It's Harder Than It Looks!

by MillerA33

Oi, get that look of disgust out of your eyes! Listen, those guys have either amazing genes or some sort of crutch while I was literally born a side character! Even if I did become a shinobi I would probably just end up being killed by a stray kunai or something! ...Yeah, I guess you're right, I won't be able to live with myself if I don't at least give it some thought.(MaleInsert)

3. Chapter Two

A Choice I Won't Regret

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, is angry. Anybody with half a brain would be able to tell that, and who could blame him? It had all started a month ago when suddenly the Lands of Waterfall, Rice Fields, and Hot Water all became nearly impossible to spy on. Most of the ninja already in the countries turned up missing while the ninja stationed at the borders of the countries repeatedly reported sightings of both Iwa and Kumo nin.

Hiruzen's hands were tied about the matter however, it would be foolish to make a fuss about his spies that weren't supposed to be in the countries anyways going missing and the Hidden Stone in particular were already testing the borders as it was. He simply took this as a sign that eventual warfare had become inevitable and so he began preparing his forces in earnest to combat the alliance of Iwa, Kumo, and most likely, Suna. At the same time, he had opened up talks with Kirigakure about a potential alliance so that neither of them would get overwhelmed by the combined forces of three ninja villages… ironic.

The nature of the situation changed two weeks ago when he got a message on his desk from Konoha's close ally, Uzushiogakure, that detailed how they had spotted ships that could be from none other than the Hidden Mist heading for Kumogakure. At that point everything became clear, Kiri never planned to ally with them, they had been working with the enemy the entire time. Those ships would bring the forces of Kumo and Iwa to the shores of the Land of Whirlpools and using the combined might of three villages they would wipe out Uzushiogakure as the opening act of the Second Great Shinobi World War.

He can still remember the meeting he had called with the clan heads in the middle of the night to discuss what should be done. Specifically, he remembers the despair that filled the room as they realized there was nothing that could be done. Mobilization and more importantly, travel time were the main culprits. A majority of the village's forces were stationed at the Land of Fire's borders in preparation for war and the ninja that were not on the borders were kept back for the sake of village defense or running alternative missions. Point is, they did not have ninja to spare and even if they did, they would never make it in time.

The message itself was days old information at the very least then when you factor in the time it would take for an army to reach the ocean and then the travel time over the ocean from the Land of Fire to the Land of Whirlpools… Well, you get the point. Even if you disregard the travel time you run into the third problem. There is a reason why Kiri's help specifically was requested by Iwa and Kumo and that reason is their navy. Kirigakure is the only ninja village with a navy that one could not sneeze at simply because they are surrounded by water. Konoha specifically did not have the required number of boats to take a huge amount of ninja to Uzu.

Thus, the decision that the council came to was the absolute best Konoha could do. Hiruzen sent his own students along with a small group of elite shinobi to Uzu to serve less as backup and more to evacuate possible survivors. As expected, they did not make it in time to make a difference in the main battle. By the time they got there the Uzukage had already been killed and the village had already fallen. They weren't too late however to help the survivors still on the island escape the death trap the Land of Whirlpools had become.

Which made it all the more painful when a few days ago he received word that they were only able to bring back a handful of shinobi to the mainland, no civilians. In his student's mad race across the water with the people they were able to save they were forced to abandon the boats that were carrying the civilians. Once they got back to the mainland, they split up with the shinobi survivors to distract the enemy once it became clear they had no choice but to do so. Luckily, all three of his students made it back alive due to the additional shinobi he had sent out that supported them once they reached the mainland's shores. However, they were unable to meet back up with the survivors so nobody could be sure whether they were dead or alive.

Of course, during this time Hiruzen had his forces launch attacks along the land of Fire's borders to take initiative in the war. It seems Uzu had put up a fantastic fight, probably a better fight than the coalition of shinobi had expected. So even though Konoha was facing a four versus one against all the major villages, the odds of victory were not none, merely slim.

Which finally brings Hiruzen's thoughts back to the present day. Since getting that last damning message, Hiruzen had barely slept. He's been in his office issuing orders that mostly focus on terrorizing Kumo, Iwa, and Suna's borders though on the side he has been able to send some genin teams to investigate supposed sightings of Uzumaki. This wasn't what had him angry, however. It is true that losing Uzu left a great scar on his soul, but the feeling that scar caused was sadness. No, what has him barely keeping his temper in check is the audacity of the Third Mizukage to send him such a ludicrous proposal after what he took part in.

"Dear Third Hokage,

I would say that I hope this message finds you well, but I would be lying. By now I'm sure that you have heard of the downfall of Uzushiogakure at the hands of the Coalition my village formed alongside the Cloud and Stone. I wish I could have seen your face when you found out, I'm sure it was a sight to behold."

The Third Mizukage's informality on an official document is outrageous, even by shinobi standards. Though this is to be expected when you are dealing with Hideaki Noguchi, the old man who despite his crass way of putting things, is known as the greatest negotiator alive within the elemental nations.

"Anyways, now that I have you sufficiently riled up, allow me to get to the point. As I'm sure you have assumed, we destroyed Uzushiogakure because we believed it would be the first step to crushing that cesspool you call a village. Unfortunately, things didn't quite go as planned. Most of the invasion force was wiped out by the Uzumaki clan's seals and even our surviving ninja may never fight again thanks to the mental and physical trauma they all received. As things stand now, all three villages that took part in the invasion have been significantly weakened."

Reading this had brought Hiruzen some closure, albeit a small amount.

"To make matters worse, Kumo and Iwa, our so-called allies, have taken the majority of the spoils from Uzushiogakure because apparently we were only good for our ships. So, you're probably wondering why I'm telling you such valuable information. Well, it's only natural for allies to share information, no?"

This is where Hiruzen had paused reading to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down. Hideaki had done some crazy things in his time as Mizukage, but Hiruzen had never pegged him for a mad man… until now.

"My proposal is as such, out of the kindness of our hearts, we will ally ourselves with the Hidden Leaf in order to get back at those assholes up north. If you do not accept our generosity, then we will destroy the leaf along with the other three villages as we had originally planned. Of course, since we are shinobi, our kindness comes at a price. Some Uzumaki style seals and a Byakugan should be enough to compensate us for having to fight alongside a group of ninjas that smell like squirrel shit for an entire war. Ah, come to think of it, throw in enough money to pay for the water my men will waste on washing the stench out of their flak jackets."

-Signed Hideaki Noguchi, The Third Mizukage.

By the time Hiruzen's eyes reach the bottom of the sheet of paper, he is almost vibrating in place due to his anger. The secrets of the Byakugan are priceless enough, but the Uzumaki style seals in their possession are especially sacred. Not only did those give them a permanent edge over every other hidden village in fuinjutsu, but they were also given to them by their late allies as a sign of trust and goodwill. What Hideaki is asking for is more than just some jutsu scrolls, he is asking for Hiruzen to completely discard the trust the Uzumaki had in the Leaf as if it was garbage.

'He even had the gall to ask for money on top of everything else.'

After re-reading the document a few more times to make sure there was not any hidden message or codes in the text, he looks up from it and acknowledges the other man in the room.

Danzo Shimura, his primary advisor, trusted friend, and fellow disciple of the second Hokage stares back at him with a much less outraged expression. His expression remained neutral and borderline unreadable to anyone except Hiruzen himself who could spot the flickers of anger running across his face. The man had lost an eye and some of his face while fighting alongside one of Ashina Uzumaki's sons and consequently was forced to leave a quarter of his face bandaged. With that said, he had always been the more pragmatic of the two and even surpassed Hiruzen himself in suppressing his emotions.

"I assume you have an opinion on this offer, correct?"

Instead of giving Hiruzen an immediate answer Danzo takes one of the rolled-up pieces of paper on Hiruzen's desk and unfurls it, revealing a map of the elemental nations.

"If we do not take this offer," Danzo keeps his tone neutral, "then eventually we will have to designate more ninja to defend our shores. He calmly places his finger on the specific front he is speaking of. "With the ships that the Hidden Mist has in their possession, they can easily launch an amphibious invasion that we would be hard pressed to defend against given we are already stretched thin.

Danzo removes his finger from the map and begins speaking in a softer tone that is not heard from him much these days.

"I understand your anger more than you believe I do, Hiruzen, but we cannot risk the village our sensei sacrificed himself for over mere emotion."

As a contrast to his softer tone his words are as sharp as a kunai's edge, forcing understanding into Hiruzen's skull and causing the man to sigh in defeat.

"In that case, I assume that you are ok with giving up an eye belonging to one of our honored clans and the seals of a clan we just failed to save?"

To someone who does not know Hiruzen they may assume he is far from ok with going through with either of those two things. Though since Danzo does know Hiruzen and knows him very well he knows that this is Hiruzen's way of asking Danzo what he has in mind. Knowing this causes Danzo to cross his arms and let the ghost of a smirk grace his face.

"The deal forces us to hand over a Byakugan to the Mist however it does not specify that it must be an… untouched Byakugan. Similarly, the specific Uzumaki Style seals we handover could be simple storage seals."

Hiruzen nods and contemplates his long-time friend's idea. Sure, they could tamper with a Byakugan and keep any high-quality seals out of the Mist's, no, Hideaki's hands. However…

"I admit that your thought process is sound, but it would not work. It would be naive of us to think that Hideaki would hold up his end of the bargain if we effectively gave him nothing. Especially with how his last alliance went."

Talking with Danzo served to give Hiruzen time to get a leash on his emotions. Now, sitting before Danzo is the Third Hokage, the Professor, and the man Danzo respects and envies more than anyone else in the world.

"Then I assume that you have already come up with a better idea. One that perhaps improves upon my own?"

Danzo gives Hiruzen a look that if he is not satisfied with Hiruzen's answer then he is prepared to argue with him, Hokage or not. 'Which is good, I hired him to be my advisor not my yes man.' There is a reason why Danzo Shimura of all people became the Third Hokage's most trusted advisor and it has nothing to do with him being the Hokage's former teammate.

"Yes Danzo, indeed I do." The professor allows his confidence to show in his voice. "We will give them a proper Byakugan from a volunteer amongst the branch family of the Hyuga clan. As for the required seals, we will hand over the secrets of the Four Symbols Seal and other supplementary seals that help with containing evil spirits."

Danzo gives a "hmph" to tell Hiruzen without words that he thinks his plan is satisfactory. A simple Byakugan from a branch family member would not be too steep of a price. Especially when he considers that the Byakugan would still be being used to serve the Hidden Leaf village in a roundabout way. Though being the Cynic he is, Danzo still predicts that the Mist will betray the Leaf one day which is why he would a part of him would rather ju-

"Danzo, contrary to your belief, getting lost in your own head and staring ominously at someone is indeed creepy. If you wish I could attempt to renegotiate the price though time is of the essence."

Yes, time is of the essence, now is the time for action not politics. Which is why after giving Hiruzen a scowl with no real heat behind it in response to using an old joke from their genin days on him Danzo responds with reluctant agreement to his Kage's plan.

"This head of mine was simply taking issue with giving up a valuable eye with no strings attached… With that said, I agree with your plan. While the Byakugan is a steep price, using the Four Symbols Seal as a bargaining chip is quite ingenious. Giving them the means to make a more stable Jinchuriki could benefit us in the long run, and it is quite shrewd of you to think to give them a lesser version of what we are capable of."

The Four Symbols Seal is the predecessor of the Eight Trigrams Seal. While it is indeed powerful, in theory the Eight Trigrams Seal could be used to slowly leak a tailed beast's chakra into the host without any risk of the beast itself breaking out.

