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Looking back on what he had done Shinken was amazed not only at how proficient he had been, but how brutal and effective his technique was. He didn't think he was capable of being so utterly brutal. Sayomi probably wouldn't recover for at least a few days, and she might never be the same. Though it was arguable that it was the young Uchiha's intent to change the woman into someone better. What kind of darkness did he have buried deep within himself that he had even been capable of something so cruel?


Maybe this was just what happened when you became a Ninja. Maybe it was what growing up in the hidden sand did to you. Or maybe it was all of the mistreatment he and his family had received over the years finally coming to the surface. What ever it was Shinken hoped it stayed buried for a long, long time.


He looked over at the body of the Chuunin as Shisara picked her up and clenched his jaw. He wanted to say he didn't mean for that to happen, but deep in his soul he knew that everything had played out exactly as he had intended it. He had wanted to hurt her like she had hurt everyone else. The only thing he wasn't sure of was why. Was it because she had been cruel to him? Or was it because he couldn't stand to see others suffering as his family had? Was he selfish or noble? Shinken honestly couldn't say anymore, but if he was noble as he had thought at the time how could he have done something so horrible to someone who was supposed to be his ally? Surely the Kazekage would have something to say about that when they arrived. That was if this summons was about what had just happened. It would have been too much of a coincidence to be believable that it was anything else. And the message had been sent using ninjutsu, not something that was done often or frivolously. The summons had to have been urgent.


"Yeah..." Was all Shinken said when Michio said that they would do well not to keep the Kazekage waiting. The young ninja didn't even want to think about what might be waiting for them when the arrived at his office, and Michio was completely correct when he said it would be unwise to keep him waiting. The Kazekage wasn't known for being a patient man, nor a man who put up with serious infighting among his ninja. Shinken only knew of the Kazekage by reputation, but from what he had heard the man embodied the brutal nature of the desert. His wrath was like the greatest of sand storms capable of wiping out an entire city off of the map. It was only then that the young Uchiha realized what he had done. There was a good chance he had brought the Kazekage's eye down not only on himself but on his parents, and if things went the way he feared they would go, he had also brought down the kazekage's wrath on his family.


Images of he and his family being forced out of the village and even out of the country flooded Shinken's mind. The images were short lived however as they were replaced with worse images. Images of being executed as traitors to the village. He could see it now. The crowd gathering around to see the Kazekage finish off the traitorous Katsuna family. The entire village cheering him on as one by one he ended their lives. If his reputation was to be believed the Kazekage would make Shinken watch his family die first as punishment. The young Uchiha swallowed hard at that thought, looking obviously distressed.


He was brought out of his thoughts as he bumped into one of the only people in the village who didn't treat him as a pariah. It was his father's friend Tenzaan. The big bulky man who stood before Shinken looked down at the boy with concern on his face.


"What's wrong Shinken? You seem very stressed. I heard your exams were today. Did they not go well?" Tenzaan asked as he looked over at Michio hoping to get some kind of hint as to what was going on. Before the Kaguya could answer Shinken spoke up.


"Uncle Tenzaan...I really messed up. I passed my exam but then I got in a fight with a Chuunin. I went to far and now she's headed to the medical ninja. I got this note from the Kazekage right after it happened." Shinken said as he pulled the note out from his pocket. He unfolded it and handed it to the giant of a man standing before him. The note was simple and only said that Shinken Katsuna and Michio Kaguya were ordered to report to the Kazekage's office immediately. Tenzaan looked at Shinken with sympathetic eyes.


"I'm sure you had your reasons. If you just explain what happened to the Kazekage he will understand. He's really not as bad as people say he is, and besides, Unless this man here was involved in your fight I don't think the Kazekage would summon him too. I'm sure you're just worrying too much." The older man said as he reached down and ruffled Shinken's hair, before returning the note.


Tenzaan did have a point. Michio might have wanted to do something to him, but he had been stopped. Shinken was the only one really at fault in this instance. So unless the Kazekage was bringing him in as a witness it couldn't be about the fight. That made the young ninja breathe a sigh of relief. His family was safe at least for now. He wondered how Tenzaan knew the Kazekage well enough to dispute his reputation but he didn't have time to ask.


"Thanks uncle Tenzaan... I feel a bit better now, but I really shouldn't keep the Kage waiting. I've heard he's not a patient man." Shinken said looking up gratefully at his father's childhood friend. Tenzaan smiled and nodded affirmatively before letting out a bit of a chuckle.


"That he isn't. I wish you luck Shinken. I'll tell your father you passed your exam, though he might not be as pleased as I was to hear it." Tenzaan said as he ruffled Shinken's hair one more time, before continuing on his way. Shinken just gave Michio a nervous half smile before continuing down the street.


It was another few minutes before Shinken and Michio reached the center of the village. The young Uchiha still felt a sense of foreboding dread as he approached the door. He wasn’t sure what fate awaited him inside and he was sure Michio was nervous as well even if he didn’t show it.


“Well… I guess this is it. I’ll vouch for you if you end up getting dragged into all of this. It was never my intention to cause you any trouble.” Shinken said as he stared at the door for a few moments. The young boy took a deep breath in and pushed open the doors. He was suprised by what he found inside. There was a desk with papers piled a mile high, but the chair behind it was empty. He looked around nervously for a minute before stepping into the building. He wasn’t sure if Michio was behind him or not but he didn’t want to keep the Kage waiting any longer than he had to. The young ninja was tempted to call out and see if there was anyone in the building but his common sense told him that wasn’t a good idea. If the Kage was still in a meeting interrupting it would be a sure fire way to incur his wrath, and if he hadn’t done that already it was something he would very much like to avoid.


There were no chairs so it was clear that this was not a waiting area, but it also wasn’t the Kage’s main place of work. It seemed to be a reception hall of some kind, but the receptionist was missing. Shinken was searching the place over with his eyes when a deep booming voice made him jump.


“Shinken Katsuna, and Michio Kaguya. Good you’re here. I have a few things that I need to discuss with you two.” The voice said. Shinken turned to see a tall older man with dark skin in a brown robe standing in a doorway he had failed to notice before. That was the Kazekage. The young ninja was suddenly struck with both awe and fear. He didn’t know what was going to happen next but he was sure there was no getting out of it now. The man’s voice carried an undertone of annoyance, but he didn’t seem to be angry which Shinken regarded as a very good sign.


“Uhh...Yes Kazekage-sama! We reported in just as we were told.” Shinken said feeling his voice quiver ever so slightly. He couldn’t quite get the idea of having brought the Kazekage’s fury down upon himself out of his head. To his surprise the Kage’s tone shifted from annoyed to something that might have been interpreted as pleased.


“You two have shown quite a lot of potential in the exams this year, and Despite Michio’s attitude problem I think you can both be great ninja. You are miles ahead of anyone else coming out of the Academy this year.” The Kazekage said as if he were reading facts out of a book.


Shinken felt as if a massive weight had been lifted off of his chest. He could finally breath again. The Kazekage had called them here to praise them, not scold them. It was a sense of relief he had never felt in his entire life. He glanced over at Michio who he was sure must have been feeling at least some kind of relief as well. The Kazekage noticed the sudden shift in Shinken’s emotional state and gave him a hard stare.


“That’s why I’ve decided that both of you are going to be placed on a team. However I don’t think a third team member would serve you well. Infact I think a third person would simply hold you back from your potential… However don’t think that this potential makes you immune from punishment.” The Kazekage continued.


And there it was. Shinken’s heart dropped into his stomach. The Kage knew what had happened at the training ground. He had incurred the legendary wrath of his village’s leader. However he didn’t sound as if he was furious, and the more the thought circled in Shinken’s mind the more he realized that something was off.


“You’ve proven yourself very resourceful, and very skilled for someone of your age and rank Katsuna. Your older brother was not half as skilled as you are now when he graduated. However you used that skill to attack a ninja of the Hidden Sand. That is unacceptable.” The Kage paused his speech as if giving Shinken a chance to plead his case. The Uchiha took the only opportunity he felt he was going to get and quickly began speaking.


“It was my fault. Michio had nothing to do with it. I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t stand how Sayomi took pleasure in hurting her fellow ninja. She was cruel and brutal beyond reason when she administered the Exams. I know the ninja world is supposed to be a hard place, but we don’t need to treat each other like that. Being together is what makes us strong, and she was tearing us apart… I had to do something… But I went too far. Please punish me if you must, but leave my family and Michio out of this.” Shinken said bowing his head down in apology. He truly hoped his uncle was right about the Kage. The dark skinned man looked at Shinken with an almost amused expression. He was clearly aware of his reputation, but it was more than that.


“You speak passionately Katsuna. You are correct that our strength is in Unity, as you have demonstrated just now by stepping up to take the blame. However you still attacked a member of the Hidden Sand. That fact has not changed. As your punishment you will be required to undertake a mission without pay. The money you would have earned will go to Sayomi.” The Kazekage said as he walked over to the reception desk. He picked up a scroll and handed it to Shinken.


“Here is your mission. It’s a D-rank. Some hooligans have been making trouble for the local businesses. You are to set a trap for them, find them and put a stop to it.” The Kage said as he turned to go back into the room he had come from. Shinken got the distinct feeling that the Kazekage was taking it easy on him, perhaps it was because of how well he had performed in the exams, or perhaps it was because he had impressed him by taking down a Chuunin even if it was one from his own village. Regardless he now had his first mission, his family was safe, and after all of the things that had happened today he had a teammate.

