It's Harder Than It Looks! Chapter Three, a naruto fanfic

Friends

"...You don't seem that surprised to see me."

"I wouldn't be much of a "prodigy" if I couldn't see something as obvious as this coming."

"Oi! I was really on the fence ya know! I had to have like… a really emotional moment with my dad and stuff."

"Whatever you say…" A face expressing doubt.

"But I did though, it was all cinematic and everythiiiing…" A face expressing pout.

It's been about three weeks since I decided on what abilities to pursue (subject to change) so right now as you can probably guess I'm heading to the academy. I've kept my decision a secret from Riku for the sole purpose of seeing his face when I cut him off on the way to the academy and boisterously proclaim my intention of training alongside him to be a ninja. Such a declaration would surely earn tears of joy followed by a brotherly embrace from my best friend, or so I thought. Instead, I was met with a deadpan expression and called predictable. How rude!

Forgetting Riku's lack of enthusiasm for a moment, as I said, we're heading to the academy right now. Good thing for us, we're only heading there for the first part of the academy's entrance ceremony and not to learn in a classroom. We're supposed to go there and get some enrollment information and a general rundown of the expectations for us going forward (at least that's what mom said). Then tomorrow Lord Third will give our official welcome into the academy by giving his grand speech that's supposed to put the "Will of Fire" in us or whatever. It's only the day after that when the academy school year actually starts.

"Speaking of your dad, is he back yet?" Riku tries to keep his tone casual, but I can tell he's actually concerned. He looks up to my dad, though I don't know why.

I for one, try to keep a shadow from forming over my face. "No, but if he's gonna be back he'll be back soon. He said his deployment is only supposed to last a month this time."

"Ah, neat."

Riku looks off to the side and we walk in the awkward silence that I blame this idiot for creating. I'm not mad at him though, this time at least, so I kindly give us a more friendly topic to talk about.

'Cuz that's just how good of a friend I am.'

"Find a new book yet?"

"Not a good one but…" He turns back to look at me with a small smirk on his face.

"Ooooooh a bad one, tell me about it!" I return his small smirk with a wide grin that would probably get called "creepy," especially on the face of a four year old.

"Hehehehe, you sure? It's so bad you might lose your breakfast." His small smirk now mirrors my creepy grin.

"Oh, now I want to know about it even more."

'What treasure trove of cringe did he stumble upon?!'

"Okaaaaay, don't say I didn't warn yooooouuu." He waits a few moments for dramatics then finally gives me the goods. "Alright so it's about this space cyborg princess from the moon that gets born with both space cyborg and moon princess powers and she gets sent down to destroy the governments of mankind and make human society anew."

"Wait, that actually sounds pretty interesting. Does she make friends along the way? Does she have to come to terms with her dual identities as both a space cyborg and a moon princess? Does she struggle to find love? Does she second guess her mission?"

As I ask my completely valid and reasonable questions, I get closer and closer to Riku until I'd be violating his personal space if we weren't best friends. Since we are best friends though, Riku presses his forehead against mine and gives a gleefully sinister smile.

"Nope!" He says, popping the P. "Classic Mary Sue till the very end!"

"OH C'MON!" I throw my head up while rapidly scratching my hair. "And the concept was actually kinda creative!"

Rike puts his pointer finger to his chin and looks up at the sky as if he isn't about to open his mouth just to verbally kick me while I'm down. "What's the rule again? "If you get it spoiled you have to get it read as well?" I think it was you who made that rule to make me read a story about a shinobi falling in love with his own kunai."

"Hey, "A Shinobi and His Kunai" is one of the best works of fiction ever created! Even you called the scene where the kunai transforms into a beautiful girl, and I quote, "Surprisingly beautiful." I give him a glare with no real heat behind it.

"Regardless, looks like you have some reading to do, Katsuo Nishida." He returns my glare with a winning smirk and mocking eyes.

Sigh. "Whatever just… does it at least have copious amounts of violence?"

"Copious violence is pretty much what the whole book is about."

"Then maybe I'll get at least something out of wasting my time."

After that the conversation dies down which allows me time to admire just how busy Konoha is even though it's a little early in the morning. Stand owners have already opened shop, ninja still in their beat up flak jackets roam the streets with rare relaxed expressions, people with day jobs brush past one another to get to work, and they all just contribute to this chaotic noisy melody that's one of the main characteristics of my home.

Unlike in a certain other world, nobody pays two toddlers walking on the outskirts of the street any mind, it's more normal here since four year olds are much smarter here than there. Still, usually I would have one of my parents, probably my mom, walking alongside me but for some reason (I might ask later) it's customary for aspiring ninja to show up for this part of the academy ceremony alone.

'Guess I'm not technically alone though, I got Riku.'

Meeting him might be the luckiest I've ever gotten in my life, though kids my age are smarter than what another place would consider normal, there's just no replacing a genius like my best friend.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Riku turns and raises an eyebrow at my eyes practically burning holes in the side of his head.

"Don't you think it's weird how smart people can actually be complete dumbasses sometimes?"

"...Is the super toddler who can barely throw a toy shuriken straight implying something?

"Don't know, does the prodigy that can barely talk to girls think I am?"

In response he maturely slaps the back of my neck. In return I rightfully do the same.

This continues…

Eventually we arrive at the academy with the collars of our T-shirts only partially hiding the redness of our necks. I look up with amusement and notice two chunin holding up a large sign that says "academy entrance ceremony" on the roof of the entrance we're using.

"How long have you guys been out here? Wait, better question, how long are you guys going to be out here?"

Riku harshly nudges me with a shoulder, and I turn my head to the right to look at him with obvious confusion on my face. With a glare he tells me to "stop it" and with a shrug and a lopsided smirk I say "Nuh uh I'm curious."

"Katsuo, don't ask rude questions to nin-"

Before Riku can finish his scolding one of the ninja to his left interrupts him with a chuckle.

"You have quite the mouth on you for a little brat!" The man says good naturedly. Afterwards his partner chimes in with a voice full of mirth.

"To answer your question kid, we've been out here for the last two hours, and we've got another four before the next two take over."

"Sounds boring."

Sitting still and holding up a sign for six hours sounds like hell. I guess if the Hokage made me do it then I'd have no choice but that just makes me have more sympathy for these guys.

The one that called me a brat before answers my unspoken question of "why do you do it?"

"That's because it is but I'll take a D rank like this over getting sent out to fight in tha-"

His partner gives him a look that causes him to clear his throat before changing a subject. Riku seems to want to say something in protest to his attitude but before he can do so the chunin talks over him.

"Anyways, holding up this sign isn't the only part of our job. State your names and the names of your guardians."

I go first. "Katsuo Nishida, son of Daisuke and Hikari Nishida."

Riku follows begrudgingly. "Riku Yokota, Son of Shoichi Yokota."

The chunin on my right flips through some papers on a clipboard while still somehow holding up the sign with a single foot.

'Must be using chakra to make his foot sticky. '

"Young friends sharing a class together, warms my heart. You two are in class five, it'll be the third door on your left from when you walk in."

"Thank you, chunin-san." Riku says respectfully as he grabs me by the wrist and drags me inside probably to keep me from saying anything else.

'Which I wasn't going to do anyways!'

Once we're inside he lets go of my wrist and I ask him a quick question before we get into the classroom.

"You seemed a bit pissed earlier, you good?"

"Ninja should take more pride in their work, even if it's dirty." I look at Riku's side profile and see that his face is a perfect picture of apathy which tells me that what the chunin almost said bothered him more than he wants to let on.

'Those words he said just now, are they his or his father's?'

I decide against asking him the question which makes our short walk towards classroom 1-5 a silent one. We eventually slide open the classroom door and see the other twenty-seven kids we'll be sharing a classroom with for the next six years or so.

Looking around, I don't see any "canon characters" upon my initial inspection but then again, all the kids in my class are aged four to six so if I'm in a class with someone that appears in that show then it could just be they haven't aged enough into their adult appearance yet.

I shrug and cast away the thought, so I don't get stuck on thinking about my life being a work of fiction in an alternate universe then immediately narrow my eyes to look for the most important seat in the classroom.

'I have to get the window seat in the top corner of the class! If my life follows any sort of anime logic, then maybe that window seat could give me plot armor!'

"Katsuo, what are you doing just standing there?"

Riku who had already begun to walk towards a seat turns around to face me.

"Are you trying to get everyone to stare at you?" Riku says more quietly.

This makes me realize that standing in the doorway isn't exactly a good strategy for not being picked out as a weirdo.

"Sorry, just lost in thought." I knock on my head with a fist almost expecting to hear a hollow sound.

"Whatever."

With that we start walking up the stairs towards two empty seats in (YES!) the top left corner of the room, right next to the window. Wait, there's a problem. Riku is ahead of me and there's barely enough space to squeak by him if I want to make sure I get the corner seat. I walk faster to try to speed past him but…

'It's too late! He'll take the seat! If I walk any faster than this then I'll make myself look weird!

PLEASE!

RIKU!

WAIT!

NOOOOOOOOOO!'

Unbeknownst to my internal anguish Riku takes the window chair leaving me to cry anime tears as I'm forced to sit between him and a blonde kid. I turn my attention to said blonde kid who feels my gaze on him and turns towards me. We kinda just stare blankly at one another as I conclude that he's a Yamanaka based on his eye color, and he concludes that:

"Oh, you're interesting. You have the eyes of a depressed fish and the face of an ugly cloud."

'What? That's how he opens a conversation!? Wait Katsuo just calm down, he can't be much older than me so maybe he just hasn't learnt his manners.'

"How do you even know what a depressed fish looks like?" I go with that instead of firing back an insult.

"I don't, but I know if I did see a depressed fish, it would remind me of you." The boy props his head up against his fist and looks at me with a mocking smirk. In response I give him a completely relaxed friendly smile.

"You're interesting as well. You have the face of a worn down homeless kid and a hair color that reminds me of a faded piss stain." I say with all the kindness I can muster.

"Ho? Well at least my hair doesn't look like I just ran it through a gallon of shit." He returns my friendly tone.

"Fair, but at least I don't smell like I ran through a gallon of shit."

"You look like a dying dog."

"You look like a stray cat."

"My name is Hiroki Yamanaka, you're my friend now."

"My name is Katsuo Nishida, you're my friend now."

After our attempts at insulting each other devolved into cat and dog jokes we offer each other a truce in the form of a declaration of friendship and a handshake.

"What the hell just happened?" A very confused Riku raises an eyebrow at both of us.

"You're a genius, right? We talked and decided to be friends, not that complicated." I roll my eyes at his inability to grasp a simple concept and Riku gives me a deadpan look.

"You're an idiot."

"Feels like the pot calling the kettle black in this case, no?" Hiroki chimes in from beside me, obviously enjoying this.

"And you, what's your deal? You seem smart but you don't give me the same feeling Katsuo does."

'What's that supposed to mean?'

Hiroki just shrugs like "what can ya do" before explaining. "I'm a Yamanaka, we mature faster since our brains are like little sponges for absorbing information from social interactions."

"And the heightened vocabulary?"

"My dad works in the T&I department, guess I got it from the"… a perverse smile graces his lips "interesting books he leaves around."

'Half my friends are fucking crazy… I have two friends.'

"Let's not talk about me though, you're a genius, right? What's it like living everyday knowing you're better than everyone else?"

Riku crosses his arms and shoots Hiroki a glare. "I should ask the same to you. Since you're obviously such a great read of people you must feel like some sort of omniscient God."

'Mom, dad, please stop fighting.'

"...Huh, you're the first person to get it, let's be friends whatever your name is."

Hiroki extends his arm across the desk, and I smile at this development and look at Riku who's crossed arms are now accompanied by a twitching left eyebrow.

"Dammit, you're pretty cool. Riku Yokota." With a small sigh he eventually returns the handshake.

"See Riku? You get it now, right?" I give him a smile shaped like a V for victory.

"I get it…."

"You were the idiot all along, right?

"I was…"

"And you'll never doubt me again, right?"

"Katsuo, the day I stop doubting you is the day I give up on being a shinobi."

'Ouch… but two for three is still a passing grade.'

I hear Hiroki laughing to my right. "Do you practice the routine, or does it come naturally?"

"Practice." Riku and I say at the same time which causes Hiroki to laugh even louder.

"I think you two are enough to keep me entertained for a while." The only four year old weirder than me says good naturedly.

"Gee thanks." The only four year old smarter than me says with a voice drenched with sarcasm.

"So are you free to hang out after this o-

At that moment a little girl bursts into the room, her face dripping with sweat and her hands on her knees.

'Black hair, black eyes, an Uchiha?'

"YES, I MADE IT! ASAHI YOU CAN SUCK MY-"

Then as if he was waiting there the entire time (he probably was) a male chunin a bit on the tall side with faded blue hair appears and loudly clears his throat.

"Such language is not permitted in academy classrooms, you were also seconds away from being late, take a seat and be quiet."

The man's stern words cause the girl to quickly take the last seat which just so happens to be the middle one in the front row… tragic. The chunin's sudden appearance also causes the rest of the previously loud and rowdy kids to turn silent and sit properly in their seats.

"Good, now we can begin." He raises his voice to make sure all of us can hear. "Soon, you will all be handed folders containing information about the academy that will tell you things such as what you should bring every day, a map of the academy's grounds, and rules you will need to follow if you do not want to end up unwillingly staying here extra hours after classes. Now however, I will personally explain the expectations that you will be required to meet as both a student and as a ninja."

The man begins to pace around the room, shooting each and every one of us a look I can't quite describe.

"My name is Kouji Matsumoto, and I will be your instructor for the next five years. Those of you smart enough to have already familiarized yourselves with the curriculum may find themselves confused with the number of years as up until a year ago it was that a normal student takes six years to graduate. Unfortunately, things have changed now that we are at war which leads into the main topic of this little speech, expectation."

He stops pacing in front of the desk in front of the classroom and sits on top of it before leaning forward with his arms draped across his lap. I find myself feeling almost scared of the intense look in his green eyes.