"Praise from the Commander of ROOT himself, consider me honored." Hiruzen says mirthfully before addressing Danzo as the Third. "I'll leave the gathering of the required resources to you, as you can imagine, my plate is too full to oversee such things."

"It shall be done, Lord Hokage." Danzo slowly walks towards the door before suddenly stopping. He addresses Hiruzen without turning his back to face him or unevening his tone. "Do not break on me, old friend." With that Danzo leaves Hiruzen alone to contemplate how everything came to this.

---

It's been almost two years since the start of the second war and I've been… stressed, to say the least. They say it's a rule to always start with the bad news first and since there's much more bad news than good news, I think it's for the best that I follow that tradition.

Shortly after dad broke the news about the war Honoka started getting more personal training from our parents, though mostly from mom. Dad hasn't been home that much recently with the war going on at all, even when he is home, he is far too tired to spend time with his kids. Even when he does have enough energy, he usually brushes up on Honoka's ninja training which ensures that he doesn't have time to spend with his youngest child, that of course being me.

Without Other Me's memories I'd probably be feeling a bit neglected right now. With the memories I understand that dad has five other important things he has to do before he can spend time with me and that's on a good day. It still sucks though… I love my dad.

Anyways, back to more bad news, Honoka is going to become a ninja. I know that was already obvious but after this upcoming school year she'll graduate and become a genin at only the age of eleven. I assumed that I had at least an extra year but as it turns out, the academy curriculum is six years at the max, at least for now, and Honoka started when she was only five.

I'm just… scared, ya know? I want to protect my big sister but how can I do that without becoming a ninja? I don't want to die, I don't want to see my comrades die, but more than that I don't want someone showing up at my doorstep and telling me that my sister or father died, and I couldn't even do anything.

What makes things even worse is that Honoka is talented. Not in an Itachi way or even a Sasuke way, but she's good enough to pass the genin exam and get a Jonin sensei, which will only bring her closer to danger.

Enough with the bad news though, the good news is that with my dad not giving me that much attention my mom and sister, seemingly noticing this, spend tons of time with me.

Unlike my sister, I love playing shogi with mom. If a certain branch of the Uzumaki family is destined to fall in love with ramen, then perhaps my love for shogi is a genetic quirk that I inherited.

Honoka on the other hand likes to help with my reading and she likes to read to me… a bit too much really. I knew she liked books but that didn't prepare me from the uncanny amount of joy she gets from reading out loud to me. It's weird, but in an endearing way I suppose. Though unfortunately for her, I like to stretch my legs so days when I drag her outside are ideal… huh, that actually smoothly brings me into my last piece of good news.

Ladies and gentlemen, I made a friend! Remember that kid I played tag with? Well, after our duel that day my mom got in contact with his dad and set up a play date between the two of us and we've been best friends ever since. You would think that having the memories of an idiotic teenage boy planted in me would make me have trouble making friends my age and you wouldn't be completely wrong. It's just that Riku is… different.

Riku Yokota is a truly strange kid for the same reason I'm a truly strange kid. He is way too smart for a five-year-old. I mean, he reads better than me for Kami… God… I'll go with Kami… for Kami's sake! His kanji are also freakishly well written, and he talks like a kid at least three times his age.

At first, I attributed it to his seemingly stern father. A retired Jonin almost ten years older than my own parents who I have never once seen show any affection to Riku. However, as I would soon come to find out, Riku just picks up on things really quickly. He's definitely a prodigy, but since I don't remember him from the series… yeah, I don't want to think about it. Especially since the boy himself is sitting right in front of me.

At this point Riku and I just go to each other's houses whenever we please, sometimes not even escorted by our parents. Which is what happened today when Riku knocked on my front door and asked if I wanted to play Shogi.

Riku, like myself as I have found out, is extremely competitive, and the fact that I kick his ass at Shogi every time we play has been screwing with him for a half a year now. For all his smarts he can't beat my experience but that doesn't stop him from trying or making funny faces as he tries to think of ways to avoid getting mated by me.

Which is why I currently find myself wearing a shit eating grin as I stare across the table at my frustrated best friend. Right now, we're using the pre-setup board that sits on a table on my family's back porch. It's around afternoon and winter has just given way to spring so I can feel a nice breeze running across my exposed arms and legs.

"I… concede. You're way too good at Shogi, Katsuo. Is this all you do all day?" Riku leans back in his chair and crosses his arms while wearing a petulant pout. As I respond to him, I begin putting the pieces back into place.

"What's this? Is the great Riku Yokota unable to fathom losing to someone who doesn't spend every waking moment trying to be better than him?" My grin stays on my face as I reset the board and make my first move.

"You know that I will eventually beat you, right?" Riku makes his move and raises an eyebrow at my own move.

"Yeah, but bragging feeds my ego and the more my ego grows the better I can ignore the truth." Riku isn't wrong though I hate to admit it. He's just that smart, he'll just keep getting better and better until he's better than me and even mom one day. Thus are the benefits of being a prodigy.

"You're as ridiculous as always." Riku says as he shakes his head with exasperation. "How do you plan to maintain your precious ego once I'm better than you?" Riku frowns at the board as his loss draws near.

"That's a dumb question for someone as smart as you." I move my silver general. "By cheating and not getting caught." I give him a smirk that only smartasses like myself know how to make. "That's check."

"We both know I'd catch you eventually, I'm being trained to become a shinobi right now and you aren't." He moves a piece and smiles confidently thinking that he can turn the game around. His light brown eyes lock with my blue ones as his tone matches the confidence in his smile. "Your move."

'Obi-Wan is that you?' I think as I drop my smirk to act like I'm being cornered. "You might be stronger, faster, and smarter than me, but I'd argue that I'm a better shinobi than you despite my lack of training." With my Gold General now in position, I have a mate in four that I know he won't see. He's already tunnel visioned on his own checkmate.

"Oh really…" Riku's tone is laced with dry sarcasm as he continues to speak. "How is the untrained and pampered Katsuo Nishida a better shinobi than Riku Yokota, the "prodigy" with six months of training from a war veteran. Please, O Wise One, enlighten me." He gazes hungrily at the board as he moves a piece before looking up at me and raising an eyebrow at my nasty grin.

"Enlighten you I shall you poor, misguided, miscreant." As I speak, I hold up a finger for each reason I list. "You see, when it comes to lying (check), cheating (check), and tactics (check), you still have a ways to go before you're a match for me, and as those three things are the essence of being a ninja, I'm a better shinobi than you." I make my final move then put down my hand and let my grin widen to contrast Riku's scowl. "Which is why I like shogi, strategy on the board is no different from strategy on the field of battle. Checkmate."

"I bet you don't even know what a miscreant even is." Riku mutters as he resets the board but doesn't go to make a move. "You say all that but then, you're not even sure if you want to become a ninja or not. A ninja on the battlefield is a better ninja than one that sits at home all day playing shogi like an old man."

'He has me there… not that I'll acknowledge it.'

"Blah blah blah semantics blah blah blah." My mature reaction to being cornered causes Riku to glare at me. "What's really important is that since I won, you have to do one thing I say." We usually don't have this sort of rule, but I wanted to play ninja today, not shogi, so I attached the condition that whoever wins a best of three gets to give the loser an order.

"Whatever, just get it over with already." He tilts his head upwards and mimics the stoic expression his dad constantly wears.

'I can tell that he's just trying to act tough. He knows better than to not fear me… but just to make sure though…'

"Nope, I don't think I will. I haven't thought of what I want you to do yet." I make a show of thinking about it as Riku's expression shifts into a horrified one.

"Please, Katsuo, don't do this, please!" His pleas for mercy fall on deaf ears. I don't terrorize my family enough so my urges to be a little shit have to be taken out on someone.

"Huh? I don't know what you mean but come to think of it… playing ninja always puts me in a charitable mood." I stand up from my chair and put my finger on my chin while tilting my head up to look at the sky."

"I hate you, Katsuo Nishida." Riku deadpans while also getting up from his chair.

"You poor foolish soul." I begin as I flash him a crooked grin. "It does one no good to hate their God."

We would end up playing ninja until sundown with Riku getting the upper hand more times than not. It irked my competitive side but being able to run around the neighborhood with my best friend more than offset the minor blow to my pride.

---

Night has fallen and I find myself chilling in the living room with my mom and sister. I'm leaning on my mom's shoulder while she tells the (edited and embellished) story of how Konoha was founded. Big sis is to my right reading a book about what seems to be human anatomy. A year ago, she proclaimed that she wanted to be a medical ninja though her reason was a bit… contrary.

"If I know how the human body works I can down someone twice my size like it's nothing!" She had said with stars in her eyes.

I don't know who put that idea in her head but ever since then she's been making great strides towards becoming a medic. The Mystical Palm technique still eludes her, but she'll probably have it down by the time she graduates.

'I feel like I'm forgetting something… shit, gotta keep paying attention to mom!'

Cursing my low attention span I zone back into what my mom is saying.

"Then, after acknowledging his former friend's willingness to sacrifice himself, Madara agreed to help Hashirama found the Hidden Leaf village."

'Damn, looks like I missed the climactic final battle… whatever. Not like I didn't already know everything anyways.'

"What happened to Madara after that, mom?" I decide to act like I'm just hearing about this for the first time so that I don't appear uninterested. Besides, I want to know what the general opinion of Madara is.

"Well," she closes the book and fixes her blue eyes on me, "eventually he became dissatisfied with his life in the village. So, for one reason or the other he left the village and years later, came back to the place he helped found with the intention of destroying it."

"I see…" I allow myself to look a bit downcast at the information and my mom, being the great mom she is, decides to placate me.

"That's just how the shinobi world works kiddo. Though just because Madara changed for the worse, that doesn't mean we can't choose to look at all the good he did, right?" Mom gives me a kind smile which causes me to smile back. Though if I was actually upset then I imagine that first sentence may not have had the desired effect.

"If Madara had a problem with how the village was being run then he should have tried to become Hokage or just stayed gone. Leaving the village is one thing but attacking your best friend's home with the nine tails is a bit much, dontcha think?" I hear Honoka speak up from across the couch. It seems that she started paying attention to our conversation once her book got boring judging by its closed state.

Before I can comment, my mom starts giving Honoka a lecture. "You may be right, but Madara certainly had his reasons. Once you're officially a kunoichi you'll have to make looking underneath the underneath second nature if you don't want to be a burden on your team. So, Honoka, can you think of any reasons why Madara thought "a bit much" was necessary?" '

Mom's words seem to have put Honoka deep in thought which means this is my chance to add my own two cents to the conversation. I don't like showing off my intelligence usually but between my vocabulary and my "prodigious talent for shogi" (thanks mom), I don't mind flashing some analytical skills.

"There's no such thing as a bit much when you're about to take on the first Hokage and he probably had some sort of objective within the village or something like that." I say while placing my chin between my pointer finger and thumb.

"Ding ding ding! Lil Katsu wins the prize!" Mom suddenly pulls me into a hug which causes me to let out a surprised yelp then begins rubbing her cheek against mine. "You're sho shmart Katsuuu, what did I do to deserve such a shmart shoooon."

"If I knew there was a prize then I would ha-, you know what… It's fine. I guess losing to my super toddler brother isn't the worst." As she says, "super-toddler", she pokes me in the side of my head which makes me shoot her a glare that causes her to stick out her tongue.

'It seems I must teach my big sis not to cross me as I taught Riku before her.'

"So, mom, what's the prize?" I look up at her and use my signature Puppy Dog Eyes no Jutsu.

"Well actually the hug was supposed to be th- the… the prize is whatever you want it to be Katsu."

'Hook, line, and sinker.'

"Make Honoka dance in front of us for… five minutes." I give Honoka a smile that would look right at home on a gremlin as I see her already blushing at the embarrassment she may receive.

