Shujinko, The Fourth Member Chapter 38, a naruto fanfic

CHAPTER 38: A BET, A STRANGE HAWK, AND… A DATE?

(Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. I do own my OC's, however)

"Talking / Jutsu"

'Thinking'

'Flashback'

"Flashback talk"

Demonic voice

Letter

(Ninja Academy)

"Alright, this is where I drop you off. Remember to pay attention in class and have lots of fun with your friends. Oh, and say hello to Iruka-sensei for me. Got it?" Shujinko asked as he ruffled Nanami's hair. They were both near the entrance of the Academy, where all the students got together to chat before the bell rang, indicating the start of the school day.

Giggling, the younger Ozuma nodded and made her way to meet some of her friends. "Got it! Bye, onii-chan!" Nanami said as she waved her hand, a gesture to which Shujinko replied in kind before turning around and leaving the place where his life as a ninja began. It was kind of funny how old he felt when he saw all the little kids running around, as if not too long ago he was just like one of them.

Some of the older students, maybe in their last year of Academy or so, would occasionally point their fingers at him and whisper to one another, probably asking what was a Genin like him doing in the Academy. Not that it bothered him. If anything, they were fun to mess with. Any time he noticed a group of students muttering and stealing curious glances at him, he would look over his shoulder and send them a cold, steel-like glare of warning. They would instantly turn around and walk away shaking in their boots. While he looked mean and hostile on the outside, Shujinko was actually biting the inside of his lower lip, afraid he would soon start laughing out of nowhere like a lunatic. He accelerated his pace and got away before that could happen.

A couple of days ago, Shujinko promised Nanami he would try to spend more time with her, and given how busy he was from the afternoon to nighttime because of his training, the young Genin resolved to make the most of his morning by joining his sister on her way to school. Maybe it didn't seem like much, but at least now Nanami knew her brother was keeping his word. They used those twenty minutes of walking distance from their home to the Academy catching up to one another and discussing just about every topic they could think of.

As for his mother Masumi, she was a little skeptic at first. She didn't know whether her son was just acting to get back on her good side of if he truly wanted to make up for his mistake. It was nice of him to walk with Nanami and drop her off at the Academy, but she still had some doubts regarding his change of attitude.

Of course, Shujinko knew he had to prove himself not just to his sister, but his mother as well. That was why once Nanami was at school, Shujinko would go back to their house and help Masumi with her chores. It could be cleaning, doing the dishes, buying groceries from the local market, doing the laundry, and cooking, although Masumi always made sure her son wouldn't try to cook because, although she would never ever say it out loud, Shujinko was a lousy chef. Still, he was doing his best to help around and that was all she really needed to forgive him.

There wasn't much Shujinko could do for his father to earn his forgiveness, mainly because Daichi had never been angry at his son in the first place. It was true that the Genin needed to spend more time with his family, but unlike his wife, Daichi more or less understood why Shujinko was so dedicated to his training. Having been raised among shinobis, the once sole-survivor of the Ozuma clan knew very well how tough, rotten and dangerous the outside world was.

If a man lacked the drive to make something out of himself, there was no way to know what would become of his life and the lives of those around him. Instead of throwing his future away or wasting his time complaining about things he had no control over, Daichi worked tirelessly for years and became a law-abiding family man respected by the community. Now Shujinko was following the footsteps of his ancestors and becoming a warrior. If a warrior couldn't take care of himself, then he was no warrior at all.

At the same time, he was glad that things were slowly getting back to normal. There was no longer an atmosphere of tension and uncertainty around the house, and both his wife's and daughter's mood had improved. All in all, the family dynamics were changing for the better, and he commended Shujinko for his maturity and willingness to cooperate.

But back to the story, Shujinko returned to his house, took off his boots and called for his mother. "Kaa-san, I'm back," he said loud enough for Masumi to hear him. "You need help with the laundry again?"

No one seemed to listen as he received no answer. Daichi most likely was already on his way to one of his business meetings, so it wasn't like he was expecting an answer from him, but Masumi used to stay at least two hours doing whatever it was that needed to be done inside the house. Shujinko called for his mother again, but it seemed like there was no one else inside. He then noticed something on top of the kitchen table, and when he got closer, he realized it was a bento box with a small note that read:

Shujinko:

I had to leave early because of some stuff at work. Don't worry about the chores, I can do them later

Good luck with your training today!

