AN below, enjoy the update!


Watching Narisa introduce Kanami to Ichiraku's was entertainment gold to Ry. It was simultaneously adorable and an absolute trainwreck.

"So what's your favorite kind of ramen, itoko?" Narisa asked, practically bouncing up and down as they walked through the morning streets.

"Ah, I'm not really sure I have a favorite." Kanami said.

Ry smirked, reading Narisa's body language. He knew exactly what his imouto was about to say.

"You have to have a favorite!" Narisa exclaimed. "It's okay to have a second favorite, and third favorite, and all the way down to forty fifth favorite, but there can only be one favorite ramen! It's the law of the Divine Food."

"Nii-san's favorite is spicy ramen, and he asks Ichiraku-baa-san to put pineapples in it, which is weird, but even he has a favorite." Narisa declared, pointing an accusatory finger at Ry. "And he's a dirty rice lover."

"There's nothing wrong with rice." Ry said.

"There is when you like it more than ramen!" Narisa narrowed her eyes. "Ne, itoko, you're not some rice junkie are you?"

Kanami looked more than a little lost. "Ah, I don't know? I stay on a diet my mother and aunt recommended to become the best kunoichi. There's rice, noodles, and fish. Lots of fish."

"Blech." Narisa frowned for a moment. "Well, Ichiraku-baa-san has some good seafood ramen, so that's okay I guess."

"Didn't you eat like twelve bowls of the newest fish based ramen last week?" Ry asked.

"It's a new flavor!" Narisa protested immediately. "It's not like miso ramen, but it's still Ichiraku's ramen! Of course I'm gonna have a bunch, gotta know exactly where it ranks!"

"And…?" Ry trailed off.

"Thirty eighth." Narisa declared proudly. "Above tofu ramen, but below Ichiraku's seasonal spring leaf ramen."

"It's worse than the spring leaf ramen?" Ry asked. "I thought you asked her to never bring that back."

"Because she has too many veggie ramens already!" Narisa shook her head, loose blonde hair flying everywhere. "We need more meat, even if it is fish. Itoko would like that I bet, wouldn't you?"

Ry's eyes cut over to Kanami briefly. He'd suspected she'd been wearing an emotional mask for almost the entirety of their encounters.

It had taken Narisa less than five minutes to crack that mask not once, but twice. This time, the cracks were widespread, bafflement and confusion running rampant over the redhead's face.

"I ah, maybe?" Kanami shook her head slowly. "We mostly have fish based ramen where I'm from."

Narisa let out a whoop. "Then that means you have so many new flavors to try! We're gonna have so much fun itoko!"

Kanami's frame tensed when Narisa grabbed her by the hand and started pulling her forward, but the redheaded kunoichi relaxed a moment later. Ry let them get ahead, smiling as he listened to Narisa chattering with exuberance.

Not too far ahead, however. The morning crowd made it difficult to hear Kanami's bemused responses if he was more than a few feet away, and some petty part of him enjoyed watching the gorgeous kunoichi so off balance.

"Ayaki-nii!" Narisa exclaimed, almost dragging her cousin forward when they got within the last ten feet. "Meet my itoko!"

Ayaki, who was in the middle of ingredient prep, looked up. His hands moved on autopilot, even as Ry saw his pupils dilate.

Ry lunged forwards, preventing the man from doing more than giving himself a minor cut on the back of his forefinger and thumb.

The ramen chef glanced down, freezing when he saw the blood welling up. Then up again, to meet Ry's eyes.

Ry nodded in understanding. He understood they guy's thought processes. Or rather, lack thereof.

It was something he suspected he might see quite a bit when the new school year started up at the Academy. Narisa had made an offhand reference about the older kunoichi in training taking merciless advantage of their looks; new shinobi in training, most of them only having their first true experiences with daily, extended chakra usage, were grist for the mill of kunoichi in training looking for ego boosts, laughs, or both.

Kanami, with her vibrantly red hair, emerald green eyes, and golden skin that implied a great deal of time in the sun, was exotic compared to local kunoichi. Ayaki served kunoichi fairly regularly – Narisa being the prime example – but he was a young guy and vulnerable to the same foibles of all young, straight men. Such as gorgeous and exotic young women.

It'd be worse if he was using chakra regularly. Hell, I was having a hard time not staring at her ass on the way here. And her pants are not designed to be flattering.

"Let me get that for you, so Narisa and her itoko, Uzumaki Kanami, don't have to wait too long for ramen." Ry said, releasing Ayaki's hand.

"Ah, thanks." Ayaki said, then looked over towards Narisa and Kanami, the blush on his face was unmistakable.

"Ah, Narisa-chan, you can take Uzumaki-san over to sit down." Ayaki said, swallowing hard. "Do you know which orders you'd like so I can prepare them?"

"We'll have two of your Fresh Catch ramen!" Narisa chimed, then tugged Kanami away.

The redheaded Uzumaki bowed her head in thanks, though Ry saw the way her eyes cut to his hands flashing through seals. He wasn't trying to hide them; Mystic Palm was one of the most well known jutsu in the Elemental Nations. Whoever these Uzumaki were, they didn't need to watch him to learn iryo ninjutsu.

"Kami." Ayaki muttered, glancing around. "If grandmother were here, I'd never hear the end of that."

Ry snorted. "Yeah?"

"She might've given up on Narisa, but seeing me react to a girl like that?" Ayaki shook his head, grinning ruefully. "She'd be after me and her both."

Ry chose not to comment on the wrinkled woman sitting at one end of the tables set out near the stand. Her rather rheumy eyes gleamed brightly. If Ayaki didn't realize his grandmother had her cronies around most, if not all of the time she was absent, he wasn't going to pop the man's bubble of perceived solitude.

Narisa would never forgive him if he somehow caused strife between two of her favorite people in the world.

"She's likely to be marrying multiple shinobi from the Clans." Ry said. "I think you're safe."

"I think sobo would say that every household needs a chef, and she's always pestered me about redheads having a thing for ramen and ramen chefs." Ayaki muttered, eyes widening as the cut on his hand began visibly shrinking. "Damn, you nin are handy to have around sometimes."

Ry shrugged. "When we're not busy destroying lives and businesses, sure."

Ayaki blinked a few times, giving Ry an odd look. "That's…"

"I was a civilian until less than a year ago." Ry said, grinning slightly. "I have a slightly different opinion on what it's like for someone powerless to know that there are highly trained han kami wandering around with licenses to kill."

"Huh." Ayaki nodded slowly. "If you say so."

Ry could tell the chef didn't believe him. Not that Ayaki was going to say anything.

He didn't blame the man. Ry had less than a year's training, and already he'd be hard pressed to find any civilian capable of fending him off for longer than a few seconds. Civilians who disagreed with nin were quite literally gambling with their life. In Konoha, there were plenty of laws against abusing the civilians – which Ry assumed was part of the reason that Konoha's civilian population was more than triple the next highest estimate of any hidden village – but even in the streets Ry saw wariness.

Deservedly so. Offending someone who could set them on fire, throw them through a wall, or trap them in hallucinations was dangerous for civilians. Laws or no laws.

"I'll take tofu ramen." Ry said, cutting off the chakra flow as he finished up with Ayaki's hand.

He could've been done faster, but he'd wanted to make sure he didn't accidentally cause complications for the chef. The man's hands were important to his job, and even a minor screw up might have repercussions ten or fifteen years down the road. Ayaki wasn't someone with chakra that would help him heal in the most correct manner. His body would heal like the bodies Ry knew back on Earth; mostly correct, but with the possibility of something going wrong.

Ry had prevented that.

Focusing on scan fidelity when going slow is paying off. I'd have missed those nerves crossing otherwise. Nice easy test of maintaining scanning and repairing at the same time as well.

"Ayaki-nii's okay now?" Narisa asked as Ry pulled out his chair.

"He's fine, just cut himself a bit." Ry shrugged. "Think he might've been surprised by your red hair, Uzumaki-san."

Kanami shrugged. "That happens. At least he didn't react like he wanted to kill me for it."

Ry grimaced, even as Narisa's eyes narrowed. "People want to kill you for your hair?"

Kanami glanced at Narisa. "You really don't know much about our Clan, do you?"

"We're a Clan?" Narisa's eyes went wide.

Kanami looked at Ry.

He shrugged. "I had no idea if she was related to the Uzumaki Clan or not. Not until yesterday, when my sensei told me. I wasn't going to crush my imouto's hopes on a hypothetical."

"Muu." Narisa swung her eyes to Ry. "You knew, nii-san?"

Ry shook his head. "I wasn't sure. And I had no idea any of them were alive before yesterday. What was I supposed to tell you? And how would you have felt if you asked your obaa-san afterwards and she said that I was wrong?"

Narisa pouted, crossing her arms. "I would've been fine."

Ry just raised an eyebrow.

"Fine." Narisa huffed. "I'd have been sad, okay? But I still would've liked to know."

"And I don't like seeing you sad." Ry reached across the table, poking Narisa's forehead. "It's a big brother's job to make sure his imouto never cries, unless they're tears of joy."

Narisa tried to continue pouting at him, but the façade melted almost instantly, her face reddening. "Nii-sannnnnn."

"Big brothers are also supposed to make sure their imoutos know how much they care about them." Ry grinned. "Even when they're embarrassed."

Narisa's blush deepened. "Ugh. Fine. You win, nii-san. But you're paying for an extra bowl of ramen, to make up for it."

"Nope." Ry shook his head. "But I'll teach you that Katon jutsu you've been wanting."

The affronted look Narisa had been crafting shattered. "Really?!"

