11 An Eye for an Eye

It took all of five seconds for Kakashi to swing me onto his back for a piggy-back ride and we took off like a freaking missile. I thought I was fast. I was wrong. I was so utterly wrong.

The tunnel itself seemed never ending, so apparently the monster we left behind was much faster than the previous encounter. It's master really wanted me to go…wherever. Come to think of it, when did this complex of tunnels get built?

…wait. There was something from the Manga that used a network of tunnels underneath Konoha. But I don't remember what it was.

Twelve years without the anime or google. It's a wonder that I can even still function.

Over Kakashi's shoulder, I saw a light coming from the tunnel's ceiling which we were rapidly approaching. When we got it, Kakashi surprised me by leaping through the hole as high as he could, and I saw that we were in the house.

Good to see Kakashi was incapable of getting lost.

We landed on the second floor, right beside Hisako and Nichiren. Hisako was holding kunai in each hand, while Nichiren was… holding a snake seal with ninja wire tied around his index fingers.

Then the basement floor showed up. It erupted from the hole in the floor like a spray from a geyser, it's seals basking the walls in crimson light, utterly silent save for the rushing of air.

"NOW!" Hisako screamed.

Suddenly, the monster-geyser inflated like a balloon. Then that balloon popped in an explosion of fire and smoke, causing bits and pieces to rain down on the floor. I pulled my goggles down to shield my eyes. While I saw some of the larger pieces still glowing red and rushing to form back in the center, others were blank, and inert on the ground.

"Huh," I remarked. The explosion had actually managed to wipe the seal off at some locations. Or at very least damaged parts of the seal beyond use, effectively severing those bits off of it like limbs. Well, explosive notes are going to be something I put a priority on.

I got like what, a Fuinjutsu of…what? 20-something? It shouldn't be too hard. Just buy one of my own from the obscene amount of cash I'm going to get from this mission and analyze.

"Was that you, Nichiren?" Kakashi asked my frankly amazing teammate.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," Nichiren said, untying the wire from his fingers.

"Good job," Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"Thank you, sensei," Nichiren nodded.

Then the owner of the basement shot up from the rubble, bringing with him the bit of floor that protected him from the explosion. He was still a were-raven, which meant that was a more permanent Henge or…something else?

"That's just a Henge, right?" I asked, turning to Kakashi. "Like a really advanced version?"

"Most likely," He looked at me. "You are remarkably calm for your first dangerous situation."

"This isn't the first time I've almost died," I replied, the memories of 'roided up rats seeming cute and cuddly in comparison to what I've gone through today. "It was nowhere near as bad as this, but I'm not exactly a stranger to danger."

"When was this?" Nichiren asked with wide eyes.

"Back when I first joined the academy," I said, popping my knuckles. "I'll have to share that story some time."

"You better," Hisako grumbled.

The Were-raven took his spot up in the window, and his shadow draped over us as he screamed bloody murder. Oh, great. It's another reference to the Poem. Yes, I get it. Our souls will be trapped beneath his shadow forever or something if we die.

I swear, this game got +50 pretentious points for this quest alone.

Hisako threw a kunai and the were-raven dodged, falling off the ledge and retaliating with shuriken of his own. I dodged to the right, bending at the knees as the projectile…feathers? He's seriously attacking with feathers.

I know it's entirely chakra-shenanigans but it's annoying.

More came after me, and I jumped above them and onto the wall, and then scrambled up and onto the ceiling, hearing the sound of weaponized feathers embed themselves in the wall behind me. Below me, Kakashi jumped after the were-raven and the remains of the floor monster, which was more like a puddle monster now, jumped after Kakashi.

Part of me wanted to just drop down, but that was more than three stories of drop before I went splat and I don't know how to compensate for that yet. So yeah. No thanks. I just ran forward and stuck to the wall opposite to run down after the dueling shinobi.

I saw Kakashi throw out a massive fire-ball, which was blocked by the puddle-monster, the seals glowing brighter as it absorbed the chakra.

I hope it wasn't programmed to re-build itself with all that absorbed chakra. That would be the greatest thing to ever happen to the enemy.

The Raven seemed thoroughly content to hide inside the concrete monster. Again, the parallels to Gaara are immense here. At least bird-butt moves around instead of just letting the concrete monster do all the work.

You know, I really got to name that thing. 'Concrete Monster', 'Monster Puddle' and other literal appellations I can throw at it don't really work all that well. 'Gaara-copy' doesn't work either because he's only similar on one level as far as I know. And they don't look that much alike. I think.

I dunno, I haven't actually met Gaara in real life and I hope I don't unless I'm either Kage-level or he's post-Naruto.

I got to the floor and I whip out two sets of chakra-threads. My plan is to try to pull the Raven out of its muddy throne to allow Kakashi a good window to murder him. Or threaten to kill him so he shuts off the house's defense system. Whatever.

Kakashi threw a trio of Kunai and the Monster caught them, but they exposed the raven to me, and my threads latched onto him. I pulled with everything I had and several interesting things happened at once.

First, the raven came out and was flying toward me. Second, he oriented himself midair to attack me as soon as we made contact. Third and final, the Monster came rushing toward the Raven.

