To Become Strong [P]

Kosuke rose from his bed and put on his best training gi. Tonight was the night he approached his friend, Kimizu, about training. He would prepare himself to deal with whatever intense and brutal training regime the man had in store for him, but he wouldn't back down no matter what. When he walked into the training grounds many of the ninja there greeted him with indifference, simply due to his status as a street urchin, not due to personal relationship with them. He was polite though, and nodded his head in return. When he got to the chuunin’s training area where he was told to come. There was a moment before he heard an energetic voice call, "Kosuke? Come over here." The statement was spoken in such an authoritative, controlled way, it was impossible not to recognize it as the command that it was. It was not a suggestion, but a demand. You knocked and now you must enter and pay the consequences. The man sat atop a training log with his arms folded, "Why have you come here tonight, kid?" He spoke in a way that hinted that he already knew the answer to his own question.

Kosuke didn't know what to say at first, he was still taking in the appearance of a man he hadn't seen in over three months, who simply addressed him as he would have if he had been there all along. That in and of itself told him that the man didn't think much had changed since he left for training or that Kos had learned much in his time at the academy. "Kimizu, I have come to learn how to unlock the power laid dormant deep inside me!" The man laughed and said, "You are still years from that power, have you even earned your stripes in battle with another ninja?" Kosuke would step forward some, a show of power, and assertion. His eyes blazing brightly with determination showing the complex thoughts that went into his mind. "I have seen the light at the end of my tunnel, Kimizu. I need you to show me the truth." He knew this training or process wouldn't be easy, but it was what he needed to do. The man's eyes betrayed the authority he had earned within the village, not only running the missions office, but also doing some private training of academy students such as Kosuke. "It would seem that you are indeed ready for such a task, let's see how you fare." With that, he quickly formed almost five handsigns and Kosuke’s world faded to black.

TWC: 434

He found himself back in the forest of white sakura petals. His mentor was next to him and they were surrounded by red eyed monsters with a human form. He realized what was about to happen before it even began, but he wouldn't let it happen. He shifted his stance to get into one more suited for an offensive front, assault strategy that he had mastered. However, his body didn’t move as he knew it should, he was just standing there as his mentor sprung to action. Kimizu leapt into action, pulling out twin blades and lunging at the monsters that surrounded the two of them. Just then, one of the beasts lunged on him, its fangs sinking deep into the man’s neck, turning him into a monster and causing him to turn against his own student. Of course, he had no idea why he had started attacking his student and trying to kill him. But, he did know it was just the thing to be doing at that time. Kosuke for his part was lucky to dodge the initial strike from his teacher, but instantly could tell there was some issue here. He found himself on the defensive as the man attacked him. He wondered why he couldn't move the way he had spent oh so many days and nights training, why he couldn't save his teacher again as the scene played out again in the same manner as it had all those times before. Yes, this wasn't his first time doing this battle.

He drew his blade and blocked a slash from his uncle, his mind spinning wildly. He was having much less of a hard time than he had the first time, he had a rather keen memory that he had trained along with his body and he recalled the exact movements they made during the first run of this battle. The man had overextended his reach and slipped on some of the petals that they were fighting on top of. Of course, this proved he was somehow unconsciously fighting back against the hunger that was eating away at whatever was left of his humanity, but he was. Though it only happened for a moment as Kosuke found himself fighting back harder than he thought he was capable of earlier, though he quickly realized it was because now he was fighting to kill, not holding back out of respect for the man himself. How could this be you ask? How can he respect someone too much to fight them fully one second and then fight to kill the next? He was not back in true control of his body. He could control his movements and he realized that he was now ready to put an end to this terrible dream that seemed to keep coming back to haunt him again and again and again.