Love, Mom

After reading the note, a huge smile was plastered on Shujinko's face. He wasn't expecting something like this at all. His mother took the time to prepare his lunch and even wished him luck for his training, something she rarely ever did. His efforts were clearly beginning to pay off, and now all he had to do was to keep things exactly the way they were currently going.

Shujinko grabbed Asuma's knife and stared at his own reflection projected in the steel of the weapon. 'Well, since I don't have to do any chores… Let's get back to training!'

THUCK THUCK THUCK

The golden-eyed boy took a deep breath and started concentrating his chakra into the blade, trying his hardest to sharpen his energy just like Asuma told him to do. If he remained still and attempted to give his chakra the sharp and cutting shape he was aiming for, after five minutes he could sort of see his chakra transforming into tiny spikes like a set of baby shark teeth, but as soon as he tried to swing the blade, his chakra immediately lost its flow and went back to its original wobbly state.

'I wonder how Asuma-sensei learned to do this,' Shujinko thought as he regretted not asking the bearded Jounin for more tips, although he had the feeling that there wasn't much more science behind the exercise other than what Asuma told him.

He most likely needed more time and practice before he could reach the point where transformed his chakra almost subconsciously, exactly the same way he learned to do the water-walking exercise. At first, he had to put in much effort just to stay on his feet, but after a couple of days of training, he was already running and jumping on the water without giving it much thought.

'Let's see… What if I'm not splitting my chakra fast enough?' Shujinko began to wonder. So far, all he ever cared about was to give his chakra a sharp and spiky texture, but he hadn't considered the speed factor. Now that he thought about it, it sort of made sense. It didn't matter how sharp and durable a handsaw was, if a person didn't use it without enough potency (the combination of force and speed), he wouldn't be able to cut through any solid object.

Shujinko looked at Asuma's knife, which was still in perfect condition despite being used against wood posts all day and night. It was as sharp as ever. 'Maybe… Maybe that's it. It's possible that I need to split my chakra faster while still making sure it's sharp. If that's the case, then this shape manipulation thing is gonna be even tougher to learn,' Shujinko thought before letting out a small smirk. 'Heh, I already lost count how many times I've had to say that to myself. Well, here goes nothing…'

But before he could put his theory to the test, a voice from behind caught him by surprise. "Shujinko? Is that you?"

Shujinko turned around to see Tenten looking at him with her arms crossed and a raised eyebrow. The poor Genin almost chocked out of surprise, but he admirably pulled himself together and gave Tenten the most natural response he could think of at the moment. "Tenten! He-Hey, I haven't seen you in a while," Indeed, the last time they saw each other, his face was all battered up and Tenten had to heal his wounds to the best of her abilities. "What's up?"

"Nothing much. I usually come here to practice my aim," Tenten replied while giving the brown-haired boy a questioning look. "I was about to do that when I noticed nearly all of the wooden posts and targets were chipped and full of fissures. Do you have any idea what might've happened?"

The Ozuma let out an awkward chuckle as his cheeks turned red. "Hehehe… I, erhhh, I might have something to do with that," he admitted while scratching the back of his head. "You see, I'm practicing my shape manipulation… a-and Asuma-sensei told me to use wooden posts, so…" Once he realized Tenten wasn't precisely thrilled by his response (she probably didn't get what he was saying in the first place), Shujinko decided to start again so that she would hopefully forgive him. "Look, I'm sorry. I was using them for my training and it didn't occur to me that someone else might need them. Is there anything I can do to make it up for you?"

Tenten let out an annoyed sigh. "Unless you can somehow replace them right away, there isn't a lot you can do. I don't have much of a choice but to find another training spot for the time being. What have you been doing anyways? What kind of training requires you to wreck wooden posts as if your life depended on it?"

"To put it simply, I need to shape my chakra and make it as sharp and thin as possible. I borrowed this knife from Asuma-sensei, which helps me transform my chakra into something capable of cutting through things. I'm supposed to slice objects in two, but so far all I've managed to do is to… Well, make weird sculptures out of practice posts, I guess,"

The face of the bun-haired kunoichi changed significantly as she saw the knife Shujinko was holding. The unique design of the weapon quickly turned her discontent into curiosity. "Hmhm, I see… Do you mind if I take a look at that knife?" Tenten asked eagerly as she walked towards the golden-eyed boy, who shrugged his shoulders and sheathed the blade before giving it to her.

