NPC:

The sun was rising and the sky was alive with colour, the vibrant reds, purples, and yellows lighting up the clouds as the golden orb made its way high above the Mara Chita, the Village of the Cheetahs. As it rose it cast long shadows off of the simple wood huts of the villagers, most of the places abandoned as the cheetahs were known more for being nomads, or wanderers, and as such it was rare for them to stay in one place, often staying only to raise their young before taking off once more. There were a few who stuck around in the village in the middle of the grassy plains though, ant those few formed the Mara Chita. The leader of the Mara Chita was known as Shisso Suru, and he was known for his kindness and his compassion. He took in any of the nomad cheetah folk, giving them a home if they needed it, no matter their background.

Shisso Suru was tall and slender, as most of the cheetahs of the village were. He had a black mane of fur on his head and neck which set him out as special, being a King Cheetah, and the natural leader of the village. His golden eyes were said to be able to look into one’s soul and his short muzzle, where it was once white under the chin, was going grey. He had brown spots that adorned his entire muscular body and on his face below each of his eyes were the defining feature of all of the cheetah folk, the black tear marks that ran from the corners of their eyes to their chins. He wore simple leather armour on his legs and arms and had no shirt, his muscular upper body bare for all to see with his white fur along his belly and up to his muzzle. He had a pair of katana on his belt and had a large wakazashi strapped to his back. He was obviously a warrior, but what was less obvious was that he was also a sage. The Chita Sennin, one of the last of his kind, and he was looking for an apprentice to teach the ancient arts too. Little did he know the person he had been searching for would stumble upon him in time…

Shisso stepped out of his the door of his Chieftains Hut in the center of the small village and walked through the pathways of the spiralling huts. His tail was flicking back and forth like a rudder as he moved with determination and resolve towards his destination; the Scrying Station. He had spent much time there over the past several months, knowing that his time on this world was coming to an end and that if he did not pass on the ancient Chita Sennin art to a student, he would run out of time and the art would be lost forever. As he walked through the door he furrowed his brow and shook his head, letting out a deep sigh. The young female inside of the hut looked towards her chief as he entered and bowed lowly, a sign of respect for the leader of her village.

“Any progress, Unmei?” his voice had lost most of its normal gruffness, becoming quite soft and Unmei found it hard not to notice that the scrying process had been taking its toll on him. She was shorter than him, her spots black and her eyes light blue with flecks of yellow in them. She was dressed in a beautiful Kimono and carried a fan on her back, which she was more than able to protect herself with if the situation called for such a thing. She walked up to him and put one of her delicate paws on his powerful muscular shoulder, giving him a soft smile as stroked his cheek with the free hand and looked down sadly, her heart breaking to see her one time mate in such a state.

“I am sorry, my chief, the process is difficult and it seems there may be nobody who is ideal to carry the Chita Sennin’s power. We have been searching for months now, and so far have had no avail…” She walked her way towards the small water bowl sitting on the table and began to apply her chakra to it, searching for the ideal chakra to be compatible with the Chita Sennin’s chakra once more. She had performed the process each day for hours at a time to no avail, but she was determined to find the perfect person, her gaze turning to the village of Konohagakure no Kato, where she felt a feint glimmer of what she was looking for. “Though I may be on to something my chief… You should take a look at this.”

Unmei had changed the way her chakra was reacting to the water, making it so that an image of the person who she was scrying would be visible. A grin stretched across Shisso’s muzzle as he looked at the young man, pushing his glasses up his gleaming face as he trained, his abilities quite impressive. His black hair and beard were dripping sweat and his chainmail armour was gleaming in the sunlight, along with his katana, which he wielded with deadly precision and accuracy. This was the one who had a glimmer of the Chita Sennin chakra, this was the man who would keep his legacy alive, this was the man who would be his student… He walked out of the hut and went to gather his two most trusted guards, readying himself for his long journey to Konohagakure no Sato.

(950/5000 Training Senjutsu)

The Chita Sennin Hopeful

Sarutobi, Mitsuo had been working extra hard over the past several weeks, his training becoming more and more intense. He had been told by his sensei, the fifteenth Hokage, Takeshi, that he would be taking on his own squad of new genin soon and he would need to be as powerful as he could be. His training had therefore intensified as he prepared to help teach the next generation of new Konoha shinobi. He had resolved to not let his sensei down and it had been wearing him out something fierce. He had never felt so exhausted in his entire life up until this point and that was why he was in the position he was in right now.

