Ch.2 I need to be stronger. Fast!

Ch.2          I need to be stronger. Fast!
         The round room remained shadowed by the lowered blinds and the minimal lights so that only a handful of candles on the curved desk illuminated the scene. Four people stood in the dim room. The smallest leaned against the front of the desk panting with a bloodstained green cloak fallen at his feet. Two dark shadows stood to either side supporting the child with one hand each under an arm for support. A fourth figure waited off to the side, watching the proceedings in the dark.
         The twin shadows muttered low and pushed their fore and middle fingers underneath the boy’s floating ribs as black marks appeared underneath the fingers tips. Thin lines radiated between like two tear drops that overlap into a thin circle at the center as two gradual lines embraced the outer edges of the eye pattern into the solid black marks at both corners. The child gave a final whimper before slowly falling to the desk top, exhausted. The shadows ended their chant and left the seal etched dark against the raw skin, burned slowly by the power entering through the skin.
         The shadow on the right gave a small pop as it disappeared, leaving the old man on the left side winded by the jutsu’s length and complexity. The figure from the shadows came closer to look curiously at the seal bound on the unconscious five year old. “Sensei. You managed to isolate it with a pair of two prong seals. What’s the variation on the lines; I’ve never seen anything like that.”
         The Third walked over to his chair and sat down heavily before looking at the small form sprawled between pictures and a small stack of scrolls. “It’s good to know I can still teach you something new about medial ninjutsu, Tsunade. I used both seals together to block most of his dominant chakra. They won’t prevent the psychological effects but his metabolism and changes will be controllable.” He looked up and met Tsunade’s eyes. “I wanted you to see how to release the seals when he’s ready.”
         Tsunade looked back down at the fresh marks and asked the question sounding clearly in her mind, “Do you really think he can ever handle it without the seals?”
         The Third Hokage thought for a moment before speaking to the unhearing child, “The blood that flows through him is the same that kept his ancestors sane through the ages. Honestly, we can only wait and hope that I got this right. The rest is up to him.”
……………
         Tsunade sat in the chair her teacher had sat in all those years ago, turned slightly so that she could survey the skyline of Konoha while sipping her tea. Shizune stood by the wall with her own cup turned bottoms upward. When she lowered her cup, she asked, “The village has been quiet since Naruto left to train with Jiraiya. Hasn’t it Hokage-sama.”
         The Fifth took another slow sip before answering, “Yes it is. I was able to finish all that paperwork. I can finally relax.” No sooner had she said that then she heard the rapid pace of running footsteps in the hall.
         The door burst open as Matsu stood there panting. “Hokage-sama! You have to undo the seal.”
         The Fifth slammed down her empty cup, causing a small crack, and shouted at the intruder, “What are you doing barging into my office! You’re two weeks early for your monthly checkup and demands. What happened that you had to interrupt my important business?”
         Matsu caught his second wind and calmed down further before apologizing, “I’m sorry, but I need to face my new sensei in five days. I need to get stronger to become a genin.”
         “No.” Tsunade leaned forward and placed her chin on top of her interlaced fingers.
         “Why not?” Matsu protested, “I’ve worked ten times as hard to be just as good as the others. Now I need to be more.”
         Tsunade shook her head slowly, “You shouldn’t ask me for that. I can’t make you any stronger then you can with your own effort.” She opened a drawer to the side of her desk and dug around from under debt notes and old inventory reports for a sky blue scroll with a white tassel cord tied over the black inked word ‘Saru’ emblazoned on the cover. “Tell you what, Matsu. I’ll personally release the seals if you master some jutsus on that scroll. If you can learn twenty, the seal comes off.”
         “Twenty jutsus off that scroll and you’ll remove the seals. Deal. I’ll master them in four days and still have time to come back for you to remove the seals.” Tsunade tossed the small scroll to Matsu. He bowed deepily and said, “Thank you Hokage-sama,” before rushing out of the room at full pelt.
         Shizune chuckled softly as the door swung closed after Matsu’s departure. “He sure has a lot of spirit. I haven’t seen him that happy since he first entered the academy. By the way Hokage-sama, what kinds of techniques were in that scroll anyway?”
