Red Riot - Chapter 9 - Red Graduation (Patreon)

Himeko was not amused at my proclamation. At all. 

She let me know this by punching me in the face. Repeatedly.

If I gave her any chance, she did it. Sometimes she wouldn’t even wait for during our training sessions. She’d walk past me and suddenly lash out. Then she’d occasionally twitch, and ignore me on other occasions as I reacted.

I liked to think it made me better at reading people’s feints and intentions.

Sadly, that wasn’t Himeko’s purpose. She was beyond pissed with me. Any training session from then on became a beat down with her not letting up until I could no longer stand. She’d never say anything, just stand over me heaving in huge breaths of air. Then she’d stalk away, leaving me to lick my wounds.

And not once did I play the card that I hoped would be enough to defeat Kitoma. In truth, I’d be gambling on an ability that I had never before wielded. It was a massive risk. But it was the best card I had to play.  Not the only card. But easily the best.

When Himeko wouldn’t train with me I instead slammed my fists, elbows, legs and knees into a training post, timing the hits as precisely as I could with a technique I dubbed the ‘chakra burst’.

Chakra burst, or an amateurish attempt at Tsunade’s powerful blows trained above all other techniques. Tsunade after al lwas known for her slender frame but being one of the strongest shinobi around. This I knew to be thanks to her chakra control. So I worked myself hard to become stronger through saturating and controlling the chakra within my limbs as much as the muscles, bones, and tendons. I became aware of my body to a degree I had never had before then but it still wasn't enough to beat Himeko. 

Not that I was trying that hard with her... I didn't want my friend to be red salsa after all. 

The academy as a whole had become a strange place,  with the knowledge of what was to come looming over everyone. The stillness of our cohort, the students that were set to graduate, caused ripple effects with the students in the years below us becoming more careful in their actions. They were like small fish swimming through suddenly calm waters. In the past chaotic actions had clouded their movements.

In the calm waters, they became exposed.

It wasn’t that things calmed down entirely, it was merely that everyone tempered their actions, double-checked their sides before acting and otherwise moved carefully.

Some of this was a result of a whisper campaign on my part with the civilian shinobi. More and more people wondered, what would happen if I won?

It was widely known that there was a deal between my group and the Terumi. If the Hozuki fell into line with me and the Kaguya bowed their heads, I would ostensibly rule the academy.

What would it mean to be the Emperor of the academy?

It slipped from lips into ears that slowly turned the words over in their minds. What indeed would it mean?

I have to admit that I cringed when I heard the title.

Apparently, Kizan and Rei had gotten excitable and decided to create mythos around me. That none could defeat me when it truly mattered. That I’d fought real shinobi in my time, a blatant lie of course, but one that made people stop and consider me a little more. I’d a megalodonshark, one of the scariest sharks of the deep to encounter. Etcetera, etcetera.

This had resulted in other nicknames being bandied about as the age of the academy students shone through.

Kitoma became the beast. Shoto became the sneak. Rei the south wind. Gin Hozuki became Oily. Hanahime Terumi became the Fair. Himeko became the Oni.

I admit I leaned on the other kids when they were coming up with the last two’s names. It annoyed me that Gin liked his name when he’d heard it. He’d grinned widely and walked the halls without a care in the world. The name suited him far too much it seemed.

The instructors were of course aware of all of this. While some of us could hide certain things from them these days, and even sneak up on them, we couldn’t stop them learning about the deal. Too many people were in the know. The incident itself was public enough that I had no doubt that they’d been observing the entire affair. Or they’d attempt to.

While I worked on my taijutsu as much as I could, I set Shoto on harder and harder tasks to work his stealth skills to a honed edge. I’d need him if I wanted to keep things obfuscated.

The Instructors found new ways to make us butt heads with training exercises. Teams were called to fight in close quarters, afar, and even ambush each other. But we only ever fought during the exercises. The fights that usually were hidden—the trips, the catcalling, the shots to the ribs as you walked by each other—were gone.

Everything went on pause while the days ticked down towards the last expedition. The instructors became much more paranoid about locking down the information. By this stage, most of our cohort knew it to be a test of our skills to secure the information. Not that it meant much as last year they had grown wise to our tricks and started randomly assigning the location at the last moment.

Still, it was better to keep our guards up. When they announced that we would be returning to the shark coast I had to laugh. It would be a vacation site for us now. What with how we’d grown since the first year.

In the weeks leading up to it a number of instructors came to watch our matches during the taijutsu or bukijutsu sessions. They all watched as I fought against Himeko or another closely. Some scoffed. Some frowned. Some merely kept neutral expressions, but I could see the thoughts in their mind. What did I know that they didn’t? What trump card did I think I had that I could win? Against the Kaguya Beast?

Kizan approached me with a particularly large smile on his face. I cut him off before he could start. “They’re gambling on the outcome aren’t they?” His pout answered that question. “What were my odds?” I asked instead of teasing him about how obvious it was.

