C's Scouting Report: Butterfly Effect
"What the hell? She wants me to explain on time travel effects in accordance to her story? I refuse. End of story. I'm not going to do that.
I mean, common, who wants to read about quantic physic, the theories of ifinite parallel universes and the effect of changing the past and how that might effect the present and future? Sure, time travels are intresting and stuff and some of the best stories are based around that topic - though you can do many things wrong with time traveling stories. And no, I'm not talking about fanfiction in particular right now.
One of the best time travel stories out there, at least in her opinion, is the JRPG "Time and Eternity" for PS3. Graphics are maybe average, the gameplay is weak and the characters overwritten clichees - basicly everything you need these days to fail to sell. But the story, godlike! It's addressing the Moebius Loop (or is it Spiral?) and it's doing it perfectly! Totally a blast.
Or take the anime "Steins:Gate" into consideration. Changing the past, overwriting the memories in the present and explaining dejavu's as a faint memory from another timeline? Genius.
Huh? You say I'm already talking about these things? Okay, fine. Let's see... right. Butterfly Effect. Change something and it will change more and more as farther you advance. Well, it is true is all I can say.
In fact were there only three changes she planned on making in her story. Three major and obvious points: 1) Hanabi's age got increased; 2) the difference in the sisters relationship; 3) a new/different skillset for Naruto (because street brawler isn't nice). That's all she was planning to do.
Everything else that happened so far and got changed just were follow ups based on these three aspects and happened along the way. Most were simply happening while writing, changing things up even more without ever noticing or it being planned.
So, yeah, considering the timespan that still needs to be covered... I wonder if anything will stay original at that pace..."
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A Tale of two Sisters - Chapter 16: Academy Times - Sweetest Times
"Where are you?" Hanabi shouted out of breath. She just left the Academy via the front gates after running across the building to get to it as quick as possible. There was just no way she would let C slip away right now without talking to him. The only problem she had was that she didn't knew in which direction he left off after he jumped down from the wall.
She looked down the street in both directions but couldn't spot him anywhere. So she did the only thing entering her mind and started running around the complex on the street, following it toward the place on the backside she saw him disappear. This time she would get her answers for sure.
"Wait up, Hanabi!" Hinata shouted after her sister, just reaching the front gates. She was a bit out of breath and stopped to get some air back into her lungs, realizing that her sister wasn't listening at all. This might become a stressful day. First the fights, now a chase down of C inside the village. Couldn't she just go home and relax?
"The little one seems to be in a hurry, huh?" a voice asked from the side.
Not looking up or towards the source of the voice was the panting Hinata simply answering. "Yeah. She's trying to find someone we know but just ran off in a direction without even knowing whether he is there or not."
"Sounds like a problem to me. And here I thought she would have learned to have an eye on her surroundings and not charging somewhere blindly..." the voice pondered aloud, finally getting the attention of Hinata.
Turning towards the voice went her eyes wide the moment she realized who was talking to her. "You? But..." she pointed her finger vaguely in the direction Hanabi ran off, her eyes focused on the man in front of her.
Leaning on a tree next to the Academy entrance was C, crossing his arms across the chest, smiling at the shocked Hinata. He made no sign of moving or talking, simply waiting for the girl to get out of her stupor.
"Why are you here? Weren't you just on the other side of the complex moments ago?" Hinata finally asked, getting her thoughts in order.
"Not just moments ago but for the most time of your fights, yes. And when I left did I hear the little one shouting and decided to wait for her here at the front gate. Who might have guessed that she simply wouldn't see me and storm off?" he shrugged it off.
Hinata took a deep breath before sighing. "I guess you are right. And I don't believe that we will catch up to her anytime soon anyway, even if we tried. Might as well let her cool off for now, huh?"
"You are a smart girl. Alright, since I have nothing left to do here..." he parted from the tree and walked towards Hinata. "...can I go on with my plans for today. If your sister wants to talk, what I suppose was the whole reason, can she visit me in three hours. And tell her to bring the boy along. Also, might be useful if you come too."
