Weird, but let's hope this fixed the formatting strangeness.
"Yo, brat." Ry paused upon exiting the door to his room.
Ginna sat on the plush chair, grinning at him.
She looks put together. She might've gotten back this morning, but somehow I don't think so. She doesn't strike me as the kind of person to give up a potential informational advantage that might come with a few days of me being observed unaware.
"Auntie, you're back." Ry said, cocking his head. "How long have you been back?"
"A couple days." Ginna said. "Decided to see how my favorite nephew was doing."
Ry nodded. "Okay. You want breakfast?"
"No questions about where I've been?" Ginna asked. "Or what I saw you do?"
"I've been perfectly boring, auntie." Ry called over his shoulder. "Outside of work and lessons, I've been sitting around reading. And you're a kunoichi. I imagine mission details are classified."
"Peh, you're no fun." Ginna said. "Why'd I get stuck with a boring nephew?"
"Take that up with the kami, auntie." Ry said. "I didn't really have much say in the matter. Rice ball with fried pork?"
"We're going to have to improve your cooking repertoire." Ginna said, appearing next to Ry. "Come on, we'll buy something on the way to the Academy. You can save those things for your lunch."
"I need to tell Shogo-san I can't work today." Ry said.
"Already told him last night, after you'd gone home for the night." Ginna said. "Now come on, brat, we've got a meeting with the kunoichi in charge of admitting students part way through the year. Believe me, you don't want her irritated at you."
"Do I need to wear anything different?" Ry asked.
"Just one of the outfits we bought specifically for the Academy." Ginna said. "Hurry up."
"Alright, alright." Ry grumbled.
Ginna had been very specific about the outfits he'd needed to purchase. Most of them involved long sleeve shirts, long pants, and the occasional jacket. Given that he'd neglected to get his hair cut, Ry grabbed one of the black bandannas he'd begun using to keep the hair out of his eyes during his workouts. He'd been given a painful reminder that it was a potential hazard during his taijutsu lessons with Kazune, but it mostly came in handy.
Today, Ry chose a red shirt with black pants, lacing up his boots.
He'd seen so many sandals around, but Ry wasn't a sandals person. Never had been, and that hadn't changed in his new life. Out of the bedroom, he put the rice balls in a small bag, tying it to his belt.
Mental note: need a lunch container better than a bag, at least for school.
"Come on." Ginna was standing by the door. "We'll go by the roof, since we're running late."
At least I've been practicing that.
It had caused quite a few crash and burns, but Ry had gotten much better at precision jumping. His control of his height and his distance was unrecognizable from where he'd started a month ago.
Running along behind Ginna, Ry did the mental calculations as they approached the street. It helped that his body and chakra seemed to instinctively know what to do, but Ry needed to eyeball things. Otherwise he would land on the roof, but beyond that was something of a crap shoot.
The street Ginna leapt over was much wider than any Ry had attempted. He followed without complaint, judging to the best of his abilities. The height and distance were fine, but he botched the landing. Ginna's snickers were audible as Ry leaned into the somersault, back up on his feet in a few wobbly steps.
"Only five more minutes of that." Ginna called out, leaping another gap.
Ry had only stumbled five times by the time they arrived, though one of those stumbles turned into a fall off the side of the building. He'd reoriented and landed fine, but the mirth in Ginna's eyes when he got back to the roof was almost physically painful.
We're definitely not a family that coddles one another, are we?
Brushing dirt and a bit of soot off of his shirt, Ry saw a large building in front of them. He hopped off the roof right behind Ginna, landing softly.
A man with a cat mask appeared in front of them. Rather than green, his vest was grey, and lacked any sleeves. Ry blinked, but he'd gotten better at controlling his reactions to unexpected appearances. His genjutsu 'training' and Kazune's tendency to simply appear in his peripherals had chipped away at his alarm.
"Hello, Neko." Ginna said. "Here to enroll my adorable nephew at the Academy. Believe we're expected."
The cat mask tilted, looking over at Ry. He nodded.
"You know where to go." Neko said, then disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
"Come on, let's not make ANBU antsy, brat." Ginna said.
There were no kids in the hallways. For such a large building, it felt unusually deserted. If it wasn't so clean, Ry might've suspected it of being abandoned altogether.
At least until they passed by some windows overlooking a courtyard. Two people were busy fighting in the middle of a white ring. A woman in blue clothes and a green vest stood off to one side, while the other was completely occupied by those Ry assumed to be students. Several adults were standing behind the students, looking in the general direction of the fighting.
Well, there's Narisa, so yeah, definitely students.
Weird. So fucking weird.
Ry was convinced their destination was on the opposite side of the Academy, right until the moment Ginna took a sharp right turn. The room looked like a large gymnasium, one where workout equipment had been pushed to the side.
Entering behind her, Ry found himself in a room with some familiar faces. Kazune and Akena stood off to one side of the room, while two others stood opposite them.
Standing at the far end of the room, smoking more than a roaring chimney, was an elderly woman. She had wrinkles on her wrinkles, and the hand that held her pipe looked like it had more liver spots than normal skin.
Rather than his newfound, but very grounded, fear of elderly people's sway, Ry's wariness shot up when he registered her outfit. Namely the red and white robe, along with the gigantic hat.
Hokage. Oh shit.
But Ginna said not to talk about it. Even if the Hokage knows, I'm supposed to act normal. Like some kid way out of his depth.
Easy enough. Heh, I may not be a kid mentally, but I'm still freaking out. Way out of my depth is an understatement, if anything.
"Shiranui-chan." The old woman said.
Ginna bowed deeply. "Hai, Hokage-sama. I've brought my nephew to test for joining the Academy classes partway through the year. This is Shiranui Ry, my sister's boy."
Ry bowed as deeply as he could when the Hokage turned her eyes on him.
"You wish to join the Academy, Shiranui-kun?" The Hokage asked, amusement in her voice.
"I wish to use my talents to the best of my ability." Ry replied. "If I can be a shinobi, then I want to be one."
"Why?" The Hokage's voice was soft, but steely.
Ry's ready-made answer, one he'd rehearsed, stopped somewhere in his throat. He became aware of a pressure on him. It wasn't hostile, but it was all encompassing. Ry was certain a slick answer wouldn't make it past the old woman.
So…when it comes down to it, why do I actually want to do this, other than it being the best way to preserve my own hide?
"Because…because I can do something others can't. Can fight things they can't, can protect them from others with talents like mine." Ry said after a few moments of thought. "Hiding my abilities, never using them, and knowing that I could have made a difference? Could have saved someone's life, if only I'd been willing to step up? I don't want to be a person who never made a difference, Hokage-sama."
