Nosocomephobic means afraid of hospitals, (according to Wikipedia at least).
The Scars of Arrogance
Tues, 7th October
They were planning a coup…
A rebellion…
Against Konoha.
This changed everything.
While Olivia was under no delusions – she could not consider herself 'loyal' to the village – her loyalty, as passé as that sounded to the 21st century dimension-traveller, was not suddenly going to swap to Konoha simply because she now lived there. And as far as Olivia felt, her 'loyalty' was to her world – to England and Japan, not to Konoha. She loved her home, her countries, her two cultures (even if she had seemingly neglected one for most of the year).
But, whilst she may not have been loyal to the village, she did feel 'loyal' to an extent to Naruto and she could understand that the coup would be a very selfish, if understandable, action. People could, and would, be severely wounded and killed in such an attack. There would be fighting – and who did Konoha, like the rest of the world she now lived in, depend on to fight?
Children.
Ok, teenagers admittedly – but as a seventeen year old, Olivia could say in the face of death, comparable to when Tobi had caught her, she felt like a child. Someone who had yet to fully live.
She had, before knowing the truth, resolved to stop Itachi from using the excuse of craving a challenge to slaughter his own flesh and blood, and to save the lives of strangers and an annoying classmate.
Now – knowing the truth – she didn't need to make any resolves. This wasn't about protecting strangers on account of moral stance. This wasn't even about doing the right thing. Certainly – it was a reason, and knowing she was doing the right thing did comfort her, but her main reason was actually quite selfish. By preventing the rebellion and the massacre, Konoha kept a significantly powerful asset. This meant Konoha was stronger – the significance of this being she would be safer whilst she lived in Konoha, up until she got home, with the added and surprisingly important bonus of keeping Naruto safer too.
Not that she wished him harm – of course not. What was surprising was how much he meant to her, considering not too long ago, she had considered him nothing more than a fictional character.
She was going to stop the massacre, by stopping the coup. She just had to figure out her approach.
Even if it meant disgracing the Uchiha clan.
The only idea she could think of was to somehow expose the Clan as traitors – perhaps she could get a Yamanaka to use a mind technique to confirm her memory of overhearing the Uchiha Clan Head and elder talking?
'No – that could expose the Yamanaka to my knowledge of the future… I could admit to eavesdropping – surely the Hokage is aware of the friction between the village and the clan – it would simply be confirming his suspicions. Maybe I could persuade Itachi… that would be a fun conversation, but maybe if I used Sasuke as a point – that's what Sarah said, wasn't it? That all Itachi did was to protect Sasuke… uhh – I want to go home! Back to where I don't have to concern myself with anything more than my next exam.
I miss my parents – mum, dad, are you missing me too? Are you scared for me? Praying for my safe return? Or has Kumiko convinced you I'm simply insane; the way I've convinced – albeit unintentionally – Mebuki and Kizashi of my own… mental problems.' Thought Olivia, recalling how awkward it had been that morning.
She didn't remember much after realising Itachi was innocent – she had decided to go back to the Haruno's, and after that, all she could recollect was being very cold and in pain. She was certain she'd gotten lost a few times, but she was sure she managed to find the way eventually.
Mebuki and Kizashi hadn't asked her a thing – that was bizarre. She'd assumed she would be yelled at, or that Mebuki would cry or something but no. Mebuki brought her breakfast along with some plasters (Mebuki had covered the worst of them last night, and strapped her ankle, but she couldn't remember any of it, though her ankle didn't even hurt at all anymore – maybe she hadn't sprained it). Mebuki had paused, seemly waiting for Kumiko to say something.
When she hadn't, Mebuki distantly nodded and simply said, "Eat your breakfast – there's a lot of chakra herbs, but you must finish it. You have an hour until you need to be at the academy. By the way, you're grounded for the next three weeks. Eat up." And walked away without another word.
Was it wrong for Olivia not to feel any guilt at all?
Yes – she agreed, it was wrong, but that didn't change the facts.
As wretched as it was, and as disturbed as it made her sound, Olivia didn't have time enough to care about any of the Harunos. She could just about manage putting effort into her friendship with Naruto. Survival came above all else.
And she knew that made her selfish, and just a bit evil.