Blinking her eyes a few times in confusion when C gave her a piece of paper was he already some meters away before she finally spoke up. "Wait! The boy? You mean Naruto-kun?"
He simply gave her a wink with his hand over his shoulder, not stopping in his track. Hinata was watching him til he disappeared around the next corner, before taking a look on the paper. "An adress, huh? Must be the place he is staying. Well, I should better go look for Hanabi and inform Naruto-kun." she talked to herself before walking off in the same direction her sister ran. Luckily was she able to use her eyes to find her sister faster - which still doesn't meant that it would be an easy task.
Hokage office
"Hokage-sama, I'm not sure if I'm the best choice for teaching these kids. Today were too cases in which I failed completely..." Iruka sat in front of the Hokage who had a caring look on his face. He was stroking his beard with one hand, holding his pipe in his other.
"And still are you the teacher that is liked the most by our students. Your work is good and there are no complaints about you at all. Tell me, Iruka, why do you think you are not suited for this task? Tell me of these two cases that let you doubt yourself." he spoke calm and gently, trying to comfort the young teacher before him.
Iruka took a deep breath and nodded slowly, trying to get his feelings under control and to tell what happened in detail. "I decided to let my students do sparring matches today to see how much they might have improved compared to when they started. But two of them went completely out of control somehow and I didn't even notice it."
The Hokage raised an eyebrow at that statement. "You are usually someone who got a good eye for a situation. Mind to explain why you had problems today?"
"It was a match between Hanabi Hyuga and Kiba Inuzuka. It started with a knockout for the Inuzuka's dog and they fought each other fiercely after that. I thought that everything was in order, but I was wrong. There was a blonde man watching and pointing out that they would continue til the other would be dead and when I got between them had both a potential killing blow just centimeters away from the other... I didn't really notice it til that point..." Iruka explained, his voice tired.
Nodding his head in understanding was the Hokage answering. "I am aware of the tensions between these two. Just take it as experience for yourself and be more careful in the future. After all, nothing bad happened, right? And you said a blonde man saved these kids?"
"Yes. He sat on the wall watching the matches. Haven't seen him before." Iruka shrugged. "He used playing cards later on."
"Ah, okay, I know who you are talking about. And what about the second situation?"
"A match between Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. When Sasuke wasn't able to win did he use a fireball jutsu, willingly trying to kill Naruto. It was the same man blocking the attack with his cards, when I was too shocked to react..."
The room went silent and the Hokage was deep in thought. On the one side was he understanding the feelings of Sasuke Uchiha, on the other side was this something he couldn't tolerate. Willingly trying to kill your own comrades was considered treachery and needs to be punished.
"I know that this is a complicated situation, Hokage-sama. After all does the Uchiha has a kind of special position in our village for being the last of them, but... I can't tolerate one of my students trying to kill another one. The last ones that did that got banned from Academy for three years and I would like to do the same with Sasuke Uchiha." it was Iruka who broke the silence, bringing the Hokage out of his thoughts.
He inhaled deeply from his pipe and released the smoke, thinking about that. "While I can understand your feelings and the situation can I not allow you to ban the Uchiha for three years. The village elders won't accept that and will make both our lives a hell if we do that. However... I guess the use of high class jutsu was forbidden as well, right? Willingly trying to kill a comrade in addition to not following the rules of a superior..." he touched his chin, rubbing it in thought.
Iruka nodded to the last statement. "Yes, my rules were simple but clear. They were allowed to use academy and D-rank jutsu, nothing above. Not that I had expected any of them to know higher ranked jutsu by now anyway, but I wanted to be safe and as we can see for a good reason."
