Chapter 05: Outside the Village

Three months had passed since Riku’s very first meeting with who he now called his senpais. Kotetsu and Izumo were there two hours in the morning every three days (when they were not on a mission) to check on his progress with the materials they gave him the previous meeting and to give him new things to learn. When he wasn’t practicing he was doing D-rank missions in the village. More often than not he had to do them solo. The older genin were not really interested in a fresh one like him or if they did, it was to let thim do the work and scam him of his money afterwards. Or tried. The first and last two 15 year olds that tried to bully him for his money ended up in the hospital with a few broken bones and cut ligaments (courtesy of a chakra scalpel’s well placed hit). That gave him a bad reputation among the genin corps and a review of his actions in front of the Hokage for wounding teammates out of spar. Riku defended his actions masterfully.

“Teammates are not supposed to let others do the job for them, take their own cuts of the reward and force their hardworking teammate to give them their cut either. Yet I don’t see my accusers here being reprimanded for their unlawful actions while mine were lawful, sir. And if I may, if two shinobi that have been in the profession for three years got their ass handed to them by a genin barely out of the academy, maybe they deserved the beating they got, regardless if they’re in the wrong or not.”

Considering Riku’s character, the two others’ from their profile and the righteous fury on the face of the boy in front of him, Hiruzen knew who was telling the truth and who was lying. He almost let out a chuckle with how right Riku’s little speech has been. Both sides were punished. A black mark on their file with additional punishment from the two bullies.

As a result, his actions didn’t endear him towards the rest of the corps as the incident spread like wildfire. It would have been problematic if luck had not come knocking on Riku’s door.

The usual third member of the Chunin team that partnered up with Izumo and Kotetsu had been injured in a mission and was out of commission for a few weeks. Wanting to make quick money with a simple escort mission, the two chunins thought of Riku for a replacement.

Making their way to training ground eleven in the morning, they found him practicing the Earth Release: Earth Shore Return jutsu. That was a jutsu that Riku had been struggling with since forever, not being of his elemental affinity. At first when he showed the jutsu to them he barely made a foot tall obstacle. A brittle one at that which wouldn’t have stopped a shuriken at all. After all the bullshit he had displayed, both Izumo and Kotetsu were relieved that Riku wasn’t that big of a monster. He was just a kid with a keen mind, a lot of drive and knew how to use it properly.  He wasn’t anything like the famous genius of the village, like Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi but more like Maito Gai without the exuberance and the ‘youth’. They were more than glad for that.

Thankfully for Riku, Kotetsu’s natural affinity was earth, so he could help Riku with his problem. It turned out it wasn’t an issue with his chakra control but with how he perceived in his mind the earth element. To Riku, the earth was solid, extremely durable and unmovable, like a stone. The truth was that the last part wasn’t really true. Earth was the most malleable element, second only to Water.

With that difference put forward and misconception cleared, it didn’t take long for Riku to present astonishing progress. Proof of that was the 10’ tall wall that he just raised from the ground. Instead of being a straight wall this one was bent vertically in a half circle, now protecting also his sides and not just his front.

“How the fuck did he do that?” asked Kotetsu in surprise and interest.

“I don’t know. Let’s find out.”

They walked toward Riku after calling him out. His attention caught, the genin destroyed the wall and met his senpai halfway.

“Good morning, senpais.”

“Morning, kid.” Izumo greeted back.

“‘Morning. Say how did you… curve the wall?”

“Oh, that? Well… A couple weeks ago when I used the jutsu I was disturbed while the wall was being raised by an explosion to the side and the wall fell apart. I wondered why since it should be completely solid. It turns out that the hardening part of the earth happens just at the end of the jutsu, once the wall is up. So I tried to see if it was possible to slightly alter its shape in the short time between the wall’s down position to standing position. Turns out it is. It took me a while to figure out how to make that shape. When the wall rises, you need to move your hands on the ground in half a circle. Your right does a quarter circle right and the left a quarter circle left.” was the explanation that Kotetsu got.