Tues, 7th October (still)
"Hokage-sama," greeted Itachi solemnly, dressed in his ANBU gear.
Sarutobi, given that they were alone, forwent formalities and got straight to the point.
"Report?"
"The Elders are insisting my father go forth with the coup, and my father is agreeing with them. It is clear – all negotiations have proved fruitless. It will take place on the 3rd of November."
Sarutobi gave a long, suffering sigh. So, it had come to this. His eyes flashed curiously, as he saw the barest of movements from Itachi. Unimportant if the movement came from a normal person, but certainly not a shinobi, especially not an ANBU. For the elite, every movement had its purpose.
"You have more to say?"
Itachi paused, and thought for the quickest of moments before coming to a decision.
"You are… aware of many things, Hokage-sama." He began, the strange statement causing a glint of confusion in the old man's eyes. "I have sensed someone or something following me, these past few days – usually only for an hour or so, sometimes more."
It wasn't a question, but the Sandaime answered it nonetheless. "I have no idea of what you speak."
You wouldn't know it, but that answer pleased Itachi greatly.
'Trust,' Itachi thought fondly, before continuing.
"From what I can tell, I have discerned it likely has incredible skill at chakra suppression. If stationary, it – and I am confident it is in fact a person – is undetectable. They appear to have followed me to the meeting last night, or found out about it somehow and decided to listen in. I don't think either my father or the clan elder sensed it. Nearly as soon as the date was decided, they left."
"A spy." Sarutobi grimaced – this just got worse and worse. "For who though?"
"I-" Itachi gave a surprising pause mid-syllable, before continuing, "I believe they may be in league with a certain S-rank shinobi… certain evidence seems to point to that conclusion, and given the ability to become nearly undetectable…"
He trailed off – it was not for him to decide what the evidence meant after all. And he found himself yet again withholding from the Hokage his knowledge of Madara's apparent return.
Sarutobi lost himself in thought, before abruptly flashing his gaze to Itachi (or rather, Itachi's ANBU mask). "Make no action as yet, but inform me of every incident. You haven't managed to track them?"
"I have, several times, but they are too good at creating false trails. I kept arriving in the civilian district."
"You don't think they could be civilian – perhaps one has been bought by outsiders?"
Itachi made no reply, and the third gave a dry chuckle. "Yes – I agree, quite unimaginable, but still a possibility. However – there are priorities. Concentrate on the coup – there must be an angle to the negotiations we have yet to attempt."
"Hai, Hokage-sama." Itachi bowed his head respectfully, and shunshined away, leaving the old man to his thoughts.
This was getting out of hand – an angry clan was bad enough, but now an unknown, apparently skilled spy had appeared, who may be working for S-rank shinobi.
The image of Orochimaru suddenly materialised in his mind's eye, and he bit down hard on his pipe. May Kami-sama forbid his estranged student showing interest in the Uchiha clan's unrest – that path he knew would end in fire, blood and worse.
Tues, 7th October (afternoon)
It was time.
She had learnt all she could, there was nothing left to do but for her to make (or at least attempt to make) the chakra-seal.
It was afterschool, after an early dinner and a nap. She had as much chakra as she'd had that same morning – of course, it was time.
Only two days ago, she'd estimated having to wait a month before such an attempt… but she really didn't want to wait. She already had excellent chakra-control, and while a month waiting would give her time to build up a large chakra-reserve, wasn't the entire purpose of the seal more chakra? So – why wait?
First, she got out her inkpot and cupped it in her hands. She then infused the ink with her chakra – that only was a tricky thing considering her lack of experience with chakra, and her efforts plainly displayed her inexperience with the mystical substance. It took ten solid minutes – which was a long time if one was simply sitting in the middle of their room, holding a pot of ink – of trial and error before she managed to make a lick of progress, and when she did, she was so surprised, she lost concentration and had to begin again.
It took an hour and fourteen minutes, six false starts, three times of realising she was infusing the pot instead of the ink, and forty percent of her entire chakra reserve to make a hundred millilitres of chakra-infused ink.
That was a lot of chakra.
She then started painstakingly copying – and let us not forget that this was all it was, her copying a picture – the seal shown onto an A6 piece of paper.