"Yes, I thought as much. Alright, we will do something with the young Uchiha. Iruka, we will ban him from Academy for one year. Considering his wrong doings is this reasonable, even with his special status. I will send for the elders and the Uchiha to explain this decision to them. And..." he looked Iruka into his eyes, with a caring look like a grandfather. "I expect you to teach your class tomorrow and onward. We all lack experience at one point and you learned something new today. Next time will you be prepared. No reason to question yourself."
"I will, Hokage-sama. Thank you for your kind words. I'm going to do my best to teach these kids everything they need to know." Iruka bowed to the leader of the village before leaving the room.
Once Iruka was gone and the door closed did Hiruzen Sarutobi sigh. "Why again am I still doing this job? Just one day of peace is all I'm asking for..." he shook his head and anyone watching right now would see an energyless old man and not the proud leader of the village, veteran of two wars. "Cat, I want you to go and inform the persons in question to come here."
Knowing that his ANBU was already on her way to comply with his orders was he starting to write down his decision, to make it official as soon as the required people would arrive. 'Just one day of peace...' his mind was around this thought for the rest of the day.
A street in the village
"Where are we going? Hey, Hanabi-chan, talk to me!" Naruto was trying desperately to get the attention of Hanabi who walked down the road deep within her own thoughts, leading him and her sister towards a destination unknown for him. The information he got from Hinata when she informed him wasn't much either, all she said was that he should come along later that day.
Getting no reply from the girl in front of him was he turning his head towards Hinata. "Common, just tell me what this all is about. Where are we heading, Hinata-chan? You must know it."
"I do..." Hinata admitted slowly. "If you promise to keep calm will I tell you, Naruto-kun."
"Huh? Why shouldn't I keep calm? I mean, there isn't any dangerous place within this village we might go to, right?" he scratched the back of his head, giving Hinata a smile.
Hinata smiled back at him before answering. "Well, yes, there is no dangerous place, but... we are going to visit C to have a talk with him. And he requested you to come along."
Naruto opened his mouth to quickly answer something, but then shook his head and closed it again, letting his shoulders hang. "I just don't know what to think of him. I mean, he tried to... you know. But then was he appearing on your birthday and wasn't hostile at all. And today he... saved my life. It's... confusing..." he said quietly.
"Which is exactly the reason why we are going to have a talk with him..." it was Hanabi who spoke quietly, her mind still within her thoughts, but her body reacting to the conversation that was held in her close surrounding.
"I would like to know more as well." Hinata agreed. "Maybe we could become friends with him? He might be able to show us many things. After all is he experienced, right?" she smiled, always trying to see the bright side of something.
Looking at her with disbelief written across his face was Naruto trying to form a sentence. "You want... to be friends... with him? But he tried... to... you know..." he shook his head. "Seriously, sometimes I wonder how your mind is working, Hinata-chan."
She shrugged her shoulders before answering. "What? He is a nice person, all things considered. He gave us food when we asked for it and all together wasn't he treating us bad at all. He simply followed his orders, something we will do as well once we are shinobi. I don't see why we couldn't be friends with him, Naruto-kun."
"Beside, I do remember him saving your life today. Maybe he's trying to make it up to us?" Hanabi added, finally being back in the reality and adding to the conversation.
Letting his shoulders hang in defeat was Naruto keeping quiet for the moment. Hinata touched her lower lip in thought and adressed her sister. "That reminds me... hadn't he given you a card back then, Hanabi? Have you figured out what it is by now?"
Hanabi shook her head. "No, I still haven't. From what he said and remembering the way he got the food for us do I have an idea how it might be working, but none of us learned to use storage seals yet. That and I guess that his cards are a bit more complicated to be used."
"What else am I missing between you two and him?" Naruto asked in disbelief. "He gave you food, he treated you well, he gave you a card? I can't remember any of these things..."
Hinata was looking at Hanabi who just grinned and decided to answer that question. "Uhm... maybe it's because they knocked you out for shouting at them, Naruto-kun? You do remember that, right?" she had a slight smirk on her face when Naruto let his head hang in defeat.
