Explaining to Naruko that the reason the village hated her was because one of her idols sealed a literal demon inside her to protect that same village was… an involved process. First, I had to explain how fūinjutsu worked to her so there'd be no misunderstanding the difference between her and her tenant. Surprisingly, that part was easy.
Suspiciously easy.
I smell bullshit. Sorcerer bullshit, to be specific. But that was a problem for later.
After laying out the basics of fūinjutsu, I told her about the seal on her stomach and what it most likely contained. Most people who'd met Naruko would expect an explosive reaction—loud, emotional, irrational. And sure, Naruko could be all of those things. But I'd also learned that when something cut through her facade, when a feeling really touched her, she went silent as the grave.
Like now.
My cup of tea sat on the table between us, long since gone cold. Naruko's eyes were hidden by her bangs as she stared into her glass of mango juice. She did that a lot, I'd noticed—hid her face whenever she felt something other than happiness or annoyance. Like feeling was something to be ashamed of.
No doubt she had learnt that no amount of crying would get her comfort. I didn't like the thought of that so I did something about it.
I stood from my seat across from her and sat down by her side, throwing an arm over her shoulders and pulling her close. It wasn't long before her shoulders began to tremble and her silent tears soaked into my shirt, snot and all. She didn't wail; she just took deep, practiced breaths. The kind that told me she'd been keeping her cries quiet for a long, long time—long enough to have down to process.
I felt my own eyes sting at the thought.
Man, people sucked.
"It's not my fault," she muttered as her breathing calmed.
"No, it's not," I answered.
"They never hated me. It wasn't me they hated. They didn't even see me," she said softly.
I didn't know what to say to that. But I tried anyway.
"They don't know you," I said after some thought.
That got a reaction. She raised her head off my shoulder and looked at me. She flinched when our eyes met, already bracing herself for rejection—for being weak, for being sad.
I took great joy in disappointing her.
I leaned forward and rested my forehead against hers. Naruko's eyes widened at the intimate gesture. I stared into her red-rimmed eyes, willing her to believe every word I was about to say.
"They don't know you," I repeated, firm. "They don't know how brave you are, how kind. How strangely smart you can be. Most of all, they don't know what they're missing out on. Because I know—and I wouldn't want to live in a world where I didn't."
Naruko stared back at me, wide-eyed. Then her face broke into a brilliant smile and our half-hug turned into a full-on embrace as she squeezed the life out of me. It was hard to breathe, but I didn't care.
Abruptly, she let go of me and sprang to her feet. Not even bothering to wipe her face. It did nothing to detract from the newfound determination that gleamed in her eyes.
"You're right! They don't know me! They have no idea how great I am—how great I'm gonna be!" she yelled, hands on her hips. "But I'll show them! I'll show them all! Dattebayo!" she shouted, jumping onto my table.
My smile stretched so wide it hurt.
We met eyes again—me, relaxed and reclined on the floor; her, standing tall above me, the sun's dying rays painting her gold. In that moment, I realized I could spend the rest of my life just like this—leaned back, watching Naruko be great.
Thump!
We both jerked at the sound, yanked out of our little world and back into reality as my neighbor banged on the connecting wall.
"Keep it down, brats! Other people are tryin' to get some fuckin' sleep!" a woman's voice yelled from the other side. My neighbour. I didn't know her name. I didn't even know what she looked like.
I don't think I'd ever seen her so… Shinobi? Most likely.
I stared at the wall that had rattled under her fist.
Yeah. That's a shinobi.
Naruko looked sheepish and climbed down from the table to sit beside me. Her fingers twitched, reaching out hesitantly. I was confused for a moment and then I noticed how her eyes wandered over my arms.
Ah. So that's what that was.
I scooted closer and wrapped an arm around her again, pulling her against me like I did earlier. This time she didn't even pretend to be flustered. Her face split into a smile that hid her eyes as she snuggled up to me, and we just sat there together. Taking comfort in each others' presence.
But eventually, we had to move on. The world wouldn't stop—and neither should we.
"Soooo… you said you have a problem with clones?" I asked. Naruko's smile melted into the cutest pout at the mention of her struggles with the jutsu.
I couldn't help but laugh, which earned me a shove. I shoved her back. She poked me in the stomach, so I tickled her side.
Before long, we were just two rowdy kids play-fighting on the floor.
I don't think I had a happier memory. And I doubted I'd have one for a long while.
Scene break
We didn't end up working on the Bunshin that day.
Instead, we wasted the afternoon doing stupid kid stuff—telling lame jokes, poking and prodding each other, sprinting around my apartment while screaming our heads off. I think my neighbor gave up at some point and just left. I'd have to apologize for that later.
Regardless, no clone training got done.