Her hand shook wrong just as she touched the paper with her little brush, and the paper was useless; an ink spot the size of a pea in the place of what should have been nothing but paper.
She began again, and her hand held true until upon just finishing the first semicircle of kanji, at which point her hand jerked.
She began again, growling in agitation.
When it was finally complete – an act that took two more tries and used all her ink – she was ready to do what could arguably be the hardest part.
She had no accurate idea of how to seal her chakra into the seal – she seen shinobi, typically Jiraiya – seal things using hand signs when she watched the series, but that wasn't what she was doing. Nonetheless – putting chakra into her palm and yelling 'seal' when slapping the middle of the paper seemed like a good start.
She probably could have found someone in the village to have a look over the seal, or to give her guidance on how to seal chakra – even the Hokage, but she didn't want to risk the dreaded 'You're not old enough' speech, and frankly she didn't want to postpone this.
.
.
.
It felt like trying to push a tsunami of tar through a micro-filter. Her chakra didn't 'want to leave', especially not in such a large amount. Due to her minor reserves, she had a naturally 'thin' chakra network, built for precision, not bulk movement.
Olivia should have expected it, she really should have, but she didn't – despite having skipped a month of preparation, so the sudden burning sensation that went from dangerously close to her heart, along her right shoulder, down her arm to the centre of her palm shocked her substantially. She flung her hand to her chest, cradling it protectively as she whimpered. She'd found chakra-sensitivity bad, but this, this was excruciating. And the agony was only increasing.
Mebuki had been putting away some groceries when –
"MEBUKI-OBACHANNNNN!" – her peace and quiet was broken by her newest family member running into the kitchen, clutching her right arm to her chest as it appeared to spasm, with tears in her eyes and looking for all the more emotional than she'd looked since her parents passed on.
"Kumiko-chan!? What on earth is the matter?" Mebuki asked frantically, as she swept towards her, all mothering and concerned.
"I…I did something stupid, I'm sorry, I'm sorry – but it hurts, it hurts, and it's not stopping and it won't stop twitching and-" The girl stopped to catch her breath, but she ended up choking on a wail of agony as Mebuki reached and touched her shoulder. The child leapt away from her.
"No, no – it hurts! You can't touch it, you mustn't!" Truthfully, Olivia was a little ashamed of how her voice was starting to ascend into hysterics, and how she choked at the end as a gasp of pain erupted when her t-shirt rubbed her injured shoulder, already provoked by Mebuki's unknowing action of pressing on her injuries.
"Kumiko, KUMIKO! I must see what you've done – I won't touch it, I promise, but you must show me it."
Mebuki was starting to look scared, and after a moment, Olivia conceded.
Twisting her twitching arm as gently as she could, she revealed the limb.
A quick glance of her own at her arm and hand showed Olivia the cost of her impatience. A web of angry red lines spanned her palm, and weaved their way into a coil at its centre. Thicker lines on her arm marked her otherwise invisible chakra system, the blistered tissue forming regular areas of circular coils at places she guessed where her tenketsu were.
Mebuki's eyes went wide in horror at the sight – for it was a rather gruesome thing to see on a child and Mebuki was no expert, but she was sure her niece's arm wasn't meant to be twitching like that – and exclaimed whilst standing and grabbing Olivia's uninjured arm, "We're going to see Akiko-san. Now. Sakura! Get your shoes on!"
They were already out the door before Olivia managed to tell Mebuki she was still in her slippers, and in response Mebuki pulled her up on to her hip as if she was several years younger than she'd already become and carried on down the road.
A look at Mebuki's pinched face and Sakura's confused, scared face made her feel nauseous.
She was an idiot.
"Akiko-san! Akiko-san! I must see Akiko-san!" Mebuki all but screeched as she ploughed into the hospital entrance. A doctor – a civilian medic that is – came up to them, asking what was the matter (standard procedure for patients who were clearly civilian, mednins tended to specialise in shinobi-esque injuries, which in turn rarely appeared on civilians) but Mebuki was adamant.
In their rush to the hospital, Olivia had managed to convey she attempted a jutsu (though she'd been careful not to specify it being a sealing jutsu) and Mebuki would be dammed if her niece left the hospital without a ninja looking at her.
