Obligatory Disclaimer: The series Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto; I only own the OCs, picture, and this story.
Chapter 17: Of Explosions and Planning
As I expected, Obito immediately rushed to clash with Kakashi when the match began, leaving me alone with Rin who watched me cautiously. It was obvious that the girl didn't want to fight a five year old as there was a moment of hesitation before she steeled herself and began circling around me with a kunai in hand. I stood still in position, keeping track of her in my peripheral. I didn't know how she fought so I would have to be careful with how I went about the match. My muscles were tense and I was ready to strike.
Rin ran towards me, throwing her kunai at me as she did. It flew slightly on the slow side; Shisui threw them much more quickly, especially after I had taught him my little secret technique. It was kind of scary how quickly the boy picked up skills, but then again, I was one to talk.
Snapping into form, I activated my byakugan just as the dangerous weapon came into arm's length and slapped it out of the air with a palm thinly coated in chakra. Thanking my friends in the back of my mind for all the practice, I enjoyed the look of surprise on her face for a moment before speeding towards her. After spending hours upon hours training, I had come to a point where I no longer hesitated when it came to fighting people full out.
I'll just say that it was very helpful having an iryō-nin around when training.
Rin's face tightened as she prepared to defend herself and we met face to face. Apprehension shone in her eyes as she looked down at me, hesitant to strike, and I grinned at her before flickering away and behind her. It wasn't exactly a shunshin, but a modified, short-ranged version of it, using the premise of the body flicker to get behind an opponent. I was small so I had to hit hard and fast.
Rin could barely turn before I was on her. Since I didn't want to do any long-term damage to the girl, I held back the extent of my chakra, simply clogging the tenketsu in her thigh and the offending arm that tried to strike me. When the Nohara fell to her knees, I took the chance to expand the focus of my byakugan to the other pair of fighters on the field.
Obito wasn't doing so hot. He was on his knees, panting and wincing as he stared up at his masked teammate who didn't seem the least bit rattled. In fact, Kakashi looked absolutely smug. Well, I could fix that.
Running through a series of hand seals, I slammed my fist into the ground.
"Doton: Ganseki Shuriken!"
From the earth, a huge shuriken emerged and flew in the direction of the pair. I quickly rose and sprinted over to Obito, running underneath the shuriken as it cut through the air. Kakashi noticed it right away and leapt back as it exploded into a hundred mini versions of itself, sending him even further away. While he was preoccupied with that, I grabbed the gaping Uchiha and pulled him into the forest nearby, the flickering of lightning sparking behind us as the Hatake continued to destroy the rock assault that raged against him.
Once I felt we were a safe distance away, I tugged the Uchiha into a thick bush to hide ourselves from view. That stunt had cost me a bit of chakra but it was worth it to see the slight shock in Kakashi Hatake's eyes. Shaking my head, I forced myself to focus. There were still things that needed to be done.
"You do know this was meant to be a two on two spar, don't you?" I frowned at the boy. "I believe you aren't meant to abandon your partner in such cases."
Obito turned red. "I can handle Kakashi all on my own!"
"Recent events would prove otherwise," I quipped back as I scanned the perimeter. Before the boy could retort back, I threw a hand over his mouth before he could yell again and give away our position.
"If we're planning to actually win this fight, we'll have to work together Obito-senpai."
He looked like he wanted argue but paused as the word 'senpai' passed my lips. There was even a sparkle in his dark eyes. Oh boy. He pulled my hand away and looked at me seriously. Obito was quiet for a moment then spoke, crossing his arms confidently.
"As your senpai, I will come up with a plan!"
I looked up at him and waited but as minutes ticked by, the boy's brow furrowed in deep thought, the red slowly returned to his face. He so did not have a plan. Sighing with a shake of my head, I pulled the Uchiha closer as an idea wormed its way into my head.
The plan was set, and as I finished laying it out for Obito, Kakashi and Rin stepped into my field of vision. Making eye contact and nodding to each other, we split up, Obito moving through the trees to face them head on and distract them as I doubled back and around. As my partner engaged his teammates, I began to plant smoke bombs down a semi-straight line through the trees, before circling around to where he waited. The others were on my trail as I finished and I hid amongst the leaves as the Uchiha stopped on a lower branch in the tree in front of me.
