Naruto: Heavy Metal Chronicles

by UltimateSmolBrain

What would you do if you knew the future? That is a question Meiko struggles with everyday. By some strange twist of fate she had been reincarnated into the universe of Naruto. Possessing memories of her past life and thus, the future of her new world, she holds the power to completely upend the entire world. For even the smallest ripples can create the greatest waves.

20. Chapter 20: The Sleepover

Author's Note: Hey guys, I know its been a while since my last update. Sorry about that. Anyway, this chapter here is a special request from a friend of mine. And since its because of his encouragement that this fic has gotten this far, I finally got around to it. So I hope you guys enjoy it as much as he did.

In other news, after this chapter I'm going to start advancing time. Some big events coming up soon so stay tuned!

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Chapter 20

"Are you sure you have everything? Toothbrush? Socks? Underwear?" Mom asked as she fussed about with my hair. Licking her thumb and streaking it along my bangs.

"Yeah yeah." I groaned, this was the fourth time she had 'double checked' I had everything ready for tonight. This wasn't the first time I had spent the night at Kiyomi's place and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Yet each time Mom would practically lose her mind making sure that everything was good to go. If we ever went on a vacation I could swear she'd become a demon.

If I were to be honest, my heart really wasn't into this whole thing. As much as I tried to compartmentalize it, there was too much on my mind. But I couldn't just blow off Kiyomi, not after she had spent so long planning for this. I sighed as Mom finished fixing my hair.

"What's wrong? I thought you'd be more excited?" Mom asked, her concern clear as she grabbed me by the shoulders, eyes locked on mine.

"Its nothing." I lied, putting on a weak smile, "I'm just a bit tired today." This wasn't the biggest lie, I was tired. Sleep had been... Difficult these last few days. Mom's face scrunched up into a scowl of disbelief. Yet before she could say anything Sengo came waddling into the room.

"Me too!" Sengo's voice squeaked. Behind him a pillowcase stuffed to the brim with toys was dragged along the floor. "Ready!" He said, happily bouncing around and eager to go. I made the mistake of mentioning the sleepover when Sengo was around and ever since he convinced himself that everyone was going.

Mom sighed, she hadn't been able to give him a definitive 'no' up to this point and was now paying the price. Kneeling down, she placed her hands on my brother's shoulders. "Sengo, honey. I'm sorry but Meiko is spending the night at her friend's house. You'll have to stay here."

It broke my heart watching my little brother's face scrunch up like that. Reminding me all too much how little time I had spent with my family lately. Between training, classes and nearly jump starting a coup, I barely had time to be around anymore. My parents understood but Sengo wasn't even two years old yet. All he knew was that his big sister just started running off without him. He could be very clingy and must have been feeling left out.

I quickly moved over to him, pulling the tiny boy into a gentle hug. "Sorry buddy," I apologized, "I gotta go for a couple days. But look at it this way, you can get Mom and Dad all to yourself for the weekend."

No dice, the tears were already starting to well up. I looked to Mom and the two of us could tell he was about to have a fit. Mom scooped him up in her arms before turning and planting a gentle kiss on my forehead. "You have fun and don't get in trouble. I love you." Our goodbye was brief as she quickly whisked Sengo off into another room as he began wailing. It would be quite a while before she could calm him down.

"Yeah, bye Mom. See you later." I replied lethargically. Turning and heading towards Dad who was already waiting by the door. Whether or not he was still angry about my tardiness the other day, I couldn't tell. He had insisted on walking me to Kiyomi's place to 'make sure I don't run off again,' so I was leaning more towards yes. "Sorry for the wait." I apologized as I slipped on my sandals. He was just as aware of how Mom could be but I still felt it was appropriate to say.

Dad silently nodded in response, opening the door for me and the two of us set out. An awkward silence hung in the air between us during the walk. The recent discovery that he had ties with the Third Hokage left me with questions I knew would go unanswered. I think he could sense that too, which was why he was hesitant to initiate any conversation. Adding in everything else going on in my head and, on some level, I was grateful for the silence.

And yet, I hated it so much more. Seeing Sengo so eager to join in had made me realize was just how distant I had been from my family and friends for the past month. I had been so busy with training, classes and... That stuff I really hadn't spent time with them. And from the way things were going, I would probably have even less time in the future. I needed to figure out something regarding Misaki after all. There had to be something I could do, even under Itachi's restrictions. He might even be expecting it, considering I was still left with an avenue.

I furiously scratched at my head in frustration. Groaning as I did so. It was all so overwhelming. Anytime I had a quiet moment to myself the thoughts would overwhelm me. Even now I could feel them creeping in.

"Hey," My Dad's deep voice boomed, even though he tried to keep it down it just had too much power behind it. "Stop that, your mother worked hard to fix your hair you know."

"Ah..." I gently tapped my hair and realized it was too late. Mom's work had come completely undone. "Right... My bad..." I replied sadly, arm falling to my side.

I could hear Dad sigh, "Meiko, if something is bothering you, you can talk to us you know. About anything."

Looking up to Dad, I could see the worry in his emerald green eyes. Worry that caused guilt to stab through my heart. "No... I can't" I wanted to say, I wanted to scream more like. Instead I closed my eyes and forced my emotions down. At least, it was reassuring to know he cared and was looking out for me. "Yeah, I know." I finally replied.

A few more seconds of silence passed, I could tell Dad was waiting for me to say something. While I couldn't confide in him all of my worries, there was one thing I could ask him. "Actually... There is one thing..." I almost had to force the words out, least the silence take over once more.

"Do... Do you think that..." A different emotion won out over the turmoil raging inside, embarrassment. As for why I couldn't give an answer. My question was a simple one and it was my dad I was asking. There was no reason for me to be embarrassed but here I was. I sighed, took in a deep breath and continued, "Do you think we could do something together soon? Just the four of us?"

Dad's eyes widened and for half a second, he froze on the spot. "Yeah, I don't see why not." He responded, expression softening as his lips curled upwards, hidden beneath his gargantuan red beard. I returned a similar, albeit weak smile. It was something to look forward to but, again, I just couldn't quite get my heart into it.

"Thanks Dad."

The rest of the trip was quiet but thankfully not silent. We had some simple small talk, mainly me recounting how the first week went for me at the academy. Dad had mostly been working to fill a large order this week so this was the first chance we really had to talk. By the time we reached the Yamanaka compound I was actually feeling a bit better. A weight lifted off my chest so to speak.

We stopped by a small office on arrival. It was a literal alcove in a building open to the street and inside merely a desk, phone and a single attendant. Basically, a reception for those trying to contact people in the inner parts of the compound, away from the public face. We introduced ourselves, he checked a list and made a call. Minutes later, Ai and Kiyomi arrived.

I barely had time to register their arrival when Kiyomi charged in and tackled me, nearly throwing me to the ground as I stumbled back a few steps. "Finally!" She practically screamed in my face and taking my hands in that familiar death grip. "Come on! Mana's been here for like an hour!"

"Wha!?" Was about all I could get out before the girl was already dragging me off. Since her training with chakra reinforcement her power had increased threefold and even if I had wanted to resist I would probably still be at her mercy. Just as we were rounding the corner and outside of the office I was just able to look back and call out to my Dad, "Uh, bye!" And he was out of sight. Ai's laughter and a half wave from Dad were our sendoff.

Kiyomi brought me to the interior of the compound, namely the large open gardens. There, Mana was waiting over by a large tree, messing around something in her hands. Likely practising a new trick. "Manaaa!" Kiyomi called out and the girl snapped to attention, her black curly hair flopping through the air from the speed her head shot up.

"Hi Meiko!" Mana called out cheerfully and pushed herself to her feet. Brushing off her backside before bouncing over. "I have a few new tricks! Want to see?"

Before I could say anything, Kiyomi interjected with an axe chop between us, "Later!" She said, "We got a little bit before dinner so we have to make use of it!" I could swear Kiyomi had cranked her energy levels to eleven. There was literally no chance of objection much less even talking. Like the sea in a storm you could only throw yourself to the mercy of the current and pray you wouldn't be overturned.

Thankfully, her whims were not so life threatening. 'Ninja hide-and-seek' was the game she desired. Really it was just the normal game but with ninja pasted on the front to sound more cool or something. Kiyomi wanted to play the seeker, a hungry look in her eyes. Like a predator spotting it's prey. We were given ten seconds to hide as she turned to face the tree and began counting.

I sighed, and took off in the opposite direction of Mana who just kind of lightly jogged away. Despite lacking the energy to really go all out, I knew if I didn't put in a certain level of effort I wouldn't hear the end of it. And I was in less of a mood to be on the receiving end of that.

I hid myself behind a shed a good distance from the tree. It had plenty of tools and bushes around I could use as cover should I need to move. At least, I would if I had more motivation. Instead I found a small alcove between a bush and one of the shed walls and nestled myself inside. Another sigh escaped me after a couple minutes of silence.

"I should try to relax..." I mumbled to myself, "Otherwise I'm going to ruin it for everyone." And yet I couldn't. That small bit of relief that came from talking with Dad was slowly fading and anxieties welling up in it's place. Itachi's face, those sharingan eyes of his were almost a constant fixture in the back of my mind. Accompanied by the faces of Shisui and Misaki. I squeezed my forehead, hoping a bit of pain would force them away temporarily.

I took a few deep breaths, settling myself down somewhat. "Just focus on the game for now. One thing at a time." Magic words to try and help me sort things out, although their efficacy wasn't all that great. Speaking of the game though, things had been rather quiet, Kiyomi was always the best at this game. She was practically a freaking bloodhound when it came to tracking people down. I should probably move, this spot was well hidden sure, but it gave me no way of seeing anything around me. If Kiyomi was already on my trail she would have no trouble catching me since I couldn't get away.

