"Auntie?" Ry cocked his head. "Are you taking over my training today?"

Ginna straightened up from where she was leaning against a tree. "Not quite, brat. But I did want to introduce a couple of things to you. My friend has to go on a long term mission, so we're going to drop genjutsu training. She said you were doing well, though."

Ry shrugged. "Well, I was getting better at recognizing I'm in one. Hadn't really gotten to using them."

"Keep working with the genjutsu instructor at school." Ginna said. "I know he's strange, but he does know what he's doing."

"Strange isn't the word I'd use." Ry said sarcastically. "Mellow might be better. Or dopey; Narisa-san seems to have a good sense of good nicknames for people."

"Surprised she was the first friend you've made." Ginna said.

"It's only been two weeks of school." Ry said. "I might make more. All the guys look at me like I'm extra competition though, and Narisa seems to be something of a repellant for the other girls there."

Something Ry was fairly grateful for. He knew he'd need to form bonds of trust with his classmates. Friendships would be ideal, but Ry was well aware he was at a school that was pretty stuffed full of beautiful people. Beautiful people, most of them in the throes of adolescent hormones.

Ry had zero interest in getting mixed up in that powder keg. He was already having a rough time in yuwaku. They'd mostly been focused on what Seong-sensei called intimation techniques. Kissing, massages, posing. To Ry's relief, that was the extent of the mandatory curriculum.

Despite that, Ry was nervous. He'd be changing classes in a few weeks, and while no one in his current class seemed too eager to progress past that – with him, anyways – there was no guarantee he wouldn't have to fend off someone more determined in the future.

"Speaking of…" Ginna trailed off. "Have you put things together yet?"

"Which things?" Ry asked. "About the fact that all the guys are trying to elbow each other aside for the Uchiha heiress, or why pretty much every seems to, at the very least, ignore Narisa?"

"Surprise me." Ginna said.

"Well, the first one's easy." Ry snorted. "I've heard enough of Satoshi and Ikuhito quarreling about who's going to be Saneko's first husband that I only had to do a bit of digging. Being a country bumpkin pays off. Well, that and Narisa has a pretty big grudge against her."

"So you know, then." Ginna smirked.

"I mean, I know what they hope will happen." Ry said. "I know the decision falls squarely in the Hokage's lap, given Saneko's lack of direct legal guardian, and that I don't know nearly enough about the politics of the situation to know how that might go over. The logistics of it don't really make sense to me, but from what I understand, it uh, involves artificial insemination and possibly embryonic transferral?"

"Ha." Ginna shook her head. "Okay, fair enough. I'm not surprised though. That was the easy one."

"For Narisa…" Ry shrugged. "I mean, really? You want me to say it say it?"

Ginna didn't say anything.

Fine. I mean, I knew anyways, but the number of times someone's called Narisa a demon over the last couple of weeks, her absurd healing, her whiskers, and the fact that I've seen ANBU hauling her back to school three separate times, when they don't do the same for anyone else cutting class?

"She's got a ride along." Ry said, meeting Ginna's eyes. "One she wasn't given willingly, if I were to guess. On either end. I may not have met her until recently, but I pulled a few late night shifts by Ichiraku's when the bars would boot people out. The number of people who'd 'buy nine for a moment of silence' wasn't that hard to pick up on. I got curious, asked, then found out in history class. Iroha-sensei had the others recap major events from the village's history for me. That's a pretty important one. Does she even know about it?"

Ginna's eyes hardened. "She does not. And if you don't ever want to die, you can't say anything about it to anyone. Not even Narisa. The Sandaime has made it punishable by death, and it is always enforced."

"Hai, auntie." Ry said.

Hmm. Do I wait until graduation? I've only really known her for a few weeks, but I can already predict how telling her is going to go. And in all likelihood, whatever my status is that got me into this position, her reaction is going to end up with my head cut off.

"How did you figure it out?" Ginna asked.

Ry dutifully recited off his observations.

"Elaborate." Ginna said forcefully.

"I guess her healing could be a kekkei genkai, but the nin of the village wouldn't treat her that way if so." Ry said. "She'd be coveted, a resource to cultivate. No one else gets collected by ANBU, or has our teacher dispatched in the middle of a class to go find them if they cut class. A lot of people call her a demon when they think nin aren't around listening, and she has whisker marks exactly like what they have painted on the kitsune masks in some stalls. Then there's the fact that she apparently mouths off to the Hokage all the time. She's either what she is, or she's the Hokage's secret relative. Either could be true, I guess, but the second doesn't make sense."

"More than you might think." Ginna said. "Still, not bad."

"Aren't you worried about other villages figuring that out?" Ry asked.

"No." Ginna's smirk returned. "Old lady Hokage and Shimura-san might not always get along, but what they implemented to misdirect the other villages' intelligence apparatus is shockingly effective. You're part of something similar, really. The only way for someone to weasel it out would be by spending extended, unobserved time in our village. We don't produce sensor nin in the same quantity as Kiri or Kumo, but we have more than enough to monitor all of Konohagakure. An anomalous chakra signature would be noticed."

"What about a civilian?" Ry asked.

"Harder to spot." Ginna shrugged. "It's not perfect, but nothing ever will be. Besides, the hidden villages would never rely solely on civilians for intel. That's just asking for misinformation to be fed via subtle genjutsu."

Do…do they use genjutsu on their own citizens? If so, what kind?

Damn that feels very Big Brother.

And it also feels like they're underestimating the creativity and tenacity of the average person. I never was the best history student, but Earth saw its fair number of dictators fall believing until the very end that they had their civilian population firmly under their thumb.

"Okay." Ry said. "So…I don't have to worry about being dragged off for figuring that out?"

"As long as you don't tell anyone, no." Ginna shook her head. "I wasn't kidding. Do not talk about it. I'd like my nephew to keep his head."

"So would your nephew." Ry replied drolly.

"I'm sure you're fairly attached to it, yes." Ginna's toothpick wavered a few times before she plucked it out of her mouth. "Right. Today's instruction will be two fold. I'm going to teach you a jutsu first. Kazune-chan suspects you'll be able to make far more effective use of it than most."

"Really?" Ry asked. "I thought I was just focusing on the basics?"

"You are." Kazune's voice came from behind Ry.

Ry nearly tripped over his own feet jumping forward. He'd gotten used to the kunoichi sneaking up on him at their pleasure, but something in Kazune's voice was different.

"Well, he can discern killing intent, at least broadly." Ginna chuckled as Ry whipped around.

Kazune had her book out like normal, leaning against a tree trunk about five feet from where Ry had been positioned.

"One of these days I'm going to figure out just what combination of shunshin and genjutsu that is." Ry growled.

"Maa, don't be so mad." Kazune never glanced up from her book, though her visible eye crinkled slightly. "You've gotten too used to myself and Akena-chan appearing around you. You'll want to be more alert if you want to live long as a shinobi. So we decided to make sure you'll be very aware of when we make our presence known."

"And you'll like this jutsu, I think." Kazune snapped her book closed, turning to meet Ry's frustrated glare. "It's a more advanced version of the bunshin you're currently performing. You'll not want to use it regularly; it's far more draining than basic or elemental bunshin, but it has its uses for training."

"A clone jutsu that has more applications for training than combat?" Ry frowned. "I don't get it."

Kazune tucked her book into her pocket, holding up a half Tiger seal. "Observe. Kage Bunshin."

A second Kazune popped into existence right next to the original. "I'm going to turn around. Do anything you'd like that won't make noise to give it away. Only my clone will observe. When you're done, let me know and my clone will disperse."

Five minutes later, an amused Kazune turned around. "You mimed mooning me, then counted down from five on your fingers, stopping at one, then counting back up to four before slapping your fists together, leaving two fingers up on each hand. Then you walked over, blindfolded Ginna, and started making silly faces at me."

Ry blinked. "Wha…wait a minute. You dismissed the clone and…got its memories?"

"Maa, he is quick." Kazune said.

No, now I'm just having vague recollections of a waterfall somewhere in the anime. Shit. This is probably something Narisa can use far more effectively than me.

