PRELUDE: http://www.narutosaga.com/t18019-whispers-in-the-dark-issei-private-nokill

~~~

A dream, a lucid dream. Somehow, it was unlike the normal dreams that one has, Fukai was more of an observer then someone who was taking place. It was dark, but he was fully aware of what was going on around him. Which was nothing. A smile in the darkness. A mysterious boy with a brimmed cap that covered his eyes, his smile protruding from underneath it. It was the same boy from last night, the one who had come and gone like a shadow, he appeared with a herald of danger and then left. As human as any other boy yet as immaterial as the night air itself. The stone road between the stone buildings. He had come to Fukai with the news of the threat to the orphanage. Despite his suspicious nature, Fukai decided to check it out. To his surprise he found that the information was right on the money. There they were, three assailants that dressed as farmers. Fukai followed them and disrupted their plans with the help of the man named Issei. They had fought and defeated them. The assailants died before Fukai could get any information out of them. Their motives were a mystery. Their identities were a mystery. It all was such a peculiar night, maybe this was why his head was in such a state that he would have this sleeping experience.

The boy stood across from him on the stone road. His clothes were made of low quality fabric but they seemed to have been kept in good nick. His stance was one of complete neutrality. He neither slumped, nor postured himself. That huge smile was the one thing that stood out about him, the gleaming teeth looked like those of a shark rather than a human. Then he spoke. He didn't move, not even his mouth but somehow it was clear to Fukai that in that dream, he was being communicated to by his imaginations projection of the boy. "Who am I?" They stood off, facing each other about ten metres apart. Fukai was taller by quite a fair margin yet he did not feel superior to the boy in the slightest. "Where did I come from?" If he had to guess, the boy looked about fourteen but his timeless attitude aged him considerably. "How did I know?" His voice echoed Fukai's own desires, his inner suspicions making monsters of shadows. The real meeting had shaken him a little. Fukai had grown confidence in himself over the time that he had spent in Kumogakure. But the boy seemed to draw out and amplify the self doubt that clung to him. The raw realisation of his powerlessness and uselessness pushed itself to the forefront of his mind. But no, he always pushed it back. He was sure that if he kept moving forward that he would eventually get there. Was he? Would he? Where even was 'there'?

_____
It was morning.
The first light hit the outside of his eyelids and rose his brain out of slumber. The dream had ended hours ago and seemed like a distant, yet well remembered memory. There was no grogginess that you would sometimes get from a rough night, Fukai felt a little odd, if anything. What should he do... Oh, he had requested the day off today, but he wanted to investigate all the strange happenings that went on last night. He knew that if he left the issue as it stood, he would never get peace. The boy in his dream taunted him. Goaded him as if to say 'come find me'.

Fukai slipped out of bed and cooked a quick stir fry of veg with a bit of toast. Red bell peppers with bok choy, with a little salty sauce thrown over the top. The veg were more heated than cooked, leaving most of the nutrients intact that get broken down by the cooking process. Colour returned to his face and his mind slowly wandered back into focus. He downed the rest with a glass of water and stretched out for a good half an hour before setting out. It was good practice to leave your body time to digest the food and muscles organise themselves so that they were ready for the rest of the day. Whatever was happening in his life, Fukai kept the morning routine the same. After all, humans were creatures of habit, a steady routine was just as important for ones mental health as it was for their physical well being.

After dressing, he slipped out the door. The Iwagakure headband held up a few tufts of hair to his forehead, the rest of his silver hair tied back into a neat ponytail at the back. He was going to have to get it cut soon, it was getting impractical at this length. It wasn't that he liked his long hair or was particularly adverse to getting it cut, it was simply that he wasn't that bothered with maintaining his appearance. As long as nothing got in his way, he was fine with it. Red scarf, with dark purple and black clan clothing down to soft leather shoes. His attire never seemed to change either. He should really try to wear a nice pink shirt one day.. nah. On his days off he trained, and he would feel awkward in such clothing.

He was heading towards the admin building this morning to see what they had found out about the whole mess last night. After the immediate danger had subsided, he alerted the state to the events and let them take over the midnight investigation while he went to bed. He was keen to know what they had uncovered. One thing that Fukai had forgot to mention was how he had come across the information. He did not speak of the boy, instead telling the authorities that he had come across the assailants by chance, which was still kinda true. He didn't think Issei would be questioned too much about the events, and he didn't expect the strange to say much, as Fukai had found out, that was just his way. His mind wandered back to the fight last night. It was one of the closest Fukai had come to dying in terms of battle intensity. But Issei had been something else. Those blood red eyes surrounded in a sea of black. And then the way impaled that man with a spike of bone that had erupted from the ground. His abilities definitely fit his persona, such a strange kekkei genkai had to have affected who he was. Fukai wondered if he would ever see him again, and whether he wanted to. It was probably best that he didn't mix others into the mess that he had already cooked up for himself.

He would reach the admin building while the sun still hid partly behind the mountains. It was early, but most working shinobi were up by this time. As they had trained their bodies to require minimum amounts of sleep to function at their best in the field, the same habits carried over to village life. Fukai held open the door for a man who had both hands full with some parcels and entered after him. He walked through the half lit reception area, with people setting up shop with all the little tasks that would need to be done before the day started. As a ninja of a reasonably high rank, he could come and go as he pleased here, as long as it was official business. He took the stairs, ascending them two at a time. The room down the hall was a sub reception for the internal threats department and this is where he would go to find answers.

Opening the door, he was faced by two woman, one older and one younger that stood at the reception, talking with the clerk in low voices. The turned and nodded a greeting as they saw Fukai enter. They weren't surprised to see him here even if they hadn't called him in. He walked over to them and they added him into the conversation. Apparently they had called off the immediate threat investigation as there seems to be no clues that there would be a follow up attack. They had dispatched a response team as soon as Fukai had reported in the night before, and they had not been able to find out much from the bodies, nor the attack in general. A ninja's body contains information that can be gathered by those with the know how, but, as the clerk said, they basically four empty canvases. How peculiar indeed. As for the previous sightings of the four assailants, they had been checked by the southern gate guards. They had copied the faces of a known farming family that was situated out in the wild west that came into Iwa to resupply and get some equipment fixed. "So what of the actual family, where are they?" Fukai inquired.
"They are fine, working as if nothing happened. Our men went out to investigate that lead soon after, only to find them asleep in their beds with no knowledge of anybody that had stolen their identities. We scanned them and they were telling the truth. They were quite shaken when we told them of what had happened."

Damn. It looked like the only visible lead was a dead end. And they had called off the investigation for the short term, meaning that they didn't have much confidence for finding out anything more. No doubt they would carry on looking behind the scenes but that didn't help Fukai get his closure. Fukai smiled and thanked his fellow operatives for their work and they replied the same, commenting on his lucky catch. Then he would leave, hopping down the stairs and leaving the building. Well, the white haired young man inwardly sighed. There was nothing else but to see what he could do himself.

