Disclaimer: I own nothing but the general plot and OCs

Second disclaimer: Probably incorrect science in this chapter, but that's what you get from me trying my best to remember biology lessons when I was 13 years old, that were pretty much never revisited properly.

To the reviewer who asked if Kakashi knew that Sonaru had been stared at by a women who she then showed a willingness to wander off with; no, no he did not. Arguably she should have said something to him before being willing to follow Fukuda, due to the risks. From her perspective she considered her civilian life relatively private unless it would have an impact in some way on her outside of being Sona.

Also her knowing self defence and knowing Fukuda was a civilian from her build added a level of confidence that being child sized would usually reduce. Because Sonaru never considered herself a child in any way neither would she consider checking in with or asking permission from Kakashi, even during some circumstances in which that might be the safest option. I'm also explaining this because in the future Sonaru may make some decisions that if she were actually anywhere near being a child, she should check with an authority figure first.

The next two chapters after this are probably going to be a fair bit longer than average, considering my habit of wandering off tangent mid chapter.

No editing as always and English underlined as always.

Thank you so much for awesome reviews, as well as favs and follows! Let me know what works, or what doesn't work for you, as well as any prompts for scenes you'd like to see.

Chapter 38 - My Mind Is As Free As I Want It

Following the stern faced Fukuda to her tea shop I didn't expect anything too out of the ordinary to take place, but nevertheless I remained on my guard.

I allowed myself to relax a touch more when I saw Fukuda approach the Fukuda tea shop that I recognised. The place was clearly high end just from the design and architecture. I did enjoy the Fukuda tea rooms which had vibe that was more akin to a cafe in it and had visited there a few times just to read and appreciate the stunning garden that the tea room had a wide and open view into.

The tea shop and tea room surrounded the garden to close it off to the street and maintain a private and tranquil atmosphere, however the tea shop didn't have any windows facing the garden and could only be accessed from the street front.

The inside of the tea shop reminded me of some of the more expensive tea shops I'd been to from England, except with an Asian design. The smells were slightly different but no less familiar to me as the cumulative fragrance of various tea leaves. There was a light scent of incense hanging in air and mixing in beautifully with the tea leaves, and knowing how important scent was when selling something I could tell that business was booming. Especially with the product being a high quality.

As soon as I entered behind Fukuda I saw the woman behind the counter stiffen in recognition and then smile politely after she bowed much lower than I had done.

"Fukuda-sama, I did not expect you to visit the shop today, is there something I can lend my assistance with?"

Fukuda barely inclined her head in reply to the bow, and authoritatively told the the women, "my husband requires the next shipment to be sent two days earlier than expected. Package them and have them ready before you leave, Rini-san. If I find you've forgotten again and rush to do it tomorrow morning causing a delay, I will be very unhappy with you."

Rini almost trembled as she inclined her head, "Yes Fukuda-sama. I- I promise I'll do it before I leave."

Fukuda's mouth tightened slightly for all that the rest of her expression didn't change, but relaxed almost immediately afterward, "good. Where are the others. You know there should be two people in the shop, Rini-san. If I'm not mistaken, three of you are working today."

"Ah- um, Chikako fell ill this morning, so she went home. Yori is taking his break out the back at the moment."

"Get him in. Regardless of unexpected circumstances, there should be two people at all times. You know who to contact if that becomes a problem, don't you? Considering you haven't done so, I see no reason why there aren't two employees in front of me right now.

"Now, I'm aware you've met briefly a few times before, but allow me to introduce you both properly; this is Igarashi Sona, my potential apprentice," then she turned to me, her expression a fraction of a degree warmer, "Meet Tamara Rini, she's worked for me for six years now in this tea shop."

Tamara Rini bowed surprisingly low toward me during the greeting, insisting, "please, call me Rini-chan."

"You'll take most of your instruction from me, but I will also have you spending time in both the tea shop and the tea room in order to acquaint yourself with the particulars of how they are run on the ground level. If you accept an apprenticeship with me, that is. You would be learning many things under me, including the financial running of this business, I would teach you the art of the tea ceremony, the art of calligraphy, the art of flower arranging, the art of incense and the art of poetry. All of these would be necessary to learn, but as my apprentice I would also expect you to understand how to cook and how to present yourself properly and appropriately, alongside the art of conversation under various circumstances.