“Fifty to one,” he said after a moment of grumbling. “Want us to place a bet on you?” he said with a smirk.

“Nah, when I win they won’t give you your money.” Kizan scowled at my response but couldn’t fault my logic.

On the weekend before the expedition, Himeko didn’t fight me. She merely sat with us as our group poured over a map that we’d made from our recollections of the Shark Coast from the last time we’d been there.

“—that’s if they don’t pull another quick one on us and change the location at the last minute,” said Shoto with a scowl as the others spoke of what supplies we’d need.

“We’ve got storage scrolls. We’ll just prepare as much as we can,” I said.

Kizan smiled smugly, it was thanks to him and his family that we’d been able to secure the scrolls. But no instructions on how to create them beyond vagaries that were wafted around.

Apparently, the ink itself needed to be specially prepared and primed with chakra. Then the seals needed to be perfectly created each and every time with chakra tracing while the fuinjutsu user created them. I wasn’t sure how much was true.

I did know that it was possible to not even use ink and paper for fuinjutsu thanks to watching the anime. Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and others didn’t need it for certain seals, but I was still running blind on a good deal of the rather minor but extremely important details of how.

I could only hope that once I was a Genin, I might have more access to resources.

Storage seals were only the start of what I wanted to be able to create with fuinjutsu.

“How are our weapons?” I asked the group. Himeko scoffed, but I ignored her.

“We’re all set on kunai, shuriken, bo staff, and the few swords that we’ve been able to work out so far.”

“They won’t do you any good against Kitoma,” she said bitingly.

I waved a hand. “They’re not for him. They’re for if Gin decides to welch or double cross us.”

“Hanahime could also double-cross us,” Shoto said, playing devil’s advocate. I grimaced but nodded.

“Chances of that are low but you’re not wrong. It is possible,” I conceded. I waved a hand back and forth. “First off, we will need to get ourselves in as good a position for the fight. If we do get the shark coast as our destination, then there will be an objective which depending on its nature, we might forfeit.”

“Forfeit the objective!?” barked Shark-bait. “But!? We've almost always won the missions we’ve been given!”

“Stupid outpost mission,” grumbled another kid as they recalled another mission where we’d been tasked, in a rotating roster, to hold a position against other kids.

The entire affair had been chaotic. It didn’t matter if you had been the attacker or the defender. We learned the importance of a chain of command and clear objectives. And also that trying to hold a position as a shinobi force against another shinobi force was a very difficult process. It was better to meet them in the field unless you had serious time to lay down traps in your fortress.

Otherwise, your fortress became a mere inconvenience rather than an advantage.

“Matsu,” Himeko said cutting through the chatter. She glared at me. “What are you going to do about Kitoma? You’re not good enough at Taijutsu to beat him!”

“I have a trick up my sleeve… or two,” I said casually. When her glare intensified I shook my head. “I can’t tell you what it is.” I stared straight into her eyes, not once looking anywhere else such as the shadows, or the ledge behind her. Nor one of the kids that I knew was too sick to be here today but that had turned up hale and hearty.

Himeko must have understood why I wasn’t speaking, or at least part of the reason, as she huffed. “Whatever, I’m not going to cry when you’re dead.” She stood and leapt away, leaving me to frown after her.

I shook my head and waved to Kizan. “Let’s get this wrapped up.” He sighed and shook his head. I ignored him. I didn’t have time for the drama of what he must have been thinking. All of my focus on on the coming expedition, and through it, the answer to the graduation ceremony.

Or, at least a bettering of the odds for my cohort.

When it came time to depart we were all marched aboard a ship before setting sail into the night. At first, it seemed like we were going north, which would have been the wrong direction for the Shark coast, but then we turned and made for what had been our first, and would be last true expedition.

“That’s a lot of ships going out,” Shoto said looking to the south even as the ship swung east.

I glanced up and noticed what he’d pointed out. On the water, with multiple lanterns sparkling out codes to each other, was an armada of ships. I swallowed.

“Are those all our ships?” I asked worriedly. I glanced up to the north to make sure no oposing fleet was appearing on the water to contest them.

I wasn’t certain that Kirigakure had ever been raided. The history books the Instructors liked to espouse claimed it had never been breached which was worth less than the page it was printed on.  According to what I knew of the Naruto lore I’d never heard of Kirigakure… or indeed any of the Vialgles being assaulted. Raided, infiltrated, or double-crossed? Yes. But that the Villages never got sacked? No, nothing was ever alluded to. I could only watch the ships sail and worry at my lip. This was my life now, not some anime or manga.

Shoto squinted. “I can’t work out all the signals… some of them might be clan ships but a few are regulars from what I can see them flashing on their signal lanterns. It would be easier during the day to work it out.” I merely nodded. The clan sigils would be more visible during the day.