Well, crap.

I slid to the right in an orbit around the aerial bird-man. I threw a couple shuriken, but unsurprisingly, they went wide…wait, one of them scratched the bird-man. Bonus Agility, I salute you!

He landed, I slid backwards and he was enveloped by the monster, making my move to yank him out completely pointless. A ring of tentacles shot up from the ground and whirled around him like horses on a carousal.

I slid back further as he threw more feathers at me and I dodged to the right, sliding making that almost trivial. He was coming toward me quickly, and a ball of fire engulfed the raven. I briefly glimpsed the tentacles shifting into a dome before the flame obscured my vision.

Then Kakashi grabbed me again and I was off like a missile up to the third level. He set me down and was breathing raggedly.

"Chakra exhaustion?" I asked him with a frown.

His only response was to nod in between breaths.

Figures. I don't know how many false-starts he had with the Chidori or how many jutsu he tried to get Hisako and Nichiren out of their cells before resorting to that Chakra hog.

We were hidden in what used to be the upstairs bathroom. I could hear the raven screaming out a war cry as it looking for us. Kakashi peered around the wall and I did the same. I noticed that Nichiren and Hisako had hidden themselves in a closet and the raven was sliding up the wall on the opposite side.

I don't have explosive tags. Kunai are useless because I'm useless at them. I'd use chakra strings in a 'possessed weapon' gambit, but those would probably get absorbed. I can't get close without getting sucked into nightmare land and that would just prompt the raven to run away with me again since clearly I'm the one he wants. I…I've got nothing.

I should've worked on Fuinjutsu sooner. I should've thought about Fuinjutsu sooner. I've been inexcusably lazy. I've been naïve. I thought I had more time. I should've. I would've. I could've.

I didn't.

And now we're paying the price for it.

The funny part is that this kind of crippling overspecialization bit me in the rear end when I was playing the games too. I didn't learn my lesson then, either.

Wait, why doesn't Kakashi have any soldier pills on him? Because it's a D-rank?

"Kakashi-sensei?" I asked quietly, keenly aware that the thing was getting closer. "If I can pull the raven out again, you think you can kill him?"

"Do you think you can do that again?" Kakashi asked me in a similarly low voice.

"If I get the opportunity, yeah," I nodded.

"Okay, then we'll set up an ambush and-" The ground erupted beneath Kakashi's feet and the monster engulfed him. Thick talons swiped where my head was just a second ago as I ducked. I tried to kick the ravens feet and he jumped over it, sending a feather RIGHT INTO ONE OF MY EYES!

-48 HP.

Head Crippled.

WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYOWWWWWWWWWW!

I screamed in pain, my hands flying right to the punctured orb, blood seeping into the feather. I ended up on my back, hands clutching that section of my face. My vision, such as it was, was clouded by tears.

Oh the pain.

Owwww…

I felt a two sets of talons pick me up by the forearms and the raven head was blurred.

BIG.

MISTAKE.

Oh, my pain coupled with the rage and my boots plunged into his stomach. They were packing all the chakra I could muster in them and what followed the double kick was perhaps the strongest explosion I've ever heard, followed by the sound of slimy, gooey bits hitting the wall.

+250 EXP.

Oh, nice.

Ow.

I fell to the floor, but that pain felt utterly insignificant compared to having one of my eyes playing host to a weaponized quill. The sound of liquid concrete sliding onto the floor, with a solid thunk beside me signifying that Kakashi was still on this floor. I sat up and started to cradle my eye again, the other shut.

The one saving grace for this is that it will probably heal up when I take a nap.

It didn't stop it from hurting like crazy or me blubbering like an idiot trying to cradle the darn thing. I didn't want to move it. That would make it hurt more. A lot more. How many hit points did I have. Freak, I can't read the bar. Less than half. I think.

Ow, that hurts.

Quest Updated: Upon a Midnight Darkly

Completed: Defeat the Were-raven.

Leave the house.

Footsteps. Nichiren and Hisako, I hope.

"Sensei?" Nichiren asked. "Daisuke? Is it ove-?"

He shouted in shock and surprise. "So much blood."

That was intelligent.

"Sensei!" That was Hisako. "DAISUKE! Oh no! Are you okay?"

"I GOT STABBED IN MY EYE, WHAT DO YOU THINK?" I shouted at them, pain still throbbing from where I knew the needle was.

"Sorry!" Hisako clammed up.

"Sensei here," Nichiren kneeled down. "I have soldier pills."

Oh, so Nichiren is on top of things. What a guy.

Kakashi groaned, and I heard him sit up. "Thanks, Nichiren. Are either of you injured?"

"No sensei," Hisako replied. I could hear her voice waver.

"No sensei," Nichiren's voice nearly broke.

"Alright, we'll get down to the main floor and you two head home. You'll be called on later to help give a report on what happened," Kakashi said. I think he stood up. "I need to get Daisuke to the hospital. Now."

For what was like the fifth time today, Kakashi picked me up and I felt my weight shift as we went down the walls. A second later, my weight shifted again and I heard the doors get kicked open. Oh, good. Without the master of the house, we could leave.