"I don't ask you to undertake this lightly Igarashi-chan, but if you commit yourself as my apprentice you will learn skills that will see you set for life at a far younger age than most other girls."

Tea ceremonies, calligraphy, poetry, flower arranging and incense weren't exactly considered solely feminine pursuits but they were definitely 'high' forms of art in the Elemental Nations.

Additionally, that sounded to me like a more than solid basis for a shit ton of missions I might be sent on undercover in the future, in any area that had a level of wealth to it. Even a year as Fukuda's apprentice would practically make me an expert for any Konoha based missions I might be asked to undergo pretending to be a civilian.

Also as a self proclaimed hedonist, I definitely enjoyed being able to create beautiful things for my own satisfaction, and my tastes had always ranged more toward East Asian styles than anything else- for all that I had no education or even much exposure to it in my last life. Pursuing all of these arts wouldn't kill me from boredom. My main concern was the time requirement and also Fukuda herself.

At the most basic level... I just didn't like Fukuda. I barely even knew her and as such I tried not to judge her but so far she seemed to embody a lot of what I respected in civilian women in theory and from afar but had absolutely no interest in getting up close and personal with. She was cold, stern, elegant, she knew what she wanted and she demanded nothing less than that, she was successful, she seemed independent, intelligent, organised. But she was not charismatic. She was not warm in any sense of the word. She didn't seem very kind, to me.

I knew that someone's front which they showed the world could easily hide layers and layers of depth, but I didn't really give a shit about those hidden depths if they didn't reach surface in any way that mattered. What use was hidden kindness if it didn't result in kind actions. What use was a hidden heart of gold if the words that came out someone's mouth only caused others upset.

So no I didn't like her. But I didn't actively dislike her either. I could come to land on either stance quite easily, but I reserved my judgement for the time being. I didn't need to like her, I just wanted what she knew, and if at the end of the day she turned out to be some controlling vengeful petty fuckhead... well it wasn't like Sona couldn't be dismantled just as easily as she was made.

"I'm overwhelmed by the opportunity you've offered me, Fukuda-san, and deeply grateful. Being your apprentice would teach me so many things I would love to know about. I must speak with my parents before I can accept your offer, though; I can't in good faith give an answer until I have their permission. Also, I have a concern as to how much time in a week I can feasibly dedicate myself as your apprentice. There are important family duties that my tutors and my father have begun instruction me on, and these take precedence."

I saw Fukuda's subtly pleased but thoughtful expression, as she easily picked up on the hints I gave her that I belonged to a clan and that I was the heir. I had said nothing unreasonable, and if she had any complaints I would drop the idea of learning from her immediately.

"Very well. Speak with your parents. If they would like to meet with me that is also acceptable. As for the time you can commit yourself to me, don't worry yourself too much about it, Igarashi-chan. You're young still, and if you learn quickly there's a lot that can be taught in a short time. I would expect an increase in time you serve as my apprentice as you get older, but for now I have no issue with a few hours a week. Come back to the shop within three days with a definite answer. Rini-san will send a message along to me if I'm not in the area myself."

My wariness toward her character settled a little at her answer, but there were still too many unanswered questions for me to trust her even a tiny amount. First and foremost - what the hell was she doing approaching a girl she didn't know even the slightest background of and offering the training needed to be her successor in a clan run business.

"Yes, Fukuda-san. I- ah- I have to be home soon, I'm sorry I can't stay longer to meet the other people involved in your business. My mother expects me back in time for lunch."

"Hm, very well. I will be hearing from you soon I expect. After all, if your parents truly want the best for your future they'll know to have you start as soon as possible."

God what a dick. Keep smiling. Don't say anything in reply.

"It was wonderful meeting you Fukuda-san, you too Rini-chan," I gave my goodbye, receiving similar sentiments from Rini and an almost pleasant expression from Fukuda.

I was barely ten steps out the door before a kid was hurtling around the corner. I couldn't dodge him at civilian levels and so allowed myself to be knocked off my feet by him, as he too rebounded and fell onto his butt. A quick sweep showed me he looked to be about six, he had filthy, dusty, torn clothing. Dirt smudges on his cheek, and scrapes on his knees. He was wearing clothes that were surprisingly expensive and completely impractical for childish playing. I saw the usual place that a clan symbol might be put had been heavily - perhaps purposefully- ripped.

