Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter in this story! What I forgot to mention last Sunday is that this chapter is extra dark, somewhat based on real life (here in the Philippines), and involves some brutality... Sorry for forgetting =(

Also, I know perfectly well that my writing can get me hurt, kidnapped, arrested, or even killed extrajudicially (knowing my country), and I fully accept those risks and will continue to write anyway. If this series, or any of the other stories I still plan to write, can help attract attention to the atrocities happening in my country, so be it. Please, pray for my country and spread the word about what is happening. It is awful, but we cannot cower in fear. All men must die, and yet still all men must serve.

As one of my persona; heroes once said, "Kung Hindi Tayo Kikibo, Sinong Kikibo? Kung Di Tayo Kikilos, Sinong Kikilos? Kung Hindi Ngayon, Kailan Pa?" ["Who will speak up, if we do not speak up? Who will act, if we do not act? If not now, when?]

With that glum note out of the way, here's the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy! ^_^

Chapter 11: The Forgotten Ones

Sumire opened her eyes and rubbed them slightly as she woke up in her dark and lonely apartment, which was in one of the few buildings left standing in Konoha. Her building, seven stories tall, was located in the eastern section of Konoha and survived, though it sustained a lot of damage to its façade, mainly due to the collapse of the skyscraper four blocks northeast. The collapse, followed by the pitch black cloud of ash and debris that flooded and flowed through the streets and into buildings for blocks on end, was a memory the one that she, along with everyone she was with four nights ago, would never forget.

Slowly, she rolled off her bed and got on her feet, went to the bathroom and began her usual morning routine of stretching, brushing her teeth, and taking a bath. She liked having her water unheated; it cost less money to pay in the apartment rent, and the ice cold water jolted her awake as it flowed down her purple hair and light skin.

At times though, it also reminded her of the rain in Ame at night. She did not particularly like to relive those traumatizing memories, since she remembered her father causing her so much pain in her childhood, all for a fruitless and worthless quest of vengeance that she herself would ultimately abandon. She would wonder, during these times of dark reminiscing, if she was a failure to her father, but she would catch herself before she delved too deeply with these thoughts, and she would instead quickly change the topics of her thoughts to more positive things, such as her dearest friends, Sarada, Wasabi, Namida, and Boruto, as well as missions, science, technology, and even playing video games.

After drying herself up and walking back to her bedroom, she turned on the light and looked around her. The room's walls were painted deep blue, with interweaving light purple and dark yellow floral decorations interspersed on the walls and corners of the room. The bookshelf was neatly organized into two main categories: science and technology books, and romance novellas, with a few history and social studies books making up a significant minority as well. On the floor near the wall opposite the window and bed was her game console plugged in to her medium-sized television set, with all her favorite games stacked and displayed beside the TV. On her neat wooden desk, which was close to her game console and to the doorway, the gun that she had retrieved from her dying foe lay disassembled. Sumire had been investigating and researching more about the weapon on her computer, which was right beside her new firearm.

On her bedside table and cabinet stood 5 pictures frames. The first was a photo with their whole class, which had been taken shortly after their graduation exams ended. In the picture, Boruto was making a fun mess in the center, and Sumire was right beside him, covering her laugh and her smile with her hand. The second was a more recent photo of the group of friends, complete at the time with 15 people: The twelve members of Teams 5, 7, 10, and 15, together with Himawari, Ryogi, and Yodo. The third was a solo picture, the same photo used for her ID card when she still worked for Katasuke's company. The fourth was an old and somewhat faded picture of her and her mother combing her hair. Sumire missed terribly those old days. The fifth and final picture, and definitely one of Sumire's most cherished memories, showed her and Sarada taking a selfie while holding up mini-Nue. The most important part about it was that Boruto was behind her, his hand on her shoulder, giving his grin and thumbs-up combination pose.

While dressing up with her usual outfit for days when she would only stay at home, she thought about what she had planned for that day. In all the chaos that followed the attack, the massive scale of the destruction in Konoha, and the fact that her and all of her friends helping with the rebuilding process in whatever ways they could, it was very difficult to keep track of all the events taking place.

"Wait," she paused, remembering that there was something special about that day. "It's my birthday! That means everyone's coming over here later!" She quickly left her bedroom and looked around her in the living room. It was sparkling clean as usual, since Sumire always made sure to clean it every night before going to bed. She did this so that whenever Lord Naruto would pass by to check on how she was doing, or if Sarada, Chocho, Wasabi and Namida came over on short notice to hang out, her apartment would at least look presentable and welcoming.

"At least I don't need to clean anything for now," Sumire sighed with relief, as she walked to her kitchen to prepare her breakfast. She opened her refrigerator, and looked at the food she had stored inside. In the chiller compartment, she had fresh vegetables, which she would make into her usual breakfast of her own homemade tsukumeno. She also had several boxes of cereal and cartons of milk, which would she would add to her breakfast routine on the days that she had missions with Team 15. Looking at other ingredients in the pantry this time, she found some brown bread, which she would make into some fried bread crusts, one of her favorite foods, for her snacks. Since she ate those three meals so often, and also because it was her birthday, she decided to eat something else for a change.

