When Genius Goes Awry

Rogue Ninja:

In the weeks that had followed since that day, a lot had changed. Saku himself had grown. He felt more alive, the weight of a thousand questions lifted from his shoulders finally. No longer burdened by his creation or purpose he seemingly come out of his stupor. Once more he had thrown himself back into life in the village. A change of wardrobe had felt necessary first and foremost. The bandages and ragged cloak were put away, he couldn't stomach throwing them out entirely, and left in the back of his wardrobe. It was surprising to him how much of a change such a simple action had made. He felt different, he felt free. The future was bright and there was nothing that would get in his way. Except his daily missions, which he was legally obligated to perform.

Well, life couldn't be all sunshine and rainbows he guessed.

"Saku, are you paying attention?" The voice sharply cut into his daydreams.

"Mhm." He replied absentmindedly, turning his gaze away from the window and back into the office.

"What did I just say?" The old man sat behind the desk questioned, eyes narrowing in on the young boy.

"Go beat up some kid?"

"This is serious boy, we can't let a future shinobi run rampant around the village." The man chastised him for what seemed like the umpteenth time. Saku could tell his patience was waning. He wondered if the man was wishing he could go back to a mute, a just sit there and nod sort of guy. Yeah, that was probably what he was thinking right no- "Pay. Attention." The man reiterated, smacking the boy atop the head with a rolled up bit of paper.

"Sorry."

"As you should well know, the academy is the future generation. The public puts faith in this system, and if one of our finest new pupils is seen rampaging it will make them lose faith." The man explained, trying to be as patient as possible. "This is a top priority."

"Then why is it only a C-"

"Because, boy, if it's given a higher rank it draws attention." The man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "And that's why it's you that's being given the job. Our better shinobi would be more effective, but it would draw more attention and make it out to be a bigger deal than it already is. So we're left with you."

Now Saku still wasn't the most savvy when it came to conversation; but even he knew when he was being insulted. Still, this man was quite literally the one who paid his rent so he couldn't really complain about it. Instead he just nodded. "I've got it."

"Do you?"

"Yeah, go beat up some kid."

"Just get out, and get it done quickly." The man tossed the piece of paper toward the boy and motioned him toward the door.

A lot had changed, but a lot had stayed the same. This wasn't Saku's first rodeo when it came to dealing with rogue elements in his own village. In fact, he was pretty sure a majority of his major jobs had been exactly that sort of thing. Was there really that much discord in Konoha? Or was it just a product of living in arguably the most storied shinobi village of it's time. Maybe both. Still, compared to previous outings this one should be relatively straight forward.

Saku strolled out of the office. He stuffed the rustling mission briefing into his pocket without so much as a glance. Did he really need to read it in detail? The basic principle was always the same, go deal with whoever is causing problems. This time it was just a kid, which made the whole thing feel even less important. The irony that one kid was dismissing another was not lost on him; but the difference between an academy student and an active shinobi was night and day...probably.

The bright sun greeted him on his exit from the mission building. It was midday, which meant Konoha was alive with it's usual activity. Vendors peddled their goods, children darted through the crowds, other shinobi needlessly backflipping across rooftops to make it seem like they were doing more than they were. Saku took a deep breath, taking a moment to let the vibrant energy of the village sink in.

Despite his grumbling about the mission, he was happy. For the first time that he could remember, he felt content. He could finally appreciate the simple things. The idle noise of the crowds, the smell of fresh food wafting in from a nearby stall, even the slight breeze than washed over him. Saku could have stood here all day, basking in this new appreciation for life.

Then a fireball lit up the sky, and he remembered what he was here for.

"Right, let's get this over with." He muttered, adjusting his bracers and setting off in the direction of the fire.

---

The rogue student had been last seen near the training fields on the outskirts of the village. There had been reports of high-level ninjutsu, destructive enough to level small structures. A few civilians had been injured, but nothing serious as of yet. The identity of the student hadn't been disclosed in the briefing, something about not wanting to fuel public gossip.

He arrived at the training ground in short order. Saku noticed signs of destruction immediately. The ground had been scorched, nearby trees reduced to splinters and ashes. Remembering back to his own time in the academy, mostly of how his entire generation had struggled to perform even the basics for some time, he let out a low whistle.

"Prodigies are something els-" He didn't get to finish his sentence, as a rush of wind and loud crack drew his attention. The boy turned his torso at an angle, watching as lightning chakra zipped past him and obliterated a chunk of the ground behind him. "Oh...this is going to suck."

The source of the lightning emerged from the shadowy treetops, landing on the ground in front of Saku. It was a boy, couldn't have been older than twelve, whose hands were crackling with raw chakra. "They sent one person to stop me?" The boy sneered, "They really do think I'm a joke..."