"My niece needs to see her registered mednin – I may not be a ninja, but look at her arm – "All four of them, Mebuki, the doctor, Sakura and Olivia herself took a look at the still-jerking limb – "This is a chakra injury. Get me Akiko-sensei."
Olivia noticed the change in suffix in a peculiar, detached sort of way. Sensei could be used as both a term for teacher and doctor; she suddenly remembered and felt a sort of happiness at that tiny victory.
The dimension-hopper noticed her own abnormal reaction – she was feeling rather tranquil now. It didn't even hurt anymore. She didn't feel much of anything actually, vacant in a way, but not what she had experienced when she'd (technically) died from chakra-exhaustion. She didn't feel tired, just numb with a hint of contentedness.
'Ahh – I know. I'm in shock. Makes sense I suppose. Oh – and here comes Akiko-san. Or sensei. Whatever – I wonder what they'd do if I called her Dr. Akiko. Probably think I was delirious from pain. Which isn't far from the truth if I'm completely honest – oh we're moving.'
Dazedly, allowing Mebuki to drag her to an examination room, Olivia was left to her own thoughts for a moment whilst Mebuki explained all she knew to Akiko before confessing she had to rush back home, having left the stove on and door unlocked.
"So – what really happened?"
"Huh?" asked Olivia, intelligently, as Akiko did some rudimentary chakra scans.
"Mebuki-san tells me you were attempting a jutsu, or at least that's what you told her. Thing is – these injuries don't match any of the jutsu you, as an academy student, would know." Akiko replied, patiently, though with disapproval saturating her words.
Well - at least it was better than condescension.
Olivia did not know why she was feeling so secretive – despite the enormous quantity of pain she had been in immediately after trying to seal the chakra; she still managed to hide the scroll and the seal under her pillow before running downstairs.
Maybe she was developing a complex.
After all, while the idea of telling anyone about whom she really was, felt preposterous – no one would, or even could, believe her, there was another side to it. She felt protective, borderline possessive, of her secrets: her true name, her real life, her actual age, her insanely random amount of knowledge amount the Narutoverse…
In the moments where there was a break in-between her various commitments, including her self-made ones, her thoughts were filled with that which she had lost.
This was not her home.
Mebuki and Kizashi were not her parents, or relatives.
She did not, could not trust them. She was incapable of doing so.
'My secrets are my own.' Mentally declared Olivia, melancholically bemused. 'Oh yes – I'm definitely developing a complex. Probably something in connection with paranoia too.'
She really didn't want to mention the seal to Akiko (or indeed anyone, at least not yet) so instead of the truth…
"Well, the other day in class, we were going over the substitution jutsu, and I got curious as to whether I could um, edit the jutsu. I tried to replace a pencil in my hand with a pen on my table… and well – it failed."
'I've also become a rather adept, and possibly compulsive, liar.'
The fact that there were truths interwoven in her overall lie made her speak confidently and assuredly, even if Akiko's suspiciously blank face made her feel somewhat uneasy.
The mednin started up a medical jutsu, its green glow captivating Olivia, until she noticed Akiko's currently disapproving face.
"As a civilian-born, Kumiko-chan, I know you are at a disadvantage in many aspects of the way of a shinobi."
This was odd – being spoken to as if she was an adult was an abrupt change – Olivia felt startled.
"However, even you must realise what a foolish decision this was. You haven't got enough chakra to do the substitution jutsu as it is, yet alone your own variant. And of course-"
Olivia felt a momentary rush of fury as this woman began to lecture her, as if she was her mother, and she hoped Akiko didn't notice the flash of resentment that must have been expressed on her face.
"-need I remind you that you're a ten year old academy student? You are nowhere near old enough, smart enough or strong enough to be attempting to make your own jutsu. You have no comprehension of the consequences – you could have died!"
Akiko grimaced at the girl, who instead of looking chastised as any normal civilian adolescent would do after being reprimanded by a shinobi, - even as mednin, the respect hidden village civilians felt towards their shinobi allowing their words to penetrate deeply, - the girl merely looked aggravated.
Akiko sighed – this had to be the most troublesome civilian she had ever met. If this continued, Akiko could definitely see this little girl, if – and it was a big if given the circumstances – she became a ninja, giving some of her veteran nosocomephobic jounin-patients a run for their money.