Fukai trudged through the village, moving away from the town centre. The He could think of only one place that he could investigate, the one place that the anbu didn't know to look. This was of course, the bar that he had first seen the two men and women that postured as farmers. This was also where the boy had told him that he would find them. He had been on the money with that as there they were, only half an hour after he had arrived. This was just after Issei had turned up and the coincidental meeting had first led Fukai to grow suspicious of him as was his way. He would be remiss to forget that he had offended the man, but thankfully not enough that he would turn away from people in need. Issei had helped him dearly in that skirmish, even if he had only taken one person and Fukai had the other three. It was close enough as it was, if it wasn't for him, Fukai could have been killed last night. Then again, maybe he would have taken his precarious situation into account and been more careful with his approach. Fukai internally shrugged his shoulders on the matter, he would never know now.

As he closed in on the bar, his steps quickened. The white haired shinobi realised that this would be quite the long shot to try to get anything meaningful from this investigation but he had to try. Since he wasn't technically representing the village in this adventure, there was a limit to what he would be allowed to do. But nobody else had to know that, he could always try to bluff. Fukai reached out and tried turning the handle, finding it locked. It was a dingy bar in the middle of the day, after all. He lead back and booted the door open, busting the frame and it's withered brass lock. Fukai stomped inside and headed for the back room. He could hear some commotion upstairs before the old bartender trotted quickly down the stairs. He started to yell and then abruptly stopped when he saw Fukai. "What the hell do-". Fukai didn't miss a beat, walking towards him and grabbing the man by the scruff of the collar and hauled him up against the wall. He peered menacingly into the man's eyes and stood over him with his superior size.

"The four people that came in here last night. Start talking." He could see that the man understood his situation but wasn't too disturbed by it.
"I don't know anything, I swear." Fukai pressed him harder against the wall and pulled his staff from his back in a large and lazy yet purposeful arc, smashing the glassware on the adjacent shelving. The barman winced at the noise of the glass hitting the floor.
"I really don't know them, they were just some farmers I had never seen before! Apart from them, you and your friend were the only ones that came in last night!" He sounded sincere, but Fukai thought about pushing it even further. Testosterone was pumping around his body, fueled with the frustration at his uselessness. He really wanted to lash out but he managed to reel back in his feelings after a few seconds of silence.
"So be it." With that, he turned and left, dropping a few notes on the counter for the repairs on his way to the door. The bartender stood there, staring at the man that had left as quickly as he had come.

There was nothing more left, he was out of options. What a stupid, useless fool he was. No help to anybody, not even himself. He stood in the street outside the bar and pressed his jaws together until his teeth hurt. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement. It was a small figure passing through an alleyway a little bit ahead. Fukai looked closer. It was a boy with a cap pulled over his eyes and a large toothy smile. Was this him for real? Fukai started walking towards him. Or was he just chasing shadows? He started running. The boy turned the corner and the young man followed in pursuit. "Wait" Fukai yelled out, trying to stop the kid. Upon turning the corner, the boy could be seen a surprising distance away, entering a residence door. The Iwa shinobi hurried to reach him, opening the door and shouting out to him again. He had no idea what was going on or what he would do if he caught the boy. The inside of the building was dark. No lights on and most of the windows were boarded up. There was the stuffiness of stagnant air lingering in the atmosphere, giving the impression of an abandoned house. There was no sign of the boy so he walked through the house, turning into the back room. There he saw two figures. One was the mysterious boy who stood next to a partially boarded window, the other was a bigger man, it was hard to tell much about him in the half light other than his hunched sitting posture.

Fukai didn't speak as he stood there in the doorway, realising that he had been lead here. He didn't have any sense of danger, for one, the boy had helped him out previously, and two, coming face to face with someone wasn't as effective as using the element of surprise. Then the man sitting down spoke. "Long time no see, Fukai." Then he hauled himself out of his chair and stepped forwards, allowing the slits of light from the window to hit his face. It was not a pretty face, one that was a mixture of being long and drawn out like an animals, and smashed in. It had unnatural lumps and dents and a pair of beady eyes sunk into the back of it. Fukai knew who this was.

"Rat." He said, almost out of reflex. He had known this man when he was a boy, they had grown up in the same neighborhood together. Well, not really together, as their situations were a bit different. These two men, both of early twenties, had spent their childhood experiencing the wild village of Iwagakure while it was controlled by the criminal organisation known as the Aoi Bara. The village had been a wild west and quite the unsafe place for children. Those without protection had to fend for themselves, being a part of a group that could look out for you often meant joining a gain and joining in with the atrocities. While Fukai had no immediate family that took care of him, he still had the overbearing presence of his clan and a warm bed to go to at the end of the night. Rat on the other hand, never had any of that. Fukai watched from afar as he struggled to survive, diving in rubbish for breakfast, scavenging and stealing. Then one day, the boy would come out of one of the gang den’s with his head smashed up and his face disfigured. He couldn't go to the doctors or a medical ninja, he had to scamper off to a quiet place and lick his own wounds. From the day of his vicious assault, he had been very ugly. There was no warm bed for him, instead he had the threat of some imp slitting his throat in his sleep for the clothes off his back. A couple of years later, he vanished, and Fukai never saw him after that, until now. Somehow, he had managed to survive.

Back in the present, Rat smiled a little, which came out as a half grimace. "I'm sure you have a few questions and we will get to that, but first, I want to introduce you to my friend here." He motioned to the boy. "This is Gi". The boy raised his head, showing his blue eyes for the first time. Fukai realised that he was a bit too old to be called a boy, and much older than he had first suspected, given his size. Gi looked about 17 ish.
"Hi-" Fukai answered but soon found that he didn't have much to say. It was clear that they had brought him here for a reason, and that reason wasn't anything malicious, or at least, malicious against him. He would rather just wait and see what he had to say first. And Rat noticed, pushing ahead.
"I apologise for the round about way that we had you led here, but our work isn't exactly kage approved." His little eyes focused on the larger man in front of him. "We want your help again. It seems that our four friends were only a small part of a larger group that are running a much larger operation." Fukai listened intently, this was important. Rat had been right about the original attack, so there was reason to believe that he was on to something. But how did he have information that the anbu lacked?

"So how do you know about all of this? The shinobi offices can't even trace the origin of the attack, so how can you?" He asked the man. He still had reservations, his suspicious nature didn't help with this. Rat sighed and walked over to the window, looking out the cracks.
"To answer that, I'll need to tell you of the business that I have running." Gi glanced over at Rat. "Yes, telling you about it is risky for us so I ask that you hear us out before doing anything too rash." He looked sideways, over his shoulder at Fukai. The purple eyed male nodded his head slowly. He wasn't going to make any promises but he could at least hear out what Rat had to say. If it had been someone Fukai had never met before, his suspicious nature may have got the better of him, but at the moment his curiosity overpowered his sense of uncertainty.

