The archives took up the entire western wing of the Tsuchikage's Palace. Both tension and excitement were palpable as we skirted the perimeter of the academy at a pace that was frankly excruciating.

The nonchalance was warranted for a casual stroll within the village—roof hopping, as it was depicted in the anime, wasn't really a thing here. The architecture and the historical purpose behind said architecture wasn't exactly conducive to the act, and there was a certain level of decorum expected when traveling inside the village. If you, as a shinobi, were running through the streets, there better be a damn good reason for it. But holy Moses it was getting on my nerves.

I had been waiting for this moment since I first learned of the archive's existence. But patience was a core tenet of being a shinobi, so I couldn't let Biwa-sensei get the idea that I was lacking in discipline.

That being said, he could probably tell by the way I pushed past my male teammates when the two shinobi guards on duty fled before Biwa-sensei. By that I mean they gracefully stepped out of our path, without even checking ID's like they were no doubt required to.

The doors of the wing opened up into something that looked like one of those indoor soccer fields, which spanned the entire first floor. There were walls of fabric partitioning off certain parts, which were discolored and bore numerous rips and other marks of distress. And instead of turf or anything resembling a floor, there was only dirt and stone underfoot.

There were plenty of guards patrolling this area too, only these weren't chunin. They were Red Ogres, masked and in full view. Two qualities that weren't usually seen in concert. Their presence was a very visible threat. Misconduct would be met with swift, drastic response.

"Don't stare," Biwa-sensei grunted as I guess my eyes lingered on one of the walls for too long. Through the bright light fixtures in the ceiling, I could see a silhouette. And from behind the curtain, I could hear the occasional, muffled curse.

"I'm not staring," I protested. I had a sense of self-preservation, thank you very much.

"Tell that to them," he responded, and I saw what he was referring to. One of the Red Ogres was staring right at me, far more intently than was warranted. I shut my mouth and looked up at the dingy ceiling instead. That was safe. I think.

Biwa-sensei led us up a small set of stairs at the exact opposite end of the field. Guarding them were four additional Red Ogres, but they were no more diligent than the chunin at the outer gate when they saw who was leading us. Visibly, at least. But I could feel their chakra, kind of. They were actively channeling it in quick bursts. But even if I knew the code they were using, I wasn't yet sensitive enough to differentiate the metaphorical characters at such high speeds. The jonin leading us was, however, and responded in kind.

At the top of the stairway was another reception area with another Red Ogre. On the wall was a rack of something resembling bathrobes, though uniquely uncomfortable ones. The material looked rough, and was nearly thin enough to see through.

"Strip," the Red Ogre said, his voice monotone and void of any defining characteristics. I wondered if that was a function of the masks, or if it was a chakra technique cast by the person behind them.

We did as directed, and I was internally amused by how both of my teammates studiously avoided looking in my direction. Though, in turn, we all avoided facing our sensei. Exposure had stripped away my self-consciousness with nudity, mostly, but it was still hard to clamp down on the urge to crack a joke and alleviate some of the lingering discomfort. Especially with the Ogre watching all of us so intently.

It didn't help either that it took me so much longer to undress than anyone else. They were already donning their temporary outfits by the time I unwrapped all of my bandages.

We were only allowed to take one thing in: the contents of the pouches Yoshiro-sensei had given us this morning. And those little tokens inside, our Merits, were still examined thoroughly before they were returned. Minus one. We were given nine for passing the exam, but it cost one merely for the privilege of entry.

When the posted guard was sure that we couldn't have snuck anything else in (and that we had no means to sneak anything out), we donned our respective pairs of slippers and were allowed through the next door.

My heart leapt as we stepped into what appeared to be a library. One so cliche that, if not for the security measures we went through to get here, I wouldn't have given it a second glance.

But I knew what awaited me on those shelves. The slim pages bound in leather weren't books. They were each, in essence, entries in one massive catalog.

A catalog of jutsu. Every jutsu known to Iwagakure no Sato.

(That wasn't part of a bloodline technique)

"New genin," Biwa-sensei said to the Ogre manning the desk, who nodded.