For someone as knowledgeable as her when it came to weapons, Tenten could clearly tell the blade in her hands was crafted by an expert. The steel, the balance, the symmetry, the quality, it was everything she expected from a top-notch product. She tossed the knife upwards several times and caught it effortlessly, appreciating the texture of the handle.

"This is a really nice weapon," Tenten declared after a while. "You're very lucky to have it,"

Shujinko nodded in agreement. "I know, right? I wish I had enough money to buy me one of these. They're really something else," he said before sticking his hand out for Tenten, expecting her to return the weapon. The kunoichi sheathed Asuma's knife, but instead of giving it back, she kept it to herself and stared at Shujinko with a defiant look on her face.

"You know, I've been meaning to upgrade my weapon collection for a while now. How about a little challenge? You against me in a friendly match and whoever wins gets to keep the knife. What do you say?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what? Are you serious?" Shujinko was baffled. "You want to pick a fight with me over a knife that isn't even my own property?"

"It's not a fight, it's a friendly spar. And there's nothing you should be worried about… unless you don't think you can win,"

"That's not the point! Why should I fight for something that's already mine in the first place? And what's in it for me, anyways?"

Tenten pressed her lips together in a thoughtful fashion before nodding to herself. "If you win, you can have your knife back and, on top of that, I'll forgive you for ruining my practice posts. Sounds like a fair deal?"

"No, it doesn't. If anything, it sounds like a scam to me," Shujinko had a huge drop of sweat sliding down the back of his head. "Still, I get the feeling that you're not going to just hand it over to me, at least not without a fight… Fine, let's get this over with," he said before stretching his neck and adopting a fighting stance. 'Darn it, how did I end up in this situation? It's not like she owns these training grounds anyways. If I lose this fight, Asuma-sensei will make me pay for his chakra blade… No, there's no way I can afford that. I have to win this, even if I have to play dirty,'

The only female member of Team Gai let out a playful grin as she also adopted a fighting stance. "I knew you'd see it my way,"

"Yeah, because you blackmailed me into seeing it your way," the Ozuma muttered under his breath. He would've searched for another spot to practice his chakra shape manipulation had he known this was going to happen. "One thing before we start," Shujinko said out loud. "Since we're both competing for the chakra blade, neither of us gets to use it during our fight. It wouldn't be fair,"

Tenten threw the weapon as a response, hitting the bullseye of a target placed quite a few yards away from their position. Shujinko's face barely showed any interest at all, but the Genin was actually impressed by her accuracy and reminded himself to stick to close combat. He just hoped that his body hadn't gone rusty from lack of physical activity.

Once there was enough distance between the two of them, they both raised two fingers and performed the seal of confrontation just like they were taught to do back in their Academy days. Since there was no proctor to signal the start of the sparring match, they just waited in silence for a minute before they stared at each other's eyes at the same time, an action which they both understood as a replacement for the traditional 'Hajime!'.

Without thinking twice about it, Shujinko threw himself at Tenten in an attempt to shorten the gap of space, thus making it harder for his opponent to throw weapons at him. Tenten did the exact opposite and performed a wide backward somersault, anticipating Shujinko's move. While she was still in mid-air, the bun-haired kunoichi grabbed a scroll from her back pouch, opened it, and summoned a handful of shurikens aimed at him.

Shujinko was forced to go forward in a zig-zag pattern as he avoided every shuriken coming his way. It would've been easier for him to step back and get away from the line of fire, but that would've given Tenten more space and, as a result, the range advantage. Still, Tenten's attack gave her enough time to summon another weapon, a large bo staff made out of oak wood, that she used to stop Shujinko's spinning back kick while he was still in the air.

Tenten immediately went for a countermove. The Ozuma saw it coming, and before she could strike Shujinko down with her bo staff, he managed to get away by pushing his foot against her weapon and shoving himself backward. However, the kunoichi was barely affected by his actions and started swinging her bo staff with incredible speed and swiftness.

Obviously, Shujinko's natural reaction was to jump back and dodge her attacks. If he attempted to stop Tenten's bo staff while in motion using nothing but his bare hands, he would only achieve getting his fingers snapped or his wrist broken. With that in mind, the golden-eyed boy had no other choice but to jump backward several times so that Tenten wouldn't be able to hit him.

Much to his surprise, Tenten also jumped backward, leaving her bo staff lying on the ground. While she was doing that, she pulled out the same scroll from before and unsealed a fuuma shuriken. Shujinko saw the incoming weapon and merely ducked down, allowing the fuuma shuriken to continue its trajectory. The Ozuma then saw Tenten pulling her arm back, followed by a loud CLANK noise from behind.

