A/N: Is it weird that I was going to make Ino's mom the one from the Yamanaka clan and make Inoichi married into the clan while also becoming super into the clan's ways? I think it would have been weird, so I cut it out from this chapter. Instead, Ino's mom gets more screen time here than she ever did in the anime/manga. LoL!
Also, over the past year trying to get a grasp on 3D programs like Blender and MMD so I can make these stories into 3D comics. i would really love to make these stories I write into 3D comics or even small animations, but I just don't have the time or focus to fully devote myself to it. That is why I haven't been releasing most if any of the chapters I've been writing. Because I want to backpedal and make the ones I've released so far into 3D comics on DeviantArt or another website for displaying it. Maybe Tumblr. I don't know. This is for ALL of my stories. Every... Single... One... Especially one like this one.
Anyways, that's why I've been "away". If you have any advice or want to help me with this project, please feel free to message me, PM me, or leave it in a REVIEW.
Hope everyone enjoys the chapter!
Now enough of this crap! On with the show!
Enough of this crap, on with the show!
Chapter 11: Where All Things Bloom
Sakura was sitting crossed legged on her bed at home. In front of her were several scrolls spread out along the bed and even a couple on the floor. Most of them were the ones her new "friends" borrowed from the Konoha library about basic theory behind medical ninjutsu.
"Hmm…" Sakura hummed in thought as she read over a basic ninjutsu theory scroll from the library. The scroll covered just about everything they had learned in the Academy. All the general ideas, some basic concepts, tips on when and where to use certain ninjutsu, what situations you should avoid using ninjutsu in. All in all, it was a beginner's guide, or the basic four years of Ninjutsu Theory classes she and her fellow Academy class had sat through bored out of their minds.
"If I could have just read this one scroll, then why did I study for four years?" Sakura asked herself aloud as she took the scroll up in hand.
Though, Sakura had to admit to herself that she was a little dissatisfied to be the weakest member of her new group, the Divisions. Just earlier that month she had seen what they referred to as a basic sparring session. Those weirdoes threw around lightning and flames and were using actual swords!
At school that same day, Sakura played witness to how now every member of the Divisions was wearing their black robes at all the normal hours of day. Naruto and the others even made a fuss about how Kiba was wearing some sort of badge along his right arm. It was all too weird for her. Everyone outside the Divisions was now looking and talking to her like she was on some sort of pedestal. They called her the sane one. The one that could relate to being held up to normal standards and practices. Of course, unlike everyone else, it hit her more personally to be the "weak-link" of her group.
She didn't feel jealous or anything of that nature. She was now privileged enough to see the true strength of the group, especially Naruto and Sasuke. They were strong. Like crazy strong. She probably knew better than anyone, even Iruka-sensei. It had hit her personally because she was so far behind them all of them. Even with her beginning her training as a medical-ninja, she wasn't entirely satisfied and could practically see the huge gap between her and the founding members of the Divisions, which they were telling her that she was now going to be part of.
The founding of the Divisions. They were ridiculous. They were even calling her the Healing Blossom of the Divisions. But that actually made her feel kinda cool. Healing Blossom, Sakura Haruno. It even sounded cool, but she'd never let them know it. All she really wanted was to grow stronger, faster and all-around better in order to impress Sasuke with her ninja skill.
Even after a month had passed, and she was able to perform the basic healing technique up to several minutes now, Sakura still felt that she was worlds away from even stepping into the realm of power that was the Divisions. Especially after seeing the wild things that Naruto, Sasuke, Choji, and even Ino could do in their sparring practices.
She read a bit more, writing notes on a spare blank scroll she had packed.
So far, she spent about an hour re-reading the dynamics of ninjutsu, making sure she fully understood them. Given what it was she was trying to create, Sakura wouldn't be able to practice the technique she wanted properly until she met up with the others later in the week.
"Okay… I see, finally… This is what I was looking for…" Sakura said, finally connecting the dots in her mind as she read on with haste.
After she was satisfied with what she had, Sakura looked at the time, feeling her eyes growing weary. It was getting quite late.
Gently, the pink-haired Division member gathered up all her scrolls and got off her bed, her bare feet landing gracefully on the carpet. Laying all the scrolls she had been pouring over down on the dresser, Sakura walked back to her backpack and took out another scroll. Going through hand-signs as she recalled them in her mind, Sakura unraveled the scroll. She went through the hand-signs again, though this time with greater speed as she placed her hand over the sealing matrix of the scroll, a plume of smoke signaling that she had been successful in her scroll-summon.