Shiken was utterly mortified when Michio joked about killing the hooligans who had been plaguing the shopkeep. He couldn't believe that the Kaguya could be so careless in front of the only person capable of exiling them from the village. He was already being punished he didn't need his new teammate making it worse. The Kage was quite obviously not pleased with Michio's behavior and he commanded the two ninja to get out of his office. Shinken bowed his head quickly and headed out the door after being tapped on the shoulder by his new teammate.


On the trip out to the mission's office Shinken was silent. He contemplated what working with this crazy Kaguya would be like. Was he going to have to keep him in line? How was he supposed to do that when Michio obviously had no respect for authority, and anger issues? Maybe there was a reason behind all of his attitude. He did seem to lose his mind when he saw an Inuzuka. Perhaps that had something to do with it. He didn't get to continue on his pattern of thought as they arrived at the Mission's office.


The building wasn't that impressive overall but it served a very important purpose in the village. It both a source of strength and income as it coordinated the entirety of the Ninja population here in the sand village. When he stepped inside Shinken was met with glares of disbelief and hatred. He had to resist the urge to step back outside. Suddenly he didn't feel like a ninja anymore. He felt more like an intruder stepping on hallowed ground.


Still he steeled his will and walked up to the counter. Michio seemed to have noticed the sudden change in atmosphere and he looked at people inside the office with disdain.


“Really? Are you frickin’ kidding me?!” The Kaguya muttered under his breath. Shinken heard him and felt a little bit less out of place.


“I’m reporting for the mission the Kage assigned us.” Shinken said trying his best to sound official. The woman behind the desk wrinkled her nose at him and let out a grunt of disgust. It was clear she had no fondness for the young Uchiha.


“They let you become a ninja? What the hell is this village coming to? I can’t believe I have to give you this.” The woman said as she handed him Shinken a flyer. Her grip on it was tight and he actually had to pull it from her grasp. She looked like she wanted to spit in his face, and Shinken took the opportunity to hurry out of the office.


He knew that one day the people of this village would respect him, but it was going to take time, and it wasn’t going to happen just because he was a ninja now. Again he was lost in his own thoughts. This time he was imagining what it would be like to have people chanting his family name. What it would be like to be a hero. A small smile turned up the corner of Shiken’s lips as he and his team mate made their way toward the shop they were supposed to be protecting tonight.


When he stepped inside the shop he was amazed at what it contained. It was full of all kinds of weapons. Blades, bombs, and traps, it had everything a ninja could ever want. It made a lot of sense that hoodlums would want to get their grimy grubby hands on everything in this store. What surprised him was when the shopkeeper said that only certain things were disappearing and only so much at a time. That would imply that the thief had some kind of proficiency in the weapons already. It was a very disconcerting thought that they might be going up against people that had training and were willing to break the Kage’s laws. Though they hadn’t outright killed the Shopkeeper so they were either not skilled enough, or unwilling to take a life. Shinken really hoped it was the second one. Turning the criminals over to Anbu was the logical choice, and the Uchiha agreed with what the shopkeeper was saying, but he was afraid that Michio wouldn’t leave enough of these criminals to fill a leg pouch if it turned into a real fight.


Shinken’s fears were not allayed in the slightest when talk of potential collateral damage was brought up. The poor merchant had to sign a release form, and that was never a good sign. As Shinken was handing the old man his form he took the chance to ask him a question.


“So what exactly was stolen? I’d like to know what we’re going to be up against.” The young Uchiha asked as he waited for his form to be signed. The old man looked as if he was pondering a great philosophical question for a few moments before he replied.


“Well let’s see. They took a katana and a wakizashi, a kusari gama, a rather expensive naginata, A giant folding fan, and...well...they took a puppet.” The man said nervously. Shinken visibly cringed when the word puppet came out of the old man’s mouth. That was something he really didn’t want to hear. Fighting a puppet master wasn’t easy, and he was far too inexperienced to think he could actually hold his own against such an unorthodox fighting style.


“Well at least I know what to expect when they show up.” Shinken said as he accepted his flyer back. He really hoped there wouldn’t be too much collateral damage to the old man’s shop. He seemed like a decent fellow. In fact he didn’t even look at Shinken with disdain. It was a look more akin to hope. Suddenly the young Uchiha really didn’t want to let the shopkeeper down. He would come through for this man who seemed to believe in his capabilities no matter what.


“We’ll stop these bastards. I promise.” Shinken said as he nodded to his teammate. As soon as the two ninja were outside Michio brought up the idea of acquiring some of the wireless earpieces that ninja often used for communication purposes. He had to agree that it was a good plan, but he also didn’t really want to head back to the office. It was a toxic enviornment for his family in there.


“Sure why don’t you head in though. I’ll stay outside. They don’t like me much in there.” Shinken said in agreement. After they had acquired the equipment they would need Shinken and Michio planned out how they would stake out the shop. Though the young Uchiha wanted to make sure they had a plan for each and every weapon that was stolen, Michio insisted that he would be able to handle whatever was thrown his way. Even when Shinken brought up the fact that there was likely to be more than one person given the number and variety of weapons taken, the Kaguya insisted he would be fine.


Shinken sighed and began to draw out plans on how to deal with the different possible combinations of weapons that they knew about, and went over tactics he could use against multiple opponents. Still that puppet worried him. It was a wild card. He had no idea what it was equipped with, or if it had been modified at all, and depending on the skill of the puppet master it’s capabilities changed drastically.


Eventually Shinken felt like he had done all the planning he could possibly do and he and Michio returned to the shop. He watched his teammate go inside of the building and found an alleyway to slink into. He hoped that the shadows would hide him from view well enough to avoid spooking the thieves.Suddenly he heard Michio’s voice in his ear. His teammate was asking if he was in position.


“I’m here. I don’t think it should be long now. It’s getting dark and all of the other shops are closing up. I hope you know what you’re doing in there, I’d hate to fail my first mission.” Shinken said as his eyes swept up and down the street looking for any signs of anyone suspicious.

It only took a few minutes for someone suspicious to show up. Shinken fought back the urge to notify Michio when they began trying to pick the lock of the shop. There were three by his count, but from what he could see they were only wielding four of the 6 stolen items. That meant that there were still two people missing. MIchio wouldn't have a ghost of a chance if the young Uchiha couldn't intercept the last two. Shinken moved to a more suitable location to observe the fight.


Through the glass windows the young ninja saw his partner struggling to hold his own against three opponents cursed aloud. This wasn't going according to plan. If Michio hadn't been so thick skulled about preparing for the mission this wouldn't have happened. But was else was he supposed to expect from a feral Kaguya. Even a normal Kaguya's skull was thicker than most. He was going to have to think fast if they were going to get out of this without serious injury.


Shinken didn't have time to actually formulate a plan as about a minute after the fight had started inside the shop two more men appeared. His first instinct was to engage them right away and prevent them from getting to his partner, but something in his brain told him to wait. If they were distracted by the Kaguya they would be easy prey for Shinken's genjutsu.


He noted that both of the two men had oversized weapons. One had the folding fan, and the other had a puppet wrapped up on his back. While shinken was observing them they threw a smoke bomb into the doorway to the shop and stepped inside. The young Uchiha made the observation that they were overly dramatic and not afraid to waste resources. That was something he could certainly use against them. In fact he could use the smoke from their smoke bomb to aid him in his attempt to sneak up to their position.


Without hesitating for a moment longer Shinken sprung into action. The young ninja moved as silently as he could. Stepping only on the balls of his feet and hoping his padded sandals would muffle his footsteps. By the time he arrived behind them they were in the middle of a speech.


“Well well, what do we have here? A pathetic little ninja. You’re outnumbered and outclassed. You should have just stayed home today punk. I’m going to enjoy watching my boys tear you a new one.” The man with the fan said as he took a step forward. Shinken shook his head. The man was far too cocky for his own good. He hadn’t even left a look out behind. It was going to be easier than the young ninja had first thought to take down these hooligans if they were this foolish.


Shinken snuck up behind the man with the puppet on his back and made the tiger seal required for his genjutsu. He could feel his chakra flowing into the tips of his fingers and he smirked. This guy wouldn’t know what hit him. As the young Uchiha placed his fingers onto the man’s elbow he forced the chakra that had been building in his finger tips into the thug’s chakra system disrupting its flow just enough to alter his perceptions.


The thug cried out in pain and fear as he clutched at his elbow. His eyes went wide as he looked down at the area that had suddenly caused him intense pain. To him it looked as if his arm was only attached by a thin strand of muscle and flesh. The rest had been burnt away, leaving his joint completely exposed.


Before Shinken could follow up with a taijutsu based attack the man with the giant folding fan spun around to face him. As he turned the man opened his fan and used the spinning motion to unleash a powerful wave of wind at Shinken. The young Uchiha was sent flying back into the street, and barely landed on his feet.


“You idiot! It’s just a genjutsu!” The man with the folding fan shouted as he tapped the puppet master on the shoulder. Suddenly the man’s expression turned from one of horror to one of anger as the genjutsu faded away. It appeared that the man with the fan was the leader of the group of misfit thugs.


“We have to deal with this kid first. His genjutsu could take us out of the fight entirely. That can’t happen.” The man with the fan said angrily. The puppet master nodded his head in acknowledgement and the two of them chased Shinken out the door. The young Uchiha knew that he was in trouble now. His genjutsu could only affect one person at a time, and he was fighting two people that could combat him from a distance. He did the only thing he could do. He retreated to the roof tops in hopes that they would follow him and end up at a close distance. It was a risky move as he could easily be sent flying off of the rooftops, and end up hitting the ground with a massive amount of force, but he didn’t intend to get hit. A position on the rooftops also gave him the ability to duck down into the alleyways or run along the walls of the building to avoid attacks.


