Chapter 10: In Plain Sight

When I went through school my first time around it felt like aeons went by. I'd had no freedoms, depended on my parents for almost everything, school was boring, classmates were annoying, and I had zero motivation for classwork.

By contrast my years at the academy went by like the turn of a page.

Despite anomalies like Naruto's desire to get a puppy—the answer was no—or Sasuke's Sharingan-fueled rise to classroom dominance, there was plenty of fun to be had studying to become a magical child soldier—just don't think about it too closely.

Classes were still boring, but tutoring my friends was fun. I had the privilege of autonomy and could pursue a variety of fields at my own pace. Not only ninjutsu and taijutsu, but also science, engineering and artistry—so many topics I barely had enough time to adequately cover them all.

Sure, I could have focused purely on upping my combat prowess, but my therapist and I both agreed that leisure was an important facet of mental wellness. A healthy mind and body were tantamount to reaching your truest potential. Especially in the Naruto world where every single chakra shaping guide in existence parroted chakra is a mix of spiritual and physical energies.

I'd tried my hardest to educate myself beyond this singular sentence, trust me. Much to my disappointment, nobody bothered to question the underlying fundamentals of chakra. Most data regarding it only pertained to practical applications like control, technique variation, and replenishment—useful, but insufficient to quench my thirst for knowledge.

At best I could postulate that chakra was made up of some kind of unknown quantum particle.

Nevertheless, the surface level information I'd gathered helped me pitch in when our study group discussed shinobi training. With the other kids' clan-backed know-how it'd have been improper of me not to share, even if it wasn't a fair trade for them. Likely the only people who gained more from my expertise than they gave were Akuma and Yuu whom I still hoped to wind up on a genin squad with.

Oh, and Naruto of course.

He may not have been naturally inclined to sit still and quietly pay attention in class, but he wasn't stupid. The real problem was how little of a shit most teachers gave about him. The only ones who seemed genuinely interested in helping him were Iruka and—to my surprise—Mizuki. Sadly, for all his scholastic improvements, none of us succeeded in improving his chakra control by much.

I'd personally already struggled hard just to deal with my own reserves and sensitivity, despite how languid my chakra felt compared to most others. Meanwhile Naruto's reached a whole new level—as if he'd injected caffeine straight into his chakra network. Visualisations that worked well for the rookies and me, like unwinding strands of fabric into thinner and thinner fibres, didn't function at all when the chakra fluctuated like a guitar string.

This issue went a long way toward explaining how someone as otherwise competent as Naruto could still be struggling with the academy techniques. And… if I was being honest, I really hadn't given his technique training my best effort in the first place. I was still stuck in the headspace that I didn't truly want Naruto to succeed in this regard. He needed to hear Mizuki's traitorous words. He had to steal the forbidden scroll and learn the Shadow Clone technique.

And if I want to survive, so do I.

However…

"What's on your mind, Satoya-kun?" Kotone Yamanaka asked.

"... nothing," I responded.

"Really? Because we've been sitting in my office for nearly twenty minutes and you've done nothing but silently tap your foot."

I stilled my leg. "It's just… I feel I haven't been a good friend. My gut tells me I should help, but my brain tells me it's best if I let him figure things out himself."

"Naruto, isn't it?" she knowingly asked. "I suppose you are talking about his difficulties with Ninjutsu?"

We'd started our final academy year, and Naruto wasn't just unable to reliably create clones, but even had trouble with basic transformation. I couldn't help but feel this was my fault.

"Yes," I confirmed. "And now…" He'd shut me out. He lost faith in my ability to help him and insisted he'd figure things out on his own.

"Supposedly he's doing some 'special training'," I mumbled.

"Which he does not want you to intrude on," Kotone concluded. "You're afraid he doesn't trust you."

I gave a brittle smile. "You know me too well."

Kotone sighed. "You're a habitual worrier, Satoya-kun. From what I understand the boy thinks the world of you. He probably wants to work this out himself in order to make you proud."

Proud? "He has nothing to prove to me."

Kotone tapped her chin. "I take it this is a recent development?"

I nodded. It started three days ago.

"Perhaps you are the one lacking faith in your friend," she said. "Give him a chance to prove himself, and I'm certain it will turn out alright."

Do I lack faith? Right, there was still an entire year left. I knew the canonical Naruto figured out the transformation on his own. All I needed was to wait a bit.

"Thank you for the advice, Kotone-san."

I left Naruto to his own devices for another week, instead focusing most of my efforts on training Akuma and Yuu. However, come Sunday my patience finally caved.

"Oi, Naruto!" I shouted from the hall. "I know you're in there. I can sense you!"

