Chapter 30


"Ten years from now, a month will seem like a pretty short amount of time. In fifty years, it will seem even shorter. If you somehow become immortal and/or live for thousands of years, you'll probably be mixing up decades when looking back on your life.

That doesn't change the fact a month still feels like forever in the present."


The next morning Gaku-sensei finally resurfaced, appearing at the apartment just after Sasuke left. He looked a bit more tired than usual, bags hanging under his eyes signaling a lack of sleep the past few days, but he still smiled at Masaru when he answered the door.

The two exchanged greetings and Masaru quickly brought him up to speed on his newest training developments in regards to Foxfire. Gaku couldn't fill him in on his own activities, since that went against ANBU code and all. Eventually though, they got down to business.

"So Masaru..." Gaku smiled, and suddenly Masaru felt a small pang of concern. "As you know, the third phase of the Chuunin Exams is a big tournament, right?"

"...Yes?" That small pang of concern had started to evolve into a bit of dread.

"And that naturally draws in a large crowd, including a lot of foreign dignitaries."

"...Y-yeah..." That bit of dread started to snowball into full-fledged foreboding.

"Well, obviously most foreigners won't know the way to Konoha, so someone has to guide them here."

And at that point Masaru felt a sudden urge to run and hide for reasons he couldn't understand.

Two weeks later, he decided it must have been a premonition.

"Are we almost there?" he groaned, trailing after Gaku, Izumo and Aoba with a slight frown.

"The meeting point's just up ahead," Gaku told him, offering him a sheepish smile. "I know you're probably getting a bit tired. After this one, I'll ask the Hokage for a break."

"Please let him agree," Masaru mumbled, clasping his hands together as if praying. Over the past two weeks he felt like he'd spent more time out of the village than inside, constantly being sent out as part of a welcome party for various visiting dignitaries. The Hokage had decided to have him continue testing the waters with the diplomatic field, and while he appreciated the chance to leave Konoha, the constant meet-and-greet with various foreign nobles had slowly started to grate on his nerves.

Ahead of them Aoba snorted and rolled his eyes. "At least we don't have to escort a bunch of snotty nobles this time," he commented. "Those are the worst."

"...Please don't mention that," Masaru groaned, hanging his head. Izumo smiled at him consolingly and patted his arm.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you won't have any more princesses trying to seduce you this time," he teased, and Masaru shot him a sour look. Two missions happened to involve some high-ranking aristocratic girl who grew enamored with Masaru, much to his discomfort. As far as he could tell, their attraction stemmed less from Masaru himself and more the mystique of his shinobi status, since apparently ninja were quite rare outside hidden villages.

Of course, he had no idea how to respond to clients flirting with him (oh kami he might cause an international incident what if they declare war crapcrapcrap) and could only smile and nod while trying not to panic. Apparently they found his awkward fumbling "adorable" though, which made it worse.

At least his distress entertained his companions though.

...Yeah, no, he might be starting to hate the chuunin and tokujo he'd worked with. At least this time Kotetsu wasn't there, he might be the worst of them all.

Sighing, Masaru pulled away from Izumo and did his best to ignore the quiet snicker from the chuunin, instead thinking about the mission at hand. This time, they would be escorting the leader from Taki and a small entourage of guards, which should make for a short and simple mission. There wouldn't be any ignorant nobles to guide around, and only the stupidest of bandits would try to attack a group exclusively composed of trained shinobi.

Yet that's exactly the scene they stumbled upon.

To be fair, instead of a group the bandits chose to target a lone girl who happened to be napping against a tree. Easy mistake, but she also had a hitai-ate on her arm clearly bearing the symbol for Taki.

The quartet of Leaf ninja just watched blankly from a cluster of trees as the horde of five bandits crept towards the napping girl, preparing to pounce. Gaku tapped Masaru's shoulder to get his attention. "Masaru, want to take lead and get some actual combat experience?" he whispered, and Masaru blinked at him before shrugging.

Ultimately, taking the bandits down proved surprisingly easy. One of them swung a sickle on a chain at him, but he had no proper control over it and Masaru easily sidestepped it, letting it pierce another bandit conveniently standing behind him. Another one tried to club him over the head but he just ducked under it while simultaneously lashing out with a kick, sending him flying into another guy.