As planned the two thugs followed Shinken up onto the roof. That also gave him a vital bit of information. They were both capable of at least a modicum of chakra control. That meant he would have to be more careful with his genjutsu. If they were able to break themselves out of the illusion and they were aware of his use of illusory techniques he would have to fall back on Taijutsu, which would almost certainly spell defeat.


As they came up the wall Shinken darted toward the opposite edge of the roof and slipped down onto the wall below. Using his chakra to cling to the wall he ran around to the other side as silently as he could. He could hear them shouting that he had disappeared as he came up behind them. He formed the seal for his genjutsu again and as soon as he was in range, reached out to touch the calf of the man with the giant fan. His hope was that the gang leader’s leg would give out and he would fall to the ground. For a moment it seemed as if the plan was going to work. The gang leader cried out in pain and his leg trembled, and after a moment gave out, but he fell forward rather than backwards.


Shinken cursed his horrible luck as he jumped off the wall with a backflip. Before he could even hit the ground he heard the unravelling of tape and knew that the puppet had been unleashed. Again the young Uchiha cursed. He was at a complete disadvantage now. As he felt his feet touch the ground he heard the click of a puppet’s arm opening and used his momentum to carry him into another backwards jump. When a Kunai slammed into the ground where he had initially landed the young ninja gritted his teeth. If he hadn’t heard that small click he might be dead right now. These guys weren’t playing around. His initial assumptions about them being unskilled, or not having the nerve to kill were quickly being proven wrong.


As Shinken looked up at the roof he saw that the puppet that had been stolen was a crow type. It had one of its four wrists unhinged. That must have been where the kunai had come from. The young Uchiha wondered what else was hidden in the many compartments of the puppet as he scanned the area for the puppet master. The man was nowhere to be found, but the fan user was getting to his feet. Shinken just couldn’t catch a break in this fight. The gang leader gave Shinken a sadistic smile as he pulled his fan back.


“Looks like this is the end for you kid.” The man said, just before he swung his fan. An invisible blade of wind flew off of the fan headed toward the young Uchiha. Shinken knew that some kind of attack was coming and dodged to the side, only to have the puppet fly to intercept him. The young ninja brought his arms up to block as the puppet slammed into him. He was sent stumbling back and very narrowly missed being hit by the wind blade as it cut deeply into the sandstone wall of a nearby building.


The puppet didn’t give the Uchiha any time to recover or react as it advanced again spinning it’s arms in a whirlwind of attacks. Shinken could feel the adrenaline pumping through his system as he attempted to sidestep the puppet. The puppet master anticipated his actions and opened one of the compartments in the puppet’s arm to launch several shuriken in Shinken’s direction. All but one flew wide slamming into the window of a nearby shop and shattering the glass. The one shuriken that did find it’s mark grazed Shinken’s shoulder drawing blood.


The young Uchiha let out a cry of pain that was interrupted as a wall of wind shoved him into the spinning arms of the puppet. The fan user had taken advantage of the boy’s gap in focus to land an attack from behind. As the wooden arms of the puppet slammed into Shinken’s other shoulder he was sent flying into the wall of the shop they had been hired to protect.


He heard and felt a sick crunch as his shoulder popped out of its joint. The pain that flowed through him broke his focus again and he was barely able to sidestep another kunai. The young ninja felt a wave of despair wash over him he was completely outclassed. There was no way he was going win this fight. He steeled his resolve and gritted his teeth as he jumped over another wind blade. He had to win. He wasn’t going to fail his first mission. He couldn’t come home in disgrace. His family needed him to win.


As he dodged yet another ranged attack the young Uchiha purposely slammed his dislocated shoulder into the wall of the nearest building. There was another wave of white hot pain but he felt a sickening grinding followed by a satisfying click. He had knocked his shoulder back into place. ‘I won’t lose! I can’t lose!’ He thought as he searched again for the puppet master. If Shinken could just get close enough to him he could negate the puppet, and maybe even the fan user’s ranged attacks.


It took the young ninja a moment but he finally noticed a slight movement in the corner of his eye. He quickly whipped his head around to focus on the movement and there he found the Puppet master sitting the shadows of an alleyway. Shinken advanced with all the speed he could muster, but he was cut off from his target by a wall of wind that knocked him back. Stumbling he caught his footing and slid to a stop.


“I don’t care who you are, or how badly I’m outclassed….I’m bringing you in!” Shinken shouted as his anger and determination welled up inside of him. The man with the fan laughed and responded with another wind blade. There was something different about it this time the man was almost glowing, and he seemed to have lost some of his speed. There was something else too. Shinken could now see the wind blade. He had no idea what was happening but it was giving him an edge that he couldn’t afford to waste. Any onlookers that were paying attention would see that the young gennin’s eyes had turned red and that there was a single black swirl in each iris.


The technique the fan user had performed had been so slow that Shinken was confident he could attempt to replicate it, though he would have to use his hand to form a much smaller blade. The young ninja did a cartwheel to the side to avoid the wind blade and as he was coming to his feet he began forming seals. The gennin pushed his chakra into his fully extended hand until he was sure he would be able to force enough of it out for form a blade, and swung his hand. To his surprise he managed to make a windblade on his first try and he watched the glowing blade of air sail toward the puppet master.


The thug didn’t know what hit him as he stumbled back with a gash on his chest. The puppet fell to the ground as the man lost his focus on the now visible threads of chakra that directed it. Shinken didn’t let up for a moment and quickly advanced on the man’s position. Before he could reach his target the leader of the gang jumped down from the rooftops and threw a wind wall at Shinken to drive him back. Yet again the young ninja was able to see the pressure wave of wind as if it were glowing, and this time he was able to make the required seals before the technique reached him. He launched a wind wall of his own from his mouth as an air bullet and it punched through the oncoming attack, sending both of his opponents flying down the alley and straight into the dead end. Now they were boxed in and Vulnerable.


The young ninja began forming seals as rapidly as he could. If he could throw another windwall at them perhaps he could knock them out. As the puppet master got to his feet he pulled on the chakra threads and slammed the wooden body of the puppet into the back of the young gennin. Shinken lost his focus and faltered on one of the seals losing the jutsu as he stumbled forward.


“You’re a dangerous one...wait...those eyes...NO! Boss we have to get out of here!” The puppet master said as he looked around for an exit. What were they talking about? What was wrong with Shinken’s eyes? The young ninja was even more confused when the wind user looked at him and his expression changed from anger to fear. That fear only lasted a moment before it was replaced with desperation. The fan user swung his fan back and forth creating multiple wind blades and a wind wall. Shinken knew that he wouldn’t be able to counter all of them so he jumped up onto the wall and avoided the first two wind blades, before forming the seals for the windwall.


When the young Uchiha launched his attack it clashed with the last wind blade and created a small dust storm that temporarily obscured his view of the criminals. Not wanting to let them get away Shinken ran up to the rooftop and looked for the two thugs. He saw them fleeing down another alleyway, and the puppet master had left his puppet behind. The gennin smirked knowing that he had the advantage now. But he was also starting to feel fatigued from using so much chakra. While he was running across the rooftops he did his best to focus what little chakra he had left. By the time he had caught up with the thugs he felt as though he had just enough Chakra to end this fight.


“You’re not going anywhere!” Shinken shouted as he jumped down in front of the two criminals blocking their path. The battle had obviously taken its toll on the wind user as well as he was panting and sweating. The puppet user pulled out two Kunai and prepared to fight the young gennin, but Shinken could tell he was desperate. As the thug lunged at him, the young Uchiha was able to track his movements with great ease. It was almost as if the man was moving in slow motion. He shifted his weight to his back foot and rotated his body just enough for the blade of the kunai to glide past his chest. Without missing a beat Shinken countered with an elbow to the man’s sternum using the thug’s own momentum against him.


The puppet master was knocked to the ground with a satisfying thud. He twitched but for the moment he was down. Shinken then turned his attention the the man with the fan who had taken the opportunity to begin running again. The gennin wasn’t about to let that happen so he began forming the necessary seals for the wind blade technique. As soon as his chakra was focused enough he let loose with his attack. He aimed for the man’s left hamstring. When the blade touched the thug’s leg it left a deep gash, hobbling him and hindering his ability to run.


Knowing that he had no chance of escaping the gang leader did the only thing he could and turned to fight. He was favoring his left leg, but he was still able to lift his fan. With a grimace he began to channel his chakra into it. Shinken could see the fan beginning to glow a bright white and tried to close the distance. Whatever the man was doing it wasn’t going to be good. Before the young ninja could reach his target the man smirked at him and tightened his grip on his fan.


“I don’t care if you do have those eyes! You can’t stop this!” The gang leader shouted as he swung his fan. Shinken’s eyes went wide as he saw a wind wall full of smaller blades fly from the fan. The attack was huge covering the entire alleyway, and there were too many blades to count. The young Uchiha had no idea what to do, so he did the only thing he could think of. He made the seals for his own windwall and threw it at the oncoming jutsu. Not waiting for a single moment after the blast of wind left his lips Shinken started running up the nearest wall, hoping that his attack would slow down the jutsu long enough for him to get out of harm's way.