Climbing onto my feet and dusting myself down as he did the same with a disgruntled expression, I opened my mouth to apologise.

"Oi! Watch where you're going you little shit! Just because you're some pampered little princess from a stuck up clan doesn't mean I won't thump you one if you knock me down again. Fuck!" He snapped, the last word seemingly added on just because.

If I had actually been a young child no doubt his demeanour and words would have frightened and upset me. As it was, those wobbly chubby cheeks flushed pink and smeared with mud, the slight lisp due to his missing tooth and the fact that judging by his lack of muscles I could lay him out flat in less than a second, had me biting my tongue to hold back my amused laughter and trying to hide the charmed expression that wanted show how not intimidated I was. God this precocious kid was too cute.

"I'm two," I tilted my head and offered a slightly confused smile.

"Yeah? What about it brat!?" He bristled to badly hide his own genuine confusion.

"I'm sorry it's just that I weigh less than the average dog and was walking at the pace of a slow crawl. I'm baffled at how I managed to knock you down in the first place, let alone address your concerns at it happening a second time," I gently replied.

"I- you- wh- you fucking brat!" He steamed, going even more pink.

"Also you have a glittery pink ribbon tied in your hair," I commented.

His face flushed a deep red and his hand snapped up to his hair to find the pink ribbon. It was with only a small sense of confusion that I saw the genuine trepidation flash across his face. I could only guess that he was worried about being made fun of for having something so feminine.

"It looks nice," I assured him. By this point his face was almost purple.

He pointed at me with an ill fitting mask of anger, "y-you won't say anything to anyone or I'll fucking thump you." I sort of wanted to pinch those cheeks. Was that bad? How could they wibble so much when the rest of his body had barely any chub to it?

"Hm? I'm assuming your referring to the ribbon in your hair. I can't imagine why you think I'd care enough to say anything to anyone about you at all," in a flash of mischievous impulsivity I took a step toward the suddenly wary boy, as I unclipped the butterfly that was in my hair and holding it in place, "here, I think this would suit you as well."

Without giving him a chance I took hold of his collar and pulled him down so that I could reach his head, then clipped the ribbon more securely into his hair with the butterfly. I stepped back in satisfaction at both the butterfly clip and his flabbergasted expression.

"It was nice meeting you, stranger-kun," I smiled, before turning around and walking away.

"There's one area of shinobi arts that we haven't approached yet, which I think you now have the control to get started on. Keep in mind I don't expect you to find this easy based on your work with chakra so far," DFB told me as I watched the unexpected lighting storm lash against the windows that afternoon.

"I don't know DFB, it feels super incesty for you to be teaching me about seduction," I wrinkled my nose. Oh god, instant regret. I hated incest jokes when they were about me. DFB saw the expression of suffering on my face and thankfully refrained from commenting too much.

"Funny," DFB deadpanned sarcastically, "and before you say anything it's not medical techniques either. You've got a long way to go with control before you can try those. You know I'm talking about genjutsu. I want to know how susceptible you are to them with and without the use of the blood red eyes. You're going to learn how to at least dispel D rank genjutsu without having to injure yourself."

Ah that would explain why we were staying in the apartment for this one.

"Normally I'd just throw this genjutsu at you and let you sink or swim, but with your chakra issues, and the fact that you're not a child with naive fears I'm warning you; I'm about to use Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique. It's designed to be used in tandem with eye contact to make the corruption of the chakra flow in the front part of your brain easier.

"It's a yin technique that starts with spinning leaves disrupting the victim's vision - or another natural material depending on the terrain. Once the leaves dispel the invading chakra heightens fear in the victim to encourage irrational thinking, and has the victim's own mind supply the image of what they're terrified of finding once their vision clears. This genjutsu is D rank because of its lack of subtlety and the ease at which it can be dispelled by a genin level shinobi," here he hesitated, "I'm not sure what effect the fact that you have a different brain will have on the result of genjutsu now or in the future. I also don't know if your eyes will change anything."