"Are you done running like a coward Obito?" Kakashi taunted from his spot in the trees, Rin at his side having recovered.
Obito was easily riled up by the other boy. "Just you wait Kakashi!"
His hands moved quickly and he brought his hands up to his mouth.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"
The fireball wasn't as big as the one that had almost incinerated Shisui and I several months ago but it wasn't meant to cause damage. The reasonably sized ball of fire flew towards the other pair who jumped back, the leaves of the trees around us becoming singed as it did. As soon as they moved, I stretched my chakra out as far as I could and activated one of the tags on a nearby tree, causing it to explode with a ferocity I hadn't expected. I dove to another tree as it ignited.
Thanks Noburu.
Kakashi and Rin let out sounds of alarm as they jumped back, being carried away from the forest by a string of explosions fueled by Obito's fireball. I quickly jumped from my hiding spot and attached myself to Obito's back.
"Let's go, senpai!"
With a nod, Obito grabbed my legs and we took off through the trees, around the path of destruction and towards the opening we initially began our fight. I tracked Kakashi and Rin with my byakugan, their chakra flowing anxiously after our attack. I could see Rin coughing and Kakashi was rubbing his eyes furiously. Looks like the pepper smoke bombs were a success.
Unable to stop the grin on my face, I jumped from the Uchiha's back as we landed in the clearing. Pulling wire from our pouches, we nodded to each other and quickly moved to detained the other two. Minato hadn't given any parameters for winning the match after all. As I finished tying up Rin, Obito let out a cry of pain and I turned just as Kakashi swatted him away.
I should've known it wouldn't be that easy.
The Hatake glared at me with irritated eyes, pulling out several shuriken which he threw out and I had to hop away to avoid becoming a pincushion. Obito leapt up and delivered an unsuccessful punch at the other boy who kicked him away and into my direction. Dodging my partner as he fell past, I brought out a kunai and let it fly towards Kakashi who knocked it out of the air with a kunai of his own.
Before I knew it, Kakashi was in my face and I quickly brought up my arms to block the offending strike, channeling chakra into my arms and legs as he pushed me back. I struggled to keep him away, but he was heavier and much stronger than me. Steeling myself, I threw my body backwards, taking the boy with me and vaulting him over with a well-placed foot to his sternum.
He landed with thud and I quickly rolled and moved a few paces back. I didn't want to be close when Kakashi gained his footing; he looked pissed.
I stared back, not as confident as I felt inside, but I eyed the silver haired boy defiantly bringing my arms up, palms facing him. An invitation.
Kakashi ran towards me with a fist and I met him directly, spinning around to dodge the attack. Letting my momentum carry me, I did a 180 and faced him head on, my palm darting out to strike the boy's offending appendage. He managed to jerk away, my strike barely grazing the plating of his forearm guards. He was on me quicker than I could blink, landing a solid punch on my shoulder and sending me into a spin with a cry of pain.
It hurt. The ache that radiated almost distracted me but I pushed through, focusing on my core and fingertips to center myself. I had to counterattack. Using the momentum of his attack, I spun around and struck his elbow before he could dodge. The boy let out a yelp of pain, retreating away from me with a few short hops, his arm effectively incapacitated as it hung at his side.
We stared at each other. Kakashi clutched his limp arm with a brief expression of confusion before it settled on frustration. He had obviously never dealt with a Hyūga's jūken before. Blocked tenketsu were arguably worse than physical, surface punches. Sure, your muscles just felt numb after the initial strike but then it aches and hurts for hours afterwards, even after reopening them. And if they weren't reopened... it wasn't good, reaching fatal levels of bad.
He glared down at me and I tried to match it, even though it took everything I had to not grab at my pulsing shoulder. It was unwise to show weakness in the face of the enemy. Hideyoshi's ridiculous training standards were helpful in some cases; trying to tend to my injuries in the middle of a match would end in a number of lectures and kata drills, so I had learned to ignore the pain somewhat. It didn't change the fact that Kakashi punched like a world class boxer.