We agreed to meet again tomorrow instead. That would also be the day I was supposed to check in with Team 10 and see how Lee was progressing with the seals I'd transcribed for him. Honestly, I was sure it was just an excuse for Guy-sensei to arrange a playdate for his student.
He was a jōnin after all—taijutsu specialist or not, I'd be a fool to think I knew more about jutsu theory than him. There was nothing I could figure out that he couldn't… apart from my little niche in hand seals and fuinjutsu for crafting personalized seals. But at this point, I was confident Lee didn't really need me anymore.
Still, Lee didn't seem to have many friends. Neither did I. So I didn't object.
I was happy to hang out with him. I had even intended to meet up with him today, but Naruko was with me.
She'd been hearing me rave about Lee's strength for weeks and had finally declared, with her usual grin,
"I gotta see what all the hype around Bushy Brows is about."
So after another harrowing day surviving the vultures and harpies who were, ostensibly, my peers, I met up with Naruko and we headed to the training grounds where Team 10 was waiting.
I did my best to ignore the sting of Hidachi still not speaking to me.
That's how I found myself seated in the shade under a broad tree, watching as Lee beat Naruko up and down the field.
Not that Naruko was weak or anything—but I was pretty sure Lee could wipe the floor with any chūnin in a pure taijutsu fight.
Part of me envied his prowess. But it was well-earned.
Unbelievably impressive, how strong he'd gotten without even using chakra enhancement. I could only imagine how much stronger he was going to become now that he could.
I caught myself suppressing the urge to strap on some leg warmers and start running laps around Konoha on my hands.
That kind of strength was tempting, and undeniably worth the hard work…
But no. I was going to be a wizard.
A kung fu wizard—so there was some leeway—but why train to punch harder when I didn't even know a first circle spell yet?
While the fight between Lee and Naruko raged on—Naruko putting up more of a fight than I'd expected—Guy-sensei coached the rest of his team.
By kicking them up and down the field.
I was beginning to see a pattern.
Meanwhile, I sat cross-legged, chewing over a puzzle that continued to elude me.
The Transformation Jutsu.
It still wasn't working properly.
I flexed my chakra exactly as I'd been taught. I mimicked all the right flows. I wrapped the appropriate layer of chakra around my body.
So why was it failing?
I could cast it perfectly with hand signs—but trying to trigger it mentally, without seals? Failure.
I could feel my chakra, almost like muscle memory, trying to snap into the shape of the jutsu I'd practiced… but I kept suppressing it.
If I couldn't consciously command a technique, without hours and hours of rote repetition…
My dream of kung fu wizardry was going to stay just that—a dream.
I fell into a trance, chasing the shape of what I was missing.
A voice snapped me out of it.
"Oi! What're you doin', spacing out like that?" Naruko stood over me, wiping sweat off her forehead.
I blinked, startled. "I'm working on the Transformation Jutsu," I said, brushing dirt off my pants. "Trying to master it without hand signs."
Naruko's face softened. "Ugh, I feel that pain. I had tons of trouble with it at first too. But after enough practice, I got it down. You want me to show you?"
I nodded. Even if I didn't learn anything new, observing how someone like her—someone with her unique chakra condition—handled jutsu might be informative.
I formed the Ram sign. My perception of chakra sharpened. Naruko inhaled, grinned, and flashed through her hand signs.
Except—she didn't actually use the Transformation Jutsu.
I felt the familiar shape of the jutsu begin to form… but it was swept away in a tsunami of her chakra. The delicate structure of the technique was overwhelmed—drowned beneath sheer volume.
Yet somehow, the jutsu didn't fail.
Her chakra, wild and shapeless, simply rolled over her body… and before my eyes, she became a perfect replica of Guy-sensei.
My breath caught. "Do that again."
"Sure!" Naruko beamed. She did it again, faster this time.
I focused harder—and caught it.
It was like what I'd felt when I mastered the Ram sign. The texture of her chakra shifted.
Instead of carefully weaving the jutsu structure and filling it with chakra…
She was somehow altering her chakra's nature itself, embedding the transformation effect directly into it.
It wasn't even the Transformation Jutsu anymore, not technically.
I reached out and touched her shoulder. Solid.
My eyes widened.
I closed my eyes, ran through the hand signs mentally again…
But this time, when I reached Ram, I didn't just stop at making my chakra pliant.
I sharpened my intent.
I bent the nature of my chakra itself, nudging it toward transformation—shaping it the way Naruko had.
It wasn't as smooth, not as refined…
But when I fired off the jutsu and opened my eyes—I was staring down at Naruko's orange jumpsuit.
My own fingers, Naruko's.
Her hands clapped excitedly.
"Hey! Nice! You got it!"
It wasn't solid like hers yet—but it was a start.
I had uncovered a whole new dimension of jutsu control.
I still had a long road ahead of me to reach my dream—but today, I'd taken one step closer.
And that made it a very good day.