"Is the genjutsu limited by size?" I asked warily, "I, uh, I may or may not have thalassophobia, and if that genjutsu puts me in an illusion of being in the water with something predatory I can't... I can't promise I won't freak the fuck out. And then have nightmares. For a really long time."

"No, I doubt it. This particular illusion tends to stay on the smaller side. Its purpose is to throw a shinobi off their game for a few seconds before they recover from their fear and shock at the sight. But... Su-chan if your fear is that debilitating you know we're going to need to work on that through exposure just like your initial discomfort with the pack.

"The last thing you or anyone working with you wants is you freezing up or panicking from irrational fear. Is there anything else that might hinder you in missions?"

"You already know about my coprohobia. I have fairly severe thalassophoba, which specifically shows up in any body of water I can't see the bottom of clearly. Sometimes I can suppress it with concentration, but the moment any sort of adrenaline or uncertainty kicks in I'm terrified. I also have mild arachnophobia and mild nyctophobia," I sheepishly admitted.

"Shit, water, spiders and the dark. You know that makes up a sizeable portion of what exists in the world."

"Don't remind me."

DFB sighed in exasperation at my fears. "Don't shake your head at me like that, asshole! Blame my parents for always watching films rated according to the accumulative sibling ages rather than appropriate material."

"Sure. Let's go." Snake - Rat "Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!"

To put it bluntly I spent I good ten minutes throwing up down the toilet.

I had deeply regretted ever watching the human centipede for all that the first time I watched it was entirely accidental due to a missing TV remote control, and now that I had seen myself as the middle person attached to my parents I regretted it even more.

It was... not what I was expecting to be honest. It was also a singularly traumatising sight. One day... one day I was going to learn how to do genjutsu and make DFB see himself in that revolting situation. Bastard.

Thankfully genjutsu disruption was one area that I was good at. It didn't take too long before I noticed that I could identify a small change in the way my pulse felt in my head. When I mentioned this to DFB he denied knowledge of this as the normal way of noticing genjutsu, and with a bit of further testing we discovered that despite the fact I hadn't activated my ketsuryūgan, my blood... reacted to someone else's chakra. The reaction was too minor to show an indication of what exactly it was doing, but with a bit of effort I could perform a sort of mental push to exacerbate the reaction which resulted in the same thing that dispelling an illusion by disrupting internal chakra did.

When I had my ketsuryūgan activated, I noticed the invasion of chakra immediately and before the genjutsu could even form I felt my own chakra disrupt it automatically. Tentatively at first, but then with increasing confidence we tested C rank genjutsu, B rank genjutsu and even one A rank genjutsu against my ketsuryūgan, but only when DFB tried with his sharingan did the genjutsu stick.

Without it activated, however, I could only hold up against D rank genjutsu without more practice, but considering how much trouble I'd had with almost anything chakra related it was a welcome change and a definite relief.

Unfortunately from there we moved onto casting that same Demonic Illusion genjutsu, which was a different story entirely. It was like tree walking all over again except even slower.

Thankfully the careful and controlled application of chakra required in genjutsu meant that DFB and I knew it was going to take fucking forever to learn right from the start and just determined to keep going no matter how long it took.

To break up my consistent efforts in genjutsu and prevent frustration from kicking in too much, DFB helped by teaching me to thread the smallest amount of chakra I could into a few very specific areas that he made absolutely certain I knew where was inside me both on paper and in reality.

The first one was inside my olfactory bulb, where signals picked up from the individual olfactory receptors cells in the membrane in the back of my nose converged. I already knew that each molecule in the air which carried a smell I could pick up would bind with a receptor, and this would activate the relevant olfactory receptor cell. I also knew that an electrical signal then made its way to the higher brain regions... somehow.

I also knew that the colourful landscape all around us could be viewed via a combination of the three primary colours. I knew that the human nose had about 400 of the equivalent to make their own combinations. I knew that some larger molecules were only capable of binding to perhaps a small number of receptors and so went unnoticed. What I didn't know was that once all the signals from the different olfactory receptor cells converged in the olfactory bulb, it was the proteins involved in sending the signal off to the brain that required a 'boost' in order to make the landscape of scents so much richer.

