>>5591921
“Well then what did you come here for?”

“To observe,” you counter, somewhat pointedly. “To wait until the exact right time, swoop in, do our jobs, and leave with minimal disruption.”

“Well that’s boring,” Naruto declares, crossing his arms. “So whatcha gonna do now?”

>We follow you like circling vultures all damn day long.
>You’re a shinobi, right? Let’s see what you can do.
>Well, it’s your mission. I guess you just follow us?
>Other?

>>5591924
>>We follow you like circling vultures all damn day long.

>>5591924
>Well, it’s your mission. I guess you just follow us?

>>5591924
>We follow you like circling vultures all damn day long.

>>5591924
>>Well, it’s your mission. I guess you just follow us?

>>5591924
>>You’re a shinobi, right? Let’s see what you can do.

>>5591924
>>You’re a shinobi, right? Let’s see what you can do.

>>5591924
>>Well, it’s your mission. I guess you just follow us?

>>5591924
“Well our mission is to follow you,” Kōshū decides with a frown, “and yours is to follow us, so… huh.”

You consider it for a moment. “Well, technically our mission is to keep him from getting attacked, so as long as he has to follow us…”

“We’ve got all the power here,” she realizes.

“Exactly.”

She glances at Naruto with a grin. “Oh, I like the sound of that.”

“... I don’t, ya know…” Naruto watches nervously.

…

The village is way different from what you know. There aren’t nearly as many high-rise buildings, and the streets aren’t so busy. There are few neon signs and those that you do see are far simpler, and there are none of the massive television screens you’ve grown used to showing news broadcasts and ads all through the day. There are no burger joints, no international food of any kind really, and there isn’t a train line to be seen.

There are times you almost feel like you know where you’re going only to find that either a landmark doesn’t exist, or is somewhere different, or takes a totally different form.

Even Ichiraku is definitely smaller - and it’s being run by an old guy instead of by Ayame-nee. Probably her father you realize.

“Toldja this place was great!” Naruto-kun insists cheerfully.

You can tell Kōshū has to bite her tongue to keep from saying something that might not make sense to him now, which given how much dumber he seems than he does as an adult covers a lot of ground.

But still… you can see the similarities. He’s relentlessly cheerful, painfully earnest, and so damn simple you doubt there’s even a single deceptive bone in his body.

“So you’ve seen the village, whatcha wanna do?”

>How about you introduce us to some of your friends.
>My aunt is going to perform in a little bit. Let’s keep up appearances.
>This town feels so boring. What do you people do for fun?
>Other?

>>5593235
>>How about you introduce us to some of your friends.

>>5593235
>How about you introduce us to some of your friends.
This could be a lot of fun, since we didn't really get to play through most of OG naruto

>>5593235
>How about you introduce us to some of your friends.

>>5593235
>>How about you introduce us to some of your friends.
I do wonder if he will mention Naori at any point, could be fun.

>>5593235
“Why don’t you introduce us around a little?” you suggest.

Kōshū spares you a nervous glance. “Hey,” she asks in a low voice, “is that really okay?”

“We already made contact with the principle,” you shrug.

She chuckles grimly. “Yeah, guess we kinda blew that already didn’t we?”

“So if we’re playing into it this makes sense,” you summarize.

“Alright, I’m liking that a bit better,” Kōshū agrees. “Naruto-kun, you good with that?”

“Yeah, I can do that,” Naruto nods, though immediately afterwards he seems to draw a line in the proverbial sand. “But I’m not introducing you to Sakura-kun, ya know!”

“... why?” you ask curiously.

“It’s just not gonna happen,” he insists.

“Oh come on,” Kōshū counters with a sly grin. “Don’t be insecure.”

…

Over Naruto’s apparent objections, you find yourself meeting with Sakura-san along with several other shinobi about their age - a few you recognize easily, like Akimichi Chōji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino, along with Hyūga Hinata-san and Neji-sensei.

“So, are you the heir of the Hyūga?” you ask curiously, trying to get a sense for things. “I noticed that Neji-kun treats you that way, Hinata-kun, so I’m kind of curious.”

“N-no,” she replies nervously. “That’s… um… well…”

“Her younger sister, Hanabi-sama, was designated as the heiress,” Neji eventually replies.

So that’s already happened at this point? You have to admit, you’d be really curious to meet Hanabi-sensei at this time in her life - but you doubt you could possibly swing that, and while you’re already assuming that Naori-ue’s clone will just come through and use her sharingan to modify everyone’s memories meeting Hanabi-sensei like this feels like too big of a risk to take just to satisfy your own personal curiosity.
>1/2

>>5594390
"Oh no, he's hot!" -Naruto

>>5594390
>you’d be really curious to meet Hanabi-sensei at this time in her life

MUST. GET. HANA STAMPS.

>>5594390
The one person who’s noticeably absent here is Sasuke-san - from what you understand from Naori-ue, and from what Jiraiya-sensei mentioned before, you’ve arrived just a few days after he left the village to train under Orochimaru-san. So you deliberately avoid that topic as well, filing that away alongside Hanabi-sensei.

“So what do you two do, exactly?” Sakura-san asks you, in a way that strikes you as unintentionally pointed.

“I help his aunt out,” Kōshū takes the lead. “She’s a traveling goze.”

“Huh?” Chōji-san asks aloud. “What’s that?”

“They’re blind ladies who perform as wandering musicians,” Shikamaru-san answers. “Some of them get to be pretty famous - they say that they’ve got a totally different view of the world, and that if you listen to one carefully it changes how you see things.”

“I don’t know about all that, but she’s one of the top musicians in Rōran,” you shrug. “And I like listening to her.”

“Say…” Shikamaru muses after a moment. “You look kinda familiar. Have we met?”

“I’m sure we haven’t,” you answer with a half-truth: since it’s technically true for his part. “Something seem familiar?”

“Yeah,” Neji-san agrees. “Doesn’t he look like that girl from Amegakure, Raishō-kun I believe it was?”

“Now that you mention it,” Sakura-san agrees. “He does. His hair’s just like hers, and he has a similar complexion.”

“Not all redheads are related,” you point out, “nor are all darker-skinned people. Maybe this girl you know’s a distant relative of mine, but unless you’ve got something more specific than that I couldn’t tell you.”

“Well, all that’s definitely true,” Shikamaru muses with a yawn, “so we shouldn’t really be shocked or anything.”
>2/3

>>5595519
“So what do you and your family do in Rōran?” comes the inevitable question, in this case from Sakura-san.

“My parents are merchants,” you lie to her face. “They mostly deal in exotic goods that are only found in Rōran, or that are made there. Right now they’re across the sea on business, so I’m staying with my aunt.”

“It must be nice to get to travel,” Chōji muses. “Without having to fight all the time I mean.”

“Oh, don’t get us wrong,” Kōshū chuckles grimly, this time preparing to tell a truth you suppose. “The desert can be dangerous. Rōran may not have a shinobi program, but when a giant scorpion crashes into your camp in the middle of the night you have three choices - you can run, or you can fight.”


“And the third choice?” Naruto wonders aloud.

Kōshū smirks. “Die.”

>Well, it was nice meeting you all. But we really should get back to my aunt.
>Hey, how would any of you like to hear my aunt perform? You won’t regret taking the time.
>So, what is it like being a genin in a big village like this one?
>Other?

>>5595620
>So, what is it like being a genin in a big village like this one?

>>5595620
>>So, what is it like being a genin in a big village like this one?

>>5595620
>Well, it was nice meeting you all. But we really should get back to my aunt.

>>5595620
>>So, what is it like being a genin in a big village like this one?

>>5595620
“So, what’s it like growing up here for all of you?” you ask curiously. “In a village like this, and being genin and everything?”

“Well, we have to do lots of super-dangerous missions and stuff,” Naruto insists immediately.

“Catching cats is dangerous?” Shikamaru asks incredulously, shaking his head. “Cause up till the chūnin exams that’s mostly what we did.”

“Yeah, and we did the exams, didn’t we?” Naruto counters.

“And failed,” Shikamaru reminds him. “Remember? I’m the only one here that passed.”

“Then there was Gaara’s team,” Sakura recalls. “And Naori-kun, but that doesn’t really count.”

“Why not?” Kōshū asks with a dubious glance - you can tell she already doesn’t seem to like Sakura-kun very much, probably because she picked up on the dismissive tone. And of course, having fought against you in the exams, she knows full well how difficult it can be and that anyone who comes out on top in them has earned at least a little respect. “Seems to me being made a chūnin should definitely count.”

“Yeah, but this girl’s some kind of monster or something,” Sakura insists. “She took the exams by herself for one thing, and that’s just not normal!”

