Birds of a feather (Solo Training)

It was funny, now that the he thought about it. The way things all ended the way they began…
 
Haru breathed softly as the cold night air seeped into his room through the window. At home, he would normally be comforted by his loyal companions, Timber and Noctis, curled at the foot of his bed. But here, they were absent. Haru, clearly distressed, was curled up into a ball and covered in blankets
 
On the nightstand was his ninja gear. His armor, the impenetrable fortress that he wore over his skin, his Spec Ops armor. His blades, the ones he had recovered in the very woods of the country he was currently in, the ones that seemed capable of cutting almost anything. Also on the table, neatly folded inside of the inside pocket of his armor, were almost all of the letters he’d ever gotten, including the notes he’d gotten from his sensei, Rin, informing him of missions and meetings. He just liked to hold on to that stuff. Among them, there was a note his mother had written him before he was born. She intended to write the note, and give it to him when he became a shinobi. That one was still unfolded.
 
My dear son,
I wrote this letter before you were born- Isn’t that something? Right now, you’re still in my belly! Your daddy is so exited about teaching you to be a shinobi, and your grandparents are already fighting over who gets to hold you first, and our neighbor Ako in dying to see you! Well, anyways-
 
The rest of the letter is blocked by the next one, which covered it: A letter from his dad while he was spending a week with his grandparents.
 
Haru,
You need to get home right now. Akonee is having a child! You’re gonna be a big brother! The doctors are on the way, so it might be crowded, but bring your grandma and grandpa! Get over here now!
 
That short letter was barely half a page long, but it was one of the most important letters Haru had ever gotten. He’d read it over and over again at least a thousand times. On the note board at the head of his desk, there were a few newspaper clippings, pinned with kunai knives.
 
Unlucky father grieves the loss of his second wife, Akonee Hyuuga, who died in childbirth last night. The father’s mother tells us that his first wife died the same way, giving birth to his firstborn son, HaruHyuuga. The man has sworn never to marry again, for fear the same tragedy may happen again. The child, named Aryll Hyuuga, was lucky enough to be born with no birth defects, perfectly healthy.
--------------------
In a recent raid conducted on a recently discovered missing-nin camp, 1 Jounin met his end. The Hyuuga man, whose name will not be revealed to the public, was completely overwhelmed by a swarm of shadow clones, and not even his Byakugan could save him. The raid was a success, the missing-ninja were safely taken care of. We mourn the loss of a good shinobi, and f-
 
The rest of the article is ripped off, from a fit of rage Haru had gone through when he read that article. He had lost so much. Both of his mothers dead. His father, too. He had terrible luck in life, but he held on to every moment. Haru kept almost every kind of correspondence as long as the paper would last before wearing away. He was a bit of a pack rat in that way. Pinned to his door was a yellow piece of paper, with neat writing that was easily recognizable as Haru’s own handwriting.
 
Note to self: Training this week. Food and supplies packed, under the table. Don’t forget breakfast!
 
On Haru’s bedside table was a green energy bar wrapper with a note attatched, already devoured byHaru in the night.
 
Haru,
I know you’re going training for a while, so I got you this! It’s supposed to make training more productive, and help develop muscles. If you want to pass the chunin exams, you’ll need every bit you can get. Good luck!
-Aryll
P.S.-I got it in mint flavor, I know how much you love it. You should probably eat it before you train.
 
 
Haru remembered every time he’d ever visited this village. Twice for his chuunin exams, neither time did he get to use his full potential. Once when he was lost and attacked by that strange, ghostly ninja, and once more now, to visit his girlfriend. Every time he came here, he came across some new skill or power.
 
Firstly, there was the experience that drove him to train harder, unlocking his eight inner gates, although he no longer knew how to do such a thing. His efforts were better spent elsewhere. The second time? He became a Siren Summoner, and had gained his contract at the market. Had he gotten to use his combat skills, his exams might have turned out very differently. Then again, he might never have become an ANBU
 
The third time? He acquired his trench knives, his incredibly sharp blades that he used to cut through, well, basically anything.
 
Now? Well, that remained to be seen. He believed he could perhaps gain a new skill here, though, something he had been working on for ages… The way to implant a dojutsu outside of normal parameters, essentially making him able to have many, many eyes. Namely, though, the two sharingan he needed to gain the almighty rinnegan.
 
The process was simple enough, he thought as he slid out of the bed, ready to carry on more study. Duplicate, “Split” and thread the nerves down to his forearm, where he would implant the dojutsu, and the rest is history. Another advantage to call upon in battle.
 
As he worked, writing the scroll that contained the technique, he began to daydream about nothing in particular… An infiltration mission of some sort…
 
Haru peeked around the tree. Sure enough, the village was there, and boy, was it guarded. for such a small village, there seemed to be a guard every five feet, heavilly armed, and very uninviting. As he tried to formulate an infiltration plan, he noticed there were no effective ways of entering, with no garuntees of silent entry.
"No good. There's always a way in, You just have to look." he whispered, Remembering what his grandfather Haru, who he was named after, had told him.