The pressure lingered for a moment, then receded. Ry let out a ragged breath.
"The Will of Fire manifests in many forms." The Hokage said. "But as long as that spark burns in you, you will make an excellent shinobi, Shiranui-kun. Provided you pass the initial assessment, I will accept your entrance to the Academy."
The series of tests didn't take long. Kazune had him demonstrate Sandstorm Style, then Leaf Style. The Hokage nodded along with her explanations, as she did for Akena's words. For genjutsu, Ry couldn't sense when he was in one, but he could pulse his chakra on demand, with increasing strength until he shattered the genjutsu.
Wait. That was probably what I was supposed to be doing for my training, wasn't it? If Ginna's facial expressions are anything to go by, then yes.
Whoops.
"Now, Shiranui-kun, can you do any of the three basic ninjutsu yet?" The Hokage asked.
Ry was almost certain he'd passed. Still, he could demonstrate the one he was best at. Relatively speaking. He flashed through the seals. Ginna hadn't given him much advice, but while the seals gave him guidance and direction, they only roughly shaped the jutsu. With the exercises Ry had been using to improve his chakra control over the past few weeks, it was far easier to guide his chakra in the precise pattern necessary. The improvement was enough that he felt the excess he'd been using to force the jutsu through just flow into the proper pattern.
Huh. Maybe it'll be a clone that can speak? Also, I need to figure out a standard measurement of chakra being used. One that I can apply to any jutsu, so I have an idea of just how fast I'm blowing through my reserves.
Ry blinked in surprise upon seeing three clones. All of them had raised eyebrows, pointing at one another.
"Well done, Shiranui-kun." The Hokage said. "Umino-chan, what year would you rate this student in?"
Ry looked over at the only person who hadn't spoken during the assessment. The woman had a scar bridging her nose, her dark hair pulled back in a high ponytail.
"I don't know his academic status, Hokage-sama, but in his general ninja skills classes, mostly with the second level. Perhaps the third level in ninjutsu." The woman said.
"You have a talented nephew, Shiranui-chan." The Hokage said. "Now, as much as it brings joy to these old bones to witness our youth doing so well, I have to return to battle the bane of every Kage's existence: paperwork."
The Hokage chuckled herself out of the room. Ry's instructors left, including the woman Ry assumed to be his genjutsu instructor.
"Good to see you, Iroha." Ginna said, pulling her toothpick out of her mouth. "How's teaching treating you?"
Huh, okay. The Hokage addressed her a Umino-chan, but Ginna's calling her Iroha. So her surname's gotta be Umino.
"I'm having fun." Iroha replied. "Mostly. They're future nin. Lots of them are rambunctious."
"You doing alright with…her?" Ginna asked.
Iroha frowned for a moment, then laughed. "Yes. Much better. Figures you'd be concerned. Everyone else forgets, but you know her for her mother, not for what her mother had to do. Turns out she's just a kid. Like any other kid, except more starved for attention."
"Just checking." Ginna said.
"It's fine, senpai." Iroha waved her hand dismissively. "I'd be careful too. I'll treat your nephew the same. Though he seems talented enough that he won't have any trouble."
Ginna turned to give Ry a level look. "Yeah. About that. I'm going to ask him to hold back."
Ry tilted his head to the side.
"Why?" Iroha asked.
My question exactly.
"Because I know very well how some of the Clan heirs might react to some country bumpkin coming in and showing them up." Ginna said.
Ry caught the glare his 'aunt' was giving him.
"Works for me, auntie." Ry said, smirking. "As long as you don't ask me to do it in academics. It will cause me physical pain."
Ginna snorted. "That's fine, brat."
"So, this is a warning to me?" Iroha asked.
"Mostly." Ginna said. "The brat too, but primarily you. Like Kazune said, don't expect him to use Sandstorm Style in the taijutsu classes, or any of the jutsu he's learning outside of class in ninjutsu. I won't expect him rolling over and just taking an ass-kicking, but he certainly won't be showing off."
"Much like some of the clan heirs." Iroha shrugged. "It's fine. Though they rarely hold back intentionally, other than not showing off their Clan jutsu."
"If that's the case, you ready to start, Shiranui-kun?" Iroha asked.
Ry nodded. Saying goodbye involved a hug from his 'aunt,' which clearly amused Ginna. Ry just did his best to compartmentalize the enjoyment he got from hugging the beautiful woman.
Going back to having raging hormones is definitely a downside to this whole 'suddenly getting younger' thing.
Though it's way down there compared to being tossed into a world where magic assassin is not only a career, but a caste, one that holds a great deal of power.
Yay.
"We'll have you go join taijutsu class." Iroha said. "We don't normally have this many students together, but today's an exception. I know you'll only be using Leaf Style, but the other instructors and I will be right there to make sure nothing untoward happens."
"I've been training with my aunt." Ry said. "I think I'm pretty used to getting beat up, Umino-sensei."
"Iroha-sensei is fine." Iroha said, tossing a smirk Ry's way. "And yes, training with senpai would get fairly rough, I imagine. She's an amazing jonin. She was one of the Yondaime's personal guards, did you know that?"
Ry blinked. "She was a guard for a Hokage?"
"Mmm." Iroha nodded. "A good one too. She might blame herself for the Yondaime's death, but we don't."
Wait. Wasn't…wasn't the last Hokage Naruto's dad? Or I guess Narisa's mom, in this case? Gah.
Whatever. That would make my 'aunt' well over thirty, wouldn't it? Probably closer to forty, if not over forty. She doesn't look more than twenty five. If that.
"Wow." Ry said. "I never knew."
"Just thought I'd share that." Iroha said. "Whatever she's training you with, you're getting instruction from some of the best. She, Kazune-senpai, Akena-senpai, and Raika-senpai are all among the best jonin we have in the village. It helps that your aunt is friends with so many talented kunoichi, but if you stick with it, I'd be willing to bet you'll get training on par with most of the Clan heirs."
Ry didn't have any response. His brain was busy trying to reconcile the apparent physical age of Ginna with her actual age. He definitely appreciated the training, but his mind was fumbling with too many things at once to have a proper response. Instead, he picked the easiest option, remaining silent.
Walking out into the courtyard, Ry could hear cheering from the students. The entrance they'd come through gave him a clear view of the proceedings.
"Get 'im, Satoshi-kun!" Narisa's voice cut through all the other cheering.
"Kick his ass Ikuhito!" An equally female, but much throatier, voice shouted.
Well. There's all the confirmation I needed.