"This will serve a few purposes." Ginna said, tossing his makeshift blindfold back to him. "One, making a Shadow Clone, once you're successful, will drain you of half your chakra, until your mastery is so complete that you can better regulate the chakra you put into it, same with any clone beyond basic bunshin. Do it pretty regularly, and you'll augment the rate you're increasing your reserve appreciably. Two, it will allow you to study at home, even when you're at school. Once you have more practice with it, anyways."

"You'll want to be careful with this." Ginna continued. "Integrating a Shadow Clone's memories is damaging. Kazune thinks you have the capacity to both use and withstand the jutsu, but you need to work up to it slowly. Understood."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Ry said. "Damaging, as in brain damage? That sounds dangerous."

"It can be, if you're not careful." Ginna said. "Which is why so few of our nin use it. And those that do all have to train either as an iryo specialist or have one on hand, to negate the damage before it can build up. Like you will, once we start on your specialty."

Ry's face scrunched up. "Hold on a minute, auntie? Specialty? I still have more than a year before I'm even qualified for my first shot at the Genin Exams."

"You want to survive, right?" Ginna asked. "I don't think you've talked with Kazune about it, but you have with me. You want to survive. You want to be in the fifty percent that survive their first three years as genin. The forty percent that survive through their first year as chunin. Yes?"

Ry gulped. Ginna's tone was hard. Not harsh, but she was driving to a point. So he nodded, rather than saying anything.

"Almost all of those who survive, have one of two things going for them." Ginna said. "One, they have a focus amongst the nin specialties, one that they leverage into an advantage against hostiles. Or two, they fall into a semi-permanent post where there's little chance of danger. Do you want to trust your luck that you'll be given a long term mission at some garrison?"

Ry didn't need to think about that. He wasn't a jinchuuriki, or someone in possession of a valuable kekkei genkai. He didn't have some quantified power that would make him objectively valuable to enemies of Konoha.

No, he had something far worse. Something that eluded quantification, but represented the possibility of great power. Off the top of his head, Ry could recall at least two scarily powerful people who'd be more than happy to scoop him up into their schemes. Schemes he might even survive, though he'd likely wish otherwise.

Yeah no, snake bastard and whoever the hell it is with all those creepy eyes in his arm are not my cup of tea.

"Do most nin at the Academy specialize?" Ry asked.

"The ones from the Clans do." Ginna said. "And the instructors are usually guiding the others towards specialization. It helps that there are few nin who are equally talented in all areas."

"Okay." Ry said. "So what's my specialization?"

"According to Akena, kenjutsu for certain." Ginna said. "You've taken to her training well."

Ry shrugged. His blue haired weapons teacher beat him back and forth across her family compound's courtyard for every one of their sparring sessions. Ry never expected anything less – as far as he could tell, encouraging growth through repeated ass kickings seemed to be the rule amongst the instructors Ginna had secured – but the continual beat downs meant he'd never really gauged his own progress. The focus at the Academy was entirely on kunai and shuriken, while Akena had only given periodic lessons on those. Her focus seemed to be on teaching him to wield a sword she called a geom.

"If she says so." Ry said.

"You're quite good at taijutsu, Shiranui-kun, but it doesn't come to you as naturally as kenjutsu." Kazune said. "Any of the styles."

"You're not getting out of either of those lessons." Ginna stated.

"Didn't think I would auntie." Ry said.

"We're also going to begin teaching you iryo ninjutsu." Ginna said. "I've got another friend who will be helping you, a medic nin who's currently assigned to Konoha's hospital. This is what your Shadow Clone will be studying at home during the day. I've been told the more effective your knowledge of anatomy and physiology, the more effective your Mystical Palm will be."

Medic nin? Oh. The healing, green chakra. That could be…extraordinarily useful.

Because I like the idea of being able to keep myself alive. I like it a lot.

And…knowledge of how to heal is also knowledge of how to harm. Hopefully I don't need to use that often, but being prepared is better than getting caught off guard.

"Sure thing, auntie." Ry said. "Are we starting now?"

"We'll start with Kage Bunshin for now." Ginna said.

Ry found himself seated, forming the Tiger hand seal repeatedly. Ginna was watching him like a hawk, while Kazune stood next to her, eye focused on her book.

Did her mission go poorly? She seems tenser than usual.


"You alright?" Kazune asked.

Ginna grimaced. "That noticeable?"

"I mean, as your friend, certainly." Kazune shrugged. "You weren't quite snapping at Shiranui-kun there, but it was close."

Ginna glanced over at her 'nephew.' Ry was seated in the lotus position, forming the proper hand seal repeatedly. His body was infused with chakra. Ginna didn't have Kazune's advantages, but she had briefly undergone sensor training. The Yondaime had insisted upon it after testing all her potential bodyguards.

Ry was feeling out how his chakra was moving. Kage Bunshin was both simple and complicated. In order for it to work properly, he would need to have the proper intent behind his chakra, along with shaping it correctly. Shaping was deceptively easy; it was the intent to separate that chakra into the completed shape, that could then function, that most nin found challenging. Kage Bunshin was known throughout the Elemental Nations; the hand seal was ludicrously easy, and the theory behind it not much harder.

Despite that, relatively few kunoichi used the jutsu. Even fewer shinobi. There were hidden obstacles to it; Ginna herself had never mastered it. She, like the vast majority of nin, used elemental Bunshin. They were far more intuitive, required less chakra, and didn't have inherent dangers.

"I don't…" Ginna shook her head. "He's so easily accepting. I keep expecting him to rebel on us. To talk back."

"Maa, you do remember he wasn't raised a shinobi?" Kazune asked. "Imagine you told a civilian they had to do certain things. Do you see them refusing?"

"No." Ginna said. "But you've heard Hanayo talk about her niece."

"That girl seems spirited." Kazune said. "And your obaa-san sent him to us for a reason, remember?"

Ginna nodded slowly. Kazune's words were clear enough, even speaking in layers.

"Did something happen on the mission?" Kazune asked.

"No." Ginna said. "It was-"

A puff of smoke came into existence next to Ry. He turned his head excitedly. Ginna bit her lip at his dismayed expression.

Kage Bunshin required a much stronger mental self-actualization than most people had at their disposal. Developing it was essential for any Bunshin, but the special properties of Kage Bunshin took it to another level.

Which explained the horribly deformed, twitching caricature of Ry laying in the ground as the smoke cleared.

"It takes time." Ginna said, temporarily adjusting the genjutsu she was holding. "And lots of practice."

"That's horrifying." Ry said, scooting himself away.

"Well, dispel it, and try again." Ginna said. "We'll stop after you've created three more. Don't want you getting too low on chakra."

The botched clone disappeared in another puff of smoke. Ry closed his eyes. Ginna saw him shiver for a moment, then shake his head.

"You were right." Ginna said, letting the genjutsu fall fully into place. "If I ask how you knew, will you tell me?"

"Maa, of course." Kazune's eye crinkled. "If only because you're a friend."

"And I'll set Gaya on you if you don't." Ginna smirked.

Kazune shuddered. "You don't have to be mean."

"Mean would be asking Gaya to assist in teaching Ry taijutsu." Ginna pointed out.

She'd debated it. Practicality had won out; what little she'd known of Ry's personality told her he'd have a hard time learning from Gaya. Most people were similar, if they could see past her outfit and haircut in the first place.

"He doesn't have any chakra backlash." Kazune said. "At all. There's no feedback, no backwash whenever he ends a jutsu. The exchange is perfect, for something as simple as the leaf concentration exercise to his Bunshin attempt just now."

"Huh." Ginna said. "Which would negate the feedback of so much chakra dispelling at once."

"He will still need to be careful about the physical repercussions." Kazune said. "But that's why he's learning Mystical Palm."

"And yet you've failed every genin team the Hokage has sent your way." Ginna remarked. "Because you're a 'bad instructor.'"

"They haven't had it." Kazune said, still buried in her book. "Hokage-sama talks about the Will of Fire. I don't know if that's what I'd call it, but sensei used to talk about the spark, the desire to improve. You know Team Seven's history. I won't take any nin, kunoichi or shinobi, that can't live up to it, because I'm not a good enough instructor to make up any sort of gap."