"Mom you're not like, actually going to make me do that right?" Her tone is shaky, and her desperation tastes like the finest of ambrosia.

"Be happy that you're just dancing this time. Failure to think quickly in the field could lead to death, look at this as a valuable lesson." Mom tries to sound like well, a mom, but from the grin tugging at her lips she obviously is very amused by my idea.

"There you have it Honoka, now then, amuse me." I cross my legs and cup my right cheek with a hand while giving a smile that would look more natural on a sadistic villain than a child.

'And I'm only one of those things.'

"This… means… war… Katsuo." She speaks words promising retribution as she gets up from the couch.

"Foolish older sister." I purposely try to deepen my voice to sound like a certain Uchiha who hasn't been born yet. "You shouldn't start a war you can never win."

---

It's been three minutes since my sister was forced to dance and both mom and I are laughing our asses off. Meanwhile, Honoka has anime tears in her eyes (huh, guess that's a thing) as she shakes her body and steps randomly like the horrible dancer she is.

"Don't think for a second that you won't regret this!"

"The only wheeze regret that I'll ever have from this, is that I didn't have a way to record you!" My laugh turns into more of a cackle as I hear my mom speak up.

"Smile for the camera sweety!" She pulls out a camera from… where the hell did, she get the camera? Then takes a picture of Honoka's startled face as she has her arms flailing at her sides.

"Mom, no! You are not keeping that!" Honoka's tone conveys her horror perfectly as I thank the universe for setting the rule that all moms must love taking embarrassing pictures.

"Keeping what?"

My laughter suddenly stops as I hear the familiar voice. Looking up from Honoka and towards the door I see my dad who had been out on a mission for the last three weeks. His black hair had grown out which caused his bangs to grow out and match my own, which is to say they now come halfway down his forehead. His usually smooth face now has some facial hair, the most noticeable part of this being the small amount of scruff on his chin. Even his chunin flak jacket is a bit torn and noticeably dirty which just adds to how shitty he looks.

Despite said shittiness it doesn't stop Honoka and I from forgetting what we are doing and shouting "dad!" before almost tipping him over with our combined hugs.

"Woah you two are getting strong! I love you too!" He laughs and wraps his arms around us while mom approaches and eventually joins our group hug.

"Welcome home Daisuke, good job not dying on me." I look up and see mom nuzzling into his neck.

"There is nothing in this world that can keep me away from you three." His arms that are wrapped around Honoka and I move to the top of our heads. "So don't worry about me, your old man will always make it back." He looks down at us with a confident smile and while the logical part of me knows he's making a promise he can't keep so we're less worried about him, the illogical kid part of me can't help but put faith in him.

After another few seconds we all untangle ourselves from each other and dad goes to sit on the couch. Mom unfortunately stops my poor father who probably hasn't sat on something soft since he left.

"Oh no you don't mister! I'm not letting you dirty up my couch with all the dirt and grime you brought home!" My mom puts her hands on her hips as if doing that emphasizes her point.

"But Hikariiiii."

'Is dad… pouting?'

"No buts! You will get in the shower and wait for me to join you or else you'll hear about it later!"

With that my mom "storms" off to my parent's bedroom as I resist gagging at knowing what my parents are about to do.

"Well, you heard your mother! I'm off to take a shower!" Dad literally skips towards the bathroom with a face splitting smile on his face which suddenly leaves Honoka and I alone.

We look at each other shrug before sitting back on the couch. Sis goes back to reading her anatomy book while I just lay on the couch and absent mindedly look up at the ceiling.

"Remind me not to get in the shower for the next twelve hours." I say while not breaking eye contact with the ceiling that I can now confirm is made out of ceiling.

In response to what I said Honoka jerks her head towards me. "How did you find out about that sort of thing?"

I keep my cool and respond without missing a beat. "Bite me. How did you find out about that sort of thing?"

"...Bite me." She drops the conversation and turns her attention back to her book.

"Well since you asked so nicely…" I lunge at her with an open mouth.

"Hey! What are you doing! Get off me you little freak!"

'She knows she loves me.'

---

It's been a few hours since my time in the living room and at this point it's late at night which means I finally get to enjoy the privacy my own room provides. It's changed since my baby days, I have a small bed instead of a crib as I mentioned before, an old full body mirror my parents pulled from the attic and dusted off, and even my own kid sized desk that I'm currently sitting at. The rest of the room is pretty desolate, and the walls are plain and unpainted but hey, beggars can't be choosers.

What I do late at night aside from having an existential crisis is think about what I want to do with my life then write down ideas in my personal notebook I got for my last birthday (a fantastic replacement for my coloring book).

I ignore the possibilities of being a ninja usually and instead just focus on making a bucket list. For example, I want to become a master chef. Like, I want to have that Food Wars effect on anybody that tries my food… actually, maybe just girls, but you get the point.

'I'm only four yet I'm pretty sure I'm Straight like Other Me. Is it because of his memo- don't think about that.'

Another thing I want to do is try Ichiraku ramen. If it was good enough to get Naruto hooked on it as a kid, then it must be pretty damn good. Of course, I wrote down my desire to visit the place in English since I haven't had it mentioned to me yet.

As I'm scribbling more ideas down, I hear a knock on my door which causes me to close my notebook and say, "come in!"

After I say that I'm graced with my father's presence who finally shaved and cut his hair back to normal. He looks like he has something on his mind but instead of coming out with it he decides to make small talk. "Hey Katsu, I… see you're liking the notebook."

"Yup!" I give him a lopsided grin. "I use it to write down my plans for world domination!"

My dad gives a small laugh before engaging in banter with me. "I used to write down my plans for world domination as well when I was your age. The only problem is that I never had any henchmen thanks to your uncle Daichi not being the most… obedient."

"Ah you see dad." I wag a finger at him. "That's where you went wrong. Just because people don't swear their loyalty to you doesn't mean they aren't your henchmen. They're just henchmen that don't know it yet."

"Oh really, in that case does that mean the entire world is already serving under your banner?" Dad crosses his arms and leans against the doorframe.

"Father, you make a fantastic minion." I say bluntly which causes us both to laugh. Now that we've made our required small talk, dad brings up what he actually wants to talk about.

"Say Katsu, how would you feel about going for a walk with your old man? Just the two of us." His tone makes it sound like a casual walk but I'm smart enough to know that he probably just wants to go somewhere we won't be overheard.

"Sure, why not. It's not like I have anything better to do." I get up from my desk and walk towards dad with my hands locked behind my head. "Sooooo, where to?"

Dad smirks before beginning to walk towards the front door. "That's a surprise, just follow me."

---

"So dad, unless I'm reading you incorrectly, you have something you want to talk about, right?" I once again find myself alone with my father late at night walking down the streets of Konohagakure. Since spring is still new it gets a bit chilly at nighttime and since I only have a T-shirt and shorts on, I find myself wanting to go home.

Is what I would say but once again Konoha is beautiful at night. As we enter the heart of the village the bright lights of diners and shops still open grace my eyes. When I was a baby in my father's arms, I only got to see the bright lights and nothing else but now with my matured eyes I can appreciate how busy such a large village still is late at night.

The streets aren't as crowded as they would be during the day but there are still plenty of people. I can see lovers out on a late-night stroll and civilian teenagers out having… maybe too much fun.

'Oi! Watch where you're going idiot you almost bumped into me!'

"You really are a smart kid, you know that?" Oh right, I was talking to dad. "I swear there's something with this village producing "super toddlers," as your sister would put it."

I let out a snort. I know better than dad probably does about the Leaf's penchant for producing prodigies. Dad doesn't know that Kakashi is about to graduate from the academy at only five years old and that Itachi is going to become an S rank by the time he's thirteen.

Though thinking about those two makes me feel a bit sick so I decide to temper my father's expectations. "Don't mistake my having a more vast vocabulary and slightly more awareness compared to the kids my age as me being some sort of genius. I'm just a kid with good parents is all." I give my dad a kind smile and he smiles right back.

I can't blame him for thinking I might be like one of the people I spoke of though. Ever since I met Riku and my big sister started reading to me, I've decided to stop hiding my true personality. Mostly because I want to feel comfortable around my own family and slightly because not being able to fully communicate is a pain.

"I wouldn't count yourself out just yet. At the very least you're a genius at being humble." He ruffles my hair which causes me to fix my hair while glaring at him once he's done.

We walk in silence for a little bit until dad stops at a stall that seems to be selling…

'That's the smell of hot chocolate!'

I'm pulling from Other Me's memories since I myself have never had hot chocolate. The smell of it has me almost shaking with excitement though all the same as I hear my dad order two cups of hot chocolate. I see the clerk pour the already made hot chocolate from a metal container into two paper cups which he promptly puts plastic lids on before handing dad two straws.

He hands me a straw and (did he just pocket hi- I'm not going to question it) after that we're off.

"Don't sip just yet Katsu. It'll taste better if you drink once we've arrived."

I pout at him so that he knows of my displeasure and continue walking with him. "In that case can we walk faster? I wanna try it!"

Dad (rudely!) rolls his eyes at me before giving me a mischievous smirk that probably looks like the ones I give other people. "Well, if you want to go faster then there is a way for us to do it, you might not like it though."

'Oh no he's going to body flicker, isn't he? You know what? It's not so bad when I brace myself so why not.'

"As long as I get to drink hot chocolate sooner, I don't care what the faster way is."

Dad's smirk turns into a smile at hearing my confident declaration. "Alright then, brace yourself!" With that dad grabs me by the shoulder and I find myself zooming through Konoha.

---

Eventually I find myself graced with a familiar beautiful sight. For the second time in my life dad has taken me to the top of the Hokage monument and this time I can truly appreciate the view.

The lights of the village rebel against the natural order of nighttime and illuminate everything the light can see. The small lights kind of remind me of little fireflies dancing across the night sky. I can see the walls of the village and appreciate just how huge they are, and I can see the Hokage mansion that I can tell still has all its lights on.

"Woah." I say intelligently as I look down at the village.

"Woah indeed, I brought you up here once as a baby and you seemed to appreciate it about as much as you do now." Dad stands next to me with his hands on his hips and a smile on his face. "It's my favorite spot in the entire village even if it's a bit cold this time of year."

As if on cue a small breeze blows through us, and I feel my bangs shift to my right. "I can see why it is. I think it might be my favorite spot as well now."

"Good, because it was my dad's favorite spot before it was mine. I'm glad I can continue the Nishida family tradition. Now then, take a seat and drink up your reward for not complaining about being body flickered."

Both my dad and I sit with our feet dangling off the cliff and I finally take a sip of the chocolate goodness.

'It burns… so good.'

"So, I guess I should finally talk about that thing you so smartly ascertained I want to talk about." Dad takes a sip of his own hot chocolate and I see his expression shift into a more somber one.

"Sure dad just… take your time."

'Come to think of it, the last time he brought me up here wasn't exactly for the most fun reason.'

"Thanks for being so understanding, son. I'll admit, this is kinda a hard topic for me." Dad rubs the back of his head. "So Katsu, have you decided if you want to become a shinobi yet?"

'Oh no, I didn't expect to be having this conversation anytime soon.'

Not letting my panic show I turn to face my dad. "I… don't know. I know that it's cowardly of me but… I don't want to die… and I'm not sure if I'm even cut out for the whole shinobi business."

Dad gives an understanding nod and rests a hand on my shoulder. "Not wanting to risk death doesn't make you a coward, it makes you smart. If you told me that you didn't want to be a ninja for that reason alone then I would more than accept that. In the first place, I had hoped that none of my kids would want to become ninja but… Honoka dashed those hopes pretty quickly."

