Disclaimer: I own nothing but the general plot OCs
Slightly different layout this time, as is obvious from the first paragraph. Hope you enjoy it. Personally I can't decide whether I love or hate this chapter. Probably because I thought quite carefully over some bits and completely rushed over others.
I've noticed Gai hasn't really been included much for a while so I tried to rectify that just a touch. It's kinda difficult for me to write him during really serious bits tho because Gai just makes everything better. And during light hearted bits a lot of time I try to include Kakashi more, otherwise that boi just wants to quietly angst or ruminate over potential problems. Why so serious inside, Kakashi?
As always English spoken is underlined and also as always I've not edited this so sorry for mistakes.
Thank you so much for awesome reviews, as well as favs and follows! Let me know what works, or what doesn't work for you, as well as any prompts for scenes you'd like to see.
Chapter 35 - Standardisation Of The Masses
Academy Shinobi Visualisation
Recommended total lesson time: 20-40 hours
Comprised of-
Maximum 15 hours year 3 (suggested 8 hours practical and 3 hours testing)
Maximum 25 hours year 4 (suggested 12 hours practical and 3 hours testing)
Teacher suggestion ~ While at least 3 hours total in year 3, and 7 hours in year 4 should be dedicated primarily- perhaps even solely -to shinobi visualisation, the remaining 10-30 hours can be combined with other related lessons to make up the time recommended.
-Visualisation should be a concept all academy students are capable of understanding on a theoretical basis, and practicing proficiently at the most basic level before their graduating exams. A student's understanding should be displayed by achieving 50% or higher during their written exam in the section named 'Tactical and Strategic Planning and Execution'. -
(In the event that a student with particular promise under a related theoretical or practical shinobi art achieves less than 50% in the exam section 'Tactical and Strategic Planning and Execution' any non-familial Chūnin qualified to teach Academy level students, or any non-familial Jōnin may recommend special considerations to the Hokage, who will assess the student's ability to pass on other merits. The student may be required to submit to an additional exam proctored by a shinobi specialising in the same shinobi art.)
Practiced visualisation provides a shinobi with conditioning of the mind in advance of emergencies, thus producing psychological strength in times of crisis. If the brain imagines something in deep and vivid detail, it will become part of a person's 'experience files'. This visualisation exercise will convince the brain into believing that a shinobi has already experienced this event. A shinobi can tap into these 'experience files' at will by playing a 'movie' of what they have already visualised and planned. Thus when shinobi are confronted with similar real life experiences, these experiences will seem more familiar than without the previous visualisation. This internal combat-proofing gives shinobi an incredible advantage.
One of the most important things every shinobi needs to do as part of creating mental preparedness is develop what Shinobi of Hi no Kuni call 'Ignition'. In order to develop 'Ignition', each shinobi must dig deep and identify the single most important thing in the Elemental Nations to them and make a 'mental portrait' of this image. This is what a shinobi will use to 'Ignite' many of the essential qualities needed to survive. This 'Ignition' is the thing that makes a shinobi motivated to live, no matter what comes their way.
This image or visualised goal is now the shinobi's 'Ignition'. They can use this most important memory file as the ultimate motivation to get themselves through any struggles their career brings. But to maintain the effectiveness of their 'Ignition', a shinobi should save it for only the direst situations; only in life or death should they 'Ignite' what most deeply motivates their personal Will of Fire.
Teacher suggestion ~ providing personal or other real life examples of visualisation (success and failures) during unclassified missions may help students to grasp the material with greater depth...
"What's this for?" I asked with furrowed brows, having read through the first page of a small sheaf that had been handed to me by DFB.
"What does it look like?"
"Lesson plans for the academy, obviously. But why are you giving this to me?"
"I told you that every shinobi is expected to be able to do basic visualisation. This is all that's directly taught to the vast majority of our shinobi forces."
Looking back at DFB's expectant gaze, I turned my attention back to the notes and read through them again from beginning to end. Most of it was just a guide to assessing when students had understood the material, suggestions for practical exercises, which lessons to integrate visualisation into and how, which language to use initially to promote understanding in children who'd never heard of the concept before and then how to develop that further.
