The blue eyed reaper

The demon bear

The men from the village led Bolt through a rough path hewn into the underbrush. It looked like it had been an animal trail at one point, but had been adopted for human use. Their path led them up a steadily raising gulch between two mountains. A small creek ran down the middle, providing a source of fresh water for the village. Bolt noticed that the higher they climbed, the less animals he saw. There were no squirrels jumping from branch to branch overhead and no birds were singing their songs. It was eerily quiet.

When the sun was highest in the sky, the group finally took a break. Resting near the creek, men dropped their bows and cupped both their hands, taking long drinks of the cold spring water. Bolt was kneeling over the water, washing the grime from his face. He hated hiking through the woods.

The sound of bushes being pushed aside drew the attention of everyone. A large, black nose pushed its way into their cleaing, attached to a snout covered in shaggy black hair. "It's here! The demon bear!" one of the men shouted, as he fumbled with his bow. One of the more prepared men nocked an arrow and set it loose. Bolt watched as it hissed through the air and pierced the bushes.

There was a pained yelp followed by a loud roar as the bear galloped into the clearing, roaring in anger and pain. It was a large bear, Bolt gave them that. But it was no "demon bear," and it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. Hell, the panda bear he and his team subdued before the Chūnin Exams was bigger than this.

The men shot a hail of arrows at the bear as it charged them, most missing completely and bouncing off rocks with soft clicks of metal striking stone. Bolt sprung into action, sticking both hands into the pouches hanging at his side and withdrawing them, three shuriken held between his fingers in each hand and with no hand signs he charged them with electricity. With practiced ease born of hundreds of hours of practice, he threw them with expert precision. The first barrage maimed the bear's shoulder, forcing it to turn away. The second sunk deep into the animal's body, burying themselves in soft flesh.

The bear moaned in pain and the men cheered, forgetting their bows. Bolt dashed forward activating his Byakugan and using the agility born from years of harsh tutelage under his grandfather.

He was upon the bear in an instant, and struck it in the neck with an open palmed strike, channeling his chakra into the blow. Bolt heard the bone snap, and the bear fell dead.

More cheers. Men ran up to him, patting him on the back and exclaiming their thanks. Bolt smiled and said it wasn't a problem. "We'll have to take it back," one of the men said excitedly. "This will be the first time we've had meat in a long time!"

Bolt smiled sadly at that. "Shadow Clone jutsu," he uttered under his breath, doing the necessary hand seal. Two clones of Bolt emerged from the smoke and jogged forward. One went into the forest and cut down a small tree, while the other procured some rope from one of the other men. Together, they lashed the bear to the tree and hoisted it between them.

"Ready to go?" Bolt asked, while the men looked at him in wonder. Really, they shouldn't be so amazed by a simple clone jutsu. His dad could summon a veritable army of them. Skilled users could make clones out of elements that created effects when they died. This was basic stuff.

The hunting party gave one last cheer before heading back down the mountain. The entire way, Bolt's thoughts kept wandering back to the bear. It wasn't nearly large enough to warrant the name "demon bear."

He was right. They returned to the village later that night, to the waiting crowd of Satoshi and the other village elders. Two members of the hunting party presented the bear that Bolt's clones drug into the center of the village. "You fools!" Bolt heard Satoshi yell. "That is not the demon bear! This is a cub compared to that monster!"