"You are restricted to this room," the seated worker droned. "D-ranks are in the section to my right—I can exchange your Merits if you wish. Everything else is C-ranked."

As genin, we couldn't access the rooms beyond. The next was the B-rank library, accessible by chunin. After that was the A-rank library, open only to jonin. No one (that I'd ever spoken to) knew if there was an S-rank library, or who would have access to it if it existed.

The boys split immediately, but I knew what I wanted already. I mean, I would still look around—it cost me a whole fucking Merit just to get in this place, so I was sure as fuck going to scope out my future options while here. And who knows, maybe something new would catch my eye.

I doubted it. There were two clear choices for me.

"Earth release clones?" I asked the attendant.

He pointed at a section near the wall. "Fourth row. Left middle."

Nodding in thanks, I speed-walked to the appropriate section.

"You're interested in clones," Biwa-sensei commented, trailing behind me for now.

"Hell yeah I'm interested in clones," I said, seriously. "Sensei, I make jutsu. Learning a material clone isn't merely useful in a fight; it would teach me so much about how chakra interacts with the world. Not to mention all the autonomous functions."

Naruto taught me how handy clones could be in combat. But my fascination with them went far beyond their most basic uses. Clones could perceive and interact with the world in different ways than a person could. They could sense active chakra just like a person could, and follow directives based around that sense. If I could apply those characteristics to other jutsu? Oh, the damage I could do.

He merely hummed. "I'll save you the trouble of looking. There are two C-ranked clone jutsu with a Doton nature. The Rock Clone—Iwa Bunshin no Jutsu. And the Mud Clone—Doro Bunshin no Jutsu."

"What are the advantages and disadvantages of each one?" I asked, brow furrowed.

"Iwa Bunshin costs more chakra, but is far more resilient," he explained. "It's typically heavier and easier to sense because of the amount of chakra in each of them. At higher levels of skill, it has more adaptability. Meanwhile, the Doro Bunshin cost considerably less chakra. They can be dispelled much more easily, but they can also have a limited mending ability, if you're good enough at using the technique. Emphasis on limited. Additionally, its pliable body can be more useful in certain scenarios."

"At higher levels of skill, the Iwa Bunshin becomes more adaptable," I repeated, fixating on that. "What do you mean about that?"

"A Doro Bunshin is, essentially, a glob of mud in the form of the caster," he explained. "Held together by a bubble of chakra. If the bubble is popped, then the mud spills out everywhere, out of your control. However, the Iwa Bunshin costs more chakra because you form its body out of stone, which your chakra infuses. If the body is broken, it is not out of the realm of possibility for a skilled user to tap into the latent chakra left over in the other parts. Provided their chakra control is good enough."

Mine wasn't, obviously. External control still eluded me, to say the least. But still, my mind raced at the possibilities.

"I think I'll learn more about chakra from the Iwa Bunshin," I said. Under the surface, the two clones seemed to be apples and oranges, despite both being Doton clone techniques. But I already knew how to make chakra bubbles. Doro didn't interest me that much, and I could probably piece the jutsu together myself from Biwa-sensei's description alone.

"Find the right one on that shelf," Biwa-sensei said, jerking his head at the one the Ogre was directing me towards. "Open it, make sure it's the one you want. And then memorize the code on the spine. Tell that to the ogre at the desk, and he'll give you the jutsu scroll in exchange."

I did as directed. Opening the little booklet, I saw illustrations of the jutsu, advantages, disadvantages, and warnings. Most of which were common sense—don't entrust anything valuable to a clone, don't leave a clone as sole protection in a bodyguard mission, don't allow a clone to wander too far away. We learned all this in the academy.

Two other points caught my interest. One was an advertised synergy with the Moguragakure no Jutsu. Since the clone was created with the caster's chakra, the Subjugation Principle did not apply if the caster wanted to soften its body. Though overuse after the clone's construction could destabilize the technique, it was possible, if not difficult in the heat of battle, to form a clone around something that had been planted in the ground, giving an inanimate object mobility. The example given in the book was an exploding tag.

It was all I could do to keep myself from breaking out into sinister laughter. I closed the booklet with a snap.