Honestly the most comprehensive information was all on the first page.
"This is it?" I asked dubiously.
"Yup."
"No... expanding on this later on? No testing Jōnin or training Anbu to develop this skill?"
"It's a skill that's expected in Chūnin to an extent, but nothing that's explicitly stated. It's one of the more subtle things they look for during the Chūnin exams. By the time someone's a Jōnin, they'll have certainly picked up visualisation as a must have skill. But again, nothing that's explicitly stated. The signs are all in their approach to leadership and teamwork if they've managed to evolve their ability enough."
"Right. Considering it's a cornerstone technique for our clan and the Nara clan you'd have thought..." I trailed off.
"It's not thought to be as important as teaching young brats not to stab themselves with the pointy end of a kunai, or get their teammates immediately killed by not understanding mission protocol."
"Or flower arranging," I snarked, DFB's face remained impassive but he inclined his head in agreement.
"Yes. Well, I have some issues with the Academy system, but seeing as I was only a part of it for a short time and haven't had a prolonged interaction with anyone fresh from the academy in a many years, I'm not considered a source of authority on the subject."
Flipping the pages back and forth, I asked him baffled, "where did you get this anyway?"
There was a conspicuous pause, and I looked up at the suddenly innocently eye smiling DFB, "did you break into the academy to steal this?"
"No."
After a beat I narrowed my eyes, "did you steal this from an academy teacher?"
"...maa Su-chan, but steal is such a harsh term. I don't know if I would put it like that."
I didn't know what made me ask the next question, considering there were many Chūnin teachers DFB probably wouldn't give a thought to stealing from, "was it Umino Iruka?"
Anyone else would have missed it, but I knew DFB well enough to spot the slightest tensing of his torso and tilt of his chin in surprise at my guess. He knew instantly that I'd caught his involuntary reaction.
"Maybe," he allowed.
I gave an amused snort, "I hope he had more than one copy."
There was a pointed silence afterward, and I couldn't help my laughter that DFB had probably heavily flustered the poor Chūnin once he got to class and realised his notes were missing.
"Poor bastard."
DFB merely shrugged casually, and then handed me a scroll with a three by three black outlined grid on either end, which I knew to be the symbol of the Hatake Clan.
Raising an eyebrow at him, I carefully took the scroll and slowly opened it up.
"A scroll on visualisation techniques? What was the point of showing me the academy notes then?"
"For comparison. I wanted you to understand the difference between the way most other shinobi are being taught strategy and tactics compared to the way you're learning it. How much more useful it is than what's usually taught."
Combat Visualisation
Continuous honing and perfecting of a Shinobi's ability to visualise the future field of combat is imperative from as early as possible. Hatake should begin this practice before entering the academy to work on an individual basis, before evolving the technique during and after academy years in order to account for and incorporate multiple comrades. In order to ensure a team that works with maximum efficiency, before a single mission is taken hours should be spent visualising how they will execute in harmony, integrated by a shared vision of the combat space.
The concept places special emphasis on the role of the squad leader or lone missions, while integrating multiple sourced information to provide squad leaders or lone shinobi with a comprehensive view of the field(s) of combat -a view which reduces uncertainty, minimises risk, promotes clear and rapid transmission of intent and orders, and facilitates the decisive employment of combat power.
Explanation of term
Combat visualisation:
The process whereby the Hatake Clan member develops a clear understanding of the current state with relation to the enemy and environment, envisions a desired end state which represents mission accomplishment, and then subsequently visualises the sequence of activity that moves the shinobi and/or their squad from its current state to the end state.
To make effective decisions, shinobi must formulate and articulate a vision of themselves/their team conducting an operation against an opposing force over time. This vision begins with the current situation on the field of combat/mission status and goes through the desired conclusion to the operation.
Formulation of vision by the shinobi is a difficult and complex task; Information obtained by human and technological means is preferably analysed and processed by qualified and trusted sources to provide the shinobi only that information needed to make decisions. This information is then blended with the shinobi's knowledge, experience, and intuitive feel.