The fuuma shuriken was dismantled into several pieces of weaponry, all of them coming towards him. 'She attached that fuuma shuriken to some wire!' Shujinko realized in shock. 'And now she used that wire to detach the parts of the fuuma shuriken and send them behind my back! I can't dodge them now!' His only option was Ninjutsu and he knew it. Luckily for Shujinko, he happened to be quite adept at Fuuton, which sure came in handy when dealing with incoming weapons that could easily cut just about every part of the human body. "Fuuton: Reppushoo!"

The compressed gale blew the dismantled fuuma shuriken away. Shujinko turned around just in time to see Tenten coming from above, brandishing her bo staff and ready to give him the final blow. The Ozuma performed a straightforward dive roll in order to evade Tenten's attack, landing several steps away from her.

Shujinko realized Tenten had the upper hand in both long-range and close-range combat. If he maintained a certain distance away from her, the kunoichi would throw whatever weapon she had stored inside her scrolls. Likewise, if he got too close to her, Tenten would use her bo staff instead. Unlike the bun-haired girl, Shujinko was only carrying a few kunais and a bunch of shurikens, neither of which gave him the edge he needed to counter her attacks.

'Keeping a safe distance isn't going to do me any favors,' Shujinko thought. 'I have to make her drop her guard… and I think I know how,' He quickly brought his palms together and activated the Karura Tensei. His pupils dilated and became three times as big as they were before while his golden irises covered the rest of his eyes, which acquired a yellow pigmentation around them as well as two marks that reached his ears.

Unaware of Shujinko's transformation, Tenten tried to swing her bo staff at him using circular movements, but much to her surprise, the brown-haired boy ducked down and stopped her attack by kicking her weapon. His boot sole absorbed most of the impact so that his foot wouldn't have to suffer a lot of damage. After all, if any other part of his body came into contact with Tenten's bo staff while she was swinging it, he would get seriously hurt.

As soon as Shujinko stopped her strike, he immediately grabbed the end of the bo staff with his right hand and performed a spinning backfist with his left hand. Tenten raised her left arm in order to counter Shujinko's fist, but once she blocked it, the Ozuma delivered a powerful kick to her gut, sending her several steps back and disarming her in the process. Now Shujinko was holding the bo staff and damn it felt good to snatch it away from Tenten's hands. The only problem was that he had no idea how to use it, and he was willing to bet it wasn't as simple as the bun-haired kunoichi made it look like.

'Guess I'll just have to improvise,' Shujinko thought as he charged against Tenten, who didn't waste any time and summoned a pair of tonfa sticks to defend herself. What he did know about Bojutsu was that he was supposed to take advantage of the weapon's length and avoid getting too close to whoever he was fighting against; otherwise, he would position himself within his enemy's reach and his advantage would turn into a hindrance.

TWACK

Shujinko gritted his teeth. The gap between their proficiency in the use of weapons was notorious. Tenten knew exactly how to move around and when to strike, unlike Shujinko, who clumsily tried his best to avoid getting hit by Tenten's tonfas. Using a bo staff was so much harder than what he anticipated. The kunoichi came closer to him every passing second, and when she finally found an opening, she swung her tonfa while aiming at his right side…

'Now!'

The Ozuma ducked down while performing a 270° spin at the same time. This allowed him to dodge a fatal blow to his ribs and sweep both of Tenten's legs with amazing timing. Tenten let out a yelp of pain as her body fell down. Shujinko smirked, feeling a great deal of satisfaction as he now had the chance to end the sparring match… or so he thought.

In less than a second, Tenten tossed away one of her tonfa sticks and placed her right hand on the ground to support her body and gain more stability. At the same time, she swung the tonfa that she held with her left hand. Shujinko's eyes widened as he knew he didn't have enough time to use the bo staff to protect himself.

CLANG

Shujinko quickly reached for his left holster and used a kunai to block Tenten's tonfa. The two Genins poured all of their strength into their respective weapons as they struggled to outclass one another. Their hands began to tremble and their fingers were getting sore.

'This is useless. I don't have the time or the patience to deal with each and every single one of her weapons. But these tonfas are so tough, it's like they're made out of iron or something. How am I supposed to break them when the only thing I have is a kunai?'

…

"… The trick is to imagine your chakra splitting in two and grinding against each other as if you were sharpening the blade between the two halves of your chakra…" Asuma's voice echoed inside his head.

