Chapter 21 - Death or Life: A Matter of Honor!

Kabuto was rapidly tiring of Orochimaru’s new favorite. This Chakaro kid was really a problem. Not to mention that Kabuto didn’t feel any real loyalty to Orochimaru to begin with. If the power was gone, so was he…Of course, being a know traitor, his options were limited. He’d have to think out his departure carefully.

Not all the genin were too busy to train with Ekyt. Lee and Ekyt in particular had some entertaining matches. Ekyt never won, but it was clear he and Lee were both getting stronger, and very rapidly progressing. From the match with Lee, Ekyt worked with Tenten on weapons. Throwing weapons were admittedly a weak spot for him. Tenten was an excellent teacher. She started out harassing him, but once she realized he had respect for kunoichi, she settled down and trained him right.

“Naruto, you’ll be surprised to hear this, but you’re ahead of the group, so you can relax today.”
These words were rare indeed; especially coming from Kakashi!
“What do you mean?” Naruto asked in confusion.
“You’ve already had experience training a student. Sasuke and Sakura haven’t.”
“All right! I beat Sasuke! Believe it! I’m gonna be Hokage, I’m gonna be Hokage! Yeah!”


“Sasuke?”
Sakura’s shy voice hit Sasuke’s ears.
“Hmn?”
“S-since Kakashi-Sensei says we all need to train someone…well…I was hoping you would train me.”
Sasuke looked up in surprise. He said nothing, which gave Sakura a chance to continue.
“I want to get stronger. And you’re one of the strongest Shinobi around.” Sakura’s words were spoken truthfully, without even a hint of the rabid fangirl that usually occupied her body. To her surprise, Sasuke grinned wryly.
“Fine. Let’s get started…”


Chakaro Tamaki looked sideways at Kabuto. His evil voice sounded like a hiss.
“Reconaissance? On the Hidden Leaf Village? Of course Kabuto, we can always use that. If the chance arises, kill our usual targets. Not the Uchiha boy, he is to be given to Lord Orochimaru alive. Do you understand?”
“Yes Chakaro. I’ll have date for you quickly. In the mean time, Orochimaru wants me to remind you about your lesson with him today.”
“Understood. Dismised.” Chakaro made a vague waving motion, returning to the scroll he was reading.
Kabuto clearly didn’t appreciate the blow-off, but shrugged and adjusted his glasses.

Ekyt’s depression had been consuming him. He had reasons to be depressed, and his anxious nature magnified them. He took a deep, sharp breath, because his anxiety suddenly hit a peak. Suddenly, he felt something. That chakra…the one he had used to seal Sasuke’s curse mark…it had returned. He leapt up and sprinted to Kakashi, who had asked Ekyt to meet him on Lone Pine Hill if anything went wrong in the village.

“Kakashi-sensei! That chakra, it’s back!”
“Can you demonstrate it?”
“Yes sensei.”

Ekyt focused himself and his chakra. He could feel this strange chakra bypassing his regular chakra without bothering it. Next, the chakra formed in his hand, turning his hand a transparent blue. Kakashi looked closely at the chakra.
“The color of the chakra is associated with the emotional part of your chakra. What does that tell us?” Kakashi resisted the urge to poke at Ekyt’s hand. Instead, he lifted his headband. With his Sharingan, he could see that the chakra’s energy flow was in a counter-clockwise pattern. Normally, chakra flowed in a clockwise pattern.
“Emotion…My anxiety…every time I’ve been able to access this chakra, I’ve been attacked emotionally, or defending someone in desperation. Afterwards, the chakra exhausts me…but only for a bout fifteen minutes. During that time, though, I have my stamina, but no regular chakra.”
This was troubling, in a way. But useful.


Sakura was nearly panicking. “I need a student!”
If there was such a thing as fate, it was smiling on her that day. Kayla Donalds happened to be in need of a teacher.
“Sakura…do you think you could help me out? I’m having a hard time with the chakra scalpel…”


Ekyt walked toward Tanuza town. He needed to clear his head, to think. He didn’t have long. The other thing he needed was about to present itself: A fight.

