Fandom The Village Hidden in the Leaves

[Ganryu]

Mai Sanada - Faith and Hard Work​

Mai looked at the morning sunrise into the sky, she’d been up hours thinking already. She never really did get people who had trouble getting up. Mai greeting the sun every morning, she wasn’t going to stop now just because she’d been a prisoner for a few weeks. This was the first sun she’d gotten to see rise since she’d gotten home. The sunrise was beautiful from her house.

Looking down at her mangled arms, Mai still smiled. Sure, she was more hurt now, but some things never changed, like the sunrise. Something’s would always keep beautiful. Mai hadn’t even been the worst one hurt, despite being a prisoner. Yukari had… well, she wasn’t going to be able to enjoy a sunrise like this ever again. Not the same way Mai did.

And there were others. Apparently, the Hokage’s son was nearly killed. Aiko was actually experimented on.

Stretching her neck, Mai took a deep breath. Then gave a steely glance forward.

“I know what I gotta do. I got questions, and only one way to answer’em. I’m sorry Yukari… But… I have questions right now, and the Hyuga ain’t going to let me see you anyways. Not now anyway. I’ll break them when I get back.”

∴

A few hours later, a knock sounded on the Hokage’s office. Mai was a bit nervous. Normally she was only here with either Takara or for cases involving the words ‘property damage’.

“Enter,” Gou’s voice could be heard from inside the office. Despite it being early in the morning, the Hokage was already wading through a sea of reports and mission requests.

Mai entered, getting even more nervous. But she was here, and might as well do what she came for. With a polite bow, she addressed the Hokage.

“Lord Hokage. I came to give a report. The Kabutowari is no longer in the Hidden Leaf Village. When I was abducted, they took the weapon with them. Apologies, sir! I would like to know if getting it back would be a priority of yours, or if you would consider inconsequential?”

Mai approached a little closer, scanning over the various missions laid out on the Hokage’s desk. They were well organized.

“A shame to hear it’s gone, but I’d rather it be a weapon than your life.” A pen lightly scratched against the paper as Gou made a note. “Consider it inconsequential for now, it’s one less reason for the Mist to harass us.”

Mai nodded, now right in front of the desk, still skimming over several of the missions.

“Well, in that case, I hope you don’t mind me taking up a few missions, Lord Hokage. These all are in the north of the Land of Fire, right?”

She motioned to about a dozen missions.

“They’re all rank C, and so am I, so I would hope it’s fine if I take them. I’m patched up as I’m going to get, and I heard more than one of my classmates got hurt rescuing me and others, so we’re short on manpower. Is this fine? I’m sorry about your son... ”

With a sigh, Gou pulled off his glasses, “Mai, is everything really alright? You don’t have to rush back into active duty.”

Mai took a deep sigh. She always hated giving reasons, but it was the Lord Hokage.

“Well, feel like I do. Got three big reasons. One, I want to travel, figure things out with my own eyes, but no use doing that if I don’t have a reason like a few missions. Two, lots of people got hurt trying to save me, might as well make up their part of the work while they get better. Three…. I want to be a jonin, but I lack the experience. Yeah, ya can laugh with my track record, but it is what it is. Actually, forget that last one. But yeah, I do kinda gotta go rushing back in. I promise not to do anything stupid, why I’m sticking with C-rank.”

“Aiming for Jounin already?” A faint smile played out on the old shinobi’s features, “Well then, I suppose the mission experience will be good for you.” Setting his pen and the report he’d been looking over aside, Gou stood, “Though why don’t you come with me before heading out?”

Mai bowed again, but her face seemed completely confused as she followed Gou. She had the worst track record of her generation, she hadn’t expected things to go this smoothly. Hell, Yukari and Aiko had been to ripped from the village, Mai had just sorta wandered into a trap. Well, she’d never really known the Hokage, so there was that. He seemed far nicer in circumstances like these, than say, when she was being reprimanded for assaulting a client.

The pair moved down to the lower floors of the academy, with classes already in session the halls were fairly deserted. It had been a quiet walk until one new student loudly proclaimed that he was going to be Hokage one day. Gou quietly chuckled, “Ah, the number of times the teachers hear that in a year… Do you ever miss your days here?”

Mai tapped her chin with her wrist. She smiled as she remembered kicking the teacher in the shin for making fun of her clones. She’d never really gotten better at them. But she was always first around the track, so much so it was almost unfair.

She also remembered a training incident of body flickering in front of the shuriken practice field. She’d laughed a lot harder than the doctor had…. Which had happened to be her mother.

“Yeah sometimes. Seems like forever ago, and it was only, what, two years? Damn, you gotta feel ancient!” Mai let out a psychotic laugh, before remembering who she was addressing. “Uh, er … Lord Hokage. Never really wanted to be Hokage myself. Got too many clans to take care of, and mine’s enough trouble as is. Wanted to be a clan head, but, eh, not even sure what I want to do right now. Just know I gotta get stronger ‘fore I can do anything. So… what are we here for?”

Gou didn’t seem fazed by her comment, even laughing along with her. “Ancient’s a good way of putting it some days…” He quietly listened, nodding as she spoke, “Nothing wrong with taking a step back and seeing what road you want to take in life. But don’t try to walk it alone, find people that are precious to you; that will walk it with you.”

Opening a set of doors, he led her into the Academy’s library. “You said you want to become a jounin one day, there’s more to that than just your number of completed missions.” A short exchange with one of the staff members before turning back to her. “These won’t be everything you’ll need to study, but you do need room left in your pack.”

Mai blinked for a second. W-was the Lord Hokage taking her seriously? It took Mai a minute a before she realized he was offering the books. She gave him a hug instead. After a second she quickly peeled herself off and collected the books.

“Er… I mean yes sir. I’ll study them to my best. And if I run into any good like books on my missions I guess I’ll pick them up too. Thank you.”

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Aiko Uchiha
Cold Blood​

When Aiko finally woke up, the sun was on its way down. Several blankets lay on the floor next to her bed, having been kicked off in her sleep.

The ice girl released a deep breathe, and watched it float in front of her for a moment before disappearing.

“Still broken...”

Aiko sat up slowly, rubbing her head with furrowed brows. She didn’t recall ever getting into her bed yesterday. It felt like she was hungover, with how bad her head throbbed.

“This must he what happens when you run out of chakra,” Aiko grumbled to herself, swinging her legs over the side of the bed, and standing up slowly. Taking controlled and careful steps, Aiko stopped in front of her mirror.

A thin layer of ice covered her mirror, clouding her reflection. The blurred face staring back at her couldn't hide how ragged and tired it looked.

Aiko yawned, staring blankly into the mirror, no longer looking at herself. All the chunin could think about was how she’d be able to continue on like this. She couldn’t go near anyone, or else she’d start to freeze them. She couldn’t fight worth a damn, unless she wanted to run out of chakra and get killed. Hell, even sitting at home threatened to drain her chakra!

There was a knock on her bedroom door.

“I can tell you’re getting worked up. The temperature dropped again,” Aisu said jokingly from the other side of her door. The doorknob clicked as it turned. Aisu stepped into the room.

“I know I don’t have to tell you this, but I’m so glad you’re back. If you hadn’t come home... I-I don’t think I could keep on going,” Aisu said, pulling Aiko in for a tight hug. The fact that he was literally freezing over wasn’t inportant to him.

“Don’t worry. I still got a lot to do around here. I wouldn’t abandon you yet,” Aiko replied, pushing her father off of her. She had forgotten how much her father cared for her.

“Yet?” Aisu released her daughter. Half of the man’s face was coated in ice. He ignored it. “Well, before you do, at least tell me who told about Grandma Anda.”

Aiko wasn’t sure who or what he was talking about. “Who?”

Aisu reached behind his back, and retrieved a folded piece of paper. “When I was tuxking you into bed, I found this tucked halfway under the mattress. Who told you about Anda?” Aisu’s voice was stern. He was intent on finding out what Aiko knew.

Suddenly, Aiko’s memory returned to her as she recalled her mission to the Land of Frost. It was a painful memory, but it was a dull pain now.

“A woman I fought on a mission in the Land of Frost gave that letter to me after sparing my life,” Aiko explained. She then looked quizzically at her father. “You know her or something? She had it too. Ice.”

Aisu nodded slowly. “I see. When are you going to go find her?”

“Never.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because I’d get killed if I tried to.”

“You don’t need to lie, Aiko.”

“...”

“You can tell your old papa anything you know.”

“Fine... I just... feel broken...”

Aisu lightly smacked Aiko on her forehead. “Don’t be silly. You aren’t broken, you’re just out of control. That’s always been your problem. Channel you uncontrollable power to where you want to go, and you’ll be unstoppable!”

Aiko rolled her eyes. Her fool of a father was prettybad with words of encouragement for someone who had just been experimented on like a lab animal. At least he didn’t bring it up. He knew her too damn well.

“Easy for you to say, you’re not the one who’s constantly running on fumes!” Aiko said with an attitude.

Aisu shrugged. “Look, I want you to go on a mission or two woth your friends. You’ll understand what I mean when it matters. After that, we’ll go see Anda. I’m sure she can help you get under control you haven’t by then. Deal?”

Aisu gazed at Aiko with puppy dog eyes, trying to convince his cold hearted daughter to trust in him.

“Ugh...Deal.”

 

[Kimiwriter]

Sei Teshima

Sei hadn't slept. Every second she closed her eyes was another second the enemy had against her.

She stared out at the garden as the morning sun rose in the sky. The bustle of the household waking up didn't disturb her. She kept going over the battle in her head. If she'd set more traps sooner, if she'd gone right instead of left, if she'd saved the mask for the last second. . . Every move, every mistake, she analyzed again and again. Yes, she'd won, but if there'd been one more enemy, if he'd pierced her chest and not her arm . . .

I won't be useless any more.

Her grandmother sat beside her and offered a cup of tea. "Something to start the day off right."

Sei took it but didn't drink. I'll have to train. Yukari's probably out for a while but maybe she'll give me some pointers. And I'll be assigned to a new team. That's three teams I've gone through; I have to be better this time.

"Sei?"

She turned and met her grandmother's worried expression.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Shaking her head, she looked back out at the garden. The two women sat in silence for a long time. Whenever one of the younger cousins approached, the matriarch shooed them away, just letting Sei sit in peace until she was ready.

"Will you help me?"

"Of course," Her grandmother gently put her hand on Sei's back. "What do you need?"

Sei fiddled with the warm cup in her hand. "I'm creating more lethal poisons. Quicker reactions, smaller doses, but I need to build an immunity to them so I won't be affected in the field. I've already started with the less dangerous ones."

"Absolutely not!"

She set the cup down and stood up. "Then I'll do it myself."

"Sei, you can't--"

"They're still out there." Sei's voice was calm, almost vacant. "We slowed them down but we didn't stop them. When they attack again, I'm not going to hide and hope someone else takes care of it." She met her grandmother's frown. "I won't give them another chance to hurt my friends."

They stared at each other for a long time. Finally, the older relented. "Poisons and antidotes will only get you so far."

"I'm working on that." Sei hugged her. "Thank you, grandma."

"Don't thank me. You're going to heal up first then we'll get started. You're going to be miserable so clear it with your sensei and friends first."

Hugging her once more, Sei straightened. "I'm running out for a few minutes." She didn't wait for a response. Slipping on some shoes, she left through the garden, stopping long enough to pick a few flowers. Even if she couldn't see Yukari, she could at least leave some flowers for her. Hopefully.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Katsumi Nonoba
The Truth Hurts​

“Here it is!” Kasumi said with excitement as she pulled a heavy book off of one of the Konoha Library bookshelves.

“Ssh!”

“Sorry...” Katsumi quickly apologized, she tredded quietly to her seat at a table. And opened the book. The first chapter was called: What are Seals?

Not the animal, of course. Katsumi already made that mistake twice today. However, she had never known the sea creatures were so cute and wonderful!

She already knew what it meant to seal something, and how to explain what a seal was. But her research required that she refresh her knowledge, and hopefully learn something new in the process. If she were to learn how to control her own relatively secret abilities, she’d have to learn exactly how it worked! Then, Yuuki and Nagisa would surely invite her to go on missions with them since she wouldn’t be more of a burden than a ninja.

Her special ‘training’ in learning how to use her ability was no help. The ninja just called it the ‘Blood Curse’, and left her in the dark about what it really was.

But Katsumi Nonoba would be in the dark no longer! She smiled, wishing she could announce it out loud. This may have been the first time Katsumi was excited to do something, unaffected by what others might say, think, or do to her. Then again, she may simply be too preoccupied to notice all the odd looks while she read the book with extreme intensity.

—————

Katsumi didn’t learn anything new, but the book did reinforce what she already knew. Fuinjutsu was used to seal objects, living or non-living. Where something was sealed was represented by a symbol of some sort often called a seal. Disrupting or destroying the seal would normally result in the sealed object being freed.

Fuinjutsu could also be used to unseal things, but none of what the book talked about applied to how she activated her ‘Blood Curse’. No where in the book did it say anything about stabbing oneself to ‘activate’ a seal. Hell, there wasn’t anything in the book at all about partially unsealing something. Then again, what exactly was she unsealing when she performed the rite?

Whatever the case, it couldn’t be a seal that she possessed. It just didn’t fit the bill well enough.

But then, what was it? Was it really a curse? Did curses even actually exist?

Katsumi rose from her chair, and returned to the bookshelves. Ten minutes later, Katsumi returned withre three books she thought would be relevant to curses in her case. Even if they weren’t, it was worth a try.

But, after a lot of reading, rereading, and confusion, Katsumi only found one thing that could possibly apply to her own predicament. Curse Marks. They were a type of seal, or at least similar, but always had negative affects when they were activated under certain conditions.

Surely she didn’t possess a curse mark, Katsumi thought. It didn’t hurt when her mark activated, it only hurt to get it activated. Did that count? Katsumi didn’t think so. Why would anyone want to curse her anyway?

Thinking about it, the seal her sensei put on her neck was kind of like a curse mark. He seemed like the type to curse his students.

Anyway, there wasn’t anything about a ‘Blood Curse’ in any of the books. The only thing about that was mentioned was that blood could activate summoning seals. Katsumi was certain she wasn’t summoning anything with her own mark.

There had to be more info about the Blood Curse somewhere. She wouldn’t have been forced to learn how to use it if they hadn’t known what it was.

Sensei had said once that the Anbu like to keep all the sensitive info in their headquarters. The Hokage’s building also held plenty of important documents as well. If she could gain access to one of the place’s documents, she may be able to find the truth.

—————

Katsumi left the library quietly, several books were tucked under her arm. She had entered the library in the morning. Now, the sun was on its way down. She’d have to hurry. Doing this tomorrow wasn’t an option. She had to get back to work at the hospital tomorrow.

Katsumi hurried towards the Hokage’s building. Occasionally dropping a book and having to go back and pick it up. People recognized one of Konoha’s richest ninja, even if Katsumi herself refused to accept she was rich. Watching the girl struggle to carry books as she hurried along was a tickling sight. By the time she had reached her destination, she had worked up a decent sweat.

She entered the building, avoiding eye contact with everyone. She wasn’t sure where she was going, but eventually she found the room. It was conveniently labeled. Katsumi looked up and down the hall. No one was around to see her enter. Was security really this relaxed? Katsumi opened the door and stepped inside, and was welcomed by a blade pressed to her throat. A masked ninja held a kunai to her throat.

“Name,” the ANBU ninja asked.

“Uh-uhm.... Katsumi,” the frightened chuunin sputtered.

The masked ninja paused for a moment, before releasing Katsumi. “What are you looking for?” He asked uncaringly.

Katsumi gripped her books tightly, taking a deep grateful breath. “You know... don’t you?” She was certain that the entire ANBU was aware of her ‘Blood Curse’ and was ready to deal with it at any moment.

“Yea, I do know. Mummy looking fella came in a long time ago, told me to let you find what you need when you came looking. I don’t forget things, so I remembered your name,” the ninja explained. “Stay there. I’ll get you what you need kid. I know this place better than anyone.”

Katsumi nodded. Despite the ninja being one of those scary ANBU, he was actually pretty nice. He was almost as much of a librarian than he was a ninja bu the way he kept this room so clean and orderly. Who was the mummy that he had been talking about earlier? Katsumi didn’t know anyone like that, right?

Minutes later, the man returned with two items. One, Katsumi’s own profile. The second, an old rough looking notebook.

“These should tell you everything you everything you want to know kid. Don’t do anything reckless with whatever you find out. If you ever pose a threat to the Leaf we won’t hesitate to take you out.”

Katsumi nodded. “Thank you!” She didn’t seem too fased about the man’a last warning. She didn’t have any intention of threatening the village at all!

Katsumi took the two items, and started home. If what the guy said was true, she’d be able to learn more through these two documents alone.

—————

Katsumi started with her profile. She sat down at her desk, a candle lit to light her search. The document started off with all her features and everything else one would expect from a person’s profile. Then, however, it got into her skills, and notable abilities. It talked about her medical abilities first, then her chakra enhanced strength.

What caught her eye next, were the words: “Unidentified Symbol”. Beneath it, was a drawing of the same symbol on her lower back. Benath the drawing, it read -

“This unique symbol is not confirmed to be a seal. All that is know is that the ninja who possess this seal experiences an increase in violnt and aggressive tendencies after wound theirself. A new arsenal of blood based abilities are unlocked as well, making the ninja an entirely different compatant than before. Only one individual is known to possess said symbol.”

Katsumi sighed. This didn’t tell her anything expect for that the village didn’t have a clue what she had either! Hell, they knew less than she did!

Below all of this, her family members were listed.

“Meela Nonoba, Otomo Nonoba.” - Deceased

They were her mother and father. Both ninja that had been killed on a mission. At least, that was what the refords said.

Disappointed, Katsumi closed her file, and pushed it off to the side. She then grabbed the worn notebook and scanned the cover. She gasped. On the cover, ‘Meela’ was written out with sloppy handwriting. Could this be, her mother’s notebook?

