Gain then Pain (Solo/NK)

It was night time and the operation was going well. No one has gotten hurt so far, the lifting of large tents and setting up camp in the middle of a field at night, he was told that ninja did this all the time. A combination between sarcasm and other young Genin telling them that it wasn't realistic training. None the less Chuta did what he could. Helping to lift large poles and pulling the canvas over the skeletal structure of the tent, gathering wood for the fires, helping to gather wild foods to eat. They had rations but supplementary food was still needed to help the digestion process.

They were supposed to be a group of ninja that set up camp on the border of some country, Chuta had forgotten which exactly, and protect it. It was to test their planning, execution, and overall teamwork. Stray thoughts about what Konoha's main picture was looking like, the group would be graded on how well they preformed and would be told if they were mission ready as a unit, this had to be a new thing. Tests like this have never come up before, none-the-less Chuta did what he could. He even helped schedule the rotation for watches and their movement patterns.

He went out by the fire to relax for a moment before going back to work. A list was pilling up in his head but he knew himself, it could overwhelm him pretty easy. He let himself drown out his surroundings while peering into the flames. Fire could be so wild, yet was so limited. Oxygen, fuel, and heat. Anyone of those things could be taken away and the fire would disappear. It seemed to simple on the surface, but in order to remove one of those things, especially from a large fire, can be a feat in itself.

Chuta let himself day dream for a moment then went back to work. The tent was up now, people were starting to settle down, the rotation for watch was set and Chuta made sure the leads got the right information. It wasn't an hour and everyone was already and tucked in for the night.

Sleeping was easy. His body ached a bit from the work and he let himself focus on his breath, the fastest way to fall asleep he found. He didn't have a dream that night. No bumps in the watch rotation were reported the next day and no one reported to have seen anything while they stood them.

"Alright, Alright." The lead instructor patted the air. "Everyone calm down." He told the gaggle in front of him as their talking came to a halt. It was morning formation. "We have three more days of this. Today, we will break you off in two five different teams. Team one, you will be working on wilderness survival skills. Team two, you will be going over combat movements. Team three, you will break up and continue watch over the camp. Team four, you will be with me going over intelligence gathering techniques. Team five, have your lead talk to me."

Chuta fell in group four. He was the watch coordinator and therefore needed to make sure everyone was doing their job correctly. This wasn't only an ascetics things within the camp were expensive. The tent, all of the equipment, the bedding, it added up, and they couldn't leave it all unattended while people were off training. So, Chuta took command.

"Ikimaru, you take Suuna and relieve the first watch." Chuta pointed to the northern end of camp. "Hikara, take these three and patrol the south. The rest of you come with me. We are going to meet back up in thirty minutes." He finished and they all darted to their posts. The remaining five were standing there waiting for Chuta to move. "We are going to scatter among the camp. If anything happens to the watch standers, you move in to back them up." He said. They rogered up and all moved in different directions.

Chuta moved to the chow hall and patrolled the barracks. He kept the other ninja in his view as he kept a close eye on the materials in camp. Nothing had moved or changed. The thing that bothered him was the fifth group. Where had they gone, and why was it a secret? The instructor didn't want the camp to know what they were up to so he told the lead person to talk to him. This was the only reason Chuta had his men spread out like he did. He suspected an attack would come, all simulated of course, but he wanted to win, wanted to do his best.

Chuta moved slowly through camp. The patrol wasn't moving much, though it was obvious nothing had happened. Going in and our of tents made it a little difficult to keep an eye on them, but he managed. They were moving north, on the other side of camp they were moving south. When the commotion started, no one seemed to know where it was coming from.

Suddenly, darts passed by Chuta's head. The watch attacked him. No, not the watch Chuta prepared for battle. As the enemy approached he could tell now, the watch had been captured and replayed by the transformation Jutsu. Why didn't he see this coming? Chuta bounded out of the way of Kunai and darts. tranquilizers? He thought. Then began a series of handseals.