I began to shift and crawl out of my little alcove. Ducking under some branches and just as I was raising my head I could see a figure crouched before me. Looking up further, I was greeted by Kiyomi's face, a gigantic toothy grin spreading as far as her cheeks could possibly stretch.

"Gotcha." She said with smug satisfaction.

I could only sigh as I crawled out, plucking some stray twigs from my hair as I got back to my feet. "Ha... Yup. You got me." I acquiesced simply. "You're just too darn good." Kiyomi, to my surprise, soured. I had expected her to flaunt her prowess, or at least taunt me for being bad at hiding but no. She just kind of stood there silently, brow furled at me.

"Well, I'll go wait by the tree then." I said, turning and walking off.

"Hey..." Kiyomi's voice halted me. Turning back that sour glare had softened, now replaced with one of concern. "Are you okay?" She asked, simple and direct.

"Huh? Oh uh, yeah." I replied awkwardly, "I'm fine. Just tired." Again I was faced with a familiar expression of disbelief. And well, it was deserved but also annoying that so many people were able to see through me that easily.

"Fine, make sure you wake up then." Kiyomi huffed, "I'm going to go get Mana and you're it for the next round." As she was turning away to run off, I saw her face momentarily covered in a veil of sadness. Maybe I had imagined it as she was already running off in the time it took me to blink. Still, it tugged on the heartstrings.

"Great, you've already started ruining things." I admonished myself as I returned to the shade of the tree. Kiyomi and Mana returning practically moments later. Those bloodhound skills were no exaggeration.

"Hey, if you're not feeling well, we can... Do something else..." Kiyomi offered, clearly dejected at the idea.

I closed my eyes for a moment, forcing down the fears and doubts that had been plaguing my mind lately. Then, a smile curled over my face, coming a lot more naturally than I had expected. "What? You're scared I'll win?" I taunted.

The transformation was instant. Kiyomi's head snapped up and that smug grin returned with a vengeance. "Oh really? You think you have a chance huh?"

"Now that I'm awake? Yeah." I returned a similar grin. The two of us entering a short staring contest while Mana just giggled off to the side.

Sadly, I couldn't back up my words. Kiyomi was almost as good at hiding as she was finding and on top of that she had the home field advantage. By the time I had finished counting she was as good as gone. These gardens were literally her backyard after all, she must have known all the best nooks and crannies to squeeze herself into.

On the flip side, Mana was also quite skilled at hiding. At least she was after I had mentioned off-hand that it could help with magic tricks. At the time I think I had in mind contortionist acts or something but I couldn't say for sure. Still, she wasn't quite as good as Kiyomi and had a single, fatal weakness. Once she found a place she would hunker down.

It took some time but I finally managed to find her, with a little thanks to some unintentional help from a gardener. I just happened to be looking in his direction as he was trimming some bushes when he paused for a moment and moved on to another area. I found Mana lying prone underneath the bushes. How she got underneath was a mystery to me because it really didn't look like there was space, the gap between the branches and the ground was barely noticeable after all.

I helped her clean off a lot of the dirt and twigs that snapped off, most caught in her hair before sending her off back to the tree and continuing my search for Kiyomi. As she was leaving though, Mana stopped and giggled, "You're looking a lot better Meiko." She said and hopped off.

I wasn't sure what to say to that. But I couldn't deny her words. My chest felt a lot less heavy and for the past few minutes at least, I hadn't been worried about anything except finding the two. "Heh." I chuckled lightly to myself. It was easier to control my worries if I had something to do after all.

Still, even after another twenty minutes I could find neither hide nor hair of the Yamanaka. Eventually giving up and returning to the tree where Mana was waiting. Entertaining herself with a little spark show. How she was able to do that was still a mystery to me and pretty much anyone else who witnessed it. Prodigy was barely an adequate word to describe it. Had her mindset been more along the lines of a shinobi the world itself might tremble under her.

"Hey Meiko! No luck?" She called to me upon noticing my approach. Blue-silver eyes twinkling with innocent glee. A part of me wishing she would never be exposed to the harsh aspects of shinobi life.

I shrugged and shook my head. "None." I admitted my defeat. "Seriously, she has such an unfair advantage here." I added in with a sarcastic smile, getting a giggle out of Mana.

"What do you mean unfair!?" Came a familiar voice, followed by the rustling of leaves. What was unexpected was the direction it was coming from, I barely had time to look up and register as Kiyomi dropped down from one of the branches above. Instinct threw me backwards just in time to avoid being caught in her grasp as she landed, arms snapping together catching only the air.

"Aww, you weren't supposed to dodge!" Kiyomi moaned before shooting me a cheeky wink.

"You're not supposed to drop on people's heads!" I retorted. Some more laughter echoed as we started the next round. Going a bit longer before the sun started to come low over the sky and Kiyomi's mom approached us. The games came to an end as we made our way back for a hot dinner waiting for us.

Once our bellies were full and orange rays of sunlight began to stream through the windows. I helped out with clearing the table but was refused to help with cleaning. Instead instructed to just 'go have fun.' Reluctantly, I made my way out to the living room where Mana was sitting on the couch. When I asked where Kiyomi went she simply pointed to the far hallway with a faint hint of light peering around the corner.

"She said she was getting something." Mana said, almost on cue I heard something clatter in another room followed by some annoyed grunts. I snorted out a mini laugh and took a seat. I didn't have to wait long before Kiyomi came waddling in from the hallway, a stack of coloured boxes balanced treacherously in her arms. Getting to my feet I moved to help relieve her of the burden but by accident or purpose, the girl spun around me and slammed them down on the table.

"Alright!" She called out, "What do you guys want to play first?" The boxes were old and showed signs of much use. The cardboard faded and frayed at the corners. Clearly they had been well used and loved over the years.

"Are we playing all of these tonight?" I asked, "I guess we won't be sleeping tonight, huh?"

"Nah." Kiyomi quickly replied, "I have something a lot better prepared for when it gets dark. This is just to kill some time, so pick!"

We eventually settled on a game where you race to the end and try to collect the most resources. Roll some dice to move forward that many spaces then the space you land on has an event occur. It wasn't our first pick but as it turned out, time had taken more than simple wear and tear on the games. Our first few picks were lacking necessary pieces to actually play.

Being a game determined entirely by dice rolls, luck was the only factor here. "Argh! Again!?" Kiyomi cried out in anguish as she rolled snake eyes for the third time. Not only that, the space she landed on forced her to fork out half of her already heavily dwindled money pile to the two of us.

I laughed, taking the small fake bills and fanning myself with them. "Oh my, its so hard having all this money." I taunted, taking in way too much satisfaction from this small victory. Kiyomi grimaced as petty anger flashed across her eyes.

"I don't know why you're bragging," She mumbled before eyeing Mana who was arranging her stacks of cash into floral patterns. Literally so rich that money just didn't matter anymore. "Mana is one good roll from winning."

"Yup, and if she wins now, I get second place." I replied with a smirk and passed Mana the dice. She picked them up and rattled them between her hands, adding in a fun little flourish where they danced between her fingers before rolling a seven. The exact number she needed.

"Nooooo!" Kiyomi cried out as Mana lazily bounced her token to the end. Shifting over I gave a sarcastic comforting pat on her back. A few moments of agonizing frustrated grunts from her passed before Kiyomi was able to recompose herself. Quickly gathering up the game pieces and shoving them roughly back into their box. No wonder pieces went missing.

"Alright whatever, its time for the main event!" She declared, putting the game back on the stack and shoving them towards me, "Since you came second you get to put them away." And then darted off somewhere. I was left standing there, a stack of deteriorating game boxes in my hands and the good old deer in headlights look. I had no idea where these games went, how was I supposed to put them away?

Behind me, Kiyomi's mom chuckled and caused me to turn towards her. "Don't worry, just place those in the corner there." She said as she was leaned against the wall, arms crossed like she was waiting for the show to begin. I did as told and placed the pile on a small end table.

"So, what's Kiyomi's big plan?" I asked, trying to strike up a bit of conversation while we waited. Her mom only looked at me with a knowing smirk on her face. One I had seen many, many times on Kiyomi before and it sent a tiny shiver up my spine.

Kiyomi returned moments later, sharing a similar smirk as her mother and clearly hiding something behind her back. "Hehehehe." A sinister giggle. "Go on, sit down." Kiyomi instructed and, hesitantly, I agreed. Taking a spot beside Mana who did not appear to be cluing in to the possible danger. Ai meanwhile, was closing the blinds and turning off the lights until the room was in near complete darkness. Only a single table lamp remained as the sole source of illumination.

Kiyomi slid to the centre of the room, making sure to face us the entire time and conceal whatever it was she hid behind her back. Her smirk growing into an evil grin. "So," She began, "Want to guess what I have behind my back?"

Mana was the first to jump at the bait, "Oh! Is it snacks!?" She asked, leaning forward on her seat with anticipation. I could hear a muffled snort off to my side.

"Nope! But we will have some!" Kiyomi replied before turning to me, "Well?"

"I'm afraid to ask..." I responded. Her grin only grew wider.

"Good answer." Kiyomi replied. Then revealing the item she had been hiding. A retangular black box. It took me a while to realize what it was. A VHS tape. To me, it felt like I was looking at some kind of antique. It had been years since I had seen one of those. Heck, I couldn't recall the last time I even watched television. We really did not use the one in the house much, not even to just keep Sengo occupied.

"What's that?" Mana asked, confused and staring at the brick like a puppy would a new toy.