Mitsuo stretched out in his shared queen sized bed inside of his place in the Sarutobi compound. He felt his arm brush against another source of warmth that was lying beside him, his hand moving to rest on the chest of his lover, which was rising and falling gently, Hyuga, Kimaru sleeping peacefully. Mitsuo smiled softly and kissed his lover’s forehead, a relaxed sigh escaping him as he became more aware of his surroundings. His partner stood a couple of inches taller than him and was a little more muscular, his affinity for Taijutsu keeping him in fantastic shape. He had long, spikey black hair that currently was falling over his eyes and forehead, pooling on his pillow as he began to open his white eyes. His soft lips formed a smile as he looked into Mitsuo’s emerald green eyes, and he wrapped his arms around him, pulling him close to him.

The two of them had been together for three years now; they had met in the academy and had always been friends. While they were rather close it had taken until before Mitsuo had left to train with his Kenjutsu master for Kimaru to tell him his true feelings. Mitsuo had always returned the feelings as well, and after that they decided to begin dating. They made one another stronger, their bond being extremely strong and their hearts being as one. Mitsuo loved Kimaru, and waking up next to him every day made him more determined to achieve his goals, knowing that once that was done he would be able to better protect his love.

“Mmm, you’re up early…” Kimaru said sheepishly, his voice was soft and a little higher than most men his age, and he wiped his eye, reaching over to the table and grabbing Mitsuo’s glasses, placing them on his face and chuckling softly. “Are you doing more training today?” Mitsuo nodded slightly and Kimaru wiped the hair away from Mitsuo’s face. “Hmm, maybe one of these days you’ll take a break, ey hun?”

“You know why I’ve been training so hard Kima-chan.” Mitsuo got out of bed and moved towards where his armour was sitting on the display in the corner of the room. He pulled on the chainmail shirt and pulled on his bracers and gauntlets, strapping the leather bottom of the wrists and forearms. He grabbed his katana and slid it into his belt, his tanto also sliding into place as he looked determinedly into the mirror. He saw the young Hyuga, dressed in his usual fighting robe, walk up behind him in the mirror and wrap his arms around him, kissing Mitsuo’s neck before tying the forehead protector around it.

“Do you want to spar with me then? I would be happy to help you with your training if that’s what you want.” Kimaru was a Chuunin, and was easily as strong as Mitsuo was. His strength and speed made him a good match for Mitsuo when he practiced his Kenjutsu and he smiled and looked at the handsome man behind him. Kimaru knew he wouldn’t say no, the two of them often trained together over the past several weeks since Mitsuo was elevated to Special Jounin by Takehsi-sensei. Kimaru was determined to see Mitsuo succeed in his goals, and he would stop at nothing to help him out.

“Of course, Kima-chan, I would love for you to join me.” Mitsuo smiled once again, kissing Kimaru’s hand. He pulled on his sandals and made his way to the door, Kimaru right behind him as he went. They walked hand in hand through the streets of Konohagakure no Kato, smiling and greeting people as they passed them. They knew that is was unlikely that everyone approved, but after so long they didn’t really care anymore. They reached the gates of the village and made their way through into the clearings of the Rolling Hills, each of them bowing to one another before taking their stances, Mitsuo with his Katana and Tanto drawn, both of them blade out and backwards, resting against his forearms, and Kimaru in his Gentle Fist stance, preparing to use the ancient fighting style of the Hyuga clan.

Before they were able to start their spar they noticed three figured approaching them quickly, forcing them to get closer to one another and instead go back to back, assuming they were under attack. The figures were hard to make out but they were certainly not from the village, and they weren’t from anywhere that Mitsuo had ever seen before. He checked out to see if Chisoku was near, watching for the stripe on his tail and he clapped his hands together once, his cheetah friend coming towards him and purring gently. If Chisoku didn’t perceive a threat Mitsuo trusted that it wasn’t a threat, trusting his friend’s better judgement.  He heard Kimaru say “Byakugan!” and he watched to see the chakra signatures of the figures approaching.

“The one in the center has an incredibly powerful chakra; it’s somewhat like Senju Sousetsu’s.” Kimaru explained as they got closer. When Mitsuo took a closer look he noticed something that was difficult to miss. They each had fuzzy black ears perched on top of their heads and yellow tails with black spots and white tips attached to their backsides. They bared tremendous resemblance to cheetahs, the middle one reminding him a lot of his own friend Chisoku, the mane of fur and brown spots setting him out as being different and the fact that the other two looked to be protecting him making it seem as though he was the leader of the three. All three of them looked incredibly powerful and Mitsuo and Kimaru watched carefully as the Cheetah men approached them.

