>>5138988
“It’s a love poem,” you explain. “Written in the old waka style.”

“Wow, can you write poetry too?” she asks you.

You can’t help but snort at that. “I think every girl in our class is going to learn sooner or later – no. None of the boys in our class can write poetry, myself included, and the sooner we all get through that phase the better.”

That gets a whole-hearted laugh out of Koyuki-hime, which makes her stance on the question clear without her having to say anything.

“Some of you may get better at it with time,” Koyuki-hime continues to chuckle. “These things – especially love poems – only improve with a richness and breadth of worldly experience, both joyous and painful.”

“Painful?” Sarada repeats. “Who would want to experience something painful?”

“It’s not until we’ve tasted both joy and sorrow that we really know ourselves,” Koyuki-hime insists. “You don’t go looking for it, but when it finds you, recognizing it deepens your understanding and improves your art.”

...

You’re back again the next day to help Koyuki-hime and the crew finish recording. But early in the afternoon, as you’re taking a break, there’s a chest-thumping boom from somewhere in the village that’s powerful enough to shake the windows of the recording studio out of their frames. Looking out one of them you can see smoke rising in the distance.

“Hey, isn’t that over in the direction of the water purification plant?” Sarada realizes.

“Didn’t the class rep’s group say that’s where they would be?” Chōchō asks her. It must be serious – she dropped her bag of chips on the floor when she saw the smoke and hasn’t bothered to pick them up yet.

>We should stay where we are. Anko-sensei and the other teachers should be coming to find us.
>We should go to the hospital. Injured people are probably going to be coming in very soon.
>If the class rep’s group is in trouble we have to help. They’re your friends, and mine now too.
>Other?

>>5139005
>Signal Naori-ue immediately
>Tell Koyuki-hime to inform Anko sense of where we're going, if she comes looking for us
>Head in the direction of the explosion and help with evacuating any remaining civilians or casualties

>>5139005
>>If the class rep’s group is in trouble we have to help. They’re your friends, and mine now too.

>>5139005
>If the class rep’s group is in trouble we have to help. They’re your friends, and mine now too.

>>5139005
>>We should stay where we are. Anko-sensei and the other teachers should be coming to find us.

>>5139005
>>If the class rep’s group is in trouble we have to help. They’re your friends, and mine now too.

>>5139005
>If the class rep’s group is in trouble we have to help. They’re your friends, and mine now too.

>>5139005
There are two boys, Shiki excluded due to his poetry admission, that could maybe make decent poem.
Namely, shikadai since he has the best chance to understand the structure of poems and inojin due to him being abit of an artist already, even better if it's after his mandatory character focus episode.

>>5139005
>>If the class rep’s group is in trouble we have to help. They’re your friends, and mine now too.

>>5139005
>>We should go to the hospital. Injured people are probably going to be coming in very soon.

>>5139005
“If their group is in trouble we should go,” you insist curtly.

“Are you sure about this?” Sarada asks you.

You nod once. “For sure. They’re your friends, and mine now too. Koyuki-san, if our teacher comes looking for us could you tell her where we’ve gone?”

“I’m not sure how I feel about this,” she admits, “but I won’t stop you if you think it’s the right thing.”

“Thank you,” you smile. “Hope to see you again some time soon?”

“Any time you’re in Yukigakure feel free to drop in,” she smiles back.

...

As you run you use sealing script on the kunai Naori-ue gave you:
>Attack on water treatment center
>Three classmates there
>Going to help with Sarada

A few seconds later a newcomer appears at your side.

“Is it where that smoke is?” Naori-ue demands.

“Yeah!” you reply, continuing to run from rooftop to rooftop. “The class rep’s group should’ve been there today!”

“Then yeah, I’ll go on ahead,” she tells you, before all but disappearing – consecutive shunshin steps, you realize.

“Was that your mom?” Chōchō gasps. “She’s fast!”

“Did she already have a hiraishin marking there?” Sarada asks you curiously.

“No, I saw her take the first step,” you admit. “That’s just her leg speed.”

“Crazy,” Sarada mutters.

“I know, right?”
>1/2

>>5140556
It takes you a while to get to the scene, and by the time you do the emergency services have long since taken care of most of the hard work. You also spot your mother talking with Naruto nearby, with your mother surveying the damage (it looks like the whole building needs replacement). Sarada and Chōchō rush over to where Sarada’s spotted Wasabi (visibly stunned) and Namida (visibly distraught).

“It’s good to see you’re okay,” you tell them first, “but where’s the class rep?”

“She’s...” Wasabi begins, before blinking slowly. “Sorry,” she tells you, pointing at the bandages around her forehead, “head hurts. Lord Seventh was there to help, so Sumire will be fine. She’s just worse off than we are.”

You sigh in relief. “That’s good at least... give me one moment.”

Walking over towards your mother and cousin, they both pause for a moment just as you get into earshot.

“Naori-ue, Lord Seventh,” you incline your head politely. “I was wondering about our classmates”

“Sumire-kun will be staying at the hospital for a while,” Naruto informs you, “But Wasabi-kun and Namida-kun can go home.”

“I think they’ll want to visit their friend in the hospital if that’d be okay,” you observe.

Naruto shakes his head. “I think it’d be better to give her some time... but you know the three of them better than I do. I’ll let you and your friends decide as long as you keep any visits short – don’t want Sakura to yell at me, ya know?”

Naori-ue watches you, approving of your main focus but also clearly anticipating that you have questions about what happened here. “Anything else, Shiki?”

>I think I’ll suggest taking Wasabi and Namida home. They could probably use the rest.
>I don’t think they’ll be able to rest until they see that Sumire is okay.
>Yes. I want to know how my friends got hurt at someplace as boring as THIS.
>Other?

>>5140558
>>I don’t think they’ll be able to rest until they see that Sumire is okay.

>>5140558
>Naori-ue, i do want to know what happened here. But first, i think Wasabi and Namida need to see Sumire at the hospital. Just to calm themselves. I'll take them home after that.

>>5140558
>>I don’t think they’ll be able to rest until they see that Sumire is okay.
>>Yes. I want to know how my friends got hurt at someplace as boring as THIS.

>>5140558
>I don’t think they’ll be able to rest until they see that Sumire is okay.
>Yes. I want to know how my friends got hurt at someplace as boring as THIS.

>>5140558
What kind of injury has Sumire laid up in the hospital? And how did it happen?

>>5140558
Supporting >>5141052

>>5140558
>>>I don’t think they’ll be able to rest until they see that Sumire is okay.
>>>Yes. I want to know how my friends got hurt at someplace as boring as THIS.

>>5140558
You feel yourself frown slightly. “Sarada-kun, do you mind?”

Sarada comes over for a moment, a curious look on her face. “Shiki-kun?”

“Do me a favor and take Wasabi-kun and Namida-kun to the hospital,” you insist. “They won’t be able to rest until they see her... I’ll catch up.”

After she leaves, you face the adults. “Honestly, I want to know what happened at a place this mind-numbingly boring that could put Sumire-kun in the hospital.”

Naruto glances at your mother. “It’s a sensitive...”

“There was another incident like the ones you described,” Naori-ue interrupts.

The hokage frowns. “I thought we were going to keep this quiet?”

“Yeah no, I’m not going to hide information from people this affects directly,” Naori-ue crosses her arms, her tone unusually testy. “And the Naruto I used to know would feel the same way.”

“Wow,” Naruto chuckles nervously, “way to call me out!”

After a moment Naori-ue continues. “It was evidently the same as the previous instances of possession, where a civilian went out of control and had their chakra drained. But before he lost consciousness he destroyed all the pressure release mechanisms.”

“Your friend Sumire was hurt trying to use suiton ninjutsu to divert the surge that came when the pipes started to burst,” Naruto explains. “It was very brave, but for an academy student she was in way over her head.”

“She’s lucky to be alive.”

“Thank you,” you lower your head respectfully, “for telling me the truth. Oh, and can I ask something else – was anyone killed?”

Naruto scratches his head. “No, and that’s almost a miracle.”

Naori-ue shares a look with you before you head to the hospital that tells you she doubts that’s the case just as much as you do.

...

Most of your class is there already at the hospital by the time you get there, and so you have to tell them to get out and let Sumire rest – allowing them to believe that order comes from the Hokage. Which it sort of does, in a sense, but the only way that’ll hold up is if they don’t ask questions. Sarada however you stop from leaving. “Hold on a second.”
>1/2

>>5141791
“I heard what you tried to do from the Hokage,” you tell Sumire, leaving your mother out of it for the moment. “That was... pretty dumb.”

Sumire glances down at the rebuke. “Oh. Yes, it probably was, wasn’t it?”

“But more than that,” you continue, “it was really brave. So that makes it the kind of dumb you should be proud of, and honestly? It’s kind of cool you were willing to go so far for your friends.”

“... thanks,” she smiles. “I think. Mostly I just feel lucky to be here.”

You get the sense that she’s holding her true feelings close – probably because she’s more rattled than she’s letting on. And who could blame her?

“I’m not so sure,” you admit. “It’s definitely suspicious that nobody died in any of these incidents – Naruto-san may have called this a ‘miracle’, but what about following the pattern makes this miraculous?”

“I couldn’t say,” Sumire admits quietly. “I didn’t even know there was a pattern.”

“Sarada and I are going to make sure Wasabi-kun and Namida-kun get home okay,” you assure her. “Is there anything you want from home?”

After a moment, Sumire shakes her head. “No, there’s nothing. And I live by myself, so don’t worry about trying to find my family.”

You nod, plucking something out of her personal effects sitting on a table near her bed. “Okay, I understand. I’m putting my number in your device, so if you change your mind just let me know.”

...

Wasabi’s home is your way and Namida’s is Sarada’s, so that’s how you split the duties.

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” Wasabi sighs for the third time as you walk down the dimly-lit residential streets.

You shrug. “It’s not too far out of my way and I promised Sumirin I’d do it. Why, is it a problem?”

“I just...” she grumbles. “My family’s a bit... much?”

>Ask her about her family – if you remember correctly they’re a minor shinobi clan?
>Assure her you have no intention of meeting her family. Naori would tease you to death.
>Insist that they can’t be that bad. At least they’re not psychopaths, or dead, or both.
>Other?

>>5141821
>>Ask her about her family – if you remember correctly they’re a minor shinobi clan?

>>5141821
>>Ask her about her family – if you remember correctly they’re a minor shinobi clan?

>>5141821
>>Ask her about her family – if you remember correctly they’re a minor shinobi clan?

>>5141821
>>Ask her about her family – if you remember correctly they’re a minor shinobi clan?

My captcha has NYA in it, christ

>>5141821
>Ask her about her family – if you remember correctly they’re a minor shinobi clan?

>>5141821
“So the Izuno are a minor clan, right?” you ask, before realizing that the way you phrased that might not have been the most elegant thing. “I mean, less influential than the Nara or the Sarutobi for example?”

“It’s fine,” Wasabi-kun shrugs. “Most of my family have struggled to even make chūnin, and nobody’s used our ‘ultimate’ technique since before the village was founded. I’m not even sure it’s real.”

“Really?” you muse. “You seem to be doing fine.”

“Yeah, I’m weird compared to the rest of my clan,” she admits, “but it’s really different from some of those other guys in class – Shikadai, Boruto, Sarada, Chōchō... you too, mister two-kekkei-genkais.”

“... different how?” you ask with a frown.

“Look at it this way, Shiki-kun,” she sighs wearily. “Even if we both work our butts off for the next ten years – you’ll still have two kekkei genkai, and I won’t have any. The only way I can really catch up is if you slack off, which we both know isn’t gonna happen.”

You’re fairly quiet until you reach the Izuno home, which is a small house in the old part of the village surrounded by newer-looking homes and apartments. There’s a certain formality there, if only in structure, and it seems well-kept. Definitely the home of an established clan, but equally as definite to be one with little influence or wealth to its name.

“Well, this is my stop,” Wasabi jokes, taking a few steps ahead. “It’s probably best if you let me go in alone, my folks like to make a big fuss... about basically everything. It’s really kind of annoying.”

“If that’s what you think is best,” you shrug. “Get some rest, Wasabi-kun.”

“Hey, same to you Shiki-kun,” she smiles. “But yeah, don’t you dare tell anyone what we talked about.”

...

A few days later, you get called out of the blue by Boruto of all people, who wants you to come to the park (along with much of the rest of the class).

“So here’s the deal,” he declares. “Shikadai, Denki, and I have been trying to use the postal routes to find whoever it is that’s been responsible for these attacks, and when we showed Sarada our routes yesterday she noticed something.”

Sarada adjusts her glasses. “In each case in the last few days, the attacks have taken place away from where Boruto and the others were doing their route – almost like someone was trying to avoid them.”
>1/2

>>5143464
“I assume that helps us somehow?” Inojin wonders aloud.

“It does,” Sarada assures him. “But we’ve got to sell it – here’s the plan.”

...

It’s actually not a bad plan as far as things go. The basic premise is that if the one controlling these ‘ghosts’ that Boruto claims he can see is organizing attacks where Boruto and the others aren’t patrolling, you need to make him think that all of the mail routes will be watched, leaving the central post office as the only place to go.

After making a big show the next morning of assigning routes and distributing signal fireworks to each team volunteering for this little charade, including your own, you all set off for the pre-determined amount of time before doubling back to the post office.

...

“We were only gone five minutes!” you protest when you see the state of the place from the front door. Letters and packages are strewn everywhere and the postmaster is ranting to himself, seemingly at the center of an envelope blizzard.

Then, suddenly, you find yourself face to face with a nearly blank, round mask. The figure wearing it is heavily cloaked, not particularly large, but unexpectedly fast – a trained shinobi you realize, with a tantō in hand. As you sidestep, expecting an attack that never comes, you could almost swear that the masked figure looks you straight in the eye before darting out into the street.

Meanwhile, the postal carnage continues inside as Boruto and Iwabe try to stop the postmaster’s rampage.