In the pantry, she also found some sticky rice, a pack of cocoa powder to be made into liquid chocolate, and some sugar. Immediately, she thought of making "champorado", or chocolate rice porridge, given that it would be relatively easy and quick to make. She also saw an unopened can of creamy coconut milk, which would make the champorado taste much sweeter and much better. She remembered that she, Namida, Wasabi, and Hanabi had received cans of these as gifts and rewards for successfully completing an escort mission in Kiri two months ago. It had been only a week since they reunited then, yet it was like they had never been apart. Their respective abilities had all improved markedly, and so did their chemistry. When an assassination attempt was made on their assigned escort, a high-ranking diplomat between Konoha and Kiri, Team 15 was well prepared. They foiled the attack, ended up killing the assassins, and uncovered their leader, who turned out to be an old farmer from the hinterlands close by.

As she started making the champorado by heating the chocolate and rice together in a pot, she poured a small amount of the coconut milk into her mug, and then put a teaspoon of sugar into it. Afterwards, she poured a portion of the steaming chocolate-rice mixture into her mug, then mixed the steaming chocolate porridge well, such that the white and dark brown blended well and turned into a lighter shade of brown.

As she finished making her breakfast, she got a teaspoon and walked over to the living room, sitting down on the long yellowish couch. While she was eating, Sumire's memory flashed back to their mission months ago, and what they discovered back then that has since haunted them to this day.

*******XXXXXXX*******

"There's the target house," Wasabi had told them after using her sharp cat-eyes to scout their somewhat run-down surroundings. "West North West, around a kilometer and a half away from our current position. I can't see any movement in the wooden shack."

Namida sighed deeply, a hint of nervousness coming from her voice. "Did Hanabi-sensei really need to stay behind to protect Sir Sotto? What if this goes horribly wrong?"

"Hanabi-sensei stayed behind because she needs to protect Sotto while we're on our mission", Sumire responded. "And I'm sure that she also stayed behind because she trusts in our abilities."

"She's right," Wasabi added. "Hanabi-sensei stayed behind so that if there was another attempt on the life of Sir Sotto while we're away, she can protect him. And once we capture this old man and turn him over to Kiri, then we can go back to Konoha, get paid, and go shopping."

The three girls snickered lightly amongst themselves as they silently snuck up to the old wooden house. They noted that most of the houses in the area known as Paloma Town had been burned down and were in shambles. Sumire took point and crept under the open window on the right side of the doorway, and motioned the other two to come to her.

As the other two followed, they heard the voice of a man singing along to an old song. "When we were kids, when we were young… things seemed so perfect…"

The three girls continued to listen to the old man's hymn. "No use in sitting and thinking over what you did, when you can lay back and enjoy it through your kids…" However, it soon became apparent to the other two that Namida knew this song very well, as she was rocking her head while following the lyrics and rhythm.

"Sometimes, it seems like lately, I just don't know…" He sang with so much emotion, and so Namida unconsciously sang along. "That I sit back and go with the flow…"

Sumire and Wasabi both stared open-mouthed at her. Namida's eyes grew wide upon realizing that she had just blown their cover. "Hehehe… Sorry about that…" She apologized while rubbing her neck, "that was the bridge to the second chorus…"

The front door swung open, and the old man, whom Sumire recognized from the mission briefer they had been given beforehand, walked towards them. "You have a wonderful voice, young lady. I will say this: I'm surprised you'd know that song. Not many people of your generation do."

"I'm a bit of an oldies fan," Namida admitted. "The music nowadays is nowhere as good."

"You're right," he replied as he leaned onto the wall. "Songs back then used to have so much more meaning to them. Nowadays, they're all about inconsequential, non-important things…"

"I feel the same way! It's such a shame that-"

Namida was pulled away by Wasabi, who whispered in her ear. "You do know he's dangerous, right? He's the one who tried to have Sir Sotto killed. Why are you talking to him?"

Sumire took over. "Sir… umm…"

"My name is Trajano," he gently replied.

"Right," Sumire nodded. "Sir Trajano, with all due respect, did you order the hit on Mr. Sotto?"

The man nodded slowly. "Indeed I did. But I have my reasons. If you would all come inside, I can perhaps tell you my story. Oh, and I'm preparing some tea. Do you girls want any?"

"What flavor?" Sumire and Namida simultaneously asked, to Wasabi's dismay and exasperation.

"Chamomile, jasmine, and matcha."

"Matcha!" Without hesitation, Namida and Sumire nodded, but as Trajano went back into his cottage, Wasabi confronted her two teammates and pulled them into a huddle.

"I don't think this is a good idea," Wasabi told them. "What if it's a trap? What if he poisons us? What if he attacks us? Or tries to bail on us?"

"I don't think he's that kind of guy," Sumire reasoned, "nor do I think he can get away from us if he tried… And he said he's going to tell us his story, right?"

Wasabi sighed. "Might as well. But once we're done, we're bringing him back to Kiri, one way or another. And then hopefully we'll get enough money to buy us some new equipment and clothes."

