[Kukui Tanku]

Usually, I was participating in shenanigans with Mika and Naruto whilst Tenten was the one who watched. Today, I was watching them plot something as they walked ahead of me, Suigetsu, and Sasuke. Suigetsu and Sasuke looked at me, wondering if I too was insane.

Usually, I was. But when Tenten was involved I took that as a sign to be the rational one. "I'm half tempted to run away if I'm being honest, but if they're planning something against us then the chances are that running will make it worse." I could still escape though, I knew that. I had other means of escape than running.

Thanks to the headhunter jutsu I just needed to go through a quick set of hand seals before going underground as fast as I could. So, if anything were to happen, I would remain unaffected. Hiruzen was a lifesaver. Even unknowingly, he possibly saved me from another paint bombing which I really didn't want.

"Shit..." Suigetsu groaned. "I really hope they aren't planning anything against us, paint is a bitch to clean out of hair," Sasuke let out a grunt of agreement as Suigetsu finished. Ahead of us, Naruto and Tenten were quickly making some seals that I recognized as paint seals.

"We need to get out of here, don't we?" Sasuke asked as he as the frown on my face. "We're close to the Uchiha clan compound, I'll let you two hide there for an hour." That... was actually really nice of him. Then again, it's a Sasuke who hasn't been mind raped twice... I'd need to stop that actually. Sasuke didn't deserve that, no not at all.

I looked ahead and began slowly going through hand seals as I noticed the three stop. "I dunno about Suigetsu but I'll take that offer happily man," I took a deep breath. 'If they try something, I'll have enough time to activate running and grab them before sinking underground.' I wasn't about to leave Suigetsu and Sasuke behind here. "Stick close to me, if they try something I've got a plan."

Sasuke nodded and Suigetsu walked closer to me right away. "A counterattack or a way to flee without getting paint on us?" He asked as we stopped and began looking around, waiting for something to happen. I was just thankful that Naruto didn't have Shadow Clones.

"The latter." I kept my hands in the last seal and looked around. Konoha wasn't as lively in the evening and therefore not as many people were out. So, business for any given shop was decreased. Which meant it was a perfect time to do something stupid to one. I could see Naruto pointing to a very specific shop I had remembered very well.

"Get the fuck out of here you little monster and don't come back unless it's as a corpse!" The particularly hateful shop owner shouted at Naruto as we left the store. I looked at him as he looked away from Naruto... I kept myself calm, he'd go out of business one day anyway. Still, I couldn't help but trace a finger over my throat as I looked at the bastard.

Suigetsu glanced at me before looking at the shop owner. "What are they about to do, Kukui?" Sasuke also looked at the shop before visibly sagging in relief. "Are we safe? Do we still need to get out of here?" I nodded, this wouldn't end well.

"Yeah, this isn't gonna end well for us anyways but no paint on us at least." I grinned. "But, the poor chuunin that are stuck here will be after us by proxy with Naruto." Now, usually, if you weren't involved you didn't get in too much trouble, but talking to the Chuunin even if you've done almost nothing or nothing at all was a pain in the ass.

"So, we need to get out of here now before we get in trouble for doing nothing?" Sasuke asked and I nodded, he sighed and looked at Suigetsu. "Every day gets worse." I almost laughed at that but I held myself back.

It was still hilarious though.

"I agree..." Suigetsu said, visibly pained. "So, do we need to go now? Because it looked like they're sending Mika into the shop..." Suigetsu pointed out and I watched Mika go in as Naruto held up a seal, a detonator seal, basically Jutsu Shiki... Fuck.

Mika quickly left the building and I grabbed Suigetsu and Sasuke as paint illuminated the insides of the shop. "Bye guys!" I screamed as The three looked over at us, seemingly remembering our existence. "Have fun!"

We quickly tunneled under the dirt and hid.

"This was not how I wanted my evening to go." Sasuke looked at me. "How many times has this happened?"

"Twice." I held up two fingers. "When Tenten is participating in this kinda stuff, it's usually more extreme."

Suigetsu gulped. "I don't wanna piss any of them off now..." Groaning, Suigetsu looked around. "So, before we die from oxygen loss, can you take us somewhere else?" Suigetsu asked, turning to me. Sasuke also turned to me.