I frowned. “How many ships do you count?” I asked even as I started to count myself.

“... thirty-two?” Shoto said hesitantly.

“I got that many as well.” Which might only be a lower threshold. With ships, there were often stragglers more often than not. Also, some of the ships might be masking others following in their wake, which with some of the reefs around Kirigakure was more than likely.

It created an interesting question however. Why were so many ships departing Kirigakure at once? With the second war begun wouldn’t they have been deployed already? Not unless a position was being drastically reinforced…

A wind blew over my bald scalp and I sighed. I ran over it. I could guess where they might be going. I was probably wrong. I hoped I was wrong, honestly, but somehow I doubted it.

I sighed. “It won’t affect us. Let’s focus on what’s coming our way.” I turned away from the ships that might be sailing out to destroy Uzushio and instead locked eyes with Kitoma.

He grinned back at me but I held his gaze for the entire ride back to the Shark Coast.

When we got there the instructors must have been feeling nostalgic as they brought us to a stop out over the water where the cliffs rose up. Unlike last time, it was high tide and the surf surged against the wall making it slick.

“Rules are simple this time brats! King of the hill! There is one marked-out area on the island! Hold it the longest and win!” I barely registered the instructor's words as he droned on about how we could fight. I didn’t care for the Academy’s mission. I had another mission, one much more important.

“GO!” shouted the instructor and all of us leapt off the ship. We raced across the water, our eyes peeled for threats both in the water, above, and running along with us.

Sharks leapt at us only for us to glide past them without batting an eye. They were just parts of the landscape to us now. Not even that serious a threat.

When we hit the cliff we jumped off the water and scaled it at a flat sprint. I remember this taking me a minute or so last time. Now? I did it in seconds. The others reached the edge, and we slowed to a halt as a group.

I leaned in and tapped Shoto on the shoulder. “I need you to do something for me,” I said.

“Say the word,” he replied.

“While I’m fighting Kitoma… think you can take out the observers? All of them before the end?”

He blinked in surprise before nodding slowly. “Gotcha,” he said. Then he darted away. He passed Hanahime Terumi and her posse without a word causing her to frown.

Gin watched him depart for a moment with narrowed eyes, only to turn back to me. “Alright street born! Time to put up with what you promised—” I ignored him and instead looked to the Kaguya contingent. I paused on Himeko standing to the side with what looked like a number of bruises across her body that hadn’t been there a few days ago. I frowned momentarily, wondering why she hadn’t come to me to heal them, before I found my gaze drawn to a smirking Kitoma Kaguya.

I shrugged off my backpack and rolled my shoulders.

Kitoma’s smirk grew into a feral grin as he stepped forward, his own pack sliding off his back.

Gin, who’d continued to talk trash registered the shift in my behaviour and glanced back only to be surprised. “Eh, you’re not going to—”

Kitoma and I ran at each other.

By unspoken consent, neither of us bothered waiting. We were going to settle this here and now on the first day.

He went high with a sweeping arm that would have clotheslined me and skewered me on the bones even now erupting from his arm.

I slid past him and snapped a fist into the side of his knee only for him to twist away and leave me hitting nothing but air.

I dug into the earth with my chakra, and spun myself flicking dirt up into his eyes and break dance spinning myself into a fast kick.

He stepped forward and I had to change my target to his kidneys. He dropped his elbow and tried to stab into me. I shot a blast of chakra into my leg right as I was about to make impact. My entire leg twitched just a little harder and caught Kitoma out of position.

He skidded back and I rose up testing my foot and making sure he hadn’t cut me. He hadn’t.

“Hahahaha! And to think my cousin was worried you wouldn’t be a good enough fight for me!” he said rolling his shoulders and shredding his shirt with how his movements caused growing bones to cut it. His shirt fell away and revealed a series of small plates lover his skin that make me hiss in annoyance.

He had an exoskeleton of bone? How had he… Damn, I’d grown complacent with what Himeko could do and what I could remember from Kimimaro. Is this what a clan kid trained in their tricks could achieve when pushed?

The bones continued to grow around his form and he became armoured like he was some knight with metal armour rather than bone.

“I’ve been looking forward to this!” said Kitoma.

I shot a glance around, hoping against all hope, that Shoto had succeeded against even my most wild expectations. It was only ANBU and hunter nin hopefuls he was seeking out after all!

I licked my lips. Alright, time to see how my chakra burst fared against an armoured foe.

I leapt forward, seeking to close. Himeko was always annoying if you stayed at range with how she was able to throw her bones at you. I noticed Kitoma looked overjoyed that I was closing the gap.

I planted my foot and launched a heavy punch right into his chest.

Then, like I’d practised on my own for the last few months, I unleashed my chakra in a controlled pattern. From the feet, my chakra swept up my body, into my legs, back, spine, shoulders, neck and arms right at the instant of contact.

