Samuru stood alone on one of Kirigakure’s many islands. There was a storm heading into the area. The way he heard the wind blow, watch the grass move, and watch the clouds funnel in said it all. It was a good day to hunt. He would need to keep his skills relevant. It wasn’t often that he used his bow and arrows. He just preferred to fight close range. Samuru wondered what kind of game that there were in these forest. From what he could tell, there were a number of deer and rabbit markings that he noticed as he walked.

The trail he wandered didn’t have much to offer as physical appearance. Most trails away from the villages tended to be that way. Luckily, he was able to get a generic map of a couple of the islands for hunting purposes. It would have taken him months to figure out the layout of the islands. He definitely had to admit that it was a bit easier to get through Hi no Kuni, but this land was definitely different. Samuru wasn’t that big of trying to learn the layout of the land, but it would definitely help to learn the ecosystem at least.

He started to hear the rain hit his hood and started to look up. Rain began hitting his face as he moved trying to find his prey. Samuru then turned his head quickly as he heard another sound. It was quite obvious what the sound was. The loud squeals caused him to reach for his axe, but he decided to propel himself into the trees. He followed the loud sound through the tree’s branches as he moved silently through the trees. The branches barely creaked under his weight as he went from limb to limb. It tree rain had seeped through the branches and began turning the already damp ground into mush. It wasn’t like he cared for getting dirty, but he didn’t like the idea of having to clean it all up.

Samuru ended up looking over a small drove of wild boar. There were four piglets and two older boar. He wasn’t sure how he wanted to handle them at first. It would be a good training exercise, but the sow did look like they were quite sizable. They would easily be half of his height if not more. He could easily kill the piglets and sell their hides. There was no way he was going to take all of them back whole. The thoughts that he had went through his head as he mulled over what he should do. The pigs then started to move. He followed them as the younger pigs started to fall behind as they occasionally stopped to play around with each other. That would be something that he would take advantage of. The piglets separating themselves from the older pigs would make these kills easier.

Watching this reminded him of the second hunt he took part in with his father. The hunt had almost got him mauled by a boar that was almost his size. He didn’t have any fear, but his father did have to step in to save him. Though, it wasn’t until the last minute and Samuru did get knocked down trying to get out of the way. The saying what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. The saying didn’t apply to just physical strength. There was mental strength applied to this ideology as well. Part of the reason why he was so cold had to do with his father’s teachings. It started with hunting animals. Then, it became hunting man. He spent a lot more of his time hunting men than animals throughout his life. Hunting was a way he seemed to keep his father alive. He didn’t feel any anger or a true necessity in doing it, but he continued to do it thinking that it would make him stronger.

The pigs kept moving and stopping occasionally as they moved to an area with a thinner tree line. At this point, he would need to get to ground level. The piglets stopped as a low growl that Samuru imitated from his throat. The older pigs didn’t seem to catch on. The piglets looked around as Samuru pulled his bow from his back. The red-headed shinobi pulled an arrow from his quiver and knocked it on his bow. He pulled back the drawstring as he was careful to breathe with slow innate breathes. The creature within his sights became within his narrowed gaze. The drawstring tight on his fingertips caused the paleness therein to turn red. He released the nocked arrow which caused the arrow to whistle through the air toward his target. The arrow pierced the thick skin into the piglets neck. The piglet dropped to the ground squealing as its siblings ran in the opposite direction that they were heading. It was unexpected, but it would definitely work for him.

Samuru waited as the squealing of the boar started to come to a stop. The piglet then ceased its movement. He then noticed low grunts in the distance. The young shinobi figured that the older boar must have realized the lack of offspring that had been with them. After a few months, the large boar returned to the area. The two of them ran up to the fallen babe and seem to check it for life. Samuru watched as the boar had became furious as their young had been killed. The boar squealed to call out to their young to no avail. Samuru nocked another arrow now taking aim at one of the older pigs. He knew that it would take more than a single arrow to take it down. It may take more than one. Possibly, it would take three depending on his shot placement. Samuru placed the arrow back into his quiver and strapped his bow back over his shoulder. The young genin then went to reach for his axe.