"Yeah, I do. Thanks for reminding me..." he said quietly.
They joked around for the rest of the way to the adress they got from C, the girls having fun in teasing Naruto about what happened back then. It took them another ten minutes til they reached their target and they stood in front of an apartment complex.
"He is... living here?" Naruto asked sceptically. "And I thought the building I got my apartment in was in a bad condition..."
"Remember who he is and what he was before coming here. I guess it does make sense that he is living in such a place. I mean, look over there." Hanabi pointed on a nearby roof. "ANBU isn't even trying to hide. They are probably watching several people living here at the same time."
"Guess you are right. But... won't we be getting problems if they see us entering his apartment?" Naruto was happy with the fact that there were nearly none hostilities against him lately and he didn't want to risk that by being seen with a person under surveillance.
"It will be fine. After all do they most likely know about our connection to him anyway. And even if not, we can still explain the situation to the old man and it will be okay." Hanabi said with confidence in her voice, stepping forward to knock on the door to stop any further complaints from Naruto.
It took some moments before footsteps could be heard from the inside. Just seconds later was the door opened, showing a surprised looking C. "You actually came, huh? I honestly hadn't thought you three would find the courage to show up. Well, since you are here, want to come inside? Guess it might take a bit longer for us to talk."
The reactions of the three kids couldn't be more different. Hinata looked down at the ground embarassed, not wanting to look into the eyes of the person knowing her role in life. Naruto wasn't sure how he should feel right now, his emotions switching from anger and hate towards thankfulness for saving his life and back. This conflict could be clearly seen on his face and his hands were shaking. And Hanabi was glaring at him as if she wanted to tell him that he wouldn't get away easily this time.
Seeing these reactions did C simply shrug and walked back into his apartment. "Well, you don't have to enter. Your choice. But please close the door once you decided."
Without saying a word, and to the surprise of everyone, was Naruto the first to enter the apartment. He wanted to get rid of his mixed feelings and get his mind clear again, so he had to talk with this man. Seeing that was Hanabi following closely, desperate to finally get the answers for the questions spooking around in her mind. Last was Hinata, simply surrendering to the situation and following the other two. She closed the door behind her.
An ANBU on the rooftop nearby was writing down a note of the kids entering the apartment of his target, but that was all he did. After all was there no problem so far and with that no reason for him to intercept.
Once inside the apartment did they realize that it was even smaller than the one Naruto lived in. C was sitting on a table in the middle of the room which occupied nearly half of the free space. "Yes, it's small and nothing to live in. You gonna sit down or do you want to stay there all day?"
One after the other got they out of their stupor of looking around the apartment, each taking a seat at the table in the middle. It was silent before and it remained silent, none of them speaking. The kids were fighting with their own emotions, being inside a room together with C and he was simply sitting there, waiting for them to start. After all were they the ones wanting to speak, no matter the fact that he invited them to his apartment to do so.
When the silent became unbearable did he finally decide to speak. "Okay, listen, I know that I'm not the nicest person out there and that all of you have reasons to hate me. But if I recall correctly was it the little one that wanted to talk to me, right? So, how about doing exactly that?" he took a deck of playing cards out of his pocket while speaking, starting to shuffle them to keep his hands occupied.
Naruto and Hinata watched towards Hanabi, who shook her head to clear it. "Yes... right... I wanted to talk to you. I have questions... a lot. And I want some answers." she started stammering, not exactly sure how to start.
"See, it ain't that hard. I'm not biting, you know? Am not one of these Inuzuka." he gave them a bright smile, showing his teeth. "If you have questions, just ask them. I mean, I haven't planned anything else for today, but I guess you want to go home at one point, right?"
Still unsure how to start was Hanabi grabbing her scar and biting her lower lip. She was so focused on herself that she didn't saw her sister rolling her eyes. It was Hinata who decided to start the questioning. "Tell me why you appeared on my party. You not only ruined it with that but you also made things complicated for us..."
