A/N: Sorry this is a day late! I forgot to tell you guys, but I was on vacation essentially from Sunday to Sunday this past week, and finding the time to write was surprisingly difficult! Ended up staying up til 1 am, and then waking up super early the next morning just to finish this chapter. We should be back to regular Sunday posting next week, barring catastrophe! Luckily, this chapter is ACTUALLY getting back into the plot, and hopefully the pace will pick up a little from here on out.
I'll be honest though. Next chapter's gonna be a trip. Hopefully. If it comes out the way I'm planning it in my head, at least~
…also my brain may or may not be trying to turn this into a 5-book series.
You guys. You guys. This started as a slightly-serious CRACK FIC. WHY IS MY BRAIN TRYING TO TURN IT INTO A LITERAL EPIC. FIVE BOOKS IS THREE TOO MANY. IF IT MAKES IT TO FIVE BOOKS, IT WILL BE THREE MORE BOOKS OF FANFICTION THAN I'VE EVER WRITTEN OF ORIGINAL FICTION. I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN DEAL WITH THAT. I will literally have written more fanfic than original work. It's a scary thought. But admittedly, at the pace I'm moving, I won't even get started on book 3 til the end of this year at the earliest, so I don't have to worry about my brain's attempts at 4 and 5 for a while yet.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and sorry if last chapter was a little lacking! My brain wanted to write more Wandering Fairies last week, and just couldn't bring itself to be serious. Hope the start of the new year was good for you, and that you all have had better luck than me in remembering to write 2020 instead of 2019. I screwed up three times today. I'm off to a great start.
Sasuke finds two more cubes, and one of Naruto's clones comes bounding up with two of its own, over the course of the time limit Kakashi set. Natsu and his designated-clone-assistant fret over them every minute, grumbling as they try different things.
At one point, they mutually decide to light a cube on fire and see what happens - Natsu finds himself waiting for a moment, looking around, because this is usually the part where someone comes to tell him not to light the thing on fire, but no one appears and Naruto asks why he's distracted, so he gets back to it before fate takes his hesitation as a challenge.
To both of their surprise, the cube just absorbs the flames, black lines spreading about and sucking the fire in. Natsu swears it feels strangely warm, afterwards, but Naruto's clone doesn't notice anything odd.
The next one they try to light on fire explodes in their faces.
They try to light the other three on fire as they arrive, two of which also explode and one that has an… unusual reaction, but in the end the shrill ring of the bell cuts across the training field before they have a chance to figure out why.
Kakashi appears in a swirl of leaves, Sasuke and the original Naruto tucked under his arms, the latter still squawking in displeasure. The fire is still flickering weirdly around the last cube, and the sensei turns a deadpan stare onto Natsu and the clone.
"Ehehehe, uh… were we not supposed to do that?" the clone asks, sheepishly scooting away.
Kakashi hums, tilting his head. "That depends. Why are you trying to light it on fire?"
Natsu stands up, kicking over the cube so the last flickering flames get smothered in the dirt. "We lit one on fire, and it absorbed it. But when we lit the others on fire, they exploded. Except for this one, which looks like it's trying to absorb it, but can't. So we were trying to figure out what made it different from the others. That one over there we had to put on Naruto-clone's jacket, cause it kept getting buried somehow and we didn't wanna lose it. The one right next to it, we were gonna have the real Naruto look at, cause the clone said he thought there was something about it but he couldn't figure out what, but the test ended before Naruto could get over here…"
A flicker of exasperation crosses Kakashi's face, and he sighs as he drops both Naruto and Sasuke to the ground. The Uchiha manages to land in a crouch, but the blond faceplants with a painful crunch that Natsu is pretty sure is his nose breaking.
"Well, I'll say this much - there were only five cubes, so good job finding them all. While I'm sure you didn't come to the strategy you did for the right reasons, having Sasuke and Naruto do the searching was the right move there - Naruto's numbers and Sasuke's sharp eyes were well suited for that task. However, Naruto-kun," the blond winces as Kakashi stares down at him, dirt clinging to his face, "You should have sent your clones out to search and been here to work with Natsu-kun in person. Especially since valuable time was wasted trying to find you because your clone wasn't good enough. That's a normal weakness of clones, to be weaker and in many ways less skilled than their creators. As for the actual cubes themselves… well. I actually left clues where the cubes were hidden, but neither Naruto or Sasuke gave those clues to you, and as such it's not so surprising you failed to figure out the puzzle in time. In case you were wondering, they simply needed to be arranged into the elemental wheel. Doing so would have triggered the fuinjutsu and caused a bright flash that would let me know you'd succeeded. I suppose, if you all ever manage to graduate past teamwork exercises, I'll have to add 'how to properly gather information' to your curriculum."
