A/N: Hello, people! COVER ART BY: Niyuu_Trickster_Kat!
I don't own Naruto.
I have no beta.
ENJOY!
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TAGS for this Chapter: SWEARING, mentions of future SASUNARU, and things associated with PUBERTY.
-I'm writing Ch. 23 right now.
400 Ryo = about $37.
1600 Ryo = about $148.
"You've been kidnapping civilian children not so subtly this entire time, Danzo! I ordered for Ne to be disbanded and you went behind my back and continued your actions anyway, even though you stopped targeting clan kids. You do not care for your village or your country, you simply care for power. You have become nothing but a traitor to what Konoha stands for, all out of jealousy for not being trusted with the position of Kage."
The shinobi in the room shifted as the Hokage's KI filled the room. Danzo, the elder on the Council who was being verbally destroyed in front of them, remained stoic in the face of these accusations.
"Once again, we will be searching through all of your properties and extracting your slaves both old and new in which you will remove the marks from every single Ne member we get our hands on. It is only by luck that you don't have anything obvious against you worth a full conviction in the eyes of Konoha law. But we are all aware of your actions and you will be put on permanent watch. All Konoha shinobi Chunin Rank and up will be notified of the fullest extent of the situation and every shinobi in Konoha will be forbidden from taking any orders from you. You are removed from the Council henceforth and will be confined to your family compound until the day of your death or you are once again called to my office."
Danzo glared. "You're a fool, Hiruzen."
"No," the Sandaime countered, "I'm looking out for my people and your medieval methods shouldn't have ever been allowed to continue. I gave you this position because I felt guilty over your disappointment over not obtaining my position. I thought I could trust your loyalty to Konoha above anything else and naively hoped that would be the end of it. I even looked the other way after you attempted to kill me to take the position by force because I thought I understood your feelings."
As one, the shinobi who were unaware of that little bit, all stiffened in horror. Danzo had actually put a hit on the Hokage's head. And the old man hadn't thrown him in prison immediately when it happened.
If anyone had been skeptical of the goings on before, they were stone-faced now. Such treason against a man who had done nothing but defend you and help you your whole life, was inexcusable. Any pity Danzo might have gained, was squashed instantly. They had known he disagreed with their leader, they didn't think it had gone so far of course.
"I know that even when I order you to return all of your soldiers into my care, you won't hand over all of them. Make no mistake, Danzo, that I will find them all sooner or later. And if you do not comply as you should, I will do the unthinkable and expose our most recent blunder to the entire continent, my own reputation be damned."
Whatever the Hokage spoke of, saw Danzo stiffening in terror, the old man finally looking worried.
It was a rough day for all the witnesses.
Tell a new story through Konoha Sign Language.
That was the title of their assignment. What some of the kids didn't get was you had to make up a story of your own. One that wasn't a myth or a legend of anything. And then translate it into signs.
A lot of people didn't have a creative bone in their bodies, so making up a story would be hard. That meant writing it out and having to have great grammar in written language, and then translating it into signs and having great grammar in signed language.
Oddly though, Yuuki had a dream that night after the assignment had been given. She'd gone to bed pondering the potential stories she could tell, and ended up having a dream that could be a really cool story if she got her grammar correct in translation. She'd never read anything like it and no one had ever told her bedtime stories before so it had to come from her own mind. She didn't know where else it could have come from after all.
Thankfully the assignment wasn't due for a month so there was time to finish it, but still. She preferred to get everything out of the way as soon as possible. Less work later on meant more sleep for Yuuki.
First order of business was to write out the story. First draft, second draft, and then final draft it in written form. Followed by the translation.
Her dream had been of a strange land filled with people that looked nothing like the people she was used to. And they spoke words that sounded different but made sense to her brain anyway. And in this dream there was a big forest filled with odd creatures unlike any she'd ever read about before.