Knowing if, when, and what to decide is a sophisticated art. Decision brings with it the cost of committing resources. foreclosing options, incurring risks, and revealing intentions to the enemy. Uncertainty and chance will continue to be a risk in any situation. Successful Hatake shinobi must possess an intuitive feel for combat developed through repetitive training, experience, and exposure to experienced mentoring and leadership.
This intuition is based on a timely and accurate view of the mission status and field of combat - which includes deciding how to get from one mission/combat field to the other at least cost to the shinobi or squad. This process has both an art and a science component which are integrated by the shinobi.
It is a continuous process which commences prior to the mission and continues through achievement of the desired conclusion to the mission.
The art of combat visualisation
Combat visualisation is an essential leadership attribute of the shinobi and is critical to accomplishing missions. It is learned and attained through training, practice, experience, wisdom, and available shinobi intelligence technologies. Other resources, both human and technological, only serve to assist the shinobi in determining critical information. To do so requires focus on three aspects.
1) The first is understanding the current state of non hostile and hostile forces. This knowledge extends beyond the physical location of forces, environmental factors, and combat readiness (equipment and supplies). It also includes human factors such as fatigue, chakra levels, morale, and the decision-making processes and information requirements of both forces.
(2) The second aspect of the shinobi's vision is the ability to clearly discern a desired end state. Initially, this involves foreseeing a feasible outcome to the mission which results in mission success and leaves the individual or squad postured for the next mission.
(3) The third aspect of visualisation is the ability to see and understand the dynamic relationship between the opposing forces as the shinobi leads themselves/their forces through the sequence of activity from current situation to final end state. This includes envisioning possible enemy moves and counters to those moves to defeat or destroy the enemy force. The shinobi decides when to shift the main effort, when to change priorities, when to reinforce, when to request additional forces, or when to disengage. During the execution of the mission, the shinobi continually assesses the envisioned end state to ensure that it is still desired and achievable.
b. Connectivity must exist between current operations and the future plan. While a portion of this future state may be dictated by a superior's intent, the shinobi must personally envision the operation from start to finish.
c. The shinobi articulates a combat vision through an intent statement which guides the development of a conceptual mission and then subsequent execution of the mission when working with teammates or leading a squad...
"That's... markedly different. There's a completely different presumed intelligence level of the student than the teaching notes," I commented. It made sense though, the training tools for my clan assumed their children were highly intelligent, and any member that struggled initially probably pushed themselves to meet that assumed intelligence. Dumbed down lessons led to dumbed down students in this case.
No wonder DFB had been so distant and arrogant toward his peers when they'd had such different standards of education, before the school of life allowed some of them to catch up. For a young kid, being that far ahead of your age group was a difficult thing not to be alienated by.
There was more to the scroll. A fair bit more actually, and I lost myself for a few minutes skim reading the information just to have it memorised, before I could go back and consider it more carefully.
"That's not the first scroll that mentions visualisation. The first one goes into detail about the connection between the ability to learn the technique in the future and setting up an appropriate exercise regime at the start, including breathing and meditation. I've already taught you everything on it, and so I moved onto something more in depth and advanced."
We had already established with a bit of talking that I had been practicing the bare basics of visualisation that was taught at the academy for years. It was a method I learned as a young child to avoid walking away from arguments with my sister Rue - who until the very end had been notorious for her incredibly sharp tongue, her dogmatic opinions and her sly tactics - feeling as though either she had taken something from me and I had lost, or that I had barely won but in the process I had sacrificed some part of who I wanted to be as a person, and therefore lost either way.
It had been a profound feeling I'd not been able to verbalise at that age, and so when pretend arguing with my sister in my head, and really just sniping at the air in the inarticulate frustration I usually carried with me as a six year old, I'd accidentally stumbled onto visualisation. I suddenly realised that if I pretend argued in my head, and started to pretend lose, I could vividly recall the emotions that the real situation created for me, and from there practice a solution that landed on a result I desired with careful planning. It took quite some tries to succeed in transforming concept into reality, but when I did I knew it was a technique that could work for me in so many other situations.
I practiced that form of visualisation almost all the time when I was alone. Now DFB was going to teach me how to do it so much better, and in high intensity situations.