"I would like to make a selection," I said to the Ogre at the desk. "Three-five-eight, one-nine-five."

They nodded curtly. "Merits?"

I took four from my pile and handed them over. He took them, and vanished.

Merits could be redeemed for jutsu within this library, or for other supplies that were far less interesting to me (that could be bought with money elsewhere). In this library, C-ranks cost four. I had heard from Kazuhiro that B-ranks cost six, while A-ranks cost eight.

You could earn Merits through one of two ways. First, by submitting developments to R&D. Whether they be jutsu, technology, medical discoveries or anything else, you might get paid if what you developed was useful enough.

(I wasn't a ninja when I submitted it, but I would have to see if I could get retroactively compensated for the research I submitted on elemental affinities. I hadn't known about the Merit system at the time, and until the whole exam fiasco, I had genuinely forgotten all about it. But it was valuable, and clearly Yoshiro-sensei did, in fact, attach my name to it somehow instead of submitting it under his own like I asked him to)

The other way to earn Merits, which was far more accessible to most, was completing missions. A D-rank mission would net you a single D-rank Merit, which could be redeemed for one D-rank jutsu. A C-rank would grant you one C-rank Merit, four of which could get you a C-rank jutsu. And so on and so forth. You could convert your Merits from a lower value to a higher value and vice versa, but the conversion rates were frankly abysmal. I think it takes around thirty something C-rank Merits to convert to a B-rank Merit, and I don't even want to know how many B-ranks made an A-rank.

To make matters worse, the conversion down was far more outrageous. If you wanted to break a B-rank Merit, for example, you would only get back twelve C-ranks. So doing that would be a monumental (if sometimes necessary) waste. It was a far better use of your time to just take higher ranked missions.

Which was, of course, the incentive.

I wouldn't concern myself with conversions just yet, unless there was a D-rank that caught my eye (I doubt it). I was still limited by my rank—genin could only enter the C-rank library, after all. I didn't even know what my B-rank options would be upon promotion, and it would probably be a while before I could enter even this room again. Missions C-rank and up took a lot of time—months, sometimes. And while I was pretty inventive, even I would have a hard time developing something so far beyond Iwagakure's collective knowledge that it could net me any Merits (aside from my genjutsu development—couldn't wait to cash that out).

The Ogre finally returned, holding a tightly bound scroll.

"This will not leave the premises," he stated. "You may take it to the practice sites downstairs, but that is all. You will not disseminate its contents to anyone without the direct permission of a superior officer. You will not copy a single word of it."

The change of clothes assured that.

"Understood," I said, and I was finally given the scroll. "I know what other jutsu I want as well. The Summoning Technique."

"No," was the immediate response, and I twitched. Wasn't expecting that.

"Why not?" I pressed. "It's a C-rank, isn't it?"

"I don't know where you got your information, but that is a gross oversimplification," the Ogre said. "The Summoning Technique is unranked. Its difficulty and chakra cost fluctuates greatly based on the intended summon. No doubt you, like every other naive child, wish to utilize the reverse summoning aspect, hoping to win a contract and the glory it entails. An act which is highly foolish, and would likely result in your death. The chakra cost of reverse summoning to the Bestial Realm could very well kill you. If it doesn't, the exhaustion will leave you ill-equipped to handle the challenge the summons impose on you, if they even wish to humor you by offering one. Far more likely, they simply kill you outright."

They shook their head. "You cannot learn the summoning jutsu here. Only those who already hold contracts are legally allowed to teach the technique. Choose something else, or save your Merits."

Lame. But it wasn't like I could argue. So I just nodded once and went off to look for Biwa-sensei.

I found him with Iwao, not too far away. By the signage, I could tell we were still in the Doton section, which took up nearly half of the entire library (I know, shocker).

As soon as my new teammate saw me approaching, he clammed up. Biwa-sensei looked over his shoulder, an eyebrow raised.

"Yo," I greeted. "I got the Iwa Bunshin. But I don't know what to use my last Merits on."