         A smile came to the Fifth’s otherwise serious face as she said without meeting Shizune’s gaze, “Oh. Just some of the jutsus sandaime used or created.”
         Shizune’s eyes widened with shock. “What! You gave a genin powerful jutsus like that without telling him! He could get seriously hurt or even kill somebody by just learning the spells. That seems too risky.”
         “You think so?” Tsunade allowed herself to laugh once before continuing, “That boy’s a time bomb and you think some jutsus are too dangerous.” Her expression turned deadly serious as she told the truth of the problem for the first time to someone else.
         Stunned, Shizune gave no comment other than to nod. A blond haired Jounin interrupted by poking his head into the office and said, “Um, Hokage-sama? It looks like the new Genins have wreaked a better part of the south entrance to the village and Natsu is nowhere to be found.”
         The Fifth closed her eyes and pressed her index fingers into the inner corners in frustration before responding, “I knew I was opening a can of worms by making him a captain, but I thought he could restrain himself to outside the village. Take the cost from Natsu’s percentage and any other associated damages. There’s bound to be more.”
……………
         Though exhausted, Matsu ran through the woods to his tent hung between the strong roots of two thick trunked trees. The entrance faced a small clearing with some irregular loges surrounding a fire pit and a larger clearing within sight a few trees away. In the wider open space, Matsu dropped to the ground and untied the cord around the scroll. He sat with the paper spread across his crossed legs. Each jutsu held the name on top, followed by the sequence of hand seals, a simple picture of the actions the ninja needed to perform and a short description of the desired effects.
         “Let’s see. I can’t do too much today but I can familiarize myself with some of these before night. Hm. Kage Bushin, Shuriken Kage Bushin, Shuriken Kawarimi,  Kokuangyo, Doton Bushin, Doton Doryuu Taigo, Doton Doryuuheki, Doton Doryuudan, Katon Karyuu Endon. Wow! These are pretty impressive jutsus.” Matsu considered his options before rolling the scroll to the Doton Doryuuheki no jutsu and laid it on the ground before him.
         The first picture held the only hand sigh with the pinky and ring finger of the left hand tucked under the palm of the right hand as the middle and index finger reach over to the back and the left thumb on the back of the right up reaching thumb while all fingers of the right hand cover the lower part of the left. Matsu imitated the sign and practiced separating and reconnecting his hands a couple dozen times before focusing his chakra in his stomach to begin the internal summoning. He stood up and faced away from the scroll before exhaling a knee high mound of moist soil in a wet spurt.
         Matsu spat out a rogue clump of dirt and shouted, “Yuck! That’s nasty.” He leaned down and reread the description written in small but legible script. He then looked at his meager pile he had summoned. “I’ll have to add more chakra and use it to force the mud out faster.”
         Matsu made the seal and waited to gather more energy. In one explosive burst, he expelled a larger jet of mud that sailed across the clearing and splattered against the nearest tree trunk twelve meters away. “Great, I found a way to get sensei dirty. I should have aimed near my feet like in the picture. Okay, once more before I clean my mouth out.” For the last time, Matsu took extra time to solidify his charka for the final attempt. The spray of mud shot against the ground into a boulder as tall and wide as himself.
         “Wow. If the other jutsus are this easy, I’ll finish this scroll in two days.” Bending down to readjust the scroll to the Doton Doryuu Taigo no jutsu, Matsu commented to himself, “I can finish on more before I need to start cooking dinner; this one looks simple.” He faced the pile of mud he had created and used the hand sign tiger while focusing his chakra into the ground. “Moving Land River!” The pile’s upper half melted and drooled over the edges of the boulder. He continued to send chakra through the earth as the pile dissolved into a wide pool across the ground. “I guess that’s useful to help clear the mess. Ok, I’m done for the day. Time to eat.”
         Satisfied that he could achieve little more without some dinner and a soda, Matsu walked over into his tent and started gatherings the fixings for a traveler’s meal of dried fruits, mixed veggies, and roast snake. Before starting his meal, he laid his new scroll full length along one of the longer loges and ate off a smudged plate while pacing from side to side, studying each jutsu in-depth before he could continue.