"Ah, yeah, well... I simply wanted to see you two. And I thought that might be a good opportunity. While Spooky warned me hadn't I thought about the boy and how he might react, to be honest..." he scratched the back of his head.
"HEY! I'm right here and I have a name!" Naruto shouted, glaring at C with a hurt expression.
Before someone else could react did Hanabi speak up. "Wait a minute. You know Spooky? Course you do, he let you go. I mean, you know the name I gave him?"
All eyes landed on C who in return looked at Hanabi. "You gave him that name? Nice. Thought it was matching when I first heard it. You got talent for giving nicknames." he grinned at the girl.
"Don't try to change the topic here. My sister asked you something and your answer was not satisfying." looking back at C with impatient was she at least back to her usual self.
He was short of words for a moment. "What do you mean by not satisfying? I just answered her question. Aw, common, don't give me looks like that..." all three kids were glaring at him now. "Okay, fine, I took a liking to you two. If it weren't for Spooky searching for you back then would we most likely have taken you in and made you part of the Organization, meaning I could have spent time with you. But it didn't went that way and when I heard that there was a party in preparation did I want to take that chance."
Hinata was nodding slowly, accepting this explanation. Hanabi however caught up to what he just said and rolled her eyes. "Nice try, but I'm still not going to tell you the story."
C grinned. "You got me there. Though I figured as much, considering her appearence." he nodded towards Hinata who started blushing slightly, knowing exactly what he was talking about.
Unlike Naruto who had no idea. "Okay, what is going on here? What are you talking about? Would somebody mind explaining things to me? Hinata-chan, Hanabi-chan?" his eyes were switching from girl to girl, with Hinata averting her eyes to the ground and Hanabi grabbing her scar again.
Deciding to save the girls was C talking up. "Nothing important, really. We just started talking while you were out cold. It's not like they had other things to do, being all tied up and stuff." he shrugged.
Both girls were blushing at that comment, pictures of bound woman entering both minds without them wanting to think on them. But having read that many books about these things together did had an impact on them.
Their blushes confused Naruto even more. "Aw common, I don't get it at all. Can't you just tell me what you are talking about? And why are you both blushing suddenly? Did that guy do something to you?" he became slightly angry.
C raised his hands defensely. "For what kind of monster do you take me? I would never lay a hand on a girl that young..."
"Please Naruto-kun, calm down." Hinata finally said, trying to solve the situation before anything went out of control. "He did nothing to us. We just talked. Please accept this for the moment, do it for me, okay?"
Crossing his arms across his chest was he mumbling a quiet "Fine.", his eyes still focused on C with anger inside.
"Thanks girly. So, where was I?" thinking about it for a moment did he pick up his story. "Right, I wanted to see you because I took a liking to you. And before you say something again, that is the truth. Though I was surprised when the boy here charged at me with his staff. That was a completely different level compared to his useless charge back then. And his fight today wasn't that bad either. But I would suggest picking more up than just the staff, maybe some elemental jutsu as well? That fire ball would have killed you, you know?"
"Wish I could..." Naruto was still quietly mumbling, getting a questioning look from C.
Before anything could happen was Hanabi starting to explain. "We all used the chakra nature tests and for some reason wasn't it reacting for him. Seems like he doesn't have an element."
"That sure does suck, boy. Never heard of such a case before. Well, good luck with raw chakra manipulation then. It isn't the easiest thing to do, but the logical one for you. Just try to not let yourself be killed before getting any kind of defense." there was a grin on his face, irritating the kids for a moment.
It was Naruto who understood it first. "Uhm, yeah... thanks for the rescue and all..." he scratched the back of his head. "But why have you done it anyway?"
"Because no kid should die at such a young age." C shrugged. "And maybe to somehow make it up to you. We hadn't really the best start and stuff. And since I'm going to live here in the future, you know... best to not be hated."
"Tell me about it..." Naruto sighed in frustration.