Hell, he's not going to open up.

I went back to grab his spare key from my bedside table, and let myself into his apartment. Walking past his plant-filled living room and opening the door to his bedroom revealed a lithe, golden-haired, scantily clad bombshell sitting on his bed.

"Oh my goddess." She's gorgeous.

I licked my lips, tasting something faintly metallic and feeling a bit woozy. I heard her gasp in surprise as I grabbed the doorframe and toppled to my knees.

Next thing I knew, Naruto stood above me with a worried look. "Hey, is your nose okay? It's bleeding real bad."

"That seriously happens to people? Huh." I looked around the room to find any trace of the woman, and noticed two very conspicuous things: Paint and… porn?

What should I ask about first?

"So uhh, Naruto. Who was the pretty lady from earlier?" I mumble, feeling my cheeks heat up. Wait, that's not what I wanted to ask! Dammit onset puberty!

Naruto only laughed in response, and I scowled. To be fair, I'd been abstinent for an absurdly long time at this point. I didn't feel an ounce of shame.

"That girl was me!" Naruto cackled.

Okay, maybe I did feel an ounce of shame.

"I finally figured out the transformation. I call this the Sexy Jutsu," he proudly announced, to which I groaned in frustration and buried my face in my hands. How could I have forgotten about that?

"I assume the book over there was what you used as reference material?" I concluded aloud.

Naruto vigorously nodded his head.

"Where did you even get that?" I questioned, crossing my arms and raising my brow like my mom used to.

"I took it from gramps' office," the cheeky brat replied with a smug grin plastered across his face.

"And why did you choose that as your reference? Why not turn yourself into someone else?"

He hesitated. "I don't exactly know how to make perfect copies of people without pictures yet. Mizuki gave me some tips, but I haven't been able to follow them all."

Alarm bells set off in my head, "Mizuki gave you advice? What kind of advice?"

"I was doing the hand signs all wrong! And my chakra's thicker so he told me a different way to shape it. It felt really strange at first, but once—"

I held up a finger, "Slow down a moment. Can you just show me how you perform the technique first?"

"Oho ~Satoya~, are you a closet pervert?" he chided.

I wrinkled my nose. "I don't need you to transform into a pretty woman, I just want to see how you move your chakra."

"You already know how to do a transformation though?"

"I just want to evaluate your performance," my eyes flicked to the cans of paint. "So will you show me, or should I bring up those cans of paint with Iruka?"

Naruto paled. "I'll show you!" He sped through the short sequence of hand signs and I sensed his overwhelmingly dazzling chakra flood out into the room, enveloping him like a protective shell before finally snapping into womanly shape with a burst of smoke.

For whatever reason he decided to eskew any clothing this time. It's just Naruto, calm down. Nothing you haven't seen before.

"Ahem. Very impressive," I said, trying to keep my voice steady and holding my nose to stem the potential drip.

I poked the now female Naruto in the stomach to inspect the transformation's stability. What I felt immediately banished any lecherous thoughts straight to the shadow realm.

Henge typically felt somewhat like they were made of glossy paper, especially if they didn't conform to a caster's original dimensions. This transformation, however, perfectly emulated realistic temperature and texture.

"So how did you manage to make it so lifelike?" I asked him, absently tracing my hands along his—

"Hey,"—he slapped my hands away and dispelled the transformation—"No perving!"

I blushed and shamefully turned away.

"Anyway, I dunno why it's different than yours. I just cast it the way Mizuki said."

"Could you show me again? Slowly this time. Your chakra is so bright it makes it hard to tell what's going on if you rush through."

Naruto rolled his eyes and stepped a bit further back. His hand seals shifted from monkey, to boar, to ram and he was again enveloped in a puff of smoke.

Monkey? That's definitely not how Henge normally goes…

In front of me now stood an imperfect copy of myself. The wavy hair and muscular physique was there, but the facial structure still reminded me of Naruto. Besides that, however, it looked like a totally real flesh and blood human. The surface motions and rippling fabric perfectly mimicked reality.

Underneath, however, I could feel the chakra twist and writhe, straining against the surface of Naruto's skin.

"How long can you keep this up for?" I asked.

"A few minutes," Naruto answered, once again dispelling the technique. "Focusing is really hard!"

This clearly wasn't a standard henge—those barely took any concentration to maintain. They also weren't nearly as convincing. No wonder his transformations managed to trick so many people in the show, even veteran ninja like Zabuza and Pain.

"Naruto, I'm not sure how you got this to work, but if we iron it out this jutsu will be an incredible asset."

"You mean it's better than normal?" he asked. "I thought I was doing something wrong."