>Help out over there, subdue the raging postmaster with Boruto and Iwabe.
>Chase after the masked figure – that’s the entire reason you’ve done all this.
>They’re headed for the river – take a gamble and cut off their likely escape route.
>Other?

>>5143465
>>They’re headed for the river – take a gamble and cut off their likely escape route.
Get some of the others to chase the masked figure, since we are among the fastest in class we have the best chance to cut them off or help in case they engage our classmates.

>>5143465
>>They’re headed for the river – take a gamble and cut off their likely escape route.

>>5143465
>They’re headed for the river – take a gamble and cut off their likely escape route

>>5143465
>They’re headed for the river – take a gamble and cut off their likely escape route.

>>5143465
>>They’re headed for the river – take a gamble and cut off their likely escape route.

>>5143465
>They’re headed for the river – take a gamble and cut off their likely escape route.

>>5143465
>1d6, taking the first three

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5143734
please be merciful

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5143734

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5143734

>>5143734
The masked person is fast, and no doubt knows the streets better than you do as a foreigner. But even though they’re bound to lose your classmates in the chase, and would no doubt lose you as well, you remember the map of the postal routes well enough to know there’s only one way to make a clean escape. And after they ditch your classmates you can guess that’s where the masked person intends to go.

...

A few splashing footsteps tell you that you were right to run straight for this spot – the point where the stream that feeds the hot springs town with water flows into the main canal. It also confirms to you that your opponent is a shinobi.

They pause when they see you, breathing heavily but slowly, reaching for their tantō.

“If you wanted to do that you could’ve done it before,” you observe calmly, “when you passed me in the doorway. Same as if you wanted to kill people, they’d have died when you took their chakra.”

Instead they move their hand away from the hilt, and hold them where you can see them.

“So if you’re not killing anyone, why are you doing this... Sumirin?”

She slowly reaches up and lowers her hood with one hand, removing her mask with the other. There’s a definite change in her eyes from the class representative you thought you knew before, a certain forced coldness in her expression. “How did you figure it out?”

“It wasn’t hard. Your height and weight suggested someone young,” you explain, “and the number of victims in our class suggested a connection. Out of all our fellow students, you were the only one who I suspected was more skilled than they let on – which I’d hoped you were doing to avoid upstaging your classmates.”

“Children are a blind spot for adults,” she replies calmly. “Very few of them ever give us enough credit.”

“So why are you doing this, if you’re going out of your way to leave your victims alive?” you frown at her. “I may be observant, but I can’t read minds.”

“That... doesn’t concern you,” she replies curtly, making it a point to weave her three hand seals very slowly. “You should go home, Shiki-kun. Go back to Amegakure.”

Behind her back, you can see the air ripple and distort, as a visible aura spreads out from a single point. She’s then gradually pulled into the distortion – this is a space-time ninjutsu? When the heck did she learn something like this?

>It’s your responsibility to stop your friend before she does something she’ll regret.
>Throw the kunai Naori-ue gave you after her, then go straight to Naruto-dono’s office.
>Let her go, for now. You still have no idea what she’s planning, and you need answers.
>Other?

>>5143763
>>It’s your responsibility to stop your friend before she does something she’ll regret.

>>5143763
>>It’s your responsibility to stop your friend before she does something she’ll regret.

>>5143763
>It’s your responsibility to stop your friend before she does something she’ll regret.

>>5143763
>>It’s your responsibility to stop your friend before she does something she’ll regret.

>>5143763
>It’s your responsibility to stop your friend before she does something she’ll regret.

>>5143763
>>It’s your responsibility to stop your friend before she does something she’ll regret.

>>5143763
There’s no hesitation, no consideration in your mind as to what you should do. Sumire is your friend, and friends don’t let friends make mistakes they’ll regret for the rest of their lives – whatever it is she has planned, you get the impression that’s what’s at stake here. So you leap after her, right into the middle of the swirling distortion.

You find yourself falling through a dim, cavernous space with the ground rushing up towards you. For lack of a better plan you draw the kunai your mother gave you and flow your chakra into it, setting it on fire. Even if she doesn’t come like she promised, at least you can use it to slow yourself by...

“Yeah no, you need to do something about that,” Naori-ue tells you as she puts one arm across your chest and slows your descent. “You can’t just keep lighting things on fire.”

When you reach the ground of wherever this is, the paper tag wings she used to slow your fall reconstruct themselves into a cloak that covers her usual outfit. “What’s going on here?”

“Sumire is the one behind it all,” you explain, “and used some sort of spacetime ninjutsu. I jumped in after her.”

Naori-ue shakes her head. “I’m annoyed and so damned proud all at once.”

...

While you’re trying to find Sumire, you and Naori-ue run into something unanticipated – a giant tiger-like creature with a monkey’s head and a white snake for a tail. It looks ferocious, but at the same time something doesn’t seem to line up.

“Hey, be careful!” Naori-ue chides you as you approach the beast and its three-foot fangs.

You reach out and touch the beast’s nose, and give it a bit of a rub. “Hey there, big guy. Where did you come from!”

“Nue!” you hear Sumire call out from somewhere in the dim above. “What are you doing!?”

The creature, ‘Nue’, makes a seemingly contented rumble, and so Sumire herself drops down to face you. Nue circles around behind her, carefully positioning itself as if ready to react to any possible threats. Sumire herself is dressed much more like a shinobi than a student, with a sleeveless purple top, dark armguards, and wrappings around her ankles and wrists. Her hair is down now, no longer in those girly braids she normally wears.

“You shouldn’t have followed me,” she insists. “And you shouldn’t have gotten your mother involved.”

“Yeah no, don’t worry about me,” Naori-ue waves her hand dismissively.
>1/2

>>5144791
“I’ve wondered how good you are,” you admit, raising your fists. “But I didn’t want something like this.”

She draws a kunai. “I had nothing against you... why didn’t you just go home?”

Behind her, Nue looses a warning growl.

“Okay then, kitty,” Naori-ue muses cheerfully. “I’ll play with you.”

When Sumire makes her move, so does Nue.

Sumire holds out a finger and gathers chakra-laden water at her fingertip. “Suiton: Suireiha!”

She unleashes two fast blasts, each about as big around as your fist but as long as your forearm, forcing you to weave to avoid them before getting into close range. Blades clash, with an unusual weight behind them that you never experience with sparring. She turns after a parry and throws a kunai past your ear before flipping backwards and putting her hands together. “Suireiha!”

This time slightly larger blasts launch from her hands, multiple of them in quick succession. You’re barely able to put a few kunai with exploding tags between the projectiles and yourself, dispersing them before they can hit you.

“You should be better than this!” she insists, landing lightly on her feet. “But you’re holding back too much, why?”

“Because you never answered my question,” you explain with a frown. “Why are you doing this?”

She gives you your answer. “You were too polite to ask before, about the reasons I’m an orphan. It’s because of Konohagakure that my parents died.”

“My father was a member of an ANBU faction that became villainized after the war, and so he and my mother fled the village. My mother got sick when I was little, and because we were in hiding we couldn’t get her the help that could have saved her... I can barely even remember her voice. From the age of three my father trained me for the sole purpose of revenge against Konoha – I exist solely as a tool for that purpose.”

“And how does stealing chakra fit into that?” you press.

“That’s how Nue grows stronger,” Sumire explains. “I couldn’t do it alone, so when my father died he left Nue to help me finish what he started.”

>Point out the obvious contradiction in sparing people just to kill them all with Nue.
>Sumire doesn’t seem in complete control – stop her first, then figure it all out later.
>Try to pry out more information from her – what does she know about her parents?
>Other?

>>5144793
>>Point out the obvious contradiction in sparing people just to kill them all with Nue.
>The only Anbu unit that met that fate was Root, which was Shimura Danzo's personal army. Vilified for inflicting multiple war crimes on not only other villages, but the Leaf itself. Then low and behold your father did the exact same thing by creating a child soldier as a weapon. The sad fact is your mother was savable, if she had asked for care she'd have gotten it. Instead, your father got her killed for his pride and inability to accept the consequences of his actions. This isn't a righteous crusade Sumire, and we both know it. This is the last gasp of a bitter man who backed a monster and lost his bet, deciding to lash out instead of trying to make things better or atone.


I assume that even if the gory details were glossed over or excluded Naori gave Shiki enough pieces of information to draw some conclusions from history.

>>5144793
>>Point out the obvious contradiction in sparing people just to kill them all with Nue.

>>5144834
Thats not something Shiki would know yet.

>>5144793
>Sumire doesn’t seem in complete control – stop her first, then figure it all out later.

>>5144793
>>Sumire doesn’t seem in complete control – stop her first, then figure it all out later.

Shiki gas a few years before he can talk no jutsu everyone, so lets punch her instead.

>>5144793
>>Sumire doesn’t seem in complete control – stop her first, then figure it all out later.

>>5144834
>1d6, taking the first three

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5145172
praise be to RNGesus

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5145172

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5145172

>>5145172
“... fine,” you sigh, settling into one of the stances Naori-ue taught you. “But once I’ve stopped you, we are going to talk about this.”

“You shouldn’t talk like that,” she replies, drawing her tantō, “until you’ve actually won!”

Her movements are swift and precise, but so are yours – and once she’s committed to close quarters you show her what you’ve been holding back. “Kengen-ryū: Suiryūte!”

Your arms from your elbows to your fists are enveloped in swirling compressed water, while the same sort of water forms to cover your shins and your feet. A snap-kick lands against Sumire’s shoulder, which she managed to turn just in time to block, and after dropping your leg you push off and slide on your back foot, cushioned by a thin layer of flowing water.

This is a form your mother devised for using suiton with unarmed taijutsu, combining the floating steps of traditional kenjutsu to create a fast gliding style of footwork, with lots of turning kicks and upward punches to capitalize on the increased momentum added by the weight of the water. It’s a powerful, crashing form like rolling ocean waves – and one which before today you had trouble using properly.

But right now you can’t afford to think about that. You just have to do it.

Sumire takes a few moments to flip away from you, with her last flip vaulting her high enough that she has time to weave hand seals. “Suiton: Mizubunshin!”

She creates two water clones that cover for her, each one shooting water projectiles at you as you chase her down. You answer in kind, forming the appropriate seal. “Tajū Kagebunshin!”

Your two shadow clones unseal fūma shuriken and throw them at the water clones, dispersing them long enough for you to glide swiftly past. The real Sumire follows your clones’ example and unseals two fūma shuriken as well, hiding the second in the shadow of the first – a classic, but also highly-technical, trick. Instead of sidestepping or blocking it, you vault over the first shuriken and bring your leg down on Sumire’s shoulder, since you could see her charging in after the fūma shuriken.

“A substitution?” you realize as her body dissolves into water, and Sumire attacks you from behind, her tantō raised. “You’re quick.”

Your shadow clone catches her by surprise, since you formed the seal while your body was blocking your hands from her line of sight. The clone sweeps her legs out from under her and creates a second shadow clone, which brings his foot down on top of Sumire with a crushing axe-kick that lands like a waterfall.

After a moment Sumire staggers from her knees back to her feet, coughing and sputtering but still holding tightly onto her blade.
>1/2

>>5145217
“You’re fantastic,” you admit, “but I can tell you’re already getting tired.”

“And you’re not?” she pants, soaked through to the bone and shivering slightly.

You shake your head. “Uzumaki genetics. I already have the chakra reserves of an average jōnin... I could maybe go for another hour at full tilt like this.”

You glance back at where your mother is currently dancing around Nue like she’s having the time of her life. “And the freak I call a mother could go like this for a few days.”

“Why are you interfering!?” Sumire protests angrily. “The Kakei Sumire you thought you knew was never even real! This mission is all I am!”

“I’m interfering because you know that’s not true,” you insist. “You lost your parents, yeah, but there are still people who care about you. And I know that you know that, because even if you say you’re in this for revenge you’ve never actually killed anyone yet!”

She recoils at your forceful assertion. “I told you, I needed their chakra for Nue.”

“And that’s nonsense!” you cross your arms. “Naruto told me what you did at the water treatment center – if all you were trying to do was steal chakra to get revenge on Konohagakure, why bother helping people? Why put yourself at risk like that? You got what you needed, all you had to do was run away like everyone else. Heck, anyone else that died is just one less person for Nue to have to kill.”

“That’s...” she frowns at first, then her eyes widen slightly as she realizes that she actually can’t come up with even one logical reason why she would have done that. “It’s... too late for that kind of talk now. I’ve already committed myself to this, the technique is already a part of my body.”

Your conversation is interrupted by Nue, now visibly reduced in size but still about the size of an elephant, crashes through a nearby... something. It looks a little like a bleached tree trunk. He gives a pained yowling sound.

“Nue!” Sumire cries out, immediately disengaging and leaving her back wide open – you can see what she meant, a red crest that’s clearly a fūinjutsu technique of some kind.

“You’re wide open!” you declare, charging after her and unsealing... a toy shuriken. But Nue doesn’t know that’s what it is, and immediately forces itself to its feet to take the ‘attack’ head-on for Sumire.

It may not be human, but you can tell a look of surprise when you see it regardless of species. And when your shuriken bounces harmlessly off Nue’s face, that’s definitely the sort of look it gives you.
>2/3

>>5145270
And of course, the little squeak the toy produces when it hits something just added to the effect. It’s a really well-made toy, that one. Kudos to the company that designed it.

Sumire stares at you. “Why did your shuriken squeak?”

“It was a toy,” you admit. “But it served the purpose – you didn’t care that you left yourself open when Nue was hurt, and Nue didn’t hesitate to step in to protect you. I’m mostly just guessing here, but could he have imprinted on you?”

“Stands to reason,” Naori-ue agrees, stepping up behind you. “It’s also consistent with the way he didn’t attack you at first – because it could sense that Sumire-kun didn’t want to fight you. I suspect it has something to do with the Gozu Tenno technique itself.”

Sumire stares at you both in disbelief as Nue gives her a big, sloppy lick across the side of her face.

>You loved your parents, but your father used you as a tool. Can you really do the same to Nue? Can you really betray your friends?
>How much do you really know about ROOT, and your father’s plans to use Nue as a weapon? I suspect you’ve only heard one side.
>You know it’s possible to be angry and care about people at the same time, right? Why do you have to choose one over the other?
>Other?