Kakashi sighs again, looking very put-out.
So… if that one cube ate the fire we burned on it, then… was the other one eating the earth, instead of just burying itself? Or… storing it somehow? Like lacrima?
"Maa, anyway," Kakashi says after a moment, breaking Natsu's train of thought, "I got the remainder of the D-Ranks from yesterday, as well as a couple more. We'll run two, then break for lunch before running the rest. Please actually try to finish them before dark this time."
"That wasn't our fault!" Naruto and his clone cry in tandem, and Natsu nods firmly in agreement.
"Hmm." Kakashi pulls out his book, idly tossing a scroll to Sasuke with his other hand as he ignores them, and the Uchiha looks torn between pride at being given indirect command and the desire to also yell at the sensei.
As long as they don't have that hellcat mission again, Natsu will take anything and take it with a smile dammit!
Somehow, they actually do finish all the D-Ranks before sunset. The three of them are covered in filth, Natsu has things in his hair that he doesn't want to contemplate, and he has to wonder if Kakashi planned it that way on purpose because of how uncomfortable he was at the idea of taking a shower…
It's easier but no less awkward showering for the third time in as many days, and Natsu finds himself horrified at the idea of getting used to this as he scrubs at a stubborn clump of mud clinging to his leg.
He leans against the wall afterwards, watching the dirty water run down the drain as Sakura-chan's long pink hair falls around him like a curtain. "I got that lesson with Inoichi-san tomorrow… the faster I figure it out, the faster I can go home and then I don't have to worry about all this, right? I won't… be here forever. The rest of Fairy Tail is definitely looking, and we know people can get stuck in other worlds now! It happened to Lisanna…"
But what if your body is still there? An insidious voice whispers, doubts curling through him - what if they just think you're in a coma, sleeping forever, they'll waste their time looking for a cure when they should have been looking for a gate-
"Aaah, dammit!" Natsu scrubs his hands violently through his hair, trying to dislodge the thoughts, only to curse when his fingers get tangled in the long strands. "E-even if I can't figure out this jutsu stuff, they'll come for me. Definitely. And I don't need some stupid thoughts telling me otherwise!" He bangs his head into the wall, just to make sure the thoughts are well and truly shaken out, and shuts off the water.
When he steps out of the bathroom, clothed in Sakura-chan's pajamas, Kizashi-san is waiting outside.
"Ah, Natsu-kun. I don't believe my wife told you properly this morning, but you'll head over to the administration building tomorrow morning instead of the training field - Kakashi-san will be running exercises like normal for his other two students, and you'll spend that time with Inoichi instead. You'll meet back up with Team 7 for missions after lunch. Will you need one of us to show you the way?"
Natsu looks up at Sakura's father, his dark pink hair contrasting with the bright blue of his sleeping yukata, and tries to ignore the ache that curls through him. Whether it's Igneel he's missing, or the idea of his own human father, or a mix of both, he doesn't want to look close enough to figure it out, so he smiles and pushes aside the feelings. "Nah, I think I got the layout here figured out pretty well. Thanks for letting me know though, Kakashi-san didn't tell me anything. Sheesh, I don't know if I want to know how teamwork training is gonna go if it's just Naruto and Sasuke though…"
Kizashi laughs, ruffling Natsu's hair, and he struggles not to flinch under the man's overly-familiar hand.
"I'm sure they'll survive," the older man says cheerily, walking past Natsu and towards the stairwell. "Sleep well!"
"N-night." Natsu follows him up, closing the door to his bedroom as soon as he gets inside. The room is dark, but Natsu gets to the bed easily, scooping the blankets and pillow into his arms. The weather is clear, he knows it won't rain, so he walks to the window and makes his way to the roof just to feel the wind card through his hair, carrying scents from around the city.
Sleep comes easily, and mercifully devoid of dreams.
Getting ready the next morning comes less easily.
Natsu spits curses under his breath as he tries to carefully brush out Sakura-chan's hair, muttering Mebuki-san's instructions under his breath as he tries to wrestle the long tresses into a semblance of order.
"Just start from the bottom, go slow, do it in sections… dammit Erza's hair's even longer than this and if she can do it I can too! Just take it slow…"
The pinkette glares at his reflection in the mirror of Sakura's vanity as he detangles the brush from his hair yet again and starts back from the bottom.