He blocked another strike, but this one snapped his blade in two, though it left a sharp, jagged edge. He moved ever so slightly to the right. His sensei's blade jabbed through his shoulder, while his blade, or what was left of it, found its way into the man's heart. Looking into the man's eyes as he died is a vision Kosuke will never forget. His eyes flooded with tears as he felt the effects of the poison taking root in his body once again as his near perfect recollection of the events that happened played once again in his mind. The moment this happened, his teacher's body seemed to phase through him and hit the ground. His world turned red with the rage he was feeling as he turned to look at the ones who caused this. The monstrosities that had caused all this looked amused with wide, toothy grins spread across their face in an unnatural manner. Their red eyes glimmering in the moonlight as they seemed to lick their lips at the thought of killing the one before them and ripping him to shreds. The first beast rushed forwards to kill him with its sharpened talons, but he didn't make it far before a blade pierced his skull.

TWC:1,122

The moment that Monster hit the ground, all hell broke loose, a blade seemingly falling all around but no one was in more pain than the one controlling the blade. Even after all the insurgents had been killed a hundred times over, he continued to stab them over and over again with his broken blade. Broken inside. He let out a roar and his blade dropped to the ground stabbing into the dirt below him as he fell to his knees. This also broke him from the genjutsu that his sensei had used. Looking across from him, he could see man’s steely gray eyes staring into his own, freshly teary eyes as he wiped them dry. It would seem that the old man had succeeded in awakening this strength that had been hidden beneath his regret and guilt. "You have done well, Kosuke. For the next three months, I will be training you in the usage of a unique subset of jutsu that will prove to be invaluable to you if you can learn from it." With that said, Kosuke simply nodded and collapsed to his knees, his body spent and his mind worn out, not used to the genjutsu being used. He closed his eyes and let out a breath he hadn't known that he was holding. That was one of, if not the most haunting and debilitating memories he held onto, he would need to get over his sensei's imaginary death eventually.

Three months later, and Kosuke was standing in front of his sensei, a new man, er, kid. He was now wearing a black cloak with an owl symbol on the back. His red scarf tied around his neck, and his small weapon pouches hidden within his cloak. His sensei had taught him much throughout the course of his training, he was ready to take on the world if need be, though he had also learned of other ways to grow. He would look into those more on another date, now was time for celebration, and most importantly, rest. He had earned at least that much. He had managed to learn the summoning jutsu, gain the contract for the owl clan and pass their preliminary tests. He knew his parents would be proud of the ninja he had become, at least, he liked to pretend they would. It was during this training and meeting with the owl clan that he realized that he would need to work much harder now to continue to prove himself to his new summons. Thinking back to it, he would remember fondly the day that he had stumbled upon that old scroll in the forest.

[Flashback]

Kosuke rolled out of bed, glancing at his clock which read 9:00 AM. This was very late to him, he is usually up and eating by now. He had trained himself much too hard last night and he was feeling sore all over. As he stood up he went over to the shower allowing the warm water to fall over his face and grant his body some reprieve from the soreness. He began to think of what he wanted to do, practice his kata’s and techniques he had learned over his time in the academy, prep himself for the upcoming exams. He decided that today he would head straight for the forests outside of the village to do some more private training in the jutsu his sensei had told him about. Supposedly, it would allow him to call forth aid of some kind if he mastered it. As he got out of the shower he looked at himself, he had grown noticeably more muscular since he had returned from his months of training outside of the village. He knew that he had to get stronger though, no matter the cost. He put on his clothes and slid into his cloak but as he ate he noticed that it was raining outside, not the ideal day for weapon training, but he never let the weather stop him. He knew there were some things he could train that wouldn’t leave him spending hours on end cleaning the equipment to keep it from rusting once he got done with it.

TWC: 1,823

He walked out of his current abode that was on one of the middle branches of a tree in the training grounds, he had built a small shack if one could call it that, with a makeshift shower, stove, a window and a door. Upon getting dressed and everything, he would make his way out of the tree house. Locking the door behind himself he pulled on his hood and headed towards the edge of the village to get to the forests. As he walked he noticed the rain and the clouds and began to reflect on the past, his childhood as a kid in the rough section of town. He didn't have it bad but he certainly wasn’t spoiled though. He realized that he was nearing the gate of the village and just as he made it through the primary checkpoint the rain began to fall much harder. Glad to be out of the wet weather Kosuke removed his now drenched hood and ran a hand through his unruly black mane. The guard bid him hello and asked if he needed anything. He told them that he was going to do some light training just outside of the village and that his sensei had given him permission and one of them asked to see his I.D. card before he could let him in, even if he knew he was cleared. After all the formalities were out of the way they would open the gates and allow Kosuke to make his way out of the village proper.

