FicWad

Chapter 2: Where?

I had been traveling for the past thirty minutes and still there was no sign of the village yet. My eyes were glued to the map as I tried to discern any landmarks that could point me in the right direction. My eyes did not deter from the map. But then my right foot slipped and I nearly fell over the edge of a cliff face!

I yelped as I secured myself to the ground using some chakra lines. Pulling myself back I yelled, "How the heck did I get myself up here?!" I could have sworn that I was on a path to the main gates of the Leaf. Yet I wound up on top of this mountain. Before another thought entered my head, I looked down to see a large village that was far below this cliff. On the side of the mountain, five faces were carved out. I presumed that they were the five Hokage.

"Alright! That's what I'm talking about! Hello Hidden Leaf!" With that, I ran down the side of the cliff.
.
The first thing that came to mind was supplies. I needed all the tools I could get if I was going to be a ninja. There was a rather large shop down the road that fit the bill. A guy wearing a fur jacket, walking beside his dog stepped out as I entered.

"Come back any time, Kiba!" a girl's voice called out from inside. The bell jingled as I looked into a mother lode of weapons. There were swords of every make, sickles, kunai, shirukens, and countless scrolls. A girl my age came out of the back carrying a massive stack of boxes. One of the scrolls she stacked up on top of the pile rolled off in the front where she couldn't see. and before I could warn her, she slipped and the boxes fell.

"Whoa!" I said as I spread out a system of chakra lines that caught the boxes like trampoline.

"Are you okay?" I said running over to help the girl up. She was slim but athletic, and wore a pink sleeveless shirt with black pants and shinobi sandals. Her brown hair was tied into two buns.

She sighed with relief, "Thank Kami you got those boxes! That could have been really messy! Thank you so much!" she bowed, "My name is Tenten. I'm just holding down the fort until my father comes back."

"I'm Miki. Pleasure to meet you. It was nothing really."

"Come on, there has to be some way I can repay you. I know just the thing!" she walked behind the counter and searched the shelves. Then she pulled out a single scroll which unrolled and turned stiff like a checker board.

"This is a new model of storage scroll that my father developed. It rolls up and unrolls when it reacts to chakra. Now we've even developed a method of allowing the user to enter and exit the scroll at will, so as to do more complex organization of supplies. So in a way, you can basically live in one of these. I'll help you get oriented. Just follow my lead." She made a single hand sign and stored herself in the scroll.

I followed suit and reappeared in a vast, white landscape, completely void of detail.

"Impressive!" my voice echoed in the distance, "This place is huge!"

"This is the largest space I could find in our stocks. You can store anything you want in here, so long as it doesn't exceed the individual size limit. I know what you're going to say next. This place looks boring. Well I have a solution." She pulled out a pen. "This pen reacts with a person's chakra and in return, can allow the user to make any changes that he or she sees fit. You can undo any mistake, or further organize your storage system using this. It's a trick that my friend Sai developed. But remember, anything you create with that pen can't be summoned out of the scroll." With that she handed me the pen.

"Look, I appreciate this but are you sure that you're not being a little over the top with this? I mean, all I did was catch a couple of boxes"

"Had those boxes hit the floor we would both be dead right now. Two of those boxes were jam packed with paper bombs!" The hair on the back of my head stood on end from hearing this. "They could have ruined my father's business if you hadn't caught them. Besides, we have plenty of scrolls like this to go around." A single hand sign from her brought us both out of the scroll. Apparently the pen stayed inside.

"If there is anything I can do for you, stop by at any time!" the water bottle sized scroll snapped shut in my hands. "I'll be back soon enough", I promised her as I said goodbye and stepped out of the shop.

(Uchiha Residence)

Even though I could basically sleep inside of the scroll, I needed to find a place where I could set up base, somewhere in the town preferably. After some searching, I noticed a place, an entire section of the town that was run down, and abandoned. A clan label was on a sign near the entrance.

"Uchiha", I muttered to myself. I approached the main house and the boards creaked quietly as I stepped. I opened the door to see that the estate was indeed abandoned, but in surprisingly good shape. It was almost as though the Uchiha just vanished into thin air. This would do for now. So I began to explore. Then I turned a corner and saw movement right in front of me. I quickly drew my kunai and prepared to fight the guy who stood in front of me.

"Hey, I…" I started, but I saw that this guys was making my movements. It was just a mirror. I know it may sound dumb that I fell for such a thing, but frankly I've never seen my own reflection before. I looked about seventeen years old, and was five foot eleven. My hair was long and silver, and my eyes were an icy blue. All and all, not bad. this place would become my temporary base of operations for the time being.