"You are not allowed to use it on any buildings or structures or people's clothing, without my say so." Ry said firmly. "In fact, you're not to use it outside a Training Ground without me being there."

"Is your affinity Katon?" Kanami asked.

Narisa was still glaring at Ry, but she shook her head. "Futon. Nii-san and Kazune-sensei said it would be hard to learn Katon because of that, but I really want to know how to light stuff on fire."

Good, she remembered to limit her affinities to just Futon.

"Little pyromaniac." Ry said, grinning.

Narisa tried to frown, only to break into another grin. "You can't prove anything, nii-san."

"I don't have to." Ry replied. "We both know you'll incriminate yourself the moment you actually use it for your pranks."

"No I won't." Narisa shook her head vigorously.

Ry smirked. "If you say so."

"I have a Katon affinity too." Kanami said. "Maybe we can do some training together."

"Yeah, you could train with nii-san and I!" Narisa was immediately enthusiastic, swiveling her entire attention to Kanami. "We train together during our day off from the Academy. Well, nii-san does other training because he knows not to wake me up early on my day off."

"Mmm." Ry rolled his eyes.

Narisa had taken to trapping her apartment on their days off. Ry knew exactly how to get around it, he just hadn't found it necessary.

Yet.

"We train on some nights after the Academy too." Narisa added. "Though that's a lot of Seong-sensei beating me up while nii-san gets beat up in the room next door in the dojo."

"Ninjutsu is typically on our off day." Ry said, sparing Kanami the chance that Narisa decided to unload her entire schedule. "Narisa only trains with Seong-sensei twice a week, so she has some nights free."

"Nii-san is a training maniac." Narisa said, rolling her eyes.

"Guilty." Ry agreed instantly.

"I would be interested in training ninjutsu." Kanami said, a small smile appearing on her face for a moment. "Taijutsu and bukijutsu as well, in the future."

When your escorts trust us not to maim or kill you, presumably.

"Great!" Narisa said.

Whatever else she was planning to say disappeared when her eyes locked onto something behind Ry's shoulder.

"Ah, ramen's done." Ry said.

Kanami cocked her head slightly, then glanced over at Narisa. Her emerald eyes widened slightly at the sight of Narisa's face.

Ry smirked when Kanami glanced back his way, confusion writ clear on her gestures.

"Narisa's a ramen 'appreciator.' Which comes with light tears and a bit of drool, when Ichiraku's ramen is involved." Ry shrugged.

"Ah." Kanami nodded. "She and Morinoshin aren't all that different then, except his face doesn't do this for ramen."

The frown that flitted across her face was brief, but evident.

"I don't think Narisa's ever gone around asking ramen chefs…" Ry trailed off. "That comparison doesn't work. She's not creepy about it. Just…don't put any body parts between her mouth and her bowl."

Kanami raised an eyebrow.

Ry gestured to where Ayaki was setting down Narisa's bowl.

"Itadekimasu!" Narisa crowed, then engaged with the ramen.

Nothing else in this strange world struck Ry as quite so anime as watching his imouto eat ramen. She seemed to defy the laws of both biology and physics doing so, in ways that chakra didn't explain. Her mouth was like Schrodinger's cat, both open wide to receive the next bite and simultaneously closed while greedily swallowing. To say nothing of the strange lack of mess despite Narisa's violent motions.

Judging by the way Kanami's eyes widened over the next thirty seconds, it clearly wasn't normal for a kunoichi either.

"Ah." Narisa let out a sigh, leaning back and patting her belly. "That was tasty."

Ayaki chuckled. "I'd hope so."

He'd waited for Narisa to finish. Ry didn't blame him; entering Narisa's reach while she was eating ramen was not something done lightly.

"For the other big brother." Ayaki set Ry's bowl down, then Kanami's. "And for the beautiful cousin."

"Thank you." Ry said automatically.

"Thank you, Ichiraku-san." Kanami said, smiling and bobbing her head slightly.

For all that Ry was doing his best to embrace the circumstances of his new life, he'd kept many lessons from the old one. Few were directly useful, considering the wildly different natures of his lives, but there was the occasional crossover.

Ry knew a customer service polite smile from a mile away, in a rainstorm. He'd worn one for over a decade.

Note to self. She doesn't care for compliments on her appearance. Or at least not unsolicited ones.

As soon as he had the thought, Ry frowned.

I'd love to tell myself that's a categorization of a potential weakness.

I'm terrible at lying to myself, though.

Damn hormones and chakra usage. I should be well past this stage.

Ayaki took a few steps back. He wasn't hiding his nerves nearly as well as he probably thought. Ry sympathized with him.

Kanami let out a noise of surprise at her first bite. She quickly took a second.

"I take it you like it?" Ry asked, holding his chopsticks and smiling.

"Much more than I thought." Kanami said, her eyes only flitting away briefly before refocusing on the bowl in front of her.

"Good, good." Narisa crooned as Kanami began eating in earnest. "Come to the dark side. We have the best ramen."

Kanami paused at that, glancing at Narisa.

"Nii-san said it once." Narisa shrugged. "Besides, I need another ramen lover to eat with."

"I don't count?" Ry asked.

"You're always talking about sodium intake and balanced diet." Narisa rolled her eyes. "You like it, but you're no ramen lover."

Ry snickered at that.

"It's very different." Kanami said, glancing at Ayaki. "Ramen where I lived was more preserved, I think. This tastes fresher."

"We only use the best ingredients at Ichiraku's." Ayaki nodded, smiling hopefully. "So you like it?"

"It's very good." Kanami said, smiling at the ramen chef.

Ry slapped down the grumbling thoughts that tried to form in his head. He knew which impulses were doing the talking.

"Glad to hear it." Ayaki tugged at his bandanna around his head. "Have to get back to the kitchen but it's always good to make a new customer smile! Come back and I'll be happy to serve you more ramen to bring more smiles!"

Ry watched Narisa frown and cock her head. She looked at Kanami, who had gone back to eating, then over where Ayaki was walking back to the gap between the counter and wall. Her eyes ping ponged back and forth a few times, before a smile started sliding across her face.

"Itoko, we should come here lots." Narisa said. "We'll have lots of fun, and good food. Bet I can get you a discount!"

Ry snorted as Kanami paused her eating once more. The redhead glanced between the two of them before shrugging.

"It is good, but I'll have to speak with my aunt." Kanami said. "I don't want this to interfere with the diet plan she helped make for me."

As the redhead went back to eating, Ry looked at Narisa. The blonde grinned back shamelessly, as Ry shook his head. From the look in Narisa's eye, he knew that attempting to divert her wouldn't go anywhere.

"You're lucky you're adorable." Ry said after a few seconds.

"Hehe." Narisa clapped her hands to her cheeks. "Thanks, nii-san."

"Mmhmm." Ry said. "Uzumaki-san, I know you wanted to meet your cousin, but did you have any plans after this?"

Kanami shook her head, though Ry noted she didn't stop eating. Then she opened her mouth, evidently realized she still had food in it, and snapped her lips shut. Ry saw a faint trace of pink in her cheeks as she swallowed.

Okay, now that's just unfairly cute.

"No, Shiranui-san." Kanami said. "Morinoshin and I are waiting for our aunt and uncle to finish filling out the citizenship forms."

"Want to take her on a tour, Narisa?" Ry asked.

"Oh, yeah!" Narisa exclaimed. "I know all the best spots itoko! We can-"

Narisa abruptly stopped talking, frowning. She glanced at Ry.

As good as he was at interpreting Narisa, her current look escaped him completely. "Yeah?"

"I should probably Henge." Narisa said, looking thoughtful. "Right?"

"Ah. Yeah." Ry nodded. "That'd be smart."

"Why would you need to Henge?" Kanami asked, glancing between the two of them.

"Eheh, I ah might have pulled some pranks on some people and they may get a little jumpy when they see me around." Narisa said, tugging on her bangs. "It'd be better if they don't think you're with me."

Kanami frowned slightly. "Really?"

Ry saw her look his way and shrugged. "It's their fault initially, and as you'll learn, Narisa really doesn't have it in her not to get her version of revenge on them. Which, now that I think about it, it's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Henged bunshin." Narisa shrugged.

"Ah." Ry nodded. "Fair. Yeah, Uzumaki-san, your tour will go much smoother if Narisa is Henged the whole time."

Kanami's frown didn't disappear, but she nodded slowly. "If you say so, Shiranui-san. Are you accompanying us?"

"Nah, I have to go get beat up." Ry gave Narisa a look. "Someone likely skipped training with Rokku yesterday, so she'll have extra energy. Yay."

"You can't prove anything." Narisa said immediately.

"I can ask her." Ry smirked.

Narisa stuck her tongue out at him. Ry snickered, getting to his feet and pushing the remainder of his ramen her way. Her eyes went wide with appreciation as she snatched the bowl.

"Uh-huh." Ry said, glancing over at Kanami. "I hope you have a great rest of your first day in Konoha, Uzumaki-san. If you need anything, feel free to find me and ask."

"It was good speaking with you again, Shiranui-san." Kanami inclined her head slightly.

Ry nodded back, putting his hands in his pockets as he left. He'd opted to wear his black jacket today, which would come off shortly when he went to train and spar with Rokku.

"Damn." Ry mumbled under his breath, fighting the urge to look back. "Hope there's another practical soon."


"Faster, Shiranui-kun!" Gaya called out.

Ry was too busy backpedaling from Rokku's assault to bother replying. The fresh genin had her hair restrained by her new hitai-ate, the metal glinting in the early morning sun as she advanced relentlessly.

