Naruto: A Little Help
Chapter 3: Bigger gameSomewhere in another world, years ago,
Before Ichika awakened in her new life, in a world far away, a ritual was taking place. Thirty two people were present in a large, dark room. The only illumination was provided by the white glow of an enchantment circle with intricate patterns along the edges and across the diagram. Thirty people with same clothing surrounded it, their hands raised high. Beside this group was a raised platform with stairs leading to a small plain throne. On it sat a lady with regal disposition. He hair were tied up in a bun adorning a small crown bare of any jewels bar one. She was wearing plain yet fashionable purple clothing, lined with golden thread. Seemingly she looked 50 years of age but her actual age was 20. Her eyes were bright blue with natural blond hair. She was eagerly waiting for the ritual to be complete.
She was flanked by an old man in dark green robes and a wooden staff grasped between his hand. He was of moderate build and sported unkempt moustache and a long beard and slicked back hair, all white with age. His eyes were closed in deep concentration. Seemingly controlling the ritual from a distance.
The glow of the circle drawn on the ground was fluctuating between white and light blue, dim and bright. As this happened the old man's breathing became erratic. He felt as if something bad might happen. Proving him right, the glow of the circle turn solid, as in the mass of light became tangible, and started to crack. With each new crack one mage surrounding the circle dropped. One by one they fell forward. When only thirteen were left, the circle broke, leaving behind the chalk powder used to draw the circle, on the ground.
The old man gasped and opened his eyes as if waking up from a deep trance. Sweat was rolling down his face in waves. "No…", he said before gazing upon his remaining apprentices. "No!", he roared, before collapsing to his knees.
"What happened, David?" came the voice of the woman present in the room, walking up to him and crouching down to face him. "Are you alright?" She asked with concern.
"Forgive me… my queen…" the old man replied without meeting her eyes. "I have failed."
"What happened?" She asked again in a softer tone, worry marring her face.
"There was… interference. The… link to that world… broke… due to it…" he replied between gasps.
"Oh no." she said turning towards the mages around the circle. The realization horrified her. "Then that means…", she trailed off.
"Yes… they are dead." was the old man's reply.
"That… also means… we have doomed a poor soul to fate worse than death."
"That is the case, I'm afraid."
"We have to somehow make this right. We can't sacrifice an innocent person to that thing!." she said standing up.
The old mage got to his feet as well and regarded his queen with worry in his eyes. "Please forgive my inadequacy. I have failed you." he said with a deep bow, not straightening up even after the queen told him to. "Please forgive my inadequacy." he repeated.
"Stand, David. You are our most trusted and most powerful mage. A simple miscalculation doesn't prove that you're inadequate." she said placing a hand on his shoulder. He reluctantly straightened up but refused to meet her eyes out of guilt.
The queen then walked of the platform and approached the, now panting, mages. "You all have done well. You are dismissed. We can't afford to take any more chances if the sacrifice is this big. You're willingness is appreciated, and you're brothers will be honoured. But now I am not willing to sacrifice any more of you." she said to them. Taking in the sheer determination in their eyes.
"Please forgive me for speaking out of line," one of them said with a deep bow, "but we can't back out now. We have to try one more time. If it means getting rid of that thing then any sacrifice is acceptable to us."
The queen was speechless at this young mage's declaration. She wasn't expecting the royal mages to be willing to part with their lives. Their lives meant more to them than anything in the world, because each of their very existence is a fragment of a whole knowledge. If they die without passing the knowledge on to others, it is lost, forever. 300 mages worldwide were a part of that whole knowledge, which was so vast that a single human mind couldn't comprehend it. Their whole lives are dedicated to expanding that knowledge.
To be willing to sacrifice not just themselves, but a knowledge such as this… It is unprecedented!
"No! I cannot allow this to go on much longer. Not only have we sacrificed a large portion of the mages guild but also an innocent human who didn't even know what happened to them." her voice thundered, but the young mages weren't deterred. "We have to find a way to make that right. Bring that person back to their home."
"I'm afraid there is only one thing we can do." the old mage approached her from behind as he voiced his opinion.
"Tell me. What is it?" the queen snapped towards him, grabbing at the chance to right her wrong.