"There we are." Sakura said cheerfully as she reached down to the scroll and took up the flopping fish and target board. Walking over to an empty space on the wall, Sakura strapped the small fish to the bull's eyes and set it up. After nodding to herself, the girl walked all the way across her room before taking in a couple of deep breaths to clear her head.
"Okay. First step, flex my limbs before doing any sort of physical training. The others keep telling me that practicing the kata is better than actual stretches, so… Here goes!" Sakura said to herself as she took another deep breath before she punched her fist into the air in front of her, followed quickly by a kick and three speedy jabs.
Sakura moved about as though she were a boxer, fists lashing out before quickly reassuming their positions at the sides of her midsection. She punched and kicked again and again, growing into a steady rhythm. As she worked through her form, sweat began to lace her brow. Sakura smiled through it all. She had been practicing on her taijutsu ever since she had mastered the basic Academy-style forms over the last month. Every night, Sakura stayed up for hours in her room, in front of her mirror, working on basic drills from what she had learned from the others and the Ninja Academy, reviewing all the things they had been introduced to her so she could better put them all together into practical application.
She would move around her room, fighting imaginary opponents as she fell, recovered, ducked, dived, and other such stuff before her hygiene rituals and going to bed. It would had been much easier and more efficient if she had a sparring partner at her level to start off with, but the others were such hard-hitters that even that lazy coward Shikamaru was out of her league.
And Hinata… that girl scared the crap out of Sakura in Taijutsu spars…
"I guess…" Sakura breathed as she threw another punch before a roundhouse-kick, "That's the price… I must pay… for creating my own path…" another quick succession of blows to her imaginary opponent, "I don't need Mom and Dad worrying about me… I can go it my own… I can't rely on others to protect me anyway… I need to be strong for myself…"
Her breathing became labored as she took in a deep gulp of air, pausing in her workout.
With that in mind, Sakura took out a kunai and began practicing with the weapon, throwing it, and hitting the small fish tied to the bull's eye.
"Okay…" Sakura breathed, going over to where she lay the scrolls out on the dresser. Fingering the scrolls and reading through their titles, Sakura's face lit up as she grabbed one.
Turning to the small fish, which was now dripping blood on the carpet, Sakura grimaced as she pulled the kunai out and laid the fish on a blank scroll.
Sakura read as she placed her hands over the fish and channeled her chakra to the wound on the poor thing. This went on for a few minutes, and Sakura grew excited when she saw the bleeding stop and the wound begin to close. However, her excitement was short lived as the pink-haired girl had to pause when the fish stop thrashing around under her hands. Looking at it, Sakura sighed as she could just tell the little thing had died on her. Sealing the fish into the scroll, Sakura turned back to the scroll on the medical ninjutsu, beginning her reading once again to understand where she had went wrong in the theory to better improve her execution of the technique.
After nearly half an hour passed, the pinkette finally had enough. She put all her scrolls away for the next day and finished her packing with a sigh. Sakura sat atop her bed, flopping back onto it without a care in the world. When her mother had come up to tell her dinner was ready, Sakura went to wash her hands and face in preparation for the meal.
"So, dear, how goes the training?" her father asked with a smile over dinner. "Your mother and I hear you practicing in your room at all hours of the night. You must be working very hard."
Sakura nodded, proud that her parents were recognizing her efforts. "It's okay, but I feel like I can do better. Something is just not clicking correctly. Once I figure out the piece I'm missing from my training, then I'll be a successful ninja for sure!"
"Well, I know those new friends of yours will be sure to help you." Her mother and father shared a look. The type that told Sakura they were about to say or ask something she might not like to hear. "One of your new friends… is Naruto Uzumaki, correct, Sakura dear?"
"Hmm? Naruto?" Sakura looked up from her plate of food to blink at her parents. She knew they had some kind of problem with Naruto, but never told they'd actually bring it up. "Yeah, I guess you can say that. He's in the same group with me, Ino, and Sasuke."
"Well, you should be careful." Her father said, his voice sounding more firm than he probably thought.
"Kuzuma!" his mother admonished, and her father looked sorry.