Rokku went airborne with a spinning kick. Ry felt his shirt ripple from the air pressure as he ducked underneath it. He lunged upwards, going for either a counter or a grapple.

Then threw himself flat to the ground. Rokku's fist skimmed the back of his head before he hit the ground and Ry's roll saved him from a pair of heels slamming into his spine. Ry kicked and Rokku hopped over the attempted trip, but it bought him time to twist back up to his feet. Then it was back to defending from the deluge of punches the genin threw his way.

Thirty seconds later, Ry flew through the air, his back hammering into a tree. His chest ached from where Rokku had planted a heel in his sternum and he hit his knees coughing.

"Good!" Gaya said as Rokku bounced back and forth on her feet. "You're getting faster, Shiranui-kun! Your verdant youth is blooming!"

"G-great." Ry wheezed, clutching at his chest.

"Scan yourself." Hirana commented from where she was reading underneath another tree, off to Ry's left.

Ry groaned an acknowledgement, moving through the hand seals.

If nothing else, these weekly spars with Rokku help me with making hand seals even when my arms and fingers don't want to cooperate because they feel like one giant bruise.

He didn't find anything horribly wrong, other than the bruises that were developing all over his upper body. Those were nothing new, joining the litany already present from training with Akena, Aoba, and Kazune.

"Matara-san, would you be kind enough to heal Shiranui-kun back to full readiness?" Gaya asked.

Ry frowned as he got to his feet. Gaya had never asked for him to be healed before.

"You have something in mind, senpai?" Hirana asked as she put the medical treatise she was reading away.

"Today is the day that my genin team will be proving that their youth blooms with passion and vigor!" Gaya said, smiling widely. "I would like to ask Shiranui-kun to be part of the test."

Ry blinked. "Gaya-sensei, you want me to be part of a test for genin? That seems…strange."

"But it's perfect, Shiranui-kun!" Gaya said, pointing at him dramatically. "You are the perfect way for all three my new team to test themselves! I already have permission from Akena-senpai and Kazune!"

Oh boy. What the hell did they get me into?

Hirana flashed through a series of hand seals, laying her hands on Ry's shoulders. He felt her chakra rushing through him, soothing and easing the aches of his body. She frowned and Ry suspected he knew why. The aches from the ceremony with Akena hadn't worn off; the opposite really, they'd become progressively more noticeable as he'd gone through his morning, fading only under the adrenaline rush of sparring with Rokku.

When she was done, Hirana gave him a look.

"Ask Akena-sensei." Ry said. "I'm not sure if I'm supposed to say anything."

Hirana hummed for a moment, then nodded. "I will. Gaya-senpai, do you wish for me to stay? I know these first meetings can be private."

"In case of needed healing, it would be most appreciated Matara-san." Gaya said, bowing her way for a moment. "We will not be discussing anything that needs privacy."

"I'll stick around in that case." Hirana smirked slightly. "I'm interested to see what my senpai came up with."

Crap. She's here to heal me back up to become a fresh punching bag.

Ten minutes later, Ry saw the other two members of the freshly formed Team Three enter the clearing they were using in Training Ground Twelve. Hadashi Tensei and Hyuga Nemi.

Both of them looked slightly surprised to see him there, their eyes moving to where Hirana sat a moment later. Then their focus returned to Gaya and Rokku.

"Greetings, new members of Team Three!" Gaya shouted, waving energetically. "Come here and let us begin our introductions to our teammates and comrades!"

Ry stayed out of the way while the three genin introduced themselves to one another. He wasn't entirely sure what role he was supposed to play, but he was fine with playing along. Even if they only met up once a week, his time training with Rokku and Gaya had produced great results. Gaya's advice on his workout routine, in particular, was something he felt he owed a great deal for.

Besides, being a punching bag was nothing new. At least these three weren't jonin who seemed to take a great deal of enjoyment from his beatings.

"Now!" Gaya exclaimed. "We have your genin test!"

"Gaya-sensei, we already passed our Genin Exam." Tensei said politely.

"Yes, but not my test as your jonin-sensei!" Gaya said. "I am allowed to send you all back to the Academy if you do not display the passionate bloom of youth I'm looking for."

Nemi's eyes narrowed slightly, while Rokku bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. Tensei was the only one who looked caught off guard.

"Don't worry, my adorable genin!" Gaya continued. "As long as you show the verdant bloom of youth that every nin needs, you'll pass! And your opponent today will be this young man over here. Shiranui-san, come introduce yourself."

Ry walked over. "Hello. My name is Shiranui Ry. I've already met Riri-san and Hadashi-san before, but it's nice to meet you Hyuga-san."

Nemi's nod was so fractional Ry was pretty sure he'd have missed it if he blinked.

"Not entirely sure what Gaya-sensei will have me doing, but I'll do my best." Ry finished, glancing at the jonin in question.

"First! Tensei-kun!" Gaya said. "You have your weapons in those scrolls, yes?"

Ry had taken note of the variety of scrolls on Tensei's vest. Most of them were slipped into cinched straps, with two much bigger scrolls set horizontally on his back. They were an odd sight, especially due to the katana hanging on his hip, weapons pouch on his opposite hip, and kunai holstered in between the various scrolls or on his thighs.

"I have other weapons, yes sensei." Tensei said.

Gaya pulled a scroll out from her weapons pouch, tossing it to Ry. "Shiranui-kun, if you'll open this."

Ry blinked but did as instructed. The scroll let out a poof of smoke and he barely managed to snag the hilt of the weapon that came out.

Huh. There's…that's some sort of sealing scroll wrapped around the geom that I gave back to Akena.

"It's your weapon, yes?" Gaya asked, continuing when Ry nodded. "I want you to spar with Tensei-kun, Shiranui-kun. You are both allowed to use chakra infusion, jutsu, and all weapons at your disposal, and I will referee."

Ry glanced over at Tensei.

The new genin had a conflicted look on his face. "Gaya-sensei, I don't see how this is a test. Wouldn't testing my passion be better if it wasn't a field I have an advantage in?"

"That's the right attitude Tensei-kun!" Gaya gave a thumbs up. "But, humor your jonin-sensei. Shiranui-kun, take the mark you were using with Riri earlier."

"Hai." Ry said.

"What kind of weapon is that?" Tensei asked as he took the mark opposite. "I've never seen a sword wrapped in seals before."

"I think they're to suppress some of its properties." Ry said. "Not sure, really. And it's a geom."

"A geom?" Tensei's eyes lit up. "Like the type of sword used by the Flickering Blade?"

"Ah, yeah." Ry said, spinning the blade to refamiliarize himself with the weight. "About as close as you can get, really."

"You have to let me look at it afterwards." Tensei said. "I love exotic weapons!"

"I'd have to-"

"Begin!" Gaya shouted.

The shout caught both off guard, but Ry moved first. The word begin, with a geom in his hands, triggered very specific instincts. Chakra billowed outwards in his body, saturating everything as he shot forward. His blade flicked upwards, batting away the three shuriken Tensei threw at him as the genin leapt away.

Sparks nearly brushed his face as Tensei's follow up kunai scraped along the flat of his geom. Then Ry was in range of the katana his opponent had drawn. The curved blade lashed out and Ry caught it in a descending block, infusing his blade with chakra as he leapt and twisted.

Tensei's eyes went wide as he attempted to pull the blade back and take advantage of Ry's exposed state, only for the chakra adhesion to pull Ry's blade along with it, making it easy to fend off the riposte. Ry landed near Tensei's shoulder, the genin's position badly compromised given the positioning of their respective swords.

Still, Ry saw immediately why Tensei had the scrolls on his back. A puff of smoke forced Ry to duck as a kunai with a trailing glint shot outwards and then he was forced backwards, twisting away from the chasing katana before ducking the returning kunai and ninja wire guide. Completing the movement, he spun his blade to knock aside another pair of shuriken, releasing the hilt with one hand to snag another kunai, this one without a guide wire attached. He spun it into a reverse grip as he moved in once more, geom still flickering back and forth to deflect further projectiles.

Tensei's katana met his geom and then his stomp prevented Ry's follow up stab with the kunai. Ry disengaged with his geom, dropping the kunai as he did so. He shuffled sideways, twitching away from another kunai fired out of a scroll as he stood toe to toe with Tensei. Katana and geom met in a series of exchanges, Ry acquiring a small cut on his shoulder from a poorly blocked slash.

Damn, he is good. Nowhere near Akena, but that's a ridiculous comparison to make. Those scrolls are effective at covering any openings.

Too bad he missed the trick with the kunai.

Ry used adhesion in the middle of a bind and his abrupt yank pulled Tensei off balance. The genin hissed as the kunai Ry had dropped earlier buried itself in his thigh. Ry released adhesion and stepped back.

This was a friendly spar. He wasn't going to lash out and break his fellow shinobi.

Tensei let out a grunt, watching Ry warily as he reached down with one hand and yanked the kunai out. Tensei threw it far away, pulling a scroll off his vest with a grimace. He slapped it down on the wound, where it disappeared in a puff of smoke. When the smoke dissipated, Tensei's thigh had a bandage on it that was already stained a little red.

"That's a neat trick." Ry said, nodding. "You'll have to show me how you make those sometime."

"You used adhesion to pick that kunai up off the ground with your foot, didn't you?" Tensei asked.

"It never hit the ground." Ry tapped the top of his boot with his blade. "I caught it as I sidestepped. The trick was getting the right angle to hit you with while you weren't looking for it."

"Fair." Tensei said.

He glanced over towards Gaya. "Gaya-sensei, you said we can use all our jutsu, right?"