Dad takes his hands off my shoulder and looks down at his lap. "I try to hide it, but I'm worried about her, I mean, what father wouldn't be worried about his daughter possibly fighting in a war." He lets out a sigh and looks at me. "That goes for you as well. If both of you become ninja, then that'll be two of my children that have me constantly worried every day."

I give a "mmm" of acknowledgement and sip my hot chocolate. "We're worried about you every day too ya know. Every time you go out on a mission we're left wondering if you're going to come back or not." I simply gaze out at the village as I speak an honest truth to my dad. I'm not old enough to not have a tragic backstory. I don't want to be having sad flashbacks a decade from now that are focused on how my dad never came back.

"I guess you have a point there but, on that topic," dad shifts uncomfortably, "I will definitely come back from every mission but on the off chance that I don't I need you to promise me something." Dad and I lock eyes. "Please, whatever happens, protect Honoka, ok? Even if you don't decide to become a shinobi, please just… look out for her."

'This should be a good time to ask…'

"Hey uh, dad." My voice comes out more unsure than I wanted it to, so I take a deep breath then continue. "I have no problem with doing what you're asking but, why me? Have you asked Honoka to protect me before and if not, why? She's older and stronger than me so… I don't get it. Is it because she's a girl?"

It had been on my mind ever since the first time he brought me up here. I already have an idea as to why he's putting his faith in me over Honoka, but I want to hear it from the man himself.

"What? No, nothing like that. If I did have those sorts of thoughts, then you would have never been born." He suddenly pauses and hesitates to speak. We sit there in silence and drink our hot chocolate for three minutes before he finally speaks up again.

"Twelve years ago, you had an aunty by the name of Kanna Nishida. She was three years younger than Daichi and I but despite all that we all graduated at the same time." Dad's eyes glaze over as he seemingly gets lost in his memories. "She was a genius blessed with high chakra reserves, a generational affinity for lightning release, and an intellect that rivaled even the likes of Orochimaru. I practically grew up in her shadow." The last part comes out as nearly a whisper.

"What happened to her, dad?" I ask gently as I lean against my dad's shoulder to hopefully serve as some sort of emotional support. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel guilty about forcing him to remember something this painful… in fact. "Actually, you don't have to answer if you don't want to, I get the jist."

"No no, you deserve to know." Dad still doesn't face me again and instead chooses to keep looking out at the village. "One day, shortly after Kanna turned fifteen, she came up with the bright idea of trying to reverse engineer the lightning armor that the Raikage use. She asked me to watch over her just in case something went wrong, which at the time I doubted was possible. I wholeheartedly and foolishly believed that my sister could do anything she put her mind to, so I saw watching over her as something tedious. After a couple hours of watching her try the body enhancement portion of the technique and not even get close I offered to get us both some food."

'I think I see where this is going.'

"She accepted my offer since it was well after noon and neither of us had eaten breakfast yet. Her last words to me or anyone for that matter was "pick me up something from Yakiniku." Since… by the time I got back with the food she was… well, dead. I don't know how she killed herself, but it wasn't pretty, her spinal fluid was leaking out through her ears and… I won't describe the rest, sorry."

The image that I already had in my head was already enough to make me feel nauseous. Accompanying the nausea wasn't sadness about an aunty I never met but a sense of crippling fear. Other Me had read about many protagonists in a similar situation as me experimenting with their powers while ignoring the warnings but everything worked out well for them. For my aunty however, she wasn't protected by "plot armor" or anything of the sort. She died due to her recklessness and what makes me feel worse is that… it could have been me if I didn't hear this.

Outwardly I respond by rubbing my dad's back. "You blamed yourself, didn't you?"

He snorts at that and nods his head. "I still do, if I had been there, if I hadn't had so much blind faith in her, if I had cautioned her against trying to learn such a dangerous technique without proper supervision. Then I'd still have a sister and Konoha would have another S rank." The best way to describe his voice would be simply… hollow."

"You couldn't have known that would happen dad. Anybody that condemns you for that sort of thing is ju-"

"Just what!?" Dad snaps which causes me to suddenly recoil. I had never heard dad raise his voice up until this moment so you can understand why I find myself a bit scared. "Sorry Katsu, I didn't mean to startle you." Good, he's back to normal. "It's just that… nobody blamed me. Not even Daichi, but I wish they had. I let her die, that's a fact, and I will carry that fact with me for the rest of my life. Which is why I vowed that I'd never quit being a shinobi until I became S rank, filling the shoes meant for Kanna is the least I can do."

"I'm guessing this is why you want me to look out for Honoka, to right your wrong?" I tilt my head curiously even though I know my deduction is most likely correct.

"You could say that. Honoka reminds me a lot of Kanna, she has her face and some of her intellect. Hell, she might even surpass me one day though I'm not sure if that speaks more for her strengths or my weaknesses." Dad leans back on his hands and looks up at the sky. "Despite all my best efforts I never became anything but a damn good chunin. I guess it's what I get for being born average." The following chuckle is so self-deprecating I almost want to hit him.

"Dad." I say barely containing my anger. "One, never use our "average" bloodline as an excuse ever again." I shoot him a glare. "Two, Kanna and Honoka are not the same. If you weren't busy making comparisons, then you would see that big sis is just a smart girl that wants to help people!" I stand up and may myself around eye level with my wide-eyed father. "Never and I mean never say bullshit like that again!"

"Katsuo I-"

"Besides, your whole way of thinking is flawed. If you're not good enough to become anything better than a chunin then you should entrust your goal to your kids! Isn't that the point in having us in the first place?!

"Katsuo what are y-"

"What I'm saying is that instead of being so worried, how about you train Honoka to be able to protect herself and become S rank for you." I then point my thumb towards myself. "And if she still fails then I'll just do both your jobs at once. I'll protect Honoka which I was going to do anyway for your information, and I'll become an S rank so that your sorry ass can finally retire."

This entire conversation has put things in perspective for me. If I want to protect the people closest to me then there is only one path I can go down: the path of the shinobi.

"Katsuo… you're not allowed to curse until you've become a ninja."

"What does that have to do with an- mmmph"

Suddenly I find myself pulled into a tight hug by my dad. "Thank you son, I mean that." After he lets me go, he stands up with a refreshed look on your face.

"Don't mention it pops, someone had to set your head straight."

'I definitely made the right decision when I decided to start communicating normally.'

"So then, you're actually going to do it, huh? While I'm proud that you're finally done hesitating I must ask, are you sure you want to risk your life? Only trauma and a sliver of glory awaits down the path of the shinobi."

"Eh, if I didn't become a ninja then I'd be too worried about my family suddenly dying in the field when I could have done something about it to live a decent life anyways. A better question is if you're fine with your baby boy going out and getting traumatized for a living."

Dad's next words are absolutely dripping with confidence. "Not at all! There's no way any father would be completely fine with his son or daughter choosing such a reckless profession." He lets out a sigh. "But, it's like you said. If I can spend time being worried then I can spend time making sure you two will be safe whether you're home or not."

"See? Now you get it." There's nothing else I have to say so upon taking one more good look at the view from the Hokage monument I decide it's time to leave. "So, I believe we've said everything that needs to be said, you ready to get down from here?

"Yeah, but just one more thing." He puts a hand on my shoulder and kneels down to my level. "Rather you make good on your promises or not, just remember." He puts his forehead on my own.

"I will always be proud of you."

---

"Are you meditating or taking a nap? Seriously, I've never seen a kid your age take so long to tap into their own chakra!" My mom says those words to my now frustrated bordering on miserable self.

It's been two weeks since I decided to become a ninja and I've been trying to get serious. After all, the decision to become a ninja has always meant simultaneously making the decision to try to save everyone I can. So, before I officially make my academy debut a month from now, I want to tap into my chakra and start on the basics of chakra control. The key word there being want.

Rather it be due to Other Me's memories of living a life where chakra didn't exist or my own personal lack of talent, I haven't been able to even begin molding chakra. From what mom told me, on average it takes kids around my age anywhere between an hour to three days under proper instruction to become able to manipulate their own chakra.

Unfortunately, as I said, it's been two weeks for me.

"I promise that I'm trying my best, I just can't feel anything!" Right now, mom and I are outside in our backyard doing the same things we've been doing for the past two weeks. For me that means meditating and trying to open some sort of third eye and for my mom that means serving as an (at this point) unwilling coach.

Mother gets up from the porch table and walks over to me. "I know you're trying your best, Katsu." She begins softly. "But it's just… I believe in you so…"

Mom isn't very good at this sort of thing, but I love her this way. "So, you expect more out of me, I understand."

We look at each other awkwardly then mom suddenly clears her throat.

"Maybe going over it again could help?"

"I don't have a better idea." I say simply.

I close my eyes as I hear mom begin pacing around me only to have my attempt at trying to focus ruined by one of my mom's terrible impressions.

"To unlock one's chakra requi-"

I burst out laughing and barely manage to get out "mom, your old man voice is horrible," which causes my mom to chuckle.

'I really do have the best mom in the world.'

"Anyways, to unlock your chakra you have to close out the rest of the world and focus on just yourself. Like I said before, your chakra is a combination of your own spiritual and physical energy which is naturally mixed within your body. You expend physical energy whenever you punch, kick, or run that mouth of yours."

I roll my eyes.

"However, spiritual energy is tricky. Even a normal civilian can slightly increase their spiritual energy just by going through life but the ability to control that energy and exert it with their physical energy is the mark of a ninja."

'Seriously, what normal four-year-old can actually follow along with this explanation… Itachi you monster.'

"So, if you want to be a shinobi your first step is to feel how your spiritual and physical energy work together then take control of that process for the first time. Like uh… taking your first controlled breath."

'Easier said than done, for me it's been like trying to move a nonexistent limb.'

I give mom a nod then re-close my eyes. Clear my thoughts? Check. Focus on myself? Check. Find my chakra?

'I know there's nothing wrong with my chakra so why have I been stuck sitting here doing my best Rock Lee impression! Dammit Katsuo, you're losing focus again… well since I've already messed up my concentration, I should probably go back over what mom said.'

I sit there for a minute and ponder. Chakra is physical and spiritual energy mixed together. I'm already good at using physical energy, obviously, but spiritual energy is just so confusing.

'Slightly increase their spiritual energy by going through life… by going through life… waaaaait.'

I know that you can increase your chakra capacity by using lots of your own chakra frequently. So, if spiritual energy is gained by going through life, then… is it also somehow expended as well? Come to think of it, it's normal for someone to feel drained by doing something hard even if it's not that bad physically.

'Focus… focus on what makes you Katsuo Nishida.'

From the time I was born and leading up until now. Mom, dad, Honoka, Riku, every person I've met. They've all played a part in molding who I am now… who I want to become!

'Suck it Other Me, I'm not your tool! I am…!'

"Katsu, you did it!" Upon hearing my mother in front of me I open my eyes.

"Eh? I guess I did."

My lack of excitement surprises even me considering how long I was at it.

'I don't know, it just feels sorta anticlimactic. The next moment my chakra was just… there. It's hard to describe but perhaps this is akin to the feeling of finding out you can wiggle your ears or maybe just finding out you have a sixth finger. Can't complain though, mission accomplished. Still, I can't help but feel like something's missing.'

Before I can ponder such a thought my mom picks me up from my seated position (mom strength!) and hugs me.

"I am so proud of you Katsu." I can hear nothing but said pride mixed with large amounts of affection in her voice.

"I'm proud of me too." I sigh into my mother's shoulder. "Even though it took me way longer than it should have. Sorry fo-"

Mom cuts me off by quickly holding me out in front of her by my hips which makes me keenly aware of my legs dangling in the air.

"You didn't waste my time, Katsuo. Seriously, I'm your mother, it's my job to watch over you."

