We set up a temporary camp after dark.
We already crossed the rain border and entered the land of sand.
"It's weird", I point.
"What is?", Saito asks.
"How come the land of rain has so much water and rain, but this place has like nothing? It's a freekin' land right next to a bleeding sky! How is this possible?", my voice went into high-pitche with confusion.
Minato takes a sip of his coffee.
"They say a princess of rain cursed these lands", Says Saito
"Oh yeah?", I put down my mug." What it called then?", I ask.
"Nobody knows", he shrugs.
"You know what I think?", Mianto chimes in.
"I think that bitch cast a jutsu so damn hard that she sucked all the rain clouds out of this place", Saito says while stroking his chin.
"And you logic to that, argument?",I ask.
"Look, there is the wind blowing in only one direction; on the map, it shows the land of fire and sand being on the same dame line, so it gets the same amount of sunlight.
So, it should be way hotter down here! But no, we are pretty much alive in this desert", he says.
Suddenly, Saito's eyes lit up.
"Since it is cooler down here, all the heat is upward, and the wind is blowing along the clouds, causing it to all accumulate in the land of rain", Minato sips his coffee.
I don't understand a single word of this conversation.
"So, you are telling me it's a man-made desert?" I ask.
"Why not? Our 1st Hokage made the whole goddamn forest for training grounds..... I still remember seeing those huge trees tearing out of the ground like some mole", Saito chuckles.
"Oh.... so those trees called Hashirama trees aren't just some name?", I ask with a wry smile.
"Nope! Those are the strongest trees the world has ever seen, made by Hashirama Senju himself", Minato adds.
Minato then gets up and dusts off his pants off the dirt.
He then peeks out of the small shade of rock we are in.
"Allrighty gentleman, it will be my watch first", Mianto declares.
Saito gets up.
"With all due respect Captain.... how old are you?", he asks.
"I'm 13", he says nonchalantly.
"You....you are practically a child. Why don't you let us adults handle the night watch and you take a rest? You will need the strength for tomorrow ", Saito says.
"It's okey, Uchiha san. Despite my build, I am fully capable of operating at the same degree as any shinobi", Says Minato.
"I get it.....but.... I really don't want us to lag behind.....", I grabe onto Saito's shoulder before he finishes the sentence.
"You know Minato took on a jounin commander on his own? Right?", I whisper.
"No?", he also whispers.
"He is also toad Sages only pupil", I add.
"Okey?", he nods slowly.
"So, just let him take his damn shift", I say with a shrug.
"What are you scared of him?", he chuckles.
"I'm fucking immortal... Do you think I'm scared of anything, dude? I just don't want any dick-measuring contest", I say dismissively.
Saito sighs.
"Look, man... I wasn't trying to be an asshole", Saito tries to reason.
" People don't try to be assholes.... they are just assholess.... it happens the best of us, chill out", I wave it off.
He turns without a word and lies down by the fire.
"Thanks, Fardin san", Minato nods slightly.
"It's okay, dude.... but you gotta learn to deal with this thing. You've got a long way to go before reaching adulthood", I wave it off.
"If I actually make it out alive of this war", Minato chuckles.
"Hei man.... don't jinx it", I slap him on the shoulder.
Drifting into fast asleep.
########
It's my shift at dawn.
I get up with my cup of tea and sit on top of a rock.
I see Saito suddenly jump upto the rock.
"Can't sleep?", I ask.
He grumbles.
"Can't sleep beside a kid", he scoffs.
"That's oddly specific reason?", I wonder.
"See this?", he shows me his eyes.
His eyes are red.
"Did you not get a wink of sleep, dude?", I pull down his eyelids.
"It's my sharingan", he says nonchalantly.
I jerk my hand off the thing like it's on fire.
"It's ain't contagious", he chuckles.
"Yeah, I know.... it's just..... heard some real weird shit about it", I gather myself.
"Yeah..... no kidding.... this shit is like magic", he turns it off.