"Indeed, Tensei-kun!" Gaya threw out another thumbs up.

"Well, I thought I needed to go easy on you." Tensei said, looking back over at Ry. "Since you're probably going to be an iryo nin and all. Apparently not."

Ry shrugged. "No help if the medic is killed by some scrub."

"Ha." Tensei snorted. "Right."

Tensei's hand flickered for a moment, coming back with a trio of shuriken. He threw them and Ry blinked as they all diverged into wildly different arcs. Worse, Tensei sheathed his katana, bringing his hands together as Ry came back into a ready stance.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Tensei shouted.

Ah shit.

Three shuriken converging from different angles abruptly became thirty. Ry leapt back, removing one vector from consideration entirely while his blade shot out to deflect the three remaining from the second vector that might've hit him. The third, which came in from straight ahead, he could only twist away from, taking four shuriken to his arm, ribs, and thigh.

"Ow." Ry growled, swiping his geom down to remove the shuriken in his arm even as he kept moving.

Tensei was busy unleashing more weapons at him, occasionally duplicating them with the shadow clone technique. Getting close wasn't an option with how much ordinance was flying his way.

Jumping back to gain further distance, Ry jammed his geom into the ground. Both hands freed, they flickered through the series of hand seals before slapping them to the ground.

Molding Earth Jutsu.

The ground heaved upwards in front of him, forming a wall nearly eight feet high and four feet wide. Ry could hear the thudding of multiple kunai and shuriken impacting the dirt wall.

Grabbing his blade and jumping upwards, Ry used tree walking to crouch on the interior of the wall. He sheathed the geom as his hands came up to form another, familiar seal. The wall he was standing on lowered by a foot as the clone formed in a crouch below him. His clone gave him a feral grin as it waited patiently.

They heard the shifting footsteps at the same time. The clone darted around the far side of the wall, drawing its geom as it ran. Ry repeated the jutsu, creating another clone as the wall shrunk another foot. This clone took off in the opposite direction and Ry heard Tensei's shout of surprise a moment later.

Kage bunshin are nice, but iwa bunshin are way easier on the chakra reserves.

Ry created a third clone, which grinned and took off in the direction of the first as the wall lowered by another foot. Then he flickered through another series of hand seals, hopping over the wall directly as it shrunk to four feet tall.

The situation unveiled itself as he moved. Tensei had taken out his first clone and was unleashing a hail of shuriken at the second. The third clone was circling around, geom in hand as it sought a flanking angle.

Ry charged straight in. Tensei's hail of shuriken took out the second clone and Ry saw the genin's eyes flicker to him and the remaining clone, then the wall behind him.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Tensei yelled, a wall of shuriken headed Ry's way.

Then the genin turned to face his third clone.

The hail of shuriken must've taken out the first like the second. Clones do have reduced physical abilities, at least that what Akena said, but not enough that these shuriken should've-

Ry caught a glint in his peripheral and leapt on instinct. His geom flashed outwards as he twisted in his jump, batting away the trio of kunai that were zipping in via a ninja wire induced arc.

Kunai in the trees and those thrown then duplicated with the-

Ry drew a kunai with his off hand, throwing it to deflect the single shuriken also coming in at a different angle while using his blade one handed to carve a path through the upper half of the shuriken wall. He landed in a roll, coming up in a lunge right as Tensei turned away from obliterating the third clone.

Wonder if non Kage Bunshin clones have tunnel vision. Narisa's don't seem to, but the same tactic worked to take out all three of mine. Either they missed it, or they couldn't adapt.

Batting aside Tensei's lurching riposte, Ry drove his shoulder into the genin's chest, knocking him over. He tossed his geom upwards as they fell, using his freed hands to contest Tensei's grip on his katana. Ry hit on top of Tensei, hearing the genin let out a grunt as the air was knocked out of him. Ry moved in a roll, disarming the wheezing genin and coming to his feet with his new katana in one hand.

The tip resting an inch from Tensei's throat.

Ry's geom buried itself in the ground three inches to the right of Tensei's ear. The genin's eyes were wide.

Dammit, I need to improve my hand seal speed further, and reduce the number of seals. I could've won that much quicker if I could've used any of my elemental bullet jutsu.

That's why Akena wants me to use the sword seals. Duh.

"Winner, Shiranui-kun." Gaya proclaimed. "Excellent show of youthful vigor, Tensei-kun! Shuriken Kage Bunshin is a difficult jutsu to master!"

Ry pulled the katana way, leaning down to offer Tensei a hand up. The shinobi took it, bending over once he was on his feet.

"You can use corporeal bunshin?" Tensei asked in a wheezing voice.

"Iwa and Mizu Bunshin." Ry said. "Not much water around here to offset the chakra cost though."

"They don't teach those…at the Academy." Tensei groaned as he straightened up, rubbing his chest. "Nice hit."

"Not bad yourself." Ry grinned. "Was not expecting shuriken kage bunshin. Thought that was the Sandaime's specialty."

"Yosh, Shiranui-kun, Tensei-kun!" Rokku shouted. "That was a youthful display that has my vigor burning! Gaya-sensei, can I go next?!"

"Not yet, Riri." Gaya said, grinning. "Matara-san, if you wouldn't mind healing Shiranui-kun, he'll be sparring against Nemi-chan next."

Ry saw Nemi's face twitch at Gaya's words.

This is going to fucking hurt.

He was right.

It hurt.

His experience against Hizashi helped once they got into close quarters, but it only prolonged the match by about a minute. The rules had been identical to what he'd had against Tensei, but Nemi could swat aside Ry's various elemental bullet jutsu with her bare hands and he didn't have many other ranged options. Fighting among the tree branches helped slightly, but Nemi mowed down his clones with precision usage of Gentle Fist. His blade was almost as much hindrance as help, Nemi's parries often exposing Ry to strikes that blocked his tenketsu.

Wako was right. She is skilled as shit. Hizashi was better than any of the ones I saw back in their challenge, but Nemi is on a different level.

Owww.

Ry laid on the ground, ignoring Hirana's smirk as she healed him again.

"Now, Shiranui-kun, Riri, the same rules apply." Gaya said, stepping in between them a few minutes later. "But, I have one additional change. Riri, pull back your leg and arm warmers."

Oh shit.

Ohhhh shit.

Ry couldn't help the cold chill that went down his spine as Gaya briefly put her hands to each of the inhibitors on Rokku's arms and legs. Then she had Rokku lift her shirt, where Gaya did the same thing with the inhibitor vest the genin wore.

Gaya turned to Ry, grinning like mad. "Shiranui-kun, please pull back your sleeves and pants."


Earlier:

Kanami followed Narisa as they made their way through the trees.

"It'll be fine." Narisa said. "Nii-san's just training, he won't mind. And it's not with Eight-pack-sensei, so no poison."

The blonde was talking to herself. Kanami hadn't expected quite that reaction, but it did interest her.

The tour the blonde had taken her on was surprisingly informative. Narisa knew at least one of every shop Kanami wanted to know the location of, she knew their prices, and she had plenty of information on how customers were treated.

Narisa had even known the best spas in town, though she'd only gone once. It had roused Kanami's curiosity.

"I've worked at a few of them." Narisa's comment was a common refrain.

Kanami's questions about how she could've worked in so many places had been met with a laugh and a terribly unsubtle conversation change. Kanami had let it go for the moment, but it was a question she'd certainly be coming back to.

Their tour had moved from shops to food, then to scenic places. Narisa had shown Kanami all the major Clan compounds, taking them through the few that were open to the public.

It had been a little unnerving, especially walking through the small section of the Hyuga compound that they had publicly accessible. Kanami hadn't felt so watched in a long time.

Narisa, who'd Henged as a strawberry blonde with freckles, had brought her to the Academy. The excitement in her cousin's voice was unmistakable as she toured through the various classrooms that they'd be using. Kanami had paid attention, but much of her focus had been on their constant shadows. The two C rank chakra signatures she could sense, anyways. There was little doubt her aunt was somewhere nearby, and likely a Konoha nin or two that she couldn't sense either.

The shadows had stayed fairly distant for most of the tour, but they'd closed in for the entirety of the walk through the school. One of them had even posed as an instructor, accompanying them on the latter half of Narisa's tour of the campus.

Their diversion to the Training Grounds, and Kanami's consequent question about Shiranui's training, hadn't been planned. Kanami wasn't sure what her cousin had seen, but she'd been very adamant on showing her the Training Grounds within a few moments of exiting the Academy's gates. Kanami hadn't spotted what spooked her cousin, but it was something that had them leaving at a rapid walk.

Their shadows had dropped off, which was a relief. Kanami knew there were other watchers around, but having the two invisible presences hovering over them was stressful.

Something I'll need to adapt to. No matter how exhausting it might be.

"No poison?" Kanami asked.

"Eight-pack-sensei likes to poison nii-san and I." Narisa said. "He might try to pull me into training today, if he was there. Getting poisoned sucks."

Kanami blinked a few times. She'd looked at the curriculum in the pamphlet their disguised shadow had offered. Poison resistance training was nowhere on it. Nor were a lot of other skills she'd been expecting to see. Kanami was uncertain if it was a false pamphlet that showed the training she and Morinoshin would be receiving while the other students had different material, or if Konoha had gone soft.

Either was problematic for her long term future in Konoha.

Kanami's senses twinged, but the Konoha jonin was standing in front of her before she could react. With dirty blonde hair and a rather lazy glint in her brown eyes, the jonin had a smirk on her face as she idly spun a senbon around her fingers.

"Heh, figured we should meet sooner or later." The Konoha jonin said.

