MrRobot
In doubt there's always the Sun!
That is fair.
But this is only Sasuke, but all Indra transmigrations seem to be into edgeladies. That explain how the Uchiha became the edgelord clan.
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Sakura Haruno The Gaming Addict, and Her Gamified Life [Naruto]
- Thread starter Sendicard
- Start date
But this is only Sasuke, but all Indra transmigrations seem to be into edgeladies. That explain how the Uchiha became the edgelord clan.
Frakir's brother
Goodbye.
- Location
- The Sea of Trees
I agree with the other stuff, but Henge isn't illusionary. You see evidence of this in canon Wave, when Naruto Henges into a fuuma shuriken and Sasuke throws him like that.
Shadow Archon
Protoss Preserver
- Location
- Louisiana
Oh, I didn't mean to imply that. Mostly just that Minor Illusions are like Henges in that they exist independently in the world. Though I don't believe anyone in the setting has managed to perform a henge on something or someone besides themselves.
I think there's a few other places in Naruto where someone henges into an animal with claws and teeth and actively uses them, so I know that it's basically a self-target only polymorph. Even seems to take concentration to hold.
IIRC Naruto does on Gamabuta during the chunin exam invasion, in order to give him claws when fighting Shukaku.
Shadow Archon
Protoss Preserver
- Location
- Louisiana
Doesn't Gamabuta do that himself? Guess I'll need to do a rewatch!
It was Naruto, considering Gamabuta was glowing with Kyuubi tinged chakra at the time?
Just binge-read this, it was very enjoyable, and I am excited to see how everyone else reacts to Team's 7 overall unhinged...ness during the Chūnin Exams.
Also yeah, Konoha would be all over the potential super sneaky no evidence perfect assassinations. Should they ever find out, Danzō would likely drool just imagining the possibilities! On the other hand it's also fun to imagine ANBU beating every other ninja department away with a stick so they don't poach their perfect prospect recruit. Considering how she is, she quite possibly won't be joining ANBU ever but it sounds like a cute omake.
Also yeah, Konoha would be all over the potential super sneaky no evidence perfect assassinations. Should they ever find out, Danzō would likely drool just imagining the possibilities! On the other hand it's also fun to imagine ANBU beating every other ninja department away with a stick so they don't poach their perfect prospect recruit. Considering how she is, she quite possibly won't be joining ANBU ever but it sounds like a cute omake.
Sendicard
Spreading Smiles
- Location
- New Mexico, USA
- Pronouns
- YouPick
Someone should totally write it, sounds cute as hell.
Thozmp
Gets my kicks above the waistline, Sunshine.
I'm thinking of it like the first clear is the story mode, complete it once and the plot moves on (Goto dies). Subsequent completions are for hidden secrets, easter eggs, increased difficulty for better rewards, silver/gold/platinum medals, etc.
Edit: Like Devil May Cry/Bayonetta games, you kill a boss and for story purposes it is dead, but you can go back and kill it again.
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Sendicard
Spreading Smiles
- Location
- New Mexico, USA
- Pronouns
- YouPick
It is cheap.
But just kinda assassinating Gato would have also been, cheap.
Wave was Cheap. It was a very weird arc through and through.
They still need to do the other four clears for the secret bonus that'll save Wave.
Which was a dumb decision, I dunno why I did that.
I did do that though.
MrRobot
In doubt there's always the Sun!
Because Game systems are usually arbitrary clearing rules.
Sendicard
Spreading Smiles
- Location
- New Mexico, USA
- Pronouns
- YouPick
I think it was actually the decision I regretted the most in Wave.
There were a lot of decisions that I looked back on like "WTF" but the 5 dungeon clears was one of them.
I shoulda made it two, and planned the super hardcore nightmare version for later.
The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th clear just feel like they didn't need to be there, even when writing it. It is what it is though.
At least clear 5 is cool.
MrRobot
In doubt there's always the Sun!
Makes sense i supposed if it bothers you that much you could re read and edit out the mentions of 5 clears in favor of 2 is a bit of work specially going trough all the treads but it's a minior enough element of the story that you shoul be able to pull it off relatively easily.
Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
At a guess, you didn't realize what a huge pain it would be to write until it was too late?
Shadow Archon
Protoss Preserver
- Location
- Louisiana
The series does tend to just want to avoid their ninja heroes from acting like actual ninjas. Do we ever see the Konoha Teams go on an assassination mission?
Sure, there's some good ninja moments here and there. I think the first two parts of the Chunin Exam are great examples of "This is what Ninja should be!" But then it immediately wants to be a typical shonen series, with the finale of the exams being literally "Arena Deathmatch!" which is the exact opposite of what you want from a ninja.
If you just replace the word "Shinobi" or "Ninja" in Naruto with "Wizard," the setting magically makes more sense.
MrRobot
In doubt there's always the Sun!