"You know the likelihood of being assigned any future Hokage is tiny, right?" Ginna asked with a slight smirk.

Kazune hummed. "Maa, is that right?"

Ginna's smirk disappeared. Her friend's insouciance wasn't misplaced. Unless the Hokage called back one of the Sennin, there weren't any jonin in the village who could match Kazune's mission success rate, mastery of so many jutsu, or understanding of the village politics.

To say nothing of Kazune's raw talent as a kunoichi. Raw talent that had been refined for nearly three decades, forged into something deadly, hidden behind the façade of a lazy kunoichi who liked those damned, perverted books.

"Fine." Ginna huffed. "Though something tells me you're just waiting for the Uchiha."

Kazune shrugged. "There's no one else really qualified to train her. And I'm not lying; I think Hokage-sama has been influencing the team selections to ensure I'm only being sent the blandest of teams. Teams that don't like each other, that fight and bicker without any qualities to make up for it."

They'd talked about Kazune's plans for her eventual genin team before, but not since Ginna had asked her to be Ry's instructor.

Something clicked. "You know the team you're going to end up with, don't you?"

"Two thirds of it." Kazune said. "Provided the jinchuriki figures out how Bunshin works. Or you decide you want your own team."

Ginna bit her tongue. They'd had similar discussions before.

Another puff of smoke revealed a skeletal version of Ry. It vaguely resembled the boy, at least in coloration, hair, and clothes. Otherwise, it was as if every bit of fat and muscle had been stripped from him. The clone was less horrifying than his first attempt, but only marginally.

"Maa, at this rate Shiranui-kun, you might manage a clone that's not horrific by the end of training." Kazune called out.

Ry clearly wasn't paying attention. He hadn't opened his eyes. The clone had been dispelled without a glance.

"I'm not getting my own team." Ginna said. "Raika would never forgive me."

"Then yes, I know two thirds of my team." Kazune said. "Provided they pass my tests."

"Uh huh." Ginna said. "You talk with Asuna on your last trip?"

Kazune cocked her head slightly, still not looking away from her book. "Not really. She was on a shift to guard the Daimyo and I couldn't exactly break off from my escort."

"So no idea when she's coming back?" Ginna asked.

"No." Kazune said. "Are you talking about Kuro?"

"More or less." Ginna shrugged. "If I try to talk around Hanayo she gets annoyed and Raika gets sulky."

"You moved on, at least." Kazune said. "They were broken up again last I heard. Who was Kuro going out with this time?"

Ginna turned to look at her friend. Kazune was in no way related to Jiruya-sama, but they shared a few key traits. Lesser known, at least for Kazune, was her voracious appetite for romantic intrigue, especially the carnal variety.

If Ginna had heard about Kuro's dates with multiple women, Kazune likely knew their names and backgrounds.

"Maa, I suppose that wasn't convincing." Kazune sighed. "We haven't talked, but she's still pissed at her kaa-san. I don't think news of Kuro dating around while they're broken up will change anything. The latest rumor I heard in the capital was that the Daimyo's youngest son had a new, flighty paramour."

Dammit Asuna.

Ginna frowned. She'd given up on her long time interest in her friend when Asuna and Kuro had their third round of on again, off again romance.

Now, despite his flings with several different women, it was growing increasingly clear that Kuro was pursuing her.

And Ginna had all sorts of conflicted feelings about that.

This was exactly the wrong time for Raika and Hanayo to be gone on missions.

Another puff of smoke revealed a Shadow Clone with a normal body, sans any limbs.

"Maa, maybe you will win that bet after all, Ginna-chan." Kazune muttered.


"Begin." Seong-sensei called out.

Ry watched his opponent carefully. He had to; constraining himself to only use Leaf Style had put a serious crimp in his ability to fend off his classmates.

Ikuhito came in with a flurry of strikes. Unlike when he was fighting Satoshi, the Yamanaka fought with crisp movement and deft strikes.

Ry fell back before the attacks, whipping out a low kick to bring Ikuhito up short.

"Kick his ass skewer-kun!" Narisa yelled from the side.

Ducking a heavy roundhouse kick, Ry struck out for the blonde's knee. Ikuhito hopped away awkwardly, landing with his back to Ry. Ry took out his stable ankle as Ikuhito was trying to recover from his hop and rotation.

Ikuhito rolled away from Ry's follow up, but Ry had closed by the time he was back in his feet. Before the blonde could disengage, Ry hammered several fists into Ikuhito's ribs.

As the blonde curled over with a cough, Ry held an open hand to the back of his neck.

"Winner, Shiranui Ry." Seong-sensei said.

"Good one." Ry said, stepping back from Ikuhito. "That roundhouse almost had me."

Rather than reply, Ikuhito glared at him, walking away with his shoulders hunched.

"Last bout." Seong-sensei said. "Shiranui Ry versus Hokito Eiko."

Eiko walked into the sparring ring, looking at Ry with a cold expression.

Ry wasn't phased. Over the past few weeks, he'd gotten used to how his small group of peers fought. Most of them had better technical form than Ry, but they were predictable. Ry wasn't sure if it was due to his extra experience getting the crap kicked out of him by Kazune and Aoba, but the end result was Ry being able to see what they were going for. He couldn't diagnose their patterns consciously, but his instincts were right more often than not.

Not that he needed too much advantage when it came to Eiko.

"Begin." Swing-sensei ordered.

Ry went low. Eiko slid backwards to avoid his kick, her counter weak. Ry blocked a couple jabs, his responses slowed by his need to not use what Aoba-sensei had been drilling into him. Otherwise Eiko would already be on the ground.

When she drew back, Ry bounced forward slightly. One of the few Leaf Style stances that felt relatively natural to him was what both Seong-sensei and Kazune called Lashing Roots.

Eiko clearly recognized the stance, bringing her arms up to block as Ry unleashed a kick. Her instinctive block betrayed her.

Almost all the kunoichi Ry watched fight liked aiming kicks for the legs or the head and shoulders. The why of it escaped Ry; Kazune had been adamant he never aim a kick above the ribs. Aoba had…reinforced the folly of such a maneuver.

Eiko adjusted her block, but the poor angle allowed Ry to power through. Eiko let out a wheeze as his boot connected with her abdomen.

She blocked his follow up knee, but Ry's next jab slipped right through. Eiko's nose crunched as her head whipped back.

Ry swept her leg as she wobbled, then closed to hold his fingertips to her bloody face.

"Winner, Shiranui Ry." Seong-sensei said.

Ry relaxed, flipping his hand over. "Good fight. You almost had that block."

Eiko glared at him, then glanced at their instructor. With a scowl on her face, the sandy blonde accepted the hand up.

Huh. That's an improvement on where we were even yesterday.

Maybe Seong-sensei got on her about being respectful of fellow Leaf nin?

Everyone had heard Seong-sensei go off on a pair of girls last week. She might have used a jutsu to project her voice, given how it boomed through the school corridors.

In the intervening week, all the students had been stepping lightly around Seong-sensei. Even Narisa had delayed a prank she'd wanted Ry's help with.

"Gotta let the instructors cool down some."

After they'd been dismissed, Ry waited around by the entrance. He'd gotten the interval down.

Satoshi stormed through the doors with a group of guys. The normally calm boy was fuming, his friends snickering as they followed behind.

Narisa came out of the building a few minutes later, still brushing flecks of drywall off her outfit.

"You missed some." Ry flicked a small chunk of drywall off her bandanna.

"Jerk." Narisa said, rolling her eyes.

"So he said no again?" Ry asked rhetorically.

They both knew the answer, after all. The cycle repeated every three or four days.

"Yeah, but I'm wearing him down." Narisa proclaimed confidently. "He'll see that we're totally meant to be together soon. He's too smart and cool not to."

"Uh-huh." Ry grunted. "Love the optimism."

The silence between them was comfortable as they ambled along. It had become a pattern; Ry walked with Narisa to her apartment. They did homework until Ry had to leave for lessons.

"Ne, skewer-kun, you going to show me that super cool new jutsu yet?" Narisa asked as they walked up the stairs to her apartment.