Kanami didn't understand the comment for a moment, until she traced the jonin's eyes.

Oh. Aunt Fu.

Narisa turned and jumped. "Ah!"

Kanami couldn't quite hold back a smile. Aunt Fu had that effect on younger nin. Narisa's reaction wasn't as bad as most young Kiri nin, but she also clearly lacked any form of sensory training. She wasn't used to knowing the locations of any nin around her.

"Itoko, this is my aunt, Uzumaki Fu." Kanami said. "She's a jonin and here to help Morinoshin and I, along with our uncle, Hidashi."

"Mmm." Narisa rubbed her head. "Are we related too?"

The question was understandable. Aunt Fu was Kanami's opposite in many ways. The top of her head didn't quite reach Kanami's shoulder, her hair was a dull brown compared to Kanami's dark red tresses, and she had a severe facial structure that was a direct contrast to Kanami's softer features. They didn't look related in the slightest.

"No, we are not Uzumaki-san." Aunt Fu said. "I was adopted into the family when my father remarried a long time ago."

"Oh." Narisa said, blinking a few times. "Well, if you're itoko's aunt, then you're still family. Nice to meetcha."

"Indeed." Aunt Fu said. "It is good to meet you as well…"

"Fujimori Takane." The Konohagakure nin said laconically. "It will be entertaining, I'm sure."

Aunt Fu inclined her head slightly. "I look forward to it."

Kanami read between the lines easily enough. She was uncertain if the jonin was a decoy, or her aunt's actual tail. There would be few people in the village who could perform such a feat, and Fujimori Takane wasn't a name she'd heard of before. She was presumably related to Fujimori Erina, which implied a high degree of skill, but a single data point wasn't enough to draw any firm conclusions.

Then again, trackers typically aren't the most well known nin. A good tracking and surveillance kunoichi benefits more from being an unknown.

"Where are you taking these two?" The Fujimori asked Narisa.

"Ah…" Narisa was frowning, before nodding to herself. "Itoko asked if we could watch nii-san train for a bit. She was curious what she might be signing up for."

The Fujimori snorted. "Someone's got good self preservation instincts. Sure, follow me."

"Thanks, Hoot-san." Narisa said with a smile.

The Fujimori gave Kanami's cousin a curious look, but walked off through the trees.

They arrived just in time to witness another Konoha jonin walking Shiranui and an unknown shinobi genin through the rules of a sparring match.

Aunt Fu's chakra flickered for a moment when Shiranui was tossed a peculiar short sword, one wrapped in seals. It was similar in size to the one that he had worn during their travel back toward Konoha.

"That is a geom." Aunt Fu said when Kanami glanced her way. "Your brother trains with Seong Akena, Uzumaki-san?"

"Ah, he says he gets beat up by her, mostly." Narisa shook her head.

The following two spars were informational for Kanami. The two genin were interesting, particularly getting her first real look at Gentle Fist used in combat. Kanami's focus, however, was on the shinobi she'd been ordered to understand, and seduce if necessary. She came away with a single conclusion.

Do not engage him in close quarters while he has that blade in his hands.

"Itoko's gotten her hands on someone with some skill." The Fujimori said as Shiranui lay on the ground after his defeat by the Hyuga.

Kanami glanced at the odd weapons on the jonin's back. She was no expert, but kukri were occasionally used by nin and civilian guards in Mizu no Kuni.

Cousins, and both wielders of relatively foreign blades. Something to take note of.

"Eh, Bowl-cut-sensei is releasing their inhibitors?" Narisa asked, drawing Kanami's attention to the proceedings in the clearing.

The devices on Shiranui's and the green clad genin's forearms, shins, and torsos were unfamiliar to Kanami. She could see the scrawl of fuinjutsu all over them, but based upon her cousin's words, they weren't fuinjutsu enhanced armaments or storage seals.

Kanami glanced over at her cousin. "Inhibitors?"

"Training devices." The Fujimori said.

"They make your arms and legs harder to move." Narisa explained. "I wear some."

Narisa pulled back her sleeves, showing off a pair of ceramic bracers Kanami hadn't noted. The fuinjutsu scrawling on it was well beyond Kanami's ability to decipher.

She hadn't inherited more than average talent when it came to fuinjutsu, at least in comparison to her family.

"Nii-san wears some version that Mask-sensei has just for him." Narisa said. "He and Bowl-cut-chan both."

Kanami watched as the two moved in the aftermath of the jonin disabling the devices. Nothing appeared to have changed as they stretched briefly.

"Now, Shiranui-kun, Riri, same rules as the previous two bouts." The jonin said. "Nemi-chan, Tensei-kun, step back a few paces."

Kanami saw the Hyuga frown as she followed the directions.

"Why are they stepping back?" Narisa asked.

"Maito Gaya is known as Konoha's Green Beast." Aunt Fu said, her expression neutral. "I expect we're about to see why."

"I mean, Bowl-cut-sensei is weird and almost as energetic as me, but-"

"Begin!" The jonin shouted.

Fast!

Kanami's eyes went wide as Shiranui and the genin both streaked into blurs. It was immediately evident that the genin was faster, but both were difficult to track with her eyes. Her chakra senses had better luck, but it was a disorienting experience.

"Hoh, Yurina's little friend has some moves." The Fujimori said as the two blurs separated, skidding backwards.

Kanami saw how Shiranui's posture favored his right leg, while the genin was shaking a hand with split knuckles.

That's at least chunin speed. Ridiculous. All that from training with these inhibitors?

Kanami glanced at her aunt.

Aunt Fu snorted without looking away from the spar. "We'll see about getting you some, Kanami."

"Damn, no wonder nii-san wants me to wear these." Narisa said, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. "I wanna be that fast!"

Kanami looked back towards the fight. The two blurs had clashed again before Shiranui disengaged. In his wake were a series of craters caused by the genin as she chased him, dirt spraying outwards with each step. Shiranui's blade was a greyish-green blur as he wove it between the two of them, fending off punches that were creating a visible haze around them.

One punch landed and Shiranui rocketed backwards, sword flying in a different direction. The tree he hit let out a cracking noise as the bark split. Shiranui didn't drop, rolling sideways via adhesion and leaping off the tree trunk the moment his feet were under him. A moment later, the genin's foot created an explosion of wood chips as it pulped the spot he'd been in.

"Yosh, Shiranui-kun!" The genin said as she landed on the ground, staring up at where Shiranui was crouched on the underside of a branch. "Truly a hot blooded battle. Gaya-sensei!"

"Go for it, Riri!" The jonin shouted.

Kanami couldn't hear Shiranui's response, but she read his lips and expression easily enough.

'Fuck me.'

"Kaimon!" The genin shouted.

Shiranui leapt away from his perch, weaving through hand seals before landing on the ground. Kanami felt his chakra pulse in the earth, pillars popping up at seemingly random points.

"Run little rabbit, run." The Fujimori chuckled.

"Why's nii-san making pillars?" Narisa asked.

"To limit his opponent's line of sight." The Fujimori said with a grin. "Maybe force Riri-san to change directions more. Depends on how committed she is."

After a few seconds, Kanami's chakra senses forcibly dragged her attention back to the genin. Her chakra was exploding in potency, the air around her body shimmering from the energy bleed off.

"Never seen that before in person." Aunt Fu said quietly.

"Not many nin who aren't from Konoha do." The Fujimori replied. "Not survive seeing it anyway. The Green Beast hits hard."

The genin launched forward and even Kanami's chakra senses had trouble keeping up. The green blur bounced off one of the pillars, which exploded into a cloud of dirt as the genin shot straight towards Shiranui.

Kanami had no idea what the shinobi did to deal with the blow, but the genin's landing was rough, a tumbling roll that stopped when she thumped against another pillar.

"Needs to improve her control." The Fujimori said. "Still, impressive."

"What's she doing?" Narisa asked.

"You can ask Maito-san about it some time." Fujimori said. "It's not something most nin can do."

Shiranui hadn't stayed still, moving to retrieve his blade. He snatched it up as he spun to face the genin rising to her feet. Kanami couldn't see if he was even facing in the correct direction when the genin exploded forward once more.

Kanami heard the peal of ringing metal, then the green blur passed through another column, the edifice toppling in her wake. Shiranui was shaking his head, spitting blood as he staggered towards the falling pillar. His right arm was hanging limply by his side and from his hunched posture, appeared to have cracked or possibly broken ribs.

The jonin appeared in front of him. "Let's call the match here, Shiranui-kun, Riri. Plenty of blooming youth has been shown!"

Shiranui nodded, lowering his blade before walking towards the genin attempting to push herself up from the ground. Her arms and legs were shaking in the attempt, her posture one of pain and weariness even as Shiranui pulled her to her feet. Both of them leaned on one another as they staggered towards another jonin Kanami hadn't registered until she was suddenly standing there, her hands glowing green as she placed them on the genin.

"I think you've seen enough." The Fujimori said.

"Aww, I was gonna go say hi to nii-san." Narisa said.

"You can, Uzumaki-san, but I need to take your cousin and her aunt to finalize some paperwork." The Fujimori said.

"Tch. Paperwork." Narisa frowned, looking over at Kanami. "Itoko, can we meet up tomorrow? I still wanna give you a tour of Outer Konoha."

"That'd be great." Kanami replied after a moment's thought. "I'll bring Morinoshin."

Narisa let out a hum. "Am I allowed to use more jutsu on him if he's pervy again?"

Kanami couldn't help her smile. "Please."

Narisa nodded. "Mmm. Want to meet at the Academy gates?"