>>5145299
>>How much do you really know about ROOT, and your father’s plans to use Nue as a weapon? I suspect you’ve only heard one side.
and in the end:
>>You know it’s possible to be angry and care about people at the same time, right? Why do you have to choose one over the other?

>>5145304
btw, i hope this might become a bit of a self realisation about boruto, shiki should really talk to him about the issue boruto likely not even remember.

>>5145299
>>How much do you really know about ROOT, and your father’s plans to use Nue as a weapon? I suspect you’ve only heard one side.

>>5145299
>You know it’s possible to be angry and care about people at the same time, right? Why do you have to choose one over the other?

>>5145299
>>How much do you really know about ROOT, and your father’s plans to use Nue as a weapon? I suspect you’ve only heard one side.

>>5145299
>>How much do you really know about ROOT, and your father’s plans to use Nue as a weapon? I suspect you’ve only heard one side.

>>5145299
“The organization your father was part of,” you realize, “it was called ROOT, wasn’t it?”

Sumire turns her attention back to you. “How do you know that? I never mentioned it.”

“Naori-ue, Kakashi-san, and Konan-san were having a conversation about it in our garden one time,” you explain. “Makoto and I were listening in from under the veranda.”

“Cheeky brats,” your mother grumbles.

“We wanted to know more about Akatsuki,” you continue. “And when we got caught, our parents sat us down and explained it to us – about the way things used to be. Kakashi-san mentioned that he had been in ROOT at one point, while Naori-ue and Konan-san had been in Akatsuki.”

“Kakashi-san,” Sumire repeats. “The Sixth Hokage.”

You nod. “He and Konan-san are like our godparents or something.”

“And people knew about this?” she presses.

You glance at Naori-ue, who nods. “The daimyō, the village elders, the jōnin council, the previous hokages. Pretty much everyone important for sure – Sai-kun and Yamato-han were both former members too. Sai-kun was actually used to spy on Naruto-kun back when he was still a genin.”

“Sumirin,” you frown, “did your father ever explain any of this to you? What ROOT was, why he was using you as a weapon, why they created Nue? Did he ever give you even one example of why he felt the need to flee the village in the first place?”

Sumire’s eyes widen in shock as she comes to a realization. Then, the first hints of tears. “No... never. Did he ever really... did my mother even have to...”

She collapses to her knees, overwhelmed by a flood of emotions. “My mother... her last words to me that I’d forgotten... she only wanted me to be happy...”

You place a (hopefully reassuring) hand on her shoulder. “You and Nue are no-one’s tools, you can make your own decisions about...”

Your inspirational speech is rudely interrupted by a massive chunk of the ceiling caving in.

- NAORI -

“This dimension’s starting to collapse!” you warn your son and his errant classmate. “We have to go.”

“I can do it,” the girl, Sumire-kun, insists... though nothing happens. “Why isn’t it working now of all times!?”

“The Gozu Tenno is tied to dark emotions,” you insist, laying the last of the cards Naruto and Sai dealt you on the table. “When Shiki got through to you, the technique ended – and now the chakra it gathered is no longer holding this spacetime region stable!”

“You can teleport, right?” Shiki turns to you. “Same way you got in here in the first place!”
>1/2

>>5145968
>”Yes, but Nue will have to stay” – it’s a lie, but if she brings the living weapon back to Konoha there will be serious problems.
>”Nue needs to shed some mass first” – it’s a plausible half-lie that will leave Nue looking significantly less threatening.
>”To borrow a phrase ‘it’s a drag’, but yes” – it’s the truth, and it’s GOING to be a massive pain in your backside.
>Other?

>>5145970
>>”Nue needs to shed some mass first” – it’s a plausible half-lie that will leave Nue looking significantly less threatening.

>>5145970
>>”Nue needs to shed some mass first” – it’s a plausible half-lie that will leave Nue looking significantly less threatening.

>>5145970
>”To borrow a phrase ‘it’s a drag’, but yes” – it’s the truth, and it’s GOING to be a massive pain in your backside.
Don't lie to children just because the truth is a pain

>>5145970
>”To borrow a phrase ‘it’s a drag’, but yes” – it’s the truth, and it’s GOING to be a massive pain in your backside.

>>5145970
>>”Nue needs to shed some mass first” – it’s a plausible half-lie that will leave Nue looking significantly less threatening.

>>5145970
>>”To borrow a phrase ‘it’s a drag’, but yes” – it’s the truth, and it’s GOING to be a massive pain in your backside.

>>5145970
>”Nue needs to shed some mass first” – it’s a plausible half-lie that will leave Nue looking significantly less threatening.

>>5145970
>”To borrow a phrase ‘it’s a drag’, but yes” – it’s the truth, and it’s GOING to be a massive pain in your backside.

>>5145970
>>”To borrow a phrase ‘it’s a drag’, but yes” – it’s the truth, and it’s GOING to be a massive pain in your backside.

>>5145970
>”To borrow a phrase ‘it’s a drag’, but yes” – it’s the truth, and it’s GOING to be a massive pain in your backside.

>>5145970
>>”To borrow a phrase ‘it’s a drag’, but yes” – it’s the truth, and it’s GOING to be a massive pain in your backside.

>>5145970
>”To borrow a phrase ‘it’s a drag’, but yes” – it’s the truth, and it’s GOING to be a massive pain in your backside.

>>5145970
>To borrow a phrase ‘it’s a drag’, but yes” – it’s the truth, and it’s GOING to be a massive pain in your backside.

>>5145970
“It’s a drag, to borrow a phrase,” you sigh wearily, “but we have no time.”

You toss two marked kunai to each side and almost instantly you, Shiki, Sumire-kun, and Nue are all transported to the hiraishin marking you left in the lake outside Kusagakure. There’s nothing there right now, and that’s the point. Had you taken Nue straight to Naruto’s office you’d never hear the end of it.

“Give me a second here,” you sigh, taking a moment to recover. “I could’ve taken us to the moon and back ten times for the amount of chakra I just used.”

There’s a concerned yelp of surprise from Sumire as what you suspected would happen begins. “Nue! What’s happening!?”

“Yeah no, it’s to be expected,” you insist, watching calmly as Nue fades away completely. “Curse marks don’t have a habit of disappearing on their own though, so I suspect its form has just changed is all. Look around, do you see a new marking anywhere?”

After a few frantic seconds, Sumire looks intently at a new marking on her left palm. “... Nue?”

Whatever happens you can’t see it, but her reaction tells you that your assumption was correct – she will always have a contract with the Nue, and will always have some form of that disgusting technique that so misused your clan’s legacy within her body. There will always be a potential for her to slip back into the sort of dark, hateful thoughts that previously fueled the Gozu Tennō, and so Shiki will have to keep an eye on her for a while on your behalf. But seeing how he handled her when their disagreements came to blows, you think you can have some faith in him.

“I suspected something like this might happen,” you admit, “but we absolutely didn’t have enough time for me to explain my plans. So I had to just do it and talk you through it as we went.”

You grab both students by their shoulders and reappear in Naruto’s office.

Sumire seems disoriented yet again by the experience, glancing over at Shiki. “How are you okay with that?”

“You get used to it,” he shrugs.

“What is this?” Naruto demands, rising from behind his desk. “Naori, what’re you...”

He pauses. “That’s Kakei Sumire, from the academy.”

“Sumire-chan here has something to talk to you about,” you announce, and you notice from the corner of your eye that Shiki has given Sumire a little push forwards.

She bows stiffly. “Lord Seventh, I would like to see all the records related to ROOT. I want to know how much of what my father told me was a lie.”
>1/2

>>5148408
- SHIKI -

Your mother assured you that she’ll keep an eye on Sumire while she works her way through the files that Naruto – admittedly reluctantly – gave to her about the ROOT. For a while at least she won’t be showing up at the academy while she does this work, as well as taking time each day to personally apologize and explain her actions to her victims in the village. You’re not sure how to feel about that plan, but she seemed adamant that it should be a part of her acknowledging what she did and trying to make it right.

“The class rep’s not here again today,” Boruto sighs as he stares out the window at the beginning of lunch, two days after the incident with Nue. “And the hospital says she’s been discharged already.”

“I heard a rumor she might be thinking about transferring out of the academy,” Chōchō muses.

“Why would she do that?” Wasabi asks, clearly worried about her friend. “Because of what happened at the water treatment center?”

“No idea,” Chōchō shrugs, “it may not even be true. It’s just the rumor I heard.”

“There’s no way, right?” Boruto tries to assure himself. “Right?”

The whole class seems to be down about this. Hard as it is to get a read on her sometimes, even Anko-sensei seemed a little distracted by the empty seat in her classroom.

>She’ll be fine. She’s just dealing with something important right now.
>I have no idea about why she might not be here. None whatsoever.
>I’ll explain the situation, but no questions or comments until I’m done.
>Other?

>>5148420
>>She’ll be fine. She’s just dealing with something important right now.

>>5148420
>You don't need to worry about her, she's fine. She’s just dealing with something important right now.
>And no, i'm not telling you what. It's private, and i only know because i happened to be there. She'll tell you if she wants.

>>5148420
>I have no idea about why she might not be here. None whatsoever.
>I’ll explain the situation, but no questions or comments until I’m done.

The first then the second

>>5148420
>>She’ll be fine. She’s just dealing with something important right now.

>>5148420
>Other
>Silence is golden.

And where's Mitsuki? What's Orochimaru up to?

>>5148420
>>Silence is golden

>>5148420
>>Silence is golden

>>5148420
>>She’ll be fine. She’s just dealing with something important right now.

>>5148420
>>She’ll be fine. She’s just dealing with something important right now.

>>5148638
...What if Orochimaru got the whole have a kid science thing out of his system when we asked, and Shiki and Makoto have snake superscience in them?

>>5148638
>>5149135
Nah, Snakeman is under lock and key in konoha.
Probably some special considerations since he is still an asset, but he can't freely do his crazy science so no specially made kid for him.

>>5148420
>>She’ll be fine. She’s just dealing with something important right now.

>>5148420
“She’ll be fine,” you speak up after having kept your peace for as long as you could. “She’s just sorting out something way more important.”

Boruto rounds on your almost instantly, going so far as to grab you by the collar and haul you up out of your seat. “You know something about the class rep and you’ve been keeping it to yourself!? You better spill it, Shiki!”

In an instant, it seems the class is divided into two camps – one that thinks Boruto has gone too far too fast, and one that’s just as shocked and angry as he is. You have no choice, so far as you’re concerned.

“No,” you reply curtly. “It’s not my story to tell. If she feels like sharing she’ll be back to speak for herself. If not, I’ve already told her I’ll abide by her decision.”

“What kind of answer is that!?” Boruto demands, not releasing you yet. “You’ve always been like this Shiki, a total pain in the butt about every little thing. Is it really a problem that we’re worried about our friend?”

“You can shake me if it makes you feel better,” you frown, “but I’m not going to blab about my friend behind her back. Sorry, Boruto-kun, but you’re just going to have to wait to see what she decides – same as me.”

“Boruto,” Shikadai interrupts, grabbing his friend by the wrist. “Don’t you think that’s enough? Shiki-kun, am I right to understand you’ve told us all you can while respecting the class rep’s wishes?”

You nod. “The only other thing I can say is that I think she’ll be back to explain it herself regardless of what she chooses.”

“Then that’s all we can ask for,” Shikadai insists, speaking directly to Boruto. “So I think you should let him go, Boruto.”

After a moment, Boruto releases you in a huff. “Fine, but I still don’t like it.”

...

The next morning, it finally happens. There’s a knock at the door, and after a moment Sumire steps into the classroom. Gone for good are the two braids, instead replaced by a low ponytail, and gone too is the girly collared shirt. Instead she wears something more like what she was wearing when you confronted each other in Nue’s dimension – sleeveless purple, with red piping and a standing collar, over the same sort of short-sleeved black compression top she used to wear under her previous outfit.

She takes a deep breath.
>1/2

>>5149902
“My name... is Nagao Sumire,” she begins hesitantly. “My mother was Nagao Romi, my father was a member of ROOT – a splinter faction of Konoha’s ANBU that did not answer to the Hokage and was responsible for unforgivable acts beyond count. My mother got sick and died after we fled the village after the war, and my father started training me at the age of three to believe that my sole reason for living was revenge against Konoha.”

“At the time I believed him. When I was old enough, he implanted a jūinjutsu in my back for that purpose,” she continues. “It was that jūinjutsu I used to orchestrate what you’ve been calling the ‘ghost incidents’. I was the masked figure some of you saw at the post office.”

“No way...” Boruto slumps back in his seat – and he’s not alone in his disbelief.

“It was Shiki-kun who caught on to me, and pressed me for answers,” Sumire draws her vastly shortened version of events. It’s clear that this whole affair is deeply uncomfortable for her, but that she’s pushing herself to say what she thinks needs to be said in spite of it. “We fought, and as a result of his words the jūinjutsu was broken... it felt like I was thinking clearly for the first time in years. He and his mother forced me to abandon my father’s plans, and seek the truth from Lord Seventh.”

She speaks directly to you this time. “My father saw me only as a tool to use against the village he was supposed to protect. He was wrong – and I was wrong to hurt my friends for the sake of his petty revenge.”

Sumire bows deeply. “I don’t expect your forgiveness, but I felt you at least deserved an explanation.”

... that’s a LOUD silence from the class, many of whom are still trying to catch up with all those details revealed all at once.

>”I don’t think I’ve met any ‘Nagao’ Sumire, but I think I’d like to get to know you better.”
>”I was already satisfied with how things went, though I can only speak for myself.”
>”... if it’s more comfortable I can step outside with Sumire so the rest of you can talk.”
>Other?

>>5149908
>Give her a big smile
>"Now that your head is clear, let's get to know eachother again. I'd still like to be friends if that's alright with you, Sumire."

>>5149920
>>5149908
This

>>5149908
>>”I don’t think I’ve met any ‘Nagao’ Sumire, but I think I’d like to get to know you better.”

