about your clan to help, and my condition may make things worse for you should they accidentally take any chakra.” He nods, considering then shakes his head. 

“My hive is still young, so I will not take the risk right now. Thank you for the consideration sensei, most might have overlooked that fact.” I smile at him, before motioning for them to sit down. 

“Now, you three as I said will be doing some light training for now, but not today. You have the rest of the day off. I’ll see you here at five am sharp tomorrow morning.” A round of nods is my answer, 

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I sip a cup of rose tea gingerly as I sit in a chair across from Hana, who is filling out paperwork. I sigh, setting down the cup as one of the brothers, Hen nuzzles my leg affectionately. 

“So, I got your kid brother on my Genin team.” She looks up, startled for a minute before she lets out a snort. Shaking her head, she puts her pen down and she scratches behind the ear of Rai. 

“Well, if you could fix my style and keep me from dying every bad misison we had, then he will be fine with you. Who else you got?” She goes to take a sip of the tea from my cup, which I scowl at her for. She shrugs, not caring in the slightest. 

“Hinata Hyuuga, Hiashi’s eldest and Shino Aburame, Shibi’s kid. I’ve got all clan heirs on my team! Do you have any idea how much of a target that makes my team? Not to mention, apparently I’m in the fucking bingo book noW-” Hana pinches my arm, glaring at me. 

“Watch your language mister. But yes, I do get your dilemma. Our team was a pretty target as well, and that was with Sensei being nowhere near your popularity. But I mean, it’s you, right? You’ll keep them safe, or at the very least make sure they come home every time. Besides, you have those D-rank missions for a little while to make sure they have their own income to get weapons and stuff. Now-” The bell by the door chimes, signaling someone walked in. Hana huffs, before getting up from her desk and walking out the room. 

I put her voice to the back of my mind as I notice something on the side of her desk. I lean down, peering at a blank piece of white paper. Confused, I poke at it before it lights up. I look around quickly, trying to find a kunai or something as foul chakra slowly leaks from it. I turn back to the paper, which is about to explode. I barely have time to curse as a dark barrier seemingly comes from within me. I put it out of my mind, no doubt my new buddy trying to keep his host alive while a giant explosion envelops me. I can feel the heat searing my arms as my vision swims in darkness.

I can hear someone call out my name, yet I can barely hear or see anything. A swirl of silver grey appears in my swimming vision as my head rings like a bell tower. Strong hands grip my shoulders as I feel my body go limp. Then, my throat clogs as I choke then, nothing.