Kanami worked through the details of their meetup before departing. The Fujimori did take them to an administrative building, where Kanami silently assisted her aunt with paperwork for nearly two hours.

She remained silent for another hour while her aunt and uncle went over their new dwelling with a fine tooth comb. Only when they were satisfied with the lack of surveillance, in addition to their own countermeasures, did Kanami find herself seated in seiza opposite her aunt.

The table in front of them had a basic meal of rice and fish, made by Uncle Hidashi before he left to track down Morinoshin.

Kanami hadn't touched hers. She knew her aunt's cues fairly well.

"You won't out wait me." Aunt Fu said.

"I'm more concerned about whatever venom is in here making it difficult to speak." Kanami replied.

Aunt Fu smiled ever so slightly. "Then speak first, and eat later."

"Our cousin is…exploitable." Kanami said. "She cares greatly about having family, which is little surprise given her orphaned status."

"Exploitable how?" Aunt Fu asked.

"Not subversion." Kanami said. "It would run counter to our mission, and she's watched too closely. Her jinchuriki status means her activities are always monitored, but that same monitoring will make it easier for myself and Morinoshin to earn goodwill."

"Continue." Aunt Fu said.

"She's…gullible." Kanami said. "It's a first impression, but I believe it's an honest one. Konoha hasn't suffered wide scale hardship since she was born, and her social guard is consequently lower and weaker. Her adoptive brother is more wary, but I don't believe he'd intervene as long as our manipulations don't cross into destructive or harmful territory."

"Which is rather limiting." Aunt Fu said.

"Not necessarily." Kanami replied. "I'm not likely to leave this village, outside of missions, for decades. Having a solid ally in the form of the village's jinchuriki would be a good boon. Manipulating her into a closer, stronger bond is useful both short and long term."

"And?" Aunt Fu asked.

"It will likely bring myself closer to her as well." Kanami acknowledged. "But even if I will always have Kirigakure in my heart, learning to treat Konoha as home will likely improve mission success. Having reliable allies, ones I can actually trust, will be beneficial in that regard."

"A fair point." Aunt Fu said.

"If they weren't attempting to deceive, and I don't believe they were, her status in the village is not positive." Kanami said. "Helping change that will improve my own status, both with her and with the ones who have put her there."

"A quick aside." Aunt Fu said. "Her status as a jinchuriki is classified. Even from the jinchuriki herself. The brother knows, as does most of the adult populace, but revealing it to any of your future classmates is punishable with execution."

Kanami blinked. "What?"

Aunt Fu shrugged. "I don't understand it either. Still, the ANBU who spoke to me about it were very definite on the topic. They execute at least a dozen civilians a year who make the mistake. They didn't give me the numbers on nin."

"Strange." Kanami said, mentally noting the need to imprint an understanding of the seriousness on Morinoshin. "Useful, in some ways. It may make it easier to gain the trust of others my age if they're unaware. Less likely they see me cozying up to a strategic asset."

"Mm." Aunt Fu hummed.

"Otherwise, she serves as a useful counterpoint to my likely greatest obstacle in courting prominent shinobi. Uchiha Saneko." Kanami said. "She is, and I quote my newest cousin exactly here, a 'duck butt teme with an anger problem and a big stick up her ass.' That was the most succinct description I got, in response to a relatively innocuous question."

"The Last Uchiha is likely a social linchpin." Aunt Fu said.

"And almost certain to see our new Clan as a political rival once we're announced." Kanami replied. "Besides, in all likelihood she already has a number of Clans seeking to be allies. A counterpoint may actually be more achievable, and more stable."

"You don't see yourself as Clan Head?" Aunt Fu asked.

"Given a jinchuriki as a cousin?" Kanami raised her eyebrows. "One born and raised here? Even given her level of disregard amongst the village at large, the Clans here would treat any other Clan Head as little more than a puppet."

"A fair point." Aunt Fu said. "Raises the vulnerability of your position."

"Not the way I think things will go." Kanami said. "Or hope to guide, at any rate. Her adoptive brother doesn't seem opposed to us getting close. I believe he may have an idea of why we're here, if his comments on Clan marriage bullshit were any indication."

Aunt Fu let another small smile flash across her face. "Possibly."

"Or he was aware he was being overheard and played to the politics of the jonin all around." Kanami acknowledged her aunt's point gracefully. "Though there was a bit too much authenticity in his chakra for me to think that a distinct possibility. I'm inclined to believe he doesn't want much to do with Clan politics, for himself and possibly for his adoptive sister."

"Leaving the advisory and administrative roles open." Aunt Fu nodded. "You believe he did so intentionally?"

"He may have been advised as such." Kanami said. "I don't know the reasons behind my instructions, but the fact that he seems close to the Silver Vixen and the Flickering Blade, and we just saw him training with the Green Beast, paints a certain picture."

"That training." Aunt Fu said, tapping her finger on the table. "I want to speak to you on that. We'll come back to your orders in a minute. Break down what you saw."

"In terms of Shiranui, or the purpose of us being allowed to see it?" Kanami asked.

"Both." Aunt Fu said.

"I suspect the match with the bukijutsu specialist was meant to confirm for us that he trains with the Flickering Blade. Yes?" Kanami asked.

Her aunt's slight tensing in her face was the answer Kanami needed.

"It also showed that he isn't just training with her, but his talent with her peculiar blades is high." Kanami continued. "He stood toe to toe with an opponent who had more experience and wielded a weapon with longer reach. Kenjutsu isn't my field, but he seemed more than competent."

"He was." Aunt Fu said. "The Flickering Blade's style is vexing for most, but the boy is too fluid for it to be rote. There is a degree of natural talent, combined with a great deal of hard work."

"The Hyuga I'm less certain of." Kanami admitted after a moment. "For us, no doubt to show just how talented Hyuga Nemi is. Presumably as a potential partner for Morinoshin. For Shiranui, there was a notable lack of killer instinct. Given the seals on his blade, they wouldn't have worked, but there were several points I expected him to retaliate with a killing or crippling blow, and he didn't."

"Useful." Aunt Fu said. "Though be careful in that assumption. The most talented among the Hyuga are well aware of the weaknesses posed by their style. Gentle Fist, in my experience, lends itself to counters, so some of the openings you saw, if not all of them, may have been false. It is something to keep in mind."

Kanami bowed her head slightly. "Hai. As for the spar against the genin dressed in green spandex…ah, Aunt Fu, are all the genin here likely to dress so strangely?"

"Konohagakure has a few strange traditions." Aunt Fu said, shrugging. "One of which is allowing their genin to choose their own combat attire. Their chunin and jonin can as well, especially if their style of combat requires certain garments or weapons, but it is most prominent among the genin on their initial teams. I'm sure there's some sort of reason to go along with the tradition, but for the rest of the Elemental Nations, it just puts a convenient bullseye on the most talented young genin."

Kanami nodded, contemplating. "The genin and Shiranui…what was the technique she used at the end?"

"I don't know the name." Aunt Fu said, frowning slightly. "The Green Beast of Konoha is known for it, however. You felt the genin's chakra. Describe what happened."

"Her chakra spiked in potency." Kanami answered immediately. "As if she was a jonin on the verge of unleashing themselves, rather than a raw genin. The chakra escaping from her tenketsu disturbed the ambient chakra and the air around her, a distortion I've never seen before, even around our leader."

"It's not the same type of potency as upper chunin and jonin, I can tell you that much." Aunt Fu said. "There was a notable lack of killing intent within the chakra, nor was there any indicators that the genin has gone through any saturations or refinements."

"I…thought not." Kanami said hesitantly. "I wasn't certain."

"Given that we haven't trained you to spot for it, beyond potency, that's neither surprising nor unexpected." Aunt Fu said. "My brother and I will be working on training both of you in spotting those signals. Suffice to say, I imagine they very deliberately allowed us to see the genin use an unfinished, unrefined version of the Green Beast's technique. If my deductions are correct, it's something neither you nor your cousin would find particularly useful."

"Given how fast and how strong it made her, the tradeoff must be unpalatable in that case." Kanami said.

"You felt the fluctuations in her chakra, after the technique released." Aunt Fu said. "Those were from pain. If I had to guess, compare your chakra network to a series of semi-elastic tubes. Now imagine pushing significantly more chakra through the tubes than they can safely expand to accommodate."

Kanami winced. "Undirected spillover or ruptures?"

"I would assume the former, given that they use the technique at all." Aunt Fu said. "There was also a distinct change in the girl's chakra output as she threw herself around. Her chakra control was mediocre at best beforehand, but it was downright sloppy once she used the technique. That first pillar exploding was her attempt to use adhesion."

Kanami blinked. "She blew the pillar up with her chakra?"

"Her physical impact played some part, but it wouldn't have exploded like that if she hadn't botched her cliff walking so badly." Aunt Fu said.

A frown worked its way across Kanami's face as she nodded. Most of her jutsu weren't the type that required extreme levels of chakra control to function, but for those that did, she needed to retain near perfect precision when apportioning her chakra if she didn't want to accidentally deplete her entire chakra supply. The jutsu were incredibly useful, but they were taught to her by her brother, and she'd needed to master output throttling before she could use them with any reliability.

Nii-san's stupid large chakra reserves aren't fair.

"A loss in chakra control in exchange for vastly enhanced physical abilities." Kanami nodded. "That would be problematic. Is it that advantageous, to be worth the trade off?"

"The technique?" Aunt Fu made a so so gesture with her hand. "If you were a taijutsu or close quarters bukijutsu specialist, one that barely used ninjutsu or genjutsu, absolutely. I suspect that those with high A or S rank chakra control could get away with low level usage without being noticeably affected, at least by the turbulence, but very few nin who have that level of control specialize in the relevant field of jutsu."