……………
         Michiko walked through the narrow streets to her home. She turned to a street where every house’s first floor had large front door that opened onto the cluttered but organized workshops of blacksmiths. Entering a building with an actual giant shuriken stuck into the wall above as a sign, she found her father pounding away on a cherry red sliver of iron. Despite the clanging, he looked up at her entrance and smiled, nodding to indicate the hot iron. Michiko understood that to mean he forgot to fix supper so she went to the back room and started preparing something.
         In the workshop, the heavily muscled father quickly finished the kunai before picking it up with tongs, and emerged it into a deep barrel of carbon mucked water. He examined the blade critically before wrapping a twisted length of cloth around the hilt and dropping it into a chest high barrel of medium sized kunai. His well learned habit of detecting a potential customer entering his shop alerted him to the entrance of a long time acquaintance. Keiji walked in haggard, fresh from running home and back. “Hay old man. You have that commission I ordered?”
         The man grinned and responded, “Yeah. I had to up the weight to reach the pressure you wanted, but everything else is to specification.” He shuffled behind stacks of shrunken and bundles of swords to reach the back wall where a two foot tall pressure tank leaned against the wall with reinforced dome ends and a complex arrangement of a steel nozzle and valves situated at one end. “The frame and working are near impervious to the effects of heat so you can force as much power you can into this dome without damaging its strength. The gauge shows overall pressure and these two valves effect pressure and nozzle opening just like you requested. I added the small suspension to make sure it does not snap in the middle of battle and to make the weight easier to handle. I was able to contact a friend of mine to make a leather harness that fits this size with the valves at either end. I should have it her for you tomorrow” He lifted the device over the heaps of merchandise and dropped the tank onto the floor with a thud.
         Impressed, Keiji gave a low whistle of appreciation. “I can’t give a great enough thank you for this.” He did however, extract a wad of money and hand it to the blacksmith who tucked it nonchalantly into his back trouser pocket.
         “Repeat customers and their families are always welcomed. That’s all I ask.”
         Michiko came out from the kitchen with an apron draped over her jeans, and she noticed the visitor. “Hi Keiji. You need something from dad?”
         Her father waved to grab her attention before answering, “We’ve just been finishing business. You know each other?”
         Michiko signed in impatience and reminded her father, “I told you he was part of my team along with Matsu.”
         “I remember you telling me about Matsu because he’s always doing errands and odd jobs for me when I ask. I have a commission from him for a dozen medium shrunken and a custom,”
         Michiko interrupted, “Dad! If you’re so busy making things for my teammates, why can’t you let me carry a sword? I’m a ninja now, I can wield one.”
         Her father shook his head and retorted, “No. I’m not having my daughter carry a sword until she understands the difference between an edge and another piece of metal.”
         “But Dad! I’ve practiced with this club for two years. I can use a sword.”
         “Holding a sword is entirely different than anything else. It’s holding death itself. When you draw a blade against another ninja, you put your life into your hands and must protect it at all cost.”
         “I know that Dad! I’m ready, and I need it now if I’m going to become a Genin!”
         “Wait, I thought you were a Genin with a Jounin captain and everything. What’s this about becoming a Genin? Keiji, what do you know about all this?”
         As the conversation between father and daughter grew more heated, Keiji waited by the shop front hoping not to be noticed. Now forcibly entered into the conversation, he stammered, “Well, we got pretty beat up by sensei today and he told us that he’ll only teach those who beat him five days from now.”
         The blacksmith raised his voice in disbelief, “What! A grown man fighting children like that! What has gotten into these upstart Jounin that they need to beat up on helpless trainees? I have half a mind to thump him tender with my hammers till he can’t hold a kunai. Where is he?” he picked up his long handled mallet from the anvil and waved it threateningly in the air.
         Keiji tried to reverse his mistake, “He didn’t hurt any of us. If anything, he was playing with us. He’s probably just bluffing about dropping us.”
         “Yea dad. He was just trying to scare us into quitting.”