Everyone smelt differently, and I knew that better than anyone on a personal level, seeing as one of the things I'd absently noticed was that my entire world of smells was brand new in this body. I didn't know that this Hatake body was also designed to 'switch on' in terms of smell, eyesight and hearing once I'd threaded the right amount of chakra to the right place in my body.

I thought it should be classed as Kekkei Genkai, but apparently because the Hatake Clan didn't have monopoly of these particular genetics across the Elemental Nations it didn't count, especially since it wasn't particularly flashy. I called bullshit, but apparently saying that word with incredible passion didn't magically change the law, so...

Starting with my sense of smell was the safest, since if I completely fucked up and busted my sense of smell, it would be the least detrimental to my future shinobi career.

Next we focussed on hearing and that was complicated putting it lightly. I had to read multiple medical essays and a couple of Hatake scrolls to really understand what I was doing. When it came down to it there was no simple way of making a human's hearing 'better'. A lot of it had to do with reinforcing what I already had with chakra so that it wouldn't degrade with age and exposure to the noise of battle.

Next it was the equivalent of 'inventing' the hairs that picked up noise noise frequencies and translated them to electrical signals so that I had a higher frequency range via chakra prosthetics. The bit that I found the hardest to understand was increasing the optimum range of frequencies that was heard by my ears. I'd never read up on resonance in ear canals and Hertz and the 3000-4000 range that was the frequency range humans heard at the loudest volume.

Using chakra in order to increase the resonance different amounts for different frequencies so that I wasn't walking around completely distracted by an inundation of noise was difficult and stressful work, but I got there in the end. The last part was the most nail biting, and it was the slight altering of the way the amygdala and auditory area of my brain interpreted sounds. Now that sounds were much more difficult to cause damage to my hearing, it was less important that I find some to be incredibly unpleasant.

It was important not to get rid of the reaction entirely, because some noises were found unpleasant for good reasons, and kicked in survival responses I would need. But I could get away with dampening the reaction a little. It was anxiety inducing at times, but with a lot of prep and a lot of care I managed to sort of soften my brain activity to unpleasant noises, so that although I still recognised them as unpleasant, and the required survival instincts still kicked in for some, I had much less of a distressed emotional reaction to them.

My eyes, for all that it was the easiest to understand and 'switch on' almost had me soaking through my clothes with sweat due to the risks involved. Truthfully, since I was lucky enough to be born with a nicely shaped cornea and eyeball, I didn't have to worry about early glasses. To make sure that never became something I had to think about as I got older, I simply needed to add chakra to my lens and the suspensory ligament/ciliary everything attaching and controlling the lens. This ensured damage over time was massively reduced and the loss of elasticity prevented.

Additionally I had to flood (if flooding meant with teensie tiny amounts) my rods and cones in the backs of my eyes with chakra. I was pretty impressed with those nifty little buggers once they were switched on. Apparently depending on the amount of light they were subjected to the rods or cones would use more or less chakra to boost my vision alternatively. This meant that my night vision was excellent without having to compromise my colour saturation. This also meant I could see a wide range of colours without worrying about light sensitivity.

Other than that, they were left alone, thanks to the fact that I had already had 20/10 vision from a mixture of what I could only assume was Hatake genetics and Chinoike genetics.

The boost in my senses were overwhelming and somewhat disorienting to say the least. To help me acclimate to them, as well as improve my reaction time, my on the spot tactics, and to help me slip into the correct mindset during unexpected combat, a new game was invented. It was called Ambush. The name was pretty self explanatory. With the exception of when I was with DFB asleep in bed or out as Sona, I was fair game to be ambushed whenever and wherever.

After an 'incident' that almost had Genma decapitated and certainly had him defenestrated, Ambush was also banned for Tenzō and Genma when I was in the bathroom, and banned for Gai when I in the shower, bath or on the loo. I told DFB that if he ever ambushed me while I was crapping I'd personally see to it that Tora used his mask as a litter tray and see how he liked the smell right up against that superior Hatake nose of his.

Ambush was a fun game as well, but it was far more exasperation than Playing Ninja because it had no set end to it. Sometimes the timing was super fucking inconvenient, and although just like Playing Ninja I was fairly praised and criticised in turns, I preferred Playing Ninja no contest.

Learning to use my nose and ears in interpreting and responding to attacks was exciting, but I was hesitant to claim the price of constant potential aggravation as worth it.