Learning the technique was going to be helped by the fact that my memory was getting better. I had had near perfect recall when I concentrated, but now I had near perfect recall when I wasn't concentrating too. It was weird, and although there was a stark difference between being able to remember something and being able to understand it properly when it came to my shinobi lessons, it boggled my mind time and time again when evidence of my improving memory slapped me in the face.
It was something that seemed like it should feel unnatural, or at least I should have been able to tell that my own mind worked differently now, and yet I still felt like me, and thought like me. Even my memory capabilities didn't feel odd, and so when I accidentally recited verbatim various sections of Icha Icha and stating which pages the quotes were on, as I teased DFB about his poor taste in reading material, I found myself pausing in shock afterward that I had just done something I had never been capable of before, and done it so unthinkingly.
DFB said nothing of my clearly improving memory, but I knew he had probably noticed it before I did. My altered brain was a constant source of cautious concern for him, and although nothing suspicious came up in the brain scans I had on a semi regular basis, he still worried. There was nothing either of us could do about it, though. I knew that, and he knew that. If something did eventually go wrong with my brain, since I was an unprecedented case, chances were there was nothing anyone would be able to do to fix me.
Since he couldn't protect me from my own brain, DFB instead threw himself all the more (somehow) into helping me learn to protect myself physically, as well as finalising the seal. He was taking longer with the seal than he really needed to, triple checking every single component in order to ensure all of the previously harmful parts were stripped while still allowing it to so its job. Nobody commented, but we all knew he was being so careful because I would be wearing the seal too.
I was constantly getting better at traps, and having blasted my way through a lot of the theory Genma had supplied me with about poisons, I was finally getting to experiment with and combine the two on a practical level.
And then DFB found out, and started putting visualisation into field practice. I was given anywhere between thirty minutes and four hours, depending on how difficult he intended to make it, or whether Gai, Genma or Tenzō were available to help him (or me in some practices). I had that time to scout the terrain, make a plan, prepare, share the plan depending on if I was going solo or not, and then start. Sometimes I was given an objective to complete, and sometimes that objective was just to keep fighting for as long as possible.
Then the bastard - or bastards - attacked. It was slaughter at first. None of my plans lasted more than a second, they were too predictable, or they had huge holes in them, or DFB and his allies were too unpredictable, or I just hadn't assessed the entire situation correctly, and sometimes it was that I didn't bloody communicate properly with whoever I was sometimes given as a team member.
Every single time I failed, each asshole had a long list of criticisms for me- although to be fair Gai, Genma and DFB (in that order) always had praise for me too -which I had to make a note of, and then later DFB would sit me down, and guide me through visualising the entire failed exercise in a hundred and one different ways that it could have gone, some ending in failure and others in successes.
Each practice meant that in the next exercise I had the last failure to draw from experience, and then a hundred other potential paths - with a hundred different variation of tactics -that DFB had helped my brain supply me with. It was frustrating as fuck. And once the exercises started lasting for more than three minutes, it was also incredibly fun.
Apparently the others considered it a fun game to play (well, Tenzō didn't admit it out loud, but I could see the glimmer in his eye). The assholes called it 'Playing Ninja' Hatake style.
I still had my separate time exploring poisons and traps, and I still had my killer daily exercise regime with Gai, but everything else I had learned was explored through 'Playing Ninja', which gradually got more and more complex as different theoretical scenarios were created.
Sometimes I was given misinformation about how long I would have to prepare. Sometimes the opposing team brought completely different skills or techniques than what I had been told they would use. Sometimes the objective changed part way through, or my team mate (purposely the assholes) failed their part completely and were out far too soon.
Whoever was on my team never played to their actual level, and nor did any of my opponents. The most effort any of them gave it was a Chūnin level of skill, but that didn't stop me from getting trounced time and time again.
I sometimes found it annoying that I was working my butt off, while everyone else was just having a bit of 'light fun', but mostly it felt like a far more work intensive and deadly version of being allowed to play with my older siblings as a child. I knew the 'game' was catered for my abilities, and I knew they were humouring me to an extent, but they were also having fun, and so was I. DFB was spending time with his friends, and I was spending time with them too. They were teaching me and playing with me, and knowing that this was all something that wouldn't be happening if I didn't exist made me feel like I was contributing to their health and happiness just by being alive and myself.