In a tone of voice that contrasted heavily with the gentle way the mednin began bandaging Olivia's arm, Akiko decided to treat Kumiko as if she was one of her jounin patients. Maybe that would work on the atypical child.
'Oh – and note-to-self, file a note on patient Koharuno Kumiko. Fashioning a jutsu, even an attempt, at this age is something that should be down in writing somewhere. Even if the girl was senseless enough to try it days after dying from severe chakra exhaustion.'
"Here's what's going to happen. One - you will not be attempting the creation of any jutsu until you are a chūnin. Full stop. The end. Sayonara. Two – you will not be doing any jutsu at all for another week-"
"But we're doing the substitution jutsu tomorrow, and I'm already behind!"
After glaring at her for interrupting, Akiko replied with a sugary smile, condescension dripping like honey from her lips, "I'm not an idiot, Kumiko-chan, I know you nearly graduated when you were eight, I know you're adept at the substitution jutsu; you did it perfectly in the exam. All you need to do is to wait until your reserves reach what they were (and hopefully grow beyond that), and you'll have the jutsu in the bag."
Akiko glowered at her for a moment to remind the child that she was, in fact, a kunoichi who could sever a man's artery in a second without needing to penetrate his skin and smiling more sincerely.
"Now where was I? Hm – oh yes, three – you are going to be fine. The damage to your chakra network in your right arm will heal quickly, if only because your network is small and condensed, and frankly, you don't possess enough chakra right now to do any serious damage. The only 'lasting' damage is your chakra control in your right arm, but considering you're on the chakra programme, you should regain it fairly quickly. Basically, the injury has caused various parts of the network to dilate – reducing your chakra control. This is why number two is going to happen. You plus no control plus jutsu equals death. And f-"
"What about the seal – I thought you said it would act as a backup, so I wouldn't die from-"
"Yes, well, your moment of… ingenuity short-circuited the seal, I'll need to replace it."
At Olivia's expression – a small scowl – Akiko chuckled, "What – you don't like being interrupted? Shame. Anyway, I'll replace it today, before you go home. Mebuki-san will be back in half an hour and can sign the forms then. You know, if you had attempted your jutsu with your left hand instead of your right, the shorting of the seal would have rebounded along your left hand side chakra network instead. It was a lucky decision to use your right hand – it saved your life. If you had used your left hand, your heart would have stopped, and even if the seal were still able to work in a manner, it would not have helped.
The seal provides chakra if your heart stops in the event of complete chakra depletion. The short-circuiting would have electrocuted your heart. You'd be dead. Permanently. And even if, by some grace of the Kami your body reacted instinctively and quick enough, and managed to close the tenketsu at your shoulder, preventing the shock from reaching your heart, then you would definitely have lost your arm. However, the chance of that happening is minuscule, so I will repeat: Dead. Permanently."
Another glare was sent Olivia's way, in a successful attempt to impress on Olivia the severity of the situation.
"So – as I was saying. Finally, four: you will have scarring. I could probably remove it, but I think – and am sure Mebuki-san will agree – that leaving it as it is for the time being will remind you of the price of arrogance."
At this, Akiko-san was relieved to see the emotion she'd been aiming for – shame. Olivia ducked her head, no longer meeting Akiko's unsympathetic regard. She had been arrogant. And foolish. And stupid stupid stupid. What was going on – risking her life and rushing around; what happened to planning each move carefully? Olivia had no plans on stopping the making of the seal, but she was definitely going to work smarter and taken as much time as she needed. After all – the seal should in turn help protect Olivia, but it was no good if she died trying to make it.
Died.
(She would have been dead.
Deceased.
Perished.
Croaked.
Bit the dust.
Kicked the bucket.
She would have been dead.)
Her breath hitched. She nearly died. Again. It was incomprehensible. She could not get her head around it – it did not belong in her reality. She shook her head mentally to suppress her thoughts, and asked the first thing that came to mind in an effort to distract herself.