I nodded. "We'll be out of here soon..." Again, I was thankful for Hiruzen's scroll. "Now, we just have to hope that nobody decides to come looking for us as their teammates."

"Fuck, I forgot about that."

Surprisingly, it wasn't Suigetsu who said that.

I didn't expect a lot this afternoon. It was a day off, and so I had planned on training Hanabi a bit and sleeping for most of my day. I needed to catch up on some sleep anyways. It was going to be a nice day where I could just relax and not think about my or my teammate's trauma.

But here I was, on the street under a transformation with Mika as we were watching Naruto and Tenten be out and about... I was wondering why I was dragged here. "Why are we watching them again? They look happy." Naruto and Tenten were happily chatting about some new supernatural story Tenten had heard about, it wasn't our place to really be here and eavesdropping on them. Kinda a dick move.

"Because I wanna see if they're finally together or not," Mika whispered, grinning. She hadn't taken her eyes off of Naruto and Tenten. She was still watching, waiting... It almost felt wrong... It wasn't our business if they got together or not. Sure, it would be great teasing material but still... It was their private life.

Why did I suddenly care about that? Well, mainly because I wasn't sure if I could survive an angry Tenten. "Their romantic life is none of our business." Besides we were like twelve and thirteen... Thinking about that should give us the ick. "I think they're just close friends at the moment to be honest."

"But that could change." Mika pointed out as we watched Naruto and Tenten walk into Ichiraku ramen. "They clearly like each other, they just need a little push... maybe we should give it to them? They'd be really cute together."

I shook my head. "Let it happen naturally." I'd rather not be involved to be honest. "I doubt they're even thinking about romance, let alone dating." Naruto barely even understood the concept of romance. I seriously doubted they were thinking about it to the point they were actively interested in it.

Mka shrugged. "You may be right... But still, this is funny. They'll either get together soon or they'll have to have a push..." Mika hummed as we sat down on a bench as people walked by. "What about you? You interested in a special someone?"

"Nah, not really." I responded after a moment... I wasn't ready. Physically, emotionally, mentally or at all really... I was older than most people my physical bodies age mentally so it'd kinda feel wrong. Even if it was only by like three years at most. But at the same time I've been in this world for well over a year, Almost two at this point... Did it really matter? I didn't know. I glanced at Mika and decided to get this conversation off of me. "What about you?"

I didn't know if Mika was the type to even care about romance beyond shipping to be honest... As a teammate, I needed to have the standard shovel talk with whomever she was interested in. Also, Shisui couldn't do it. So, someone had too.

"Nope." Mika shifted her gaze to me, an awkward moment passing before Mika sighed. "I have more things to worry about, besides this is more fun anyways."

I shrugged. "That's fair," This was getting really awkward. I looked at Ichiraku ramen to see that Naruto and Tenten were leaving. "Their leaving." I pointed out subtly. "C'mon let's go."

Mika raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't really want to follow them?"

I shrugged. "Meh, like you said this is fun." I could tell Mika was happy to shift topics. "Now, let's see if they do anything." Mika grinned and stood up, I did as well.

We began tailing the two almost-lovebirds again.

It had been around two months since the mission to Takigakure at this point, whilst it had been a good two months I had felt like things were off, at first I had chalked it up to Mika and Tenten being sad that we wouldn't be able to see Fuu for who knows how long, I was sad about that too. But that wasn't it. I could tell it wasn't. When mentioned, they were sad but they never mentioned the Rubber Man.

So, this led me to a conclusion. They had trauma related to the Rubber Man. Which was honestly something I was smacking myself for. I should have done more to stop him sooner so they'd be okay. And I was really kicking myself for not noticing it sooner.

I was still riding the high of everything. And this led me to now, I had asked them to be here in our old spot. But without Naruto. I didn't know how I could exactly help things. I wasn't a therapist, I wanted to be one at one point but I never got any real helpful information. But... I had to help, even if I didn't know how.

"So..." I started looking at them and taking a deep breath. "How are you two exactly feeling right now?" I couldn't beat around the bush. I had to be direct and blunt about this. Looking at their faces, I could see surprise and apprehension on their faces making me pause and sigh. "Please don't lie to me, I know you guys aren't doing the best and I want to help as best as I can."