"Still don't quite have it down." Ry shrugged.

Narisa pouted at him. "Awww, come on. I've been doing homework for three whole weeks! You're torturing me."

I mean, knowing her, she's going to get it near perfect on her first try.

"I can show you." Ry said. "Just don't be surprised if you don't get it right away. It's another version of Bunshin."

Narisa's pout turned into a frown. "Ugh. Really? I hate those."

Ry had never seen her successfully perform Bunshin. Iroha-sensei was fairly patient in her explanations, but from everything Ry saw, both teacher and pupil had accepted it as inevitable that Narisa would never manage Bunshin.

Ry knew that wasn't true. Shadow Clones were Naruto's thing, more or less. Seeing Narisa struggle so fruitlessly with regular Bunshin baffled him.

Which was why he'd agreed to show her. Originally his plan was to wait until he had it down cold. At the current moment, he succeeded about sixty percent of the time. Still, he felt the need to move along. He had no idea when the original Naruto learned the jutsu, but it was before his earliest memory of the show, the bell test. Which meant Narisa would need fairly good mastery of the jutsu.

Besides, Ry had finally figured out a way to get her to hold back her knowledge. He didn't want to get in trouble for teaching Kage Bunshin to her, and from an off-hand comment Kazune had made about his 'quick learning speed for a Forbidden Jutsu,' Ry expected there'd be some form of punishment. Needing to advance Narisa's knowledge or not, Ry wasn't going to put himself at a disadvantage if he could avoid it.

Entering her apartment, Ry immediately stepped to the side.

Baka darted past him, standing up on his hind paws as the slobbery dog proceeded to lick all over Narisa's face. The blonde giggled as she shoved the dog off.

"Come on Baka." Narisa said. "Let's go learn a stupid jutsu."

"After homework." Ry cut in.

Narisa turned to pout at him again. "You're going to make me do homework before I can even see another dumb Bunshin jutsu?"

"What can I say, I'm evil." Ry shrugged.

Baka barked at Ry, tail thumping on the floor as Narisa scratched between his ears.

"Baka agrees, you are evil, skewer-kun." Narisa groaned.

After an hour of guiding a begrudging Narisa through math and reading, Ry called it quits.

"Finally!" Narisa threw her hands up in the air before letting her forehead thud against the table. "Still say this is dumb stuff the Hokage doesn't need."

"My future Hokage does." Ry said. "I refuse to live in a village with a Hokage that tanks our economy because she can't bother with reading and doing math."

Narisa rolled her head to the side, scrunching her eyebrows. "You're cruel, skewer-kun."

"I'm not the one who wants to be Hokage." Ry replied. "But I'm damn sure going to hold you to my standards."

"Cruel." Narisa repeated.

"Yep." Ry agreed. "Now, you want to see this jutsu or not?"

Narisa sighed. "I guess. Maybe it'll make the headache go away."

Ry snorted.

"For whatever reason, it helps to say it." Ry said as he stood up. "Obviously you want to get to the point where that's not necessary, but my aunt said to say it out loud until you can get it right every time."

"It's so cool you've got an aunt that's a jonin." Narisa said, eyes bright as she straightened up.

"Not all its cracked up to be, but yeah, she's pretty good for adoptive family." Ry said.

Ry walked to Narisa's bed, standing a few paces away. The jinchuriki lived in a studio apartment, a cramped one. Ry wasn't surprised by that; Narisa didn't talk about money much, but Ry was under the impression that the landlord was receiving money directly from the Hokage to keep a roof over Narisa's head. If her home was too lavish, it would certainly raise questions about how an orphan could afford it.

"The hand seal is different." Ry said.

He brought his hands together in the proper form, index and middle fingers held straight out, perpendicular to the same fingers on the other hand.

He was still annoyed that Ginna and Kazune had let him suffer through using the Tiger hand seal for two full nights of practice before showing him the Clone hand seal.

Though I will definitely go back to using Tiger once I've mastered this damn thing. The Clone seal is a bit too identifiable.

"Huh, what's it called?" Narisa asked, her gaze focused.

"It's the Bunshin seal, as far as I can tell." Ry shrugged. "Hopefully I get it right: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

A puff of smoke appeared to Ry's right. He didn't need to glance over to know he'd gotten it correct; there was a peculiar feeling to creating a proper Shadow Clone. An awareness that the other jutsu didn't carry with them.

"Yo." Ry's Shadow Clone said, waving to Narisa.

Without needing to look, Ry extended a fist. His clone reached out and they touched knuckles.

"Wait, you can touch it?" Narisa hopped out of her chair.

"Careful, I'm fragile." The clone said. "Poke me too hard and I'll pop. Once the chief over here figures this jutsu out fully, he can reinforce me a bit and we'll be able to spar and stuff, but right now a hard flick will put me down."

Narisa walked around the clone. "This is so neat though. He can pick stuff up?"

The clone reached out, flicking Narisa's outstretched hand.

"Muu." Narisa cocked her head. "That's so cool. Oh man, I could use these for so many pranks if they work."

"Wait, one more thing." The clone said, then glanced at Ry.

Ry shrugged. Sooner or later Narisa would figure it out. Showing her now only saved him a headache later.

"Huh?" Narisa blinked a few times, standing in front of the clone. "What?"

"This." The clone grinned.

Ry frowned as his clone brought up both hands with dramatic slowness. Being the original, he knew what his copy was thinking. Or rather, he knew what his copy wasn't thinking.

There seemed to be some parts of him that didn't quite translate over into his clones. Amongst them was his perspective of being a full mental decade older than his body. The experience was there, as was the social maturity, but there wasn't a level of remove.

Which meant his clone was doing exactly what he would've done at age sixteen, with his current knowledge and experiences: bask in the rapt attention of a pretty girl.

Narisa jerked slightly at the puff of smoke. Then her eyes went wide when the smoke disappeared.

She rounded on Ry. "Kage Bunshin can do their own jutsu?"

Ry grinned, glancing over at his clone, which had used Henge to turn into a copy of Narisa.

"Too bad I can't have real boobs." The clone said, glancing down. "That'd be-"

Narisa's fist forcibly dismissed the clone. Ry grunted, the memories filtering through.

"Are you a pervert, skewer-kun?" Narisa glared at Ry.

"No." Ry massaged his temple. "Not sure why he said that."

Ry was perfectly aware of why he said that. Ry was confident in both his sexuality and gender identity.

That being said, he also recognized the advantages he'd gain if he had working knowledge of how a female body operated, from the female perspective. Something his sixteen year old self would exploit mercilessly, if he managed to land a relationship.

And considering the gender ratio at the Academy, yeah, sixteen year old me would be thinking about sex a whole lot more. Especially with yuwaku every damn day.

Narisa glared at him for a bit longer, then relented. "Geez. At least you're not as bad as obaa-san. She got real weird after I used my Sexy Jutsu against her."

"Don't plan on being any weirder than I already am." Ry said. "Do you want to try?"

"Nnn." Narisa grinned. "Of course!"

The strawberry blonde shoved on Ry's shoulder. He moved, going to sit at the table.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Narisa shouted.

Ry coughed, waving away the smoke.

Should've guessed she'd go overboard.

As the smoke dissipated, Ry saw Narisa and her clones. All ten of them.

Shit. I…I probably need her to be careful with this in multiple ways. Kazune and Ginna told me it's dangerous, but the strain I've already experienced just from keeping a single clone for thirty minutes is telling. And that's after working myself up to it. I'm pretty sure Narisa can heal herself a lot more effectively than I can, at least until I can learn Mystical Palm, but I don't want to give the future savior of the world permanent brain damage.

"Woah!" The Narisa all said simultaneously. "So weird."

"Hey." Ry said.

Eleven pairs of bright blue eyes swung his way.

"That's a little freaky." Ry said.

The Narisa all grinned at him. "Freaky, skewer-kun?"

"I've created a monster." Ry groaned at their smirks. "Can you dismiss them for the moment?"

"Awwww." The pouting multiplied by eleven was disturbingly effective, but Narisa followed through before Ry could cave.

"Huh." Narisa said, waving her arms. "That's strange. And a lot of smoke."