Also…are they supposed to be shirtless?
Ry had to admit, it was easy to see that both of them worked out. He was very much straight, but the two boys had the kind of physiques he would've killed for at their age. Then again, in his old life, lean was the best he could hope for. Here, he had actual shoulders.
The two looked like they were slugging it out more than sparring. Ry recognized some of the basics of Leaf Style that he'd been learning – even learning Sandstorm Style, Kazune had devoted a portion of each lesson to mastery of Leaf Style – in their punches and kicks. Most of that, if it was being used, was clearly unintentional.
Satoshi unloaded a brutal right hook that Ikuhito slipped, staggering backwards from the blonde's counter to the stomach. He blocked the next few blows before clipping Ikuhito's jaw with a straight line punch. The two backed away from one another. Ry saw both of their heads twitch at the same time.
Following their twitch, Ry laid eyes on who he had to assume was Uchiha Saneko.
Okay, in fairness, that girl is already a stunner. She's going to be a knockout when she grows up.
Everything about Saneko screamed refined grace. She had a delicate face, the kind that Ry immediately associated with the immensely popular Far Eastern influencers in his past life. It was schooled to neutrality, almost boredom, but even that had a haughty elegance to it. She had the sort of teen curves that suggested they still had some filling out to do, but Ry could immediately see how she would ensnare the interest of almost any teenage guy.
Not my problem. My memory of Sasuke isn't great, but he was willing to do almost anything to get more powerful. She's probably the same, trying to kill her older…crap, I can't remember if Sasuke had an older brother or older sister. Well, the opposite of whatever Itachi was.
What interested Ry more than her clear status as the class idol, was the almost unbreakable gulf of space around her. Everyone seemed to have given her elbow room, unlike the way they crowded each other.
The one exception was a guy with caramel colored skin, coal black hair, and a rather prominent scar on the left side of his face. It went up past his eye, though there was no milkiness to indicate the eye itself had been caught up in whatever caused the scarring.
Ry didn't recognize him, but that didn't mean anything. He could only remember vague, animated representations of most of the students Naruto had gone to school with. Trying to sort out their genderbent versions, in real life, was asking for way too much. Given the nearly eighty students present, it was far too much to hope for.
Though he spotted one easily enough. A rather timid, frail looking guy, standing relatively close to Narisa. His pale lavender, almost white eyes, gave him away. They were locked, not on the sparring, but on Narisa jumping up and down, cheering frantically.
That's gotta be the genderbent Hinata.
Ikuhito and Satoshi clashed again, punching and kicking.
"Enough." The woman wearing similar attire to Iroha said. "If you two are done showing off for the day, let's move on. Iroha, new student?"
Far too many eyes swung Ry's way. He felt a plastic smile lock itself onto his face.
"Introduce yourself." Iroha said.
"Shiranui Ry." Ry bowed. "Nice to meet all my future classmates."
"Eh?! Skewer-kun, you're gonna be a shinobi?!" Narisa darted over as Ry straightened up. "Why didn't you tell me?!"
Ry looked at the girl. She had her hands on her hips, glaring at him like he'd insulted her.
"You were a bit preoccupied the other times we met." Ry said calmly.
"Probably stuffing her face with ramen." A voice drifted from the back.
"Or running from the instructors." Another voice added.
"Good to see you, Uzumaki-san." Ry said, smiling at her.
Narisa grinned. "You too, skewer-kun."
"Ne, Iroha-sensei, can I fight skewer-kun?" Narisa asked, turning her bright blue eyes on their mutual instructor.
Iroha glanced at Ry. He saw a bit of a question in them. Ry nodded.
"Sure thing, Narisa-chan." Iroha said. "Step into the ring, once Satoshi and Ikuhito actually getting around to putting their shirts back on."
Narisa spun around, her face going a bit red. "Heh, Satoshi-kun can take his time."
Confirmed. One hundred percent.
"Not interested." Satoshi said, grabbing his shirt off the ground.
Both boys went to stand near Saneko. They chose opposite sides of the personal bubble the girl had established, but they weren't within it the way the mystery guy was. Each of them had a group of guys that came up to them immediately.
"Come on, skewer-kun, time to face off against the number one all around ninja, best kunoichi, and future Hokage." Narisa declared, marching into the ring.
"Sensei, what are the rules?" Ry asked.
"Mm." Iroha smiled. "Win, but without seriously injuring your opponent. We have medical nin on standby, but we prefer not having to use them. Taijutsu only."
"Right. Thanks, sensei." Ry walked out into the ring.
"Shiranui Ry versus Uzumaki Narisa." The woman who'd been refereeing said. "Begin."
"I'll go easy on you, skewer-kun." Narisa said. "You can have first hit."
With that, she proudly held her chin out.
Then she was spitting dirt and blood out a moment later.
Ry had been sparring against Kazune and Akena for weeks. Any reticence about hitting a woman had gone right out the window after all the ass kicking they'd done. They'd goaded him about it, taunted him when he couldn't hit them, and then literally beat him until his perspective had shifted.
Ry dropped back into a ready stance as he waited. He could feel the attention on him. His punch was a traditional, straightforward Leaf Style strike. Nothing flashy or fancy about it. He'd chosen a hook rather than a jab, given that Narisa had presented such an appealing target with her chin, but that was all the embellishment needed. His knuckles stung slightly, but mostly he felt a sense satisfaction from actually landing a hit.
Not once in all his lessons with the three jonin training him had he actually gotten a clean hit.
"Nice hit!" A girl crowed. "He got you good, dead last!"
Narisa got up, wiping blood off of her lip. "Huh, you hit hard skewer-kun."
She lunged at Ry. He deflected her wild haymaker, stepping aside to let her momentum carry her by. In comparison to the lightning fast strikes by Kazune, Narisa's punch was remarkably telegraphed.
"You need a free hit too?" Ry asked as Narisa turned back around.
"Heh, if you wanna give me one, sure." Narisa said, grinning.
"I'm going to regret this." Ry said, but he smiled as well as he lowered his hands.
She hit hard. Not quite as hard as Akena's wooden practice blades, but enough to make Ry see stars for a moment. He found himself on his rear end, shaking his head a few times.
"Ow." Ry said.
Narisa laughed. "Gotta pay you back somehow."
"This is a sparring match, not playing punching bag for one another." An annoyed, almost snide voice called out.
"Stuff it glitterbomb." Narisa said without looking away from Ry.
"Let's go for real then, shall we?" Ry got back to his feet.
Narisa was not good. She had serious power behind her punches, but that was it. Her form was graceless, even in comparison to Ry's own awkwardness. She wasted so much motion; economy of motion was a concept Kazune was taking ample time to smack into Ry.