Katsumi turned to the first page. There wasn’t a date, but the first page seemed to be the start of a journal. The first bit read,

“So my mom said that I should start a journal to help me get out my emotions. She thinks I’m too reserved or something. I told her I wouldn’t have time for it now that i’m a genin, but I’m not actually all that busy between training with my new squad. Speaking of my new squad, Otomo is pretty gross and annoying. I think he likes me. Yu is pretty cool. She’s really good with fire style! Personally, I think I’m the weakest one, but sensei says I’ll have plenty of time to improve.”

Her mother’s handwriting was awful. Even so, it made Katsumi smile being able to read anout her being a genin.

Katsumi flipped ahead, and began reading another page.

“The chuunin exams were a total failure. I failed in the first round! How was I supposed to know that we were supposed to drink the stuff? Anyway, Yu and Otomo made it to the last round of the exams. Otomo got beat up by an Uchiha. It wasn’t even a fight. Yu ended up going against this dude from the Mist who almost killed him. I was scared she was actually going to die. They shouldn’t let the maych keep going for that long! I feel bad that all I could do was watch. I wish I wasn’t so worthless.”

Katsumi flipped ahead, closer to the end of the notebook now. She found it comforting that she wasn’t the only ninja that ever felt like the weakest link in her squad. Katsumi frowned. The handwriting on this page was a bit different.

“Otomo and I are going on one last mission. I think I’m pregnant. I haven’t told him yet. I hope it’s a girl. I think Otomo would want a boy though. He’s always going on about being manly and stuff. Anyway, we’re heading off to an island near the Land of Fire to help take care of some cult that’s harassing some village. Yu will be providing us with backup later. It shouldn't be too hard, we’ve dealt with a couple of cults before without Yu. Otomo and I have worked well together since we were chuunin. I’m glad I met him... Anyway, after this mission, I’m done being a ninja. I’ll be living the regular boring life so i can raise a kid properly. I won’t take this mission easy though. It’ll be my last mission, so I may as well do it well.”

Katsumi was confused. She was always told that her mother gave birth to her, and then went off on her last mission months afterwards. But according to this, ahe barely existed when her mother took on her last mission. She was supposed to have died during that mission, so how was Katsumi alive?

Was that woman in the hospital actuslly her mother? Even if it was, that woman’s mind was too far gone.

Katsumi turned the page. It was covered in scribbles. “Weird...” Katsumi muttered. She turned the page again, and her eyes went wide. On this page, was an incredibly detailed sketch of what appeared to be some kind of demonic creature. It was repulsive. Katsumi could barely look at it without feeling uncomfortable. However, Katsumi couldn’t help but feel like she’d seen it many times before. Katsumi looked to the next page, where the phrase, ‘Embrace Death’. Was written in her mother’s handwriting.

“I guess you already went off the deepend at this point, ma... what happened to you on that island?”

Katsumi read the last phrase one last time, starting to make the connections in her head. When she wounded herself to activate the blood seal, a more lethal wound would make her more aggressive, and give her better control over her blood abilities than a less harmful wound would. In other words, the closer she came to death, the more the ‘Blood Curse’ was activated. What Katsumi didn’t know however, is what happened to the ‘Blood Curse’ when she died. Of course, she had no intention of finding out, but whatever it was, it may have a connection to why her mother was recorded as dead, when she in truth was alive enough to give birth months later.

Katsumi yawned. It was nighttime. Sliding a bookmark into the notebook, Katsumi decided she’s continue her reading tomorrow. She wanted to know more about her moth, and how she overcame her struggles.

Katsumi grinned, as she slid into bed, under a thick blanket. It was conforting to know that she and her mother weren’t too different afterall.

 

[KageYuuki]

Nagisa Kanazawa Yuuki Uchiha
The shining, white hospital that stood before Nagisa was a recent addition to the village. In the end, the mist’s assault on it had been comprehensive enough to render any course except clearing away the rubble and constructing an entirely new building. In fact, construction was still ongoing in the less essential areas, like administration and the gardens and even reception, but the patient facilities were all up to their old standard, better even, since some of the hospital higher-ups had used the loss of their old equipment to justify ordering more advanced, reliable replacements. Once again Konohagakure could claim to stand at the peak of the medical world.

That being said, Nagisa still found the hospital somewhat uncomfortable, most of the staff knew Yuuki through his mother and at some point the story of their attempt to rescue survivors had filtered down to most of the staff, which meant Nagisa herself was frequently recognised here, something she was neither totally familiar or comfortable with.

Nagisa didn’t really know how to react to that recognition, the way they made an effort use her first name or their bright smiles. What’d they expect from her in response? And why did they have to giggle behind her back whenever she told them she was here to visit Yuuki. What was that about? It was a totally normal thing for someone to check on an injured squadmate, she had to rely on him in combat, which meant it was important that he operate at 100%, it was like repairing a broken tool.

That was all.

Rather than deal with all of that, Nagisa had taken lately to simply scaling the side of the building and climbing into Yuuki’s room through the window. It was often left open to catch the warm summer breeze and even when it wasn’t the lock was a joke. It was almost pleasant, clinging to the side of the building and working the simple mechanism into place, the lock sprung open with a satisfying click and Nagisa pushed open the window and settled in on the ledge.

“Still asleep huh?” she said, glancing at Yuuki’s motionless form on the bed and rolling her eyes. “You’re just lucky I have nothing better to do,” she muttered, summoning a brightly colored manga book. Since her stay in the Village of Toymakers she’d managed to get hooked on this particular series, although as she read she was careful to keep the book on her opposite side to the room, ready to drop out of sight if Yuuki woke up.

No sense letting him get a big head about inflicting his hobby on her.

It was about an hour before her teammate began to stir. A soft, almost inaudible groan as Yuuki shifted against the heavy, clay-filled pillows pressed to his back. It seemed to take a few minutes before he even registered there was someone else in the room. “Nagisa?” He asked blearily while moving to push himself up.

A sharp pain quickly reminded him that was a poor idea.

“Careful dummy, if you open up your stitches, I’m sure I’ll get blamed for it,” Nagisa said mildly, hiding her reading material. “Move slowly,”

“Ngh, yeah, thanks mom…” Yuuki murmured, carefully laying back down.

Nagisa crinkled her brow at that. “Eww don’t even joke about that. It’s just a hassle doing missions with the other chunin while you’re out of action, most of ‘em are fuckups. So the sooner you get healed up and out of bed the easier my life is,” Nagisa said, matter of factly, tilting her chin up.

A quiet chuckle, “What… did you end up with Ashi or Mai again…?” Nagisa hadn’t said much to him about her mission with the Sanada, but if the stories from Hideki were anything to go by then the two likely butted heads the entire time.

“I actually haven’t taken any missions since then,” Nagisa admitted begrudgingly. “The payout was pretty sweet so I haven’t needed to,”

That was true, but not the whole truth. Nagisa didn’t have much in the way of hobbies so even when she had plenty of money she still usually took a lot of missions. But ever since the coliseum raid the thought of heading out on mission filled her with unease, a warm, sickly feeling in the pit of her stomach she couldn’t place… like it wouldn’t be right almost?

“What about you?” she said quickly, shaking her head. “You healing and stuff...eating all right?.. Sleeping enough?..or... whatever,” The words felt strange and foreign on her lips, but Nagisa found herself wanting to know the answers enough to force them out anyway.

The questions were a little odd to hear from Nagisa, though maybe all the medications were to thank for that. Made it hard to even think straight some days. “Definitely sleeping a lot…” Yuuki muttered, glancing at the misshapen origami and toy puppet sprawled across the nightstand. “Can hardly control my chakra with all the stuff they’re using.”

“You’re still working on that thing huh?” Nagisa asked with a raised eyebrow. “Well, I guess if you’re feeling well enough to even try that’s probably a good sign…” Nagisa trailed off and her gaze drifted upwards. The hospital ceiling, with its dull, off-white paneling didn’t provide the inspiration Nagisa was looking for and she was forced to plunge into the part of this conversation she had been dreading.

“Listen...before we split up to gather intel things got sort of heated and… I guess I said some unnecessary stuff so I’m…” Nagisa fidgeted and she seemed to have to force the last word out with a conscious effort. “sorry,”

“We… both probably said things we shouldn’t have…” Yuuki’s eyes were closed as he tried to recall the argument. Everything was still so foggy. “I just… didn’t want anything to happen to you.” A dark chuckle, “and I’m the one that almost died.”

“And in the end the reason you got hurt didn’t have anything to do with that stupid fucking tag,” Nagisa bit her lip and looked away. She had drawn one of her legs up onto the ledge with her and wrapped her arm around it now.

“I felt like you were being targeted and that made me so angry. If it was because of something we’d done, revenge for some mission we pulled or something that would have made sense to me. But it felt like this huge, sinister thing was going out of its way to pick on us and that...scared me. So I just did what I always used to do when someone tried to take something from me which was get mad and lash out.”

Yuuki was quiet a long moment, the whole thing was his fault in the end. No matter how he tried to look at it, she’d been hurt. All because he was a damn Uchiha.

A slow, shaky breath as he fought to wrestle his chakra back under control. Sure, the medicine was good for speeding up healing, but made using it for anything else difficult. To say nothing of the pain medications. Soon enough though, a stream of paper made its way over to Nagisa, Yuuki pulling her close before even fully reforming. “I’m sorry…”

“Wha-” Nagisa turned around at the sensation of paper brushing over her skin. “Wh-what are you doing you idiot, you’re gonna hurt yourself,” she said, but her voice was high and quavering and she didn’t seem to have the will to push him away.

“Idiot,” she sniffled again, wrapping an arm tentatively around his back and resting her head on his shoulder where Yuuki would be able to feel drops of moisture soaking into his hospital robe.

 

[KageYuuki]

Nobushige Toyotomi Yuuki Uchiha
Yuuki closed his book with a sigh, glancing around the small garden. It was going to be a while yet before he could resume missions, he figured he may as well catch up on the manga he’d never got around to. At least until his mom was home for the night, then it was back to work on another project.

He shifted slightly and winced, he hadn’t been sitting outside all that long and already his back and side were complaining. This is getting old…

“Using the crutch wrong. Goes on your good side, not bad.”

A shadow called out from behind the tulips. Nobushige wasn’t exactly the least noticeable man, looking like a mummy, yet his tendency to blend in with the area almost seemed unnatural.

“How far can you walk, half a mile fine?”

Yuuki looked up at him, “Maybe. Won’t be very fast though…”

“Bah, do I look like a man in a rush to you? I always clear about 30 minutes in my schedule at least in case your sister is around, and in case she remembers whatever I tormented her last with. This time its 57 smoke bombs in her locker I’m sure. Well, follow me.”

Nobushige again began to summon and unsummon kunai, flipping them in his hands. He walked, leading the way, taking it fairly slowly. After a few minutes, Yuuki might recognize the destination as a graveyard. Sitting on a tombstone, Nobushige waited for Yuuki to catch up.

“Looking to tell me off for last mission’s fuck up?” The Uchiha tried to keep his expression and voice neutral, but it was clear even the short walk left him hurting still.

“Do I have to?”

Nobushige raised his eyebrow at Yuuki.

“So. How was dying? There are two things you never forget as a shinobi. Your first kill, and the first time you die.”

“It…” Yuuki raked his fingers through his hair. “Other than the obvious? I don’t know…” He was a ninja, death tended to come with the job. Certainly killed plenty over the past couple years… Yet Yuuki found himself unable to get his own thoughts in order on what happened during that mission. Whenever he tried, he just found himself avoiding that area altogether.

“Well, ignore it being obvious. Go for it. I remember my first time. I was a real punk back in the day. When I was a genin, I cared about efficiency a little too much. My team was being stupid, so I decided I’d end the mission myself. Heh. I’d love to say it was something as easy as I got caught by the enemy, cut, and ended up in the hospital. More like I got caught in a steel rabbit trap, and couldn’t escape for days. Dropped my kunai. Teammate found me eventually. … Bitch. Anyways, I’d like to say the first time you ‘die’ is the hardest, but it’s the second. Cause ya already know what’s going to happen. After that, it just gets easier.

I have another question for you. Chunnin, likely going to start to get your own chances for missions, I can’t nanny as much anymore. What line of work are you looking for?”

Yuuki sighed, “You'd think it’d be something that’d lead to… I don’t know, a revelation or something. But there was nothing. No thoughts, no life flashing before your eyes, just pain then… nothing.”

A kunai flew straight at Yuuki’s forehead, stopping just half an inch from it with a wire.

“Yep. Revelation comes after. Heh. So, what sort of mission are you looking for after this? Are you planning on being a sealing specialist? Think you’ve hit the limit of what I can teach in that regard. Yeah, you’re young, but not as if you get any younger. Might as well start now.”

A flash of crimson as the kunai left Nobushige’s hand, not that the Uchiha could actually do any about it. “Seals and shurikenjutsu seem to be the few things I’m actually good with,” a pained shrug, “not that a ton of missions specifically require those. Why, do you have a suggestion?”

Nobushige pulled the kunai back with the tension, flipping it a few times in his hands before dismissing it.

“Should have given it more slack. At this point, I’m just an older ninja. Hell if I know. Can’t say there’s been a damn person alive to call me wise. At this point, I’m more curious than anything. What are YOU going to do? And if someone wanted, say, advice on where to throw those shurikens, maybe someone with the same specialty would know. But I’m just a withered old git.”

Yuuki shook his head, “I’m going to do the missions I’m given wherever I end up. If it’s regular forces, ANBU, whatever…”

Nobushige rose, snarling. He summoned a kunai, and moved like he was going to throw it, but slammed it into a tree instead.

“Damn right, but what more? Those shuriken skills of yours will go to shit if you don’t look where to throw it. I can hit farther than the eye can see, because I know what I’m looking for. I keep trying to get you lot to think. The exam to be a genin was thinking. Every mission I’ve given you, I keep telling you to think. I didn’t train you to be dull in the head. Follow orders without question, and you aren’t being loyal, you’re being used.

Fine, I’m still technically your sensei, even if the gap is shortening. Here are orders for you. Organize a mission and get it approved by the Hokage, but not your Father. Family relations have nothing to do with it, he is your superior when you wear that headband. You are in charge of making it, I won’t help you any. What is the village lacking? If you don’t know where you’re going, you can at least see what the village itself needs. You still got a few weeks of recovery, think on it. Also, I don’t want you to use Nagisa, she’s smarter than you, and I want YOU to think. You aren’t even allowed to talk about it with her about it. Look around you, I bet 90% of the young names here never learned to think. Probably a fair few of them got hit with a sword too.”

Nobushige left the kunai embedded and shook his head.

Yuuki clucked his tongue, it seemed as though he’d been nothing but a disappointment to Nobushige as of late. Sure, there had been… a mission of sorts he’d had in mind, but Nagisa was someone he needed on that team. But if it was a mission Nobushige wanted… “Fine, then,” the crimson in his eyes faded.

“So moody. Can’t wait for the days when the hormones settle out. Well, enjoy the orders, and get well soon, kid.”

With a smokebomb, Nobushige disappeared. He probably didn’t have to use one, but dramatic effect and all.

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Nagisa Kanazawa​

Reaching for the Sun​

“~Bwa chkchssh ~bwa ~Bwachkchssh”
"93-94-95-96"
“~Bwa chkchssh ~bwa ~Bwachkchssh”
"97-98-99...C'mon girl one more"

Nagisa pulled her upper body up towards where her knees were hooked over the bar she'd set up earlier. Fatique and pain had built up in her system and she stalled out half way. Then, with a small grunt she pulled herself up the rest of the way, coming fact to beak with Bakuwashi, her summoned eagle, before falling back down to hang limply from her knees, sweat dripping from her forehead and nose to the mat below.

"100! BWA BWA BWAAAH! YEAHHH!"

Bakuwashi raised his wings in triumph while the smaller bird, who Nagisa had eventually found out went by Chiwashi, hopped around in circles, still beatbxing. "I knew you were gonna do it," Bakuwashi continued, flapping his wings again. "Chiwashi was saying you couldn't pull it off but I was all like 'Nahh she totally will,"

"I need you to pick up some things from the store," Nagisa said wearily as she hung limply from the bar. "There's money and a list on the table,"

"Yo I gotchu! Beaky G can pickup anything you need!" Launching off from the bar, Bakuwashi picked flew through the apartment, snatched up the note and money and left through the window, Chiwashi in tow.

Nagisa watched them fly away then pressed her arms into the mat and unhooked her legs, sliding onto the ground roughly. Nagisa hadn't had many chances to summon her excitable minion in combat, but the fact that he constantly drained chakra just by being around made him a useful training partner. Even simple workouts were a lot more challenging with the constant drain on her chakra and running up against the limit of her chakra pool was helping her, slowly, increase it.

The raid on the coliseum had reminded Nagisa again of the need to get stronger. Every time she started to even think about feeling comfortable the missions got harder, the enemies got more dangerous. Everytime Nagisa and her squadmates got stronger in turn, like two plants trying to outgrow eachother to steal the sunlight from each other. The growing could never stop, or even slow down too much, fall too far behind and you would lose the light forever.

Nagisa's stomach rumbled and she sighed and checked her watch. Bakuwashi should have reached the shops and turned around by now, which meant she could get the food she'd sent him for faster by cancelling his summon and resummoning him back here. Compared to Yuuki, or really just about anyone Nagisa's handseals were still awkward and slow, but the summoning scroll did most of the work and it was easier when should take her time with them like this.

Seconds later Bakuwashi had reappeared in Nagisa's apartment and she had pulled herself up from the floor to assemble the bread, butter, fresh vegetables and smoked ham he had bought on her behalf into two sandwiches.

"To be honest you know, it's a little disorientating to be summoned and dismissed and then summoned again," Bakuwashi said, as he and Chiwashi took turns picking at their sandwich. "But its cool girl, you know I get it if you're missing me,"

"Shut up and eat," Nagisa said, without any real force, then after a thoughtful bite. "It's a shame it's mostly too awkward to do in combat, moving you around that quickly could be useful,"

"Yeah I just wish there was a way to move you around, sometimes I miss you giiiirrl,"

"Ewww, first of all," Nagisa said, rolling her eyes. "Second of all, if there was a way for me to move like that I wouldn't use it to visit you I'd use it as a weapon," Nagisa said and then trailed off. Their last opponent, the swordsman, had had someway of moving like that. Nagisa hadn't been able to pick it out at the time but when he moved air had flowed towards his last position, as if rushing in to fill a space rather then being pushed away as a body flicker would have done.