Namida agreed. "And enough to treat Hanabi-sensei out to a good restaurant for dinner."

The three girls of Team 15 then entered the shack. Trajano motioned for them to sit on the couch in the small living room, and went back to the kitchen as the kettle whistled. He also resumed the song, and this time Namida sang along with just as much feelings. "These are the days of our lives. They've flown in the swiftness of time. These days are all gone now, but some things remain: When I look, and I find, no change…"

"You're right," Sumire commented as she was listening to their impromptu duet. "It really is a good song. It's so poignant… meaningful…"

Trajano returned to them with four cups of tea, one for each of them. "You bet! After all my years, this is still one of my favorites. Anyway, you three wanted to know my side of the story, correct?"

"Yes sir," Sumire respectfully replied.

Trajano gingerly nodded before rising up from the chair opposite Team 15. He walked over to the nearby cabinet, brought out a folder filled with documents, along with a picture book, and then returned to his seat, laying open the folder in the process.

"Now, where to begin," Trajano began with a sip of tea. "Alright. My name is Trajano, of the Archimede clan. I'm a farmer, and a fighter for my fellow farmers at that. In any case, years ago, I founded, and headed for a long while, the peasant federation and union known as the Scattered Asch. Though I don't expect you young ones to know about it."

He flipped the papers over to the document with over 400 signature members, as well as a huge colored group picture of all the signees. "The purpose of my group is to defend the rights of my fellow farmers, and all the poor and vulnerable people that we can reach out to help. I've defended the green and serene farming town of Paloma, and the people that have lived here, for many years. I've driven away rich and abusive landlords, powerful industrial companies and their damned pollution, and greedy urban officials. All… well, almost all legally, by the way."

"That sounds noble," Sumire commented as the girls drank their tea, "but dangerous as well. Standing up for the powerless and voiceless."

"It is dangerous," Trajano concurred as he showed them another document, this one showing a deed for land. "However, as the world modernized, it became easier for those city folk from Kiri to encroach on our land. Gradually, our land was bought out, bit-by-bit, hectare-by-hectare. They said that it was necessary to accommodate the increasing urbanization of Kiri, the expansion of the capital city, and its growing population. Yet, my family, my closest friends, and I, all refused to sell our land to the rich and influential land grabbers from the city. We stuck to the deeds of our lands. Even if that pissed them off, I figured that we had to make a stand. If I couldn't stand up to them, who else would?"

"Fast forward to around a week ago," Trajano continued as the girls listened attentively. "A certain high-ranking diplomat came here… I'm sure you know his name well by now. He gave us a rather brash ultimatum: 'Either we sell all our land directly to him, and at a highly discounted price of minus 95 percent at that, or he would use extreme force to root us out and claim it for free.' I flat-out refused his conditions to his face, so that earned me his ire."

While Sumire leaned on the arm of the couch and Wasabi sat cross-armed, Namida pulled her knees up to her chest, her arms wrapping around her upper shins, before asking, "What happened after you turned him away?"

Trajano's voice suddenly became lower, as if it was painful to speak about it, and his sadness and anger became apparent. "Have you heard of the 'Rape of Paloma' yet?"

"No," Sumire replied, "but I saw that most of the houses here burned down. What happened here?"

"Of course you wouldn't have heard. Just four days ago, he sent his goons and mercenaries, his private army the SDS, or Sotto Death Squad, to attack my defenseless village. I was away working in the fields with my friends when we heard the screams. We saw thick black smoke rising from our homes. We ran back to Paloma as fast as we could, and we fought off some of those raiders and killed them. But when I… got back to my house…"

As he trailed off, he tried to maintain his composure, but failed. He opened the picture book and pushed it towards the girls, and then broke down. Sumire pulled it closer to see the pictures taken, but immediately closed her eyes and looked away from the awful carnage. Namida audibly reacted in disgust, and ran to the window to breathe fresh air. Wasabi stared blankly in shock at the gruesome pictures taken.

"Those fucking Kiri bastards… They… they lynched my wife… cut her stomach open… pulled out our unborn child… and smashed his body on the hard ground as she watched… And my younger daughter… they threw acid on her face… and stabbed her in the throat to stop her screaming while they gang-raped her…"

"The other villagers," he continued, "were nailed to trees… some were disemboweled… castrated… beheaded… We were only able… to save a few who were nailed…"

"This is fucking horrible!" Wasabi finally spoke up. "How could anyone do this?"

"And now you know why… why I ordered the assassination," Trajano pointed out, his outright anger clear as day. "The survivors of my village… all 47 of us… All of us wanted his blood in our hands. We need to avenge our fallen… our families and friends and loves ones. We agreed that the reprisal be staged yesterday. However, it seems as though it failed… that Sotto is still alive, and I assume that you were the ones who foiled our attempt?"