"I know boy, I know. Remember, informations are my business. At least aren't you a joker anymore. You improved to a solid 3." he finally stopped shuffling, pulling a 3 of diamonds from his deck and placing it in front of Naruto. "But you got potential, you know? Would be a shame if that got wasted."
Hanabi rolled her eyes. "Are you thinking about everything with your cards? I remember you referring to us as cards before."
"Huh? Yeah, pretty much. I'm a professional card trickster, so I guess it's just natural?" he tossed the queen of hearts in front of Hanabi and the jack of hearts in front of Hinata. "Or is the queen not satisfied with her jack?"
"What? No, that's not it. I just remembered this, that's all." Hanabi shook her head.
"Seriously, this conversation is confusing me more than helping me understand things..." Naruto complained loudly, watching between C and Hanabi.
C started to laugh. "Don't worry about it, boy. You might understand one day or you might not, who knows. But you are right, we lost the line in this conversation, didn't we? So, what other questions do you have for me?"
That simple question hit the three kids like a punch to the face. The atmosphere was friendly and the conversation itself open and free like between friends, that they mostly forgot why they even came to this place to have this talk in the first place.
"Why Konoha?" Hinata asked short and straight to the point.
Stroking his chin was C thinking for a moment. "You know, that has several reasons. It is a nice village to begin with, I can hide here from the Organization pretty good but most important did they show mercy to me in a situation nobody else would have done. Guess these are the major ones." he shrugged. "And some intresting kids do live here giving me the chance to see their development." a grin entered his face.
"Would you stop that already? No matter how often you try, the answer will stay the same and is a no." Hanabi grumbled, getting another confused look from Naruto and to her surprise a giggle from her sister.
"So what about the card you gave her? I think it was the ace of clubs, right?" Hinata took over the talking. Naruto gave up on following the topic a while ago and Hanabi got too emetional, so she had no choice.
"It was indeed. Though I'm not going to spoil the fun. Either will she find out how to use it by herself or you two can come ask me about it again under the condition that you look different, girly. Guess it isn't too important at all. You both are still young." he shrugged.
Hinata nodded slowly, understanding the hint exactly. He would tell and show them if she would wear her collar, if she would be recognized as Hanabi's slave. Either that or Hanabi would find out how to activate the storage jutsu that is most likely used on the card by herself.
"I give up..." Naruto said, placing his head on the table. "I don't get what you are talking about at all. But I understand that you like him and he does seem like a nice person in some way... that and he saved my live after trying to ruin it prior. Guess he's nicer to me than most of the village..."
Hanabi crossed her arms across her chest. "He's a weirdo. Like totally. But you are right, we kinda like him. And he helped us understand some things. Sis?" she looked over to Hinata who nodded.
"He did indeed. I'm not angry at him or anything. And he did answer our questions. Would say we are on equal terms right now, aren't we?"
C looked from one kid to the next, not exactly sure what was going on right now. Though he figured they would tell him. After all had both sides reasons to talk to each other.
Hanabi nodded and after some moments was Naruto speaking, his head still on the table. "...agreed. Don't think that we will forget, but we do forgive you." he looked up and at C who had a smile on his face in return.
"That's more than I was hoping for, I can tell you that. So you don't mind having me in the village?" he looked at the three kids, adding in his thoughts 'Sure, the Hokage basicly gave me the okay to stay, but knowing that these three are okay with it is somehow more important to me.'
Both Naruto and Hinata looked at Hanabi who got a grin on her face. "We are okay with your presence, yes. But every additional contact or thing or whatever will cost you. After all, it wasn't nice what you did to us." her grin got wider seeing C's reaction.
He placed the ace of hearts on the table, the card the girls knew had his emergency supplies stored into it. After going through a set of handsigns was he unsealing a bottle of sake and took a deep gulp of it, nodding slowly. "Can we negotiate the conditions another time? I'm not exactly sober right now..." he said quietly.