Trees that could walk and humanoid beings with wings. And one such being had massive horns and black, feathery wings. She meets a human boy and they become friends. Over time his greed interferes with their relationship as he seeks prestige in the nearby kingdom that wants to destroy this enchanted forest and its creatures.
It was a pretty detailed dream and she couldn't believe she'd come up with it on her own. But no fictional story she'd ever read had come anywhere near that, so she assumed she had a few creative bones somewhere inside and left it at that as she began to write it out.
Hopefully this active imagination she had in her dreams ended up being useful long into the future.
"So like, are you into Loudmouth or something?"
Hyuga Hinata eeped loudly and turned around to see Yuuki standing next to her with a contemplating look on her face.
"You do a lot of stuff the fangirls of Broody do but without being creepy about it. Or being an asshole," the other girl observed frankly.
Her face had to be red. It was something she had poor control over and whenever Naruto came to mind, her face would get all warm. But she couldn't help that she admired him! He worked so hard all the time, even when things turned out to be unfair. Even when the world seemed to be against him. How could she not admire him?
She wanted to be like that.
"I-I admire Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered, feeling a bit more brave from just talking about him. "He works hard. He doesn't let anyone bring him down. He's nice to people even when has every reason not to be."
And Yuuki's face smoothed out into a look of understanding. "Those seem like nice reasons to fancy someone. Much better than glorifying the fact that he's an orphan like Broody's fangirls do. Though to get his attention you'll have to talk to him, you know that, right?"
The thought of even being able to converse with Naruto had Hinata feeling faint.
"Please don't pass out on me. I wouldn't know what to tell the nurse if you did."
With a bit of effort, Hinata managed to stay upright and awake.
"I don't know anything about wooing so I can't really help you, but he does live in the apartment at the top of the complex I live in if it helps."
Hinata smiled, touched that Yuuki would care enough to want to help in the first place.
"It isn't time yet," she assured her friend. When it felt like the proper time, Hinata would try her best to win Naruto's heart but not a moment too soon.
Life in the Academy seemed to pass by pretty quickly.
Yuuki ate, slept, went to school, did homework, slept, ate, slept, trained, went to school, slept, ate, trained, slept, did homework, slept, ate, trained, ate, slept, went to school, ate, did homework, slept, trained, slept, ate, etc… A lot of sleeping and eating were involved and it was a glorious time.
Many things came into perspective by the end of their Third Year at the Shinobi Academy though. She'd had a lot of time on her hands after all.
1.) Loudmouth was involved in something big. He had no idea either, but it was very obvious with enough attention paid to him and his surroundings. Something involving his birthday of October 10th. And as that was the day the Kyubi attacked, maybe people were superstitious. Though there had to be something more to the situation than that and she had enough dreams telling her there was more but that it was a secret. Her dreams were never wrong it turned out.
2.) She had some kind of dreams that were able to show her living another life. One with a family. A mom and dad who looked like they'd be from Iwa. A little sister who would beam when she caught sight of her big sister. A best friend she lovingly referred to as 'chica' which she had no idea what it meant. And some dreams would be about the real world. Naruto specifically. Just him as a ninja doing ninja things and being loud like usual. She wondered if they would come true. Especially after dreaming that he'd create the Oiroke no Jutsu and then a week later the blond demonstrating it on Iruka to try and expose him as a perv. It worked, just not the way he'd wanted.
3.) Her chakra control was really good and when she looked into possible careers for such, as her Taijutsu would never be something great if she couldn't use chakra with her hits, she found very few possibilities outside paperwork-based jobs that sounded dull. Basically it was either Genjutsu or Iryo Ninjutsu. And illusions were boring as fuck, but being a medic took a lot of work. Then again medics weren't allowed to fight and could only do so if they were the last alive on the team. But Genjutsu users tended to avoid personal confrontation too. But Genjutsu required creativity as well as perfect control. But her scores in the first aid courses were high and her Genjutsu scores weren't. So it was six in one hand, half a dozen in the other.
