Daydreams [p/solo]

Kanshi walked down the very busy streets of Konohagakure in hopes of seeing where the rest of the village was. A hopeful smile and a jovial strut painted the living bedtime story to look almost harmless. Kanshi was not a regular ninja compared to the others, he was... incomplete. While neither being human or just a spirit, he was in a troublesome spot. His body was transparent, his eyes were completely black, and he actually was a story some parents would say to their kids to keep them inside of the village. Most people care when people run away screaming sometimes from them, but for Kanshi, it was his life.
A nice katana by his side, complimented his flak jacket, were obviously showing he was a ninja. He hadn't really hung around or even met the other ninja here and the curiosity was driven out of his solitude. Would they be brats like some of the others, he thought to himself. Drifiting around town and standing out in the crowds, the ghoul-like figure made his way around the village to see what Konohagakure's ninja really look like.

[187]

"Well, nobody again." He said with a blank expression under his breath.
Turning around and doing a double check, he was almost positive that nobody in the crowd was a ninja. Kanshi felt slightly tired of always being unappreciated in Konoha for his work. Killing and injuring those who oppose Konoha was all that mattered in his tunnel vision and he needed to get better at that. His hand dug into his pocket for a second before he pulled out a white piece of paper perfectly folded twice and began to carefully unfold it. On the sheet was a list of names written in a thick and highly detailed font. There must have been fifteen names at least all in a font that was hand drawn and took a great deal of time and effort. Kanshi was no psycho, nor did he enjoy the act of killing; however he got all worked up over the ideals that die off within a person. If he could kill those who deserved it, as a vigilante, Kanshi could end the spread of their ideals and their bad deeds. He was more of a vigilante than a serial killer in his eyes. Was it because he wasn't human? Nobody knows. The boy made his way back to his house before heading off to work with the blacksmith. Kanshi thoroughly enjoyed the act of constructing his own "justice machines" at the blacksmith. It was definitely true that one needed to make 1,000 kunai's before making one that was perfect though, as the blacksmith said to him all the time. Copying someone's work was Kanshi's biggest crime in his eyes, as he tried to replicate anything he could get his hands on. It was a bit messed up to most, but he really couldn't care.

Back at the blacksmith, Kanshi came in with a fuma shuriken and cracked his knuckles. A bulky man that looked slightly Italian walked up to him and greeted him with open arms.
"Kanshi! My idiot apprentice! Ready to start problem solving and using those noodle arms for something better than what most teens do?"
The man paused for a second after finishing for Kanshi's response and Kanshi threw the fuma shuriken at the blacksmith who was only a few feet away.
"You know it, sir!"
The blacksmith caught it with amazing speed and dexterity and didn't seem to be too bothered by the speed of it. The two laughed with each other and had warm smiles over their faces. It was an open booth with a big wall separating the forge from the customers. The blacksmith wished to give none of his secrets and skills away and left everything to do with making weapons out of the picture. The blacksmith was someone large and intimidating and proficient in ninjutsu, puppetry and weaponry. He was a great Jounin who quit being a ninja out of greed for more ryo through other means. To most, he was an honest blacksmith; to some, he was a highly trained killing machine. Who knows how strong the blacksmith really is, but Kanshi is lucky enough to be his prodigy. Kanshi prepared himself for another fun day of metalworking and forging.

[534/721]

"Okay, so we start by letting you do god knows what while the other slave workers do all the dirty work. You aren't getting paid, as usual, but you are free to use up whatever you need."
He paused as Kanshi smiled. The others looked up at Kanshi, covered in some black coal and watery eyes from the steam. Working as a blacksmith for ten years was the best thing he has done for himself. If being a ninja didn't pay enough, he could always just work as a blacksmith for the rest of his life. Kanshi made eye contact with the blacksmith and had the same out of place smile on his face.
"Also, I have changed my policy on one thing. Since you have completely ignored anything I have said about recreating items, you can just go ahead and do it all you want."
The blacksmith chuckled and hit Kanshi on the shoulder. Kanshi laughed hard as he knew this was going to happen someday.
"Thanks Baku! I will be sure to get you a copy of this fuma shuriken when i'm done with it."
Baku guffawed greatly as Kanshi got to work at his portion of the smithy. He quickly got to work on making a mold as the adult looked at the scattered blueprints.
"I can do this, came too close before."