Taking another bite, Nagisa picked up Bakuwashi's summoning scroll and unfurled it on the table next to her plate. Most of the sealing pattern was tied into the contract with the eagles, it was designed to work with certain ceiling patterns on their end that the eagles jealously guarded. But some of the patterns seemed more to do with targeting the summoner, they were what called the summonee to the right location. That part could be replicated fairly easily and then it would only be a matter of coming up with some substitute for the sending part of the formula.

"If I could move like that... maybe I could stay in the sun a little longer," Nagisa murmured.

"Huh?" Bakuwashi looked up, confused. There was a scrap of ham on his beak.

"Never mind, finish your damm sandwich,"

 

[KageYuuki]

Yukari
Yukari sat silently in the garden as the sun rose that morning, though it was still too early for her to be able to feel its warmth on her skin. The sounds around her seemed more vivid than she remembered. The trickling of the small stream and fountain, the morning songs of birds that were awake, a few insects buzzing nearby. She shifted, fingers brushing against the smooth lacquered cane she’d been given.

Since returning home, Yukari found herself alone like this more often than not. Outside of her aunt Momochi, none of the clan members even seemed to acknowledge her presence. At least not since the bitter exchange with her grandfather and the other clan elders.

She’d lost her byakugan, they’d said, allowed Daisuke can take it and learn the secrets to their kekkei genkai. Destroyed by her own hand? Yukari was far too weak, too undedicated to the clan to do such a thing. From that day on, Masaru had been named heir. And she…

Well, she was just a Hyuuga in name only.

The sound of footsteps could be heard nearby, and the sound of a sliding door. Momochi stared for a moment at the young lady before her. Her voice caught in her throat, the young woman whom she cared for all this time, was there for when the others gave her nothing but scorn…

Discarded…

“Yukari… I’ve… brought some tea. Would you like some?” She asked softly, her voice wavered for but a moment, she couldn’t help but try and choke back tears when she saw her like this, she may not had been her own but she was as close a daughter she could ever have.

Yukari turned her head toward the sound of footsteps, listening for a moment. When no one said anything right away, she turned back. A quiet sigh at Momochi’s question, “Yeah… sure.”

Momochi came towards the young woman, the tray in her hands. She wanted to say a million things, but… Just how could she make this right at all? She couldn’t, and it hurt more than anything else this world could do to her, her sweet Yukari, tossed to the wind and abandoned…

What... Could she say? What could she do?

She began to pour some tea, ready to help Yukari drink it when she… Paused, her body trembled a bit… Having to help her with tea… So much she wasn’t able to do anymore… It came crashing down again… How horrid this must be for the girl…

“I’m sorry Yukari…. I should have done more…” Momochi’s pale eyes began to well up with tears.

“And what could you have done?” Yukari’s voice was hollow, “your word doesn’t carry any weight with the elders. And clearly no one could stop that… bastard from doing what he did.” Powerless. It felt like it was all she could be. Powerless to stop her own kidnapping, in defending her own birthright. Hell, she could hardly get around or do things people took for granted without help anymore.

Momochi only sobbed quietly, before the teacup that was in her hand was sent sailing off into the garden, shattering upon a tree. “THAT FUCKING BASTARD! All of them, the clan is no better! Probably wanted this too! Those worthless….” she bore her fangs, obviously her hatred was clear for this whole situation.

“....They… They… You… Yukari…” she slumped back down beside her. “...You mustn't stay here… You can’t… This house, this family, it will kill you...” she sobbed more clutching lightly to the girl’s arm. “I’ve tried, tried so hard to make things the best I can for you… But…”

“I should have just died back there,” the words were soft, barely audible. Outside of Momochi, would anyone have even cared? The clan certainly wouldn’t have. Yukari clutched the cane in a white-knuckled grip, her hand trembling. She stood suddenly, pulling away from her aunt. “I’m sorry,” her voice wavered slightly, choking back tears. “After everything you’ve done, I’ve only hurt you.”

“No Yukari. No, it’s not your fault. None of this is your fault…” Momochi was damn near out of breath from her sorrow.”If only you could get away from all of this… Live somewhere else… be anything but a damned Hyuuga…”

Yukari took a few uncertain steps towards the house. “There… may be someone…” The magatama that hung from her ear glowed faintly. She’d thought about it several times already, just leaving their world altogether. But was it even possible? Could a human even live there? She really didn’t know. “But you wouldn’t be able to go there.”

“Yukari…” Momochi looked to the young woman before swallowing hard. “...Just… promise me.. You’ll be safe…” she let out her breath softly. “...Live your life away from this place… Free from these chains...

...Just…

Visit… now and again. Okay? Not here… But… Just so I know you're okay…” she reached over and gave the girl a deep, tight hug.

“I can’t make any promises…” It wasn’t like the Yokai realm was safe by any means. Yukari sighed into the hug, she wanted to bring Momochi, “But… I’ll try.” She pulled away, finally, barely catching herself as she stumbled. Going back inside was a slow endeavor, filled with uncertain steps and nearly colliding with the door. Yukari cursed under her breath.

Once inside, she touched her earring, “...sensei?”

The door opened to a familiar sight, well, somewhat, Koma looked down to his student, well, kinda student anyways. “Come on, Roku is worried sick.” he put a hand on her shoulder before taking her inside the way through, with a small movement of his hand, the door shut behind them.

Momochi didn’t look back as Yukari was lead away, wherever she went, as long as the young woman was happy, healthy and living life as best she can, she had no regrets letting her go. She’d simply tell the others she left, or disappeared…

They wouldn’t care either way.

But as long as the Yukari was okay, she’d be here.


The woods was at it always was, a beautiful land of eternal autumn, though Yukari couldn’t fully appreciate its wonder, it was still a marvel for all of the senses. Koma let out a long sigh, it felt as if he had finally gotten a job that had been bothering him for some time finally done.

“You have no clue, no clue at all how much that fox wants to see you.

Every day since you’ve gotten back she’s been asking me to come get you, every single day.

Do you know how many messengers she’s sent? I’ve lost count, poor Nona is run ragged with how many times she’s had to comfort her sister. That little one is putting in double time just to keep Roku from flooding the place with rain.” Koma rattled off just what the hell had been going on around here.

“Fair warning to yea, she's going to jump on you, she’ll try not to, but she will.”

Yukari tried to focus on what all Koma was saying, though most of her attention fell on trying not to trip as they walked. Walking never seemed to difficult before… “I have a feeling escaping her isn’t going to be possible.”

“She’ll make certain of that. Already has a room made for you… and a cute attendant, lucky. But we’re gonna have a nice long chat once things are settled, trust me, the road ahead is gonna suck but it’s gonna be worth it.

A new life for what it’s worth. Not exactly the way I went, but close enough.” he shrugged as the mansion came into view. “We’re coming up on the building now, just keep with me and I’ll guide you up the steps.”

“...Was she just going to kidnap me if I didn’t call for you?” She could hear a few quiet chirps from foxes, smell the sulfur from the spring. Yukari let Koma lead her up the stairs, a servant already had the door open and waiting. The mansion still smelled of warm incense, welcoming compared to the crisp air outside.

Once stepping inside Koma let Yukari walk on her own for a second as he was distracted by Nona coming up to the two. “Koma you're back! Roku has gone crazy again-” she was about to finish and regard Yukari but the sound of a gasp could be heard not too far of, and a few seconds later a woman with many long fluffy tails came streaking across the room like a bullet, tackling Yukari to the ground in a mess of tails and cuddling.

“YUBARI!” she blubbered out as the young woman was suffocated under cuddling and sobbing.

Koma simply nodded, in his usual lackadaisical manner. “Yep, warned yea.”

Yukari knew it was coming, she tried to brace herself. But it seemed there was really no preparing for a Kitsune’s tackle. Let alone one that was now drenching her yukata with tears. “...Roku? You’re hurting me,” she quietly gasped. She was warm, Yukari could smell faint traces of the perfume the goddess currently wore: tart berries and sweet lilacs.

Roku lightened up her hug, which was still like an iron vice regardless. “I’m neber eber letting you go back to those mean people! You’ll stay here right? Stay! I’ll make sure you're cared for and everything and we’ll hold parties and eat so much good stuff and bathe in the spring and talk and-” she continued on, listing just about everything and anything she wanted to do with this poor girl.

She truly did not have many friends.

Koma sighed and shrugged. “Roku, best you let her get up so she CAN do anything.” The man stated as he had Nona in his hands, for safety from the fox projectile.

“Fine.....” Roku slowly stood up, Yukari… Still in her tight grip, somewhat carried like a kid holding a teddy bear as she brought them both over to her seat and put Yukari upon the cushion.

Yukari coughed, taking a moment to compose herself from the fluffy assault. She took a shaky breath, “I’m… not a Hyuuga anymore, I don’t have a reason to go back outside of collecting my things.” The kunoichi found herself practically being eaten by the large cushion, getting up without help wasn’t looking to be an option.

“Though… can humans even live here?” Sure, Koma technically lived in the Yokai Realm, but at this point, Yukari wasn’t really sure he was even human.

Koma perked up, sensei mode engaging. “Indeed, someone can live here. You will feel some influences or changes should you choose to stay for a long period of time. This, of course, is uninterrupted time mind, should you leave, changes dissipate fairly quickly. Provided they haven’t reached a certain point. In this calm realm, you can easily last a year without any serious changes… granted being more foxy than normal might be to one’s benefit.” Koma finished his explanation.

“Or, so I’ve found at least… This stuff is kind of a new realm of… whatever science this might be called.. I don’t have all the answers in the end. I didn’t exactly first come willingly into this…” Koma scratched his chin for a moment. “It doesn’t matter now-”

He was interrupted by Roku. “I can arrange your things taken here~! My servants are sly and can get into most places~!” she chimed, looking more than pleased and outright ready to pamper the poor girl.

“Well, they could probably do it with less commotion than I could.” Yukari relented, it wasn’t like Roku was going to take no for an answer… But she could actually live here. Some relative peace so she can actually heal.

Well… maybe not so much in the peace department.

“Oh! Are you hungry!? It’s just about to be lunch time so you MUST be famished! Come on~! Let’s go eat!” the kitsune seemed to have most of the day planned out already, things would likely calm down over time, but for now, Yukari has a new home, and one with a most welcoming and enthusiastic hostess.

Koma resigned himself to not being able to get HIS chat in anytime soon, figuring he best soon see himself out… Lots to do, and many people to see before the day is done.

 

[KageYuuki]

Yuuki Uchiha Nobushige Toyotomi
Yuuki glanced at the paper with a hastily scrawled address back to the door he stood in front of. To say the apartment complex was run down was a bit of an understatement. But it was the address Nobushige had given him when they first met. Tsubaki even confirmed it.

After she’d butchered the clone he found earlier in his search for the jounin.

“Come in.”

Nobushige said without even glancing down. There wasn’t a reason for someone to be there that part of the lawn otherwise. Every once in awhile Yuuki could hear occasional hammering, as if he entered as instructed, he’d find Nobushige redoing a rotten wall of his apartment. The landlords were apparently pathetic. Perfect for a paranoid former ANBU who wanted to be left alone and was too cheap to pay for real housing. He called out.

“Sounds like Yuuki, what can I do for you?”

Stepping inside, the Uchiha glanced around. The faintest rustling of papers could be heard as he moved. He was surprised the place was still standing, it looked like a breeze would knock it to the ground. “Figured you wanted a report and uh… what’d you do to Tsubaki this time? She seemed kinda pissed when she found that clone.”

“That was an hour ago, don’t even remember. Actually felt something that time though, she did not take it easy on that clone. So, what report do you have for me?”

Nobushige nailed another sheet of wood to the wall.

“No, she made a bit of a mess with that one…” Yuuki shook his head, “Anyway, you wanted me to find out what specialties the village needed. From what I’ve found, we’re still really short on medics. And sealing and barrier specialists.” A slight shrug, “I’m no medic, but I can fill in the latter.”

“Definitely true. Do you want help designing a technique or something? Barriers aren’t my specialty, but I can do a bit of research. In other news, figure out a mission yet without your girlfriend?”

Nobushige at this point put down a hammer, and started spinning a summoned dagger in his hand. A sign Yuuki had caught his attention.

“I’ll take any help I can get. I don’t know much about barriers either, aside from the one in that book of yours.” Yuuki rolled his eyes, “I don’t have a girlfriend. But yes, it’s submitted. Just waiting on approval, Hokage’s apparently buried in requests right now.”

“Almost curious. But it’d ruin the fun to tell me, I’ll keep an ear out at the Kage’s office. There’s an unspoken game of the ANBU, its like tag, but with kunai, and the area is anywhere near the Hokage.”

Rubbing his chin, Nobushige sighed.

“You know… I do know a guy… I’ve had to work with him several times… just a slight problem.”

“Does this problem involve him already being very dead?”

“Surprisingly no. Heaven knows I tried. The problem is he’s not a Leaf ninja. He’s a guy I played ‘tag’ with all the time with during the battle of Nagoya. Pain in the ass, hard to assassinate someone behind a barrier. Freakin Raikage, should have been dead three times over… a kage kill, do you know what that would have meant for my career!? Anyways, we’re currently not too bad off with the Cloud, it won’t be friendly, but I might be able to let you learn a few pointers. I’ll send’em a letter. Just try not to cause an international incident. Not too bad off with and friends are two very different matters. I’ll wait until after your mission to send the letter though. Anyways, on your missions, what resources do you need? I have a cellar full of tools if you need anything, and profiles I can retrieve of any of your so-called ‘Senko’ if you want them with you.”

Yuuki leaned against a somewhat sturdy looking table, careful not to rest much weight on it regardless “Don’t worry, I know how to act around a foreign emissary. Being related to the Hokage sucks sometimes…” He idly spun a kunai on one finger as he thought. “Equipment wise, I think I’m alright for the time being. Profiles would be good… information’s better than a kunai.”

The Uchiha stopped spinning the kunai, studying its sharpened blade for a moment. “There is one thing I really need… a clone technique, something more useful than the ones we learned at the academy. You’re an expert in them.”

Nobushige laughed at the words ‘foreign emissary’. Well, Yuuki hadn’t found out. He probably would by the time it actually rolled around. At ‘clone technique’, Nobushige straightened up.

“Wondered when you lot would get curious about that. It is kinda my schtick. Take a seat, the couch shouldn’t fall apart, just replaced it last year at a yard sale. Well, there are three types of clones other than academy. Elemental clones, like academy clones but solid; shadow clones, which are tethered to you and return experience and chakra; and on death clones, which activate a jutsu upon death.. They are that difficult in that order. Now, shadow clones also come with the advantage of recalling experience, the other kind do not.

For your style, a paper clone would be easiest, you have the material to make it, and it can double as a trap if you have enough tags you are willing to spend. You won’t gain any experience with it though, nothing will tether the clone back to you. This is an advantage and disadvantage. You get no memories, the clone has a limited area around you, but nothing links it back to you, and they are easier to make. Let’s try out back. I’m basically the only tenant, so lots of space out back.”

Yuuki nodded, listening intently to the jounin’s explanation. Some of it was already familiar knowledge, but going over it once more never hurt. Shadow clones had caught his interest. The ability to gain any knowledge the clone picked up would make for an invaluable scout. But it was best to start simple, not like he’d dove into advanced seals on day one.

“Alright,” He stood, following Nobushige outside.

“Alright, we’re going to start with a simple paper clone. They really aren’t too hard, you simply focus a clone technique around material with your chakra already in it. That said, it is a C-rank technique, not like you can do it first try. That said, I figure if your visiting me, you’ve got a few hours to kill. Let’s start.”

A short nod, Yuuki formed a handsign to focus his chakra, already willing numerous sheets of paper to take the right form with Dance of the Shikigami. A clone technique focused on something already containing my chakra… The clone formed, but wasn’t able to hold its shape for more than a second before collapsing into a pile of paper. “Hrmm…”

It was probably going to be a long afternoon.

 

[KageYuuki]

Yukari
Yukari sank into the hot water with a soft sigh, feeling lingering aches slowly ebb away. Cupping handfuls of the healing spring's water, she splashed it on her face. While the wounds no longer hurt, she could feel the thick scars her actions had left behind. Her fingers lightly traced the only proof that she once had the byakugan. Not even a month ago she was still the heiress to the Hyuuga. But now...

What was she?

Her hand limply fell back into the water with a splash. Climbing out of the spring and getting dressed was still a slow and clumsy affair. Returning to her room without a guide equally as difficult. Struggling to manage such simple things was infuriating. How was she supposed to resume her duties as a shinobi like this?

She paused, hearing light footsteps running down the hall. "L-Lady Yukari!" A small Kitsune cried, stumbling into the room.

"Byakko," Yukari sighed, "I told you not to call me that..."

"I'm sorry!" Byakko blubbered, "I thought I had it and then I didn't and now it's gone and- waaaah!"

"Slow down, what did you lose?" Was being so excitable a trait all kitsune had? Roku and Nona definitely were.

A small sniffle, "I... I was helping get the last of your things when I found this pipe. It was wiggling so much I thought something got stuck, so I looked. A fluffy, snake, thing shot out and now it's goooone." Her sobbing had resumed full force.

Oh...

Yukari lightly massaged her temples, how the hell was she supposed to find and catch that pipe fox like this? Little bastard could be anywhere in the village by now...

"I'm sooooorrry!!!"

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Nagisa Kanazawa and Yuuki Uchiha
Not a Date, Date​

No matter how you looked at it, Takoyaki was best off as a summer food, Nagisa thought, as she speared one of the battered treats with a toothpick and popped it into her mouth. Under the shade of a tree, with the bright sun filtering through the leaves and the barest hint of a summer breeze rustling the branches and her hair.