'Maybe… Maybe it could work. But I'm not using Asuma-sensei's chakra blade, I'm just using a regular kunai,' Shujinko thought, not knowing how much he was going to resist. 'Screw it. I can't give up without at least trying. Just imagine your chakra splitting in two… grinding against each other…' All of a sudden, his kunai acquired a thin layer of chakra, although Tenten had yet to notice it. 'Now make your chakra sharp… Make your chakra sharp! Do it! Do it! DO IT, DAMN IT!'

CLAAAAAAANG

'W-What!? No way!' Tenten shouted inside her head. Shujinko managed to, somehow, cut her tonfa stick in half, rendering it unusable.

Over the past few years, Tenten had learned a lot about weapons, their fortitudes, their weaknesses, how to use them, how not to use them, how to sharpen them, how to throw them, all of that stuff. However, despite all of her knowledge and experience, she had never seen a kunai cut through a tonfa stick before, and with no momentum whatsoever. It simply didn't make any sense!

Shujinko grinned viciously. 'I can't believe it! It actually worked!' he thought in delight. However, there was no time for gloating as he was in the middle of a fight. Taking advantage of Tenten, who still wasn't quite sure what the heck was going on, Shujinko threw a smoke bomb to the ground.

The kunoichi had enough time to get away from the huge cloud of smoke and unseal a kusarigama. While she kept the metal chain spinning at great speed, Tenten focused her gaze and tried to anticipate Shujinko's next move. He had yet to come out of the smoke that was slowly fading away, and as soon as he did that, she would be ready to immobilize him.

'Hurry up and come out already,'

…

SWOOSH

When the smoke was about to fade away completely, Shujinko appeared high up in the air wielding a fuuma shuriken. 'There you are!' Tenten thought as her whole body tensed. Shujinko threw his fuuma shuriken at her, but the kunoichi easily dodged the incoming weapon and jumped as well. The fuuma shuriken became stuck in the ground as the result of a clumsy attempt by Shujinko's part.

"Now I got you!" Tenten shouted as she threw her mail chain, capturing Shujinko and pulling him back to the ground completely immobilized.

The Ozuma landed with a loud THUMP noise, grunting and struggling to break free to no avail.

"Give it up, there's nothing else you can do," Tenten warned him while keeping a tight grip on Shujinko. She also made sure that his hands weren't too close to one another as to prevent him from weaving any hand signs.

"No… Just a little longer… I know I can do this…"

"I said give it up," Tenten repeated as her voice developed a more serious tone. "You're only gonna end up hurting yourself. It's not worth th-"

Out of the blue, Tenten noticed a small 'poof' noise behind her back and an unexpected burst of movement. She was about to turn around to see what was going on, but as soon as Tenten began moving her head, she suddenly caught sight of a kunai coming dangerously close to her neck, stopping just a few millimeters away.

"Don't move," the voice of another Shujinko said. Tenten froze in her spot, too startled to do anything. The bun-haired kunoichi watched in astonishment how the 'Shujinko' that was in front of her poofed out of existence, leaving nothing but a cloud of smoke behind.

"… That was…"

"A shadow clone," Shujinko replied from behind, still holding his kunai close to her. "I created it while I was hiding in the smoke," His voice was slightly different from before, almost tired, and his hand was a bit shaky. The golden-eyed boy had yet to grow accustomed to the effects of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Spending half of his chakra in one shot wasn't exactly a pleasuring experience.

Tenten gulped. "So that fuuma shuriken from before was… it was you,"

"Yeah. That was why it took me so long to come out of the cloud smoke. I had to create a shadow clone and then perform the Henge no Jutsu to transform into the fuuma shuriken you saw my shadow clone use earlier,"

The only female member of Team Gai was genuinely surprised by Shujinko's simple, yet effective strategy. The target of the fuuma shuriken was never her to begin with, which explained the sloppiness of the shot. It was meant to land somewhere behind her back. That way, Shujinko was able to sneak up on her and use his shadow clone as bait. When she saw the fuuma shuriken coming her way, Tenten thought her opponent was being too hasty, when in reality she was the one who was being hasty.

"You give up?"

The question was really just part of a protocol. In any traditional shinobi sparring match, it was a common rule to end the fight once your opponent got behind your back with weapons that close to one of your vital organs or weak spots like the neck. Unless you had a Kawarimi no Jutsu ready beforehand or something like that, it was pretty much game over for you.