Kakashi grabbed a kunai from his holster with his functioning arm and began to sprint towards me. But just as he was about to bring a kunai clenched fist in my direction, my muscles tense in response, a sharp whistle pierced the air.
"I think that's enough for today." Minato appeared within my field of vision, and I fought the urge to jump back in surprise. Why couldn't he just walk up like a normal person? Ninjas were a strange bunch.
I let my byakugan fade as Kakashi disengaged, seeming to reluctantly return the kunai in his grasp into his pouch. Releasing a breath I didn't know I was holding, I gripped at my aching shoulder, moving to help Obito who was still on the ground as Minato went to release his other student. Rin was still coughing a bit as the jōnin lifted her into a standing position. I grabbed my water canteen from my pouch and offered it to the girl.
"I apologize for the pepper bomb. My friend Noburu didn't tell me how potent they were."
The girl took it from my hand gratefully and drank some, Kakashi pulling out his own and rubbing some water into his eyes. I channeled some of my remaining chakra to the muscles in my shoulder to numb the pain.
"That was an interesting fight," Minato commented looking down at the group of us.
From the outside, it would seem as though Obito and I had come out more victorious, but I was sure that Kakashi still would've done some damage had Minato not called off the fight. There was no doubt that the Hatake could kick my ass with one hand, even with the effects of the pepper bomb. Something in the plan must've gone wrong.
I edged towards the blond jōnin when I felt the weight of Kakashi's gaze as he recovered. I was eternally grateful that he didn't have the sharingan. I had no doubt that he would have set me on fire or something equally horrible if he did.
"Hey sensei! We totally won right?" Obito jumped to our side, a wide grin on his face. I frowned.
"I would say it was more of a draw than anything. Why didn't you tie up Kakashi-senpai like we planned?"
The other boy had been preoccupied by the pepper smoke. I was sure that his mask would have stopped some of the effects but he had definitely been distracted by the pepper in his eyes, before he had incapacitated the Uchiha and rounded on me. Obito was plenty clumsy but he was by no means a bad ninja. All he had to do was wrap the Hatake boy in the wire and the match would've been set.
The Uchiha paused in his celebration and looked at me, a sheepish expression that I was becoming familiar with spreading across his face.
"I thought that I could take him down while he was coughing." His voice trailed off into a mumble.
I sighed, giving the boy a deadpan look. Minato chuckled as Rin returned my canteen, offering to take a look at my shoulder in gratitude, which I took immediately.
"Junko-chan has a point Obito," the jōnin said, and the Uchiha deflated from his high.
"Not like that would've helped you any," Kakashi mumbled underneath his breath.
I rolled my eyes. What a sore loser. Or non-loser. It was pretty much a tie, at least that's what I was going to tell myself, ignoring the fact that he would've beat me into the ground if he had the chance to.
"The irritated eyes and non-functional arm would state otherwise," I said blandly. The boy turned his sharp gaze to me in a glare and I hid myself behind Rin after she finished with my shoulder. Kakashi was surprisingly scary, even with most of his face covered.
"Now, now you two. No fighting," Minato said, ever the peacemaker. "Both sides did equally well I must say."
Kakashi huffed but I couldn't help the glimmer of pride that rose in me at the praise.
"I think Junko-chan was exceptional, don't you think?" He smiled down at me before looking over his shoulder. Before I could look around him, a voice I never heard before spoke out in a chipper voice.
"I would say so." The person who appeared, on the other hand, was very familiar.
Kushina Uzumaki.
There was no mistaking the vibrant red hair and for a moment I was star-struck as my mind blue screened. She wasn't wearing the green dress she wore in the series. Instead, she was wearing a Konoha flak jacket with a short-sleeved shirt underneath and the standard pants cut off at the calf, her long hair pulled back into a high ponytail. A hitai-ate was tied proudly around her forehead. She was also carrying what looked like a picnic basket.
"Oh Kushina-san!" Rin greeted as she finished taking care of Kakashi's arm and the boys turned towards her. Kakashi seemed unbothered at her appearance, but Obito was less than pleased.
"What are you doing here?" He squinted at her. "And what's with the get-up?"