"Since you're all still so young I'll give you the mercy of not showing the wound, but take my word for it, the only reason why I'm in front of you right now is because my body was made unfit for combat by an enemy much stronger than I was. Yet, by using every drop of energy, skill, and knowledge I possessed, I survived. To that point, I guarantee you all that if I wanted to, I could end the lives of each and every one of you before any of you knew what was happening."

There's no killing intent or anything like that in his statement, just the non-negotiable finality that comes with an honest truth. Just that alone is enough for me to see multiple of my classmates breaking out into sweat. Though I see one boy with a dog resting on the desk in front of him smiling… weirdo.

"Calm down children." Our instructor says with a surprisingly gentle tone. "I'm not going to hurt you… but they will. So, before you graduate I want you all to be confident that you can at least survive me. That is all I ask. To that end, I expect all of you to work as hard as you can, devote yourselves to your studies, and never give up on yourselves. The reason why the curriculum has been cut down a year? It's because ninja are dying faster than we can produce them. Your home. Needs. You. But not the current you, the better you, the soldier you. The reality is that we are no longer in peacetime, we are at war, so if you all hated that feeling just now, that fear, then work hard enough so you'll never have to be afraid again because that's the bare minimum you'll need to make it home in times like these. Am I understood?"

It's probably different for everyone, but for me it was because his speech was as much about making home safe as it was about protecting that home, if not more.

"HAI, SENSEI!"

Though the class is young, I can tell they understood enough of that speech to know that listening to this guy is the best thing they can do if they want to live.

"That's the spirit kiddos, alright when I call your names take the folder I hand to you then introduce yourselves to the class." Matsumoto sensei takes the stack of folders sitting next to him on the desk then scooches off it and begins announcing names. I won't bore you with every little introduction, but I'll tell you about the ones of note.

"My name is Ebisu! IT'S A PLEASURE TO MEET ALL OF YOU!"

I couldn't hold back a snort at his introduction. Seeing the pompous Ebisu from Other Me's memories as an awkward and nervous brat will never not be funny to me. Also, no last name… is he an orphan? If he is then that's even more reason to hold it against him if he treats Naruto like shit when he's born.

'If I have anything to say about it though, Naruto will never be a Jinchuriki.'

"Yuma Akimichi, I look forward to getting along with you all." Bows. A polite Akimichi with dark red hair… Also, he's huge. I don't know how old he actually is, but he could probably pass for a ten year old.

"The name's Touya Inuzuka! Try to keep up with me fuckta- BONK WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!" I recognize the boy as the one who was smiling like an idiot at sensei's important speech. He has brown hair, dark brown eyes, and tan skin, which is to say he looks kinda like Kiba but without the weird sticker… scar… things.

The whole class including myself breaks out into laughter though for me I'm laughing at him saying cliche stuff like that with such a squeaky voice.

The next person of note had to be woken up in order to go up and introduce herself, so as you can guess, it's a Nara I'm talking about.

"Kurumi Nara." She says as she rubs the sleep out of her left eye.

Immediately after her I get called up and I decide to keep it simple rather than go for something main character like… I already didn't get the window seat.

"Katsuo Nishida, I hope we can all get along." Then I just go back to my seat like the side character I am.

"Why do you look depressed?" Riku says once I get back.

"You damn thief." I return his concern with barely concealed rage which causes him to fix me with a confused look for a few moments before turning his attention back to the front of the class.

"I'm Airi Uchiha, let's try to be cool with each other, ok?" The girl who came into the classroom screaming at the top of her lungs comes off a bit more mellow than I would have expected. Then again, she's an Uchiha, I probably should have guessed.

There aren't any more interesting introductions after that but that doesn't mean there aren't any interesting people. There was a kid named "Kosuke Shimura" that made me raise an eyebrow due to sharing a last name with a certain lying prick but then I remembered the Shimura are actually a clan here in Konoha and shrugged it off. Then there's this one girl from the Sarutobi clan named "Reina" who I find kinda pretty, but she seems surprisingly… meek. Oh, and Genma is in this class. You know, the guy that replaced Hayate as the proctor in the chunin exams? Yeah, that guy.

After all of us finish giving our introductions we're dismissed for the day without anything else special happening.

"You still want to hang out?" Hiroki says just as we're getting up to leave.

"Sure, what do you wanna do? Get some lunch? Play ninja?"

'What would a kid like Hiroki even like doing anyways?'

"I was thinking something a bit more… exciting." Hiroki responds to me with an odd glint in his eyes which causes Riku to speak up.

"Katsuo don't listen to him. Whatever it is, it'll probably just be something that could get us in trouble."

Hiroki brushes past me and leans slightly into Riku's personal space. "Are you scared?"

"No, I just don't know what's wrong with playing ninja."

"Sooooo, you're a sissy."

"I'm not a sissy, did you not jus-"

"So, you're just a pussy."

A pussy

As his best friend I could practically see the words echoing in his mind, repeatedly bouncing off the walls of his skull then back into his brain. He stands there, frozen with a blank expression, then suddenly…

"What did you have in mind?"

Just like that, Riku is in.

"I guess I don't mind hearing you out, but I'm with Riku, I'm out if it's going to get us in trouble."

"Oh, don't worry, we won't get in trouble as long as we don't get caught." Then before we can question him he's exiting the classroom, forcing us to follow.

'What have I gotten myself into.'

"Are you trying to get us all killed?" Surprisingly it's only me who raises an objection to this stupid idea.

Apparently, Hiroki's idea of "exciting" is taking a tour of training ground three to see what "cool stuff" we can find. Which is why we find ourselves just outside the entrance of said training ground, the fence is almost as high as the smallest trees, but it should be easy enough to climb.

"Hmmmm? I didn't expect it to be you who has the problem. You willing to explain?" Hiroki looks at me inquisitively and I get the sense that half the reason why he ever goes out of his house is to see what makes people tick.

"Very. Do you realize what goes on in training grounds? Training. Ninja could be training in there right now and we could end up caught in the crossfire, or more likely, be just close enough to get hit by a stray jutsu or kunai both of which are very likely to kill us since I don't know about you, but Riku and I are only four."

"I turn five in like a month…" Hiroki says bashfully.

"Riku, why aren't you saying anything?"

Both Hiroki and I turn to the third member of our trio who's looking at the locked entrance looking as relaxed as anyone could be with his hands clasped behind his head.

"This is training ground three, the one with the memorial stone. My dad told me about it, and I've always wanted to visit eventually, I guess today's the day."

No wonder he doesn't care, this training ground must be the most visited one just because of that stone, most importantly…

'Those who don't follow the rules are scum, this is true…'

One of the most precious memories of Other Me flashes through my mind. Just like with the view from the top of the Hokage monument, I have to see it, not just the stone, but the log that Jiraiya was tied to and the one that Naruto might be tied to. For me, it isn't just a log, it's a piece of history that represents how the most overlooked person on a team full of geniuses can rise up and stand side by side with them.

"That's all I needed to hear, let's go." Riku and I start walking towards the fence that probably isn't even locked.

"Awwww, but that's boring. Let's go try out another training ground!"

Hiroki turns away to walk in the opposite direction which causes Riku and I to turn around, grab his hands from behind, and begin dragging him towards the fence.

"Hey, let me go! I don't wanna! There's no point if there aren't any ninja in there!"

"I thought you just wanted to look for cool stuff." I say as I put extra strength into my arm to keep dragging the resisting Hiroki.

"Yeah, what's the real reason why you wanted to go in there?" Riku gratefully focuses on questioning Hiroki rather than teasing me about how he's doing 70% of the work.

"I-I just like people watching, ok? I've never seen how ninja interact with each other when they're training! Are they happy when they spar because for once they're fighting without putting their life at risk? Are they really serious when they're training since if they slack off it could be the reason they die? Or are they all secretly sadists who only train to take out their violent urges on each other? I HAVE TO KNOW!"

'This guy is…' Riku and I look at Hiroki as if he's a mosquito that subsists off of toilet water.

"Disgusting." Once again, at the same time. We're oddly in sync today.

"I don't care! You're my friends now so shouldn't you want me to be happy!?"

I feel him stop resisting so I put a hand on his shoulder and look him in the eyes that are practically yelling at me to take pity on this poor creature. "You're right, we're friends now, which means we have to look out for each other. We can only do things like this if it'll be fun for all of us and you'll have enough fun looking for cool stuff, right?" I give him my famous hundred ryo smile which brings out a sigh of resignation as a response.

"Fiiiiine."

"Good! Now let's go!"

Riku and I let him go and walk towards the fence. Riku himself tries to push it open but…

"Ah, it's locked. Probably means there's some training going on."

'Oh no.' I feel a hand shaped pressure on my left shoulder, and I turn to see Hiroki giving me the same smile I gave him.

"I know you want to leave but we have to look out for each other. Doing something like this will be fun for all of us and you'll still have enough fun looking at the memorial stone, right?"

I look over at Riku for support but just one look at his eyes tells me I'll be disappointed.

"He has you there Katsuo… and I really want to take a look at the stone." His eyes are filled with determination and something else I can't quite identify.

"That's two votes to one friend, so are you going to come willingly or is my other friend Riku and I gonna have to drag you?"

"There's no way in hell, heaven, or Earth that I'm going in the-"

"I know I don't have to say this, but if we die it's your fault."

In the end I ended up following these two idiots into the training ground, partially because I didn't want to be a hypocrite, partially because I could tell Riku was going in regardless.

"You can't just blame me, our other pal here wanted to go in too."

So here I find myself, walking amongst the trees near the main path of training ground three that leads to the memorial stone. Why not walk on the main path directly? Two reasons, one we don't want to get caught, two we want to increase our chances of finding more cool stuff.

"Fair enough, say "other pal," why do you want to do this right now when we probably could have dropped by a few hours from now and been completely safe." I narrow my eyes at Riku walking to my right who shrugs in a "what can you do" sort of way.

"You're right, we can visit whenever we want, but we don't get to see ninja training up close whenever we want." Before I can interrupt he quickly elaborates. "Don't you want to get stronger, whatever it takes? This could help…"

'He knows me better than I thought.'

"Of course I do, I'm a genius after all."

"HUH?"

I hear Hiroki laughing beside me and I turn to see him clutching his stomach. "Hahahahahahaaaaa, you two are sooooo screwed."

"What are you talking about?" It's Riku that questions him since I already know what he's getting at and don't want to admit it out loud.

"Don't worry about it, I'll warn you in a few years if we're still friends by then."

Riku stares blankly at Hiroki before turning his attention to the ground to search for dropped items.

"Ah, a kunai."

"Look, a bunch of shuriken."

"Wow, a tanto…"

All these things are found by Riku and offered to Hiroki and I. Hiroki gladly takes the kunai and shuriken while we're forced to leave the tanto behind since we don't have a way of hiding it. This doesn't concern me though as I'm busy questioning rather Riku is extremely perceptive or extremely lucky… probably both.

'And I'm the super toddler.'

Surprisingly, we make it to the memorial stone without being found by any ninja or dying thanks to some sort of freak accident. It's strange, I first saw this place in early 21st century animation through Other Me's memories but just like every other experience I've had the fake can't compare to the real thing.

It's not that I would call this place beautiful or anything like that. Well, it's pretty enough but it's really just a clearing with three logs and a stone in the middle of it. No, what has me standing there in awe while my two friends brush past me and walk towards the stone is how, I guess, worn the path is. Much of the grass in the direction of the stone is bent or crushed because of how many people have been here. Generation after generation of ninja and civilians alike have come here with the same purpose: to mourn the passing of those who left too soon.

"Hey buddy, why are you just standing there? You finally find something?" Hiroki turns to look at me and I shake my head no and finally begin walking towards the stone.

'That's enough deep thoughts for the day, I'm four years old, not some angsty teenager.'

Hiroki and I catch up to Riku who's pointer finger on his right hand is already being used to trace the names on the stone. He's obviously looking for somebody.

"My mother, I'm looking for my mother." Riku answers our unspoken inquiry in a voice that tells me he isn't all the way with us right now.

"Ah." I say and put a supportive hand on his shoulder.

"Oh… neat." Hiroki says as he studies Riku's expressions as if he's looking for something.

We stand there for a few seconds until Riku finally finds the name "Tsumugi Yokota" and just kinda stands there with his finger resting right below the name. I don't want to interrupt him, he might be praying or something, and I never feel the need to because soon afterwards he takes his hand back and takes a deep breath before letting it out. I can tell that a tension I never noticed was there finally leaves my best friend.

"If you don't mind me asking…" I say and take my hand off his shoulder. "Why did you never come here before?"

"I barely remember mom, but her death was really hard on my dad. I don't think I have to say anything else." He doesn't sound mad or anything but the matter of factly way he says it all but puts an end to that line of conversation right then and there.

"Nope, not another word… tell me about your mom sometime?"

"...One day."

Hiroki finally decides to speak. "I know "sorry for your loss" never helps anyone feel better so I'll just say that since I've claimed you as my friend I'll take special extra care in making sure you're nice and happy, how does that sound?"

"Good… I guess?"

Before the conversation can continue, we hear a female voice coming from the direction we came from.

"Just to make sure, you lil guys know you're not supposed to be here, yes?"

We turn to see a beautiful woman standing behind three kids that look oddly familiar to me. Tan skin, long dark hair, dark brown eyes, and a gentle aura radiating off her… she looks like a genderbent version of Asuma.

'So definitely a Sarutobi though it's kinda obvious with the fat guy, pineapple head, and blonde in front of her.'

I don't encounter "canon characters" often, in fact, Genma and Ebizu were the first I've seen since I caught a glimpse of the Hokage walking around the village like a half year ago. So, seeing a younger version of Shikamaru with narrower eyes and tanner skin, a younger male version of Ino with sunken cheeks and… huh, no ponytail yet, and a more confident looking redhead version of Choji, made me just a bit starstruck.

'These aren't just random clan members, it's actually them! The golden generation of Ino-Shika-Cho! Future clan heads! Oh shit, should I bow or something? No, be cool, you know they aren't those types of people anyways.'

