It took two days for the hospital to permit my release. Understandably, they were astonished by my Chakra regeneration. Typically, tanking your chakra stores completely would put the average ninja in the hospital on bed rest for at least a week. Still, for me, with a slightly above-average Chakra regeneration rate and a below-average Chakra pool, my recovery was record-breaking. Little did I know that this fact caused me hell for the next two years.
The night of my release from the hospital, a firm set of knocks brought me to my door. I was fresh from a deep sleep after successfully raising my Chakra reserves to 1250, but that didn't stop the devil before me. "Hello, hello!" Homura, Gomi leaned on my doorway. She wore a different set of gear than how I met her. Now she wore pure black clothing, only offset by the metallic armor that protected her chest. Her mouth held a stick with several pieces of dango hanging from it. Her straight green hair hung just above her shoulders, somehow barely staying out of the sugary foods' grasp. Tugging another ball of dango off the stick, Gomi looked me up and down, observing me closely. "So," Gomi mumbled between mouthfuls of Dango, "You gonna get dressed or what?"
The muscles in my arm tensed as I consciously fought against them. The beast of an arm wanted to slam the door, but I was vividly aware that this was MY captain for however long I am assigned to the Anbu. However, my adolescent mouth refused to be so easily quelled as my arm was. My lips quivered into a forced smile that muttered a simple curse, "fuk."
I quickly got dressed in a cleaner outfit of sweats and ninja sandals. I tied my headband at my waist, polishing it with my sleeve. Leaning into the doorway, Gomi called out in a sing-song voice, "Make sure to bring your ninja tools and rations too!" I could only sigh as I grabbed a nearby bag that hung on my door. As soon as I packed everything, I looked up to the ninja who now fumbled with the stick that had previously carried her sweet treat. As she noticed me, she smiled at me. A sweet smile that betrayed her intentions. Still smiling, I watched her flick the stick at me. She couldn't have been more than a meter away, and yet the stick gradually sped up. In those few precious seconds, I only saw Gomi's smile before the sharp thump of the Dango stick hit my forehead, and my eyes slid to the back of my head.
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The sweet smell of grass and freshly made oxygen crawled up my nose. It was so off-puttingly unfamiliar that I assumed it was a dream. But as I felt the prickly grass under my hands and the wind flow through my hair, I learned quickly that this was reality. Feeling the dull pain in the front of my skull, I slowly sat up. My vision slowly began to focus as I looked at the ground. "Stupid Goki (An oni in Japanese folklore)," I muttered under my breath. As I raised my head, the 'Goki' stared back at me, the smile of innocence still sat on her face.
"It's nice to see that you're awake!" Being the man I am, I only screamed for a little while in response. She leaned lazily on a boulder. She still wore her near-complete black outfit, but now her fan lay at her feet. My voice cracked at the end of my scream, and even the trees seemed to laugh at me. Wait, trees? I live in the desert. The winds gave the creaking of the trees the illusion of laughing voices, except one. One voice that was much too deep to be an audio illusion. A shadow enveloped me, and the murderous intent that accompanied the shadow caused me to break out in an instant bout of sweats.
Adrenaline made my body move before I could think. My fingertips dug into the dirt as I tried to force myself to my feet, but a firm hand grasped my shoulder, holding me in place. "Down boy," a gravelly voice whispered in my ear. The shadow hadn't moved; instead, it enlarged and elongated in the setting sun's light, which, admittedly, scared me even more.
Gomi's face dropped, "Alright, knock it off. The kid's gonna bite ya." A small grin tugged at her face. Honestly, I think her nonchalantness worried me more than the newcomer. With a final squeeze, the pressure of the hand began to lessen, yet the murderous intent did not. As soon as I was able, I willed the familiar rush of warm Chakra surge in my body. With the newfound energy, I was able to swing my legs into a windmill, creating space. I let the momentum launch me to my feet, sliding next to Gomi, a kunai already flashing in my hand. "See? Look what you did?" I couldn't see Gomi's face, but I could hear the exasperation. In front of me was a large man. His height was at least 195 centimeters, the tallest man I had ever seen. His large, muscled arms settled, crossing his chest. The man wore a tan bandana wrapped over the top of his head. It sported a blemished metal band that proudly displayed the symbol of the Hidden Sand. Obvious years of experience and battle showed in the scars that decorated the man's skin and in the armor he wore. It was just a standard chestplate that hung down to his knees. The large ninja puffed up his chest, but his face darkened.