>>5149908
>”I don’t think I’ve met any ‘Nagao’ Sumire, but I think I’d like to get to know you better.”

>>5149908
this>>5149920

>>5149908
You gesture to the seat next to you. “If you’d like to sit here there’s an empty seat, Nagao-kun. Assuming no one else has any problems with that?”

“So, you’re just okay with this?” Chōchō glances your way.

Shikadai crosses his arms. “He said as much yesterday. You had the facts, and you made a decision, didn’t you Shiki-kun?”

You nod. “Correct.”

“Can I ask you how you came to that decision?”

“I don’t know about you,” you shrug, “But I’ve never met any ‘Nagao Sumire’ before, so I think she deserves a fair chance.”

“It sounds like she never really had one before,” Sarada muses quietly. “I mean, starting at three years old...”

“Speaking of which,” Metal Lee joins in, rubbing his chin. “If you began training at such a young age, how is it that you do not do any better in our training exercises?”

Anko-sensei and Sumire-kun share an awkward glance, before Anko seems to relent to the unvoiced curiosity that she no doubt senses among her students. “Alright, I wasn’t exactly planning on all this today... but what the heck, I’m curious too!”

...

It’s... actually more impressive now that you can watch it from the sidelines. There’s a wide range of nervous muttering and stunned stares as Sumire unseals shuriken and kunai from marked wrist wraps and nails bull’s-eye after bull’s-eye on multiple targets, weaving back and forth the whole time in an acrobatic display. Then, with a vaulting flip, she uses a familiar technique. “Suiton: Suireiha!”

Several blasts of compressed water shatter three of the wooden dummies with direct hits. It seems to tire her out a little more than it did when you fought against her – Nue’s stolen chakra must have been supporting her somewhat at the time, though it probably wasn’t a deliberate design to the technique but rather an incidental boost.

“What in the world was that!?” Boruto demands loudly.

Sumire almost loses her balance at the unexpected response. “Wait... what do you mean?”

“I mean, were you really that good this whole time!?” he shouts in disbelief. “And you were never gonna tell us!?”
>1/2

>>5151813
“W-well yeah!” she answers awkwardly. “I was trying to lay low, Boruto-kun! But is this really what bothers you about all this?”

“Of course I do feel slightly annoyed about that other thing,” Metal admits. “But then again, is it not true that we are all encouraged to attack each other on a regular basis?”

“We do spar a lot,” you agree calmly. “Or, some of us do.”

Sumire seems a little at a loss. “Are we really making that comparison right now?”

“Hey, remember that time Shiki blacked my eye?” Iwabe pipes up.

“Sorry,” you mutter.

“What are you apologizing for, it was a good punch!”

“Or that time I accidentally made Namida-chan cry?” Wasabi adds. “Also... sorry.”

Namida shakes her head and waves her hands emphatically. “It’s okay, it’s okay!”

“She says with tears in her eyes,” Sarada raises an eyebrow.

“Point is stuff happens,” Wasabi insists. “And when you jumped in front of that wall of water a few days ago, that wasn’t a part of your plan, right?”

“Well no...”

“Then there you have it,” Wasabi nods curtly, but clearly satisfied. “I don’t think Shiki’s the only one who’s willing to give you a chance – just the first.”

Sumire wipes her eyes. “... in that case, I hope you all take good care of me.”

“This is nice,” Chōchō muses after a while, before abruptly frowning. “Hang on, wouldn’t that mean though that Shiki-kun’s even stronger than Sumire-kun?”

... uh-oh.

You feel the class’s attention turning to you.

>Well we were closely matched, I just have way more stamina. So I tired her out.
>I can’t comment on that. Neither one of us was fighting with killing intent.
>... SOCIAL AWKWARDNESS AVOIDANCE SMOKE BOMB!
>Other?

>>5151868
>>I can’t comment on that. Neither one of us was fighting with killing intent.
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

>>5151868
>>I can’t comment on that. Neither one of us was fighting with killing intent.

>>5151868
>Yeah. We're both strong, but really It comes down to stamina in the end. Uzumaki have tons of it, right Boruto?

>>5151868
>>Yeah. We're both strong, but really It comes down to stamina in the end. Uzumaki have tons of it, right Boruto?

>>5151868
>>Yeah. We're both strong, but really It comes down to stamina in the end. Uzumaki have tons of it, right Boruto?

I wanted to vote for social avoidance, but this is funnier

>>5151868
>I can’t comment on that. Neither one of us was fighting with killing intent.

>>5151868
>>Yeah. We're both strong, but really It comes down to stamina in the end. Uzumaki have tons of it, right Boruto?
ah yes, kids can be brutal

>>5151868
>>5151939
support

>>5151868
“Actually, I figured we were closely matched,” you admit with a shrug, “so instead I relied on outlasting her. The Uzumaki clan has always been infamous for our stupid endurance and recovery speed – I told Naga-rin this, but I have more chakra reserves than some jōnin.”

“No wonder you never seem tired after sparring,” Iwabe grumbles. “Now that I’ll admit has always been pretty annoying.”

“Wait, so if that’s true,” Chōchō frowns, “why is it Boruto’s endurance seems so... average?”

Boruto freezes up for a moment.

You frown. “Wait a minute, what?”

“Yeah, I don’t think he has any of that.”

You glance at your cousin in confusion. “Is that true?”

“Yeah, I guess?” he replies awkwardly.

“How about fūinjutsu?” you ask. “The clan’s supposed to be good at that.”

“No,” Wasabi shrugs, “you, me, and Sumire are the best at that in our class. Sarada-chan’s also pretty good too, but Boruto-kun’s... kinda average.”

“What about sensory ninjutsu?”

“That’s my thing,” Sarada admits, crossing her arms. “Boruto can’t do it.”

“The heal bite?”

“What’s that?” Boruto stares at you in confusion.

“My mom can have people heal themselves by letting them bite her,” Sarada explains. “She doesn’t usually like using it, because sometimes it hurts.”

“How about the Kongō Fūsa?” you ask. “Have you started training that yet?”

“Our moms are the only ones who can use it so far,” Sarada tells you, “and my mom’s not even that good at it.”

“Hey Sarada,” Boruto grumbles, “how’s that sharingan going for you?”

“I don’t know,” she snaps back, “how’s your byakugan treating you?”

“Is it just me or is it getting a bit chilly out here?” Sumire spares you a nervous glance.

“Yeah, on that note I think we’re done out here,” Anko-sensei declares with a forced cheerfulness. “Alright, back inside!”
>1/2

>>5152594
Putting Bort on blast should be a family tradition

>>5152594
At lunch the “rooftop crew” consists of you, Sumire, Wasabi, Chōchō, Denki, Inojin, and someone you don’t usually talk to at all – a boy by the name of Hōki, who keeps his face hidden behind a half-face mask most of the time but who apparently steals bites of his lunch when no-one’s looking. That of course turns into a fun minigame of trying to catch him at it.

“So, I had no idea it was the whole Uzumaki clan that was supposed to be impressive,” Chōchō admits. “I knew Lord Seventh was amazing, and Sarada-chan’s always been at the top of our class.”

“I had no idea Sararin and Boruto-kun didn’t get along,” you sigh.

“How did you not get that?” Inojin asks you curiously. “They don’t exactly make a secret of it.”

“I don’t really hang out with either of them,” you admit. “Sararin a little bit, not so much Boruto-kun. Just because we’re family doesn’t mean we need to run as some kind of clique.”

“Honestly, I don’t even see the relation there,” Chōchō confesses.

“It’s too bad we didn’t get to see Shiki-kun taking himself seriously,” Hōki muses quietly. “I’d bet that would be impressive.”

You shrug. “Maybe. I think a lot of you are blowing this all out of proportion.”

“I am curious though,” Sumire admits. “You don’t usually spend any time with any of our class, Hōki-kun. So what changed?”

“If you want the truth, it’s because I found out you were trained by a former ANBU operative,” Hōki admits. “From my understanding ANBU’s training regimen emphasizes ‘conventional’ techniques that are accessible to all its recruits, rather than overemphasizing kekkei genkai or hiden.”

“For someone like me with no special abilities, that’s pretty interesting.”

“You do have a special ability though,” Sumire insists. “If you saw anything suspicious and ANBU interviewed you, I’d have been in trouble because of your perfect recall abilities.”

“Wait,” Hōki furrows his brow. “How did you even know about that?”

“I made it a point to learn everyone’s abilities in the first week,” Sumire admits. “Didn’t you ever wonder why I never joined your group, or talked with you outside of class? Until Shiki showed up you were the only student I was actually concerned about.”

“Wait, none of us worried you at all?” Wasabi cocks her head. “Not even guys like Boruto-kun or Iwabe-kun?”

Sumire shakes her head. “Please don’t take that the wrong way... I really believe most of you can become splendid shinobi! You’re just... not... yet?”
>2/3

>>5153594
Well yeah, we're literally genin.

>>5153644
Or wait, are we even genin yet? We're still in the academy, so...? Literally zero experience?

>>5153651
I do hope the improvement for the academy mean they have more theory to draw on

It kind of seems like Shiki no sold Sumire a bit hard in retrospect.

I suppose we could just chalk it up to his special eyes helping him in some unknown quantity.

But seriously, Sumire's arc is the most redeeming thing Boruto has to offer the setting. Probably the (Boruto) series' most compelling, menacing antagonist (with full Nue at least she was), and in the closest thing the series has to a great twist: she's been hiding in plain sight.

I am however definitely looking forward to the rest of Boruto's fucking embarrassment of a rogue's gallery getting absolutely styled on whenever possible.

Sumire though . . . Ah well.

>>5154258
Were you reading the same exchange?
They were pretty evenly matched, but Shiki's efficient nintaijutsu variant and stamina won the short fight so that sumire was willing to listen instead of continue. That's not the same as 'no selling' her.

I prefer this sumire already, the Canon version just disappeared into her classpresident person and became so incredibly boring.

>>5154281
Compared with what it took to stop her in Canon? She got shut down by one above average kid without much of a struggle. Or apparently quite a bit more than average if he was able to keep up with someone trained by a ruthless psychopath from age 3 to be a living weapon. Apparently his more reasonable training was still up to parity despite allowing for a more normal childhood that included things like learning shamisen and how to tune pianos.

Just saying: maybe Shiki doesn't need to be quite as sickhouse as another Naori or Itachi, because that's about what it should have taken to fight Sumire to a standstill alone imo. In fact, he would have to be better than them because he didn't have their type of desperate upbringing.

Or maybe Sumire was farther along in deciding she didn't like being a cold machine than in canon, because if she wasn't she would have thrown everything she could to kill or maim Shiki like a full ROOT trained ANBU would. Coz that's what she was, basically. And bear in mind: from Sumire's perspective he was a dangerous outsider and not one of her harmless classmates she had time to imprint on: the gloves would be off.

>>5155060
You have to remember that Sumire's conditioning revolved heavily around her mother's death somehow being Konoha's fault. So when Shiki joined her class fairly early in the term, she had to deal with someone who also became her friend, but who was uninvolved with the key event to her conditioning. That's why she passed up opportunities to hurt him, and told him repeatedly not to get involved - there was no guilt by association that could excuse harming him.

There was also no reason why she'd disbelieve him when he and Naori started poking holes in the narrative connecting Konoha to her mother's death. Once she started to think that MAYBE her father was bullshitting her the whole time her conditioning started to unravel, and snapping out of it caused the Gozu Tenno to lose its potency.

The reason it may have seemed a little underwhelming as a fight is because unlike in canon, where Sumire and Mitsuki both came in ready to kill each other, Sumire and Shiki didn't even really want to be fighting at all.

>>5153594
“We’re still students for a reason,” you shrug.

“So where do you reckon we all stand so far?” Inojin wonders aloud. “I promise I’m not trying to make a big deal out of it, I’m actually just curious what you think if you’ve been studying us this whole time.”

“Well,” Sumire frowns. “Promise you won’t be mad?”

“Sure,” Chōchō insists. “We’re the ones asking you after all.”

After taking a moment to make sure everyone seems fine with it, Sumire nods once. “This generation’s Ino-Shika-Chō should be impressive... but only Shikadai seems to be making much progress.”

“Oof,” Inojin muses. “Well, I actually guess I can’t argue with you there... I don’t really train much with my mom.”

“Wasabi-chan,” Sumire turns to a closer friend she’s had since the start of the year. “Your fūinjutsu-based taijutsu is really good in theory, but in a real battle it’d leave you wide open while setting it up.”

“Huh,” Wasabi frowns. “Actually, that’s not a bad point.”

“Denki-kun,” Sumire continues, and Denki flinches at the mention of his name. “You’ve gotten a little better, but you still have a tendency to try and out-think your problems. That’s no substitute for proper physical training and conditioning.”

“Hōki-kun – keep training your general skills, but there’s nothing wrong with making something like information-gathering your specialty.”

Then she turns to you. “Shiki-kun... you’re in danger of trying to learn too much at once. Do you have a plan yet for how to build basic skills into the more specialized techniques in your family?”

>Actually, yes. Getting the hang of yin chakra flow is the next logical step.
>I’ve actually been relying on my parents’ judgment there, at least so far.
>Since coming to Konoha I’ve missed having an equal sparring partner in my sister.
>Other?

>>5155325
>>Since coming to Konoha I’ve missed having an equal sparring partner in my sister.

>>5155325
>>I’ve actually been relying on my parents’ judgment there, at least so far.

>>5155325
>Actually, yes. Getting the hang of yin chakra flow is the next logical step.

Also gotta stop lighting everything on fire, etc

>>5155325
>>Actually, yes. Getting the hang of yin chakra flow is the next logical step.

>>5155325
>Since coming to Konoha I’ve missed having an equal sparring partner in my sister.

>>5155325
>>Actually, yes. Getting the hang of yin chakra flow is the next logical step.
>Since coming to Konoha I’ve missed having an equal sparring partner in my sister.

>>5155325
>Since coming to Konoha I’ve missed having an equal sparring partner in my sister.