"Yeah bu-"

"And I want to be there for your firsts. First words, first steps, first everything! At this rate I'm worried that you'll be too afraid to ask me for help by the time you turn ten!"

'Ah, I'm being scolded… damn.'

I must have started pouting subconsciously because mom's tone and expression softens.

"I want to be there for you Katsu, even if you don't need ol mom around since you're so smart, ya read?"

"I read…"

My mom grins and puts me on my feet.

"Good! Now what do you want for lunch!"

"Tomato soup and crackers!" I can literally feel my eyes light up at the idea of lunch.

'Who knew unlocking your chakra could work up an appetite, I'm starving.'

"Your wish is my command!" My mom proudly puts her hand on her hips as a big grin forms on her face (the mom pose, as I've dubbed it.)

My mom's smile proves to be infectious as I find myself smiling with her as I walk back into the house.

'This marks my first step. My first step on the path of becoming a ninja… a murderer. All for the sake of changing a happy ending to what I think it should be.'

My smile drops.

---

'Only three weeks before my first day at the academy, I have to hurry up and make up my mind.'

I lay there on my bed and stomach and tap a pencil against my forehead as I look down at my notebook. I had been avoiding the problem since I had been born, since going down this train of thought would mean admitting to myself that one way or the other I would become a shinobi. However, now that I've gotten over my hesitation, I have to figure out something so simple yet so complicated.

'How the FUCK am I supposed to get strong enough to do ANYTHING.'

I didn't luck into God genetics, I don't think I'm lucky enough to have a random kekkei genkai, and I'm not a "gamer" so I don't have a system to rely on. I have no crutch at all.

'For the last time, just focus on what you can actually achieve.'

The path to S rank is steep and treacherous and there's only a few ways to get there. The usual way is to win the genetic lottery. Be born into a good clan, be born with high chakra reserves, or do both and maybe end up with the eyes of a literal alien race on the side. Or better yet, be so absurdly lucky that you're born with an elemental kekkei genkai without any family history to serve as a warning.

'If I start thinking of Mei Terumi or Onoki I might break my window.'

Unfortunately, as I said before, I'm not genetically lucky. So, onto the second way, be really really REALLY smart. Minato didn't have a clan and he was so ingenious that even without what was (I guess… is) likely unnaturally high chakra reserves for a civilian, he probably still would have made S rank one way or the other.

'Am I a genius? I don't feel like a genius.'

So that's out the cards as well. Which leaves me with my only option, path three.

'Become so good at one thing that I become S rank almost off that alone. It's the only thing that I can do since I refuse to go the Kakuzu or Kabuto route.'

I turn onto my back and sigh as I get back to the same issue that I've been thinking about for the past hour. There's plenty of options, but then, that's the problem. If I were to say, commit to taijutsu and later down the line realize that I can never get to even Lee's level, then… that's it. I can kiss S rank or even changing small things about canon goodbye.

'Medical ninjutsu is an option. Other Me read about plenty of people that went that route. I guess there's fuinjutsu as well if I want to think that way. Genjutsu is stupid unless I have Uchiha blood in me that I don't know about… Kenjutsu would require me to be some sort of sword genius… and senjutsu would require high chakra reserves and a crazy amount of luck…'

I write down all my choices and cross out the latter three options. Not that I won't dabble in any of them, in fact, kenjutsu will likely be something that I pursue because if I'm gonna fight someone, I want an adequately sized pointy stick.

'Becoming an S rank off of my ninjutsu skills is unlikely but…'

"Hmmmmm, now that's an idea."

If you had to describe a ninja to someone who doesn't know what a ninja is, how would you go about it? Well obviously, he's sneaky and maybe a little edgy, but aside from that he's fast.

'Become so good at one thing that I become S rank almost off that alone… there's one guy that did just that.'

Shisui Uchiha, he became so good at body flicker that he became known as the "teleporter."

'If I remember correctly, his sharingan helped him with the high speeds. Afterimages might be out the cards for a "normal shinobi" but that's fine by me. The body flicker is a D rank jutsu that even the most untalented ninja can easily learn and master, if I can just take it to its limit…'

At the very least, I might find some other answer to becoming S rank along the way. Besides, I don't want to die. Being the master of a jutsu meant for escape and fast travel should help with that. So, I write down body flicker in English and circle it.

'That's enough for tonight.'

I get up and put my notebook away before returning to my bed.

'Three weeks until I become a soldier in training and I'm only four years old. This world is so ridiculous that I almost want to laugh.'

I turn on my side and close my eyes.

'I'll do it. I'll save everyone I can. I'll make the most out of this stupid burden.'

I've made up my mind, yet I can't quite seem to stop myself from shaking whenever I think about the future.

"Dammit, I'm so pathetic. I'm so fucking scared."

---

Man At War

Daisuke Nishida leaps through the trees at a fast yet controlled pace. He feels the sun beaming down on his face, the culprit of why sweat keeps accumulating behind his forehead protector. If he were a less disciplined shinobi, he would be cursing the heat under his breath but due to his current circumstances and will to live he resists the urge.

'With my luck the Sand has a guy that can pick up small sounds from kilometers away.'

The Sand village, the latest group of bastards trying to keep him from going home to his family. About a month ago he was deployed to the Land of Rivers, the largest of the two countries that share a border with both the Land of Wind and Land of Fire (The other one being the Land of Rain and don't even get him started on that death trap) and thus the primary battleground of the Leaf versus Sand part of the Second Great Shinobi War.

Daisuke would be lying if he said he didn't feel bad for the smaller countries and minor villages within them. One could make the argument that they have suffered the most during this cursed war since their lands have been where most conflicts have taken place. Families have been torn apart, landscapes have been changed forever, and a countless number of homes have been lost as a consequence of the major villages being forced to go through these poor small countries to get to the people they actually want to kill.

'If you feel so bad then focus, Daisuke. This battle could really change things for these people.'

After a successful string of won battles that began around two weeks before Daisuke set foot in this formerly beautiful country, the Leaf have begun to make a push. The current lines are now near the outskirts of the Land of Rivers approaching the borders of the Land of Wind. Daisuke can even see this visually, while a month ago he fought mostly in valleys and thick forests that left little room for the sun, he now finds himself having to leap a bit farther to get to the next tree and pay a little bit more attention as to not embarrass himself by slipping off skinnier branches. He can even see the hints of the vast desert that lies ahead represented by the bits of sand that share a space with the grass.

'Which means there's less cover, which makes my job that much harder.'

Hours ago, he was tasked along with five others to circle around the edges of the battlefield without being caught, infiltrate the enemy camp, and hopefully find themselves high profile targets (ideally one of the enemy's strategists too valuable to leave the backlines) to swiftly send to the afterlife. These tactics almost never bear any fruit since the enemy are not only not idiots, but also ninja that would think of the same basic tactic. Yet, it is a necessity to try because if they don't do it then their enemy's attempts at doing the same will go unchecked which would be the same as practically gift wrapping the battle to the enemy.

It's part of the reason why there are six chunin on this mission, including himself. Usually, three is the ideal number for a mission like this but in these circumstances six ninja are necessary to increase the odds of both success and more importantly in Daisuke's mind, survival. Another reason why the large number is acceptable is that all six of them are stealth specialists (himself being the best if his pride is to be believed), they can afford to have extra ninja for the operation since in this case their odds of pulling it off don't go down too drastically.

Despite the low odds of success Daisuke prefers this over being on the frontlines. Winning this battle means that the Leaf will be firmly entrenched near the Land of Wind's borders and if they kill enough of the sand infected cockroaches then they may even be able to set up a fortified outpost before they can put together a respectable force. The Sand, knowing this, has sent their village's greatest weapon and most powerful protector besides the Kazekage to stop their bleeding on this front.

The Shukaku.

Normally this would be a death sentence, but their General had already expected such a desperate move and decided to take part in this battle personally. Said general in Daisuke's opinion is more of a monster than the One Tail will ever be. After all, anyone that has seen Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of the Leaf, in combat knows that he is a walking, talking, incarnation of violent death.

'And I want to be just like him…'

He doesn't know if Sakumo has engaged the Jinchuriki yet. He's sure he would know if the Shukaku was released but it could be that she has yet to transform. According to the Bingo book, Kokoro Kazekage is enough of a force on her own to be considered S rank without using anything but her clan's kekkei genkai having earned the moniker "Sandtrap."

Nudge. "Your bad habit will get you killed one day." Kaori whispers yet another horrible prophecy before leaving Daisuke's personal space.

Yeah, Kaori is also here. He's known her since they were kids so despite her cold exterior, he's gotten to know her better than anyone else in the world. In fact, he's really the only person she has, she doesn't have any parents, siblings, or friends aside from him despite the two of them being in their early thirties. She used to have another friend and a sensei, but they died, and letting his mind drift to that subject will make that "one day his bad habit gets him killed" that Kaori mentioned be today. Anyways, it is because he knows Kaori so well that he knows that her breaking formation to get him out of his own head is one of her more expressive ways of showing affection. In return he mouths a "thank you" to her which causes the brown-haired girl to give him a (rather awkward) thumbs up.

'Did she practice that in the mirror?'

He smiles at the thought of his longtime friend taking thirty years to learn how to give a thumbs up before focusing on the route ahead.

"Three signatures up ahead, adjust course to the right."

Kaneki Mori, their squad's active commander and sensor, gives the order for them to adjust their path. They do so, making sure not to mess up their formation as they go. Said formation consists of Kaneki at the front, a twenty-four year old male kenjutsu specialist that simply goes by "Kei" behind him, followed by two ninjutsu specialists, a teenage boy named Niko and Kaori right behind them, then himself as the best user of bukijutsu in the squad, then finally a frail Uchiha girl that looks like she's in her early twenties named Chizue who's best contribution to combat is her ability to use fire release effectively at a long distance. Poor girl never even inherited her clan's kekkei genkai though she doesn't seem bothered by it.

"Shit." Oh no, Kaneki hasn't cursed in the two weeks he's known him.

"What is it, captain?" Kei asks with some worry in his voice.

"I think they also have a sensor and… yeah, all three of them are Jonin."

"What level of Jonin are we talking here?" asks Niko. A good question, if they're dealing with even one elite Jonin then there's no way they're making it out of this alive.

"Around B rank by their chakra reserves, I don't think we're shaking them, stop and prepare an ambush!"

Daisuke breathes a sigh of relief but not getting the worst news doesn't mean the news isn't bad. For starters, all six of them have been suppressing their chakra, at an elite level at that, whatever sensor they have on their team must be extremely talented. On top of that, they're Jonin who weren't suppressing their chakra at all judging by how Kaneki was able to pick them up. The tradeoff for not suppressing your chakra is that you get to move at full speed, and it makes sensing easier since you're not suppressing your chakra while also spreading some of it out over your range. What that tells Daisuke is that these three are what have been called "cleaners." Shinobi that brutally murder any stragglers around the battlefield and if they can, wreak havoc on the enemy's backlines. Not take-out high-profile targets, no, wreak havoc as in indiscriminately murder anyone you see before using your remaining chakra to escape.

'Our natural enemy.'

On top of that, three combat oriented Jonin trump six non-combat oriented Chunin. They have other specialties of course but as said, there's not a single ninja on this squad whose best skill isn't stealth. In other words,…

'The odds of me making it home are low.'

As the squad hastily set up traps in the reported "ninety-five seconds" they have Daisuke spares a glance at Kaori who gives him a look as lacking in emotion as usual.

"You're not going to die, Daisuke."

"Neither are you."

"...We'll see."