The center one walked right up to Mitsuo and stopped about three feet away from him, Mitsuo now seeing the impressive weaponry that he carried. Each of his guards were armed with a Katana and a Bo staff but he had two katana, each of them looked as though they were very special, and on his back he had a wakazashi. He looked Mitsuo up and down before showing a toothy grin, showing off his sharp teeth and holding out a clawed hand paw to shake Mitsuo`s hand.  “Greetings friend, my name is Suru, Shisso, and I am the chieftain of the Cheetah Village, and the last Chita Sennin.”

Mitsuo shook the large paw, noticing it was warm and the fur was surprisingly soft, as were the pads, which he expected would be rough and coarse.  The cheetah’s fur was dirty, and it was obvious that they had been travelling for a long time. “I am Sarutobi, Mitsuo, and this is my friend Hyuga, Kimaru, welcome to the Hidden Leaf.” The cheetahs looked at one another puzzled after he made his statement. “Is something wrong?”

“This is your… friend? Is that what you humans call your mates?” Shisso looked and saw that Mitsuo was blushing slightly, Kimaru chuckling as he did. “My apologies if I am incorrect, you are both covered in one another’s scents. We are somewhat unfamiliar with human culture but often when someone is covered in another’s scent as much as you two are, they are mates.” Mitsuo continued to blush and Kimaru moved to put his arm around Mitsuo, kissing his cheek and then his neck.

“Yes, he is my mate.” Kimaru said, Mitsuo shaking his head and still blushing furiously. “But I’m sure that’s not why you three are here. What can we help you with?” Mitsuo got himself together and stood up straight once more, sheathing his weapons which were still drawn and moving into a more relaxed position, his hand resting on the hilt of his katana. Shisso turned to Mitsuo once more and a serious look overtook his face.

“Ah yes, why we are here. As I previously stated, I am the leader of the Cheetah Village, and the last Chita Sennin.” A look of sadness passed over the old cheetah’s face. “As you can imagine, if I was to die the art of the Chita Sennin would also die out. I need to find a student, one who is compatible and has a special kind of chakra that would be adept to deal with the extensive effects of the Sage chakra on your body. The only person we have found, Sarutobi, Mitsuo, was you. I want to train you Mitsuo, I want to make you a Chita Sennin, a Cheetah Sage. The training will be extensive, but it will make you stronger than you have ever imagined. I need you, Mitsuo, will you accept me as your master and train with me?” Mitsuo was shocked, he was the only person they could find compatible with their version of this Sage chakra. He knew of other people who had been training in Senjutsu, such as Sousetsu Senju, who trained with the Monkey King, a known friend of the Sarutobi family.

Mitsuo was considering the offer, but he wasn’t sure he would be able to leave. He was so busy with his current training and still had a long way to go, he would have to get permission from his sensei to leave, and that would mean he would not be able to take on a squad of genin if he was needed too. He also didn’t want to leave Kimaru behind again, having already left him behind twice for extensive amounts of time, the first being when he trained Kenjutsu with Master Hiroshi, and the second when he left for Sunakagure and the Chuunin exams. He was just getting back to having his life being on its normal schedule and normal path once more. He didn’t think he would be able to go, but then Kimaru spoke up.

“Mitsuo would be honoured to go with you, Shisso-dono. He will carry on your legacy and he will become the next Chita Sennin, no matter what. He is strong willed and will be sure to make you proud and live up to your expectations.” He smiled and kissed Mitsuo’s cheek once more, making Mitsuo blush lightly. “And he will make me proud, and come back stronger for it. I want you to go with him, Mitsuo, I want you to do it because it will help you to achieve your dreams. This will make you stronger, and it will help you to take your position as Konoha’s ANBU Captain. You must do it hun, I’ll still be here when you get back.” Mitsuo smiled and kissed his “mate” back, smiling softly at him and looking towards the cheetah in front of him. Shisso smiled as well, and held out his paw once more, keeping it palm up so that Mitsuo would take hold.

“Come with me, young Sarutobi. I will make you the Konoha’s Chita Sennin, I will show you true power, and I will help you achieve your goals.” Mitsuo looked to his “mate” once more and then to the soft hand paw of the Cheetah Chief in front of him, his hand being placed on top of it, sealing his deal with the Cheetah Chief and showing him he was prepared to go with him. “A wise choice my young friend,” Shisso said before he looked at the two guards and they disappeared, Mitsuo looking puzzled before realising they had probably been reverse summoned, assuming that that’s what they would be doing. “I’m sorry Mitsuo, but we will be walking back to the Mara Chita, our training begins tomorrow morning, when we depart from the Hidden Village of the Leaf and make our way back to my home. The journey will be difficult, but that’s why we’re going to walk. The best training comes when you least expect it. Right now though, I am hungry. Please treat me to some food, so that I will be able to regain my energy, for I am old and need sustenance.” With those words the three of them made their way back into the village, Chisoku following close behind, and had some food. Shisso attracted many looks as they made their way along but nobody dared call him out, not wanting to pick a fight with the powerful looking foreign warrior. The rest of the day was uneventful, until the end of the day when they went to sleep.