I think it's not that simple. The argument of Naruto being about ninjas mainly hinges on the historical vision of ninjas and not on the cultural ziegeist that existed even before of Naruto, see Kakuranger as an example.
The tonal problem is more that kishimoto kinda tried to mesh these 2 ideas, and did not much of a good job, instead of going full ninja hero from the get go.
It's kinda like One Pice, almost no one that is called a pirate actually behaves like an pirate patrolling trade lanes and stealing from ships. At worst they are like raiders but one piace isn't really interested in being a accurate, Oda is verry much aiming for the cultural view of a pirate just like pirates of Caribbean did.
The tonal problem is more that kishimoto kinda tried to mesh these 2 ideas, and did not much of a good job, instead of going full ninja hero from the get go.
It's kinda like One Pice, almost no one that is called a pirate actually behaves like an pirate patrolling trade lanes and stealing from ships. At worst they are like raiders but one piace isn't really interested in being a accurate, Oda is verry much aiming for the cultural view of a pirate just like pirates of Caribbean did.
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The Naruto series does feature a lot of genuine effort to realize its fairy tale sorcerer-assassin roots. Every mention of the great ninja wars showed them to be grimy and harsh, the Village Hidden in the Rain could've fit into a cyberpunk ghetto, the 'demons' that Orochimaru's experiments always ended up resembling, etc.
What held all of that back was its genre. Shonen is for kids, never forget. You can imply a lot of messed up stuff, but tone and imagery don't lead into the gritty details. You don't show your protagonist's friends' mothers perform a honeypot. You don't show their fathers cleaning up loose ends either. Who wants their children reading that?
What held all of that back was its genre. Shonen is for kids, never forget. You can imply a lot of messed up stuff, but tone and imagery don't lead into the gritty details. You don't show your protagonist's friends' mothers perform a honeypot. You don't show their fathers cleaning up loose ends either. Who wants their children reading that?
Clear 2-4 and a real nice soft Chapter with the soft boy and stuff
Sendicard
Spreading Smiles
- Location
- New Mexico, USA
- Pronouns
- YouPick
This is the first chapter where there's a definitive "hole" which I only noticed far after editing. I don't think it really hurts the chapter as much as the fix would, so I've decided to leave it.
I wonder if anyone'll spot it... Cue a horde of people pointing out ridiculous plot holes I've missed and making me feel bad about myself XD First person to spot the correct problem I'm thinking of will get the Mebuki Omake, the one that posted on Patreon this Monday, if they want it, sent to their DMs.
That's, what... Uh... 6K, $5, Mebuki's like 1.3 I think...
Like an 80-cent giveaway. Yeah, sure. (If you do it here don't go post the answer on Spacebattles let them win too.)
The Ino Omake posts on Patreon this Sunday.
"So, let me get this straight." Kakashi starts, staring the two of them down like a true military officer might after an especially ridiculous report. "You were approached by the enemy after eliminating the target, and have decided to adopt the enemy."
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura nods happily, seeing nothing wrong with this even while being scolded, "one bishie obtained."
"And you're just okay with this." Kakashi's lone eye travels over her new business partner's face. "This is not a ploy, act, or otherwise an attempt to infiltrate Konoha."
"Konoha has a front door." Haku reminds softly. "If I wanted to infiltrate Konoha, I would walk in."
The staring match between them is rather intense, but Sakura's too busy looking over the new contract they just wrote up to care that much. Her ability did get involved, helpfully giving her information on what each clause of the contract would do just before they signed it, and how to not get screwed over. It was pretty nice, if not incredibly blunt. The last hour of her life was spent sitting down with Haku and a pen, writing out contract after contract and scribbling them out over and over again as her system told her in no uncertain terms that this was a slave contract or that would do absolutely nothing.
Then there was the friendly reminder that Haku has a status called 'oath breaker' for leaving Zabuza's side, and any contract entered into is about as useful as a pile of hundred-year-old textbooks. It told her this every single time Haku got ready to sign one of the drafts and wasn't exactly useful for morale.
She's just glad it was a helpful series of prompts and not an entirely new system. That would have been a bit much for her so recently frazzled brain. She's also happy the system doesn't enable her to enforce a contract magically or anything, as that would be terrifying in a way she's just not ready to deal with. Murdering people through the veil is already enough for her head to spin and she's not recovering from that realization anytime soon. Haku may think it's a good thing, but the implications are severe. It means anytime she goes into a dungeon she might be murdering someone, and one of her friends could drop dead at any time from any other people with this power around. She's yet to find evidence others exist, but if she does, she might have to kill them on the spot to stop random leaf deaths if they happen to be from an opposing village.
"Fine, but as you are not an official member of team seven, you are not authorized to guard the bridge builder," Kakashi says with a sternness Sakura isn't used to from him, "you will remain at the home guarding his family, or with Sakura at all times."
"Understood." Haku raises a hand and salutes him.