"I am quite certain I know where they may have gone. It is a high risk to be going in there to follow them, but that is the only way." he explained slowly. "Since I can feel there position, I should be the one to bring them back, either to us or their home."
"No." the queen interjected getting the old mage's attention. "I was the one responsible, so I should go."
"But, my queen-"
"I have decided. There will be no more arguments about it." she said with a commanding finality which dared the others to question her.
Hesitatingly, David relented, "As you wish my queen." he said as he walked to a corner of a room, picked up a large piece of parchment and ink, and started drawing the same ritual circle, albeit a lot smaller. He finished up and walked back to the queen and presented her the rolled up piece of parchment to her. "This is the same ritual circle as we used to bring someone forcefully out of their world, with some modifications to allow a person to travel of their own free will. As a consequence it is a lot smaller and requires a lot less Mana to activate, even one person of average reserves can do it, but the risks are even higher than just a single life lost. When you meet this person, explain the details and have them teleport where they wish."
"Understood", the queen replied. "Anything else?"
"Yes. When you flow Mana through the parchment it will be embedded in your wrist without leaving a mark, so you can keep it hidden."
The queen nodded and did just that. The leather piece was absorbed by her wrist and it left no trace of itself at all. She turned towards the mages and spoke, "This may be the last time we see each other. If I don't come back then you are free to choose your leader and decide whether you wish to serve it or fight against it." She ended her speech and turned towards David. "Let us begin."
The old mage reluctantly took his place among the remaining thirteen of his apprentices and began chanting. The white glow returned and illuminated the dimly lit room once again. The queen kept walking towards until David's voice stopped her.
"It was my honour serving you, my lady." he said aloud.
"It was my honour to have a subordinate as loyal and capable as you." she replied just as loud before walking into the glow.
Just when she disappeared the glow broke once more, killing the remaining thirteen apprentices, leaving David on his own.
He looked around, saw his dead students, their bodies were husks, skin stretched in every place, eyes sank, hair fell, before their entire bodies disintegrated into ashes, leaving their robes on the floor, the only evidence they had been there.
"Why the hell am I alive? Everything is lost. I should be dead." he said mirthfully. He chuckled dryly before hearing sounds of feet coming closer. Slowly.
He turned around and saw a woman dressed in a white shirt and light blue skintight jeans with a loose black belt hanging off her waist. There were holsters strapped to both her thighs for daggers and hilt of a sabre stuck over her shoulder. Her face was thin, lips curled in anticipation, narrow grey eyes, and dark brown hair complementing her white milky skin. She came closer to the old mage, "You are alive because you have to tell me where your bitch has gone."
"If you think I am going to betray my lady then you are a fool." David replied gripping his staff tighter and preparing to cast a deadly spell on her. "Hania. Whore of the dead. You don't scare me. I will die before I reveal my lady's whereabouts."
"That will be better for me actually. Because I know you won't reveal a thing no matter how much I torture you." She replied before reaching for her daggers. "I will get the whereabouts once you are dead. You will have no way to resist my temptations then."
"I will certainly not make easy for you!" David yelled before charging up a spell and throwing it at her.
X-X
Back in Naruto-verse, present,
"And that's fifty sit-ups!" declared an enthusiastic Ichika, as she jumped to her feet from the grass of her back garden. Standing at 3'10", she was a taller-than-average girl at age 5. She was wearing a Dark blue tank top and black boy shorts and her dark green sandals were lying a ways away from her, since she liked training barefooted. Her brown shoulder-length hair swayed with her movements occasionally covering her dark brown eyes and complimenting her light brown skin.
On the porch was sitting her mother Yoshida Yua, watching her daughter with amusement as she completed her final set of the workout.
Honestly, Yua was baffled by her daughter's infatuation with training. She didn't even know where she even learned of it. One day she caught Fukushima smuggling a book she loaned from the library. It's title was "How to Train Your Mind and Body". Upon interrogation Fukushima revealed it was for herself, which was a lie. Later she found her daughter going through exercises written in that very same book. When did her daughter even learned to read!?