For the second time that day, Saku was pretty sure he'd just be insulted.

"I'm Saku." He raised a hand in greeting. The boy didn't respond, so he kept going, "This is getting out of hand, so can you...stop?" He had hoped a nonchalant approach, one he had seen often from his mission partners, would work. If anything it seemed to annoy the boy.

"They're underestimating me..." The boy growled, "I'll show them...they can't just give me detention like that!"

"You have got to be kidding." Saku couldn't help but voice his thoughts at the absurdity. All of this over detention? Prodigies must be a spoilt bunch.

"You can't just do that to me of all people!"

Saku sighed, “You’re talking an awful lot for someone who’s about to get their face smashed into the dirt.” Now, apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. The boy exploded in a series of expletives as his hands came together to form a series of hand seals.

It was about to get dangerous; but Saku only slighted regretted it, chakra flowing into his eyes as the Byakugan came to life.

---

Saku barely had time to react as the boy unleashed a barrage of fireballs. He ducked and weaved his way around the onslaught, feeling the intense heat from each fireball as they whizzed by. "Alright...this guy's no joke." He muttered under his breath. The attacks were more precise than he expected, and the boy seemed to possess chakra reserves far beyond someone his age's level. Saku's hand instinctively gripped the hilt of his blade, though he restrained himself from drawing it. He couldn't risk using weaponry, cutting down a student in public was a no go. A crowd had began to form of course, as was human nature. No, Saku would have to deal with this the old fashioned way.

It was lucky then, that taijutsu was one of his better domains.

"Got to end it quickly." Saku reaffirmed to himself. The longer this went on, the more likely more people would get caught in the crossfire. He had to get in close, and there was only one easy way to do that. Saku stopped weaving around and smirked, staring directly at the boy. "Some prodigy, are those puny embers all you can muster?" He goaded, another tactic he had picked up from a former partner, the boy.

It seemed to do the trick, his provocation enraging the child further. "I'll show you!" The boy shouted, weaving a series of handseals and taking in a deep breath before exhaling a fireball about the size of a small building.

For a brief moment, Saku wondered if this was a good idea or not. Dying to an academy student would be an awfully lame way to go. Alas, there was no turning back now. The young Genin mentally shrugged it off and prepared himself. Don't kill me, don't kill me, he repeated in his mind as chakra flowed through his body and his muscles tensed up. The fireball crashed into his body and to the naked eye consumed him; however his chakra and physical prowess Tanked the hit, rendering the hit essentially nullified.

The rogue child didn't know that, and seemed surprised at how easy it had been. "I won!" He exclaimed, jumping in the air with glee. "Now they'll take me seriou-" As he was mid-celebration Saku burst out from the smoke, none the worse for wear, his hands crackling with lightning chakra. One blow was all he needed, as his right hand jabbed forward into the gut of the child. It was swift, but effective, the lightning chakra coursing outward and through the body of the child. Their muscles stiffened, their eyes widened and their hair shot up straight, before they collapsed to the ground as the paralytic effect from the lightning chakra took hold.

Saku let out a sigh of relief. All in all, that could have gone far worse. He looked down at the boy, who's body was twitching slightly. "You're in a heap of trouble." Saku explained, squatting down to look him in the eyes. "You know this could be considered treason, you could be executed." He couldn't help but add on as an afterthought. Now, was it bad to scare a child like that? Well yes, but kind of deserved it. He had actively tried to kill Saku after all. So a bit of payback felt justified. Saku let the child stew in the fear, unable to act due to the paralysation, as he hoisted him up over his shoulder.

"Good spar." He said aloud, his voice audible enough to carry over to the crowd of onlookers. Would they believe it? Probably not initially, but with time they would come to accept that as the truth. Or maybe the higher ups would spin it into something else. That wasn't Saku's problem though. He had to get this child back to the detainment facilities. There he would be questioned, and then punished for his actions. Though maybe he would get off lightly, he is considered a once in a generation sort of shinobi after all. They seemed to get preferential treatment.

Saku departed from the training grounds quickly. After he dropped the boy off, he returned to the mission office for debrief. Apparently he had done a 'decent enough' job this time. Though the boss man was upset that the training grounds would have to be shut down for a day or two for repairs. How that was Saku's fault he didn't know, but he still had to sit through a lecture on the emphasis of the word 'quickly'.

Guess you can't please everyone.

[Closed]

[2000]

4000 Ryo
20 AP
Max Stat Discount Applied
1585+1415=3000/3000 One Blow Body
585/1875 Hyuuga's Valor

Saku wrote:4000 Ryo
20 AP
Max Stat Discount Applied
1585+1415=3000/3000 One Blow Body
585/1875 Hyuuga's Valor

Approved