Feeling another sense of murderous intent over my shoulder, I whipped my head around, kunai following out of instinct, to see Gomi at my eye level, but my arm was already in motion. As it arced towards Gomi's body, it felt as if a wall suddenly stopped me. And with that sudden stop, my whole world flipped on its head. Then softly, I landed on my back, and all I saw was my kunai rotating in the air. I was too disgruntled to move, and all my brain could do was observe the metal knife slowly increasing speed towards me, rotating all the way. With a flash of black, the Kunai disappeared from the air. "Well, aren't we a little violent?" Gomi's voice cooed from my side. Sitting up from the ground for the second time that evening, I saw that to my side, Gomi was twirling a kunai on her finger.
I stared at Gomi, and then the bigger ninja. The murderous intent from them fluctuated freely, but their faces, their body language. . . I couldn't help my eyebrows furrowing as my head kept rotating between them. "Is this some type of super secret ninja hazing?"
Now it was Gomi's eyebrows that furrowed, an uncomfortable calm settling over her. She stopped twirling the kunai in her hand, "You're now a ninja in an elite squad that handles assassinations, information gathering that can greatly impact the future of the village, and most, if not all, combatants will be trained and more experienced ninja than you are." Taking a single step, Gomi faded in front of my eyes. Looking around, I searched for her within the trees and shadows of the forest, but I didn't need to search very long. A warm breeze swept leaves into my vision, and as I swept them away with my hands, the sharp prick of a kunai touched my neck. I felt the warm stream of blood trickle down my neck that summoned goosebumps along my skin all at once. But the real fear I felt came after I heard her crisp whisper in my ear. "Does this feel like a prank to you?" Her voice was cold, devoid of the warm optimism of before.
My body wouldn't move. It simply refused to. The fear of the oncoming death that I couldn't escape was too much for my twelve-year-old mind to work through. All I could utter was, "What did I do? Why do I have to die?" It was a whisper to my fate, to whatever God had changed my fate, and yet I was answered by someone I least expected. My assailant herself.
"Huh?" Gomi said. The Kunai had faltered, sliding down to rest on my shoulder. "Why would we kill you? You're a member of the village, not some runaway ninja." The confusion I heard in her voice was so raw, so real, that my own brain ceased to function for a bit.
"Huh?" I said.
"Huh?" Gomi said.
Clap
I turned to the sound and saw the large man clap his hands, disrupting the loop of confusion between Gomi and me. "Let's calm down a bit. Even for an Anbu team meeting, this is a little too intense for me." The gruff man's voice already sounded exhausted. "Let's start with why you thought we were going to kill you in the first place." Gomi, seemingly back to her joyful self, tossed the kunai that she had held at my neck moments before at my feet. The casual way she walked away without a care made me shudder.
"I don't know if this is some kind of test, but you both have been giving murderous intent this entire time." I subconsciously took a step back as both of the battle-hardened ninja put their full attention on me. But their faces gave away their true intentions. Gomi stared blankly at me, while the larger man furrowed his eyes in thought. My brain may have been that of a child, but my soul was closer to an adult's. Ok Ok I was closer to a teen, but whatever! I calmed myself. My chest heaved while I forced oxygen into my lungs, trying to disrupt my instincts.
SLAP
I slapped my cheeks hard. The sting brought tears to my eyes, but I couldn't sit here in fear forever. "Ok!" I shouted, bringing my teammates' attention back to me. "My name is Chimasa, Genji! I'm very weak, know only two real jutsu, and have an abysmal Chakra Capacity! Please take care of me!" I bowed deeply to the two teammates from whom I still felt killing intent, but I understood that even if I tried to run, they would kill me regardless. If they wanted to kill me, they would've done it already. Bowing my head was both my introduction and my display of trust to them. After a while, I looked up to a grinning Gomi, and the other man visibly sighed.
Unfolding his arms, the larger ninja brought a fist to his chest. "Kenzo. The team's defense specialist. I use Water and Earth Jutsu." Pointing to Gomi, "You've already met Captain Gomi. She uses Wind, Lightning, and Earth Jutsu." After Gomi's introduction, Kenzo went back to folding his arms. "Aoi, our healer, is currently on a solo mission for a couple of months, so you'll meet them later."
Gomi, who was nodding thoughtfully along, clapped her hands with a smile on her face. "Aoi is also the smartest of us and our general strategist in complicated matters. That being said! Let's begin your Anbu training!" My eyes widened in the abrupt change of pace. Glancing at Kenzo, he had his head in his hands, and a subtle chill went through my body. What team just does stuff like this without a plan? Who are these eccentric people?