"Do we have to worry about your neighbors thinking there's a fire?" Ry asked.

"Nah, no one else lives on the floor, not since Baka's old man passed on." Narisa shrugged. "Ne, skewer-kun, do you always get the memories of the clones?"

"Just with the shadow version." Ry said. "At least, that's what my aunt said."

"That's gonna be so useful for pranks." Narisa rubbed her hands together gleefully. "I'll have all my own scouts. At least for visual scouting, and no one will know it's me!"

"Hey." Ry said once his patience ran out, waving a hand in front of Narisa's face.

The daydreaming girl blinked a few times. "Huh?"

"There was a disturbing three minutes of you sitting there, giggling in an evil way." Ry said flatly. "I imagine you were thinking about pranks, yeah?"

"Hehe." Narisa nodded. "Yup."

"You know what will make those pranks more effective, right?" Ry asked.

Narisa cocked her head to the side. "More of me?"

"No." Ry shook his head. "If nobody knows you're using shadow clones to help you. And you could pull the ultimate prank on Iroha-sensei by holding back that you can make a clone, right up until your genin exam."

"A whole year and a half of pranking her." Ry said carefully.

Ry knew that most of their classmates saw Narisa as someone with little attention to detail, less patience, and an antipathy towards actual work.

If only they'd ever witnessed Narisa in prank prep mode. The Narisa who was prepping or engaging in a prank was razor focused, had the patience to wait on her target for days on end, and would dedicate hours and days of work towards relatively little payoff.

Ry could only imagine how that would translate to her mission mindset as a kunoichi.

Narisa opened her mouth. Then she closed it. A giggle slipped out of her, which quickly ratcheted up to cackling.

"So you like the idea I take it?" Ry asked.

Narisa kept cackling.


Kae was lost in her own thoughts as she wandered towards her family home.

The moment she'd been accepted into the Academy at fourteen years old, she'd sat down with her mother and older sister to plot out the best path she could take.

The best track to achieve her goals, her dreams.

She wasn't as ambitious as some. A student of hers came to mind, red and blue attire standing out amongst the crowd as she made her signature declaration to anyone who would listen.

The lofty title of Hokage didn't interest her like it did Uzumaki-chan.

Most would accuse me of only aiming slightly lower.

The thought brought a smile to her face.

Her grandfather had sworn his line would never continue, not with the way it seemed to curse all who married into it. There was a reason Kae's obaa-san had never named her mother's and aunt's father.

Kae planned to respect her grandfather's wishes, but in her own way.

To do so, she needed to become a kunoichi of incredible renown. Becoming Hokage would bring her success and recognition, but it wasn't what she wanted. Leading a Clan would be hard enough; Kae would not add an entire village's burdens on top of that.

It would be easier if she had a powerful bloodline. She had the hardiness and robust health of a descendant of many generations of nin, but that in and of itself wasn't enough. For a bloodline to be considered kekkei genkai, it had to be unimpeachably strong. The Dojutsu of Konoha were great examples, as was Storm Nature that the visiting Kumo ambassador had recently demonstrated in her 'friendly' with Kuro-senpai.

Kae hadn't inherited a kekkei genkai, nor had she been one of the anomalies that had one granted to them through the random luck of genetics.

All that left her with were jutsu. Jutsu she could control the spread of while simultaneously demonstrating their power. Jutsu that would be acknowledged as a force multiplier for the village as a whole.

Not easy.

There was an entire branch of jutsu that she and her sister were well disposed to, entirely due to their ancestry. Except that there was zero interest, from either grandparent, in teaching that branch to anyone. One due to a lack of acknowledgement and the other due to her…alternative lifestyle.

Damnably frustrating.

Compounded atop that frustration were the frustrations of dealing with her students.

She'd picked the path deliberately. Teaching positions at the Academy were coveted. The competition was slightly alleviated by the policy the Sandaime had put into place, banning any of the village's nin Clans from having anyone of their main or branch families be instructors. Still, it was fierce. Every chunin knew that while skill as a nin was the first and foremost prerequisite to becoming jonin, a close second was the ability to mold other skilled nin via instruction and guidance.

The competition for the open instructor's spot had been fierce. Kae had been one of five finalists and standing before the Sandaime, she'd been certain one of her competitors had edged her out.

She hadn't, but it had been a close thing.

At the moment, her chief frustrations rested with Yamanaka Tsugumi and Teibori Bitai. Both young kunoichi, both in their last eligible year at the Academy. Once they turned twenty, they would be thrown into the Genin exam for the third time. Failing that would see them barred from ever calling themselves kunoichi.

Tsugumi-chan might go through the alternate certification, but I cannot imagine her parents letting her off easy for it.

Both young women were talented. Tsugumi-chan had her Clan jutsu down cold, while Bitai-chan had shown a remarkable inclination towards imaginative genjutsu.

If Kae could just get them to focus their efforts in both of her classes, she had no doubt they would pass. The Genin exam, at least.

A jonin's examination, for a placement on an official team, was another beast entirely.

As much as she tried to remain impartial, she couldn't. Having the favor of the Yamanaka heiress would be beneficial for her future plans. Getting her companion through would only elevate her as well.

The past two hours of private tutoring had her wondering if she was cut out to be an instructor.

If they would just stop mooning over that damned boy.

Taking a deep breath, Kae realized her feet had brought her to the Seong household. She leapt over the walls with a light touch, nodding to birds in the trees. One of the birds vanished as her feet hit the ground.

Still not used to Akena having a Summoning Contract.

It was useful, so Kae kept her mouth shut. Even if the dark winged crows reminded her far too much of her former senpai.

Walking around the side of the house, Kae found one of her students from her taijutsu and yuwaku classes. Shiranui Ry clearly had little experience in actual combat. The sparring matches showed he had nearly no eye for deceptive tactics, along with a hesitance to strike too firmly.

Shiranui-kun was circling around Akena. Both of them held a geom. Kae did a double take. She knew, offhandedly, that her older sister had agreed to teach someone the kenjutsu style she'd forged out of their father's teachings and the instruction they'd received as kunoichi in multiple bladed weapons. Quiet though she was, Akena was quite proud of her unique style, especially after she'd convinced their father to forge her a rather unique geom. Kae had been under the impression that her sister was mentoring the child of one of her friends.

Though Ginna-senpai is one of her friends. Just hadn't considered her nephew.

The clack of wood on wood drew Kae out of her surprise. Akena attacked, forcing Shiranui-kun to defend himself. He performed well, at least against the handicap Akena gave. Kae leaned against the wall, watching as her sister upped the pressure. Eventually Shiranui-kun was disarmed.

Rather than stop the lesson, Akena tossed aside her own weapon and the two fell into taijutsu. Their first exchange sent Kae's eyebrows shooting up as Akena pressed the attack. Shiranui-kun wasn't using Leaf Style. His movements were shorter, sharper, half his blocks shunting aside strikes as he moved closer. The other half seemed to be traps as he went for grapples. Akena wasn't a taijutsu specialist, but Kae had grown up learning taijutsu from her much older sister. Akena was working much harder than Kae would've expected for a jonin facing off against an Academy student.

He keeps going for the hands and arms. Her kicks are just dealt with, but he wants the arms.

The moment he got a good grapple, Kae saw why. Shiranui-kun transitioned from a grapple to a throw, striking while Akena was off-balance. She disappeared, replaced by a log that Shiranui-kun tossed behind him, blocking Akena's blindside attack.

In the end, Akena won, with Shiranui-kun on the ground, but Kae began clapping slowly.

"Ah, Seong-sensei." Shiranui got off the ground, wiping the bleeding gash on his cheek.

"Kae, you been watching for a while?" Akena asked, walking towards the discarded wooden weapons.

"When you said you were teaching someone geom, this wasn't what I was expecting, onee-san." Kae said. "And Shiranui-kun, is there a reason you're holding back in my classes?"

The boy blushed slightly. "Ah, Kazune-sensei told me not to use either style at the Academy. Said that they might make some people angry."

Kae cocked her head for a moment. Then it struck her.

No wonder those movements looked familiar. I just hadn't thought about them being combined like that.