Promptly, the red-head slammed the basket onto his head and I jumped back and behind Minato so I wouldn't be caught in the crossfire.
"I am a kunoichi, dattebane!" the woman sneered, her hair starting to rise with her anger. "You brat!"
Obito yelped and threw his arms up to protect his head from further assault.
"Could have fooled me," he mumbled and the woman rose the basket threateningly again before Minato stopped her.
"Kushina." He lifted his arms warily as he looked between them, motioning Kushina with his eyes towards me.
The Uzumaki's violet eyes drifted over to me before widening in surprise, as if just remembering I was here. I blinked up at her. Muttering something underneath her breath, her face spread in an overly friendly smile, which bordered on the creepy side.
"Hello there Junko-chan!" She seemed a bit nervous which was strange. "I'm your jōnin sensei Uzumaki Kushina. Minato's told me a lot about you."
Wait, what? I stared blankly at her. Was this really happening? Apparently my stare unnerved her as Kushina began to sweat a bit.
"I'm really sorry for being late!" She grinned sheepishly, swatting back at Obito who mumbled something else under his breath without turning her eyes from me. "I thought I had more time to get ready. That idiot Wakana told me the wrong time."
Suddenly remembering my manners, and still a bit awestruck, I folded into bow.
"Ah, hello Uzumaki-sensei. It is alright. It's nice to meet you." I rose, giving her my patented smile. "Please take care of me."
Kushina's eyes widened and before I knew it, I was being picked up and squeezed.
"Oh! You're so cute!" she squealed, swinging me side to side. I laid limp in her arms as she did, not really knowing what else to do.
"Kushina, I think you're going a little bit overboard." I thought heard Minato say but I couldn't hear him over all the woman's squealing.
She pulled me away from her and held me at arm's length, her eyes sparkling.
"Look Minato! She's like a mini version of Daichi-san and Kimi mixed together!"
Wait a minute? She knew my parents? Both of them knew my parents?
Minato had an expression of exasperation on his face, mixed with a bit of fondness.
"Yes, I know Kushina. But isn't there something else that you need to be doing?"
The red-head paused for a moment before realization hit and she set me on the ground.
"Right!" Picking up the basket she had dropped on the ground, she gave me a smile that was more genuine.
"Let's get to know each other!"
Having split the picnic basket with Minato's team, Kushina and I sat several feet away on our own blanket enjoying the lunch she made, some onigiri filled with sweet umeboshi. It was really good, almost as good as Aunt Mei's, but mother's would always be my favorite.
Swallowing my mouthful, I looked up at the woman who sat across from me.
"So Junko-chan, tell me about yourself," she grinned. "Things you like, dislike, and dreams for the future, dattebane."
"I like studying and training," I ignored the way her face fell into a frown. "I dislike bullies, and my dreams for the future…"
I trailed off. I didn't know what to expect for the future, but knew what I wanted. Peace. Happiness. Safety. But that wasn't really a dream. I didn't aspire to be Hokage or anything like that and I didn't want to become the head of the Hyūga clan either if I was being honest. I just wanted to survive long enough to help people. To be the person that my parents thought I could be. Maybe have a little family. That was all.
But I couldn't tell her all that. A simple life wasn't available to someone like me. My choices were limited the moment I was named heiress, the moment I was born into this world.
And though I had gotten used to it, it didn't change the fact that I was interacting and making friends with people who would soon die tragically. Especially if events happened as they were meant to. If that wasn't an uncomfortable realization, I don't know what was.
Shaking my head to refocus, I smiled up at her.
"My dream for the future is to be a good leader for my clan."
Kushina did not look happy at that.
"Is that all you do, training and studying?" She frowned, a mixture of muted anger and sadness her eyes.
"I do spend time outside with friends I've made in the academy." I couldn't tell her that most days we spent the time sparring and training; I had a feeling it wouldn't go well.
"It is what's expected of me," I continued when the frown didn't disappear from her face. I looked down at my lap, rubbing away some dirt that I had missed from the spar off my yukata before meeting her gaze. "I enjoy the training and studying, honestly."