Walking to the side and turning away from the others, the chunin made the proper hand seals for the jutsu and followed the instructions he just heard. On the spot a curved wall was up. It wasn’t perfect but for a first try and with a matching elemental affinity the result was more than fairly decent.

“This is neat. Did you try any other shape?”

“Sorry, Kotetsu-senpai. I only had time to practice this one.”

“Meh, it’s fine. I’ll find out on my own. Good thinking though.” the man replied not at all disappointed.

“You’ll sure have an easier time than I did.” Riku commented then abruptly changed subject. “Are you going on a mission? Is that why you’re here today instead of tomorrow?”

“Correct. However, that’s not all.” Izumo answered.

“Nope. Our usual teammate is recuperating from an injury and since it’s a simple C-Rank, we thought it was time for you to gain some experience outside the village.”

Hearing that, Riku was more attentive than ever. While he had tried to find a way to train himself doing D-Rank, like practicing his tree walking abilities to paint walls he was more than fed up with them. He had hoped to find a team for a C-rank. Either a genin team or a chunin team with a missing member but to no avail. His dealing with the two bullies squashed that opportunity.

“I won’t disappoint!” the dirty blonde exclaimed in joy before switching to a more serious mood. “What type of mission is it? Delivery or escort?” He knew it was one of the two. There was no way he was ready to make his first kill yet by subjugating bandits and the chunins knew that too.

“Escort. We’re to protect a merchant and his goods from Himasu to Hiwara.”

“That’s like a fifty mile journey… So three days from point A to point B. A day to get to point A from the village and a day from point B to the village. All in optimal settings so… A week of supplies?” he asked Izumo after thinking out loud to himself.

“Pretty much.”

“And don’t worry, kid. The road is pretty safe with the towns being so close to each other.” Kotetsu commented.

“But I must stay alert because there might still be some bandits wanting to take advantage of the proximity. There wouldn’t be escort missions otherwise.”

“Correct. We’re leaving for Himasu from the East gate in one hour. I think that’s more than enough time for you to prepare.”

“Oh! I already have everything I need on me, senpai.”

Rick picked up his seal journal from his pouch and waved it for Izumo and Kotetsu to see.

“Of course you do.” remarked Kotetsu with a deadpan face.

If they knew one thing about Riku, it was that he was always prepared. Need a kunai? A shuriken? A Soldier pill? Food? Anything a shinobi would need? Riku had it stored in one of his seals.

“Then we can leave now.”

Riku nodded and walked with his new teammate towards the East Gate. After showing their ID and registering their departure into the log at the guard station, they exited Konoha and immediately took to the trees.

If there was one thing that Riku loved about being a ninja, it was tree hopping. He loved feeling the cool breeze on his face, the effort of jumping from branch to branch, the height and speed at which he moved. Ever since his unofficial teachers taught him that method of traveling he practiced it any time he could to relax and empty his head for a bit.

When they arrived at Himasu the sun was setting. Kotetsu and Izumo were glad that they had left immediately in the morning instead of waiting one hour or they would have had to travel a bit at night. They forgot to take into consideration that Riku was still twelve and had not as much chakra and stamina as the two of them. Sure he was above the norm for a genin but such a trip had been a bit too much for him since they went at their usual speed. They had to slow down a bit which resulted in them reaching the town later than estimated. That wasn’t much of a problem, the meeting with the client was happening the day after in the morning and they didn’t lose much time. An hour or two at worst. Beside, the constant use of chakra was good for expanding Riku’s reserve. So everything was good.

The town was smaller than Konoha with only a few thousands inhabitants. A number more than sufficient to have multiple inns around.  The inn they chose was called the ‘Tasty Pony’. A weird name by all accounts but one Riku didn’t pay much attention to. What mattered to him was the inn itself. Two stories high, small windows and ten rooms at best. Perfect for defense if the team were attacked from the outside. Paying for a room with two beds for the night in advance, the genin joined his senpais outside to find a small restaurant. It took them only five minutes to choose to eat at a small open one and ten more to be served. Riku completely devoured his katsudon, then ordered for a second, third and fourth serving, to the astonishment of his teammates.