4.) Uchiha Sasuke was a lonely kid and might possibly have a crush on Uzumaki Naruto. The thought of Broody being into Loudmouth was almost laughable, especially since they butted heads all the time. But then again, opposites attract. She had no idea where such a sentiment came from but it felt familiar when she saw them interact. Hinata might have competition and Yuuki didn't know whose side she was supposed to take if it actually came down to a fight for the blond's heart.
5.) Iruka had practically adopted Naruto as his younger brother. Buying Naruto ramen at Ichiraku at least once a week confirmed this. He'd loosened up considerably even if he was still a hard ass in class. But he was an ass that cared about his students so it was okay.
6.) The Fourth Year students weren't all that much better in terms of skill. Yuuki got to watch a few of their spars and save for a couple students who stood out, they weren't impressive. She wondered if it was because they had even less time to acclimate to the new curriculum in order to benefit from it.
7.) Yuuki was not immune to the beckoning of romance. She had taken a good, long week to consider everything she knew about romance and sex. Introspection had taken her attention for quite some time. Finally, she came out with the belief that she too was susceptible to the desires of the heart. As in, she had a crush. On a boy. In her class. And as she spoke to so few of them, it took little effort to narrow the list down.
And that had brought her to this day. The first day of Fourth Year. Where she was about to turn eleven soon and had given these things much thought. But it was still true no matter the angle she came at it from.
Yuuki had a crush on Nara Shikamaru. Pineapple. Her reasoning: He was smart, he was a good friend to those he considered precious to him, he was kind even when he tried to pretend he wasn't, and he cared about people more than he let on. That was enough for her to be smitten.
So that was where it got real. She'd seen what other people with crushes did when under the influence, and it usually involved a lot of creepy staring and sometimes stalking to certain degrees. Therefore, in order to hopefully not become creepy, she'd was going to confront the issue boldly and with determination and make a promise that she wouldn't dare break because people who break promises suck.
It ended up with her tapping him on the shoulder during homeroom and his head lolling a bit to the side so he could glance at her through his lashed peripherals. "Muh?" he grunted inquisitively. Oddly, she found it to be quite charming, and blamed the crush for it since there was nothing amazing about being tired.
The girl took a deep breath. "I felt that I should warn you of this now as it involves you and I don't want this to interfere with anything as I will try my best not to let it," she began, mouth a little dry. Still, she plowed onward. "I have determined after much thought, that I have a crush on you. No, I will not become a fangirl, but if I stare a little too much now and then, please don't hate me."
Shikamaru and Choji both stared at her wide-eyed and open-mouthed in shock.
"Um… I'm not gay," said Pineapple, looking a bit confused.
It was Yuuki's turn to be confused as she had no idea what that had to do with it. "Uh… good for you?" Good for him for knowing his interests already?
And that was that.
"Okay, what the fuck?"
Yuuki stared down at her chest in wonder. She'd just turned eleven - was the oldest kid in her class too - and just noticed how abnormal the pain in her chest was in recent days. And when she finally took a good look, she had breasts! Where did they come from so suddenly? She saw herself naked every day and never noticed them before! Things like that didn't just happen overnight!
Breasts meant bras. And breasts grew which meant multiple bras over the course of several years. Which meant wasting money! She hadn't bought new clothes in forever, and it had only been a new pair of shoes because her feet wouldn't stop growing for those few months! Thankfully, her feet seemed to decide that they'd be small forever so she wouldn't have to keep going back for more of those so long as she took care of hers. That was usually a sign that she'd remain relatively short herself in life and she was fine with that.
Were adjustable sports bras a thing? Would she have to alter some bras herself to get the desired effect? Sports bras kept everything in place like they should and the thoughts of underwire made her shiver with disdain.