Lately Fukushima has been secretive, hiding something from her, and only her. She found her talking to Ichika in hushed whispers quite often. There was something going on between the two but she wasn't sure what it was. She wanted to confront them about it but decided they will tell her when they feel comfortable. Even though she decided that, she still couldn't shake off the feeling of curiosity. Her daughter's insistence on training has been met with approval all around. Even though Aname worried for her safety while she was doing some of the extreme exercise listed, like hand stand push-ups or hanging crunches, everyone encouraged her to do her best.
She had suspicion that her daughter wanted to become a ninja. Badly. Which was confirmed a few days ago when she asked her to be enrolled into the Shinobi Academy. After much insistence on her part Yua had to relent when Genzo convinced her. After that her daughter has increased her exercises and their frequency. If she didn't know her daughter any better she would say her daughter is mentally unstable. This level of inclination towards training isn't even expected of Clan kids!
She was shaken out of her train of thought when her daughter approached her, drenched in sweat, and held out her hand. She handed her the towel she was holding and watched Ichika wipe away the grime covering her body. Admittedly, training has done a lot of good for her. Along with her diet plan, which she's still stuck on, has allowed her body to grow beautifully well. In every department her daughter was above average, and she was proud of her for that. She picked up a pitcher and a glass and poured her daughter a drink, before handing it to her.
"Thanks, mom!" Ichika said to Yua, taking the offered glass of orange juice and downing it in big gulps.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Yua said with hidden mirth.
"What?" Ichika replied before realizing something. "Oh yes! I have to meet Naruto and Sasuke today at the park.", she then bounded towards the back entrance of her home. "I am going to change!" she shouted over her shoulder and ran to her room.
Yua stood up shaking her head and picked up the pitcher and empty glass, before following her lovely daughter inside. She was in the hallway going towards the kitchen to put those things away when a shout of "Big Sis!" caught her attention. She quickly put those things away and made her way towards the voice, towards the main entrance of the house. She found Ichika wrapped around Fukushima in a bear hug with a content smile on her face. The servant on her part just smiled at the antic of her young mistress (read: surrogate sister) and wrapped her free arm around her returning the hug.
"Mmm… I missed you." cooed Ichika to Fukushima.
The blonde maid chuckled before replying with evident amusement, "I was just gone to the market for just two hours."
"I still missed you." said Ichika still not leaving the hug.
A sweet chuckle of Yua greeted them as they both turned towards the woman of the house, still locked in their embrace due to Ichika's insistence. "My, you two sure are close." she said before adding with a mock thoughtful look, "Even I wasn't this close to my sister."
Fukushima caught the subtle hint towards herself being family but remained silent. She still refused to acknowledge being a part of this family as she felt she had a great debt to pay to the Yoshidas. However, some part of her was glad that these people treated her like family and never as a servant. This gained the Yoshida family more respect in her eyes and her resolve to serve them all her life became even more firm.
Ichika chose then to separate and raised her fist in the air. "Yosh! I am going to go change and meet up with my friends and beat their asses!"
A swift yet light bonk to her head was her answer, courtesy of her mother. "How many times do I have to tell you not to use foul words?" Yua scolded.
Ichika placed a hand on her head to nurse the slightly stinging area, pouting at her mother. "Everybody else uses them so why can't I? I have even heard you use them many times!" she said pointing a finger at her mother.
Her mother had the decency to look sheepish for an instant before she replied with a guilty blush on her face. "Wh-what are you saying?"
Ichika adorned a look of smug victory and ran towards the bathroom before yelling, "I'm not telling!", over her shoulders. Fukushima giggled cutely at her mistress' predicament before turning towards the kitchen.
"I shall put the groceries away, mistress." the servant said.
Schooling her features she regarded the blonde maid before speaking, "Come see me when you are finished, I have to discuss something with you."
"Yes, mistress."
X-X
After taking a shower and changing into her casual clothes, consisting of a red t-shirt and navy blue trousers, Ichika sat in her room on her bed in a contemplative silence.
'Status.' she gave out a mental command and a plain dark blue window popped up with light blue borders, containing her stats and attributes.