"I'm just say that he's a troublemaker." Her father tacked on quickly, raising his hands in a defensive manner. "True, he's not caused many problems in the village as of late. Almost been a couple of years since I've last heard him cause a ruckus… But still take care when hanging around that boy! Your mother and I worry about you. A lot. But since your group has so many of the village's most notable clan heirs, especially the last Uchiha, we're sure it will be okay."
Her mother reached over from her side of their small dining room table to give Sakura's hand a gentle squeeze as if to comfort her. "We're just asking that you be careful. We trust you, but sometimes… umm, young boys like Naruto Uzumaki… umm, they can get you into trouble without either of you knowing why there is trouble in the first place. There are people in the village that hold a grudge against that boy… for, umm… his pranks! Yes, his pranks! He used to be quite the little hooligan."
Sakura was very confused by all the looks her parents were throwing each other and the way they were talking circles around her as if they were avoiding some unspoken subject.
"Naruto is a bit of a goofball, I'll give him that." Sakura admitted with a shrug. "He's certainly odd and annoying at times. But he's helping me become stronger along with the others. He's not dangerous. I won't exactly call him harmless, either, since I've seen what he can do with his weird abilities."
"Just promise us that you'll be mindful and careful on how you conduct yourself when around that boy." Her father's face softened when Sakura blinked in confusion, but slowly nodded. "Good. Puts my old heart at ease."
"Dear, I've told you to stop saying that you're old." Sakura's mother smiled, sharp and sweet. Her father started sweating in fear. "After all, I'm only a few months younger than you. It would imply that I'm old, and we both know that's not the case. Right?"
"Y-Yes! Of course, my dear Sayuri!" her father laughed nervously, and Sakura felt that she might have to finish her dinner in her room.
"Good. I'd hate for you to bring out my own training as a member of the Allied Mothers Force. The Shell Bullet has nothing on this fist right here!" Sayuri raised her fist up to her husband, who flinched back while she laughed at his fright. "Ha, ha, ha! One punch is all I'll need, Kazuma! You remember our first date, right?"
"You'll be the death of me, I swear, Sayuri…" Kazuma mumbled with a pained expression to himself as Sayuri continued to laugh.
Sometimes her parents were so weird and annoying…
"Ino, are you okay out here?" Mimori Yamanaka stepped out into the cold night air of their spacious backyard looking for her blonde daughter.
Ino was there, alright, dripping with sweat and a film of dust from the tough training she was putting herself through. Mimori could only sigh at her daughter's actions. She hardly understood where the girl's determination came from. One day it had been all about clothes and hairstyles, and the next she was asking for training weights and actually dragging her father in the forest for stealth exercises. Inoichi was starting to complain that it was getting hard to find their daughter these days, especially since he knew she no longer abandoned him for dango trips back to the village in the middle of their hide-and-seek. Mimori wanted to know where it had all gone different. When was the exact moment that Ino and her stop connecting over fashion and started having serious discussions about her future career as a shinobi?
"I'm almost done, Mom." Ino was breathing heavy, nearly gasping for every breath. A flare of worry went through Mimori, but just like when Inoichi came back from his Ino-Shika-Cho training, she told herself that her little girl would be just fine. "I've perfected a new technique, and I want to make sure I've mastered it fully before turning in."
"Ino, darling," Mimori stepped off the patio and went to where her daughter was practicing. She always had to hold back a gasp when she laid eyes on Ino's new sword. A very real sword, unlike that wooden practice thing she carried around for the last couple of years. Only a month ago did Ino mysteriously have it. She never called attention to it, and Inoichi refused to say anything despite how much it worried him that their daughter was wielding a weapon he did not prepare her to use. "I think you and I need to sit down and have a talk."
Ino got control of her breathing very fast after those words. She took one last breath before releasing it in a calming fashion. The way she sheathed the sword horizontal on her lower back was like something Mimori might have seen in a kabuki play. Her daughter was skilled with that sword, of that Mimori could tell in only a few moments.
"I am not giving up on becoming a ninja." Ino stated firmly, and Mimori was both shocked and confused that Ino had somehow read her mind.
"H-How did you even know I wanted to talk about your ninja path?"
"Dad came to me earlier today after school. He tried to walk me home while talking about the harsh realities of a shinobi career. He said he won't think less of me if I decided that the life of a ninja wasn't for me. He went on tangent about all the lies and secrets I'd have to keep to myself. He was so into his ghost stories that he didn't even realize I had diverted us to the training field where my friends were waiting. And I'll tell you just as I told Dad. I want to become a ninja of the village. Not because I think it'll be a charmed life, but because it is my destiny for having been born into the Yamanaka clan of Konokagakure. This village is my family, and I will protect my family by slitting the throat of any one who dares to oppose us."