Then he spun and delivered a flying kick to the final guy's torso, sending him crashing to the ground. He groaned and started to get up, but Masaru elbowed the back of his head, successfully knocking him out. As he stood panting over the unconscious man, he suddenly noticed a shadow towering over him and spun around to see the one who'd been hit by the one with the club standing behind him, a wild look in his eye as he raised a large combat knife over his head.

However, before he could thrust it downwards a wooden pillar suddenly spit out of the ground, hitting him right in the chin.

Masaru just watched in shock as the man fell back, his shoulders drooping in mild bewilderment. Izumo gave a low whistle of appreciation as he and the others stepped out of the trees. "Not bad, kid. You've got a good mind for fighting." Masaru didn't respond right away, still staring at the fallen man and the wooden column still protruding from the ground.

"Um... how did...?" He trailed off, shooting the others heavily confused looks.

"Ah, d-don't worry about it," Aoba said quickly, waving his hands in a placating manner as he moved to restrain the bandits.

"But... isn't that... Mokuton? Wood element?" At this point he started looking around the clearing warily, half-expecting Senju Hashirama's ghost would suddenly jump out of the trees with a boisterous laugh or something. His mom always said that great ninja had workarounds for death...

Aoba started sweating furiously, giving a small, nervous nap. "Um... no?" Izumo edged a bit closer to Gaku and partially blocked him from Masaru's line of sight while the older man ran through some hand seals. Masaru jumped when the wooden pillar suddenly retracted into the earth, his confusion only growing.

Before he could question it further Izumo quickly spoke up, dashing his thoughts. "Is that girl really still asleep?" he asked incredulously, and the other three paused before turning to look. Sure enough, the girl remained curled up on the ground, having even rolled over at some point during the fray to quietly snore on her side. The four shinobi just stared at her in various states of disbelief, not sure what to make of it.

"FU!"

Masaru jumped at the sudden yell, and the girl startled awake and bolted upright with a squeak. Turning around, the Leaf ninja found a group of men approaching at a quick jog, all wearing headbands bearing a stylized waterfall. One, a young man with long brown hair, skidded to a stop and looked at the scene in shock before leveling the girl with an exasperated-looking frown. "Fu..."

"What? I just woke up! You can't blame me!" She crossed her arms and pouted at him childishly, and the man just sighed in frustration.

"...Shibuki-san?" Aoba guessed, looking between him and the green-haired girl a bit incredulously, and the man paused before turning to him with a startled look.

"Ah! I'm sorry, I forgot to greet you! Please forgive my rudeness! I am Shibuki, the leader of Taki." He quickly dipped his torso in a bow, and for some reason Masaru felt a sudden sense of kinship with the nervous young man.

Then he felt eyes boring into his back, and he slowly turned to see the girl—Fu—staring at him with sparkling orange eyes.

Oh.

Oh no.

Wincing, he quietly edged closer to Gaku and Fu turned her head to follow him, not even blinking. His teacher looked fairly amused by his predicament, and he could hear Izumo suppressing a snicker. Fu's head slowly tilted to the side and her eyes seemed to sparkle even more, blinking at him curiously. Before she could speak though Shibuki stalked over to her and lightly smacked her arm, giving the girl an admonishing look. "Don't sneak off like that Fu! You had me really worried!"

"But, Shibuki," she protested, frowning at him. "Nothing happened!"

"Uh, I wouldn't say nothing," Gaku muttered, glancing at the fallen bandits. Fu turned to look at them and stepped back in surprise.

"What the—when did that happen?"

"While you were napping?" Izumo interjected, looking a bit bemused. The other two Waterfall ninja leveled a scolding look on Fu, who wilted and smiled sheepishly.

"Oh... R-right. Eheh, sorry..."

Shibuki sighed, shaking his head as he turned back to the Leaf ninja. "Thank you for helping protect Fu. I apologize for any trouble you may have endured because of her."

"Oh, don't thank us," Aoba said, smirking slightly as he patted Masaru's shoulder. "Thank Masaru-chan here. He took them down himself." And just like that he had Fu's undivided attention once more, her eyes now glittering with awe and excitement. Within seconds she was right in front of him, making him stumble back in shock.

"You! You're my age!" she gasped, her face lighting up with a giant grin. "Oh my gosh I've never met a foreign ninja my age! Well I haven't met many foreign ninja period but still this is so cool! I'm Fu! Do you want to be friends?"