Since I'm still getting my thoughts together it's Riku who responds to her. "We do, but we came in anyways our apologies, jonin-san."

'But they're so cool! And they're even wearing their flak jackets which means they're already chunins even though they can't be older than like twelve or thirteen!'

"Lower your heads, idiots." I hear Riku whisper and realize he's already bowing to them which causes me to humbly follow suit. Hiroki does as well but the fool opens his mouth.

"Lord Inoichi sir, since we're from the same clan can you please give even an ounce of consideration towards sparing my friends and giving any punishment to me."

I hear Shikaku and Choza snickering and by straining my eyes upwards I see Shikaku elbowing an obviously embarrassed Inoichi. "You hear that, "Lord Inoichi sir?" Maybe in all your infinite mercy you should cut the kid some slack?"

I hear Inoichi sigh. "If you make this a running gag then I'll use Mind Transfer to make you do that thing again."

Both Choza and Shikaku immediately shut up… what is the thing?

"Well Inoichi, since one of your clan members is involved I'll let you handle this." The woman who is definitely their Jonin sensei motions him over to us which causes him to walk over with his head held high.

"You three seem smart so I'm not going to be boring and scold you on how dangerous it is to enter a training ground that's in use. As for you… you're Hiroki, right? You knew I wasn't going to do anything to you, so you tried to use the situation to gain brownie points with your little friends. You can't be more than what, five? Try to make friends the normal way and don't use me in your schemes, am I understood?"

I can practically hear Hiroki sweating profusely.

"Loud and c-clear… sir." He actually sounds scared, out of his mind scared at that.

"They're some freaky kids, huh Choza?" I hear Shikaku say as Inoichi backs off and starts walking back to his team.

"They remind me of you and Inoichi when you two were little kids, so yeah." Choza says good naturedly which causes Shikaku to give him a scowl.

Meanwhile, Hiroki and I have both raised our heads, but Riku still has his lowered.

"Dude, what are you doing, we already got off unscathed."

…"Pretty woman."

'Does this guy plan to be scared of women all his life? I have to do something about this before Hiroki ends up my go to wingman.'

I feel a smile forming on my face and Riku must sense it because he immediately grabs my wrist and slightly turns his head towards me.

"Katsuo, no."

"You have to learn, Riku."

"Please, mercy!"

"There is no mercy. I'm using the favor, go along with what I say."

"So are you guys gonna leave o-"

I interrupt Shikaku.

"Hey lady, what's your name?"

"I'm Kyouka, what's yours?" Her tone is soft, almost motherly in a way. Guess I know where Shikaku got his (never put in practice) taste in women.

"I'm Katsuo and my friend here is Riku, we want to tell you a secret so could you come a little close?"

"What are you doing?"

"Shut up and follow along."

I can tell that Kyouka knows we're up to something, but she takes a few steps then crouches down to our level. Riku, by the way, is still bowing like an idiot.

"You're really pretty so we were wondering if you would marry one of us one day when we got older?"

Kyouka gives a small smile and turns her attention to Riku.

"Hmmmm? But this one doesn't seem li-"

Riku suddenly unbows his head and quickly kisses Kyouka on the cheek. "PLEASE MARRY ME, PRETTY LADY!"

"PFFFFFFFTHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

It's not just me but every guy in the clearing breaks out into various forms of laughter, for Choza it's just a boisterous laugh befitting his stature, for Inoichi it's a chuckle, and for Shikaku, Hiroki, and I it's just really loud cackling.

"You know sensei, it might not be such a bad idea!" Shikaku somehow gets out in between laughs.

"Best… day of… my life!" Hiroki tries to catch his breath.

I just laugh and record Riku's apple colored face into my memory so that I never forget to bring this up when I'm losing an argument. As I do this Kyouka speaks up.

"You can come find me if you still feel that way when you're older, kiddo." All our laughter is silenced when she returns his kiss on the cheek with one of her own then stands up and looks at me. "Go easy on your friends, you never know what effect you can have on people."

"... I know."

'Dammit, I kind of feel bad now.'

I turn to maybe apologize to my best friend but… he's no longer with us. He stands there, frozen in time, a hand pressed against the cheek that was kissed by the girl who definitely only did that to teach me a lesson.

"But Kyouka-sensei, my dad says to practice what you preach, and I don't think you're doing that right now."

"Eh?"

"This idiot… will probably be thinking about you for at least the next year."

"...Oh." I see her blush with embarrassment which makes me want to tease her.

"But you're cute so we forgive you, right Hiroki?" I look at Hiroki who returns my look with one of his own filled with… respect?

"I underestimated you, Katsuo."

Kyouka's blush darkens. "Just what are they teaching kids these days, you shouldn't say things like that so brazenly to a maiden you know."

I'm about to say something else but Inoichi interrupts me.

"Alright alright, we like making fun of sensei too but you three still need to leave. We're not done training yet and I would rather be home by dinner."

Considering there's no way it's noon yet they must be in the middle of something rather intense.

"Ok, we'll go. Hey Riku, come back to the world of the living before she kisses you again." Says Hiroki as he repeatedly pokes Riku's shoulder. This seems to do the trick as my best friend's system finally reboots and with a "uh huh" from him we start walking past the older kids and their sensei.

Eventually, we find walking on the path where Riku finally recovers enough of himself to speak.

"Why? Why did you do that?"

"I really wanted to see the look on your face."

Being as smart as he is he quickly makes the connection between my current words and the words he said before we entered the training ground.

"What happened to you to make you that petty?" I almost think I detect fear in his voice.

"What happened to you make you that scared of women?" I fire back with a mocking smirk.

"..."

"Exactly."

"Wait, I don't get it, why are you that petty? I've never met someone my age like you." The blonde looks at me full of curiosity.

"Some people don't need a reason… people like me just do it for the love of the game."

"Love of the game? Interesting…"

The rest of our walk is filled with Hiroki muttering gibberish and Riku and I doing our routine bickering which tells me he's already shrugged off the embarrassment.

I part ways with my two friends and make my way home. My family knew I'd be playing around with Riku after the entrance ceremony was finished so they shouldn't be surprised that it took me a couple more hours to get home. Though leaving a bunch of four year olds to wander an entire village on their own would surely raise a lot of questions in Other Me's head.

"I'm home!"

I kick off my shoes at the door and neatly place them next to my mom's. Oddly enough, my sister's pair is missing which makes me a bit curious as to where she could've gone.

"Welcome home Katsu, you hungry!?"

I hear my mom shout from the kitchen which tells me she's already making food and that I'm going to eat soon, whether I like it or not. I skipped breakfast to get the drop on Riku and as far as mom knows I was probably playing ninja or something so even if I were to lie and say I wasn't hungry she'd call me out on it immediately. Which is why she's already strategically positioned herself in the kitchen and started making brunch judging by the smell, to reduce the odds of me lying and thus causing us to have one of our characteristic back and forths that I always lose.

'But I don't feel like eating right now!'

"Yeah, I guess…"

I say just loud enough to hear before walking into the kitchen and giving her a hug from the side before I get a scolding about "ignoring my poor mother." I receive a pat on the head in return which is odd because usually I get nothing less than a full blown hug but… ah, she's really focused on making that omelet.

"How did it go?" She says without turning to me as I let her go.

"It was fine, I put the folder they gave me on the table if you want to look at it… where's Honoka?"

"She's in the backyard, training."

"Sweet! Imma go train with her!"

'Now to just sneak away befo-'

"Katsuo!" She turns toward me with glowing blue eyes that I'm convinced are some sort of kekkei genkai… dammit. "If she's doing anything too dangerous then just watch, if I even think you might be trying out a jutsu then I'll take you out the academy myself!"

"Eeep! Yep! You got it!"

'Scary!'

I turn back around to head out before suddenly stopping and twisting my head towards mom.

"By the way, you might want to make two cuz-"

"Already on it."

"Atta mom."

I find my sister sitting in the grass with her legs criss crossed and her eyes closed with concentration. I spot multiple leaves, not on her forehead as I expected but in her hands as she holds her arms out with her palms facing downwards. Since I can remember, my sister has wanted to become a medic nin, I don't know why but that's been her goal. So, using this knowledge I guess that she's training to use the Mystical Palm technique, a jutsu that I've heard is very difficult to master.

'I have faith in sis though, she's smart.'

I walk past her towards one of the trees in our backyard and pick out a leaf for myself, I then walk back and sit next to my sister and mirror her form before putting the leaf against my forehead. Ever since I unlocked my chakra three weeks ago I've been training my chakra control whenever I get the chance (and I feel like it… seriously, training all the time is so boring). I'm slowly starting to get the hang of it but considering mastery of the exercise is considered keeping it up for an hour and my record is five minutes, I still have a long way to go. Luckily, I think it's a matter of concentration issues instead of chakra manipulation issues (21st century teenager memories and I'm a four year old, like I said, I can't focus for shit).

Also like I said though, I'm slowly starting to get the hang of it, in fact I think my progress is actually speeding up! Three minutes pass by like nothing and I'm starting to feel like I could break my reco-

Blow "GAH!" I feel cold air get blown into my ear which makes me immediately lose all concentration causing the leaf to fall off my forehead. I open my eyes that I hadn't even realized had closed to get a good look at my sister holding in her laughter.

"I was actually doing good that time!" I yell indignantly.

"Puh-lease, you would have done the same thing in my shoes, and you know it." She pokes me in the front of my nose which causes me to subconsciously scrunch it.

"I literally just was, and I didn't. Next time I see you in the middle of anything I'm dropping cold water down the back of your neck." I smirk evilly at the thought.

"You do that, and I'll tell mom you've been in the library." She crosses her arms.

"You do that, and I'll tell mom you were in dad's stash." My smirk widens into a grin.

Gasp. She recoils in such an exaggerated way I nearly break out into a laugh. "How do you know about the stash? How do you know that I was in the stash!?"

"I didn't, but I do now, and I'll spin the most creative and believable story I can to get you in trouble and mom will believe it because I'm her "baby boy." Honestly, I didn't even know there was a stash in the first place, but she doesn't need to know that.

"Are you stupid? You'll get dad and I killed just because you don't want to be grounded for a week!"

"Well, stupid isn't the word I'd use…"

"Yeah, I should have said evil, I wouldn't be surprised if you sprouted horns." My sister looks at the top of my head as if she's expecting it any moment.

"Not just evil, my dear elder sibling, sinister." I let out a manic cackle which makes my sister chuckle a bit.

"Whatever you little idiot, I guess now I know where you learnt about that sort of thing now." She starts picking up her leaves.

"Wait, that's what the stash is!?" I blurt out with all my shock causing her head to whip back towards me.

"I THOUGHT-!" She looks at the house then whispers in my ear. "I thought you said you knew!"

"I lied, but now that I know what it actually is… hehe…. AHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU'LL NEVER WIN AN ARGUMENT AGAINST ME AGAIN, YOU'RE FINISHED! AHAHAHAHAHA!" This time the cackle isn't just for show, I recline on my butt and hold my stomach with one hand and point at my sister with the other. I can practically feel the anime tears shooting out of my eyes.

"GO TO HELL, KATSU!" She hides her face in her hands, but I can tell she's blushing by her ears.

To comfort her I pat her on the back. "It won't be a problem as long as you behave from now on lil sis."

She peeks an eye out from behind her hand. "I'm still your big sister, just because you won this time doesn't mean this is over." She pokes my nose again and I'm starting to feel like a less talented version of Sasuke.

"Yeah yeah, speaking of you being old, you're gonna be a full-fledged ninja in a year, how's the training coming along?" I use my serious voice (a voice hard to use with my squeaky vocal cords) to let her know I'm genuinely concerned.

"I think you mean older, I literally just turned ten a few days ago!" I can tell she's thinking about how to answer my original question, so I indulge her offer of banter.

"All I hear is an older woman twice my age trying to convince me she's still in her prime." I answer back lightning fast having already planned this bit out in the shower on her birthday.

She rolls her eyes then looks down at her hands. "To answer your question, it's going fine. I'm near the top of my class and I'm the best student in my medical classes but I just get the feeling it isn't enough. By the end of the year, I should have the chakra scalpel down which should make me even faster at treating wounds but all this time practicing medical ninjutsu kinda leaves me with no time to train my other skills, you know?"

Honoka works hard but she isn't a shut-in. She has friends and other social responsibilities, between trying to have some semblance of a childhood and what she's already doing. It's no wonder she doesn't have time to do much else. She's smart, but not Riku smart.

"Well, medical ninjutsu can still be useful in combat. Like you know, poisons and stuff. Plus, the chakra scalpel is used for cutting, right? Maybe that can help…" I try to push her down Chiyo or Kabuto's direction, but she shakes her head.

"I'm already doing that. Don't tell mom but the real reason I got into medical ninjutsu is so that I know how to take down opponents quickly. Hit a pressure point there, put some poison on a kunai here, that sort of thing. I figured if I can do all that and also be able to keep my friends alive if they get hurt then maybe one day I could get strong enough to let dad retire."

"Wait, how do y-"

"Mom told me and I'm guessing dad told you himself, figures. He's really good at hiding it but I noticed… things. I asked mom about it, and she told me the full story. I went from angry to just feeling bad for him. I wanted to help so I started taking my training more seriously, went from wanting to help people to wanting to help people by being strong. It's just…"

She searches for the words, and I provide them. "It's harder than it looks?"

"Yeah, I know like fifty different ways to take a full-fledged ninja down without even using a fist and I can make poisons that'll make them think the world is made of cheese but it doesn't mean anything if I can't touch them and sometimes it feels like there's not even enough hours in the day to get strong enough to do that."

"You will though." I give her a hug. "And if you don't then I will."

She returns the hug and I find my forehead pressed against my neck. "Hey, I'm the older one. You just worry about playing with your friends."

'Sorry big sis, thanks to Other Me I can't do that.'

I feel the oxygen starting to leave my lungs as she hugs me tighter and tighter.

'Her and mom are the same person I swear!'

I give her back three hard taps and she lets me go with an "oops."