True any seafood was expensive this far from the coast, but Nagisa had money in her pocket from a recent mission and she hated cooking when it was this hot out, her little apartment was never more claustrophobic then when the stove was heating the place up on an already hot day. Far better to be out in the fresh air. This was a nice part of town to be in too, a newly renovated after the mist attack, it had attracted some up market businesses. Most of that stuff wasn’t to Nagisa’s taste but the street food was the best in town and a few of the stores had cool stuff. There was a cinema too, the only one in town. Nagisa had gone a couple of times, but there was always this annoying moment after the movie when everyone streamed out in groups, chatting excitedly about what had just happened and making plans to go somewhere else for food.

Going to the movies alone, Nagisa had decided, was uncool and she’d resolved not to go anymore. Even though the movie adaption of “A Duel of Daises” had just been released and she’d been reading it nearly religiously. So what? They’d probably get all the details wrong anyway. Nagisa stabbed another takoyaki, with more force than was probably necessary and then chewed it resentfully. Best just to put the movie out of her mind, it wasn’t like there was anyone she could go with…

Yuuki stepped out of the convenience store with a slight sigh. While it was cooler out today than it was yesterday, it was still hot out. It wasn’t too bad in the shade at least, just a matter of finding some. It didn’t take long to find a spot and a familiar figure already taking shelter from the sun.

“Hey,” he offered a slight wave as he approached, taking a seat beneath the tree.

“Sup,” Nagisa said, scooting over on the bench to make room and then holding up her boat of takoyaki in silent offering.

“From old man Tetsuo’s stand?” Yuuki gingerly picked up one of the pieces of fried dough and popped it in his mouth. “Ack, still hot!”

“Cause he always makes them fresh,” Nagisa said with a little smirk in response to both question and statement. “Don’t drop it now, you’re still paying me back even if you don’t actually eat it,”

The Uchiha rolled his eyes though made no effort to hide his own smile. “It’s also the best in town,” Yuuki said finally, takoyaki vanquished. Plastic packaging crinkled loudly as he carefully opened the popsicle he’d just gotten. Breaking the pale green treat in half, he held one of the sticks out to her. “Haven’t had this one before, supposed to be melon.”

“Alright deal,” Nagisa said, accepting the popsicle and giving it an experimental lick.”I guess it tastes like melon. Or rather, it tastes melon flavored, I wouldn’t know if it resembles the real thing or not,”

Yuuki gave it a taste, quietly humming in thought, “Nah it’s pretty close. Like one that isn’t really ripe yet. Still good though.”

“An unripe popsicle… Is that one that’s melted? Or is a melted popsicle one that’s overripe?” Nagisa crinkled her nose and frowned. “Bah, this heat is making me crazy,”

Yuuki laughed, “That’s almost as bad as the whole ‘chicken or the egg’ argument.”

“That one’s easy though,” Nagisa said, before attacking her popsicle to keep it from dripping on her hand. “There was stuff laying eggs before there were chickens, the first chicken had to have come from an egg but the first egg came from something else. Egg wins,”

A halfhearted shrug, “Probably. Though I’ve met people that’d fight to the death to prove otherwise.” He broke off a bite from the quickly melting treat, “...people are weird.”

“Yeah no kidding,” Nagisa said dryly, then; “Hey speaking of weird didn’t Sanada drag you along on a mission recently? I heard some strange rumors about that one,”

“Mm!” Yuuki had to catch a few drips that threatened to fall from the popsicle, “Yeah, actually. We all thought she was bullshitting us in the letter,” he tugged on a thin leather cord tucked under his shirt, revealing a large fang. “Turns out it was a real fucking dragon.”

“Huh, no kidding,” Nagisa siad, drawing nearer to study the fang. In her curiosity she reached for the fang, turning it to move the light over its surface and the backs of her fingers brushed his chest. Suddenly Nagisa withdrew and looked away, hiding her face. “A-Anyway, not a bad souvenir I guess,”

“Thing was tough too,” Yuuki tried to ignore her suddenly turning away. “Scales shrugged off almost everything we threw at it. Ended up having to throw one of Tsuchinoko’s mines in its mouth to kill it. Managed to get a bunch of those scales afterwards, not sure what can be done with them though….”

“Urgh, DO NOT tell him that, I’ll never here the end of it,” Nagisa muttered, grateful for the distraction from the heat in her cheeks. It was hot today wasn’t it? “Still if they’re that durable you might be able to get some use out of it, turn them into armor or something…”

“See, that’s what I was thinking. But dammit, I can’t seem to find a good way to actually work with the things.” Pulling out a tag, Yuuki unsealed a single scale. It shimmered gold in the sunlight, “they’re tough, which is great. But they’re also too tough to sew together.”

“Hmm, some kind of adhesive would be the easiest approach. But they can degrade rapidly in the wrong climate,” Nagisa said thoughtfully, her brow furrowing as she plucked the scale from Yuuki’s hand and studied it. “Your best bet might be to sandwich them between two pieces of cloth, then sew the cloth down between the scales to lock them in place. Here look,” taking an unused paper towel from her takoyaki order Nagisa placed the scale down on top of it and folded the paper over, enveloping it. See now you stitch along the edge of the scale, locking it in place. You add more scales horizontally, to make a row, then the next row you use a new piece of cloth and then you can sew the rows together by the cloth so that scales overlap and provide the most coverage.”

Nagisa leaned back and returned the scale to Yuuki. “The cloth between the scales should dampen any noise they make and add a little shock absorption and they won’t shine in the light either so it’ll still be suitable for stealth. It won’t look very flashy though,”

Yuuki nodded, listening intently to her puzzle out the best way to work with the scales. “Hmm yeah that would probably be the best way to do it.” He studied the golden scale for a moment, “I think I can live without it being very flashy. Works better for our missions that way.”

Nagisa regarded Yuuki thoughtfully, tilting her head slightly. “Hey do you actually know how to sew? Like: properly I mean, if you’re gonna rely on this in combat you’ll want it to be done right,”

Yuuki laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Not… really.”

“Yeah, see that’s what I thought,” Nagisa said, shaking her head dismissively. “Go order some heavy duty fabric, a cotton - nylon blend ideally and bring that and the scales around to my place and… I’ll figure something out,”

“Oh, uh, thanks.” Gathering the materials likely wouldn’t be too difficult. Particularly when compared to getting the scales. Though usually, Nagisa wanted something in return for a favor. It didn’t really compare to armor, but maybe… “So… I have a couple tickets to the Duel of Daises movie that just came out. Would you like to go?”

Nagisa’s eyes went wide for a moment until she caught herself and adopted a studied, casual posture. “S-sure- I mean, that sounds fine. I don’t normally watch movies but it might be fun. I guess,”

Yuuki raised an eyebrow, hiding a smirk. “Cool, I think it’s supposed to cover the first 10 volumes of the manga.”

“Oh it’s based on a manga?” Nagisa asked nonchalantly, her usual poker face back in full effect. “Anyway, that sounds fine, Let me know when it is and I’ll meet you at the theater,”

“It’s at seven, so we’ve got a few hours to kill.” With a shrug, Yuuki stood, “Maybe I’ll be able to find a good fabric in the meanwhile.”

“Cool, bring it to my place a little before the movie then I can work on it tomorrow and...we can go together, I guess,” Nagisa stood up as well, rather quickly and shot her rubbish into a nearby garbage can. “See ya then,”


a few hours later...

Nagisa stood in her bedroom, frowning at herself. There had always been a mirror in the room, but Nagisa rarely used it, as long as she looked professional than she didn’t really care much about her appearance, usually. Nagisa had gotten the mirror out after returning from the lab rescue minion and getting a hairdresser to even out her self inflicted hair cut. Nagisa touched a strand of sandy hair. It was still pretty short, but at least the cut was even and framed her face properly, she couldn’t say for sure if it was cute or anything like that- not that she cared. Besides, she couldn’t really do anything about her hair right now, she was focused on her clothes.

It was weird, it wasn’t like Nagisa had a problem with hanging out with Yuuki in her normal clothes and it wasn’t like this was a date or anything weird like that. Still, her usual stuff didn’t feel quite right so after nearly an hour of digging through her wardrobe Nagisa had found a pair of denim shorts and an airy white top that looked...okay? Nagisa didn’t even remember buying this stuff, had it been on sale? It was definitely more comfortable, despite it being 7pm the heat hadn’t really let up and these clothes were thinner and more breathable. Still they were a little too girly Nagisa decided, not really her thing. She should change before-

Yuuki lightly knocked on her door, shifting slightly as he waited for her to answer. A light blue shirt and black pants, his clothes were nicer than the clothes he’d been in earlier that day. While his shinobi kit no longer bore the Uchiha clan’s emblem, this shirt still had it. He glanced at the box in his hands, giving gifts to friends wasn’t exactly uncommon so why was he fretting about it so much?

“Uh Y-Yeah! Just a sec!” Nagisa called from her room,

SHIT Did she have time to change? No wait, she’d thrown her other outfit into a load of laundry and this other stuff.. Who knew if it would even be better? Nagisa decided she’d just have to go with this and after taking another moment in the mirror to steel herself she hurried over to the door and threw it open.

“Hey Yuuki,” Nagisa said with excessive casualness, before almost losing her cool. He was wearing something else too! If she’d changed back into her other clothes it would have been weird! What the Hell? Logically though Yuuki would have to have some nicer clothes from his parents. He looked… well, not bad anyway.

“Hey,” Yuuki offered her a slight smile. He hadn’t expected her to get dressed up for this. Sure, he had at Tsubaki’s unyielding insistence that he went in something other than clothes worn from work and training. “Y-you look nice.”

“Um, yeah.. You too,” Nagisa said, feeling her cheeks heat up. Why the hell couldn’t she keep a straight face today? “Anyway, what’s up with the box?” She asked, quickly changing the subject.

“Oh- uhh,” He held it out to her, “You’d said you’d never really had melon before, and they’re in season, so... “

“Jeez you didn’t have to-... thanks,” Nagisa took the box, it was surprisingly heavy for its size and even through the cardboard the melon smelled faintly sweet. Nagisa would have to figure out how to return the favor later.

“We should head off,” Nagisa said, checking her watch after placing the box gently down on her table. “If we want a good seat we should try and be a little early,”

Yuuki gave a slight hum in agreement, stepping back outside. The pair walked in silence for awhile, once they were out on the main street he spoke up once again. “I’ve actually been kinda avoiding any reviews or anything on the movie, really hoping they don’t fuck it up.”

“I haven’t read any reviews, but I did hear it’s been selling like crazy in the other cities it’s been released in,” Nagisa said, walking slowly beside Yuuki. She felt strangely aware of herself but not in a bad way. “The article mentioned some actor I’d never heard of but who has a lot of fans,”
“Kurio Mifune,” Yuuki shook his head, “He’s typically in romance movies, which is fine and all. But this isn’t that kind of story… I don’t know, maybe we’ll be surprised.”

“Oh now I remember why the name sounded familiar, my neighbor, the gossipy one, she’s obsessed with that dumb drama he’s on, every 7p.m I can hear it through the walls like clockwork,” Without really realising it, the pair had arrived at the cinema and as she spoke, Nagisa felt an intense aura descend upon her. She looked away from Yuuki to see a long line of customers ahead of them, with nearly every woman in the queue staring daggers at her.

Yuuki snickered, ignoring the glares. “Yeah, romance stories are all well and good, but fuck soap operas. They’re so predictable.”

“Yeah…”Nagisa said distractedly. She was busy scowling back at the women glaring at them which seemed to turn away most of them. Then Nagisa noticed something else strange about the queue ahead of them. None of these women, or girls in some cases, were here alone: they were all standing next to a man or boy of a roughly similar age, holding hands or leaning into each other…

what the hell? Are they all couples? Nagisa wondered, suddenly uneasy. wait a sec if I’m here with Yuuki doesn’t that kinda makes us look like-

“OH! Hey you two!” said a familiar, cheery voice said from behind Nagisa and Yuuki. Nagisa stiffened and turned around to come face to face with Yumi Nomokori.

“Oh...hey,” Nagisa said uneasily, with the direction her thinking had taken her Nagisa wasn’t too happy about being recognized, someone could easily get the wrong idea.

“Wow I didn’t think I’d see you both here!” Yumi said with a knowing smile. “Must be nice! Having someone to go with,” she said and sighed dreamily.

“Can’t say we expected to see you all the way in the Leaf,” Yuuki said, trying to keep away from the subject of the two of them being there. He hadn’t failed to notice the crowd and it was definitely easy for someone like Yumi to jump to conclusions.

“Well we don’t really have a cinema in the our village,” Yumi explained. “I’m here to help with a delivery we’re making to a toyshop so I thought I’d take the time to see the movie I’d been looking forward to. Arggh! It’s gonna be so good!” Yumi let out a fangirlish squeal. “Duel of Daises AND Kurio Mifune? Together at last? Genius!”

Yuuki sighed, “I don’t know about genius. This isn’t Shield of the King, the romance is just a minor subplot.” He glanced at his watch, doors would at least be opening soon.

“I don’t know, I think a central theme of the manga is individuals struggling to reconcile their personal relationships with expectations their feudal society places on them,” Yumi said enthusiastically. “Like when the foot of the King hesitates between protecting his family and his duty to his monarch that’s ultimately what leads to his death,”

“I wouldn’t put it like-” Nagisa stopped and coughed. “I mean, I haven’t read the manga or whatever, so take it easy with the spoilers,”

“Oh! OHMIGOSH! Sorry, sorry!” Yumi looked genuinely chastened. “You know what? I am just gonna, leave you guys to it, I think you probably want some alone time just the two of you right? Enjoy the movie!”

Yuuki watched her scramble away to a different place in line, “Well… she’s definitely still energetic,” he mused finally. “Guess it’s good the whole bandit thing didn’t mess her up too much.”

Nagisa rolled her eyes. “Boys always underestimate her type, she’s not as delicate as she’d like you to think,” Nagisa looked away and put her hands in the pockets of her shorts. “She sure had the wrong end of the stick though,”

“She’s also not a shinobi,” Yuuki countered but still relented with a shrug. “But, uh, yeah I guess she did.” Though he’d admit it was easy to jump to that conclusion given… everything.

“Y-yeah! It’s not like it’s that weird for two squadmates to go see a movie together!” Nagisa said, nodding in agreement. The line was finally starting to flow into the lobby and they were pushed along inexorably with it. As the serpentine queue tried to force itself through the theatre doors Nagisa and Yuuki were pushed together by the mass of humanity around them.

“Damn fangirls,” Yuuki muttered under his breath as they finally made it inside. He tried to ignore the faint burning in his face. They were just squademates, friends hanging out. It really wasn’t such a big deal.

Right?

“I can’t believe how many of them there are,” Nagisa agreed as her bare should brushed against Yuuki, why didn’t this dumb shirt have sleeves anyway? “Do we uh, want snacks?” she asked, suddenly interested in the menu displayed above the crowd. “Now that I think about it we should have just sealed some stuff before we came, these prices are ridiculous,”

“Mmm, might be cutting it close on time for another line.” Yuuki held up his watch so she could see the time, having moved it just enough that the neatly folded paper tucked beneath was visible.

“Hnnn guess so,” Nagisa said, smiling thinly. “You can be pretty organized when you want to huh?”

He scoffed, “someone on the team has to be. Gods know it’s not Katsumi.”

“Well it’s usually not you either,” Nagisa said giving him a sideway glance. “C’mon let’s go find a seat then,”


The actual theatre was dark and invitingly cool after the balmy evening air, with rows upon rows of chairs covered in soft, red leather. If Nagisa had been alone she would have chosen to sit near the back, she didn’t really like people sitting behind her in the dark and sometimes watching the people in front of you was as amusing as the actual movie. Nagisa wasn’t sure where Yuuki would want to sit though.

“Looks like there’s a spot near the back open,” Yuuki pointed to one of the upper rows. “Or are you more of a front row fan?” Front row worked great for plays and concerts, but the Uchiha never understood the appeal in movies. You always had to crane your neck to really see the screen.

“No that sounds fine,” Nagisa said, leading the way to a pair of free seats in the back row and sat down.

The movie opened with ads and trailers which the audience seemed to inclined to chat through. Nagisa didn’t really know what to say, but she was desperately uninterested in the vapid looking comedy trailer that was playing and hyper aware of Yuuki’s presence so her eyes flitted back to him.

Blue met brown before pairs flickered away. Yuuki was silently thankful the dark theatre hid the red that was creeping across his features.

Before either Yuuki or Nagisa could breach the silence between them the movie started in earnest, with swelling, orchestral music and sweeping shots of rugged terrain and the indistinct chatter in the theatre gave way to hushed awe…


“Damn that was long,” Nagisa muttered, then she yawned, stretching her arms out as the crowd carried her and Yuuki out of the theater. “I mean how many scenes did we really need of Mifune telling the female lead that they couldn’t be together than smouldering at the camera? Then they hook up anyway! Which didn’t even happen in the-” Nagisa caught herself and stopped.

“They ignored all the important parts of the manga.” Yuuki muttered, though he hadn’t failed to catch Nagisa’s remark. “Like, I get them downplaying Iemori’s torture, but still… At least you weren’t going into the movie blind.”

“No- I just- What I meant was… you know what, I need to use the bathroom before we leave, I’ll be back in a minute,” Nagisa said quickly, ducking back into the theater before Yuuki could say anything.

Yuuki raised an eyebrow, watching her run off with an amused expression. It was a good series, nothing to be embarrassed over… He leaned back against a wall with a slight shrug.


In the bathroom Nagisa splashed water on her face and stared at herself in the mirror. What a dumb lie to get caught out on. She of all people should have known better than to give herself away like that and in the first place it wasn’t even necessary to conceal. Nagisa had worked so hard in the past to be able to keep her cool, to be able to maintain a mask of self assuredness no matter what happened. Lately just being around Yuuki made it hard to keep up that mask.

With the cold tap water pushing down the redness in her cheeks, Nagisa dried off her face and, in the mirror, contorted her face into different expressions until she was sure her had regained control of it. When she was satisfied Nagisa left the bathroom, but she was still distracted and not really looking where she was going. As a consequence, Nagisa’s forward momentum was suddenly halted when she collided with someone.