"This," Kiyomi began, nodding to her mom before turning on the TV, at the same time the lamp clicked off and the room was bathed in a low blue light that hurt my eyes. Kiyomi's evil smile became a lot more menacing with only half her face illuminated by the screen. "Is a special movie. I 'borrowed' it from one of my older cousins." From the way she said 'borrowed' and that mischievous glint in her eyes she had definitely stole it.

"Special?" Mana added, tilting her head to the side.

"Very special." Kiyomi replied with a snicker before putting the tape in, the familiar clicking as the machine whirred to life. The television screen went black and static lines flickered to life momentarily. The film started almost immediately, no pre-roll ads just the logo; 'Attack of the Demon Beast!' Sounded cheesy. As it turned out, the film was a kaiju flick. Giant monster attacks a city, pretty standard fare except instead of an army it was countered by ninja.

To make it even better, the production quality was about on the level of monster movies from the 80's in the previous world. I'll admit, I was loving it. The acting was stilted, the effects basic, the monster was clearly a guy in a clunky suit and I couldn't ask for anything better.

What did surprise me however, was the reaction of my friends. Kiyomi and Mana had both curled up into little balls, barely peeking over their knees to watch and would immediately withdraw the moment the monster appeared on screen. All of Kiyomi's confidence and energy was gone and all that remained was a trembling little girl. I felt kinda bad for them and had to fight the urge to simply laugh at some of the more silly moments.

As the movie went on, I found myself watching my friends reactions more than the film itself. It was so fun watching their heads bob up and town, twitch and yelp at the slightest noise. In fact, it was giving me a diabolical idea. I could feel the tips of my lips curling with malicious glee. Turning my attention back to the movie I sat quietly and waited. Eventually a quiet part came up, the protagonists were hiding from the monster in a room, each step of the beast caused the place to shake and tremble, then, silence.

I heard the both of them hold their breath. One. I had to bite my lip to keep quiet. Two. My heart rate increased in anticipation, biting down harder. Just one more second. Three.

"BAH!"

I shouted as loud as I could, giving the girls a quick but powerful shake as I did so.

And then I went deaf.

Their screams were so high pitched that, for a moment I think I lost all hearing. Of course, that didn't really matter as I was too busy laughing like a madwoman. "THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" Kiyomi screeched and began to wail on me with her fists. Even Mana glared at me with a level of anger I didn't think was physically possible from her.

"Mean!" Mana pouted and I could only laugh more.

"Sorry, sorry." I apologized between beatings, "I couldn't help it." I wasn't sorry.

Things eventually calmed down and we returned to watching the movie. The two of them a lot more wary of me so that trick couldn't be pulled twice. Although I could get them to flinch occasionally depending on how I moved. Silently chuckling, I had to wonder what had them so scared. The movie itself was silly and cheaply made after all. Even for kids it shouldn't be something inspiring this much terror.

Eventually, I was able to figure it out. Or at least, come up with a plausible theory. For me, this was just a typical B-movie. That's all it was. For me, the monster wasn't real. It was a bulky suit made from foam with a very sweaty man inside.

For Kiyomi and Mana though, it was different. It represented something extremely real. In this world, monsters did exist. One attacked this very village just a few years ago. Heck I was friends with it's host now. I guess the reality of that still hadn't registered for me. In a way, I was still stuck halfway between two worlds. One foot still back in my old home and, perhaps, it may never leave.

A synthetic roar brought me back to reality, the cheesy monster suit punching through a cardboard building, running civilians super imposed to appear small. It took me a few moments to settle myself, a weak smile on my face as I looked to the floor. I chuckled softly, surprised at how much emotion I still had for that life long gone. I took a quick breath and leaned back into the couch. Kiyomi and Mana twitching at the sudden movement.

Finally, the credits started to roll. I could hear a sigh of relief from Mana while Kiyomi got to her feet. Legs clearly shaking even in the low light as she turned to us. "S-See, that was no big deal!" She said as she went to go and pull out the tape. As she did though, a shadow reached out at her with a deep growl. A clawed hand placed on her shoulder, now illuminated by the screen.

Kiyomi screamed. Jumping so hard she catapulted herself across the room and onto the couch. I had to throw myself over top of Mana to avoid being ran into. Mana too screamed, grabbing onto me and using my body as a shield. I was still reeling from the sudden mood whiplash as the creature stepped out from the shadows and into the light from the television.

A miniature version of the movie monster now stood in the room. Although a lot more realistic than it appeared on screen. The thing resembled a black bear, although it's fur was more like quills and several large spikes emerged from its joints. It snarled, showing off large white dagger-like fangs as drool dripped from its lips. It stood on two legs, hunched over so it could fit in the room, raising its forelegs towards us. Sword-like claws shining in the low light. As it stepped closer, cutting off the light its eyes became the most prominent feature. Glowing an unnatural yellow and revealing it's star-shaped iris.

My breath caught in my throat. This thing couldn't be real, could it? That was impossible. If it were, Kiyomi's mom would have been on top of it, right? I mean we were in the middle of the Yamanaka compound in the middle of a ninja village. Monsters couldn't just wander into people's living rooms!

"MOM! MOM HELP! ITS THE MONSTER! THE MONSTER IS HERE!" Kiyomi screamed at the top of her lungs, grabbing and throwing a bowl of half-filled popcorn at the beast. Which was effortlessly swatted away. Yet Ai was nowhere to be seen. It was just the three of us. Mana gripped onto my shirt tighter, trembling and whimpering. Kiyomi was backing further into the couch and wall behind it.

I looked back to the monster, it snarled and let out a deep, horrific growl. Similar to the howling from the movie but far deeper and sinister. It took another step forward, a loud stomp echoing through the room. The girl's cries grew louder.

"Mom! Dad! Kazuma!" Kiyomi screamed, begging for someone to come and help. The monster drew in closer, sword claws twitching eagerly as it licked it's lips. As though it was enjoying our fear, the appetizer before the main course. Once more I looked to Kiyomi, tears streaming down her face as she begged, her voice getting weaker.

I couldn't sit by any longer. Monster or no I had to do something. I pushed back on Mana, getting her to release her grip on me before I lunged forth. Chakra burning into my leg as I kicked towards the creature's snout.

"WHOA!?" A surprisingly human voice shouted out in surprise as the beast raised one of it's massive paws, catching my foot with ease.

"Back off!" I shouted, trying to pull back my foot but the monster held tight. I was now in the awkward position of having one foot caught while the other kept me precariously balanced on the edge of the couch.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment, silence covering the room like a thick blanket before the familiar voice of Kiyomi's mom broke it. "Okay okay, I think that's far enough." She said, flicking on the main light. The sudden flash blinding everyone. As I peered through squinted eyes the beast looked in the direction of the voice. It appeared a lot calmer now, almost docile as it spoke again.

"Aw, we were just getting to the good part." It moaned.

"Wait... That voice..." Kiyomi said, her voice trembling. Although whether it was fear or anger I couldn't exactly tell. She moved to stand beside me on the couch before glaring daggers at the creature through red, tear-streaked eyes. "Kazuma!?"

In an instant the room was filled with smoke. I shielded my face instinctively but it was pointless as it quickly dissipated. Where the monster once stood there was now a tall boy with dirty blonde hair and distinctive headband indicating he was a shinobi of the village. On his face was a very familiar, toothy grin I had seen countless times on Kiyomi.

"Hey sis!" He said, giving Kiyomi a wink. "Did you enjoy the movie? It really jumps out at you, huh?" Kazuma's tone was clearly taunting and certainly working as Kiyomi lunged at him. I was thrown back into the couch as he used his now free hand to catch Kiyomi by the head and held her at arm's length as she flailed at him. And they weren't playful punches either like when I scared her, she was swinging with intent.

"Alright that's enough." Their mom said, almost manifesting between the two siblings and forcefully separating them. She then looked to Kazuma, "Its getting a bit too late for this. I think you've done enough." While her tone was stern, Ai couldn't quite hide the quivering of her lips as she fought back her own smirk. I could only assume that she was not only in on the prank, but thoroughly enjoyed it.

"I'm going to kill him!" Kiyomi continued to flail at her brother.

"Kiyomi, I said enough." Ai repeated. The girl flailed for a second more before letting her arms fall limp. Pouting angrily at her brother who sheered back.

While their mom played arbitrator, I turned to Mana. "Hey, are you alright?" I asked. Mana was staring blankly at Kazuma until I called her name, at which point it was like she snapped out of a trance.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." She said absentmindedly, "I'm okay." Then turning her attention back to Kazuma. I was a little worried, moments ago the girl had been utterly terrified and using me as a human shield because of Kazuma's prank.

"Are you su-" I began but Mana quickly cut me off.

"What was that he did?" Mana asked, not even looking at me. Instantly I recognized that look in her eyes, it was the kind of look she got when trying to figure out something that caught her interest.

"Uh, I think it was a transformation jutsu?" I answered, although I wasn't entirely sure myself. Could the jutsu transform you into something twice your size?

"Hey Kazuma," I asked, drawing his attention, "Was that a transformation jutsu you used?"

He grinned, "Yeah, pretty good huh? How bad were you scared?"

Before I could reply there was a popping sound and a small cloud of smoke from behind me. Kazuma's grin immediately dropped as his eyes went wide. I turned and mirrored his expression. Where Mana was, or at least where she was supposed to be, now sat some kind of fuzzy... thing. I think it was supposed to be a bear, or at least what a child's crayon drawing impression of a bear would be.

"Uhh..." Was all I could manage to get out.

"How do I look?" The thing asked in Mana's voice.