All three of the kids couldn't help but laughing. All considered was their speaking out with C quite succesful. They got some answers they were looking for and their relation was at least stable right now. While the girls were hoping of learning more things from him and he looking forward to see the girls more in the future - out of pure interest in them and their situation of course - was Naruto still unsure about him. What happened still nagged at him, but he accepted C as being a kind man of some sort that also showed him more kindness than basicly the whole village.
Hokage office
"Can you repeat that?" an old man asked, not believing what he just heard. Next to him was an old woman that had a similiar face of disbelief and was lacking words right now. In front of these two stood Sasuke Uchiha, his jaw wide open.
The Hokage had a warm smile on his lips. "I said that young Sasuke Uchiha here will be banned from Academy for one year because of his recent actions against a classmate and comrade."
The old woman became angry and started yelling at the leader of the village. "But you can't do that. He is the last of his clan and he needs to get the best treatment we can offer. It was a strong clan and we need him to keep our face."
"Do we? While I agree that the Uchiha clan was a strong one does this not change the fact that young Sasuke here tried to kill a classmate. And I am already taking his role and status into consideration. That's why he will only be banned for one year. The last ones trying to kill a classmate got banned for a full three years, so he can be lucky." the Hokage was still calm, speaking slowly like explaining something to a child.
"Why? Because of that useless idiot that can't even compare to me? It wouldn't be a big deal if he wasn't around." Sasuke stated matter of factly, his arms crossed over his chest.
"And for that statement would I like to extend the ban for another year, but I won't. First of all do I think that he is neither of the mentioned things. And secondly do I believe hearing that you tried to kill him because you were unable to win your sparring fight, meaning that he indeed can compare to you on some level." the Hokage still stayed calm, but he slowly lost his temper on the inside. If they would talk back to him just a little more...
"Only because Iruka-sensei hadn't allowed us to use all our techniques. That idiot wouldn't have a chance against me if I were allowed to go all out." Sasuke said with venom in his voice.
The Hokage sighed. "And yet another reason for your ban. You weren't following the orders of the man responsibility for you. Not following orders is something a shinobi can't afford to do."
The old man in front of the Hokage shook his head. "Hiruzen, we used to be good friends back in the days and even if we aren't anymore, let me give you this one advice. If you ban the young Uchiha here from Academy for one year will you sent an open invitation to the other villages to attack us, sending a sign of weakness that we aren't training the last child of one our strongest clans. It is your job as Hokage to think about the safety of the village, so do exactly that."
The Hokage couldn't help but to chuckle at that argument. "You know, Homura, it would be a sign of even more weakness if I wouldn't ban him. After all, which village would be considered strong if it hasn't it's own shinobi under control? History showed us quite well that this is the biggest sign of weakness resulting in the biggest incidents and problems. My decision stands and it will not change no matter what you two have to say. Sasuke Uchiha will be banned from Academy for one year. If he really is the talented genius everyone says can he try to take the genin test early after two years. So still on the same day he would currently, just with less things learned."
"This will have consequences for you, Hiruzen, and you know that quite well. We do have influence and we can make your job a nightmare." the woman exclaimed angrily, glaring at the Hokage.
Raising an eyebrow was Hiruzen Sarutobi looking amused at the old woman. "Koharu, your threats lost their spice over ten years ago. It would be best if you would finally accept that and stop making a fool of yourself. Besides, I recently got access to a new and independent scouting network. So if anything would be coming, either from the out- or inside am I sure to be informed and able to react."
This last statement of the Hokage surprised both elders, both having similiar thoughts. 'He must be bluffing. There is no way that he would be able to suddenly find and get access to a full working network. That requires years and he wasn't even working in that direction.'
"The last word isn't spoken about this, Hiruzen..." Koharu said with a hurt expression on her face.
"Indeed, we won't let this slip that easily." Homura added.