The person was taller than Nagisa, and pretty solid so she more or less bounced off him, a teenager who probably had two or three years on her.

“Hey watch i-” the teenager’s voice changed and his expression shifted from a snarl into a shady smile when he saw who it was that had bumped into him. “Oh hey cutie, you can push up against me anytime you like,”

The hell… Nagisa looked up at the older boy, he had slicked back hair and was wearing a baggy sports shirt with a gaudy necklace that Nagisa could guess was maybe half a percent actual gold. The teen was flanked by two buddies in similar attire, but they seemed content to leer at her from the back and let him do the talking. Nagisa was familiar with this type and with this kind of behaviour, but it was normally never targeted at her. Then Nagisa remembered that she almost always wore shinobi gear, right now she didn’t even have her forehead protector on, when Yuuki had surprised her at her place she had left it behind.

From his place against the wall, Yuuki had been half paying attention to the crowd milling about. Wonder if we should grab something to eat? Argh, then it’ll really seem like a date…. Was that even something either of them actually wanted? They were teammates, sure, and worked incredible well in tandem. But was that all…?

The Uchiha found himself pulled from that train of thought by the trio that had stopped Nagisa. Her expression and posture seemed… less than amused.

How the hell am I gonna get rid of these idiots without causing a scene? Nagisa wondered, as the lead idiot segued neatly into a rambling spiel about his breakdancing career she was apparently supposed to find attractive. Even without weapons they were no threat, but it wasn’t like she was supposed to go around assaulting civilians. Nagisa turned to leave quietly until she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder.

“Hey where you goin baby?” Asked the teen as his friends sniggered behind him, Nagisa’s free hand clenched into a fist.

ahh screw it, a few broken bones won’t matter too much

“Gonna lose that hand if you don’t let go,” Yuuki said in a dark tone as he approached the trio from the side. “Or maybe a knife lodged in your throat.” A faint, mute anger lingered in his otherwise neutral expression.

“O-oh yeah? Well.. Screw you! Whatever let’s go guys,” The older teens put on a brave face but they all looked visibly shaken and beat a hasty retreat. From her position Nagisa leaned around to see Yuuki’s eyes glowing crimson.

well that would explain it Nagisa mused, forcing herself to exhale slowly and relax her clenched fist. “Assholes” Nagisa muttered, watching them leave.

“No kidding,” Yuuki shook his head. “Should’ve just let you stab one.”

“They weren’t really worth getting my hands dirty over,” Nagisa said as they drifted away from the cinema together. “Anyway apart from that I had fun, the movie was okay overall,” It was true Mifune had ended up in too many scenes but seeing him, Nagisa could sort of see what the fuss was about, it kind of made her wonder what a certain person she knew would look like at that age.

“It was a fun night,” a slight, but soft smile had crossed Yuuki’s features. “Thanks for coming with me.”

“Hmm I guess you’ll have to take me to the sequel then,” Nagisa said casually, keeping ahead of Yuuki so he couldn’t see her own smile.

KageYuuki

 

[KageYuuki]

Hideki Ukita Yuuki Uchiha
At a shrine none too far out of the gates of Konoha two young men sat talking away about various things with beer lingering upon each breath. They started none too long ago but were already feeling the effects.

“Come on man, she's totally into you! I mean, has to be! You two get along like… Butter on bread? Soy sauce on rice? Fuck if I know man..” Hideki sat atop of a step towards the shrine’s donation box, the thing was old as sin and looked to be part of a larger shrine at once but grown over.

Perhaps on purpose? Who knows, but it was secluded enough that the two could talk frankly.

“Just because we get along well doesn’t instantly mean we’re in love,” Yuuki groaned. “We’re teammates! It makes life a lot easier if we actually get along.” He pointed at Hideki, “What about you and Aiko? Or Mai? You get along with your teammates.”

“Yea and I’m a flirty bi-” he belched “-tch. I get along with most of everyone! I don’t know why I can’t fucken stop flirting man it’s causing so much damn issue!! Like god damn, can’t I be friendly to another woman without the others picking up steak knives or kicking me to the damn moon!? Don’t get me fucking started on that fucking moon too!

You don’t know man! You don’t fucken know!!!”

“See, if you were just being nice, you probably wouldn’t have that issue.”

“How are complements not nice!?”

Yuuki rolled his eyes, the snap of a can opening. At least Hideki had found something that wasn’t utter shit this time. “Compliments are nice, it’s when you’re giving them with… like… fuck me eyes that it’s a problem.”

“My eyes are always fuck me eyes damn it! Not that I’m god damn getting any, fuck as if it could happen anyways! I’d go for one but then she’d probably end up stabbed by 17 people! THEN EATEN ALIVE BY RABBITS!!!

Fucking rabbits man…” the young man looked beaten, he has yet to tell somebody about that night… And Takara barely remembered…

“You know there's probably a way to nullify the contract or some shit. Bet that Koma guy could help. Worked with him on a mission once, still can’t figure out what the fuck he did.” The Uchiha turned back to his drink, adding with a mumble, “Only person I’ve ever seen that actually scares sensei….”

“I don’t know man... Can he get rid of the fucking moon? Like shit every full moon I can barely sleep. You’ve seen what those rabbits can do to a corpse right?” The young man asked, pointing his beer holding hand towards Yuuki, spilling a bit on the ground with his motion. “Shit, strip a corpse in under 20 seconds…

I haven’t even seen their leader yet, probably some monster rabbit or some shit. Like one of the tailed beasts!”

Yuuki leaned back, quiet for a moment as he looked up at the sky. “What if there was a tailed beast on the moon?”

“I’d believe it… What if the tailed beast WAS the moon?”

“How the fuck would you even fight something that big?”

“Uhh… I don’t know.. Big jutsu? Like… Maybe…. Everyone coming together and doing one fucking HUGE one! Like a team thing.” Hideki opened up his arms at the mention of a huge jutsu. “No idea what, Kill the moon technique probably doesn’t exist.”

“You know, I have heard of techniques kind of like that. Not exactly on the scale of destroying the damn moon - Don’t think one of the bijuu could even hit that thing as far as it is.” Yuuki took a deep drink, “But I remember Dad telling this story, he and one of his students cast this jutsu together, mixing in different elements, and basically used something from a damn kekkei genkai.”

Hideki continued to stare skywards, laying on his back. “....What if… we did something like that?”

“I mean I don’t see why we couldn’t.” Sure there was the fact that his father was the Hokage and said student, Umichi, was a genius. But those were minor details.

“Let's do it, we gotta do that shit man. We can’t just keep up our normal shit! We evolve and stuff!... So.. what do we do?”

“So, like, the way he explained it,” Yuuki jumped to his feet, stumbling in the process. Making a handsign, a paper clone formed beside him. “You both need to do the handsigns, like… I guess facing each other?” One hand from the clone and one from the real body worked through the seals for the fireball technique, a staple among Uchiha. Yuuki released the stream of fire - small as it may have been - straight up into the air, bathing everything with an orange glow. “One person probably molds one type of elemental chakra and the second molds the other to form the jutsu. My understanding anyway.”

“Okay... So…. uhh… We should choose a good jutsu combo to try then? Fireball is cool, maybe it’ll heat up whatever else is done..” Hideki offered his not complete and bullshitted wisdom on the subject. “Like… Earth Turning- No… Earth Plume? No that would just throw fire and rocks… Plus no signs…” Hideki sighed…

“...prideful stand…?”

“I mean… I’d be fuckin terrified if someone came at me with hands of red-hot stone…” Yuuki nodded, “Yeah, that’d definitely be cool. Or… hot… fuck, whatever.”

Fuck yea it’d be freaky! I could kick rabbit but with that! Or maybe something with Moving Earth Core, turn it into a damn volcano or some shit!” Hideki got riled up with the thought. “Let's try prideful stand This is totally gonna be wicked!”

“Gotta run through the handsigns for me first.”

The two young men, in their drunken state, attempted to work out something. While their efforts were commendable, and with their skill in ninjutsu they produced results, Hideki, in the end, ended up with some rather worrying burns and some thoroughly burnt clothes. An infirmary visit and incredibly long scorning from Yuuki’s mother awaited the two.

The next time, Hideki swore they would use the prideful stand arms that didni't connect to him. While many would think they should’ve thought of that in the first place, alcohol and thinking didn't always go hand in hand.

But one lesson became evidently clear.

Don’t drink and think up combinations for powerful jutsu kids.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Mean Girl and Sweaty Boy​

The sun beamed down from a crystal clear sky, warm rays hitting Moku directly as he completed push up number seven hundred and twelve. He tried best he could to reach seven hundred and thirteen, but his arms gave out and he landed flat on the stony outcropping he was exercising on. His chest reported mild, minimal discomfort where a particularly sharp stone pressed into his bare chest but he blew it off as he regained his breath. Breath ragged, he pushed himself slowly into a sitting position, stretching his arms and chest while he did.

This was his favorite spot to train immediately surrounding the Leaf village. A large stone cavern in an open clearing, with ample space atop it's mouth, situated in the forest. The trees were far enough away that he could practice fire style in the clearing and on the cave without worry of starting a forest fire. Yet they were tall and dense enough that no one has ever wandered in on him training. Which is why he felt comfortable training shirtless and in shorts, despite the scarring on his chest and abdomen, and his minimal body confidence.

He stood up to his full height and did a couple quick hand signs. Next to him appeared an equally sweaty, equally shirtless Moku. The clone was made of glass, sure, but Moku had made just the one and poured large chakra quantities into it in order for the durability to be high. After a momentary grin at each other they began to exchange kicks and punches. The clone leaving bruises and a bloody nose as proof of its hits, while Moku left chips and cracks in the clone. They went through the motions with full attention on each other, not sparing the clearing around them a glance.

A cold air had been settling upon the area for a few minutes now, as a pair of ice blue eyes scanned the two identical individuals sparring in the clearing. Aiko didn’t recognize them, but she was certain they were leaf ninja. No way some random foreigner would be allowed so close to the village.

‘Aiko’ hopped down from her perch atop one of the surrounding trees, no longer hidden by any branches. A fishing pole hung over her shoulder, and an empty bucket was in her left hand. It wasn’t often she approached a stranger out in the open like this, but today ‘Aiko’ was feeling confident enough to take down a punk or two on her way to her usual fishing hole. Being kidnapped again was not on her agenda

The guy had some impressive muscles, had plenty of scars. He had to be a ninja. Why hadn’t she met him yet? ‘Aiko’ slowly approached, before calling out to the battling twins.

“What’re you doin out here? Don’t you know it’s dangerous to be out alone?” Aiko full well knew she was being a hypocrite, but was just probing for information.

Moku and his clone reacted in surprise mid attack, both turning to the voice while throwing a hard punch. They both connected to the others distracted face. The clone shattered and spread glass on his side of the cave top, while Moku was knocked clear to the edge with a grunt. He wiped the blood from his nose and spit some to the side as he rose. Making his way to the side of the outcropping, he looked down upon the girl who called to him.

He didn't recognize the dark skinned girl offhand. She seemed to be carrying fishing supplies, yet her tone of voice made him think her a fellow shinobi. He jumped from the outcropping, landing ten or so feet in front of her. He dusted off his pants and greeted her with a raised hand and a smile. “Hiya! Name's Moku, and this is my favorite training spot. I've been training her since my early academy days without real incident. So I'm not real worried about the danger. What about yourself? If you think it's dangerous why wouldn't you fish in one of the spots closer to the village?”

‘Aiko’s’ brow furrowed. She didn’t recognize the name. He must be a ninja in another squad by how old he appeared to be.

“There aren’t any good fish near the village you idiot,” ‘Aiko’ replied harshly. Of course he’d ask her a dumb question right off the bat. He looked like the musclehead type anyway, Aiko thought.

“You know, if I had been an enemy ninja you’d probably be dead right now,” ‘Aiko stated bluntly. It wouldn’t do anyone any good to let this boy leave himself so vulnerable out here if he couldn’t even detect her presence. Aiko was quite lacking in the stealth department.

Moku’s smile dropped away as the girl called him an idiot. Over fishing spots? Really? “I wouldn't know, I don't fish or hunt.” He frowned deeply, annoyed that his training was interrupted by someone so rude. After all the times his training out here had gone uninterrupted too. He knew he wasn't likely truly alone, as it was likely after the village attack that Anbu or someone was likely watching all routes into the village. But he didn't mind them so much.

This however wasn't something he felt he wanted to waste his time in bringing up as she said he'd likely be dead were she an enemy. His from turned into a grimace and angrily furrowed eyebrows. “If you were an enemy you could sure try. It wouldn't turn out so well here of all places though. There's a reason I pick it as a training ground, and a reason I'm relatively relaxed here.” He crossed his arms and tilted his head sideways while he looked at her.

‘Aiko’ raised an eyebrow. Had the boy set up traps to ward off any sneak attackers? If so, she’d either been lucky, or the traps were worthless. Maybe he was a earth-style user like Hideki, so he felt comfortable fighting on flat earth.

“Oh? And why would you pick here?”

Moku rolled his neck for a moment. The popping sounds and sensations were both painful and pleasant simultaneously. “Well as an Academy student I trained here a lot with my family. As a genin I trained here with my old squadmates.” The thought brought on a wave of melancholy. He cast a glance aside to a distant crater in the ground, where his Akimichi teammate had been practicing the Human Boulder technique.

“Nowadays I train alone, but I'm not dumb enough to assume Anbu or someone isn't watching this way for invaders. Plus I'm intimately familiar with the area and it plays to my strengths.” He grinned wolfishly, his eyes half closed. “I may be an idiot, but I'm not stupid!”

‘Aiko’ gave him an uncaring expression. “Oh, so it’s just some sentimental foolishness. You’re lucky no one else has tried claiming this place. I know a lot of people who’d love to tear this place up during a training session.” Aiko ignored the part where he boasted about his strengths. She could care less what he was good at. Idiots like him always had a way of staying alive…

“Are you a chuunin? You don’t seem old enough to be a jonin.”

Moku ground his teeth together, firmly having reached passed off. “It's part sentimental, but it's not foolish. Unlike you apparently, if you're too stupid to have heard the last part about ‘familiar with the area’ and ‘plays to my strengths’. If someone wants to try and ‘claim’ this area then they can fight me.”

He raised his hands in an open gesture of welcoming her to come at him. “I'm a Chunin, yeah. But my skills in multiple areas are Jonin level. All these insults and rudeness. You're clearly looking to start something. Let's go then if that's the case!” He motioned for her to try something as he took a firm stance.

“Well, your not very ninja like…” ‘Aiko’ grumbled, taking a few steps forward. The water clone wasn’t exactly sure what to do at this point. Meanwhile, in the same tree the water clones had dropped from, the actual Aiko thought through her next steps. She could either strike with a surprise attack right now, she thought. However, if this guy wasn’t any good he wouldn’t notice an ice sword coming at his back until it was too late. She couldn’t go around killing her fellow ninja all willy nilly. Her second option was to fight him head to head. Aiko wasn’t a fan of that kind of fighting, but it would put him in his place. Besides, real ninja didn’t fight fair. Her third option was to just leave right now, and avoid dealing with the guy. It was probably too late for that. Surely he’d noticed her up here by now, swinging her legs back and forth and icing over the tree.

The water clone didn’t drop any of the gear it was carrying, but suddenly winded up, bring the bucket back behind it, before launching the bucket at Moku.

Moku was expecting an attack, but not something so…. lame. The bucket flew at him and it wasn't even a throw he'd worry about letting connect. However, he didn't make a habit of just letting hits connect. So instead he caught the bucket midair and flung it back at the girl, with added strength and speed.

The bucket hit Aiko’s water clone with a splash, sending the fishpole and the bucket tumbling down into a puddle of water.

At first Moku freaked out, thinking he'd accidentally hit her so hard she had exploded. Then he realized that was dumb and there was water on the ground. He furrowed his brow and extended his senses to feel for chakra use. His efforts led him to look towards a tree at the edge of the clearing. There he saw a replica of the girl, no this one was probably the original.

Moku angrily stalked close enough to the edge of the clearing for a yelling conversation. He raised his jaw to yell to the girl in the tree, which looked like it was freezing over. Wait, was it actually kinda colder over here? He did notice it was somewhat chillier the closer he had gotten. Whatever, he didn't mind the cold much. His blood was still boiling with energy and anger. “So, not even brave enough to insult me personally huh? Are you even actually looking to fight or did you just want to annoy someone today?”

Aiko shrugged from her perch. “Yea, I guess I just felt like annoying someone today…” Aiko mumbled, This would be a good chance to test her limits if this guy was as good as he claimed. She dropped down from the tree, and faced Moku. “I’ll leave you alone if you can best me in a game then. If you can hit me one time, then I’ll leave and never bother you again. If you can’t hit me, then I guess I can just brag about how some sweaty idiot couldn’t even land a single hit on me.”

Aiko formed a series of hand signs, and her chakra flared, freezing the ground beneath her.

Ice Release: Chakra Mode

She then body flickered over to her fallen fishing pole and bucket, picking them up casually with her back to Moku. She was obviously very confident Moku couldn’t land a hit.

“Don’t worry, I won’t run away too much.”

Moku closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Anger seeping into his posture, he turned with more force than necessary. If nothing else he could say he wasn't exactly impressed by her speed. He watched as the ground around her froze as she activated an Ice Chakra Cloak.

He didn't like it, but he had to admit that was pretty cool. He took a stance with one leg lifted and gathered chakra to himself. After a quick hand signs stone began to gather around his legs, encasing them.

“Earth Style: Kicks of Stone!”

With that he stomped that leg back down, the ground cracking around his footprint. He spun around, lifting the other leg as he did and used chakra to launch the stone around his lifted leg at her. The stone crossed the distance as a brown blur headed straight for her icy form.

Aiko didn’t even flinch, as the stone crashed into an curved wall of ice only a foot from the Uchiha. The stone dropped to the ground, totally covered in ice. The ice wall that had protected Aiko had vanished just as soon as it had appeared, only appearing long enough to block the attack.