The young ninja was able to narrowly avoid the thug’s massive jutsu, and without giving the gang leader a moment to recover jumped down from the rooftop to deliver a powerful kick to the side of the man’s face. The thug tumbled into a wall and hit his head before going limp. With the two thugs dealt with Shinken grabbed them both by the collar and dragged them back to the shop.


When he arrived Michio had already dealt with the thugs inside the shop. Shinken could still feel his chakra being sapped but he didn’t know why. Little did he know he had awakened the sharingan during his fight and it was still active. As he set down the thugs he called out to Michio.


“I took care of the the wind user and the puppet master. They were actual ninja. They won’t be waking up anytime soon though.” He said as he walked into the shop. The rest of the gang was lying unconscious on the ground and several of glass cabinets were broken. Several broken weapons also littered the floor. The Uchiha felt sorry for the poor merchant, but these criminals were dangerous. If the Kage had known exactly how dangerous these criminals were it would have easily been a B rank mission.

Shinken’s jaw nearly hit the floor when he saw what condition Michio was in. There was blood everywhere and if he didn’t know better he’d have thought someone had been murdered in the weapon’s shop. He rushed forward to help his teammate stand up. Despite having taken some hits he was in far better shape than the Kaguya.


“What the hell happened to you in there? I thought you said you had it handled!” Shinken said as he brought the Kaguya to a bench to sit down. His outfit was now covered in blood, and he really wished that the Kage had assigned them a medical ninja. He had no idea how he was going to bring all of these criminals into custody without Michio to help him.


“I won didn’t I?” Michio said as Shinken set him down. The young Uchiha let out a sigh and dragged the rest of the gang members into the street. He picked up some chains from inside the shop and restrained them individually, and as a group so they couldn’t escape while he was gone.


“Come on, let’s get you to the hospital.” Shinken said as he picked up his partner and began to hobble to the hospital. He didn’t like the idea of leaving these criminals alone, but his partner’s health was more important than passing a mission. If he left Michio there to bleed out he wouldn’t deserve to be called a ninja.


It took almost ten minute for Shinken to arrive at the hospital. Having to help support Michio’s weight had caused him to move significantly slower than he would have liked. When they stepped into the main entrance the medical ninja working the desk gave the young Uchiha a horrified look.


“What the hell happened to him?” She demanded as she quickly moved to stop the bleeding. Shinken grunted with effort as he moved Michio over to a bench, and slowly set him down.


“I fell down some stairs.” Michio said without missing a beat. Shinken shook his head and sighed in annoyance. The Kaguya still wasn’t taking this seriously. The young Uchiha suddenly felt very light headed and his body got much heavier. He realized that something was still draining his chakra. The medical ninja noticed Shinken faltering and then caught sight of his Sharingan.


“You know you should deactivate your sharingan. You’re almost out of charka.” She said as she ran a glowing hand over Michio’s arm. Shinken looked around in confusion. There was an Uchiha here? He didn’t see anyone else.


“Are...Are you talking to me?” Shinken asked sounding very confused. Michio looked up at the young Uchiha’s eyes and upon seeing the sharingan his jaw dropped causing him some amount of pain.


“Are you frickin kidding me? Of course she’s talking to you dumbass!” Michio said sarcastically. Shinken looked to the medical ninja and then back to Michio in disbelief.


“I don’t have the sharingan! I’m not even an Uchiha!” The young ninja said sounding even more confused. But the more he thought about it the more it made sense. The sudden change in his vision, his new talents, all of it could be explained through the dojutsu. He wasn’t sure of the specifics of the sharingan but he knew that most ninja were terrified of it. That explained why the thugs had been so scared. The young ninja disrupted his chakra flow and suddenly his vision returned to normal. That was all the proof he needed. Apparently somehow he had the Uchiha’s Kekkai Genkai.


“I have to go. There are some thugs that need to be turned in to the authorities. Please look after him.” Shinken said to the medical ninja before taking off toward the weapons shop. By the time he got there several of the thugs had begun to try and work their way out of their bindings. Shinken gave them a quick kick to the head to knock them back into unconsciousness.


Then he began the long and difficult process of dragging the criminals to the village’s holding cells. It took him almost half an hour to get there and in that time he had to knock the criminals back out at least three times. When he finally arrived the Jounin guarding the prison gave the young Uchiha a look of utter disbelief.


“You took all five of these guys out yourself? That’s Toguya Shinshen, he hasn’t been seen since he passed the academy and disappeared. Not bad kid.” The Jounin said as he unlocked the door to the facility.


“I didn’t take them all out, my partner helped. Speaking of which I need to get back to the hospital can you take this from here?” Shinken asked. The Jounin nodded and with that gesture of acknowledgement the young Uchiha sped off towards the hospital. It only took him 10 minutes to get back to the hospital without anything slowing him down and as he stepped through the door the Medical ninja at the desk sighed.


“Your friend is that way. Room 107.” The medical ninja said as she pointed down a hallway. Shinken gave her a nod of thanks and made his way to Michio’s room.


“Well that was a hell of a first mission…” Shinken said as he sat down in the nearest chair. He couldn’t believe what had happened tonight. He had had his first real fight, and with two ninja no less. Somehow he had awakened a bloodline that as far as he knew he shouldn’t even have, and now he was sitting in a hospital room waiting for his squadmate to recover.


“Why the hell didn’t you tell me you were an Uchiha?!” Michio said with all of the bewilderment he could muster while having a concussion.


“I swear I’m not! At least as far as I know anyway...I never knew who my parents were. They found me abandoned in a nearby village and brought me to the orphanage here.” Shinken said denying the obvious fact that his parents must have been from the Uchiha clan.
“Look dumbass, if you have the sharingan you’re an Uchiha. Period. Do you even know what the sharingan is?” Michio asked sounding very frustrated.


“Well I know that it’s an ocular jutsu...and I know people are scared of it. It does something to your vision right? Changes it somehow?” The young Uchiha said feeling less and less sure of his heritage.


“Oh for the love of god. The Sharingan is the Uchiha’s Kekkai Genkai. It’s a powerful dojutsu that heightens the visual acuity of the user. It lets you see chakra and mimic hand seals. You can perceive movements that no other ninja could. In short you can copy other people’s jutsu and use their own techniques against them. It also explains how the hell you could keep up with my movements when we were training earlier.” Michio said frustrated that he had to explain someone’s own Kekkai Genkai to them. . The Kaguya reached into his pocked and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Before he could even take one out of the pack Shinken slapped them out of his hand.


“Are you trying to get us killed?!” He demanded as he pointed to the oxygen machine sitting right next to Michio’s hospital bed.

(Kaguya Benshiro has given me permission to write for his character. We are on skype)


Shinken glared at Michio as he left. Was he really going to leave him alone with the person he had seriously traumatized no more than a day ago? The Kaguya sure knew how to put someone in an awkward spot. Sayomi looked horrified to be left in the same room as her attacker, and the young Uchiha was none too pleased either. There was a part of him that still felt like she got what she deserved and that scared him. He wasn’t sure if whatever darkness was slumbering inside of him would wake again if given the chance.


Sayomi couldn’t even look Shinken in the eyes. Still she managed to find the courage to speak, and she seemed to be choosing her words very carefully. The young gennin couldn’t help but think that somehow he might have done her a favor. When she asked how he used his technique to defeat her Shinken had to think for a moment on what to say. The first thing that came to mind was more likely to insult and intimidate her, so he tried to find a way to phrase it that wouldn’t come off as so harsh. She seemed to be more timid now, though that might have just been her fear of the young Uchiha.


“Isn’t it obvious? The rules of the exam were holding me back. I was only allowed to use Taijutsu there. That’s not exactly my specialty, add to that the fact that you severely underestimated your opponent and it was a foregone conclusion....I hope you learned that even someone who seems weak can strike back with overwhelming force.” Shinken said trying his best not to sound too condescending. When he saw Sayomi recoil he knew he had chosen his words poorly, but he had meant them. She had made a mistake that could have gotten her killed in a real battle, and if she took anything away from the experience he wanted it to be that she should be careful how she treats people. Shisara shot Shinken a dirty look from the kitchen and Michio having overheard the conversation spoke up from outside the room.


“Oh for the love of God! It was a genjutsu!” He said loudly. Shinken’s eyes focused in on the wall where Michio would have been located, and he glared at it. A few moments later he heard a cry of suprise and the Kaguya walked back into the room with an annoyed look on his now singed face.


“Damnit Shinken! These smokes are expensive!” He said as a thin plume of smoke drifted up off of a section of his hair. Shinken’s expression turned to one of confusion. He hadn’t done anything but glare at the wall.


“I didn’t do anything! I swear! I mean I was annoyed with you, but that wasn’t me!” The young Uchiha said frantically. He was being completely honest, at least to his knowledge. He hadn’t done anything on purpose, but his fire element chakra had somehow caused the cigarette to flare up into a ball of flame.


“D-does he have some kind of Dojutsu?” Sayomi asked her voice trembling with nervousness. The last thing she wanted to do was irk someone who could start a fire just by looking at something. This Shinken kid was something else, and it scared her. If this was the kind of kid the academy was pumping out now she would have to seriously think about retiring.


Michio looked as if he was going to explain the fact that Shinken possessed the sharingan, but the young Uchiha shot him a glare that could have killed a Jounin and he thought better of it. He wasn’t fully healed yet and he didn’t need to be getting into a fight with his teammate right now.