Mist rose all around him. It was created in a twenty feet radius and used the dew of the morning. He could hear the darts passing him by and whizzing in all directions, good, they can't see me. he thought and ran into one of the tents. He found himself in the barracks. He quickly turned the cornor and hid there, waiting to hear people pass by. It felt like hours. No one seemed to pass.

The technique dissipated and he finally heard them.

"Go to the north. He might be trying to let the others know whats going on." One said. Chuta used his projection to conjure up a bo staff. He turned the cornor and ran across the field, stuck the one on the back of the leg, he fell to the ground with a yelp. Chuta put his hand over the ninja's mouth and waited to see if the other were going to come back, if they heard their teammate fall. He didn't hear or see anything.

The man wore a Konoha headband and he recognized him from the fifth squad. So, this is only training. Part of him was relieved. He had suspicions and now they were confirmed, no need to accidentally kill someone. Hopefully the others were fairing well, he began to run toward the group to the south. He he could revive them he would go back north and mount a counter offensive, other than that, he was surly outnumbered. There would be no way for him to take the whole fifth group out himself.

He found his teammates already awake and tied to a tree. Group five must have been spread thin, no one was watching the prisoners. Chuta grabbed the clothes and pulled them down from their mouths.

"I can't believe we fell for that." One was saying as Chuta worked at their hand and the larger rope that was spread across their chest's. "They drew us in with sounds of kid. A KID!"
"Keep your voice down." Chuta said sternly. "This isn't over yet."
"Oh, well, we need to head north." The other said. "I heard them talking about sealing all the tents into scrolls, humiliating you."
"Me?" Chuta asked.
"Well, you are the leader of us after all." He finished. Their bonds were loosed and Chuta directed them to the north.

WC: 1308

The morning ground mushed under Chuta's feet. They were approaching the northern end of the camp fast. "Spread out" He told his comrades, "Attack wedge formation." He said a little quieter. The four of them formed a V shape, two ninja flanked both of Chuta's sides. They spread out and had a three meter distance between them. Chuta conjured a bo staff that was two meters long, he was only planning on wounding people, not killing them.

The attack came suddenly, but luckily they had the one of the dog whispers with them, the Inuzuka clan and their sense of smell was remarkable. Chuta was able to substitute himself just in time to dodge darts heading for him, all thanks to the dog's nose. The darts plowed into a piece of wood and the battle was on. Technique after technique, the field was chaos, Chuta tried to focus on one target but the ten med within the squad had all coalesce on one position was was bombarding them with attacks. Luckily the watch standers from the east cut them off and seemed to caused them to run for the hills. Victory was in Chuta's grasp.

A white flag rose over a stump and they had won. The attack was staved off and Chuta could keep his pride. The dragon within him was thankful, he wasn't sure what it was going to act like under defeat, though, under stress he was a killing machine. He, himself, was able to take down three ninja. The others did their best, but really the other squad had their backs and came through with the win.

People began to trickle in from their classes. Team four and five sat there all sweaty and tired while the others looked at them with questioning faces, they missed all the excitement. Rumors quickly spread about them loosing the battle, and that Chuta was to blame, but that night they were proven wrong.

"Chuta Pendragon, come forward." The lead instructor said while standing in front of the evenings formation. Chuta's heart began to pound, what was about to happen, was he going to get punished for something? No, I haven't done anything wrong, have I? He began to go through the day subject by subject, nothing stood out. He was standing in front of the group of ninja.
"Chuta, you successfully completed today's even. You defended the camp and saved yourself some humiliation. I want to publicly award you. This..." The instructor pulled a scroll from his pocket. "This is for you. They are orders to accompany a team on a very specific mission, and you." he pointed at him, "are for sure, ready for it. Congratulations." The instructor handed him the scroll. When the shook hands he pulled Chuta in and whispered in his ear, "Don't tell anyone what this scroll contains."
Chuta smiled and nodded. Thoughts about what it could be spoiled the moment for him. He was going to glory, be lost in it, but now, he just didn't know what to do. What could it be?