It wasn't as though there was anything else I could do with such a tiny body. I had also loved learning new things Before, so it wasn't that much of a big deal now. And with Noburu, Akane, and Shisui, I wasn't lonely.
Kushina seemed to want to say something but held her tongue instead, looking very much displeased.
"Uzumaki-sensei." I needed to distract her; who knows what she would do to the clan head if I didn't? I could see her hair starting to rise. "How do you know my parents?"
She blinked in surprise before frowning again.
"Well, you were very little when I first saw you so it makes sense that you don't remember," Kushina said to herself before nodding. "Kimi didn't say anything about me?"
I think I would've remembered talk about the infamous redhead. Then again, my memory was hazy before the whole realization that I was in a fictional world made reality. I shook my head.
"Kimiko was the first person I met when I came to Konoha and we lived in the Senju compound together with Mito-obāsama. She's like a big sister to me."
A warm smile spread across her face at the memory and my eyes widened. How many connections did my parents have? I certainly didn't remember anyone with my mother's appearance in the anime but it couldn't possibly cover everything. And this was a new reality. Who knew what else was different from canon?
"She and Daichi-san were in one of the upper classes when Minato and I were entering the academy," she continued, squinting down at me. "You take after him a lot, dattebane. So serious all the time."
The woman stared me down for a moment longer before clapping her hands together.
"Alright, this is how this is going to work," she began, a grin spreading across her face. "First, you will refer to me as Kushina-shishou or Kushina-obachan, no formal stuff."
She was really intense and I nodded obediently when she looked at me expectantly.
"Okay, Kushina-shishou."
"Second, you will take breaks when I say so. No training, no ifs, ands, or buts. You may be a genin but you're still a child. You shouldn't overwork yourself."
I wanted to object but at the twinkle in her eye, remembering how she had dealt with Obito, I closed my mouth and nodded.
"And third," she empathized this point by messing with my hair, sending my hitai-ate askew. "Don't be so serious all the time. It's not illegal to be spontaneous every once in a while, dattebane."
I held in my sound of discomfort.
"But shouldn't shinobi take their duties seriously?" I asked.
"Of course." She ruffled my hair more vigorously. "But we're still human beings with emotions, no matter what the academy or your clan tries to tell you."
I was surprised by how out-spoken she was about the whole thing, but nodded all the same. It reminded me of what Aunt Mei had said which seemed forever ago, and in the stress that had built reaching genin level I had forgotten. It had been nonstop studying for me since; even during my trips to Tsukuda's with my friends, I always had a book out. It was a bad habit, and Miho-san had gotten on my case several times for it.
"Okay, Kushina-shishou. I will try."
She smiled down at me before straightening my headband. "Good. Now, for the more boring stuff."
For the rest of our impromptu lunch, after bidding Team Minato goodbye as they had a mission scheduled for the afternoon, Kushina and I planned for our training and mission days. I gave her notice of days I would be unavailable due to clan matters and the Uzumaki woman scheduled rest days periodically through the week just as she had demanded so I wouldn't overdo it. I wanted to argue against it but I saw the need for it, even though I doubted that I would be able to ignore the impulse to train.
It had become routine after all.
Actual training wouldn't start until tomorrow where we would have a better start since we had lost a portion of the day today. But I didn't mind as my head was still reeling because Kushina-freaking-Uzumaki was my sensei, or rather, shishou. And she and the blond bombshell known as Minato Namikaze knew my parents. Sure, I had been acquainted with the man since I was three- though it wasn't the most consistent relationships- but that was minuscule in the knowledge of their relationship with my parents.
Just as we finished solidifying our plans, a hawk cawed somewhere in the distance and Kushina's head shot up with a frown.
"Sorry to cut this short, but the Sandaime is expecting me." The woman gave me a sheepish smile, which I returned with an understanding one.
"It's alright shishou. I'll see you tomorrow."
She grinned, ruffling my hair. "Bright and early, dattebane."
With that, the jōnin flickered away with a poof of smoke, leaving me alone.