Shinken didn’t want the lesson Sayomi might have learned to be undermined by the fact that he had a Dojutsu. Especially when he didn’t possess it at the time of the fight. Though after a few moments of thinking about it he realized that it might actually help drive the message home. He let out a sigh and turned to the Chuunin with a serious expression. She immediately recoiled and looked away. The idea of looking someone with a Dojutsu in the eye must have been too much for her.


“Look at me.” The young Uchiha said in a very serious tone. Sayomi shook her head in vehement denial of Shinken’s order. The Uchiha reached over and took hold of the Chuunin’s chin. Sayomi struggled and let out a scared whimper but Shinken was able to draw her gaze to his eyes. He focused his chakra and activated the sharigan which caused her jaw to drop and then she tore her gaze away fearfully.


“Yes. I have a Dojutsu. But I didn’t have it when I faced you, and I’m not going to put you in another genjutsu.” Shinken said as he saw how fearful the Chuunin had become. Michio gave Shinken a death glare, as did Shisara, but he knew that he had gotten his point across.


“If you had been kinder, perhaps you could have benefited from my skills, rather than being the target of them. You are one of the very few people who know I possess this skill. I would like to keep it that way. A technique like this is most effective when it is a surprise to the opponent.” Shinken said as he deactivated his dojutsu. Sayomi let out a nervous nod of acknowledgement but stayed silent. The young Uchiha hoped he hadn’t been too harsh on her, but Michio was quick to let him know he was out of line.


"Wow.... and I thought I was a douchebag. But despite his boldness, he's right about keeping it a secret. You and I both know his family's reputation. If people knew that the next Katsuna shinobi now had the Sharingan then the village might go into a frenzy. Some might call for his expulsion, some for his execution..." he said grimly, then looked at Shinken "That one might be a couple of people at the most. But regardless, it needs to stay between us and anyone else who knows." The young Gennin let out a sigh and looked back over at Sayomi who again visibly recoiled from him.


“I’m sorry. I went too far. I was just trying to teach you a lesson. You have nothing more to fear from me.” He said as he felt himself tense up. He didn’t like apologizing over something he felt was necessary, but at the same time he had already made his point. Any further intimidation would just be cruel.

Shinken couldn’t believe how full of herself his new Jounin was. He felt like someone needed to put her in her place, and it appeared that he was going to get the chance to try and do just that. She wanted to spar with her two new charges? He would give her the fight of her life. The young Uchiha only wished that he could reveal his sharingan in all of its glory, and give her the beat down he felt she deserved. Since he couldn’t do that he did the next best thing. If he could get her in trouble with the Kazekage maybe he would tear into her hard enough that she wouldn’t be so high and mighty. As Michio walked out of the office Shinken bowed his head deeply.


“I’m so sorry my Jounin made a mess of your office Lord Kazekage.” The young gennin said as he bent down and picked up several papers that had been blown onto the floor. The Kazekage gave the young ninja a small smile.


“It happens more often than you would think.” The Kage said as he too started picking up the countless papers that had been blown around the room. Shinken cursed his bad luck internally he was really hoping to get that stuck up b***h in trouble. He was also happy to see that the Kazekage didn’t seem to be judging him like everyone else did. It was a welcome change, and to have what seemed to be the approval of the leader of the village’s ninja forces was somewhat gratifying. If the Kage believed in him then he was sure he could achieve his goals


Knowing how impatient his partner was Shinken headed out of the office as fast as he could, hoping to catch up to Michio. He was lucky enough to still be able to see him in the distance and picked up his pace to a full sprint. It took him a few minutes to arrive at the Kaguya’s side, and he was starting to breath heavily when he got there.


“You could have at least waited for me.” He said as he slowed his pace down to match Michio’s stride. The other gennin gave a dismissive shrug and continued walking ahead. As they were moving toward the training grounds Shinken’s mind began to drift towards how he would handle a fight with the Jounin. He didn’t know anything about her other than she was a Hyuuga and that meant she was a dangerous opponent. If she was able to use her clan’s techniques on him he would be crippled, and unable to properly fight back. He remembered his brother often used to complain about a Hyuuga in his class when he was in the academy. Apparently they could see your chakra and cut off it’s flow by injecting their own into your body. They called the style gentle fist if Shinken remembered right. There was one other thing that he remembered his brother saying. They had a defensive technique...something to do with creating a shield of chakra around themselves.


Still if he was going to prove to this stuck up kid that he was worth his salt, He was going to need a plan. The sharingan was out of the question, but genjutsu might be a fall back. If she was fast enough to avoid being touched he would still be in trouble though. He did also have his fire release technique. They would be fighting in the sand, maybe he could use the heat of the flames to change the battlefield to his advantage. She also wouldn’t be expecting him to be so proficient in hand seals, he could outpace even a Chuunin with how much practice he had undertaken.


A thought then occurred to him. If she was a taijutsu specialist he could use that against her. Sure she would be faster than him and stronger, but getting that close to an opponent also left you wide open. He didn’t have to be honorable. He could fight dirty. There was plenty of sand around, he could use that to mess up her footing, or even throw some in her eyes to blind her. That was certainly a tactic that he would save for a moment when she let down her guard. He could also heat up the sand when he threw it. That would guarantee she would have to rely on her other senses, and make it easier for shinken to get close with a genjutsu. He didn’t want to hit her with a full power fireball. Messing with someone’s head was one thing, but actually causing severe damage to a fellow sand ninja in a sparring match would make him just as bad as his instructor from the academy.


After all of this deliberation he found that he had already arrived at the training grounds, and the young Jounin was already there waiting for them. She had a displeased and impatient look on her face.


“You two really don’t take this seriously do you? I’ve been waiting here for ten minutes. I know you could have been here in at least half that time if you had really wanted to.” She said as she looked her two students over. Shinken could feel his anger boiling up in him again. Who was she to say he didn’t take his position as a ninja seriously. He had never been more serious about anything in his life. She didn’t know him. She had no right to be saying things like that.


“Well I already know what you can do Michio. You’re a Kaguya you can manipulate your bones, and you’re a claw fighter. A taijutsu specialist. Nothing too impressive to write home about.” She said sounding very disinterested. Michio looked like he was going to turn red in the face. Shinken was afraid his teammate was going to lash out at their new Jounin.


“You think you know everything don’t you? You read someone’s file and you think you know them. You think you can judge them based on a piece of paper? Let me show you just how wrong you are!” Michio growled taking a step toward Hanako. Shinken reached out and placed his hand on the Kaguya’s chest. Michio turned to him with a furious look in his eyes, but Shinken met his gaze with a steely look of determination.


“Don’t worry. I got this.” The young Uchiha said as he stepped forward and cracked his neck. He could feel the darkness in him rising up again. This time he embraced it. A dark look filled his eyes and he began to radiate pure menace. The Jounin gave him a curious look and smiled.


“Starting off with a Genjutsu already are you little Gennin? Nice try but I can see right through it. To be fair to you I won’t use my Byakugan, but I assure you I won’t need it to best you.” She said as she slid into a fighting stance. Shinken’s eyes took in every detail of her movements. How she was placing more of her weight on her back foot, indicating that she had taken a more defensive stance, and how the muscles in her arms were relaxed but not slack. She was preparing for him to assault her head on. The young Uchiha scoffed in his head. He wasn’t the berserker that Michio was. No he knew that if he was going to win this fight he was going to have to be smart.


Shinken just smirked as he walked slowly toward her, letting his menace speak for his intentions. If she wanted to believe she was in a genjutsu that only gave him the advantage. She was underestimating him and the malice he could hold in his heart. As he walked toward her she realized that the menace Shinken was exuding wasn’t an illusion and she cocked an eyebrow at him.


“How interesting. You’ve got quite a darkness in your heart there Katsuna. It reminds me of your brother. I guess you two are more similar than you’d like to accept. I guess it’s a product of your upbringing.” She said with venom dripping from each and every word. Michio’s eyes went wide and his hand went to his mouth.


“Oh you messed up Hanako...I’d run if I were you.” The Kaguya said taking a step away from the fight. He didn’t want to see what Shinken was going to do to the Hyuuga girl now. To his horror the Young Uchiha simply broke out in a dark smile and took another step towards his target. His silence was almost deafening. She thought he would have said something or lost his cool but the young ninja just seemed amused.


“You can say whatever you like. It’s not going to make me fall for your tricks. Though it is going to make this fight more painful for you.” Shinken said stressing the word painful with a tone that would send shivers down anyone’s spine. To her credit the Jounin stood her ground, but her weight distribution shifted. That was all Shinken needed to see to know that he was getting to her. Genjutsu weren’t the only way to get in someone’s head on the battlefield. Sometimes a few words and a smile was enough to through even the most experienced ninja off of their game.


Without any warning Hanako launched herself at the young Uchiha with her palm extended. In one flowing motion Shinken rotated on his front foot, narrowly avoiding the strike and putting himself in a position to counter attack. The Jounin was too quick for him though and as soon as she realized her attack wasn’t going to hit the mark she had shifted her momentum angling the blow down to the sand under her feet, and launching herself up into the air.


“Not bad...for a gennin” she shouted as she began making hand seals. As she reached the height of her jump she smiled and slammed her hands together in the final seal. Shinken could feel the wind around him, and from his experience with the fan user earlier knew what was coming. It was some kind of pressure wave technique. He didn’t have much time to get out of the way, so he did the only thing he knew would get him clear of the blast. He jumped backward, sending himself sailing through the air only to land on his back as a bullet of wind slammed into the ground where he had just been standing.


