Chapter Thirteen: How the Tables Have Turned
At the Chunin Exams stadium, the crowd roared as Sasuke's Chidori pierced Gaara's sand. "ARRGHHHH! BLOOD… MY… MY BLOOD!" Gaara screamed, clutching his wound.
Kenshin stood in the stands, watching as he perceived the subtle shift in chakra. 'It seems it has begun.' With his sensory traits and perception stats, he saw as Kabuto and the Sound ninjas cast the genjutsu that put the Chunin Exams spectators to sleep.
"Kai," he whispered, shattering the genjutsu's grip. Konoha Crush begins.
...
Ahem, it seems the tables have turned—or in this case, the POV has turned, hahaha. It's my turn now.
...
So, in the time when the story was told from our MC's POV, some characters were left out of the equation because of his social apathy. But me? I'm not that averse to communicating with people.
Lies.
Anyway, let's explore the cause and reaction to the appearance of the chaotic Madara stan in the shinobi world.
...…
"Hey, what does he mean? What's track? Hey, come back here!" Kiba yelled as Kenshin walked away.
'Hm, who does he think he is? A no-name classmate thinks he's hot now because of some D-rank mission. Hmph! Kurenai-sensei refuses to give us a higher-ranked mission. I'll show him. Right, Akamaru?' The wolf boy contemplated as he felt averse to the thought of being shown up by our MC.
Yeah, if you haven't guessed it, this is from the first meeting of Team Eight and Kenshin.
"Woof!" Akamaru barked, most probably in conjunction with what Kiba had thought to himself—the bond of a ninja and his ninken.
Any animal lover can relate.
"Hehe, what an interesting child."
"Indeed, Sensei. He feels different from the academy," Shino added as the team walked towards the exit after collecting their umpteenth D-rank mission.
Might be challenging the D-rank Daiō.
"Hmm, doesn't matter. No one can beat me," Kiba simmered in his delusion.
"I wonder who Sasuke is?" Shino said while walking in front of Kiba.
"Ehh, that doesn't count! I'm a lot stronger now," Kiba flustered, trying to defend himself.
Trying hard to let out a snicker, Hinata comforted Kiba, "K-Kiba-san, I believe in you."
"Urgh, not you too!"
"Alright, that's enough. Focus on the mission," Kurenai diffused the embarrassing moment Kiba had caused for himself.
Tsk, tsk. Stay in your power level, puppy.
...…
'What a drag. How does one become so different in so little time? Ahhhh, what's your deal, man? You change, then you come spoil my day. Now I have to tell dad about this. Asuma-sensei's handing over the issue of reporting to dad to me—you stay in the same house, blah blah blah. What a drag.'
"I'll be going home now, Asuma-sensei."
"See you later, Shikamaru!" Ino and Choji waved goodbye as the team parted ways.
"Don't forget, Shikamaru," Asuma said with a wide grin. You could tell he was gloating—Shikamaru was doing the hard part, according to him.
What's hard about a little father-to-son conversation?
Kenshin could relate; it's just digging 6ft. With earth release, that would be a cakewalk.
**[Moments Later]**
"I'm home," Shikamaru announced.
"Welcome home, dear," his mother greeted him as he entered the house.
"Dad's home?"
"At the study."
*Sigh* "Here we go." Shikamaru walked towards the study.
**Time Skip no Jutsu**
"Hmm. So what do you think of him?" Shikaku asked his son as he moved his shogi piece.
"What's there to think? He's different—much bolder than he was, like our first year, but there's a lot more hidden." He shrugged as he moved his piece to match his father's pace. You could tell the conversation meant a lot to him.
I'm being sarcastic if you didn't understand.
"Allowing him to fight Asuma would be in our interest then."
"So, that's your go-ahead?"
"Of course. We have to see the strength of our new generation ninjas. If only you could have as much zeal as your classmate." Shikaku sighed, continuing, "After the spar, Asuma's feedback would let me know if he's ready for what he wishes for, or if he's just a more shrewd fool."
"What does that even mean? Never mind. What a drag."
...
'Someone's coming. Oh, he's here—the star of the show.'
With the little pleasantries out of the way, Shikamaru began observing the spar between Kenshin and Asuma. Without fail, he was impressed.