Feeling a wave of regret, Sumire bit her lip before nodding to his question. "We were… we were assigned this mission… by both Konoha and Kiri itself…" She then pulled out her mission scroll and quoted it. "Our mission was… to protect Mr. Sotto from suspected attempts on his life… by some radical leftist rebels…"

"Haha…" Trajano dryly laughed upon hearing how he and his friends were described. "They had the temerity… The audacity! To call us rebels…"

"We were going to be rewarded at least 2500 ryo for this," Wasabi sadly noted, "and a lot of points that we need for our shinobi team ranking system back in Konoha, so we can advance further in rank. But this is just twisted… wretched…"

"Now you see why the shinobi system is broken," Trajano mused as he drank the last of his tea. "It used to stand for being a system of justice for the poor, to protect us from abuses of the rich. However, nowadays it mainly serves to serve the whims of the powerful, to keep the rich in power, and the poor in their place. We poor people are the "Forgotten Ones" in your modern-day society… We are neglected, abused, and oppressed even beyond our breaking points, and we simply can't do stand up and fight back for ourselves anymore. Not since the shinobi cast aside their age-old responsibilities of keeping the powerful in check, and protecting the rights of the defenseless… when you shinobi started prioritizing your profits and keeping your rich patrons in power."

Sumire shook her head hesitantly. "But the shinobi system most often works! And it would have worked in this situation as well, had it not been subverted by the lies of a rich, influential person."

"Had we known about The Rape of Paloma", Wasabi reasoned, "and about what happened to your town because of Mr. Sotto, everything would have ended up differently. If the people back in Konoha had found out about this, they would never have allowed us to go on this mission."

Namida nodded in agreement. "If we only knew the truth, then we would have done things differently."

"And that is precisely another reason why the shinobi system is broken," Trajano pointed out, much to the initial confusion of the three girls. "'Truth' is, and always has been, power. But nowadays, 'Truth' is subjective. It isn't necessarily fact-based anymore. Rather, it is based on opinion, on what the majority of people believe in. And the rich and influential can manipulate what their stories, their histories, and their versions of the truth are; they can merely start lies, spread lies, and repeat lies, until there comes a point where most people believe it to be truth anyway. Where I once would fear the cost of truth, I now only ask, 'What is the cost of lies?'"

"The cost of lies… is too high… all words themselves lose their meaning… Truth itself can now no longer be relied upon." The old man paused for breath. Afterwards, he looked the three in the eyes. "The rich and powerful people can wield and mold and rewrite their truth to get what they want and sway people to fight for them, at the expense of the powerless people such as us."

Trajano reiterated, "This entire system is broken, and only beneficial to those currently in power. And since those same rich people will pay and manipulate shinobi like you to keep that system in place, I truly think that the only way we can overthrow our oppressors, and free those currently bound and crushed under the immense weight of their greed and lust for power… is by revolution."

"No," Wasabi objected. "It's not the only way… It can't be…"

"When we were younger," Sumire revealed to Trajano, "and still studying in the Konoha Academy, we once had a field trip to Kiri. There, we witnessed an attempted revolution by people who were discontent with the direction that Lord Chojuro, your Mizukage, was taking Kiri to."

"I had heard about that attempted revolt," Trajano told her.

"It was put down by Lord Chojuro, with help from Boruto-kun, Sarada-chan, Kagura, and our other friends. Still, it was nothing but trouble and hassle. Similarly, even though you are justified in wanting a revolution, thousands of innocent people could be killed, and millions of innocent lives will be negatively affected, due to the inevitable chaos during and after the revolution. That's why I don't believe in a violent revolution. After nearly every revolution will inevitably come more chaos, violence, and many more negative consequences."

"So, what is it that you do believe in?"

"I will be honest… There was a time where I believed in violence and bloodshed like what you believe in now," Sumire admitted to Trajano. "I tried to destroy Konoha before, because of what Konoha did to my family, and the resulting years of physical and mental and emotional abuse I had to endure from my own father because of them…" Sumire inhaled deeply to release the anger and misery she felt from remembering her childhood. "But now, because of Boruto-kun and all of my best friends, I believe in peaceful reformation over violent revolution," Sumire affirmed her beliefs. "And I they believe in Lord Naruto, the Seventh Hokage, who has been able to introduce so much reform to Konoha over a short period of time."

Trajano then asked a follow-up question, one that stumped even Sumire and left her once-firm beliefs and ideals shaken. "But what about the people who are dying right now? The people who won't see the day your reforms are put into action? What will you say to them? 'Sorry you have to die today, I promise we'll change things soon?' Can you really look us all in the eye and tell us that bullshit?"

When Sumire could not answer, Trajano continued, "Reforms are too slow. They will take years, even decades, to fully materialize. We cannot wait for you if you want reform over revolt. By then, we'll all be dead, crushed by the weight of the deception and the apathy and the brutality of this social cancer! We will die while you take your sweet time treating this social cancer with your slow, weak medicine of reform. Only a strong, quick-acting, effective medicine can save us now. At this point, we have no choice: Revolution it is, Freedom or Death."

Since the three girls stayed silent, Trajano sighed in defeat. "Truthfully, I didn't expect you three to understand the perspectives of the poor and the oppressed." He then gingerly stood and walked to his cabinet, from which he grasped of his old katana. While walking back to his guests, he lamented, "All of my friends and loved ones have been hurt because we refused to give up our home and our ideals. Most of them were gruesomely tortured and killed."