I could see the bonds between them (us) being slowly forged stronger and tighter. Some were closer than others, and it wasn't like any of them only had each other - they all had friends and close relationships outside of the small group I was included in on, but it was something I watched with a quiet pleased possessiveness.
By this point Genma was aware that the circumstances of my birth had resulted in a completely different rate of mental development than was even vaguely normal. Both he and Tenzō had also caught onto the fact that there was far more to it than that - especially with the seal in production that although Genma wouldn't have been able to make heads or tails of if he had spent hours studying it, had picked up through some of Tenzō and DFB's muttered conversations what the purpose of it was- and it wasn't something anyone felt the need to talk about or say out loud.
The only thing neither of them had been even vaguely made aware of was that I had a Kekkei Genkai (did white chakra count? We weren't sure if I had white chakra yet). That was until through an almost comedy of errors, I discovered two new things that my apparent genetic affinity with blood gave me, in full view of four panicking Jōnin.
It started with an exploding tag that had been left in the training field from whoever had been previously using it. For the first time in a few weeks, everyone was available and up for at least a few hours of Playing Ninja, which went more or less how it was expected to go. I was thrashed, my team lost, I still had fun and lasted a bit longer than usual. It was as everyone was causally making their way around the training field to pick up the debris of weaponry, wires and exploding tags that I disturbed the tag which had been hidden under some fallen leaves and left forgotten.
The moment I spotted the tag, it took me half a second to recognise the standard pattern that indicated an explosion based upon chakra proximity once activated, I completed a kawarimi at the fastest speed I had ever succeeded with the nearest object infused with my chakra. Less than half a second later the tag exploded. My body moved before I had time to understand what was going on, twisting to the side and flipping backward almost simultaneously as something in my periphery moved at deadly rates into the space that I had just been standing.
I landed the flip wrong, stumbled straight into a tree, which unfortunately did not give way to my nose. Before I had time to register anything further (something is different inside), a strong hand was wrapping itself around the front of my torso and pulling me back.
"Beautiful Blossom? Are you injured?" Came Gai's concerned voice, as I took a few seconds to reorient myself. There was a niggling in my brain, but before I could address it (something is happening inside me) I was turned around to face him.
I could feel the warm rush of blood gushing down the back of my throat and grimaced in anticipation of the horrid taste. It would inevitably take a few swallows before the coppery fluid met my taste buds but for all that I loved its colour and consistency, I did not relish either its taste or smell at all.
I immediately tilted my head forward, and felt the drips slide down through my nose instead, but I knew the damage was done with what had already traveled close to my tongue (something is happening in my veins).
"I'm okay Gai, don't worry. I just hit my nose," I answered with a voice thickened by the fact that I was breathing through my mouth.
Before I had had time to take another breath the others had arrived, lead by DFB who was doing a terrible impression of unbothered. He squatted beside Gai as they both peered worriedly at my face, and immediately I could feel the blood that was dripping out of my nose soak into the fabric of my mask.
"Su-hime, perhaps you should remove your mask and allow us to assess the damage."
I nodded, and carefully tugged the face mask down, noting with vague amusement as DFB seemingly accidentally shifted to block Genma and Tenzō's view of my face, as he peered closer to inspect my nose. Gentle fingers prodded the side of my nose, and I winced slightly, but it wasn't too bad (something is happening in my arteries).
"It's not broken. You're nose will probably be bruised for a week or so, but nothing that needs the hospital," DFB calmly concluded, but I saw the slight slump of relief in his posture.
I nodded, only half paying attention, more focussed on the taste that had crept onto the back of my tongue as he was talking. I scraped my tongue against the roof of my mouth, in case I was imagining things (something is happening in my capillaries), then swished the flavour around to bring to the front, before smacking my lips together thoughtfully.
"Huh."
"What's 'huh'," DFB asked suspiciously, as he produced a cloth and placed it under my nose, before pulling my mask back up to keep it there.
"It tastes good," I garbled between our fingers, while he took my hand and authoritatively manoeuvred my fingers so that I was pinching the bridge of my nose.
"What does Su-hime?"