"Takes a fuck ton of chakra but, really kept me alive though out the war", he sniffs. The desert cold got to him.
"So.... what does it have to do with ....em....kids?", I ask.
"I killed a kid once....", he admits.
"Really then, what happened?".
"I don't know..... the bloody fuckin' mist are using child soldiers..... one of them almost got me in the gut. But it wasn't my gut that spilled...".
"It was the kid?".
"Yeah..... then....this eyes just suddenly appeared and sucked me dry off my chakra like it owed me money.... got that dying kids face slapped onto it like some shadow", he huffs.
"That's rough man.... have you seen a shrink?", I ask.
"No... got drafted straight to West once the top heard about me".
"Did.... you talk to it about anyone else?"
"No...just you".
"Nice to know you trust me?", I slap him on the shoulder.
" That's part of the reason.... but mainly because if anyone is getting out of this shit alive..... it will be you... you gotta remember...
If I die.... tell my clan what I had to do to get this power", he grabes me by the shoulder.
"You think you can do that, buddy?", he asks.
Shit...I thought I'd seen someone be so sincere with me.
"Sure, dude, but you gotta make me a promise", I point my finger.
"What?".
"If both of us make it out alive, you gotta take me to a party" I shake his hands.
"Party?".
"Yeah?? Like those super duper fancy dancing parties? With all the woman and clan Lords and stuff", I say.
"With all the sake and booze and food!!", I add.
Saito suddenly breaks down into laughter.
"You... you are fucking funny, dude!", he says.
"Promise then?", I ask.
"Yeah.... promise... you wanna pinky promise?", he asks.
"That's gay dude...".
"Wha... that isn't gay!"
I pull out a binocular and look around.
"What you looking at?", he asks.
"The Sand....the wind is blowing so hard, it's moving like waves ", I chuckle.
"Anything outside the land of fire looks and feels weird no matter how you look at it"; Saito also takes a look.
"Like what?", I ask.
"Those bastards at the stone can bombs out of damn clay!" Saito says.
"Sages wrinkling ballsack dude!", I chuckle.
He stares at the distance, maybe he noticed something.
My skin is starting to crawl.
What the fuck.
I take out the cigarette pack.
Oh.... I forgot it was empty.
That's bad luck.....
"We've been had", Saito throws me the binoculars.
I get down the rock to wake Minato up.
He is already up.
"Saito saw something... maybe enemy ", I inform.
"Yes.... I sense 3 squads approaching underground", Minato says while touching the ground.
"Sand worms?", I ask.
"No...", he is confused as well.
"They have puppets for digging around", Saito is also on the ground.
"They have some mole-like Puppets; those fuckers can crawl around the Sand like water", Saito grunts.
"Looks like our guy spilled the beans capitan!", I keep my eyes on the distance.
"I'm afraid so", Minato says with a winch.
It's in the middle of the desert.
No trees, no shade, nowhere to hide.
No way of knowing where the enemy is coming from.
"They will be here in 8 seconds", Minato informs.
What do we do?
Surrender?
Make a deal?
They won't leave us alive.
I will be captured and put in a lab.
I feel my legs growing cold and my temple drenched in sweat.
I take a look at my team.
Saito Uchiha has his Sharingan on.
3 tomoeo circle around a black dot.
I feel a shiver in my spine just by looking at it.
Minato Namikaje.
He is on the ground detecting every movement.
And God knows what other things this genius has under that flak jacket that is too big for his size.
And here I am.....
An immortal.
And I'm the scared one.
Pathetic.....
Fucking pathetic!
I clench my hand so damn hard that it made a cracking sound.
Minato nods at us.
We stay.....
We fight...
A metal pole ..... more like a spear... Shoots out of the ground and impales me.
The poison spreads along my body as I feel indescribable pain.
Minato and Saito have horrified expressions.
An ally just got impaled in front of them.
I see a man clad in various clothes around his mouth just rise out of the Sand.
Maybe he wanted to use me as a fear factor.
I forced out a smile.... eventually, it turned into laughter.