I hit like I was swinging a hammer rather than just my fist and this time Kitoma felt it as his bone shattered and I punched him right in the chest. Sadly this time he only slid a little before he reasserted himself. I frowned. I’d knocked him back further last time.

Had he leapt back to give himself more room?

Kitoma shook himself and tiny fragments of bone fell off his chest. It almost seemed fibrous.

It sort of reminded me of another substance I’d seen… but not in this life.

Kitoma attacked and this time it was all I could do to avoid the sweeping claws and the stabbing thrusts from forearm bones that were suddenly leaping from his armour shell.

Did Kitoma always have this armour on underneath his clothes? I suddenly wanted to check where he’d been standing. Had the earth been more heavily depressed there compared to the other Kaguya around him? If he did, it might allow him faster usage of his bones. In a way, he’d already charged his jutsu. Maybe he always walked around with bone armour on? It made sense for a shinobi to cheat like that.

Not that I was going to call foul on him. For one, no one would care.

In fact, they’d applaud him.

I skipped backwards as another fist almost eviscerated me. I could just barely register Shoto grappling with another chakra signature outside of the ring of kids that had formed around us loosely.

This wasn’t like the academy grounds where the worst you’d get was a punch or a cut after all. They all gave each other enough room to dodge if we got close enough to them. All their eyes were on us.

Kitoma jumped into the air and became a whirling dervish of bone. I didn’t even have the option to counterattack with how fast he moved. 

The edges of the plates would have been the best points but I couldn’t hit those without being much more careful than I could afford.

A bone that grew from the base of Kitoma’s spine slashed around and I had to lean back until I almost tipped over backwards. The detached flail of bone that I was pretty sure was made up of spinal cord grown like links in a chain still raked my form, cutting through my clothes and sparking off the chain mesh armour I wore.

I felt some of it give and a splash of blood hit the ground.

The bones that formed a loose faceplate retracted to show his teeth. “First blood!” he said and I snorted.

If it were anyone else first strike would have gone to me and I might have already claimed victory. Against anyone else the earlier punches I’d landed on him would have shattered their spines.

It was why I’d developed it, but never used it against Himeko.

I wanted to get strong, but I didn’t want to kill her.

I had more than a few shattered bloody training posts that bore testament to this training in the pools these days. Once I’d had the storage scroll, smuggling in posts wasn’t an issue.

A single hit should have been enough.

It barely phased Kitoma. Somehow, without knowing it he’d pre-empted one of the cards I’d hoped to use. I narrowed my eyes as my mind worked at how he’d done it.

I saw his eye shift and instinct flared. I stomped my foot and exploded chakra into the ground causing it to crate out and shake. More than a few kids stumbled. Himeko and my group all kept their balance.

Kitoma lurched.

I’d timed my stomp just as he was about to lunge forward. With the ground giving out from underneath him, he found himself falling sword much further and he had to adjust.

I spread my chakra out and threw myself forward. I’d been ready for this trick. This was something I’d used against Himeko in training before.

I swept my foot into his temple and once against empowered it right on the point of contact with chakra burst causing the impact to wrench Kitomas head to the side. The armour plate around his head cracked and then exploded into tiny dust particles.

He leapt back and reformed his armour.

I glared at him. “Your armour has multiple levels to it,” I said indicating the reforming armor. “You’ve got a hard outershell, and then layers that are soft, not quite dust but enough to take impacts and disperse it. Or discharge it.” Bone shouldn’t work as well as fibroglass matrices. Damn chakra could do amazing things.

If Formula One engineers could understand what Kitoma was doing they’d have the safest cars around.

It was damned impressive that this kid must have come up with this. Were other Kaguya like this? Savages that had tricks that were engineering marvels in truth?

“Ho? Wellm you are impressive aren't you!? Picking apart a clan secret just like that? Dangerous! I’m afraid I can’t play around any more now.”

Another flail of spines formed up and disconnected from him. With twin spinal flails he spun them about before suddenly the head detached and went soaring right at my head. I ducked to the side only to find Kitoma there and swinging with the other. I clenched my toes, spiking my chakra and threw myself in another direction, only to have to continue to dance backwards.

I cursed myself for speaking up earlier. I’d definitely hit the nail on the head, but in doing so I’d forced Kitoma to get serious. His secret bone technique obviously wasn’t something he’d expected anyone to solve, and without an osmotic understanding of engineering from watching car crashes from a previous life, I wouldn’t have known.

I was wounded once again and sent spinning when Kitoma launched his entire flail at me only to charge after it and commit to kicking me in its shadow. I felt my shirt tear as once more my mesh armour failed to hold against the bones of the Kaguya. My shoulder bleed freely and I grimaced. That was not something I could ignore…

I hobbled back and laid a hand on my shoulder, using the green chakra of iryoninjutsu to cause the cut to heal and the muscles to mend.