“What the hell, kid? Never ate katsudon in your life or what?” Kotetsu inquired at the sight. They had lunch a few times on location after their morning training and Riku had never displayed such an appetite.

“Not since I was four. I’m not really welcome in restaurants back in the village and it takes way too much time for me to cook some myself.” the genin replied, filling his mouth with another piece of fried pork.

The two chunins looked at each other and let it go. Both had forgotten that because of his mother, Riku was not well thought of or regarded back home. Personally, they didn’t care. They had teamed up a few times with Mitarashi Anko for a mission or two and they had no problem with her either, despite being the former apprentice of Orochimaru. One’s crimes and sins were theirs and no one else’s. They never saw either the way the villagers treated Riku. They only met with him at training ground 11 and nowhere else.

When the third and fourth serving were brought to him, Riku took his journal from his pouch and sealed both plates inside a storage seal.

“For back home.” he simply answered the question they thought but never voiced.

They paid for their food and went back to the inn. Both men were floored when there were only two beds in the room.

“You’re sleeping on the…”

Kotetsu turned around to look at Riku to tell him he wouldn’t not be sleeping on a bed because there was no way he or Izumo would share one with another dude. He stopped mid-sentence however, when he saw Riku putting up a hammock.

‘Of fucking course, he has a hammock.’

“Should I put seals on the door and the window?”

“What kind of seals? What do they do?” asked a curious Izumo.

“Block them from opening. Nothing goes through, not even air. I also put a gravity trap. If someone touched the area where the rapped is laid on, the gravity in that particular area increases five times. Chances are, they will be crushed to the ground under their own weight. Unless they are taijutsu monsters like Maito-san. Honestly it’s enough for almost all chunin level shinobi and perhaps some jonin. If someone springs the trap an alarm seal is activated and lets out a sound loud enough to wake us.”

“I doubt we need them.”

“But better safe than sorry. You can block the door, Riku. The window, however, put the gravity trap instead.”

The window was a smaller entrance into the room than the door and as such any shinobi that would try to enter through it would have to put their foot on the ground which would trigger the trap.

With the alarm seal in place and how ‘safe’ the town was, they didn’t bother for a watch. That allowed them all to have a good and resting eight hours of sleep.

“You don’t have a portative shower in that book of yours? I’m shocked!” teased Kotetsu with an amused grin.

“Does a barrel with a heat tag under it to keep the water hot, counts?”

The chunin’s grin turned into one of annoyance while Izumo snorted.

“Only, you kid, only you.” the bandaged man worded aloud while shaking his head.

A bit after dawn and after a healthy breakfast, they met with their client a t the entrance of the village. They had been waiting less than a quarter when a rather short middle-aged man with brown hair and hints of gray at his temples accosted them. He sported a very round belly indicating that he was not in need  money-wise and could eat to his heart’s content. His clothes were not the finest around however, making Riku think that he either didn’t care about such luxuries or while wealthy wasn’t that wealthy. The wrinkles around his eyes and mouth were clear signs of a lot of laughter and probably a happy life.

With him was a big covered cart pulled by a single muddy brown horse. The beast was old and had clearly seen better days but appeared robust and healthy enough to make the journey without any difficulty.

‘It’s not like we’d have to travel through the mountains anyway. It’s all flat land on the way.’

“Munehisa-san?” Izumo asked the man.

“Yes, that is me and you must be the shinobi of the leaf that I hired for my protection, hm?”

“We are. I’m Kamizuki Izumo and those are my teammates Hogane Kotetsu and Warudo Riku.”

Kotetsu smiled and waved while Riku gave a short bow when their names were called.

“Ah! Perfect, perfect.”

“Do you have everything you need for the journey?”

“I do and if you’re ready to, then let’s go. The faster we’re there, the better.”

Izumo nodded and signaled the others to enter defensive formation. He and Kotetsu would flank each side of the cart while Riku would watch the rear. When Riku asked if he could put barriers tag on the cart to protect it and Munehisa just in case of an attack, none refused. The latter especially was understably quite willing.