Two icey blue eyes gazed at Moku, unimpressed. The girl didn’t say a word, but instead just awaited his next attempt. If she learned anything from doing this with Mai, the attacks would only get more intense.

Moku frowned as the stone hit the ground in front of her. He stared at the frozen mass both in irritation and curiosity. Maybe it was time to try out a new combination. He flicked his hands through a few hand signs while he took in a deep breath and molded his chakra inside him. He felt the condensed heat as a pleasant respite from some of the cold he seemed to be feeling from being close to the girl.

As he opened his mouth to release the jutsu, he also jump kicked with the other leg, releasing the stone from it as he did the first.

“Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!”

A large fiery sphere leapt from his mouth and headed straight for the girl. Directly following it was the launched kick of stone. His idea being that the fire would dissipate enough of the cold to get the stone past to hit her. He watched in anticipation to see the results. It wasn't something he'd done before, so he was curious to find if it'd be something he could use later.

Aiko always wanted to learn that jutsu. It had been common for an Uchiha to use it. However, her fire release skills were pretty weak still.

The blaze of flames were almost effortlessly blocked by the frozen wall instantly created by her jutsu. The flames were blasted off to the sides and above Aiko. The following stone however, Aiko didn’t expect. It didn’t matter though, because Ice Release Chakra Mode didn’t need the user to expect anything.

Aiko stood unscathed in the clearing.

“Not a bad try. Too bad fire isn’t really as good against ice as people hope. Anyway, I’m starting to get kinda bored. I’ll give you one more try before it’s my turn!” Aiko spoke flatly, trying not to show how confident she was feeling. However, she couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. Mai didn’t let her win easily. The crazy girl had nearly managed to get past this jutsu, who’s to say that this random sweaty fellow couldn’t do better?

Moku grimaced as the two attacks were once again passively deflected. However the second attack looked like it got closer…. maybe? Moku couldn't be completely sure. He grit his teeth hard as she mentioned getting bored. “Well, I suppose I'll have to try harder then.” He flicked his hands swiftly through the hand movements and made three clones that looked like him down to the last detail. The three clones and Moku all body flickered at the same time. Each one stopped around the girl about equidistant to her left, right, back, and front.

Moku was hoping that, should this fail, he'd have more chance to attack her without her knowledge of which one was real. However, he had to try this group attack first before getting to that point. Each Moku went through the same hand signs almost simultaneously.

In four part harmony they said, “Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!”

Four separate volleys of multiple fireballs launched themselves at the girl. As each was directed by chakra the different Moku's were able to guide the individual fireballs. Hoping to find a direction that didn't protect her, or find if blocking too many things at once would create holes. As such they guided the fireballs to hit her on all sides at the same time. He sure hoped this worked.

It didn’t work, but was pretty hot nonetheless.
Each fireball was blocked by individual walls of ice large to enough to deflect that fireball alone. If two would strike at the same time on different sides, two seperate little ice shields would protect Aiko. Blocking fire jutsu didn’t take up too much chakra. Hell, a lot of the time it just got too cold and dissipated before it could even be blocked. It was earth style jutsu that took more chakra to deny. That stuff was dangerous.

When the volley finally ended, Aiko stood in the center of frozen circle. Surrounding the circle was burnt up earth.

“Not a bad technique, if my defense didn’t hold up I could’ve died... You’re a lot better than I thought you were. But, it’s my turn now, so try not to get hit, ok? I won’t try to kill you or anything,” Aiko explained.

She formed a hand sign, releasing the jutsu that had been protecting her.

Moku was disappointed to find it didn't work. Not only that, but he was annoyed to have her further look down on him. She might have thought what she said was admitting he was good or something, but all he heard was how she assumed he was bad. How she thought he needed warning of her attack in order to dodge it or not die. She wasn't taking him seriously at all, and that didn't sit well with him.

When he saw her dispel her cloak it didn't even take a second for his clones to do what he wanted. Simultaneously body flickering, they all stopped in a triangle around her. Their fists were extended towards the girl, stopping an inch or so from her body. They let them hang there for a moment. Making clear they could've hit her, they then fell apart into shards of glass. Bits of the shards fell onto her shoes.

Moku stood alone again, twenty or so feet in front of her. His hands flicked through several signs as he used another jutsu. He did not smile as he said, “Earth Style: Earth Spear!” His skin quickly took on a dark black hue as it hardened to the level of steel. He then stood there, arms crossed. “There aren't turns in combat, and you'll find it's much harder to kill me than you seem to assume.”

Aiko flinced, nearly falling as the fists stopped in front of her face. She didn’t expect him to attack when she lowered her guard. But then again, that’s what ninja did. She was the foolish one for assuming he wouldn’t.

“This isn’t combat, it’s a game. Combat is too stressful for an off-day,” Aiko spoke, trying to retain her cool. They were technically comrades after all.

She had seen the jutsu Moku just used many times before. Hideki loved it. This would mean that none of her attacks could actually hurt him. Of course, Aiko had thought of how to beat Hideki plenty of times. Her only choice was genjutsu, but was that fair to use in the game? Aiko shrugged, sweaty boy probably wouldn’t care with all this talk of combat and such.

Aiko icey blue eyes took on the familiar form of the sharingan, two tomoe locking eyes with Moku.

Genjutsu: Spreading Calm

Moku was a direct and honest sort, constantly keeping eye contact with her as he spoke. As such, his lack of knowing she was an Uchiha played against him. He had no defense against Genjutsu except to try and avoid being put under it at all. This time he had no chance of that. He blinked for a second as her eyes changed, and suddenly his anger and irritation seemed to dissipate swiftly.

He blinked for a second in confusion but that went away as well. He remembered her mention of a game and smiled wide. His teeth gleaming a more reflective black then his skin. “Well you shoulda said so from the start. I thought you were looking to start a fight.” He sat in place, a rough sound of impact where the steel of his body hit the ground. He sat, leaning back, with his hands on the ground. “So, what kind of game are we talkin?”

Aiko calmly strode over to the calm and relaxed Moku. Thanks to her genjutsu, he had forgotten all about fighting her. She knelt down next to him, and put her hand on his head, and released the genjutsu.

“The kind of game that I just won,” Aiko said, standing back up and holding out a hand to help him up. “I’m Aiko, good to meet you sweaty.”

Moku blinked rapidly as the sense of calm went away. He realized after a moment that he'd been under Genjutsu and this girl was an Uchiha. He looked up at her irritably and looked back and forth between her hand and face. He set his jaw but took her hand and got up.

“I guess, sure. But next time you want a game, just ask. I like games. I DON'T like people mocking or threatening me.” He released his jutsu and his skin quickly changed back to its normal color. Moku gave her a sidelong glance as the lack of steel skin made the cold more noticeable this close to her. Well, he could deal with it without outward signs of his true discomfort. He had to train in the snow to get his first level of his fire cloak perfected after all. He smirked slowly. “Ice to meet you too!”

“Well, I don’t know anyone who actually likes being mocked or threatened so I guess that makes you pretty normal,” Aiko replied.

However, the guys little ‘pun’, was painful. “Ugh, yea yea. I’ll leave you alone now. You should find someone to actually train with. You can only get so far punching your own clones all the time.”

With that said Aiko turned and dashed off, not waiting for a response. She had fishing to do, and she had put herself behind schedule trying to have a bit of fun.

Moku blinked in confusion as she ran off. He was about to ask her if she wanted to train actually. Maybe he said something wrong? Or, perhaps she wasn't lying about fishing? He watched her go with pursed lips. Then he shrugged and body flickered back onto the cavetop.

Creating a clone real quick, he began his hand to hand practice again. As he and the clone began using Fists of Flame and Kicks of Stone he wondered about training partners. He didn't think he was quite ready emotionally to bring his new squadmates here to train. Not yet at least. Maybe Hideki would like it out here?

 

[Ganryu]

Earnest Review​

A grunt could be heard from Takara’s steps along with the plodding of 3 points, before a knock on her door. Mai was slightly mummified, and on crutches, but hey, for every action, there was a reaction. At this point, Mai liked to think she was pretty mobile on the things.

She grinned slightly as there was news she was willing to bet even Takara hadn’t got yet. Then again, Takara was coldly efficient sometimes. Made it perfect for what Mai needed, but at the same time was the root of most of her arguments as a genin. Mai was hotheaded. Takara and Nagisa were cold. So, clashing. She didn’t even know how she got along so well with Yukari, but hey, she’d take whatever friends she could get especially good ones.

The door opened shortly after she knocked, a pair of violet hues looking out at her. Takara leaned against the doorframe, a book held loosely at her side. “Break out of the hospital already, hm?” Despite the familiar exasperation, there was also an odd warmth in her tone.

“At this point, what are they going to do? Broken bones are broken bones. And ruptured cells are… and… Meh. Wanted to see how fast your information network worked, even if I had to drag myself here. What have ya heard already? Oh, also mind if I come in? Crutches suck.”

“Well,” Takara stepped back, giving Mai room to hobble in. “I heard that you and your team were responsible for bringing down the leader of the Hidden Star Village.” Closing the door behind her, the Jounin moved further inside. “I also heard that you opened the fifth gate during that fight.”

It had barely been six months since she’d taught Mai to open the first gate, to be able to open five of them… It took me years to even get that far. Insufferable as the girl could be there really wasn’t denying her sheer talent. “Ah, I just finished making some soba, want any?”

Mai looked smug as she managed to hobble over to the couch.

“Dang, can’t beat your network. Where do you hear this from anyways? One of these days. Ugh. Sure I’ll take some.”

Mai’s smile dropped, and she took a deep breath, talking less excited.

“Did you hear I helped organize the mission along with Susumu in the office? Tch… Takara-sensei, I was hoping for some advice if you have any. I mean, we technically succeded, but it doesn’t feel like it. Nothing went right. Blew up everything I touched. Trying to be a real ninja, but, just. I dunno. Seems like I’m just good for hitting things. And if I showed you half of those, not the best at that either… I dunno, would you have some time for advice?”

“I know,” Takara came back with plates of noodles and dishes of sauce, “Susumu spoke to me before giving the mission to you.” She set the plates down before taking a seat beside Mai, “But missions that you succeed even when everything goes wrong… you’ll probably end up with a lot of those. Gods know I have. I can certainly try to give you advice anyway.”

Mai raised an eyebrow. “Is there anything you don’t know? Then again, guess why I came. Well, know something that might give you a surprise. I know you got lots of information and such, but well, there might some details might be easier to show you. Uh… If you have time, mind splitting some handsigns with me? My hands are kiiinda slow, so, uh… if you could be patient. Handsigns are going to be: Rat, Dog, Bird, Rat, Ox, Rat, Monkey, Ram, Dog, Ox.”

Mai tried a neutral expression. Well… What would Takara think of her jutsu?

Takara blinked, seemingly genuinely shocked for a change. “You’re still healing, so go ahead and use my chakra too.”

Genjutsu: Re: Life

Mai showed the various happenings of the mission, from the arrival, to her speech to her teammates, trying to hide the secret from them, telling the secret to them, fighting Nagisa, the actual fight with the Hoshikage.

Finishing the jutsu, both would end up back at Takara’s apartment. Mai was exhausted. Genjutsu she was good at, but it wasn’t her specialty. Long ones were draining.

“Oh yeah, I might have picked up genjutsu. But yeah… I dunno, feel like I messed up everything on the mission. Should I have kept quiet the whole time about the meteor? Should I have broke Susumu’s suggestion and told them at the start? Should I have fought Nagisa? Should I have made her squad leader for it? I thought she was smart and collected, smarter than me, but she went berserk when she found out she was missing details. Hate to admit it, but kinda admired her, but now that bridges is burnt.

We weren’t even supposed to fight the Hoshikage. I kinda feel like an idiot for trying, even if we won. I had to use 5 of the gates, and I’ve never practiced any gate beyond the first. ‘Deathwind’ would have killed us all if we weren’t luckily carrying that meteorite. I dunno. I’m trying to be a jonin, but… well. Planning a mission is hard. I want to be more than a brawler, but, well, smarts ain’t ever been my thing. How did you get so smart?”

Takara was silent for a long moment, just trying to process it all. ”Picked up”? You created most of those… She sighed, “It’s hard to tell how missions are going to turn out, there’s always going to be those questions nagging at you. Experience doesn’t seem to change that, I’m sure even the Hokage finds himself asking the same questions. I know I do...”

The jounin picked at her noodles for a moment, “There really wasn’t any way of predicting how Nagisa would react to that news, but you had to make a snap judgement to stop weeks of work from falling apart. I doubt Kurogane would have turned up again so easily if the first attempt failed. As for Susumu’s order to keep the real nature of the mission secret, why do you think he gave that order?” She took a bite from the soba, letting Mai think for a moment. Not enough nori…

Mai didn’t touch her noodles still, thinking on the advice and question. Why keep it a secret anyways.

You want me to act clueless as part of some elaborate set up? I can do that! I’m actually capable of acting!

“Because we weren’t a cohesive team… Nagisa’s from Squad 4, me and Hideki are from Squad 6. I should have taken Aiko. Or not have gone myself. Just figured Nagisa was smart, and she is, but well, I don’t know her that well. Either everyone know, or no one…. But when you put ninjas from different squads together, they are unpredictable.

Hahaha… Me, talking about people being unpredictable. Who’d have thought?”

Mai seemed more in tears at the laughing than anything.

“There’s another reason for it too, that jutsu you used to show me everything? The reverse is also possible. Reading the mind of an enemy shinobi is common for members of the Intelligence Division. Kaito, that Rain nin you encountered, is apparently capable of it. Had he chosen to look through Hideki’s memories and you had told him everything, the entire mission could have fallen apart then and there.”

“Still, I guess everything worked. ANBU from sand got to interrogate him, I killed a man, none of us are permanently hurt… I guess that’s a success in every definition of the term.

Just… well, Nagisa ain’t ever gunna forgive me. I broke my rule and killed. And it was someone that would be better alive for more information. I kept hesitating and couldn’t act worth anything. We only lived due to sheer dumb luck. I dunno. Just… just doesn’t taste like victory. Feels Pyrrhic. Hell, used to even be terror on your squad, and yet here I am asking for advice. Not sure how I’ll reach ‘high’ ninja if I keep this up.”

“This right here is how.” Takara looked over at her, “Acknowledging your mistakes, trying to learn and grow from things like this, those aren’t things you would have done a few years ago. It took me a lot longer and many far worse mistakes to grow up and learn that.”

Mai took a mouthful of noodles, and, characteristically, spoke with her mouth full.

“You mistakes? What’d you even mess up on? *gulp* You have a strong kekkei genkai, know alot of stuff, and never lose your cool. I’ve lost most of the use of my arms for traps I’ve fallen for, near killed a team, and nearly died myself 3 different times. Four if you count Dai-... nevermind. I dunno. Just still making mistakes. And there are still ones I’d be willing to make.”

“I used to be prideful, stubborn, more than a little reckless…” Takara quietly chuckled, in short she sounded a lot like Mai. Granted, her stubbornness never really did go away if all her fights with her student were any indication. “But I’ve made more mistakes than I can count. Even… losing an entire team I was supposed to lead.”

Something seemed off to Mai as she sat eating and thinking about it. If it really was Takara’s fault completely, she wouldn’t be the only one alive afterwards. Yet Takara definitely carried the weight.

Thinking about it, what would Mai rather have, her mistakes hurt her, or those around her? Every mistake she’d made had been etched into her body. Worst she’d ever seen a teammate(other than training) was Aiko after Daisuke’s lab. Mai would much rather take a hit than let someone else do it. She was suddenly grateful, and it helped put things into perspective. Finishing the noodles off, Mai looke fully at Takara.

“Thanks Takara-sensei… that, really did help with a lot. Hmm… Do you know of any books you’d expect a jonin to know about?”

“I’m glad I could at least help with something,” Takara stood, moving over to a shelf and scanning the titles of the numerous books packed within. She reached to grab one, and hesitated, “I… know I’ve been a pretty poor excuse for a sensei these past few years.” Her voice was quiet, almost a murmur, not that Mai wouldn’t be able to hear. Quickly clearing her throat, she continued while pulling out various textbooks. “But it’s not going to be long before you pass me up completely. Here, these are some things I was given to study when I first became a jounin.”

Mai shrugged as she took the books.

“Meh, sucked for me, but I ain’t the best student. I mean, squad’s not looking too bad right now. Aiko’s a good shinobi. Don’t think I’ve ever seen her do something stupid. Hideki, we both know’s going to do something big. Maybe Hokage, who knows. I’m a Sanada, so… guess I’m alright. Even if I’m a craaaazy berserker. So… guess that’s got to have been exciting for your first squad. Hopefully whoever you get next is a little more normal I guess. Don’t think we turned out too bad though. Huh. Guess we’ll be getting our own squads in a few years. I’m only 16 though… Oh well, guess a Sanada has to live fast and hard.”

Looking over the titles, Mai promised herself to memorize each one.

“You’re… definitely a handful, that’s for certain.” Takara sighed, “Even if we never really see eye to eye I can’t exactly deny you turned out to be a prodigy. Jounin in two years… that’s no small feat.”

“Well, I keep having to get stronger. Every time I make a mistake, it's either come back from it stronger, or give up. Its my journey, and I’d hate for it to end with something pathetic like ‘I got injured’, or ‘I found someone too strong’. What kind of hero is that? Don’t think that’s a prodigy, just someone who doesn’t like to lose. Hehehe, I definitely done it enough. Never for long though. “

“It’s probably good you never learned to stay down,” the older kunoichi sat back down, a faint smirk playing on her lips. “I’m not going to lie, it’s only going to get harder from here on out. You’ll have a lot of new responsibilities now.”

“New responsibilities?”

Takara laughed, a rare sound from the normally reserved jounin. “And here I thought it was part of the reason you chose to come here. Guess you snuck out before Lord Hokage was able to pay you a visit.”

Mai blinked.

“Lord Hokage? Haven’t seen him since I took a few dozen missions and started my journeys. Am I missing something?”

“He was supposed to be the one to give you the news, but I suppose there’s no harm in telling you now.” There was more than a little pride in Takara’s voice as she spoke, “you’ve been promoted, Mai. You’re part of the Hidden Leaf’s jounin forces now.”