Rat then continued. "Ever since I was a kid, living in the streets, times were tough. Nowhere was safe. I had to fight for everything I had and have done many things that I am not proud of to get to where I am. I slowly clawed my way up the ladder, gaining power little by little until not too long ago now, when I had enough influence to start making changes. See, I want to improve people's lives, no one should have to live in the sort of world that we did. It was all for this." He smiled and looked over to Gi, who returned an unsure smile. "The Kages never did care about people like us, it is up to me to change things for the better." He looked up at Fukai to see if he was following, noticing the hesitancy in his purple eyes. It seemed too fantastical to be real, someone working in the shadows for the interests of the masses? "As I took people under my care, I trained them and got them to work for me. As of right now I have a network of faceless men and women that feed me information. But alas, we have a weakness. I have never been much of a fighter, and my employees are not proficient in combat. That is why we had to rely on you the other night, and that is why we need you now."

He then fell silent, leaving Fukai to take it in. It was a lot of information, but it did make sense in theory. There were a lot of unaccountable people that would slip through the cracks, forgotten by the general public. If Rat had given them a home in return for their services then it would make for a loyal workforce. That workforce wouldn't technically be shinobi though, anybody that had been trained by the state was a lot more trackable, and any randoms wouldn't know how to fight. Rat and his workers probably knew a lot about the espionage side of things though, making for good internal spies. Be all this as it may, he was still not completely sold. But given that the story matched the recent events, he decided to not turn away from them if they needed his help. Fukai slowly nodded. "Well, I can't trust you just yet but I will help you out with this problem." Both Rat and Gi smiled.
"Thank you. It is good to see that my faith in you was not misplaced. Gi here was quite uncertain with getting you involved." This casual interaction between the two showed the relationship between them was one based more on friendship than master-subordinate. It also showed that the boy trusted Rat and his judgement.

Fukai nodded and then spoke. "Ok so what is the plan?". Rat turned to Gi and nodded. The boy brought out a map from his back pocket and laid it out on the table.
"So we have witnesses that have seen the four assailants moving in this direction, to the family's farm. That has lead us to believe that the threat comes from this area." He motioned with his finger in a circle on the map, showing a large area. "I need you to accompany Gi to search this area. It is very likely that whatever is out there will know you are coming and it will be potentially very dangerous. Investigate the area and if you find their base, you two should decide what to do from there." Fukai was starting to get the idea. Given the logistics, lack of information and the strength of the previous four intruders, this could end up being very dangerous. Or it could be no threat at all.
"This is very risky, I would be much more comfortable calling in the anbu to deal with this." Fukai responded. Gi shot him a dirty look but Rat remained unperturbed.
"That will put our whole organisation in jeopardy, with many lives ruined. I know it incurs a lot of personal risk but I really do think this is for the best." Fukai begrudgingly agreed. After all, hadn't he already decided that his own life wasn't important compared to the potential change he could bring? It sounded like Rat and he had similar ideals, and if this guy turned out to be the real thing, he couldn't turn down this offer.

[4118]


http://www.narutosaga.com/t18899-locating-the-den-brank-private-nokill#156088


It was a dimly lit and narrow tunnel with a few light bulbs attached to wiring along the roof. The path descended slightly, leading further down. Fukai knew that it was unlikely that their situation had improved in the long run, even if they had escaped the immediate danger. "Let's keep moving". Gi said before breaking into a run down the corridor. Fukai followed. He was right, there was no point waiting here, it was a dead end from the other end and trying to get out from here would leave them as sitting ducks. Going down into their base would mean confronting whatever they had down there, all while being information blind. But that was the only plan of action, to delve into the belly of the beast and make the best of it. The silver haired shinobi had become quite adept at thinking on his feet in the field, although this had been through unintentional practice from all of the jobs that had gone pear shaped on the day. It was not such an impressive anecdote but it did make Fukai develop a good sense of danger and awareness about what can go wrong. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. After so many close shaves with death, the young man had almost become desensitised to the danger that awaited him, even if he acknowledged that his survival on many of them were just out of plain luck.


http://www.narutosaga.com/t18913-won-t-somebody-please-think-of-the-children-brank-private-nokill#156158

Fukai would stick close, but take a path more suited for lookout, being careful to also keep himself concealed. They would slink slowly down the path for a few minutes before Fukai heard a distant twang. He whipped around to see a crossbow bolt flying towards the group of children. The shinobi dived in front, summoning his scarf to defend against it. All of the ends of the scarf flew towards the bolt to intercept it. Metal smashed against metal and it took almost the whole jutsu’s strength to fling the bolt away. The screech of metal alerted the children, they turned around, just as Gi did. Fukai yelled out to them “They’ve found us! Run for it!”.
The smaller young man ordered the kids to run, and they did so with a surprisingly minimal amount of distress, like the life or death situation didn’t phase them. Fukai would follow behind, providing cover. Another assailant ahead, Fukai ran in front of the group and formed a large shield with his scarf, wavering it so that the scarf decelerated the bolts and stopped them before they would pass. It was an arduous half an hour before they would get out of the badlands, the last of the gang members continuing to take potshots. It looked like they wouldn’t risk getting close to Fukai, which was a smart move. Fukai couldn’t separate from the group either, he couldn’t risk leaving them. They were smart operatives, and had tried different vantage points and tactics during the time, such as someone out in the open as bait. But they had made it out of the area without being harmed, and after twenty minutes of no activity, Fukai called ahead to tell the group that the threat had most likely passed. They were getting close to a populated area so he doubted there would be any more trouble from here on out. If he had to guess, he would say that the remaining members had hurried back to the base to pack their stuff and leave. Given that they were an hour and a half from the village, they only had a small window to escape before they could get clear of the anbu. Little did they know, the anbu wasn’t coming. Fukai could go back, but he decided against it. It was enough that he had halted their sick operations. Whatever was going on, these kids should be safe back at the village.

But where would they go? He hoped Rat would have a place for them, his little community did seem to be the perfect place for them. They wouldn’t be accepted back into society so easily now that they were damaged goods. How would they survive? If there was something he could do...
“We have a home for them” Gi was beside him, looking ahead and avoiding eye contact. Fukai nodded. It was a slow trek back to the village walls. The children didn’t talk much, they seemed content to keep going. Gi said he would get into the village though a secret way and let the kids through with him. Fukai went through the gates, waving at the guards before strolling by. It was an anticlimactic ending to a hectic day. But something felt different about himself. He felt lighter for some reason.

He opened the old apartment where he had met Rat earlier in the morning. There in the dusty lounge he found the ugly male. He had a small smile on his face and started to talk. “Thank y-” But Fukai would interrupt.
“I apologise for doubting you. I want to help you guys in the future.” Rat grew a massive grin, grabbing his hand in a vigorous handshake. This was it, he had realised why today had made him feel lighter. He had achieved something. For so long now he had felt little progress, but after meeting Rat and Gi, he had managed to make a difference. He wanted more of that. He wanted to help Rat achieve his goal.