Leaving the training field, I found myself in the Akimichi district, sitting in the back of Tsukuda's with a cup of wild sweet orange tea and my planning notebook. When I had first entered the building, Miho-san had grabbed me up in a hug, congratulating me on my promotion. She was sadden by my lack of a team but I reassured her that it was fine and that my shishou was nice. Miho-san had been surprised when I mentioned Kushina's name; she was familiar with the Uzumaki, the woman having visited her little restaurant several times in the past.
Small world.
I wasn't hungry since Kushina's food was very filling, the woman practically stuffing me until I couldn't take anymore. She was similar to Miho-san that way. Once the Akimichi released me and took my order for tea, I went to my usual spot. When I wasn't with Noburu, Akane, and Shisui, I always sat at the back of the room so that I could focus on my planning without peering eyes.
I let my own rove over the familiar English letters as I tried to refresh my memory of the series. My memories of events before Naruto's birth were flimsy at best, though I knew some things. In my looping, cursive script, my eyes settled on a line that I had underlined several times.
'Kannabi Bridge Mission: K (recently promoted-jōnin) leads Team M on mission into Grass. R kidnapped. O 'dies' on retrieval mission in cave-in. K receives eye. Rock nin chase them until M returns.'
I frowned, my heart sinking at the reminder. The words seemed so cold; these were the events leading up to people's deaths, people I had just spent the afternoon with, and I had just written them down as though I was writing down groceries. Shaking my head with a sigh, I continued, just a little more.
'Bridge destroyed. Later mission, R kidnapped by Mist. Three tails sealed. Mist follows. R dies.'
Unable to stare at the bleak words any longer, I closed the notebook and sighed into my cup of tea. What was I going to do? The words loomed over me closer and closer every day that passed. Objectively, I was in a good position; I was being taught by Kushina Uzumaki, who was intimately involved with Minato Namikaze -I hadn't missed the way the pair looked at each other, I wondered if they were married yet- who led the three ninja who were at the center of all this mess. And I had a feeling that spars with the trio would be a recurring thing.
But subjectively…what could I really do?
I was five years old and three and a half feet of book knowledge and chakra control. The byakugan and Jūken would be invaluable; I didn't need height or strength when I could cause severe internal damage with the tap of my fingers. The battlefield though, if I was even allowed to go out on the field, would be another challenge. Not hesitating during a spar was one thing; could I really fight against enemy ninja in the same way? Would I be able kill another human being? Sure I could fight, but would I kill?
Could I kill?
Maybe…maybe as long as I could make it through the war, everything would turn out alright. Maybe I could influence something into changing for the better.
I would have to get stronger. I didn't know how much time I had left before the shit hit the fan but I would have to. I didn't have any other choice. The only way I would be able to do anything is if I went all in. Graduating the academy would be nothing compared to the amount of effort and stress I would undergo in order to stop all this tragedy from happening. And it would be worth it if I was able to pull it off.
I could only hope.
Author's Notes
Posted/Edited: December 17th, 2016
Minor edits: February 20th, 2017
...
As always, thanks to everyone who has followed/favorite this story so far, I appreciate it!
Reviews
Thanks to academysscholar314, AmericanNidiot, lizyeh2000, BlackDove WhiteDove, tatewaki2000, Judgment of the Arbiter, starsarebright, Guest, blahlina17 ShugoYuuki123, Sekai Kun, NatNicole, Guest, MerryKitten, kirika o7, An Echo in Time, Heitor, k123, chloemika, Keira16, one who reads too much, Palaserece, FreelanceBum, Determined Dancer, calcu22, Scarla Roza, Guest, Mari, Tamani, ElementalFoxGoddess, and Guest for reviewing on the last chapter.
Considering the growth of this fic, there may come a time when I won't be able to list off everyone who reviewed but for now I will continue to. But I will always try respond to questions. However that's for the future, for now let's get to some reviews.
-academysscholar314 asked, "... Is Kakashi supposed to be her jōnin sensei? That would be such a twist!"
Considering their relationship, that would be the most interesting (and funniest) thing ever. Now I kind of wished I had thought of that. Maybe I'll make an alternative fic of this chapter where that happens.
-Sekai Kun, I can't help the cliffhangers, sometimes they are too perfect. And don't worry, there will be Shisui and Junko bonding time despite being on separate teams in the future.