"Are we supposed to be doing that?" Sakura asks, "I don't think I've ever saluted you. I'm going to start saluting you."
"Please do not." Kakashi's forehead ticks.
"It sounds fun."
"Do not."
"I think I'd enjoy that." Sakura beams.
"... I hope you don't think my word is law on this matter," Kakashi says, ignoring her and looking back to Haku, "the Hokage will decide what to do with you once we get to Konoha. He may even decide to turn you in for your bounty and give it to Sakura."
"I have thought of that possibility," Haku admits, standing tall, "I do not think that will be the case, Konoha is well known for being compassionate, and I am technically not a missing-nin."
"Oh?"
"To be a missing-nin you have to be a ninja in the first place," Haku explains, "I was taken in by Zabuza-sama well before I would have done that."
"That may well work in your favor," Kakashi says, "now go, having you here is a liability to our mission. Do not approach the bridge again, or I will consider you hostile."
"Understood." Haku salutes him again, and while he seems fine with that, Sakura notes he looks quite annoyed when she also does it. Oh well, they're leaving anyway, he'll forget by the next time he sees them. It makes her feel giddy!
What's he gonna do, train her harder? She's not worried.
For Haku, sitting around in this dinky old home isn't a bother. Today the boy has donned a purple skirt and gentle blouse, and is walking around barefoot enjoying the feeling of nicely laid hardwood beneath his toes. The people here are nice, that Tsunami woman made him a warm dinner and that Inari kid showed him all his progress in some game about some green guy with a sword. He hasn't spent any time with the bridge builder, Kakashi going out of his way to ensure they're nowhere near each other, but that's okay.
Their mission is to protect him from Haku and Zabuza. It makes sense Haku isn't allowed to help guard, even if he kind of wants to. It would allow all three team members to train while he accompanies Kakashi, and being of use to them would make him very happy.
"Haaah…" A cup of tea is nice, especially when it's made by someone else. The kind woman doesn't seem to hold any ill will towards him, even though he was originally here to kill her father. He wonders if they told her, or if she's just that forgiving. Maybe this whole area is forgiving. The heated liquid is like a warm welcome from the populace, and he can't help but feel guilty about their goal here all over again. So many people were hurt by Gato, and if he was going to get disowned anyway, would it have been better for him to kill the shipping magnate quite a bit earlier?
How much pain did his pointless compliance cause to the very woman in front of him, or those without homes to rest in?
Haku clears his head with another sip. Tazuna's safe, and Gato is dead, that's all that matters.
"It's too bad you're smaller than me." The woman speaks up, causing his trained and honed gaze to flicker to her. "I have a few dresses I think you'd look very pretty in."
"Ah." Haku nods slowly, softly, and everlastingly gently. "Thank you for your consideration. Am I to assume you gave the same offer to Sakura? All of her clothes were destroyed in a battle shortly before she came here."
"Nope, she just stole mine." The woman says. "Didn't even ask, she's ruined several sets of my clothes too, I hope she's willing to reimburse me before she leaves."
"You should mention it," Haku says, "she's a little odd, but she's a good person. She might not realize she should if you don't say anything, but she'll be happy to pay you back if you do."
"..." The woman cuts something over there, contemplating the world it should seem.
"I thought you already made dinner." Haku points out.
"I make a second dinner for their team and my father when he gets home," Tsunami explains, "they'd forget to eat if I didn't. Especially that Sakura girl. The others'll sneak something late at night but she'll go to bed hungry if I don't shove food in her face."
"You think she's habitually neglecting herself?" Haku asks, taking a sip of his drink with a soft smile. It is very good, or at least good for a humble household like this.
"I think she has a caring family at home and hasn't thought of things like food, hygiene, and rest as important yet," Tsunami says, "it's not that concerning, a lot of teenagers are like that. It's only an issue because she's a ninja, and her team isn't going to act like her parents."
"Huh." Haku stares into his cup, contemplating that. "I wonder if her village will let me come along with her on future missions, as her guardian."
"You'd like that kind of thing?" Tsunami asks, turning to give the boy a raised brow.
"I would go as far as to say that kind of work is my place in life." Haku says, pensively wondering how Zabuza will fare without him to wake him up on time every day, make sure he eats, and care for his wounds.
"Sakura," Haku greets his new contractual guardian the moment she arrives at home. The girl has wet hair littered with mud spots, one of her shoes is missing, and - "you smell."
"Ah, um, well, yeah." Sakura reaches back to scratch her head reminiscent of her teammate, they're made for each other, and Haku can't help but hold back an exasperated sigh. "Training is rough, I can't be perfect all the time."
"Will you be heading right for bed?" Haku asks.
"Well yeah, I -woah, what are you doing?" Sakura asks as her arm is grabbed, and she's dragged across the house with quick efficiency. Haku's done this before, and it shows, not a wasted step needed because he knows exactly where he's going. "Hey, that's-" Sakura groans as she's led into a bathroom. The bath is already drawn, and the steam hits her face in a way that makes her skin tingle nicely. "Haku?"