>>5155325
>Since coming to Konoha I’ve missed having an equal sparring partner in my sister.

>>5155325
“I had a plan once,” you admit with a wistful sigh. “I miss Makoto.”

“Your sister?” Chōchō asks, clearly confused. “What does she have to do with your training?”

“We were the best sparring partners,” you explain. “Evenly matched, keenly aware of each other’s abilities, and quick to spot each other’s mistakes. We would sometimes train, share tips, and bounce ideas off each other all day long.”

“Didn’t your parents teach you?” Denki wonders aloud. “I mean, my dad never did, but I thought that was unusual for shinobi families.”

“Of course,” you acknowledge. “But sometimes Naori-ue is so busy she has to have clones or subordinates handle stuff just so she can spend time with us at all during the week. So a lot of the time friends of the family would come and work on their specialties with us instead. But all along, Makoto and I had each other.”

“Didn’t you have any friends to train with?” Inojin asks curiously.

You shake your head. “Most kids in Amegakure were too intimidated to spend any time with us.”

“That sounds kind of sad,” Inojin admits.

“It wasn’t,” you shrug. “We had each other, and our parents, and the families of our parents’ friends all over the world.”

“A reliable sparring partner,” Sumire muses thoughtfully to herself. “If that’s what you think you need...”

>... are you volunteering to spend time together outside of class?
>There are people I can train with here... even if it IS a bit embarrassing asking HER for help.
>Why don’t a bunch of us go to the dojo together? Who knows, you might find it interesting.
>Other?

>>5156511
>>Why don’t a bunch of us go to the dojo together? Who knows, you might find it interesting.
I see that shipping bait.

>>5156511
>... are you volunteering to spend time together outside of class?

>>5156511
>Why don’t a bunch of us go to the dojo together? Who knows, you might find it interesting.

>>5156511
>>... are you volunteering to spend time together outside of class?

>>5156511
>>... are you volunteering to spend time together outside of class?

>>5156511
>>... are you volunteering to spend time together outside of class?
Regardless of if the sparring happens, we should invite her from time to time to eat with us, cooking/eating together is better than alone.

>>5156511
>Why don't a bunch of us head over to Metal Lee's father's dojo. Never hurts to improve our Taijitsu. And if we're lucky, Might Guy might be there.

>>5156511
>Why don’t a bunch of us go to the dojo together? Who knows, you might find it interesting.

>>5156511
“It sounds kinda like you’re volunteering to hang out after class,” you muse.

After a moment, Sumire shrugs. “It helps me as much as it would you – I’m not exactly in any hurry to go home after class.”

... ah.

“Well,” you decide, “I have a good idea for where to go then. And you’re all free to tag along if you’d like... it’d give me a way to save some face.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Chōchō demands with a frown.

You cringe a little. “Weeeell... I’d kinda wanted to avoid asking her for help if I could avoid it. But it should be fine like this.”

...

“What do you mean ‘neglecting your kenjutsu’, Shiki-kun?” Mirai-san demands, resting her hands on her hips.

“I mean I haven’t been training as hard as I could be,” you repeat for clarification. “Mirai-nee, you know as well as I do what the problem is.”

She considers that for a moment. “Okay, so why did you bring your friends?”

“So they could see what this is all about,” you shrug, dismissing the question. “Why, am I not allowed to have friends now?”

Mirai raises her eyebrow.

You lower your voice so that your friends – hopefully – can’t hear you. “Listen, I’m still no good at yin flow. I’m trying to ask you for help without it being a big deal.”

“Why should it be a big deal?” Mirai frowns. “I mean, there’s only three people who are any good at it.”

“One of which is my mom,” you point out, “another is my sister, and the third is you. Oh, what do you mean you’re not amazing at yin flow, Shiki-kun? That’s so shocking! Everyone else in your family can do it – is what you and I both know people would say.”

After considering your request for a moment, Mirai eventually nods. “Alright, on one condition.”

“Name it.”

“You have to call me ‘sensei’ while we’re in the dojo.”

“Done.”
>1d6, taking the first three
>No fixed DC, but if you roll low I’ll let you spend SP anyway

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5157293

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5157293

>>5157293

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5157293
it would help if i actually rolled, huh?

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5157293

>>5157293
“Wow, you must be desperate,” she mutters, before handing you a sword in extremely simplified fittings. “Alright then, let’s get started shall we?”

Not everyone who received your invitation showed up of course – Denki, Inojin, Sumire, and Wasabi did however, and it seems either Denki invited Iwabe or he overheard and turned up on his own. Sarutobi Mirai, one of Naori-ue’s first ‘official’ students, calls them to attention.

“So, academy students... do you all at least know what chakra flow is?”

“It’s a method for moving chakra outside of the body,” Denki summarizes. “Usually through a weapon.”

“Someone did their homework,” Mirai-san nods curtly. “Shiki-kun, draw.”

“Sensei,” you bow politely, before drawing the sword she handed you – short, not a full-length uchigatana nor a kodachi like what your mother carries at all times. But also not a tantō either. “A wakizashi... this is from Naori-ue’s collection, isn’t it?”

Mirai smirks. “She figured you might end up coming here. Now, show me your katon chakra flow.”

It’s easy enough with a little focus to flow your chakra into the blade, so easy you’re certain this is a sword made from chakra-conductive steel. That’s why Naori-ue picked it to give to Mirai-san, because it’s quite a good tool for training. In response to your technique, your blade heats up and is soon wreathed in flickering flames.

“Great,” she nods. “Now do suiton.”

“I used to have trouble with this one,” you admit, remembering the feeling of using this technique against Sumire. “That should have done it...”

“Give it a swing,” Mirai-sensei insists, pointing at a target. “Just like this.”

When you do, the blade releases an unfocused splash of water that hammers a wooden target mannequin. So that’s the difference... with water it’s not a constant thing, it surges and crashes like waves released by the movements of your blade.

“What are you feeling right now?” Mirai presses you.

You pause, thinking about the sensations you can feel and how they differ from when you use a fire transformation. “It feels... like being on the lake in a storm, like my whole body is swaying and crashing and flowing even when I’m standing still.”

“Great!” Mirai smiles. “That’s exactly it – each nature transformation is supposed to feel different, and require a different focus. For my wind nature, it helps to visualize splitting your chakra in two, then grinding the two against each other, each sharpening the other.”
>1/2

>>5157817
“Now, in this dojo we teach two theories,” Mirai-sensei continues calmly. “The basic theory is “sōkō-ryū”, which is taken from a family of samurai sword-schools that emphasize studying and targeting weaknesses in an enemy’s defenses. One example – the shinobi of Sunagakure used to favor large shoulder pads on their flak jackets. That prevented them from raising their arms freely to parry an attack from above.”

“The more advanced theory is “kengen-ryū”, which uses genjutsu to create momentary openings for an attack. Shiki, would you mind demonstrating ‘yanagi’ please?”

“Sure, sensei,” you agree. Slowly, rhythmically waving your right arm with the sword in your hand produces the desired hypnotic effect, allowing you to feign a strike while your classmates are all disoriented and unbalanced by the brief wave of hypnotic effects. Sumire seems to realize quickly what’s happening but also seems to choose to do nothing about it, content merely to observe, while Iwabe bits the inside of his lip.

When you strike the nearest tatami dummy, it comes as a surprise to Denki, Wasabi, and even Inojin.

“Nicely done, Shiki-kun,” Mirai smiles as you perform the usual sheathing technique for your style. “Yanagi was a sword technique created by the Second Hokage, Senjū Tobirama-dono. While using well-timed shadow clones can be very effective, Nidaime-dono found that using genjutsu in this way could be more efficient.”

“Inton chakra flow combines that idea with the chakra flow kenjutsu style of the samurai,” she continues, flowing chakra into her combat knives, extending their chakra ‘blades’ to the length of two short swords. “It’s a lot harder, but amplifies the slashes to a greater degree.”

Her body blurs as she moves, and for an instant you see somewhere between six and nine distinct blades as she attacks a tatami target of her own. This time, unlike with the yanagi technique which ‘resolves’ in the instant of the slash itself, you have trouble discerning which strikes Mirai-sensei chose to follow through with – the only way you manage to do it is to observe where the cuts are on the tatami. Migi-nagi with her right blade, cutting horizontally from her left to her right, and kesa-giri with her left blade, aiming at a downward angle from her right to her left, with the horizontal strike landing second.

“However, it’s rare to find a student with an actual talent for both inton chakra and kenjutsu,” Mirai admits, putting away her blades. “And it’s even harder to teach a student once you find one, because inton chakra feels different for each user. So most students in our school focus on combining their natural elemental affinity with the sōkō-ryū forms of kenjutsu, learning the basic yanagi as their only ‘kengen’ technique.”
>2/3

>>5160362
>How did you figure out what inton flow should feel like to you, Mirai-sensei?
>So, would anyone else like to give kenjutsu training a try while we’re here?
>Mirai-sensei, it just occurred to me that we’ve never actually sparred together.
>Other?

>>5160362
>How did you figure out what inton flow should feel like to you, Mirai-sensei?

>>5160366
>>How did you figure out what inton flow should feel like to you, Mirai-sensei?

>>5160366
>How did you figure out what inton flow should feel like to you, Mirai-sensei?

Someone hurry up and humble this kid, the karma and hubris is mounting. I can feel it.

>>5160366
>>How did you figure out what inton flow should feel like to you, Mirai-sensei?

>>5160362
>How did you figure out what inton flow should feel like to you, Mirai-sensei?

>>5160366
“How did you figure out how it should feel for you, Mirai-sensei?” you ask.

“Well,” she replies, crossing her arms and speaking directly to you instead of to your classmates. “I spent six weeks doing nothing but kata meditation for six hours a day, six days a week. That’s what it ended up taking.”

“Kata meditation?” Inojin wonders aloud. “What’s that?”

“It’s a method of training,” Iwabe shrugs. “The general idea is you can technically meditate doing any repetitive task – and kata are exactly that. Kind of uncommon these days, it’s a little old-fashioned.”

“Sometimes new doesn’t mean better,” Mirai muses. “Go on, you bunch. I’m afraid we don’t have shinai here, only bokutō, so you’ll have to be careful. But I couldn’t let you go without a lesson now, could I?”
>1d6, first three
>high roll is better
>apologies for the mis-post, it's been a long week

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5161550

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5161550

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5161550

Not bad.

>>5161550
“So would this even work with my kanabō?” Iwabe wonders with a frown after a particularly intense ‘armored bout’ – a standard training method in Naori-ue’s modern ryū where both partners spar with wooden swords while wearing various common types of real-world personal protective equipment. In this case, you’re both wearing the postwar flak jackets that most shinobi of chūnin rank or higher wear in Konoha, Suna, Kumo, and to a lesser degree Ame.

“Yeah,” you nod, tapping against one of the two massive side seams. “Naori-ue refused to make this style the standard issue because of this big seam. It won’t actually do anything if you hit here with a blunt weapon.”

“I see, so it’s mostly for protecting your back,” Denki realizes.

“Not the front?” Wasabi asks.

Denki shakes his head. “You’d usually have a sword or a weapon in your hands, and at worst you can sidestep so long as you can see the attack coming. But the flak jacket gives you a bit better chances in an ambush.”

“Exactly,” Mirai-sensei muses cheerfully, stepping in to conclude the lesson. “The whole point is that every defense has a weakness based on what it’s actually supposed to do. All you need to do is find or guess that weakness and relentlessly exploit it.”

“But that does mean you’re going to have to be smart, observant, and skilled,” Sumire points out. “It’s very rewarding, but also demanding.”

“Well put,” Mirai-sensei nods once. “You’re honestly a good fit for this style, Nagao-chan. Same with you, Yuino-kun. Izuno-chan, Yamanaka-kun, you’re both okay – but I get the feeling kenjutsu isn’t really your thing. Denki-kun... how do I put this nicely... you’re clearly smart, but I’m not sure your taijutsu is far enough along for me to tell either way.”

“That’s disappointing, but I... understand,” Denki admits.

Mirai-sensei shakes her head “If Naori-shishō were here she could probably say if you’d be any good at it just by glancing at you, but she rarely shares that sorta thing... she told me once she hates to discourage students before they’ve even tried.”

>So, you’re saying Naori-ue knows whether I’d probably be any good at her techniques and hasn’t told me yet?
>In that case, what’s you’re estimation of me, and what I need to do to improve?
>Let me guess, you think I need to put in extra work to keep my kenjutsu up to par so I don’t fall behind where you think I should be?
>Other?

>>5163047
>So, you’re saying Naori-ue knows whether I’d probably be any good at her techniques and hasn’t told me yet?

>>5163047
>>Let me guess, you think I need to put in extra work to keep my kenjutsu up to par so I don’t fall behind where you think I should be?
Take the opportunity to surpass mom's expectations.

>>5163047
>>Let me guess, you think I need to put in extra work to keep my kenjutsu up to par so I don’t fall behind where you think I should be?

>>5163047
>So, you’re saying Naori-ue knows whether I’d probably be any good at her techniques and hasn’t told me yet?

inb4 Shiki and Boruto bond over their shared consternation at the BS levels of talent their sisters have.

>>5163047
>Let me guess, you think I need to put in extra work to keep my kenjutsu up to par so I don’t fall behind where you think I should be?

>>5163047
“Let me guess,” you sigh, “you think I need to put in extra time to keep my kenjutsu skills where you think they should be just in case I eventually reach the point where kenjutsu won’t get in the way of my other ninjutsu techniques.”

Mirai-sensei cocks her head at you, obviously confused. “What, you can’t shape with your support hand?”

You look back at her, confused now yourself. “Well yeah, it’s hard to do ninjutsu with one hand. I’m not there yet.”

“You don’t have to though?” Mirai tells you. “From what I’m told you can already do it with the shadow clone technique, but all you really have to do is flow chakra through your sword and weave the seals with your other hand... like this.”

She does exactly that, flowing fire-transformed chakra through one of her knives and weaving seals with her left hand to produce a handful of glowing motes of flame. “See? Like this. Naori-shishō was using this before she got one-handed seals totally dialed-in.”