“She has a point,” Ino agrees. “I don’t think I’d go so far as to call her a ‘monster’, but it’s obvious she was in a different league. Could any of us have beaten her?”

“Y’know Kakashi-sensei thought the same about Neji and Bushy-Brows,” Naruto observes, crossing his arms. “Yeah she’s strong, but so what? Sow’re we, ya know!”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Neji begins, after having listened to both sides carefully. “But I find myself agreeing with… with Na… I agree with Naru…”

“You okay there bright-eyes?” Kōshū cocks an eyebrow at the man who, in a few decades, will proctor your own chūnin exams.

He takes a deep, cleansing breath - like a martial artist about to engage his opponent. “No choice but to do it… I agree with Naruto-kun.”

“That’s what you were tryin’ ta say!?” Naruto protests loudly.
>1/2

>>5596722
“It’s what he did say, eventually,” Kōshū mutters.

…

After you’ve gone your separate ways from Naruto’s cohort of genin (plus one chūnin whose rank they seem to constantly forget), you finally confirm that Naruto did in fact hear Kōshū’s comment before.

“You gotta problem?” he demands. “Or are you just looking for a fight?”

It’s late in the evening of the day you arrived, soon to be night although the streetlights of Konohagakure haven’t come on yet.

“You’re the reason we’re here, knucklehead,” Kōshū sighs. “And if we end up facing off against that… assassin we told you about,” she rounds on him after barely restraining herself from saying the word Ōtsutsuki out loud, “then you’d better not try picking a fight with him. Cause things are gonna be bad enough without you getting in our way.”

“I don’t like you talking about me like I’m dead weight,” he crosses his arms, working his face up into a real pout. “I’m not, ya know!”

“Whatever you say,” she dismisses him.

“Alright then, you and me, right now!” he insists angrily.

“... really?” she frowns. “I’m just saying stuff that’s true. If that bothers you, that seems like a you problem.”

>Kōshū, just kick his butt a little and establish dominance. It’ll help in the long run.
>Naruto-kun, we’re both chūnin and you’re not. It’d help everyone if you’d just listen to us.
>Take it to Jiraiya-sensei if it bothers you. But I don’t think you’re gonna like the answer.
>Other?

>>5597017
>>Kōshū, just kick his butt a little and establish dominance. It’ll help in the long run.

I would *LOVE* for shiki to fight Naori at this point in time, that would be crazy.

>>5597017
>>Kōshū, just kick his butt a little and establish dominance. It’ll help in the long run.
we won't get another chance to style on Naruto after this, don't miss your chance

>>5597017
>Kōshū, just kick his butt a little and establish dominance. It’ll help in the long run.
hehehe

>>5597017
>>Kōshū, just kick his butt a little and establish dominance. It’ll help in the long run.

>>5597017
>>Kōshū, just kick his butt a little and establish dominance. It’ll help in the long run.

>>5597017
“It’s kind of our problem,” you admit, your tone flat. “Why don’t you trounce him a little and get this over with.”

“You think that’s okay?” she asks hesitantly. “I mean I’m not opposed exactly…”

“Is there anywhere you two can spar and not be observed?” you ask.

“Yeah, I’ve got a place,” Naruto tells you loudly. “Follow me!”

…

He takes you to a training ground that doesn’t exist in the village as you know it, one with a clearing by a river surrounded by woods. At the center of that clearing is a polished slab of black stone, shaped almost like the edge and point of a giant kunai protruding from the earth. It’s getting dark already - the sun is behind the slab, meaning except for around the edges it’s almost more like a patch of permanent shadow.

“Make this quick, Kōshū,” you insist with a yawn, seating yourself in seiza in the shade of the stone.

“Oh, I’ll make it quick,” Naruto declares, cracking his knuckles. “Don’t you worry about that, ya know!”

And of course he charges at Kōshū-kun with a kunai drawn, chucking a handful of shuriken out ahead of him. Kōshū swiftly evades those shuriken and gains a little distance, forcing Naruto-kun to slide to a stop from a dead sprint. That separation gives Kōshū a second to weave her hand seals - just two.

“Hyōken no Jutsu.”

Kōshū creates two blades out of literal midair, and Naruto stops to stare slack-jawed. “You can use the ice release too?”

“Too?” Kōshū repeats.

“Yeah, we fought a guy like that before the exams,” Naruto recalls. “His name was Haku.”
>1/2

>>5598102
“Interesting,” she replies, “but that has nothing to do with me!”

Naruto is immediately forced onto the defensive, creating a half-dozen shadow clones at a time just to delay Kōshū’s inexorable advance. She scythes through them with a brutal efficiency, though not quite quickly enough to stop the third batch from helping him form a rasengan in his right hand.

But with another straight charge, it’s not difficult for Kōshū to counter it. She throws her ice swords to knock out the last of the shadow clones that are covering for Naruto’s charge, then answers his attack by grabbing his wrist in her right hand and placing her left palm under his armpit. His momentum turns into her tool with just a little leverage as she throws him in a high arc and slams him down into the ground. The rasengan fizzles as Naruto loses focus on it, and with his wrist still trapped Kōshū moves to finish it.

“That’s it, then,” you declare as Kōshū presses a new ice blade against Naruto’s throat. “Kōshū-kun wins this round.”

“You wanna know something?” she muses, tilting her head in your general direction while keeping Naruto pinned. “This guy over here’s even stronger than I am.”

“Not by as much as people seem to think,” you admit. “And we both have a lot to learn.”

“Oh, for sure,” Kōshū agrees, finally releasing Naruto who rolls to his feet. “Thinking like a jōnin’s hard.”

“You know there’s a story about that, right?” you muse. “My mom told it to me - an abbot was arguing with the monks in his temple over the meaning of a sutra, and so he seized a passing cat, declaring that if any of the students could say anything appropriate he would spare the cat. But try as hard as they might they couldn’t impress him, so he killed the cat with his sword.”

“That’s dumb,” Naruto decides.

“So what’s the moral?” Kōshū asks.

“The best student in the temple had been out fetching water, and when he returned the abbot told him about what happened. Then the student took off his sandals and lay them on top of his head. The abbot lamented that if only the student had been there before he would have been able to spare the cat.”

“That makes no sense,” Naruto dismisses the story.
>2/3

>>5598810
“So what you’re saying is we shouldn’t force it,” Kōshū summarizes.

You tap your nose lightly with your fingertip. “Understanding can’t come that way.”

“Well that’s frustrating, but probably also true.”

“So,” you turn your attention to Naruto. “Are you going to listen to us for the time being, or am I also going to have to show you how strong I am?”

It’s obvious what Naruto’s going to say just from his expression. “Nah. I think I’ll pass.”

“Okay then,” you nod.

>We’ll be crashing at your apartment for the time being. Non-negotiable.
>My aunt will have arranged a room for us. We should meet with her now.
>Hey Naruto? Where does Jiraiya-san actually stay when he’s in the village?
>Other?

>>5599366
>>My aunt will have arranged a room for us. We should meet with her now.

Maintain cover right?

>>5599366
>Do you mind if we crash at your place? It'll be like a sleepover.
>I'm pretty good at cooking, y'know.

>>5599366
>>Hey Naruto? Where does Jiraiya-san actually stay when he’s in the village?

>>5599366
>>My aunt will have arranged a room for us. We should meet with her now.

>>5599366
>>Hey Naruto? Where does Jiraiya-san actually stay when he’s in the village?

Probe him about Sage stuff, undercover of course.

>>5599366
“... I have a question,” you admit. “Do you have any idea where Jiraiya-san stays when he’s in the village?”

Naruto blinks once, awkwardly, as he considers the question. “Actually no. Why?”

“Just curious,” you tell him. “My aunt will have space ready for us at one of the ryōkan, we should probably go find her.”

…

As it happens you were right to assume that Uzumaki Naori in any time is incredibly thorough, since you find that she’s booked not one room at a ryōkan but three on the second floor, each next to the other, overlooking the garden - two of which are separated by a sliding wall. It reminds you a little of your home in Amegakure, though you can’t say that out loud.

“So how’re we doing this?” Naruto asks.

“We’ve talked about it a little,” Jiraiya replies, “and we agreed it’s best to keep separated rooms. One for you and me, Naruto-kun, and two for our guests. Probably ladies in one, gentleman in the other.”

…

“This is different,” you muse.

“Yeah no, you’re my son, apparently,” Naori-san muses. “I felt we should talk a little, so we’ll share this room.”

“You know that this is risky, right?” you counter. “I mean, I know you know this is risky, but have you thought about it?”

“So how do you know that?”

“You basically wrote the book on time travel.”