"Get in." Haku is already starting on her clothes, working on -
"Hey, I can undress myself!" Sakura eeps, jumping to the side with a face so red it feels like the boy poured magma on her.
"Are you sure?" It's the lack of malice or ulterior motives in Haku's eyes that does it for Sakura.
"Yes, go away!" Pushing him out the door is all she can do before the simmering red face takes over and she slides down the door to the floor, her back against the wood and her hands palming her cheeks. "What have I gotten myself into?" She groans. "That was so weird!"
"Why is Gato undead?" It's pretty disturbing, watching the man that was so scary before, point at them with a rotted bony finger and summon a horde of shambling undead. "Sasuke you think you can um…"
"On it." He shoots a fireball at the horde. Their burning corpses fill the air with a putrid smell, but they're pretty easy to clear out, nothing like the last time, and the key zombie Gato drops fits into the safe just fine.
"He's a Zombie Zombie now?" Sakura sighs, staring at the horror show without a head that wobbles around in the boss chamber.
"Well we have killed him twice." Naruto points out. "That'd make him double undead, right?"
"I don't like that that's a thing," Sakura grumbles, "like, really? Do you think he's stronger now?"
"I bet he's fire-resistant," Sasuke says. "Let's try it."
He was not.
"Dude…" Naruto grunts. "Why is he red?"
"He doesn't even really have a body." Sakura points out. "Bone armor too, that's crazy."
The creature in front of them is red and almost spectral. Bone spikes stick out of him in every direction, armor plating covering every part of his body in a way that sends waves of dread down their spines. The previous two Gato have been a joke. Summoning a horde of undead may be a terrifying concept in a game, but when they all have ranged weapons and jutsu, it's kind of pathetic.
This one changes that. "Should we leave?" Naruto asks.
"We can't leave." Sasuke points out.
"What if I made a hundred clones and cleared the rocks?" Naruto asks and finds the silent, unknowing group doesn't answer him.
"He can't be that much harder," Sakura points out, "he's still dead. He's just a zombie zombie zombie now."
"You say that but he looks intense." Sasuke says.
"Well, we'll never know unless we try." With a wreath of lightning chakra around her sword, Sakura rushes in.
"That was stupid." Standing over the corpse of their bubbling, melting foe getting eaten by the ground in much the same way as someone from Resident Evil 5, she can't help but feel cheated.
It was intense, it was scary, she would even go as far as to call it very difficult, but there is no sense of accomplishment. They killed him again, and next time he'll be here as a zombie-zombie-zombie-zombie, and as terrifying as that is, it feels dull. "We got another key." Naruto points out, holding their fourth prize.
"That was a lot more difficult than the other two zombie Gato." Sasuke groans, kicking the red bubbling corpse.
"Well, he actually fought back, and his zombies were fast and strong this time." Sakura says with a lengthy sigh. "Next time will probably be as hard if not harder than the first boss fight since it'll be the final challenge."
"What do you think is in that safe?" Naruto asks.
"Something stupid," Sakura says, "it's supposed to recover Wave so it's probably not just money… Let's not be hasty. We should train before we come back here for the fifth fight."
"We've been training." Sasuke grunts.
"Yeah but like, for a while," Sakura explains, "we've been doing a run every day, and the bridge isn't finished yet so we're rushing through it with afternoon energy because someone has to watch the bridge during the day. We can hold off."
"Why not just bring Haku?" Sasuke asks. It's not the first time he's brought it up, but it is the first time she hasn't shrugged him off. She contemplates it, visibly bothered and willing up the words she needs to say.
"I don't want to." Is what she ends up with.
"You don't… want to." Sasuke stares quite dumbfounded.
"This is our team," Sakura explains, "I don't want to call in outside help and cheat our way to victory. Completing this dungeon was our first big accomplishment as a team, why taint it when I don't have to?"
"This isn't about us, it's about Wave." Sasuke reminds.
"And I'll ask Haku if we don't feel confident before we leave." Sakura relents. "But Wave is already recovering, kinda, now that lower-cost shipping is allowed. No one's starving to death, it's not urgent."
"Ahhh-" Naruto lifts a finger.
"No one who wouldn't starve to death anyway." Sakura rolls her eyes. "I'm not going to fix the homeless problem by opening that safe. Every civilization turns its backs on some people, it sucks but nothing in our power is going to change that. Not, just by fighting one battle…" Her expression falls a bit as she talks as if she doesn't want to believe her own words. "And if we're that worried about it, Naruto can distribute some soup or something with clones."
"That's not a bad idea." Naruto says. It does little to help the pit in her stomach, but her convictions are solid. Haku is Wave's enemy, and making him fight their battle for them will only tempt the boy to run off with whatever the prize is when they have access to it. And what right would she have to say Haku doesn't have a right to the prize if they only defeat the final fight because they were there?
