Ninpocho Chronicles

Ninpocho Chronicles is a fantasy-ish setting storyline, set in an alternate universe World of Ninjas, where the Naruto and Boruto series take place. This means that none of the canon characters exists, or existed here.

Each ninja starts from the bottom and start their training as an Academy Student. From there they develop abilities akin to that of demigods as they grow in age and experience.

Along the way they gain new friends (or enemies), take on jobs and complete contracts and missions for their respective villages where their training and skill will be tested to their limits.

The sky is the limit as the blank page you see before you can be filled with countless of adventures with your character in the game.

This is Ninpocho Chronicles.

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Makoto and His Brother Have a Little Chat [Private]

Shiruko Makoto

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The first thing Makoto noticed upon waking was a sharp, splitting pain in his head and the feeling of cotton stuffed into his mouth that indicated he'd been drinking, heavily.

The second thing was that of course he hadn't eaten anything in well over a day.


Your brother indicated he would have a hangover cure prepared for you and left as you slept. The phoenix's mental voice was soft, as if to avoid starling or aggravating him. It would be wise to take it soon, as you indicated your desire to resolve this situation with your other brother.

He groaned and then immediately regretted making any kind of noise and taking any kind of action with his throat.

Even as he sat up and reached out in the (blessed) dark for the hangover cure likely on his bedside table, he nearly groaned again in memory of the previous evening. He had the somewhat fuzzy recollection of requesting Kanashimi's presence while yelling at Saito.

Even more amazing, he could recall that Kanashimi did, in fact, want him to be mad at Saito, and thought he had every right to be. Some of the discussion was fuzzy, but it would likely get clearer when he found that glass.

His hand contacted something cold and vaguely glasslike, and he gave a mental sigh of relief before grabbing and downing the foul-tasting liquid.

He'd had this stuff before, so he knew it worked, and he also knew it tasted almost, but not quite, like rotted fish and fresh dandelions. So he tried to ignore the taste as he threw it back and nearly succeeded, only almost gagging after finishing it.


Humans drink so many strange and foul-tasting things, the phoenix observed. Although the beverage you drank last night was not unpleasant, I shouldn't think you'd like its effects too much.

"Sometimes, humans need to get drunk," he said aloud. "It helps up put off terrible or difficult life decisions for a while."

If you say so.

Not that he had the luxury of putting off this particular life decision for much longer. He wasn't entirely sure what time it was, since his room had no windows, but considering he'd been drinking the previous night it was probably afternoon. At the very least, it was late morning. He could recall that his brother had arranged to make sure he'd have breakfast too, so he could probably just head down to the kitchens and not really have to deal with anyone else until after that.

He did get a few looks from various random people on his way there, but none of them approached him. Most were looks of sympathy; leaving your room alone with rumpled clothing that you'd clearly worn the previous day couldn't mean too many things.

Sure enough, the kitchen staff rapidly gave him something that could probably best be termed brunch, confirming his suspicions that it was late morning. He surprised himself a little by how rapidly he went through it, thanked them absently, and headed out in search of his brothers.

On the way, he thought. The phoenix remained silent, sensing he needed to reason this out on his own.

So I've basically committed myself to properly yelling, this time. Which means not letting Saito distract me with his logic. There was an itch in his brain; did they really think as similarly as Kanashimi said they did? That couldn't be right. And, well. I suppose he has a better grasp on people than I do. If he's our spy, he must, right...?

Saito was pretty good at manipulating people when he wanted to be, he realized. Including Makoto himself, which was annoying. He might frequently, on the surface, get the verbal one-up over his older brother, but that frequently resulted in him doing exactly what Saito wanted anyway.

...Son of a bitch.

All right, that was another reason to become more emotionally aware, then. It would be easier to keep himself from being manipulated like that.

He encountered Kanashimi in the second place he checked, the main family lounge on the ground floor. He was laid back in a high chair, reading something. Which was another unusual thing; since when did his eldest brother read?

Have I stepped into a parallel universe, or do I just not know even my own family that well?

Kanashimi noticed him immediately, of course, not that he was trying to hide (or in fact, to not look awkward, leaning on the door frame.) He set the book down and stood.


"Ready?" he asked, before seeming to notice Makoto's sidelong glance at the book, trying to see its title. "Oh, that. It's a small unit tactics book. I'm leading a squad after a small band of pirates on the western shore soon so I was brushing up."

That made sense. Makoto nodded, trying to act casual. "Uh...we haven't done the debriefing yet. From my mission."

"Yes, I know. We can do that later today, or tomorrow depending how this goes." He paused, expression blank and unreadable as always. "Saito's probably down on our section of the beach."

Working on tuning his water powers, he didn't say. Saito was supposed to be getting better at combat before they all went up against Tatsuya, a premise that was insulting to the three of them to begin with. Well, the two of them. Even with the revelation that Saito had useful skills, Makoto still felt he'd be little more than a distraction in actual combat.

"Well that's probably for the best," he said after a second. "I'm not sure I want anyone to know about this other than the three of us."