“Ah,” she replies tersely, seemingly dismissing the entire assumption you could make from there that she must have told some of what she experienced in the past to the Naori-ue you know. “So yeah anyway, I really meant for you to get to know me, not the other way around.”

“You’re thinking that there’s no way the Naori-ue I know has told me everything,” you guess. “Particularly about Akatsuki?”
>1/2

>>5600498
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” she confirms. “So yeah, no, what’s going on in your head right now?”

“Not much,” you admit. “Sorry, but I’m not that profound.”

“Oh, I’m not so sure about that,” she counters. “I probably told you the one where the monk puts his sandals on his head?”

You nod. “Yeah, when I was eight.”

“Ah.”

“I’m not all that curious, really,” you admit. “The Naori-ue I know has… seen a lot. Done a lot. When she thinks she has to tell me more than she already has she’ll do so, and I’ll be there to listen.”

After a moment, the Naori of the past smiles. “See?”

…

You and the shadow clone of your mother talked a little while longer last night, but now with the morning sun things have to go back to the little pantomime you’re trying to sell to Jiraiya-san. At least, that’s what you’re selling over breakfast.

After breakfast however Jiraiya-san heads off to the jōnin standby station (which is probably not where it’s going to be), leaving your group together with Naruto.

“So…” Kōshū muses. “Who’s up for some training exercises?”

>Definitely. I’d be interested to train with my aunt - our styles are pretty similar.
>You can train with my aunt - that’s your idea, right? I’ll train with Naruto-kun.
>I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I think we should just follow Naruto for a while.
>Other?

>>5601660
>I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I think we should just follow Naruto for a while.

>>5601660
>I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I think we should just follow Naruto for a while.

>Other?
>Find child Hanabi and extort her for Hanabi stamps.
broken dreams so grand

>>5601660
>I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I think we should just follow Naruto for a while.

>>5601660
>>I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I think we should just follow Naruto for a while.

>>5601660
>1d6, taking the first three

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5602562

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5602562

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5602562

>>5602562
“I think we should just follow Naruto-kun around,” you decide. “It would be hard to hide a training session.”

“True,” Kōshū admits. “That little tussle we had last night probably wasn’t a good idea.”

“No,” you agree, “but sometimes a good idea is too much to ask for. Sometimes you have to just go with the least bad idea.”

“Also very true,” she sighs.

…

What ends up happening is that Naruto-kun basically wastes the first few hours of the day on fairly basic training exercises and shopping for ramen, which seems like the only thing he ever eats if he has the choice.

“Naruto-kun,” you grumble. “Oi, Naruto-kun.”

“What?” he grumbles back.

“You’re not serious with this?” you demand.

“You got somethin’ against ramen?”

“No, it has a time and place,” you counter.

“Yeah, the time and place is anywhere and any time I feel like it, ya know.”

“If you have it all the time, then by definition that’s not a time and place,” you counter again. “That’s basic semantics.”

“Easy there,” Kōshū rolls her eyes. “You know he has no idea what that means.”

“I know what that means,” Naruto glares.

“Yeah?” Kōshū smirks. “Use it in a sentence that’s not ‘that’s basic semantics’, then.”

“... shut up.”

“Naruto-kun,” you insist, “you have to try to eat fresh vegetables and fruit, otherwise you’re gonna be a shrimp till the day you die.”
>1/2

>>5602844
“I’m not that short,” he grumbles.

“I bet Sakura-chan doesn’t see it that way,” Kōshū says, still smirking.

… a direct hit?

“Heck, you can put it in ramen,” you point out. “Just add corn and cooked onion to miso ramen and there you go. It’s already healthier than when you started and it’s dirt cheap.”

“Well, maybe I could try it,” he relents. So bringing up Sakura-san really changed his mind, did it? Man, if only he knew how that’s gonna turn out… no, Shiki. Straight faces, straight faces.

…

You have to take Naruto-kun to a better shop to find some fresh vegetables, not just a convenience store like what he seems to usually frequent. It seems like a nice place, and the clientele are reasonably well-dressed too. Old fashioned by your own standards, which in your time would come across as unreasonably formal, but in this case it seems like that’s just normal here.

There’s even a dark-haired woman here dressed in a frilly maid uniform, which is kind of odd you realize, carrying a small bag of vegetables. And with her is… hang on.

“Hey, tell me something,” you ask Naruto in a low voice. “Are those two over there…”

“Hm?” he muses, sparing them a glance. “Yeah, they’re Hyūga. I think the little girl’s Hinata-chan’s sister, or something?”

Oh. Great. And they’re walking straight towards you.

>EVADE. EVADE. EVADE.
>Just try and act casual. Ish.
>No harm in small talk.
>Other?

>>5602849
>>Just try and act casual. Ish.

>Try not to be suspicious
>fail
>??
>get Hana Stamps

>>5602849
>>Just try and act casual. Ish.

>>5602849
>Just try and act casual. Ish.
Oh boy, they're here about the eyes.

>>5602849
>Just try and act casual. Ish.

>>5602849
>Just try and act casual. Ish.

>Other?
>Kidnap Hanabi and demand a years supply of Hana Stamps

>>5602849
>>Just try and act casual. Ish.
Hana stamp paradox here we come

>Shiki ends up being the one to give the inspiration for Hana Stamps
>Hanabi has been sitting on this knowledge for years, just waiting for the chance to discuss it with Shiki once events finally occur for him.
The secret reward of all the Hana Stamps at the end is buying Hanabi's inclusion in the Shikibowl.

>>5602849
>1d6, best three of four

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5603853

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5603853

File: dd3t73w-8a45e5df-7f00-4f9(...).png (524 KB, 1229x1420)

524 KB PNG

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5603853
Gods bless these hana stamps

Still need one more roll, but hey - it can't get any worse than an 11.

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5603853

>>5603853
She has the same eyes - that what has you worried.

Hyūga Hanabi may be smaller now than you’re used to, since by your quick math she’s about six and a half to seven years your junior instead of eleven years or so your senior. That comes with certain differences that should be expected. But she was definitely an early bloomer in one sense, and that’s obvious when you briefly catch her eyes.

Something painfully un-subtle happens immediately after that. The Hyūga dressed like a maid grasps Hanabi-chan (heh) by the hand and leads her past you. The glance from her eyes however makes it clear that she doesn’t particularly see you as important, nor does she really pay Kōshū-kun any mind. Instead it’s obvious that she’s avoiding Naruto-kun.

In a second moment you catch Hanabi-chan’s gaze by mistake, and in that moment it’s impossible for two people as perceptive as you are not to communicate the basics of how you’re thinking. She’s never been told why she should shun one of her own fellow villagers like this and finds it confusing, and she can also tell that while it’s definitely not aimed at her you view her handler with barely-disguised contempt.

Then the moment passes, and with it the tension of not knowing how to handle the sudden appearance of someone who will shape your future so significantly several years into her own…

“Can I help you?”

… crap. She catches you off guard on the next aisle, after you step away from Kōshū and Naruto-kun for a moment to grab some pickled vegetables to add to Naruto’s shopping. You’d figured it could go quite well in with noodles, assuming you’ll have to rely on Naruto’s hospitality again while you’re here. Instead it became an ambush.

“They say help can come from unexpected places,” you reply. “But I don’t have any need of it right now.”

“You seemed upset at something Natsu-san did,” Hanabi-chan observes. “She walked me away from Naruto-kun.”

“You know him?”

She shakes her head. “I’m not supposed to get close to him.”

“I can tell you haven’t been told why,” you counter. “It’s okay if you don’t feel like you can talk about it.”
>1/2

>>5605515
“You know who I am?”

“I do,” you confirm. “I met your older sister and your cousin yesterday.”

“I see,” Hanabi-chan replies, cheering up and relaxing slightly. “How did you meet them?”

“We asked Naruto-kun to introduce us,” you explain. “Not just to your family, of course, that would be kind of creepy. To his friends and former classmates.”

“I understand,” she assures you. “I would be curious to know, how did they seem to you?”

“Your sister was a bit nervous, but nice,” you reply. “Your cousin was much more confident, and seemed to enjoy making fun of Naruto-kun.”

Hanabi-chan seems a little disappointed by that.

>Is something wrong?
>I’m taking a guess here, but Hinata-kun tends to have trouble with her confidence?
>It’s not your business - try to excuse yourself as gracefully as possible.
>Other?

>>5605569
>>I’m taking a guess here, but Hinata-kun tends to have trouble with her confidence?

>>5605569
>>I’m taking a guess here, but Hinata-kun tends to have trouble with her confidence?

>>5605569
>Is something wrong?

>>5605569
>>Is something wrong?

>>5605569
>Is something wrong?

>>5605569
>I’m taking a guess here, but Hinata-kun tends to have trouble with her confidence?