"It... Needs some work..." I responded automatically before laughing awkwardly. "There has to be some kind of limit to talent, right?" I thought to myself. Then again, could this even be described as talent? This was just Mana being Mana, it was more surprising just how unsurprising it really was.

(Bear?)Mana grabbed her face with two pom-pom like hands, pulling and stretching her cheeks for a moment before releasing and with a poof, she was back to normal.

"I think I'm ready for bed now." I said.

After things finally settled down, we made our way to Kiyomi's bedroom. There, three futons had already been prepared, lying side by side on the floor. There was just barely enough floor space for them, especially because Kiyomi already had a normal bed to sleep on. Apparently, Kiyomi had insisted on having her own futon as well so we could all sleep together.

Yawning loudly, I crawled under the blankets. My eyelids suddenly heavy as my body remembered how tired it actually was. Mana was fading quickly too, the adrenaline having worn off from the movie left her drained. At this point she could only communicate through short, cute grunts and was probably out the moment her head hit the pillow.

Kiyomi and I said our goodnights and Ai flicked off the light. Silence filled the room as the soft blue glow of moonlight streamed in through the window. In the low light I could just barely make out the clock on the wall. Quarter to midnight. It had been quite some time since I had been up this late at night. Since I woke up so early I tended to go to bed early.

Closing my eyes I tried to drift off to sleep. Yet despite my tiredness, sleep did not come easy. Perhaps because I was so used to having an evening workout session my body was feeling twitchy and unsatisfied. The result was me tossing and turning every couple of minutes, unable to quite get comfortable. And unfortunately, as my body refused to rest, my mind began to wander.

And when the mind wanders, the unwanted thoughts returned.

Inevitably, my mind returned to the thoughts that had kept me up the last few nights once more. Misaki, the Uchiha, Itachi. All of it returned. Thoughts I had played through my head what felt like hundreds of times before. And here, in the silent night, there was nothing to distract me from them. As my frustrations grew I could tell this was going to be another long night.

After some more time tossing about I eventually huffed in frustration. Laying on my back, staring at the ceiling. The room was brighter now, my eyes having long adjusted to the dark. "What am I even doing?" I whispered to no one. Rather than being here wasting time I should be training. Planning. Something. My time was limited and thanks to my stupidity, my options were even more so.

I could only sigh, rolling over on my side again. I had fun today, I couldn't deny that and because of that fun the guilt I felt was all the worse. How could I be allowed to go and have fun when each second that passed was one second closer to the end. I gripped my pillow tight, it was that or start wailing on it out of frustration.

"What would I even do..." I eventually muttered almost silently, frustration giving way to despair. "What the heck can I do?" I began to curl up into a ball underneath the sheets, eyes starting to water. "I'm weak, stupid and even knowing what would happen I went and screwed up and let Shisui die. I should have just warned Misaki right away, now I can't even do that."

A weak sniffle escaped me, despite my efforts I couldn't keep quiet. A hiccup quickly followed. "Wanting to protect people? Who am I kidding? I can't do a damn thing..." The tears were flowing now, I couldn't stop them. All I could do was shove my face into the pillow to snuff out the sounds.

Something was poking me. At first I ignored it but it continued, becoming more insistent. Swatting at it did nothing. "Urgh.." I groaned in annoyance.

"Hey, Meiko. Are you awake?" Kiyomi whispered as I heard her shuffling a little closer. "Are you okay?" Great, I must have woke her up with my crying. Good going idiot. The poking continued.

"Yeah..." I finally responded when I felt I was calm enough to not keep sniffling. "I'm fine."

"Liar." She retorted and scuttled in closer. "Its okay though, I understand."

My brow furrowed, "You do?" I asked. Although I wasn't curious at all, I knew Kiyomi wouldn't stop unless I humoured her.

"Mhm," She was quite close now, placing an arm over top the sheets, patting gently. "Yeah, you can't sleep because of the movie and that dummy Kazuma's joke. Its okay." She said.

I scoffed, about to deny it but bit my tongue. Were I to denied it she would have asked if I had been crying, and I couldn't exactly explain why. So I mumbled something unintelligible as a response. Kiyomi not understanding, pressed further. "You were really scared, huh?" I was a bit surprised, I had envisioned Kiyomi lying there with her usual toothy grin as she had yet another opportunity to tease me. But no, she was genuinely concerned.

"I..." I began to say, then chuckled. It was strange, just hearing that touch of concern in her voice was... Relieving. "Nah." I responded, rolling over to face her. "Not as much as you were." A grin spreading across my face.

"I-I wasn't scared!" Kiyomi quietly shouted back, punching me through the blanket again.

"Oh, so that scream wasn't because you were scared?" I laughed.

"You just startled me!" Kiyomi retorted, punching again as I was now trying to muffle my laughter to keep from waking up Mana.

"Startled? Then were you startled when you kept hiding your eyes when the monster roared?" My laughter continued as the two of us went back and forth for a good little while. Losing track of time and restraint, it was only brought to an end when the door opened and Ai stepped inside. Neither of us noticed though, not until we each got a good knuckle to the head each.

"Will you two shut up? Do you know what time it is?" kiyomi's mom groaned, "Now go to sleep already." She then stormed off back to bed, leaving us with the feeling that if we woke her again, we would certainly regret it.

Rubbing the lump on my head our eyes met again and the two of us started to laugh before silencing ourselves. Hands covering our mouths simultaneously. "We should probably get to sleep." I said, Kiyomi nodding and crawling back to her futon.

Laying there in the dark, I felt refreshed. My mind clear. In fact I could feel the weight of my eyes growing heavy. Taking in a deep breath, I allowed it to take me, but not before one last thing. "Hey Kiyomi,"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks."

For the first time in several days, I slept undisturbed.

At least until I woke up.

CLANG CLANG CLANG! The weirdest and most intrusive alarm clock jolted me awake. I would have jumped to my feet had it not been for the weight pressing down on me. In my delirium from the sudden awakening it took me a minute of panic to realize what the heck woke me up.

The answer was Ai, Kiyomi's mom with a pot and wooden spoon. "Alright you two up and at 'em!" Her voice boomed louder than the clattering kitchenware. "Do you want to sleep the day away?"

Blinking, I moved my attention over to the clock. Nine forty-five. I blinked again. Indeed, sunlight bathed the room with gentle warmth. I couldn't remember the last time I overslept like this. Honestly it wasn't surprising, I had been exhausted these last couple days.

The other thing was the weight. Kiyomi had half thrown herself over top of me overnight. She was always a very... mobile sleeper. And a deep one to boot. Despite the racket, she was still snoozing away soundly, drool staining my blanket.

"I'm up! I'm up!" I finally shouted, begging for the noise to stop and shaking Kiyomi awake.

"Five more minutes..." She mumbled and swatted my arm away.

It took quite a while but we eventually managed to wake Kiyomi up and dressed. Then we sat down for a late brunch. Mana had apparently been simply waiting in the living room the entire time since she woke up. I was sure to apologize but she didn't mind, having used the time to practice her new 'magic trick.'

Talent really isn't fair.

After having a meal and time to wake up, we once again found ourselves outside. Led, of course, by Kiyomi who marched through the garden with purpose. Unlike yesterday however, we passed straight through the gardens and continued on. Coming to a small forested area that appeared to be some kind of training ground. Open ground, surrounded by trees and the ground so trodden no grass would grow there anymore. In it's place was a large patch of hardened dirt and several worn down logs.

I figured Kiyomi was in more of a training mood but no, she kept going. Into the cover of the trees where finally, she stopped and turned to us. Eyes full of determination, she scanned the area before beckoning us closer and into a huddle.

"Alright so, how are we going to get him back?" She asked in a hushed voice.

"Get who?" Mana asked before I could.

"Kazuma, obviously." Kiyomi replied with a slightly harsh tone. "After what he did last night, we have to do something!" I mistakenly chuckled as I recalled the 'prank' from last night. Kiyomi shot me a look that clearly stated if I did it again, I would be next on the list.

"Well, what's the plan then?" I asked, trying to shift her aggression off of me.

"Yes, what is the plan?" Another voice chimed in, an older and deeper voice. Immediately Kiyomi jumped back and began scanning the trees again. I joined in, searching for that familiar smarmy voice. The source was discovered when Kiyomi took another step backwards, bumping into something, or rather someone.

The person had practically materialized on the spot when we weren't looking. Wearing a sky blue sleeveless shirt that matched his eyes partially hidden under dirty blonde hair, slung over his shoulder appeared to be some kind of tanto. I recognized him immediately as Kiyomi's older brother. That grin was unmistakably the same as his sister's I had seen countless times.

"Kazuma!? Why are you here!?" She screamed.

Kazuma chortled at that, shrugging his shoulders in a lazy manner. "I just wanted to spend some time with my little sister. Is that such a crime?" The sarcasm in his words was so thick he may have well been spewing slime.

"Get out of here!" Kiyomi shouted back. It wasn't often I saw her this agitated, but then again there were few people who could rile up someone like their sibling. I was trying hard to not laugh, wondering if this was how it would be with my own brother in the future. Right now he was too young to really tease like this, or perhaps he would be the annoying one. Certainly I wouldn't be.

"Aw, don't be like that." Kazuma continued in that annoying smarmy voice. Leaning in close with that trademark Yamanaka grin his family all shared. "I'm really curious as to this 'plan' of yours to 'get me.'" Kazuma's voice dropping a couple octaves to sound a little menacing but the sarcasm was still way, way too thick for that to be actually scary.

Kiyomi immediately took a swipe at his face, her brother leaning back just enough for it to miss the tip of his nose by a millimetre. "Go away! Kazudork!"