His axe was now unsheathed in his spot within the tree branches. He watched the two older pigs squirm around below. It was the first time that he had ever seen a boar actually morn for its young. Samuru was interested in what he was watching the boar were running around rambunctiously. He knew that the young pig wasn’t coming back. Though, the boar continued to nudge at the piglet like it was trying to wake it up. The piglet was large enough to make a good meal out of. It was questionable to even refer to calling it a piglet. The pig would come up to his knees in height. He was wondering how he should take them out. It would be easy enough to attack with a technique to kill or cause them harm. Samuru continued to wait and watch to see what the pigs were doing. The boar seemed to give up on the piglet and one seemed to go alone in search of the younger pigs.

This was the perfect chance for him to take out the boar. The boar was seemingly weeping as it sat down next to the lifeless husk of bacon. The rain started to get heavier as Samuru was done waiting around. A splash had become prominent as his boots hit the ground. The boar’s ears shot up as the sound of his boats hit the mushy ground. Their eyes met with each other. The boar’s eyes obviously had a deep hatred and rage. Samuru eyes shown a sort of coldness. His eyes portrayed a hunter wanting to take down its prey. There was no mercy to be shown to his prey as the boar attempted to stand itself up on its stubby legs. That’s shen Samuru jetted toward the boar with his axe in hand.

The boar tried to turn quickly to counter him as he rushed to its side. Samuru’s weapon struck the boar from the skull to the end of the boar. The boar’s blood began to pour from it’s wounds as the pig began to charge at Samuru. The now hunter swung his axe again cutting into the snout. The pig fell to the ground in pain, but persisted to stand up. All the pig could smell was blood as its snout was now ruined and partially hanging on. Samuru went over to the crying boar and kicked it into the ground placing his boat on its chest. He lifted his axe and struck down on the creatures neck. The hunter then struck his axe a second time. Then a third. The large boar was dead. All he would need to do now was to skin and bring it back to Kiri. There were two down and the other boars hadn’t returned, but he knew that he would need to be watchful. There was no guessing when the family of the fallen two would return. He would need to stay vigilant.

Samuru was now soaking wet as he attempted grab both boar by the leg and drag them along, but not before he retrieved his arrow. As he drug them over the branches of the trees, there was squealing far off. The prey had made a return. Four on one wasn’t any good. He knew that he could trick them, but he wasn’t sure how far he would get with dragging their relatives across the muddied earth. Samuru decided to unsheath his axe and stand against them alone. He then sneezed a couple of times uncontrollably. Samuru was getting sick. He hadn’t been wearing his turtleneck as he didn’t think he needed it with the temperature as it was. The wanderer was exposed to the elements as he didn’t pay attention that he could partially see his breath. Samuru hated wasting time going to the hospital, but he would do what he had to enable to keep on living.

What had been left of the drove had decided to charge at him in a group. Samuru with his axe tight in his hand, swung the blade releasing a wave of chakra at the group. He then performed half-seals with his left hand. The earth beneath his feet began to crack as a jet of water began heading straight toward his prey. Before he knew it. There was a crack of blue lightning that traveled with his technique and electrocuted the boar. Samuru ended the technique has looked into the direction the lightning technique came from. Nothing was there. The tree trunk he looked toward was void of an individual. Samuru ended his jutsu. When he turned back his face toward the boar, there was a young woman a bit shorter than him. She had been standing near the boar as Samuru reached for his axe.

The young wanderer didn’t know what to expect from her. The lightning technique was more than just any form of raiton. It was quite similar to his clans colored raiton techniques. This made him suspicious of the newcomer. He wasn’t sure why the woman even came from. Samuru had gone deep in the woods that he wasn’t sure how he would even get out. Though, there was this woman that now stood before him using one of his clan’s signature raiton styles. The woman couldn’t be all that friendly, so he thought. He wasn’t sure how to react to what just happened. There had to be something else to it. The biggest question was she friend or foe.