Surprisingly, it was Tenten and not Mika who spoke first. "Did Hayate-sensei tell you anything?" I shook my head, making a mental note to ask him later. "Okay.." Tenten sighed, "I don't think I want to tell you anything, Kukui, but... I have nightmares of that day." Tenten began idly staring into space. "Every time I sleep I think about him and his smile... He smiled when he was attacking us, he was happy to want to kill us."

I knew what day she was talking about instantly, I prepared to speak up, to try and say something comforting like "He's gone now, don't worry." or "That sick son of a bitch is dead and his smile is as dead as him." But Tenten looked at me and I stopped before I could even start.

"He nearly killed us, Kukui." Tenten looked at me and let out a weary sigh. "I know he might be dead, I know that you might have killed him. But it won't make those events go away. It won't make that smile leave my thoughts. You nearly died. I nearly died. I know it comes with being a shinobi... but that smile is what made it so horrible. And it just won't go away... I feel so fucking useless. " That got a reaction out of Mika.

"Tenten..." I began, as I glanced at Mika who gestured for me to go on, whispering something to herself... 'I have no idea what to say...' is what I wanted to say. Instead, I took a deep breath and put on a smile. "That's fine." I began, watching Tenten look up. "I'm going to be honest, there's probably nothing I can say that'll make you feel better. But everything you're feeling now is valid. But you aren't useless, I'm sure if you've talked to Hayate-sensei he already told you why." My smile grew as I felt the anxiety of potential failure grow. "You're kind, nice, and talented. Not only that but out of all of us, you're the best actual shinobi. Sure, you got scared once but anyone who isn't insane would have."

After a moment of thought Tenten smiled, slightly. I couldn't tell if it was real or not however. "You're calling yourself insane."

"I am, but that isn't the point." I chuckled... 'God I hope this is working, I'm a fucking fraud.' I had to keep smiling though. "You aren't useless, you just were in a shitty situation that nobody should be in, especially as a genin."

"I feel like I should yell at you for you being a hypocrite but you literally said you're insane so there's that." Tenten laughed to herself. "That..." I could see a conflicting set of emotions on her face. "Thank you for at least trying Kukui."

I didn't know if that meant I had succeeded in my goal today or not, but now I had one more person to deal with. "Any time, remember we're teammates. You can talk to me about anything." I then looked at Mika. "Same goes for you, now what's up with you Mika?"

"I feel like if I say it, you'll just tell me what you told Tenten." Mika groaned. "But I have a feeling you'd find out somehow and try to talk to me then, so I'll just say it here. I'm useless, I did nothing against the Rubber Man. I did nothing at all, literally." Before I could speak up, I was stopped. "Tenten was the one who weakened the Rubber Man. Me? I kicked him like once and did nothing."

"You did do nothing." I agreed. "But you had a bad match up against him. He was weak to earth and anyone would get burned by fire unless they had special BS protection." Ignoring anyone in canon Naruto of course. " Imagine if there was someone immune to fire and wind but they were weak to Taijutsu, we'd be helpful, sure but you're the fastest and best at Taijutsu by far. You'd fold them."

"That's just a hypothetical scenario, there's no way that'd happen in real life." Mika groaned and i could see Tenten getting ready to speak up but Mika glared at her. "Don't say anything... I know we fought an S-ranked ninja on our first C-rank but come on, something that stupid can't happen again!"

"It could." I grinned. "The world is a weird place, Mika. We fought a guy who was basically rubber, there was a giant fox with nine tails before the Yondaime killed it, hell, there's animals that can use chakra. I don't think it's impossible for it to happen. You're not useless, you just got unlucky."

Again, I had no idea if anything I was saying was working or not.

"For the love of god..." Mika sighed, "I hate it that it makes sense, but I don't think it's right." Mika looked at me with a small smile. "Thank you though, I guess."

I don't know why, but those words felt hollow, nonetheless I smiled. "Again, I'm your teammate, you can tell me anything."

'Hypocrite.'

It had taken me months longer than I originally had expected, but I had done it. I had made the Earth Seal... Looking at in all of it's beauty made me smile, in the end it had taken a slightly modified seal combined with a perfect ratio of Chakra and Ink. But... It was done. With this and the first gate I'd be unstoppable. "I fucking forgot to talk to Gai..." I'd leave that for another day... but for now...

[Earth Seal lvl 1:

A seal that allows the user to shape the earth.