“It doesn’t matter,” Kitoma said as he picked back up his flail swinging it about faster and faster. If it weren’t so deadly I’d almost liken it to a kid’s spinning arm attack.

I felt Shoto take down another oberserver, and he leapt at another. His chakra surged in a pattern that caused a number of other chakra-sensitive kids to twitch in surprise as he kicked the last observer out of the tree.

The thump of the ANBU trainee’s body hitting the dirt caused even more people to turn away. Kitoma twitched around. His eyes fell off me. Shoto leapt after the agent. “That was the last one!” he shouted to me.

I adopted the Ram seal, both sides of my two forefingers pointing upwards while the other two were overlapped. I reached into myself and touched on the first node of chakra within my mind.

I lifted the metaphorical latch and like an engine opened up the throttle.

Instense chakra surged through me causing everyone’s attention to snap back onto me.

Kitoma whirled on me. “What trick is this?”

I merely grinned and exploded into a dead sprint. There’d been twenty metres between us a heartbeat ago. I closed it in an instant and Kitoma, caught off guard by my sudden surge in speed, took another hit to the face. This time, I struck with my palm and closed my fingers right over his helmet.

He blinked in surprise and I could see his eyes narrow. I felt his chakra surge as he commanded his already fractured helmet to repair itself and form horns to stab into me.

I lifted him off the ground, bringing my other hand up onto his head. The impact dazed him slightly and I felt another snippet of my past life rising up.

I knew that the brain could react to forces such as disturbance by shutting itself off. The brain had a wonderful protective casing that I had no doubt that Kitoma might have even reinforced with his bloodline.

The brain itself however?

That would still be soft meat.

With him caught in my grasp, I shook him for all I was worth. I was like a bartender shaking a martini. With my chakra-enhanced-strength I was like a terrier with a rat. In my grasp, his brain rattled about in his skull with the forces I exerted on it.

Kitoma still made me work for it. I had to raise a hand off his head and bat away a number of bone spikes even as I shook him about. With a single gate opened to me, my strength had increased five-fold. I broke bones faster than they could form from Kitoma. I tired of this after a few seconds however end launched my arm to crunch it down on his shoulder.

I clenched down and broke though his arm once again. And then I broke his other shoulder.

He screamed, and I clapped my hand back onto his head to flick him like an angler with a fishing rod.

That caused him to cut off mid-scream and go limp.

I dropped him to the ground and stood over him ready to throw another punch right into his face. I could cave his nose into his brain with ease, I knew it. With this power coursing through me I felt powerful in ways I didn’t truly understand.

I heaved in lungfuls of air even as my chakra blazed through my coils.

I watched him, laying underneath me for any hint of betrayal.

Around me, a corona of chakra blazed like an armour of my own.

I stepped back slowly, and lowered my fists. I took another final breath and then looked up.

Everyone’s gaze was locked onto me.

The naked shock was painted wholesale across entire groups of kids. Eyes bulged, mouths gaped. And no one dared speak a word.

I locked eyes with a fearful-looking Gin.

“I won our bet.”

I then stepped onto Kitoma’s chest with my foot, my fist rising to the sky. “I defeated Kitoma Kaguya! DOES ANYONE DISPUTE THIS CLAIM!?” I glared around the battlefield. And it was a battlefield. With only Taijutsu techniques, it wasn’t common to see such devastation but both of us had left our marks with shattered earth and stone in our wake.

The Kaguya clansmen all bowed their heads. Himeko stared at me as though she’d never seen me before, a new look in her eyes as she too bowed her head. I saw her exhale in relief. I then turned to Hanahime.

“Do you witness this?” I said to her.

“Very much so,” she flicked her gaze to the watcher that Shoto was kneeling on. The young man was knocked out. “Why did you knock them out?”

“Didn’t want everyone getting too good an idea about what happened.”

She hummed and I knew she doubted that would work all that well. I merely hummed. I knew some of what occurred would spill, but the fine details wouldn’t be something most kids would know. The instructors would get a very muddled answer as to what happened.

I resealed my first gate. Instantly, the world felt larger. Gravity felt heavier. I trembled slightly. I flexed my muscles to hide the response, but I saw the way Hanahime’s eyes narrowed.

I smiled at her and turned myself to Gin.

“Our deal was that I beat the best and I get the right to a favour?”

He huffed and waved a dismissive hand at me. “What did you want us to let you win the last mission without contesting you? Fine have it!” His voice almost broke at the end there. Had I scared him?

“I don’t want that. With the next expedition, I want you and yours to follow my groups lead. No matter what happens.”

Gin narrowed his eyes his gaze turning thoughtful. “You know something about the final expedition… what do you know? My own father won’t tell me!” He shifted and his hands clenched. A number of very thoughtful gazes turned in my direction.