Yes, worm your way into Hanabi's graces, all to reap the rewards of Hana stamps in the future.

>>5605569
“Something’s bothering you,” you insist gently. “I’m going to take a guess that it’s Hinata-kun’s… attitude?”

Hanabi-chan seems uncertain about saying anything at first, before eventually she decides to confide in you. “Do you know how I became the heir?”

“I would guess you had to fight Hinata-kun for it?” you reply, trying to avoid a lie - a lie that she would certainly see through in a single instant.

She nods. “I won because she hesitated.”

… sensei never told you that before.

“She hesitated?” you repeat.

“Our father compared our talents and gave up on neesan,” she explains. “I was happy when she did so well in the chūnin exams, but since then…”

“She’s lost it again,” you guess.

After a moment, Hanabi-chan nods glumly.

“In life everyone walks to a different rhythm,” you reply calmly. “My mom said something like that once. Maybe your sister’s rhythm is a step slower than yours, maybe she just hasn’t found it yet. Neither is something to be ashamed of.”

She considers this, and as she does her mood slowly shifts. As her handler rounds the corner, Hanabi-chan slaps her cheeks before offering a polite bow. “I understand, thank you for the lesson niisan.”

Oof. All kinds of emotions.

“And who is your new friend here?” the elder Hyūga asks suspiciously.

Hanabi-kun pauses. “I’m not sure? What is your name, niisan?”

You feel a sudden urge to throw a smoke bomb even though you know it won’t do you any good.

>I’m sorry, I can’t tell you that. For several reasons.
>Just a temporary guest in your village. If you NEED to know, you should find Jiraiya of the Sannin.
>My name is Shiki. I’m here with my aunt from Rōran.
>Other?

>>5607360
>My name is Shiki. I’m here with my aunt from Rōran.
all grins

i can't wait to hear from her when we get back to the future

>>5607360
>>My name is Shiki. I’m here with my aunt from Rōran.

>>5607360
>>My name is Shiki. I’m here with my aunt from Rōran.
Yes yes yes

>>5607360
>>My name is Shiki. I’m here with my aunt from Rōran.

>>5607360
>My name is Shiki. I’m here with my aunt from Rōran.

>>5607360
“My name is Shiki,” you tell her with a slight grin, but also with a slight bow that’s just enough to be considered polite. “I’m here with my aunt, from Rōran.”

Your future sensei returns the bow. “Hyūga Hanabi. Thank you again for your time, and I’ll keep what you said in mind.”

“It was a pleasure talking with you, Hanabi-chan,” you reply. “You’re a delightful young woman, and I have a feeling you’ll grow into a splendid kunoichi one day.”

…

“What was that?” Naruto-kun asks Kōshū quizzically. “He was so… I dunno how to say it, but her got her to open up just like that.”

“I’m surprised too,” Kōshū glances at you as you rejoin them. What she doesn’t say is that she’s surprised for a different reason.

"Sometimes I can't help it," you shrug dismissively.
>1d6, high roll

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5608638

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5608638

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5608638

>>5608638
“... so what are we doing here?” Kōshū asks curtly.

You’ve found yourselves in an onsen - not the one where your mother’s clone has set up proverbial shop - sitting at a small table and wearing the courtesy blue and white robes offered here. After bathing separately you and Kōshū have met up for an afternoon meal of grilled fish, rice, pickled vegetables, and miso.

“I have no idea,” you grumble. “When Jiraiya-san showed up I assumed something interesting would happen…”

“But all he’s doing is peeping,” Kōshū completes the thought.

“So you got my warning?” you ask.

“Why do you think I got out?”

“You didn’t say anything?” you wonder.

She smirks. “When did I say that?”

Then, poetically timed as she’s severing the head of her fish with her hashi, you hear a commotion and Naruto and Jiraiya escape from the men’s bath, followed moments after by a well-dressed and bespectacled man brandishing a wooden ladle.

You look pointedly into your miso. “We don’t know them.”

“Who are you talking about.”

…

Your meal is interrupted again by the sudden appearance of your mother’s shadow clone, Naori-san, who has donned the blindfold she has been using as a disguise since arriving here in Konoha.

“Something has happened,” she insists, placing a hand on your shoulder. “Can you use senjutsu chakra yet?”

“A little.”

“Do so now. I will take care of the rest.”
>1/2

>>5609649
You’d like to say that you’ve met Naori-san “halfway”, but that would be completely incorrect - she’s far too powerful for that. Instead she has to match your own chakra, which she does expertly, as easy as breathing.

“It’s… intense,” you admit.

“I know,” she assures you. “Can you sense Jiraiya-san, along with a second powerful chakra?”

“Yeah,” you realize with a frown. “That other one is Sasuke-san.”

“I thought so,” Naori-san replies calmly, ending the link. “So yeah, go quickly and bring them to me. Don’t tell them who I am.”

…

When you and Kōshū-kun catch up with Sasuke-san and Boruto-kun, you find them surrounded by people who seem to be pretty upset at them for some reason.

“Is there a problem here?” you ask, recognizing the bespectacled man who chased Jiraiya out of the onsen.

“The complaints said a blonde child and an older man were peeping,” glasses snaps. “And look, the man is still carrying binoculars!”

Boruto-kun stares at the binoculars in Sasuke-san’s hand like he’s just noticing them for the first time, and you note a look of dawning comprehension on Sasuke-san’s face as he realizes why Jiraiya presumably palmed them off on him.

“It’s fine,” you insist, raising your voice slightly. “That’s not the guy - that guy had silver hair.”

“It’s true, those guys totally just passed those off to us!” Boruto protests. “We had no idea what was even happening, ya know!”

“Well then,” glasses frowns, glancing first towards you then towards Sasuke-san. “It would seem that this has been a misunderstanding. Please accept my apologies.”

“It’s not a problem,” Sasuke-san insists calmly. “I suppose I just have a suspicious face.”

Then he glances at you. “Thank you for the help. If you’ll allow us to treat you to lunch, I would like to pay you back.”
>2/3

>>5610690
Instead of getting fed, you get to lead Sasuke-san straight to Naori-san. The two immediately recognize each other, leaving only Boruto confused.

“Okay, so who’s the old lady…”

“I’ll break the brat’s jaw,” Naori-san tells Sasuke-san, in a frighteningly polite tone. “Don’t think I won’t.”

“She will,” Sasuke-san tells Boruto. “If you listen to nothing else I say listen to me now - do not speak to this woman unless spoken to directly.”

Sasuke-san glances at you. “I thought you were trained better than this.”

“Do you have the turtle, Sasuke-san?”

“I do,” Sasuke informs you. “And it was very explicit that we should avoid things like this at all costs.”

“So we’re taking orders from talking space turtles now?” you frown. “Sasuke-san, I landed practically in her lap and she figured out who I was and how I got here within seconds. You know what my mother is like.”

“Yeah, so it’s good to see you well, Sasuke-kun,” Naori-san muses cheerfully. “I take it you ended up here due to the same incident?”

“That’s right.”

>Well, very good. But Sasuke-san, Boruto-kun, you can’t be involved in this.
>I’m passing this off to you two. I have some training to do with my mom.
>We need to come up with a cohesive plan, all five of us, to pass to Jiraiya.
>Other?

>>5610751
>>We need to come up with a cohesive plan, all five of us, to pass to Jiraiya.

>>5610751
>>We need to come up with a cohesive plan, all five of us, to pass to Jiraiya.

>>5610751
>>We need to come up with a cohesive plan, all five of us, to pass to Jiraiya.

>>5610751
>>We need to come up with a cohesive plan, all five of us, to pass to Jiraiya.

>>5610751
>1d6
best three of four

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5611521

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5611521

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5611521

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5611521

>>5611521
“We need to come up with a coherent strategy to present to Jiraiya-san,” you declare.

“Wait, you mean my old man’s teacher?” Boruto asks loudly.

Sasuke-san stares at him. “I know this is an unfamiliar situation, but please try to avoid blurting out things like that.”

Boruto claps his hands over his mouth while Sasuke continues. “We have no idea what effect our being here could have on our own time.”

“Yeah no, I already knew that much,” Naori-san shrugs. “And I assume based on how much older you look, Sasuke-kun, that you’re from far enough in the future to know what I’ve already planned to do.”

“How can we trust you to make the same choices this time?” Sasuke-kun asks with a frown. “I may know Uzumaki Naori, but I do not know you.”

“I can offer something,” you add, jumping in to clarify a point. “My mom already knew about this incident. So whatever it is Naori-san does between now and the time she dispels herself, we know it already happened to Naori-ue.”