Literally. Without looking up from her stupid book.
Ry could've taken Narisa down pretty quickly. Leaf Style didn't do much with grappling, but Narisa's recoveries were equally over-exaggerated, giving ample opportunity for Ry to pin her.
Using her as a method of practice was better. Watching her swings, Ry blocked some and let others through. He took quite a few shots to the ribs, and a couple to the face that sent him reeling. He watched how Narisa dodged, again throwing herself when she could've leaned, stepping aside when she could've swayed.
Man, that makes so much more sense, watching from the outside. No wonder Kazune is always on me about this.
The other thing Narisa had going for her was her tenacity. Ry had known, going in, that she was tough. More than the usual, MC of an anime tough. Naruto had always been a particularly tenacious bastard, even in comparison with other MCs Ry could recall.
Narisa was similar, and she refused to stay down. Ry wasn't trying to break bones, or anything like that. He mostly hit her in the stomach, some rib shots, tripped her up, and got in quite a few counters that snapped her head backwards. At one point he caught her in a knee bomb that whipped her backwards, knocking her flat on her back.
She had blood pouring out of her nose, her lips were puffy and bruised, her cheeks had multiple spots where the skin had split. Ry couldn't see what her skin looked like underneath her jacket and shirt, but he imagined it was already turning purple and blue, perhaps with some shades of yellow and green.
She just kept getting back up.
"I concede." Ry said, stepping back.
"Waah?" Narisa asked. "We'bre nah dan."
"To stop you, I'm going to have to seriously hurt you, or knock you out." Ry said. "And I don't want to do that for school sparring."
"Shiranui Ry concedes." The referee called out.
"Finally." Ikuhito said. "I was getting bored."
Ry held a fist to Narisa. "Good match."
For a long moment, Narisa stared at his fist. When he wiggled it, she grinned, blood dribbling down her chin.
"Debinbly." Narisa bumped knuckles with him.
Ry rolled his shoulders and neck as he ended up standing next to Narisa.
I should get this over with too.
"Hello, I'm Shiranui Ry." Ry said, nodding to the shy guy on the other side of Narisa.
"H-hello." The guy replied. "Hyuuga Hizashi."
Turning, Ry found another blonde on his other side. Unlike Narisa's hair, which seemed to have hints of red in it whenever the sunlight caught it, this girl had sandy blonde hair. Something about her features stood out to Ry. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, other than to say that her facial structure was different than most of the people from Konohagakure. Green eyes swiveled over to find him.
Man, I'm at a school that's just going to be full of pretty people, aren't I?
It makes sense, given that they're all in training to be kunoichi and shinobi. But I feel like a seriously average dude.
"Hello, Shiranui Ry." Ry said.
"Hokori Eiko." The girl said tersely.
Ry nodded, going back to watch the next sparring match. He didn't recognize either of the students, or their names.
"Raccoon-chan doesn't like talking to people." Narisa 'whispered.'
Eiko whipped her head around, ponytail almost slapping the guy on the other side of her. "That was one time, dead last! One time!"
Narisa snickered, nodding. "Yup, only once, Raccoon-chan."
"Gah." Eiko growled, crossing her arms and turning to face away from them.
Ry raised an eyebrow at Narisa. She had a grin on her face, but mimed zipping her lips. Ry shrugged.
When she was called out a few minutes later, Eiko ended up facing off against a girl named Inuzuka Kina. Ry didn't recognize her, not until he saw a small puppy sticking its head out of her coat.
Oh. That's dog boy then. Dog girl, I guess. What was his name?
Is it that important?
The sandy blonde promptly got her rear handed to her and she walked back to stand beside Ry with a noticeable limp.
"Do you always start with taijutsu?" Ry asked Narisa.
"Nah." Narisa shook her head. "This is just on the days where the medic nin have some sorta thing they all have to do at the hospital. They have us wait until the end of the day for the rest of the month, but the medic nin are always antsy, so we do taijutsu first with the whole student body."
She's already noticeably healed. That's impressive. I don't think that's a ninja thing in general, given how Satoshi and Ikuhito are still sporting their marks, but Narisa's swelling and bruising have definitely gone down.
"Oh." Ry said. "Do we do every class every day?"
"Yeah." Narisa said, then slumped. "Even math and reading."
Ry couldn't help chuckling. "I take it you don't like those classes?"
"No, they're dumb. Who needs to do math when they're gonna be Hokage?" Narisa pouted.
"Anyone who doesn't want the village to get cheated every time they have to sign a contract or negotiate rates for missions?" Ry asked. "Anyone who has to help the civilian council with budgetary matters?"
Narisa let out a groan. "Don't remind me."
"You're the one who wants to be Hokage." Ry snorted. "Don't blame me that they have high standards."
Narisa put her hands on her hips, turning to glare at Ry. "Ne, skewer-kun, you trying to make me give up?"
"No, just reminding you." Ry smirked. "You didn't think being the Hokage would be all fun and games, did you?"
Narisa turned away, glaring at the match going on. She didn't enunciate, but Ry was pretty sure he heard a 'yeah' muttered under her breath.
"Final match of the day." The referee called out. "Then we'll split off in our normal schedules. Uchiha Saneko versus Kadowa Junji."
Ry let out a soft whistle. Junji was good. Very good. He had efficiency and smoothness in every movement, his attacks and defenses flowing without hesitation. He'd have taken Ry apart in about ten seconds, even if Ry wasn't constraining himself to Leaf Style. In all of the matches that Ry had watched, the only other one on his level was Rokku Rimi, but Ry had known instantly who she was supposed to be. The leotard looked a lot better on a girl, than a guy, though.
Junji's skill didn't really matter. He put up a valiant effort.
Saneko took him apart. It took her all of thirty seconds to do so. The whole time, she was silent, her face set in a frigid cast. Cheering erupted from most of the guys when the referee declared her the winner.
"Saneko-baka isn't that good." Narisa said. "I could beat her."
Ry saw Saneko's hand twitch for a moment, but the girl walked back to her spot. Junji got to his feet a moment later, following her.
"You might be able to outlast her, if she isn't allowed sharp weapons." Ry replied.
Eiko snorted softly. Her expression was perfectly neutral when Ry glanced her way.
Narisa turned, sticking her tongue out at Ry. "Could too beat her, Neko-baka fanboy."
"Not a fanboy." Ry said. "I'd like to think I'm smart enough to stay very far away from the last heiress to the Uchiha Clan."
