Bone and Blood (Naruto Quest)

A silent chuckle resonates in your throat, and you turn to the maid.

"The heir's offer is still open, you say. How courteous of him, perfect timing," you catch yourself slipping from practiced etiquette and turn it back on, "apologies, it has been a long journey." The maid nods, accepting the subpar excuse from a jounin, she probably hasn't left Ame in some time. "Where should I meet with the heir?"

"Lord Honda-" she seems annoyed with your insistence on not using his name "-can be found in the fifth western training room. Do you need to be shown the way."

You nod, smirking internally at the provocative language.

The maid leads you through a maze of hallways, stairways, and (at one point, you assume since you go down pretty far) tunnels. The scale of Lord Hanzo's compound is astonishing, compared to the Bird Daimyo's castle or even its capital city. Whenever you picture the Five Great Nations' Hidden Villages, you can't imagine any of the Kage having something this extensive (and that's only after having been in the main area and seeing it from the outside). Well, maybe the Mizukage has a fortified labyrinth, from what you've heard about Kiri.

After a good deal of walking behind the maid, she lets you through a pair of reinforced doors, into a massive gym. It puts even the main training space of the auditorium to shame, probably being double the size and having an entirely poured concrete floor.

"My Lord Uncle's mad dog finally musters up the courage to accept my offer," the heir bellows from nearly halfway across the cavernous room.

Honda, Lord Hanzo's great-nephew and appointed heir is a towering figure, even from so far away. Six foot ten, barrel chested and heavily muscled with beady red eyes (though his sclerae are white, unlike Lord Hanzo's) and long muddy blond hair, it's hard to believe he's still a teen. Though you aren't sure if that's biologically true (and you don't know enough about medicine to say either way) since experimental medical ninjutsu and scientific techniques have been used to turn him into an absolute juggernaut and (one day) a symbol of Ame's power.

This time, the chuckle doesn't stay silent or in your throat, you laugh out loud.

"Lord Hanzo's mad dog, that's wonderful!" You jab a finger in his direction, smile breaking out on your face and the One-Tail swimming in your mind's eye. "You have much to learn about me, heir. Though I shouldn't sound ungrateful, no, in fact I'm delighted you gave me this opportunity."

Grimacing, the heir rolls his head, neck and shoulders indistinguishable in the motion. "Prodigious daughter of the traitorous Academy bike, good at taijutsu, killing and not much else. I think I've got your number, dog."

Well, you don't know what a bike is, but you're pretty sure he just insulted your mother, and you can't let that go.

Also you don't particularly like him calling you 'dog'.

Also also, he certainly does have a lot to learn about you. Maybe more than a lot, and he's very very dense. This is going to have to be a harsh lesson.

"Your voice is a lot less pleasant than you think it is," you crack your knuckles and drop into a fighting stance.

"Then I'll fill the palace with your screams! Fire Style: Hellhound Jutsu!" The heir's first move is surprising for a number of reasons. Hellhound Jutsu is a B-rank technique requiring a good deal of shape transformation knowledge, and is also rather deadly.

Three balls of condensed fire trailing flames careen towards you, one larger than your body directly in front of you, and smaller ones curving to either side of you. Even with the wall behind you, dodging won't be a problem though.

[] The only reason you accepted was to let out some steam. Go all-out on the heir, even if he won't be able to keep up with it and give you a proper fight.

[] Honda seemingly doesn't know about your kekkei genkai. Give him a proper demonstration of the distinction between having a bloodline and being an abomination of science.

[] Honda seemingly doesn't know about your kekkei genkai. Don't overplay your hand and keep yourself to your ninjutsu, taijutsu, and iaido. Beating him with just those will make victory all the sweeter, and make the fight actually interesting.

[] The heir thinks all you can do is taijutsu? Then beat him with taijutsu! It may even be an uphill fight, holding back!

[] Write-in (QM retains the right to veto!)

Also:

[] Do you want to say anything to Honda? If so, write it here and vote in plan format, if not you can leave this option out.

A/N: Another big wait on this one, but my weekend was crazy! I fear it might be this way through the holidays, but I'll work on being more expedient. Posts may be shorter as a result, or just because things cool down between missions, we'll see. I was going to blog about my problems with another manga here but I decided not to.