         Her father calmed down just enough to lower the hammer. “I still don’t like this teacher of yours. I won’t give you a sword but I’ll forge you something better. A blunt edged steel alloy Suburito should help you teach him a lesson about messing with my daughter. I’ll start working on it right now.” He grasped a fresh bar of iron from the corner and stepped on the bellows to reheat the fire before beginning a rapid succession of powerful blows with his hammer. The din grew so loud as to make any further conversation impossible. Michiko tried to convince her dad to come back for dinner but he became as deaf as she to her insistent pleas. She gave up and shrugged at his stubbornness before going back to the kitchen.
          Keiji stood there forgotten. He hefted up his new equipment by the handled end and slowly walked out of the shop to go practice, stopping occasionally to find a new grip on the tank. The sun had fallen below the level of the tight knit rooftops.
……………
         The newly named Natsu looked out across the village as the shadows lengthened between the curving rows of multilevel buildings. He sat their contemplating on a high platform connected to the cliff face in the shadow of the Hokage faces. He fingered a round circlet of hair thin wire as black as night. A breeze blew up a couple dozen leaves a few meters from his perch. Suddenly, a strand of wire in his hand flew out and connected with the one leaf in the center, causing it to split into equal fourths.
         He closed his eyes and there was a sudden flash. The rest of the leaves shattered into small square flaks. “Three years, I’ve been the best ninja, protecting this village with my strength. What did I do to deserve this?” The wind gave no answer but to take the shreds of leaves higher into the darkening sky. Natsu watched them soar and then stood up on the ledge. He took a leaf headband from his pocket and looked into the eyes of the reflection on the metal. For the first time in years, he placed it to his skin and tied the blue cloth around his head. He looked back down at the village before muttering, “I’ve worn hundreds of disguises for the last five years in service to this village. Why does this feel wrong?”
……………
         Matsu stood panting heavily in the middle of his clearing, a house sized mound of hardened mud stood beside him. He took a deep breath and preformed the signs of the Ram, Horse, and Dragon in quick succession. A hand wide area of mud rose from the mound and then wearily fell to the ground. “Damn! I’m not making any improvement. I’ll have to try something different.”
         Matsu’s bandages began to unwrap from his right hand to reach out and attach to the mud. While holding his attached right arm still, he preformed the signs against his unmoving right palm. By forcing his chakra directly, a larger amount of earth slowly liquefied into a bulging mass before plopping to the ground. More ribbons extended themselves into the moving mass of earth as he tried again. The clotted mud held an open mouthed form and spat a lump of dirt before disinigrating to the ground.
         Matsu’s arms dropped to his side, pulling some of the dirtied cloth out of the wall. When his breathing slowed down and he regained his composure, the bandages came to life and covered his chakra welted hand with interwoven layers. Matsu put his hands together and tried to summon more chakra. He opened his eyes and shoved his arms deep into the mud wall. The earth surged outward in an elongated head that shot a mud clump unnamed through the trees before the jutsu fell to the ground extinguished. He stood there with dried mud up to his armpits, his head leaning against the displaced soil from falling unconscious.
……………
         Outside the leaf village and far from the familiar clearing, a line of open cargo carts moved along a narrow road with a few merchants leading the pairs of oxen. High trees formed ranks to either side with only a small strip of dark sky visible between shifting leaves. One man walking along the side of the first cart turned towards his counterpart on the other side and said in a low voice, “I told you we needed to leave before dawn. I don’t like traveling at night.”
         The other man didn’t bother to look around before responding, “We picked up more goods and rested the oxen, and there is no way we could have made it before it got dark. Besides, we’re just a few kilometers from a ninja village. No one is going to rob us this close to Konoha.”
         The first man shook his head, “That just means the Bandits won’t leave a trace.” He looked over but there was nobody there. “Hey? Hey! This isn’t fun,” He heard a thump behind him and slumped down beside the wheel with a tingling sensation spreading from the back of his shoulder. He reached around and felt something wet that still shone red in the dim light. He mumbled, “Knew we should have gone sooner” before he dropped to the ground.
         After all the oxen slowed to a stop from the absence of their handlers, half a dozen shadows flashed from the darkness among the trees into position around the carts. One of the figures leaned down and pulled his kunai from the trader’s shoulder. He considered the blade before licking the edges clean one edge at a time. A hungry look lingering in his overshadowed eyes.