Each village had their own style of taijutsu. The basics were the same – they were all nin, after all, and the fundamentals were necessary for everyone – but the mindsets differed. Additionally, every kunoichi and shinobi took those styles and twisted them to their own needs. Some Clans had twisted them so far that they were entirely distinct from any of the styles seen in the villages. Other organizations, within and without, often did the same.

As a taijutsu specialist, Kae had always been fascinated by the various styles. Kunoichi and shinobi rarely faced off where she could watch, but Kae took a vacation every six months to watch the finals of the Chunin exams, always interested in watching foreign styles. Genin didn't have their taijutsu perfected, but it was enough for Kae to gain rudimentary understanding. From there, extrapolation and counter tactics were next.

"Kazune-senpai taught you Snake style and Sandstorm style?" Kae asked.

"She taught me Sandstorm style, while Aoba-sensei taught me something he called Strangler style." Shiranui-kun replied.

Kae looked at her older sister.

Akena shrugged. "Ginna was worried he'd be failed out if she threw him in without any additional instruction. She asked us to keep it up, even while he's in school. Kazune for taijutsu and me for kenjutsu. Not sure how Kazune roped Aoba-kun into it, but she did."

She always was one to take a loss hard. After the Yondaime fell that night and then her brother, so recently…I can see her investing in making sure her nephew can take care of himself.

"He's a quick learner too, aren't you Ry-kun?" Akena ruffled Shiranui-kun's hair as she walked by.

The boy rolled his eyes. "Hai, sensei."

"So you've been holding off in your other classes too?" Kae asked.

"Mostly." Shiranui-kun nodded. "I already have the three required ninjutsu down, though I don't like Henge at all. Genjutsu are pretty fun, at least designing them. Class can be a bit boring, or hard to understand. And the academic classes…meh, well, I spend most of my time in there trying to help Narisa-chan."

Kae nodded. "And Yuwaku?"

Shiranui-kun blushed, though not as much as Kae expected. "Well, I guess I'm doing okay? I dunno, it's sort of hard to tell. Most of the kunoichi are interested in Haruno-san and Yamanaka-san, so it makes it easy for me to tell how fake they're being. Though I guess they have it the same, given that most of the guys are interested in Uchiha-san."

Kae smiled. "Then you're doing better than most of your classmates."

"Our time's up for today, Ry-kun, so you should head home." Akena said. "We'll switch back to kunai and shuriken tomorrow, to make sure you're keeping up."

"Hai, sensei." Shiranui-kun bowed to her, then to Kae. "See you at school tomorrow, Seong-sensei."

Kae waved as the boy ran off, watching him use the walls of a nearby alleyway to jump his way to the roof.

"He doesn't like doing it all in one jump." Akena said, walking up next to Kae. "Kazune asked him when they were working on using taijutsu off the ground. He doesn't like being on a predictable path for so long. She's already seen him working on a couple of different things to redirect himself midair."

"Off the ground?" Kae raised an eyebrow, watching the student dart out of sight.

"Ginna gave him the basics of how to tree walk and water walk." Akena said. "He's already pretty much mastered tree walking, and he's better at water walking than most new Genin. You'd have felt it if you were sparring with him. He applies it to his hands when grappling, almost broke Kazune's arm the first time he got it right. We've worked it into his training, teaching him the different ways it can be countered."

Kae blinked a few times. "That sounds chakra intensive. And difficult to time."

"He's always using it on his feet." Akena said. "Ginna told him using chakra constantly would be the best way to grow his reserves while he still can. As for timing, he might have the fastest non-dojutsu reaction times I've ever seen. Or at least his chakra's speed is close."

"But you clearly didn't come home to talk about him." Akena said. "Let's go sit. Kaa-san's out playing shogi with her old biddies, they'll be drinking and laughing all night."

Kae rolled her eyes. Their mother had inherited some amazing strengths from her parents. She'd also inherited some of their addictions.

"What brings you to come cry on nee-san's shoulder?" Akena asked, sliding a cup across the table.

Kae smirked as she grabbed it. "Nothing intentional. I was just wandering, frustrated with students. I have a Yamanaka on the cusp of failing, and dragging a rather talented friend along."

Akena raised a brow. "Tsugumi-chan, I assume?"

Kae nodded. Ikuhito-kun might have his obsession with the Uchiha heiress, but he was dedicated and talented. He wasn't the best in any one category that shinobi were measured in, but he was in the top five in all of them. Few though they were, there were benefits to the rivalry between Ikuhito and Satoshi.

"She refuses to take taijutsu seriously." Kae shook her head. "Every time, she complains that she won't need taijutsu working as an interrogation expert. And in yuwaku, she doesn't see her classmates as worthy of practicing on, or with. Either they're too young, or she just plain doesn't like them. She refuses to use the practice dummies, either."

"She's not yuri, is she?" Akena asked.

"Oh no, I watched that girl drool when Kuro-san came in to guest lecture for Iroha and Mizugachi, and she flat-out ignores me when she can watch Junji-kun in the other taijutsu class." Kae sighed. "I was going to ask Iroha if we could move some students around next rotation so that she might have a partner she's willing to work with, but then I realized if I move him, then I'll lose the only partner that Saneko-chan is willing to work with."

"And nothing trumps the last of the Uchiha." Akena nodded. "That seems to be a problem. You've talked with her parents?"

"I don't see much other choice." Kae said. "I'll have to do the same with Bitai-chan's parents too. Where Tsugumi-chan goes, she follows."

Akena drummed her fingers against the table. "Hmm. The Yamanaka won't take that well."

"Of course not." Kae sipped the sake. "But I've followed all the proper protocols. I've talked to her, Iroha has, Mizuri, all the instructors have. She won't listen. Mizuri's gone to her clan elders before too. I'm not sure if she just doesn't care about what her parents think, or they don't care at all."

"Have you given her mandatory lessons?" Akena asked.

Kae blinked. "Mandatory lessons?"

"They make some of the students stay after school for additional lessons, right?" Akena asked. "Narisa, Kina, Eiko, others? The ones struggling with the academics. You've talked about needing to proctor the extra time they spend, sometimes."

"I suppose." Kae nodded. "I know Iroha and Mizuri despair Tuesdays and Thursdays because of that."

"They don't just apply to academics." Akena smirked. "Gaya-senpai went to mandatory lessons on ninjutsu and genjutsu for the two years we were at the academy together. It requires permission from the Hokage, but if you present your evidence right, it means they can't do anything about it."

"Oh." Kae said. "But Gaya-san can't do ninjutsu or genjutsu."

"No, but she tried so damn hard for so long that they let her pass anyways." Akena shrugged. "I think they shifted to teaching her how to defend herself from them, rather than learning them. She was always going to be a taijutsu specialist, given all the training from her kaa-san. They did something similar with that genin of hers, Rokku Riri. Gaya-senpai requested it, I think."

"Last year?" Kae asked.

"Yes." Akena nodded. "I'm surprised Iroha-chan or Mizuri-chan didn't suggest it to you already."

"Maybe they didn't want to anger one of the Clans." Kae said.

"Depends on if the Clan will be more upset by one of their own needing mandatory lessons or by one of them failing out as a genin entirely." Akena shrugged.

Kae closed her eyes, thinking.

For taijutsu, I'd need to find them a primary training partner, and probably bring in other students occasionally. Yuwaku as well. Preferably those not already in the mandatory lessons for academics. And not in one of the Clans, given the potential problems and future relationships they'll need to develop. And male, given that yuwaku is focused on the opposite sex. And won't be intimidated by two of the prettier girls, one of whom is from a Clan.

Huh.

Opening her eyes, she found her sister grinning at her.

"Yes, you can use Ry-kun." Akena said. "Kazune and I don't work with him until evenings. His iryo training is going to happen after we beat him up and he needs to be fixed up, and the morning classes she's starting up again. Though Kazune's kohai asked us if we'd be willing to make his training a bit rougher. She's not sure how rough yet, as he attends her morning classes starting next week. Anyways, Kazune made sure ANBU knows who he is, and where he's going. They like to watch sometimes, given how often he gets beaten into the dirt."