"It certainly has its uses," I confirmed. "With enough practice, I'm sure the Oiroke—ahem, improved Henge could be one of the most amazing jutsu I've ever seen! I would love it if you taught me."

Considering his blushing cheeks my flattery was working. "Hehe it is amazing, isn't it? Way better than some dumb Bunshin!"

Hopefully learning this won't take too long.

"You basically gotta make your chakra really fast, and then whoosh all throughout your body." He blew out a bunch of air and wildly flailed his arms to emphasise his words.

I'll be stuck here all day, won't I?

Mizuki was a goddamn bastard. I take back any kind words I may have ever said to him. That ass gave Naruto the exact opposite of fitting advice.

To correctly cast the transformation technique, the user had to carefully leak chakra into the environment to steadily encase themselves in a stable bubble. This bubble could then warp its internal space—don't ask me why that worked—to adjust the appearance of the user.

What did Mizuki tell him?

Cycle chakra faster instead of slowing it down. Rapidly flush it into your body instead of trickling into the environment. Monkey instead of dog hand signs. And yet…

In trying to make these nonsensical instructions work, Naruto had discovered a possibly game changing ability at the age of twelve.

Though Henge was the most durable of the three academy techniques, it still popped when pierced with enough force. In addition, the chakra construct's surface texture and physical properties did not naturally match up with reality and required tons of practice to get right.

The Sexy Technique, however, felt and looked completely realistic without any additional user input. A test even revealed the transformed body could bleed—at least before the pain made you drop concentration and turn back.

It didn't just warp space, it was a true transformation.

Maybe Mizuki was an accidental genius and used this technique to worm his way into Naruto's good graces?

Probably not, considering Naruto himself barely even knew what he was actually doing to make it work. Pesky prodigious protagonists and their plot powers.

It must have been some kind of grand cosmic fluke to explain why Kishimoto didn't just have every single ninja transform all the time. I could imagine if the Sexy Technique had been consciously invented by a chunin academy instructor he'd have been generously rewarded—there wouldn't be any need to act as Orochimaru's spy.

Either way, I gladly partook in the spoils of Naruto and Mizuki's hard work. It only took watching Naruto cast the Sexy—Okay, I'm not going to keep calling it that in my head—Perfect Transformation a few dozen times before I understood its mechanics well enough to try and recreate it.

I could not just inject chakra into my body all willy-nilly. A successful transformation required aligning the diffuse chakra in parallel with my existing chakra pathway before merging the two into a new configuration. The following transformation warped the fabric of one's body to conform to this modified circulatory system.

It was long past midnight when I finally succeeded in reproducing what I'd discerned, partially due to the fact that my hypersensitive sixth sense screamed at me every time I throttled my chakra in such an aggressive way. More testing would need to wait until tomorrow.

Having overslept, I decided to skip morning classes and instead headed straight to the training grounds. I practised shifting into various people from my class, primarily focusing on keeping the technique active for longer than a few seconds. It took me an embarrassing amount of time before I recalled that this skill had some way cooler things to try out.

A small puff of smoke followed as I morphed into a flat shuriken-esque shape and clattered to the ground.

To my surprised delight, the painful ache I'd come to associate with the skill was notably diminished—possibly due to the lack of nerves. I could still make out muffled sounds, but my sight had been supplanted by synaesthetic impressions. For the first time since my rebirth I could see the dazzling lightshow of swirling energy that filled this world's atmosphere. A symphony of multicoloured waves flowing, bouncing, and intersecting into a kaleidoscopic rainbow of sensation.

I honed in on an orange, luminous beacon of comfort, bobbing up and down in our classroom—Naruto. Behind him sat Sasuke; the silver shine of his Sharingan rhythmically thrummed as he memorised the teacher's writing. In the far back I noted Shikamaru slowly pulsing as he napped the lecture away.

Not just people. The grass, the trees, the very earth was filled with radiant life. Immersing myself in the world's energy was very… zen. And I don't use that word lightly. It felt like I could let go of all my worries and just fly away into the heavens.

Maybe those youtube yogis had a point with all their vaguely mystical platitudes?

In fact, my head felt a little… Wait no I have no head. My soul? Yeah, maybe I should…

"Idiot!" Akuma shouted, making me clutch my head in pain. "Can't you go a month without hurting yourself!?"

She drilled her fingers into my side and I spasmed uncontrollably from her tickling.

"I yield! I'm sorry!" I yelped, as I tried to curl into a ball to protect myself from her merciless attacks.

"You better be," she grunted, poking me one more time for emphasis. "What kinda dumbass gets chakra exhaustion while skipping class!?"