Tenten took a deep breath before speaking. "I do," she said in a submissive tone that held no bitterness. It's not like she was foreign to the concept of losing. She had lost to Neji on numerous occasions, and Lee also had his fair share of victories against her. Her time under the guidance of Maito Gai had taught her to learn from her mistakes and to avoid them in the battlefield (as in the real battlefield, not just in sparring matches).

Shujinko quickly put his kunai back inside its holster and performed the seal of reconciliation with Tenten, acknowledging to one another that they were still comrades. "That was a pretty good fight. You sure had me against the ropes," Shujinko congratulated her.

"Likewise. I had no idea you knew how to do Naruto's jutsu. When did you learn that?"

"A while back, but it's not like I can do it at the scale that Naruto does. I swear, that guy can create hundreds of them," Shujinko answered before giving Tenten a curious gaze. "Just to be clear, you weren't really going to take Asuma-sensei's blade, right? He told me I would have to pay for it in case I lost it, and that thing is seriously expensive,"

"What? Of course not. I was only messing with you," Tenten said, waving her hand in a dismissing manner… while secretly crossing her fingers behind her back. "That reminds me, why did Asuma-sensei give it to you in the first place? I know if I had one of those, I wouldn't lend it to anyone,"

While Shujinko helped Tenten gather her weapons that were scattered all over the place, he took the time to explain in full detail what kind of training he was doing. The only thing he decided to leave out was the Kazekiri due to privacy reasons. He didn't mind sharing everything else, like what nature transformation and shape manipulation were.

"… And that's about it. I've made some progress here and there, but I still have a lot of work to do. This shape manipulation thing is incredibly tough," Shujinko concluded his explanation, picking up the last shuriken from the ground.

"Is that how you managed to cut my tonfa in half?" Tenten asked.

"Yup. Sorry about that. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure it was gonna work," the Ozuma replied truthfully. He still didn't know how he managed to shape his chakra like that when he was using a simple kunai, and not the chakra blade. Was it luck? Was it skill? A mistake, maybe? Whatever the case, Shujinko decided not to worry much about it for the time being. "Anyways, our friendly match is over. What are you going to do next?"

Tenten sighed. "I guess I should go back to my place. I was planning on training here for a while, but I forgot to bring my lunch and I don't have enough money to eat somewhere else,"

"Well…" Shujinko started to say, looking a tad bit hesitating. "I actually brought my lunch here. We can share it if you want. I wouldn't mind at all,"

"No, it's fine. You don't have to do bother. I'm not even that hun-"

GRRRRRRRRRR

Tenten's stomach released a growl loud enough for Shujinko to hear it. The Ozuma watched as the kunoichi's cheeks turned slightly red, obviously feeling embarrassed for being caught lying. Shujinko couldn't help but laugh a bit and gave Tenten a broad smile. "I don't think your belly agrees with you. Come on, I have enough food for the both of us,"

The two of them sat close to each other on top of a fallen tree and opened Shujinko's bento box. Since the box only had one pair of chopsticks, the brown-haired boy offered the rice cakes to Tenten and kept the pork strips to himself. Just like Shujinko expected from her, Tenten displayed lady-like eating manners that made Naruto look like a pig in comparison.

"These are really good," Tenten said after taking a bite from her first rice cake. "Did your mother cook them for you?"

Shujinko nodded. "That's right. Kaa-san is a first-rate chef even though she doesn't brag about it. I once tried to follow her recipe, but my rice cakes ended up being awful,"

"Are you serious? Even I can make decent rice cakes. Were they really that bad?"

"It took me about two hours to remove them from the oven… and I had to use a kunai," The kunoichi was forced to use her hand as a muzzle to stifle her giggles. Shujinko laughed as well, remembering how the stench of roasted rice that invaded his house lasted for an entire day.

As he grabbed another pork strip, Shujinko couldn't help but steal a few glances at Tenten out of the corner of his eye. Even the way she held the rice cakes seemed to be appealing to him. Under normal circumstances, staring at people who were enjoying their meal wasn't something Shujinko would consider to be interesting or even polite, but right now, it was oddly fascinating.

Soon enough, the two Genins devoured all of the food that was in the bento box. "That was delicious," Tenten sighed after she wiped her mouth with a napkin. She then faced Shujinko and gave him the most beautiful smile the Ozuma had ever seen on a girl. "Thanks, Shujinko. I really mean it,"

"I-I-It was no problem a-at all. You don't ha-have to thank me," Shujinko stammered, feeling like he had a rock stuck inside his throat. For some mysterious reason, his insides were replaced by a million butterflies fluttering their wings, and the temperature of the atmosphere began to rise out of nowhere… although Shujinko was fairly certain it was just him.