~~~~~~~FIN~~~~~~~

[4979]

It had been two weeks since he had helped Gi and Rat rescue the children from the clutches of the gang. He hadn’t heard anymore from the mysterious group, seems like they had disappeared into nothingness. Fukai had done some reading but had not come across any hint of their presence. He had also tried finding out where the kids had come from, and it was after a week of intense paper diving that he had put the pieces together. There had been a small increase in recorded deaths and disappearances of kids between the ages of eight and fourteen all around the lands of Tsuchi no Kuni. Wild animal attacks, freak accidents and disappearances with runaway notes. The evidence was all there and recorded, also the jump in the events was not noticeable when looking at it from the other end. How unlucky they had been to be stripped away from their families and lives to be sent into that place. They had been wronged, and nothing was done until now. But that was what happened in these times. It was messed up, but there was hope for the future. Meeting his new comrades, Fukai was surer than ever that he could make a difference. He was meeting Rat today, walking around the winding backstreets that he had been instructed to do when coming to the base. He remembered when he had first been shown the fruits of Rat’s labour.
_____
~1 week ago~

He followed Rat down the winding steps, through a part of the village that he had never been before. It was more or less the geographical opposite of the kage’s office. Fukai was amazed that there was even something around here, it didn’t look like there was enough space to house what the misshapen man claimed there was. Fukai followed Rat down the path. It was hidden against a rock face so it was basically completely imperceivable from the entry angle. If you were to walk this way for whatever reason, There would be no telltale signs that there was an entry point here. A clever disguise suited a secret base of operations and the whole facade was quite quaint. Fukai watched the back of his new allies' head as it bobbed up and down on the uneven path. The pair contrasted greatly with each other, even their walks were different. Fukai glided down on his toes, ankles rolling around to slide over obstacles without breaking the smooth motion. Rat's face wasn't pretty, having been disfigured in the past, his eyes sunk into the back of his head and his skull was slightly mooshed on one side. His black hair matted and stuck to the side of his head with the perspirant glue. His hands clutched each other behind his back and his posture hunched forwards with his neck craned up.

After a little while, the pair started descending down a slope that was hidden by an outcrop. Then Rat turned and faced the rock wall, feeling the face of the orangy yellow mineral. It looked like there was maybe an entrance of some sort here. His finger rubbed across the bumps until it seemed to push in the wall somewhat. "Here we are, this is a fake wall". He whipped out a knife that was concealed in his back pocket. Then he deftly slid it across the sheet of rock until it met the canvas. He stuck it into the invisible join and leveraged out a handhold. It was a very clever disguise. You couldn't even tell that the wall was fake, even if it was two inches from your face. He carefully peeled back the fabric to reveal a steel door behind it. Fukai realised that the fact that it was a chakraless concealment was also a bonus, no sort of ninjutsu sensory short of the byakugan would be able to uncover such a place. Fukai knew that it was unlikely to find any sort of Hyuuga around these parts anyway. Rat stood at the doorway and put his thumb up to the top left corner of the door. A second after he did, a green light flashed out onto the man's body. "It's a chakra signature scanner. We'll get your entry in here so you can come and go s you please once we get inside." He turned and gave a cursory smile. The door popped and swung open, revealing a simple metal tunnel.

"Of course, everyone will want to meet you, so we got ta get that out of the way first." His small smile persisted as he started to lead the way through the passage. Fukai wrinkled his brow but continued after the man. He was to be shown what Rat had grown from nothing, some sort of organisation beneath the village itself. It wasn't long until the tunnel brought them to a large open plan room. “Welcome to Subterra” There were a couple of men and women moving about looking like they were up to a few menial tasks. Rat and Fukai walked passed them and they greeted him with a bow. They continued past, moving over to a sectioned off area. The pair walked in on a classroom. It was something that Fukai definitely wasn’t expecting down here, a group of children sitting down at desks facing an older woman who was scratching the rock wall with chalk. The teacher turned around and noticed them, and then spoke to the kids in an authoritative tone.
“Masters on deck!” Immediately, the small bodies jumped out of their chair and faced the young men, bowing down with their heads lowered.