"And I've fought you." Ry continued. "You're tough, but you don't have the technique to beat her in pure taijutsu, not if what I saw out there was everything you have."
"Some sort of expert now, skewer-kun?" Narisa asked.
"Not even close." Ry replied. "I could be entirely wrong, but it's my opinion. Do with it what you will."
Narisa harrumphed. "She's still a baka."
Yeah, can hear the jealousy bleeding through, there.
Probably shouldn't touch that. I might be able to help better if it was the original Naruto, but I'd be the first to admit that there are a number of topics I know I'd only screw up trying to discuss with a teenage girl.
Jealousy is almost certainly one of them.
"Don't have an opinion on that yet, given that I haven't met her." Ry shrugged. "Though if we're going to be friends, it seems like getting to know her isn't a thing that'll happen. So I'll probably never have an opinion on it."
Ry's peripheral caught the way Narisa's head whipped towards him. She went back to staring at the ring a moment later as the medical nin went around treating everyone.
Except Narisa, apparently.
"Alright, let's split up for the day." Iroha said.
Huh, they keep class sizes pretty small. Though I guess that makes sense, given that they're training future killers. They'd want the most instructional time per student possible.
Ry followed the five other students he'd be spending most of the day with. From what Iroha had explained, it didn't seem to be a set grouping. The instructors rotated who was with who once a month or so.
For the moment, Ry knew five names. Two were Narisa and Eiko. When Iroha split them off earlier, Ry hadn't missed the look of fond annoyance on her face when it came to Narisa. Ry assumed it was from the way that Narisa stayed near him, chatting away. Eiko was off to one side, the sandy blonde scowling at Ry when they'd made eye contact.
Two others were Satoshi and Ikuhito. They'd protested directly to Iroha, angling for the group with Saneko in it. Iroha's annoyance had been less fond with them, though they only looked chastened, not like they regretted trying.
The last was Iroha herself, as their instructor.
Only the last student was a mystery to Ry. Her black hair was pulled into a bun in the back, and her face had a few scrapes on it, but she was otherwise unremarkable.
Ry quickly discovered that the academics were going to be both easy, and challenging. He had his own education to fall back on, which helped greatly in the math class. Science too, since they seemed focused mostly on the practical sciences.
Reading with the express intention of improving reading speed and retention caught Ry off guard. He'd always been a quick reader, and was grateful to still have that ability, but the exercises they were assigned were challenging for him to get perspective on.
As for history…Ry sat very quietly and listened. He'd done all the reading he could over the past month or so, but most of that had focused on culture. Ways for Ry to blend in better.
When it came to actual history, Ry was by far the worst student in the group.
Narisa was enjoying her opportunities to gloat about someone actually being worse than her, while Satoshi and Ikuhito kept giving him looks of suppressed amusement and disdain.
Ry could forgive Narisa. History seemed to be the one subject she was at least average in; her being prideful about it lined up with what Ry could guess about Naruto's character.
Satoshi and Ikuhito he was less amused by. Without Saneko in the class, the two of them had altered their behavior noticeably. They sat fairly far away from each other, both of them competing to answer everything first. Ry was entertained by it, though it began to grate on him when he realized how it was impacting his ability to learn.
All the others in the class had given Ry dubious looks when he chose to sit next to Narisa. Narisa herself had looked surprised, though she'd covered it quickly.
"Ne, Iroha-sensei, do we have to do Genjutsu class?" Narisa whined as the academics wound down.
"The answer to that question is the same as it was yesterday, Narisa-chan." Iroha smiled.
Ry very quickly discovered why Narisa wasn't looking forward to genjutsu class.
"What do you see?" Mizugachi-sensei asked.
Ry gave the shinobi a dry look. "I see ink blots."
"No, what do you see within the ink blots?" Mizigachi-sensei asked.
The man was dressed like a traditional Konohagakure shinobi. At least in terms of clothing. His hitai-ate was worn more like a hair band, helping restrain locks that fell past his shoulders. His vest had all sorts of decorations sewn into it, mostly flowers and what looked like a goldfish to Ry's eyes. Then there was the mellow, 'chill out, bro' tone of voice; combined with his tendency to repeat the same question and odd emphasis on words, the comparison was inescapable.
Ry was halfway expecting for the man to whip out a joint at some point.
"Uh, I guess I see…some birds." Ry said.
"What are the birds doing?" Mizugachi-sensei asked. "What are they feeling?"
Ry peered at the ink blots. He didn't necessarily appreciate the exercise, but he was willing to see it through.
"Agh, dopey-sensei, can we please be done?!" Narisa shouted, throwing her own ink blot paper in the air. "I hate these stupid things, they're so pointless!"
"Be cool, whiskers." Mizugachi-sensei said. "You just gotta open your mind to the possibilities."
"My mind's so open its dripping out my ears, dopey-sensei." Narisa sat back down in a huff.
Ry chuckled at that. The instructor looked at him. Ry shrugged; it was funny.
"Hey, Satoshi-kun!" Narisa's voice rang out in the hallway.
Ry glanced over. He'd been using the restroom; unlike his arrival, he wasn't permitted to travel along the rooftops to return home. The village's security forces heavily frowned upon the practice unless escorted by an official nin of Konohagakure. Which meant he had to take a much longer trek home, one he couldn't just run.
Satoshi, standing in a group of three guys, threw an annoyed look at Narisa. "What do you want, Uzumaki?"
Narisa darted up to the group, stopping a few paces shy of where Satoshi stood. She poked her fingers together for a moment, before clasping her hands behind her back. The following swiveling movement looked forced, though Ry had an idea of what she was going for.
"I was wondering if you wanted to go get ramen with me, Satoshi-kun?" Narisa asked, her face red.
"I told you, Uzumaki, I'm not interested." Satoshi said flatly.
"Aww, Satoshi-kun, Ichiraku's got this new miso that's really good!" Narisa said.
Satoshi turned his back. Ry watched from the corner of his eye as Narisa visibly hesitated. She blew out a breath, schooled her face, then stepped forward.
Then she jumped on his back, clinging to his shoulders.
"Sa-tosh-iii-kun!" Narisa called out in a singsong voice.
"Get off of me!" Satoshi growled.
The pink haired boy grabbed Narisa by the arm. The boys around him scattered as Satoshi yanked her forwards. The blonde went sailing, thrown a downright improbable distance before hitting the wall across the hall.
"Get lost, dead last! I'm never going to date you!" Satoshi snarled, stomping off.
Damn.
Narisa fell out of the crater she'd made in the drywall. She let out a cough as she hit the ground. A few of the cuts left on her face were bleeding again.