It's not just about team seven, it's about Wave.
She just hopes she's doing what's best for everyone, and not speaking hollow words that never quite settled inside.
It's enough to make her cry. Two days of sitting around doing nothing but training wind, and she has it. She finally has it. She can finally be a movie ninja intern! She can still only create a gust of wind from her hands, and even then her control over it's only enough to ruffle her hair or shake her clothes, and it's kind of expensive so she's unlikely to find it worth overcharging it with chakra to try and pull off some sudden but costly gambit.
But she officially has all five affinities, three of which only in the barest sense but still! Rushing to meet Kakashi on the bridge and show off isn't even the first thought she has, because that would imply thinking. One moment she's practicing water walking while trying to create a gust, the next moment she's on the bridge seeking out her mentor and ignoring a catcall. It's a little awkward for a grown man to do stuff like that, but it's not her fault their mothers never taught them better, and she's not about to play that part and teach them either. New hires are all over the place, meaning with Gato gone more are willing to help with the bridge, which should speed all this up. She just moves on and finds her damned sensei among the honorable men, perverts, and jerks, if only she was completely sure which he is.
Finding him reading porn instead of watching Tazuna doesn't fill her with confidence either way.
"Kakashi!" She jumps in place when he notices her, lifting a palm and sending up a miniature gale that blows her hair out of her face and sends some dirt off her bangs to the bridge below. "Look!"
"You did it." He says, eying the bridge more than her for a second before his eye focuses on her palm. "In less than a month you've accomplished something almost no one else has ever done."
"Well, it's only proto-affinity." Sakura points out, her free hand scratching her cheek. "It's not like I've mastered anything."
"I doubt all the jealous Jonin are going to care very much about the difference between a proto-affinity and a real affinity." He says. "Technically to be a jonin of the leaf you have to be able to perform at least one elemental jutsu of every type, showing an understanding of each chakra manifestation, even if only at its most preliminary level. But Jonin is a title for those in their twenties and thirties, and very few of them would claim to have even the most basic affinity in even four of them, let alone all five."
"But they can do it." She points out.
"With five to six times the chakra and ten to fifteen years of practice, yes." Kakashi appears to be trying to get something across to her that's just not clicking with her.
As is life. "So you'll show me how to make my own jutsu now?" She asks.
"Tonight, after Tazuna has gone to bed." Kakashi nods to her, "get some rest, you'll need all the chakra you can get." Get at least six hours, is the clear message there.
I wonder if anyone'll spot it... Cue a horde of people pointing out ridiculous plot holes I've missed and making me feel bad about myself XD First person to spot the correct problem I'm thinking of will get the Mebuki Omake, the one that posted on Patreon this Monday, if they want it, sent to their DMs.
That's, what... Uh... 6K, $5, Mebuki's like 1.3 I think...
Like an 80-cent giveaway. Yeah, sure. (If you do it here don't go post the answer on Spacebattles let them win too.)
The Ino Omake posts on Patreon this Sunday.
"So, let me get this straight." Kakashi starts, staring the two of them down like a true military officer might after an especially ridiculous report. "You were approached by the enemy after eliminating the target, and have decided to adopt the enemy."
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura nods happily, seeing nothing wrong with this even while being scolded, "one bishie obtained."
"And you're just okay with this." Kakashi's lone eye travels over her new business partner's face. "This is not a ploy, act, or otherwise an attempt to infiltrate Konoha."
"Konoha has a front door." Haku reminds softly. "If I wanted to infiltrate Konoha, I would walk in."
The staring match between them is rather intense, but Sakura's too busy looking over the new contract they just wrote up to care that much. Her ability did get involved, helpfully giving her information on what each clause of the contract would do just before they signed it, and how to not get screwed over. It was pretty nice, if not incredibly blunt. The last hour of her life was spent sitting down with Haku and a pen, writing out contract after contract and scribbling them out over and over again as her system told her in no uncertain terms that this was a slave contract or that would do absolutely nothing.
Then there was the friendly reminder that Haku has a status called 'oath breaker' for leaving Zabuza's side, and any contract entered into is about as useful as a pile of hundred-year-old textbooks. It told her this every single time Haku got ready to sign one of the drafts and wasn't exactly useful for morale.
She's just glad it was a helpful series of prompts and not an entirely new system. That would have been a bit much for her so recently frazzled brain. She's also happy the system doesn't enable her to enforce a contract magically or anything, as that would be terrifying in a way she's just not ready to deal with. Murdering people through the veil is already enough for her head to spin and she's not recovering from that realization anytime soon. Haku may think it's a good thing, but the implications are severe. It means anytime she goes into a dungeon she might be murdering someone, and one of her friends could drop dead at any time from any other people with this power around. She's yet to find evidence others exist, but if she does, she might have to kill them on the spot to stop random leaf deaths if they happen to be from an opposing village.