In the end, they set five traps, impressive yet mediocre work for a squad of chunin as large as this one. The enemy knows they're walking into an ambush, hiding and suppressing their chakra as much as they're all capable of won't do much good but they do it anyway to hopefully get even the smallest of edges. Then, they wait, and as they do so they hope the enemy is overconfident enough to underestimate them.

It wasn't long before the three Jonin arrived, they intelligently jumped down to ground level as to not allow their hidden opponents to slit their throats within the trees. No, if they wanted their necks then they would have to jump down and deal with them in direct combat, either that or reveal their locations to their obviously stronger opponents via a projectile or jutsu of some kind. The traps are, of course, meant to get them out of this dilemma.

Daisuke analyzes the three Jonin from his hiding place. Builds, weaponry, and other general equipment can be used to ascertain what type of fighters he's dealing with. The Jonin team is all male and wear the unique Sunagakure headwear that serves to hide their hair color and resist the heat.

Just by his demeanor, Daisuke can tell that the taller man standing at the upper point of the triangle formation they're in is the leader. Judging by his lanky appearance that contrasts the way he carries himself Daisuke pegs him as a Ninjutsu specialist and a damn skilled one at that. The other two seem less impressive to Daisuke but still stronger than him individually. They're bother fairer skinned than their taller leader though their builds are different. The one to the leader's right has a balanced build and a large fan on his back that his right-hand hovers above, ready to swing at a moment's notice. Another ninjutsu specialist, though one heavily focused on using those demonic fans that Suna ninja have a fetish for. The other one is short and stout, the brute. He likely focuses primarily on taijutsu and defensive jutsu as to be a worthy shield for a squad meant to do as much damage as quickly as possible like this one.

'Compared to what we have… this isn't looking good.'

Daisuke's analytical skills aren't a talent but a necessary skill he picked up in order to survive this long. He wouldn't call it special but like his stealth he takes pride in assuming that his specs are higher in the area compared to the average chunin.

He's brought out of such thoughts by the Suna nin beginning to signal to each other rather than risk speaking. They stay in their triangle formation standing back-to-back with one eye on their hand sign conversation and the other focused on what's in front of them. Daisuke narrows his eyes as he pays attention to the signs. Over the course of the war, he has worked to become at least semi fluent in the ever-changing code languages of the other shinobi villages and though it's been slow, he has started to get the jist of the current iteration of Suna's code.

"Wind release incoming, backed by water release from the tall one if you try something."

Daisuke mutters as quietly as possible to the person hiding next to him. Chizue crouches down next to him in the thickly leaved tree they're high up in. Like Daisuke, Chizue suppresses her chakra to the point that she can't even use jutsu in order to avoid detection from their sensor who Daisuke annoyingly can't seem to identify.

'So that's what they're going with, a large-scale wind release jutsu to bring us out into the open followed likely by a frontal assault using their superior skill and power. They're trying to get this over with quickly, their objective may be more time sensitive than we expected, though that doesn't matter to us right now…'

Shortly after Chizue gives him a nod to say that she heard him, Daisuke looks across from him at another tree that holds Kaneki and Kaori. The whole squad knows each other's skill set down to Kei being good at juggling (you learn these things about your teammates when you really don't want to die) so Kaneki knows to signal to Daisuke "use the flash bomb, or no?" Daisuke for his part holds up a hand to tell him to wait while simultaneously reaching into his pouch and whispering under his breath to Chizue "use fire as a counter, I'll handle the rest." Chizue doesn't question him and weaves hand signs just as the Suna Shinobi with the fan prepares to release their jutsu. Daisuke for his part simply pulls out a lone shuriken and closes his eyes.

'This is so stupid.'

Eventually he'll get himself killed by being greedy like this on the field of battle but then, on the off chance he doesn't die the only other option is eventually making Jonin, right?

'Consequences of being a grown man with the ambition of a child.'

It only takes a moment for fire release chakra to surround shuriken and light it on fire. Said fire however does not affect Daisuke as it's his own chakra creating the flame. Fire chakra flow is difficult, so difficult in fact that the Cloud has the most recent master of the art even though the Leaf birth a lot more ninja with fire release. It takes talent, talent that Daisuke doesn't have, but as a substitute he had time and effort. Though all that time and effort was only good for allowing him, while focusing on nothing else, to pour a little bit of fire chakra into a shuriken.

'Though for this, it should be enough.'

He doesn't blink for he will need perfect timing and missing a moment due to an inconvenient biological limitation could mean the death of both himself and his squad. A sharingan would be perfect for this but without one all Daisuke can rely on is skill and experience to understand when to throw his shuriken.

'Now.'

The Suna nin rears back his fan then his arms move (the shuriken is thrown with as much force as Daisuke can muster while maintaining its accuracy. The shuriken is aimed not at the Wind Style Specialist but at the taller shinobi's hands which are already clasped together in preparation for water release) upward as he swings his fan at the branches above.

'Wind Style: Wind Scythe Jutsu!'

'Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!'

A lot of things happen at once. Daisuke's shuriken flies through the air so quickly it makes a noise that sounds like something between a zipper being pulled up and a bird singing. The fire release chakra and the strength that it was thrown at not only protects it from the wind but enhances the flames surrounding the shuriken, making the projectile look like a small meteor that promises pain to any unfortunate soul in its way. With its path unchanged thanks to its chakra protection, it is able to make its way towards the tall shinobi who…

'Shit, he noticed in time.'

The Jonin takes a small hop back to evade the shuriken without releasing his seal showcasing skills extraordinary even for a ninja. Just as he prepares to use his water jutsu on the incoming large fireball that threatens to swallow up his comrades jutsu he finds himself not looking at the fireball, but at what he initially determines to be the literal sun.

"Everyone, cover your eyes!"

Daisuke does so as the flash bomb explodes. As he counts to three, he reviews in his head what the hell just happened.

'He didn't have any faith that my idea would work on its own, so he cut the flash bomb down just before Chizue used her technique. Since the enemy was so focused on my shuriken, they didn't notice the small bomb falling ahead of the fireball. I can't help but feel bitter but… I owe you my life Kaneki.'

With that the enemy Jonin loses all concentration on his jutsu which causes him to curse and give the order to "scatter!" The enemy jumps to the side blindly to get away from the fireball which causes Kaneki to smirk viciously and make a half seal. It was Kaori who predicted that something like this could be the outcome of the initial exchange so two out of the five traps were bundles of explosive tags placed in the paths that the enemy would likely retreat to if they had to escape a jutsu. Kaneki in this moment, activates both simultaneously.

Twin explosions come into the world with a boom and as this occurs Daisuke and his team change positions. There aren't many hiding places so they don't move far but just moving a few trees over can make all the distance. A tempting thought forms in Daisuke's head, they could take this chance and escape this fight by continuing towards the enemy's backlines but… no. Their rushed action upon getting here once again hints at an important objective. There's a chance that instead of pursuing them and falling into another ambush, they would go on ahead and do whatever they need to do. It seems the rest of the team has a similar thought process because not once does the prospect of retreat get brought up. Instead, they peer down at the smoke clouds and wait for fate's verdict.

The fan user jumped to his left and ended up right next to the exploding tags placed behind the tree relative to his position… unlucky. The man died in the explosion as evidenced by his corpse being clearly visible to them all.

'Multiple layers of skin and limbs gone, not detecting any foreign chakra in my system… kill confirmed.'

As for the other two, the taller man landed in a similar way to his fan buddy, but he noticed the exploding tags and must have had a substitution prepped as the splinters of a log flew out the smoke from where he was originally. The short and stout man only got partially caught by the explosion. The heat singed some of the right side of his body, but the large burn injury is more superficial than anywhere close to fatal.

'So, they will be our opponents…'

Sneak attacks via projectiles are unlikely to work since they're Jonin and with their sensor it should be assumed that they know their exact number. Not only that but there's no way of knowing whether the fan user was the sensor or not. So instead of being naive and getting too cocky with their strategy the entire squad decides at once that it's time for an all-out attack before they can fully recover.

'Don't hesitate, Daisuke.'

Normally, his admirable skills in bukijutsu would see Daisuke hanging back to support the more close combat-oriented fighters but, and it cannot be stated enough, these are Jonin they're up against. Elite ninja that aren't just foot soldiers, but valuable assets just by themselves. They make up the smallest percentage of a village's fighting force for a reason and that reason is that it is damn hard to become a Jonin, so much so that despite all his efforts he still hasn't reached the rank in fifteen years.

So, it wasn't a surprise when Kaneki requested that when they inevitably end up in close quarters combat that he assists Kei with his fight. Which brings him to now, descending from the trees along with Kei on the shorter of the two surviving Jonin that Daisuke still assumes to be primarily a taijutsu practitioner. His assumption is proven correct when Kei rushes in with his Katana, backed by himself who throws a shuriken at the Jonin before unsheathing the tanto on his back. The Jonin easily sidesteps the shuriken like he's done it a thousand times (probably has) before letting out a "tsk" as he realizes he won't have time to weave a hand sign due to the time he spent dodging before taking up a defensive stance, legs wide, right arm held out, left arm protecting most vitals.

'Reminds me of a Hidden Stone nin.'

For this first exchange, Daisuke plans to deduce if Kei needs his help in close quarters to survive or if he would be more useful being a pest and providing range support.

Kei's Katana comes down only for the Jonin to put palm to flat and push the sword away. Daisuke is next, using a diagonal downward slash from the Jonin's right to try to cut open his stomach. The Jonin for his part sees the slash coming and is already jumping back to evade the strike. The chunin press the advantage and while their coordination isn't perfect, it's seemingly enough to keep the Jonin on the back foot.

Horizontal slash with the Katana! Forced downwards with a palm.

Upwards diagonal slash with the tanto! Forced to the side with a palm.

Quicken the pace!

Slash! Block.

Slash! Block.

Switch Sides!

Slash! Duck.

Slash! Sidestep.

'He's disciplined. He's staying patient and analyzing our fighting styles. We'll lose at this rate!'

"Move!"

Daisuke hears his long-time teammate's order, and he immediately leaps away along with Kei. The gift and the curse of fighting alongside Kaori is that when she tells you to "move," it's a courtesy, the jutsu is coming rather you're still there or not.

'Lightning Style: Feast of Lightning!'

Multiple bolts of lightning originating from the lower tree branch that Kaori is perched on begin a deadly race towards the Suna nin as if they're competing with each other on which of them can end the man's life first. Kaori has expertly spread out the bolts as well, making the man's best move be to defend himself with a jutsu.

'Kaori, you beautifully demented woman, you know me way too well.'

It's the same situation as before but this time the circumstances are much more ideal. The man noticed Kaori's presence early in the fight and thus was prepared to weave hand signs to save himself, however he ends up foiled by Daisuke throwing his tanto at his heart mid leap. Still, it isn't enough to win the fight. Daisuke was too late on spotting the lightning and thus throwing his tanto and the Jonin is well, a Jonin, it only took him two hand signs to be ready to cast his jutsu.

'Wind Style: Divine Down Current!'

A large ball of wind is exhaled from the sand nin's mouth and blasted towards Kaori who's forced to dodge by jumping to a different tree. The ball also serves to protect him from the lightning bolts that would hit him making the perfect combination of offense and defense. As for the tanto, the man is forced to allow it to stab into his left forearm which causes him to grimace.

'In one action he attacked Kaori and simultaneously fended off both our attacks…'

Luckily, the defense wasn't perfect which gives Daisuke something to smile about as he takes out two kunai from his pouch and holds them both up at neck level. Said smile immediately drops when his enemy narrows his eyes, takes out the tanto, flexes the damaged arm to check for mobility issues, then inclines his fists while narrowing his eyes.

"Play time is over, tree fuckers."

'Katsuo, Honoka, Hikari, I love you all more than anything in this life or the next, I promise.'