Status
Name: Yoshida Ichika (previously Junaid Ahmed)
Age: 5
Level: 6
Job: Toddler (+2% exp gain across the board)
Status: Healthy
Experience: 123/14700
Attributes
HP 100
CP (locked) 66
Str 21
Vit 10
Stm 17
Int 16
Wis 13
Dex 11
Atk 21
Def 15
Lck 30
Points: 0
Titles
Young Mistress (+30% rep gain with Fukushima)
Perks
First Born (+1 Vit/Level Up, +30% rep gain with Yoshida Yua & Yoshida Asa, +2% rep gain with Fukushima, +5% rep gain with Konohagakure)
Buffs/Debuffs
Skills
Observe (Active) Lv 15 97%(Shows the status, title, attributes and perks of target)
Language Comprehension: Japanese (Passive) Lv MAX (Helps you understand the language you learn as a non-native speaker)
Reading: Japanese (Passive) Lv 3 87% (Helps you understand written words in Japanese as a non-native speaker)
Writing: Japanese (Passive) Lv 3 34% (Helps you write words in Japanese as a non-native speaker)
Gardening (Active) Lv 5 35% (+1 Spd & +1 Dex while in use)
Cooking (Active) Lv 2 32% (+1 Spd & +1 Dex while in use)
"Nice!" she exclaimed, 'Now, Equipments.'
Equipments
Right Shoulder Head Left Shoulder
Right Upper Arm Forehead Left Upper Arm
Right Forearm Face Left Forearm
Right Wrist Neck Left Wrist
Right Hand Torso Left Hand
- - Red T-shirt (+2 Def, -1% Stealth) - -
Right Hand Fingers Waist Left Hand Fingers
Bottoms
Navy-Blue Jeans (+3 Def)
Right Thigh Left Thigh
Right Calf Left Calf
Right Foot Left Foot
'I hate how detailed this is. But, I think it is more practical and more efficient this way' she said as she closed all windows. 'Lastly, Reputation.' at her mental command another window opened.
Reputation
Person or group Reputation Level
Hi no Kuni Neutral 0/500
Konohagakure Neutral 230/500
Hokage Friendly 600/1700
Shinobi Force Friendly 0/1700
Yoshida Yua Honoured 230/3500
Yoshida Asa -
Yoshida Genzo Honoured 2560/3500
Yoshida Aname Honoured 3056/3500
Fukushima Exalted 1230/6000
Uchiha Clan Friendly 30/1700
Uchiha Mikoto (Clan Matriarch) Friendly 1650/1700
Uchiha Fugaku (Clan Head) Friendly 20/1700
Uchiha Itachi (Clan Heir) Friendly 340/1700
Uchiha Sasuke Friendly 1000/1700
Uchiha Marui Friendly 480/1700
Uchiha Sento Friendly 300/1700
Hyuuga Clan Friendly 200/1700
Hyuuga Hiashi (Clan Head) Neutral 300/500
Hyuuga Ranai (Clan Matriarch) Friendly 630/1700
Hyuuga Hinata (Clan Heiress) Friendly 430/1700
Hyuuga Tetsu Neutral 250/500
Hyuuga Paro Friendly 788/1700
Hyuuga Jana Friendly 542/1700
Akimichi Clan Friendly 1100/1700
Akimichi Choza (Clan Head) Friendly 1000/1700
Akimichi Mina (Clan Matriarch) Honoured 250/3500
Akimichi Choji (Clan Heir) Honoured 110/3500
Akimichi Renga Friendly 1699/1700
Akimichi Sora Friendly 1600/1700
Akimichi Kishita Friendly 1650/1700
Nara Clan Friendly 300/1700
Nara Shikaku (Clan Head) Friendly 200/1700
Nara Yoshino (Clan Matriarch) Friendly 570/1700
Nara Shikamaru (Clan Heir) Friendly 1543/1700
Yamanaka Clan Friendly 500/1700
Yamanaka Inoichi (Clan Head) Friendly 550/1700
Yamanaka Kana (Clan Matriarch) Friendly 790/1700
Yamanaka Ino (Clan Heiress) Friendly 10/1700
Yamanaka Gena Friendly 550/1700
Yamanaka Kota Friendly 230/1700
Aburame Clan Neutral 300/500
Inuzuka Clan Neutral 450/500
Haruno Kizashi Friendly 190/1700
Haruno Mebuki Friendly 710/1700
Haruno Sakura Friendly 1699/1700
'Big sis thinks so highly of me, I feel bad for using her for my own purposes.' she thought guiltily. She then stood up and put on her favourite dark green sandals and stepped out of her room towards the front gate.