There was suddenly sand everywhere and the young Uchiha couldn’t see more than five feet in front of him. Rather than panicking like most gennin would he closed his eyes. In conditions like this his vision was just a distraction. As the sand fell back to the ground he listened for the subtle sounds of someone moving through the cloud. When he heard a noise coming from behind him he darted to the left and began forming hand seals. This was the perfect time to use his fireball technique. She would never see it coming. As the flames left his mouth they turned the sand in the air into shards of glass which also flew toward Hanako. It was an unexpected but welcome effect.


He heard the Jounin gasp as she saw the light from the fireball light up the training ground, and as he slipped out of the cloud he saw her burst from the top of the sand shroud, bleeding from several cuts on her face and arms.


“You were too predictable Hanako. I expected more from a Jounin.” Shinken said as he slid to a stop. Michio looked on with disbelief. Where did Shinken learn to do that? It was an impressive show of skill.


Hanako glared down at the the young gennin who seemed to be controlling the fight. She seemed angry and off balance which was all according to Shinken’s plan, but as she landed something in her changed. She was more focused, less emotional. The young Uchiha cursed internally. The only advantage he had in this fight had just vanished into thin air.


“That’s not bad. You actually got into my head there. But I’ve seen through your games now. I’m done playing around with you.” The Jounin said as she slipped back into her fighting style. Though she was bleeding her stance was stronger now, more confident. Her weight was again being placed on her back foot. It seemed she prefered to be on the defensive. Not all that surprising considering her bloodline.


Shinken didn’t say anything. He didn’t want her to know that this was not going as he planned. He analysed the situation coldly and found that the only solution was to advance. But he wasn’t going to do it without a distraction. He began forming seals and pouring extra charkra into them. If he had to he would burn some extra effort on this attack. All it had to do was catch her attention for a few seconds. The young Uchiha inhaled deeply and Hanako saw her opening she charged at Shinken with all of the speed she could muster.


The gennin’s eyes went wide. He hadn’t expected her to react so quickly. He was unprepared for the attack that came next. Hanako pulled her hand back and began charging wind chakra around it, before thrusting it forward with all of the momentum of her dash behind her.


“Gentle fist: Wind Palm!” She shouted as the attack connected with Shinken’s torso. A small gout of flame shot out of his mouth as he was sent flying back, and Hanako didn’t give him a moment’s reprieve. She began channeling more wind chakra, this time into her feet and legs. As she continued forward and began to fall from over extending her blow, she used the momentum to flip into a spinning kick. As her legs came around and faced Shinken she launched two concussive shockwaves of compressed air at the gennin.


Shinken knew he was in trouble as he neared the ground. Even if he got his footing he could hear the air waves moving toward him. He had to think fast. There was one thing he could try, and if it worked the fight might still go in his favor. She might have been able to use ranged attacks but they had a lot of wind up. Her speed on the ground was the real threat. So with a burst of wind chakra from the palms of his hands the young Uchiha righted himself, and flew up into the air. His feet also began to emit chakra and he was able to stay airborne. He was right. The same principle behind water walking could be used for flight if you gave the chakra an elemental affinity.


Without missing a beat he began to form hand seals for his fireball Jutsu. Hanako was still recovering from her kicks and would only be vulnerable for a few seconds. Channeling fire type chakra into his seals caused his feet to begin to spew jets of fire. He hadn’t yet mastered the art of channeling two different Chakra natures at the same time, but the fire still gave him some lift. It was enough to keep him airborne just long enough to launch his fire release technique at his Jounin. There was no concern for what would happen if the technique hit her in Shinken’s mind. He just needed to prove he was as good as any other ninja, and if he gave Hanako the beat down she deserved doing then all the better.


When Hanako saw the fireball coming she had to think fast. The only way she could think of to avoid it without leaving herself exposed was to use the rotation. The Jounin pushed as much chakra as she could out of her tenketsu hoping for a faster start up on the technique. She was too off balance to kick off of the ground, but she was already spinning so it wasn’t too hard to achieve the sphere of chakra. When the fireball connected with the rotation flames shot off in every direction, and wrapped around the sphere like a tornado of fire, before dispersing and dying down.


Shinken smirked as he touched down harder than he would have liked. He was doing his best to hide the fact that Hanako was clearly winning this fight. He was surprised by just how proficient she was. Despite being his age, she was leagues ahead of him.


“Your techniques aren’t bad.” Shinken said feeling a throbbing pain in his chest. If she had actually been trying to kill him he might have been out of commission from that one blow alone. If he was going to stand any kind of chance against the Jounin he would need all of his skills available to him. Internally he struggled with the idea of unleashing his sharingan on her. One the one hand it would throw her off balance and it might give him an opening, but at the same time if she found out about his ability it would only be a matter of time before the whole village knew. She didn’t seem like one to keep that kind of secret to herself.


“You’re more talented than I thought, but you’re still just a gennin. In the end I was bound to be disappointed.” Hanako said as she regarded Shinken with a critical eye. He didn’t give her the satisfaction of a reaction, instead he thought back on all of the things that had happened in the fight.so far. She seemed to be quite prideful in her abilities, maybe, just maybe that was a weakness the young Uchiha could exploit.


“If I’m such a disappointment then why are you using your clan’s techniques against me? You couldn’t beat me without using your gentle fist style, and if I’m not mistaken that technique you just used was your clan’s defensive technique. Are you that unskilled? A Jounin should be able to take me down without resorting to their bloodline don’t you think?” Shinken said gambling that his Jounin’s pride would overtake her common sense.


“Do you really think I’m that dumb? A ninja uses everything at their disposal to achieve their goals. That shouldn’t be a lesson I have to teach you.” Hanako said condescendingly. Shinken resisted the urge to clench his jaw. That would only give away that he was trying something and it wasn’t working.


“Well, I guess maybe you’re weaker than I thought. At least you admit to it though, in a roundabout sense.” Shinken said watching Hanako carefully. He wanted to see if his words evoked a change in her demeanor. He smirked internally when he saw her face flush with anger. Even if she didn’t act on her emotion it was still there, and the young Uchiha could stoke the flames until it overwhelmed her and she made a mistake.


He was glad to see he wasn’t going to have to wait long to get results from his taunting. The Jounin shifted her weight forward, but she did so in a very obvious manner. It was either a feint, or she wasn’t paying as close attention to her form anymore. Shinken would wait until the last possible second to start moving just in case. As he watched Hanako’s muscles tense up he loosened his own, ready to snap them into action at a moment’s notice. When she lurched forward that was the Uchiha’s signal to move. He pushed himself forward, toward his Jounin. It might have seemed like a crazy move to anyone watching Hanako charge toward him, but it was a calculated risk. Only a moment after he started moving he slammed his foot down and abruptly changed directions. It was a clumsy movement and he expected to at least get grazed by Hanako’s attack, however it served a secondary purpose. It had thrown sand up to her eye level and in her direction. She was moving so fast she wouldn’t be able to stop herself before she passed through the cloud of sand. Either she would bring her hands up to block and leave herself open to Shinken’s touch based genjutsu, or she would get an eyeful of sand. Either option was nothing but beneficial to the young gennin, and both could shift the fight in his favor.


As Hanako moved toward the cloud her eyes went wide. She didn’t expect such a cunning and underhanded tactic from a gennin. This Katsuna kid was smarter than he looked. With no time to stop she desperately tried to think of an alternative to guarding her face with her arms. She would lose sight of Shinken even if only for a few seconds. That was the kind of mistake that got people killed in the field. Just before she got to the cloud she had an idea. On her next stride she pushed herself up onto the ball of her foot and used it as a fulcrum to convert some of her forward momentum into upward momentum. Her feet left the ground just before the sand would have reached her eyes. Instead it sprayed across her neck as she soared toward Shinken, and instead of attempting to deliver a palm thrust that was doomed to fail, she repurposed the charge as a delivery method for a flying knee. One that carried all of the power of her forward momentum.


The young Uchiha’s face was one of surprise as his Jounin dodged the sand he had thrown up to stop her. But his mind quickly analyzed the situation and found another weakness. She was moving forward, and she wasn’t touching the ground. Even a Jounin couldn’t dodge properly if they were unable to propel themselves out of the way. This was the opening he needed. All he had to do was avoid her attack, and he was already moving out of the way. No he was moving out of the way too quickly. He was going to avoid the flying knee, but he wouldn’t be able to strike back with his genjutsu. Unless...If he could use the same principle he had used to fly to cause a change in momentum he could still take advantage of what might be the only opportunity he was going to get to land his genjutsu. All he had to do was slow himself down. With all of the focus he could muster Shinken directed a burst of wind chakra out of his palm. He wasn’t sure that he was going to be able to slow himself in time but he felt the sudden lurching of lost momentum and knew that he had pulled it off. Without even waiting for the last of his chakra to leave his palm Shinken began forming the one handed seal required for the genjutsu he had used on Sayomi. As Hanako’s knee flew past him he reached up and barely grazed it with his fingers.


The Jounin let out a sudden yelp of pain and lost her form. When she landed she tumbled to the ground in a cloud of sand. This was exactly the opportunity Shinken needed. He had enough time to launch his fire release technique at her, and she was defenseless. With a flare of confidence and determination the young Uchiha began forming seals faster than he ever had in his life. His chakra was flowing into the seals so quickly it was almost dizzying. When he filled his lungs with air Hanako was just coming to a stop. ‘This is it! I’ve got her!’ Shinken thought as he unleashed his fire technique in her direction.