Two tough-looking ninja were blocking the way. “You’re coming with us.” One of them spoke forcefully, grabbing Ekyt by the arm. Ekyt yanked away.
“You don’t want to do that,” Ekyt said in a warning voice.
“And why not, little man? You gonna beat us? We’re chunin, and we can kick your genin @$$!”
“Go ahead then. Something tells me that your vocal chords are the biggest threat you have,” Ekyt replied. He was feeling vicious today, and he didn’t know why. And right now, he knew he should be worried for his life. But he was too frustrated, too angry to care.

The first ninja ordered his comrade back. “I’ll handle this!” The ninja who spoke looked about thirty years old, though it was hard to tell because his body was so covered with tattoos you couldn’t judge the skin. He spoke in a low pitched voice, and he muttered constantly.

With a yell, he rushed at Ekyt. Ekyt guessed that this guy was going to try taijutsu. That worked for him. The older ninja, clad in white, struck at Ekyt with a punch that was clearly meant to be a killing strike. Ekyt leapt backward onto a rock, then was forced to hop backward again as a thick leg snapped upward toward his chest.
Ekyt landed, then pushed forward, extending his leg, meeting his opponents chest. He pushed with the foot, knocking his opponent back. With a small leap, Ekyt launched a roundhouse kick, followed by a crescent kick, which became an axe kick halfway through the motion. Ekyt’s kick hit the top of the enemy’s head. He swung his foot back up in a return strike, cracking his opponent under the chin, knocking him backwards.
“Haito!”
The ninja who had been ordered aside leaned over his comrade.
“He’s not dead. But you should prop his head up, and put some gauze on the top of his head.”
The one tending to his friend looked up in surprise. It wasn’t every day an enemy (not to mention one that had gotten jumped) offered help. Hibiki stood up. “I’ll make you pay for what you did to Haito!”
THIS opponent was a wiry little guy, although not that quick, despite having the build for it. He had big, protruding lips, and a sloping forehead. His skin was a strange yellow color, making him look as though he was one giant bruise. His thin fingers suddenly began to interweave, making hand signs for a jutsu.
Ekyt leapt in close, and very quickly. He snap-kicked at Hibiki’s fingers, hearing a crunch sound. That would have ended the fight, except Hibiki was so angry he decided to stab at Ekyt, holding a kunai with his thumb and one finger that wasn’t broken.
Ekyt’s kunai met his to sweep it aside, leaving Hibiki open for an attack. Ekyt kicked hard to the solar plexus with his front leg, knocking Hibiki backward into a narrow creek.
From behind, Ekyt heard a third ninja coming. He spun around and raised his shin to block a low kick. He struck with an elbow while stepping forward into a crane stance. When his elbow was blocked, he brought his foot straight forward from a standing position, trying to use the inside edge to kick to the knee. That failed as Ekyt had to block his head and duck low. He left himself open for a fraction of a second, earning a hard jab to the mid section for the mistake.
This was Ekyt’s first opportunity to really look at his opponent. The man was roughly seven feet tall, and about 300 lbs of muscle. His white Gi top didn’t quite fit, leaving a few inches of stomach showing, with the chest mostly open. His gi pants were too short as well. They matched those of his comrades.
Shoulda known…ninjas travel in threes…so what delayed fat boy here? Ekyt wondered. He didn’t have time to wonder for long, another first caught him in the cheek. He hit the ground, feeling a scrape forming on his face.
“Ya little punk! I oughta hang ya by yer thumbs for whut ya done ta them!” The big man was yelling and pointed animatedly at his two unconscious friends.
“THEY attacked ME! Same as you! And you just keep on threatening me. Unless your plan is to bore me to death, you’re wasting your breath.”
The big man attacked again. Ekyt deflected his fist and rolled to the side, leaping up over a sweep kick, then ducking under a wild punch. He stepped down on the big man’s foot, then rammed his knee into the inside of his adversary’s leg. When the bigger Shinobi bent down, Ekyt gave him a palm-thrust to the chin.
By then, Hibiki and Haito were up. They both tried to flying-tackle Ekyt, who threw one of them with a hip toss. He launched a side-kick at Hibiki, hitting him full in the stomach. “Come on Hikaro! Help us!” he called.
Apparently, the big guy deferred to Hibiki. His ham-sized hand caught Ekyt between the shoulder blades, knocking him down. Ekyt rolled quickly, and heard the tell-tale whoosh sound on kunai hitting the ground where he had been. He swept-kicked the recovered Haito, knocking him back down. In the same motion he rolled to his feet, landing behind a shuriken- riddled tree. Time to even the odds… He made the hand signs. Boar…horse…snake…tiger…dragon…monkey.