“What?”

Mai stared for a minute.

“What!? Already? But, I, er… I’m Jonin!?”

A crazed smile hit Mai, but she quickly suppressed it. She was a jonin! She was a somebody! But… she was still learning. Then again, Takara was still learning apparently. Was everyone just trying to find their own way? Was the Hokage still learning?

But she was a jonin… at sixteen. Suddenly, Mai’s face went pale.

“I’m a jonin at sixteen….”

No one in her clan had ever accomplished that. The youngest had been nineteen. But… Mai didn’t feel supersmart. But she was a Jonin.

“I… uh… have to go sort some things out. Mind helping me up?”

Takara nodded, carefully helping her back to her feet. “I’ll bring the books by the hospital later tonight.” Nohime was probably already out looking to drag the girl back. Probably throw in a paralysis jutsu or three to try and keep her there.

 

[Ganryu]

============ ARC: VILLAGE IN TIME: BEGIN! =======================

In the Hokage’s office, a particularly oddly dressed man stared at the 11 ninja gathered before him, sizing each of them up before the briefing. He would watch each one, pull out a dossier, make a ‘tsk, tsk’ sound, then move on. A few might recognize Susumu, and a few might be offset after meeting him for the first time. This time he was wearing a vibrant green, with a giant leaf as a hat, and vines wrapped around his long-sleeved outfit.

Finally he sighed and spoke.

“Very well, I’ll admit, it has been some time since we’ve had such a large scale operation. I suppose I ought get down to the nitty gritty. A couple of merchants discovered a small village hidden away in the mountains. At first, we thought it was just a regular town, but preliminary scouts have determined an ungodly amount of chakra there. It seems to have gotten the attention of the Yoake as well. We call them Hidden Villages, but honestly, its rare to ‘discover’ one. It's not even a newly formed on, all signs indicate this village to be older than even the Leaf. It was discovered in the Land of Frost, so… dress warmly. Or call it endurance training, get hypothermia, and die. I really don’t care.

Anyways, we need information and an effort to work with this village. We know little about it, and have little time, so, lucky you.

Squad 4, you are to try and infiltrate this village, and determine its military strength. Try to fit right in. Try to see how many ninjas this place has, and their power. If you can find the source of that chakra, it will be a great help, but remember, returning with a little information is better than not returning at all. Uchiha, you’ll lead this.

Squad 6, you are to try and meet with the leader of whatever this village is. Diplomacy mission on your end. Try and earn his goodwill, I’ll give you a packet on what and what is not acceptable to offer him. Normally we’d send an actual diplomat, but this might be dangerous, and members of your squad already are used to both diplomacy and combat. Or maybe I should say international incidents and combat. Either way. Ukita, you are in charge.

Squad 7, try and find if any other villages or parties are in fact entering this valley. Cut them off by any means necessary. The first contact is the best contact. This village is in the mountains between us and Lightning, in the Land of Frost. We should be worried about the Cloud, but honestly, I’m more worried about the Mist showing up. Ozaki, enjoy the taste of power, don’t go mad now.

Ms. redacted and Senju, you are to meet a contact in the area. This contact is the one who tipped us off about the Yoake’s interest. They have more information they weren’t willing to convey. Its a two man squad, so leadership is unimportant, just neither of you mess this up. The contact will be in charge of both of you. I’ll leave the reading of the mission report to Senju.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I’m not suggesting I’ll have an answer, but it’ll be entertaining for me to call you an idiot. I promise to pay 5,000 Ryo to the person who figures out the biggest question in the first 5 minutes. Oh, and if it isn’t obvious, Toyotomi, Himura and Kamimizu are on a separate mission, so that is why you’ll be doing this without your senseis. "

With that, Susumu folded his arms and sat back to see them scatter, ask questions, or try and yell at him. He hoped they'd try, it was no fun having a bunch of robots. That, and he was curious if anyone could verbally spar with him.


Ganryu KageYuuki Orikanyo InsaneAsylum AtlannianSpy Kimiwriter Arne AllHailDago Hanarei

 

[AllHailDago]

Moku Ozaki​

Moku shifted uncomfortably as he stood amongst his gathered team, and the other teams from his age. Moku knew everyone from either school or the past year of missions and training since he'd begun ninja work again. However, something about them all being gathered together made him uncomfortable. Maybe it was the feeling of there still being a gap between them? He felt like he was still playing catch up and didn't know how long he'd be doing so.

He eyed Mai and Hideki, the two he'd had sort of a friendly rivalry with since school. Both of them became Jonin not too long ago. He was happy for them, knowing how much hard work and effort they'd put in to get strong enough and recognized enough for that honor. Yet he still felt a touch of sadness, as he felt the most left behind by them. He bit his lip for a moment before instead setting his jaw.

Enough of that self pity nonsense right now. He was working just as hard as anyone to get stronger, and despite the year without being active duty he was holding his own. He'd catch up and pass them in no time! With self created confidence he faced the weirdly dressed man who had gathered them. He listened to his talk of a new village with bated breath, the historian side of him his father influenced going mad with curiosity. Imagine the sheer quantity of ancient and interesting artifacts and stories such a place would have!

Moku was so happy imagining it he almost didn't catch the fact that at the end of his team's assignment the man said he would lead their team. Apparently their sensei's were off on another mission, so they couldn't be here. Well, he thought it'd be pretty cool to lead his team, but that left him curious about one thing. "Um, why aren't there any other Jonin or older Chunin going on this assignment? Everyone here is the same age group." He couldn't quite figure why this was.

Ganryu Arne Orikanyo KageYuuki AtlannianSpy Kimiwriter InsaneAsylum Hanarei

 

[Orikanyo]

Hideki ukita.

A big mission again huh? He felt wierd, he was one of the few of his generation promoted to jonin. His friends, allies, and fellows were close behind as well. He would be known as one of the most fastest growing generation, and one of the first to get up to jonin! Just another step in his grand plans... Well, his changed plans, he wouldn't dare tell anybody his plans now, at least sober, but that old man helped him know the true way of life and the wonderful world of luxury, and just what money could buy.

And oh it bought so much, so... So very much...

He stopped day dreaming when his squad was mentioned, negotiations, he would be negotiating again... Wait... "Susumu, do you mean... Negotiations straight forward or perhaps you are sending me for a reason again? I am asking due to the last time you nearly got me caught up in a war between families.

Should have told me about that familial tension, nearly lots my head.. or got gelded. Can't tell which would be worse." Hideki commented, shuffling abit away from Mai at the moment.

Ganryu /everyone

 

[Ganryu]

Mai slumped her shoulder at the mention of 'endurance training' in the Land of Frost, having the feeling the comment was directed at her. Granted, she was kinda in a hurry and didn't have time to run back home and grab a coat, and she did technically succeed, even if the frostbite, and explosions to the face hurt.

Still, she was slightly looking forward to a diplomatic mission, a mission beyond punching things. The last one she'd been part of had worked... mostly well. Mai eyed Nagisa across the room. Well, Mai would sleep with her chainmail on for a few more weeks, that was sure, but well, they'd beat the Hoshikage, the Sand got information before he died, and no one else died. Maybe Mai should feel more proud, but still hurt she'd had to break her rule to succeed. Then again, if she didn't kill him right then, that attack would have killed them all.

Mai been reliving that memory for months, and still couldn't find a solution she was happy with. And adding more actors into Re:Life made it exponentially harder, and shorter.

Well, one of the best parts of this entire mission was she got to do it with her whole squad.

"So, Aiko, feels like it's been forever since I worked with ya. So, uh... how's your missions been since we killed that dragon?"

Mai scratched the back of her head.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Aiko Uchiha

“Diplomacy...” Aiko muttered to herself. She never thought of herself as the diplomatic type. The only person her squad that was any good with words was Hideki. He seemed like a totally different person than when she’d last seen him. He was a jonin now, and had left her in the dust skill wise. It urked her a bit. Mai was strong too, scarily so. Aiko wasn’t sure she could actually beat her anymore. It was a good thing they were both on her side.

“They’ve been fine. Boring, but fine. This mission, however, let’s make sure it’s boring alright? I don’t need you kicking the kage of this new village, ok?”

Aiko wasn’t confident Mai wouldn’t do something stupid, no matter how much she may have grown over this time.

The Land of Frost was no problem for Aiko. She wouldn’t need a coat. It was odd that the Land of Frost was such a common place for action these days. Maybe it was more special than the other lands...

 

[Kimiwriter]

Sei Teshima
Sei glanced around at the others and nodded as her squad received their orders. Preventative measures; not too difficult and depending on the terrain, they'd even be able to control where the incoming travelers went. Easy enough assuming they managed to get there first. But that would also mean they'd be the first to deal with any threats.

Shifting, Sei cleared her throat before speaking. "And if the Mist are there, do you want intell or do you want us to get rid of them?" She was hoping for the former.

In the back of her mind, she recalled the attack on the Leaf. They weren't genin anymore but she doubted her skills were anywhere near what a Mist jounin could do in an unfamiliar mountain range. But she wouldn't be setting traps on her own, this time, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad. And the Mist probably wouldn't send their strongest fighters to investigate a new village. Intell first, then attack.

She shifted again and let her hand fall on her pouch. Trying to guess what poisons to use on the mission was difficult. The cold could affect some things. Powder and poison grenades would be safest but they weren't the most powerful. She'd deal with that when they were dismissed.

Sei leaned in closer to her teammates. "So Moku, any orders or plans?"

 

[KageYuuki]

Yuuki Uchiha
A new village had been discovered? But in the Land of Frost... the Uchiha tried to recall what he knew on the country. It was a fairly isolated place, the harsh winters making it impossible to get in and out of a majority of the year. Could it have been missed? Overlooked from the unforgiving terrain and weather?

No... if there was as much chakra there as the walking fern made it sound like, then the place was likely a beacon to sensors.

There used to be a hidden village towards the center of the country. The Hidden Mist had taken over during the last world war, Frost falling into chaos when all was said and done. Now the entire country housed countless rogue nin. Could one of them have something to do with it? Some kind of barrier technique? He couldn't discount the possibility.

Yuuki waited for the others to finish their questions, struggling not to roll his eyes at a couple of them. "You said there had been some preliminary scouting done on this village, was there anything else learned aside from it appearing older than the Leaf and the potent chakra? A rough size? Anything noteworthy about the clothing?" If they wanted to have any chance of infiltrating and actually blending in, then the less jutsu they had to use, the better.

God, please tell me sensei's seal actually helped with Katsumi's lying...

 

[Hanarei]

​

Tsukiashi glanced about quietly at the others as they stood around with what was meant to be a briefing for a large operation. Her outfit choice was a bit different from normal albeit only to a minor extent. Her normal green jacket had been replaced by a black and white one, her shoulder clearly covered though keeping her arms and hands now completely free. Underneath she wore a black tank top with thin straps that held snugly to her body covering down to her white long pants. She sported much more sturdy black leather boots, a little more bulky. The markings on her cheeks seemed to be darker in color, something that was shared now with her lips. It was a change she chose to make in part outgrowing some of her old clothing but also due to her adaptation of her fighting style causing her to need to change things up a bit as well.

Her eyes continued to slip around her while still listening to Susumu though unable to resist her own curiosity to see the others. Some faces were more familiar to her then others. There were a few she likely hadn't even got a good look at since the exams. It was very likely they had all grown not just physically but also mentally. Ashi wasn't the same bratty girl she was back then.... at least not completely. It wasn't as if you could completely change a person given a some time and a few missions. It didn't help with her original squad being gone it had caused the girl who had always a sense of not belonging keeping that feeling although in a bit more evolved form, for both better and worst.

Upon hearing her squad mentioned, Ashi simply gave a light nod. Her eyes couldn't help but shift to Moku. She looked sternly at him, not very happy with the idea of having him take charge of the group. She wasn't the type who was all that receptive to having someone to order her around on a mission. It didn't make it much better she really wasn't all that familiar with him. His questioning about a lack of a different leader did at the very least make her feel less pessimistic towards him leading, but you could only do so much to sway someone who tended to prefer to rebel against authority rather then blindly follow it. At the very least their mission was something that sounded like it was far more in Ashi's tastes. Even if she might not get a chance to fight, just being left to scout around was an activity that at least didn't test her limited patience.

Ashi's eyes shifted to Sei as she leaned in to question Moku. Before Moku could answer she couldn't hold back blurting out in response.

"I mean we aren't dumb, we can figure out what ta' do on our own just fine without Moku havin' to bark orders at us to do everything." She spoke in a lower tone with the bit of sass notable in her voice, her arms crossed. Her eyes seemed to avoid Moku as if to not acknowledge him as their team leader. Truthfully she was more so just throwing a fit. She wasn't all that likely to ignore his orders or just completely rebel against him unless she was pushed to do so. It didn't change the fact though that she wasn't huge on the idea either.

 

[KageYuuki]

Yukari
Yukari shifted her weight while waiting for the rest of the summoned chuunin and jounin to show up. The perfume and light stance of the figure in front of her made it plenty clear Susumu was the one giving the briefing. She sighed, maybe this mission would actually go better than the last one she'd gotten from him?

Who was she kidding, when did any of her missions ever go smoothly?

Just like her meeting with Mai last night...


Yukari lightly tapped her fingers against the table, the smell of grilling meat filled the air. Yakiniku Q seemed as packed as ever tonight, to the point getting a seat was difficult and actually getting their food was taking longer still. She and Mai frequented the popular barbeque joint, after missions, or training, or just to hang out.

“Geez, finally able to get you away from those books awhile and the place is swarmed… figures.”

Mai rubbed her temples with her wrists.

“I...hate...studying…Uuuuuugh.”

Sighing, she just reclined against the booth seat.

“It is good to hang out though. Feels like it's been forever since we’ve done anything. I dunno. I’ve just been busy, assume you have too. How’s life?”

“Does feel like forever, ugh. Sucks we’re both so busy with work and crap now.” Yukari shrugged, it felt nice to get to unwind for a little while. Maybe they’d get a chance to spar after dinner? “Not too bad, actually just got back from a mission the other day. Maybe one of these days I’ll actually get some normal work…”

“Ha! You had Uncle Koko as a sensei. Whenever they think of weird crap, who they gonna call? Then again, not sure what my record says. Wish they’d get rid of the ‘starkiller’ moniker. Ninja keep calling me that, and it’s like, my one rule not to kill. Bah. Then again, not sure exactly what I’d like to be known for. Exploding a village leader’s probably not the best one for my life expectancy though. I dunno. What’chu working towards?”

“Isn’t that how it always works though? The one thing you don’t want to be known for is what sticks?” Yukari felt a server quickly walk past them, were they invisible or something? “Could they at least bring us some tea or something? But yeah, Hideki and I had to go destroy some smith’s cache of swords. It was…. My usual line of work honestly.”

Mai sighed, “I got it. One sec.”

Mai concentrated chakra in her voice, and called out, “Can we get drinks at least? Tea would be nice.” The server jumped, immediately thinking of Mai as someone much more important. Genjutsu, it had its uses. Hopefully, no one chakra sensitive was nearby. Then again, what would they do? Unlike most genjutsu users, Mai was a taijutsu specialist. Anyone complained, she’d beat their face in! She could use a good brawl. She’d been cooped up for weeks. Turning to Yukari, she just gave a smile.

“What? Takara found out recently, so, well, cats out the bag. Might as well abuse it a bit. Anyways…. This smith… tell me the world’s not a small place… was it… was it by the Village Hidden by the Waterfall? And was he wearing black or white?”

Yukari laughed, “Man, you could have some real fun with that one.” She tilted her head at the question, “Yeah he was near the Waterfall. Hell if I know what color he wore though.”

“Right… sorry. Just cause I know both the smiths out there. Or the big ones. Some big evil douche, Murasame, and Masamune, who’s kinda like a grandpa to me. Hate Murasame with a passion. He had me hunt down this one sword a samurai stole, part of a list of missions almost died on. Take it he squealed on the story. Hate that guy… Anyways, off time, so guess we can just relax, look the waitress is even bringing the food so we can grill it. Love that genjutsu. Even more fun in combat. Should show you sometime.”

Their conversation died down once the food came, the two falling into their usual routine with Mai watching the meat cook and Yukari carefully turning it. As in the way as their injuries could be at times, they’d found their ways to work around them. Though Yukari had yet to find a way to tell if the food was actually done without someone else there.

“Hey… could I show you something? Something I picked up during that last mission I was telling you about.” Yukari didn’t necessarily need Mai’s permission, even with the short distance between them she could feel the other’s chakra. Bright and energetic despite the stress she was feeling.

“Sure? Are you sure this is the right place though? I mean, could just go to the practice field. Meh. Here’s good ‘nuff guess. Kinda curious. But it ends badly you’re footing the bill!”

Mai looked over the table with several bones on a plate to the side, a half used thing of steak sauce, and an unknown number for the bill. The bright side to being a taijutsu expert, Mai never once had to worry about her figure. She once overheard a group of girls her age complaining about a diet and immediately ordered 3 ice cream cones in front of them. It was a good day then. Mai then looked at her hands. There were downsides, however…

Yukari snorted, letting her chakra reach out to Mai’s. “I wouldn’t really call this one flashy.” The busy restaurant fell away from them, the chatter of patrons fading to a peaceful stillness. A campfire crackled beside them.

Ninshu: Soul Communion

Snow white hair, sharp eyes, still that air of strength… It terrified Yukari how much Mai had changed from what she remembered. But this let her actually see Mai and the others again, even if only briefly.

Mai looked around. At first, she thought genjutsu, but she recognized the campfire. This was some spirit world like shit! … And what was worse, she knew any damage on her body didn’t transfer over here… She went from looking at her hands nostalgically to looking at them with eyes wide.

“Y-you didn’t!? H-how? … I don’t want to be here long, Yukari Hyuuga!”

She didn’t say ‘end it now’, however. She trusted Yukari at least that much.

Yukari’s eyes widened, Mai’s words struck like an icy blade. She could feel the sheer terror radiating off the other kunoichi. No, no, no, this was all wrong! It was supposed to be peaceful here, a happy moment.