"N-Natsu-kun?" Mebuki calls hesitantly through the door, and Natsu turns around, brush once more lodged firmly into Sakura's hair.
"Yeah?"
She cracks open the door, speaking, "I fixed up lunch, you're usually down for breakfast by now I wondered if you sle-"
She cuts off, staring at his hair, and Natsu crosses his arms and looks away from her. "I started from the bottom." He mutters, and hears Mebuki sigh - almost fondly? Before she walks over.
"Here, turn around, I'll see what I can do."
Natsu hesitates, because it's just brushing hair and dammit he CAN figure it out, but… shoulders drooping into a more sedate position, he turns around, looking back at Sakura-chan's mother through the mirror.
He could definitely figure it out on his own - dammit all the girls in Fairy Tail have long hair, if they can manage it it can't be that hard! - but if he ever wants to get back home he can't really afford to skip Inoichi's lessons just cause he wants to prove a point over his hair of all things.
Mebuki-san only takes a couple moments to unravel the brush, and immediately starts straightening everything out with steady, gentle movements..
Natsu tries not to notice how she's using much much smaller strokes than he was as she runs the brush through.
"Your hair's really rough… Have you not been washing it?"
"Eh? No I definitely washed it with that shampoo stuff, it's clean!"
Mebuki blinks, meeting his eyes through the mirror, then looking back down at his hair. "What about the conditioner?"
Natsu shrugs, dislodging her hand, though she quickly gets back into position and resumes brushing. "What about it? I never used it before, didn't have any issues. Figured it was for like, styling or something."
Mebuki sighs, smiling slightly. "When you have long hair like this, conditioner makes it easier to brush - I know a lot of guys don't bother since shorter hair doesn't have many issues to start with, but for hair like Sakura-chan's, you definitely need it."
Natsu watches as she moves up to another section, brush gliding through the long pink hair as she detangles it as easy as breathing.
"O-okay."
She shakes her head, hands steady. "It's alright. Honestly, it should have occurred to me that there would be things about being a girl you just wouldn't know…" She trails off, and the room devolves into stilted silence as she finishes brushing out the hair.
Natsu's pretty proud of the fact that it only takes two tries to pull it up into a high tail this time, and grins as he spins around to face her.
"You said something about breakfast?"
He makes it to the administration center only a couple minutes past the usual meet time for Team 7, and Inoichi levels him with a mock-severe look as he leads Natsu through the building, the pinkette offering him a cheery grin in response. They end up in a tiny room that looks a bit like a lounge, coffee machine in one corner, a couple soft chairs, and a large couch. Inoichi directs him to the latter, pulling over one of the chairs to sit directly across from him as Natsu kicks off his shoes and sits cross-legged on the couch.
Inoichi waits a moment, until Natsu stops shuffling around, before starting. "How adept are you at using Sakura-chan's chakra?"
Natsu grimaces, hands clasping his ankles. "I can move it around inside, but I can't make it go out at all and it's so slow. It's like… I dunno, some crazy-thick syrup when I'm used to super-slick oil or something! Takes me ages to make it move even as much as I can…"
Inoichi raises his eyebrow, something contemplative in his gaze. "I see. Better than I expected, worse than I'd hoped. What I'm going to teach you today is how to walk your own mind - it's a fairly standard technique, pretty much every Yamanaka with aptitude for our arts has it fully mastered even before they start the academy, and while our family is predisposed to this sort of jutsu, it can be taught to outsiders. First though, hold up your hand."
Natsu gives Inoichi a confused look, but does so. The blond presses his own hand against Natsu's, and then there's something… sticky?
Natsu straightens in shock, pulling his hand, but Inoichi's follows it. His magic -chakra?- clinging to Natsu's skin like some sort of invisible glue.
"What's this supposed to do?" he asks, trailing his hand through the air and watching Inoichi's follow it smoothly.
"Get you used to the feel of chakra, and allow me to feel what you're doing to an extent. Call up your own, to your hand if you would."
Natsu does, face twisting into a grimace of concentration as he slowly drags Sakura-chan's thick chakra up to his fingers. "Like this?" The chakra's easy enough to hold in place once it gets it there, somehow attracted by Inoichi's own and swirling through his hand with only a little bit of direction now.
The blond's eyes narrow, and Natsu feels Inoichi's chakra probe into his hand. "What… are you doing?"
"I'm doin' what you said! I pulled up Sakura-chan's chakra into her hand!"
"N-no?" Inoichi says, sounding entirely unsure, and Natsu shrugs with his free arm.
"How else am I supposed to do this then?"
"You… how are you even doing it like this in the first place?"