“Okay Sakura. Try it one more time,” Sasuke ordered dryly.
“Right!” Sakura focused her chakra as hard as she could. “Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings technique!”
Sasuke watched as four trees nearby burst into flames and fell toward him.
“Kai! (Release!)” Sakura called, ending the genjutsu. I did it! Yes! And I made time with Sasuke! I’m on a role, I can take on the world! Cha! Calmly, she asked “Did it work alright Sasuke?”
“If I hadn’t known it was coming, it would have.”
Sakura didn’t push her luck. Coming from Sasuke, that was a victory speech!


Ekyt’s clones popped out from behind the tree. They attacked, two of them using the “Backward Snap Dragon!” technique. Both clones disappeared after the executing the attack; their share of chakra drained. Ekyt, still behind the tree, finished a second hand sign. “Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!”

Hibiki, the last one left standing, suddenly saw his home village. His heart leapt with joy! He had been banished from the Village Hidden in the Mist for a crime he didn’t commit. He hadn’t murdered the town’s hero, a hard working family man named Jiro. But the town had blamed him. He was just about to run to his mother (Hibiki is still young), when she burst into flames. His house was burning down! He tried to put out the flames, but they kept growing, and started to lick his skin.

Hibiki screamed. Ekyt felt bad, but told himself that Hibiki and his friends would have killed him and forgotten about him. Ekyt had no intention of killing whatsoever. But Hibiki was proving tough. Ekyt’s chakra was nearly exhausted. Ekyt ended the jutsu, hoping for a compromise.


Iruka and Naruto were heading out side the village. Iruka was on an errand for Lord Hokage, and Naruto was tagging along, with the understanding that if he did (and behaved himself), he and Iruka would go get ramen. That sounded like a heckuva deal to him! Iruka was in the middle of a sentence when he heard the sounds of battle.
“Let’s check it out Iruka-sensei! Come on!” Naruto sprinted off.
“Naruto, hold on! Don’t just go charging in! (sigh)” Even as he said it, Iruka knew his words were a waste.


“Oof!” The last shot sent Ekyt reeling. His chakra was exhausted. Thankfully, he had his reserves of stamina that were unique to him. Still, this was a strain. CLANG! The kunai clashed, each one’s owner pushing hard, trying to gain the advantage. It was a dead-lock. Except, of course, Hibiki wasn’t alone, and Ekyt was. And now, Ekyt only had one free hand, so jutsus were out. But so was letting go of the kunai, because he was inches away from getting gutted.

“Give it up! We only wanted you as a hostage! Now, we’re just going to kill you!” Hibiki laughed, even as he was straining against Ekyt’s kunai.
“(Huff-puff) I (cough) don’t quit,” Ekyt managed to cough out. My stamina is almost gone…he’s got to be warn out too, though…
“You have one last chance. My friends are stirring, and they’re going to aim for you. And they’re going to kill you. I don’t know how a fresh-faced genin like you hung on against three chunin like a for so long, but you can’t hold on forever! So, accept life while you can!”
“An honorable death is preferable to a dishonorable life,” Ekyt commented dryly. He drew his kunai back and flipped it to a reverse grip. His sweeping motion came just in time to block Hibiki’s initial strike. But Hibiki’s follow-up kick to the chest knocked Ekyt into a tree. His kunai went sailing into the distance. His stamina and chakra were both exhausted by now, and he was bleeding from the mouth. He had numerous small cuts on his arm, but they meant nothing.

“End of the road.” Hibiki, Haito, and Hikaro were all up, staring at Ekyt.
“You put up a good fight. But you exhausted your chakra…and our mercy.”
As they drew back to strike, they heard a whoosh sound.

“You chumps can forget about killing him! Write it down, it’ll mean something: I’m Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves! Believe it!”


MORE TO COME!

NARUTO AND IRUKA ARE COMING TO EKYT’S RESCUE AGAINST THE THREE ROGUES FROM THE VILLAGE HIDDEN IN THE MIST! MEANWHILE, SASUKE AND SAKURA ARE TRAINING TOGETHER! A BIG “CHA!” FOR SAKURA! HOW ARE THE OTHER TEAM’S DOING? AND WHAT ABOUT KABUTO? WHAT’S HE PLANNING? FIND OUT NEXT TIME!

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