The not so strange tale of Saicho

[Red X]

Saicho swallowed his breath as he stared into the night. Water country, being a collection of islands that stretched on for miles, offered a small variety of wetlands. Wetlands that every ninja in Kirigakure were made familiar with in the academy training, this marsh was particularly heavy with vegetation. Slender trees, skimpy things that held little for way of travel or cover, stretched into the heavy mist, roots planted deep thick pools of mud. Tall reedy grass flourished, hiding pools of water ready to swallow anything foolish enough to breach it’s murky surface.

Traversing the marsh had been an unforeseen test. While the academy hosted a slew of survival exercises on various islands, this one brought him to the edge of his patience several times. Channeling his chakra to stay above the waters was difficult in such a place. He never knew when or where the water was, so keeping his chakra flowing had been taxing. Too much and he would cause a small eruption, too little and he’d feel his foot sink below the surface into the waiting maw of liquid earth. After the first few hours, the genin had begrudgingly acknowledged that he would have to suffer the discomforts of the wetland if he wanted to have a chance at defending himself. He had only hoped his pursuers would have as much trouble.

Palm confirming his objective was still in his pouch where he left it, Saicho shifted his gaze towards the sky in hopes of confirming the position of the moon. The mist was illuminated by the full presence of the heavenly body, but unlike the sun, it did not shine enough to see clearly, ‘It shouldn’t be too much further, assuming the intel was good and I’ve been going in the right direction.’

Time was against him, only hours remained before his contact would leave without him, abandoning Saicho to his fate to preserve the whole. Quietly, he found a suitable tree, one that was thick enough to support his weight. Applying chakra to his hands and feet, he crawled up the tree, higher and higher until he broke through the mist. Above mirrored below, the mist clung close to the earth yet the sky above was clear, a shimmering map of stars to guide the sailors. Gazing about the landscape, Saicho allowed a smile to form on an otherwise exhausted face. Sitting in the distance, maybe 300 yards away, loomed a warehouse. The receiving area for the dock, and where his boat to freedom awaited.

A whistle, low and sharp, was his only warning. Pushing off the tree with a flux of chakra, he heard the bark tear away as he darted towards the marsh below, a heavy THUNK not far behind. If Saicho could still see the treetop, he would no doubt find a kunai protruding from the bark. He had been spotted, the sloshing of water closing in from his right. He didn’t even think about fighting, instead he beat a hasty bee line towards his destination.

To his dismay, the sounds of his pursuer were getting closer, ‘Damit, has to be Maki! He almost caught me last time, I’ve got to play this right or I’m done for!’ Left hand snaking into his hip pouch to retrieve his last three shuriken, Saicho jumped after the next step and turned to launch them towards the approaching enemy. Sliding, he allowed the momentum to carry him for a moment. There was no echo from the clashing of metal on metal, no grunts or cries of pain to indicate a hit. Instead he hissed out a curse, as it became clear what became of Maki. Jumping to avoid the incoming shadow that was descending on him from the mist, there was an explosion of water, and then another, as his foe pursued, chakra enhanced strength closing the distance between them. Saicho raised his guard, forearms crossed in an X that served to block the pale fist of Maki. Raising his arm a little higher, he felled another blow, but Maki was not finished. In a horrifying display of taijutsu, he grabbed onto Saicho’s arm, and used it as an anchor to flip himself over, bringing his heel down to smash against his back.

In a cry of pain, he was sent barreling towards the ground, landing roughly on all fours, mud and water filling his hands as his back throbbing with pain just under his right shoulder blade. Shoving the pain away with a hiss, he turned to stand as Maki’s footsteps closed in again. Saicho couldn’t retreat, that last clash had firmly placed Maki in his path to freedom. He could keep up with the pale ninja to some degree in taijutsu, but he knew the other ninja had him beat in a straight fight. Luckily he didn’t need to win a straight fight, just force an opening to escape.

They clashed again, this time Saicho lashed out with strikes of his own, avoiding blows rather than blocking when he could. Using short precise shots, he harassed his guard, figuring blocking hands couldn’t attack, Saicho shifted his attack to match his priorities. Practiced foot work attempted to step around his opponent and win back lost ground, weaving in feints with attacks, sliding in order to round on his opponent. Maki was not to be denied, maneuvering with speed fast enough to keep himself in front of Saicho.

Maki went back on the offensive, a few blows slipped past a waning guard. Grunting, Saicho struck out a string of jabs, hoping to find an opening. His ears perk up as more footsteps make themselves known behind him. No doubt Sakaki was coming to reinforce his partner and end this fight once and for all. Taking another shot to his guard, Saicho slipped a left from Maki and spun to take his back, “ GOT…..YOU,” He screamed, even as he raised his arms to block a kick towards his midsection, sliding back from the blow as his feet kept with the water.