Masaru just stared at her in mild shock, a little overwhelmed by her highly energetic and enthusiastic demeanor. Every second he didn't respond her smile grew a little less wide and the sparkle in her eye began to fade bit by bit, the excited gleam replaced by a strangely familiar loneliness, and then—

Blue replaced orange and gold replaced green, and suddenly he saw Naruto in her place, staring at him with eager anticipation.

Just as soon as the vision appeared it vanished, leaving Masaru staring at Fu once more. Surprised, he blinked and rubbed his eyes, and by the time he lowered his hands her smile had faded and her face reminded him of a wilted flower, disappointment and resignation dully reflected in her eyes as she looked down. The sight tugged at his heart, bringing renewed visions of a younger Naruto with that same look.

At that moment he knew that if he left her like that, he would never be able to look Naruto in the eye again.

"S-sure," he said quickly, plastering on a feeble smile. "I'll be your friend."

Fu's face instantly brightened into one of the biggest smiles he'd ever seen, her entire body seeming to glow as she leapt into the air with an overjoyed shout. "YES! I made a friend! I made a friend! I finally have a friend now!" Grabbing his hands, she squeezed them and looked into his eyes with an excited grin, the air around her seeming to shimmer and glitter. "Oh my gosh this is so amazing! Ah, what do friends do? Oh! Oh! Maybe we could spar or we could play hide and seek or maybe—"

"Uh, Fu, sorry to interrupt," Shibuki suddenly interjected, "But you do realize that you're not going to Konoha, right?"

Fu froze, slowly turning to look at Shibuki with her smile frozen. "Huh?"

"You're not going to Konoha with us," he repeated, and sighed as he turned to Gaku. "Fu's actually not supposed to be here, but she snuck out of the village to follow us. Kegon-san," he nodded to one of the men, "came to escort her back, but she snuck off and ran ahead. We were just looking for her when Shintoki sensed the fight. Sorry again about that."

"Don't worry about it," Gaku assured him with a smile. "We've been wanting a chance for Masaru-kun to get some actual battle experience anyway, so it worked out fine for us."

"Oh, I see. That's... good, then?" Shibuki seemed a bit hesitant, but it faded as he turned back to Fu. "Anyways, I'm sorry Fu, but you need to go back. Now."

"But... We just met..." She pouted as she glanced between him and Masaru, and then let out a melodramatic whine. "Shibuuuukiiii, I just made a friend! Don't make me leave alreadyyyy!"

"Fu," one of the other Waterfall ninja said in a warning tone, and she groaned loudly, now seeming to radiate despair. Masaru felt a tinge of a panic as she began to grow increasingly upset, mainly because he did not really know how to handle upset people and also because she still had a death grip on his hands.

"I-it's okay!" he said quickly. "We can still be friends! S-somehow..." He glanced to Gaku pleadingly, silently begging for help, and his teacher shot him a startled look.

"Well, uh, you could, ah," he started, glancing to Shibuki. The leader of Taki seemed equally flustered by his genin's growing despair.

"W-well, we'll think of... something," he said quickly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "But right now, you really need to go back, okay Fu?" Still disappointed, she sighed and nodded, her expression reminding Masaru a bit of a sad puppy as she released her hold on his hands.

"Okay," she mumbled dejectedly, and then turned to Masaru. "But someday you have to come to Taki! Pleeaaaase?" The puppy-dog look grew even stronger as she clasped her hands together, her face pleading and begging him to agree.

"Um, if the Hokage and Shibuki-sama let me I will," he promised, offering her a feeble smile. Cue excited cheer from Fu and another excited jump, this time soaring even higher than the last time. (Did... did gravity affect her? At all?) Fluttering to the ground, she grinned at him and clasped his hands once more.

"I'm holding you to that!" she declared brightly, and Masaru's smile grew a little less feeble.


"So you got to take down your first bandits, helped escort the leader of an allied village, and met a cute girl? Quite the player, aren't you Masaru-kun?"

Tenten smirked cheekily at Masaru as she sucked a piece of kung pao chicken off her chopsticks, making the Uchiha groan embarrassedly and shrink into his seat. After guiding Shibuki and his remaining guard to Konoha, the Hokage graciously granted Masaru a reprieve from escort missions in light of his first real battle, much to his relief. On his first day back he'd run into Tenten, and since the pair had developed a loose friendship from their sparring matches, he'd readily accepted when she invited him to grab lunch together.