"By the way, mom's making you breakfast, right?" She looks at me sheepishly and I know what's coming. "Is she-"

"I made sure she was making an omelet for you too even though you already ate a big breakfast." I say bluntly which causes her to look away and laugh bashfully.

"Thanks, Katsu."

"You're gonna get fat if you keep eating so much."

"I will hurt you." Honoka looks at me menacingly, but I've already adapted to mom's malicious aura, this is nothing to me.

I think back to how tightly she hugged me and let a lopsided grin form on my face. "You wouldn't hurt me that bad, you loooooove~ me."

'Heh, brocon.'

This time she's the one that responds quickly. "You loooooove~ me too Mr "if you don't do it then I will." She looks at me smugly, but I roll with the punch.

"Of course I love you, you're my big sister." I give her my puppy dog eyes and I can see her heart melting by how her face turns from smug to practically saying "awwwww."

"HONOKA, KATSUO, BRUNCH IS READY!"

We immediately get up and start walking back towards the house, so our food doesn't get cold and as we do so Honoka responds to me.

"Love you too, super toddler."

"Love you more, super fatass."

She harshly shoves me by my shoulder nearly causing me to fall.

"Language." She says in a voice that's almost stern.

"Shut the fuck up." I say in a voice that almost cares.

I then blow a raspberry at her.

Third Person POV

With night having long since fallen and every light having been cut off to allow for ease of slumber, the Nishida residence is in perfect peaceful harmony with the rest of Konoha. The only people up at this time are those returning from a long night of partying and those that have a profession that is capable of keeping them up past hours a normal person would find reasonable. Which of course makes ninja constant members of that list, rather they be patrolling the village or in Daisuke Nishida's case, returning from a mission.

With all the stealth that his training has given him he's already snuck into his own house and washed himself without waking anyone up. He was even able to eat a plate made for him from the fridge as well before eventually heading to the master bedroom to get some sleep.

Upon entering the bedroom, he clearly sees his wife's sleeping form using night vision that he earned from many missions underneath the cover of darkness.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?"

Well, to anyone else she would appear to be sleeping but for Daisuke it's child's play to tell she's awake. In response to his question, she shifts from her side and onto her back before sitting up.

"It'd be better to say the shower did but, yeah." She outstretches her arms invitingly. "Welcome home, my reckless dumbass."

"Hmph, this is what I get after fighting a bunch of sand crawlers nonstop for a month straight?" Daisuke crawls into bed and embraces his wife.

"I called you mine, didn't I? If you weren't the way you are then I wouldn't have fallen in love with you. Would have been a lot less stress for both of us but who said I didn't like a bit of excitement?" She nuzzles her nose into her husband's neck.

"Nobody, but I already knew when I married you, let's not forget that before the kids we were both reckless dumbasses." He runs his fingers through his wife's long smooth brown hair.

"...Speaking of excitement though… do you want to…"

"If we weren't talking, I would've already passed out by now."

"Figures, want me to let you get some sleep then?" Hikari hugs Daisuke tighter to make it clear to him she plans to use him like a teddy bear all night to make up for lost time.

"It's been so long since I talked to you thoooouugh." Daisuke whines like a little kid and hugs Hikari tighter to tell her that she's the teddy bear in this situation and that he missed her."

Hikari for her part blushes as she mentally logs the brownie points Daisuke unknowingly (knowingly) won by turning down sex in favor of talking with her. "Don't complain in the morning then, we have to get up for Katsu's entrance ceremony."

Daisuke breathes a sigh of relief he'd been holding in since he got home. "You have no idea how happy I am that I made it back in time for that."

He feels one of Hikari's signature knowing smiles form on his neck. "I think I could hazard a guess… by the way, how was the mission?"

Daisuke's lips stretch out to form his own smile. "It went better than I ever could have imagined. We pushed Suna back into the desert and Sakumo even lopped off their Jinchuriki's head in the process."

Hikari pushes Daisuke away by his shoulders and keeps her hands there, gripping them tightly. "No fucking way, you serious? Are you lying to me? Cuz you know I'll find out if yo-"

Daisuke follows his wife's lead and puts his hands on her shoulders. "Hikari, I'm not lying to you. The Sand are all but completely out the Land of Rivers. If I had to guess, their next move is to take Habiki of the Whirlwind out of Ame or Pakura of the Scorch Release out of Kusa so that they can mount a decent offensive."

Hikari's eyes glaze over, and Daisuke can tell her inner strategist has come out to play. "It'll probably be Pakura, they need Habiki to deal with Hanzo's poison and the Land of River's terrain is more suited for how I imagine Pakura fights."

"Agreed, but now we can send more troops to back up the third's students without having to worry about our lines getting breached somewhere else. Hell, we might move on Hanzo since if we take him out the only S ranks in the area we'd have to worry about can't beat ours."

They both lay there for a moment thinking several steps ahead of the current state of the war before they eventually break out into twin smiles.

"At this rate!" Hikari says.

"We'll win!" Daisuke finishes.

"EEEEEEE!" Hikari begins harshly shaking Daisuke's shoulders back and forth which only causes him to smile with excitement and pull Hikari back into his embrace.

"You're not allowed to die before or after we win, got it?" Her voice comes out muffled from within Daisuke's chest.

"Yeah yeah I know, but since when do I ever die." He lets out a yawn as all at once his exhaustion catches up with him.

"You have less than five hours to sleep so hurry up and… oh." Her husband's sudden slow breathing alerts Hikari that he's fallen asleep which causes her to roll her eyes and wiggle a bit to loosen his grip on her so that she can make herself eye level with him.

"Sweet dreams Suke, love you."

Hikari kisses Daisuke on the forehead before resting her head on his shoulder.

Daisuke smiles in response before falling asleep, for real this time.

My eyes suddenly snap open as the first rays of sunshine pass through the window above my bed and partially illuminate my body.

'How… When did I fall asleep? '

I slowly turn my head left to right, I'm in my own room and…

'Oh.'

I spot the leaf I was using to practice my chakra control resting on my pillow. Yesterday was a training and preparation day… well I guess the same could be said about every day since my talk with dad but yesterday especially. After I ate breakfast I went back outside to work on my chakra control. I beat my record by about forty five seconds after two hours of training, then had my mom accompany me to the library so that I could rent out a certain book about a space cyborg princess. I had every intention of getting back to my training immediately after I got home but I decided to crack open the book "just to read the first chapter" then ended up spending three hours on it.

'In my defense, I've been pretty consistent about reiterating how easily distracted I am.

After I realized the sun would start going down soon I immaturely cursed my sister about being so passionate about teaching me how to read before going back to my training outside. Mom forced me to come inside after a few hours, but I brought the leaf with me and… now I'm here. It was worth it, of course, I didn't quite hit a new record again but I feel like I got a good bit better at the exercise with the extra hours, though doing such a mentally exhausting task means I'm tired as hell on a day I have to wake up early at a reasonable time.

'At least that's a difference between me and Other Me. Other Me loved the mornings and I hate them almost as much as I hate onions. Well Katsuo, no complaining. First chakra control, then the academy three, and then the world. Plus look on the bright side, your alarm clock hasn't gone off yet so at lea-.'

I look to the side and see my alarm clock reads "6:59am."

"Fuck my life."

I sigh and get out of bed.

After getting dressed in a dark red T shirt with the leaf symbol emblazoned on the back and a black pair of shorts, I make my way to the dining table while rubbing the sleep out my eyes. I notice my mom already in the kitchen making breakfast and offer her a "mornin" before sitting down then practically face planting into my own arms intent on getting more sleep.

Mom seems to notice because even as I hear the telltale signs and smells (oooh, pancakes!) of her cooking I hear her talking to me.

"I told you to stop going to bed so late."

"Sorry." I mumble into my arms so the word comes out a distorted mess.

"You're fine, just listen next time. My brother was like that when he was younger, and he only grew out of it because he got tired of me dumping cold water on his head. Do you want cold water dumped on your head?" I hear a familiar masculine voice threatening me from the direction of the hallway behind me.

"That'd just make me hate the morning even mo-"

My eyes go from fully closed to completely wide and I turn around so fast that I almost hurt my neck to see my dad standing there with a small smirk on his face. I don't see any wounds on him but considering he's wearing a long sleeve shirt at this time of year he's definitely hiding some battle wounds, not that it matters to me at all right now.

"DAD!"

I bolt out of my chair and wrap my little arms around one of his legs. Usually this would be the part where he hugs me back, but I just now notice my sister's legs dangling off his shoulders and his hands on her ankles to keep her balanced. My sister sees me looking up at her and rudely sticks her tongue out at me as if to say "ha ha no hug for you."

"Aren't you getting too old to be carried around like that? You're going to be a ninja in a year, big sister."

"Aren't you too young to be worrying about what other people are too old for? Maybe live a bit before deciding to have an opinion, little brother."

Our glare off gets interrupted by dad. "Really guys? First thing in the morning?" Hearing dad say that is all it takes for us to sober up. Honoka backflips off of dad (I wanna be able to do that so bad) and I let dad go. We both eye each other and using sibling telepathy we agree on a truce since dad just got home and it is way too early for this. "Besides, you're both wrong." He looks at Honoka. "You'll never be too old for me to carry you." He then looks at me. "And I can't stop you from having an opinion. So, the argument is pointless anyways." Dad walks to the table and takes his seat at the end of it.

'Wait a minute…'

"Are you implying that if you could stop me from having an opinion then you would?" I take my own seat and Honoka follows suit.

"Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to, Katsu." This time it's my mom coming from the kitchen and setting out breakfast. As she sets my plate down she kisses me on the cheek even though (or probably because) I'm pouting.

"Not you tooooo." I groan which causes my sister across from me to snicker. "You all just want me silenced cuz I speak the truth."

After letting my traitorous family know why they can't handle my opinions I look down at my breakfast which is yet another thing my extra memories make weird. In Konoha, I see mixtures of both traditionally "western" and "eastern" concepts and my breakfast is a perfect example. I have a plate and a bowl in front of me, the plate holds a double stack of pancakes with a tasteful amount of syrup on them and in the bowl is this traditional Japanese dish called "Onsen Tamago" or "Hot-Spring Egg" which is basically a soft boiled egg boiled at "hot spring temperature" to make it hard on the inside and runny on the outside. It's really hard to make at home and apparently mom took years to get it all the way down but eventually she did, and the results are very tasty.

'Mmmm, egg.'

I set down my spoon after taking a bite and ask the question on both mine and Honoka's mind.

"So, how was the mission?"

A victorious grin splits dad's face in half and the rest of breakfast is filled with various stories about what should have been an entire month's deployment. Of course, he hides certain things and embellishes the cool stuff which I know everyone on the table picks up on, but we don't call him on it.

Dad made it home again and that's all that matters.

After breakfast we all walk the streets of Konohagakure as a family. Soon, we'll probably find ourselves in some traffic as a whole lot of families should be making their way towards the academy around this time but in the meantime we find ourselves stopped by a face that's (apparently) familiar to my parents and certainly is to me although it shouldn't be.

"Well, if it isn't my two favorite senpai."

Dan Kato, Tsunade's first lover, stands in front of us with a hand on his hip and a friendly smile on his face.

"Dan! What are you doing away from the frontlines?" Dad clasps hands with Dan and my mom, as if this is completely normal, continues the act dad started.

"If you're back then that means you were able to push back the Cloud, right?"

Dan rubs the back of his head shyly. "Well, it wasn't just me. If I'm being honest, the Mist has been doing most of the heavy lifting. I'm only back here because they sent another one of their swordsmen and Shikashi is there to supervise."

'My parents know Dan? I have a connection with a character that appears in the story? No, don't dwell on that. This guy is going to die soon and I have a chance to stop it. Think. What words could you use to stop him from dying?'

If he lives then Tsunade never leaves the village or develops a fear of blood. There's no telling how many lives she would have been able to save had she stayed. Yet, even knowing that there's not much I can do. I don't know how Dan died or who even killed him and on top of that I'm just a kid. Even if I did give meaningful advice, why would he even bother to remember it?

"Don't be so modest, you're an S rank now right? I hear the bounty on your head is even bigger than Jiraiya and Orochimaru's… that jutsu of yours is a real piece of work, you know that?" My dad keeps holding his conversation unaware of my inner turmoil.

"Yeah well, it's not like I'm that proud of it… the rank or the jutsu. I'm just trying to get people home safe is all."

'Dan and Minato would get along better than salami and mustard.'

My mom pinches Dan's cheeks and repeatedly pulls and squishes them which Dan doesn't seem to mind. "Awwww, you're as adorable as ever. If you ever need advice on how to treat Tsunade then knock on my door, you hear?"

Dan finally grabs mom's wrists to reform his kind natured grin. "Of course, though Tsuna and I are going strong so no worries."

'Shit, I can sense the conversation dying down. Somebody, please, he-'

"I think Katsu has something to say." I turn towards Honoka and try to convey my gratitude through my eyes and she responds with a wink.

Honoka speaking up causes the adults to turn their attention towards us.

"These are your kids, yes? They seem smart. It's hard to explain but they both have that twinkle in their eyes." Dan's smile being directed at us reminds me of the feeling of sunshine on my skin I felt when I first woke up.

"Did you have something to say or is your sister picking on you again?" My mom gives Honoka a stern look and I can't have that so I blurt out the half-baked words I came up with to say to Dan.

"Just because you're strong, don't try to do everything by yourself! You can rely on others to help you out! Especially if they're strong as well!" I can feel my ears turn blazing hot, but I look the man in the eyes regardless to convey my conviction.

Dan for his part opens his mouth then closes it again before seeming satisfied with the response he came up with. "If you already understand that much when you are still so small then…" He gives my parents a serious look that from their reactions seems to be a very rare if not first time thing. "Raise him well, he might have a major role to play in the future."

'That's the idea.'

My parents seem to not know what to say which gives me another chance to speak up.

"You too, you can have a major role to play as well so just… don't die, alright?"

My sister, who knows me the best, looks at me like "what the fuck" but I ignore her and watch as Dan reaches down and ruffles my hair. Then with a confident smile that practically begs you to believe in him, with a soul I can feel through his hand burning with righteous passion, he says the words.