Laughing even more, Kazuma began rubbing Kiyomi's head like she was a dog. "Oh no, she bites!"

"Isn't that enough?" Came a feminine voice. A girl was approaching us flanked by three young grey and white pups. She had deep brown hair pulled into a pony tail and two inverted red triangles painted on her cheeks. A thick, faded green coat with fur trimmings covered her torso and honestly looked to be a bit too warm for the current weather. "Don't tease them too much, they're just kids."

"Aw come on Hana, its all in good fun." Kazuma chuckled, throwing his arms behind his head. I could swear his cheeks were turning slightly pink.

"Daw!" Mana suddenly shouted and ran forward towards the girl, completely disregarding what had been going on. "They're so cute! Can I pet them? Please!?" She begged and I found myself taken aback. Mana had always been extremely shy, for her to run up to someone unfamiliar like that was really out of character. Then again, puppies were the ultimate ice breaker. Even I felt the undeniable urge to run over and pet them too. In fact, my feet were already moving.

The girl, Hana, giggled. "Go ahead, they won't bite." She said before nodding to the pups. They yipped in response as though they perfectly understood what was being said and stepped within reach of Mana. "You can too as well." Hana then nodded at me, understanding my intentions.

The sibling quarrel was reduced to mere background noise as my full attention was put towards the three tiny dogs sitting before me. Their fur was soft and warm as they were clearly enjoying it as much as Mana and I were. In fact I was so engrossed in the little creatures I failed to notice Kiyomi charging over to me.

Suddenly I found myself in a headlock and being dragged away. "Meiko! Come on! You're supposed to be my back up here!" Kiyomi admonished while cutting off my windpipe, grunting as she did so. "Did you get even heavier!?"

"I'm not heavy!" I protested while choking and trying to pull Kiyomi's arm off my neck. She must have gotten even better with her chakra reinforcement lately because I just could not muster up enough strength to free myself. I had little choice but to tap out. "I give! I give!"

Kiyomi only held on tighter.

"We should probably get going Kazuma." Hana said while trying not to laugh at my pain, "We need to get back to training."

"Aw come on Hana," Kazuma moaned, "We're as ready as we're going to be. More training isn't going to do anything at the moment. Let's have some fun!"

"We can have some fun AFTER training." Hana replied putting her foot down metaphorically and literally. We watched as Hana moved over and grabbed Kazuma by his ear and started dragging him off despite his protests. I think the word training caught Kiyomi's attention as she froze up for a moment before dropping me like a sack of bricks.

"Ack ow! Hey Hana! Come on! We should relax a bit!" Kazuma protested between his cries of pain.

"Training?" Kiyomi asked as she darted in front of Hana, cutting off her path. Eyes sparkling with eagerness and I could already tell where this was going.

"Sorry," Hana apologized, "We will be training seriously so you can't join. We have to focus, after all, the finals are in a couple weeks."

"Finals?" I found myself asking.

"The Chunin Exams." Kazuma replied in a pained voice before twisting himself free from Hana's grasp. "Ah, that smarts." He mumbled for a moment, rubbing his ear before turning to us, his smug confidence returning. "Hana and I are both in the finals. That Chunin rank is in the bag."

"Not if you keep slacking off!" Hana retorted, smacking him on the back of the head.

"I'm not slacking! Rest is important too!" Kazuma chuckled, looking to Kiyomi as a lightbulb went on. I could see the gears turning as his grin returned once more. "Hey Kiyomi, you want to do some training right?"

Hana was about to protest but Kiyomi darted forward, her earlier animosity completely gone. "Yeah yeah!" She shouted, nodding furiously, "Are you going to teach us a new jutsu!?" I couldn't help but laugh at the complete about face Kiyomi had made. Forgotten was Kazuma's prank, his smarmy attitude and taunting the moment he had something she wanted.

"Kazuma, we don't have time for this." Hana protested, her voice firm and her dogs taking her side and standing firm.

"Come on Hana," Kazuma replied, "Do you really think Kiyomi will leave us alone? She'll totally sneak around and try to watch and probably get in the way."

"He's right you know." Kiyomi immediately added.

Hana groaned, I could understand her pain. Kiyomi was a stubborn one and I could only assume Kazuma would be the same. The two of them together might as well be the most annoying brick wall. "Fine, what's your idea. Depending on what it is, I'll consider it."

Kazuma and Kiyomi were sharing the same toothy grins, knowing they had practically won. "Well," He began before walking over to Hana and whispering in her ear. The girl sighed.

"Really?" She said, "What's the point of that?"

"It'll be funny!" Was Kazuma's reply.

Sighing again, Hana looked to Kiyomi, then to Mana and I. "Alright fine. But only for an hour. After that, I don't want any complaints from you."

"Deal!" The Yamanaka siblings answered in tandem.

Leaving the shelter of the trees, Kazuma led the group back to the open area. Jumping on top of one of the logs and squatted down. "We're going to play a little game." He said.

"I thought we were training!?" Kiyomi shouted back.

"Oh but it is." Kazuma replied before pulling out a red handkerchief. "You just have to figure that part out."

Kiyomi groaned, "I should have known this would be something stupid." Her earlier exuberance gone in a flash.

"Aw, don't be like that." Kazuma said, stuffing the handkerchief halfway into his waist and hopped down. Planting a hand on her head and rubbing again. "Figuring it out is part of the training. Hana and I did something just like this when we graduated the academy you know. Its basically an official exercise."

"...Really?" Kiyomi asked after a moment's hesitation. I had to cover my mouth as I snorted a laugh. Kazuma was literally leading her around by the nose. Even if we just ended standing around watching this for the rest of the day, I was okay with that. This was hilarious.

"Really, would I lie?" Kazuma replied with a smirk that screamed 'of course I would.' Kiyomi managed to get a light jab in at him for that. "Right right," He chuckled before hopping back up on the log. An impressive feat considering it was a standing long jump from at least five meters away.

"So," Kazuma began, squatting down atop the log once again. "The rules are simple. You just have to take this handkerchief from me and you win." Looking down from his perch it was clear from his smug expression he had complete confidence in his ability to win. I couldn't help but remark at the remarkable similarities between the siblings. The humour in everything was quickly turning to dread if Kiyomi would end up becoming more like him in the future.

That said, Kiyomi reflected a similarly smug grin. "That's easy!" She shouted confidently, "Its three against one! We're going to kick your butt!"

"Is that so?" Kazuma responded, "Well then, on the count of three we can begin."

"Ah crap..." I thought to myself. Kiyomi was way too confident for her own good. At this rate we were in for a thrashing. I had to at least try to level the playing field. "Hey! Hold on!" I called out as Kazuma counted to two. "Kiyomi is right, this isn't fair." I said, Kazuma raising an eyebrow at the interruption.

"Aw, are you worried about me?" He said in an annoying sing-song tone.

"No, its not fair for us." I replied flatly. I could see from the corner of my eye that Kiyomi was a bit confused but before she could interject I continued, "You yourself said you're preparing for the Chunin exams. The three of us have only completed a single week at the academy and Mana hasn't had any training at all."

Kiyomi was the first to respond, "But there's three of us!"

"And Kazuma is twice our age with actual experience." I retorted before she could get any further. "I think we should get a few handicaps."

A few moments of silence before Kazuma started chuckling. "Well, looks like one of you has a decent head on their shoulders." Hopping off the log, he walked to about the centre of the area. "Alright, I'll add in a few more things." He said before using his foot to draw a circle in the dirt. "I won't leave this circle and I won't make any moves unless you cross the line. Oh, and as an extra bonus, I won't even use any jutsu. Just my hands."

I didn't like how confident he still was despite those restrictions, but they were better than nothing. I nodded to Kiyomi first then turned to Mana. "I'm going to go play with the doggies." She declared once she noticed I was asking if she was ready.

"Mana," I said, hesitant to ask her to join in. This was something far above her skill level and even though it was labelled as training, we would in essence be fighting. Mana could very easily get hurt. On the other hand, she was a wild card. Her ability to create those 'tricks' of hers on the fly could be the key we needed. In the end though, I wasn't going to push her to do something she didn't want to.

"We won't force you." I added, glancing towards Kiyomi who might not share the same sentiment, "But we could really use your help."

"Yeah Mana! Don't you want to get back at Kazuma for scaring us?" Kiyomi said, running in. I raised an arm to stop her from getting closer to Mana, fearing she would pressure the girl into joining.

Mana was hesitating, looking between us and the dogs at Hana's side several times before grumbling something unintelligible. "Do you guys need help?"

"Yes!" Kiyomi immediately replied and I pushed her back again with a sigh.

"Don't feel pressured to but, yeah. We could use all the help we can get." I said.

"Then okay. What should I do?" Mana happily said. It was surprising how positive she was on the matter.

"Kick Kazuma's butt!" Kiyomi shouted and immediately turned to face her brother. "Alright we're ready!" I didn't even have time to say anything before Kiyomi was charging forth.

"Ah, so much for making a plan." I grumbled before turning to Mana. "Stay back, he won't do anything if you don't enter the circle. Try and think of some trick or something, we're going to need the distraction." And with that I followed Kiyomi's lead and charged in as well.

Kiyomi was, of course, the first to reach her brother. The moment she stepped across that line he snapped into action. A quick flourish and Kiyomi was sent tumbling through the air, landing on her back behind him. "Great..." I thought, knowing full well how much difficulty those techniques were for me to deal with against Kiyomi already. I was certainly going to be sore after this.