(Streets of the Leaf)

Next order of business: food. I haven't eaten since I woke up. How on earth was I going to get the money I needed? My answer came when I overheard two shinobi who were my age, one with a spikey pineapple head, and one dressed in red armor eating a bag of chips, Land of Fire Blaze flavor. A third party quickly rushed in. It was the guy I saw walking out of the shop just a little while ago with his dog.

"Guys! Big news from Akamaru! The boars are back! He's never seen a heard that big before!"

"Really?!" the big red guy said then he exploded in delight, "Oh yeah! We're gonna have barbequed pork tonight! Say not another word, Kiba! I'm all in! How 'bout you Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru stopped to think about this, then he smirked. "Alright, but with Ino busy we won't be able to pull off the Ino-Shika-Cho like we usually do. We'll need a new plan of attack to take out some of the herd, and the head bull boar at that. Those tusks are worth a fortune."

I licked my lips in anticipation. But I shivered when I realized just how creepy that was. Something inside me just clicked. I can't explain what. I wanted to be part of this hunt.


(Seven miles southeast of the Hidden Leaf Village)

It was out in a large clearing by the foot of a mountain. This was where they were going to meet. I knew it was the case because of that big dog was watching the mountain pass. That dog, Akamaru I believe, was the same dog that I saw with that Kiba character a little while ago.

I just want to clarify that I was not going to ruin their hunt. All I wanted was to pick off a few of the beasts that they missed. There would be no possible way that a group of three shinobi and a dog could round up the entire herd, especially one as big as Kiba described.

The dog barked once it smelled its master approaching with his companions. This time, one more member was with them. She was a girl just shorter than me, who wore a dark red shirt, and had rosy pink hair and green eyes. She was kind of cute if you ask me.

"Akamaru says that they have yet to make their first pass", Kiba said. Odd thing was that I already understood the dog, I don't know why, I just understood him.

Shikamaru bent down and surveyed the soil. He tapped on the ground with his knuckle and held his ear to the ground. Then he smiled. "It's perfect. You shouldn't have any trouble, Sakura."

"Look, remind me why she's joining us this time", Choji said finishing off his bag of chips, "It's not like I have a problem with it or anything, but she's never been on one of these exploits."

"Well for starters", Sakura spoke up with crossed arms, "I haven't been able to go on any missions lately and I'm running low on cash. Besides, I have the same skill set as Ino does, only I played a part in teaching her."

"Let's not forget that Sakura had recently specialized in the Hidden Mole jutsu," Shikamaru continued, "Using that, we can trap a large part of the herd, or at least control where they run."

"I at least would feel a lot better if we had Hinata with us", Choji commented.

"I already tried to bring her along once, and she panicked", Kiba corrected.

Akamaru howled from his perch on the cliff and Kiba went wide eyed. "What?! There's two bull boars heading the group?!"

I smiled. That bull was mine!

"Alright guys, you know what to do", Shikamaru barked to the others, "Once they round that bend in the path, initiate Sheepdog. I'll command the procedures from there. Let's go!" they all warped to their positions.

All was silent for the next minute. My heart was beating fast. I felt ecstatic, far more so than I should have been.

But I could hear a voice inside my head, an ancient grumbling voice. "Yes, let your instincts flow through you. Manipulate it as you would a sword!"

I didn't know where it came from. I noticed the pebbled on the ground shaking as the ground trembled beneath them. Suddenly, a swarm of boars the size of small bears burst through the forest, all of them were dark brown. The only exception was a grizzly sized black boar with mammoth tusks that led the stampede. There was at least a hundred and fifty in this swarm alone.

"Beast Mimicry! Fang over Fang!" Kiba called as two twisters circled around the boars at high speeds.

A pair of paper bombs blew up a portion of the cliff, trapping a few of the small ones. But the bull boar and at least two thirds of the remaining group raged on.

"Human Boulder!" Choji rolled up into a ball and collided head on with the bull boar, both stopping in their tracks. Choji spun on trying to gain traction, while the boar struggled to keep this mass of ninja off of it.

A shadow shot out from beneath Shikamaru and started to strangle the boar, holding it in place. Sakura burst out of the ground with the Hidden Mole jutsu and slammed the boar square beneath its jaw. I could feel the force of that punch from where I stood, and the boar was slammed up against the mountain, and it never got up. Kiba and Akamaru finished off all the boars caught in the landslide.

"Alright!" Choji cheered. But I knew it wasn't over yet. Kiba said that there were two bull boars in the group. Where was the second? This didn't seem to occur to them at the time, because the herd slowed down and did a complete volt-face back to the shinobi!

"What the heck? They're coming back!" Sakura exclaimed.