"Thanks, Akena-nee." Kae said. "You're sure he and Ginna-senpai won't mind?"

"Ginna will get a laugh out of it." Akena said. "I'll talk to Kazune, as she's officially his guardian in absentia when Ginna's on missions. But once you have that permission, it'll make it a lot easier for the Hokage to put her seal of approval on it. Though she may request you get more students, depending on how the Yamanaka feel about it."

"And Shiranui-kun?" Kae pressed.

"Kid's pretty even-keeled." Akena said. "Besides, the person he hangs out with the most, on nights not working or working with us, is 'Narisa-chan.' 'Helping her study' or not, he likes pretty blondes."

Kae's laughter escaped via a snort, devolving into giggles. "Fine. Thanks again, nee-san."


Saber followed Shimura-sama through the forest.

The night was fairly dark, the waning moon offering only faint light, split and dispersed by the canopy of leaves above. Wind brushed through the branches above them. Saber knew some of those sounds were her fellow operatives ghosting through the trees; they were almost impossible to miss for her, given their proximity, continual use of chakra, and her talents as a sensor.

Shimura-sama was utterly calm as she walked through the woods. She showed no sign of fatigue, nor any hint of the pain she continuously tolerated. Saber had never seen any such thing, but she'd heard from the few iryo specialists that their commander needed constant medical treatment for whatever injury left her arm and part of her head permanently encased in bandages. Furthermore, their few fuinjutsu specialists were constantly making suppression tags for the commander.

Whomever had dealt Shimura-sama such a devastating blow, they clearly had left an injury that continued to threaten her to this very day.

Shimura's normal bodyguard, Wakizashi, walked in front of her. Saber had been surprised to be pulled as a bodyguard, but Wakizashi told her that Tanto was already on site, securing it with a team.

Still, she supposed there would be those who underestimated her. As a bodyguard, that would be useful. She was young in comparison to Wakizashi and Tanto, but she thought she might be even better at detecting threats.

Especially combined with Dagger and Shiv in the trees above.

Their presence, combined with Saber's herself, made her uneasy. Shimura-sama had long ago decreed that all three were never to be allowed on the same mission, not when outside the confines of the village.

Still, this is to a hidden base within a day of the village. I suppose that's within acceptable tolerances, when Shimura-sama herself is giving the order.

Saber sensed the kunoichi waiting for them long before they were actually visible. Shimura-sama had explained who would be with them, which Saber supposed was another reason that Dagger and Shiv had been brought along.

Shimura-sama was capable of defending herself from most threats, but the Kunoichi no Kyoju was in the top five of every foreign bingo book. Root's own bingo book had a listing on her, and even with their more detailed understanding of a fellow Leaf nin, Saber was uncertain if Root's best efforts would be enough to defeat her.

The Hokage stood patiently, smoking her pipe. There were several ANBU scattered in the trees around them, as well as two standing directly behind the Hokage. Saber recognized them both.

Fox and Tenza. Hatake Kazune and Tenza, two of the more fearsome ANBU. Fox was semi-retired as an ANBU, but it seemed the Hokage had reactivated her, at least for the purposes of dealing with the Bound. Shimura-sama had instructed her escort to expect Kazune's presence.

Tenza as well, though Saber accepted her presence with less equanimity. Tenza, as she went by nowadays, was one of the best people to handle the asset at this location, if they went out of control. Saber knew, via Wakizashi, that Shimura-sama had requested Tenza be one of the permanent minders at the hidden base.

The Hokage had evidently refused, but Tenza had been there every time Shimura-sama visited. Root intelligence briefs speculated that she was assigned to a roving ANBU patrol around the area. Presumably with Tiger and Chameleon. Saber didn't sense their chakra signatures, but that didn't mean anything. Chameleon was one of the only nin in all of Konohagakure who could hide from sensor nin with relative ease. She could also hide others.

Saber would see either ANBU operative if they got close; her eyes were much harder to fool than her sensor abilities. For the moment, however, they were effectively invisible to her.

"Daki-san, right on time as always." The Hokage said.

"Of course, Hideno-san." Shimura-sama replied.

"Tenza, if you would." The Hokage said.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Tenza said.

Saber watched her hands carefully as Tenza went through a complicated series of hand seals. Once she finished, the ANBU operative brought her hands down to the ground, a pulse of chakra washing down a particular pattern. Saber didn't bother trying to make sense of it; it matched the original seal that Jiruya-sama had set up and it wasn't entrapping any Root operatives.

The ground opened up, revealing a staircase. Wakizashi and Fox disappeared into the opening. For thirty seconds, no one moved. Both exited, nodding.

The Hokage and Shimura-sama descended in sync. Saber walked in front, with Tenza, while Wakizashi and Fox bracketed their respective charges. The stairwell was not long. Constructed of stone, there were seals etched into the walls and steps both, large and small as they swirled amongst one another. Saber knew they were a repeating pattern, one Jiruya-sama had created, then had ANBU and Root operatives with an affinity for Doton etch into the walls. Saber herself had not participated, but she had been an observer sent by Shimura-sama.

Jiruya-sama was one of the few nin Shimura-sama respected for her ability both her intelligence gathering capabilities and hiding things in plain sight. Saber's eyes were useful in ensuring the visible seals didn't hide something else behind them, something the Seal Mistress was easily capable of.

The patterns hid things, but they were the hidden seals Jiruya-sama had shown Shimura-sama and the Hokage on their first tour. Seals no one else knew about, and would not be able to counter without the right knowledge.

The stairway ended at one end of a long hallway. Four nin, two ANBU and two Root, stood as door guards. Saber felt two pulses of chakra wash over her, one right after another. Any Henge would've been dismissed by one, while the other would've severed any chakra seeking to connect back to the outside world. Shimura-sama was aware of the procedure, which was why Saber and Wakizashi had both divested themselves of the tracking methods every Root operative wore. Saber assumed that Fox and Tenza had done the same, given they weren't immediately attacked by the door guards.

A third pulse hit a moment later, this one originating out of her sight. It drove a little deeper, just enough to disturb Saber's chakra.

Jiruya-sama's work with seals is terrifying, sometimes. No wonder Shimura-sama keeps sending Dagger and I to study the Namikaze estate for a way in.

"Clear." One of the ANBU said.

"Clear." The Root operative agreed.

Saber continued ahead once the four granted them entry. The hallway itself was made of the same grey stone. The floor was tiled with green ceramic, with seals etched onto the undersides of each tile. They were dormant for the moment, ready to be activated the moment the 'right' source of chakra passed over them.

Saber did not envy whomever the 'right' person was. Their last moments were likely to be short, and extremely painful.

There were doors every ten or so feet, but Saber ignored them. They would've been obvious traps even without her eyes, but with them, they were not only traps, but holding cells for rather dangerous entities.

When they reached the end of the hallway, Tenza stepped up to the door on her left. Saber joined the ANBU operative. Both of them pulsed their chakra into the door at the correct intervals, different for each of them. Saber knew ANBU's key now, like Tenza knew Root's. Both organizations would change them afterwards, not informing the other.

Both the Hokage and Shimura-sama were in complete agreement about maintaining the security of the facility. Shimura-sama had come down sharply on Wakizashi's suggestion of acquiring ANBU's key and moving the asset to somewhere that Root could study him in more depth.

Privately, Saber believed that Root had nothing that could match Jiruya-sama's seals, not when it came to disguising the disconcertingly large chakra signature housed in the base or handling the strange abilities the asset possessed. Shimura-sama was practical; as long as Root had no need for unfettered access, Saber believed affairs would remain the same.

Three more hallways had similar, but increasingly draconian security measures. The last door Saber and Tenza opened led into a small room with a table, and a window set into the wall.

"Sensei, Shimura-san." A woman with white hair turned from where she was looking out the window.

Saber looked her over quickly. Jiruya-sama, one of the Sennin, was no small threat. Shimura-sama hadn't been certain of her presence this time around, but the Toad Sage had been keenly interested in this particular Bound since the moment they'd discovered his abilities. Her presence was of little surprise.

"Jiruya-chan." The Hokage said, walking to one of the chairs.