Mimori couldn't help but take a step back from the steely gaze her little girl possessed. "W-Well… That was certainly… I never imagined…"
"I am stronger than you think, Mom. Than Dad thinks. Stronger than anyone knows." Ino dusted herself off before smiling. "But everyone will see my strength soon enough."
Mimori took a deep breath herself. She closed her eyes to focus on her motherly power, and centered it. She gently opened her eyes on Ino, and smiled just as softly. "I know, dear. That's why I didn't come out here to tell you about abandoning the ninja way. I came out here to encourage you, sweetheart."
"Y-You did?" Ino looked more shocked than Mimori had seen her in a while.
"I will admit that there was a time where I argued with your father about sending you to the Ninja Academy. He wanted you to be a ninja back then. It was all about tradition and honor and glory back then. I told him he was stupid, and he said I didn't understand because there were no ninja in my family. He was right, but for all the wrong reasons. Now it seems that over the last year… our opinions have reversed. It would be funny if it didn't involve your future."
"It's still kinda funny," Ino said with a small laugh, but Mimori only smiled.
Despite her kimono being new and expensive, Mimori dropped gracefully to the ground and patted the spot beside her for her daughter to sit down. Ino threw back her white haori and took the spot while Mimori started to look up at the starry night sky.
"There are so many children that run off to the academy. They want to be famous. They want to support their families. To live dangerously. Be part of something. So many reasons, but the right ones… If there ever are right reasons… They all die much too young…" Mimori sighed with a shake of her head. It was entirely too sad to think about fully at present. "It's tough sometimes. To sit at home as a wife and mother, knowing that in a few months both the people I love the most in this world will be off on missions for undisclosed periods of time while I have to pretend it doesn't bother me."
"Mom…" Ino whispered, but her mother raised a hand to silence used the same hand to smooth down Ino's hair.
"You are strong. But you are so much more than that. You are also smart, so never forget to use your brains out there when you're pinned down by the enemy. You are also beautiful, and targets will fall for a pretty face long before they fall to that sword's blade. You are sweet, so use it to lure your foes into a false sense of security, but also to comfort your allies." Mimori smiled up at the starry sky. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that you don't have to prove anything to me, your father, or anyone else in all the world. You are Ino Yamanaka, daughter of Inoichi and Mimori Yamanaka of the prestigious Yamanaka clan of Konoha that have been here since the village's founding era. But even if we had no last name… were dirt poor… and you were just another face in the sea of people… I am your mother, and I will always love you. I will always be proud of you. And when the time comes for you to either spread your wings or spill the blood of the enemy, I will always encourage you to do your best."
"Oh mommy!" Ino was crying, tears freely falling from her eyes as she knocked her mother over with a tight hug. Mimori wrapped an arm around her daughter's shoulders.
"Just be sure to leave me with some grandchildren before I get too old, dear. I don't want them to know me as their grey-haired granny. Especially if you're going to be with that Naruto boy. Your kids will have too much energy for me to chase around and play with. Besides, that Uzumaki seems the type to put his life on the front lines of every battle. A kid or two might be just what it takes for him to survive mission after mission to come home."
"MOM!"
"And don't you dare lose to that Hyuga girl! She has that wallflower, sweet girl-next-door vibe going for her. You need to use all your charms and appeal to win out! Remember, love is a battlefield as well, dear. And all is fair in love and war!"
"Oh mom, you're just the best." Ino chuckled as she and her mother lay on the grass, looking up at the stars.
"I know, dear… I know…"
In the early hours of dawn, Iruka held back a yawn with the back of his hand as he followed behind Naruto and Sasuke. The Third Hokage had asked him to escort the two wherever it was they were headed. The elder didn't give him any details, but Iruka was starting to get anxious about the whole thing. True, they were still inside the village, but ever since Naruto knocked on his door at four in the morning, Iruka hadn't the slightest clue what the blond was up to. They had gone to the Uchiha district and got Sasuke. If he were honest with himself, Iruka was sure it was mentally unhealthy for Sasuke to continue living around the hauntingly empty district. When asked about it, Sasuke had cut him a sharp look and politely asked that he not pry into the business of the proud Uchiha clan. Iruka wasn't quite sure how to take the demands of a clan that only had two living members left, but Naruto distracted them both from their conversation when he ordered ramen for breakfast at the Ichiraku stand. That made for a slight bonding moment as both Iruka and Sasuke groaned about it while Naruto was happily muttering about how the girls would never find out that he was cheating his healthy meal plan devised by said females. Iruka and Sasuke shared a look that said how much they were each thinking about ratting their blond friend out, but in the end they both probably decided against it.