I didn't have an exact answer. Something about the transformation must have blocked my measure of its chakra upkeep. Next thing I knew I woke up in the Hospital with a killer headache.I would have to be more careful using that in the future.

"It would have been rather uncouth to get yourself killed before we became Genin. I would prefer not to get lumped together with some other civilian-born from our class," Yuu said from the other side of the bed.

I cleared my throat. "Yeah, I don't really have a justification for my actions other than whoops? I'm sure I'll be all better soon."

"You better be out in time for our training session on Sunday," Akuma said, before energetically pumping her fist. "Yuu finally got the next series of katas from his grandfather!"

Oh… great. I still didn't understand why they roped me into learning Kenjutsu with them. An elegant weapon for a more civilised age it may be, but it'd be a cold day in hell before I engage the Akatsuki in close quarters combat.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," I finally said while internally rolling my eyes.

Yuu drew his brows together and challengingly raised his chin. "I would hope not," he nasally said, "I recall you had not landed a single hit in our last spar."

Ouch, that comment stung a little. "My dear sir, that was hardly a fair battle. First you insisted we rely on bukijutsu, and then you did nothing but lie in wait, setting traps and striking at my back. You ran away—"

"Tactically retreated," Yuu interrupted.

"Ah yes, tactically retreated from every prolonged engagement. None of the damage I took had been the result of a fair fight."

"A ninja is always prepared," Yuu responded, sticking his tongue out for good measure. I was about to retort but got cut off.

"Zip it you guys! You know I hate it when you talk all fancy shmancy!" Akuma said, crossing her arms as she turned to the wall with a pout.

"I count on it. How else would I get to see you make such an adorably annoyed expression?" Yuu teased.

"S-Shut up, I'm leaving," she stammered, jumping up from her seat and storming out of the room. "You better rest up, Satoya!" The door slammed shut behind her.

I looked up at Yuu. "Were you flirting on purpose, or…"

"Satoya, I have not the faintest idea whatever you mean," he replied, shrugging innocently.

I couldn't tell if he was serious or not; I only sensed amusement. A mystery for another time.

"So what'd I miss in class?" I asked instead.

He raised a brow. "Did you hit your head? Since when do you care about classwork?"

"Ugh, I was talking about our friends. What was the squad up to without me to mediate?"

Yuu gave a thoughtful hum. "Standard fare. Naruto came late and got chewed out, after which Sasuke commented how it's no surprise he's, and I quote, 'such a dumbass'."

I sighed. "They had another fight?"

Yuu gave me a look.

"Jeez those guys won't ever give it a rest, huh?" I said, smiling fondly. Naruto and Sasuke really were more like an antagonistic married couple than friends. I wasn't sure whether it was a step up from their canonical relationship at this point. At least Sasuke wasn't purely a brooding emo.

"One can only hope that the dramatics cease once they've grown up and join a genin team," Yuu commented.

I held back a laugh. "Riiight. I'm sure being on the same team will make them less antagonistic."

Yuu recoiled in horror. "They wouldn't dare place them together. I can scarcely imagine a worse combination."

Whoops, spoilers. "Yeah, maybe not. I wouldn't keep my hopes up though," I responded. "Anyway, aren't your parents expecting you? You don't need to watch over me like a mother hen."

"Of course," Yuu conceded with a nod, getting up to exit the room before adding, "Not like you'll hurt yourself."

I gave him the finger as he left, both of us snickering in amusement.

Lacking any form of entertainment, I spent most of my recovery idly sketching the basic outline of what I remembered from the Naruto manga's first issue in a small notebook. I recalled Naruto painting the Hokage monument and failing the academy exam, before having Mizuki reveal he's the ninetails and Iruka taking a shuriken in the back.

Right after getting tricked into stealing the scroll to learn Kage Bunshin.

I'd been on the fence whether my existence somehow altered his character into becoming a genuinely kind teacher or not. His instruction on how to perform Henge, however, was a definite attempt at sabotage. If Mizuki was still a spy for Orochimaru, the looming threat of his eventual betrayal could not be ignored.

Let's pretend I go for a fully hands-off approach.

Could I be certain everything would happen as in canon? Was that even possible at this point? My Naruto was far more capable than his bratty series self. What if this made Mizuki act cautiously—sneaking up to and stabbing Naruto in the back instead of monologuing like an idiot? I couldn't risk my friend's life just for a chance to learn a technique.

So what can I do instead?

Easiest option would be telling the Hokage somehow, but this raised the question of where I even got my knowledge from. An anonymous letter could work, but why would they trust an unverifiable source?