If nothing else, he didn't want anyone to know about the phoenix. He wasn't sure if he'd think the same way if he'd known his whole life, but right now, he really didn't.

Maybe Saito had been wrong in his logic and assessment, too.

They made their way down to the beach in silence, neither one of them being the talkative type. That was yet another reason he'd always gotten along better with Kanashimi; Saito tried to fill silence with small talk, which he found interminable.

Really though, he didn't need to dwell on that to call up his anger. He had plenty of valid reasons without bringing up petty irritances.


I am still not sure about this being a wise course of action, but I also confess to not well understanding human family interactions.

Right, so no stopping him, then.

They reached the beach, and sure enough, there he was. Saito was standing facing the water, his back to them, his blue cloak blowing in the wind rolling off the water. The waves on one patch of the bay were noticeably smaller than those surrounding them, as if he was exerting his power to keep them so.

Normally, Makoto would have been able to sense the chakra he was using to do it as easily as breathing, but that sense had faded from him when the phoenix had awoken, so he only had normal vision to go on.

Of course, Saito's own chakra senses were not tied into his power core, so he turned when he sensed them there waiting for him. He blinked, as if surprised, possibly having considered the altercation two days ago to be the end of it.

Why wouldn't he? He thinks he was right.

So Makoto, for possibly the first time in his life, consciously let his emotions take over. The burning anger that had been suppressed before--first by guilt and later consciously--flared to the fore, practically engulfing him. And for what was definitely the first time in his life, when his emotions suggested a course of action that his thoughts would normally have considered unwise, he didn't even think before doing it.

In the space of an instant, the way only a ninja could move, he closed the distance between them and punched Saito in the face.

The brief look of shock was almost as satisfying as the sharp, aborted cry from his brother as he stumbled backward, nearly falling into the water before balancing himself. Makoto only looked nearly as frail as Saito; he was certainly capable of throwing a punch.

Kanashimi, he noted with grim satisfaction, hadn't so much as twitched.

He reached out and grabbed Saito by the front of his cloak and shirt, yanking him forward again. He had to reach up somewhat to do it, since he was significantly shorter than either of his brothers, but it was still quite satisfying in itself to remember that yes, he was significantly physically stronger despite the height difference.

"Where the hell do you get off keeping my own physical and mental health--that I'm possessed!--from me, for fifteen fucking years?" he snarled. "What kind of complete coldhearted bastard do you have to be to justify that crap with anything?"

He was boiling. He could see, now, why someone would react with righteous anger to something, why people would seek this sensation out sometimes. It was a bit of a rush to just not give a damn about every single path of potential consequences and to not think about your actions, to just do.


Saito was staring at him uncertainly, as if he were a complete stranger, and Makoto felt a vicious twist of satisfaction at stepping outside the realm of prediction. "I just...judged it to be for the best. Safer, for you and everyone else." He glanced over Makoto's shoulder at Kanashimi, who, by the shift in Saito's expression, was still not making a move and possibly radiating smug satisfaction. "I thought you agreed?"

He smiled unpleasantly. "I reconsidered," he said easily. He was tempted to give Saito a shake, but instead released him. "Whether or not it was safer, it wasn't very good of you. You fucked up."

He didn't normally swear very much either, but the occasion seemed to call for it. It was quite cathartic.

"You could have just told me not to tell anyone, even explained why," he added, folding his arms. He gave Saito a condescending glance. "But no, you picked the route that was easier for you."


A flinch. "That's not true. You were too young to understand why it was dangerous!"

He snorted dismissively. "You weren't exactly an adult, yourself. Did you really never re-evaluate after I got older? Sure I might have been mad if you waited five, six, seven years to tell me--but I wouldn't be this mad because at least you would have fucking told me instead of me finding out in the middle of a goddamn desert with a demi-god trying to kill me."

Another flinch, and he heard Kanashimi shift on the sands behind him. Maybe it was time to dial it down a notch; this was maybe a touch too intoxicating and he was treading close to leaking classifed information.

It took an effort to dial himself back down to a simmer, having been so worked up in the first place. Saito was still looking at him as if he'd completely thrown off every mental model, though, so he could still feel that vicious satisfaction.


"I...never wanted you to find out during a dangerous situation," Saito said in a very small voice. "I'm sorry for that part. I didn't know you'd run into anything that dangerous. I hoped, you would just be safe, when you went on a vacation. I didn't expect..." he swallowed. "Honestly, I wasn't sure it would ever surface again...much less start talking to you. Or anything else. I never thought it was important. If it ever showed signs of changing..."

The anger threatened to surge up again, but he tamped it down, making himself as cold and unfeeling as he could, letting that seep into his voice instead.

"That wasn't your decision to make," he said flatly. "So, honestly, fuck you. For all of this, for lying to me most of my life, and for thinking it'd be better for me not to know something that vital just for your own convenience."

He turned on his heel and marched off, back toward the compound. Kanashimi swiftly fell into step alongside him, his footsteps light. He couldn't hear Saito following them. Still stunned, maybe.