He grunted. "Gimme a moment," and turned back to Iwao. I pretended to give them privacy, thrumming through the booklets on the nearest wall. They were all Doton projectiles—why there were so many, I had no idea. The differentiation between all of them was quite limited. Sometimes there was a variation in shape, sometimes in source (from different parts of the body, the ground, etcetera). Sometimes they did certain, interesting things upon impact. But seriously, what was the point in buying any of these? Surely people could invent them themselves.

Meanwhile, Biwa-sensei was talking to Iwao about arena traps. Probably because that was his role during our little test just now. I agreed with his assessment; the jutsu they were considering looked handy.

Finally, he turned his attention back to me.

"From your seals, I can tell that you have more chakra than your teammates," he said. That was putting it lightly. "As you know, chakra growth is exponential. You are merely ten years old; if we consider your teammates' reserves to be normal, then I would guess that yours will grow to be quite formidable in time. Perhaps even comparable to my own. I would imagine that you want a jutsu that would utilize this advantage."

In fewer words, something flashy that used up a lot of chakra.

"Maybe," I said. It wasn't something I was necessarily opposed to. "But I can use my knowledge of jutsu creation to make techniques stronger or weaker. I care less about the effects themselves than I do about the diversity in characteristics."

"I…don't know what you mean by that," he stated.

"Think of it like…food," I attempted. Clones were on my mind, and clones made me think of Naruto. And Naruto made me think of…

"Like cooking. I'm trying to make ramen here, sensei. I don't want a bunch of different broth recipes. I want to learn how to make broth, then the noodles, then the meat and toppings. If I have all those ingredients, I can combine them in different ways to make different dishes."

I nodded, pleased with myself. It was a great metaphor.

"You're a very strange girl, aren't you?"

I slumped in defeat.

"But I understand your point." He looked up in thought. "I've met Date Fumio several times. His brain works in a way I can barely understand. Those…ingredients you mentioned. I don't think about jutsu like that. You'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who does. But if you're like Date-san, then you have a million ideas for jutsu bouncing around in that little head of yours. So pick something on that list. What do you need to learn before you can begin working on it?"

I did as he asked. Closing my eyes, I visualized my most pressing projects. Not the most ambitious ones, but those that I thought were only just out of reach.

"I want something that emits from the feet," I settled on. "Something that creates two constructs simultaneously."

Ninety percent of jutsu (this wasn't a real number, it's just what it felt like to me) emanate from one or multiple of three tenketsu clusters. Left hand, right hand, and mouth. That's why most jutsu involved clapping hands together, slamming them on the ground, or holding a hand up to the mouth. This had to do with the unusual complexity, density and interconnectivity of each cluster. Also, hand seals were formed, well, in the hands. It was typically quicker, safer and more effective to just let the jutsu emanate from its point of origin, rather than channeling it from the hands to another part of the body.

But safer and more effective didn't necessarily mean more practical. In a fight, it already took enough time to form the required hand seals for any technique; I didn't want to have to find space to slap my hands against the ground as well. And as for the quicker part, I had great internal chakra control. My body worked differently, and I was better equipped to expedite the process than anyone else.

Additionally, I wanted to learn how to split chakra across multiple points. That would help me evolve my Iwa Bunshin into a Taju Iwa Bunshin. And after that, I had other plans.

"A specific jutsu comes to mind," Biwa-sensei finally said. "You won't find it in the combat section. It's an auxiliary jutsu."

Supplementary. Probably not something any genin would ever consider, not unless they were veteran careers swimming in C-rank Merits.

"Show me. Please."

- - - { ワナビー } - - -

An hour and a half later, we found ourselves downstairs in the practice area. This was our one chance to learn the jutsu we bought, otherwise we were shit out of luck. Once we left, we had to leave the scroll behind, and they weren't held for us. We couldn't come back for another go. We'd have to spend another Merit to get in, and four more to buy back the jutsu itself.

Biwa-sensei spoke to one of the Red Ogres, who led us to one of the cloth partitions. At sensei's request, one of the curtains was lifted up, merging the room next to us with our own, doubling our space. In the corner of that one was a still pond; likely there in case anyone wanted to practice with Suiton ninjutsu. I wondered if other sections had any unique features.