I ruffled my hair in annoyance. I was overcomplicating things. The only thing I needed to do was raise their suspicions. Surely Konoha's investigative capabilities were decent enough to suss out a chunin level spy. All I needed was to inform someone of Mizuki's meddling during Ninjutsu practice and it'd all resolve itself.

As for the Kage Bunshin, perhaps I could simply ask someone to teach it to Naruto and myself? Surely they wouldn't argue it's too dangerous when we both have larger than average chakra reserves.

As soon as I'm out of here I'll bring it up with Iruka. Or maybe Kotone can get me into contact with Inoichi.

Mind made up, I contentedly used the remaining afternoon to practise chakra control, unwinding my chakra into strands to animate my pens in a mock swordfight.

"You're a tough little brat, I'll give you that," Kawasaki spoke up, having popped into the room in the middle of my 'show'. "I'd normally keep you here for observation just in case, but seeing as you have no issue using your chakra for frivolous activities, I suppose you're good to go."

"Finally!" I jumped up in relief and quickly began gathering up my things. "Thanks doc!"

His face was a mix of amusement and disapproval. "Tell your classmates not to nag me so much next time," he said, shaking his head. "There's a blond ball of energy that's been jumping around the waiting area for the past twenty minutes."

That was all the motivation I needed to run down to the waiting room. "Naruto!" I shouted, wrapping him in a hug.

"Satoya!" he happily replied, spinning me around himself.

Wrong genre! I quickly freed myself and shuddered in horror at the imagery flashing through my mind. Goodness puberty was bothersome.

"Satoya-kun, good to see you doing better," I heard from a seated man.

"Iruka-san? Why are you here?" I asked, my mind abuzz trying to recall if he and Naruto were meant to be together today.

"Since Naruto worked so hard cleaning the Hokage monument after his prank," he shot the boy in question, chastising—prideful?—look, "I promised to take him out for Ramen. Naruto insisted we bring you along."

The blood froze in my veins. "He painted the monument?" Wasn't it too early for that?

Iruka chuckled. "You look so shocked. Could it be that you wanted him to wait for you to help out?"

I quickly smoothed over my features. "I would never. I'm simply appalled that my dear boy would do such a thing. I thought I raised him better," I lamented, returning to my normal tone of speech to add, "I'd be happy to join the two of you for ramen, Iruka-sensei."

The sun was slowly disappearing behind Hokage mountain, painting the sky a picturesque red hue as the three of us made our way to imbibe the food of the gods—Naruto's words, not mine. The fresh smell of spring filled the air and the townspeople appeared to be in good spirits. I noted Naruto didn't get nearly as much negative attention as he once had. 11 years since the Kyuubi attack must have given people time to cool down somewhat.

"Evening, Teuchi-san," Iruka said once we arrived.

"Iruka-san! Two miso pork and one shoyu beef?" Teuchi asked—he already knew all our regular orders. Iruka agreed, and a few minutes later we were busily slurping down our respective bowls of noodle soup.

Eating at a sedate pace, Iruka spoke up, "Satoya, do you think it's respectful to our dear Hokage to paint all over their monument?"

Naruto immediately stilled. Ain't that a loaded question.

"Honestly, I don't think they'd care very much. Sandaime-sama might, but the others aren't around anymore, so I don't see how it could bother them."

Iruka raised his brow. "Oh? But that wasn't the question. Wouldn't you say it dishonours their memory to vandalise their faces?"

I set down my chopsticks and rested my head on my now free hands. "Maybe, but Isn't it unfair to place them on such a high pedestal? In the end they were people like us and not beyond reproach. I'm sure they'd be happy to get treated as such."

Then again if I remembered it right, the second Hokage had a really big stick up his ass.

"Perhaps that's true," Iruka conceded and directed his view towards a once again busily slurping Naruto. "What do you say, Naruto? Do the Hokage deserve to be put on a pedestal?"

Naruto glanced back at him and furrowed his brows. "The strong will always be on a pedestal. I bet once I get a forehead protector I'll be put on a pedestal too, and then I'll continue onward to reach higher and higher!"

Iruka gave a good natured laugh in response and dropped the issue. "I'll hand it to you personally once you graduate."

That did happen, didn't it. "Speaking of graduation, sensei—is it possible for Naruto to maybe learn an alternative Bunshin for the final exam? I know this is a bit early to make such a request… but so far nobody has been able to adequately help him with his unique chakra."

"What do you mean, Satoya?" Naruto interjected. "Mizuki gave me great advice!"

I winced. "Right… that's a different issue." I looked Iruka in the eyes and took a steadying breath. "Iruka-sensei, I think Mizuki tried to sabotage Naruto."