Natsu starts to get a sinking feeling in his gut.
"Uh… I just… pull all the chakra, and… put it in Sakura-chan's hand? But like I said, I can't make it leave…"
"Pull all… this much chakra concentrated in one limb should blow it off! How are you keeping it so stable?"
Natsu levies a suspicious glance at their still-joined hands. "I dunno. I just tell it to go there and it does, and then it just swirls around uselessly. I mean, I guess it's a decent defense, Kakashi-san couldn't cut my hand when I did it before, but it takes so long to get it there that there's no way I could use it in a fight!"
"I… could you… use less? For a simple palm joining like this you barely need even a thin layer, not half Sakura-chan's stores."
"I mean… I just grabbed the usual amount I grab for small stuff. Are you saying just that tiny amount is already half of what Sakura-chan has in her body? That's crazy, how could you even fight with so little?"
Inoichi sighs. "You said that Sakura-chan's chakra feels a lot thicker than your own. Did it ever occur to you that thinner chakra might mean you have to use more than normal people to get the same effect? I assure you, Sakura-chan has decent reserves for her age and background, and will only get stronger with practice. You really don't need that much. Please."
"That… makes sense…" Natsu mutters, grabbing at a bunch of Sakura-chan's chakra and trying to pull it back away from his hand. He ends up pulling all of it away, and spends a few minutes tugging chakra back and forth until Inoichi finally holds up his free hand. "That's good enough. Now, I'm going to help you coax this chakra into a thin outer layer around your hand, alright? Don't fight me." Natsu nods, and soon the weird feeling of Inoichi's chakra starts to shift and tug at his own.
It feels like it takes ages, sitting still as the chakra in his hand is tugged and poked by Inoichi's own, before Natsu suddenly feels something change.
"Whoa. Your hand is really really messed up! Just how often do you hurt it!? There's gotta be more scar tissue than skin!" Natsu tilts his head, considering. "You're totally a water aren't you. Now I can tell, your chakra feels all wet and cold. Huh. There's a couple tingly places though…" Natsu leans over, squinting as though he'd be able to see it clearly if he just got closer, and is caught by surprise when Inoichi's free hand pushes his head away.
"Natsu-san is a sensor?"
"Huh?" He looks up, meeting Inoichi's eyes. "Nah, I mean I'm good with physical senses, but usually the chakra's gotta be pretty huge before I can feel it. Though I'm actually pretty good at picking out dark energies, which comes in handy a lot!"
"Perhaps a natural gift of Sakura's then…?" Inoichi murmurs idly, then shakes his head. "Well. That can be figured out later. For now, are you aware of how much chakra you have in your hand right now?"
Natsu deadpans at the blond. "Duh. What sorta fighter would I be if I couldn't be aware of how much power I'm using?"
"Good. This is the exact amount of chakra you'll need to use for my clan jutsu. Make sure you don't use any more than this, as it will… not end well. Better to err on the side of too little than too much in this case… normally we teach it to children so overdoing it isn't a concern. Understood?"
Natsu nods. "Yeah, I gotcha. So, how do I go about this anyway?"
Inoichi pulls back his chakra, the feel of it vanishing entirely, and Natsu takes another moment to be certain of the amount of power he's holding himself before he lets it disperse.
"Alright, here are the handsigns. With enough practice you won't need them anymore, but for now please use all of them, and take a few minutes to make sure you won't mess up first."
It's only four signs, the last a… backwards version of the one Inoichi-san made when he first dived into Natsu's mind, and the pinkette carefully begins to copy the hand motions. The first three are easy, Sakura-chan's body practically slotting his fingers together for him, she must have practiced a lot. The last one he keeps fumbling, and Natsu glares at his hands as he carefully brings his fingers together for the upteenth time.
"Like… this?" he mutters, but shakes his head even before Inoichi can answer, pulling his hands apart and shaking them out before trying again.
It takes nearly twenty absolutely agonizing minutes of boring practice, Inoichi-san offering pointers all the way, until Natsu can run through all four signs fast enough to be effective without fumbling the set.
"Alright, now, when you do it this next time, pull your chakra up into your hands and let the signs shape it. And remember, don't use too much."
Natsu nods, determination filling him.
This is it! I'll figure this stupid jutsu out!
Maybe it'll even put me in my own mind, instead of Sakura-chan's, and then all I gotta do is figure out how to wake up! Heh, wouldn't that be nice!
Taking a deep breath, he pulls up Sakura-chan's chakra and makes the first handsign, stubborn determination overpowering the first threads of trepidation that begin to crawl through his gut.
I can do this!