Between leaving the village to escort visitors and training to learn Foxfire, Masaru hadn't really seen any of the other genin over the past two weeks. He'd only seen Sasuke once, when his cousin had stopped by the apartment to shower. Meanwhile he'd seen Naruto twice, but the whiskered boy spent most of his time with Jiraiya, who had agreed to train him for the preliminaries, partially due to a joint effort between Naruto and Masaru.

Masaru paused as he remembered that little episode. The day Gaku-sensei told him about their itinerary for the month, Masaru had met with Jiraiya to have him supervise his own training session only for Naruto to arrive an hour into it. Apparently Kakashi arranged for him to study under some other guy Naruto called a closet pervert, but Naruto then remembered Sakura's explanation about the Sannin and thus decided Jiraiya must be a better teacher.

"Look, kid, I'm really not in the mood to do any hands-on training," the Toad Sage muttered, shrugging lazily. "I'm perfectly fine just supervising Masaru-kun right now. Kid doesn't need any hands-on help yet with the jutsu he's learning, so I can work on other important stuff at the same time."

Even as he spoke Jiraiya sat near a tree hunched over a manuscript, brush in hand as he jotted down undoubtedly riveting adventures. Or more likely just erotic fiction, judging by the creepy smile and giggle that sometimes slipped out. Naruto just stared at him sourly, not buying it.

"Yeah right! You're just writing more of those stupid perverted books!" he yelled, his face turning bright red as he jabbed a finger at the sage. "You just want an excuse to be lazy!" A tick mark appeared on Jiraiya's forehead, setting down the brush as he looked at Naruto with a smile full of gritted teeth.

"Now listen here, kid, I don't have time—"

"Jiraiya-sama," Masaru suddenly interrupted, and both males turned in surprise to the Uchiha. Smiling serenely at the Toad Sage, Masaru's eyes abruptly bled red as the Sharingan formed. "Please train Naruto."

Masaru smirked as he remembered how the perverted sage had shuddered and agreed on the condition Masaru never did that again. Apparently the Sharingan looked extra creepy when paired with a perfectly placid and polite smile, which he personally found kind of hilarious.

"Seriously though, great job," Tenten commented, drawing him back to the present. "I'm glad to know our sparring matches helped you out too."

Masaru paused, a thought occurring to him. "Sasuke told me Neji made it through, but he didn't tell me about any of the matches." Recognizing his underlying question, Tenten huffed a small sigh and reclined in her seat.

"I lost to a guy from Ame, Nao something," she admitted sheepishly. "It was actually pretty close, but he hit one of my empty weapon scrolls with a water bullet loaded with senbon, and it totally shredded it. I don't know what would happen if a full storage scroll got shredded like that, and I was already pretty beat up and tired by that point anyway, so I decided to cut my losses and forfeit."

Masaru nodded in understanding. Storage scrolls could get pretty pricey, and while Tenten had found a knack for making them it still took her a lot of time. On top of that, if a full scroll got destroyed that might just destroy its contents too, which would create a major setback for her. "Well, at least you got some experience," he commented with a shrug, and she smiled.

"Yeah. I thought I'd be more disappointed, but I'm actually pretty satisfied just making it that far on my first go. Next time I'll definitely make chuunin!" Her words carried a strong note of confidence that made Masaru smile, feeling no doubts that she would.

"Yeah, well, I'm definitely not satisfied." The pair turned towards the new voice to find Kiba walking towards their table, Akamaru sitting on his head like always. His entrance surprised Masaru since they'd never actually interacted that much, and it only grew when he plopped into one of the empty chairs. "I still can't believe I got taken out by that Oto chick so easily. Dammit, it annoys me just thinking about it!" Akamaru yipped in agreement, his fur standing slightly on end in a show of irritation.

"Well, to be fair, she used sound-based genjutsu," Tenten pointed out. "And you're an Inuzuka, you kinda have super-canine-hearing. It was a bad match up."

"Yeah, yeah, but that still doesn't make it any less frustrating. I'm the only one from my team that didn't make it to the finals!" Akamaru jumped off his head just before Kiba slammed his face onto the table, groaning lowly. "Dammit, this month is so boring. Shino and Hinata are off training with their dads and me and Akamaru are stuck doing D-ranks all on our own!"

Figuring he should probably try to say something comforting, Masaru awkwardly offered, "At least you don't have to escort foreign noble girls who keep flirting with you...?" Kiba raised his head to stare at him in shock, even Tenten looking at him slightly askance.

"You escort nobles?" Kiba stammered in disbelief. "And they hit on you? No fair! That sounds awesome!"