Hallelujah.

Then we were jumping high. My uncontrollable sobs had died down to pathetic whimpers.

I am never, no never, taking the other skills for granted again. Medicine would be useful here. Fuinjutsu would've prevented this from happening in the first place and…and…owwwww…

If my nap doesn't regenerate this eye, I am going to be pissed.

We got to the hospital, and I was only barely aware of the flurry of activity that was stirred up at our arrival. I was put on a stretcher, and IV needle in my arm. I was too out of it to even offer the token protest.

I was wheeled away. Probably to some operating room to remove the feather and…and…everything started to get dark.

When I finally awoke, I felt a million times better. I followed the first instinct and opened my eyes. To check if they were both working, I closed one and…no change in my vision.

No…

I raised my hands up to my eyes and only saw the one on the right.

Noooooo…

I touched my face and…there's bandages. I ripped them off and I was, thankfully, able to see in depth perception.

Whew!

Okay. I'm good. I had my eyes back. I saw my gear laid across the table right corner, opposite the wall. I was laying on a hospital bed, of course.

Alright.

I'm okay.

Quest Completed: Upon a Midnight Darkly

+1200 EXP.

Bum-bum-bum-Bum!

Level Up!

YES!

Fanfare played, I felt amazing and accomplished and really good! It was almost worth losing an eye for?

By that I mean it totally wasn't worth it.

So, clearly being cripplingly overspecialized isn't going to work as well as I thought. I have 27 in Fuinjutsu and that's actually above Genin level if I had to guess, so that clearly needs the least amount of work. 3 points, to bring it to a nice 30.

After that…oh, boy. I think I want to split them evenly between two skills? Maybe? I don't think kunai would have really helped even if I did have the skills for it. I have the chakra control already, so do I want to put points in Ninjutsu? That helped a little, even if it was just busting my teammates out of their cells. And I need to train Naruto later in Shadow Clones, so…10 points in Ninjutsu, bringing it up to 28, which with bonuses is 30. Yaaaay!

Now what to do with the remaining ten points?

Wait…I have 27 in Medicine? Huh. Good to know. Need to start using that.

Would knowing Genjutsu have helped me there? Maybe initially when I was trapped in the Brotherhoods Assault, but I don't think it would have helped me at all afterwards. Maybe I could have put the Were-raven, whoever he was, in a Genjutsu and tricked him into freeing us?

Something to consider.

Well…I also need to put points into speech. It's done fairly well when I've used it, but I can't expect it get me through everything. So…4 points into Speech, bringing that bad boy up to 30. Then I put 3 points into Medicine, making it 30 also, and put the last 3 into Genjutsu, making it 21.

This is an odd-numbered level, so no perk. I pressed the accept button and that brought me back to the room.

Alright then.

So, the million-dollar question.

WHAT THE ACTUAL # %# WAS THAT?

I'm mad right now. I'm really mad right now. I'm mad at that house. I'm mad at whoever that Shinobi was. I'm mad at Konoha's Security Forces for not catching the existence of that house. I'm mad at the Hokage for not catching that houses existence before now. I'm mad at Konoha in general for even HAVING something like that in its walls!

Stuff like that doesn't just appear out of nowhere!

It was built, had seals engraved, connected to a tunnel network, apparently without anyone knowing! HOW? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

More importantly, who built it. Was the owner or butler involved? They surely were. Who were they working for? Did they do this on purpose? Did they plan on having me there to 'clean' the place, only to snatch me up for whatever reason?

…no. There's several Genin teams aside from mine, so this was a spur of the moment decision. But why? Who was the shinobi? Was it the butler? The owner? What was the deal with the underground tunnel network?

How do you build something like that without anyone knowing?

A part of my brain reminded me about Earth Jutsu making stealth-construction a likely possibility, but I ignored him for a second.

Wait.

There was something about that tunnel complex in the canon, right? Something about...something from Shippuden, right?

I wish I actually read that now. I barely remember anything from the old canon. Aside from some details about the Sand Invasion and Itachi, as well as a bunch of names and faces, I don't remember much.

Gaaaah…this is frustrating. I don't even want to think about those things right now. I've blown canon so far off the rails the invasion might never happen. Heck, what's Itachi even doing right now? Psychopath thinks it's cool to mind-rape his younger brother into blind hatred…it doesn't even make sense because Itachi didn't even want to…kill…everyone…

Wait.

Itachi was ordered to kill the Uchiha clan by a clandestine organization within Konoha. And…they had a tunnel complex under Konoha, I thought. Maybe an extension of the sewers? But who are they?

They had a name.

What was the name?

Who was their leader?

Something-Bonsai? …no, Bonsai is a tree, not the head of an underground organization.

But it was them, right? They're like the root of all evil in Naruto, or something? They keep making problems for Konoha in the name of protecting Konoha? What was…oh. Derp. Root.

Who were they headed by again? I know he was hated on the internet. But what was his name.

…Danzo.

Danzo is the head of Root.

Root utilizes an underground tunnel complex.

That house was connected to the underground tunnel complex, constructed with resources anyone sane would've been able to identify.

That entire house had something to do with Root.