The next few a days were similar, though less exciting. The teams rotated from event to event, and the camp wasn't attacked again, at least, not like it was at first. The team picked everything up without an incident and without anyone getting hurt. Then they were released to go back home. Chuta spend the last two days brewing over what was in the scroll. What could it be? Did they really give it to him because he could counter attack like he did, was he something special, or was this all a ploy of some kind? A thousand things like that ran through his head then... then he got home.

____________________________________

The light didn't come on when Chuta flicked the light switch. Maybe its the storm outside he thought as he ignored the light and moved into the house. His body ached from the work of the week. Setting up tents, fighting, learning, if his body didn't hurt because of the combat then it surely was tired of using his brain. He felt exhausted, he was ready to hit the rack and get some sleep. But when he turned the corner to enter the hallway to his room, all he could see was a shadowy figure standing there at the end.

"HHAHHAHAHAAAA, I did it...... I did it.. I killed the dragon." The man said, his voice was twisted and dark, high pitches and low, like rage itself was speaking. "I knew he was going to be here, I knew it, they said I couldn't, no, no, that I wouldn't be able to kill the dragon, but look, look, look and see what I did." The man spoke, his body moved in jerky motions. Chuta couldn't see the man's eyes. He thought that he had to be looking at his back. The man's arms were moving, speaking with his hands like he was talking to someone.

"Hello?" Chuta said.
"UH!" The man jerked back and looked toward Chuta. "No, no, no, no, no... It can't be." The man brought his hand to his head. Chuta realized the man was wearing a hood, when he pulled it down it shown raggedy hair, long and growing every which way. "I... I killed you!" The man yelled. Chuta could make out a figure laying on the ground.
"Who are you?" He said in a fearful way, his voice tired, but forceful. "What are you doin-" The man lunged at him.
chuta found himself on the ground, the cold steel of a kunai touched his neck. He was in danger. His body kicked in, adrenilane rushed through his veins, he thrust his hips to the sky and pushed the man over. Putting his heals on the enemies his he grabbed his arms, in one fell swoop chuta flung the man. His body crashed into the wall. Chuta stood up and looked at him. Blood was rushing down his face.
"You.... You.... not, no, no, no, not him...." The man rushed for the window and jumped through it. Chuta didn't hear the man's body hit the ground. When he ran to see the guy, there was nothing at the bottom by the street. Only glass.

Chuta looked back down the hall way. A messy figure lay there, lifeless.

"Hello?" Chuta moved. Then it hit him, the only other person it could be. "Uncle!" He rushed for his dads brother. He had a wound to the chest. Chuta could see that he had been dead for at least an hour. The man's heart had stopped, his body was warm, his skin pale, even in the dark, a grayish tone to him. Chuta was kneeling and sitting in blood. This is didn't notice till the police arrived. He had called them when the tears stopped pouring down his face. But his chest and throat still ached. For an hour he sat there, tears rolling.

You should have killed that man something inside him said. We need to find him... we need to get him The dragon spoke. Chuta took deep breaths, tried to calm the thing. Only anger and sadness poured into the furnace of a flame that roared inside him. Chuta hungered. Not for his bed. Not for food. But for that man, for his blood.

"Sir... SIR!" The ninja said like he had said a dozen other times. "You need to come with me." He took Chuta by the arm and led him to the prison building. He wasn't under arrest, at least that isn't what the ninja told him. He was the only witness they had and they needed answers.

"So, lets start from the top." The ninja said.
Chuta looked down at his hands. Smudges of blood still marked it after the third time off washing them. He wondered if it would ever come off. "The man was crazy. I need to kill him." he said.
"Who was crazy?"
"The dragon says I need to kill him" Chuta added.
"Someone told you to do this?" The ninja asked.
Chuta looked at the man. His long black hair, the scar that ran down his face, even the dark brown eyes of the ninja were starting to irritate Chuta. There was something in him that couldn't hurt the man, even though he could, he would, but he couldn't.
"The man that did this, he was crazy." Chuta added, "He jumped out the window and ran."
"We didn't find anything at the bottom." The ninja said. "No blood, no hair, nothing."
"How is that?" Chuta asked. "The man was bleeding when he left, he hit his head!"
"Calm down. I am sure, if that reall-"
-"It did really happen!" Chuta interrupted. "Why would I kill my uncle?!" He demanded.
The other ninja was silent for a moment. Two moments. "Did you know about your uncles will?" He asked finally.
"No." Chuta answered.
"Well, it leaves you sole beneficiary to the place."
"To the apartment? Big fucking deal!"-
-"No. To the Pendragon manner."
"The what?"
"There is a place on the outskirts of the village called the Pendragon Manner, you didn't know about this?" The ninja asked.