'Dear Kami, I can't stay like this any longer. Please make something happen,' the golden-eyed boy pleaded to the skies. He didn't want Tenten to notice how her smile was turning him into a stuttering idiot by the second.

His prayers were answered. Just when Tenten was about to ask him if he was alright, the two teens heard the noise of a screeching bird coming from above. It would've been normal had it not been for the fact that the bird was flying dangerously close to them and at a great speed. Shujinko and Tenten almost jumped out of the way, but the feathered creature flew over their heads and landed on the grass near the fallen tree.

"What is that bird doing?" Tenten asked as she got up on her feet. "Is that… a hawk?"

"I suppose so. I can't think of anything else," Shujinko replied, not feeling so sure himself.

Indeed, it was a hawk, but it was the strangest hawk Shujinko had ever laid his eyes on. For starters, it was quite big. Nothing out of the ordinary, but still, it was considerably bigger than the average hawk. What really surprised the Ozuma was how old the hawk was. He was no bird expert, but even he could figure out the creature in front of him had lived for a damn long amount of time. Most of its feathers were light gray, and a few of them were even white. He could hardly believe a hawk that old could still fly.

The other thing that strange about the hawk was its behavior. Unless it was a tamed hawk like the ones used for message delivery, hawks rarely got physically close to humans. They would usually fly away as soon as they became aware of their presence. However, this old hawk was standing on its toes not further than ten feet away from where Shujinko was sitting.

The brown-haired boy didn't know why, but for some reason, the hawk seemed to be staring directly at him. Not once did the bird moved its head in other direction. It didn't seem like it was paying Tenten any attention whatsoever.

Was that a bandana tied around its neck?

"Do you think that hawk wants something?" Shujinko asked Tenten in a loud whisper as if he was afraid that the feathered creature could not only hear them but understand them as well.

"I'm not sure… Maybe it's that last piece of pork?"

Shujinko looked at the bento box and saw a small piece of pork remaining. Was that it? Was the hawk feeling hungry? He supposed so, although the situation was still weird. "I guess that has to be," Shujinko said as he grabbed the piece of pork with his chopsticks. "Alright hawky, here ya' go,"

The Genin threw the piece of pork close to the hawk. Much to their surprise, the bird didn't move at all, not even to look at the food. It just kept staring at Shujinko, who was starting to feel threatened. The hawk's eyes reminded Shujinko of his own eyes whenever he entered Sage Mode. They had a weird, almost hypnotizing effect on him.

Before anything else could happen, the mysterious hawk let out a screech and took flight, leaving the scene once and for all after confusing the two Genins. "Huh, that was weird," Shujinko commented as he saw the unusual bird soaring in the sky. Still, he had to give his thanks to the old hawk, or maybe Kami, for what just happened. It gave him the chance to call himself down before Tenten could grow more suspicious, his face no longer resembling a strawberry.

Tenten nodded. "You can say that again. I've never seen a bird act like that, let alone a hawk. It's even weirder considering what day it is today,"

The Ozuma gave her a curious look. "What do you mean by that?"

"You do know what day it is today, don't you?"

"… Friday?"

"That's not what I mean, dummy," Tenten said rolling her eyes. "Today's the Tanabata Festival, that holiday with lots of food, games, and carnivals. Don't tell me you've never heard about it,"

Shujinko's eyes widened in realization. He completely forgot today was the Tanabata Festival. It was basically a holiday during which people celebrated their bonds of friendship and the blossoming of love to a lesser degree. When he was a little kid, he loved going to the festival and stuff his mouth with sweets that the street merchants sold, but as he grew older, he became less and less interested for no particular reason.

"I guess I forgot about it. I've been pretty busy over the last week. Are you planning on going?"

The kunoichi shrugged her shoulders. "It's my day off so I might as well check it out. With the way things are going in the village, it's gonna be a while before I get another break. What about you? Are you going to the Tanabata Festival?"

"You know, I haven't really thought about it. I suppose it could be fun, and it would be nice to take my mind off of training for a change. How about we go together?"

…

"Shujinko… are you asking me out on a date?"

It was only after hearing Tenten's question that Shujinko realized what was going on. 'BRAIN, WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST DO?!' Shujinko shouted inside his head as he began to suffer a full-blown panic attack.