Trajano sat back down and closed his eyes in remembrance. "Liliosa. Quimpo. Macli-ing. Hilao. Valero. Mijares. Dulag. Hermon. Nimfa. Jopson. Tierra. Escandor. Narciso. Lorena. Barros. Evelio. Begg. Sarmiento. Dalisay. Rosca. Lacaba. Lumbera. Maranan. Delta. Those are the names of those I knew most personally to have suffered terribly, without any recompense and recognition. And there are many others whose names and memories have been lost forever to history."

"Are all of them…?" Sumire trailed off.

"No, the last four are still alive, but have all left the Land of Water, either in search of peace or war. Among that group, my older daughter, Delta, is still alive. She left to go on a journey around the world a few years ago. She knows that her life is better spent on bringing about help, bringing about positive change in the lives of people less fortunate than her."

"Now, as for myself…" Trajano unsheathed his sword, which had maintained its metallic sheen throughout the years. "Now that my plan has failed, and knowing that I am now cornered, I would like to leave this world in the same honorable ways that my ancestors did."

"Please Mister Trajano," Sumire pleaded and stood, "please look at the possibilities. If you tell the truth and testify to the courts in Kiri, you would be able to live peacefully with the friends and family that still remain. On the other hand, Sir Sotto and the others responsible for committing the Rape of Paloma will go to jail, and their reputations damaged beyond repair."

Trajano gently shook his head and addressed her theory. "Sadly, I'll still be locked up in prison for the rest of my life, much longer than Sotto will, because I tried to assassinate one of the government higher-ups, no matter what my reason is. And even if I somehow avoid jail time altogether, Sotto will send his cronies to hunt me down and kill me, and they'll just hunt down the rest of the people I love. I'd like the buck to stop with me…"

"If only the world actually worked as you think it would," the old man reflected further. "If it did, we would never have gotten into any situation such as this. The fact is that nobody truly cares about the poor, nor would any sane person nowadays truly side with the poor and go against the rich. This world is getting worse, though people aren't willing to admit it. Anyway, I do have one final favor to ask of you three."

"What do you mean?" Wasabi inquired.

"If any of you ever get to meet my daughter, Delta, then please remind her to keep her promise to me. Remind her… 'Never Forgive. Never Forget. Never Again.'"

"Please tell her yourself," Sumire begged him. "I believe in what you said, and I truly believe we can serve justice."

"We'll put in a good word for you as well," Namida added, "to both the Hokage and the Mizukage. We'll make sure of it."

Trajano only shook his head. "I've already lost my dearest friends, my wife, my younger daughter, and soon enough, my land and home, which I have fought to protect for so long. I only have my dignity now, and that Sotto of yours will further humiliate and torture me to brag about and show off the influence he wields. At least, if I die by my own hand, I'll still have my honor and my pride left."

"Now please," Trajano asked Sumire point-blank. "Help me end… end my pain, my suffering, and my humiliation." Sumire began to internally panic, as it seemed that Trajano's mind was already made up. She shook her head vigorously, with some tears jarring loose from her eyelids and flowing down her cheeks.

"No… Please don't give up hope," she asked in desperation. "Life is too precious just to throw-"

Sumire could not even finish her sentence. Within a blink of an eye, Trajano stabbed himself in the stomach with his katana, in his act of seppuku. As if he was unsatisfied with the resulting pain, he then torqued the katana, and dragged his sword sideways, clipping his intestines and sending them bursting out of his torso. He then fell backwards onto the wooden floor, groaning and convulsing.

"NO!" Sumire cried out as she looked away in disgust and pity.

"Shit, I'm going to be sick," Namida remarked as she turned to the side of the sofa and puked in disgust. "Bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeh…"

On the other hand, Wasabi had some experience and training as a medic, and so she was more used to blood and gore than her two friends. However, she immediately knew that his condition was moribund, especially for a person of his old age and injuries that severe, and so she decided not to treat him. Trajano's mouth began filling up and overflowing with a lot of bubbling, dark-crimson blood, and he slowly began to choke.

He looked pleadingly at Sumire, who now felt guilty for prolonging his pain. Finally giving in to his request, she stepped forward. "I'm so sorry… I really am…" Sumire quietly apologized, and finished him off with a single water bullet to the head.

*******XXXXXXX*******

As she ate the sugary breakfast she had made, Sumire remembered that after they had given Trajano a quick and decent burial, she, Wasabi, and Namida all returned to Kiri and told Hanabi of what they had learned. They even showed her the picture book Trajano owned.

'But,' Sumire recalled, 'even though Hanabi-sensei was sympathetic, Sotto is such an influential figure, an important, high-ranking member of the Kiri government. She said that we couldn't accuse him on such weak grounds like the mere testimony of a criminal. And if we did, they could spark a diplomatic incident between the Land of Fire and its close ally in the Land of Water. So we were forced to keep quiet about it…'

She sighed. 'That was the day. The day my team changed. Our eyes were opened to the realities and injustices of our world in ways that most of the other teams had most likely not experienced yet…'

However, she caught herself before she could go and mull about on this line of thought much further. Not wanting to think of depressing memories on her birthday, or for her friends to be worried about her if they see her all depressed on her special day, Sumire shook off her former thoughts and turned her mind to other things. In particular, she first thought about her new weapon, and then afterwards, the fact that all her friends would be coming over in a few hours to visit and celebrate her birthday.