I considered answering him but then I clicked my mouth shut. Gin wasn’t known as the Oily for no reason. I merely shrugged. “I know enough to be wary of it. If you know anything else, I’d welcome such knowledge,” I said hedging my truth.

Gin searched my face but I had learnt to school my face since I was a child. He got nothing from me. He clicked his tongue and turned. “I’ll hear your order and make up my mind when you give it.”

“No, you will follow it,” I said, flexing my chakra and ghosting the genjutsu so that it sounded like I was whispering it into his ear. He flinched and whirled about only to glare at me.

I nodded to Shoto and my group. “Let’s get out of here.”

Himeko broke away from the languishing Kaguya. I shot them a look. “Go about your business as usual. I’ll call on you during the next expedition. If Gin betrays us. You’ll get to kill him.”

The Kaguya all perked up at that while the Hozuki and Yuki stiffened, forming into protective groups.

Gin narrowed his eyes. “What is this some sort of threat?”

I merely shrugged. “Merely pointing out that you’ll be on the opposite side if you don’t back us Gin. Think about that.”

I shot all the clan kids a smile. “You have fun contesting the King of the Hill. It’s yours for the taking.”

I departed, leaving for the coast with my group.

I wasn’t surprised to find that none of the clan kids fought over the ‘HIll’. It seemed a hollow prize after what had occurred after all.

I allowed myself to sigh in relief. Another step forward, and with it, one step closer to saving all my friends from a grim fate in a world determined to grind us down.

I didn’t linger on that though. Instead, I sent Shark bait out into the water and cooked shark fin soup with my friends when he came back with his prize. Later that night we sat around the glowing embers of our campfire staring up at the moon in silence.

“What are the stars made of?” Rei asked with child-like curiosity.

“They’re fire jutsu, powerful fire jutsu cast by the strongest shinobi!” said Kizan firmly.

“I think they’re illusions cast by the gods,” said Shoto.

Rei hummed. “What do you think they are Matsu?”

I glanced at her. “Why do you think I know what they are?” I said. Sure I could state they were balls of gas but that seemed to simple. Too… mundane for the here and now. So Instead I’d stayed silent, only now I was being asked for my thoughts.

“You’re usually right about things?” Rei said causing Kizan to sniff pointedly. She ignored him.

I merely hummed. “I don’t think I want to be right, not now… I think they are fireflies… stuck up on the roof of the world,” I said after a moments thought with a laugh. The others laughed with me and jeered my terrible suggestion.

When they settled down Rei squirmed about again. “Matsu what technique did you use to beat Kitoma? I’ve never seen that before?”

I hummed and felt everyone lean in to hear my answer. I stuck out my tongue. “Secret~” I teased like a child. This got a round of boos but they all let the matter drop after prodding me for answers that I wasn’t going to give.

When we got back to Kirigakure and the Academy, the instructors were perplexed. We got more than a few odd looks over the next few days. Only my class’ instructors walked with a swagger. I liked to think they made a point of making their money pouches clink when they passed me as a way of saying thanks for the free money.

I merely smiled and enjoyed the easier training sessions. I didn’t stop sending my kids after them and the other instructors to work out their strengths and weaknesses.

After all, there was no point in breaking a pattern of behaviour if they had noticed.

I merely continued to train as hard as I could.

When the final expedition was announced, there was no secrecy about where we’d be going.

The Skull Cliffs.

A place spoke about only in whispers coupled with dread anticipation.

I got quieter and more intense the closer we got to the graduation. People noticed.

Rei, Shoto, and the Madam from the Okiya all approached me in their own way to check in on me.

Rei nudged me and asked me what was wrong and then wouldn’t accept it when I said it was nothing. She ended up leaving in a huff and a worried look cast in my direction.

Shoto merely nudged me and stood by my side. He sometimes brought around some fish he’d caught and we cut them up and ate them with some of the ladies from the Okiya. They coo’d and teased him causing him to blush but come around more. He didn’t seem to understand himself why he did that but I just chuckled and nudged him back before saying thanks.

The madam made it her business to bustle in to inspect my room and natter about me. She fussed and proclaimed me a horrible eyesore. She requested that I escort some of the ladies. She denounced the lack of high-paying shinobi clientele and assigned me jobs when she felt I wasn’t keeping myself busy enough.

It didn't matter that most of the trips saw my coming back with a new piece of clothing, or on one occasion, a stronger mesh armour undershirt.

I hadn’t noticed that the ladies had seen my broken, torn armour. Or that they’d washed the blood stains out of my shirt before I could do it myself.

I knew the ladies themselves didn’t have enough money to pay for such armour.

I gave the old woman my thanks by running my hand slowly over her joints, healing the aches and pains as I went. She walked around with more spryness in her step than she had in years to hear her speak of it.

I also made sure to heal up any cuts, bruises, or injuries caused by the ladies’ work.

Between them all, they kept me sane in the months leading up to the terrible event known as the graduation.