"Alright, who's first?" Biwa-sensei asked.

Iwao and Daigo shared a look, and I rolled my eyes at their hesitance.

"Well, if you insist," I said to them, opening the scroll for my second selected jutsu. I was more confident in my ability to learn this one quickly than I was with the Iwa Bunshin.

"Wait," Iwao said quickly. "I'll go first."

"Nope. You snooze, you lose." If he didn't want to be my follow-up act, he should have been quicker to volunteer. I ran through the hand seals, not powering them.

"The jutsu needs chakra, Imai," our sensei deadpanned.

"Shu—I mean. This is my methodology, sensei."

I tuned everything out, focussing all my attention on my chakra. As I contorted my hands, I watched how the canals inside formed the shapes I was so familiar with. Then I began to power some of them, and felt how the seals flowed into one another.

"Okay," I finally said, meeting Biwa-sensei's quizzical gaze. "I'm ready."

Tora, Ne, Tatsu, I, Ushi, Inu, Mi

"Doton: Shunkan Iaku no Jutsu!"

(Earth Style: Instant Tent Technique)

I felt the chakra pooling in my hands split, racing down both of my sides. It was uncomfortable; Doton wasn't meant to exist in the body in such high concentrations, and there was more going on in that fabricated chakra than just that. It left sharp prickles underneath my skin until it reached my feet, where it shot away in opposite directions at a diagonal.

There was a short delay. Then, two walls of stone erupted from either side, slanting towards me and meeting in a point above my head. It reminded me of that move Toph did in Avatar to create temporary shelters.

"Why isn't this considered a defensive jutsu?" I asked sensei, admiring my handiwork. It was just like the illustrations. Damn I was good.

Biwa-sensei thought so too, he just didn't want to say it. He was looking for a flaw, I could tell, but he couldn't find one.

"The walls are thin," he finally said. "Even a thrown weapon could break it, provided the attacker uses chakra enhancement. It is also slow, and costs more chakra than Doton: Doryūheki, which is far more practical as a defense. There's also the number of hand seals to consider, along with the delay you no doubt noticed."

"All of those things can be modded out," I stated with certainty. "Well, maybe not the chakra cost." If anything, modifications would only make it higher. "But everything else. Let me see, there was a release here."

I looked at the page unrolled in front of me, and formed my hands into the Ushi seal. My structure came apart, each wall sinking into the ground at the same angle as they rose up.

"If the thickness and the rigidity is adjusted, I should think the angle alone would make it a superior shield," I said. It was common sense that a slope was better at deflecting force than a flat surface.

"If you're alone, perhaps," he replied. "If you have comrades on either side of you, you would need to be wary. They could be caught in the attack's ricochet."

"Not if I made it bigger and they were under the tent with me," I countered.

"Which would cost considerably more chakra."

"She's just trying to make it sound like she didn't waste her Merits on a useless jutsu," I heard Iwao mutter to Daigo behind me. I looked over my shoulder.

"Talking a lot of shit for someone who's going to fail ten times before even casting his jutsu properly. Besides, even if I never use this in combat, I'm still happy with my selection."

I think. I would need to cast this a million more times, paying close attention to the seal interactions, before I could really learn anything from it.

"On that note. Ishida," sensei cued. "I believe you volunteered to go next."

Stonily, he stepped forward as I joined Daigo, who made no commentary on my performance or my chosen jutsu. I would have paid close attention to the seals Iwao formed, but he made sure his back was turned to me. Whatever. Trying to hide them from me was an effort in futility; I'd see them eventually.

"Doton: Arijigoku no Jutsu," he called, slapping his hands to the dirt.

(Earth Release: Antlion Trap)

…nothing happened. He scowled fiercely, and I rolled my eyes yet again.

"I'm going to play with my other new toy while you figure that out," I announced. "Is that cool, sensei?"

"Do whatever you want," he said, and I made some space as he began to coach Iwao. That wasn't to say I tuned them out entirely; I paid attention, just in case there was anything that could be applied to ninjutsu more generally.