Once she finished her breakfast, she returned to her bedroom and walked over to her desk, was now serving as a makeshift working table. On the table was the weapon she had recovered from the Kara member she had drained of chakra. She had intentionally sent him to his death in a way, but she more or less accidentally killed him with his own weapon. Beside the disassembled weapon was her laptop, where she had been doing a lot of research to figure out what the weapon before her was.

According to her research on the Internet, it was a relatively new weapon called a firearm, or simply a gun, though she thought that "gun" was either misleading or not specific enough as various other types of guns had been developed before, a lot of them looking far different from each other. These new guns had been developed in the Land of Iron, as well as in Takumi, where some of the artisans had successfully restarted the weapons manufactories there, albeit now they were producing far different and far deadlier weapons. There were also new guns that had been introduced by some traders and arms dealers from Merikhan, the continent far to the west of their own continent, though not much of these weapons had been sold yet.

She also studied about the different kinds of guns. A pistol was a gun that was good for close to medium range combat, and would usually have 3-6 bullets per magazine. Shotguns were devastating close-range weapons that would shoot out slugs and buckshot rounds, and would have 5-15 of these rounds at a time. Submachine guns and assault rifles were very versatile weapons made for short, medium, and long-range firefights, and a host of many other conditions. They had anywhere between 30-50 bullets in a magazine. Machine pistols were said to be a combination of pistols and submachine guns, and had 20-30 rounds that could all be fired very quickly, while machine guns were made to fire a lot of rounds in a short period of time, ostensibly to cover other shooters or to devastate enemy positions. Those machine guns tended around a hundred bullets, yet could use them all in less than 10 seconds.

Sumire learned from researching online that this particular gun, which lay disassembled before her on the table, was specifically designated a sniper rifle, which had a maximum capacity of 10 rounds in its feed system. It had a variable scope on top and could reliably hit a target around 500 meters away. Some people have claimed to have hit targets over a kilometer and half away using this weapon, although apparently those were either lucky shots or done with a lot of practice. It launched metallic bullets, made from iron, copper, or a combination of the two, using gunpowder cased inside the bullets, triggered by a firing cap within the gun's firing chamber. Sumire had ordered more batches of bullets and magazines online two nights ago, when the Internet connection was finally restored in Konoha, and they arrived from the Land of Iron yesterday. She wanted to test her weapon thoroughly in the Nue's dimension, so she wouldn't cause her neighbors any frights from the bangs her weapon causes.

The rifle was a bit too heavy for Sumire, so she had shortened the gun's wooden stock last night, carefully following directions from the website she was reading to make sure she didn't accidentally destroy the weapon. Sumire knelt down and started piecing the rifle back together, and within ten minutes it was completely fixed. It felt lighter as well, partially due to her sawing off part of the wooden frame, and partially due to her getting used to carrying the load anyway.

Sumire looked at the clock in her kitchen, and it read 10:50 am. Sarada had told her yesterday that she, Chocho, and others would be there about 2:30 later in the afternoon, while Boruto had separately told her he, Shikadai, and the rest of their group would arrive an hour after that. Still, Wasabi and Namida had informed her that they would be there by 12:30 for lunch, so she had just over one and a half hours to prepare for her first guests. Suddenly, she felt mini-Nue rubbing against her leg, and she heard it making a cute noise, not unlike a purr. An idea hatched in her head.

"Nue," Sumire squatted down and patted it on the head. "You rebuilt your dimension based on the memories we had of the place, right? We can spend the next hour or so with target practice with this gun there. Also, I would love it if you could teach me more of my abilities as well."

"NUE NUE!" The little creature purred in delight, and Sumire went to the kitchen to get metal cans and plastic bottles. She put them in a paper bag, went back to the living room and strapped the rifle on her.

"I'm ready." Nue produced a small, purplish, spiraling portal, large enough for Sumire to fall through completely. Nue followed suit, jumping into the portal just as it closed.

*******XXXXXXX*******

Sumire landed on an old stump that looked like the one where she, Boruto, and Mitsuki had their battle years before, though as Sumire looked closer, it became clear that it was not exactly the same. Sumire looked around her, and she saw her old dimension, the one that she and Nue would spend hours in, but somehow the place looked and felt somewhat different.

As Sumire closed her eyes and focused, she felt no concentration of dark chakra anywhere in the dimension. Because of this, she realized that what she was seeing around her now was a remake or reconstruction of their old dimension, except that this time, Nue did not reform the place out of negative chakra, but rather chakra in general.

"You were able to rebuild this dimension with normal chakra?"

Nue, who had grown to its mid-sized self, looked at her and snuggled up to her. "I told you it would work. No Gozu Tennou or dark chakra needed at all. That was just your father's horrible idea; the only thing the dark chakra was needed for was the bomb, which was his intention for us."