As if on cue, a supply convoy made it's way slowly to the village. Haru scrambled up a tree, moving silently across the tree tops, inching closer and closer to the caravan. He perched himself on a branch overlooking the caravans, where he quickly isolated a straggeler from the bulk of the group, who'd stopped to rest. Haru moved across the trees until he was directly above the guard. Without warning, He dropped down on the guard, slamming his head hard against the ground, knocking him out cold. He dragged the sleeping guard into the bushes, before transforming himself into a believable double of him, taking the identification and sword from the man, before rejoining the caravan.
"Hey Tamil! There you are!" Yelled another guard, clapping him on the shoulder roughly, almost throwing off Haru's disguise. "Get up front, you need to identify yourself!" he said, shoving him forward. Haru moved through the crowded caravan to the front, where someone (Who must have been his commander) was looking very impatient. 
"Finally, Tamil! What did you do, fall asleep?" He asked, crossing his arms.
"Something like that..." Haru muttered.
"What was that?" asked the commander, glaring at him.
"Nothing...Sir." Replied Haru.

"Good. are the supplies in order?" asked the commander, in a businesslike tone. 
"Umm...Yes sir!" said Haru

"Good. Looks like we're clear to enter, then." He said, waving at the gate master.
The Doors slowly opened, operated by two chain coils, which needed two men each to operate. when they opened, the commander turned to face the men. 
"Two hours, Men. TWO HOURS!!!" He asserted. "Anyone not with the caravan on time will be LEFT BEHIND!!!" He shouted. "Dismissed!" 
And just like that, Haru slipped away, resolving to infiltrate the main archives, where plans such as this were undoubtably stored. He changed back to himself in an alleyway, walking into the streets with his hood up. he didn't want to draw unnessesary attention, so he stuck to the crowds, trying to look inconspicious. he continued this all the way to the Main archives office. He dropped the hood, Straightened his hair, and tried to make a serious face. He entered the building quietly, unnoticed by the receptionist, who was writing something down in a notebook. He saw the keys now, hanging just behind the woman at the desk. All he needed to do was grab them...No. That would give him away. The woman looked up at him.
"Can i help you?" She asked. 
"Umm... Yes, Actually." Said Haru tactfully, "I'm looking for a mister Tamil Dekatine's contact information. he's a friend of mine, and I'm hoping to pay him a surprise visit." He Lied, making up the name. 
"Hmm... let me check the archives for you, I'll see what I can do." She said, turning and walking purposfully through a door, leaving him alone. After waiting a few moments, Haru jumped over the desk and swiped the keys, moving to the door to the left of the desks, marked "Authorized personel only". He slipped through the door, tossing the keys back on the rack, before quietly closing the door. He turned to find himself face-to-face with a very large man in a combat uniform he'd seen the guards wearing. Why hadn't he used his byakugan? So stupid of him...
"Hello there." He said in a bored tone. "And what brings you here?" 
Haru didn't respond. He quickly executed a lightning blade jutsu, aiming it at the man, who dodged, and swung a knife at his head. Haru countered, yanking his kunia from the sheath, and aiming for the man's neck. He dodged again, kicking at Haru's legs, which offbalanced him. Haru stumbled to the floor, bringing the attacker down in the process, and tried to pull himself to his feet. The man stabbed at his heart with his knife. Haru managed to preform a substitution jutsu with a stray book, teleporting to his feet and performing an elaborate hand sign pattern. "Lightning blade!" He called, this time hitting his mark, and finishing the man for good.

Brushing imaginary dust off his sleaves, he steped over the body, and began searching the Cabinets for the battle plans he needed.
 
 
Snapping back to reality, Haru finished up the writing on his scroll. The theory was solid. He wasn’t going to attempt it on himself tonight, because honestly, that would be a little pointless, but he would hopefully be able to do this in practice. He decided to test it on a dummy of some kind…
 
And as if sent by God himself, a bird crashed against his window, falling to the ground. Haru reached down and picked up the bird. Basically dead from the impact, only a little life left in it, and… Damaged eyes. Haru chuckled at fate. He began to repair the optic nerves of the bird, stretching them to fit the new, somewhat malformed face, and taking observations of what happened. He didn’t want to ruin the bird’s life by giving it additional eyes, just test the limits of his new technique.
 
   
Sure enough, it worked, and replicating the optic nerves perfectly meant that with a simple touch of the mystical palm technique, the bird was ready to fly, and Haru released it back out the window. It was funny how work always seemed to come to him while he was on vacation. Oh well, at least he got something that could, potentially, grant him the power he had been seeking for so long… That was worth every struggle he went through on this trip.

(Exit, TWC 2011.)

(+10 stats, converted to Ryo)
(+Optic Splitting Technique Learned)