"Of course I won't die, after all…" He takes his hand off my head and points a thumb at the Hokage monument. "I'm gonna be Hokage one day."

I feel a gust of wind that I'm not sure is real brush through my face and hair as all I can do is stare at the man.

'Ah, I see. This is what separates me from them. I don't think I could ever exert this kind of pressure. To be so confident and so self-assured in my dream to the point where I know it's going to happen. I mean seriously, I know he's going to die soon yet somehow I fully believe that this guy is going to be Hokage one day.'

The moment ends as fast as it came as Dan bids us all goodbye since he has "something urgent to get to." We silently restart our walk towards the academy and after a few long seconds my mom speaks up again.

"He's gonna do it." She says simply.

"Yup… and our future Hokage sees something in our son." My dad fixes his gaze on me. "You'll do it too, right Katsu?"

Knowing he's referring to our promise and not the position of fucking Hokage i give him a confident smile that isn't even a fraction as believable as Dan's.

"Count on it."

We arrive at the academy and find ourselves standing in a crowd in front of a different entrance than the one I used to go in yesterday. From what I know, this entrance also doubles as the exit door for kids being let out for recess which means yes, the yard I'm standing in is the one with the swing. When I first saw it I just kinda stopped walking for a second and stared. It looks a lot newer than it did in the anime, not necessarily polished but definitely not old either. The moment ended soon after as my sister poked me in the side of my head and told me to "stop staring at the tree like an idiot."

'It's just a swing Katsuo and if you have it your way it'll never be anything more than that.'

Which brings me to now, standing at the front of the crowd looking up at the Hokage who's standing right in front of us. I say looking up at the Hokage not just because of my current vertically challenged body but because while Hiruzen Sarutobi isn't exactly the tallest man his sheer presence more than makes up for it. Even more so right now as he's at least twenty years younger than the Hokage I originally saw in Other Me's memories. If I had to describe him in a metaphorical way I'd say that he reminds me of a large bonfire that could spread and consume every person in the village if it wanted but instead chooses to warm everyone just by existing.

'So this is a kage, a pillar of hope for their people and village.'

Lord Third strokes his goatee as I notice his gravity defying brown hair isn't in the Hokage hat like usual, likely due to the heat. He does have on the robes though.

"I think that is everyone."

I hear him mutter which ques me to look around for my friends. I don't find them with a few head turns so I shrug and listen to my kage.

"May I have some quiet, please?"

The man doesn't talk loudly somehow it carries throughout the entire crowd and silences everyone.

"Good. Now then… All of you are here today to be a part of or help usher in the next generation of Hidden Leaf shinobi. No matter which one you are, know that you have my undying respect, each and every one of you are dedicating pieces of yourselves to the great flame that is our beloved village. Normally, this occasion would be one to celebrate, a time to take pride in seeing future ninja take the first big step in their lives. Unfortunately, that is not the case. To be blunt, the Second Great Shinobi War is the most frightening obstacle that our village has ever had to overcome and while I pray that the children I see now will not have to fight in it, there is no guarantee. So, I implore you children to think. Think about your purpose. Why do you wish to become ninja. Is it to make your parents proud? Is it to protect those closest to you? Perhaps it is out of a sense of duty. Whatever the reason, no matter how small, that reason is more than worthy of being carried into your future battles. Hold on to that reason, that purpose, because it is those that never lose sight of their purpose that become heroes in the end. If you ever find yourselves doubting your purpose and find that the world's crushing weight is threatening to overwhelm you, then look to the symbol on your headbands. Remember the Will of Fire and feel it burning within you. Let it reignite your passion or perhaps, help you find a new one. Regardless, we adults here by vow to help nurture your small flames into an inferno that will push you forward for the rest of your days. This I swear on my pride as Hokage! Just as one day you will one day save us when our bones become brittle and our weapons become dull, here and now we will save you."

It might just be my imagination, but I think I can feel the Will of Fire he's talking about somewhere within me. Located between my brain and my heart, all the priceless memories I've made since I woke up for the first time make a flame that whispers to me to fight so that others don't have to.

"Thank you for your time."

And that's it, that's the ceremony. Just like that we're free to do whatever we want now. All this just to motivate incoming ninja to take their training seriously, perhaps Other Me would call this simple indoctrination tactics but I don't want to think like that.

'I want to believe that the Will of Fire really means something.'

That aside, I see the parents of different kids introducing themselves and conversing so that they can do half the social legwork for their children, but I don't have any need for that.

"You guys see Riku and Hiroki from up there?" There's no way I'm going to find my two buddies when I'm eye level with the legs of most of the people here.

"Hiroki? That one's new." My mom prompts me to explain and I see dad analyzing the crowd to probably at least find Riku and his dad.

"He's a friend I made from the Yamanaka clan yesterday. He's a bit weird but I think he's good at heart."

"Ah, to be young again and be able to make friends so easily." Mom puts a hand on her cheek and I look down and put my hand on my chin.

'Huh, I guess we did become friends pretty fast. I act more my age than I thought, not that I mind that at all.'

If anything, I prefer myself this way, the less like a teenager I act the more I prove to myself that I'm me.

"I think you're friends are coming to us." I hear my dad say which causes me to look as Riku and his dad and Hiroki and his dad approach us.

'I'm the only one with my whole family here out of the three of us… I can't help but feel guilty somehow.'

Riku's father looks like a taller, more jaded version of his son with dark brown hair compared to Riku's own light auburn and brown eyes that are a lighter shade than his son's. He also lacks the distinctive mole below his right eye that Riku has, almost as if the mangaka didn't feel like drawing a side character with the same amount of detail as a main character. I'm not sure if they're purposely feeding into the light and dark theme but while Riku wears a simple light gray T-shirt his dad is dressed in all black and he's psycho enough to be wearing a long sleeve shirt and pants when it's this hot out.

Hiroki and his dad look a lot more similar. They both have the characteristic blonde hair and green eyes of the Yamanaka clan and the only real differences are their hair length (the older Yamanaka has a long ponytail) and their build (his dad looks more naturally muscular while Hiroki looks like a strong gust of wind would blow him to the Land of Water).

Alright, obligatory descriptions done and I've killed just enough time for them to get over here.

"Shoichi, it seems you're doing well." My dad begins, looking at the darker haired adult out of the two.

"Daisuke, I see that you managed to make it back in one piece. Good on you." Shoichi, Riku's father, gives a smile that looks like it's been practiced in a mirror thousands of times.

On the other end of the conversation my mom introduces herself. "I'm Hikari Nishida, Katsuo's mother. I have to say that I was surprised when he suddenly mentioned he had a new friend. Whenever this boy isn't talking with one of us or locked in his room, he's usually playing with lil Riku."

"Moooooom, don't make me sound like a bum!" I wine at her which causes her to just pat me on my head.

"Heh." My sister smirks at me so now I have to make it a point to cause her immense suffering later.

Anyways, Hiroki's dad gives a chuckle full of mirth. "Haruo Yamanaka and your son is a social butterfly compared to mine. All Hiroki does all day is read books that probably aren't meant for children."

I see Hiroki shrug and look up at his dad. "I just do what any good Yamanaka would do, father."

"Bah! Any "good Yamanka" would tell you to get a life like I have for the past two years!" The look in Mr Haruo's eyes tells me that he's enjoying this.

"Why do you think I befriended these two interesting specimens?" He's… completely serious.

"Really? That's what we are? Interesting specimen?" Riku narrows his eyes at Hiroki to convey his displeasure.

"Would you rather be… an uninteresting specimen?" Hiroki raises a confused eyebrow.

"I'd rather not be a specimen at all."

"What do you have against specimens?"

"I don't I ju- Katsuo I don't like this one, let's get a new one."

I hold back a giggle at their little exchange. "Nope, don't think we could find someone more interesting."

'And having only one friend will only give mom and sis more fuel. Plus, he adds to our dynamic.'

"There ya go, there's no getting rid of me." He smiles maliciously. "I'll be by your side forever and ever, best friend."

Hiroki tries to give Riku a hug and Riku fights him off by pushing his palm against his face.

"Get away from me you lunatic!"

"Embrace me, my buddiest pal!"

While those two are goofing around I interrupt the adult conversation by pulling on my mom's long white skirt.

"Hm?" She looks down at me.

"I'm gonna go hang out with my friends and yes mom, I'll be careful and responsible and all that."

"Alright Katsu but take your sister with you."

'WHAT?' The word echoes in my mind.

"What?" I say out loud.

"You don't mind do you, Honoka?"

My sister crosses her arms and looks to the side. "Well, I don't really want to go but if I have to I guess."

"Oi sis, more tsun and less dere, please."

"Shut up, someone needs to keep an eye on you!"

"You of all people know that isn't true! I'm a super toddler, remember?"

"You're still a toddler though, you can't expect to always just be able to run around the village."

"I literally don't see why not. Plus, this doesn't work anyways, Riku is afraid o-"

Riku, who had been distracted by whatever he was up to with Hiroki, suddenly covers my mouth before I can say anything else with all the speed of someone who's been training since he could walk.

"You, shut up and you…" He studies Honoka. "You're still just female Katsuo so there's no problem."

Honoka nods in understanding which tells me they've had this talk at some point. "And I still hate your reasoning but whatever.."

'Is she… blushing? For what? What did I miss?'

"Seems you have it all figured out, play safe and be back before dinner."

"Yes mom!" My sister says.

"Whatever, parental figure." I grumble looking down and to the side.

"What was that?"

"YES MOM!" I say what I definitely said the first time while looking up at my amused mother with a large smile.

'Phew, close.'

After Hiroki and Riku get permission from their own parents we're off to explore the village.

"So, we're definitely gonna play ninja, right?" After leaving the large crowd of parents and children we end up back to walking the streets of Konohagakure as we try to come up with something to do. If it were just Riku and I the task would be a lot more difficult but since Hiroki is here the decision becomes simple. Why? Hiroki is fresh meat and me and Riku are way too competitive to not see how we stack up to him.

"Yup." Riku responds simply but I can feel his fighting spirit.

"Fine by me~." The way he says it is almost… perverse.

'What kind of fucked up way of playing ninja is he thinking about?'

"But we only have three people, four if we count your sister. Ninja is always better played with more hiders and seekers wouldn't you agree?"

Riku and I glance at each other and through bro language we're able to tell that we're thinking the same thing.

'He doesn't know anything.'

We've come up with all sorts of different game modes for ninja that can make playing with even just two people fun. Adding a third person is only going to make things even more interesting and chaotic.

"Since there's three of us I think we should do a battle royale. All three of us start with weapons and separate from the start. Last one without a fatal wound wins."

"Oooooh, ok. Should we play with stakes?" Yep, there's that smile again.

"No. Riku is too good to wager anything that's actually good. If he takes the game seriously he-"

"So, what you're saying is that you're scared of me." Riku interrupts me with the cockiest smirk I've ever seen on his face.

"What stakes did you have in mind, Hiroki?"

'I'LL DESTROY HIM!'

"Let's say… whoever loses has to do one thing the winner says… Hey Riku, buddy. Why are you smiling like that?"

My best friend aims a psychotic face splitting grin at me that Gaara would be proud of.

'He's planning to get me back for the shogi wager!'

"Hey, can I play too? Your bet sounds kinda fun!"

'That makes two people smiling at me psychotically.'

Surprisingly, it's Hiroki who decides to be the voice of reason. "Don't think that's a good idea Ms big sister. I can tell by the way you think that you take your training seriously and you've spent what? Five years in the academy? You're in your last year now right?"

"Yeah sis, you should be the ref or something." I capitalize on Hiroki being sane for once to dash Honoka's hope of getting a free favor from me.

'She'd probably make me dance like I made her that one time.'

Just as Honoka seems to be accepting defeat, Riku opens his big mouth. "Why not let her play?" He says nonchalantly as if it's nothing.

My head turns to the side, and I have to resist the urge not to glare. "Because she'll-"

"Katsuo, I don't know what really made you change your mind, but ever since you decided to become a shinobi you've been a lot more focused. There's something you want to do that you need to be strong for, right? Do you think you can do that by never taking any risks?" I feel my eyes widen in response.

'He's right. If I don't want to die out there I can't pass this up. I mean, this is as close to a real combat situation as it gets.'

"...You just know that if I agree even if you somehow don't win then Honoka will and you'll end up getting your revenge anyways." I give him an expression that says "cut the shit."

Riku just shrugs. "Well… yeah, but my point still stands."

"Hiroki, are you fine with this?" I look at the boy who initially said no.

"As I see it, even though my chances of winning are lower, I probably won't be on the receiving end of anything too nasty if I lose so…" He looks Honoka up and down. "I can't wait to see how you go about this."

The person in question finally says something. "Well for starters, we're not doing a battle royale or whatever, it wouldn't be fair. Instead, all of you will be the hiders and I'll be the seeker. First one to get caught has to do one thing that I say, sound good?"

'Wait, there's a problem with this.'

"No, because now you don't get any penalty since you technically can't lose unless you give up and I know you. So how about this, if you "die" then you count as the loser and all three of us get to pick something for you to do. Also, you only get to tell the first person you "kill" what to do if you beat all three of us." I smirk as Honoka sighs.

"Sounds… reasonable." She hides her pout by walking ahead of us but that doesn't last long because we've reached our destination, Riku's house.

Riku's house isn't as big as mine, it's nice but it's clustered between a bunch of small houses nearly identical to it and it certainly isn't bigger on the inside.

"You guys wait here, I'll get the fake ninja tools."

With that, we're left outside, waiting.

"Sooooo, Ms big sister, do you have any form of a love life? Because judging by your demeanooooor yeah ok, got it, sore subject." Despite Honoka giving him a look that's drenched in promised violence Hiroki just stands there laughing his ass off.

"Dude, you're a Yamanaka, you should know that saying that could get you and more importantly, me killed."

"But it's so funny though! You should try it sometime!"

As I'm about to lecture him on why picking the brain of someone much stronger than you is rarely ever a good idea Riku comes out holding three pouches and three small belts in his arms.