Sumire marveled at the world around her. It was brighter this time, and the colors of the trees around her were far more vibrant and less gray than they were the last time she was there. There was grass growing on the ground, moss growing on the trees and rocks, and even a small stream flowing. Gone were the dark memories of her hiding here, away from the wrath and expectations of her father. Replacing them, memories of her dearest group of friends and the wonderful times they spent together came flooding in.

"They have to see this," Sumire said as she breathed in the fresh air. "I'll make sure to show this to them later, before the party ends."

"Anyway Nue," Sumire turned to Nue, "can you teach me more of the abilities you were talking about? I really want to learn to use them, so I can use them to their fullest potential."

"Yes," Nue told her as it leapt from the stump. "Do you need a refreshment for the abilities you already use?"

Sumire nodded as she followed Nue, jumping down from the tall stump. "Just to be sure we'll have all bases covered."

"Very well," Nue purred. "Just a short rundown of what we usually use. Of course, you can summon me, and drain chakra using the dark chakra snake, though by now you probably have guessed that I can drain more than just dark chakra. I can drain chakra of any type."

"Yeah, I know that."

"Aside from that," Nue continued, "I store the chakra that I gain inside this dimension, and I can output that same chakra out to help others."

"Yes, you reminded me of that when we helped Lord Hokage heal up."

"Also, as I can output my stored chakra to infuse it to others, I can also output it to supply you with more chakra, and without either of us having to explode at that. In short, I can function as a huge supply of fuel for you."

"Yup," Sumire thought about it, "I sort of know that already."

"That's basically all that you know, right?" When Sumire nodded once more, Nue continued. "Alright, onto some new lessons. For one, did you know that I could amplify the strength of even normal attacks, like your water spirit bullets, by increasing amount of chakra used?"

"I think I knew that," Sumire mused. "Remember the time we recaptured the huge wolf for the Konoha Zoo? I needed to lessen the power behind my water bullets so I wouldn't kill the wolf?"

"Ah yes. So yes, I can vary the amount of chakra to vary the power behind the jutsus. Connected to that, I can increase the chakra I send over to you, and when I do that, you can unlock use advanced jutsus that need a lot of chakra. For example, if I supply you with the sufficient amount of chakra, I can let you use jutsus such as Surfing Strike, Surging Storm, Giant Vortex, and other attacks or techniques that require tons of chakra."

Sumire was paying close attention to Nue's lesson, as she was interested in all the new techniques she could try out. "I really want to try all out those new jutsus! I hope we can practice those sometime."

"I can also use Wood Style," Nue told her to her surprise.

"Wait, you can?" Sumire asked, her mouth agape in wonder.

"Yes. Remember that I'm partly made out of Hashirama cells? Because of those Hashirama cells in my body, I can use Wood Style."

"That's amazing! Is that how you got all these trees and plants back here when you reformed this dimension?"

"Yes, that's what happened. Also, I do remember having used wood style at least one time a few years ago, back when we were still draining people of their chakra."

"I don't remember that anymore," Sumire replied after trying to remember back years ago, but stopping after reaching some traumatic memories from the time she tried to hurt and kill everyone in Konoha, memories that she didn't want to relive anymore.

"Sumire dear," Nue looked at her with concern, "are you alright?"

Sumire realized that she was worrying Nue with her depressed, melancholic look. "Don't worry," she reassured Nue as she flashed a smile. "I'm fine."

"Okay then, next up is detonation."

"Wait," Sumire looked at it with a look of worry and horror. "Is that the one where you and I… blow up?"

"The one that your father intended for us to do, yes. Though he intended for both you and I to explode and wipe out and devastate Konoha, the truth is that either of us can do it by ourselves, and it will still have the same effect." Sumire kept looking at Nue blankly. "To be honest, when you were on the mission to detonate on Konoha, I was planning to whisk you away back to this dimension just before I blew up, so you wouldn't have to die needlessly. Now, how we do this is-"

"Please…" Nue was interrupted by hitched breaths that came from Sumire. Her head down was down, and her eyes were starting to water. "I don't want to learn about this one… it's altogether evil. I don't want to die, nor do I want you to die." She fell down to her knees, her hands tightly clutching her chest, as if she was deeply in pain. "You know that… that I want to live, have fun, spend time with, and make more memories, better memories with Sarada, Wasabi, Namida, Boruto, Mitsuki, Shikadai, and everyone else!"

"I understand you," Nue reassured her. "But it's not inherently evil. Remember what Boruto says? 'Nothing is inherently good or evil. It depends with how you use it.' The same rings true for even this." Sumire did not reply to Nue, and she just knelt on the ground.

"Okay… I think that's enough for one day," Nue suggested, seeing that Sumire was still having a hard time managing her feelings and her traumatic memories. "I can teach you more abilities another time. For now, you just go and enjoy yourself. It's your birthday after all!" There was still no reply from Sumire, who looked troubled as she stared a figurative hole into the ground, with her slightly trembling hand still clutching at her chest.