Kōshū quickly counts on her fingers and seems to conclude that what you said constitutes a good point, while Boruto just looks confused. But it seems that Sasuke-san understood exactly what you meant, and accepts your reasoning before quickly moving on to a new subject.

“I propose we take it in turns,” Sasuke-san begins. “Boruto-kun will remain with Naruto while I keep a distance - it would be disastrous if anyone recognized me here. At those times Shiki-kun and Kōshū-kun will be a backup, with Naori-san watching over them.”

“And periodically we switch,” Naori-san muses. “Yeah no, that works for me, Sasuke-han.”

Sasuke-san nods, “that was my thinking. We will need to make the transitions seem as natural as possible.”

“Agreed. And I need you to promise me that when Shiki-kun and Kōshū-kun are off the watch duty, I’ll be free to do as I see fit.”

>Wait, what do you mean? Do you have some sort of plan to prepare for the Ōtsutsuki?
>What, like training exercises? Or is this some kind of mother-son sort of thing?
>I actually have my own priorities. I believe so does Kōshū-kun, unless I’m mistaken?
>Other?

>>5611900
>I actually have my own priorities. I believe so does Kōshū-kun, unless I’m mistaken?

>>5611900
>>Wait, what do you mean? Do you have some sort of plan to prepare for the Ōtsutsuki?

>>5611900
>>Wait, what do you mean? Do you have some sort of plan to prepare for the Ōtsutsuki?

>>5611900
>I actually have my own priorities. I believe so does Kōshū-kun, unless I’m mistaken?

>>5611900
>>Wait, what do you mean? Do you have some sort of plan to prepare for the Ōtsutsuki?

>>5611900
“Does that mean you have an idea?” you ask. “I mean, about how to prepare for what’s about to happen?”

“For sure,” Naori-san replies with a slight smirk. “For both of you.”

Kōshū-kun frowns. “Wait, what?”

“I have a training plan,” Naori-san clarifies, before glancing at Sasuke-san. “So yeah, I assume you’re the same?”

Sasuke doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t have to - the look on his face basically announces that she was right.

Well, it should be interesting to see what this version of your mother thinks you can do to prepare for the imminent arrival of an Ōtsutsuki…
>1d6, best three of four

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5613291

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5613291

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5613291

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5613291

>>5613291
“So,” you ask curiously, having been transported to the deserts of what you would be willing to bet is Rōran. Specifically, you find yourselves in the middle of a courtyard after having left behind shadow clones to imitate yourselves. “What is this plan of yours?”

“So yeah, I’m gonna have the two of you create a collaboration technique,” she declares. “So what can each of you do?”

“Well,” Kōshū replies with a frown. “I have my mom’s wind release, my dad’s water release, my own ice release, and I’m pretty fair with heavy blades and polearms.”

“So, spears and the like?”

“That’s right.”

“And you?” she asks, turning to face you.

“I have the eyes of course,” you explain, “meaning I can pop part of my soul out of my body to act independently, and I have fire and water affinity. My kengen are based on heat shimmers, and I can use the kongō fūsa. My sage training is… a thing that’s happened.”

>Is there really a combination that we could pull off? Our skillsets seem… not great together.
>I guess I also know the rasengan. Maybe we could do something with that technique?
>What about your ice mirrors, Kōshū-kun? Turn the battlefield into a maddening funhouse.
>Other?

>>5614367
>>What about your ice mirrors, Kōshū-kun? Turn the battlefield into a maddening funhouse.

>>5614367
>>What about your ice mirrors, Kōshū-kun? Turn the battlefield into a maddening funhouse.

When in doubt psychologically torture your enemy with clowns and crlown-like scenarios.

>>5614367
>>What about your ice mirrors, Kōshū-kun? Turn the battlefield into a maddening funhouse.

>>5614367
>>What about your ice mirrors, Kōshū-kun? Turn the battlefield into a maddening funhouse.

>>5614367
>1d6, taking the first three
>DC: 11
>SP: 4/4

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5614724

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5614724

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5614724

>>5614724
“So yeah, when you think about it closely,” Naori-san muses, “what sort of combination can you think of?”

“Those ice mirrors of yours were a nightmare to fight against,” you recall, with a mix of appreciation and annoyance. “It felt like you were everywhere at once, at least inside the radius of your technique.”

“What exactly are you thinking?” Kōshū asks curiously.

“You’re thinking the kongō fūsa,” Naori-san realizes. “Using the mirrors to attack from multiple angles?”

“He has the byakugan,” you acknowledge, “so we may not be able to beat him with it. But at least we can be a real pain in his ass.”

“And maybe give Naori-san or Sasuke-san a clean shot,” Kōshū nods. “Not bad for a couple of chūnin.”

“So what aren’t we thinking about?” you ask your mother’s clone. “What have you already considered that we’re going to find out fifteen minutes and several embarrassments from now?”

“So yeah… this is going to be hard,” she confesses. “I like the idea, but combining a sealing jutsu with someone else’s kekkei genkai wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

>I figured the trick would be getting Kōshū to the point she can take me into her mirrors.
>Would an intermediate technique to work out the details be a helpful first step?
>That sounds like a me problem, not a her problem. Any suggestions based on what you know?
>Other?

>>5615536
>>I figured the trick would be getting Kōshū to the point she can take me into her mirrors.
or maybe possess the mirrors?

>>5615536
>>I figured the trick would be getting Kōshū to the point she can take me into her mirrors.

>>5615536
>I figured the trick would be getting Kōshū to the point she can take me into her mirrors.

>>5615536
>>I figured the trick would be getting Kōshū to the point she can take me into her mirrors.

>>5615536
“Well,” you frown, thinking hard about the problem, “from where I stand the way forward looks like getting Kōshū-kun to the point where she can take me into her mirrors, and between them.”

“Kōshū-kun, is that reasonable?” Naori-san asks curiously. “Yeah no, I have no idea how hyōton works.”

“I do think it’s possible,” Kōshū-kun allows, though she sounds uncertain. “But I’ve never actually tried anything like that before.”

“Not even with your teammates?” you ask.

She snorts, trying to hold back a laugh. “I don’t get along with those guys, remember?”

“We get along though, right?” you point out.

“Yeah, totally.”

“So, what do I need to do to make this work?” you ask.

>3d10, best of three

Rolled 7, 8, 10 = 25 (3d10)

>>5616658

Rolled 4, 6, 3 = 13 (3d10)

>>5616658

Rolled 4, 1, 6 = 11 (3d10)

>>5616658

>>5616658
“Well,” Kōshū muses thoughtfully, “I don’t really know. So why don’t we start by trying it?”

“Makes sense to me,” you shrug. “What’s the worst…”

…

Your face still hurting from the first attempt - which ended as soon as it began with an unexpected slam into a wall of hardened ice - you go over what went awry.

“Well,” Naori-san smiles knowingly, “I’d observe that it’s easy enough to hide oneself in a surface - in water, in mist, inside stone, and so on. Then I’d ask you what you think is different in this case.”

“It’s your chakra,” you grumble to Kōshū, pinching the bridge of your nose.

“Of course,” she sighs. “So how do we fix that?”

“Two options,” you point out. “I adjust, you adjust.”

“Can you adjust to a kekkei genkai you don’t have?” she wonders. “I know if I gave you five minutes to think about it you’d figure out how to merge into the ice, but what about matching the chakra?”

“I have no idea,” you admit, glancing at Naori-san. “What do you think?”

“So yeah, I think it could be hard,” she replies, crossing her arms. “It’s easier to perform a combination ninjutsu when the chakra natures match, or when it’s non-elemental.”

“Easier?” you repeat, picking out the key word.

She nods. “Easier, yeah. For example if you match power and technique right you can feed fire with wind, or electrify water.”

>So is it possible for one person to add wind to my water and turn it into ice?
>Wind and fire, right? I think we can practice by using that.
>What about adding nature to shape, and combining the ninjutsu like that?
>Other?

>>5617645
>What about adding nature to shape, and combining the ninjutsu like that?

>>5617645
>>So is it possible for one person to add wind to my water and turn it into ice?

>>5617645
>>What about adding nature to shape, and combining the ninjutsu like that?

>>5617645
>What about adding nature to shape, and combining the ninjutsu like that?

>>5617645
“... what if we trained by having one of us supply the shape, while the other supplied the nature?” you ask curiously.

Naori-san considers your question for a few moments. “Yeah no, that’d just lead to a different combination ninjutsu, at least in the short term.”

“But in the long term, could it help us solve the problem with the mirrors?”

She considers it for a few moments longer. “It might.”

“If it gives us a spicy new technique anyway we may as well,” Kōshū-kun shrugs. “I’m game.”
>1d6, first three
>Higher is better

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5618728

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5618728

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5618728

>>5618728
“Okay,” you decide, “I’m going to try using the rasengan - it’s purely shape manipulation and I know it pretty well. You can try to add a change in chakra nature to it.”