Hanako almost didn’t see the attack coming. She had really underestimated this gennin. He was far more capable than he looked. He had done something to her leg, and it took her a moment to realize that he had cast a genjutsu on her. By that time she was already tumbling across the sand. The next thing she saw was the bright light of a fireball. A wave of fear overtook her. This kid was going to hit her with a full force fire technique. Was he insane? She shook off the fear and realized that the young Uchiha wasn’t insane, he just wasn’t underestimating his opponent. He knew that if he let up for even a second she would take advantage of his weakness. As she came to a stop on the sand she pushed her chakra out of her tenketsu, and threw herself up to her feet. As she began to spin she brought up sand around her. She couldn’t get a full rotation up in time, but the sand might be able to shield her from the brunt of the attack. She quickly found out she was right as the flames slammed into the sand and the intense heat transferred into it. The grains of sand began to glow red hot, and eventually liquified As the liquid spun it was flung outward mimicking the splash a large stone would make if it were dropped into a shallow pond. As the fireball dissipated the liquid sand cooled into a glass sculpture centered around Hanako. She had some mild burns on her skin as the heat had still reached her through the sand, but she was still standing.


Shinken watched the fireball engulf his supposed team leader and smirked. “Direct hit. She’s finished.’ The young Uchiha thought with a sense of pride. His confidence was dampened somewhat when the flames faded away and he saw Hanako standing in the middle of a glass structure. ‘She defended against my attack? But how?!” Shinken thought, feeling slightly shaken. His mind quickly snapped back though and his focus narrowed onto Hanako. She was something else that was for sure. All of his surroundings seemed to fade into the background as all of his attention fell onto his team leader. He was going to have to end this quickly, he was running out of tricks.


Michio watched with growing fascination and disbelief. Was that really Shinken out there? This fight looked more like a fight between Chuunin than a Jounin and a Gennin. How much more did his teammate have left in him? He had to be running out of steam by now.


“That...was...impressive Katsuna. I underestimated you. Maybe you are worthy of my BYAKUGAN!” The Jounin said as she formed a single handed tiger seal. Suddenly her eyes white a stark white, and the veins around her eyes bulged out becoming clearly visible. Now she could see his chakra, as well as entire training area. Shinken wouldn’t be able to blindside her or catch her off guard again. She would make the gennin give up. Not only was it the ultimate humiliation but it was an important lesson for him to learn. When the battle was lost it was usually wise to fall back and save lives.


Shinken felt a wave of uncertainty wash over him as he heard the word Byakugan leave Hanako’s lips. There was no way he was going to be able to beat her if she using her Kekkai Genkai. Not without using his sharingan. Still he steeled himself for the fight to come. There was no way he was going to lose this battle. His malice had faltered during this fight and the darkness inside of him had loosened it’s grip on his mind. But thinking of Hanako walking away from this fight as a victor after saying the things she had said brought his malice back to the surface. If she wanted to use dojutsu he would show her exactly what he could really do.


“Well...I guess there’s no point in hiding it anymore... You’ve shown me yours, now let me show you MINE.” Shinken said as a sick smile crossed his face. He tilted his head down and let his chakra flow to his eyes intensify. He thought back to how he had felt the first time his Kekkai Genkai had manifested, and he could feel the sharingan activate. Suddenly he was perceiving details that would have otherwise escaped him. He could see his own chakra glowing inside of his hands and he raised his gaze to meet Hanako’s eyes. The look of shock on her face made his smile widen even further.


When Shinken met her gaze Hanako couldn’t believe what she was seeing. The kid had the sharingan. The red eyes and the black swirls, there was no mistaking it for any other technique. How had a Katsuna achieved the Uchiha’s Kekkai Genkai? For a moment she was stunned in surprise and Shinken took advantage of her moment of weakness.


“Now let’s see you dodge this!” He shouted as his hand formed seals in a flurry of motion. He was going to try the fireball technique again, but this time he was going to let her dodge or perform her defensive maneuver. He would read her movements and react accordingly. WIth his sharingan active his eyes couldn’t be fooled, and he would be able to predict where she was going to go.


Hanako saw Shinken’s chakra flowing into his hands as he made the seals. His hand movements were far too quick for her to read the seals, but she could hazard a guess at what he was doing. He was going to throw another fireball her way. Her rotation technique used up a lot of chakra, and even though she wasn’t even at half her limit she didn’t want to be wasting chakra now. She still had to test Michio, and then go on a mission, and she couldn’t do that if she had no chakra left. Instead she would avoid the attack all together. She jumped to the side sending chakra through the tenketsu in her feet to give her extra speed and distance, but Shinken saw her movements before she even made them, and he saw the chakra flowing out of her tenketsu. With all of the information his eyes took in he was able to calculate where the Jounin would be before she got there, and with a burst of speed he set out on the offensive.


Shinken formed the seal for his genjutsu just before he got to his target. He saw her muscle fibers tense as she prepared to pull away from him and adjusted the path of his hand accordingly His calculations were correct and he was able to graze her forearm. As he forced his chakra into her system via physical contact he saw her visibly recoil. Even though she knew that this technique was a genjutsu it seemed she was unable to resist it, only avoid it. That emboldened the young Uchiha, and he continued to press the assault. Hanako retaliated by attempting to strike Shinken’s tenketsu hoping to drive him off, but with his eyes he was able to shift his body enough that her strikes missed most of the vital points she was aiming for. Her technique required too much precision. While Shinken’s on the other hand simply required him to touch his target. As the Jounin felt the pain searing through her arms and legs with each glancing blow she decided enough was enough. After taking a back step she began to spin as fast as she could pouring her chakra out of her tenketsu with all of the power she could muster.


The young Uchiha saw the chakra coming off of the Hyuuga girl, but the movement was so violent and sudden that even his sharingan didn’t let him react fast enough to avoid the sudden mid step rotation. The chakra field caught Shinken in the chest and knocked him away with such force that he continued to tumble for almost ten feet after he hit the ground. The young ninja could feel that the breath had been knocked out of him as he got to his feet. He had been using alot of chakra this entire fight and it was finally starting to catch up to him. He was slowing down, and combined with the fact he could barely breathe right now he suddenly didn’t feel so good about his odds.


“I don’t care what kind of Jutsu you have. This ends now!” Hanako said between breaths. She had used up a lot of chakra in that last rotation, and the mental strain of enduring so much pain had really started to take it’s toll on her mind. She began forming hand seals for one of her more powerful ninjutsu. Normally in this situation she would have used taijutsu to finish her opponent but she didn’t want to get close to Shinken again, his sharingan and the precision required to hit tenketsu made close combat a situation that favored the Uchiha. When she finished the final seal of her technique the sand began to be pulled up into what looked like a tornado. Shinken tried to read the jutsu and copy it but he had pushed himself too far, and wasn’t able to shape his chakra properly. This was going to be the end for him. He had lost the fight despite his best efforts. Still he wouldn’t give up, not even at the end. As the whirlwind flew toward him he attempted to avoid it by using his chakra to launch himself to the left. The technique turned to follow him, and he jumped backward away from it. The Jounin’s jutsu continued to follow him even as he changed directions mid jump. It was like she was controlling it. That was when he saw that she was holding the final seal of the technique. If he could just break her focus he might be able to disrupt the jutsu and at least call it a tie.


With his quickly dropping chakra level, and the quickly approaching technique Shinken knew that he was only going to have one shot at saving himself. He formed the seals for his fire release technique one last time and poured nearly all of his chakra into it. When he exhaled the fireball he produced was at least double if not triple the size of the normal technique. He was surprised at what he was able to achieve. It was so big that dodging would require all of Hanako’s focus. He watched as she dropped her jutsu and just barely avoided the technique. Smoke plumes rose off of her singed clothing and she had another slightly more serious burn on her left arm.


Using one of her more powerful ninjutsu after using the rotation so many times had really drained Hanako’s chakra. If Shinken was able to keep this up he might actually win the fight. How was he doing this? He was fresh out of the academy, no fresh gennin should be able to fight like this. She got her answer when Shinken’s eyes faded back to their normal coloring. He wasn’t treating this like a sparring match. He was going with everything he had. The kid was impressive that was for sure, but he was foolish to fight so hard right before a mission. Even if it was just an herb gathering mission a ninja never knew what was waiting for them out in the world.


“Alright. You’ve proven your point Katsuna. You’re out of chakra. This fight is over.” She said as she deactivated her Byakugan. Shinken had to begrudgingly agree. He didn’t have what it took to take out Hanako, but he had given her a run for her money. If she had been fighting Michio as well things might have gone a lot differently.


“You’re actually not half bad, but you’re careless in your use of chakra. If that had been a real fight you’d be dead right now.” The Jounin said as she looked over to Michio. She didn’t know if sparring with him was such a good idea. She was already injured and running low on Chakra. Though she still needed to know exactly what he was capable of. After a moment of consideration she came to a decision.


“Michio, tell me what Katsuna did wrong in that fight. At what point was the fight already lost?” Hanako ordered in a stern voice. Part of her really did want to hear Michio’s assessment of the fight, but the real reason she wanted to keep him talking was to give her a moment to refocus her chakra and regain some of her stamina. That fight had taken more out of her than she would have liked to admit.