Now in panic, Nue thought about how to cheer Sumire up. "Mother… umm… How about we try that new gun of yours out?" Sumire looked up at Nue, then grasped the rifle's strap and pulled it off her shoulder. She also wiped away the tears that had fallen from her eyes.

"I'm sorry Nue," Sumire apologized as she hugged its furry mane. "I guess I still need to better manage my feelings."

"It's okay… that was my fault…"

"Can you place these at a distance?" Sumire asked Nue as she gave her the paper bag with the bottle and the two metal cans. "I'll try my new weapon out."

Nue nodded, bit down slightly on the paper bag, and ran off to place the targets. Sumire knelt down, extended the bipod near the front, and placed it on a flat stone before her. As she put herself in a prone position, lying flat on her stomach in the slight breeze and cool grass, she held her weapon like she had seen others in video demonstrations did. Using its worm-looking tail, Nue placed the tin can gently onto the ground in front of another stump in the distance. Sumire looked into the rifle's attached telescopic sight, which magnified the faraway tin can by a large degree, although it was a somewhat blurry image. She experimented on the knobs on the sight until she got the image of the target to clear up, just as Nue returned to her. "Is that far enough, Sumire dear?"

"Yes," Sumire smiled as she looked at Nue. Nue saw that the only traces of her tears were the wet trails on her cheeks and her slightly red and puffy eyes. Sumire returned her focus to the scope and centered the center dot on the can. "Here goes nothing." Sumire pulled the trigger, and a loud bang and a powerful kickback to her shoulder followed immediately. Sumire kept looking at the scope, and after a second she saw a cloud of dust and dirt being kicked up before the can.

"That was quite short," Sumire commented as she turned the bolt upwards and pulled back, allowing the smoking, spent cartridge of the bullet fly out. She looked back at the sight and now noticed that aside from the red dot in the center, there were other lines and marks, which Sumire remembered to be the rangefinder she had read about. "Nue, how far away did you place the target?"

"About 200 meters," Nue replied. "Why? Is it too far for your weapon?"

"Nope, I'm just checking this scope," Sumire told Nue as she pushed back on the bolt and turned it downwards. "I'll try compensating for 200 meters then." Sumire breathed deeply to calm her nerves, something she had forgotten to do the first time, and aimed with the target two lines down from the center dot. She then pulled the trigger once more. The same kickback and booming sound occurred, but this time, the bullet landed just meters before the can, kicking up bits of ground and grass where it embedded itself. "Short again, but I'm getting there. It looks like it's off by just a little bit now." After removing the spent cartridge, Sumire now made a little adjustment with the aim, with the can now just below the second line of the rangefinder, and once again breathed heavily. She fired once more, and this time, a metallic clang followed the boom of her rifle, and the can tumbled in midair backwards into the tree and then rolled away out of sight.

"Yes!" Sumire raised her fist, feeling joy and fulfillment. She then looked at her companion, who was sitting beside her. "I'm loving this weapon! This has so much potential!"

"It definitely looks like it," Nue remarked as it examined the brown hued weapon balanced on the ground. "But it's heavy, noisy, and it will give away your position after one shot."

Sumire became somewhat embarrassed from her fawning over her weapon. "Well," she replied, "it may not matter if my position is given away. If I'm in a strongly defended position, I could simply pick off the enemies while Wasabi, Namida, Hanabi-sensei, and others keep them busy. And if they reach me, I could switch to close range combat anyway." Then Sumire thought further, and continued, "Though if we were on a stealth mission, you'd be correct. If we could somehow eliminate the sound the rifle makes-"

A loud, pleasant, ringing sound echoed through the dimension, interrupting Sumire's thoughts. "Was that… the doorbell?"

"I think so," Nue replied to her. "Shall we go back now?"

Sumire nodded. "That must be Wasabi and Namida." Nue formed a portal to return to Konoha. Before she walked into the portal, Sumire happily commented, "If I practice enough, I could be the best sharpshooter Konoha has ever seen!"

Before she passed through the dark spiraling circle, Nue smiled reassuringly and replied, "I'm sure you will."

So... how did you guys like it? It is Sumire's birthday, and next chapter, Chapter 12: Sumire's Birthday, will actually be her birthday party, with all of the New Generation (plus some people from the old generation too!) will be in attendance. ^_^

However, in Chapter 13: Revelations, something dramatic will be revealed to all (obviously), and something really bad is going to happen that will spoil the party... Stay tuned! =O

Anyway, write in the comments: What do you guys expect from the next few chapters? It's Sumire's Birthday Arc, after all =D

PS: Did you guys see the following references?

1) The lyrics of "These Are The Days Of Our Lives" by Queen! Still one of my faves hehee3

2) All the names that Trajano dropped (except Delta, of course)! They were real Filipinos who were tortured and/or killed during the Martial Law years (1972-1981)

3) Paloma? Sotto? Filipinos everywhere will know what I'm referring to... =O

4) "What is the cost of lies?" comes from Chernobyl, the fantastic 2019 HBO series that is so relevant to our modern times.

5) The sniper rifle Sumire now owns is awesome! ;)