"This is bad", Shikamaru said, "Once the bull is killed, the heard scatters. Why are they all still organized?!" This was not a part of his plan. But I understood. And the shinobi were so surprised that they didn't see the second bull rounding the bend with its own separate herd! The boars in the front were backtracking to join up with the second herd, and now the Shinobi were trapped between them!

That feeling in my chest doubled. This was my time to shine. "That's right pup. Taste the thrill of the hunt and I will lend you my strength!" I couldn't hold it in any longer. The shinobi below finally saw the oncoming heard behind them and they realized their predicament. Suddenly an inhuman howl erupted from my lungs. I zipped across the ground with blinding speeds and a set of six-inch metal claws sprang from my fingertips.

I could feel a new chakra flowing through me, much stronger than my own. The shinobi looked to me in shock as I came out of nowhere to challenge the bull. With a wicked sounding laugh I dove beside the beast and slashed at its heart. It tumbled to a stop and both herds scattered.

Then I came back to my senses. I realized just how freaky my actions were, that bloodlust, my claws, this…hunger. The claws retracted somehow completely hiding themselves. I couldn't understand this. What the heck came over me?

I shook it off for now as I fixed my headband. And walked back to claim my prize. I then stored the bull in my scroll and started to walk away.

"Hey!" Kiba barked at me, "Who the heck do you think you are interrupting our hunt like that?!"

"Hold it Kiba", Choji stopped him, "He saved us from that second herd. The least we can do is thank him."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "That headband. This guy isn't from the Leaf, I would have heard of him sooner if he was. You there! State your name!"

I looked back at them but didn't say a word for at least ten seconds. "No one." I finally said as I disappeared into the trees.


(Ichiraku Ramen)

I walked out into the street with my boar sold for top price and my much smaller cash scroll, which I store my newfound money in like a wallet. I had decided to get some food at this awesome restaurant, Ichiraku Ramen. That was my first meal that I remember having.

"Say" the owner's daughter asked from behind the counter, "Are you new here?"

I nodded. The girl's nametag said, "Ayame." I looked over the menu and said, "I'll take the beef bowl."

"Good choice!" a guy walking in caught my attention. He was wearing an orange and black jumpsuit. His hair was spikey blonde, his eyes were blue like mine, and he had what looked like whiskers on his cheeks. "Beef is always the best flavor available."

"Hey! There's our favorite customer!" the owner grinned, "How you been, Naruto?"

"Eh, Grandma Tsunade's not letting me get out on any missions lately. But I'll get out there soon enough."

"Perhaps a bowl of our latest edition to the menu will cheer you up?" Ayame chided in a sing song voice.

Naruto's grin spread out a mile wide and he put his hands behind his head, "Alright! You got me!" he chuckled happily. He was more than excited to be there, I couldn't blame him.

Before she could set the bowls, "Hey Ayame, on second thought I'll take whatever he's ordering."

She smirked, "That's the sixth time this month that's happened with Naruto around. No problem!"

Her father came out a minute later with the bowls. Naruto and I both broke our chopsticks at the same time, making a synchronized click. Naruto picked up the smell and dug in with a hungry smile. I looked down at my bowl. It didn't seem like anything special at a glance. But I lifted the noodles to my lips and took a bite.

I froze as the chop sticks clattered to the table. I had completely underestimated the contents of the bowl in front of me.

"Is something wrong?" Ayame asked worried about my reaction.

I picked up my chop sticks and I stuttered, "This…this is freaking amazing!" I exclaimed and I happily slurped up another bite.

Naruto stopped for a moment, "Man, I take back what I said before! This is officially the best Ichiraku has to offer! You have Naruto Uzumaki's seal of approval!" he stood up and gave the owner a thumbs up.

I summoned my payment from my cash scroll and made sure to include a nice tip. "You got mine too!" I smiled.

This Naruto kid, he seemed like a fun guy to have around at a first glance. But I could sense something else, something dark. It made something inside of me stir. I walked away before anything else could happen.

That power I felt coming from him, it felt almost identical to the one I felt before.

"That's him!" a familiar voice exclaimed.

I looked in the reflection of a mirror to see Konohamaru pointing in my direction. He was talking to Kakashi and a woman in a green kimono with blonde hair. She was probably in her late twenties. I tensed up as I recognized her as one of the faces carved into the mountainside. She was the Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village! I tried not to look at them.

"I was right. That chakra formation, there's no mistaking it. A sealing jutsu", Kakashi muttered.

I gritted my teeth, making the mistake of looking back at them. I stared at them and silence filled the air. But I turned and walked away, nonchalantly waving my hand at them.