"Erm, by the way, I know this is a really odd, out of place question, but how can you tell how much chakra is in a chakra-storage seal? I'm er… just curious…"
Akiko scrutinised Olivia's face for several long moments (making Olivia feel so awkward she began to wish she was trapped with her morbid thoughts), looking for something which she evidently found as she rolled her eyes and began to illuminate the dimension-hopper.
"-to sum up, you reach out with your chakra, figuratively grasp it and through a comparison with your own total sum of chakra, determine the amount. There are superior methods, ones that characteristically use your chakra as a scanning wave, but you have no chance of being able to perform such a technique – it requires both chakra control and quantity, and you are in dire need of half the requirements. Oh – Mebuki-san's returned."
It wasn't fair.
25%. That was the quantity of chakra compared with her own full reserves she'd managed to seal. Considering the seal took 40% of her chakra to produce, and she'd pushed an additional 40% into the seal, it was easy to see from the amount of chakra ('precious, precious chakra' thought Olivia, melodramatically) the seal had squandered, that simply knowing the seal in terms of æsthetics definitely didn't make her good at seals.
It was obvious – she had messed the seal up somewhere. Focusing on the seal, she just about managed to sense a weakness in the chakra coils the ink had built into the paper. She didn't doubt that by the same time the next day, there would be even less chakra in the seal…
'Great… an essentially useless seal.'
On the other hand, the seal had only been an example… and she had read that seals formed using hand-signs were always better than those that were drawn.
Hand-signs, that during the rare moment's in-between her chakra training, studying and plot-planning, when she managed to practise the different hand-signs, never failed to leave her poor fingers cramping after ten minutes of pathetic fumbling. She was closer to beating Tsuba in a spar than in creating one half-decent chakra-storage seal using hand-signs instead of ink.
Olivia resolved to read up more on making seals, specifically how to make them more chakra-economic, and decided to try and seal just another ten percent of her chakra into the seal tomorrow. She would just need to be extra careful, especially considering she'd be using her left hand.
To be honest, the idea terrified her. It could kill her, and it would hurt in the process.
Just the thought of doing something that could kill her was a surreal feeling, but that didn't stop the shadow of fear descending on her when she thought of the pain.
Nevertheless, she needed more chakra. It was everything here – whilst she had been rather melodramatic with the whole 'precious, precious chakra' thing, the fact of the matter was that in the Narutoverse, chakra was more important than your life's blood, even for civilians. Chakra would keep you alive even after losing pints of blood. Chakra boosted your oxygen uptake and your ability to hold your breath. If you get good enough, you can learn to direct chakra to your intestines to enhance the absorption of nutrients. It was everything.
And she didn't have enough.
Not enough to protect her.
Not enough to get her home.
Not enough to survive.
It had to be done.
'If only I'd given so much effort and dedication to the violin…'
Wed, 8th October, morning
"I'm afraid I have to sit out on the substitution jutsu again Shoumaru-sensei. I'm sorry – Akiko-sensei's orders."
Shoumaru peered inquisitively at the girl as he sat at his desk with the Kunoichi-class sensei (who happened to be his own niece, interestingly enough).
"Hmm – what happened to give Akiko-sensei a reason to increase your rest-period? Is it because of your… special circumstance?"
Olivia gave a fond smile, and then – smile still on her face – lied straight to the kind man's face. "Not exactly. Remember when I asked those questions on the substitution jutsu? Well…"
Shoumaru didn't like where this was going. Or maybe he did. He couldn't tell – if this went the way it sounded it was going…
"I attempted to replace an object in my hand with another object on a table. It predictably failed… and I, well I mean, my arm…" She trailed off, and instead started to unbandage her arm, revealing the still fresh wounds.
After a long look at the relatively ghastly injury, Shoumaru gave a sigh.
Between making sure Tsuba-kun didn't practise his fire-style jutsu in class, keeping an eye out for stray kunai and shuriken from the lowers years, staying up-to-date on the village gossip (via his niece) and dealing with his bloodstained conscience, he really didn't have the time (or energy; he was getting old, especially by shinobi standards) to have a jutsu-creating potential-genius/secret-shinobi-tutored (his niece really was a shocking gossip) chakra-deficient civilian-orphan. Sure, on the one hand – kudos… but on the other…
"HEY! What's up with your arm?" screeched a vague relative of the Inuzuka named Akaideiru. In in seconds, his entire class was congested around his desk.