Samuru looked closer at her as he realized that she wore a kirigakure jounin vest and headband. The woman had stress white hair and her emerald eyes looked into his. She slightly smiled as she walked up to him slowly. Samuru gripped his axe tightly as he was ready to draw it. The woman was obviously above him in capabilities and speed. He wouldn’t stand a chance. The woman looked down at the tattoo on his arm and smiled again before speaking to him directly.

“Well, so it is true. I didn’t believe it until I saw the white raiton. You’re a member of the Hatake too. I’m Hatake Nari. Samuru wasn’t it…?”

“Who told you my name?” Samuru responded.

“I read your file silly. You had to register with the village right. I occasionally work in the administration office. I usually look out for those from my clan. You look just like my brother outside of the red hair.”

“Ugh, what does this have to do with interrupting my hunt,” Samuru complained.

“You may have gotten slaughtered,” the woman replied.

The woman pointed to a dead lynx lying on the wet earth. Samuru grunted slightly. The woman was somewhat friendly. A little bit too friendly for his liking. Samuru sneezed again as he looked over the lynx’s body again. It wasn’t like he didn’t want the help. He just didn’t like people interfering with his affairs without permission. The red headed shinobi didn’t mind putting himself in precarious situations. It was a way of him getting in depth fighting outside of fighting shinobi directly.

“So, Perun the thunder demon. What brings you to Mizu no Kuni?” Nari said jokingly.

“None of your damn…,” Samuru paused as his body involuntarily bent over.

Another individual had struck him from the side straight into his abdomen. A young man a few years his younger with grey hair stood with his fist in Samuru’s gut. Samuru stood up and looked toward the boy. They made eye contact before Samuru spit on the ground before him. The boy obviously had anger problems and showed it in his facial expressions. He was a bit surprised that Samuru didn’t seem to be affected by the assault. Samuru didn’t even furrow his brow at him. A blank look sat upon his face.

“I didn’t feel a thing. I can’t feel pain.”

“Pfftt. It’s not even worth it then. Just make sure you watch your mouth.”

“Or what, you’ll kill me?” Samuru countered back.

“Hey, calm down Horus. He’s a Hatake." Nari interjected.

“Nani?” Horus replied as he looked at lightning shaped tattoo on his arm.

Horus backed off and sort of stood next to Nari. Samuru looked at the two of them together and figured that they were probably closely related. There were similar features that they all shared. It was mostly in the eyes though. Though, he couldn’t put a finger on how far apart they were through blood. They were a strange group, the three of them. It was obvious that they were in some way part of the same clan. The tension was pretty high in the air between Perun and Horus. The two glared at each other.

“Well, Perun. This is my cousin. Yokohana Horus. He’s a nintai specialist. Sometimes he can be a jerk. So, what brings you to Kiri? You said that you can’t feel pain?”

“I’m just here to make ryo and train. I may be traveling again eventually. I have things that I need to do. I can’t register any sensations physically. I can literally move my body within its limits.” Samuru responded in a bland tone.

“Oh, well, if you ever need training I’ll be glad to help. Well, we can help you get these back to the village, but first we’ll need to get out of the rain," Nari stated.

Samuru nodded his head in agreement as he let out another sneeze. The three shinobi gathered up the fallen prey as Samuru also took back one of his arrows. He followed Nari and Horus through the woods. It took an intricate amount of time. He took on the weight of his kill as some sort of training to build his strength. It seemed like an hour or so before they reached a small cabin was built in a small clearing. Upon looking inside the cabin, it was easy to tell that it belong to a hunter’s cabin. He wasn’t sure who it belong to, but assumed it was alright sense they were entering it with a key that unlocked the door. It seemed to him that it was a bit of a coincidence that this cabin was here. Though, he didn’t ask any questions.