This time it's the Jonin who presses the attack. At speeds that the trio have to strain their eyes to track he makes a beeline towards the obvious weakest link, Daisuke. Daisuke clicks his tongue and resolves himself to survive at least a second and a half, that's how long it will take Kei to come over to help.

With this in mind he aims a stab with his right kunai at the Jonin's heart that's blocked to the side so hard by the man's fist that Daisuke is forced to drop his kunai as he feels pain flare up in his wrist. The Jonin uses the opportunity to step into his inferior opponent's guard and said inferior opponent reacts immediately by attempting to take a few steps backwards while simultaneously attempting a sideways stab with his left kunai at the man's neck. The Jonin, as if mocking Daisuke for even trying, grabs his wrist and takes another step forward effortlessly and readies his left hand for a back fist to the jaw.

'I'm gonna lose, but then, I already knew that.'

He isn't confident like Hikari, he isn't driven like Honoka, and he isn't smart like Katsuo, but he does consider himself a genius. A genius of limits, his own limits to be precise, it's because of that why he was able to read the state of battle farther ahead than even the Jonin in front of him. Of course he'll go after Daisuke, of course Daisuke will fail to stop him, but just because the future is set in stone doesn't mean you can't affect how that future comes to be or certain details about it.

When Daisuke lost his first kunai, he immediately reached into his pouch attached to his lower back and grasped an exploding tag. Had he been able to defend himself for a few moments longer perhaps he could have saved himself with it but alas, he could not. He was prepared for this though, the Jonin's next attack should be aimed at his jaw to knock him out, those steps back earlier made it more convenient to aim for that rather than his neck. With that in mind, Daisuke focuses with everything he has to move his head just slightly with the goal of not evading the strike, but not being knocked out by it. As long as he retains consciousness it's a win in his eyes.

The fist connects with his jaw and Daisuke's world begins to spin so fast his vision blurs. He feels nausea equivalent to food poisoning a hundred times over and it takes all he has just to save his dignity by not projectile vomiting as he falls onto both his knees… or at least he would have if his nose wasn't broken by a knee to the face mid-fall which lays him out on his back.

'But I'm still awake… I win.'

As Daisuke tries to convince himself that getting knocked on his ass in only a second is a victory, Kei finally makes his way over to the Jonin.

A horizontal slash to the Jonin's lower torso is evaded via a small jump back.

A diagonal upward slash is evaded via the Jonin also moving diagonally away from the katana and towards Kei and into his guard.

Daisuke sees Kei take a punch to his right eye that may leave it permanently damaged judging by the amount of blood that goes flying out of it and to make matters worse the punch is followed by a devastating oblique kid that destroys Kei's knee. As Kei collapses onto his undamaged knee, he attempts a desperate stab at the superior ninja's gut he obviously saw coming from a mile away as with a calm sidestep, he easily evades the strike. He transitions his sidestep into a deliberate spin that takes him behind the downed swordsman, the man then rests one hand on the top of Kei's head and another on his chin.

'NO!'

Then snaps his neck.

Sadness and regret squeeze Daisuke's soul with a vice grip but as a seasoned ninja he pushes past those emotions to do what he has to do. As he fell, he was able to take the explosion tag he had grasped out of his pocket and hide it beneath his leg before he hit the ground. Such basic sleight of hand isn't impressive for a ninja on its own but to do so after getting hit the way Daisuke did… Well, it's only something a loser could pull off.

Guilt is yet another emotion that Daisuke feels, had he blown himself up with the man in front of him perhaps Kei would still be alive right now. Of course he didn't do that though, it takes a good man to sacrifice himself like that and Daisuke Nishida is only a good man to those who share his last name. Thus, he spent extra time preparing a substitution jutsu with a large fallen tree branch in the area so that he could blow the man up with or without giving Kei a warning.

'I'm sorry buddy, but I'll get him for you…'

Kei's body falls and as it does so Daisuke performs his substitution jutsu leaving behind the exploding tag that is already burning up by the time Daisuke re-appears fifteen meters away on the Jonin's right. Said Jonin looks to the side and sees Daisuke's missing body and an exploding tag that's about to explode in his face.

"SHI-"

BOOM PART 2

The tag explodes yet the damn cockroach of a man doesn't die. Thanks to a blind body flicker he gets away with the non-singed half of his body becoming a mirror of his other half and a dislocated shoulder courtesy of slamming his left shoulder into a tree.

It is only now that his old teammate makes herself known again.

'Lightning Style: Thunderclap Arrow!'

The moment the man re-appeared Kaori fired off a small but powerful bolt of lightning at the man which he is unable to dodge in time causing him to scream out in agony as lightning tortures his every nerve. His inability to dodge that one jutsu would spell the end of his life as Daisuke, always assuming the worst, is already weaving hand signs himself.

'Fire Style: Fire Dragon Bomb!'

Daisuke exhales a flamethrower larger than the Jonin's torso that is upon him just as the shock from the lightning release wears off. The flame envelops most of his body and Daisuke doesn't let up until he's sure he's dead. Normally, he prefers to finish things with ninja tools instead of wasting chakra, but he isn't willing to take any chances with a Jonin. Eventually, the flame dies down revealing the charred corpse of what was once a powerful foe.

'Chakra system clear… enough time has elapsed to rule out any substitution… kill confirmed.'

Daisuke glances back at Kaori who has already jumped down from her tree and begun making her way over to him.

"Why didn't yo-" YANK,"FUCK!" Kaori perfectly resets Daisuke's nose before crossing her arms and explaining herself.

"I didn't help Kei because I saw your tag, if I had thrown some shuriken or used a jutsu the Jonin would have dodged and put too much distance between himself and you for your plan to work."

"Anyone ever tell you you're a coldhearted bitch?"

A rare slight grin appears on Kaori's face. "Anyone ever tell you your best skill is how well you take a punch?"

"It took you thirty years to develop a personality."

"It took you thirty years to develop facial hair."

Usually, falling into their normal bantering routine on the battlefield would be something they would never do but they both need a break. To cope with what they had to do to win, for Daisuke to cope with the fact he thought of blowing up a teammate to survive (something Daisuke knows Kaori noticed), and most importantly to give Daisuke time to fully recover from the hits he took, particularly the one to the jaw that has his world still slowly spinning. This is aided by Kaori applying the bare bones medical ninjutsu that she knows to reduce the swelling on his face.

"Are your feet under you?"

"Yeah, I think I'm fine… let's catch up with the others." Daisuke says as he retrieves his tanto.

---

When the battle initially started the enemy's leader decided that instead of fighting, he would keep his distance and fire off ninjutsu. This soon took him out of Daisuke and Kaori's sight as he jumped through the trees further west taking half their team with him.

'It was a wise decision, it's never a good idea to allow us Leaf Shinobi to fight in a large group.'

Since they have the general direction, Daisuke and Kaori use tracking skills they learnt in the academy to follow the obvious trail of what was mostly a ninjutsu centric fight. Along the way they find a body that seems to have fallen from the tree and face planted into the ground. In response to this the duo drops down from the trees to check for any signs of life as people and discern anything about the enemy's arsenal as ninja. They roll the body over and crouch down to get a better look.

Sigh. "Niko…"

His throat was slit by a kunai, no more need to investigate.

'He was only seventeen… kid had a bright future ahead of him.'

"Daisuke, let's go."

"Right."

With that the two vanish with a body flicker. They race through the trees faster than before, soon noticing craters from the two other traps they set that don't seem to have worked. It's only fifteen seconds later, a decent amount of time by ninja standards, that Daisuke's instincts tell him to move, NOW!

Pressurized air speeds towards him but the wind bullets weren't meant for him or else he'd surely be dead. The side of his neck gets nicked, causing him to bleed, but nothing more. Kaori is less lucky, one of the bullets glides across the skin above her left hip leaving a large gash that begins bleeding freely and causes Kaori to stop and lean a shoulder against the tree she just jumped to.

"Kaori!" Daisuke jumps to her tree to check on her as the girl is already applying medical ninjutsu to the wound. "How bad is it!?"

"It's superficial, just a matter of pain management, don't stop moving."

Before Daisuke can protest Kaori is already leaping ahead which leaves him no choice but to follow her. They soon come across exactly who that jutsu was meant for and just like Niko, it quickly becomes obvious that they are indeed dead. Miraculously still sitting on the tree she was sniped from is Chizue who has a gaping hole in her forehead from a wind bullet that went straight through her forehead protector and the tree behind her. Daisuke and Kaori only stop briefly this time before finally coming across the still ongoing battle.

Somehow their squad leader Kaneki has managed to last a short amount of time against the much more proficient Jonin, his well-balanced repertoire of ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu likely being the culprit. Still, he's not in a good position. His opponent has led him into an open clearing with minimal cover and has engaged him in taijutsu, an art that Kaneki is obviously inferior in relative to his Jonin counterpart.

"Captain!"

Since Kaneki has his back turned to him it's necessary to inform him of his reinforcements so he knows to leap to the side as a hail of shuriken, courtesy of Daisuke, assault the Jonin who quickly brings out a kunai and deflects all of them with ease. This however does give Kaneki enough time to body flicker towards Daisuke and Kaori who lands from the trees at his side. His injuries become evident to them then, both his arms have multiple lacerations, most of which will probably scar, he's missing his left ear, and judging by the way he's clutching his right side some of his ribs are probably bruised, or worse.

'It's impressive as it is that he was able to survive this long, but to still be able bodied enough to fight… if we make it out of here, I'll recommend him for promotion.'

"He's proficient in Earth, wind, and water release. His affinity is obviously wind but watch out for the other two." Kaneki stops clutching his ribs and stands up straight.

'Don't let him weave hand signs, got it.'

It's a bit too late for that though, he's already inhaling for a wide scale jutsu, likely to separate them. Daisuke had predicted this and woven hand signs himself to counter, though his jutsu comes out after the Jonin's who weaves less hand signs at a faster rate, he still gets the job done.

'Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!'

'Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bomb!'

To be safe Daisuke poured a generous amount of chakra into the technique this time to be absolutely sure it will be enough to counter the Jonin's jutsu. It's a good thing for Daisuke then that the Jonin went with wind release but that raises a question.

'Unsupported wind release against Leaf nin?! He wasn't trying to separate us; he was trying to blind us!' Is he trying to escape? No, he should still think that he can kill all three of us easily as long as he takes us seriously. Not only that, but he doesn't know our objective… he'll try to kill us on principle.'

The fire overwhelms the wind, canceling it out and becoming even stronger before crashing into a tree and instantly igniting it. Not a moment later all three of the Leaf ninjas look up and see the Jonin exhaling large sharp blades of wind at them.

'Shit, no time to counter with jutsu!'

"Go left!" Yells Kaneki and neither of the former teammates argue with him as they all dive out the way and roll to their feet in harmony.

"Where did he-" Daisuke doesn't get the time to finish his sentence as the man erupts from the Earth in between the trio having likely used Earth Style: Hidden Mole Jutsu to get underground. When did he get the chance? Daisuke's theory is that the attack from before was a genjutsu and he flares his chakra just in case. As he does so he sees the man has already completed the hand signs for yet another jutsu.

'You have to be kidding me.'

'Earth Style: Bedrock Coffin!'

The earth around them moves and forms a dome around all four combatants and it becomes obvious that he plans to kill them all in it somehow.

"Kaori! Use it! Don't mind us!" Daisuke yells as he braces himself. He quickly realizes they won't be fast enough to escape before the dome is formed so the only option is to forcefully break themselves out.

Just as the dome blocks out the sun Kaori's jutsu is unleashed, proving that she was already going through the hand signs before Daisuke said anything.

'Lightning Style: Thunderbolt!'