"Well let's try to get a feel for how bad this will go..." Steeling myself for the inevitable throw, I crossed the line. The moment I did, I felt Kazuma grabbing my wrist and suddenly I lost my balance as the world turned over on itself and I crashed down with a thud on the ground. "Yup, as expected." I commented, looking up at the sky. A small cloud floating gently overhead I imagined was getting a good laugh out of that.

We were definitely in over our heads, I had barely been able to see Kazuma move. The moment I crossed that line he was basically a blur. Fact was, we could triple our numbers and still have no chance against this guy.

Kiyomi's battle cry indicated her charging in again, followed oddly by a 'wheee' as she was effortlessly flung away once again. Sighing, I kicked myself back up to my feet. "Together!" I shouted to Kiyomi. The two of us flanking Kazuma. I was approaching from his back and yet I just had this feeling he could tell exactly how I was moving without needing to even try looking in my direction.

Still I pressed on, Kiyomi and I synchronizing our attack as best we could. There was no chance we could overpower or outmanoeuvre the Genin, so I set my sights on the bright red cloth hanging from his waist. Kiyomi on the other hand, was definitely going in for the attack. We crossed the line and Kazuma instantly reacted. I prepared myself to be thrown again as Kazuma twisted himself and stepped aside. Grabbing the two of us and with a single, swift motion simply pushing a tiny bit. Instead of being thrown through the air, I was thrown off balance and so was Kiyomi. We had a moment to comprehend what was happening as we locked eyes the moment before crashing into each other.

"Gah!" We both cried as Kazuma then gently tossed us aside and out of the circle again.

"Meiko! Come on! Get off" Kiyomi complained as she struggled angrily. "You're freaking heavy!" I got an open palm in the face at that as I pushed myself off. "Get it together! He's making us look like idiots!"

"Can't argue there." I said, ignoring the heavy comment and pushing myself to my feet while rubbing my jaw. Kiyomi's little palm strike hit a tooth pretty good and I could feel it wriggle slightly when prodded. Turning to Kazuma who just silently held his vigil, grinning all the way. "We need a plan." My attention turned to Mana, still standing in the same spot as before, slightly worried and unsure what she should be doing.

"Hmm..." An idea was starting to form in my head as Kiyomi yelped. Apparently while I was lost in thought she had charged in again and was now flying at me. "Crap!" I shouted and, being unable to dodge, caught the girl midair.

"Nice catch!" Kiyomi said and started to charge in again forcing me to grab her wrist and pull her back.

"Hang on! We're going to get nowhere just blindly running at him." I said, trying to reason with her. Kiyomi tried to fight back for a moment before realizing that no, I wasn't letting no.

With a huff, she relaxed and turned to me. "You got an idea then?"

"Kind of, I need you to distract him for a bit." I said, eyes dropping to the circle at his feet. "Remember, he said he won't leave the circle." Kiyomi's eyes almost instantly went wide before a gigantic smile crossed her face.

"Oh, right!" She said, an evil expression as she looked at her brother. "Alright, one distraction coming up!" Kiyomi's hands clapped together and she started going through a short series of hand seals before crouching down and slapping a palm into the ground. The earth by her fingertips began to churn and rise. Her expression strained as the dirt formed and hardened creating a small, rectangular object. The corners crumbled a bit but overall it held it's shape.

"Whew," Kiyomi breathed a sigh of relief before grabbing the brick and pried it from the ground. "Take this!" She shouted before chucking it hard at Kazuma.

"Whoa!" He playfully yelped as he hopped out of the way. "Careful with that, you might hurt someone!" The projectile crumbled into dust the moment it hit the ground behind him.

I was quite impressed. I hadn't expected Kiyomi to be able to use a jutsu like that. Simple as it was, she was already performing an actual elemental jutsu. That was supposed to be a rather difficult feat. Even Mana's tricks were only visual, although that wasn't a good comparison because Mana was her own sort of anomaly. A bittersweet feeling of pride for my friend's talent warmed my chest. The gap between us only continued to widen.

"Meiko! Get going!" Kiyomi shouted at me as she was forming more bricks. This time stockpiling ammo.

"Ah, right." I responded before running over to Mana's side.

"Oh, they're cooking up something. I'm in danger now!" Kazuma taunted as I sprinted past.

"Okay Mana, we definitely need your help." I said, motioning towards the log Kazuma had propped himself up before while making sure he wouldn't be able to see. "Kiyomi and I will keep Kazuma distracted while you sneak over and hide behind that log. Then, I want you to wait for me to give you the signal."

"Okay." Mana responded with a nod, not even asking for further details. Leaning in, I whispered the rest of my plan.

"Think you can do that?" I asked. Mana nodded again in the affirmative. "Excellent, we're counting on you." Patting her shoulder I turned back to face Kazuma. A light bit of laughter came from him as he effortlessly dodged the first brick from Kiyomi.

"Oh, you look like you're ready." He said to me, placing his hands in his pockets and even turning to face me instead of the stone thrower. Clearly indicating that Kiyomi was no threat, only inciting her further and, sadly, proving his point as he easily dodged the next two bricks without even looking.

"Kiyomi!" I shouted, "Make some more bricks. I'll be a second." I then grabbed and removed the knitted band covering my right forearm. The metal plates of the training weights twinkling in the sunlight.

Kazuma laughed, "What the heck is that? A training weight? Why did you even bring that?"

"Why did you bring those!?" Kiyomi added, sounding a bit offended and bewildered I brought them to a sleepover.

"Force of habit." I replied, removing the clasp and letting it drop to the ground. A very loud, metallic bang ringing out as it kicked up a small cloud of dust on impact.

Kazuma's laughter stopped instantly as he jolted, staring wide eyed at the weight at my feet. "What the...?" He muttered in surprise. The second weight hit the ground and Kazuma chuckled awkwardly. "Dang, how much do those weigh?" He cautiously asked as I sat on the ground, removing the leg warmers and revealing the remaining two.

"Oh... T-There's more..." He said with another awkward chuckle. "Hey Kiyomi, the heck is with your friend there?"

"She's an idiot." Kiyomi replied flatly.

Now unburdened by the weights, I got back to my feet and took a few test hops. My body felt light as a feather and honestly a little awkward. "Well Lee, let's see if this little trick really does work." I thought to myself before looking back at Mana, "Ready?" When she nodded I took off running.

The speed which I ran was, to be frank, astounding. Sure it wasn't anything on the level of the body flicker, I could still see things after all, but it was still more than twice as fast as I could normally sprint. I felt so light I worried I might take off and just start soaring through the air like a bird. Even Kazuma was astonished at the speed and cried out as he jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding my charge but not countering.

Planting a foot hard in the ground, I came skidding to a stop and spun around, ready to charge in again. "Kiyomi, go!" I shouted before upping the pressure. Chakra burned in my legs, causing the muscles to flare as I charged in once again even faster this time. Bricks started flying from Kiyomi's side at the same time.

"Okay, I'll admit, I'm impressed." Kazuma admitted weaving between the projectiles as I closed in. I tried to feint going for the handkerchief before going in for a gut punch but he read me like a book, grabbing and twisting my arm with a large circular motion and sending me flying once more.

In response, I twisted my body mid air just enough to land on my feet, something I couldn't have done were I still wearing the weights. The assault continued for a few more rounds, Kazuma deftly dealing with both of our attacks. All the while I tried to keep an eye on Mana's position and once she was hidden behind the log I fell back, moving to Kiyomi's side.

"Hey, I'm gonna do something big. Get ready." I whispered at her before positioning myself directly in front of the log. Between me and Kazuma there was about a five meter gap. I was just hoping Mana would be able to do what I had asked.

Kiyomi was making more hand seals but this time, instead of making more bricks there was a puff of smoke and a duplicate now stood at her side. "You're going down Kazuma!" She shouted before the two girls took off, running to take his flanks.

"You do know that clone doesn't make any sound when running right?" He said, eyes tracking the real one.

"Eyes over here!" I shouted to catch his attention. "Kiyomi isn't the only one who has learned a jutsu or two!" And with that I initiated a long series of hand seals. Ever since Misaki had taught me the seals I had been practising them whenever my hands were idle. Sure they were only basic ones but I'd like to think I had gotten pretty good at my accuracy. Meanwhile I started to focus my chakra into my chest, specifically my lungs. This was going to be quite the gamble.

"Oi oi, what the heck kind of jutsu is that?" Kazuma warily asked, the little stunt I pulled with the weights keeping him on his toes.

Finishing the string of seals, I took in a gigantic breath. Air flowed into my lungs expanding them to their limit and beyond. The chakra flowing through them allowing me to intake far more than I could normally. Chest inflating so far I could swear I felt my rib cage start to creak.

At this point, it was all up to Mana. The simple fact was that this was all a bluff. With my lungs at full capacity, I raised my left hand towards my mouth, pinching my index finger and thumb together forming a small circle.

"Hey!" Kazuma shouted, trying to mask his panic with awkward laughter. "You're kidding right?" He must have recognized what I was mimicking. Leaning forward I snapped my fingers on my right hand, the signal for Mana to make her move.

The plan was simple in essence. Mana would hide behind the log pillar and when I snapped my fingers, she would make it seem like a torrent of fire was shooting forth from my mouth. It was certainly meant to be bigger than any trick she had done before. To give her an idea of what I was after, I had reminded her of the fire breathers from the parade back when we first met.

Leaning in, I exhaled hard. Yet instead of a stream of illusory flames, I was instead blasting out a ball of psychedelic purple and yellow gas-like substance. Twirling and mixing together in some weird tie-dye trip. It was accompanied by sparkler effects shooting off like tiny fireworks.