Meanwhile, the bulk of my attention was on my other new jutsu. The one I was even more excited about. I had learned about elemental clones in the academy, and knew that they couldn't act autonomously like Naruto's shadow clones. They didn't possess intelligence or memory, and were only able to follow chakra. In fact, it was a common practice during ninja combat when clones were introduced to stop using chakra altogether—jutsu, chakra enhancement, mundane chakra pumping, everything—in order to confuse them. Though that left the defender vulnerable in other ways.

Which was also why clones weren't typically used for manual labor. If there was no chakra to sense, the caster had to focus on using their own chakra to guide them, which was both mentally and physically draining. At that point, you may as well do the work yourself.

Of course, for me, that wasn't even an option. With my outright inability to control my chakra externally, I couldn't actively guide my clones at all. However, my will was still built into the jutsu, so if I used an Iwa Bunshin in a fight, my clone would target the relevant chakra signatures while leaving my allies alone. If a new opponent appeared after its construction, however, the clone wouldn't recognize them as an enemy. Its behavior would still only reflect my will as it was the moment I cast the jutsu.

Another reason the Kage Bunshin was so broken. Those clones were an actual copy of a person, their brain included. From what I saw of them in the anime, they could actually think. To me, that was even more interesting than the whole being able to perform their own jutsu bit.

I wanted that jutsu. I needed that jutsu. Unfortunately, it was a Konoha creation, and they held it close to their chest. I haven't even seen mention of it in our texts.

I know what you're thinking. If you want it so bad, why not just figure it out yourself? It's only one hand seal.

Well, I'm pretty sure at this point that that's not true. Either there are some internal shenanigans we weren't privy to that were a necessary component of the jutsu, or in this world it used more hand seals.

Or it didn't exist at all here. I hoped that wasn't true, but so far I had no evidence to the contrary.

But I digress. Unlike my last, more simple jutsu, it took me several attempts to first cast the Rock Clone. The base jutsu was extremely complex, utilizing sixteen hand seals. But then it explained how to drop many of them. I sped through each stage of casting until I was able to create clones with four hand seals—Hitsuji, Modified Saru, Uma and Modified Mi. I was glad this scroll was so much more developed than the other one. Perks of choosing a mainstream jutsu, I guess.

The clones I made didn't do a whole lot. My will wasn't honed enough, and I didn't have a target for them to engage, though I did notice their (my) gaze lock on Iwao, who had finally managed to make a concave pit with himself at the epicenter. It wasn't large yet, but I had a feeling that it could be.

I continued to experiment as Daigo stepped forward. Despite his specialization, he didn't go for genjutsu—no doubt he felt like he could get enough of those from his father.

Must be nice to have family technique exceptions. Parents or family friends weren't actually supposed to teach their kids jutsu. They were supposed to buy them with Merits. Sure, it was hard to enforce and as such people broke that rule all the time. If the people learning it were old/responsible enough there were rarely any serious consequences. Unfortunately, I only made genin yesterday, and Kazuhiro was a stickler.

Or he was, now. You know, after I blew myself up.

Of course, if you came from a clan or a respected family, those rules went out the window. Technically, the exception was only supposed to apply to family or bloodline techniques, but it was easy to argue that other techniques formed the basis of what they were allowed to teach. And because of clan secrecy laws, the authorities would just have to take their word for it and throw the whole case out. It was classist and unfair, but then again, wasn't everything around here?

Daigo chose Ninpo: Chakura no Inkan no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Chakra Stamp Technique), which was a supplementary jutsu that allowed the caster to impart their chakra signature on another object from a middling distance. It wouldn't do anything by itself, but it could be useful in the setup of other jutsu, especially genjutsu. It was a logical choice.

I would be stealing it from him. Sorry not sorry. I could think of my own uses for it, and turnabout's fair play. He owed me.

For his other, he chose ole' faithful Fūton: Daitoppa no Jutsu (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Technique). A staple of anyone with a wind affinity, like Daigo. It could give him some room against anyone who got too close for comfort, and it could deflect projectiles if dodging wasn't an option. He probably wouldn't often use it in a purely offensive capacity. Until he practiced with it a lot more, he wouldn't be using it in any capacity—the pitiful breeze he summoned wouldn't deflect anything heavier than a falling leaf. His chakra capacity would be a problem with this jutsu.

