Take Aim

What I came to appreciate about Ninken was the stealth and ability to work with a partner that they grow up with.

To say that I and Yuuma worked the same way as them. Not exactly.

With ease, we ducked under trip wires and dug into the snow, as we approached the traps were minimal. Which was concerning until I heard the loud sounds of what I could only call an argument off in the distance…

"Why do we even have to do this stupid thing, you know I'd be awesome jonin if we were older!"

"Well, I'd be but I don't know about you."

"What was that?!"

"..." (Makoto)

In my sight wasn't anyone I'd recognize that's how I knew I was set. Then again it wasn't helpful to not know who exactly I was dealing with. First was the loud and short one that was yelling at the big fellow.

They had a brown jacket on with their hood up so I could make out much more, but their voice crack and squeals were reminding me that I'd have to go through.

Puberty….

Moving on from that chilling thought; The two next to them were more distinguishable. A girl with her hair up in a bun, she wore a light blue jacket with black pants, her earmuffs looked so warm, but I had to focus.

Lastly, the big guy had a black buzz cut and for some reason a scar that went over his right eye. And when I say big; I mean jacked. It's not every day you see a kid with bulging biceps.

This dude was out there in a t-shirt and pair of shorts like it was nothing. While each of them might be good in their own right, I could tell one thing from them all being there.

They were all stubborn as hell. So, their teamwork was suffering from it.

Those fucks really thought it'd be easy to take out a jonin. I don't know who the fuck was feeding their egos, but they were in any manner what I'd call a team.

It's easier to show than explain why so I'll keep going.

First thing was, that they were all looking for a fight, so I simply gave them one.

***

"Such a gracious soul." (Hotaru)

"Truly the merciful nature of our king. I'm tearing up…" (Hibiki)

"We can't cry in our majesty's grace, take this napkin." (Kohaku)

"You're absolutely right, brother…" (Hibiki)

"... fucking freaks…" (Makoto)

***

You can't blame me if their jonin wasn't going to knock it into them; I might as well.

(Ready Riri?) (Makoto)

(Are you sure about this?) (Riri)

(Let's hunt!) (Makoto)

Riri made her way around them as they kept on mouthing each other off. I climbed up a tree and dropped my Henge with a bow in my arm; Making a couple of signs and seeing five of the arrows in my quiver change significantly. A newfound frosty exterior covered them with maintaining their original shape. They don't last for long, so I notch one of the arrows and fire immediately. Roughly, into the center of all of them

[Hyōton: Mirror Shot]

As I shot it towards the group, the girl who held this nonchalant expression became alarmed. Without talking to her companions, she jumped back while the two others were a little too late to react after seeing her my arrow had hit its mark and the fun had just begun.

Chakra was something I thought grew with the more you used jutsus. With how many times I had to hunt creatures in the forest purely with ice, this wasn't taking much of a toll on me.

Freezing things was something I've done on the regular even on earth, this was just a more efficient way of doing it.

Now we get a bit into the gritty details because using a kekkai genkai was like concocting a potion, you have a specific portion of how much chakra is needed to produce said effect.

Ice release relied on Water chakra primarily and freezes with Wind so you could say it's 70% water and 30% Wind. Now, what happens if you change that percentage?

Unfortunately for them, my advantage was the natural snow around me letting me experiment for less chakra, I placed my hand on the ground and watched as the ice slushed off the arrow and expanded outward, making the two outright slip and fall before they could escape.

The girl threw a tagged kunai my way, so I dropped down and did a forward roll before firing a frost arrow in return.

"Hurry up! We can't be taken out by some midget!"

"We're up! Geez!"

I let them get out before watching the very slush freeze into an ice patch before I whistled. Riri's turn.

Not too far from the girl, Riri pounced and tackled the girl down with a kunai in her mouth. The bigger guy threw a shuriken making Riri retreat but not stirring her away completely. She jumped and spun around, stirring up the snow in her wake. Temporarily making a haze that surrounded all of them.

Closing in, I let loose two more frost arrows into the cloud listening to Riri's barking. Only to see that my prey was making their escape but not before throwing shurikens at me.

I didn't really have the time to react before I got struck by four of them. The scratches were minimal with my hoodie being bigger than me but that's not to say I was unscathed.

(Going for a bigger one was a good idea!) (Makoto)

(... Noted…, we'll go after them?) (Riri)

I waited a little bit before notching another arrow their way as Riri tilted her head at me looking a little confused. God was she adorable as a puppy.

(Right after convincing them to regroup with this… wanna help?) (Makoto)

(I'm glad you asked! Take Aim!) (Riri)

Riri made Yuuma's hair stand on its ends as sparks of lightning surrounded their form and they took off running.

Giving her a good 30-second lead. With a 50-50 balance, I released the arrow.

The ice from the arrow all went to the arrowhead and extended outward to these spiraling tendrils of snow picking up the rest as it went, leaving the pure mushy ground behind this arrow was coming through. Riri came to a halt but the lighting clone of her kept going, fusing the arrow that was now coming through like a bullet train as it was going higher.

[Hyōton + Raiton Combo: Mirror Rush]

I was feeling a little lightheaded after that one.