Even still, Iruka was clueless about where they were headed. After the ramen, they just seemed to walk aimlessly across the outskirts of the village. Naruto and Sasuke would talk, and while it was almost comforting to spend time with his two students outside the school, Iruka had to remind himself that they were doing something.
What was that something? Iruka had no idea, but they had awoken him from his precious sleep for a reason, so it had better be something pretty damn important.
"Ah! I think this is it!" Naruto announced as they turned yet another corner and came upon another row of building in the outskirts of the village.
Iruka looked up with tired eyes to see that this row of building was very different in design and structure than most of the others they encountered on this morning. These buildings had many swirl marks carved into their stone. Red swirl tassels hung from the porch ceilings like windchimes. There were various tags and paper seals on the doors of the buildings. The store fronts were all closed off by stone walls and the houses were boarded up with wooden planks blocking entrance. Iruka was not sure what any of this meant, or if he had ever been to this part of the village in all his life. Looking up and behind himself toward the center of the village, Iruka was surprised that he could barely make out the Hokage Mountain from where he stood. For as long as he could remember, Iruka recalled the words of the Third Hokage telling him and every other child of the village that the stone faces of the Hokage Mountain could clearly be viewed from any spot in the village without fail. But from this place in the village, Iruka could only see the first two, the First and Second Hokage stone faces. The Third Hokage's face was blocked by a wall that Iruka hadn't even noticed passing through in his trek with the kids. And the wall that protected the village from outside forces was not in sight either, even though Iruka knew for a fact that they were near the edge of the village. Instead, there was a riverbank that ran through where the village wall should be. Looking ahead of himself, Iruka squinted his eyes to see another enormous wall off in the distance. But all of this was impossible. There were no two large walls on the outskirts of the village. There was no river that was on the outside! This was crazy!
Sasuke was observing all of this in stride as well as he stood almost beside Iruka with slightly wide eyes. Then his onyx eyes narrowed, and his lips curled into a scowl. "Impressive. Even long after their demise, the Uzumaki clan's secrets are still guarded in this district. One would think that over a decade would be enough time for their seals and spells to fade with time, but apparently not."
Naruto smiled cheekily and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, and I don't think they'll be fading any time soon either. Umm, I can kind of feel these tags and tassels and carvings siphoning off chakra from me. Like little specks of it falling off me and immediately being drawn to the nearest tags until they've had a fill before going to the next one after a few seconds. Like these things are trying to see if I have enough chakra to safely power the next tag before they start taking my excessive energy. These things probably draw even more power from nature around them."
"Hmph, the Uzumaki seem devious indeed. No wonder they were so heavily opposed." Sasuke closed his eyes and adjusted his expensive scarf. "Having entered this place, it feels like ever since we set foot through that sealing barrier, a thousand eyes have been watching me intently."
Iruka's eyes went wide. Sealing barrier? What? When? How? Iruka had not felt a shift in the air. He had experienced no change in the rhythm of his chakra. There was no difference in sound or sight. He had not even seen them approach a wall or sealing tags when they were walking.
"You seem confused, Iruka-sensei." Naruto noticed, his smile dimming a bit at the way Iruka was looking around in a small panic.
"Yeah," Iruka admitted, because it was only Naruto and Sasuke around him. As the actual ninja between the three, Iruka should have been the first to notice everything and assess its safety for his two students. "I never noticed a barrier or any sealing tags before entering this place. Everything appeared the same as before turning that corner."
"Iruka-sensei," Sasuke began, his eyebrow quirked in a show of patience, "we never turned a corner. That was the illusion of the sealing barrier. On that corner you believed we turned was the sealing tags that hid this place from you and me."
Naruto puffed out his chest a little, "By me being an Uzumaki by blood, I didn't even see the illusion. I did see eight glowing tags on the archway we passed under the wall. Passing through it made me feel funny, and I had to drag the two of you through it because you were both just standing there like a couple of drifters for a while."