"That looked like it hurt." Ry said, stepping over to where the blonde lay.
"Heh, I've had worse skewer-kun." Narisa said. "Satoshi-kun doesn't throw me that hard."
"You say so." Ry offered the girl a hand up. "Nothing broken?"
Narisa grabbed his hand, almost yanking Ry off his feet. Together they hauled her up.
"Nah, I'm good skewer-kun." Narisa said. "Gotta be tough enough to prove my dedication to Satoshi-kun."
"I don't think that's a healthy mindset." Ry said absently.
"You're just a dumb boy, what would you know about a girl proving the dedication of her heart to the greatest guy in our class?" Narisa huffed.
"Absolutely nothing, apparently." Ry said. "I have to go, you want to walk home together?"
Should probably get on the good side of the future savior of the world. Maybe I can figure out a way to help her get stronger than she'd be otherwise?
I seem to recall at least two instances of devastation this village is going to go through fairly shortly. Her being stronger will probably help with both.
…ugh. I'm going to need to avoid a creepy snake lady. At all costs.
"You- ah, yeah!" Narisa said.
Ry noted she didn't have a bag, nor anything else that might be holding the homework they'd been assigned. Instead she thrust her hands in her jacket pockets as she sauntered along.
"You're bringing the homework home?" Narisa asked, in clear disbelief.
"That's kind of the point." Ry said.
"Nah, I think Iroha-sensei assigns it so Satoshi-kun and Shiny Hair can compete on it instead of in class." Narisa said, pulling her hands out of her pockets and sticking them behind her head instead.
"Well, it counts for a grade, so I need to do it." Ry replied. "I'd like to graduate."
"Meh." Narisa shrugged.
"You know if you don't graduate, you don't become a kunoichi, and can't become Hokage. Right?" Ry asked.
"People pass while failing the academics all the time." Narisa smirked. "As long as I pass the nin portion of the final, I'll get to be a genin."
"You're sure about that?" Ry asked.
"Yu-ppp." The blonde drew out the word, ending with a pop of her lips.
It would make sense, given how much she seems to be struggling.
Would helping her with her homework help her get stronger? I have no idea, but there's definitely a part of me that's terrified of the future strongest person in the world might not have a passing grade in most subjects.
"You have fun with Raccoon-chan in yuwaku?" Narisa asked.
Ry grunted.
Yuwaku, otherwise known as Temptation, was a class he had not been expecting. It had been fairly innocent today – he had to assume that Seong-sensei was easing him in – but from how she spoke, it could get much more intense.
Ry's partner for the next few weeks was Eiko. The sandy blonde seemed even less enthused than he was. While they weren't required to practice any of the techniques with their partner, the alternative involved use of the 'practice dummies.' As Seong-sensei had demonstrated, those dummies could be set for whatever appearance the instructor desired. She seemed to prefer appearances that were…less than appealing, for the students that refused.
Objectively, Ry could admit that Eiko was attractive. She had an athletic figure and her face had an aristocratic bent to it. If she smiled, Ry could imagine her going from pretty to stunning.
Subjectively, Ry could not shake the very clear fact that Eiko was, at best, seventeen.
Which was why he'd struggled as much as, if not more so, his partner. There'd been a mutual, unspoken agreement to keep it as professional as possible.
Her lips did taste good though. Sort of sweet.
On the other hand, Narisa was partnered with Satoshi. Who'd immediately gone over to the dummies. Given the resigned expression on his face, it was a regular occurrence.
"Ne, skewer-kun?" Narisa had a grin on her face as she looked over. "Did you have fun in yuwaku?"
Ry gave the strawberry blonde a flat look. "Not really. Hokori-san clearly didn't want to kiss me, which pretty much makes it the opposite of fun."
Narisa cocked her head. "Oh."
"You wanna stop for ramen?" Narisa asked a moment later.
Ry shrugged. Given the amount of money he was making, he could afford to splurge a few times a week.
He did know better than to let Narisa eat on his tab. She had devastatingly effective puppy eyes, enhanced by the cuteness effect of her whisker marks, but Ry held strong. He was not going to starve until his next paycheck.
"Oh, Narisa-chan, Shiranui-kun, good to see you." Ichiraku said, offering a wizened smile. "Ayaki! Get Narisa a bowl of the new miso ramen we're serving. What would you like, Shiranui-kun?"
Narisa was done with her bowl by Ry's third bite. "Ne, you're awfully slow at eating, skewer-kun."
"Savoring the meal." Ry replied, pointing a finger at her. "And no, you can't have any, because there won't be any left over."
Narisa unleashed her pout again. "Uwa! You're mean, skewer-kun."
"No, I just know a scam artist when I see one." Ry said dryly. "If you want more, you can order another bowl for yourself."
Ichiraku chuckled. "I think your new friend sees right through you, Narisa-chan."
Narisa stuck her tongue out at Ry. Then promptly ordered two more bowls.
"Whatcha doing tonight, skewer-kun?" Narisa asked midway through her fourth bowl.
"I have to train with one of my aunt's friends." Ry said.
"Mm?" Narisa cocked her head. "Nin training?"
"Taijutsu, in this case." Ry said.
A thoughtful look came over Narisa's face. "Cool! Could you show me?"
Ry glanced over at her. "As in take you with me?"
Narisa shook her head. "Nah. The nin ignore me for the most part, and I'd rather keep it that way…gotta keep my head low before my next prank."
Ry cocked his head. "So…you want me to show you what I'm learning, at some other time?"
"Mmm." Narisa nodded.
"I won't do it for free." Ry said.
Narisa's happy expression deflated. "Ahhh…I'm not sure if I've got-"
"Not money." Ry shook his head. "I want you to do your homework."
Narisa's eyes widened, her posture screaming betrayal. "That's so mean, skewer-kun."
"What?" Ry shrugged. "If you're going to be my future Hokage one day, I'd rather have a Hokage that the civilian council and foreign dignitaries can't take advantage of because she's bad at math and reading."
"Muuu." Narisa glanced over at Ichiraku. "He's mean."
"I'm sure he'll help you do the homework." Ichiraku said, giving Ry a look.
Of course I will. If she's the main reason the world survives all the madness coming in a few years, I'm going to do my best to contribute to that. I might've been able to avoid interacting with plot characters if I'd been grabbed by another village, but that didn't happen, and now she's right in front of me.
Plus, given time to think about it, there's at least twenty nine other people out there with potential knowledge about the plot. Some of them might end up siding with the bad guys, for all I know. Sort of need to make sure she's got capabilities they aren't aware of.