“I see where you’re going,” Kōshū-kun realizes with a slight smile. She realizes that you’re mimicking the difficulty of combining any one of your techniques with a hyōton technique, not using the actual techniques that you intend to try to combine but instead giving you a realistic way of adjusting to one another as an initial stage of training. “Not bad, Shikkun.”

“Thanks,” you bow politely. “I look forward to it.”

“Okay, there’s nothing for it but to try it, right?”

“Right,” you nod, holding out your right hand. “Let me walk you through what I’m doing.”

…

After about two hours of trying, both of you find yourselves flat on your backs. Naori-san is sitting nearby, and has been watching in something between amusement and curiosity. “So yeah, what’s been going wrong?”

“It’s hard to match chakras,” you admit.

“In what way?”

“It’s stunning how much he has,” Kōshū-kun admits wearily. “I know it was a lot but this is absurd.”

“I knew Kōshū was aggressive,” you admit in turn. “But the longer we go at this…”

“I lose my shit,” she grumbles.

“... something like that,” you reply before a sigh. “Sorry. I’m having trouble matching you too - the rasengan demands a lot of carefully-sustained raw power.”

>Maybe try a different technique - add chakra flow to the hyōton chakra.
>Try again, find a point where your two techniques can match better.
>It may make sense to ‘feel’ her ice, combining your water and her wind.
>Other?

>>5619886
>>It may make sense to ‘feel’ her ice, combining your water and her wind.

>>5619886
>>It may make sense to ‘feel’ her ice, combining your water and her wind.
One cool explosion please

>>5619886
>>It may make sense to ‘feel’ her ice, combining your water and her wind.

>>5619886
“... okay, so I think I need to feel what it is you’re doing,” you decide. “Kōshū-kun, I’ll provide the water chakra if you can provide the wind… we’ll do a suiton technique that we both know.”

She nods in understanding. “Okay, how about kirigakure?”

So, she intends to freeze your fog into snow? You smile. “Yeah, okay. I think that’ll work.”

>1d6, best three of four
>DC: 12
>SP: 4/4

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5620907

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5620907

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5620907
Yeah, I think is a 'Nope'

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5620907

Dice gods really don’t want this to work it seems

>>5620907
The short story here is that it doesn’t work. At all. In the slightest.

Instead of turning your fog into powdered snow all Kōshū’s efforts achieve is to blow the fog back into your face in the form of a sheet of water - multiple times in a row. By the third failed attempt you’re soaked through to your bones and profoundly annoyed.

Kōshū for her part is silent, and avoids eye contact.

“Well, that blew up as close to literally in my face as possible,” you grumble, using suiton to shed as much of the water from your body as possible like a wet dog.

She doesn’t answer… it’s obvious that she’s feeling embarrassed about this, and frustrated at her lack of progress.

Your tone softens. “Let’s take a break.”

After a moment, she sighs wearily and basically falls flat on her back. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

“... are you okay?”

“... I’m frustrated,” she admits curtly.

“That’s understandable,” you reply. “I am too.”

“Really?” she grumbles. “You don’t show it.”

You shake your head. “I try not to, but if you know what to look for the signs are there.”

Kōshū continues to stare up at the sky. “This is harder than I thought.”

“It’s something usually reserved for jōnin,” Naori-san muses. “So yeah, it’s gonna be hard - especially since you’re trying to replicate a kekkei genkai.”

>Here’s an idea - instead of forcing things to fit, let’s consider using different things.
>We just need a break, and then we need to start small - walk until we can run.
>”What happens if you combine two kekkei genkai?
>Other?

>>5622041
>>We just need a break, and then we need to start small - walk until we can run.

>>5622041
>We just need a break, and then we need to start small - walk until we can run.

>>5622041
>>We just need a break, and then we need to start small - walk until we can run.

>>5622041
>”What happens if you combine two kekkei genkai?

>>5622041
>>We just need a break, and then we need to start small - walk until we can run.

>>5622041
You shake your head. “We just need to take a break, then when we come back we need to learn how to walk.”

“Instead of trying to run?” Kōshū completes the thought.

“I’ve heard that’s the hardest part about learning kenjutsu,” you suggest with a slight frown. “Though I wouldn’t know.”

“Re-learning how to walk you mean?” Naori-san asks curiously. “So yeah, I take it you started learning young?”

“That’s right,” you nod, before glancing at Kōshū. “You too, right?”

She nods, having eventually understood your meaning. “I don’t remember learning the basic stuff either… first time anyone knew I had hyōton it was cause I was blowing snowflakes out my nose.”

“... your nose?” you repeat.

“It was hilarious when I was four.”

After a moment, Naori-san seems to have an idea. “Hey, so let’s reconvene somewhere else.”

…

“So why here?” Kōshū asks curiously, having already dressed in hakama and the appropriate short-sleeved uwagi before being handed a bow with arrows. “We’re supposed to get something outta this, right?”

“Yeah, here’s the thing,” a similarly-dressed Naori-san muses thoughtfully, before proceeding to take aim in spite of her blindfold. “Kyūdō is almost a form of standing meditation.”

“You do kyūdō?” Kōshū presses. “I mean… how?”

“Hitting the target isn’t the goal,” Naori-san continues, drawing an arrow and releasing. Surprisingly, the arrow hits near the center of the target. “If your kihon, your fundamentals, are sound,” she continues, drawing again and releasing a shot that takes out one leg of the target stand, “then the outcome follows naturally…”

As the target rolls, your mother’s shadow clone puts a third arrow into the center of the target again.
>1/2

>>5623666
“And once the outcome of each action is predictable,” Naori-san concludes, turning to hand away her bow, “you can more easily adjust to things in the moment… thank you, and sorry about the stand.”

You glance down at the bow in your own hands… huh. Well that was a thing that happened.

>1d6, best three of four

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5623699

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5623699

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5623699

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5623699
come on gimme 6, papa needs a new something!

>>5623699
So what you do about it next is simple - you’ve had a brief instruction in kyūdō, mostly courtesy of Karin-san, but for this to work you really have to go back to the very basics. One step at a time, slowly, carefully, precisely, putting just the right amount of strength into each step and denying the urge to force greater speed. Eventually you release the arrow.

You do it again, despite having missed the target the first time, then a third time. You can tell that Kōshū is doing the same, trying just as hard to act on what Naori-san has told you.

Then something unexpected happened – you score a bull’s-eye.

Slowly, you become aware of the fact that Kōshū-kun is staring at you in a mix of surprise and frustration.

“What did you do differently?” she wonders aloud.

“I’m asking myself the same question,” you admit, before trying it again. This time you miss.

You take a deep, cleansing breath, and try to clear your mind of all intrusive thoughts. Then, for good measure, you do something somewhat paradoxical and stop thinking about not thinking. There’s an audible ‘thunk’, and when you open your eyes you’ve hit the bull’s-eye again.

“Okay, now do you know?” Kōshū-kun asks again, crossing her arms and waiting impatiently for some tidbit that might help her figure out what she’s still missing.

“… it can’t be that simple,” you grumble, before taking another deep breath and letting your mind go calmly blank.

Thunk.

“… I was thinking too hard about how to think,” you realize aloud.

There’s a pause. “Run that by me again?”

“Thinking too hard about how to do it was holding me back as much as any other random thoughts,” you try to explain in a little more detail. “Whatever’s bothering you, the only way to get past this block you’re having is to let it go.”
>1/2

>>5625203
Her next shot hits the edge of the target and doesn’t quite stick, so you put your hands on her shoulders.

“You’ve still got some tension right here,” you insist. “Breathe in…”

She does so.

“Breathe out.”

She does.

“Let it go.”

… she does.

This time, the arrow speeds straight for the center of the target, and when Kōshū-kun realizes it a loopy grin spreads across her face.

“Now,” you declare, “let’s put the principle into action, shall we?”

>Stick just to suiton, which you share, and cooperate with a technique you both know.
>Try again to make ice as a team effort, you supplying the water and Kōshū cooling it.
>Try a simpler shape manipulation, adding it to Kōshū’s nature transformation.
>Other?

>>5626136
>>Try again to make ice as a team effort, you supplying the water and Kōshū cooling it.

>>5626136
>>Stick just to suiton, which you share, and cooperate with a technique you both know.

Baby steps

>>5626136
>Try again to make ice as a team effort, you supplying the water and Kōshū cooling it.

>>5626136
>Try again to make ice as a team effort, you supplying the water and Kōshū cooling it.

>>5626136
>Stick just to suiton, which you share, and cooperate with a technique you both know.