The first day of travel had been boring. Absolutely nothing happened, beyond idly chatter between the client and the chunins. None of them were interested but Konoha had a friendly image to maintain and so they partook in the task. Riku was exempt from that during the walk since he was in the rear, however during a break for lunch Munehisa seemed to want to make up for the missed opportunity. At only thirteen, Riku fascinated the man who asked all kinds of questions regarding his choice of becoming a shinobi. Of course he couldn’t outright say that was because he didn’t want to starve on the streets since it was the only job available for him. Again, Konoha had a friendly image that needed protection. Instead he regurgitated what the propaganda he had been subjected to at the academy taught him. ‘Protect the people’, ‘Will of fire’ and all other non-sense that Riku mostly didn’t believe in one bit.

When night fell they had stopped and made camp at the edge of a forest a hundred feet away from a river. Not too deep into the woods but not deep enough that they could be seen from the road.

“So, kid… Anything fancy in that book of yours for camping?” Kotetsu asked.

“In terms of security, plenty of traps. Lethal and non-lethal. In terms of accommodations… Well, I have the barrel I spoke to you about this morning paired with a shower pommel, so we can all get cleaned up. Otherwise a big tent for six people.” replied Riku as he fed the horse with an apple.

“What kinds of traps?” Izumo asked.

“Oh, you know, the basics. Explosive, flashbangs…”

“Flashbangs only and turned…”

“Towards the outside of our camp. I know Izumo-senpai.”

Riku nodded and went to the task. The client particularly loved being able to take a hot shower and the shinobis knew that if they didn’t get a fat bonus at the end of the mission they were sure the man would ask for them again or at the very least would contract Konoha again.

Taking the first three hour watch, Riku’s mind was wandering towards his training. He had been lucky to find the two genjutsu he had mastered before graduating the academy (idiots genin forgetting scrolls behind) but had not improved much on this particular branch of the shinobi arts. Not like he was interested much in it, especially after learning the Hell Viewing jutsu but he had to admit, messing with the senses of an opponent was very helpful.

‘Perhaps there are more genjutsu related to misdirection. The one I know is good but fairly limited. I’ll have to check the library upon my return.’

The next thing he thought about was his fuinjutsu. Out of the twenty chapters of the intermediary book he had only mastered 5 in three  months. He understood the concepts presented to him but there were so few details to help actually realizing the concept that he had to try and failed to progress. It took time and more importantly: money.

The latter, if he made a good impression with clients, would solve itself. While his reputation among the genin corps was utterly awful, Chunins and up were alright regarding him from what Izumo and Kotetsu told him. In his mind it meant that he needed to get promoted to chunin and fast. That meant, participating in the next chunin exam happening in Konoha in four months. That also meant he needed to find two genin that could pull their own weight for the said exam. He hoped that his senpais could help with that.

Time, however, he couldn’t get more of it. That was impossible, unless he could learn how to time travel. An improbability in his opinion. There was also the fact that his time wouldn’t be rewind like the world’s. That was another can of complicated problems he didn’t want to think about. Not when the point was moot since he couldn’t time travel.

Getting back on topic about his training he thought about his iryo ninjutsu. He had started practicing the Mystical Palm jutsu on fish or other small animals when he went to look for food. The results had not been too shabby but he didn’t think he was ready to use it on a human being. Namely himself. There was no way anyone would let themselves be guinea pigs so with no other choice it only left him for practice and he wasn’t going to do that any time soon.

Finally the last point of his training was what he was currently the most interested in. Ninjutsu. And only because of his wind element. Maybe if he had water but otherwise he couldn’t care less. Because wind fascinated him. The amount of things he thought he could do with that element was staggering. Yet after three months he had only learned one jutsu to focus on his fuinjutsu and the basics that his senpais taught him.  The first thing he needed to do was train his elemental manipulation. Jutsu were nice but Riku was pretty sure that a kunai coated in wind chakra would be more useful than the Gale Palm or the Great breakthrough.

Deciding with what to begin, and having read what was the training for wind manipulation, Riku leaned down from the log he was sitting on and picked a leaf.