"Blood."
There was a pause, as what I said registered.
"Wait, what?! Did you just say blood tastes good?" Genma incredulously raised his brow at me as he spoke.
I smacked my lips together a few more times, and tried to decipher what exactly I was tasting. It was warm, and a little sweet, and there was an edge of salty copper which when I had tasted it before had been revolting but now was just like a positive side note to the flavour, and nicely balanced with the sweetness.
"Yeah, it tastes surprisingly good." At Tenzō's and Genma's subtle and not so subtle slightly disturbed looks at me, I scowled defensively, "what? It's not like I can control what my taste buds enjoy."
DFB and Gai, on the other hand, seemed more speculative at what I had claimed, and I realised then that they both thought it might have had something to do with my Chinoike heritage.
Before anyone could say anything about it though, Tenzō's strained voice froze us all, "Subaru, you have a senbon sticking out of you."
I had poisoned all of the senbon for this exercise. It was a poison that entered the blood stream and attacked the red blood cells, preventing them from releasing oxygen into the rest of the body and essentially causing the person to suffocate within ten minutes.
It was plenty of time if any of us got hit to use the antidote I'd had in my bag, but by the three minute mark the person who'd been poisoned would be too dizzy to fight effectively. The dosages were also catered for fully grown men.
Genma and DFB understood before anyone else.
"Do whatever it takes to keep her breathing. I'll get the bag," he commanded Genma, panic barely contained in his voice.
He was gone in a split second, as Genma rushed forward to check my vital signs and Gai pulled the senbon out.
"It'll be okay Beautiful Blossom," he soothed, his smile unable to conceal his concern.
"Let me know the moment you feel the slightest bit different," Genma demanded.
"Um... I-"
"It's gone. It was caught in the explosion," DFB returned suddenly, holding a scrap of fabric that had been my bag.
"Uh- tou-san I-"
"I'll go to my apartment, there should be another antidote there." "I know a med nin who lives close by, I can lead you there. The hospital's too far." Genma and Tenzō spoke over the top of each other in a rush.
"Hey!" I shouted over everyone's panic, pausing them in their tracks, "I'm fine. Look."
The moment Gai had removed the senbon, I noticed the weird feeling inside me that had been happening all along. It was like my blood had been and still was moving in abnormal ways without my say so.
Once the senbon was removed, the moment I had capillaries exposed to the air, I felt my blood rush in the areas of my body closest to where the poison had entered, remain incredibly still in some areas, and continue on as normal in other areas all together.
Within seconds, I felt something trickling down the inside of my arm where I had been pierced, and realised that although there was some blood mixed in, the colour was too abnormal. It was over in a few seconds, and then my blood began to move inside me as usual, like nothing had happened.
Both Gai and DFB guessed immediately that a facet my Kekkei Genkai was at work, and took me to the one medic they trusted with the potential of that information being guessed from what had happened.
I was in and out of the hospital within eight minutes. Dr. Mukai had easily confirmed that I had no traces of poison in my blood. Just an incredibly high iron content like always, and a very high white blood cell count like always. She agreed to keep any comments that could give away the nature of the incident from my medical records to minimise documents hinting toward any possible heritage other than Hatake.
Before long, we all found ourselves back at home as Genma and Tenzō visibly struggled to withhold their questions.
"How did this all even happen?" Genma cracked first.
As the only person who had been there from the start, I sheepishly cleared my throat in the face of four Jōnin curious and concerned by varying degrees.
"Someone left a proximity exploding tag in the training ground, and I disturbed it as I was cleaning up the area. As soon as saw it I performed a kawarimi with the closest object I could. Unfortunately I think that might have been my bag. I'm not sure what happened next but something came flying toward me and I moved out the way... into a tree. At some point a senbon got stuck in me."
"From what I could gather of the mess, the debris of the explosion set off the trap you were there to dismantle. You're lucky you moved out of the way. If that spiked whip had hit you at that speed, you'd be dead," DFB commented. His voice was back to its lazy drone, but was easily given away by the fact that he hadn't let go of me since before the hospital, and I could clearly feel his hold tighten as he spoke.