-kirika o7 and Scarla Roza made mention of Shikaku being her sensei, and that's another person that would've been interesting to choose, though considering they are in the midst of war, he in particular would be busy devising strategies for the war effort to take on a student in my opinion. Still, a very interesting choice.
-Keira16, Junko's half Senju bloodline will have a huge part later in this arc, and its significance will continue to grow the older she gets. There's not much she can do now since she's still a child and she is under the care of the Hyūga.
-Guest, the relationship and personalities of Neji and Hinata are subject to change due to Junko's introduction into the clan but there are many ways for Neji to still be an asshole and Hinata to be shy. I have some things in mind, it won't be the same of canon but I think it will be worth it and fit into the narrative.
-Mari asked, "Are her parents dead? Captured? Her sensei was Jiraiya wasn't it?"
I can't answer the question about her parents because it pertains to spoilers, sorry! Jiraiya, though... I don't know if Junko would've been able to handle his personality, though it would've been very funny to write.
-Heitor asked a bunch of questions so I'm gonna go through them one by one.
-I agree that the interlude chapter was exposition heavy, going from one event to the other, just to explain the scene in the grander scheme of the chapter. If I remember correctly, the reason I didn't go as deep in that scene when Mei scolds Junko because I had already went into that scene in Chapter 7 when it happened the first time and didn't want to repeat it, but I should do Mei's perspective some service. I might go and revise it later, but for now I want to continue this arc.
Q: Why didn't Junko get a team?
Several factors came about when I decided to make Junko have her own sensei/shishou.
As Junko has alluded to several times, there are higher powers at work that she isn't completely aware of, working for her and against her. For the progress of the story and further development of Junko as a character, being with another team wouldn't allow what I have planned for her. And Kushina is the perfect character for that I believe, since 1) in the series, I don't think she would've been sent out of the village because of the Kyūbi (and canon doesn't go into specifics) and 2) her connection to the Senju clan (through Mito Senju-Uzumaki).
-As for the dreams, I think I've developed Junko enough as the kind of person who bottles up all of her feelings. She's the type of character that says she's fine when she's not. Which manifests itself in her dreams. Just because you ignore your feelings doesn't mean they go away. Satomi's words from before did have some effect after all.
Q: Are we going to see Junko interacting with other Hyūga? Will she ever meet with the rest of her close family and other Main House Members?
-To answer it simply, yes. Junko can't change the clan for the better if she doesn't interact with others from her clan. (Even if they do treat her like an outsider). I just want to get the intro to her genin days out of the way first.
Q: When is Junko going to learn advanced techniques of the Gentle Fist?
Since she's just made genin, they'll start soon.
Q: Her parent's died didn't they? And why didn't they write back?
-I can't answer this in fear of spoilers, sorry! But don't worry, it will get resolved by the end this arc.
Q: Are you going to acknowledge the blind spot in the byakugan or ignore it?
I want to keep as close to canon rules as possible when it comes to kekkei genkai, but I will take liberties on some things. The blindspot, as least to me, doesn't seem like all that big of a hindrance as all you need to do is make sure no one gets to that spot. Besides, while Kidomaru knows about it, which is a bit ridiculous, I don't believe that many outside the clan would know about it; if the clan goes through the trouble of sealing the byakugan of the branch members to keep it from being taken and used, they would also have measures of keeping that weakness a secret as well.
Q: Will we see some of the other, less known kekkei genkai/ kekkei mora?
I don't see why not. Kekkei genkai are a very interesting aspect of the Naruto series as a whole, and I look forward to exploring them.
And on the Kakashi thing, that itself really confused me. The wiki/canon states Kakashi became genin at 5 and was promoted to chūnin at 6. But Obito and Rin didn't become genin until 9 years old. If he was allowed to take the chūnin at 6 with his teammates, either Kakashi is younger than Rin and Obito (which isn't the case since Team Minato are all around the same age) or maybe the wiki is wrong? If anyone knows about this let me know, because I am very confused.
I think that's more than enough for now, this was like a 1k author's note. Until next time.
Next time on For a Chance at Happiness
Chapter 18: Of Firsts and Fear