Chuta could only shake his head. Why would his uncle hide something like this from him? What would he gain?

"The manner is a large estate. There isn't much in it now. Most of your clan, we aren't too sure where they are right now. You are sole beneficiary, until another Pendragon pops up that is. Someone older." He said. "I have a hard time believing you didn't know of this. We are going to keep you here for the time being, until this all blows over."
"Blows over? My uncle is dead... blow... fuck you." Chuta said.

The cell was cold. Drops of blood no, drops of water fell from the ceiling.

WC: 1649
TWC: 2957

Four days past. The cold of the cement around Chuta, the darkness in the other cellmates hearts, they all fed the dragon inside, the dragon that told him you have to kill this man, he deserves to die. As much as Chuta wanted to shrug the words off, he let them stay there, he bathed in them. This man did deserve to die. A life for a life. He was no longer innocent, he Needed to die. The voice was so loud that it drowned out all the other feelings.

Love drifted off into darkness. It was only a hollow part of him now. He felt like a puzzle missing a piece. His uncle. The man that raised him, was gone. He will never be coming back. Every time chuta looked down at his hands, he could still see the read, dead, lifeless blood staining them. Twenty seven times, that was the number of times he had washed his hands. That is the number you will stab the man, no, Chuta took a deep breath. He called the flame that he had once known in meditation to mind, but the furnace still roared. He couldn't ignore it.

On the final day of jail the ninja hadn't found any evidence of another person in the room. How that could be Chuta didn't know. But the medical ninja said he was dead for hours before chuta was home. Mathematically, it was impossible for Chuta to have murdered his uncle. So, they released him.

The sun beat down on Chuta's face like a scorching fireball raining from heaven, like it was the first time he had seen it in years. He had to cover his eyes to see the sidewalk in front of him. He was heading back to the apartment, he needed to find something, something that would lead him to this crazed man.

WC: 312
TWC: 3269

Walking up to the door chuta thought about all the times him and his uncle spent together. Being on the ship, traveling, the fun, the pain of work, the reward. It all came together at the end. They were called back to the village to prepare for war, a war that was supposed to be far away. Not at home, in the living room. Chuta feel to a knee. He was already halfway up the ramp to the house. Tears continued down his face, then he looked up. Rage painted him, his face was crunched into anger.

The seal on the door was so easy to break Chuta wondered why it was there in the first place. He could seal it back up when he was done. This mediocre ninja society, you should just leave the voice told him. I don't know why you stay. Chuta was starting to wonder himself. He should just leave this village and never come back. The thoughts pilled on top of one another. It would be easy  enough. Grab a bag, grab food, hit the road. Go and visit the water country. He loved it there, the people were nice, smart, strong, You could live there the thoughts continued.

Chuta was inside the apartment and looking around. There was no blood where the man smacked his head. There was no evidence of the man ever being there. The door wasn't broken into, the window was shattered, but nothing was on the ground bellow. "Did I imagine it?" He questioned softly. Then looked across the way. He was on the third floor, the buildings across the way were low enough for someone to skip across. "But the investigators have to of thought about that." He said then darted for the door, sealed it up, and headed to the other side of the street.

______

The blood was spatted in small puddles on the roof top. Chuta could see the direction it lead.

"Oh, I'll find you." He said.

(((((EXIT)))))

WC: 335
TWC: 3604 - 2500 - 1000 - 104 = 0

+18 stats = +6 Chakra , +6 Speed, +6 Strength
[Claiming 2500/2500 Rain Tiger at Will Technique & 1000/1000 BattoJutsu Quickdraw & (534+104) 638/1000 Mark Tracking]

Approved