If one thought normal gates were large, the gates into and out of the village were absolutely massive. They spanned as tall as the very walls around the village were tall. As he made his way down the pathway, he would think about the things he wanted to work on, that is until he felt... something. It was a feeling that was quite indescribable. But, he was drawn to it, an unusually large tree with an unusually large crack along its side, running vertically up the bark. As he approached, he stepped on something unusual, it was a golden key with a feather design on its back. Putting the key in his pocket after another moment of inspection, he would continue towards the strange tree. He couldn't explain his attraction to the large plant, but it was something that drew him in nevertheless. As he made his way towards it, he noticed something unusual within the crack in the tree that caught his eye. It was a black box that seemed to shimmer with some sort of golden trim that glimmered slightly in the light. This of course drew him in even more as he reached into the crack and grabbed the box. This led to him pulling it out and going to find a nice area to examine it a little closer.

He found the box labeled forbidden, slipping the key in and unlocking it, he found a single scroll inside. The scroll was rather small, so he put the scroll in his sleeve and took a moment to look around inside the box for anything else, but found nothing other than a single owl feather. He decided he would head to a normal training ground to check the scroll out in case it was something dangerous. It was odd, but he found himself actually getting excited. This was a unique experience centered around this scroll that He was almost jumping with anticipation to learn more about... almost. But, he held a bit too much pride in his own self-control to rush into the village to rip into the scroll and learn its secrets immediately. He would walk with a normal gait and would maintain a neutral expression, even though he was more than excited on the inside. As he approached the gateway he bowed to the guards as they swung the gates back open, allowing him reentry to the village, saying something about kids playing ninja and not taking their training seriously. He tucked the scroll a bit deeper into his sleeve as he made it past the primary checkpoint into the village and then he was off, walking at a slightly brisk pace towards the training ground. He didn’t want to expend too much energy before he started this training. He was so excited that he didn’t even notice that it had stopped raining and the sun was coming out.

He walked to the center of the field and began to read the more specific areas of the scroll. It mentioned information about an Owl Clan and showed a few handsigns and a way to manipulate one's chakra for some technique. As he weaved the signs and performed the technique, he was suddenly shifted from the training grounds to a large cliffside village made of massive trees. As he looked around, he found the entire village inhabited by owls of various sizes ranging from a few inches in height to several meters in height. He walked around in a daze just taking in the scenery when he bumped into an owl around ten feet tall, it had grey feathers and a brown beak and feet. The craziest thing happened after that, the Owl Spoke, "Oh you must be the human that found our scroll then?" Kosuke didn't know what to say at first, "How are you talking? Where am I?" The owl merely seemed to 'tsk' before speaking yet again, "You don't know much of anything do you? My name is Fukuroichi, the heir to the Owl Clan. Whooo are you?" He asked putting a bit of emphasis on the 'who' part. Kosuke would stand a bit straighter, "My name is Kosuke, future ninja of Konoha!" The large owl seemed to chuckle at this before nodding, "Well in that case, just follow me, my father will want to see you. Come along now." He would then lead Kosuke up some stairs and high into the treetops into what seemed to eb a throne room of some kind and within that room was an owl easily fifty meters tall. This must be the boss owl. "My name is Fukuro. The King of the Owls." Its voice seemed to boom with not only power and authority but also wisdom. "You have passed our test by finding our scroll and bringing yourself here, as a reward, we grant you the right to call us to your aid as we shall call you to ours." With that the scroll that was in his hand expanded and unfurled itself to show a few signatures that were already on it with bloody handprints below them, but a space for another appeared.

Following the precedent of those before him, he would use his teeth to prick his thumb, drawing blood and then writing his name vertically down the page followed by his hand print in blood. With that, he felt some sort of connection before he would be enveloped in a poof of smoke and deposited back out at the training ground holding a miniaturized scroll in his hand. He then passed out from chakra loss.

TWC: 3,012