Fukai noticed the children that he and Gi had rescued were among the pupils. “At ease.” The kids straightened up and looked at the pair with large wondering eyes. “I would like you to meet Fukai, he is going to be joining us here at Subterra. Some of you have met him already, and for those who haven’t, this man is a fierce warrior and one of Iwagakure’s finest. You are to extend to him the same courtesy that you give me.” The children looked up at Fukai without saying a word. He could see there was a mixture of expressions there, some were admiring him, some had doubtful eyes and a few scowled. Some were completely dull and held no interest behind their faces. Kids were refreshingly honest about everything that they thought, you could always tell as they would offer it up so freely through both verbal and nonverbal communication. There was never any hidden agendas. It was a bit of a shame that in this world, they would be trained to go against that particular grain and be taught to hide everything from view. Rat continued on after looking at Fukai. The purple eyed shinobi realised that he was expecting him to say something but he hadn’t. “Well, we will let you get back to class, we have much to discuss.” He placed a hand on Fukai’s shoulder before guiding him away from the room.

As they walked away, he could hear the teacher resuming the lesson. Fukai was interested in what exactly Rat had in mind for the children. “So those kids, what are you going to do with them?”
“Well, I am glad you are interested. We are housing and educating them, giving them a place in our little community. While they grow they can do menial tasks for us. All the while we will be preparing them for adulthood and the type of work that Subterra requires of them. Come into my office.” They had arrived at a wooden door which he promptly opened for Fukai to enter through. Rat entered second, closing the door and walking around to plonk himself in the swivel chair that sat behind a modest wooden desk.
“It’s amazing how developed this place is down here.” Fukai definitely was amazed at the place that his new ally called ‘Subterra’. A hollowed out den furnished to fit. Fukai mused allowed before plonking himself down in the chair opposite the desk. Rat smiled warmly and held his head in his hand as he leaned on an armrest.
“It took us a long time to get here, but finally we are almost there.”
“Where is there?”
“Well, I guess it would be where we can influence the lives of people who need it most… and whatever that entails. And that brings me back to our business here.” It seemed like they were finally getting to the point of his visit here. Rat wanted something from him, Fukai leaned forward in anticipation. “I want you to lead this organisation with me. Instruct the kids and take point on field operations.” Rat locked eyes with him, Fukai sat there without words. It was a lot to chew on. Rat wanted him to assume a role of huge responsibility. “You will be my partner and act as my equal within Subterra.” So he wanted Fukai to invest himself completely with the organisation. Fukai knew that they would need someone like him soon enough. And he needed them, probably even more. Whether or not he wanted to admit it, he had been lost. He needed something that he could use to fulfill the declaration he had made to himself. It seemed that he had managed to stumble on something that was exactly what he needed. But there was still something holding him back. Something that niggled at him in the back of his mind.

Fukai nodded a little and broke eye contact to lean back in the chair. “Thank you for the offer, it is a great honour that you think so much of me as to entrust your life’s work to me but I can’t possibly accept. Maybe I can help you out from time to time but-”
“We need you, Fukai. I need you.” He interrupted but then kept his silence for a little while. “Please, don’t doubt yourself. Gi and I will be right next to you when you need us. I know it’s a big risk, but I have been taking that risk for many years now. I have doubted myself countless times every day, especially when times got tough. But you know what? When you helped us out last week, for the first time in a long time, I have actually felt comfortable.” Fukai smiled at his words. He was a great speaker, and there was no doubt that he was genuine. “You don’t give yourself enough credit. Please, consider it and get back to me.” Fukai sat in silence across from the man. He exhaled slowly, feeling and acting like a deflating balloon.
…
“So, theoretically speaking, what would you have me do in the short term.” He looked up at the disfigured young man, seeing a little light in his eyes and a small smile form which kind of annoyed Fukai. Rat knew he was very interested in this deal.
“Well, the main priority at the moment is starting to develop the children that we have here. They come from all walks of life, but for some reason, they have been misplaced and no longer have a place in the current regime. So it may be a challenge, but if you can, I would like you to impart some of your vast skill to them. I want you to be their sensei.” Fukai sat once more without words until he had come to a half decision.
“I have a lot of work to do this week, but then I have the weekend off. I will come and see you and tell you my decision then” Rat nodded, it was a fair answer. From there, Fukai was escorted back to the entrance. He was shown how to work the door and then the pair exchanged farewells.

[6975]

_____
~ Present day ~

So that was how it was. He was coming to tell rat that he was going to take on the job. Fukai hoped that this was the right path for him. It felt right, but who knew what waited around the corner.

He had received a message by way of note that told him of the new procedure when it came to getting to the base. He was to meet a young lady at that end of the village, where they would walk around a path that led them to the back. This would give him a decent reason for going out that way, if it looked like he had started some kind of love affair with a girl out this way. Of course in reality, she was an employee of Subterra, and they would stroll around the path and enter through the back of one of her sheds. It was still mid morning by the time that he had met the woman and exchanged pleasantries, before he let her lead him around the back of her property. Fukai slung a bunch of short wooden staves over his back, some tools for the activity that he wanted to conduct today. He noticed that the girl treated him like a superior, the young man forgetting that he was supposedly the co-manager now.

She opened the door of the wooden shack. It was not much bigger than an outhouse, the sort of place that one would use to store their garden tools and firewood. There was a few of such things there, which the young woman asked him to help her move out of the way. He saw what was happening, as a carpet on the floor was rolled up to reveal a trapdoor. Then the woman smiled as she descended down the stone steps, stopping only momentarily to flick a switch which lit the passageway below. Fukai promptly followed her and she led him back to the main cavern in which Subterra was housed.