Breasts jiggled with every movement because they were blobs of fat. That was sure to be uncomfortable when it came to stairs and running. Bras with foam cups didn't really keep them in place either as those could be displaced easily with the most subtle of movements. But a tight sports bra would do the job! Also they were usually cheaper and often came in packs that meant more for less.
Yuuki hated to spend money, sue her.
If she was more inclined toward the scientific side of life, she'd conduct an experiment to see just how long it took for her breasts to grow to recognizable size. But then she thought about how much additional and nonessential work that would give her, and she tossed that idea in the trash! It wasn't required and therefore she wouldn't be doing it! She could get in some extra sleep in the time it would take to make those observations on paper every day.
What mattered most was getting a few bras to contain her growing figure and then going back to pretending that nothing was changing. She already had her menstrual cycle, she didn't need this getting in the way too.
The woman at the shop giggled when Yuuki explained her problem and promised to help to the best of her ability.
Why were bras so expensive? What the fuck?
A whole 400+ Ryo for a single bra! Though it was actually adjustable and could be worn five ways, but still!
It wasn't as if she didn't have enough money saved up for emergencies, but she had to spend more than 1600 Ryo for four bras! Her wallet hurt so much! Her spirit had been thoroughly destroyed with no remorse!
'Don't cry over spilled milk.'
Her head snapped up, wondering where that came from. She'd never heard anyone ever say that before but for some reason she still knew the meaning of it without having to try. Weird.
Sports bras were uncomfortable but not too bad that she couldn't live with them. Maybe a wrap would have been better? Would those work more? They covered more space on the torso after all. She'd have to test one out.
"Tonight you will write an informative essay on the pros and cons of soldier pills," Iruka told them that afternoon. "It has to be at least one thousand words long, and you must cite at least two sources."
Now while one night wasn't bad for Yuuki, she could tell that many students were not here for the assignment. Mostly because they had other work to do. But 1K wasn't a big number either, so it was definitely doable. Thank goodness she'd gotten most of her written assignments out of the way already. The Lazy Man's Load strikes again, proving her right!
Pineapple groaned into his folded arms, and Yuuki's attention was briefly caught by his eyes. Half lidded, his lashes came closer together and made it look like he was wearing eyeliner. And he would look really good in eyeliner, holy shit. Not fair.
Ugh! Having a crush was so annoying. It took her attention away from more important matters, like her food - such as the bento of onigiri she had in her lap and had been stealthily eating all class period - and she ended up staring a little too much sometimes in contemplation. At least she didn't do the blushing thing. Yuuki was probably too forward to be embarrassed by her own feelings. They were there and couldn't be stopped so why bother trying to hide it?
"You shouldn't be complaining," she told him. "Your best friend is from the family that supplies Konoha with premium soldier pills. You both have an easier road to doing this than anyone else here does."
He cast her an unimpressed look and said, "Putting pencil to paper is a drag."
True. But in his case he'd still have less work overall because he wouldn't have to go to the library in search of information. His workload was a lot smaller by his close association with Choji.
"Be grateful we have less written assignments this year overall."
"Meh!"
With their attitudes toward unnecessary work being so similar, it was no wonder that she'd developed a crush on him. Though usually opposites were what attracted each other. Shikamaru was like the male version of her basically.
The thought made her pause for a moment in consideration. Was her crush based on narcissism?
"I hear you all complaining and I think you should be grateful I'm not making you present these ones in front of the class," Iruka added after a few minutes of low whining from the students.
Heads snapped up instantly in terror. "You're going to make us present other ones to the class?!" one of the fangirls asked in horror.
Iruka's charming smile did not make anyone feel any better. The thought of having to get up in front of everyone and speak was just not it. Fighting was one thing but some people just weren't eloquent enough for public speaking. And that would definitely be an exercise in coaching them through public speaking. She wasn't stupid. She knew how these things worked.
Iruka was pure evil in an adorable package.
A/N: Another chapter is done!
How was it? Let me know.
Ja ne! :D