"Whoa – howd'ja do that Kumiko-san?"
"Ew – it looks gross! Put the bandages back on."
"Is that real?"
"Does it hurt?"
"Shouldn't you put the bandages back on, Kumi-chan? They seem to have scabbed over, but you could still get infected." That was Sango, as sensible as ever when not near dango.
More than a little taken aback from the tremendousness of her classmates' response, and not quite as keen to lie to children (even shinobi-trainees); she sheepishly admitted a vague truth.
"Er, well, I tried something new and messed it up. Akiko-sensei says I've damaged the chakra-network in my right arm, but it will heal quickly 'cause it's so small. Apparently, according to Akiko-sensei, if I'd tried the same thing with my left arm, I would have died. Er… again."
Okay, so maybe she did take great amusement in watching the expressions of her classmates, but she was still saying the truth.
Unfortunately, her face must have revealed some of her humour as Tsuba clapped his hand hard around her (left) shoulder.
"Oi! Don't look so pleased. This isn't a game – grow up!" Tsuba growled as much as a kid like him could, and it got the desired effect. The rest of the class, Olivia included, quieted and became sombre.
Olivia looked shocked at the glowering Uchiha. She hadn't anticipated being criticised by her own classmates, and a peep around the room allowed her to see the worried expressions on their young faces.
She flushed as a wave of shame hit her head-on. They were worried about her – scared for her. And here she was belittling it when she herself was just as afraid. She really was an idiot.
"I… I mean…" She faltered, and then dragged her gaze up from where it had fallen to the floor to meet Tsuba's own scowling one. Even he was worried.
She gulped down her pride. "Right. Gomen." She forced herself to give Tsuba and her classmates a small bow, then returned to her seat, slumping down, embarrassment clinging to her as her flushed cheeks continued to glow.
Meanwhile, Shoumaru simply smiled from his desk as his class continued to overlook his presence (though that was mostly due to a teeny-tiny genjutsu). That had ended very well – he couldn't have done better himself. Better yet, Tsuba had acted without prompting.
There was a reason why Clan kids and shinobi-children mixed with civilian-borns. Those born into shinobi families, especially Clans, had an intrinsically deeper understanding of the shinobi world than their civilian counter-parts.
Whilst the Clan-kids tended to cultivate an arrogance (thank goodness he only had Tsuba as a clan-kid) – and Shoumaru had seen the undercurrents of such over-confidence even in the Nara and Aburame Clans over the years – that was admittedly not unfounded, all they'd ever known was the shinobi world; understanding it was second nature. And if they should impart just a sliver of that understanding to even one civilian-born, then all the better.
Clan kids may develop a self-assuredness that could advance into full-blown narcissism if left unchecked, but the way of the shinobi was the only life for which they were raised. It wasn't a game, a path taken inquisitively but half-heartedly, ready to back out at the first sign of trouble. No – this was all there was, all they ever could be.
Shoumaru doubted such thoughts had actually passed through Tsuba's mind, but Tsuba had reacted in a mature manner. And in return, so had Kumiko-chan. They were definitely becoming a good influence on each other, in an unfriendly, slightly hostile way.
But what was a bit of rivalry between allies and comrades?
'I think I'll see how hard Kumiko-chan will train once she gets pitted against Tsuba in a few sparring matches.'
The JK Chronicles - Omake
"NARUTO-SAMA!" A voice bellowed as a teenaged boy all but leapt into the classroom.
A lone cricket played a tune in the corner of the room, which was otherwise silent.
The general thoughts of the majority of the class were a mix of "WTF" and "Naruto-sama? Wait… Naruto-sama?!"
Shoumaru was contemplating the threat-risk of the newcomer, and wondering whether killing the intruder would count as a teaching experience, or simply mentally scar his students for the rest of their lives.
Olivia however was wondering how on earth this teen – and it was the same one from before – was alive. She had cracked his head like an egg…
Unperturbed by the stares he was receiving, even the one from Shoumaru, which was accompanied by a twitching motion towards his kunai-pouch, JK flamboyantly pouted.
"Oh dang – wrong room."
