The snow began to fall - Prologue
The Hidden Leaf have become known as saviors. Their newest Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki, is rumored to have beaten a God along with his rival and friend sasuke. It’s been several years since I first heard their names. They were part of Team seven back then, working beneath the sixth hokage, Kakashi Hatake. They were a group of young ninja like myself, trying to prove their skills. They also took my family from me without realizing it. It’s not that I don’t understand their reasons, but I will never forgive them.
Several years prior I had been taken in by a man known as Zabuza, and a shinobi known as Haku. They became my family. When they found me on the streets begging, Haku said I had a familiar look to me and Zabuza saw the chance to raise a new assassin. They didn’t understand the concept of gentle parenting and every day was life or death. Haku would often bandage me and sneak me bits of food when Zabuza wasn’t looking. For the first two years I thought I had made the biggest mistake of my life joining them, but slowly that changed.
I realized that the entire time Zabuza had been aware of the extra food and the bandaging. He played the villain so that I would grow stronger and would listen to Haku without question. They had made a child who would once cry for food, a hurricane that could now hunt. Before they left for what would be their last mission, I was already able to push Zabuza back and was being prepped for my first solo mission.
The news of their deaths reached me weeks later. Originally, I had just thought it was a training exercise. They wanted to see how I would do on my own without being able to come to them if things went bad. When I found out the pain inside of me burned hot enough I thought I would combust. My hate exploded, and I drenched myself in the blood of anyone near me. The blood did nothing to cool the fire and only pushed me forward on my quest for revenge.
Each time I had felt prepared to attack, to execute the ones who took my family from me they would have suddenly grown stronger. I was taught to never hunt a pray bigger than myself. Haku never wanted me to enter a fight I couldn’t win. Between the Rasengan and the Chidori, I had nothing special of my own. I realized for all my taijutsu skill, I would be nothing before the harnessed chakra and elements they wielded. Especially when one of them, the future Hokage, possessed the Nine-tailed fox demon.
I returned to the forests of my homeland and studied the arts of chakra control and chakra manipulation. The village hidden among the snow provided several answers. There were ninja who could wield ice without it being a bloodline ability. While their skills were somewhat limited, they had scrolls that taught the skills of ice and water jutsu. At first, it was slow, I had to have a water source that I would then turn to ice and after I could use that ice to attack. The process was inferior to other jutsu that could just be summoned and released.
My natural attunement seemed to be for water already though, so learning to make the procedure faster only took a few months. I developed several skills for delaying an enemy before releasing the ice attacks that would eventually kill them. My first test of this skill was against a ninja from the hidden sand. His attacks were quick and each clash between my water and his sand pushed me back further and further. Eventually, my water gave way. It was as the land grains of sand pushed the life from me I felt a sudden change. Suddenly my opponent was still before me yet choking and groaning. The sand had fallen around lifelessly. I felt the control of his body immediately and tested this ability by making him grab a kunai from his pouch and take his own life.
I now understand the ability I used to be known as the Ketsuryugan. With this skill my enemies became puppets and I was able to master a new art known as genjutsu. I wondered if this is what Haku saw in me, the potential for the bloodline limit that could awaken. With this new ability, a no-name street urchin has become known as the Ninja of Bloody Snow. After encasing my victims in ice I’d provide the slightest prick causing them to bleed out instantly and fill the ice casing with blood leaving behind a crimson casket to be found.
I will not forgive, nor will I forget what has been lost. This is my story, this is my heroism. My name is Jinichi Tsuki, and this is my story. A story that will hopefully not be lost to time, and will prove that the hero of one story, can be the villain of another.
Chapter 1: The scorpion and the frog.
I'll begin with the day after my first encounter in the village of the sand. The day started hot, sweat seeped into the fabric of my clothes darkening the shade to an amethyst. There was a sickeningly sweet smell to the air. I made my way through the Land of Wind quickly, suspecting the death of the sand ninja would not go unnoticed. The Hokage Gaara was not someone I was ready to take on while wounded, and if brought to trial I'd die before even making it to the Hidden Leaf Village. The scared headband marking me as an ex-hidden mist ninja was the only token I had left of my family. It has now become so worn that the emblem is hard to make out. I could only hope this would result in conflicting stories of who to look for and would give me more time to escape.
"Stop, I have some questions I need to ask you." The man wore the garb of those who served directly under Gaara, a sand shinobi who was at least Jonin class. Before he could take a step forward my hand dove into the kunai satchel at my left thigh and I unleashed a wind of knives towards him. They sunk deep into a block of wood that suddenly appeared and the man was now positioned to my left running across the grass quick enough to leave no second thoughts. "If that is how you want it, then there is no need for a formal trial." The man's cockiness was clear in his half smirk.