Kanshi wiped the sweat off his forehead. Looking up from the open work space, he could see it growing dusk already. Time flew at the smithy, it always did for him. Cursing under his breath, he drew out the last blade of the fuma shuriken as it was red hot and began to hit repeatedly on an anvil. The mold he made was a bit faulty and this was something he was certain would be a good idea to fix that. Shaping it out and dodging the red hot steel, he went on and refined it. The other three blades were perfect in every sense, maybe even better than the original! His arms felt like they were going to fall off after lifting the fuma shuriken and it's parts so many times. Kanshi was no idiot when it came to metal working, far from it. He knew the fuma shuriken's history and even researched it before his 173th attempt at replicating it. It was the fuma clan's doing and he was pretty sure they were wiped out with the big destruction a few centuries ago. A masterful work of art that was now widely available in ninja shops with the quality not being spared in the slightest. He could gaze at a weapon of this beauty all day and just admire how much work went into making each one of these. It was 700 ryo for one, but he was certain he could make them for a much cheaper cost and a slightly higher quality. The blades of death weren't cheap and definitely weren't cheap to make; however, Baku was filthy stinking rich and saw how much Kanshi loved making and working with weapons. He had done it all: claw gloves, enchantments, seals, swords, scythes, and even a chakra cannon once. He knew almost everything about everything when it came to this kind of stuff and was actually at the point where he could teach his master sometimes! They could go arguing over how to make a weapon the most efficient way and actually have a great amount of experience to do so! Baku had been working for 30 years as a blacksmith though and was trained much better than Kanshi was. Kanshi felt the flood of these memories as he finished shaping the fuma shuriken.

Once he finished the process of heat treating, he began to do some filling, grinding, and cutting to make the blade. It was lots of work, but he wouldn't want to be doing anything else. As he could hear the others grunting and moaning over their labor of making another katana, sword, kunai, or who knows what, he remembered the clock was on him as he speeded himself up. His arms still felt weak, but not even close to the others. The other workers were all with spaghetti noddle arms and could hardly seem to even stand up after a single five hour shift. Kanshi had been working 7 hours and he still wasn't even close to exhausted. It was a lot of time, but he was a perfectionist who took one too many breaks. Pausing for a moment and looking at his work, he realize it was time for the grinding rock. The process remained long as he could see it was getting later by the second. He still had some time, all he had to do was refine the blade a little. Kanshi got a second wind and began to finish up.

After it was all said and done, the shop was maybe two hours away from closing. Kanshi laughed and fell onto the blackened floor with his finished fuma shuriken right next to his original one. He had done it, really had done it. It felt euphoric as it was all done. Kanshi had the last item from the list of items from the ninja shop perfectly replicated, even improved in terms of quality. The beauty of it shown in his face as he teared up a little. Looking up into the sky, he could only think of how long it took him to get here. He had done it, finally done it! It took everything he had to get this far, but here he was with all of his metal working goals done. It was some kind of high for him as he drifted out of his tired body through the air. He felt like he was flying, truly flying from his exhausted body for a few seconds before his eyes caught onto Baku standing over him.
"You did it, you really were able to pass my final test of replicating an entire series. I had told you it wasn't possible for you to do this, but you replicated every single one of them and even made them better than the shop could. Here, I will go ahead and let you do the honors."
Baku pointed with a smile to the fuma shuriken and moved over it. With a closer inspection it was more perfect than he could have imagined and a gawk was quickly filling his face. Kanshi groaned and tossed around on the floor before getting up and dusting himself off.
"Well does it look nice? This is the contract destroyer, if I am correct."
The two looked at each other and Baku got delighted to the core as he hugged Kanshi.
"You did amazing, I knew you were worth my time. You are now an employee of mine..."
Baku laughed for a second with Kanshi before speaking once more.
"...screw that! You are now head manager of this shop, the position directly under me. Nobody in this shop, maybe not even me, could make some kind of piece like this. This was the best investment I have made!"
Kanshi smiled and rejoiced with Baku before picking up his own fuma shuriken and taking a final look at it. Baku got another fun idea as he watched Kanshi.
"EVERYONE, KANSHI MADE A FUMA SHURIKEN THAT IS PERFECT. ADMIRE THE QUALITY AND TAKE NOTES!"
Baku nearly screamed this as they all scurried over with new life to examine the weapon. In the moment, the group was quickly interrupted by someone at the front desk.
"Hey is the special of the day finally done yet?"
Baku and Kanshi nearly screamed in delight as he handed over his work of art to someone with a heavy wallet. After everything was said and done, Kanshi returned home as a hero and money maker with the fuma shuriken he bought in hand.

[1,315/2,036]
Training complete!
10 stat points gained.
Plagiarism Perfectionist learnt (2,000/2,000)

[exit]