Sayo and Haruto giggled at Masaru when he stumbled on a fallen bottle as they walked out from Haruto's house. They had just spent the last few hours partying with Riku, Yui, and Itsuki, who Haruto had invited to stay the night.
Itsuki is six, Yui is seven, Riku and Sayo are eight, and Masaru had found that Haruto was eleven, the same age as him. It had been a great night so far, and while the younger ones had been barred from drinking, Haruto and him had gotten a few drinks for themselves.
Masaru regained his balance and glared at Sayo. "Hey, I'm still older than you, you ought to show me some respect!"
She covered her mouth, giggling even more. "But you're so funny stumbling around like that!"
Even Haruto agreed with her, slinging a hand around his shoulder. "She's ri-Hicc! Right you know? I'm drunker than you and I'm not stumbling yet!"
Masaru sighed and shook his head, muttering under his breath. "Is drunker even a word?"
They joked and laughed with each other, walking towards the sounds and lights emanating from the very much still roaring party, when Masaru suddenly sobered up. His mind snapped into focus, forcing him from his drunken state as it detected something he'd yet to process. "Hmm?"
Whistle~
His hand grabbed his sword, which he had thankfully taken with him, and unsheathed it, blocking a kunai aimed for his heart.
TING-
The loud sound made the other two focus up, realizing something was wrong. Before anything else could happen, Masaru quickly preformed seals and with a puff of smoke, there were two of him. They nodded at each other before jumping up to the rooftops, leaving some words behind for Haruto. "Protect Sayo!"
The Masaru on the left side of the street was met with two shinobi in unassuming clothes, but the gear pouches they had their hands in revealed their professions. 'Damnit, why do I have to deal with this?!'
No matter his thoughts, he knew that they were out for his life and he had no choice but to act, or he would die as well, likely followed by the other two. He'd yet to know them for very long, but he'd still like to see them live past this night.
On the other side of the street, Masaru was met with only one enemy, but he could tell this one was strong. 'Shit, is he a chunin?'
Both Masaru's minds wheeled as time seemed to slow for them both. He didn't have any offensive ninjutsu, and the only defensive one he had was substitution. Luckily the roof tiles would work well for it.
The only things he had going for him were his taijutsu and kenjutsu. He also had a few explosive tags in his gear bag, and they'd be invaluable if he wanted to make it out.
At the same time, both Masaru's rushed their enemies, the one on the left activating the Thousand Blade Jutsu.
Left Masaru waved the hilt of his sword and his blades rocketed towards the two shinobi. They blocked them with their kunai perfectly, and began to rush towards him as well, throwing their kunai as they went. Masaru ducked under them and waved his blade again.
The two shinobi were confused, but when they heard a sharp sound behind them, they understood. 'One' managed to turn and block them, but 'Two' only managed to block one, taking one to his shoulder.
Before One could turn back around, Masaru had already appeared behind him, hesitating for a split second before reaching around and slitting his throat and kicking his body away.
Dispelling the jutsu, Masaru let his katana reform and rushed towards Two, who was able to jump back when he hesitated. Frowning as he heard the sounds of battle on the other side of the street, Masaru took a gamble. Pushing chakra into his feet, he threw his katana and launched himself just after it. The shinobi tilted his head to the side to dodge, his eyes following the blade as it passed him by.
And then a hand grabbed it's hilt and twisted it so the edge was facing him.
Before he could react, he found himself floating, seeing the night sky as his perspective swung and fell, finally he felt horror when he found himself staring at his own body, watching his killer turn and run away as his vision darkened to nothingness.
Right Masaru was not having a great time.
The shinobi wasn't a chunin, or he'd already be dead by now, but he was at least a strong genin or an elite genin. Masaru slid under a volley of kunai as he rushed back into the fight. 'He's been staying at a distance and throwing kunai this while time. If I can get close...'
As he ran, a kunai landed behind 'Three', and he saw a flash of orange that he recognized all too well. Three jumped to the side as the explosive tag went off, rocking his body with an explosion. But something had slipped his mind in his rush to get away from the tag- the one who had thrown it.
He once again panicked as he forcefully pushed off the ground to launch himself backwards. And not too late either, as silver flashed just where he was.
There were two Masaru's now, and neither was going to allow him to regain the benefit of range, so Three drew his tanto and defended himself.
Masaru, the real him, formed one handed signs, activating the Thousand Blade Jutsu but keeping his blade together. He swung at him with a downward swing, aiming to split his skull when Three blocked it with a crossed sword.
And then Masaru's blade split into much more pieces than he had even practiced, forming nearly three dozen fragments from where his blade had been blocked. Feeling the strain on his mind, he commanded the fragments to launch themselves at Three then relinquished control of them.
He couldn't change their trajectory like this unless he took control back, but at this range it hardly mattered. To Three's credit, he somehow managed to twist his head from the storm of fragments, but unluckily for him, there were two Masaru's.
He felt a pain in his back before a Katana sprouted from his chest. In his last moments he glared at Masaru, but he faded fast enough.
All three enemy shinobi dead, Masaru whipped his head around, looking for others, but he found none. He suddenly felt a wave of fatigue flood his body as he realized the battle was over. His shadow clone realized the same, and nodded at him before popping himself.
Masaru closed his eyes as the memories flooded his mind, only working to make him feel more tired. He spent nearly a minute catching his breath until he decided he couldn't rest any longer. Turning to rush off, stopped in his tracks when he saw someone standing in front of him.
This new shinobi was the a little taller than him, wore standard Konoha shinobi gear, and wore a porcelain mask. This mask had pointy ears, a red triangle that angled down the forehead, and a curved mouth.
Masaru was confused. He recognized that mask, but why wa-
"You fought well." Weasel told him.
Masaru didn't say anything, but he didn't sheathe his katana either. They both knew he wouldn't win in a fight, but he wouldn't give up without at least trying. "What's an Ambu nin doing here?"
Weasel studied him for a moment. "There were intruders in the village, of course the Ambu would act."
Masaru nearly laughed. The same person who said those words wiped out his entire clan in another world.
"Why didn't you act earlier?" He asked, taking in Weasel's features as if he recognized him. He did, but he needed a reason as for why and saying that he recognized his hair and gear placement would work well enough. Plus, Itachi was one of the only younger members of the Ambu.
Weasel shrugged. "We had to take care of a stronger enemy before coming here. Luckily, you managed to finish our job for us!"
'This shameless fuck. He was watching the entire time, wasn't he?'
Sighing, Masaru rubbed his temples. "...I need to check on my friends."
He began to walk away, not wanting to deal with whatever Itachi was up to, when he heard something coming towards him. Turning, he caught it to see it was a scroll, sealed with the Ambu symbol. He frowned, looking at Itachi with a wordless question.
Although he couldn't see it, Masaru could imagine he was smiling. "Don't open that until you graduate."
Without another word, Itachi flickered away, leaving Masaru feeling even more tired. "...Let's go check on Haruto..."
Sigh~
|AN| Yo, I'm thinking about summoning, so what kind of animal do you think Masaru should go for? I was thinking either snake, in which he'd have to travel and find Ryota cave to do so. Thoughts?