"Fine, but as you are not an official member of team seven, you are not authorized to guard the bridge builder," Kakashi says with a sternness Sakura isn't used to from him, "you will remain at the home guarding his family, or with Sakura at all times."
"Understood." Haku raises a hand and salutes him.
"Are we supposed to be doing that?" Sakura asks, "I don't think I've ever saluted you. I'm going to start saluting you."
"Please do not." Kakashi's forehead ticks.
"It sounds fun."
"Do not."
"I think I'd enjoy that." Sakura beams.
"... I hope you don't think my word is law on this matter," Kakashi says, ignoring her and looking back to Haku, "the Hokage will decide what to do with you once we get to Konoha. He may even decide to turn you in for your bounty and give it to Sakura."
"I have thought of that possibility," Haku admits, standing tall, "I do not think that will be the case, Konoha is well known for being compassionate, and I am technically not a missing-nin."
"Oh?"
"To be a missing-nin you have to be a ninja in the first place," Haku explains, "I was taken in by Zabuza-sama well before I would have done that."
"That may well work in your favor," Kakashi says, "now go, having you here is a liability to our mission. Do not approach the bridge again, or I will consider you hostile."
"Understood." Haku salutes him again, and while he seems fine with that, Sakura notes he looks quite annoyed when she also does it. Oh well, they're leaving anyway, he'll forget by the next time he sees them. It makes her feel giddy!
What's he gonna do, train her harder? She's not worried.
For Haku, sitting around in this dinky old home isn't a bother. Today the boy has donned a purple skirt and gentle blouse, and is walking around barefoot enjoying the feeling of nicely laid hardwood beneath his toes. The people here are nice, that Tsunami woman made him a warm dinner and that Inari kid showed him all his progress in some game about some green guy with a sword. He hasn't spent any time with the bridge builder, Kakashi going out of his way to ensure they're nowhere near each other, but that's okay.
Their mission is to protect him from Haku and Zabuza. It makes sense Haku isn't allowed to help guard, even if he kind of wants to. It would allow all three team members to train while he accompanies Kakashi, and being of use to them would make him very happy.
"Haaah…" A cup of tea is nice, especially when it's made by someone else. The kind woman doesn't seem to hold any ill will towards him, even though he was originally here to kill her father. He wonders if they told her, or if she's just that forgiving. Maybe this whole area is forgiving. The heated liquid is like a warm welcome from the populace, and he can't help but feel guilty about their goal here all over again. So many people were hurt by Gato, and if he was going to get disowned anyway, would it have been better for him to kill the shipping magnate quite a bit earlier?
How much pain did his pointless compliance cause to the very woman in front of him, or those without homes to rest in?
Haku clears his head with another sip. Tazuna's safe, and Gato is dead, that's all that matters.
"It's too bad you're smaller than me." The woman speaks up, causing his trained and honed gaze to flicker to her. "I have a few dresses I think you'd look very pretty in."
"Ah." Haku nods slowly, softly, and everlastingly gently. "Thank you for your consideration. Am I to assume you gave the same offer to Sakura? All of her clothes were destroyed in a battle shortly before she came here."
"Nope, she just stole mine." The woman says. "Didn't even ask, she's ruined several sets of my clothes too, I hope she's willing to reimburse me before she leaves."
"You should mention it," Haku says, "she's a little odd, but she's a good person. She might not realize she should if you don't say anything, but she'll be happy to pay you back if you do."
"..." The woman cuts something over there, contemplating the world it should seem.
"I thought you already made dinner." Haku points out.
"I make a second dinner for their team and my father when he gets home," Tsunami explains, "they'd forget to eat if I didn't. Especially that Sakura girl. The others'll sneak something late at night but she'll go to bed hungry if I don't shove food in her face."
"You think she's habitually neglecting herself?" Haku asks, taking a sip of his drink with a soft smile. It is very good, or at least good for a humble household like this.
"I think she has a caring family at home and hasn't thought of things like food, hygiene, and rest as important yet," Tsunami says, "it's not that concerning, a lot of teenagers are like that. It's only an issue because she's a ninja, and her team isn't going to act like her parents."
"Huh." Haku stares into his cup, contemplating that. "I wonder if her village will let me come along with her on future missions, as her guardian."
"You'd like that kind of thing?" Tsunami asks, turning to give the boy a raised brow.
"I would go as far as to say that kind of work is my place in life." Haku says, pensively wondering how Zabuza will fare without him to wake him up on time every day, make sure he eats, and care for his wounds.
"Sakura," Haku greets his new contractual guardian the moment she arrives at home. The girl has wet hair littered with mud spots, one of her shoes is missing, and - "you smell."
"Ah, um, well, yeah." Sakura reaches back to scratch her head reminiscent of her teammate, they're made for each other, and Haku can't help but hold back an exasperated sigh. "Training is rough, I can't be perfect all the time."
"Will you be heading right for bed?" Haku asks.