"Of course I'll help, Uzumaki-san." Ry said. "But it won't just be me giving you answers."
When Narisa didn't reply, Ry went back to his food. He wasn't going to push her.
"I'll think about it." Narisa said. "But you can't just give me lessons. I want your help with pranks."
"I don't think I'll be much help with that?" Ry said in confusion.
"Sure you will." Narisa grinned. "I'm real good at Henge, but it's hard to play my disguises right. You can go in there and scout for me. Maybe be a distraction if Konohakime isn't available."
"You want me to be your straight man, more or less?" Ry smirked.
"Straight man?" Narisa cocked her head. "Do you like guys or something, skewer-kun? Is that why you didn't have fun with Raccoon-chan in yuwaku?"
Ichiraku let out a snort at that. Ayaki was less restrained, a full bellied laugh escaping him.
"I like girls." Ry replied, shaking his head. "And straight man means that while you're the one who's funny, and does things like play pranks, I'm the serious one, who makes the things you do easier and funnier, by being serious."
Narisa's already cocked head tilted further as she gave Ry a blank look.
"Narisa-chan, he means he's the boring one that makes you more exciting just by being around." Ayaki said.
"Oh!" Narisa nodded. "Yeah, that! That's perfect, skewer-kun, why didn't you say that the first time?"
Ry turned to glare at Ayaki, who was too busy laughing to notice. "Because I'm apparently still learning how to speak your language, Uzumaki-san."
"You sound fine to me though." Narisa said. "I mean, I had to teach myself to read and write, but you definitely speak better than me."
Ayaki's laughter redoubled.
"Don't worry about it." Ry shook his head, giving up on his glare. "It's just an expression. Sure, I can help, but not all the time. Once a month."
"No way!" Narisa shook her head. "Once a day."
Ry raised an eyebrow. "You don't even pull pranks daily. Once a month."
Narisa chuckled weakly before trying her puppy dog eyes. "Once a week?"
"Twice a month." Ry said. "Final offer, take it or leave it."
Narisa pouted. "Fine."
The she turned to Ichiraku. "Ne, Raku-baa-san, I thought you said making that face would make boys give me whatever I wanted?"
Ry smirked at that.
"Depends on who the boy is." Ichiraku said. "And you won't help your efforts by telling the boy in question you were just trying to manipulate him."
"Oh, umm…" Narisa turned back, puppy dog eyes out once more. "Forgive me, skewer-kun?"
Ry reached out and thumped her forehead.
"Ow!" Narisa yelped.
"We both know you're tough enough for that to barely hurt." Ry said. "And yes, you're forgiven. Mostly because that was too funny to really be irritated by."
Narisa rubbed her forehead. "Funny enough for you to buy me another bowl of ramen?"
"No." Ry rolled his eyes. "I'm finished anyways, we should go."
Walking into the dojo, Ry found Kazune accompanied by a man. A man wearing a trench coat fully unbuttoned, with only a speedo and some boots on outside of the hitai-ate holding back his hair. His purple hair was held up in a partial topknot, while tattoos of snakes slithering were fully visible along his neck.
"Kazune-sensei." Ry bowed his head.
"Shiranui-kun, we've been training for a while, and I've been thinking that you might need a complimentary taijutsu style." Kazune said. "This is Mitarashi Aoba. He's a tonkebetsu jonin with the T&I division of ANBU. He's going to come by for one of our lessons every week, to teach you the style of taijutsu he's developed."
"Hello, Mitarashi-sensei." Ry bowed his head again.
"Kazune-senpai tells me you're tough, and can take some pain." Aoba said. "Which is good. The best teacher is pain; those are the lessons you never forget."
"Strangler Style is about binding your opponents up and using their own flailing against them." Aoba said. "Allow me to demonstrate; Kazune-senpai?"
The two jonin faced off, bowing. Ry saw Kazune's punch, which was clearly slowed down for the sake of demonstration. Equally slowly, Aoba brushed the punch aside, except that his hand didn't break contact with Kazune's arm. Instead he gripped her forearm, his other hand latching onto her elbow. Even with their intentional slowness, the following pivot and throw was so smooth Ry almost couldn't follow what happened.
Kazune popped up to her feet. "We'll have you combine this with Sandstorm Style, to reposition opponents, as well as help you with enemies that aren't content to stick to a striking only kind of taijutsu. You'll be thankful for it if you ever end up facing off with Iwakagure nin."
"Have you done the leaf concentration exercise?" Aoba asked.
"Yes, Aoba-sensei." Ry nodded. "Every night since it was introduced to me."
"Show me." Aoba held out a leaf.
Ry did. He wasn't perfect at it, his leaf ended up smoldering at the edges, but he made it nearly four minutes before that happened.
"Good." Aoba said. "Ginna-senpai left him instructions for tree walking and water walking, yes?"
When Kazune nodded, Aoba's face split into a smile. It wasn't a reassuring smile; on the contrary, it was a smile that made Ry distinctly uncomfortable.
"Excellent." Aoba said, chuckling. "Excellent. We'll incorporate them into your training once you've mastered both. Let's see how well you do."
Which was how Ry found himself standing in front of a tree five minutes later.
"You've read the instructions for tree walking." Aoba gestured at the broad trunk. "Go ahead and do it. Failure will have…painful consequences."
As if to emphasize that, a small snake stuck its head out from Aoba's sleeve. Ry didn't think Kazune would really let him be killed as part of his training, but there was a vast range between problematic and deadly. Usually filled with lots of pain for those in that range.
This is gonna suck.
Ry knew the theory behind tree walking. He had to use the tenketsu in his feet to exude chakra, at the same time manipulating the properties of the exuded chakra into the correct ratio of adhesion and repulsion.
Adhesion so that his chakra would stick to the trunk, his feet, and his boots.
Repulsion, so that he could still move his feet instead of having them fastened to the trunk.
Putting his foot to the trunk, Ry was surprised to find it felt fairly stable. He could pull it off easily enough, but applying pressure to it didn't budge it unless he wanted to move.
His second foot proved a problem. As soon as it landed in the trunk, his first foot suddenly slipped right off. Ry ended up in an awkward and painful half split.
Which, of course, was when something bit him in the arm.
Ry snarled in pain, swatting at his attacker even as he fell onto his back. The snake disappeared in a puff of smoke, but there was a burning sensation coursing through his arm.
"It's only mildly venomous, and it's mostly going to inflict pain, not do anything too damaging." Aoba said. "But that will add up if you keep getting bitten, might make it hard to function."
"Seems a bit…harsh." Ry said, his words clipped as he got back to his feet.