You feel your jaw hang slightly. “Wait... she knew about this the whole time and never told me?”

Mirai nods. “She did the same thing to me... what she told me was that she wanted me to experience it myself.”

“Experience what?”

“Realizing that you’d been holding yourself back,” Mirai-sensei explains, “by assuming that something was beyond your ability instead of thinking creatively about how to pull it off another way.”

... so that’s what it was. Rather than toying with you, Naori-ue was setting up a meaningful lesson this whole time. And it’s not just a lesson about the trick to using hand seals while using the Kengen-ryū at the same time, either...

“... it applies to inton-nagare too,” you realize.

“Shiki-kun?” Wasabi-kun furrows her brow at you. “Did you have some kinda realization there or something?”

“Inton release is about creativity,” you explain. “Naori-ue held back on teaching me how to do hand seals with a sword in one hand, because she wanted me to take the lesson and apply it to inton chakra flow.”

“So do you know how to do it now?” Wasabi asks you curiously.

“Not quite,” you admit, “but I think I know how it’s supposed to work – it’s supposed to be like music!”

Mirai-sensei nods and smiles warmly. “For me, it was painting the flowers behind your mom’s dojo.”
>1/2

>>5164256
This actually changes everything – with the realization that you can hold a sword and perform other techniques by weaving seals with your left hand, there’s no reason in the world why you would have to forgo kenjutsu training. On top of that, you now have an idea for how to make inton chakra flow work for you – the advanced techniques of the Kengen-ryū school are open to you now.

You bow politely at the end of the lesson, and before you leave the dojo you give an extra, deep bow to Mirai-sensei – you owe her for this, and it’d be stupid of you not to come back for more.

The next few weeks see you and Sumire showing up to class sore after hard sparring a few days a week, and Iwabe shows up at least once a week to train too. Even Wasabi-kun comes by to study the nagare-te forms with some of the chūnin students. For the first time since leaving Amegakure, it feels like you’re honestly making progress.

- NAORI -

“You called me here?” you frown, taking a seat across the office from Naruto’s desk. “What for, Naruto-kun?”

Naruto glances at Sasuke, who sighs wearily. “In your own travels, have you heard of anyone else possessing the sharingan besides you, me, and Kakashi-san?”

You shake your head. “Yeah no, can’t say I have. Why do you ask?”

“Because I met a boy with them,” Sasuke insists.

“That’s... unlikely. Right?”

“I thought so too,” Sasuke confesses. “Apparently not.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

You consider this new information carefully. “I suppose it’s possible, though I’d also expect that if there were another Uchiha survivor Akatsuki would’ve known about it.”

“I think it’s unlikely that it’s an Uchiha survivor,” Naruto chimes in. “There weren’t any unaccounted for in ANBU’s reports, though it’s also undeniable that several eyes did go missing during the clan’s destruction.”
>2/3

>>5164841
“So what did you want me to do about it?” you frown. “If it’s information you were hoping for I don’t have any.”

“I wanted you to know that I’ll be looking into it myself,” Sasuke informs you. “So I may signal to you for assistance – be ready to fight a sharingan user.”

"Sure," you nod. "Not a problem."

“I’d also heard you were looking into a batch of kids in Kirigakure,” Naruto adds. “Kakashi-sensei and Konan-san are on vacation right now, but he wanted you to consider taking Zabuza-san’s old sword with you.”

“Yeah no, it’s debatable whether I have the right to,” you admit.

Naruto chuckles to himself. “Yeah, he said you might say something like that. So he told me to tell you ‘it’s my right to decide who wields this blade after me, and I choose you’ – his words exactly, ya know.”

“Damn it,” you grumble. “He’s technically right. Though if we’re being honest...”

>I’m going there to finalize passing on the Kiba. Those other brats don’t deserve anything.
>I’ll give them all a chance to change my mind, but I doubt any of them will impress me.
>I’m going in with an open mind, and I think it’s time to pass these blades down already.
>Other?

>>5164853
>>I’ll give them all a chance to change my mind, but I doubt any of them will impress me.

>>5164853
>>I’ll give them all a chance to change my mind, but I doubt any of them will impress me.

>>5164853
>I’ll give them all a chance to change my mind, but I doubt any of them will impress me.

>>5164853
>I’ll give them all a chance to change my mind, but I doubt any of them will impress me.

>>5164853
>>I’ll give them all a chance to change my mind, but I doubt any of them will impress me.

>>5164853
>>I’ll give them all a chance to change my mind, but I doubt any of them will impress me.

>>5164853
- SHIKI -
Valentine’s day – it’s never been your favorite holiday for two reasons. First is that for most of your life you’ve been too young to even really understand what romance is, and second is that for most of your life you really haven’t had many friends your own age. Kids like to call chocolates that come from their family “pity chocolate”, but that’s another point of departure for you since you’ve always considered chocolates from your family and friends of your family to be wonderful gifts. So while some of the jerks back in Amegakure liked to flaunt gifts from girls your own age it’s more important to you that you have two mothers who love you and your sister dearly.

It also doesn’t hurt that most of the friends of your family are powerful, influential, famous, or some combination of the three – what kid in Amegakure can say they get Valentine’s chocolate from a famous actress, two jinchūriki, and three current or former kages every year other than you and your sister?

You got the usual chocolates by mail this year along with pleasant letters from Yugito-nee, Fū-nee, Koyuki-hime, Kurotsuchi-san, Tsunade-san, Mei-san, Queen Sara and Princess Seiryu, Ayame-san from Ichiraku’s, and of course Konan-san, as well as a big box of handmade chocolates from Naori-ue and Ryūzetsu-ue that they brought to you personally this morning with a nice chat over breakfast.

But none of that prepared you for the reality of this day in Konoha.

First is Sarada-kun, who corners you outside the academy building with a small box of chocolate truffles. “Hey, just so you know this isn’t anything weird I give some to Boruto-kun too every year – yours are nicer though. Happy Valentine’s day, Shiki-kun, it’s nice to have a cousin around who’s not an idiot.”

“Nice to be here,” you shrug, amused as always at Sarada’s distaste for Boruto. “Thanks.”

Second is actually Chōchō, who catches you before you get to Anko-sensei’s room and hands you a rather sizable bag of triple-chocolate cookies. “Hey, so before you get too worked up or anything, there’s four guys that I thought deserved my homemade cookies this year. Good job making the shortlist, Shiki-kun, and in case you were wondering who else I made these for – try to remember a gentleman never asks and a lady never tells.”

“Thanks, Chōchō-kun – they look really good!” you reply with a smile. “I’ll happily accept them.”

The third person to find you is Sumire-kun, who’s holding something behind her back in the hallway at the start of lunch break. “Sumirin? Whatcha got there?”

“I’m sorry if you were expecting chocolates,” she apologizes, before handing you a small vase with a few flowers. “But I figured since you’re not from around here and you’re living alone...”
>1/2

>>5165881
“That’s a living flower arrangement,” you realize, impressed at her handiwork. “And these are strawberries?”

“I... guess you could always dip those in some of the chocolates I’m giving everyone?” she offers awkwardly, still hung up on the fact that it’s not chocolate. “The nasturtium petals are edible too.”

You can’t help but laugh at her hangup over the lack of chocolate involved. “This is actually really thoughtful, Sumirin... thank you!”

She seems happy that you’re happy with her gift, and promises to see you after class for kenjutsu practice before heading off to have lunch with some of your other classmates – with a little bit more bounce in her step than usual, you notice.

On the way back to class after the end of lunch, you can’t help but address the obvious. “Are you going to stalk me the whole rest of the day?”

Wasabi-kun steps out from around a corner and hands you a small, handwrapped package without making eye contact. “So yeah, when you first showed up here I thought you were gonna be some kinda arrogant rich-kid from some big fancy clan... thanks for not being that.”

You open the wrapping slightly to get a look inside. “Chocolate fudge with caramel and... sea salt?”

Wasabi-kun nods. “I... wanted to try my hand at something like this. Hope it turned out okay.”

“I didn’t know you could cook,” you muse, taking a little bite out of the corner. “It’s good... really good, actually.”

“Normally I’m pretty hopeless around the house!” Wasabi-kun admits with a nervous laugh. “So I’m really relieved it came out okay... well, see ya, Shiki-kun! And... thanks, you know? For being a good guy to have around.”

After class, you have to be pretty careful not to crunch anything while you listen to the other boys talking – seems like most of them hung back to chatter.

“Yeah, I just got some from Chōchō, Sarada, and the stuff we all got,” Boruto shrugs. “On top of the stuff my mom and my sister made.”

“Aren’t we getting a little old for pity chocolate?” Inojin muses.

Boruto shakes his head. “Nah, it’s kinda nice.”

“Yeah, you say that like having a loving parent is something to be ashamed of,” you shrug. “I’m with Boruto-kun on this one.”

“Well when you put it that way I feel like a real jerk,” Inojin admits. “Plus I guess it doesn’t hurt that you don’t have to give anything back on White day. So you got some of Chub’s cookies too, huh? I assume you got some, Shikadai?”

“And something from someone else,” he shrugs, “and I don’t really feel like putting a name to that one.”

“I get you,” Inojin admits. “I got one like that too. How about you, Shiki-kun?”

“... White day...” you mutter.

“... Shiki-kun?”

A grin of sorts tugs at your lips, halfway between pain and amusement at your abrupt realization and the results of your quick mental calculus. “Am I really gonna be okay?”
>2/2

File: Empty, like his soul on W(...).jpg (631 KB, 2000x2000)

631 KB JPG

>>5165884
Press F for Shiki.

>>5165884
Going to be making chocolate all day, the day before
he needs someone to help him, maybe Godfather(?) Kakashi

Tiny bags of gourmet white chocolate for White Day, each hand-packed and signed with care. Never fails.

Got time for some effort? Go for a big batch of proper white chocolate pudding from scratch and don't you dare botch the recipe the slightest bit. Get extra eggs because you inevitably will screw up if you haven't done it before and eggs are the trickiest part if you don't take shortcuts. Add a butterscotch drizzle before packing them up if you're feeling decadent.

>>5165884
“Yeah no, there’s only one of them that I think is worth anything as she is,” you admit, “and I’ll be going to test her personally. But I’m willing to give the others a chance to prove me wrong.”

“Man, and here I thought Kakashi-sensei was a tough mentor!” Naruto chuckles. “Least with this none of the Seven are in Konoha’s possession anymore – the elders have really been making a big fuss over it, both in Kiri and in here. Kiri wants all the swords back, of course.”

“Yeah well, I’m following the spirit of the rules,” you shrug. “Cause it’s not like any of these kids is gonna pull off something like killing me.”

“You’re probably right,” Naruto agrees. “It’s your call anyway.”

...

Kirigakure has changed a lot over the years, built up into a brighter and more modern settlement with a mad buzz and bustle totally at odds with how you remember it. But you gather that there are still some holdouts who cling to the old ways, including a few who are at the academy. At least, that’s what Chōjūrō told you.

“So these are the files?” you muse, looking over the folders.

“It’s all the prospects actually,” Temari informs you.

Chōjūrō nods curtly. “Some of them have a checkered past.”

“Karatachi Kagura,” you read the first name. “Seems he has your approval?”

“He’s a good kid,” Temari insists.

“He’s related to Yagura,” Chōjūrō adds, “which means he’s had some lasting difficulties.”

There are three young shinobi who want a chance at one of the blades under your custody – Buntan-kun of course is among them seeking to take up the Kiba, as is a towering young man with big poofy hair named Hassaku who wants the Kubokiribōchō. But the standout...

“Hoshigaki Shizuma,” you read the name. You can certainly see the resemblance. “Relation?”

“Clan only,” the Mizukage clarifies. “Though it seems he’s set to become just as much of a troublemaker.”

“For real though, I didn’t hate Kisame-han,” you confess with a shrug. “Seems from these documents that these kids are running as a little gang – has Buntan-kun been associating with them?”

“They recruited her earlier this year,” he replies.
>1/2

>>5167498
The first to enter the training room at the academy, led in by Temari, is Hassaku-kun who flashes you a mouth full of sharpened teeth. “So, you’re finally ready to take us seriously!”

Us... interesting choice of words. “You wish to wield Kubokiribōchō? Prove to me that you deserve it.”

You unseal the sword in question, and toss it to Hassaku-kun. “Kill me.”

He comes at you without a second thought, wielding the Kubokiribōchō with some amount of skill. His eyes widen though as the blade stops against a single raised finger.

“Don’t mock me!” he roars, swinging the blade furiously and finding no greater success as you move that same finger to intercept it, moving only your arm each time.

He quickly does exactly what you expected him to and tires himself out, until you catch the blade in your left hand. “Raw strength isn’t enough to wield Kubokiribōchō. You’re clearly not ready.”

“What do you mean?” he demands, trying to wrench the blade from your grasp.

“Your style isn’t making use of the weapon’s distinct properties,” you explain, “and you’re too focused on strength when the real problem with Kubokiribōchō is it drains your stamina. So yeah, no, you’re not ready.”

“Get out.”

...

You can tell immediately - nothing the second candidate says can be believed or trusted.

“So, that is the great sword Samehada?” Hoshigaki Shizuma grins when he sees you sitting patiently with Samehada propped against your shoulder. “And you would be the woman who killed that blade’s previous...”

Samehada’s heavy ‘blade’ slams into Shizuma-kun’s shoulder, the weight of the blow crumpling his hasty guard.

You pull the blade against his shoulder as you withdraw, causing Temari to step up in obvious alarm.

Shizuma holds his arm out to stop her. “No! This is the way with Samehada!”

You glance down at the blade in your hand, which quivers and makes several strange sounds. Then you extend the bandage wrappings back up and over the blade before hanging it off your shoulder.

“Well?” Shizuma demands. “What is it?”

You shake your head. “Your chakra is compatible... but Samehada doesn’t like you. Have that shoulder seen to when you leave.”
>2/3

Wonder how water boy is doing.

>>5167565
Finally, the one you came here for.