"Well yeah, I -woah, what are you doing?" Sakura asks as her arm is grabbed, and she's dragged across the house with quick efficiency. Haku's done this before, and it shows, not a wasted step needed because he knows exactly where he's going. "Hey, that's-" Sakura groans as she's led into a bathroom. The bath is already drawn, and the steam hits her face in a way that makes her skin tingle nicely. "Haku?"
"Get in." Haku is already starting on her clothes, working on -
"Hey, I can undress myself!" Sakura eeps, jumping to the side with a face so red it feels like the boy poured magma on her.
"Are you sure?" It's the lack of malice or ulterior motives in Haku's eyes that does it for Sakura.
"Yes, go away!" Pushing him out the door is all she can do before the simmering red face takes over and she slides down the door to the floor, her back against the wood and her hands palming her cheeks. "What have I gotten myself into?" She groans. "That was so weird!"
"Why is Gato undead?" It's pretty disturbing, watching the man that was so scary before, point at them with a rotted bony finger and summon a horde of shambling undead. "Sasuke you think you can um…"
"On it." He shoots a fireball at the horde. Their burning corpses fill the air with a putrid smell, but they're pretty easy to clear out, nothing like the last time, and the key zombie Gato drops fits into the safe just fine.
| Zombie-Zombie-Gato |
"He's a Zombie Zombie now?" Sakura sighs, staring at the horror show without a head that wobbles around in the boss chamber.
"Well we have killed him twice." Naruto points out. "That'd make him double undead, right?"
"I don't like that that's a thing," Sakura grumbles, "like, really? Do you think he's stronger now?"
"I bet he's fire-resistant," Sasuke says. "Let's try it."
He was not.
| Zombie-Zombie-Zombie-Gato |
"Dude…" Naruto grunts. "Why is he red?"
"He doesn't even really have a body." Sakura points out. "Bone armor too, that's crazy."
The creature in front of them is red and almost spectral. Bone spikes stick out of him in every direction, armor plating covering every part of his body in a way that sends waves of dread down their spines. The previous two Gato have been a joke. Summoning a horde of undead may be a terrifying concept in a game, but when they all have ranged weapons and jutsu, it's kind of pathetic.
This one changes that. "Should we leave?" Naruto asks.
"We can't leave." Sasuke points out.
"What if I made a hundred clones and cleared the rocks?" Naruto asks and finds the silent, unknowing group doesn't answer him.
"He can't be that much harder," Sakura points out, "he's still dead. He's just a zombie zombie zombie now."
"You say that but he looks intense." Sasuke says.
"Well, we'll never know unless we try." With a wreath of lightning chakra around her sword, Sakura rushes in.
"That was stupid." Standing over the corpse of their bubbling, melting foe getting eaten by the ground in much the same way as someone from Resident Evil 5, she can't help but feel cheated.
It was intense, it was scary, she would even go as far as to call it very difficult, but there is no sense of accomplishment. They killed him again, and next time he'll be here as a zombie-zombie-zombie-zombie, and as terrifying as that is, it feels dull. "We got another key." Naruto points out, holding their fourth prize.
"That was a lot more difficult than the other two zombie Gato." Sasuke groans, kicking the red bubbling corpse.
"Well, he actually fought back, and his zombies were fast and strong this time." Sakura says with a lengthy sigh. "Next time will probably be as hard if not harder than the first boss fight since it'll be the final challenge."
"What do you think is in that safe?" Naruto asks.
"Something stupid," Sakura says, "it's supposed to recover Wave so it's probably not just money… Let's not be hasty. We should train before we come back here for the fifth fight."
"We've been training." Sasuke grunts.
"Yeah but like, for a while," Sakura explains, "we've been doing a run every day, and the bridge isn't finished yet so we're rushing through it with afternoon energy because someone has to watch the bridge during the day. We can hold off."
"Why not just bring Haku?" Sasuke asks. It's not the first time he's brought it up, but it is the first time she hasn't shrugged him off. She contemplates it, visibly bothered and willing up the words she needs to say.
"I don't want to." Is what she ends up with.
"You don't… want to." Sasuke stares quite dumbfounded.
"This is our team," Sakura explains, "I don't want to call in outside help and cheat our way to victory. Completing this dungeon was our first big accomplishment as a team, why taint it when I don't have to?"
"This isn't about us, it's about Wave." Sasuke reminds.
"And I'll ask Haku if we don't feel confident before we leave." Sakura relents. "But Wave is already recovering, kinda, now that lower-cost shipping is allowed. No one's starving to death, it's not urgent."
"Ahhh-" Naruto lifts a finger.
"No one who wouldn't starve to death anyway." Sakura rolls her eyes. "I'm not going to fix the homeless problem by opening that safe. Every civilization turns its backs on some people, it sucks but nothing in our power is going to change that. Not, just by fighting one battle…" Her expression falls a bit as she talks as if she doesn't want to believe her own words. "And if we're that worried about it, Naruto can distribute some soup or something with clones."