Iruka furrowed his brows. "It isn't that I don't trust you, Satoya-kun, but how can you be sure of that? Naruto himself just said he was given beneficial advice."

"I'm confident," I said, proceeding to retell Mizuki's farcical advice and how Naruto somehow managed to forge it into a workable technique.

Iruka didn't look fully convinced by the end of it, but assured us he would be investigating further.

"Leave Mizuki up to me," he advised. "As for an alternate Bunshin, I'll see what I can do. It's unlikely you'll be allowed access to such a technique as pre-graduates, but don't worry too much if Naruto can't form a clone. As long as he keeps up his other grades you'll both graduate with flying colours."

I guess that makes sense, considering Rock Lee graduated without a fully formed charka network.

"Okay, thank you sensei."

Having spent years honing my acting at this point, slipping into the role of 'oblivious Academy student' posed little challenge. I spent the following week improving my skills alongside my study group as I always had.

It was even easier for Naruto because the kid was genuinely oblivious. In his eyes I was paranoid and 'clearly Mizuki just wanted to show off how to cast this amazing alternate technique'.

His assumptions seemed to be proven correct when Mizuki one day singled the two of us out and gave a heartfelt apology to Naruto and myself. He explained how the mounting frustration of his inability to adequately teach Naruto had made him desperate, and that he'd taught us an extremely archaic, experimental variant that had long been deemed unusable due to the chakra strain.

"I'm sorry for failing as your teacher, Naruto-kun. Will you ever forgive me?" he asked.

Naruto being Naruto instantly accepted the apology and assured that the technique was 'totally awesome' and he'd 'master it in no time, believe it!'

I still didn't trust Mizuki at all—the rat—but there was nothing left for me to do. I'd at least managed to convince Naruto not to show off our technique progress until we perfected our casting. At the moment I could barely hold it for five minutes, while Naruto managed ten—a pittance compared to the essentially 'limitless' duration of normal Henge.

Another blow to my morale had been when Iruka explained it would likely take a long time before the Hokage could formally approve access to advanced clone techniques for Naruto and myself. Shinobi knowledge was highly guarded and exceptions needed to be thoroughly considered, et cetera.

Nudging Naruto to beg Hiruzen directly didn't work either, because as it turned out he truly did have to discuss such things with the Jounin commander, elders, and clan heads.

Jeez we get it already, your military dictatorship is all about ensuring your soldiers are truly loyal before you hand them WODs.

Truly a shame, as I'd been hoping this was finally the chance to catapult my skills far beyond my peers instead of just barely keeping ahead of them—barring Sasuke of course. At least these worries enabled me to push my worries about Mizuki into the back of my mind.

I broke from my ignorant bliss when I noticed Iruka's emotions were abnormally guarded one day. He still acted as chipper as usual, but his aura was flat enough to remind me of Itachi's back in the day.

I followed him down the academy's halls shortly after our Ninjutsu class to investigate. The moment his office door closed I felt the pent up anguish leak out, and could barely make out sharp intakes of breath coming from the room.

"Iruka sensei?" I asked, stepping inside to approach the pit of despair shaped like a man. "Something wrong?"

He quickly clamped down on his pain and spun his chair to face me with an easy smile. "Satoya, nothing's wrong. I'm perfectly fine. Did you have a question?"

"You're a bad liar, sensei," I responded. "It's about Mizuki, isn't it? He hasn't shown up today."

Iruka smoothed back his hair. "Oh don't worry about him. That's already been handled" he assured.

I narrowed my eyes at him and he unflinchingly met my gaze. Perhaps he was just feeling remorse for his former friend's actions. Or… "Mizuki escaped."

"Mizuki called in sick today," Iruka corrected. "The investigation is still inconclusive, Satoya."

His poker face was masterful. However, his aura was normally so vibrant that the lack of emotion was like a flashing neon sign reading 'we are all doomed'. Iruka was definitely hiding something, but a direct confrontation like this clearly wasn't going to work out. I'd have to be more covert.

"Inconclusive, handled, what's the difference am I right?" I chided. "We all know Mizuki's just another one of those teachers biased against Naruto."

To his credit, Iruka's eyes widened by only a fraction, "Another one?"

"Don't tell me this comes as a surprise," I said. "I bet most of our academy instructors hate him, Mizuki included."

"Yes, well, it's true Mizuki was biased. He's already been reprimanded for that. He might have also"—Iruka caught himself and shook his head—"In any case, why haven't you been more forthcoming with your observations about others?"

"You mean as forthcoming as you are right now?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

The question remained unanswered as I left the room in a huff.