Kanami nodded. "It's unlikely they would teach us, regardless."

"It may require very specific training, and perhaps a specific upbringing or talent as well, in order to use without permanent repercussions." Aunt Fu said. "Otherwise, I cannot imagine Konohagakure not ensuring that their Academy brats know at least the basics of the technique."

"Something from a Clan?" Kanami quirked a brow.

"A fledgling one." Aunt Fu shrugged. "Your position on the likelihood of being taught the technique is correct."

"What about the inhibitors?" Kanami asked. "Like the ones Narisa wore?"

Aunt Fu smirked. "Now those, those are some very interesting training tools. Your tou-san could replicate them easily. I'm certain Konoha would be happy to make some for you."

Kanami cocked her head; she could tell there was a catch, but she failed to see it.

"In order to tailor the fuinjutsu used, it's very likely to require a sample of both your blood and your chakra." Aunt Fu said. "Any leftovers would likely find immediate usage."

In a tracking tag, no doubt.

"They'll likely ask for such a thing regardless." Kanami said. "Especially if any of my courtships move forward. Setting aside the political ramifications, are they worth it otherwise?"

"Certainly." Aunt Fu said. "You saw those two moving. I'd wager that there are very few in their age bracket who could naturally match them in speed. Chakra infusion would close the gap, but those two have an absurd efficiency advantage."

Which means that Aunt Fu believes the inhibitors work constantly. They push physiological development as much or more than they restrain chakra infusion once used.

"Are there other benefits?" Kanami asked.

She wouldn't discount how beneficial increased efficiency was, but it wasn't a decided advantage unless it was utilized over long term missions. Kanami had the fourth highest natural chakra reserves of her family, which put her above at least ninety five percent of kunoichi and ninety nine point nine percent of shinobi. She could, if the situation called for it, afford a stamina contest against a hostile without much worry about running out of chakra first.

"Several, I would guess." Aunt Fu said. "None that could be verified without far more in depth examination than Konoha will likely allow. The one I know of for certain is that they'll approach the maximum speed threshold, as well as their own speed threshold, far earlier than most. Chunin, in all likelihood."

Kanami blinked. That was beneficial. Speed was a hefty advantage; proficient speed was a lethal advantage. The quicker nin approached the velocity of jonin in combat, the more time they had to grow accustomed to such speeds. To practice and perfect their movement, in more than just straight lines. Some of the most notorious nin had leveraged decided speed advantages into nearly unprecedented lethality for their times. Konoha, in particular, had a quintet of them, one of whom was still very much alive, and an instructor for Shiranui according to her aunt.

They'll have more maneuverability at high speeds. Their reaction times will improve quicker, without the need for chakra to augment them. They'll understand their body's motion and muscle memory at higher speeds.

The advantages were small, but by the time they were chunin, they would be telling. Considering both the unknown genin and Shiranui had close quarters proficiency, if not high aptitude at such engagements, the inhibitor training would provide them a definite edge in close quarters combat. More importantly, they would have greater experience and comfort in high speed engagements. Familiarity and ease would go a long way against an opponent that was pushing their capabilities just to keep up. Kanami could see how such training would lend them unusual resilience to both silent killing techniques and attakcs that involved closing with shunshin, tactics often utilized by opponents facing a swifter opponent.

After all, shunshin didn't allow for turning until the movement was completed.

Though with the Flickering Blade as his instructor, that may not be true for Shiranui. She's already trained a kunoichi that surpassed the limits of what's supposed to be possible with shunshin. It's not impossible for her to train another, even if he is a shinobi.

"And their strength, of course." Aunt Fu continued, tapping the table still. "You saw what the genin was doing with just taijutsu. There's no question their strength will be above almost anyone within their peers. The Green Beast is suspected to be one of the strongest nin living, from the standpoint of pure, physical power. Supposedly Kumo has her higher than the Silver Vixen in their bingo book because she managed to stop one of the Blinding Lance's attacks barehanded."

Kanami's eyebrows rose involuntarily. "Those things impart that kind of strength?"

"I suspect the other technique played into it as well." Aunt Fu said. "But yes, I would expect Shiranui to be one of the physically strongest nin, if not the strongest, among your future classmates. Without chakra infusion, that is."

I am definitely getting some of those. Close quarters combat isn't my preference, and that will likely become known at some point. Having an unexpected edge will be useful.

"I'm certain there are drawbacks to the inhibitors as well, even if I can't identify them at the moment." Aunt Fu said. "Otherwise, much like the technique that the genin was using, there would be no reason for Konohagakure not to make them mandatory."

Kanami nodded. "Of course."

She didn't want to picture the danger posed by every single one of Konoha's nin possessing superior speed and strength as genin and chunin.

"We will still see about acquiring some for you." Aunt Fu said. "Do you agree with your orders, regarding the boy?"

"He has potential, certainly." Kanami said. "I didn't see anything that gave a hint of the concern surrounding him other than that. The message, whatever it may have been, was unclear to me."

"My brother and I have not discerned anything else ourselves." Aunt Fu said. "The boy's chakra had an odd echo to it that was not there when we first encountered him, but it was almost fully gone by the time you witnessed him sparring. Given his disposition and training, he may very well be a suggestion, subtle or not, from the Sandaime Hokage and her advisors."

"I suppose." Kanami said. "Surely there will be plenty of other candidates. I…"

Kanami trailed off upon seeing her aunt's mouth twitch slightly. "Aunt Fu?"

"While you were touring with your new cousin, Hidashi-kun spent some time in the archives and records of the Academy here." Aunt Fu said after a minute, her fingers no longer tapping on the table. "They gave him free access to the medical examinations of every shinobi who could be considered eligible among your peers, including graduates of the past few years. Konoha does them monthly for all of their students."

Kanami blinked. "Free access?"

"The documents were already censored of overtly sensitive data." Aunt Fu said. "What they gave included health conditions, relevant familial histories, and the results of their monthly check ups."

"What did uncle find?" Kanami asked.

"There are perhaps a dozen shinobi with significantly above average chakra reserves who are in the Academy currently or have graduated in the past four years." Aunt Fu said. "Konoha's above average, rather than our family's above average. Of those dozen, there are five genin and two chunin. The remaining five would be your classmates."

Aunt Fu pulled out a storage scroll, unsealing its contents. Kanami immediately noted the three piles of folders. One was nearly four feet tall, the second had nine folders, and the last one three.

"These," Aunt Fu gestured to the massive pile, "are the shinobi who do not qualify as significantly above average in chakra reserves."

"Nin average or shinobi average?" Kanami asked. "And are the values different than what we have as averages for most nin back home?"

Aunt Fu blinked. "I don't know if Hidashi-kun received that information. I'll have to double check, because the labels are censored. As for the values, take a look."

Kanami pulled one of the folders from the middle pile of nine.

Name: Haruno Satoshi

Age: 18

Gender: Male

Status: Shinobi in Training

Kanami skimmed past the rest of the identifiers, which were mostly censored. She wanted the data.

"Class rankings, mmm." Kanami mused, mentally noting to take a closer look at those in the future.

She found what she was looking for right below the rankings.

Long Term Health Conditions: None

Permanent Disabilities: None

Current Measurements:

Strength: 88th Percentile

Speed: 63rd Percentile

Chakra Reserves: 74th Percentile

Chakra Control: 99th Percentile

Growth Measurements

Strength:

Three month growth rate: 91st Percentile

Six month growth rate: 86th Percentile

Twelve month growth rate: 87th Percentile

Speed:

Three month growth rate: 42nd Percentile

Six month growth rate: 43rd Percentile

Twelve month growth rate: 40th Percentile

Chakra Reserves:

Three month growth rate: 62nd Percentile

Six month growth rate: 64th Percentile

Twelve month growth rate: 68th Percentile

Chakra Control:

This section has been deemed irrelevant to shinobi in training Haruno, as his chakra control has never dipped below the 99th percentile since beginning his time at the Academy – Umino Iroha, chunin in command of Academy instructors.

Projections:

Strength:

Genin: 92nd Percentile

Chunin: 90th Percentile

Speed:

Genin: 57th Percentile

Chunin: 53rd Percentile

Chakra Reserves:

Genin:78th Percentile

Chunin: 72nd Percentile

Chakra Control:

Genin: 99th Percentile

Chunin: 99th Percentile

"There aren't concrete numbers." Kanami noted as she finished skimming.

"Exactly." Aunt Fu said.

"They gave us documents that allow us to gauge potential, relative to the rest of the village, without giving away where the median truly lies." Kanami said slowly, nodding.

She frowned, tapping the folder in front of her. "Still, these have to be nin averages. I cannot imagine you or Uncle Hidashi selecting someone in the seventy fourth percentile of chakra reserves of only shinobi. That would be insulting."

Aunt Fu smiled slightly. "A reasonable assumption, but we will still check. I had not considered that they might further segregate their measurements, and it is better to be cautious."

"As for your judgment of my brother's and my own assessment…" Aunt Fu trailed off, giving Kanami a look.

Kanami didn't apologize, but she didn't try to project an air of defiance either. Walking the line with her aunt was a delicate balance.

"You are correct." Aunt Fu said. "If Konoha truly wishes to start the Uzumaki Clan once more, such chakra reserves are in no way permissible. The one in your hands, in all likelihood, is likely to be one of the Last Uchiha's courting targets."

Kanami blinked. "He is?"