"That's not a bad idea." Naruto says. It does little to help the pit in her stomach, but her convictions are solid. Haku is Wave's enemy, and making him fight their battle for them will only tempt the boy to run off with whatever the prize is when they have access to it. And what right would she have to say Haku doesn't have a right to the prize if they only defeat the final fight because they were there?
It's not just about team seven, it's about Wave.
She just hopes she's doing what's best for everyone, and not speaking hollow words that never quite settled inside.
| Proto-Wind Affinity Level 1 Obtained |
It's enough to make her cry. Two days of sitting around doing nothing but training wind, and she has it. She finally has it. She can finally be a movie ninja intern! She can still only create a gust of wind from her hands, and even then her control over it's only enough to ruffle her hair or shake her clothes, and it's kind of expensive so she's unlikely to find it worth overcharging it with chakra to try and pull off some sudden but costly gambit.
But she officially has all five affinities, three of which only in the barest sense but still! Rushing to meet Kakashi on the bridge and show off isn't even the first thought she has, because that would imply thinking. One moment she's practicing water walking while trying to create a gust, the next moment she's on the bridge seeking out her mentor and ignoring a catcall. It's a little awkward for a grown man to do stuff like that, but it's not her fault their mothers never taught them better, and she's not about to play that part and teach them either. New hires are all over the place, meaning with Gato gone more are willing to help with the bridge, which should speed all this up. She just moves on and finds her damned sensei among the honorable men, perverts, and jerks, if only she was completely sure which he is.
Finding him reading porn instead of watching Tazuna doesn't fill her with confidence either way.
"Kakashi!" She jumps in place when he notices her, lifting a palm and sending up a miniature gale that blows her hair out of her face and sends some dirt off her bangs to the bridge below. "Look!"
"You did it." He says, eying the bridge more than her for a second before his eye focuses on her palm. "In less than a month you've accomplished something almost no one else has ever done."
"Well, it's only proto-affinity." Sakura points out, her free hand scratching her cheek. "It's not like I've mastered anything."
"I doubt all the jealous Jonin are going to care very much about the difference between a proto-affinity and a real affinity." He says. "Technically to be a jonin of the leaf you have to be able to perform at least one elemental jutsu of every type, showing an understanding of each chakra manifestation, even if only at its most preliminary level. But Jonin is a title for those in their twenties and thirties, and very few of them would claim to have even the most basic affinity in even four of them, let alone all five."
"But they can do it." She points out.
"With five to six times the chakra and ten to fifteen years of practice, yes." Kakashi appears to be trying to get something across to her that's just not clicking with her.
As is life. "So you'll show me how to make my own jutsu now?" She asks.
"Tonight, after Tazuna has gone to bed." Kakashi nods to her, "get some rest, you'll need all the chakra you can get." Get at least six hours, is the clear message there.
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SolipsistSerpent
Endlessly Devouring
I see our protagonist remains as charmingly dense as ever.
Is the 'hole', the fact that he'd be a 'zombie-zombie-zombie-zombie' after that point? (Or is it just a typo?)
The only other thing I can really spot that might be a hole is something do with how 'intact' the various Zombie Gatos are. Or maybe the other zombies. But I'm chalking that up to 'video game mechanics', with the Dungeon not fully being real. (I mean, why would he suddenly get Bone Armor. Or dissolve into goo.
I do wonder what happens to Gato's corpse, though. Is there still a link between the two? Is it going through the process that happened in the Dungeon? So just sort of burning to ashes, and then popping back up, in one of the cases.
And this is really just throwing things out, because at first glance I can't really see anything that would be a 'hole'. Might just be forgetting some conflicting detail. (I guess maybe the fact that Sakura was trying for more hygiene stuff, specifically her hair.) Though it's still kind of hilarious that Sakura ended up getting an 'extra' trait because she had such a low starting point, now that I think about it. Although someone who already had the stats surpassing that probably would naturally have whatever the trait would give, just less gamified. In Sakura's example, an equivalent would be not needing the emotion chart crutch. (At least, I'm judging this partially on the similar system of the Ino quest version; where traits are 'personalized'.)
Sendicard
Spreading Smiles
- Location
- New Mexico, USA
- Pronouns
- YouPick
No, that's a typo.
It's a really stupid little detail I don't actually expect anyone to notice. Though thanks for the typo inform I'll fix it in all three versions.
--
I really need to update Ino, jeez. I know that people probz don't care that much but I found it super fun.
Which is the one that was being talked about, in the (now corrected in the chapter itself) section I was quoting. The one they'll fight "next time", after the fourth run was just completed.
Zombie died to fire, Zombie-zombie also died to fire. Zombie-zombie-zombie melted and was 'eaten by the ground' after being defeated, and was 'a lot more difficult' than the previous two zombies.