In a fit of desperation to get away from a trio of bored overgrown menchildren who took absurd gratification in surprising, harassing and beating up a toddler sized person with far less experience, I eventually demanded (begged) DFB teach me something new and put a veto on any ambushes during DFB/Subaru lesson time.

He thoughtfully tilted his head, "hmm... I suppose I could expand on one of the earliest things I taught you, and the skill you're best at."

I perked up, always up for knowing where I'm succeeding since I usually found that more difficult to spot than where I was going slower, "Oh? What's that?"

"Lying," he eye smiled in a particular cheerful manner that immediately had me suspicious.

"Yes, I guess I have gotten pretty good at that thanks to you holding cake hostage every night. How's that supposed to be expanded on?"

"It's a key shinobi skill not only to lie well on the spot, spin a convincing tale or answer incorrectly to a direct question, but to do it in adverse circumstance, under pressure and to people who already know you're inclined to lie."

"Riiight?" I raised a brow. DFB softened slightly, and that was when I saw that the false cheer had been hiding reluctance and concern. That was also when I knew I was not going to enjoy whatever incredibly necessary thing he was about to start teaching me.

He sighed, and ran his fingers briefly through my hair before lowering himself to my level, "there's a good chance, owing to your genetics, my reputation, your gender, your clear potential and your physical youth that at one point or another someone will attempt to capture you, Su-chan. Whether they succeed or not isn't always down to how to skilled you are but... circumstance. Fortune. Luck.

"There are things you know now, and you will inevitably know in the future that you will need to know how to keep secret in the face of people determined to extract those secrets. You'll also need to know how to escape from those situations. Taking you step by step through various theoretical possibilities will only do so much here. The best way to learn is, unfortunately, practice.

"This isn't going to be pleasant for either of us. But I need to know that if that ever happens to you, I gave you the best chance possible to survive in one piece and come home. So next up I'm going to teach you about Escapism and Interrogation Survival."

I saw the solemn look in his eye and although my heart was pattering an anxious tempo at the potential of pain and stress and defeat multiple times, I quirked a smile as well and told him, "you want to know a secret?"

"What?"

"The thing about having two parents who despised each other, and one who liked terrifying or occasionally beating children when he lost his temper was that I was frequently subjected to questioning and interrogation about the other parent growing up. I was shit at it at first... and I can't say I ever learned how to be great at it. But... a part of me came to enjoy the fear and threat of interrogation.

"As I got older I started to see it as a game. Who could fuck with other the most. Who could force the other to say and believe what they wanted. It was a fucked game, and the stakes were way too high, but I trust you more than I ever trusted either of them. I'm nervous as all hell, but I'm strangely excited too. There's also nostalgia now that I think about it."

DFB huffed an unsurprised breath and added, "I'm not going to go easy on you, Su-chan, and you can bet I'm a lot more practiced at it than your parents were. But I also promised that I will be in control of the situation the entire time, and I will never do you any kind of permanent damage."

"Yeah okay, that's fair. Can I ask a favour though?"

"Sure."

"Don't bring Genma or Gai into it. I'll never be able to take the exercise seriously if I see either of them in an interrogation situation. I'll be too busy laughing hysterically."

"I can do that," he eye smiled with a nod.

"Also any cake or chocolate I vomit during practice must be replaced afterward by the same or something equivalent."

"Don't push it."

In case you were wondering, the kid that bumped into her will be relevant in the future. I don't know about Rini yet.

For any of you who haven't watched the human centipede and so don't understand why Su-chan was traumatised- I suggest you go and absolutely remain in your happy bubble of ignorance.

Sorry if you don't understand some of the chakra boosting senses bit, just take away from it that Sonaru has advanced hearing, sight and smell because she's a Hatake.

So how do you think Sonaru is going to hold up against Interrogation simulation? Who's going to walk away from that worse emotionally; Kakashi or Sonaru?

Also, thoughts on Fukuda as a person? Suspicious? Feel like giving her the benefit of the doubt? Think Sonaru was too hasty in her thoughts on the woman's character? Total dickface?

I forgot to add, that's a clear yes on Sonaru getting her own pack to train in the future. It'll be smaller than Kakashi's and I can't promise they'll all be actual dogs haha.