My voice is cracked from the pain and the puncture in my lung is making a wheezing sound.
Minato and Saito seem.....scared...
I don't know if it's my laugh or something else.
No matter.
I take out my sword.
Stab the leaders backwards.
He falls lifelessly on the ground.
The other ninjas appeared out of the ground.
They don't attack.
Only look in disbelief as I take the the spear out of my back with a smooth motion.
Minato takes the initiative as Saito swiftly dodges a few attacks.
Minato is taking the counterattack.
I lunge at the puppets that seem to be just human shapes with no legs floating in the air.
Poison darts and kunai turn me into a needle cushion as I grab onto their joints and break them apart.
One of them caught me from behind, and another cut my head off.
My head falls down into the hot sand as my body breaks free, breaking the puppet holding me down and lunges a the other puppets.
They break one after another while Minato deals with the puppet musters.
One of the puppets threw senbons at Saito.
I jump behind him and take the volley.
Lunge forwards and break.
"Under you!!!", Minato shouts at me.
A rather huge puppet spirals out of the ground impaling my body and my head along with it.
My body holds onto the mouth of the worm-like puppet and my head with the other.
It throws me at the huge rock.
Smoke and debris fill the air as I crash into the rock.
The puppet crushes into me before I can fall down.
Breaking several bones in my body.
Despite the pain...
I hold onto its teeth and pry it open.
I feel a few of tendons coming loose.
Doesn't matter.
I can see the controller hiding inside the puppet's belly with a mad look in his eyes.
He screamed like a madman while crying from nose and mouth.
"Dieeeeee you fucking friiiiiiikkkk!!!!", the Sand ninja pulls a liver.
Instantly fire comes out of a hole.
I smell burnt flesh, and it's fucking hot!
And painful.....
Did I mention it's painful?
Yeah .....
I think I did...
It kinda smells like barbecue here.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha..... Man..... that fucking tickled!!", I smile at the man.
He is screaming.
But this time.....
It isn't screaming out of rage.
It's out of fear.
Pure, undiluted fear.
As if I am death itself coming to take his soul.
I throw my head at him.
And I bite down on his jugular.
Blood and meat fill my mouth.
Nasty.
Did I mention he is still screaming?
I think I did.....
The puppets fall down to the ground.
I rummage through the puppet to take my head out.
Minato and Saito are already done with others.
They ...
They are just standing there, as I make my way to them with limping gait.
My Achilles tendon got cut.
"Hei..... em....", Minato calls.
"Yes, boss?", I ask.
"Your jacket is....still burning....", he points out.
I put out the fire with a few slaps.
"You done ?", I ask.
"Seems like it", Saito Juggles his kunai.
He still has his sharingan on.
Looking right at me. Something is wrong here.
"Is ..... something wrong? Are there more enemies coming?", I look around.
"No....there aren't coming.....yet", Minato shrugs.
But they still remain unmoving.
I take a step towards them.
I can almost feel them tensing up.
"Dude..... you are freeking me out.... what the fuck is wrong with you guys?", I ask.
The duo don't answer.
We stare at each other for a solid few seconds.
Do they think I'm one then or something?
Are they in a genjutsu?
What's happening here?
Suddenly, Saito lets out a sigh. He turns off his Sharingan and scratches his head with a kunai.
"Dude..... you are freekin'...".
"Funny?", I finish his sentence.
Saito ponders over as if he is munching on the word.
"Yeah.... you fight in a funny way", Minato relaxes his posture.
"Thanks, man... as long as it helps" I sit down on a rock and take out a sewing needle.
Whats up with these guys... I guess not everyone can digest my condition so easily.
I see a body that's....breathing?
"You left one alive?", I ask.
"Yes.....", Minato drages the body over under the shade.
"Let's get what we can from him", Mianto ties him down.
"Does anyone here have any experience with interrogation?", I ask.
Minato and Saito look at each other.
"You do it", Mianato orders without missing a bit.
!!!!?????!!!!
"Ay ay, Capitan", I smile.