"I'm sure you will because you can't do anything about that, now be gone. I have other work to do." he gave the group in front of him a wave and focused back on his paperwork, not paying any more attention to them.
The two elders were glaring at him for some seconds before turning around and walked towards the door. Sasuke followed them shortly, his face showing an expression that said he wasn't caring at all. Once outside the office were the elders addressing him, but got interrupted when Sasuke simply shrugged and spoke up. "I don't care. At least can I now train without all these weaklings interrupting me or holding me back."
Watching the boy leave in disbelief did they still plan to do something against this decision and to make the work of their old friend a living nightmare. They couldn't accept such a bad treatment for one of the most promising kids the village had to offer...
XXXXX
And so does another eventful day come to an end for the Hyuga sisters and everyone else. All their lives are going to be changed - for better or worse, none might be able to tell.
The hate between Kiba and Hanabi has been revived and is something they might not be able to let go of anytime soon. While they did try to make peace with each other was their last sparring match sadly a huge step back.
The sisters continued to focus on their training; working on getting the basics for elemental manipulation done and furthering their clans taijutsu. They have a long and hard road ahead of them, but they are determined to improve, to protect their friends and to never again end up in a situation they faced twice already before. Being in a situation where they where helpless.
Same goes for Naruto. He focused on his staff training and working on the techniques written in his scroll. It's still nagging at him that he doesn't have an elemental affinity, but he never gave up so far and he isn't planing to do so anytime soon and being close to Hinata gives him additional motivation. If there just wasn't this strange guy that came crashing into his, Hinata and Hanabi's lives a few months back...
This strange guy, also known as C, is under close surveillance by ANBU and has to prove his good intentions. He is well aware that trust needs time and he is willing to work for it - towards the kids the same as towards the village. And as long as Tenten and the weapon shop owner can't duplicate his weapon of choice is there not much for him to do in the village anyway, til he is accepted as member of it.
As for Ino... After thinking over the advice Hanabi gave her did she came to the conclusion that the Hyuga girl was right. She needed more than just her clan jutsu, but was unsure of which direction she wanted her training to go in addition.
Beside of having a new nickname and a person to observe for the time being was there not much change for Kakashi. As long as he has his books to read was there nothing really bothering him and he will always do his missions as ordered.
Sasuke is taking the order to be banned from Academy surprisingly well. After all is there now none who can disturb him in his training or get on his nerves...
Which leads us to Sakura. Once she found out that Sasuke was suspended became she furious. She blamed Naruto and the sisters for that and it didn't help that she already was angry about losing to Hinata in the spar the way she did - which made peaceful relations between the two girls more difficult.
Like with the situation between Kiba and Hanabi can only time tell if things will get better between these two girls.
Time, something the Hokage wished would be peaceful within his village - if at least for just one day. Though he figured that there was always trouble of some kind following Hanabi, Hinata and Naruto. He awaited great things in the future from this generation and these three specific kids...
Three kids that left many impressions on the people around them. Three kids that have different secrets and mysteries surrounding them. Three kids which future and fate is still unknown.
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Authors Note: Yes, that was some kind of off-narration at the end. Consider it a summary of events and ways to go at the end of the "Academy" story arc. I thought long about it and discussed it with someone and decided that there isn't much more I could tell about at this point of the story. Unless you are intrested in day to day life of an elementary school student (though I'm not really up to writing that).
I'm pretty sure that I set all necessary tracks for what will come next - namely a bigger timejump into the future to start the next story arc. I know that this may be risky for the story, but I managed to have the story reasonable and making sense til now and I'm confident that I can cover a gap of time as well without ruining the flow or creating any major plotholes. If you managed to read my story to this point am I sure that you are able to trust me on this as well ;-)
Also, thanks for still being with me and bearing with my mind and crazyness.
On a sidenote: I noticed that someone put my story into a community - that's a first for me ;-) I'm just not sure if it is good enough (topic-wise) to live up to the things that are written in the community overview. Anyway, thanks for that, really.