I spent the remaining school day planning how to best spy on Iruka this evening. Naruto and I had gotten plenty of practice prowling around Konoha over the years, but sneaking into buildings was a lot easier than stalking a shinobi without catching their attention.

Luckily, Iruka wound up staying extra late after class, which meant I could simply hang out in a nearby tree and spy on him through the window. It seemed like he was grading assignments, except he kept glancing up at a clock every few minutes and barely got past the first page after multiple hours.

I tried to reposition myself to better read what time it was when Iruka finally decided to get off his butt and rush out of the office with a large stack of files in his arms. He was in such a hurry he dropped some of them on the ground—Chance!

I dashed through the open window and grabbed them off the floor to page through—just a bunch of performance assessments. No way were they worth getting this worked up over. I peered back out the window and noted him running across the courtyard towards the Hokage tower. There was only one surefire way I could think of to follow him without arousing suspicion.

I clenched my jaw and channelled my chakra, transforming into Iruka's genin assistant—A pale blonde with shoulder length hair, wearing the shinobi-standard turtleneck and trousers. The most extraest extra to have ever extrad.

It would only last a few minutes, so I leapt from the window and followed in Iruka's tracks posthaste.

"Ah Waho-chan. Did you stay late as well?" asked the desk-shinobi on the ground floor.

"Yes. Iruka-sensei was in such a hurry he dropped some of our work as he left," I responded with a huff.

In classic desk jockey fashion, the man didn't bat an eye and waved me along. As soon as I was out of earshot I quickened my pace threefold and rushed to the nearest bathroom. My limbs shook and I gasped for air as I dropped the technique. I could only afford a short break. Iruka's signal was already disappearing up the stairs to the Hokage's annex.

I knew what he was after.

I forced my disguise back in place and returned to the hall, practically dashing the rest of the way after my wayward teacher only to run into another hurdle at the bottom of the stairwell.

"Woah slow down," said another guard with a strip of bandage running across the bridge of his nose—what was his name again?

I waved around my folders. "Sorry, Iruka forgot these when he left the office!"

"Kid… you know I can't just let you in there," he responded.

"Please? Iruka will be so frazzled when he realises he didn't file these correctly."

The guard sighed, and opened up the door. "You're lucky I'm in a charitable mood today."

Night shift baby, booyah!

I legged it up the stairs just in time to watch Iruka take an intentional wrong turn towards the Hokage residence. "Sensei, what are you doing!?" I stage-whispered.

Iruka skidded to a stop and twisted 180 degrees. "Waho, you're okay!?"

He practically stumbled over himself to reach and investigate me for wounds. His fussing naturally didn't pair well with my transformation and the Henge promptly went up in smoke—just like Iruka's hopes.

"Sorry sensei…" I responded. "What's this about—"

Iruka clamped his hand over my mouth. "You didn't see anything, understood? You'll turn back, head out the front door, and stay out of this."

I nodded and Iruka slowly retracted his hand. Rationally, I should have shouted and alarmed the entire building. However, I trusted Iruka implicitly. So, I instead queried, "Will you tell me what's wrong now?"

Iruka's arm twitched at his side while he weighed his options, before deciding to pull us into one of the unoccupied supply offices. "You were right about Mizuki. He has a hostage, and I need to bring him the scroll. Now go and keep yourself safe."

"The hostage… Waho, I take it?"

He nodded.

Shit.

"Do you know she's even still alive?" I asked. "Why haven't you sounded the alarm? Or notified the Hokage?"

Iruka ground his teeth and started steering me back toward the hall. "Mizuki is in an extremely secure location. If he notices anything wrong, he will kill her and run. Her only hope is if I hand him the scroll in return for her safety."

"How will Mizuki make sure you don't attack him the moment she's safe? I doubt he'll stick to the deal. Waho is already… There's no conceivable way this ends well for anyone involved."

Iruka stopped and clenched my shirt in agitation. "I know that! But if I don't try something then I've failed one of my precious students."

On the bright side, I had confirmation this wasn't an Evil!Iruka AU—not now, brain! Why did Mizuki kidnap a random genin background character?

Perhaps he had noticed the investigation. Maybe apologising to the dreaded Kyuubi was the final straw—hardly important. Whatever the reason, Mizuki was tipped over the edge an entire year before schedule.

"Why not steal it himself?" I asked aloud.

"This isn't the time, Satoya," Iruka hissed. "Get out and go. I won't have you incriminate yourself for something you aren't responsible for."

The very fact that this hadn't happened in canon proved I was responsible. I'd alerted Konoha about Mizuki's disloyalty, and a person who should have never been involved got sucked into the drama. If I left now, Waho's blood was on my hands.