"I told you before not to turn your back on me!" I could hear his jutsu, the Rasengan, powering up, and I twisted around as he flew past.

Tick. Suddenly time seemed to slow down, and me with it. Konohamaru was right in front of me practically suspended in midair. How bizarre.

Whatever it was, I now had a time within time to react. In slow motion I threw a set of chakra lines in between the buildings, creating something of a spider web. Konohamaru flew right into it and got tangled up.

Tock. Time resumed at its normal pace. The Hokage and Kakashi stared at me.

"Let me down intruder, I'm not done with you yet!"

"No, you are", I growled walking over to him, looking him square in the eye, "I don't care if you're the future seventh Hokage, that doesn't mean that you can just attack me out of the blue and expect to walk away unscathed." The lines dissolved and he dropped to the ground. I walked past him without another word.

Kakashi lifted up his headband and uncovered a strange red eye with what looked like pinwheel designs on the inside. "I see", he muttered, "So that's how he did it."

A ninja wearing a white mask flickered into existence beside the Hokage. "Milady, should we proceed?" "No, don't go in. I would suggest sending a Hyuga. Send for Lee and Shino too." I didn't stick around to find out what she meant. I built up a large mass of chakra in my legs and leapt high over the buildings, back to the Uchiha residence. I had a few minutes at best before those three people mentioned showed up. If I was seen as a threat of some sort, I had to hide. I dashed back into the Uchiha residence and I placed my storage scroll on full bookshelf. Then I quickly stored myself in the scroll.

Since it seemed that I might be in here for a little while, I began to make my "mobile home" a little cozier. Using the pen, I swiped in the air and ink flowed and formed a house, similar to that of the Uchiha residence. Only it wasn't run down. I began forming furniture and a comfortable bedroom. For the first time in my memory, I laid down in my bed and immediately felt sleepy.

That was far enough excitement for one day. With my house complete, I began to reflect on what happened today, starting with what happened during my hunt. My personality had changed for a moment when I was hunting. I felt like a savage beast, and my actions followed suit. Then there was that voice in my head. Perhaps it was just me in that second state of mind.

Poof! I was so distracted that I didn't even hear the voices coming from outside of the scroll. Before I knew it, I was summoned out of the scroll and was lying on the floor of the Uchiha residence. "What the?!" I exclaimed as I jumped back to my feet. In front of me were two leaf village shinobi. One was a shady looking character with a pair of dark glasses and a green hood which covered up most of his other features. The other guy was wearing a standard shinobi vest over a green jumpsuit with orange socks. He had the same bowl cut and bushy eyebrows as Guy.

"I did not see this one coming!" the later said getting into a fighting stance.

"I told you that my beetles never fail me, Lee."

So these two were Lee and Shino, the people sent by the Hokage. "Hey, it's polite to knock before summoning you know!" I said picking up my scroll, "What do you guys want? I'm trying to get some shut eye and I'm not interested in another fight."

"Then I'm afraid you're about to have a bad day", Shino said as a black cloud emerged from his jacket sleeves. A collective buzz could now be heard.

"Bugs?!" I backed away, only to figure out that they were crawling up behind me too. "Why does it have to be bugs?!" I ran out of the building and into the courtyard trying to get the bugs off of me, but they kept coming, and my Chakra levels began to steadily drop. The beetles were sucking away my power.

"Stop it! I hate bugs!" I screamed, "Lightning style: Thunder Mine Jutsu!" thunder clapped as the lightning fried every bug within fifteen feet of me.

"Leaf Hurricane!" Lee came out of nowhere in a series of rapid paced Taijutsu techniques. I accessed my wind chakra and began dodging his kicks. With each one, my hand would make a swiping motion slightly throwing off Lee's attacks. I hoped that he wouldn't notice.

"I cannot hit him, Shino!" Lee called out. Suddenly Lee flipped backwards and out of my range.

I almost turned to run, but there was a painful shock-wave that struck me through the heart, and I coughed up blood.

"Gentle fist", a soft feminine voice whispered behind me. I couldn't access my chakra my supply had been completely cut off!

I reached for my kunai but I stumbled to the ground, quickly losing consciousness. "Not….fair", I whispered as all went black.

(End Chapter 2)
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And CUT! Beowulf returns with another chapter of LCJ!
I was really suprised to find a review on this story mere moments after posting.

To HellBlazer695, I went back and made the corrections you told me about, some of which were still in the FF format. Thanks.

LCJ, of course, was my first Fan Fic that I ever wrote and I hope that you guys will like it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

And remember to PM, review and suggest, only if you want to of course. After all, advice shouldn't be expected, but should always be appreciated.

Until next time, this is Beowulf signing out!