(3137/5000 Senjutsu Training)

They left before the sun rose. Mitsuo had woken up Kimaru and said goodbye to him, telling him that he would miss him, but that he would come back stronger for it. It was difficult for Mitsuo to leave, Konoha was his home, and he had so recently come home.  He packed only some food and canteens of water for the trip, that and his ninja tools, and he made his way out of the door. As he walked down the streets of Konohagakure no Kato, he noticed a lot of things he didn’t typically see during the day. He had been used to going through the market district when it was busy, but right now it was completely empty. He saw some of the damage that had been inflicted from the mystery assailant’s assault on the village and it made him sad to see. He looked towards the Hokage Mountain, the faces he had seen every day he had been in the village looking down on him, including his inspiration, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi, Hiruzen. He smiled as he looked towards the administrative building where Takeshi-sensei was probably already working right now; working on some of the paperwork that he always got stuck doing. Takeshi hated it, and he knew it. He would often laugh at the thought of Takeshi being stuck behind a desk, lighting papers on fire in frustration.

When he reached the gates of the village, he heard the familiar sound of soft paw falls making their way towards him. He listened closely, noting that there was only one pair of paws and not two. This was definitely his new master, Shisso. He could hear the tail trailing through the dirt and smiled softly as he turned around to face Master Shisso. He truly was impressive in his full battle gear, the greaves strapped to his legs glistening in the moonlight, the bracers on his wrists clanging against the plates of his thigh guards and his gauntlets curving to his cheetah hand paws perfectly. His chest was still bare, save for an impressive gem that was clasping a cloak to his back. He looked the part of a king now, and Mitsuo was truly impressed.

Mitsuo, himself, had dawned his white Konoha travelling cloak for the trip, always happy to have it. He had drawn the hood up over his head and it sat just above his glasses, which were attached to his head with a string, a practice he had picked up in Sunagakure no Kato to keep them from sliding down his nose. He wore his leather gauntlets and bracers, and had his chainmail shirt on to cover his entire upper torso. His arms between just below the shoulder and above the elbow were bare, though he knew that one day one of those arms would bear the ANBU symbol. He nodded to his new master and turned around, hand resting on the handle of his katana, the tanto never far from his reach either.

“I hope you are ready, Sarutobi, Mitsuo. This journey will be most treacherous. It will be a good test of your abilities as a shinobi and as a future sage.” Mitsuo smiled at the words, ready to prove his skill to his master as they walked together through the gates, Chisoku catching up and following in step. They had begun their journey to Mara Chita, and Mitsuo had no idea what was in store for him on the journey there. They walked along the path towards the border of the fire country, and as they did so they managed to not run into any trouble. Mitsuo was actually a little disappointed; he was hoping to see his master in battle. He was sure that he would get his chance to see it soon though as it was quite unlikely that they wouldn’t run into any opposition along the way.

“Senjutsu is different from anything that you have ever learned, Sarutobi, Mitsuo. It draws power from everything around you, it is essentially the essence of nature. The ultimate manifestation of this is called “Sage Mode” in which your power, speed, and general abilities will be enhanced. When in this sage mode you will be able to perform attacks that you could typically never use. This, of course, is not easy to learn. Many people have tried and most have failed. You must have the perfect balance of your regular chakra, and your sage chakra, otherwise of can be fatal. This is achieved through careful but rigorous training, and deep meditation. You must learn meditation and during this, you must learn to stay perfectly still, as while being still is the only time you can gather sage chakra. I will teach you to harness this chakra, how to use it, and in turn you will become more powerful, and you will become the next Chita Sennin. I’m trusting you to teach this to your own student one day, after I am gone, so that the Chita Sennin legacy will live on in another.” He smiled as he looked ahead at their current path. “But before all that… I need to test your skill. Prepare yourself, Sarutobi, Mitsuo, for now I will get a taste of your skills.”