"I haven't even met a noble yet," Tenten moaned, sinking into her seat dejectedly. "We got to escort a merchant to the capital who had to meet the daimyo, but we didn't even get to walk past the gates of the capital. We just got the payment and turned right around."

Obviously, Masaru's attempt to comfort Kiba had the opposite effect. "It's really not that great," he protested weakly. "They'd giggle at everything I say and kept acting super clumsy so I'd catch them. And I can't even train around them because I might burn them."

"You're working on fire jutsu?" Thankfully his newest attempt at redirection apparently worked, because Tenten looked at him with a renewed interest. Relieved, Masaru smiled and bobbed his head in confirmation.

"Yeah, it's called Foxfire. My mom made it. It basically combines taijutsu with katon. I'm still working out all the kinks, but I got a good start."

Training had been slow going due to all the escort missions. He'd gotten the fireball down and received a pair of gloves lined with fireproof seals from Jiraiya, but his first few attempts to "snag" the fireball hadn't gone too well as it usually dissipated before he could infuse it with chakra. Then when Masaru finally got it, he'd been so surprised his focus slipped, and the fire died out instantly.

It took him five more tries to get it again, and since then he'd just been working on holding it. So far he could maintain it for a little under three minutes before his control slipped, and that was without the usual distractions of battle. Not to mention he couldn't do any of the shape manipulation Jiraiya showed off yet.

Needless to say, he had a long way to go before he'd feel ready to use it in a fight.

"Wait, so when you say it combines katon and taijutsu, do you mean you have flaming punches and all that?" Kiba asked, leaning forward with a renewed interest.

"Y-yeah, I guess?" Masaru shrugged, feeling a bit unsettled by the sudden gleam in his eyes. The Inuzuka clearly had an idea now, and judging by the fact even Akamaru looked at him with a sympathetic face, he could guess it would not end well for him.

"All this talk is getting me really motivated," Kiba declared with a cocky grin. "Akamaru and I need to step up our game." The dog yipped and wagged his tail, seeming to flash his own confident smile to match his partner's. Masaru just smiled, though he still felt a bit uneasy. Time to go.

"I should too," he declared, getting up. "I'll see you later, I guess?" He nodded at them before he turned and quickly started to walk away, only to be stopped by a harsh tug on his collar. Jerking to a halt with a startled yelp, he turned to see Kiba standing behind him with a predatory smirk.

"You think you can just walk away?" he taunted, his lips curling back to bare his teeth in a feral grin. "Tough luck Uchiha. Akamaru and I need a sparring partner." With that he grabbed Masaru's arm and started dragging him away, the Uchiha boy too stunned to protest. He shot a desperate look at Tenten but she just smiled and shrugged, waving him off.

At that Masaru just resigned himself to his fate and started following Kiba of his own will. He'd never fought a canine before, so this would be good experience. Not experience he'd likely need in the field, since not many shinobi used animal partners, but still.

Besides, maybe getting some actual physical practice with Foxfire would help him figure out the kinks.


Physical practice did not help as much as he wanted.

Masaru frowned as he stood before the gates, his feet rooted in place and his gaze locked on the ground. A faded emblem of a large red and white fan decorated the wall, the once bright paint worn and chipped from years of neglect.

Visiting the Uchiha Clan compound never felt pleasant. Every time he walked through the gates flashes of blood-soaked streets flashed through his mind, glassy eyes staring at him from faces contorted in soundless agonized screams. Each passing year the memories faded bit by bit, growing duller and a little less detailed, but even so they still held a startling clarity that left him sick to his stomach.

Right now, Masaru just wanted to turn around and walk away as fast as possible, but he knew he had to go inside. Progress with Foxfire had been too slow, and he didn't want to disturb Naruto's own training by asking Jiraiya for help. Gaku of course tried to help too, but he had no affinity for fire which limited his capabilities to help. As the creator of the jutsu, Masaru thought his mother must naturally have more detailed notes on it somewhere, so he had to go to there.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he took a deep breath and forced himself to walk through the gates. Even after all these years, the path to his old house had burned deep into his memory. He navigated the streets blindly, moving at a brisk pace but not running as he wove around the many corners and side streets. When he opened his eyes again his old house stood in front of him, and he quietly unlocked the front door.

A plethora of familiar scents assaulted him when he stepped inside, nearly staggering at the abrupt rush of deja vu it produced. His house didn't have a specific smell to it he could identify like flowers or paint, but it still had its own unique scent that just smelled like home. Masaru's heart twisted with nostalgia and longing as he slowly walked through the house, each corner and open door bringing back a flood of memories both fond and painful.