"Oh. That trap," Tenzō suddenly sat up even straighter. I realised at the same time as him how I'd gotten stuck with senbon.
"You moved away from the whip and into the path of the senbon. Rookie mistake, Subaru," his tone was faintly disapproving- he knew I knew better than that, and I groaned in the embarrassment of getting caught in my own trap.
"And Mini Bastard isn't dead because..." Genma unsubtly hinted, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. His entire posture was relaxed and unbothered, but I could tell that he wasn't going to be content with a brush off answer with this.
"I have a blood based Kekkei Genkai that no one knows shit about. Including me," I dryly answered him.
"But apparently poison immunity is one of them," DFB added.
"With Hard Work it will become a most powerful advantage!" Gai enthusiastically finished, and also hinted as to why we had kept it quiet.
Genma's eyebrows shot up, and Tenzō's eyes widened slightly.
"How far does that poison immunity go?" Genma asked us, and I shrugged in response.
"We'll have to test that then. Wouldn't want to rely on it too much if there's a limit," he suggested, an excited look on the edges of his expression.
"No," DFB narrowed his eyes.
"Kakashi-senpai, it makes sense to test the extent of what little you've already discovered, if nobody knows anything about it," Tenzō interjected, probably saving Genma from DFB's imminent murder attempt, "with Subaru's permission."
"I'm up for it."
"Su-chan, no!" DFB argued, his head whipping round to stare at me.
"Well we have a poison expert right here who we already trust. It's pretty convenient to test this without worrying about someone turning me into a lab rat," I rebutted, gesturing toward Genma.
"You just want an excuse to spend more time with him," he accused, sounding almost betrayed.
I pouted, but didn't deny, "I also have a fair point."
"I believe the Beautiful Blossom should seize the opportunity to discover more about this strength."
The moment Gai added his support, I could feel DFB deflate in defeat, "fine. But I want to be there for every new poison tested directly on Su-chan to make sure it's done safely."
I grinned in agreement, and squeezed DFB to convey my gratitude for his support, as well as subtly remind him not to murder Genma who couldn't quite hide his smug expression at getting one over on DFB.
"Fine by me," Genma added with his usual charming smile- that always looked more like a smirk thanks to the senbon between his teeth- his cheeks stretched just that bit further when he looked at me, "looking forward to it, Mini Bastard."
Dammit, I couldn't stop the small blush from appearing on my cheeks, and I knew DFB could see it. Before he could do something to make Genma's life hellish, thankfully Tenzō cut in to state his intentions to leave and say goodbye.
Gai and Genma took that as their cue to go as well, and Gai moved to follow Tenzō out of the balcony doors. Genma on the other hand, made his way to the front door.
"Goodnight my Beautiful Blossom!" Gai beamed, before triple back flipping away as I waved.
I turned in time to smile and wave at Genma, who was stood in the hall just outside the front door looking at me with initial confusion, "Hold on, I thought Gai calls you Su-chan, like Kakashi," then incomprehension, "Beautiful Blossom...hime?" then realisation, "wait, Kakashi called you 'her' earlier," and finally shock.
"You're a girl!? Kakashi, you have a-"
DFB slammed the door in his face with poorly disguised glee, as he blandly replied, "goodnight, Genma."
I never intended Genmas and Kakashi's relationship to be like a broship in which they enjoy pretending to almost dislike each other. But it turned out that way. Srsly if I tilt my head and squint it sorta looks a bit like UST. Not what I meant to accomplish at all.
Did you all vaguely understand the educational bits? Might take a bit of a more careful read than the usual stuff the fully get for some readers due to the phrasing used.
I mentioned Iruka here, and although there's a chance in the future that he may be her teacher, he may not. Regardless, do you want him to be included as more of a character than just an academy teacher? It would likely be through Naruto in the future, or through Kakashi, and I doubt she and him would get close, but do you want him to be more than a sort of distantly existing character? How would you prefer that to happen?
Also talking about UST, I know in canon Kakashi stays single but would you like that to change for this story? Do you want Kakashi at some point to find a relationship? Or just get something casual? Male? Female? Both? Anyone in particular? It'd be a fair bit further down the road, but I can start the initial building blocks toward it now if that's what you want.