The kunoichi extends both her arms that are both glowing with lightning chakra which serves as the que for Daisuke's world to become pain as electricity is discharged from the palms of her hands. The electricity chars his skin and causes multiple burn marks to appear on his torso and limbs yet the immense pain of feeling as if his nerves are on fire is worth it since the jutsu completely tears apart the dome trying to capture them.

'Did he get hit as well?'

Daisuke collapses onto a knee beside Kaneki who does the same and looks at where the charred body of the Jonin should be.

'Today's the day… isn't it?'

Only to reveal a crumbling rock clone who smiles mockingly at them before completely reverting back into Earth. Daisuke immediately attempts to stand up, expecting an attack, but his body doesn't work. With what limited mobility he does have he searches the clearing and finds the Jonin standing in the same spot he was before the exchange with yet another jutsu ready to go.

'He hasn't even moved from the start…'

'Wind Style: Vacuum Great Sphere!'

'Earth Style: Mud Wall!'

Kaori, the only one still able to move, rushes in front of her male companions and slams her hands on the ground to try to create a wall just large enough to stop the sphere that would have swallowed them all whole and tore them to pieces.

'This is bad, her affinity is lightning not earth! To stop a jutsu as powerful as that, it'll take the rest of her chakra!'

The wall holds firm, but surely enough Kaori drops down to a knee as well, mirroring the rest of her team. As Kaori takes deep and frantic breaths to get her bearings, Daisuke turns to Kaneki.

"Where is he? Another jutsu?"

"Yeah, another jutsu."

'Guess Kaneki misjudged his reserves initially; with everything I've seen so far he's without a doubt at least an A rank.'

Daisuke crawls his way over to the wall and presses his hand against it. Since he knows how to use Mud Wall himself and he's so used to Kaori's chakra he can act as a supplier to one of her walls. He never thought he'd see the day where such a small detail is relevant, but the shinobi world has a way of surprising even the most seasoned of veterans.

'You don't deserve it, but to whatever God is out there, thank you for at least making the guy a coward.'

That said, he's also probably a sensor since he's so comfortable with the situation or else he'd probably at least attack from a different angle. This method of attack also implies that he's given up on his original objective since he's using his chakra so brazenly to drain them of theirs for a "risk free win." Anyways, another blast of wind hits the wall which causes Daisuke's reserves to continuously deplete as the Jonin doesn't let up. As this happens Kaori makes her way over to Kaneki.

"Daisuke, would you be upset if I died?"

"Yes. What kind of question is that?"

"...ok."

Kaori reaches into her pouch and brings out five explosion tags.

"Kaneki, you're the captain and have the best chance at success. So, take responsibility for this situation and die."

'What the fuck, Kaori!'

Daisuke turns his head away from the wall to see Kaneki give a self-depreciating grin that reeks of both loneliness and… acceptance.

"You're full of shit and you know it…" He reaches around his neck and unclips a plain gold colored necklace and hands it to Kaori. "Give this to my little sister, tell her I said, "At least I didn't go out like a bitch."

He then turns around and lets Kaori place the paper bombs under his chunin vest. Moments after she finishes the mud wall begins to crumble as Daisuke stops applying chakra to the wall.

"I'll need both your help in hand to hand, you'll know when I'm about to do it."

Mentally, Daisuke curses his cowardice, selfishness, and above all his weakness but outwardly all he gives is a nod and some words.

"We will do right by you, Kaneki Mori."

Then, the wall breaks and the trio scatter to avoid the blast of wind. The Jonin grins confidently, being able to sense that all three of them have low chakra reserves and judging by Kaneki's expression, he's doing just fine. The three rush at him, an action he no doubt predicts but the only action seemingly available to the three in these circumstances. Daisuke throws four shuriken ahead of him to keep the man from making more of those blasted hand signs before unsheathing his tanto and engaging the man who merely wields a kunai in response that he uses to nonchalantly knock away the shuriken.

Daisuke takes the lead, being the least injured out of the three (On that note, Daisuke notices Kaori's injury is starting to look worse) and the one with the longer weapon makes him the obvious choice to be the tip of the spear. The man is more skilled than Daisuke by a wide margin but with Kaori and Kaneki backing him up they're able to put the Jonin on the back foot.

Slash.

Block.

Block.

Slash.

The sound of metal clashing CLANGingagainst metal repeatedly sounds out across the clearing as Daisuke digs deep and speeds up his approach. This doesn't work unless they get the Jonin serious enough to only focus on the exchange but not so serious that he thinks to disengage… not that he's even sure he could get him to that point. The Jonin speeds up in turn, dancing around all the Leaf trio's poor attempts at wounding him before finally beginning to land a few insignificant cuts on Daisuke.

'Any second…'

Suddenly Daisuke is on the back foot. Kaori, sensing her teammate in danger, lunges in from behind the Jonin as one of Daisuke's attempts at reforming his offense causes the Jonin to block with his kunai. This doesn't however stop him from partially turning around and lashing out with a kick right into Kaori's wound that is strong enough to send her flying into a tree. Daisuke uses his two decades of ninja training to swallow down the panic and focus on the man in front of him who uses his superior strength to shove his tanto away through his kunai.

'Now.'

Kaneki rushes in and stabs forward with his kunai and Daisuke, knowing what's about to happen, shouts "KAORI" and rushes to her side. The stereotype of leaf ninja being too soft aids in helping the Suna Jonin believe that some "chunin fodder" from the "tree hugger village" would certainly be weak minded enough to rush over to his downed teammate. On Kaneki's end, he doesn't need to pretend at all, he fights for his life because if by some miracle he wins this exchange then he can go home… Unfortunately, he doesn't.

By the time Daisuke gets over to Kaori, Kaneki is stabbed in the gut by his far more skilled enemy. Daisuke chooses this moment to look back as Kaneki falls forward and momentarily slumps against the Jonin's shoulder. Daisuke at that moment sees the true Kaneki, there's no accepting smile or bravado befitting a squad leader, just… sadness. Yet without any hesitation he makes a half seal and…

BOOM PART 3

An explosion, five paper bombs in the making, erupts from the back of what once was a decent man. For the Jonin there's nothing but heat and death, one second he's alive, the other he's not, with no time to come to terms with it. Daisuke feels the heat on his face from just out of the explosion's effective range but soon afterwards the heat dies down leaving only a smoking crater.

He rips his attention away from the aftermath of the fight. He'll deal with matters concerning the dead later, for now he needs to deal with the living.

"Kaori, you ok? We got 'em."

"...Cool."

Daisuke kneels down and observes Kaori who hasn't moved from her slumped position ever since she was kicked into it. Multiple strands of her medium length brown hair stick to her forehead due to all the sweat. She's instinctively moved her hand to apply pressure to the wound which is good, and she isn't slurring her words, so she didn't hit her head against the tree too badly.

"Ok seriously, how bad is it?"

"It was fine at first, but that kick made it not fine."

"Can you focus enough to use some medical ninjutsu? You don't look like you've lost that much blood so if you can slow the bleeding then we should be able to make it "fine" again with some first aid."

Kaori lifts her hand off the wound and studies how much blood is on it.

"Yeah… I think I can survive this one…"

The two go to work on addressing the injury and as he does so Daisuke feels a sense of gratefulness that they're on the outskirts of the battlefield. They've traveled so far that it's doubtful that any enemies or allies for that matter will show up… but that still doesn't save them.

"RAAAAAAAHHAHAHAHAHA FREE AT LAST!"

From the overwhelming wave of killing intent that comes from the Shukaku being heartlessly released on the world. For more powerful shinobi such killing intent is easy to shake off or even return, but for Daisuke it's suffocating. Though he's experienced immense killing intent before this is just… too much, far too much. How can one being possess this much hatred? Daisuke gets the feeling of being choked to death while simultaneously drowning as visions of not just himself but his family dying in increasingly violent ways assault his psyche.

He's brought back to Earth by a small hand tightly gripping his wrist, at first, he thinks that it's Kaori bringing him back to reality. No doubt her next words will be something like "focus, Daisuke…" but those words never come.

With her eyes glazed over she hyperventilates and breaks out into sweat. Daisuke can feel her body practically vibrating in place as she shakes back and forth, side to side. It becomes clear that she's taking it even worse than he is, not because of any tragic backstory (he would know) but because she just is. With her flak jacket removed so that she's only in a plain black T-shirt Daisuke finds himself flashing back to their genin days where he thought the same thing he does now.

'No matter how cold you act, you're just a normal girl at heart, aren't you?'

That thought causes Daisuke to smile as he reaches a handout to pat her on the head. Kaori's eyes come back into focus and Daisuke could swear that just for a moment he saw a younger version of himself reflected in them. Which means she should know what comes next…

"There there midget, don't be scared, a big person is here to save you."

"... Get your hand off me, idiot."

'There she is.'

Since Daisuke can't see the Shukaku over the tree line he assumes that it won't be their concern anytime soon, so he takes his time with finishing patching up Kaori's wound before standing up and offering a hand that she gratefully takes.

"You still want your flak jacket?" Daisuke looks over at the thing with a large hole in it.

"No, I've been looking for an excuse to get a new one for years now so…"

"You're the worst."

"Are you sure you still want your flak jacket?"

She has a point; Daisuke's is charred and has multiple small rips and holes from it with his close encounters with the Jonin and Kaori's Lightning Style.

"With my luck, I'll take a stray kunai to the heart if I take it off, so I'm obligated to leave it on."

"...Sentimental."

"Yeah yeah, now give me your arm, you're not walking back to camp without some support."

"No."

"No?" Daisuke tilts his head with confusion.

"You're carrying me, I'm not risking my injury getting re-aggravated."

"Bullshit, you just wanna be a lazy ass!"

"That's not true, but if I was suddenly feeling lazy it would be because you called me that old dead nickname and patted me on my head which you know I dislike. Also don't talk about my ass, you have a wife, remember?"

"What kind of twelve-year-old humor is that?"

The two stare at each other for a few seconds before Daisuke eventually caves.

Sigh. "Fine, piggyback or- "

"Piggyback, you have a wife."

"You don't need to keep reminding me, midget."

"I shouldn't have to, idiot."

After saddling Kaori onto his back, he begins the slow walk back to camp, intent on taking the long way around to not end up in any more combat.

"Hey Kaori?"

Yawn. "Hm?"

"You're not a bad person."

There's silence for a few moments then…

"Hey Daisuke?"

"Yeah?"

"You're a decent guy… thank you."

With that she falls asleep, and Daisuke's mind immediately shifts to his family. A win here means that he'll get to be there for Katsuo academy entrance ceremony and with Sakumo on his side victory feels assured.

'Katsuo, Honoka, Hikari…'

"I'm coming home."

---

Finally done, it's been a while guys. Would you believe me if I said I've been just as passionate about this fanfiction this entire time and just never got a chance to write? Probably, it seems to happen a lot. Life caught up with me and between managing a sorry excuse for a social life and studying for a degree so that I can afford a respectable house before I'm out of my twenties, it's safe to say I had zero time to write. Honestly, I still really don't but I'll try to upload on a consistently inconsistent schedule. There is some good news though. By the time this goes up the next chapter will already be fully written. I'll release it in two weeks, one week if this gets ten reviews before that time.

Next, as I said years before, this is my first story so please go easy on me. I already saw one semi rude review which I mean, comes with the territory, but come on guys. I'm not perfect, you're not perfect, nobody is perfect. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated along with any review that's well meaning. In fact, I would go as far as to say that one complement is equal to one paragraph written (actually, I'll challenge myself to make that statement as literal as possible). Anyways, my point is, be nice, I'm new.

And finally, from the bottom of my heart:

THANK YOU FOR READING!