Iruka rubbed his chin in thought, "Hmm, sounds to me like the old Compulsion and False Canopy seals that were employed by the Uzumaki clan during the Second Great War. I know a little about sealing, such as identifying and disabling the more common ones, but that is the extent of my knowledge. Everything else I know only from a historical context."
Naruto was grinning like a fox now. "Then that makes me your sensei in the subject, Iruka-sensei. I've been studying seals for a couple of years now. I've even gotten access to the really complex stuff sent to me ever since a few months ago. Apparently, I have a godfather who is a super busy spy ninja. He's off on a long-term mission, but when the old man told the guy about my success in sealing, he sent me his personal scrolls in the art."
"A godfather?" Iruka was both shocked and angry about the information. Naruto had someone out there that was supposed to be taking care of him? Finding out the man was a ninja eased Iruka's angry only a little, because there was no mission—no matter how long— that lasted for ten whole years.
Where was this man? Why had Iruka never met him in all his time protecting and teaching Naruto?
The Third Hokage obviously knew the guy's identity, so why had he never told Iruka, so he could be on the lookout for him, or so back when Naruto was young and asking about his family, Iruka could have explained that the only person with some connection to him was far away helping to defend the peace of the village. That would have been a lot better than having to tell Naruto that he was alone in the world, but would always have Iruka if he ever needed him.
Iruka's fists clenched tight at his sides. Naruto deserved better than loneliness. Naruto was a bright kid, with an ocean's worth of determination and good heart. Iruka knew that if he barged his way into the Hokage's office and demanded answers, the Third would simply point out that Iruka had no such clearance to that level of information. Anything around Naruto was highly classified, only being told to anyone, including Naruto himself, on a need-to-know basis.
But that just opened up an entire can of worms that Naruto himself probably didn't consider yet.
If he had a godfather, then maybe he had a godmother as well. Maybe there was an entire family out there, or inside the village, that knew more about him. Maybe there were ninja who walked around the village that knew Naruto on a more personal level. Maybe even ANBU or Jonin-level operatives who could tell him about his parents. Maybe even the ones who were ordered to protect him on a regular basis were actually doing it not because of orders, but because they knew who Naruto really was.
Iruka had to take a deep breath and calm himself before he got truly enraged. Sometimes the secrets within a ninja village affected them on an all too personal level. It was unavoidable. But it still pissed Iruka off when those kinds of secrets had to make children suffer.
For the first time in a long time, Iruka wasn't sure who he could trust.
Was Mizuki secretly someone who knew Naruto's parents and guarded him by taking up the position of his assistant? Iruka had always been a little suspicious of Mizuki's sudden reassignment to their classroom. Iruka was one of the only teachers who could keep order in his class and he went through lessons smoothly on his own for the most part. It was odd that Mizuki stated his reassignment was due to personal conduct on his missions. Only super aggressive ninja, or those who completed missions under questionable means were taken off active duty for that. Mizuki was as mild and agreeable as Iruka had ever known.
Was it possible that Mizuki was secretly safeguarding Naruto?
Iruka liked to think so.
"Iruka-sensei! Come on, man! Stop daydreaming, dattebayo!" Naruto waved from down the street as Iruka blinked, finally realizing that he had been thinking too hard about something that could wait until later. "We've found the place we've been looking for. We need your help getting these wood panels off the entrance. I'll remove the seal tags. Easy peasy, dattebayo!"
Iruka shook his head as he walked over to his young students. Despite how angry he was for Naruto, he had to remind himself that only Naruto could express those emotions for himself. If Naruto chose to forgive the people of the village, then he'd be a better person than Iruka.
Could Naruto forgive the village once he learned the truth of his situation?
Iruka liked to think so. He truly did…
A/N: Yes, for those who might be wondering, I did use Kazuma and Mimori from "s-CRY-ed". Now that was an anime/manga! It did power-scaling right, and the action was amazing!
If you've never heard of it, check it out!
And yes, both Sakura's dad and Ino's mom are as close to those characters as I'd like them to be for this story. Will they be fighting? Probably not, but that's not the point. I just wanted to throw in a little something interesting in the background.
Go watch s-CRY-ed! Like right now!
Forget the REVIEW! Go watch that anime! NOW!
But seriously, you will not regret it! Especially not once you get to any of the Kazuma vs. Ryuhou fights. Amazing!
Until Next Time, See Ya!