When it was announced that it was time to depart, I made sure I’d written a letter for the madam to read.

Just in case. She’d pretended to throw it away while not so secretly stuffing it into her sleeve.

We marched from the Academy with the instructors in tow.

“Any who think they should earn the rank of Genin step up and follow!” shouted one instructor.

“It’s graduation! The final ceremony of worth! The Rite of passage all Kiri shinobi go through!” shouted a group of shinobi with all too much glee.

As we walked through the streets to the port I saw civilians. Some cheered for us, some watched us with haunted looks, some merely waited for us to pass them by, like pebbles on a road, not worth their notice.

I had to wonder if this wasn’t how Zabuza joined in the ceremony. It had been said he joined and killed an entire class of students. Had he done it in the very streets of Kiri? Or had he joined them on their trip to the cliffs and done it there?

None stepped forward to join us today though. Graduating early meant going to war after all.

When we boarded the ship, there was tension in the air. I had spent a good deal of time observing Hanahime and Gin for any tells that they might know was to come but with how they worried at their lips, I knew they mustn't have been able to glean anything from their own clan.

If they’d known they would have been more relaxed. Maybe even eyeing up the easiest person to kill.

I flicked my eyes to Rei as she chatted with Shoto before flicking back to the clan kids.

It must have felt like a betrayal, to have their own family deny what now seemed like crucial information.

Shoto stiffened as a chakra signature that I’d grown used to approached.

“Matsu,” growled Kitoma, leaning up next to me with his arms crossed. I could see the bone plates under his clothes now that I knew to look for them. “When this expedition is done and we’re Genin I want another rematch.”

I shot him a smile. “Sure, sure. When we’re all Genin,” I said easily. He’d come around a few times during the months after the last expedition. He seemed at a loss as to how to respond to me. I had beaten him in taijutsu but I wasn’t Kaguya.

I’d easied his worries by asserting that I only needed him to follow me till graduation. He was already looking beyond that. Before he left I raised a hand to Kitoma. “Stand on the other side of Gin for me would you? Box him in when I go to talk to him at the cliffs?”

He nodded and sauntered off. Shoto shot me a look and I shook my head to indicate I wasn’t in trouble.

“There she is!” shouted Instructor Geta from up in the sails. A few other instructors sat near him watching the horizon.

My cohort all stood to watch as we sailed closer and closer to a small outcropping of rock that had multiple levels on it. In truth, it was merely an exposed rock with barely ten acres of land at best guess.

“We’ll dock, disembark and then march to the top where you will await instructions!” shouted the man that had introduced himself as the Headmaster of the Academy. He was an old grizzled man with a fierce temperament. He seemed annoyed to be taking part in this, and he had the airs of a person that had better things to do.

I knew I’d have to take him down first.

Shinobi don’t grow old without very good reason.

We landed and ran up the cliff face. Along the way, I noticed the embedded skulls that had fused into the rock.

I found myself wondering, did they get rid of the bodies after everything was said and done? Or did they merely use them to expand the killing field, making it a greater testament to violence and waste?

When we reached the first and lowest level the instructors called us to a halt. I sidled up to Hanahime. “Follow my order when I give it,” I said, eyes locked forward.

She side-eyed me but nodded. I moved on to Gin and repeated the command. He glowered at me but looked over and found Kitoma watching him nearby with a smile.

“Yeah, yeah, no need to sick your beast onto me,” he whispered back.

I nodded and forced myself to relax as much as I could. My eyes took in the rise and fall of the land. I noted the way that the instructors and the Headmaster all hopped up onto another level while indicating we should remain on the lower level. With a shunshin, another group joined them.

The ANBU and hunter nin trainees all glared down at us and you could feel the tension rise. Shoto swallowed. I suspected he was worried they might be seeking to get even, but I knew this group were all different from the last. I suspected they might have flunked out, what with having an Academy student take them down.

I didn’t want to consider what flunking out of ANBU or the hunter nin meant for their life expectancy.

I had other things to worry about.

The Headmaster unravelled a scroll. “Welcome, students to the hallowed Skull Cliffs! It is here that we conduct the final test of your capabilities to be shinobi of Kirigakure!”

Everyone relaxed a little at that. Things were returning to how they should be, albeit with the added difference of this being the last time, and there being far more observers that were openly watching us.

“You will be given instructions soon for this expedition to prove your worth. However! Before that There are some that have proven that they have the skills to skip this final step!”

My breath hitched. Of course, there had to be something like this, otherwise the clans would riot. It would become a tool of cutting a clan at the knees if some very controlled levels of corruption weren’t present.

“The following students will join us on this level. Gin Hozuki! Hanahime Terumi!—” A series of clan names were read out and soon a trickle of students jogged up the wall to join the instructors in looking down on us.