So why was it all…?

“Mai, I…” she choked, stumbling forward a step to catch her in a gentle hug. “I-I’m sorry, I just… wanted to see you again.”

Mai looked confused for a minute.

“Wait… How can you stand it? It’d be hell for me to do what you’re doing. I can live with my injuries. If a miracle cured them, I’d love it. But I can’t live hoping someday these things are suddenly going to work, that’d kill me.

Remembering what it was like…

Remembering how I broke them...

Anyways, I said go ahead. Whatever it is, go ahead. No idea how you got to this place. Last time I was here, a sword dragged me in.”

Mai didn’t look up from her hands. She couldn’t look away. She only slightly moved them out the way as Yukari came in for the hug. Mai was as mesmerized as she was apparently terrified.

“It hurts to see,” Yukari whispered, pulling Mai close. “But forgetting… forgetting what you look like, what anyone looks like.” She blinked back tears, “It hurts so much more.”

Unknown to Yukari, touching Mai had sent a wave of emotions crashing between the two. Much like it had when she held Yukihime’s hand.

Mai’s emotions to Yukari were a medley, a little bit of angst about her hands and fear of looking weak. Questions about how strong she was, and if anyone noticed her trying to change. And under all of it, Mai’s immense determination. She HAD to get stronger. She wasn’t going to stop. She had to get better, and she could protect those around her. Mai had tasted real power, and she lusted for more.

Yukari’s feeling to Mai let her know the angst Yukari felt for hurting her. There was a bitter pain at having been called Hyuuga once again, how lost she still felt from being cast out. She had to somehow pick up and keep going, unable to even bear the thought of being a burden. She had to prove the Hyuuga wrong. Under all of that, stubbornly burning despite the pain, was love and admiration.

Mai didn’t like emotions, it looked like she’d just tried a bitter a candy, and she tried to cancel out like it was a genjutsu, her hands shakily making the handsign. What the hell was this jutsu? It was scarier than any genjutsu Mai held, that was for sure. These, these, feelings, what were they? Why were they?

Taking a deep breath, Mai slowed down, starting to understand the jutsu a bit more. It was more than a genjutsu. It wasn’t anything she knew, but… what Yukari was feeling earlier…

Mai turned around looking for Yukari.

“More than just feelings here, right? I ain’t a feeling person, but take a look at ya want, not like I’m a good liar either.”

Yukari had grown slightly pale, the emotions she was feeling had to be from Mai. But that meant Mai would… She shifted, all she wanted was to just see her again. But now she couldn’t even look at Mai.

“I’m sorry,” Yukari’s voice wavered, “I just wanted… this wasn’t supposed to… This was such a stupid idea.”

Mai could smirk at that. She grabbed Yukari’s face, and turned it towards her, starting to smile mischievously. She wasn’t fond of the jutsu, but she wasn’t about to let regret even touch Yukari. No need for MORE angst.

“Well, join the queen of stupid ideas! Want to see my face? Well, get a good look, it's a good face! So… this jutsu lets ya see and show emotions, and bring us to this… what the hell is that firepit anyways?”

Yukari cracked a weak smile, it was hard not to when practically nose to nose with such a familiar look. One they often shared right before getting into trouble. “It’s a gorgeous face. And this is called Ninshu, it lets two souls communicate through chakra.”

She was struggling not to get lost in those eyes, how they’d changed in the past year. Mai had such a bad tendency to push away what was bothering her to focus on something or someone else. Not stopping to take care of herself. But was Yukari really even able to help her? “I don’t understand the whole fire thing either.”

Mai blinked. Ninshu? A technique? She’d just heard of it as something religious. Mai was about to comment on not thinking Yukari the religious type, but she remembered the crazy stories of Koma Mai didn’t believe, and the shakujou. Yukari deeeefinitely fit the religious type. Wait. Was Yukari proselyting? Mai didn’t want to sit through boring ceremonies or think of the afterlife. Wait. Shit, the jutsu seemed to transfer over emotions. What was this shit!? Still… Mai’s job to be supportive.

“Uh, that’s great! So… what’s the next step? Am I going to have to do any weird ceremonies? Cause if I fall asleep I’m running off of 5 hours of sleep right now. These whole emotions things are crap I try to repress, so…. Uh, how long does this part last?”

Yukari sighed and chuckled, her muscles relaxing as she lightly took hold of Mai’s hands. “No, nothing like that. This is just to communicate.” She rolled her eyes, enjoying being able to actually do so for a short while. “And the staff is a really long story.”

Her thumb gently ran over Mai’s knuckles, the pair didn’t often keep secrets from one another but she still didn’t feel like the much-needed pillar Mai could fall back on. “I can end this whenever you want.”

Mai nodded, looking at her hands one last time.

“I am me. Mai. Sanada. Apparently, the star killer. I do dumb things. Like punching my teacher and exploding. Or punching an S-ranked nin and exploding…. Punching the Hoshikage and exploding... Mostly I just explode. But at least I’m learning from it.

Anyways, uh... Yeah, go ahead end it. Pretty cool, can force emotions and see someone even without having eyes. Kinda mystical.”

“Yeah… Yeah, I’ll end it.” Yukari took one last, long look at Mai before closing her eyes, the world fading back to the darkness she hated being so accustomed to. She may have torn out her own eyes, something that could never be healed. But maybe… I need to talk to Roku.

Mai blinked for a minute and looked around at Yakiniku Q. She looked down at the grill and made an exaggerated pat of her stomach.

“Well, you’re footing the bill. And suddenly I just got a lot more hungry. Wonder if I can beat that Amikichi record here?”


Yukari had been passively listening to the briefing. A new village had pretty much appeared out of nowhere deep within the Land of Frost. And, because they couldn't have nice things, Yoake was interested in it for some reason. Her fist clenched, maybe she'd get to blast another hole through Daisuke's chest. He could only get back up so many times...

So she had to go meet with a contact then, someone that was connected to the Yoake. Yukari paused, no, there was someone else going with her. Her jaw clenched, sure send the disgraced ex-Hyuuga with one of the Senju. A noble clan even higher in station than her own bloodline.

"It's going to be a long trip to the Land of Frost," her tone was clipped, "if you don't have any questions then we should probably go get ready, Senju."

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Confidence Training​

Katsumi sat on a log twiddling her thumbs and humming a cheerful tune beside the recently swept training grounds. She had made sure to arrive early to clear the area so she wouldn’t accidentally hurt herself training today by slipping on a pebble of some sort. Training with relatives strangers was quite worrying, and cleaning was a way to avoid such worry.


Resting next to Katsumi, were two large weapons. One, her special five bladed fuma shuriken, and two, the big heavy sword she found in the bear’s cave. She didn’t know if she’d need them today, but she brought them both anyway. She got a few odd looks carrying them both so casually through the village. Hideki wouldn’t look at her oddly for bringing them though, right?


Speaking of Hideki, most of the staff at the hospital had recommended that Katsumi find a way to build confidence for very important reasons... They then proceeded to say that working with other confident ninja might rub off on her a bit. So she asked what ninja was the most confident, and their quick answer was Hideki Ukita. She didn’t know him all that well, but he did in fact give off a confident aura. Katsumi sent him a letter a week ago requesting to train on this specific date. Hopefully he would show up. She was ready to tell him how thankful she’d be to be able to train with him.


“...Training…. Honestly I nearly forgot about this for a second. Hell a week in advance is a considerable time to wait for it, wonder what she wants from me… Hmm… Maybe the charms worked on her better than i thought?” the young man shrugged for a moment.


“I mean shes cute, real cute, but I can’t keep her in my head at all… Keep forgetting about her… You’d think she’d be hard to forget, shes rather filled out. Kind smile, beautiful eyes, long legs… hmph. Well hopefully shes there-” he stopped talking to himself when he landed, seeing the young woman with….


Well.. She was definitely prepared… he left his sword back at home, should he have brought it? Was he in trouble for something? I mean, the flirting back at the party was fine right? Just a soft playful thing, he didn’t mean any harm!


Summoning up his courage the young man smiled, raising a hand “Yo, Katsumi? Glad to see yea again, was kinda odd getting a request to train from a girl i’ve met once. So, what's the plan today? You have anything specific in mind?”


Katsumi let out an alarmed squeak when Hideki greeted her, her deep thoughts were abruptly cut off. She hadn’t realized he was so stealthy! “Oh! Uh… hi and uh… I was told you were a good ninja to train with!” Katsumi responded, partially telling the truth.”I don’t really know what we should do to train… but uh…” Katsumi’s eyes scanned the ground around Hideki’s feet as she spoke, rising to her own feet from the log. “I need help getting better at not being so scared and stuff in fights…”


The young man scratched behind his head. ”Scared huh?” he can remember being scared in some fights, he felt like a damn ant when it came to his aunt. But otherwise any worry came from his allies and their well being…


“So you want to get more confident, to…. Be more prepared to head into a fight.” hideki melted the problem down to it’s base parts. “How many times would you say you’ve sparred with somebody?”


Katsumi didn’t answer for a moment, before answering, “I… uh… don’t remember.”


“..You mean it’s been awhile or… A really long time?” Hideki rose an eyebrow, unsure of what she truly meant here.


“I’m a medical ninja… so I don’t really spar people,” Katsumi admitted, making sure to answer carefully so Nobushige’s little seal didn’t suddenly decide to flip out.


“...Huh… well alright. I guess thats fine. Not everyone needs to. So i guess… What do you feel we should start with? Confidence comes from experience after all. I’m sure once we get down to it you’ll be fine.” he tried to keep nice and kind to the young lady, she wasn’t hiding away from him so that’s good, but he couldn’t help but feel guilty whenever he looked at her. Like looking at a sad puppy.


“I had just thought that if you came at me with strong jutsu I could get used to being under pressure and stuff… you know? I don’t want to go on the offensive because I don’t want to accidentally hurt you or something…” Katsumi did in fact not want to hurt Hideki, but she mainly didn’t want to play the offensive part because she didn’t want to make a fool of herself trying to hit someone who was so much better than her.


“Hurt me..? You don’t need to actually worry about that, With the Earth Spear technique I can pretty much take anything and everything you toss at me.” Hideki explained, still smiling but didn’t relish the idea of going on the offensive with this girl. She was to cute!


Katsumi didn’t quite believe Hideki when he said he could take anything thrown at him. It would be better not to test if he could or not.


“Ok, uh, how about you just put pressure in me with your earth jutsu then, and if I see an opening, I’ll try to attack you…” Katsumi proposed, a little happy she was making a training plan.


“Hmm, Alright. I’ll do something for us alright? Don’t get freaked out because things are changing, adapt and think.” hideki began to form signs and slammed his palm upon the ground, around them the terrain shifted drastically, ground falling and rising, great slabs of earth forming risen platforms and in some places walls.


“Moving earth core is a good technique that allows me to manipulate the landscape as I will, See if you can make your way up to me as I attempt to stop you.” Hideki stated from the highest point, keeping his concentration.


Katsumi gasped, as the ground rose around her. She didn’t think he was good enough to to do all this! It’d be tougher than she had hopes! Katsumi nodded at Hideki, who had risen quite high up. She might be able to get up there with a good body flicker, but he might be expecting that, and it'd ruin the point of his drill. Katsumi ran towards the nearest earth wall, and starting running up it.


“Good idea, keep it up and watch for new changes in terrain!” Hidkei warned as the wall she was running up changed, it began to shape stairs as it stretched up, leading her up the side until she was forced to walk upside down. Said stairs were rudimentary and just plain earthen rectangles, but definitely causes a distracting obstacle.


“Keep it up! You can get to me I know you can! Burst through if you have to!” he didn’t expect her so, she seem so soft and sweet, doubted she was that strong really…


But boy.. Was he wrong..


“Burst through?” Katsumi echoed as she hurried upside down on the earthen stairs. Running upside down was no issue at this point in her ninja career, but she knew that breaking what she was sticking her feet to may be too dangerous.


Whether it was safe or not, Hideki said to burst through. He was training her right now so he had to be right… right? Katsumi placed her hands up onto the earth stairs, her chakra clinging to it tightly as she swung her feet over, down, and straight through Hideki’s stairs. With a hole now made, Katsumi flung herself through it, able to stand upright as she continued running up towards Hideki’s position.


Katsumi let out a sigh of relief as she ran. If she had fallen, she didn’t really have a way to safely land. Maybe this was more dangerous than she thought… Katsumi’s running slowed slightly as worry began to overtake her.


“Well done Katsumi! Keep on moving you got this! Your almost to the top just abit more!” Hideki called down, thought he was happy she was makeing progress… Boy that was quick… He expected her to use chakra control to simply run around it on the wall but she literally blew through…


“Good strike! Trust me, you're doing perfectly.” The young man focused his chakra again, walls rose up in her path as the pillars beside the one Hideki was on started to squeeze inwards towards Katsumi. He'd stop before she got hurt of course but it felt… thematic…?


Adding a PRESSING concern to the situation seemed right.


“Keep up your control and deal with these obstacles!”


Hideki said she was doing well! That meant that whatever she had been doing had been getting the job done, and she should keep doing it. With the earth walls rising in front of her, she began the practiced act of collecting chakra in her fist. As she ran, she shot forward her fist, shattering the wall to pieces. Her worry was forgotten for the moment. She continued to smash through the walls Hideki created, until she noticed that the giant pillar around her were a lot closer than before…


Barely stifling a squeal, Katsumi hopped from her current path onto one the pillars trying to smash her, and began running up that one instead, hoping to reach the top before being flattened.


“Come on you can do it! You can do it!’ hideki urged the girl on as the walls closed mroe and more, tighter and tighter! Until she finally got free up to Hideki’s level, the stone slamming together with a loud SMASH!!


The young man smiled at the young lady. “Look at you! You made your way all up to the top! With barely a sweat to, and the way you crushed through that rock wall, absolutely amazing.


Small wonder Nagisa and Yuuki speak so highly of you.” Hideki continued to beam as he laid the praise on thick.


Katsumi smiled, and raised her arms in the air. “It wasn’t as hard as I thought it’d be! I-it was actually kinda easy…”


Her smile thinned out a little, but still remained. She was happy she succeeded, but running around some rock buildings wouldn’t change her, would it?


“Small steps.” he said, unsure of how to fully make her push harder… Wait… no he had a few ideas.


“So, you have great abilities, not everyone could get through all that stuff. Your strong, and it shows.


So let me ask you a quick question, what makes you feel as if you can’t do it? You have the skill, why do you feel it’s not enough?”


Katsumi pondered for a moment, but came to a conclusion rather quickly. “Well, uh… I haven’t really done anything that impressive and I mess things up a lot so I don’t want to screw up when it really matters! I don’t want to rely on some evil curse mark to fight!”


“Well, that all comes down to practice and sorting out other ways to continue fighting without it… Wait curse mark? Never mind.


If you feel things have been going badly in the past you should focus on improving your skills you have currently, or developing something to aid your already based skill set.


Something to make up for your weaknesses, so far I see that your temperament is lacking, but your strength is off the charts.


Not many people do impressive things, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worthy of being ninja. You will have your time in the limelight, you just need to keep working and preparing for it!” the young man nodded, looking abit proud of his motivational speaking.


“What is something you LIKE to do? Gardening? Takeing care of people? Hobbies?”


Katsumi’s finger tapped her chin for a moment. “I volunteer at the hospital a lot, but it can be very stressful when something bad has happened to someone… I also uh… I like uh…. construction…” Katsumi explained, her voice beginning to fade near the end. She grasped her hands together behind her back, holding her breath.


Hideki stared for a moment “...Umm.. thats.. Kinda work.. I mean like do you have any hobbies? Because people find the ideas for anything in the small stuff. Art maybe? I like landscapes and such.” he tried to pry something out of the girl.


There was an awkward moment of silence, as Katsumi slowly began to realize she didn’t have any hobbies. She went through her average day, which consisted of eating, volunteering somewhere, eating again, and then sleeping. But suddenly, Katsumi remembered that when she wasn’t needed at the hospital or for any hard labor, she liked to write in her journal. She hadn’t written in a week or so, but she was trying to write about important events.


“Oh, I like to write!” Katsumi said happily, the corners of her mouth perking up.


“Good! They say the basics of swordsmanship are much like the swipes of a pen. Or perhaps a brush for kanji…?” Hideki shrugged. “..Well.. uhh.. Maybe takeing up a weapon can help? One you can toss? Maybe… An….” he paused “..Uhh.. An.. Axe…?”


In truth, it somewhat clued in to hideki how scary this young woman would be with that sweet smile on her face and an axe in her hands… Nightmare worthy in truth…


“A-an axe?” The confused chuunin repeated. Sha had never considered using an axe for a weapon, and she wasn’t too great at throwing things either. But the idea of focusing on a weapon didn’t seem lik a bad idea. She did have two weapons she rarely made use of anyway.


“I dunno about an axe… but I have uh… two weapons. One is a big fuma shuriken from my parents and the other is a big sword i found in a cave,” Talking about the cave made Katsumi remember that poor bear she nearly killed.


“An axe… Might be more your style. Imagine having a big ol’ axe in your hands, big and choppy. It’s heavy but I’m sure you can handle it, hell you can use it for construction, chopping wood, it’s a very handy tool!.” hideki tried selling her the axe idea.


“Plus, if theres something that gives somebody confidence, it’s an axe, the feeling of the weight, seeing it and the way it chops things, it’s a very good thing to get into!” why was he tel;ling her to become an axe wielding muscle bound psycho, he didn’t know why, but he felt that if this girl was gonna get anywhere.


May as well go with this.


Katsumi wasn’t so sure about the whole axe thing, but, she didn’t want to go making Hideki feel bad by rejecting his proposal. Plus, he probably knew about this kind of thing anyway. Maybe an axe was right for her afterall.


“Uhm, ok. It’s just that I don’t know where to get an axe at all…”


“I know of a place, we’ll get you one thats perfect for you and you’ll feel wonderful with it in your hands, even go for some practice swings!’ the young man was pretty certain the smith in town would know a good palce.. Or they could just take one thats there, maybe order one? A big one… God knows this girl could wield it.


...Was this really a good idea though..?