Stepping out on the street she began walking towards a nearby park, which happens to be at equal distance from her home and the orphanage Naruto is in. The three of them had formed firm bonds with each other. They always played together and occasionally Ichika roped them into training with her. It was an easy task too, as both boys wished to become shinobi as well, both having their respective aspirations and goals in mind. She still hasn't told anyone about her Gamer ability. She had to at some point, but right now she wasn't sure who she could trust. Her big sis was the most trustworthy person she has come across. The servant worried for her safety but still relented when she insisted on something.
If she was going to reveal her secret then the first person would be Fukushima. She might even train her. The second person she was uncertain about. It was either going to be Naruto or Sasuke. But both of them had a tendency to blurt out everything to others, especially Itachi. This was going to be a tough one.
She then started thinking about everyone she has met. All the Shinobi Clans, all of her mother's friends and her acquaintances. Some of them were indifferent to her at first, for example: Fugaku and Hiashi, but her charming smile and childish words won them over. She had met most of the Konoha 12 from the Manga. Only children she haven't met are Team Gai, Kiba and Shino. But she will be meeting them and joining the future Konoha 13. No doubt she is going to be Kunoichi of the year when she graduates from the Shinobi Academy. Her training has born fruit.
She was above average in many departments. At each level up she got six points to spend. She placed them as evenly as possible. She also trained the trainable attributes. At each level she could invest six additional points in total by training for certain attributes. She still wasn't sure how to train her Vitality so she added the additional points reserved for it into Strength. Now she was obviously unparalleled among her peers, but didn't let it get to her head, instead she hid her strength and acted normal. 3 sets of fifty push-ups, sit-up and squats are not normal for a child, but her mother wasn't well informed in terms of physical exercises and never tried them herself so she didn't have any idea how impossible that is.
Lost in her thoughts she went through the bustling street, unconsciously dodging passer-bys and reached her destination. Seeing Naruto at a distance she quickly activated observe.
Status
Name: Uzumaki Naruto
Age: 5
Level: 3
Job: Toddler (+2% exp gain across the board)
Status: Healthy
Experience: 105/2400
Attributes
HP 160
CP 207
Str 10
Vit 8
Sta 11
Int 7
Wis 2
Dex 3
Atk 10
Def 12
Lck 32
Points: 18
Titles
? (-60% rep gain with Konoha, +20% rep gain with Hiruzen Sarutobi, Yoshida Yua, Fukushima, Uchiha Mikoto, Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi, Hatake Kakashi, ?)
Perks
Uzumaki Blood (+2 Sta/Level, +1 Int/Level, +2 Vit)
Buffs/Debuffs
? (+2 Str/Level, +1 Int/Level, -50% CP)
Skills
Shurikenjutsu Lv 1 78% (+1 Dex while in use, +1 Dmg for thrown weapons)
'He seems to be growing steadily. It would be even better if he used this system to use up his points.' she thought as she read through his Status screen.
As she was approaching him, the blonde took off towards the surrounding trees upon hearing something. His natural senses must have picked up on something far away. She took off after him to see what he was up to.
Her mind processed through this and came to a conclusion that he must be going to rescue Hinata like in the manga. Realizing this she quickened her pace.
Quest Alert!
Your friend Hyuuga Hinata is being bullied. Rescue her.
Objective: Rescue Hinata.
Side Objective 1: Knock out one enemy with a stealth attack.
Side Objective 2: Help Naruto take down at least one bully.
Side Objective 3: Make the bullies regret their actions.
Objective Completion Award: +150 Exp, +700 rep gain with Hyuuga Hinata, Hyuuga Ko, +300 rep gain with Uzumaki Naruto.
Side Objective 1 Completion Award: +3 Stealth, +50 Exp, +100 rep gain with Uzumaki Naruto.
Side Objective 2 Completion Award: +70 Exp to Uzumaki Naruto, +150 rep gain with Uzumaki Naruto
Side Objective 3 Completion Award: +300 rep gain with Hyuuga Hinata.
Objective Failure Award: -2000 rep gain with Uzumaki Naruto, -100 rep gain with Hyuuga Hinata, -400 rep gain with Hyuuga Ko and Hyuuga Hiashi.