He glanced over at Kanashimi, who was as close to openly grinning as he ever got. "What?"


"That's better, is all," he said. "You never listen to your emotions. This was a good start."

In learning about myself, in learning to understand people? "I...suppose. I think I really shocked him."

"That's good for him too. He needs to stop treating people like chesspieces outside of work." That sense of smug satisfaction was definitely palpable now. "I admit, I didn't expect you to haul off and hit him, but not much else could have convinced him to listen without trying to excuse himself, so that definitely worked."

Right, and... "You didn't stop me."

A snort. "No. He definitely had that one coming--from you, especially. I couldn't do it; it wasn't my right and when I hit people with the same relative level of force you did they end up with broken bones."

That fierce sense of righteousness flared up again. "...Thank you."

They both fell silent again then. Idly, Makoto rubbed the the back of his left hand. His knuckles hurt slightly from the punch, but that just reminded him of how good it had felt. So they might bruise. So what?


I do not honestly see how that will resolve anything. The phoenix's tone was puzzled. All you did was vent. You didn't even listen to reason.

I spend my whole life listening to reason and only reason. I think I can excuse this as spiritual growth or something. Besides, it felt good and we both needed that.

At best, you will have made him feel bad over his deception.

Good. He should.

The bird seemed startled by the level of venom in his mental speech, and gave a reluctant trill that sounded, in tone, similar to its earlier shallow acceptance of his justification for drinking the previous night. He grinned internally. Apparently, Saito wasn't the only one who had difficulty reacting to him when he used his emotions.


"It's almost lunchtime, but I doubt you're hungry." Kanashimi glanced at him sidelong, and he realized with a start they were nearly home. "I'll meet you in the main lobby after lunch and we'll head in for your debriefing and get you back on duty. I'm sure you'll be relieved to have an outlet for all this."

"Sure." He shook his hand out absently. Yeah, it was going to bruise for sure. He felt oddly proud of that, and hoped Saito's guilt would keep him from healing the bruise he was bound to get on his jaw.

They parted ways at the lobby, and Makoto wandered back toward his room for a bit. He still had to put on new clothes, so he wasn't walking around all day in the rumpled clothes he'd slept in and spent the previous...wow, two days at this point...in.

Probably not a bad idea to grab a shower, at that. He still looked forward to those; they hadn't exactly been something people often did in Sand.

There was a sense of clarity about him as he went through the routine of showering and dressing, a lightness of being that he couldn't recall feeling before. At the same time, he was sifting through his own emotions below the surface, applying a conscious effort that seemed to get easier. Satisfaction, lingering anger, contempt, all backlit by a sense of wonder at why he'd never thought of doing this before.

So. Emotions weren't a weakness.


Of course not. You need to be aware of them in yourself, not shut them out. Have you really spent your whole life thinking them a weakness? It seemed to rummage in his mind for a second, perhaps searching for relevant memories. He let it. ...Oh. I see.

"Yes. Well." He was alone in his room, so he didn't mind doing this aloud. "My family is...not big on the whole 'heart on your sleeve' thing. They can be exploited too easily. Yes," he added, to forestall the objections, "I know. Even more easily if you aren't aware of your own. Not being aware, that was my mistake. And I would still prefer not to telegraph them too often. But..."

It was true that he sharply preferred thoughts to emotions. Emotions, he had always thought, simply made him uncomfortable. Yet he was anything but uncomfortable right then. Not with the aftermath of that sense of justice still surging through him.

Was this what Kanashimi meant, by the right thing rather than the easy thing? Easy was to deny that you felt at all, to repress everything. This would cause problems for him later, probably, but...it was, in all probability, also more right.

To be fully aware of himself. Would that allow him to be more aware of others?


You already read your brothers fairly well earlier.

That was true. And it was also true that he had read some people on the way back...their expressions had seemed more obvious, now that he wasn't constantly viewing everything through a clinical, impartial, superior gaze.

Well. Maybe a bit superior. He was still a blood member of a noble clan, after all. He deserved some superiority, at least.

He paused on the way to grabbing his scarf. But he hadn't actually been watching anyone on the way back, had he...? He'd been focused on getting cleaned up...


You did not look at anyone directly. Even for you, that is a bit too sharp of a learning curve, to get quick reads from indirect glances while not focusing.

Yes, it was. Just a bit. He threw his scarf on and headed back out into the hallway, pausing in the doorway to just focus. As soon as someone moved through, anyway...

A flash of impatience--not his own. A moment later, someone hurried around the corner into view and bustled past him, carrying a long, flat box. The sense got sharper as they neared, going further into worry and a touch of anxiety before they passed. It faded as they drew away, gone completely by the time they rounded the next corner.

Makoto staggered back into his room and held his head briefly.

What the hell...? His mind automatically flickered to several connections--from the fact he didn't have a power core at the moment since the holy powers had faded in the forest to his lessons on them as a child. ...Fuuuuck. Me.

[S-Rank; Topic Entered/Left in 30 Min]
 

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