His mother's study remained untouched from his last visit two years ago. He'd anticipated the fine layer of dust on everything, and pulled out a rag to start cleaning off the books. Wiping off the last row, Masaru set the dusty rag on the desk and started examining the titles. While he'd taken a good chunk of books to his room over the years, he never failed to feel awestruck by the sheer variety of topics in his mother's personal study. An Abridged History of Kiri. A Beginner's Handbook to Bukijutsu. Psychology of Genjutsu. Folklore of Uzushio.

His lips quirked into a small smile at the last one, pulling it off the shelf. The book looked a bit older than most in her collection, the hard cover slightly cracked and faded from age. Hazy memories of his mother sitting at his bedside reading from the book flickered through his mind, the swirling whirlpools decorating the cover strangely hypnotic as he listened to her melodic voice recite the stories inside.

Smiling fondly, he gently set it on the desk to take home before resuming his search. Fiction and nonfiction had been mixed together across the various shelves, the books arranged with no apparent logic or organization save for a few scattered clusters of semi-related books. It made it easy to lose track of his objective, various titles on the spines catching his attention and distracting him. He grabbed a couple on the Sharingan, as well as one on puppetry and another on poisons.

Finally Masaru noticed a cluster of notebooks squeezed between several thick textbooks, and his mouth curved into a triumphant smirk as he quickly pulled them out. Handwritten titles adorned each cover to hint at the contents, and as he sorted through the small stack he paused when he found one titled 'Katon Experiments.' Bingo.

Quickly opening it, he skimmed the pages and found it contained a series of diagrams and complicated notes on chakra theory. Ryoko had included rough sketches depicting how the final techniques might look, so when he found one showing a fist surrounded by fire he easily identified it as Foxfire. A quick glance at the writing revealed no major shortcuts, but it did detail some new training techniques that would help speed his work.

Satisfied, he closed it and set it on the pile of books he'd amassed to take home, only to pause when he noticed the book that had been beneath it. Unlike the others this one had a perfectly blank cover, save for a small drawing of an Uchiha fan in the corner. Curious, Masaru opened it to find a sketch of a young woman's face staring at him.

The drawing had been done in pencil, smudged shading giving her skin a darker tone that reminded him of Cloud ninja. Her hair had an asymmetrical cut to it, dark curls bounding down the left side of her head while her right side had been shaved to the ear to leave only light fuzz. He had no idea who she was, but her smile seemed rather coy.

Curiosity piqued, he began flipping through the pages, finding more drawings. Some depicted similar headshots of unfamiliar people, a few wearing hitai-ate from other villages, but as he continued looking he began to recognize more and more familiar faces. A portrait of Sasuke's mother arranging flowers, a picture of who he recognized to be Shisui unsheathing a tanto. A more full drawing of Jiraiya spying from some bushes with a perverted grin, while an unfamiliar light-haired woman loomed behind him with an ominous glare.

Idly studying the various drawings, Masaru turned another page only to freeze. A long-haired woman stood with her hands folded over her heart, her eyes closed and her mouth curved into a peaceful smile offset by the small trickle of blood dripping from the right corner. Behind her the Kyuubi's face glowered at him, its pupils sharp pinpricks and the irises shaded in a way that made them seem to glow, even in just pencil.

Shuddering, he slowly closed the sketchbook and added it to the pile of books to take home. He could look at it later, for now he decided to go home and get to work.


Remember when I asked for OC names a while back? We are now entering the period where they become relevant! Nao comes from ididn'tdoityoucan'tproveit, on fanfiction. Aomine Shintoki comes from KioshiUshima, on the same site. Thanks for the suggestions! Some more names will appear next chapter!

However, before I go, a major announcement: I will be cutting down to one chapter a week. I'm back in class now, and even though it's only been two weeks it's already limiting my free time—and I haven't even been to my job since the semester started! Right now I'm on Chapter 37 in the draft, so that would mean only three weeks of chapters if I do two updates a week. Editing chapters to post them can take anywhere from half an hour to two because I'll rewrite parts I feel are lacking or feel too jumbled or rambly, and I'd rather use my limited free time to create new content. I'm sorry to cut down on updates when you're used to two. But I do want to be able to post with some regularity.

I'll still post every Monday, so see you then!