"What are you doing in here?" said both Olivia and Tsuba, in harmony with each other. Had it been any other time, they would have glared at each other for 'interrupting and copying', but this wasn't just any ol' day.
Olivia did not like this person. He knew too much, was too indiscrete and – worst of all – had the audacity not to stay dead.
Tsuba did not like this person. He was wearing a salmon-pink top. Tsuba hated salmon-pink. And salmon. And pink.
"Oh – you! You're that girl!" exclaimed JK, voice breaking at the end as he remembered his death.
"Do you know this loser?" asked Tsuba, as his eyebrow began to twitch from exposure to such an evil, revolting colour.
"Loser? LOSER! Listen here you Uchiha-teme, let me tell you something about your bloody clan-"
HWUH-THUD! Jk was cut-off midsentence as a chair came flying towards him.
"Shut up!" Olivia was positive he was about to reveal something about the Uchiha clan that he couldn't possibly be allowed to know.
He would be captured, tortured, then would reveal his knowledge of the future, which the village would then act upon, this would change the future, which would leave her knowledge useless, putting her at even a larger disadvantage. 'Oh hell no! This is my stupid cliché dimension-mishap – this teen can get his own!'
~Meanwhile~
"What. Did. You. Just. Say. Loser?" asked Tsuba, eyes narrowed dangerously, as he began walking towards the teen.
"Oi, Tsuba-san." Called Olivia, a smirk forming. "I'll hold his arms back, yeah?"
Grinning devilishly, Tsuba nodded and cracked his knuckles.
JK gulped. This wasn't meant to happen. He had come here to see his beloved Naruto-sama, but now he was going to be beaten to death by an Uchiha and some random sociopathic homicidal ten-year-old girl. He knew he shouldn't have taken directions from that four year old…
Next time in the following chapters: The Kyūbi festival with *poor, sad, little Naruto* (le weep), Danzo and Itachi, Olivia freaking out, Olivia being stupid, Olivia plot-*cough*-planning stuff, more fūin failures and two-ish eventual successes, some Sakura and Ino, and Olivia getting the snot beaten out of her. Twice. Because despite the fact I created her, Olivia is sometimes really annoying.
Huh – it's like I'm a mother.
Sorry I only covered two days in this chappy. Next chapter should have more happening, as you can see, I've got plenty planned.
So yeah, finally – another chapter is uuuup~
I had exams btw, and I'm paying £9000 a year just to be here, and that's not including the cost of living, so I'm afraid those took priority. However, I'm not moaning. A lot of you have been saying update soon, and I am chuffed to bits that you guys and gals are so interested. So – if anything – every little 'Moar!' is a motivator. :D
Last chapter got an amazing positive response – thank you all SOOOOO much, for all the reviews, favs and follows, and for the additions to communities. ^_^ I mean, 68 reviews, 115 favs, 164 follows (I have 164 people waiting for me to post my words… O.o) and 9 C2s. I am so honoured!
I hope the omake is okay – I know they're supposed to be funny, but I'm sadly not blessed with innate comic genius…
Seriously though, I really hope it does not pull the whole chapter down in terms of content.
In terms of language, I already know it does (pull the chapter down). I did a spellcheck on Word, and it told me the grade level: Fanfic without omake: 7.7. Omake alone: 5.7. Overall grade level: 7.5. -_-"My attempts at humour results in lowering the age-suitability of the entire chapter…
Doesn't matter a lot in the grand scheme of things, I suppose.
Any suggestions for Omake content (I'm talking to you, Datmatt! And you Jk – naturally! And of course MadOnNaruto and Xanderdakka) will be most welcome! In fact – I'm begging you, help this poor comically challenged girl/woman/lady… Female… thing.
Just so I make it really clear, there are going to be a lot of canon changes – that's the point. However, things will only change with reason – as in, something that ultimately happened because of Olivia's presence can cause changes, not me as the writer deciding 'Lololol, Sasuke is now a loving, patient Naruto-fanboy with daddy-issues cos I said so. Mwahahahaha!'
I want this to be realistic.
I hope Olivia seems like a real person. I'm trying to give her a many-facetted personality, but I'm worried I might just make her unlikable. Please tell me what you think, even just by using the poll on my profile page.
Thanks for reading the chapter, and for those that did, for reading the A/N.