Samuru and Horus strung up the boar on a meat hook and slit the beasts’ necks to drain the remaining blood. As they strung up the boar, the two of them didn’t speak. Both of them were obviously those that responded to action than words. Samuru wasn’t surprised that they didn’t communicate with each other. There was a tense aura coming from Horus, but Samuru could only see it in his face. Horus obviously didn’t like him and Samuru didn’t care. The red head wasn’t about reading people. He was simply living life for himself. A selfish man he had to become. The one of the few things that pushed him was what he was able to take in visually. He was seeing that he wanted to become strong, so that’s where he pushed himself to be. There was a saying that your five sense were different gates to your soul. Samuru only had complete clarity of three of them. Most of his senses were primarily funneled into his eyes and ears. His taste buds were nothing that brought him pleasure.

Perun and Horus, though dripping wet, reentered the cabin. The three of them sat down on the floor as Nari had started the fire place while Samuru and Horus had dealt with the boar. Samuru figured that Nari had more questions. Though, he wouldn’t be sure if he was obligated to answer. He didn’t ask for their help, but they did inevitably save him from possible death and injury. It was then that Nari began to open her mouth to speak to break the silence between the three of them.

“Perun, tell me about yourself and why aren’t you aligned to a village?” Horus questioned.

“I was raised in the Land of Demons by my father. After he died, I had to survive on my own. I took what he taught me and did what I had to. There was nothing easy about it. I spent most of my time traveling and finding ways to become stronger.”

“Hmm...interesting, but why not a village?” Horus questioned again with a stronger tone at Samuru not completely answering the question.

“I haven’t seen a reason to join one. I’m free to come and go as I see fit. I’ve been able to keep my nose clean by not committing anything questionable acts in these lands. There’s no need to join a village and then make myself a criminal for leaving behind something I never intended to commit to one hundred percent.” Samuru retorted.

“Did you ever think about joining one just to see how it would affect you?” Nari asked.

“Yes, I have considered it many times, but have found no sole reason for doing it. I only want to get stronger," the red head responded

“How about this? You can join a village take the knowledge and experience you gained with you. Get strong enough that no one will be able to keep you from leaving. Sure, there maybe consequences for you actions later, but they may be worth it in the end. Horus father used to be a missing-nin from Sunagakure with my father and uncle that were shinobi from a smaller village. Or they were all from a small village originally. Two of them took refuge in Kiri and the other one fled to who knows where.” Nari stated as she crossed her arms.

“You said your father and uncle were from the same village? Tell me what village and their names," Samuru demanded.

“The Hidden Rain. My father, Mutan, and his older brother Botan," Nari responded with a respectful tone.

Samuru looked toward the fire in thought. The past of his father really didn’t strike him. He remembered that Botan was his father’s original name. Though, his father’s paranoia was something he couldn’t understand. There must have been something his father and his uncles had in common. He wanted to know more information, but his father didn’t even bother talking about his former crimes. He knew that the Hidden Rain had been wiped from existence by some shinobi. That didn’t help him. It would have been one of the first hidden villages that looked to find answers about who his father really was. He now wanted to ask a whole slew of questions, but that would have to wait.

“Are either of your father’s still alive? I have something to ask them," Samuru questioned with less excitement.

“Yeah, Mutan is retired and Horus’s father Ru is out of the country. We’re not sure why though. Why?” Nari responded in a calm manner.

“I’m the son of Hatake Botan," Samuru stated.

Horus’s eyes widened it was like some deep revelation came over him. The young man looked to Samuru with slightly worrisome eyes. Nari starred in his direction with a blank face. Her words were lost to the revelation. There was some disbelief in her mind that the man in front of her was actually a close cousin like Horus. Though she wanted to speak, her words didn’t come out. Horus decided to speak break the awkward silence.

“Perun, where is Botan?” Horus said with a deep stare.

“I have come to accept that he died,” Samuru responded.

“Did you see his body?” Nari stated.

“I didn’t see it. He was paid for a mission and he never returned. It was a large battle. A lot of mercenaries that were hired for the fight didn’t see much either. There was said to be a mass of crimson and white lightning. One guy into the mass and turned to ash within seconds.”