It's on me to think things through before taking thoughtless action.

It's my responsibility to stick up for what's right.

"I know you wont like this… but you'll need my help to save your assistant."

Footfalls echoed down the abandoned underground facility's corridor. Traces of chakra flickered within its thick metal walls—decade old security arrays, recently charged. Iruka's journey culminated in a sizable room. Rotten organic material festered in containers mounted along the wall.

"I'm here Mizuki," Iruka announced, clutching the scroll tightly to his chest. "You better have my student."

His spirit trembled. I hoped his nervousness didn't show on his face. I heard a muffled clack in the distance and Iruka flinched. Waho's aura dully flickered above Mizuki's.

"You promised she was unharmed," Iruka said.

Mizuki clicked his tongue and jostled his captive to elicit a pained whimper. "She's fine. I just dosed her to keep the nagging at a minimum. I'm sure you understand how irritating kids can be."

Iruka thumbed the holster at his leg. "Hand her over."

"Only if you hand over the scroll first," Mizuki tutted. "Can't have you duping me with a fake, can we?"

"How do I know you'll stick to the deal?" Iruka asked.

"You'll just have to trust me, friend."

Iruka clenched his fist tightly at his side. A flash of irritation erupted from his core. "Fine." He threw the scroll on the ground between them.

I could hear the Shuriken on Mizuki's back clink as he stepped closer—Waho must have been wrapped with ninja wire. He kicked the scroll to unfurl its contents.

I was starting to feel lightheaded.

"Taju Kage Bunshin," Mizuki read aloud. "I bet the Kyuubi brat would have loved to learn that one."

"Get on with it," Iruka said. "Release her."

Mizuki rasped out a laugh and shook his head. "You have such a bad habit of collecting strays, Iruka," he said. "One of these days you'll wake up with your eyes clawed out."

"Just take the damn scroll," Iruka growled.

"You know I can't just hand her over," he said, tossing something at Iruka's feet. "I'll need a bit of extra insurance. That blade is laced with a mild paralytic. Cut your legs for me, and I'll drop her."

Iruka peered at the dagger on the ground. Though I could not see his eyes, they were doubtlessly filled with rage. "That wasn't the deal," he said.

"Deal's changed," Mizuki replied.

Come on Iruka, just do it! I'm hardly hanging on here.

Iruka bent down to pick up the blade and took a seat. I heard one slice followed shortly by another. A metal crash followed as he collapsed onto his back.

"You're lucky I respect you, Iruka," Mizuki said. "Else that poison would have been of a far deadlier variety."

Out cold. Just like I will be if this goes on any longer.

"Now what to do about you?" Mizuki said, glancing at his hostage. "You know too much."

Mizuki carelessly dumped Waho on the stone floor and unclasped his fuma shuriken. She struggled fruitlessly against her bindings. "Hold still, or this will be a lot messier."

He then glanced at the unfurled scroll lying next to her. It'd be a bad idea to get his prize all bloody. Mizuki set down his shuriken and bent over to roll up the scroll.

My arm shot toward his jugular. He reacted just in time to get stabbed in the forearm instead. I tore through his tendons in recompense. He wrenched his arm away and my Kunai clattered to the floor. His other hand slammed my skull down against the stone.

"You crafty little—"

I kicked him in the crotch to slip my head free from his grasp and he pinned me to the floor. An impromptu grappling contest commenced as I reached for my discarded Kunai.

Mizuki's arm was longer.

I caught his wrist just short of the blade piercing my eye.

"I would have loved to gut the Kyuubi before I left," Mizuki said, "but I'll settle for his best friend."

Two arms warred against one. Years of strength training versus chakra-fueled power.

My heart drummed in my ears. I could barely keep the knife in focus as it inched closer and closer. Pins and needles broke out across my body as my precious chakra drained away.

I'd kept my transformation active for far too long. Mizuki fought with a full tank, while I fought to remain conscious.

This endeavour was doomed the moment my sneak attack failed.

My trembling arms throbbed with pain.

My spirit felt hollow.

I've lost.

Mizuki's body momentarily jerked. The swish of displaced air cut through the sound of my thundering heartbeat. My last dregs of chakra fueled a reinforced headbutt to shatter my foe's nose and finally shove him off me.

A familiar dagger was lodged in his side.

"Are you alright?" Waho asked, having freed herself from her bindings.

I quiveringly got to my feet and was overcome by nausea. I barely registered the slime dripping from her scaly(?) skin before stumbling to my knees to retch.

Oblivion claimed me moments later.