As he hands them out to each of us he explains: "Each one of these has five shuriken and five kunai. Please don't lose them during the game or else I will be the one looking for them afterwards."

"Honoka and I will help you if it comes to that." I say as I put the belt on then strap the pouch to it. "Not sure about Hiroki though."

"Hey, I would. I have some sense of honor… at least when it comes to this sorta thing."

"Thanks guys." Riku gives a grateful smile.

"I'm gonna start counting to ten and if any of you are still here when I'm done then that's your problem." Honoka suddenly says those harsh words which causes all three of us to run north.

Honoka POV

My name is Honoka Nishida and I have a genius little brother. He tries to deny it, in fact I think he hates it when he's called that, but everyone that's ever talked to him knows he isn't a normal four year old. I know the truth though, I got to see him talk early, walk early, learn to feed himself early, everything… early. At first I only thought that he was smart and honestly (though I'll never tell him) kind of cool with how he could seemingly figure everything for himself without help from mom or dad. Then he started talking more and I realized that he's just a normal kid. My perfectly average baby brother that just so happens to have an expanded vocabulary and weird personality. I still think he's a genius but not because he's smarter than most kids his age but because there's times when he… I don't know. When he isn't four, when he's just mature… more mature than me.

'And that by far is the weirdest thing about him.'

I don't think you can get the look my brother has in his eyes sometimes without there being something wrong. He's definitely stressed, I just don't know what about, which is why I'm gonna win so I can get it out of him.

'Also, he's a smartass that needs to get knocked down a peg or two.'

Alright, time to focus. In the time it took me to count to ten my brother and his friends did a pretty good job at hiding. When I was younger and played ninja a lot more there would usually be an agreed upon play area but since we didn't agree on one the play area is effectively the entire village. Usually, this would be completely unfair to the seeking team but well, considering the seeking team is made up of a kunoichi in training that's about to graduate it's really unfair for the hiders to only have a village to work with.

'They never should've agreed to do this in the first place. I mean seriously, what do they think we do all day in the academy anyways?'

Using the tracking skills I've been taught I jump across the rooftops of the village and seek out my three targets. I already have one of the small toy kunai in my hand just in case.

'Let's see… they're smart enough to know I could pick them out if they were in a crowd so they would probably want to go somewhere they could easily set an ambush or run away…'

I hop towards a less populated area and eventually get down off the roofs to ask around for "a bunch of kids smaller than me that looked like they were in a hurry." Eventually, a kind chunin tells me that "the kids you're looking for ran into training ground three" which… of course they did. It's the training ground that's the most easily accessible to civilians and there's plenty of cover in there.

'The biggest shock is that they were able to get over here so fast. Well, it makes sense for Riku and that Hiroki kid I suppose but I'm kinda proud of my brother for being able to keep up.'

I shake the thought away because if I stay on it I'll just end up mentally gushing over Katsu again.

It isn't long before I find the snarky little brother I'm looking for. As I'm hopping through the trees at around half speed so that I don't run into a trap I hear a toy shuriken whiz through the air from below me and I don't even have to do anything to dodge it because it isn't even well thrown enough to reach me. I stop moving and see my little brother with his right arm still outstretched and an obviously distressed expression on his face.

"Shit."

I hear him say before he runs westward away from me.

"This is why we all told you that just practicing chakra control is gonna come back to bite you, Katsu~."

"Shut up, it's an investment!" I hear him yell back at me as I start chasing him. Seconds later I'm winding up to throw the toy kunai in my hand at his adorable lil head when I hear a SNAP behind me and I'm immediately forced to deflect a toy shuriken coming at my face and block another one coming at my stomach with my free hand before landing on a large branch,

'As long as it isn't a killing blow it doesn't count!'

I throw the toy kunai in my hand in the direction the shuriken came from only for them to fly into the leaves and hit nothing.

'Must have been some sort of trap using rope or wire. When did they get enough time t- oooh I see.'

Riku's smart, when he was in his house he must have grabbed extra supplies for his friends and left me with nothing but a basic kit. Can't blame him, "if you're not cheating then you're not winning," at least that's what mom says.

I go to jump onto a different branch to pursue my brother before I completely lose track of him but I immediately almost trip over something.

'Ninja wire! He predicted where I'd land!'

I throw myself to the side so that the three toy kunai that somehow come from directly above me clatter against the branch instead of my head. Of course, this takes me off the branch I'm on and forces me to grab onto a lower branch of the next tree to keep myself from falling all the way to the ground. Which undoubtedly would be bad since I'm pretty sure only Riku knows tree jumping out of those three-

'You gotta be shitting me.'

"FUCK!" I yelp as I start falling again courtesy of some kind of grease that was put on the branch to make sure I can't latch onto it.

'CAN THAT KID SEE THE FUTURE OR SOMETHING?'

Due to my shock I'm slow to regain control of my body in midair so instead of landing on my feet or in a roll all I can do is put both my arms out to catch myself as I land in a large puddle twice my size of-.

'PAINT! SERIOUSLY?'

Pink paint at that which makes my hands slip out from under me after they catch most of the impact causing me to faceplant in the puddle. I then immediately roll over as two more shuriken land in the spot I originally was. I just lay there for a moment, covered in pink paint and rubbing the shit out of my eyes and it is through this sting and humiliation that an all-consuming rage takes over me.

"YOU LITTLE SHITS ARE DEAD!" I get up and look around. Those shuriken probably didn't come from a trap but from one of the boys, likely Riku with how well thrown they were. I could go after him but that would be much harder than going after the one I want to get out first anyways, Katsu.

'And he doesn't know how to cover his tracks yet.'

I stick to ground level this time, weary of any traps in the trees. If I'm focused I should be able to avoid any traps these little kids can set for me and even if I can't I'll be able to move much easier on the ground than in the trees. It isn't long before I find Katsu's trail, footprints here… a broken branch there… with the speed I'm going at it's not long before I find my little brother.

"Katsuuu, come out from behind that tree Katsuuuu, I'll go easy on you for ruining my new skirt if you do, Katsuuuuu~."

'Finally convinced mom to get me a white one, promised I wouldn't ruin it. To be fair, I probably shouldn't have played ninja in it. To also be fair, WHY DID THEY HAVE TO DUNK ME IN PAINT! WHERE DID THEY EVEN GET IT FROM?

Yep, they're all dead.'

I stalk towards the tree but then my keen senses alert me to the sound of rope getting cut. I look around just in time to see two branches slinging two toy kunai at me from my left and right which makes me immediately jump backwards to cleanly evade them. Obviously panicked at seeing his last ditch effort fail, Katsu hops out from behind the tree and puts his shaking hands up in surrender.

"OK! OK! I give up! I'm sorry about the paint, just don't kill me!"

Seeing him make a desperate face for once eases my anger a bit which is good, I need to keep my wits about me.

"We'll talk later!" I throw one of my kunai at him and it strikes him cleanly in the forehead.

'One dow-'

"Nice try!"

At the same time I say that I catch a kunai coming at my face and throw it back at its thrower.

"GAK, HOW!"

I hit the blonde kid, Hiroki I'm pretty sure, right in the gut which makes him fall out of the well obscured low branch of a tree he was on. Since he's from a ninja clan he lands on his knees instead of his head and seems completely fine.

"You planned it this way, didn't you." I turn around to see Riku standing there with a toy kunai held in a reverse grip at his side. Wind blows through his hair, parting the large strands that curve downwards towards his right eye and revealing more of his forehead. "You just couldn't resist fighting me yourself. You know, if you wanted to spar you could have asked anytime when I was in a more…" I motion to my ruined clothes. "Charitable mood."

Riku's face remains emotionless but there's a flicker of viciousness in his voice. "Where's the fun in that?"

'Don't beat up the little kid, just scare him a bit.'

I run at him at just over half my speed and aim a sweeping strike with a toy kunai I bring out the pouch towards his forehead. Surprisingly, he does a good job of ducking the strike and attempting a stab at my stomach with his own kunai that's surprisingly fast, causing me to grab his wrist with my other hand instead of dodging.

'And that's- what the…'

I think to end the fight with my free hand holding the kunai but the prodigy must have predicted that I'd grab his wrist as he immediately drops his kunai before I can even get a firm grip into his waiting left hand then takes a large step forward while trying to stab me between my ribs.

'Ok, no.'

Unfortunately for Riku, he didn't account for our difference in physical strength. I yank him left which throws off his strike before spinning him around and pinning his right arm against his back. For the finishing touch I position my toy kunai above his head close enough that he can sense it barely hovering above him.

"Do you yield?"

"Yeah… I yield."

Perhaps it's because of how genuinely dejected he sounds but his words come with a sense of finality. I take my hand off his wrist and let my muscles relax while letting out a sigh.

HIT

"OW! What th-"

I feel two small objects hit me on the back of my head and on the left side of my upper back, just above my heart. I turn around and see two small toy shuriken on the ground and I look up to see-

'No…'

My little brother standing on a large branch that points upwards with plenty of leaves on it to hide him almost halfway up a big tree with an arm draped over his right knee.

"And that's checkmate big sis."

"But I alread-"

The Katsuo I hit transforms in a puff of smoke to reveal a man I don't recognize with long brown hair, similarly colored eyes, and very tan skin. He wears a flak jacket that tells me that he's a chunin.

"HOW?"

After the countdown: Katsuo POV

After sis began counting down I ran away from her as fast as I could along with Riku and Hiroki. Already my mind was racing a mile a minute trying to figure out how to beat Honoka so that she couldn't make me do something embarrassing, or worse, brag about it for a week. Unfortunately, my mind was a lot faster than my legs and so I struggled to keep up with Riku, who's been going through physical conditions for most of his short life, and Hiroki who's from the Yamanaka clan and likely has been through some training himself.

"That's really as fast as you can go?" Hiroki twisted his head back and looked at me like some sort of pathetic thing.

"This is why you always lose to me whenever we play, Katsuo. You're too slow."

"If you're not gonna carry me yourself then shut up and let me think you stupid hedgehog." I growled out.

"Hedgehog?" Hiroki tilted his head curiously while Riku just shrugged and before I knew it…

"This is faster." He ended up carrying me on his back which is only slightly embarrassing. "Now listen, I snuck ninja wire and rope into our pouches so that we could make traps. I would have snuck other tools in, but I didn't want to make Honoka suspicious."

'Smart, he was already thinking ahead.'

"You'll be the one doing the trapping so start coming up with ideas, just leave the rest up to Hiroki and I."

"Care to elaborate?" Riku said simply, probably having already suspected that I'd come up with a plan before long.

"Wait, you're the strategist? I thought Riku would be…" Hiroki looked genuinely confused for once.

"I hate to admit it, but in the three hundred five games of shogi we've played I've never beaten him."

'You're making me sound smarter than I actually am, I just play a lot because of mom.'

"Wow, you're cooler than I thought, Katsuo! Go on, explain what's going on in that juicy head of yours!" Wow never thought I'd see the "stars for eyes" effect in real life but here we are.

"Well uh, ahem, alright kids listen up. A large part of strategy is figuring out your enemy's objective so you can predict their movements. In this case, we all know that sis is gonna come after me first so that simplifies things. Honoka is too good for us to beat straight up, which means we're gonna have to trick her into lowering her guard somehow. I say we get a random ninja to transform into me so that after she takes fake me out we can surprise her with the real me. Of course, that means you two will have to lose first so that she doesn't suspect any sneak attacks."

"I can handle getting the ninja we need but your plan still isn't good enough. For this to work she'll need to be riled up enough to get tunnel vision. Trained ninja know to look underneath the underneath and you said your sister is pretty good."

"I know, that's what the traps are fo-... where did you get the paint?" Suddenly, Hiroki was holding a bucket of paint in his right hand that even Riku seemed surprised by. Hiroki just gives a lopsided grin in response.

"I picked it up once I got the jist of your plan. Traps are fine and all, but I want her to be pissed. You know, to ensure success." Hiroki's grin turns malicious and for the umpteenth time I pat myself on the back for befriending him, this guy is awesome!

"Katsuo, get off me. Hiroki, give me the paint." I notice that we've arrived where Riku was taking us this entire time without us knowing, training ground three. "This plan requires a location where I can comfortably make traps and one that has a lot of space so that we can run away easily. It's a good thing that we came through here yesterday, I memorized most of the terrain we walked through so I should be able to make good use of it."

"Scary." Hiroki and I said at the same time.

"Did you already predict what I'd come up with? Is that why you packed the ninja wire and led us here?" I seriously needed to know.

"Not exactly, I just knew that traps would be a necessity in whatever you thought of so from there it was just about thinking of a place to set them. There's no way I could have predicted that you would want a ninja to transform into you or that Hiroki would want to dunk your sister in paint."

'Huh.'

"You really are a genius. Anyways, you set the traps, I'll help Hiroki get us a ninja. We'll meet in the forest in no less than three minutes."

"Right."

After that Hiroki and I ran into a restaurant he said that ninja usually go to and we found a guy that was willing to help us after getting turned down a few times. Well, I shouldn't say "a guy," it was someone that's apparently an old friend of my dad, Kenji Imai. Yeah, him. The drunk from when I was a baby. He never dropped by but since I reminded him of "this girl I used to know" and "I owe your dad big time" he decided to help out. He seemed extra enthusiastic after Hiroki whispered something in his ear, but I don't know or care to know what demented thing he said.

We met back with Riku in the forest, and he told me exactly where to run and where I'd switch with Kenji. Why have me run away at all? Simple, to sell the fake out. This led to me running for my life, Riku's traps luckily being good enough for Honoka to lose sight of me, and then getting carried up into a tree by Kenji before he transformed into me then… you know the rest.

Katsuo POV

Of course, I tell Honoka none of that.

"How? By being smarter than you that's how." I then realize I'm in a predicament. "Can someone get me down from here?"

I stomach a few awkward seconds as Kenji has to come up into the tree and get me down but once my feet are firmly planted on the ground I give sis the most scummy look my baby fat filled face can muster.

