Did Sakura's parent put in a tedious request to get back at Kakashi for dragging their daughter into mortal danger? Well played.
 
Okay. Important information we learned this chapter.

Now for the follow up questions. How many jars for a C rank to become B? What about from B to A? S rank?

Inquiring ninjas need to know, Kakashi.
 
I had forgotten what this was referencing. Good thing the 'search function' exists. It's way back before the Wave arc even starts, for the curious, with a little old lady hiring them to open a jar.
 
Okay, that last chapter was glorious. A callback and petty ninjas? Now that's comedy.

As for Sasuke and awakening his Sharingan awakening before the manga starts, that is a true ret-con ;) on the part of Kishimoto. Manga chapter 403, according to the wiki. Uchiha Clan Downfall
 
The Hokage going along with this madness with a serious face. All while laughing internally at the ridiculous bit of petty revenge on one of his ninja.
 
Then fuckin, why doesn't he have it at canon start?
Watsonian reasoning is likely what's already been said.

Doylist reasoning is that the relevant parts of the backstory weren't written yet; Kishimoto specifically has stated that Sasuke's little introduction in canon? Itachi being who he wanted revenge on wasn't decided on. Just a mystery plot thread that he would fill out later. I'm not sure if the massacure was even considered at that point.

Given the 'stick another power on the Sharingan' that it all devolved into, it's possible that, before the Wave Arc, there idea of there being anything special with Sasuke's eyes hadn't even been come up with. I don't remember offhand if there was any hints to them being special in anyway before that reveal.

It's kind of the perils of writing a serial medium; you end up with plot holes like that if you come up with new twists that really should have come up earlier, but didn't, due to developing plotlines with other characters. Even if you go the route of throwing out details that could be considered foreshadowing to many different options at the same time. Inlcuding red herrings. That just ends up with a kudzu plot.

Anyways, I wonder if Sasuke is going to end up creating a Jar Genjutsu just to get back at Kakashi. And ending up countering Itachi later on because of it. Flip it on him, itachi ends up with three days of jars. Losing control of his own 72-hour illusion thing.
 
It's kind of the perils of writing a serial medium;
Yeah, I kinda have that issue with this story a little.

Like, in the Patreon Chapters Ino has a whole mini-arc, and in that arc it becomes very, very clear that Sakura wasn't really hiding her gaming habits from her at all.
And this is a bit of a plot hole because when I had initially created the story I hadn't fleshed Ino and her friendship out, so I made it seem like she had.

But that wouldn't make any fucking sense? They're best friends.
How do you hide anything from your best friend?

I figure that's light enough to not be considered a real spoiler.
But yeah every story has that issue.
 
I figured it was Sakura thought she was hiding it. I'd have to go and double check what's in the thread, but it's at least the feeling I got. I suppose it really depends on what is in the Ino mini-arc.

But that is a hilarious mental image, of Sakura just rambling about games when she isn't paying attention to 'hiding' it from Ino. And it just not registering to her that she did so. Because 'obviously' Ino wouldn't still be her best friend if she had actually done so. She just sort of doesn't register it happening. Even more so if Ino actually discusses it with her, and Sakura still doesn't realize.

Maybe she'll recognize it when she gets her Charisma up more?
 
I figured it was Sakura thought she was hiding it. I'd have to go and double check what's in the thread, but it's at least the feeling I got. I suppose it really depends on what is in the Ino mini-arc.

But that is a hilarious mental image, of Sakura just rambling about games when she isn't paying attention to 'hiding' it from Ino. And it just not registering to her that she did so. Because 'obviously' Ino wouldn't still be her best friend if she had actually done so. She just sort of doesn't register it happening. Even more so if Ino actually discusses it with her, and Sakura still doesn't realize.

Maybe she'll recognize it when she gets her Charisma up more?
Yeah, that mental image is pretty accurate.
 
Watsonian reasoning is likely what's already been said.

Doylist reasoning is that the relevant parts of the backstory weren't written yet; Kishimoto specifically has stated that Sasuke's little introduction in canon? Itachi being who he wanted revenge on wasn't decided on. Just a mystery plot thread that he would fill out later. I'm not sure if the massacure was even considered at that point.

Given the 'stick another power on the Sharingan' that it all devolved into, it's possible that, before the Wave Arc, there idea of there being anything special with Sasuke's eyes hadn't even been come up with. I don't remember offhand if there was any hints to them being special in anyway before that reveal.
Well, fanfic is for reconciling it, and TBH I think it fits that he's always had all the power he was frantically struggling for because its just too painful to look back and stare it in the face.
 
Chapter 29: Arc 3 - Coming Home: Look at How Far She's Come
Chapter 44 just hit Patreon, and I'm here again to regail you all with a story.
A story that's hitting Chapter 29.