Fox pulled the chair out for her, the ANBU stationing herself along the wall directly behind the Hokage's chair. Wakizashi took a similar position with Shimura-sama, while Saber stood across from Tenza, both of them stationed by the door.

Jiruya-sama took one of the chairs nearest to the window. "The boy's mastery of ninjutsu and taijutsu continues to improve. His ability with genjutsu seems nonexistent, but Inari-chan and I think that the strain his Binding puts upon his mind may be responsible. Any genjutsu he seeks to create would require him to channel it without any of the yokai disrupting his chakra. We have mostly focused on that since the last report, and while he understands the concept – almost scarily so – he cannot get beyond the stage where he gathers his chakra. As soon as he channels it through his mind, to gather the proper concepts, the chakra is dispersed."

"And that does not affect his eyes?" Shimura-sama asked.

"No." Jiruya-sama shook her head. "But given the knowledge we have about Sharingan, he will likely never be able to unlock Mangeyko. Unless killing some of the yokai bound up in his head counts. We are uncertain if his ability to utilize genjutsu through his eyes will be affected by the yokai."

"Hideno-san." Shimura-sama said.

The Hokage sighed. "Jiruya-chan, how would you measure his mental stability?"

"I would defer to Inari-chan for that, but she seems to think he's progressing nicely." Jiruya said. "He gets stir crazy relatively easily, but the prognosis hasn't changed. He hasn't asked to be let out, not after the first time his Binding manifested. He seems as scared of what happened as we were. Inari-chan does not believe he'll ask to leave until he feels he has complete control of it."

"But otherwise?" The Hokage asked. "He is a normal, healthy young man, mentally?"

"Hehe." Jiruya-sama giggled. "He is, in all respects. Quite a healthy young man."

Saber ignored the subtext. All of Root knew of Jiruya-sama's proclivities; Shimura-sama had a standing order for all of her activities to be noted down. Presumably for leverage, should Shimura-sama ever need something from the Toad Sage.

"Balanced enough to care about someone, to form a friendship?" The Hokage asked.

Jiruya nodded slowly, her features hardening. "Yes, but sensei…you can't be serious?"

"Last month, two kunoichi of Iwagakure clashed with a squad of ANBU." The Hokage said. "One used both Futtton and Jiton, while the other had eyes that fired beams of weaponized light. Of the four operatives, only two got away, both with permanent injuries, and their squadmates remaining behind to buy them time to escape."

Jiruya-sama's eyes widened. "That…the Terumi would never lose track of one like that. And eyes that fire weaponized light?"

"The beam melted through stone more than three feet thick, according to our nin." Shimura-sama said. "Root operatives also encountered a shinobi of Suna that appeared to be able to reverse his own time. He could not do it to any of our nin, but he killed three Root operatives before they discerned what he was doing and made their escape."

"They are developing their own Bound, Jiruya-kun." The Hokage said, her voice tired. "While our second Bound is developing herself quite well when it comes to her unique genjutsu, she is not nearly to the point where she could match any of the Bound our nin have encountered."

"But Karl-kun…" Jiruya-sama frowned. "Were our nin able to get a read on their other abilities?"

"The Iwagakure kunoichi were no more than adequate with taijutsu, and only used basic ninjutsu outside of their unique abilities." The Hokage said. "The Root operatives thought they killed the Suna shinobi multiple times, using taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu to take him down. Outside of his ability, he was enough of a nonfactor that the Root squad was able to wipe out the rest of the Suna contingent."

"So we need someone capable of matching them." Jiruya-sama nodded. "Are we deploying any Hyuga to watch those borders?"

"No, but we have several Hyuga and Aburame on standby, if any border patrols meet nin matching the descriptions of known or suspected Bound." Shimura-sama said. "Standing orders now have one squad member falling back, to observe and retreat if there are unusual abilities used in any encounters. If Iwa and Suna are already sending out their Bound, we can assume it is both to test them, and draw out the Bound of the other hidden villages in response. I would not be surprised if Iwa has been using theirs to pressure the smaller nations around the Land of Earth. It is in line with their Daiymo's ambitions."

"Any other countermeasures?" Jiruya-sama asked.

Saber saw the Hokage's minute tensing. "None that need be discussed with you, Jiruya-chan."

Something to inform Shimura-sama about.

Jiruya-sama nodded slowly. "Of course. I am not necessary here, I don't believe. The ANBU and Root operatives here are well versed in all of the sealing tags and scrolls I've left behind, and they've got the real experience of using them. Iwa or Suna?"

"Iwa." The Hokage and Shimura-sama said at the same time.

Jiruya-sama got to her feet. "Then I have preparations to make."

When the Toad Sage left the room, Shimura-sama got to her feet. Saber followed with her eyes as the Hokage joined her, both standing by the window Jiruya-sama had been positioned by.

"We'll need to test his limits again, Hideno." Shimura-sama murmured. "Iwa is not foolish, and that old crone will not have displayed their strongest Bound they are confident in controlling. Suna…I am less certain of, but they do like their misdirection."

"You always were one to push hard, Daki." The Hokage replied in an equally quiet tone. "But I suppose that will be necessary."

"Your student will object, so soon after the last test." Shimura-sama said.

"Not if she is already in Iwa, embedded in her reconnaissance." The Hokage said. "But we will further reinforce the facility. And you will need to use your operatives to create a sufficient distraction elsewhere."

"Of course." Shimura-sama said. "Thank you for being reasonable."

"I am always reasonable." The Hokage said. "That reasonable does not always mean pliant to your desires is a misconstruction of your own judgement, Daki."

"Fox, Tenza, we are departing." The Hokage said in a normal tone of voice. "Daki-san, I will send you a messenger when we are ready to proceed. I suspect it will take several months."

"Of course, Hideno-san." Shimura-sama bowed her head slightly. "If you do not mind, I will remain to watch for a little longer."

With a signaled command, Saber moved to stand by Shimura-sama's side once the Hokage and ANBU left. Wakizashi took up a position to watch the door.

"Do you see anything unusual?" Shimura-sama asked.

Saber looked through the window. Down below, in an arena, a young man sparred with two ANBU. They used taijutsu and limited ninjutsu. Both the ANBU were holding back, from what Saber could tell, but the young man was more effective with his taijutsu than she initially assumed. His chaotic movements had no pattern to them, but they were undoubtedly effective. He would be a nightmare for any dojutsu user to fight, as their eyes would be more of a hindrance than a help. Saber herself had been trained out of relying on only her eyes when in close combat, but most nin were not so careful.

"So many chakras in his head." Saber said, watching closely. "They clash and swirl. Some of it escapes into his chakra he's expelling, but most of it is his own. There's no sign of them melding successfully, and the same chakra is not escaping with any notable regularity."

"Which seems most powerful?" Shimura-sama asked. "What does it align with?"

"Fire." Saber answered immediately. "Fire is the affinity of the strongest I see. Then several Earth, followed by Lightning. Beyond that, they are too conflicted to gain much insight. There are some signatures that do not seem to have an affinity at all."

"Hmm." Shimura-sama hummed.

The entirety of their trip back to headquarters was silent.

"We shall need to be ready." Shimura-sama said, seated at her desk. "Wakizashi, how many extra copies of Jiruya's sealing tags do we possess?"

"We have forty extra copies the Toad Sage gave us that she crafted herself." Wakizashi said. "As for the attempts to replicate, none have been successful. Our operatives have been unable to see the uncompressed forms fully."

"The danger of trying to see something in the midst of combat with hostile yokai, no doubt." Shimura-sama said. "Saber, when the latest test is carried out, I will need you in the forest along with Dagger and Shiv. Your eyes will be critical. We need to know what the yokai are fully capable of. You will observe one of the Root sealing teams as well, to observe the seals that Jiruya has created. If she were to pass, we would have no one capable of recreating her work. Unacceptable, with such a threat to Konoha in close proximity."

Saber nodded. She would carry out her mission, for the greater good of Konoha. Shimura-sama, unlike the Hokage, recognized that sometimes the greatest threats to the village came from within. A truth Saber knew with every fiber of her being.

One only had to see her eyes to know the truth of that.