Rat was waiting in the next room, with his back turned towards the door. The pair entered and Rat turned around casually. “Oh hello there, was today the day that you were coming?” Fukai smiled a little at this opening. Like his new partner would ever not know that he was coming. From what he had seen, the ugly beggar had his finger on every pulse within twenty kilometers. Rat joined him in the smile, walking up to shake his hand and thanking the young lady for her help. She replied and then excused herself from the room. “Would you like a drink of some sort, or maybe some food if you haven’t eaten already?” He gestured to the table behind him that had a modest spread. Fukai smiled and waved away his offer.
“I simply came to tell you of my decision.”
“Oh?” Rat turned his full attention to the tall figure. “Alright then.” He stood there waiting for Fukai to speak.
“Well, you have a lot to be proud of here. It is a promising endeavor. And you say you believe that I can add to this place? Well I trust your judgement and I gladly accept your offer.” A grin erupted on Rat’s face, the left corner of his mouth bending down due to his disfigurement.
“Ahh I am so glad! I do believe that we can work wonders together, you and I. Come, we must celebrate! I will call everybody over and we shall have a welcoming party.” Fukai stopped him before he started to scuttle off.
“Actually, if it’s okay by you, I would rather just keep things low key. I would like to start the children’s first lesson today.” Rat’s face fell.
“Oh.. Well in that case, you best come through then.” Fukai could tell he was disappointed as he led him over to the adjoining room.

He opened the door and stepped through, the purple eyed young man following soon after. Fukai was surprised to see a group of about ten adults and the group of children gathered around the doorway.
“Hooray!” They all shouted in unison. A few party poppers went off in Fukai’s face. Rat waved his arms to settle them down.
“Sorry guys, he doesn’t want a fuss. We will have to call off the party.” There was a disappointing moan coming from a few kids and even one of the adults. Fukai awkwardly smiled and mouthed ‘sorry’.
“Alright, juniors are to report to the main hall, all others are relieved of duty until after lunch. You guys may as well dig into that food.” Rat started to make his way through the crowd as it dispersed, Fukai kept to his heels.

The main hall was less of a hall and more of a room that was slightly larger than the others. However it was big enough that there would be enough room to conduct most practices with this amount of people. In the room he met Gi again, who waved a meeting but kept to the back wall. Rat called over to him to tell him of the situation. He nodded but didn’t do much else. Rat told Fukai that some of the juniors had little to no combat experience and that he would most likely have to start at the bottom. He did mention that Gi had given them basic chakra control training and that they were progressing with their stealth and information skills at a good rate. He had figured as much and had come prepared, tossing down the strap of staves. With that done with, Rat called the children over. “This here is Fukai. From now on, he will be the master of combat. He will train you to become strong operatives so that you may serve Subterra well. He has fill authority over you and his word is law. Show him the same respect you do to me or Gi.” He nodded and left, beckoning to Gi to follow. The small young man followed his master out of the hall. Fukai was left with a whole bunch of faces looking at him. They ranged from about eight years old up to about fourteen. A large age range for general training purposes, but apparently they were all at about the same level. Fukai hesitated for a second, wondering if he could actually do this.

He decided it was better not to miss a beat when in front of the kids. “Right, from now on, I am going to work you hard. You will train under pressure and you will be turned into lethal weapons.” His voice was loud and carried well in the stone room. He drew from his large reserves of knowledge. “Building your body up to handle training is the first step. And building your body is much like building a pyramid. If you wish to reach high into the sky, you must begin with a large base. The size of your base determines your upper limit.” Fukai had to reel himself back in, realising that he was starting to get carried away. Too much useless detail and he would lose the attention of the juniors. “So for base work, we need cardio, muscle endurance and muscle strengthening. For cardio, you are to run three kilometres every day. In two month’s time, it will be upped to five, and in a year, it will become ten. For today we will stick to a simple warm up. Now everyone, line up and don’t fall behind.” Fukai gave them their marching orders, and they lined up behind him. He started a gentle jog, his long slow gate easily outpacing the shuffling children. Even their running technique would need work. He would also need to take them outside to run and get used to fighting on uneven footing. Working on the mountainous terrain of the country would be an eventuality for them.

[8305]

After ten minutes or so, he stopped and waited by the pile of staves for the rest of the children to catch up. Some were trailing behind and out of breath. They would need this conditioning badly. It would be an uphill push but it was one that must be overcome if they wanted to become strong enough to be of some use. Once the small bodies had gathered around, Fukai started to move on to the other exercises. He told them of the need for muscle strengthening and how they could achieve it. He gave them a program of exercises that utilised their body weight only. He also added in counter balancing training and stretching to help prevent future injuries. Next, he told them of muscle endurance training. He told them that this was the most advanced kind of basic training, and could only be achieved once a basic level of proficiency in both fitness and technique had been achieved. It was simply practicing at an anaerobic rate, completing katas and sparring until you were completely exhausted and could barely move. He didn’t bother to go into fast twitch training, which was explosive movement training. They were at the very least, a few years off of that. As Fukai was particularly proficient with his aylactic system, he knew that many shinobi tried to start training it too soon and with very little understanding of how the body works. What that resulted in was a severe lack of raw power and wasted potential. Now the children had the blueprint for what constituted the base layer of the power pyramid.

“Next, we will move on to fighting.” He announced to the children. Some of them murmured, a few were transfixed and even a few jabbered in excitement. “That’s enough noise. This subject is very serious and should be approached with the utmost respect. When you battle someone, you are risking your life to end someone else’s. It is not cool, and it is not fun. It is a chore that we as shinobi practice out of necessity.” Fukai surveyed the faces, making sure they all understood the message. They looked sombre enough, so he proceeded. “Here I have a set of staves here, much like my one except smaller. Now in turn, I want each of you to go and pick up one, and attack me with it, however it seems most natural.” Fukai wanted to do this exercise because he understood that all people were different, and there was a large amount of variance between their fighting styles. Forcing people into a cookie cutter template would result in the loss of their strengths and the increase in their weaknesses. Fukai had a great eye for analysing technique, and he was confident that he could pick out just what the best starting point for each of them would be. As for why he had chosen a bunch of sticks to be the test weapon, it was for two reasons. Firstly, it was something that could be used in many different ways, and so how they naturally would wield these things could give hints to as the most effective training path. Secondly, it was because it was Fukai’s most primary point of expertise, in the art of bojutsu.

Once the children had lined up and were holding a staff each, Fukai whipped out of the booklet. As he did, two of the boy’s caught his eye. They had begun to playfight with each other. Fukai had temporarily forgotten that these children weren’t necessarily militaristically disciplined as not many had even been to the academy at all. “Oi you two! Cut that shit out and stand to attention! When we are training, it is not time for screwing around.” Fukai yelled at his juniors, and they recoiled and straightened up. Fukai walked over to the line, in front of the children that were now standing silently. He felt it necessary that he start to place regulations and behaviours in place. He would have to pass these on to Rat as well so that he would not break the continuity of Fukai’s standards. “When we are training, there will be no screwing around! Train seriously so that when the time comes, you will be sufficiently prepared.” He didn’t have a way with words by any means, but it looked like he still got his point across.