“I’m...not sure. I’m not sure what to say I mean. We’ll have to go see my father.” Nari responded.

“I’ll send a dove as soon as the storm passes,” Horus stated in a low tone.

Nari nodded to Horus’ statement. Samuru became more interested in why they found interest into what happened to his father. He had no interest in trying to figure out his father’s death. Once his father didn’t return from the battle, he even went to the battlefield himself and found no sign of him. He remembered his father saying something to him before he left, but he couldn’t remember it. His father was very secretive about his past, but kept him informed about who and what there clan was about. His father taught him the basics of colored raiton, but not enough for him to master the styles without significant help.

The rain started to die down to a simple mist as the group exited the shack. Horus lead Samuru into a small walk into the woods to a smaller shack. The shack smelled like smoke and had meat hooks hanging inside of the building. Horus skinned the boar as Samuru disemboweled them. They hung the meat in the shack and afterward Horus began to start the smoking process. The two young men exchanged words with each other what they would do to the meat. Samuru disagreed, but Horus was able to convince him that he could smoke and dry some of the meat to travel with. After they were done, Horus summoned a dove and attached a note to its leg. The three of them then met up together in front of the hunter’s shack.

“Samuru, we’re going to head to back to the village. You can sell the skins and talk to my father. How about it?” Nari inquired.

“Let’s get on with it Nari. I want answers.” Samuru insisted.


The day went on as they went into the village and solds the hides of his prey. Samuru even agreed to share the profits. Samuru was quite interested in talking with his uncle. It had been years since he had any conversation with people closely related to him. If he had any feelings, there would probably be a knot in his gut. Questions had been flooding his mind as they approached the community that the two lived in. The three of them were dripping wet, but it seemed to bother Horus more than it did Nari. The two seemed to get along quite well. He figured that the two of them probably heavily trained with each other. Though, he wasn’t all that sure. It could have been that they just knew each other for a long time. Nari occasionally tried to get Samuru engaged in conversation, but Samuru just shrugged off the attempts.

The group finally arrived at the large house they lived in. Before they could open the door, a young boy a little bit younger than him opened the door. He had white hair, but looked like a splitting image of himself. The boy and him just stared at each other before slightly bowing and letting them in. Samuru figured that it must have been Nari’s brother. The boy did look like him, but just slightly thinner. Plus, Samuru didn’t think he would have been caught dead wearing those robes. That was quickly changed as they convinced him to shed off the wet layers they had before moving them toward the back of the house.

There had been a large dinner table that was set before them. A lot of food had been prepared, but Samuru had no clue why the pleasantries. It’s not like he would actually enjoy the family time they had together. He would just have to sit and endure what was coming next. The only thing he wanted was obtain answers. There was truly no need for any of this. Samuru didn’t appreciate the robe either, but his sneezing kept persisting and wouldn’t give him a break. He literally had spent hours walking through the rain and mud. His clothes would have to be cleaned before he headed back to his apartment.

A few moments later, a large muscular man with white haired and a woman with dark brown hair sat at the table. Samuru and the man met eyes. He definitely was his father’s brother. His beard was the only exception. Awkwardly, his father’s hair was a grey and quite as bright as this mans. The man did have a hint of darker grey on his hair tips. Mutan’s eyes were a light green and held the same intensity that his father had, but there was something very different about them. It had been a brief moment before Mutan said anything. The silence had then been broken by the man as him Samuru and his wife were the only others sitting at the table.

“Samuru. He actually gave you our father’s name. I said if I ever met him again that I slap him across his face for being so stubborn. The family name you use do you even know where it’s from?” Mutan continued.

“No, I’m not sure why it even matters,” Samuru replied.

“It was the maiden name of our mother. Your grandmother. He was very careful to give hints, so that we would know if we ever came across him or his offspring. Though, I wasn’t expecting him to run off to the Land of Demons. Ha! Oni Country. Botan did said that he wanted to go there. I guess that was his way of punishing himself." Mutan started off his story.