After a while of running through the forest she came upon a scene of Naruto standing off against three kids surrounding a scared Hyuuga Hinata. Her mother had once taken her to Hyuuga compound to meet the head family about some unfinished business with her father. Hyuuga Ranai, Hinata's mother, had introduced her to her daughter. The shy Hyuuga was quite friendly once you get to know her. Ichika had quickly befriended her and occasionally visited her.
Right now she was scared and crying. Ichika felt anger course through her body, but kept it under control. After loosing everything in her previous life as Junaid Ahmed, she had resolved never to let any harm befall her loved ones. Knowing the event from Manga, she quickly devised a plan and began climbing a tree, out of sight from everyone present, and perched herself on a branch directly over head from Naruto.
Just like the original story Naruto charged head first into the three bullies, who quickly over whelmed him and were about to pin him to the ground. Just as the tallest kid got through Naruto's guard, before his blow can connect, she descended on him like an eagle, planting both of her feet on the back of his head and forcefully face planting him into the dirt. This action broke his nose and most of his face and knocked him out instantly.
Her entrance startled everyone, including Naruto, which gave her the time she needed to tackle another one to the ground. "Naruto, you take the other one!" she yelled gaining the blonde's attention, who was dumbstruck but still nodded to show he heard her.
The young Jinchuuriki immediately attacked the last bully and struck his nose to stun him, then wailed on him with consecutive punches until the older boy fell to the ground, groaning in pain. Ichika herself placed her target in a choke hold until he passed out as well.
Hinata was looking at the duo in shock. She recognized her friend and knew she was strong, but the other kid had captured her attention. His cute and round baby face, his ocean-clue eyes, his determination, everything about him struck her heart and she felt… some unknown feeling, welling up in her chest.
As her rescuers finished piling the unconscious bullies and dragging the only conscious one to her feet, she snapped out of her trance and regarded the older boy at her feet writhing in agony. She looked up at her smiling friend and the blonde boy.
"Are you alright, Hinata-chan?" Ichika asked her friend in concern.
Hinata meekly nodded her head, to which the brown haired girl approached her and wiped away her tears.
"Don't worry. You are safe now." Ichika said cupping the Hyuuga's cheek. Then she turned back and motioned at her blonde friend. "That's my friend, Uzumaki Naruto."
The blonde raised a hand with a foxy grin and a quick, "Yo!".
"Naruto, this is my other friend I told you about, Hyuuga Hinata-chan." at this, said girl bowed slightly in greeting and thanks. "Thanks for saving her."
"Don't worry about it. I'm just awesome like that." the boy replied with a smug grin. He then looked at the downed bully and kicked his stomach. "Oi! Say you're sorry to Hinata-chan!" he yelled at him.
The bully grunted in pain and tried to retaliate. Just then a feet planted his face into the ground, stopping his attack. "Didn't you hear him? Say that you are sorry." said Ichika holding the boy down with her feet.
The boy quickly did as he was told, making Ichika lift her feet allowing him to stand up. Before he could do so, a fist was planted in his face knocking him out, courtesy of Ichika.
Hinata was now terrified of her friend's ruthlessness, but didn't speak up for fear of diverting her anger towards herself. "And that's for hurting my precious friend." her friend said in a cold tone
Quest Completed!
Your friend Hyuuga Hinata is being bullied. Rescue her.
Objective: Rescue Hinata.
Side Objective 1: Knock out one enemy with a stealth attack. (Accomplished)
Side Objective 2: Help Naruto take down at least one bully. (Accomplished)
Side Objective 3: Make the bullies regret their actions. (Accomplished)
Objective Completion Award: +150 Exp, +700 rep gain with Hyuuga Hinata, Hyuuga Ko, +300 rep gain with Uzumaki Naruto.
Side Objective 1 Completion Award: +3 Stealth, +50 Exp, +100 rep gain with Uzumaki Naruto.
Side Objective 2 Completion Award: +70 Exp to Uzumaki Naruto, +150 rep gain with Uzumaki Naruto
Side Objective 3 Completion Award: +300 rep gain with Hyuuga Hinata.
Ichika dismissed the window to look at it later. Instead she turned towards the footsteps coming closer to their position.