If he was feeling nervous right before the hawk appeared, he was about to go insane now. The cute and fluffy butterflies inside his stomach became snakes that drenched his organs in venom. His body started to shake like a leaf in the blowing wind, and despite how cold the atmosphere suddenly became, Shujinko was sweating like a pig under the sun, to the point where the cloth of his headband acquired a darker shade. The color of his slightly tan skin changed to one that resembled a sheet of paper more than anything. His chest was pounding so fast Shujinko thought he was on the brink of collapsing.

What on Earth caused Shujinko to say such a thing? He never had the intention of asking Tenten for a date, he didn't even know the Tanabata Festival was today until she pointed it out to him! What was he supposed to do now? His instincts were telling him to flee, but he had already done that once in the past and it only served him to look like a loony. Besides, his body was so weak and feeble he wouldn't be able to run away even if he wanted to.

Making use of the little sense of reason he still had, Shujinko asked Kami for yet another miracle and addressed Tenten's question. Remaining silent now would be just as bad as escaping from her. "I… huh… I mean, I wouldn't really call it a date, you know? It's like… Since you're going to the Tanabata Festival, and I'm going too… I thought maybe we could do something. I'm not talking about going out as a couple, but as… a couple of friends… a friendly night out… maybe?"

Shujinko wished he had enough skills in Doton so that he could bury himself underground. It was funny how he was willing to go head-to-head and toe-to-toe against almost any shinobi around his age, but asking a girl out on a date (or a friendly night out, as Shujinko had eloquently put it) was enough to petrify him with fear. Not even his first encounter with Zabuza had him this messed up, and the man used to be one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

The silence and the pressure was eating Shujinko's mental health, and just when he was about to faint, Tenten suddenly spoke up. "Well, when you put it that way… Sure, I guess we could go out tonight,"

It took Shujinko a while to respond. At first, he was certain he had heard Tenten wrong as he was expecting a refusal from her side. But then, he actually realized what did she just said and stared at the kunoichi in disbelief. "… Re-Really? Wow, that's… I-I mean, that's great! That's really great… So, do you want me to, you know, pick you up? Or if you want, m-maybe I could-"

"I live right in front of Shushuya, a sake store located in Tea Avenue. You know where that is, right?" Tenten asked. Shujinko nodded, his face showing a dumbfounded expression. "Good. You can pick me up at 21:30 P.M. That way, we can walk around the streets before it gets too crowded," With that said, Tenten jumped from her spot and landed on the grass. She looked over her shoulder and aimed a confident, almost challenging smile at Shujinko. "Remember, 21:30 P.M. at my place. Don't be late,"

"R-Right," Shujinko said weakly as Tenten began her way back home. The Ozuma stared in silence how the kunoichi walked out of the training grounds, and once she was out of sight… he collapsed and fell on his back, feeling like someone had just light up a flare inside his head.

'What did just happen?'

Aaaaand that was chapter 38. Hope you all enjoyed it.

Finally, and I mean FINALLY, I was able to get to this part. This is where things start getting juicy.

I'm pretty satisfied by how the fight between Shujinko and Tenten came out. I bet some of you are wondering how did Shujinko manage to cut Tenten's tonfa stick using a regular kunai, or what is the meaning of the hawk's strange appearance. I could explain it to you right here and right now… but I don't feel like doing that, so you're just gonna have to wait for the next chapter to come out.

I would like to clarify some things: The Tanabata Festival is a real celebration, although I tweaked it a little so it could fit the narrative. Also, the sake store known as Shushuya is canon, as well as the so-called Tea Avenue. Lastly, you might have noticed that Shujinko used the F word in this chapter. I want to make it clear that the use of foul language will not be a common occurrence. I pretend to make this story as clean as possible. I only used it here because I thought the situation Shujinko found himself in called for it.

The next chapter will be one that a lot of us, including myself, have been waiting for: Shujinko's first date with Tenten, which is already under development. At first, I was going to include the date here, but that would've made the chapter super long and I didn't want to keep you guys and gals waiting. Well, what can you do? By the way, this story is about to reach 300 followers, so please keep it going!

Glossary:

Fuuton: Reppushoo – Wind Style: Gale Palm

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu – Shadow Clone Jutsu

Henge no Jutsu – Transformation Jutsu

Kawarimi no Jutsu – Substitution Jutsu

Don't forget to Review, Favorite & Follow

Ja ne!