He was just close enough to see Maki’s puzzled expression as an eerie orange light speed towards his back, a sizzling ball of fire growing closer courtesy of Sakaki. Maki bit out an insult, “You IDIOT,” before jumping to avoid the attack. Saicho kept pace, hands a flurry of activity before he pointed his index and middle finger at Maki’s left leg, firing off a small bolt of yellow lightning.

Maki gasped, stuck in his leg which seemed to buckle and drag, arresting his momentum and sending him tumbling to the ground. Saicho didn’t linger, he pushed as much chakra as he dared into speeding up his departure. The numbing effect wouldn’t last for long, but it bought him enough time to reach his destination before either of his would-be captors could close the distance.

*******

“To state the obvious, the mission is a failure.”

Saicho held back a wince at the obvious displeasure that Daiske, the chunin in charge of the training exercise, expressed with those words,[color=#FF80FF] “The enemy escaped with classified information and you two put on a horrid display that ignored everything Keitaro-San and I drilled into your heads these past four weeks.”[/color]

He peeked from behind his towel, to see Maki and Sakaki sneaking glares at one another when they weren’t looking at the floor, “It was Sakaki’s fault, sensei! He kept getting in my way, I nearly had him and here he comes firing off jutsu without confirming the target!”

Sakaki didn’t take this lying down, “If you had waited instead of rushing in like an idiot we could have avoided that whole situation! But noooooo~ Maki’s too strong to wait and come up with a plan. Kami forbids you'd think! No, just rush in and beat everyone down, that’s the Maki way!”

Killing intent shoved Maki’s response down his throat, as both of them turned their eyes to their sensei, whose face hadn’t changed in the slightest, “Both of you will be doing team building exercises for the next two months. We’ll see if we can’t break this incompetence, I’m sure Keitaro-san will be able to help devise a fitting regiment. Now keep your mouths closed until addressed for the remainder of this debrief if you have the brains to know what’s good for you. Am I clear?”

Saicho winched, team building exercises basically meant getting the snot beat out of you by the chunin until the genin pair learned to work together. He had heard this was a common trend among the chunin sensei. He was sure his laughter, ill timed as always, did not help calm their tempers.

Sufficiently cowed, both bowed their heads to the deck of the ship, “Yes, sensei!” The pressure lessened, then vanished, “Your first time engaging the target was not for a full 16 hours after pursuit. He had an hour head start, Sakaki, how did he evade you for so long? I don’t want to hear excuses, I want mission details.”

Sakaki took a moment to gather himself, southern water country twang coloring his words, “The marsh proved difficult at first, but after about three hours of scouting we were able to find his trail. We figured he was using chakra for a while, careful to not disturb the area too much. Figured once he noticed the strain of keeping up the technique, the target stopped and then his trail began in earnest. Only after following it for about an hour when we noticed that it split off in three directions. We followed the wrong trail, couldn’t tell since the target seemed to have kept the same amount of carefulness as when he normally maneuvers.”

He glanced at Saicho, who had bitten down on his mouthpiece to stifle his uncontrollable laughter, annoyed as he recalled the experience, “By the third set, and at least as many hours wasted on false trails, we decided that we’d split up to check two of the three from that point on. We ended up catching him like you said sensei, morning of the first day. We weren’t in the best condition, Maki’s taijutsu got sloppy, and I...I misfired a jutsu. It wasn’t enough for him to beat us, but our physical exhaustion allowed him to escape.”

Saicho listened with rapt attention, debriefs were a chance to hear a more experienced ninja share his opinions and provide feedback. For a reserve genin, such as he, it is a chance to gain legitimate feedback with the chance of some small renown with a higher ninja. While he doubted Daiske would ever forget the laughing genin, having some noticeable skill tied to the memory wouldn't hurt.

Soon enough Saicho was called to explain his actions during the mission, “The terrain favored me…..in a few ways….though it did require more effort and time….to lay false trails,” Daiske adopted a neutral expression, nodding occasionally with probing questions to unfold more of his determinations. There was no shortage of mistakes for him. His stealth skills were still fundamental and less effective than he thought, the raid on his camp proved that his trap making and alarm crafting needed a lot of work.

Daiske spared no detail, “To be perfectly plain, you are perfectly plain. Sure you’ve got a good body, and clearly you’re capable, but almost none of it is refined. You’ve got good control, but your jutsu arsenal is limited. Your taijutsu is basically the academy regiment. You have one genjutsu.”

Saicho felt a ball of shame form in his chest with every word, he hoped he was able to keep it from his face as the chunin carried on, “That being said, you used all of these to out maneuver two seasoned opponents. I’d put my ryo on either of these idiots against you in a ring, two on one should have been easy. You’ve got potential, and if you have a decent work ethic, a permanent team will help develop you further. For now, pick something and stick with it. Ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, anything you’ve already got a foundation in. Add it to your normal routine, and stick with it.”

Compliments were a divine remedy, “Yes….Sir.”