Assuming his previous position, he asked the first kid in line to pick up a staff. Then Fukai asked him to attack in whatever way seemed most fitting. The child seemed a little confused and unnerved, and Fukai assured him a little brashly that he wouldn’t harm him. A little begrudgingly, he did as he was told, attacking Fukai. He ran and then swung with a diagonal downward slash at Fukai. He caught the stick before it hit him on the front of his torso. A poorly aimed shot for sure, but that didn’t matter at the moment. It looked like the boy was inclined to attack with swinging slashes, which favoured his larger build and developing back muscles. Some sort of sword weapon would be the best fit for this kid. He nodded and told the kid to go back to the group, calling the next one. A girl came charging in next, and tried to bludgeon him with the end of the spear while holding the staff halfway down the shaft. Once again Fukai caught it. This girl had a peculiar mentality about her attack, maybe some form of knife or an irregular weapon would suit her best. Fukai reminded himself that not all people would be best suited to be warriors, a less direct method of combat may be the better option for this girl. The next girl was much larger and older than the previous one, putting her weight behind the staff and jabbing at him with a two handed grip. She had great natural balance that would make for a great spear or rapier user. One by one Fukai tested the children and assessed them in his mind. He made a list of what they should start developing individually. He would ask Rat to acquire some training tools so that they could start next time he came.