X-X
Hyuuga Ko was dreading that something bad might have happened to Hinata-sama. He was frantically searching for her with his activated Byakugan. Turning his focus towards the forest he saw her at the edge of his vision, along with several others surrounding her. He recognized two of them as he began speeding towards her, one was Yoshida Ichika, a friend of Hinata-sama, and the other was the demon child. He began fearing for the worst when he saw that three more boys were lying around, unconscious from the looks of it.
He assumed that the village pariah might be trying to hurt these children and deactivated his Byakugan to focus on running. When he approached the tiny clearing where the children were present he quickly shielded the girls with his body, his back turned towards them, and pushed Naruto away without thinking.
He was startled out of his ready stance when a stern voice called out from behind him. "Ko-san! Stop that!" came the voice of Ichika.
He turned towards the girls and Ichika's narrow eyes and Hinata's worried eyes met his. When he realized what he might have done wrong he looked guilty.
"What the hell are you doing!?" exclaimed the brown haired girl. "Do you even know what happened?"
"I thought that the de-" he was cut off by the girl before he could complete his sentence.
"Naruto was not attacking us!" she half-yelled. "He saved Hinata-chan from these bullies. You should be thankful to him for doing your job for you!"
Her words struck him and he looked down in shame.
"Now apologize to him and say thank you. Otherwise I'm telling Hiashi-san that you let Hinata-chan get bullied by three idiots." Ichika said sternly.
He quickly turned around and bowed to Naruto deeply, fearing the girls very real threat, and quickly blurted out a choked apology, "S-sorry, Na-Naruto-san!"
"And say, 'Thank you for doing my job for me.'", reminded Ichika
Ko felt incredible amounts of shame at being scolded by a little girl and being civil to the demon brat. But his sense of survival screamed at him to obey, otherwise Hiashi-sama was going to kill him painfully. "Th-thank you for d-doing my j-job for m-me, Naruto-san", he said shakily.
When Ko straightened up he saw Naruto worriedly looking at him. His expression looked guilty and concerned.
Ichika hated to do this to him but he had neglected his duty and allowed Hinata to get hurt, her precious friend, which was unforgivable to her. She knew that she should apologize for her treatment of the bodyguard but decided to postpone it for later when she met him again.
Meanwhile Hinata gathered up the courage to speak to her friend, stuttering all the while, "Ichika-chan, You shouldn't have done that. Ko-san has taken good care of me until now."
"He neglected his duty and allowed you to be taken away by mere brats." her friend replied softly before adding, "Which is a wonder how they even did that to begin with. Ko-san is supposed to be the second strongest branch family member. How did these idiots even slip past him, along with you."
Hinata had no reply to that as she knew her friend was correct. But she still couldn't bring herself to be angry with her bodyguard. She was thinking about this situation when Ichika broke her out of it.
"What were you even doing? Isn't Raina-san with you?" the brownette asked curiously.
"A-after enrolling m-me into the Sh-shinobi Academy, mother and father w-went off towards the Ho-Hokage Tower s-sending me b-back with Ko-san to the compound." replied the pale eyed girl..
Somehow her friend understood her through her stutters, making a decision to help her get rid of them, and nodded. She turned towards the bodyguard, who was looking down in shame, standing beside Naruto who was listening in on their conversation.
"I know!" the blonde exclaimed suddenly, startling the Hyuuga Heiress, "Why don't we take you to your home?"
His declaration was met with one approval, one look of shock and one look of disapproval, respectively. Before Ko could turn down the offer, Ichika spoke up, "That's a great idea! What do you say Hinata-chan?"
She turned towards Hinata, who was trying and failing to come up with words to politely deny that, finally relenting and nodding weakly.
"It's settled then. Let's go!" Ichika declared.
Ko made a smart decision of staying silent, lest he incur another blackmail.
Fifteen minutes of walking had all of them standing in front of the entrance to Hyuuga Clan compound. They exchanged good byes and the rescuer duo walked away, back towards the park they were to meet up at.
X-X
"Where are they?" Sasuke said sitting on a swing.
He had been waiting for half an hour for his friends to show up. They were supposed to meet up at 1 o'clock here. But they weren't present figuring that they must be held up somewhere, he decided to wait. A few minutes later he saw them coming up to the gate of the park, and completely ignoring it to jump over the fence beside it. 'What was the point? The gate is open.' he thought watching them get closer.