Buntan-kun glances at the Kiba blades, which are on a table in the middle of the room, and cautiously picks them up to inspect them.

“Kill me,” you instruct her.

She glances at you, before throwing one of the two blades at Temari instead. “It’s been a while... Naori-shishō.”

After having caught the blade using raiton nagare-te to enhance and protect your hand, you decide that the game is over and release the transformation technique that’s disguised you as Temari. The shadow clone pretending to be the real you dispels herself.

“Not bad,” you muse. “Not bad at all... neither of the other two figured it out. Wherever did you find those losers?”

“Isn’t that a bit harsh in Shizuma-kun’s case?” Buntan frowns as you toss the longer of the Kiba blades back to her. “I mean I hate having to fawn over him to stay close to their little group, but his skills are undeniable.”

“No discipline though,” you shrug. “He’ll self-destruct sooner or later. So how’s he gotten a group to form around him?”

“He’s a kenjutsu instructor at the academy,” Buntan clarifies. “He tries to recruit students he takes a liking too – usually bloodthirsty ones with talent, but he’ll use any imbecile who can swing a sword.”

“Yeah no, speculate for me,” you press, gesturing for her to sit at the table across from you. “What do you think he’s ‘recruiting’ you for, based on how he’s been doing it?”

“Well, I think he’s going to try to steal the seven swords,” Buntan tells you with a frown. “Most of them are still stored here in Kirigakure, aside from when you take Samehada out to feed it... which is totally creepy by the way. And he knows that you brought back the Seversword too.”

“A leak in the elder council?” you sigh.

Buntan nods. “Probably.”

>I consider these blades to already be yours – but nobody can know that until Shizuma has been dealt with.
>Your last test will be how you handle Shizuma’s group. I’ll leave Kiba with Kiri until I’ve seen your solution.
>The long blade is yours as soon as Shizuma’s gone. The short blade I intend to keep for now, to kill Ōtsutsuki with.
>You’re the right person to wield Kiba, and I’m even going to let you have them now to mess with Shizuma a bit.
>Other?

>>5168149
>Your last test will be how you handle Shizuma’s group. I’ll leave Kiba with Kiri until I’ve seen your solution.

>>5168149
>>Your last test will be how you handle Shizuma’s group. I’ll leave Kiba with Kiri until I’ve seen your solution.

>>5168165
>>5168149
Do you want me to make a particular impression when we leave?

>>5168149
>You’re the right person to wield Kiba, and I’m even going to let you have them now to mess with Shizuma a bit.

>>5168149
>Your last test will be how you handle Shizuma’s group. I’ll leave Kiba with Kiri until I’ve seen your solution.

>>5168149
>>You’re the right person to wield Kiba, and I’m even going to let you have them now to mess with Shizuma a bit.

>>5168149
“Your last test will be this,” you muse thoughtfully. “So yeah, I’ll leave Kiba with Kirigakure – but I want to see how you handle Shizuma-kun and his group. I look forward to your solution.”

“Hang on, what do you mean ‘solve’, shishō?” she frowns.

You shrug. “Figure that out for yourself – that’s part of the test.”

After a moment, Buntan-kun flashes you a sharpened grin. “Man, you never get any easier, do you? Alright, I’ll go along with this little test of yours – but I’m gonna make a big show on the way out, just to let you know.”

You smile back. “For sure, knock ‘em dead.”

...

“You’ve gotta be joking!” she roars, before kicking the door down and stomping out with mutterings of “totally ridiculous” and “insulting”. You wait for a little while before putting Samehada on your back, thrusting the Kiba through your obi, and leaning Kubokiribōchō against your left shoulder, then walking out towards the exit of the academy building.

As you pass the massive waterlogged sparring arena, you pause to let the students stare at you in shock. “Yeah no, anyone else feel like getting their egos bruised today?”

Your answer is a deafening silence. “Thought not...”

“... cowards,” you toss in one last insult to stir the proverbial pot just a little more, setting the stage for Shizuma and his band of idiot friends to start making their move.

– Shiki –

You’re at the library, searching through documents as part of a class assignment. With you are Sarada and Boruto, who you were assigned to work with in researching historical techniques and documents relating to clan lineages – you’ve been teamed up with the understanding that your families are closely related, and so the techniques you research (and present on as a group) will probably overlap.

“Man, I don’t even know what they expect us to find,” you confess out loud, sliding a book across the table. “Most of the Uzumaki clan’s records were destroyed when Uzushiogakure was attacked. Honestly, Naori-ue and Karin-san are the best sources for information.”

Boruto shrugs. “Sounds like a pain – at least I’ve got the Hyūga clan to look at.”

Sarada meanwhile has her nose stuck into a book on the Uchiha...
>1d6, taking the best three of four

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5169392

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5169392

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5169392

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5169392

>>5169392
She abruptly gets up and walks away, making a bee-line for the library’s front desk – and lacking any meaningful materials on either of your own clans you figure you might as well tag along. When she reaches the desk she sets the book on the Uchiha clan down and speaks directly to the librarian on reference for the morning. “Hi, I’d like to look at any official files you have on an ‘Uchiha Itachi’, the ‘Uchiha Incident’, or on the ‘mangekyō sharingan’ please.”

The reference librarian enters all three search terms into his computer, but soon shakes his head. “I’m sorry, miss, but it seems all three of those record searches returned tier-one classified documents only.”

“Tier-one classified?” Sarada repeats. “I’m sorry, but what does that mean?”

“It means top-secret,” the librarian replies. “Access is limited to the Hokage’s office, elder council, and the requesting party or organization... that means whoever it was that requested the records be sealed, if not a Hokage.”

“Well...” Sarada frowns, “can you at least search for ‘Uchiha Sasuke’s’ records?”

The librarian tries that search, then shakes his head. “It seems a lot of Uchiha Sasuke-san’s records are also heavily redacted – tier-one classified as well.”

“How about ‘Uchiha Fugaku’ and ‘Uchiha Mikoto’ then?”

A moment’s pause. “Same story, tier-one classified. I can do a record search to see who requested those records all be sealed?”

Sarada nods curtly. “Please.”

A few seconds later she has an answer – and it’s perhaps not one she expected. “The requesting party seems to be listed as ‘confidential’, but it does list a contact number.”

He hands Sarada a phone, and you listen in on one side of the conversation that follows. “Hello, I’m trying to view some records at the library and apparently a bunch of them are classified? They’re records about my own clan, the Uchiha?”

A pause.

“Who is this? Amegakure? Why is Amegakure keeping these records sealed?”

Another pause.

“Uchiha Sarada.”

“Wait, who did you say made the request?”
>1/2

>>5170361
A few moments later you find a hand on your shoulder. “Hello there, Sarada-chan.”

“Gyah!?” Sarada jumps. “You... I guess we get to finish our conversation?”

“So yeah, I hear you were looking into some classified information?” Naori-ue asks with a calm smile. “What exactly are you after?”

“Class project,” Sarada insists at first.

Naori-ue shakes her head. “Try again.”

“I want to know about the family I come from,” Sarada tells her this time. “But neither of my parents ever talk about the Uchiha, or the sharingan, or any of it... I mean, I found out I had an uncle from a book!”

“Yeah no... your father still isn’t comfortable talking about his family,” you admit. “I was the one who requested that information be sealed – because it would look too suspicious if he requested it himself.”

“What happened to my clan?” Sarada demands curtly.

There’s a long pause before Naori-ue speaks. “They were killed,” she tells you both, careful with her words. “All I can say while respecting your dad’s wishes is that the Uchiha clan has a complicated and tragic history, and that thinking about his family upsets him... more than you can possibly know.”

Sarada falls silent, and so you speak up to fill the silence. “Can you maybe tell us more about the Uzumaki clan in the mean time, Naori-ue?”

After a moment, Naori-ue nods. “How much have your parents told you before, Boruto-kun? Sarada-kun?”

“Hardly anything,” Boruto admits. “Just that my grandmother on my dad’s side was an Uzumaki, and that my grandfather on that side was the Fourth Hokage.”

“We also both know that the Uzumaki clan isn’t really around anymore, aside from the obvious,” Sarada adds.

“Shiki?” your mother glances at you. “How much do you remember about what I told you?”

“That my grandmother was an... ‘adult entertainer’,” you recall. “A refugee from Uzushiogakure.”

“Our clan was once respected across the shinobi world for its battle prowess,” Naori-ue tells you with a frown, “as well as for our unusual chakra. It led to the appearance of many unusual abilities, as well as our innate skills at fūinjutsu.”
>2/3

>>5171119
“I want to know about the family I come from,” Sarada tells her this time. “But neither of my parents ever talk about the Uchiha, or the sharingan, or any of it... I mean, I found out I had an uncle from a book!”
I assume its Naori saying the first sentence?

>>5171606
No its not Naori, cause i/my phone copied the wrong sentence, ffs

>>5171606
>>5171637
I know which sentence you mean and yes, that was a typo.

>>5171119
“It was those skills that led an alliance of rival villages to destroy our ancestral home and force our people into exile. I’ve tracked down a few families who were all outside the village at that time – Uzumaki Kushina had been sent to become the nine-tails jinchūriki as Mito-tono had before her. Uzumaki Makoto fled to the Land of Storms and became a courtesan, eventually having me with a member of the old Akatsuki before it was destroyed by Hanzō of the Salamander. Uzumaki Kaori had a child with a man whose name I’ve never learned – that child was Karin, Sarada-chan’s mother. Uzumaki Honoka became a research assistant with an isolated laboratory working on hybridized summoning beasts, and was killed in an accident there.”

“But what about the Uchiha?” Sarada presses.

Your mother shakes her head. “Ask your father some time – but do it as politely and as tactfully as you can. If you want, I can let him know that you intend to ask which should make it a little easier.”

“What about our project, ya know?” Boruto swiftly changes the subject. “Surely you’ve got more documents than this library?”

After considering the question for a moment, Naori-ue bites her thumb and weaves some hand seals. “Kuchiyose: Kijani!”

A large, somewhat aggressive-looking bird appears in a puff of smoke, and your mother immediately begins to talk to it. “Kijani-han, these young ones are in need of some scrolls – the ones I’ve compiled on the history of the Uzumaki clan and its hiden techniques, if you please.”

“Of course, ma’am,” the bird replies courteously, before stretching his neck and opening his beak.

“Weird,” Boruto admits as a series of scrolls come out of the bird’s mouth.

“Thank you, Kijani-han,” Naori-ue nods politely. “I’ll bring these back when they’re finished.”

“Happy to be of service, ma’am,” Kijani bows low, before glancing at the librarian. “My apologies for the spectacle.”

Then he disappears in a puff of smoke.
>?/?

>>5172006
You spend several hours poring over the documents, and find one in particular that catches your eye which you partly read aloud in a low voice.

“The Kongō Fūsa, perhaps the most infamous technique of the Uzumaki fūinjutsu style, relies heavily on the unique properties of an Uzumaki practitioner’s chakra.”

“So it’s actually closer to a kekkei genkai?” Boruto frowns.

Sarada shrugs. “My mom told me anyone could use it in theory – it’s just much easier and more powerful when an Uzumaki with an aptitude for it does it.”

>1d6, taking the first three
>DC 12

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5172012

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5172012

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5172012

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5172012

File: 21368-2.jpg (3.45 MB, 1400x4204)

3.45 MB JPG

>>5172012
Ah, so that’s how Naori-ue trained herself to use the Kongō Fūsa – it’s surprisingly simple in theory, relying on the fact that as an Uzumaki your chakra might not ‘spin’ the same way most people’s usually do. Spin water in a balloon until you can pop it, then spin air in a ball until you can break it, then spin air inside a ball with enough force to break it, but compressing it so that it doesn’t burst. When you can do it both directions... no, skip that entirely.

It wouldn’t actually be spinning in your case, but vibrating – like the air vibrating inside the body of a stringed instrument. You’re also already much better at chakra flow than anyone else your age, that you know of, so the way it makes sense to train this is to listen to the sounds your chakra makes as you try to vibrate it.

“That’s... interesting,” Boruto muses, having read over your shoulder this whole time. “What is it?”

“It’s called a rasengan,” you reply. “Evidently your grand-dad invented it based on our clan’s training methods for the Kongō Fūsa.”

“Cool,” Boruto shrugs. “Wonder what it does?”

“No idea,” you admit. “But I think it’d be a good training tool for me. And I also think there’s enough to write about here for our report.”

“Probably,” Sarada agrees, seemingly dejected by the lack of information about her father’s clan.

...

“So, everyone listen up!” Anko-sensei declares one monday morning, not long after the afternoon in the library. “This year things are going to look a little different for our field trip – we’re going to be the first Academy class to tour another village!”

“Out of curiosity, sensei, which village?” Sumire asks calmly, a total departure from the excited buzz among most of the other students.

“Kirigakure,” Anko-sensei tells you with a smirk. “This is gonna be something alright!”

...

Boruto is swiftly chosen to be class leader for the field trip, partly because Sumire-kun clearly doesn’t want to do it, and partly because Sarada argues that Boruto’s outgoing attitude makes him a good choice for the role. Boruto himself is loud about his disagreement, but he gets outvoted pretty much twenty-six to one.

And so, with a little help from Naori-ue, you pack up for a trip – two changes of clothes, a couple of books, toothpaste and that kinda stuff, some snacks, and a few packs of rubber balls to practice on, all sealed into a souvenir shūin book. Your mother also hands you something new.

“So yeah, I heard about your breakthrough with Mirai-kun,” she tells you as you examine the somewhat short sword in your hands – a beautiful blade, with totally mundane fittings aside from an unusually comfortable waisted hilt.
>1/2

>>5172841
“So yeah, no, our clan isn’t popular with some of the citizens of Kirigakure,” Naori-ue admits as you resheath the short sword. “Carry that with you – it’s yours now. But don’t make too big of a show of it.”

“... understood,” you nod. “Thanks.”