Fukai thought that this would be enough for today. He got everyone to put their sticks back and come and stand in a circle. He sowed them a few meditative chakra control exercises that they could do while he wasn’t here. These were just to get them used to the flow of chakra around their body and getting used to commanding it. With that done, he dismissed the children, and to his surprise, they all bowed and thanked him in unison. They were good kids, if they kept up their training they would become fine soldiers. Fukai left Subterra after talking to Rat about the near future and his plan for them. His comrade was pleased with how the first meeting went and said that he would have whatever supplies that Fukai needed here by the time he returned.

~~~~~~~FIN~~~~~~~

It was a month and a half after Fukai’s first training session with his large class and a lot had happened in this time. He had been coming to Subterra every second or third day to check in with his protege’s and do their training session with them. Things were going well and Fukai had introduced them to their assigned weapons. Base maneuvers and attacks had been taught to them, although they were far from perfect. Their chakra control was progressing nicely and apparently their operations training was going well according to Gi. The older children were already showing their difference in strength compared to the younger ones, being able to train harder and for longer as well as being bigger naturally. Fukai had been eager to get out from the underground and hit some field training. But there was just no opportunities. Moving around with a large group of children was hard work.

There was also the matter of the Fantomusodo coup [link] which had happened a week ago. Fukai was in a state and hadn’t come to visit Subterra until today. Today he had decided that he was going to get back into it. The large young man entered the cavern, to find that his friend Rat was waiting on the other side of the door for him. Fukai was about to greet him when the disfigured man walked up and put a hand on his shoulder. “Fukai.. I’m sorry to hear what happened. You really didn’t have come in today.”
“What are you talking about, I’m fine.” Fukai tried to shrug off Rat’s hand and walk past him.
“You aren’t in a fit state to take them today.”
“They can’t miss too much otherwise there is no point.”
“I jus-” Fukai turned on him and looked him deep in the eye. His purple eyes were bloodshot and were ringed with bags. “I am going to take the oldest and strongest to Kurakura town.” He tried to push past again and again he was stopped.
“You wouldn’t do something so risky with them, would you, Fukai?”
“They need to have some real experience, otherwise they are going to be of no use to anyone.”
“What about their safety?”
“Get out of my face!” Fukai hissed at Rat. “I have authority over what they do and they are coming with me to Kurakura town!”
With that he barged past Rat and strode deeper into the cavern. He heard Rat behind him call. “Bring them back safe.”

Fukai marched into the sleeping quarters and called them to attention. He then listed off eight of the children that were ten to twelve years old that he trusted to be strong enough to take moderate care of themselves. He told them that they were to ready themselves with supplies for the day as they were going to leave the village on their first mission. Most of the younger kids chattered while the chosen few didn’t look too excited themselves. He told them to be ready and waiting in the front room for briefing in ten minutes. Fukai didn’t give them long as in normal response situations, they would have to be ready to take off on a task at any given point. For these kids, they would be on duty for the rest of their working lives.

While waiting for his new team, Fukai thought about all that had happened. The uprising of the generation that preceded them, and the outcome of it all. A clash of destinys, A mix of hopes and aspirations that just happened to oppose each other. Fukai had come to the conclusion over the past week while his mind had sorted itself out. This conclusion was a simple one. To have the world the way you want it, you had to make it that way yourself. And the only way that you could do that is with unmatched strength. To be powerless was to be a victim. He had always known this in some sort of way, but now that idea was cemented in his mind completely. There was no leeway, life was relentless. Now he knew that he had to take what he wanted without hesitation, and he would teach these children the same idea. Whether Rat wanted it or not, this was the best way to secure their future. Even if it meant putting them in great danger, the potential strength that they could harness would mean that they, with the help of the people around him, could secure their life the way they wanted. After all they were just like himself ten or so years ago, a victim of circumstance. But he had never had anyone around him to help him on his way. Fukai promised, right then and there that he would be there for these kids. Together, they would make Subterra a force for change, a pillar of the great nation of Tsuchi no Kuni. To protect and improve, this is what Fukai wanted. He had finally found his place. The road in front of him looked just a little shorter than it did before. Thinking back to his genin days, he had always been looking for the road, and it looked like he had found it.

There stood his eight students, the finest that Subterra had to offer at the moment. They had done well over their short training time and they would soon be fine soldiers. Fukai had begun to empart his own jutsu on them, giving them two of his most reliable and simple jutsu. The first was his advanced combos jutsu, one that gave the user an advantage in a straight up close combat confrontation by out maneuvering their opponent. The second was the first level of the exorcism jutsu, which was a defence that fitted most purposes. However they had a long way to go and today was the start of the next step. Today was their first outing to Kurakura town. It was more of a surveying mission, something that usually a chuunin would be able to take by himself. The issue arose when Rat had caught wind of some troubling signs around the area. However no report had pinpointed the trouble. Fukai was going to take his children out to the town to see what was up.

As he stood before the eight kids, he looked them up and down before speaking. They looked ready, even though it was early days yet in their development. Fukai debriefed them, telling them that this was a simple outing, and that they were just going to take a look. He told them to remain calm and composed and remember their training if trouble arose. The young man was confident in his abilities, and he was confident that even with his young charges that he would be able to handle whatever was out there. With the minor details gone over, the group departed, following Fukai out one of the bases tunnel entrances. On the way out, Fukai spotted Rat off to the side, eyeballing him as he left. His partner had wanted him to take it a lot slower in the lead up to a mission but Fukai disagreed. Over the years he had unintentionally been thrown into situations where he could barely survive, and these are the situations that had made him grow most as a person. Only through a combination of luck, luck and more luck had he triumphed and become the person he was today. And who was he today exactly? He was someone who had the power to influence people’s lives. If these kids were to have the same strength under pressure, Fukai would have to lay the pressure on thick and hard. If they couldn’t adapt and grow through the trials, well then they would die. That was the way it was, it was the way it had to be. This was their path now, it had been decided.

Fukai marched onwards, through the countryside. They had cleared the village a little while ago and were making their way to the town. There was not a peep from the kids as they traveled, and Fukai didn’t speak much either. He knew that Gi had already trained them in surveillance and hiding so Fukai just pointed out the odd thing, like which roads led to where and what was the fastest way to travel to get to different areas.of the country. Tsuchi no Kuni was one of the largest countries on the continent and it took a lot of study and experience to know your way around it. It would take them a couple of hours to reach the town of Kurakura.

Fukai panted lightly. He hadn’t been ready for the fight but he had managed alright. A trickle of blood flowed from his ear but other than that he was okay. He walked over to his squad to inspect the scene. “You have done well, but the job is not done yet. Some of these men are still alive. Kill them now.” Some of the children were a little hesitant to do the deed but after a while, they did so, sticking their spears and swords into the vital points of their downed opponents. They would have to get used to doing the dirty work at some point in time. The courtyard of the town was littered with bodies, and the blood was starting to flow out into a large puddle. “Alright, now carry those two over to there”. One of the squad had been injured badly in the fight, but the kid who had been cut previously had stepped up in his place. “Okay, good work people, now you six, go find a medical shinobi somewhere in the town and bring them back here”. It would have been best if they could leave straight away, but he wanted to get treatment for his two injured squad members. And off they went, scattered and running. Fukai sat beneath a tent orning with his two downed charges and waited for them to return. He sighed. What would Rat say?

It was only 10 minutes before they returned with a white haired elderly in tow. Once shown the kids, he immediately got to work, hands glowing with green chakra and gliding up and down their wounds. It looked like he wasn’t very skilled, by the slow progress of the recovery. With the best doctors in Iwagakure, you could see the injuries knit together before your very eyes. It would likely take at least a few hours before they were healed. And Fukai didn’t know if he wanted to stay around that long.

“Good work everybody. You have all survived your first fight.” Looking around the collective group, he could see the shock on their faces. Yes, this was exactly what was needed. They had been completely submerged in the stress of battle.
“Don’t you realise what you’ve done?” Fukai perked up at the unexpected interruption from the doctor. “Those bandits… They only wanted our money. Now they will come back in force.. And destroy us.” The doctor didn’t turn around from his work while spouting his fears. The children had taken notice of his words and were wide eyed at the implications. Fukai spoke up, addressing his troops.
“Well? Should we return home now then?.. Or, we could stay and defend against the horde of outlaws coming to crush us.” No one answered. The kids expected him to make the decision, and he guessed that if he straight out ordered it that they would do as he said. But he wanted to enlist their own internal motivations for being a part of Subterra. He wanted to make the connection between morality and action.
“I thought Subterra was set up to improve and protect the lives of the people in The Land of Stone. Do you want these people to lose what you have lost?” There was silence for a few more seconds before two chirped up.
“We will stay and fight!” The others agreed with a firm shaking of the head. This is what he was looking for. If the decision came from them, they would commit themselves more to the fight and to the cause in general. It was no longer just a job for them, it was no longer just about their own survival. It was about something greater than themselves.
“Well, we better get to work then” Fukai winked at the old doctor as he turned around, gobsmacked.

Fukai didn't know when or where they were going to come from, or if they were going to come at all. The first thing that he did was get one of the children to run back to Iwa. He told him to explain that there had been an attack on Kurakura and the town needed help. He knew that Iwa would send out a force to combat the bandits after that. That meant that Fukai had to hold out until they arrived. He told the child to stay safe and take it slowly, keeping a lookout for any danger. With that, the junior troop was dispatched, and Fukai turned to the rest of his healthy force, all 7 of them. He had just sent his least fatigued troop away, most of the children looked tired. It would be a long day for them, even if the bandits didn't strike back. Fukai could see a few of the towns inhabitants poking their heads out of doorways to see what was up. They were wary, although they would have recognised Fukai's headband by now. The old doctor yelled to them, and soon after they were distributing food and water inbetween the children. They did not speak much, hurrying around before scampering back to their hiding place. Fukai let them be.

The second order was to post the rest of them on top of the walls, overlooking the countryside. They would be the outposts, and were to call if they saw any disturbances. Fukai also told them to hunker down and rest as best they could while keeping alert, as they may need to fight again before the day was up. He couldn't ask too much of them, even if they had already performed beyond his expectations today. Fukai sat down under the canopy with the doctor and his two injured kids. Putting his staff down on the bench beside him, he looked at the weathered piece of wood. It wouldn't be too long before these kids will become like himself, the material of their weapons and the fibre of their will being worked over and over again. The sun was starting to descend down the sky. It warmed him. The heart that had been darkened by his family's drama saw new hope in these young souls. He wanted to believe in them. He wanted to believe that the sun would rise even brighter tomorrow than it did today. But who knew what the future held? Fukai promised himself that just as the children had stood with him in this fight, he would stand by them when trouble eventually arose.

[12050]
~exit~
Thread Closed

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