Capacity: 780/780]

It was already full due to me pouring chakra into it throughout the day... But I felt so energized right now. I was ready do to anything. It was two AM, however, so I couldn't do much... But I didn't feel like sleeping, I didn't feel like waiting for anything.

I slapped the seal on my sandal and I held that sandal, I was sure it'd not smear or anything since it was dry and Fuinjutsu ink was durable. Like really durable... But it never hurt to be cautious, especially since I only had one of these... 'I did it...'

Now, everything else would be on the table. I could do so much. I had so much... power at my disposal now. Sure, I'd get my ass kicked by anyone Kakashi's level or higher... but I could probably fight them on equal ground for a while! Maybe with the first gate I could actually beat someone above my weight class. Imagine what I could do with the fifth gate or something? I might genuinely be unstoppable.

'No, don't let your ego get the better of you.' I walked out of my apartment as I noticed the night sky... I had time to test it still, and tomorrow was a day off after Hayate-sensei said he had an important mission for the day, somehow I doubted that.

I took a deep breath as I began leaving for the forest me, Mika, Tenten, and Naruto used to go to as it was the place where I would be able to test out my seal the most. I needed to be creative with it, I needed to be sure I could use it. It wasn't overwhelming power, it was what I wanted it to be.

Soon enough, I made it to the clearing. It was a very nostalgia-filled place for me... I could see someone there though, someone I knew well. "Hayate-sensei, what are you doing here?" I put on my sandal as I saw him stand up and grab his sword. 'An imposter?' No, it was Hayate's chakra.

"I saw you grinning like a madman as I was out." Hayate began. "I knew you completed it." Hayate looked at my sandal, the one that had the seal on it. "I want to see you test it out in battle, Kukui." Hayate unsheathed his blade.

I noticed a leaf begin to fall then, it landed on the ground and I raised a wall to block a slash from Hayate. 'This'll end in less than three attacks.' I grinned as Hayate jumped over the wall, I put my foot onto the wall and raised my own sword to block Hayate's. "Checkmate." I grinned, having the wall move to try and slam Hayate into the ground, he instead smirked and spun, slashing at my leg and the wall, breaking the wall and making my leg bleed. 'Okay, it'll end here.'

I raised a pillar into the sky and manipulated it to go toward Hayate who cut it, the chunk of earth he cut off turned into an earth clone that tried to stab Hayate with a kunai, he dodged. "Your getting better, but not enough to beat me, Kukui."

The bastard was going easy on me.

'Running.' I placed my hands onto the ground as I ran, creating three earth clones that began spewing fire out at Hayate, which got his eyes to widen and him to raise an earth wall of his own. my clones were destroyed and I placed my hands onto the ground, pushing fire through the earth where Hayate was, he quickly jumped out before he could be burned. "I'm a lot stronger than before, Hayate-sensei."

"You're not going all out though." Hayate pointed out. "If this was a real fight you'd be dead." He then suddenly appeared behind me, placing a Kunai to my throat. "Your weights are still on, you're not using your full speed."

"Neither are you." I grinned as the Kunai was put away. 'Well, that could have gone better.' I looked at Hayate-sensei and grinned more. "But we're both in Konoha at night and I'm sure we don't want to attract the Anbu."

That got a laugh out of Hayate.

"You're drunk aren't you?" I asked then, finally feeling that something was off with Hayate.

"I can neither confirm nor deny anything."

You know, I haven't put Kukui's stats in a chapter for a bit, so here they are as of now... I think I'm gonna have him practice chakra control soon just so he can level up a bit, because man Chakra control needs to go up a bit. He hasn't focused much on the physical side of things either tbh... I should fix that... I can fit that in the next chapter.

[Name: Kukui Tanku

Title: Prodigy

Chakra: 780/780

Energy points: 780/780

Dexterity: 39

Strength: 39

Constitution: 40

Chakra: 39

Chakra control C]

Also, forgive me if anything feels off. I wrote half of this chapter whilst on three hours of sleep and that's not good. Actually, almost all of this chapter was on three hours of sleep lol. Like seriously, I just wanna go to bed now before finishing the chapter... And done, I think. I still haven't finished the chapter but it's four AM and I woke up three hours ago. I have to do something... I kinda don't wanna write what I had originally planned for the chapter so let's see what I can come up with one the spot!

Anyways, see y'all next week!

- Tobi