Master Shisso came at him with blazing speed, his Katana Wakazashi out in a flash as he planted the staff end on the ground and vaulted himself overtop of Mitsuo, firing off five small fireballs at him. Mitsuo almost didn’t have time to react, quickly drawing his weapons as well and running towards where the cheetah man had been standing, creating some distance. He ran up to him after each of the fireballs had hit the ground, creating two clones of himself which both had their weapons drawn as well. The three Mitsuo’s went to work, each of them picking a different angle of attack, one from the left, one from straight ahead, and the third jumping off of the second’s shoulders to attack from the top. Shisso knew that there was no way the one attacking from above was the real Mitsuo and took the blade of his Wakazashi and stabbed it at the opponent’s torso. The above Mitsuo placed his hands on either side of the weapon, vaulting himself behind Shisso and taking up a defensive position. Shisso felt a small amount of pressure on him and noticed the other two had both caught up to him too and ran right past him, a wire digging into his body. He’s smart, using the obvious one as a distraction. As he prepared to deal with the wire he realised that there was still the pressure from behind him, realising what was happening just quickly enough for him to bury himself underground as a stream of fire had made its way down the wire from the clone behind him, which then dissipated in a puff of smoke.

Shisso moved under the ground with relative ease, feeling the vibrations above him that would tell him where the opponents were. He brought himself up and grabbed the foot of one of them, tripping him up and popping out of the ground, his Wakazashi in hand as he wacked that Mitsuo with the staff end. Mitsuo grabbed the butt end of the staff as Shisso summoned a pillar of earth from the ground, launching him up into the air. The Mitsuo holding the staff went up with him and was wacked by another pillar that had formed itself from the middle of the first one. The other Mitsuo was inhaling deeply while making a bird hand sign, shooting concussive wind bullets at the pillar and causing the integrity of the earth to disintegrate, the whole thing crumbling and Shisso being forced to drive the butt end of his wakazashi into the ground and blast himself away. The first Mitsuo jumped off as well, trying to keep in step with Shisso as he took his weapons and began an attack. He had spun through the air, slashing at the cheetah man, who used the shaft of the wakazashi to block the first attack and brought the butt end into his stomach, blasting him back.

The second Mitsuo watched as this was happening and had come to stop where the two were preparing to land, standing back and forming a cloud of gunpowder ash from his mouth. The ash was thick in the air when he jumped back, the first one waiting until he made it into the middle of the cloud before biting down on the flint in his teeth, igniting the gunpowder cloud and catching the cheetah in the blast, the clone quickly being destroyed. Mitsuo looked back and noticed that there was a singed log where the cheetah had been, the evidence of the substitution jutsu frustrating Mitsuo. He scanned the area for the cheetah, not realising that the ground had turned to mud beneath him, which had tripped him up a bit. He watched as the cheetah launched itself at him and then saw a familiar yellow streak launching itself through the air into the torso of Shisso. Shisso was knocked out of the air and off of his collision path towards Mitsuo, Chisoku having possibly saved his master from a potentially fatal strike. Mitsuo got clear of the mud slide, jumping to the left and throwing three of his kunai at his opponent, watching Chisoku get clear and then noticing Shisso had used his impressive speed to escape once more. He was really fast. His impressive speed was also quite distracting, the butt end of his wakazashi proving to be more than enough for Mitsuo to handle, though Shisso hadn’t struck with the blade…yet.

Shisso smiled and strapped his wakazashi to his back once more, pulling out one of his Katana and pointing the tip to Mitsuo’s face, a stance Mitsuo was all too familiar with after his fights with Masanori. He decided he didn’t want to take any chances, his Katana in a mirroring stance, but at the same time he was inhaling deeply, preparing to launch one more jutsu as they began a dance of steel. The ran at one another and Mitsuo turned his head sideways, launching a powerful slash of wind chakra at his opponent which would be able to sever limbs if it were to connect. He watched the slash move towards him before realizing he had disappeared, blinking from existence for a mere second before Mitsuo heard a voice from the tree above him.

“That’s enough, Sarutobi, Mitsuo. You have shown me your skill with jutsu, and though I have yet to truly see your skill with a blade, I believe I have seen enough. I wanted to test you before I decided to take you on as my student, to see if you were indeed worthy of being the next Chita Sennin. You managed to step up to my challenge, and while you are not quite at my level yet, once I am finished with you, I imagine you will be quite difficult for any opponent to overcome. Congratulations, my student, I will train you in the art of Senjutsu and you will be the next Chita Sennin.” Shisso smiled and hopped down from the tree, his fur was a bit messy but for the most part he looked unharmed, as though the battle had never happened. Had he created a clone of himself? Mitsuo shook his head and chuckled lightly to himself.

Well nii-san, this could be quite interesting. I hope I’m truly ready for this because, judging by the ferocity of Shisso-sensei, this is going to be exceedingly difficult. I have no doubt that I will be able to overcome his training though, I cannot fail my village, my Hokage, or my “mate.”

(5115/5000 Senjutsu Training complete, 115 towards D>C rank)