“What do you mean punishing himself?” Samuru inquired. He found the statement abnormally strange.

“My brothers and I were missing-nin. All three of us used to be apart of some small village. I can’t tell you the name of it for reason. We literally leveled the village and most of those in it. The village was threatening to go to war with another village. It had basically already erupted into a cold war," said Mutan.

“What made the three of you decide that? Not that I would have cared too much for their lives anyway,” Samuru said in a low tone.

“There was an ongoing feud between the villages. They were small and only existed at the time for about seventy years. We were raised in the land between the villages as farmers. Our father thought that it was best that we join a village and become men. Your grandfather retired from Konoha many years ago and had us at an older age. We joined a village and tried to maintain the farm the best we could, but we did it as long as we could.” Mutan was having slight feeling of nostalgia as he continued his story.

“Still why did you destroy the village?” Samuru asked.

“To show our father our true power. We became hungry for power and our father used to always antagonize by calling us weak. The three of us rose to the rank of jonin and flattened the village after two years after real war came into fruition. After that, we flattened the other village in a night raid. At the time, it felt great to wield so much power. Botan thought otherwise. He spent years regretting what we did. Me and Botan traveled to the Hidden Rain afterward while Ru became a Suna-nin. Tell me Samuru did you really see Botan die?” Mutan wondered. It was an important question. If he knew the answers he may have gotten a definite answer he wanted to know.

“No, I only heard stories of those who were there. It was about five years ago. They said that one of guy literally took on the whole opposing force. He just happened to be the only one trained in shinobi arts that was on the battlefield. Well, apparently. They said that there was a series of white and red flashes across the sky. The battle took place at night,” stated Samuru.

“Dammit Ru!” Mutan said while slamming his fist into the table, “I knew there was something up when he disappeared back then. Probably why he lost his hand.”

“What are you on about?” Samuru said aggressively.

“Ru lost an arm while he was a Suna shinobi. He never explained how it happened. They often joked about killing each other, but I didn’t think that he would actually try it.” Mutan stated in sort of a rage. His wife sort of tried to calm him down by grabbing his arm.

The conversation they had went on and on. Mutan explained that Ru had cut off contact from him after Botan decided to cut ties with the two of them. Ru did constant research to find anything that could match Botan’s description. He did find a lot of Hatake, but spent years trying to hunt down Botan. One of the few things that Mutan stated was that he didn’t think that Botan was actually dead. Samuru learned that Botan had a summoning that he only used in desperate times. It was probably the reason why he couldn’t find him on the battlefield. Botan may have been alive, but probably a husk of who he was. Botan was known for his medical ninjutsu, but none of them knew the extent of what he knew. They were separated for fifteen years only contacting them through scrolls and encrypted messages.

The news was a bit interesting to him. He never thought that his father was alive. Now that he knew it was a possibility that his father survived, he felt like he should now search him out. Samuru had a slight change of pace. This actually gave him a different purpose. Mutan invited him to stay in Kiri for as long as he liked, but Samuru wasn’t so sure. He could learn the techniques Mutan possessed. It would also give him time to learn the other variation of colored raiton while he was here. Samuru agreed to stay until he was able to figure out what he needed to do from here. The way to getting stronger was now more prevalent in his mind than it was before. Though, he had second thoughts if finding his father was actually worth it. There was plenty he had to do to meet his goals. He didn't really need his father so far. It would be truly irrelevant to put his all in trying to find him. Samuru was a loner. That was the truth that he lived in. No matter who tried to help him. He would be alone in the end.


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[Thread Exit]


Stat Training:

STR: 1175/1175 [D-0 to D-3]
SPD: 1175/1175 [D-0 to D-3]
PER: 1175/1175 [D-0 to D-3]
END: 450/450 [D-2 to D-3]
Total Used: 3975

Jutsu Training:

1200/1200 Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder (雷遁・磁場死 ~ Raiton: Jibashi) (-20% Clan/WC)

Unused WC: 270