"Finally!" Sasuke exclaimed at both of his friends, " Where the hell were you two? I have been waiting for ages!"
Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, answering him, "Well… I was being awesome and rescued a princess a few minutes earlier."
"Shut-up, idiot." Interjected Ichika. "I did most of the work. Those bullies weren't even a threat to me."
"Wait, he isn't making this up?" asked an incredulous Sasuke.
"When I reached the park I saw this idiot running off somewhere. I decided to follow him and found my friend, Hinata-chan, being bullied by three older boys. Naruto here charged in like a bull and got his ass handed to him. I stealthily attacked one and tackled another while the last one, who was probably the weakest, got taken out by Naruto. We just escorted her back to her Clan compound before coming back here." Ichika recounted, before silently adding, 'And I completed a Quest. But he doesn't need to know that. Yet.'
"Whoa…" said Sasuke intelligently, "I was going to scold both of you for being late and wasting most of our training time, but now I feel betrayed."
"How so?" asked Naruto.
"You didn't even bother to let me in on it. I wanted to test myself." the Uchiha replied.
"Whatever! Let's start our training." Ichika said preventing any further discussion, to begin their two and a half hour of "training", which is just a bunch of games she invented to make them workout while having fun.
X-X
Yoshida Yua was not pleased. After talking to Fukushima about her daughter she was left with more questions than answers. Apparently her daughter had her swear "an oath of secrecy", as she put it. This made her even more curious. She wanted to wait for her daughter to tell her herself when she felt like it but her worry and curiosity kept pushing her to inquire more and more.
She thought that may be she should actively try to gain her daughter's trust. But her daughter already trusted her implicitly regarding any other things. How can she gain even more trust?
An idea of an underhanded trick popped up in her mind, which she quickly tried to dismiss, but try as she might, she couldn't think of any other solution. She couldn't even put that thought on the back of her mind. Reluctantly she accepted it. It would cost her the trust of her daughter after going through with this. But damn it all to hell, she wanted to know!
She decided she would try this when she came back then ask for forgiveness later. It was the only way she could satiate her curiosity.
X-X
Kumogakure, a little over a year ago.
I barely had the strength to open my eyes but still forced myself to do so. I took in the strangely familiar ceiling. Looking around I found I was in my own room. How did I know this was my room? I don't know but I had a suspicion that I know this place. As if I had been living here all my life.
I quickly remembered what happened before I woke up. I was travelling through the Crossroads, to reach the world where the summoned hero accidentally got transferred to. I have to go find them and teleport them back to her home world, or at least back to their own home world.
I remembered my purpose of coming here but I also remembered that I have a home here as well. 'Why did I feel like that? I shouldn't feel like this.' putting that thought in the back of my mind and started walking towards where I remember being a bathroom in the house. Entering there I quickly found the mirror I looked at myself. The one who stared back wasn't my own reflection, but at the same time it was.
I saw a child, barely 5 years of age, in a pink tank-top and my favourite pink panties. I strangely felt attached to the childish panties. The gears in my mind started to turn. I quickly realized what might have happened. It was rumoured to happen to the summoned heroes back in my previous world. I have been reborn into this child. Our minds have merged.
'Oh this poor child… I have unintentionally taken your life from you.' I thought guiltily. Yet another sacrifice in a war against that thing. It wasn't in my power. I didn't choose to rob this child of her childhood. It was wrong. But at the same time I can't do anything to make it right.
Thinking over this, I resolved myself to do my best to make her life better. I would have to act like this child in front of her parents. Give them good memories as compensation for my crime of identity theft.
Then I realized that I am but a child. I cannot do anything to find the person I came here seeking. What if that person was in another part of the world? That will be quite inconvenient.
I now must live like this. Try to grow up and find my target. Try to gain a position in this world where I can have resources, resources to gather information. 'I must come up with a plan to do just that. Plan ahead the life of this child for her.'
With that thought I walked out of the bathroom and found my father, or whom I remembered being this girl's father.
"Up so early, princess?" he said in a jovial tone.
"Yes, dad. I couldn't sleep." I replied after a moment's hesitation.
"Bad dreams?" he asked with worry.
"… yes…"
X-X