Give it up for the MC.
'Hah, the fight was surprising to say the least. Asuma-sensei said we wouldn't win—that puts him at the level of Sasuke, maybe even above him. That says a lot. He did spew a lot of nonsense though. Hehe, "30% bullshit," he said. Wonder what dad will think after hearing of the spar. He definitely deserves what he asked for. The Chunin Exams just got a lot harder.'
...
"That's what happened, Shikaku-sama."
"I see. That seals the deal, doesn't it?"
"It does. How would he go on missions? He does need teammates."
"I have that covered. I predicted this outcome, so I had a couple of genin on the ready. Now that I've confirmed a bit of his character archetype, I know the suitable teammates to give him."
"I see. Then I'll take my leave, Shikaku-sama. I have a date with Kurenai-san today."
"Ahh, you've gotten bolder, eh?"
Scratching his head, "I had to take the bold step."
A little small talk later, and only Shikaku could be seen in the office, holding up files with the names Hana and Taro.
...…
'I have strong jaws, he said. What a funny fool. Shikamaru did mention him being funny, but still—how can one have little regard for authority, almost zero care for Konoha? You can see it in his eyes. He has no regard for anyone. It's like we are extras in his story. I feel much more sure of my decision to hand over the leadership of Hana and Taro to him. If he weren't leader... *shudder* What if he were to have more self-expressive teammates? I did already tell them not to look down on him. I'll have to update the warnings.'
As he began to move to another file, his expression suddenly changed. 'His loyalty to Konoha remains the problem. As long as there's drama here, he'll definitely stay here. If he doesn't... hmm, the morgue would simply have another body. Ahh, geniuses—so many random quirks. One's an avenger, the other's a sociopath. Hah! Konoha, the cradle of monsters indeed. The last sociopath massacred his clan. Kenshin Yogen, what will you do?'
Blowing air from his lips, he sighed. 'What a drag.'
...
'What a bastard. That's my first impression of this fool—proud, dismissive of his own teammates, sociopathic, just like Shikaku-sama described him. How do you kill for presumably the first time and then burst into maddening laughter? But his strength is undeniable. What a monster.'
Hana shuddered, thinking about the scene where they fought the bandits.
...
'Let's be real—nobody likes showoffs or geniuses, so I did not expect to like my new captain. At first, he was a bundle of sociopathy. Then the little stunt certified him as a psychopath. But future missions... phew! That boy's a monster—a beast made for battle. From a not-so-proficient fighter to a beast. Granted, he faced genin-level scrubs at best, but his speed for beating them increased dramatically, as well as his finesse. His speed and tactical skills are amazing as well. We've learned to take heed of his orders very quickly, especially when almost all the heavy hitting is done by him. Getting paid for so little work done is a breeze. His social skills are... meh, to be honest. What does he call himself again? Introvert, I think. It still doesn't help that he looks down on us. He thinks he hides it, but his eyes tell the full story. I think he doesn't even try to hide it. Just as he sees us as nothing, he subconsciously doesn't care for our opinion. That's most likely why his lifestyle's like that. Just as he doesn't care for the bandits he slaughters, he doesn't care for our existence.'
"What are you thinking about, Taro?" Hana interrupted his line of thought.
"The captain."
"Huh, why?"
"He's over there." He pointed towards Ichiraku. "That's his hotspot. I'm thinking—should I disturb him or nah?" He said with a devious smile.
They both knew how Kenshin hated small talk, and how he only saw them when it was time for missions. Taro took it up as a hobby to torment him by talking to him whenever he randomly saw him in the streets. The look of annoyance on Kenshin's face was joy to Taro.
Hah, pure evil.
"With his mood, he might just beat you up for fun."
He did promise to beat up Taro whenever they met in the streets if it wasn't mission-related.
"Hehe, you're right." Deflated, Taro walked in the opposite direction of Ichiraku to avoid meeting Kenshin.
'He hits like a beast.'
...
"Hah, Asuma, what kind of idiot did you bring to my notice?" Shikaku had reached his wit's end. Taro and Hana had finished their report, as well as ANBU that had reported to him about Kenshin's new endeavor of humiliating the child of the Third Kazekage, as well as his aversion to social settings, which his teammates seemed to complain about a lot.