"Alright, since we won we get to ask you to do anything we want, right?" I notice Kenji walk over to Hiroki and they start talking which leaves me with just Riku to back me up.

"I… sigh whatever. Just be reasonable, please?" Honoka resigns herself to her fate. She takes off her pouch and hands it to Riku "this belongs to you" then Riku walks over to me, obviously frustrated.

"I lost." He says bluntly.

"You lost but we won. Don't beat yourself up over a fight you were never going to win in the first place." '

'This guy always has absurd expectations for himself!'

"Yeah… fine. So, you know what we have to do, right?" Riku turns that frown upside down and I immediately know what he's getting at.

"Yeah, don't even think we need to talk to Hiroki about it."

"Talk to Hiroki about what?" Hiroki approaches us and I see Kenji body flicker away. "Because if you're talking about the punishment then I had some… interesting things in mind hehehehe."

"Let's just say… you don't have to worry about convincing us right now." I give him a crazed smirk that he returns.

"Oh that's just delicious."

"What are you three talking about over there?" Honoka starts stomping over but before she can even get halfway we all turn to her and speak at once.

"We'll deal with you later!"

"What? You can't just…! GRAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Hiroki and I break out into laughter over my sister's animalistic noise, but Riku decides to interrupt. "Can I come over your house in an hour?"

"Sure dude."

An hour and a half later…

Riku would indeed come over with a stack of books for us to read after lunch so right now we're doing what we usually do and hanging out in my room with a book in our hands. I'm laying flat on my back on my bed and Riku is sitting at my mini desk.

"It's like… it's like the author is trying to piss me off." I frown at the book held above my head.

"In what regard?" I hear Riku ask while probably not even looking up from his book. I sit up to get a good look at him and… yep.

"The best thing about this book is the fight scenes but obviously the author wants the character interactions and philosophical questions to be the emphasis of the story but he's just…"

"Bad at it?"

"Dog shit! To the point where the story would be much better if the plot didn't take itself so seriously." I close the book, too disgusted with it to read any more of it today. "What are you reading?"

"It's about twin brothers that get separated at birth and live in different houses. One is rich and one is poor." He turns another page, obviously engrossed.

'That sounds good but familiar somehow.'

"I'm guessing it's a ten out of ten since you haven't made eye contact with me this entire conversation." I kick my feet off my bed and let them dangle over the edge lazily.

"It's… unique. The story follows their completely separate journeys while switching point of view every few chapters but that's not the weird part." He finally looks at me, I can't quite read his expression, but he seems… contemplative. "Usually in these stories the less fortunate one is the most talented as if to balance the story out but… no. The rich brother is also the most talented and the author does such a good job of conveying the poor brother's incompetency to the point where it makes you wonder why he's even in the story. Even I don't understand how he's supposed to contribute anything and no Katsuo, neither of them are secretly evil."

'Well, if it's as well written as he says…'

"I'll get a copy the next time I'm out. You know, it kinda reminds me of me and you in a way." The talented one that can do anything he puts his mind to and the untalented one who's just kind of fumbling around.

"No, we couldn't be any more different. In the first place, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous of your family…"

'Oh right, he only has his father.'

"But more importantly, you underestimate yourself. I understand that I'm smarter than most kids our age but then, so are you. I might pick up on things a bit faster but that doesn't make you pitiful, it makes you normal."

'I can't afford to be normal, Riku!'

"I think you overestimate me but even ignoring that you're still wrong." I get up from my bed to put a hand on the dumbass's shoulder. "Riku, we're practically brothers. My family is your family, how haven't you realized that yet?"

Riku tilts his head and looks up at me. "Bro…" He says intelligently.

"Bro." I say back.

"Hug?"

"Hug."

Bro hug.

A few hours later…

"Dad, how do I throw a punch?"

Riku left about an hour ago, which prompted me to fetch a leaf from outside, then come back inside and sit on the couch in the living area. I've been practicing my chakra control ever since and so I haven't been paying attention to my surroundings. I've only just now opened my eyes and noticed dad next to me reading a newspaper next to me which he sets to the side once he hears my question.

"You mean a real one?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah, a real one. I'm getting tired of letting Riku be so far ahead of me and… something about what the Hokage said spoke to me."

'Those two things aside, I want to stay ahead of the curve. I'm normal, like Riku said, so if I start learning taijutsu with everyone else then I'll just be average but if I start earlier then maybe…'

"I'll teach you but let me make one thing clear." He fully turns to face me and sits with his legs criss crossed on the couch and his hands placed on his knees. "What you're doing right now isn't wrong. The main obstacle of progress to any ninja is how many hours there are in a day. There isn't enough to train every single skill a shinobi possesses which is why most stick to a specialty and hone skills related to it. By sticking to chakra control, not only are you developing one of the most important skills a ninja has, you're leaving yourself enough time to be a kid."

I resist the urge to roll my eyes, I see where this one's going.

"Son, listen. From now on you're going to be doing a lot of things you don't want to do. Things you never thought you would do. Don't sacrifice your childhood just to train, you have five years, there's no rush." Dad says the last part softly, but it has no effect on me.

"Dad, what good is a childhood if I die before I turn fifteen." I cross my arms petulantly.

"What good is a life if it's never lived? The truth is that you could train all day every day, be the best student in your class, become a chunin in record speed, and still die because you missed a trap or intelligence accidentally sent you into an ambush. I'm not saying to never train, but don't do the opposite either."

"Bu-" I try to protest.

"Katsuo." Dad glare.

"Sigh Yes sir." I uncross my arms and hang my head which just makes my dad ruffle my hair.

"Don't be like that, I said I'd still teach you didn't I?" Dad holds out an open palm for me to hit. I get off the couch so I don't have to do this sitting down and dad adjusts his palm to eye level.

'Alright, replicate what you know from his life. Keep your elbows down, get full extension on your arm, turn your hip with the punch…'

SMACK

"Nice one, Katsu! Again."

'You got it, boss.'

I try to punch him again but…

"Ow! Hey!" I almost shout at him as he moves his hand out the way before lightly smacking me on my cheek with it.

"Katsu, do you really expect your opponent to just sit there and wait to get hit? Are you sure you're cut out for this ninja stuff?" A mocking grin forms on his face that's obviously just there to rile me up so instead of getting angry I just narrow my eyes with focus and take up an orthodox boxing stance.

"Good. Again."

SMACK

DODGE

SMACK

This time I slip the counter and deliver another strike.

"Very good, Katsu!"

He speeds up his hand and we do this for about a minute and a half before I take a soft flick to my forehead and flop on my butt as a result, panting.

"You need to work on your stamina but other than that you pass with flying colors. If anything, you seem to already have an intuitive grasp of hitting without getting hit and you threw a good punch on your first try. You sure Riku is the only prodigy?" I respond to dad's pride filled smile with lowered eyebrows.

"Yes pant I'm sure… the only reason I did as good as I did is because I've been playing ninja with Riku for so long."

"I don't think playing Riku teaches you how to make a half decent guard but maybe I'm not caught up on kids these days." My dad shrugs and I get off my butt. "We can do this whenever you want, I won't teach you proper taijutsu until your instincts are honed and your punch accuracy gets better."

"Isn't the academy supposed to start teaching me anyways?" I sit back on the couch and my dad chuckles.

"Unfortunately for you, no. Taijutsu doesn't start getting taught until the second year. Your first year is going to be filled with physical conditioning to prepare your bodies to learn both it and ninjutsu."

'Ninjutsu? Ah, because…'

"Physical energy and spiritual energy are equally important… also don't think I didn't get that hidden message."

'Dad basically just said get off your lazy ass and run a mile.'

"HA! You're even quicker on the uptake than Honoka! I have a feeling you're gonna be alright." Dad gets up and starts walking towards his bedroom.

"Where do you think you're going? What if I still want to keep training?" I say with obvious challenge in my voice.

Dad stops and looks back at me with a knowing smirk. "Oh, you want to keep training alright, but not with me. You still want to train your precious chakra control, don't you?"

'Dammit he's right.'

I act my age and stick my tongue out at him and he reacts by peeling his eyelid and sticking out his tongue right back at me showing that we have the same amount of maturity but only one of us is honest about it. Afterwards dad starts walking away again but not without a "love you, son" full of mirth.

'My dad's a prick.'

"Love you too."

Eight Days Later

It's been around a week since the entrance ceremony and academy life is in full swing. It was pleasant at first, I'd go to the academy and learn about history, math, and whatnot, then walk home with my sister and maybe get a bite to eat on the way.

Then after about three days, the romance of it all wore off. Reality hit me when my alarm clock woke me up and while it was still blaring in my ear I realized "I don't want to get up" but unlike most days of my life up till that point I had no choice. After that, school has been as boring as you would expect though most subjects are easy for me because of Other Me's tampering.

Today I woke up more tired than usual. Right now, the teacher is going over the events of the warring states era that lead up to the village's creation, which I already know the story of anyways so I've had my head down trying not to fall asleep. The class seems like it'll pass without anything interesting happening so I plan to resign myself to losing the battle against sleep until…

"Hey, Katsuo." Hiroki says from the seat directly to my right.

"Hm." I look at him out the corner of my eye.

"See Kurumi?" He has a look like he's about to do something Riku wouldn't approve of so I wake myself up for a moment and look directly in front of us.

Kurumi takes the Nara stereotype to its limit. I'm pretty sure she's twice as lazy as Shikamaru because while Shikamaru was (will be?) a cool lazy, Kurumi is so lazy that even I'm sometimes like "seriously?" So of course, it's no surprise that she succumbed to sleep a half hour before I did (that is, the moment sensei opened his mouth) and still has her head in her arms sleeping quietly.

"Yeah I see her, why?" I whisper back at him and eye the sensei. Luckily, he's still distracted by pointing at the symbols of the different clans on the board.

Hiroki responds by drinking water from a bottle he brought before squirting some at Kurumi from between his teeth. The thin stream of water hits the back of her neck and drips down her shirt, yet she doesn't wake up.

Now I know it's immature to find this funny but in my defense, I'm four. So to me this is the funniest shit I've ever seen.

I decide to give him a challenge while repressing any giggle that could alert the teacher. "A free lunch says you can't paint the village symbol on the back of her shirt." Today Kurumi is wearing a simple white T-shirt making this possible theoretically.

"Challenge accepted." He whispers back at me before going to work.

I watch while pretending not to be a part of the situation and of course Riku finally looks up from taking notes and sees what's going on. "Hiroki, if you get in trouble, I'm not bailing you out this time." He whispers at the chaotic Yamanaka harshly and Hiroki just gives him a knowing wink in return because… of course Riku is going to bail him out.

Eventually Kouji-sensei turns to the class and raises his voice. "Anyone want to come up here and explain to the class why Madara and Lord First being friends was a problem? Not you, Yokota, someone else."

'I could explain it, but I don't want to stand out too much so soon…'

Nobody seems intent on going up there until a lone boy raises his hand. "I'll try!"

"Ah, Kosuke, come to the front of the class."

I study the boy getting out of his chair and can't help but be a bit… put off by him. He's nice, really nice, he always has a smile on his face and just by this past week I can tell that he's a naturally "sunny" existence. However, his last name is "Shimura." The clan Danzo is the current head of and a formerly large one that is about as good at wind release as the Sarutobi is at fire release. Though their main claims to fame are their sense of honor and discipline combined with their expertise in stealth and their renown contract with the elephant clan. How do I know this? I asked my mom, I was curious.

That all said, Kosuke doesn't match a Shimura's demeanor at all. He's all cheery and nice in such a genuine sweet way I feel like I'll get cavities just by talking to him.

'How can he act like this when his clan is suffering so much from the war…'

He eventually makes it to the front of the class and recites what he knows which… isn't much. "Lord First and Madara being friends was a problem because… um, their clans were at war?"

"Yes, and…" Kouji-sensei crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow.

"That would make things weird?" I hear some giggling around the classroom which makes me irritated.

"It would make things "weird" because the Senju and Uchiha had killed each other for centuries and Lord Hashirama and Madara's brothers were victims of that. Thus, they would be honor bound to kill one another for the sake of their clan and fallen siblings and comrades. You can understand why such a dire situation can't be summed up with just the word "weird," yes?"

Kosuke doesn't flinch underneath sensei's glare or react to the laughter from the rest of the class. Instead, he just rubs the back of his head and bashfully says "yes sensei" then walks back to his seat but not before giving everyone a thousand ryo smile.

"He's interesting." I hear Hiroki say as if he found an interesting animal at a zoo.

"He's weird." Riku responds, shutting Hiroki down.

"He's depressing." I give my own opinion to feel included.

After that class resumes and shortly after that Hiroki completes his (wow, that's actually impressive) masterpiece of a perfectly water drawn leaf symbol on the still sleeping Kurumi's back. The fact that she never woke up or that the teacher never caught Hiroki is a testament to the fact that this was meant to happen. Truly, a once in a lifetime work of art.

"I don't have any money on me but once I do I'll blow all of it on you… you've done something incredible." I look at him with awe and he gives a confident smile back at me.

"If you really want to repay me then you can do it by never doubting me again."

"Like I said, free lunch."

"Blerg."

"Blerg you too."

Eventually class ends and just as I'm getting up to leave Kurumi walks up to us.

"Hey, I need to talk to… Katsuo?"

"Got it in one."

"I need to talk to Katsuo so you two, leave." She says bluntly which causes Hiroki to look at me like "HA HA" and Riku to just pat me on the shoulder for good luck.

'Screw those guys! I'm not gonna take the fall for this!'

"Pay attention because saying this twice would be a pain. I know that Hiroki was the one squirting water on my back all class and that would normally be fine, but it woke me up. So, from now on stop him from interrupting my sleep or I'll snitch." She doesn't sound annoyed, in fact she sounds kinda unbothered.

"Why talk to me instead of Hiroki?" I can't help but ask which causes her to give a five second long sigh.

"Should've known you'd ask that… because you seem like less of a pain to talk to, anything else or can I go?"

'You're the one that held me up, lady.'

"Yeah. I've been thinking about this since I first saw you… you're cute and small can I… can I pet you?" She quickly blinks twice, obviously shocked by my genuine and reasonable question.