As soon as Michio charged their Jounin Shinken knew that the ending of the fight wasn’t going to be pretty one way or the other. He immediately started focusing on what little chakra he had left. There was almost a sense of desperation in his mind as he tried to recover his ability to fight. He might have to save Hanako from Michio, and to do that he would need to be able to use his jutsu. Slowly but surely he felt the energy seeping back into his muscles and the warm feeling of his fire based chakra returning. The fight was absolutely brutal. The kaguya stood no chance as the Hyuuga dodged and weaved around his attacks. And then she opened up with the same technique she had tried to use on Shinken. The ability to shut down chakra flow by attacking the tenketsu. Only this time she succeeded. The young Uchiha flinched with each strike as he watched the Jounin pick his friend apart.


When Hanako began to walk towards Shinken, and Michio started getting up the young ninja silently prayed for his friend to stay down. Of course that wasn’t in his nature and he got to his feet. A feat that was impressive in it’s own right, but then he charged at the Jounin. That only made Shinken focus his chakra faster. This fight was going too far. Even the Uchiha knew when he was beaten, but Michio just wouldn’t give up. His movements were slow and clumsy, and when he tried to strike Hanako he was met with a powerful rotation. The Kaguya’s bone claws were ripped right out of his hands with a sickening sound followed by a spray of blood. But the Hyuuga didn’t stop there she continued the rotation keeping it just strong enough to batter Michio but not strong enough to knock him away. After three whole seconds she finally flung the older gennin away like a broken doll. Shinken could feel a sense of rage filling him. That was his teammate, and her student. She had no right to be so cruel. Or to treat him like that. To top it off she was now trying to break his spirit. After almost five minutes of just focusing his chakra Shinken had finally had enough. When she grabbed Michio by the chin he was on her in a heartbeat. He grabbed her hand with all the grip strength he could muster, and out of instinct his sharingan reactivated.


“That’s enough!” He growled as he clutched at Hanako’s arm. The Jounin looked him dead in the eyes with her Byakugan and smirked.


“What are you going to stop me? Do you even have the chakra left to fight?” She said mockingly. Shinken’s expression darkened and became very serious.


“Yes.” He said coldly as he formed the hand seal for his genjutsu in the blink of an eye. Suddenly the Jounin let go of Michio’s chin and Shinken used the opportunity to deliver a well placed kick to her midsection. He wasn’t the strongest ninja, but he was still fast, and that speed meant momentum. Hanako was sent stumbling backward and Shinken placed himself between the Hyuuga and the Kaguya.


“I won’t let you hurt my friend.” He said his voice full of iron and determination. He was going to give her one last chance to back down. The Jounin was battered and weak, but her will to fight was still as strong as ever as she took the traditional Hyuuga battle stance.


“Then come on. Try and stop me.” She said almost maliciously. She was fed up with these insubordinate gennin. They both needed to be put in their place, and she was done holding back. Shinken didn’t know it but he and the Jounin were of very similar mindsets, as he was through putting up with her attitude and her mistreatment of others. It seemed that once again he was going to have to be the one to stand up to injustice, and be the change he sought to make in the ninja world.


With his sharingan active he knew he could avoid being struck in his tenketsu points at the very least, and close combat was a much better option than it had been in their previous fight. Infact if he watched for a flare in her chakra he might be able to trick her into wasting energy on her rotation until she could no longer fight. It would be an appropriate turn around of the result of their last fight. With a plan in hand Shinken advanced on the team leader, if she could even be called that at this point.


As soon as Shinken was in range Hanako attempted to launch an assault on the young gennin, and if it hadn’t been for his Sharingan he might have fallen for her deception. It wasn’t just her fingertips that were glowing this time. It was her entire hand. That was an attack he couldn’t afford to be hit by. He could still feel the effects of the palm strike she had landed on his chest. It hurt every time he moved, but he didn’t care about the pain. What mattered was proving his point and protecting his friend from this b***h that called herself a leader.


His eyes scanned her body looking for signs of where she was going to aim, and found that her front leg was tensed up, as if she were going to carry through on the attack and start up a combo. Her arm’s muscles twitched just enough for him to predict the path her strike was going to take and he twisted his body to the side. If she was going to follow up with a combo he had to interrupt her somehow. The only thing he could think of that was fast enough and packed enough of a punch was his genjutsu. He formed the seal with his right hand and targeted the front of her leg with the other. He was hoping that the pain would cause her to shift her weight off of the leg, but he got more than he expected. With the momentum of her failed attack carrying her forward and a sudden jolt of agonizing pain emanating from her leg the Jounin stumbled forward, face first into the ground.


Shinken took the opportunity to jump back and start forming seals for his fire release jutsu. He may have only had the two offensive techniques but if you truly mastered something it was all you would ever need in any given situation. At least that’s what he hoped. As Hanako got to her feet she was immediately forced to perform a rotation to block the flames shooting from Shinken’s mouth. He didn’t think she had many more rotations left in her, and his Chakra reserves were still going strong. As long as he made his techniques count this time, he was sure he could outlast her.


The Jounin let out a cry of frustration as she stopped spinning. The sand around her had been turned into uneven waves of glass. That was another thing Shinken realized he could use against her. If he continued to alter the terrain and herded her around he could place her in an enviornment where her footing would be unstable. That would give him the edge as well. If she was tired and on a footing that was uneven and fragile he might even be able to take her in hand to hand. At the very least she wouldn’t be able to properly avoid his genjutsu.


He advanced again this time from another angle and again he was met with an attack. This time it was a feint. He could see the chakra gathering in her other hand and the level of tension in her striking arm was minimal. The other arm however was coiled more tightly than a spring. Knowing her plan he was able to shift his weight to one side and spin around so that he was back to back with her.and formed the seal for his genjutsu again. He shifted his weight to his other foot and used his momentum to continue his spin. He knew that she had all around vision and his best chance of landing another strike with the genjutsu was to keep moving. His other hand came around and slapped into the Hyuuga’s hip. She let out another cry and dipped for just a moment. With his team leader distracted from the pain of the first strike Shinken mustered all of the speed he could and brought his hand back to strike the inside of her knee with two fingers.


The pain that flowed through Hanako’s joint caused her to let out a shrill shriek as her leg gave out again. Shinken saw his strategy working. She wasn’t just running out of chakra. The rapid movements of the repeated rotations was putting a strain on her physically too. The Jounin was slowing down significantly.


“Give up. You’re losing this fight.” Shinken said as dashed backward and and formed the seals for his fireball jutsu again. Without waiting for an answer or giving her time to respond, or recover he kneaded the chakra in his mouth forming it into flames before spewing it out at the Jounin.


Hanako couldn’t believe what was happening. A gennin was keeping up with her. Even if she was tired and running out of chakra there was no way that someone like Shinken should be able to best her. As the flames approached her she did the only thing she could do and started rotating while pouring her chakra out of her tenketsu to form a barrier. This time however before she stopped rotating she formed a single hand seal and disappeared. Some of the flames got through and licked at her flesh but they only left very minor burns. ‘A worthwhile trade off’ she thought as she reappeared right behind Shinken in a puff of smoke.


Shinken hadn’t seen the substitution jutsu because the glow of the chakra in the rotation had blocked his view of Hanako. By the time he realized what was going on it was too late. The Jounin was behind him and already in the process of delivering a two pronged strike to his back. The young Uchiha felt a sharp stinging sensation followed by a burning numbness. He knew before Hanako even said the words that he had been struck in his tenketsu points. He reacted on instinct and shoved as much of his chakra through the soles of his feet as he could. The blast of wind sent him soaring into the air. He could feel that some of the muscles in his back and been paralyzed and he also felt how much harder it was to control his chakra now as he began frantically making seals for his fireball jutsu.


Shinken launched the fireball from his mouth knowing that she had found an answer to at least one half of his strategy, but there were several places on the battlefield that had now been turned to glass. If he could just get her on one of those he might be able to finish the fight.


The fact that Anako had found a way around his strategy of throwing fireballs when she was vulnerable actually worked to his advantage as she dodged to the side and substituted behind him again. Luckily for Shinken he had the sharingan and he was able to copy her substitution jutsu to appear on the ground right below her. He knew she could see him but she wouldn’t be able to defend against a fireball with anything other than a mid air rotation now. He could feel his chakra levels dropping fast. With all of the jutsu he had just used in rapid succession and how long he had been using the Sharingan he had to finish it here or it was just going to be a repeat of the last fight. He deactivated his sharingan and threw everything he had into a sustained gout of flame. He held it until he was sure he was going to give out, and then he heard Hanako scream and immediately ended the Jutsu. He saw the Hyuuga falling to the ground and ran over to catch her. Her momentum carried him to the ground and as he fell he saw several severe burns on her exposed skin. He had taken it a bit too far, but he had given her a chance to give up. This was her own fault.


“Well...s**t. Now I’m down a teammate and a team leader. I guess I’ll have to carry Michio to the oasis…” He said as he got up and walked over to the Kaguya. Luckily there was an academy student who had been watching the last half of the fight. Shinken hadn’t noticed him because he had been so focused on winning the fight. At least there was a witness to say that he gave her a chance to surrender and she just kept coming.


“Hey Kid I need you to take her to the medical ninja. I have to go get more ingredients for healing salves.” Shinken ordered as he bent down and picked up his friend.


“Come on we have to go. She needs that salve if she’s going to make any kind of recovery.” Shinken said as he took the full weight of his teammate onto his shoulders. Michio was much heavier than he expected.and he almost couldn’t carry the Kaguya. Despite the fatigue in his muscles he continued to carry his friend out of the gates of the village and into the country of the wind.




Moving from the village to wind country