Seemed like it took a bit more out of me than I was originally expecting but it was still in the works, so I wondered how they were going to deal with that one. The most that arrow was going to do was buff them in the wind but at the time I wouldn't want to be the one on the receiving end of it even by proximity.

It took about 45 seconds before I heard them scream and from there, about 30- 45 seconds before a boom in the distance. I wasn't sure if the arrow couldn't take it, but it was something I had to experiment with.

I pulled out a notebook to take note of it when Riri gave me a blank stare.

(Aren't we supposed to get the sword from them? I didn't see it on any of them.) (Riri)

"Oh! Uhm…" (Makoto)

(You forgot…) (Riri)

I quickly fired a couple of normal arrows into the ice patch they left behind, watching them sink in only to never be seen again unless I called upon them.

(...), I didn't need to turn around to know that she bore her eyes into the back of my heat like some heat ray vision.

"Don't look at me like that, let's keep going!" (Makoto)

All I heard from then was the long-exasperated sigh of Riri running beside me, I had to check the damage control.

***

"Now you got me fucked up, why didn't you wait for this?!" (Hibiki)

"I'd love to hear what Atsui was thinking." (Hotaru)

"Their jonin was nearby, right?" (Kohaku)

"Shh! …Just let me finish…." (Makoto)

***

Obviously, my six-year-old body wasn't built to compete with how far these teens could've gotten but I followed the patch of muddy grass that seemed to be expanding…

Uh oh…

(I smell them, up ahead!) (Riri)

The forest was mostly quiet, leaves are blown off a couple of trees. However, it did leave the desired result of a couple of large frost patches on the trees.

I think we covered the distance of a baseball field to find them, wrapped in some sort of tough fabric, battered, and bruised; from what I could tell the big guy kept his teammates together for the duration and they weren't looking too good. I rushed over to them, unconscious and cold….

Oh no. No no no!

Their breathing became harsh and staggered. They didn't get out of the way.

I felt sick to my stomach the longer I looked. That was when I heard it.

Other than the encroaching footsteps behind me, there was one more sound I could make out. A disembodied guttural moan was slowly, swelling. Louder and louder until that very same moan became a screech.

I don't know if I would've been able to think straight if it wasn't for Riri nudging me. Like second instinct I kneeled and was about to use another jutsu when I heard the repeated thumping of wood slowly getting louder. Both sounds just grew closer as my heart was thumping out of my chest.

I held myself steady and desperately looked to Riri.

***

Back on earth, I sat down by my opened bay window looking down at the figure

"Hey Jay, you like dogs, right?" (Makoto)

"Well yeah, what about them?" (Jay)

"Do you think we'll be allowed to have one?" (Makoto)

"... No." (Jay)

"Huh? How come?" (Makoto)

"...I feel jealous sometimes too, ya know…"

"I'm sorry…" (Makoto)

"Don't worry about it. Having a pet is a lot like having a friend. Wait, I guess it's more like having a kid or a sibling."

"Jay…" (Makoto)

"It's nice just to know that there's always someone by your side, to relax, to play and get some fresh air. I really miss that, ya know…"

***

Looking at Riri stare at me with Yuuma's eyes wide open when he's normally such a tired dog nearly made me smile. Just knowing someone is thinking about me when I was freaking out made me take a minute to take a deep breath and exhale before I spoke.

"Please help me." (Makoto)

(Always.) (Riri)

"... Thank you." (Makoto)

With Riri, sharing her chakra with me, I just had enough left to disguise the use of [Heal] under my own jutsu.

[Hyōton + Raiton Combo: North Star Refraction]

From my hand, formed a cube of ice with a small spark inside; giving off a soft blue glow around the three of them. I watched the color come back to their skin while a frigid wind took course in my body.

My teeth began to chatter as I lost feeling in my hands, the nearing moan became a piercing shriek. I couldn't keep my hands up any longer and could only watch the cube shatter as the light faded away.

Riri got in front of me, barking about something but I couldn't hear her well. I felt sleepy…

This fight would've been more pressing on me if it wasn't for the snow already being present.

I reached out to Riri, rubbing her fur made me feel a little warmer

"We did some good… thank you, thank you…" (Makoto)

(You did good, stupid! Don't be dying on me, kid!) (Riri)

"Wha-, no… I think I just need a little nap." (Makoto)

I was going to check their pulses when a wave of dizziness hit me, and I fell over in the snow.

Heh, I guess healing three people was too much…

It felt warm this time…

I saw something muffled in the distance.

* Crunch, crunch *

Things were becoming blurry. Even so, I still recognized the dirty blonde hair of my would-be enemy...

He was flustered, no... panicked. He wipes away something from my ear, his mouth was moving but I couldn't hear him.

It was the same, same old cold, same old silence. I've always wondered what it was like… are the others able to hear their specters?

All I knew was that my psyche was full, but I've never been able to meet them. How cruel was that? The beings just living within me.

If I'm honest, it was times like these that made me believe that I'd die alone… just like the rest of us.

With an exasperated sigh, I look up at the blonde before me, "Looks like I've failed again." Before losing consciousness.

*Click*