Iwao's other technique was Doton: Sakigake Hakkutsu no Jutsu (Earth Style: Trailblazing Drill). It was a flashy jutsu, a projectile type, though I don't think he found it in the section I degraded back in the library. It was more of a stage hazard. It was weird because the projectile traveled across the surface of the ground. And as it passed, it burst the ground open, releasing a violent puff of dirt into the air which could distract opponents and destabilize their footing. I imagined that, once perfected, it could also be quite damaging to anyone caught in the blast.

Though I wasn't told as much, I could also speculate why Iwao chose both of his jutsu. Yes, they were useful and in line with his role on the team. But I would also hazard a guess that they required a moderate degree of external chakra control. Sakigake Hakkutsu probably wasn't limited to a straight line, and Arijigoku likely had potential I couldn't yet discern. Iwao probably chose them because he thought I wouldn't be able to perform them as well as he could, even if I did end up figuring them out from his example. Yes, he was covering the weakness in my repertoire, but there was a hidden element of spite and a sense of inadequacy folded into the mix.

But that was just fine. I didn't want to stomp on his individuality, and maybe someday I'd be able to prove it to him.

Finally, we left the archives fulfilled, and wearing the clothes we arrived in. Our first day as a team was over. Tomorrow, we'll jump into our first mission. And for some reason, I couldn't imagine the Tsuchikage's son stooping to perform D-ranks, saddled with a genin team or not.

Let's hope the curse of the first C-rank mission wouldn't come out to bite us.

- - - { ワナビー } - - -

AN: Shit is cooking. I have so many ideas for original techniques, and Kasaiki just learned the basis for a lot of them. It was also…interesting to tackle the whole clone subject. It needed to be nerfed in some way—it just doesn't make sense for someone to be able to create multiple bodies all capable of independent thought. I needed to set realistic limits. And unfortunately, there really wasn't a great way to do so without diverging from the technique entirely. This is the problem with going into specifics in Naruto worldbuilding. Things stop making sense when you look too closely.

I should probably explain the chapter name. The jutsu archives/Merit system was inspired by the pokemon games. In every one, there was a place to buy TMs that could teach your pokemon powerful moves, and that was all I ever cared about. Seriously, I cared less about actually playing the game than I did about crafting the perfect team. So much of my time was spent getting as much money as I could in game and blowing it on places like the Celadon Mall. I am channeling that obsession into Kasaiki and this fic.

Additionally, since this is a (sort of) gamer fic, I wanted to merge that idea with the whole quests/rewards system. Missions are quests, and merely getting paid for them with money is boring. This adds an added incentive to take missions, especially for power-obsessed ninja. After all, you only need so much money to live comfortably. I think stronger ninja who have completed enough high ranking missions to live their lives in comfort need added persuasion to keep lending their skills to the village.

This is going to sound like cap but I swear it's true. I thought I invented Iwao's technique, the Antlion Trap. Seriously. I came up with it myself, and even named it that, finding the translation online. Pokemon was on the brain and I was thinking about Trapinch. It was only after I finished writing that I thought to google it and see if it already existed. And it did, exactly like I envisioned it. I haven't even seen the episode of Naruto that it appeared in.

Trailblazing Drill and Chakra Stamp are original techniques.

I've gotten a million comments on the last chapter that were quick to tell me that the Dust Release was a Kekei Tota, not a Kekei Genki, and that theoretically anyone can learn it. I know. Trust me, I'm very aware of that. If you don't think I'm going to develop the shit out of the Dust Release, then you don't know me at all, and you should reread the entire fic.

Anyway, there was a lot in this chapter, and I was a bit scatterbrained while writing it. If you have any questions, let me know. I'll try and answer them in text, or in a future note if not.

See you next week!

**Edit: between finishing this chapter and posting it a couple hours later, my car was broken into. Completely shattered the window. I had almost nothing in my car, certainly nothing of value, so I really don't know why…guess I'm dealing with that tomorrow.