>>5626136
>Stick just to suiton, which you share, and cooperate with a technique you both know.

>>5626136
Gimme a 1d6 roll, best three of four. I'll combine the options in a way that makes sense based on the result.

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5626983

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5626983
And here we go

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5626983

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5626983

>>5626983
“We both have suiton,” you muse, considering how things have gone so badly off the rails today. “Let’s start by matching that with a technique we both know.”

“... you think the problem is we’re not in sync?” she realizes. “Cause we’ve got different ideas of what we need to do to match each other?”

“Couldn’t hurt to try it,” you shrug. “Really break it down.”

“Okay then,” she nods. “Let’s try it… preferably not one that’d have us spitting in each other’s mouths or anything, that’d be kinda weird.”

“How about the Suireiha?” you offer. “Sumirin’s go-to?”

“Yeah, that’d work,” Kōshū-kun agrees, before holding out her hand. “So how are we doing this?”

“Like this,” you decide, moving to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her, your arms and the backs of your hands together all the way to the tips of your fingers. “This good for you?”

She nods. “Yeah, I think we’re good.”

“Then let’s do it.”

The two of you build chakra at your fingertips, carefully adjusting and tweaking the intensity, the focal point, the shape transformation - all aspects of your chakras. The result is a burbling mass of water, small at first, but which rapidly grows. First, to the size of your fist. Then, to the size of a small melon. Eventually it reaches what you feel is a natural, stable ‘maximum’ size - maybe three times as far across as a melon.

The impacts all around the training ground when you release the technique are proof positive of success.
>1/2

>>5627533
“... we did it,” she realizes, a little taken aback at the fact. “We actually did it.”

“We did,” you nod in agreement. “Now, think you can add in the wind to match that same amount of water to make ice?”

She spares you a glance. “I think… no, I can. Yes.”

…

This time, the ball of ice-transformed chakra leaves a series of chilly trails on the ground, and where the individual blasts strike spikes bloom in glistening bursts.

“So… that’s hyōton,” you muse with a little smile.

“What’re you thinking now?”

>I’m thinking we need to keep training until we get this right.
>It’s our turn to babysit, unfortunately. Give Naruto and Boruto a chance.
>We haven’t really spoken with Sasuke-san directly since we got here.
>Other?

>>5627607
>>I’m thinking we need to keep training until we get this right.

>>5627607
>I’m thinking we need to keep training until we get this right.

>>5627607
>>I’m thinking we need to keep training until we get this right.

>>5627607
>1d6, best three of four

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5628429

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5628429

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5628429

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5628429

>>5628429
“Let’s keep working at it until we have it down,” you suggest. “Or until Sasuke-san needs a break from dealing with Boruto-kun and Naruto-kun.”

…

The next step in your joint training is to add a more complex transformation in shape to your ice, putting more of an onus on you to ensure that the final result is worthwhile. Kōshū names the resulting technique - which adds chakra flow to the ice you created together - ‘Renkei Hyōton: Omiwatari’. It’s a powerful ability that causes three-foot-long spears of ice to burst from a surface following a line, which you can control through chakra flow. It reminds you of some of Guren-san’s crystal release techniques.

But this ends up taking quite a while. The trick, you think, is to hone each intermediate cooperation technique to the point where you would be confident using it in battle - not just because it’s one more tool in the proverbial kit, but because if you wouldn’t actually use it why should you build the next logical development off of it?

“So yeah, am I interrupting?” Naori-san asks, having returned to the training ground to collect you and Kōshū-kun.

“Sorta?” Kōshū admits hesitantly. “I assume it’s our turn?”

“To babysit?” Naori-san muses with a slight smirk. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

…

It’s evening, and Naruto-san is staring at you in obvious displeasure. “Hey… so that stupid pervy sage ran off again. Said you’d be training with me, ya know?”

Kōshū glances at you, sharing a thought - you shouldn’t teach him anything that would break the timeline.

>Well, what can you do already?
>We’ll work on your ninjutsu fundamentals.
>Taijutsu training. Get in a workout.
>How good are you with genjutsu?
>Other?

>>5629768
>Taijutsu training. Get in a workout.
Let's make use of that pointlessly tough body of his

>>5629768
>>Taijutsu training. Get in a workout.

>>5629768
>>Taijutsu training. Get in a workout.

Not interested in ninjutsu fundamentals. Did he ever learn to use the rasengan without a shadow clone crutch? I don't want to fuck with that.

>>5629768
>1d6
>high roll of first three

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5630670

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5630670

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5630670

>>5630670
“We’ll focus on taijutsu,” you decide aloud. “Change of pace for us, useful for you.”

“So what kind of taijutsu can you do already?” Kōshū-kun asks curiously. “Kenjutsu? Tantōjutsu? Kempo?”

“Um…” Naruto-kun muses, mulling over the question for a few moments. “Well, I guess I use kunai and shuriken…”

“Do you favor hira-shuriken or senbon?” you ask

“Senbon are like those needle things, right?”

You nod.

“Yeah, I can’t use those.”

“How about kenjutsu?” Kōshū presses.

“Nnnnoooo…”

“Hanbō?” you offer.

“Isn’t that a type of bug?”

You have to take a moment.

“Well…” Kōshū eventually decides, “let’s just do kumite then?”

“Okay, that sounds good,” Naruto agrees.

…

He’s lousy. Just godawful, even by genin standards. He has decent physical strength and agility, but not exceptional in either, and his main strategy seems to be creating a bunch of shadow clones and swarming his opponents. He tries that on Kōshū, who expertly dismantles the four clones he sets on her with a simple grace.

>Okay, we need to work on your basics. Like, the BASIC basics.
>You have no technique. Let’s work through a few paired sparring forms.
>Stop trying to get fancy and work on the areas where you’re falling short.
>Other?

>>5630802
>>Okay, we need to work on your basics. Like, the BASIC basics.

Fundamentals baby, it starts on step 1.

>>5630802
>Okay, we need to work on your basics. Like, the BASIC basics.

>>5630802
>Okay, we need to work on your basics. Like, the BASIC basics.
>No matter how much grit you have, you can't build on a foundation of sand

>>5630802
>>Okay, we need to work on your basics. Like, the BASIC basics.

>>5630802
>1d6, DC 9
>first three
>SP: 4/4

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5632013

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5632013

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5632013

>>5632013
I've been debating whether to apply the SP recharge before or after burning SP - I know I've done it previously as applying after burn, and it feels wrong to have a situation where rolling what would usually give you a recharge or some other benefit instead gives you nothing.

So I'll make this a freebie. I'm going to have to continue tomorrow in the morning though.

>>5632148
Its about teaching Naruto stuff, failing won't feel bad.
Or good.
Honestly, no one expected much to begin with.

>>5632013
You nod. “Kōshū-chan, would you agree that the biggest problem Naruto-kun has is maai?”

After a momentary pause, she nods in agreement. “Yeah, I’d agree.”

“What does that mean?” Naruto demands. “Quit using words I don’t know, ya know!”

“Maai is spacing,” you explain. “And you don’t seem to have much understanding of it, so listen carefully cause I’m only gonna say this once. The ideal spacing for taijutsu is ittoma, the distance required for one step and a single strike - you should try to position yourself so you can strike without giving your opponent time to do the same. Tōma is a spacing outside that distance, which gives the opponent a small chance to counter you. Chikama is closer than that distance, where both opponents have an equal chance to make an attack.”

“You determine each based on your reach and speed,” Kōshū adds, “and try to stay at your own ittoma while staying in your opponent’s tōma, giving you an advantage.”

“Okay, so what if my opponent’s faster or bigger?” Naruto-kun asks.

“Then your best options are either chikama or a ranged attack,” you explain. “This whole swarm tactic can work too, but your clones also have to have an understanding of maai or they’ll just get smacked around.”

“Try it.”

You unseal a bokken into your hand, and adopt the low wakigamae with your sword held low to your right with the hilt pointed at Naruto’s face.

He creates four shadow clones, which take up flanking positions before attacking - from his own tōma. The second the first one reaches your own ittoma you counter, striking at its ribs and popping it. Your follow through puts you in a high stance from which you swiftly shift into gedan, then strike downwards against the second. A slash to your left side hits the third, and for the fourth you block his right arm by bracing the spine of the bokken with your free hand. You push his arm out of the way, lowering your arms and bokken, before striking across his waist.

Then for Naruto himself you try something else.

You close the distance in a few quick steps, sword held in a left-side wakigamae to hide its length as you approach. Your own pair of shadow clones appear without any dramatic smoke, and all three of you slip into openings in Naruto’s stance.