Sand moved around my ankles catching me but the force of my jump managed to break me free of the sand. From my long sleeves came several glass vials filled with water that shattered against the rocky ground. The Roran Ruins luckily had plenty of solid ground to work with. Sand spears flew around me as I danced in desperation of not getting hit. Each one barely missing and leaving small cuts in my clothing. The sand Shinobis willingness to rush in lead him directly into the path of the already steaming water on the rocks and two ice spears pierced through his right foot. The spears began to freeze his foot entirely working up to his ankle before the available moisture ran out.
Unlike Zabuza, a large blade wasn't something I could wield, and the number of weapons I still had on me were limited after my last fight. "Hey sand ninja? Think we could work out some kind of deal? I've had a really long day and this fight really doesn't need to happen." The comment seemed to only annoy him, though my tone was slightly mocking. The next attack was much larger as the sand rose around me like a tornado. This might not be a fight I can win.
The attacks kept pounding my body and my chakra was running low. I had completely gone on the defensive. The ice around his foot had been melted and my resources depleted. Continuing this fight was suicide. There was not enough moisture in the air to pull from and unleash an attack worth debating. The only thing remotely wet was, the blood. The blood puddle from where his foot rested while attacking sent a surge through my memory. The feeling of when the bloodlimit took over, came back and my instincts told me to try bending it as I would water.
The barrage of sand spears flew around me like hawks flying towards their prey. It was no longer my clothes they were biting though and my flesh was slick with blood from barely dodged attacks. The blood stopped feeling like a death timer and suddenly felt like a resource. From his own blood, a needle formed firing directly towards his neck stabbing in deeply. The attacks paused and his hand wrapped around the wound.
The blood from my own body formed several more similar needles each one flying towards his vital points and sinking in without resistance. "Ho-How can you.." His eyes were full of disbelief and I understood this skill must be very unique. A skill that lets you manipulate blood and iron. It was almost macabre and unnerving to think that something inside our bodies could be used as a weapon to take the same life it had given. Zabuza would have probably loved it and bled me half to death to explore its possibilities.
The fight was over and he was now on his last breaths hunched over the ground. "You fought honorably, you have my respect," I whispered as I walked towards him dipping my hand down to pick up a kunai lodged in the stone. "I won't make you suffer drowning in your own blood. I will give you a quick death." Before my hand could provide mercy to the man a half forced sand spear tore through my back and out of my stomach. The burning pain took a moment to set in but then brought me down to my knees in front of the man. "You can go to hell with me, you damn demon." His words gargled out as blood fell from his lower lip.
Despite this, I slid my blade across his throat and freed him from his suffering. The fight was over and his effort was noble. In the pooled blood I could see my eyes, strange and inhuman. This must be the look of the Ketsuryugan, eyes fit for a demon seeking revenge. The blood that poured from my wound moved back towards my body. It felt like trying to thread a string through an impossible needles head. Each time I tried to force the wound to close the blood would start seeping back out. The skill possible but I was not skilled enough to use it.
I found a few medical items in the pouches on the now dead shinobi and made use of them wrapping my torso and binding it tightly. taking off the bloody layers of clothing left my chest bare besides the layers of bandaging holding my organs inside. The stained amethyst Hakama and wooden Geta which kept my feet above the warm stone would suffice for now. I marched forward towards the land of Rivers, unsure if my body would make it.
The sand and rock gave way to dirt and trees and the air somehow felt fresh. The blood loss caused hallucinations after a while and I found myself hearing the chastising voice of both Haku and Zabuza. They were irritated that I dropped my guard and told me I was going to die an idiots death. "I understand, I know you can't understand my actions but try and be a little less annoying!" My voice rang through the trees. My shout followed by a cough of blood and agony.
My knees collapsed and my body felt heavy as it crashed to the ground. I could hear footsteps approaching but there was nothing left to do. At best it was a passing merchant who would leave me to die and at worst another sand shinobi had caught up with me and would end my life. My vision became milky and then the black cold darkness consumed everything. Before I fainted entirely I could feel two warm hands trying to turn my body like a lifeless doll.
In the void, I was before the man I most wanted to kill. His soft blue eyes staring down at me like I was worthless. The yellow hair he inherited from my father was unmistakable. He marched towards me with one hand out and the swirling ball of wind known as the Rasengan formed in his palm. The force was horrifying and I knew as soon as it touched my body I'd be erased. His eyes turned red with slitted pupils and his features became more fox-like. A creature from my greatest nightmare stalking towards me about to consume my soul.
Just before I was erased my eyes snapped open and my body lunged forward. Two strong hands wrapped around my upper arms holding tight. "Hold on now, we aren't here to hurt you." There was a kind smile on the man's face and he seemed to be honest. Rain pounded the windows outside of the room and as I looked around I could tell I was in a medical facility. "This is the village of the hidden rain. Some of our scouts found you while out on a mission and brought you back. We weren't sure if you would pull through, to be honest." The messy black hair of the man danced around as he scratched his head. He started to speak but stopped and blushed for a moment. "Also, we changed your bandaging but left your lower clothing on because we weren't entirely sure..." He drifted off for a moment. "Well anyways, what's your name?"
[To be continued]