'If you want to get closer to him, do it without nagging about it. What a drag. What am I supposed to do about his sociopathy?'
Kenshin's flow had been: go on a mission, avoid his teammates, rinse and repeat—until a week ago when they hit five C-ranked missions, where he gave himself a week's rest. A milestone for him to celebrate, but his celebration surely entailed training like there was no tomorrow. A whole week dedicated to training. If it weren't for the ANBU's testimony, he would have thought Taro and Hana had been exaggerating to drive home Kenshin's aversion to conversing with them. That's how much Taro whined about Kenshin. He had to give it to Kenshin—he was charismatic as hell. In a month, he had won over the duo, even while that may not have been his end goal. His leadership, although questionable due to his battle-frenzy style, had no doubting its efficiency. He was deserving of a chunin rank promotion, but he had to go through the Chunin Exams. He asked for it, heh.
Because of his potential, Shikaku had thrown off heat for him. He had quelled the suspicions, Danzo—that old fossil—had strung up just to get him into his Root, promising his dependability and his almost non-existent loyalty for Konoha, which one could argue was just a side effect of his sociopathy. Not really worrisome, right?
"For an idiot, he does believe in his intelligence, Shikaku-sama," Asuma gave an awkward smile. He too had heard of Kenshin's antics, mostly from Shikaku-sama.
"Well, there's a week to the Chunin Exams. Let's see what chaos he causes this time."
...
"What the hell?!!" Shikaku read the report Taro and Hana made after the second round of the Chunin Exams, while the preliminaries were going on, and hell was he surprised.
Seeing reports from Taro and Hana had surprised him at first. He did not expect them to have failed the second round, but reading the report shook him to his core.
'He beat all the promising genin, and then forfeited once he had passed the second round—all for a plan he refused to divulge. The fact that he beat them all was surprising to say the least, but taking into account the fact that he had already beaten them, the third round really was of no consequence to him as victory was guaranteed. I can see why he forfeited. The next shocking thing had got to be the fact that he stepped in during Hinata's fight. Seeing him have bonds really drives home my point of him having loyalty to Konoha. It's just his sociopathy creating a hard shell. Little by little, it'll break. I do need to talk to him though. I'll send news through the duo.'
...
'Ah, how does one refine their image countless times? Kenshin really is a monster. He wiped the floor with them. I knew he was strong, but he beat Neji—last year's top student—as well as this year's top student, Sasuke. I overheard when that Kabuto guy was talking about Gaara of the Sand, but Kenshin made him eat sand. Hehe. Captain's a beast.'
Taro looked at Kenshin in reverence as they walked towards the tower in the Forest of Death, just after dog-walking Team Seven.
...…
At the hall inside the venue for the preliminaries, the participants that passed the second round all had forlorn expressions as they watched their biggest opponent forfeit in what would have been the toughest fight they would have fought if he stayed. Not really. They couldn't deceive themselves—even delusional brats like Naruto and Kiba understood that anyone who would face Kenshin would draw the short stick, as the teenager was a monster, a wall that most of them weren't confident in passing. People like Lee and Gaara understood that they had trump cards not yet drawn, but sometimes trump cards don't close gaps that surpass a certain level, and that level was where Kenshin was placed.
The thought of the beatdown came as a harsh reality to others, while it served to rile others to surpass their limits. For others, they just wanted to taste blood.
And blood they tasted—although not in the prelims, but hey, they broke a leg. Not theirs, but you catch my drift.
...…
'Ahh, Kenshin's here. Well, it won't matter in the grand scheme of things. All will go according to Orochimaru-sama's plan.'
Kabuto thought as he saw Kenshin in the stands, sitting alone.
...
*Fwoosh!!*
"Hello, Lord First, Second, and Third, as well as the legendary member of the Sannin."
Kenshin said as he teleported inside the barrier—Four Violet Flames Formation—where the Hokages and Orochimaru gathered for the epic battle of the arc.
There was one thing on each person's mind, outside and inside the barrier: 'Who the hell is this?'
...
[A/N:Hehe, Suprise motherfathers, I am a genius, not really, I felt inspiration after reading the full novel, and decided to test it if it feels good, do tell me if it's nice or not, the next chapter might not come in a while, more training and stuff.]