“If there’s any problem there’s a few people you can go to,” she continues. “Temari-han and the Mizukage of course, and Terumi-han too. There’s also my old subordinate from the war, Kiri, whose contacts I can give you. Then there’s also Karatachi Kagura – good kid, aid to the Mizukage.”

“Thanks for all that,” you muse, “but it’s probably going to be fine.”

“Probably,” your mother repeats. “One more thing, which is about Buntan-kun – if you see her, pretend you don’t know her. She’ll probably explain it all to you if she gets the chance.”

“I don’t really understand that part,” you admit, “but I’ll keep it in mind anyway.”

...

The first step is a long train ride to the coast where you’ll pick up one of the ferry lines. Along the way Boruto and a lot of the other boys play cards, while most of the girls chatter about their swimsuits and their plans for when and where to wear them.

You on the other hand sit quietly, your shūin book in a little leather pouch that can attach to your belt, your rain cloak thrown over the seat back, and a parasol leaning against the window along with your shamisen. For the time being your new sword is sealed away alongside your virtual armory worth of shuriken and senbon. A rubber ball sits in your hand.

“This seat taken?”

You glance up to find that Anko-sensei has been watching you practice.

“Nope,” you gesture. “Though I’m sure you have better things to be doing than watching me try and fail to pop a rubber ball?”

“It’s training, right?” she muses. “That makes it way more interesting and relevant than anything else going on right now. So, you’ve been to Kirigakure since the war ended, right?”

You nod.

“I’ve never been. So what’s your honest impression, kid?” she asks you in a low voice, with a frown.

>It feels a little... forced. To me, at least. It’s like they’re trying too hard for some reason.
>It’s nice. I prefer home, and Rōran, and Yukigakure. Mostly it’s just another big city.
>I can’t complain. Everyone I’ve met was nice and all the places I’ve been were lively.
>Other?

>>5172855
>>It feels a little... forced. To me, at least. It’s like they’re trying too hard for some reason.

>>5172855
>"I can't complain. Everyone I've met was nice and all the places I went to were lively. It's a good place. I prefer home, and Yukigakure, and Rohan. Mostly it's just another big city to me. However, now that I think about it, it all felt a little...forced. To me, at least. It's like they were trying way too hard for some reason I can't put my finger on."

>>5172855
first this
>>I can’t complain. Everyone I’ve met was nice and all the places I’ve been were lively.
then this when/if asked
>It feels a little... forced. To me, at least. It’s like they’re trying too hard for some reason.

>>5172855
>I can’t complain. Everyone I’ve met was nice and all the places I’ve been were lively.

>>5172855
>>It feels a little... forced. To me, at least. It’s like they’re trying too hard for some reason.

>>5172855
>It feels a little... forced. To me, at least. It’s like they’re trying too hard for some reason.

>>5172855
“I can’t complain of course,” you admit with a shrug. “The Mizukage and Temari-san are really nice, Mei-dono takes good care of her guests, and everywhere I went people were friendly and the city was well-kept. But it all seemed... forced, I guess. Like they were all trying just a little too hard.”

“You know about their past of course,” Anko-sensei says, motioning for one of the train’s attendants to bring her some coffee. “Cause unlike a lot of the kids in your class you actually take your studies seriously.”

“The ‘Blood Mist’ period,” you frown. “I always found it hard to square those stories with the people I met and the places I’ve seen.”

“That’s part of the point I think,” Anko-sensei sighs. “It’s hard though, trying to make a clean break when so many people remember what things used to be like – and some of those nuts even miss it. There are people like that in Konoha too of course.”

“And in Ame,” you admit. “Though my parents have been pretty forceful in dealing with it.”

“I’m going to tell Nagao-chan this too,” your sensei tells you quietly, “but keep an eye on things, alright? Especially if I’m not around to mind you.”

After a moment, you nod in agreement. “Right. I can do that.”

...

The ferry from the Land of Waves to the village of Kirigakure is a large, lumbering thing – though it’s something like a floating hotel in and of itself. It has a casino (which you’re not allowed to go to), several viewing decks (with views mainly of water and water-related things), and a pool (which gets the girls excited). Denki stays with Metal as he’s sick over the side, though you’re also sure to leave something with him for motion sickness (hopefully that’ll work). A bunch of the girls head immediately for the pool – Wasabi-kun and Namida-chan among them, along with a few of the girls that you don’t talk to very often like Nitora, Ahiru, and Tsuru.

At least for the time being you find a place to sit above and aft of the pool, where you can sit in the sun with the breeze on your face and pluck away at the shamisen you brought along.

“You seem like you’re having a good time,” Sumire muses, standing at the railing near where you’re sitting. “I thought you’d be swimming.”

“Too much effort,” you admit. “There’ll be time in Kirigakure anyway.”

“So yeah, what’re you playing?” Chōchō asks you. “It doesn’t sound like anything.”

“That’s cause it isn’t,” you tell her. “It’s called an etude – I’m using it to get a better feel for how tone translates into different vibrations.”
>1/2

>>5173282
“Well then, we’ll leave you to it,” Sumire-kun bows politely. “Hey Chōchō-kun, let’s swim?”

After a moment, Chōchō seems to relent. “Alright, Sumire-kun. Sounds nice.”

Eventually you set aside your shamisen and admit defeat, swimming for about an hour until the cold mists start to make it seem a little less appealing to be outside.

“Where’d that come from?” Boruto wonders aloud.

“It’s the village ‘hidden in mist’,” you roll your eyes as you dry off to head inside. “It’s like the village ‘hidden in rain’ – it’s right there in the name, Boruto-kun.”

“He has a point,” Shikadai admits.

...

Very early the next morning, you find yourself sitting out on the observation deck in your cloak, plucking out a tune on your shamisen – this time, just for the pleasure of it. You’re vaguely aware that you’re not the only one awake at this hour, and that feeling remains vague until Wasabi speaks up in a low voice. “What’re you doing out here?”

“Got lost on the way back from the bathroom,” Boruto admits. “Why’re you just sitting over here?”

“Didn’t feel like bothering him,” she hisses back.

“It’s fine,” you assure them both. “Why don’t you come out here for a moment? You should be able to see it soon too.”

“What do you mean?” Boruto asks you curiously, taking a few steps up towards the railing. Wasabi-kun follows a few steps behind.

You point at where their eyes should be able to see it soon. “I can already make it out, but if you watch right there it should appear – Kirigakure no Sato.”

“...woah,” Wasabi-kun exclaims a few moments later as she starts to be able to see the shapes of the city and its colorful neon lights.

“Heh, alright then,” Boruto chuckles. “Let’s get some rest... tomorrow’s gonna be a busy day, ya know!”

...

Your whole class assembles later in the morning, with their bags all packed and ready to go, on the docks. “Alright kids,” Anko-sensei announces, “we’re just waiting for our escort from the Mizukage’s office, then we’ll drop all your stuff at the hotel.”

“Kagura-san, I wonder?” you muse.

Anko-sensei glances at you. “What was that, Shiki-kun?”
>2/3

>>5173591
Before that line of questioning goes anywhere, your escort turns a corner and begins walking down to the docks.

“Ah, that should be him right now!” Anko-sensei realizes, meeting him halfway. “Mitarashi Anko, pleasure to meet you...”

“Karatachi Kagura,” the newcomer, who has blonde hair, dramatic, violet-toned eyes, and a sword slung at his waist like a tachi, bows politely. “Welcome, Mitarashi-dono – I hope your trip was uneventful?”

“Oh, pretty much,” Anko-sensei shrugs. “Kids these days being kids, mostly... speaking of which, this is Kagura-san – he’ll be our escort for the duration of our stay. You all better be respectful!”

Kagura-san, who can’t be much older than you, seems to immediately have more than one admirer among the girls in your class, but his first move is to step up to Boruto and bow once. “Uzumaki Boruto-kun, son of the Seventh Hokage, it’s my honor to...”

Boruto just sticks his hand out with a grin. “Let’s leave my dad out of it, ‘kay? It’s just Boruto.”

The chatter continues as Kagura accepts the handshake, then turns to you and offers the same gesture. “You would be Uzumaki Shiki-kun, am I right?”

Chōchō mutters something about needing to see what Kagura’s personality was like before fawning over him like so many of the girls in your class immediately did – you’re not sure if that’s praiseworthy on her part, or just her being picky.

“That’s right,” you reply with a smile. “A pleasure to meet you, Kagura-san. My mother spoke highly of your skills.”

“Uzumaki Naori-dono mentioned me by name?” Kagura asks, clearly surprised.

You nod. “Yeah, but I wouldn’t say that’s a big deal – unless you’re after one of the Seven Swords, in which case it’s a really, really big deal. Depending on which one you like, that is.”

“We can talk about that more later,” Kagura muses politely, before gesturing up the stairs leading away from the docks. “That is if you don’t mind?”

“Sure,” you shrug. “I don’t mind at all.”

...

You’ll be rooming with Shikadai and Hōki for your stay, but you don’t even bother to go upstairs – instead you just seal your shamisen into your shūin book and wait in the lobby for people to come back.

>Hang out with the first couple of people who turn up in the lobby.
>Find Sumire-kun – she should know what your mom and sensei said.
>Stick around Kagura for a while – he seems pretty cool.
>Other?

>>5173721
>“...woah,” Wasabi-kun exclaims a few moments later as she starts to be able to see the shapes of the city and its colorful neon lights.
So is Kirigakure cyberpunk city?

>>5173721
>Stick around Kagura for a while – he seems pretty cool.

>>5173721
>>Hang out with the first couple of people who turn up in the lobby.

>>5173721
>>Hang out with the first couple of people who turn up in the lobby.

>>5173721
>Find Sumire-kun – she should know what your mom and sensei said.

>It has a casino (which you’re not allowed to go to)

Because ninja or because too young?

>>5173721
>Hang out with the first couple of people who turn up in the lobby.

>>5173751
Not exactly, it's closer to normal Japanese cities.
Which for this world is quite a sight.
>>5173721
>Find Sumire ...

>>5173721
The first person to appear in the lobby is Iwabe, who immediately heads out alone. So you decide that for a number of reasons you should tag along. You figure that between Boruto’s unwanted responsibility and Sumire and sensei’s watchful eyes the rest of the class should be fine, but this is a different matter.

“You really shouldn’t be carrying your weapon openly,” you muse as you catch up with him. “After all, we’re guests in this village.”

“I’m surprised at you, Shiki-kun,” Iwabe replies curtly as he heads down one of the main shopping streets. “I wouldn’t be able to walk around here unarmed.”

You scoff. “I dunno about ‘unarmed’ – I’m armed to the teeth here, I’m just not showing it off. Speaking of surprised for someone so on edge I’m surprised you’d try to go out alone.”

Iwabe turns onto an alley. “I wouldn’t want to ruin it for everyone else.”

“What’s the deal here anyway?” you press.

“Look at this place,” he muses, his tone somewhat grim. “It’s all just one big lie. No one here wants to admit what this place is really like, just beneath the surface.”

You can hear the bustle off on the nearby shopping street, but you’ve found yourselves away from that. It’s quieter here, and the streets are empty and dim, like the busy lives of the vendors and their patrons just a street or two over are an entirely different world.

“I don’t think it’s that bad,” you admit with a frown of your own. “Sure, it’s all calculated – but every village has done the same thing since the war. Even your own village is trying to move forward, but it wasn’t too long ago one of your classmates turned out to be a terrorist, right?”

“And don’t try to tell me ROOT was any better,” you add. “Cause based on what little I’ve seen, it wasn’t.”

“There you two are!” Boruto calls out, running over with Denki in tow. “You two shouldn’t be wandering around like this, ya know?”

“It’s not our village, Iwabe-kun,” Denki adds nervously.

“Tell that to him,” you grumble, nodding your head in Iwabe’s direction. “But you have a point. Let’s head back now, yeah?”

Iwabe exhales sharply, a sound you recognize as resignation. “Fine.”

“That’s goo-” Boruto begins, before bumping into someone who had been coming up the street from the other direction. The impact knocks him over. “Whoops, sorry there, my bad!”

Iwabe however isn’t willing to let the poofy-haired teen swordsman get off with an apology, hasty or otherwise. “What’s the big idea apologizing to this guy? He was the one who walked into you.”
>1/2

>>5174597
“What, you got a problem with that?” the Kiri-nin growls, flashing a mouth full of sharpened teeth – seems like he’s one who wants to chase after the legacy of the Seven Swords.

“As a matter of fact I do,” Iwabe insists. “You gotta problem with that?”

“You Konoha rats got no business snooping around here anyway,” the newcomer insists, glowering down at Iwabe... who looks comically like a small dog getting up in a bigger dog’s face.

It seems that while Iwabe isn’t quite quick enough on the uptake and Denki is on the verge of panicking, Boruto picks up on it too. “Hang on... you already knew where we were from?”

“Yeah, it’s obvious from your ugly faces!” the Kiri-nin smirks.

That’s a lie of course... this guy doesn’t strike you as the type who’s smart enough to figure out anything like that on his own. The one hanging back in the shadows watching him though...

Boruto glares up at him. “Guess this village isn’t as cool as I thought.”

“I’m gonna teach you punks some manners!” the big guy roars, aiming a palm strike for Boruto’s face, but hitting a shadow clone. He raises his guard in time to block Boruto’s punch from above, only for the second swordsman to speak up. “That’s enough, Hassaku. It’s not worth it.”

Hassaku glances at the alley, and eventually nods. “Fine. Whatever you say, Shizuma.”

Shizuma takes a few steps out of the alleyway, and you can sense it more clearly now... and you don’t like it.

>Step in to intercept.
>Hang back and break it up if you have to.
>Move towards Hassaku in response.
>Other?

>>5174599
>Step in to intercept.

>>5174599
>>Step in to intercept.

>>5174599
>>Step in to intercept.

>>5174599
>>Step in to intercept.

>>5174599
>Step in to intercept.

>>5174599
>1d6, taking the first three
>DC 12
>SP: 5/5

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5174887

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5174887

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5174887

>>5174887
Spend 1 SP to pass? Also I made a mistake, Shiki should have 4 max at this point.
>Yes
>No

>>5174903
>>Yes