Kazuma screamed, Kiyomi screamed, Hana screamed, her dogs yelped, heck even I probably would have screamed had I not already been exhaling. I did sputter though. Thankfully, since I was at least expecting something, I was able to recover a little bit faster and shifted my chakra back to my legs.

"Nice!" I shouted and kicked off, charging headfirst through the 'fire'. Being an illusion there was, of course, no heat or substance but stepping through that technicolor ball was... something. The inside was hollow, like stepping inside of a balloon. Yet my eyes were assaulted by the twisting purples and yellows as I sped through it almost threw me off balance. Just before I would cross through the other side, I kicked off the ground and launched into a flying drop kick.

Emerging from Mana's illusion I crashed into a bewildered Kazuma. His arms raised already as the 'fireball' was launched at him allowed for an easy block. Although he still grunted as my attack landed, I had a lot of momentum behind me after all, even with my small body he must have felt something at least. Unfortunately I simply lacked the strength to break through that guard and he would certainly recover quickly.

"Kiyomi! Go!" I shouted before that could happen. Thankfully, she was already on the move as she leapt into the air and came in with her own flying kick.

Kazuma grunted, pushing back on me so he could free up an arm to counter the incoming attack. As I flipped myself to land on my feet, I watched as Kazuma's arm passed harmlessly through Kiyomi's leg.

"Ah crap!" He said with eyes wide as his sister shimmered then exploded in smoke.

"GO!" I shouted at the top of my lungs as the real Kiyomi darted in and made a grab at the cloth. Time appeared to slow before my eyes as everything came to a head. Mana was cheering behind me, Kazuma cursing as he desperately moved to intercept and Kiyomi cried out as her fingers closed over the handkerchief.

"GOT IT!" She shouted triumphantly and thrust her arm skyward. Or at least, she tried to. Instead, Kiyomi's arm stopped only about halfway up. All eyes were on her, starting from her hand which was clearly gripping the cloth, then down the bright red fabric to Kazuma's waistline where it held fast.

"Kukuku." Kazuma chuckled evilly, "That was a good try. You really surprised me there." He said before raising his shirt just enough that we could see what he had done. "You should have known I wouldn't make it that easy though." At some point, he had tied the kerchief securely around his belt. No matter how hard Kiyomi pulled, she wasn't going to be able to remove it.

"You cheater!" Kiyomi accused him and tried tugging on it again. Kazuma laughing, at least until she went to untie it. Then he grabbed her free wrist.

"Tsk tsk," Kazuma clicked his tongue, "A shinobi must see through deception." He preached, well more talked down with that mocking tone. "Now, I wonder what else you guys have in mind, I'm having a lot of fun here."

My teeth ground together hard, infuriated at how much he was looking down on us. I had to do something while Kiyomi still had a hand on the prize. I lunged forward, forcing Kazuma to release Kiyomi's wrist to grab at me. Knowing he would throw me the moment he had the chance, I stopped just short of his reach.

We couldn't let it end here, not when we were so close. "Kiyomi!" I shouted, the two of us locking eyes. "If we can't get it off of his pants-" I began, Kiyomi's eyes sparking with acknowledgement. Despite not saying anything about the plan I could sense we were both on the same wavelength. Each of us mimicking the other with a growing grin.

"What are you up to?" Kazuma asked warily.

I darted in again, keeping low while Kiyomi simultaneously went back in. With Kazuma's attention divided, I was narrowly able to duck under his hand and get in close.

"Then we-" I shouted.

"Just need-" Kiyomi continued, our two minds as one.

"To get his pants off him!" We finished in unison, grabbing onto his waistband and pulling down hard. His pants easily falling down to his ankles.

"A-Ahh..." He stuttered in shocked embarrassment.

"Oh my~" I heard Hana's voice off in the distance.

"Eek!" Mana squeaked from behind.

Kiyomi and I looked to one another, our expressions a reflection of each other. All we had to do now was pull forward and that should knock Kazuma off his feet, allowing us to remove his pants and seize victory. We were just about to do that when more shouting broke out.

"You little brats!" Kazuma was the first to start shouting, quickly followed by a rather alarmed Hana.

"Kazuma! Don't!" Her voice was followed immediately by a metallic sound.

That metallic swish caused me to look up just in time to see and register the blade of Kazuma's tanto coming down towards us. Aimed at the ground between us two, it stopped just short of the tip hitting the ground. The last thing I saw was my startled reflection on the pristine mirror finish.

Then, the world was lost to an all encompassing white.

My eyes burned as though they were on fire. I screamed, instinctively covering them with my hands and crushing my eyelids together and yet still all I saw was blinding, pure white light. I could hear Kiyomi screaming as well just before feeling a heavy blow catch me in the abdomen, launching me into the air several meters before I hit the ground hard and tumbled a bit further.

I gasped hard, the blow knocking the wind out of me while still writhing blind. Thankfully, the whiteness was starting to fade as spots of black started to appear. It took a few more seconds of gasping and coughing but I was soon able to open my eyes again. The world was unfocused and spots of white still clouded it but things were finally coming into view.

"Kazuma! You went too far!" I could hear Hana chastising him. Their figures blurred as I tried to focus.

"You saw what they did!" He protested.

Hana chuckled, "Well you did play dirty first."

Finally I was able to see again, mostly at least. I got back to my feet, rubbing my chest where I had been struck. It hurt a bit, but wasn't too bad. My chakra would be able to fix it up within a couple hours. It was frustrating though, to have come this far and fail. "Darn it..." I grumbled.

"Oh, you guys ready for more?" Kazuma jeered, his playful tone a bit more menacing as he was clearly sour over the whole pantsing thing. "I won't be going easy on you."

"Nah, I think this is done." Hana said.

"What? We still have plenty of time!?" Kazuma protested.

"There's still time, sure. But they won." Hana retorted to everyone's confusion.

"Uh, no they didn't. They grabbed the handkerchief sure, but they had to take it from me and see," He said, wriggling the cloth still tied to his now raised pants, "I still have it."

"True, but you broke the rules." Hana answered and motioned to the blade in his hands. "You said you would 'only use your hands' after all."

"I meant I wouldn't use jutsu!" Kazuma cried back.

"Its still the rules. Only your hands and you used the tanto. Therefore, you lose." Hana clapped back and chuckled. "You underestimated them because they're kids. This is why you need to keep training. I can tell you for sure that the others are training as hard as they can preparing for the finals. You're going to end up worse than having your pants around your ankles if you underestimate them too."

All of Kazuma's smarmy attitude was gone. He knew she was right and couldn't argue further. Groaning and scratching at his head he finally gave in. "Fine, fine. You're right. You guys got me." He admitted, sheathing his blade and untying the cloth from his belt. Waving it in the air like a white flag before letting it fall to the dirt. "Just remember, it was only on a technicality."

Hana shorted, "Sore loser." She taunted. I could swear her dogs were laughing too.

Everything felt so surreal. Perhaps I hit my head in that tumble, or maybe it was just the adrenaline still pumping through my veins that made this seem so abrupt. As Kazuma said, this was a technical victory. Not because we actually succeeded, but because Kazuma slipped up and broke a vague rule. It didn't feel earned.

Well, that was my opinion at least. Kiyomi was certainly of a different mind. I had not noticed her running towards me until I was tackled and nearly thrown to the ground as she caught me in a bear hug.

"We did it! We did it!" Kiyomi happily cheered as she spun with me still locked in her arms. Once she finally stopped, her attention then turned to Mana and once more she was charging off, this time with me in tow.

"Mana! That was amazing!" Kiyomi complimented upon reaching the tanned girl. "What even was that anyway? It was all like 'whoosh!' and Kazuma even screamed!"

Mana certainly wasn't one to be used to this aggressive level of praise. But she was certainly enjoying it. Cheeks burning red as she bashfully kicked the dirt. "Meiko said to make a really big fireball, so I did." She explained and giggled a little.

"That was supposed to be a fireball?" Kiyomi questioned, looking to me for an explanation why it was purple.

"It was a Mana special edition fireball." I joked back, really that was the only way to describe it. Just Mana adding her own personal chaotic touch which, in this instance, really elevated my silly little plan.

"You three did great." Hana said as she walked over to us. Kazuma was keeping his distance, while he still had that annoying smirk it wasn't as overbearing as before. As my eyes continued to recover I could start making out smaller details again, like the fact his face was a light shade of red and he was certainly annoyed at our 'battle tactics.'

"And after that little... session, I'm sure Kazuma is going to really focus on his training again. I have to thank you for that." Hana added, making sure she picked her words carefully. Giggling a bit at the memory and, if I wasn't mistaken, she stole a glance or two back to her teammate.

"Thanks." I spoke first, "But it was all thanks to Mana and Kiyomi. We wouldn't have had a chance without their jutsu." Those two really were incredible. Kiyomi was already capable of low level elemental ninjutsu while Mana could produce what I assumed was genjutsu on that scale. Compared to them I barely did a thing. My contribution was little more than just running around like an annoying gnat.

"Haah!?" Kiyomi semi-shouted, "What do you mean? It was your plan that got us that far!"

"Yeah!" Mana spiritedly added, "I wouldn't have known what to do until you gave me the idea!"

"Eh? Ah.." I stammered, unable to find any words to respond with. Instead just looking to the ground to try and hide my embarrassment.

Hana chuckled again, "Well, looks like you also figured out the point of the training too." She said, earning her our confused glances. "The only chance you had against Kazuma was to work together. Meiko's plan, Mana's illusions and Kiyomi's clone. All of it was needed in equal measure. If that was your first time working together like that, then with some more training you guys might just be unstoppable."