“Kizan! Shoto! Matsu!” The Headmaster continued to read causing me to stiffen. I considered my options before slowly making my way up to the top.

There were only a few other names to read. I noted that no Kaguya names were read off, and despite my thoughts, more than a few clan kids remained below. Easily half the class sat below, staring up in envy.

Rei merely smiled cluelessly, she even waved at me. I sighed. That girl really shouldn’t have ever signed on to be a shinobi.

I paused at the lip of the cliff and turned towards the Headmaster as he rolled up his scroll. Beneath me the last student, Shark-bait I idly noted. Raced to join us.

I stepped closer to the Headmaster. “Sir? Might I ask, can I trade places with one of the student’s below?”

If I could get Rei up here she’d have a better shot of surviving what was to come.

The man snorted. “No,” he said simply. A number of the Instructors shot me amused looks. Tempora eyed me with a frown.

The Headmaster then stepped forward. “Very well students. You beneath me are the students that have been deemed to not have what it takes to be Genin. Thankfully, I will be offering you a final chance. Your orders are as follows!”

“Pair up!” he said like this was just another class exercise. The kids did so and I felt my heart beating faster and faster. I felt at my chakra surging through my body and focussed my attention within my brain.

“Good! Now to graduate as Genin and prove yourself! Kill the other person before they kill you!”

Everyone below paused. Shock took hold and their gaze rose i surprise. They’d never had an order like that.

The Headmaster leered down at them.

I opened the first gate and exploded into action. I slammed my fist into his throat and he collapsed, turning as he registered the threat but unable to do something with the sudden violence aimed at him.

Everyone froze. This time it was not just the students but the instructors and the specialist trainees.

I didn’t. Now was my moment.

“The Headmaster and the instructors are potential traitors!” I shouted. The instructors that had started to react twitched in surprise at this claim. "Capture them, for Kirgakure!”

I then hit the next closest opponent in the chest, blasting him back into a trio of other hapless instructors

Chaos ensued as students surged up and around to take the instructors. Like wolves taking down elk some of the older shinobi were born down to the ground.

Others broke away and got themselves room to move and perform jutsu. They also opened themselves up to jutsu in return. Water bullets harried them and smashed them around.

I charged into a gaggle of ANBU trainees and batted of swords and kunai with a spin of my bo staff before smacking them in the head, legs or arms. I didn’t stop until their limbs were bent the wrong way or they flopped to the ground unconscious.

I knew there would be more than broken bones when this was done. I turned to attack another group only to find Kitoma gladly throwing himself at them with other Kaguya kids taking the challenge the stronger opponents offered. I inspected the battlefield and found Hanahime ordering her clansmen into units of troops that engaged Instructors. Gin walked through a barrage of kunai with his watery body only to have Yuki clan kids back him up and take down his attackers from the sides.

I wasn’t surprised when I found that Instructor Tempora was putting down any kids that targeted him with fast punches to the heads. Kids dropped like flies as they surged at him. I charged at him only to nearly be blindsided when Mizuna attacked me with a Genjutsu.

To escape I decided to double down. I opened a second gate and tore the chakra she’d laced into my network to shreds. Then I rocketed a knee into her nose, smashing it into her face and bringing her down.

I then locked eyes with Tempora as he backhanded Kizan away from him. “You can use the gates?” He said before raising his hands. “You’ve got numbers and the skills. I surrender,” he said as he eyed the rest of his fellows that were being brutally beaten down as they continued to resist. I nodded and walked up to him.

“This is a poor thanks but it might keep you alive after this is all done,” I said before reaching out and knocking him out wit ha punch. Then I broke his arms after numbing his limbs of sensation. I hoped he’d appreciate the gesture. I didn’t want it known that he’d surrendered after all.

A few minutes later the fight was over and I raced around healing those that could still breathe, or stabilising the instructors.

I had the dead piled to the side.

Ten small bodies lay to the side alonngside a pair of instructors. I sighed. That… wasn’t what I’d wanted to have happen.

But it was a better outcome than I’d expected. I rolled my shoulders and quelled the tremors that came with closing the gates.

“That!” Gin sauntered up to me. “That was ballsy! That was insane! Do you realise that was probably the dumbest thing you could have asked of me?”

I merely shot him a smile. “Well, you’re committed now.” I then gave a humourless chuckle as Hanahime and Kitoma approached. “You want to pretend to be in charge when we go back and tell the Mizukage about this?”

Hanahime hissed and Kitoma clicked his teeth but shot me an odd look that I couldn’t decipher. Gin’s eyes bulged. “You’re insane!”

I chuckled. “I think that sometimes yeah.” I smiled. “Anyone? Want to tell the Mizukage this was their idea?” They all stared at me and I merely nodded. “Well alright then, time to roll the dice good and proper,” I said glancing to the horizon and where I could just barely make out Kiri.

One small boat ride left, and then a meeting with the Mizukage to determine all of our fates.