"Pain is the best teacher, ne Kazune-senpai?" Aoba smirked.
Kazune had her red book out. "Maa, Shiranui-kun, Ginna-chan told us we could use whatever methods wouldn't cripple you. Aoba-kun here wanted to put spikes coated in poison at the bottom of the tree too."
Goddamnit auntie.
I'm just lucky infusion makes it easier to weather pain. Because I want to cry already.
Ry's next few tries weren't successful. Aoba wasn't joking either; the pain compounded with each consecutive bite. By his tenth attempt, Ry was sweating, teeth clinched in a rictus as his foot shook before making contact with the tree.
He fell down a moment later, grunting when the fangs punched into his arm.
"Probably enough, Aoba." Kazune said. "We should start on the taijutsu now."
"Mmm." Aoba hummed. "Sure, Kazune-senpai. If he manages to do the first kata successfully, I'll even give him the antidote."
"This is dumb." Ry said.
"Nah, it'll be fine." Narisa said. "I need it for research material."
"And why do you need that kind of research material, exactly?" Ry asked.
"Because Konohakime has to perfect her own weapon against her baa-san." Narisa said. "And baa-san confiscated mine when I used my own original jutsu on her."
"Is this the Sexy Jutsu I heard Riria-sensei muttering about in ninjutsu class?" Ry asked.
Narisa grinned. "Yup! After I caught a glimpse of baa-san's book when I was younger, I made a Jutsu off of it. It takes Henge to a whole new level. Prude-sensei just doesn't like that I made her pass out the first time I used it on her."
"So, it's been less than three days, and the first prank you need help with involves me buying smut?" Ry asked.
"Muu, you're not backing out, are you?" Narisa asked.
"Clarifying, not backing out." Ry said. "Mostly I'm amused."
"Mm, yeah, this is more of a long term prank. Konohakime isn't really good enough at Henge yet to do anything too crazy, but she wants to learn." Narisa snickered. "And watching her using it in baa-san the first time will be great."
"I feel like the responsible thing to do here would be to steer you away from using smut to prank people." Ry said.
"That'd be no fun, skewer-kun." Narisa smirked. "Besides, it's like baa-san's only weakness."
Which was how Ry found himself disguised in a bookstore ten minutes later. He was surprised to recognize the clerk.
Eiko looked bored out of her mind, drawing on a sketch pad. Unlike at the Academy, she had her hair in a loose ponytail. She still wore pants and a shirt, but they were significantly more feminine than the utilitarian wear he'd seen so far.
Focus. Buy the stupid book for Narisa.
…I don't know how I'm going to feel if they're using this how I'd originally concluded they would. Gross, for certain, and like more than a little of a lech.
Ry found the book quickly enough. While it didn't have its own section, per se, there was a section dedicated to books with shirtless, muscled men on the cover.
While he'd come to terms with quite a few things about his new world, the idea that the equivalent of 'bodice-rippers' would be proudly displayed in a normal bookstore, including soft core pornographic covers, was giving him a hard time.
Probably better, overall, than the dichotomy of views towards sex in my past life. Hell, given what they teach in yuwaku, the nin at least have a way better idea of what sex entails.
Ry grabbed two of the red books. He turned to leave, before spotting one with a blue cover. A closer look showed two women on the cover. Ry flipped through the first few pages in curiosity. His eyebrows shot up.
Then he started grinning.
Hmm. I probably shouldn't.
But I'm going to. Because I'm curious what exactly Narisa might come up with given more research material.
And it'll be funny.
"I'd like to buy these." Ry said.
It still weirded him out that his voice sounded so different. It wasn't the most feminine voice in the world – his chakra wouldn't let him attenuate sound that far, not yet – but it was a far cry from what he was used to.
Ry had argued long and hard to go in as a guy, but Narisa had been adamant it wouldn't work. She'd evidently scoped out the bookstore before; there was some sort of policy against selling their more erotic works to men. Ry didn't know why, and Narisa had been equally adamant about using this particular store in particular.
From her tone of voice, Ry suspected a form of subtle revenge, but he wasn't going to pry.
"Okay." Eiko said.
The register wasn't quite as complicated as those from Ry's old life, but the books had price tags that the sandy blonde punched numbers off of.
Until she got to the book with the blue cover. Her cheeks flushed bright red, green eyes darting to look at Ry's Henge for a long moment.
"You, ah, sure this is the right book?" Eiko asked.
"It was there, and I thought I'd see what it's about." Ry grinned, his Henge showing amusement in its rather plain face. "Maybe my boyfriend will see it one day and think I'm kinky. Or I might just leave it in my little brother's room next time I visit my parents. It'd be funny to see my mother's reaction."
"O-oh." Eiko said, swallowing visibly.
Ry was surprised to see her eyes skitter up and down his Henge.
"E-enjoy." Eiko said in a hushed whisper.
Walking out with the three books in a bag, Ry walked down the street before turning into an alleyway.
He dismissed his Henge and jumped onto the roof.
Narisa snatched the bag out of his hand. "Your Henge wasn't bad. She was so plain though."
"That's kind of the point, right?" Ry asked. "I didn't want her to be remembered."
"Mmm I gue- woah!" Narisa's blue eyes widened as she held the book with the blue cover. "What's this?"
"Additional research material." Ry said. "I'm guessing you use your sexy jutsu on women, but maybe that'll provide some ideas on how to use it for men too."
"Mm." Narisa said.
She had both an orange book and the blue book open. Her eyes flitted back and forth as she flipped through the pages. It didn't make any sense to him, but he wasn't going to question her.
Ry watched her for a minute, expecting her to look away, or tell him he was done. She didn't; her eyes were wide and she was utterly focused.
"How old were you when you stole one of those orange books the first time?" Ry asked with a note of amusement in his voice.
"I think ten, maybe?" Narisa said, her tone distracted.
Yeah, that seems about right.
Well…she was bound and determined to get her hands on stuff like this sooner or later. And she's going to be trained by some version of the pervy old dude -er, old lady I guess – in a few years. I imagine this is nothing compared to whatever that will be.
"Should I leave you in peace?" Ry asked.
Narisa just grunted, eyes flitting back and forth.
"I'll take that as a yes." Ry said. "See you at school tomorrow, Uzumaki-san."
"Ne, skewer-kun." Ry turned around to find Narisa looking up from her books. "You're my friend, right?"
"Who else but a friend would go buy that kind of stuff for you?" Ry smirked, gesturing at the books.
Narisa beamed. "My friends don't call me Uzumaki-san."
Ry considered that for a moment. "Alright. See you at school tomorrow, Narisa-san."