I looked to my friends, it was certainly high praise from someone on the verge of reaching Chunin. We all chuckled awkwardly. It felt good admittedly, to hear that. Even if deep down I knew I was still far behind them. I needed to work even harder if I wanted to catch up.

"Anyway, time for us to go. We're already behind on training and Kazuma needs to get his butt in gear if he's going to be ready for the finals." Hana said, turning to Kazuma with a smirk.

"Don't mention my butt!" He shouted back, face turning beet red. I had to laugh some more.

"Why? You're always staring at Hana's, its only fair she gets to look back." Kiyomi added with a surprisingly flat, matter-of-fact tone. The silence was so deafening you could hear a pin drop from a mile away for a full beat. Kazuma's face going even deeper red and even Hana was blushing so brightly her fang tattoos couldn't hide it.

"I-I-I-I don't stare at her butt!" Kazuma shouted with an extreme stutter, waving his hands in the air rapidly. "Its not like that Hana! I swear!"

"Yes it is, I read it in your diary!" Kiyomi retorted.

"It's not a diary! Its a journal!" Kazuma cried back, realizing too late he had practically just admitted to it.

"Kazuma..." Hana muttered, looking away.

Kazuma let out a near ear piercing scream as he suddenly broke into a sprint towards Kiyomi, moving so fast I almost thought he was using the body flicker technique. Without missing a beat, he grabbed Kiyomi by the face, his hand wrapping around her head, spun and threw her towards the treeline. I would have been more horrified by this act if Kiyomi wasn't laughing the entire fight and landing in a bush some distance away.

"Hey Hana, how about that training? We should definitely get going, like you said I need to get your butt in ge-my butt, GAH! LET'S JUST GO PLEASE!" Kazuma words came out a mile a minute and his anguish was on clear display. I couldn't hold it in and broke down with gut splitting laughter. After having that smug as all heck attitude of his being crushed and ground into dust was freaking hilarious.

Grabbing Hana's hand, Kazuma started pulling her along, wanting to get far away from us as fast as possible. Hana herself waving goodbye with her free hand. Just as they were nearing the treeline I was able to calm my laughter as a question hit my mind. Something I felt I needed to ask Kazuma before he left.

"Mana, could you go check on Kiyomi, I'll be right back." I asked before darting after them.

"Hey! Kazuma! Hana!" I called after them, Kazuma himself tried to continue running but Hana dug in her heels and forced him to stop. I could tell he was not very happy but this was going to be quick. He had suffered enough after all. "Sorry for delaying your training more, but I just have one quick question."

"What's that?" Hana asked kindly, even though she wanted to get to training asap she was still willing to give me time. Kazuma though, groaned with further annoyance.

"What the heck was that thing you did? That burning white light?" I asked.

"None of your business!" Kazuma retorted. Understandable after all, it was my plan that caused him such embarrassment. Hana though, was of a different mind and shoved her elbow into his side. With a grunt, he rubbed the spot and sighed. "Fine fine." He gave in, releasing Hana and stomping over. Reaching behind himself and drawing the tanto, he swung it forward. The point stopping about my arm's length from my face, tip aimed right at my nose.

Even in the shade of the canopy, the blade practically sparkled. Its finish a mirror shine. Something in me stirred seeing it, like I was being drawn to the blade. Wanting to look at it closer, in more detail. If it wasn't for Kazuma swinging it back and gently resting the blade in his free hand to properly display it I might have just reached out to touch it.

"If you're thinking it was some kind of jutsu, you'd be wrong." He began to explain, "This tanto is special, when its charged with chakra, it releases a bright flash of light from the blade to temporarily blind anyone looking at it."

I could see my own eyes sparkling in the blade's reflection. "That's so cool!" I cried, the urge to try and grab it growing faster now.

"Isn't it?" Kazuma replied, that smugness of his starting to make a comeback. "I found it-"

"Stole." Hana interrupted.

"-Appropriated it during a recent mission. We were looking into a smuggling ring on the border, bunch of small time thugs really. But they had some nice stuff." He finished.

Hana sighed, "We were supposed to turn over everything we found you know."

"Well, you didn't say anything either." Kazuma chortled back, "You certainly weren't complaining after I saved you with it." Hana could only grumble at that. "Besides, even Sensei said to use every tool at my disposal. I just happened to dispose of this tanto into my hand." He finished with a laugh. "Anyway, is that all?" Kazuma asked, turning back to me.

"Huh? Oh uh, yeah." I stammered, breaking my eyes free from the hypnotic pull the blade had on me. Was that a secondary ability of it? Something to draw the opponent's attention perhaps to make the whole flash bang effect that much stronger? "Thanks and," I continued, bowing slightly, "Sorry about that whole... plan of mine."

Kazuma laughed again jovially, sheathing his weapon and stepping forward, patting me on the shoulder a couple times. "Ah, don't worry too much about it." He said before leaning in, locking eyes with mine. All light draining from his eyes as his tone turned deathly serious, "I'll be sure to repay the favour back ten-fold." His hand gripped tight into my shoulder, shooting a sharp blast of pain into it.

Hana came to my rescue with a chop to the back of Kazuma's head. "Hey, lay off." She warned to which Kazuma released me and laughed again, rubbing the wound.

"Ah she knows I'm just kidding." He said before dropping his tone again, "Riiiight?" Another chop from Hana. I could only give a fake chuckle of my own. I knew I was screwed, being Kiyomi's brother, there was no way he wasn't going to hold a grudge over this.

"I... Should get going." I said and quickly made my exit. Back in the training field, Mana was tending to Kiyomi's hair, pulling out some stray twigs.

The rest of the day was a lot less exciting. We soon returned to Kiyomi's home for lunch, Hana and Kazuma were still off training so we didn't see them again. Then the afternoon was just more games until Ai called us back shortly before the evening began to set in. Mom and Sengo arrived shortly after to pick me up.

"This sucks, you sure you can't stay another night?" Kiyomi pouted.

"Sorry," I apologized, "I gotta go. I'll see you in class." I responded and after hugging my friends, we said our farewells and I was on my way home. The walk back I regaled Mom and Sengo with my recounting of the events.

"I'm glad." Mom said, pulling me in for a side hug, "You seemed really stressed out the last couple days. Its good you're feeling better."

"Yeah..." I agreed. Still, I couldn't just forget what I needed to do. I had to get stronger and come up with a plan. I just had to not become obsessed with it and lose myself to guilt and fear again. That said, there was a bit of an idea forming in my head. Something Kazuma had said at the end there was resonating in my mind. "I think Mizuki said something similar, to use everything at my disposal..."

That evening at dinner, the entire family say down for a roast. "Hey Dad?" I finally asked after building up the nerve. "Do you think you could teach me smithing?"

Both of my parents fell silent, Dad's fork clanking hard onto his plate as he and Mom exchanged looks. "What's bringing this up?" He asked warily, "I thought you wanted to be a ninja? Is something wrong at the academy?"

"No, no." I responded, shaking my head. "Its not that, its just... I thought that the more skills I have the better off I'll be." I responded after taking a moment to find the words. "Like, I could better maintain my kunai or something. I dunno."

Dad stared at me silently for several seconds, his eyes a torrent of emotions I couldn't make out but he was certainly struggling with something. Finally, he sighed heavily, picking up his fork and taking another bite of his meal. "No, you should focus on your studies instead."

"Why not!?" I almost shouted, confused as to why he was denying it. I had thought he would have been happy I was taking an interest in his work.

"Because I said so." He responded firmly, the infamous statement parents give when they don't want to explain themselves.

"Dear..." Mom said gently, placing a hand over his that was held in a tight fist on the table. "Are you sure about this? Why not give her a try?"

"You know why." Dad responded, his voice wavering. There was definitely something wrong but whatever it was left me baffled at this.

"Dad, what's wrong with me learning smithing?" I had to ask.

Dad froze again, "Well... You see..." He started before grumbling unintelligibly.

Once again, Mom stepped in. Leaning forward and caressing his hairy cheek. "Why not give her a try? You never know."

Dad stared into Mom's eyes for a little while, finally sighing and turning back to me. "Alright, fine." He said. "But you'll have to do exactly as I say and it can't interfere with your studies. We can get started tomorrow, I have a new order I need to get to work on anyway."

I nodded enthusiastically, "You got it!" I replied. As we turned our attention back to the meal, I found myself fighting down a wave of excitement. I had always enjoyed watching Dad work and now I would be joining in too. Had I not had these memories, not know what was going to happen, then perhaps that would be my goal in life. Thinking about it that way left a bittersweet taste in my mouth.

After my evening training session, one I put extra effort into after missing a day, it was time for bed. Being back in my room was comforting, it may have only been a day but as the light went out and darkness enveloped the familiar surroundings I felt at home.

The mattress creaked under my body as I slid myself under the covers, yawning loudly. It felt like tonight, I might just be able to sleep well. Before I allowed myself to slip away I spent a few minutes staring at the ceiling, contemplating what I needed to do.

"Things are going to be even busier from now on." I muttered into the night, "Training, classes, planning and now blacksmithing. I've got a lot on my hands, huh?" Feeling those nagging fears tickling the back of my brain, I took a moment to relax myself. "I'll figure something out. For now, I should focus on getting stronger." I had to thank Mana and Kiyomi, this sleepover had certainly helped clear my head. Had I not gone, I would have just been wallowing in my own fears. Spinning my wheels uselessly and stressing out. That wasn't going to help anyone.

For now, that was the best I could do, that and wait for whenever Misaki could get some time off. Maybe then I could coax some information out of her somehow. It wouldn't be easy that was for sure, but with my hands currently tied it was my best bet.

Raising a fist to the air, I renewed my vow to myself. "I'll figure out something. I have to."