"... Only when I'm awake… I guess?" I can tell she's still trying to figure out my deal which she never will because I can tell she thinks I have some underlying motive, but I don't. I'm not attracted to her that way (I'm four) nor do I plan to be (someone that lazy? Never happening.) and I don't need her for anything. She really is just cute and small and thus pettable.

"Thank you very much." I pat her on her head and resist the toddler urge to touch her small ponytail. After three pats I'm satisfied. "Alright, I'll go tell Hiroki never to mess with you again, something tells me we're gonna be friends anyways."

"No thanks, you're weird." She answers quickly which… huh, this is how rejection feels. I think I hate it.

"Everyone in this class is weird, Kurumi. Just pick which brand of weird you prefer then make friends with it." Before she can say anything else hurtful I run off to meet with my friends.

Later that day…

"Ugh… there's no beating you, is there?" I lean back in my chair and see my mom has checkmate in two and I can't do a damn thing to stop it.

"It'll happen someday Katsu, you're getting better and better every time we play." Mom smiles proudly at me as she resets the shogi board. Right now, we're on the porch in our backyard. Honoka is here as well sitting in a chair behind mom reading one of her textbooks.

"Doesn't feel like it but if you say so."

'Just now, she beat me like it was nothing. I could barely form an offense.'

Mom sees me pouting so she reaches over and tugs on my right cheek. "You're such an adorable sore loser. Come on Katsu, you know your accuracy has really improved since you started out and so has your opening game."

"You're just saying that…"

"No, I'm serious! You're way better than I was at your age."

"Super toddler." Honoka says bluntly without bothering to look up from her book.

"Just for that, I'm bothering you now." My mood immediately perks up (not that it was ever down, I was just fishing for compliments) as I get out of my chair and walk over to my big sister. I hear mom sigh and say "all alone again" in a sing-song voice but I ignore her.

"What do you want?" She puts her book down knowing there's no use in focusing on it now.

"Eeeeeeh, don't know yet." I look her up and down trying to find anything I can annoy her with and she just rolls her eyes.

"Ok fine I get it, you're in gremlin mode. If I give you something entertaining to do will you not ruin my day?" She gives me a pleading look so I decide to go easy on her for today.

"I find these terms acceptable. What'd you have in mind, sis?"

Honoka sets her book on the chair and gets up heading for the yard. I follow her with a confused look on my face that remains as she turns to face me.

"Dad's been helping you with your taijutsu, right? How far along are you?" She stands with her arms behind her back like an old man.

"Did he do the hand thing with you too?"

"Mmmmmhm."

"I can keep up with it for about a minute but then I get hit." I hide my embarrassment behind a frustrated scowl.

"That's good enough, let's spar a bit." She takes a basic stance with one arm held out with an open palm and another one held back protecting her solar plexus. Most martial artists in Other Me's world would vomit at the sight but then, this isn't their world, is it?

"You're just trying to tire me out so I won't have the energy to bother you for the rest of the day." I say bluntly while taking up my boxing stance.

"Yeeaaaah, but you'd never turn this down anyways so it doesn't matter." Sis smirks knowingly and now it's my turn to roll my eyes.

"Here I come!"

I propel myself forward and…

BLOCK

DODGE

BLOCK

"C'MON!" I yell.

"Gotta do better than that!" Honoka says in response.

"Do your best sweetie!" Mom yells, neither of us knowing who "sweetie" in this case is… an age old parenting technique.

Like I said before, Honoka is good. Top of her class good. If she didn't decide to focus on becoming a medic she probably would have made a fantastic all arounder. The only thing that holds her back is her average chakra reserves though that partially helps her with the whole medical ninja thing since it makes her chakra easier to control.

So, it isn't a shock to me that she's avoiding everything I throw at her with ease, she beat Riku after all.

'That said, I can't lose too badly, what if she jokes about it at dinner later!'

With more than enough motivation fueling me I try to spit in her eye. Yeah, not the fairest thing and it might not be the best conduct in a spar but we're aspiring ninja! Fairness shouldn't even be in our vocabulary!

I guess it's because we're "aspiring ninja" why my spit projectile does jack shit. My sister's eyes narrow and she blocks it with a raised fist.

"Ha! Gotcha!" I aim a punch at her gut while she's distracted with the spit and… yeah. "WOAH!" One blink I'm standing, another blink and I'm flipped on my ass.

"Really Katsu, spit?" She shakes her hand to get the saliva off.

"I just hate losing, ok?" She gives me the "big sister look." The look that makes you feel like less than trash, less than a bug, less than zero, less than a forty eight year old divorcee with nowhere else to go in life.

'Why was I even born, why do I even exist, maybe I should just end it here… or apologize.'

"I'm sorry!" I get on my knees and bow my head. "I'll never do it again!"

I hold that position for a few seconds before being weirded out by the silence and looking up. By doing that I see her with an elbow resting on her wrist and a hand cupping one of her cheeks as she fails to stop a face splitting evil smile from forming.

'I know that smile… it's mine.'

"Say sorry one more time and I might forgive you."

"No, you're weird! Who enjoys stuff like this?!"

"You do, now apologize!"

"Fine, I'm sorry!"

"Like you mean it…"

I re-bow my head to hide another eye roll. "I'm really really sorry my precious older sister and I won't forget this until the end of my days."

'There's no way I'm forgetting this. She must have forgotten that she owes Riku, Hiroki, and I a favor. I was going to go easy on her because we ruined her clothes but not anymore!'

"That'll do for now I suppose." I feel her glare lift so I rise to my feet.

"In all seriousness, anything I can improve on?" We start walking back to the porch where mom had been oddly silent as she saw that whole thing unfold.

"You're kidding, right? Everything, you just started out." Worst thing is, she's just being honest, not even trying to insult me.

"Yeah… fair enough. Hey mom, why'd you stop cheering?"

'Hope I didn't make her mad with the spit thing.'

Mom, still sitting in the same chair as before, just looks at with cold dead eyes. "Cuteness… overload."

"How was that cute?" My sister and I say indignantly… moms amirite?

Three Months Later…

"Katsu, wake up, I just realized you've never been to the hot springs before.

"Mom, it's like checks clock 6am and it's saturday! Let me sleep!"

"Nope, nuh uh, you're five now, you need to live your life while you have it!"

"Mom… are you making me?"

"No, but I'll be very upset…"

'So, you're making me.'

"Fine, I'll get dressed."

And that's how my morning started. Now I find myself floating in hot water on the female side (I'm five) of the most popular hot spring spot in Konoha. It's early in the morning so there aren't many people here aside from kunoichi who need an early start or (in one case that I've overheard from the conversations I've heard so far) a messed up sleep schedule caused by constant missions. I was acknowledged briefly, mostly to be called cute (thanks), but then I was cast aside in favor of gossip.

'I'm bored.'

If I was anywhere near puberty I'd probably be having the time of my life surrounded by all these beautiful women in nothing but towels or less but… nope, nothing. I sigh and let my mind drift with my body as I float in the water. With Genma and Ebizu being classmates of mine, I've been able to get an estimate on how far I am from canon. That is, just over twenty years away… maybe a bit more, don't know exactly how old Genma or Ebizu were supposed to be in canon… canon. Such an odd word. Does that imply that everything I'm doing now is non-canon? Am I filler?

'I will be if I don't get stronger.'

The second war is still raging on without any signs of stopping. Dad is gone, back on another mission, this time to the Rain. I'm worried about him since I know what's waiting for him there but I'm not a good son if I don't have irrational faith in my own father. So, what really has me worried is how close the second and third war must be on the timeline. Naruto was born like what… a year after the third war? So, when is it supposed to start? When is the second one supposed to end? Either way any peace that comes won't last for long.

'I need to ask about Kushina when I get the chance, if I can get her age then I can get Minato's and Other Me's memories tell me he was twenty four when he died. Speaking of Minato…

I'm in a hot spring, right? If I were going to meet Jiraiya wouldn't I meet him here? I can forgive him for spying on my mom if he teaches me Sage Mode or even just gives me a summoning contract.

I get out the water and walk over to the wooden wall with small barely perceivable cracks in them.

'If he were watching it would be through he- no way…'

I hear it! I hear perverse giggling!

"Katsu, what are you doing out the water?" Mom notices me near the wall for no reason.

"I need to pee, I'll be back!" I give her a poor excuse and run off.

'I'M GONNA MEET JIRAIYA!'

"...And who are you exactly?"

After putting my white T shirt and black shorts back on I ran outside only to see a kid with messy black hair and charcoal eyes staring through the wall with a spyglass. He's obviously an Uchiha and no more than four years older than me, probably less.

'Uchiha do this stuff?'

The boy gets out of his crouched position and stands up to full height and for some reason I can feel a tingle in the back of my spine, like an electric shock. Maybe these are instincts gained from having already had my fate diverted once before but my entire being is telling me that by coming out here and meeting this person the course of my life has changed forever.

"I am Asahi Uchiha and you..." He points at me dramatically which makes my nerves feel like they've caught fire.

"Have a really hot mom."

'Imma kill em.'

What they talked about… Daisuke POV

After the kids ran off to play, I decided to get down to business.

"Shoichi…" I started slowly. "Your boy, Riku, he's smart. I don't wish to question your parenting skills, but you've been raising him and training him, correct? I know it's impolite to ask but you understand why I'm curious."

With a Yamanaka there to call him on any bullshit and my beautifully smart wife he was effectively trapped.

"I understand… Yes, I am making sure he has proper mental stability. I allow him to interact with your boy, don't I?" The man put his hands in his pants pockets and looked up at the sky.

"Shoichi..." I began.

"He won't graduate early." His head snapped back to me and his formerly wistful eyes gained a steel focus. "I will not claim to be the best father, but I care for the child my wife gave me. I won't betray her trust, even if it kills me. Rest assured, while I have my own selfish vendettas my primary concern is the boy's happiness above all else."

'Good enough, I guess.'

"And what are those selfish vendettas, if you don't mind me asking." Haruo cuts into the conversation, his curiosity obviously peaked by the glint in his eyes. Looking past that though I can see concern befitting an adult.

"I need him to be strong, to provide value to this world. It is the only way my mind can rest easy." Shoichi meets Haruo's analytical look head on causing the man to shrug casually.

"Well then… understood." The blonde had no choice but to bend the knee and Shoichi wasn't done yet. He turned back to me with a look of dead seriousness.

"We've talked about my boy so let's talk about yours, he's strange." He said bluntly which made Hikari finally speak up.

"He's different but he's still just a child all the same, just like your Riku." Like any good mother would, she leapt to the defense of her son.

"Hikari, you must admit that Katsuo has a much better grasp of the world than any kid his age should have. The way he shies away from attention that other kids his age crave… how much attention he pays to others. I've noticed all of it." Shoichi crossed his arms, a show of not budging on the subject.

"Sounds like a boy from my clan, no? It's rare but it's not unheard of for a kid to be more mature than what his age might suggest." Haruo seemed contemplative about something.

"Yes, but when you combine that with an intellect that is also beyond his peers… you understand, don't you Daisuke? We've heard stories about these kinds of children. You knew one yourself once upon a time."

'Yes, children that are blessed by the Gods. Our current Hokage was one of them.'

"If his aptitude for ninjutsu is-"

I had to interrupt him. "I have it covered. Besides, Katsu insists that he isn't a genius anyways and I'm inclined to believe my own son." I smiled disarmingly and held it for a few awkward moments before Shoichi finally gave up.

"Have it your way, just take good care of him. Don't repeat your mistakes, Daisuke." With that Shoichi walked off and disappeared into the crowd.

"You know, your son is weird as well, Haruo." My wife said shortly after Shoichi left, I could tell she'd been waiting to bring this up."

"Eh, only as weird as his mom and I. I really have to thank your son for making friends with him though, I was afraid I was gonna have to force him to pretend to be normal." Then Haruo walked off as well which queued Hikari and I to head home.

Later, Honoka would rant to us about what happened during the game of ninja that caused her clothes to be ruined. As Hikari held in her laughter and promised to get her a new skirt, I couldn't help but ponder one particular part of her story. When Katsu threw his first shuriken, he definitely threw it badly on purpose to further make himself a non-threat so that afterwards he would be able to hit her cleanly from on top of a tree. He showed not only fantastic strategy but also more skill than I would expect from him… no, most importantly…

'You used your friends like shogi pieces… you saw farther ahead than you let on.'

I'm not worried that he's hiding any skills, I'm sure the shuriken throwing just comes from playing ninja for a year, but if he's capable of all that then there's a possibility…

'My son may be a naturally born liar… Katsuo… are you hiding things from me?'

I felt a grin dawn on my face.

'Kanna, he'll make a splendid shinobi.'

AN:

Alright so I told you all where I've been so let me talk about the future. I can't set an upload schedule because I'm a college student and… yeah. What I can do however is tell you guys that my goal is to at least write a bit every day. So even though chapters might not drop consistently they'll drop eventually and that's all that matters, right? I have a real passion for this writing thing, so I want to nurture whatever meager talent I have, just like a certain blue eyed boy in way over his head.

Speaking of the plot, I'm taking it slow. Not only to hone my writing skills but also to really bring these characters to life. I'll hopefully get better and better with the interactions as I go along to the point where it comes second nature. Oh, and when it comes to honorifics, I'm just feeling them out for now.

On the topic of this chapter specifically, it's long, I know. I just had a list of things I knew I needed to get to and wrote until I got to it. I know attention spans are low these days and that's ok but that means I don't want to spend too long in the academy before getting to the primary exciting parts. That said, I'm not gonna rush myself, however long we stay in the academy saga is however long we stay in it.

Last and most importantly, another reminder that good vibes, praise, and good natured constructive criticism is the life blood of this story. No matter what, you guys are what's most important to me. I feel like a lot of creators forget about the fan's needs for the sake of proving a point (looking at you Hollywood) way too much so I want to guarantee you guys that I am a man of the people, not above but equal, and so from the deepest depths of my soul…

THANK YOU FOR READING!