"I would imagine his status as civilian born has something to do with it." Aunt Fu waved her hand dismissively. "This village's larger civilian population means they have more sway in politics. The Sandaime Hokage is not one to rule via bloodshed, not without cause. Haruno is also one of the best shinobi currently within their Academy."

"But…" Kanami trailed off, shaking her head. "I've grown too used to the nin from back home, from the cause, haven't I?"

Aunt Fu's smile reappeared. "In all likelihood. Konohagakure nin are also renowned for their team tactics and supportive force multipliers. They have their monsters, but someone like the shinobi in training you hold the evaluation for would fill a crucial slot in many of their teams. Either as an iryo nin or genjutsu specialist, given his chakra control."

"And…ah." Kanami nodded, understanding dawning. "His strengths compliment the Uchiha's?"

"Hidashi-kun wasn't allowed access to the files of any Clan Heirs or Heiresses that have not been deemed permissible as courting options." Aunt Fu said. "It is a point of consideration, though."

"More importantly, there is a reason why those nine are in this pile." Aunt Fu said. "You will still have to sort through a great deal, but many of these nine are either already likely targets for the Uchiha, or have other problems that make them less feasible for a first husband."

"The best candidates, in my opinion, are these three." Aunt Fu tapped the three folders in order. "Fujimori Hiro, a chunin. Mitokado Baze and Shiranui Ry, both fellow classmates of yours, though the Mitokado is a year younger."

"None of which were presented as my best options." Kanami noted.

"None of which are from established Clans." Aunt Fu replied.

"Why wouldn't the chunin have been brought along…" Kanami hummed, pulling the relevant folder over.

She skimmed for a minute, finding the answer quickly. "He's not married yet? How?"

Aunt Fu shrugged. "I'm not sure. He certainly has the virility for it."

"I'll say." Kanami murmured. "Four confirmed children already, with another suspected six amongst civilians."

Kanami pulled the folder for Mitokado Baze. She didn't see anything problematic, glancing up at her aunt.

"That one appears to be politics." Aunt Fu said. "Hidashi wasn't asking questions about individuals, he simply took all the files for us to sort through on our own."

Kanami nodded, conceding her unasked question. She reached for the last folder, the one containing information on her potential target.

Name: Shiranui Ry

Age: 17

Gender: Male

Status: Shinobi in Training.

Kanami skipped past the interim, censored information once more, arriving at the diagnostics. Her eyes widened.

Long Term Health Conditions: None

Permanent Disabilities: None

Current Measurements:

Strength: 79th Percentile*

Speed: 87th Percentile*

Chakra Reserves: 91st Percentile

Chakra Control: 93rd Percentile*

*Subject is undergoing inhibitor training – for permissions, see Blue Scroll F14-3A3679 – and has not been given a diagnostic without inhibitors active. Instructors have not been made privy to the intensity of the inhibitor training, and cannot make projections of proper percentiles at this time – Instructor Umino

"Keep looking." Aunt Fu said when Kanami glanced up.

Kanami blinked, then looked back down.

Growth Measurements

Strength:

Three month growth rate: 88th Percentile

Six month growth rate: 84th Percentile**

Twelve month growth rate: N/A

Speed:

Three month growth rate: 79th Percentile

Six month growth rate: 72nd Percentile**

Twelve month growth rate: N/A

Chakra Reserves:

Three month growth rate: 98th Percentile

Six month growth rate: 84th Percentile**

Twelve month growth rate: N/A

Chakra Control:

Three month growth rate: 94th Percentile

Six month growth rate: 93rd Percentile**

Twelve month growth rate: N/A

**Estimate, projecting five months of diagnostic data out into a six month window – Instructor Umino

Projections:***

Strength:

Genin: 82nd Percentile

Chunin: 85th Percentile

Speed:

Genin: 89th Percentile

Chunin: 86th Percentile

Chakra Reserves:

Genin: 94th Percentile

Chunin: 92nd Percentile

Chakra Control:

Genin: 99th Percentile

Chunin: 99th Percentile

***All projections made based on data gathered with inhibitors active. For estimated projections with inhibitors removed, please visit the Hokage's Office and request Green Scroll 4Q-23 – Instructor Umino

Kanami closed the folder slowly, looking up at her aunt.

"Perhaps your orders make a little more sense now." Aunt Fu said.

Kanami considered the statement for a moment. "This is all just potential. Potential without many potent allies or familial support. Someone incredibly useful to recruit and push into growth, preferably promoting my own at the same time. Not someone to have as the first piece of a marriage."

A thought struck her. "Is this what…did they know?"

"I doubt they knew anything." Aunt Fu said. "But anyone with enough potential and talent to be a student of both the Flickering Blade and the Silver Vixen is someone the Hokage undoubtedly wants propagating. Throwing a curiosity your way, our way, would certainly cause us to investigate. Given his closeness with the jinchuriki, and his apparent attitude, I imagine setting him up within a proper marriage may be difficult."

But not if I utilized him. If any of his talent happens to be genetic, partnered with our family's usual chakra reserves, the result would be…

Nii-san. Another nii-san.

As she considered the premise along with her knowledge and suspicions about Shiranui, Kanami frowned. "Aunt Fu, I can see how to fold this within my orders. But his chakra…something about it reminds me of our leader."

Aunt Fu cocked her head. "How so?"

"Just a feeling." Kanami said. "Nothing concrete, nothing I could explain. But the way it reacted, several times, today and yesterday, gave me the sense that part of the reason my orders were given was that our leader sensed a similarity between himself and Shiranui. There is something in his chakra, an emotion I can't place, but present and strong enough for me to get a whiff of it. Similar to our leader's. I don't know if I'm imagining things."

Aunt Fu hummed, her fingers tapping the table once more. "You're not an empathic sensor and you've never mentioned this before. Nor is our leader."

"I've never met someone who has given me the same feeling." Kanami said. "Until now, I believed it was just a part of how our leader's chakra felt to my senses."

Aunt Fu didn't say anything. She gave Kanami a blank look. Kanami sat there, waiting.

"Troubling." Aunt Fu said. "I'll investigate, but why did you bring this up now?"

Kanami took a moment to order her thoughts. "Because, if he shares more than just a passing similarity, it crossed my mind that he might react to a concentrated seduction effort in a manner similar to how our leader would."

Aunt Fu's fingers stopped. "Ah."

Kanami nodded. Kunoichi in the revolution had always been circumspect in the more graphic stories about her brother, but she'd acquired knowledge regardless. Some of it unwanted, but retained because more perspective was always useful.

Amongst the gained knowledge was how her brother handled seduction attempts aimed at him. Not the casual moments between himself and kunoichi of Kiri. Rather, the serious attempts, ones with goals beyond mere carnal encounters or relationship aspirations. Ones that ultimately had political, economic, or military objectives in mind.

How he handled allies.

How he dealt with everyone else.

"Considering his sensei…hmm." Aunt Fu said. "A legitimate concern."

"Did your mother speak to you of alluring, rather than pursuing?" Aunt Fu asked after a few moments of silence.

"She did." Kanami said.

"For now, use that approach." Aunt Fu said. "His sensei are intelligent. His pursuit of you will lessen concerns for all parties involved."

"If he chooses not to pursue?" Kanami asked.

"You think so little of your own skills?" Aunt Fu asked.

"Similarities to our leader." Kanami said pointedly.

"Since when has our leader ever been able to resist a challenge?" Aunt Fu replied immediately. "Particularly an alluring one?"

Kanami had to concede that point.


Thanks for reading!

Quick aside: for the reviewer addressing the issues with the first two chapters, you're heard, loud and clear. I've tried to fix those things like four times. At this point, I'm thinking I have to delete the old file and reupload new ones for the first couple of chapters. Which is...irritating, given the attempts I've made at manually fixing the damned things.

Just...irritating, but I genuinely appreciate it being pointed out. I'm hoping it gets fixed with this next attempt, or I'm not sure what I'll have to do. Grr.

As for story stuff, let's talk inhibitors.

The original weights used by Rock Lee in the series are an odd plot hole in my mind. Why the hell doesn't everyone use them? Even if not to the extremes that Lee goes to, mild ones would give everyone a decided boost. Of course, if we go based on biomechanics, the locations of the weights in the series are terrible. There would be so much joint degradation, chakra or not, just from the weight spread on the limbs. Or if we go with the explanation of Lee's chakra molding deficiency, perhaps no one else needs them. Still, they feel like a power boost every character should be taking advantage of, and just...doesn't, because Lee needs a cool shtick. (Don't get me wrong. I love Lee as a character, and honestly his archetype is one of my favorites to write about, but the way his combat ability was written, it's ridiculous no one else uses it.)

Inhibitors, in that regard, are a bit of a patch. They have their benefits, and drawbacks. You've already read some of the benefits, or at least the supposed benefits intuited by an experienced jonin. The drawbacks, of which there are several and haven't been explained just yet, are the reason most nin don't use them. They also don't drive the portion of my brain that understands kinesiology absolutely bonkers, which is a win just for me, for my personal sanity.

On personal news, transitioned to the transition period between my old job and my new job. Hopefully, that means I'll have a brief glut of time in which to crank out more words. The waiting period is going to stress me out, and writing helps relieve that, so fingers crossed. The P-thing will likely have an update next chapter. Now that I have some actual free time, I have to dig into the actual mechanics of how that works, and how I want to set it up.

Ah...that's it. I think.

Well. No. Give your dad a call soon, or a hug. Uh, maybe go fishing with him? (That feels like a traditional fatherly bonding thing, but maybe your dad hates fishing and would rather go skydiving. I dunno.)