“Hiken: Mikazuki no Mai.”
>1/2

>>5632560
“... what the heck was that?” Naruto demands, frozen in place as you and your shadow clones hold your wooden swords in place where they would’ve struck: yours under his right ribs aimed as if to slice through his chest, another against the base of his neck where it meets his right shoulder, and the third with the point planted lightly against his left ribs as if aiming a thrust at his lungs and heart.

“The concepts of maai apply to nijutsu as well,” you reply, letting your shadow clones disappear. “By opening with your shadow clones too soon you give your opponent time to adjust. To get the full benefit of any ninjutsu you have to use it at the right time, from the right distance, like with the Mikazuki no Mai.”

>Take turns attacking Kōshū and me until you start to get the hang of it.
>Maai takes time and experience to learn, so for now let’s move on to striking.
>Your bukijutsu is also sloppy. We’ll work on that next.
>Other?

>>5633082
>>Maai takes time and experience to learn, so for now let’s move on to striking.

>>5633082
>>Maai takes time and experience to learn, so for now let’s move on to striking.

>>5633082
>>Take turns attacking Kōshū and me until you start to get the hang of it.

>>5633082
>Take turns attacking Kōshū and me until you start to get the hang of it.
Nardo is a 'learn by doing' type of guy. And he's only got room in his brain for one thing at a time.
If we try to dump information on him it'll have the opposite effect.

>>5633082
>Take turns attacking Kōshū and me until you start to get the hang of it.

>>5633082
>1d6, first three

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5633614

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5633614

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5633614

>>5633614
“Attack us,” you insist curtly. “Keep doing it until you start to get it.”

…

At first it’s an embarrassment. Naruto keeps rushing you and Kōshū in turn, and you keep reminding him that the spacing he should be going for is one step and one attack. It quickly becomes clear that he didn’t know what his own spacing was when he started, and it’s a slow process to watch him figure those things out a little at a time. First he starts to figure out his reach by virtue of scrapping with you at close range, which you and Kōshū both let him do. Eventually he starts to figure out how to close distance with a step without losing his balance.

“Damn it!” he pants, cursing angrily. “I keep feeling like I’ve got it, but I still can’t hit you!”

“You’re still doing it wrong,” you shrug. “Do it again. And don’t get frustrated, if you do you’re gonna screw up.”

He fails a few more times, getting hit before he can get close enough to strike, but then something else happens. Instead of charging in and getting whacked he charges, then throws a kunai. You smack that out of the way, only to find Naruto closing that last little distance and raising his fist to strike.

That’s why you sweep your left leg up and kick him, sending him sprawling to your side.

“Not bad,” Kōshū admits. “Still not good, but not bad.”

“You attacked at a range,” you smile, “trying to create an opening to adjust for the fact that I’m faster than you. It was a good idea.”

“I still can’t hit you,” he grumbles.

“Sometimes you won’t be able to,” you shrug. “But just because you know that doesn’t mean you don’t have a way forward.”

>Continue training until someone comes to tell you to stop.
>It’d look weird to his friends if he doesn’t take a break or two.
>Other?

>>5633723
>>Continue training until someone comes to tell you to stop.

>>5633723
>Continue training until someone comes to tell you to stop.
This is the uzumaki way

>>5633723
>>Continue training until someone comes to tell you to stop.

>>5633723
>>Continue training until someone comes to tell you to stop.

>>5633723
>1d6, high roll of three

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5634574

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5634574

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5634574

>>5634574
“Keep going,” you insist curtly. “So long as you’re still making progress and nobody’s telling us to stop.”

…

The training lasts late into the afternoon, and it’s fairly arduous especially at the beginning. But you manage to get to the point where Naruto is capable of striking about as well as an advanced genin should be able, and he starts to show some signs that he’s been figuring out clever tricks and tactics for getting into the correct spacing.

Eventually Naori-san walks by, seemingly surprised that you’re still going.

“Huh,” she muses. “Knock it off for the day.”

“I’d say that was a success,” Kōshū decides with a curt nod. “You?”

“I’d agree,” you shrug. “Nice work out there.”

Naruto, who seems winded, takes a moment. “Yeah. Success. That’s great, ya know.”

“How about some ramen to celebrate your hard work?” you offer.

He seems to perk up. “Yeah, that sounds great.”

“You know any good places?” Kōshū asks, knowing the answer full well.

…

Ichiraku Ramen is stunningly small for how well known it is even now, but it’s honestly kinda cozy.

Once Naruto-kun’s sitting behind the counter slurping away at some noodles he seems remarkably content, where just minutes ago he seemed totally exhausted. It’s a striking difference in tone and tenor, and it makes you wonder how much of this is down to the same obscene Uzumaki recuperative abilities that you inherited.

You’re about to mention it to see what Naori-san thinks, only to find that she’s suddenly absent. Did she go to the toilet or something?

“Ah, so here you are,” a familiar voice greets your ears from behind.

“Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto exclaims.

“I was wondering where you’d gotten to,” Hatake Kakashi muses. “Who are your new friends here?”

>Just some traveling performers. Lady Hokage put Naruto-kun in charge of us.
>And who might you be? You’re a shinobi of the regular forces, right?
>We’re from out of town, but we’re working with Jiraiya-dono at the moment.
>Other?

>>5635880
>>Just some traveling performers. Lady Hokage put Naruto-kun in charge of us.

>>5635880
>>Just some traveling performers. Lady Hokage put Naruto-kun in charge of us.

>>5635880
>Just some traveling performers. Lady Hokage put Naruto-kun in charge of us.

>>5635880
“We’re traveling performers,” you insist, keeping your expressions totally under control. “I understand there’s a security concern right now, so Jiraiya-san and Naruto-kun here were assigned to watch us.”

“Oho?” Kakashi muses, picking up on something. Ah, your inflection? Or your body posture? “What sort of performers?”

“Well, technically it’s my aunt who’s the performer,” you change your story slightly. “We came here with her.”

“I see,” Kakashi nods, seemingly pacified by the reconciliation involved there - you’ve only just managed to convince him that the only falsehood involved was that you’re not a performer yourself, but that you’re here with an older woman who is a musician, avoiding trying to pass off the lie that she’s blind. If he’s gleaned anything further beyond that he keeps it to himself.

“Hey, where’d she go by the way?” Naruto only just now realizes that she’s absent.

“I’d very much like to meet this musician aunt of yours,” Kakashi decides. “I suppse she may have just gone to use the bathroom?”

“Could be,” you give a non-answer.

“She’s a little on the carefree side,” Kōshū speaks up. “Sometimes she likes to just wander off on her own.”

“Well then, if you don’t mind the company for a while,” Kakashi replies with a smile behind that everpresent mask of his, “master, what’s the seasonal special right now?”

…

You are a shadow clone of Uzumaki Naori, the one who made a life for herself in Rōran as an advisor and protector to two generations of the royal family. So far, the biggest threat to your secrecy has been Kakashi-san - while Naruto-kun is an idiot, and his sensei Jiraiya is an even bigger idiot at least when it comes to beautiful women (which like it or not, you are), Kakashi-san is no idiot. You’ll have to be very careful around him, so as not to give him any reason to suspect that there could be an older clone of the dangerous little chūnin girl he knows running around.

In this case sheer incredulity is your greatest ally, and ridiculousness is your strongest shield. You will need to preserve them both.
>1/2

>>5636753
On the other hand, you know that you can’t hide in the bathroom forever, especially not now that it seems Kakashi-han is sticking around longer than you’d hoped - he may have even ordered a meal for himself after finding his student and your son eating here. That’s still a strange thought… you and Ryūzetsu, hm? You wonder if Kakashi-han is sharp enough to pick up on Shiki-kun’s attempts to hide his eyes.

>Head back to the bar and suggest that your son and his friends head back to your rooms. You want to deal with Kakashi-han yourself.
>Do that the opposite way - invite Kakashi-han back to your room. You can impress on him the seriousness of the situation in private.
>Go back and simply refer all this to Jiraiya-sensei. The more blame for all this he can shoulder, the more useful he’ll make himself.
>Other?

>>5636851
>Head back to the bar and suggest that your son and his friends head back to your rooms. You want to deal with Kakashi-han yourself.
Kakashi is the smartest motherfucker out there. Just explain what we can and he'll be chill. He can confirm with jiraiya and tsunade if he wants.

>>5636851
>>Do that the opposite way - invite Kakashi-han back to your room. You can impress on him the seriousness of the situation in private.

>>5636851
>>Head back to the bar and suggest that your son and his friends head back to your rooms. You want to deal with Kakashi-han yourself.

>>5636851
>Head back to the bar and suggest that your son and his friends head back to your rooms. You want to deal with Kakashi-han yourself.

>>5638492
New thread