This is a system update chapter. I finally get a chance to update her character sheet on the info threadmark, woo.
If you're not a big fan of the system part of the story, I'll see you Friday.
Otherwise, enjoy!

Alone in her room, reading about city building, Sakura can't help but sit around contemplating the world around her. Others had to do this right on the first try without a manual, or places like the villages wouldn't exist. Every settlement before the villages era had to work without step-by-step guides, so she shouldn't stress about it, but she still does. She's not very good at this kind of thing, and the nerves alone make it hard to sit still long enough to learn how to be good at it.
Oh how she stresses about it. One would think knowing the answer and pushing herself into it would reduce the stress and let her mind calm her, but that doesn't work at all. She gets more stressed at every single word she doesn't quite understand, or terminology the book uses. How dare it use terms it hasn't explained yet? She doesn't care if there's a glossary that's just bad writing! She shouldn't have to stop reading to go to the back of the book, find a page number, go read an explanation, then go back. That's absurd, that's ludicrous, how do people study this kind of stuff for fun?

"I should check on myself." It's been a long time since she's decided to give herself a look, and she can't help but feel like her mildly depressive mood would be heavily lifted to find she's made serious progress somewhere.

First, her stats. She looks at them with hope in her eyes and a thirst for progress!
She's not getting meta progression in any games tonight, she should look at her own basic improvements.

NameSakura Haruno
Party Contribution Level22
HP138
Chakra46
Strength43
Constitution46
Dexterity42
Agility46
Mental101
Control220
Charm15

That's a lot. She can't help but smile at all that. When did she get so much charm? So much chakra, her health is so much greater than the last time she checked!

She's grown a lot, and a sense of peace crawls over her. The only thing that stands out as weird is the Party Contribution Level, she didn't have that before, that's completely new. Is her system changing, or is it because she's cleared a dungeon now? She's on level with the dungeon they just cleared, and they were on level at the time. So either she's on par with them now, or one of them is weaker and she's on par, or she got a lot stronger from the dungeon clear and she was holding them back.

It doesn't feel like she could have gotten stronger from it, she spent so much of it injured and trying her hardest not to fall down and cease. It was terrifying.
It's an interesting statistic.

She moves onto her Skills, it's the only way. One step at a time. The first thing that catches her eye is that Lying Badly is gone. She's now in that awkward area where she can't really lie, but weaponizing it doesn't really work. This is technically a debuff, but she's happy to see it gone.

Body Replacement +: You've used the Body Replacement Technique in a live combat situation with enough proficiency you can now do it without hand signs. This skill can be Evolved, please ask your Sensei about the "Whispering Goddess" Technique.

Sleeping++: You've slept enough that you find it a lot easier to get to sleep, and need a lot less sleep. You awaken from a full rest with a reset state, and gain moderate buffs for the first few hours of being awake.
A Reset is Accrued after a full 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Crossbow Moderate: You are now less likely to hit your teammates or yourself, and may find that things just happen to work out even if they shouldn't. You don't suffer an aim penalty at medium-short range anymore.

Kenjutsu Skilled: You officially know enough about Kenjutsu to get in there and brawl with your blade out and your soul at your fingertips. The weapon flows in your hand like a set of longer arms, and you have significant bonuses in combat when using your sword. You find it very easy to channel your chakra into any chakra-receptive sword, and you do an eighth of the damage to yourself in the event of a sword accident. You are very dangerous.

Mudshot: C Rank Earth Ninjutsu where the user generates mud from their stomach and then shoots it from their mouth, covering the enemy in mud and slowing/weighing them down.

Water gun: D Rank Water Ninjutsu where the user generates some water from their stomach and then shoots it from their mouth, hitting the enemy with a pressurized blast.

Rollout: C Rank Earth Ninjutsu where the user covers themselves in a ball of stone covered in spikes, and rolls around. Fragile

Water Shuriken: D Rank Water Jutsu where the user generates water into specific sharp shapes in between their fingers for throwing purposes. Does not hold up to pressure.

Mental Mapping: When accessing a new area, you are very good at mentally mapping it for later use.

All in all, her new skills are about where she expected them, even if the skill upgrades catch her by surprise. Some of them have more implications than others. Sleeping and Body Replacement + in particular have her eyes shining with glee.
She already knew about her new ninjutsu, and she had already felt better with her sword during practice earlier, even if it had been with a wooden sword because Higurashi still has her real weapon. It is good to know if she gets a Chakra blade instead of a demonic life sucking jerk, she can use her chakra with it instead of kunai. Crossbow moderate implies reality warping, which makes her iffy on if it actually does anything, but the flavor text feels nice so she allows it without too much thought.
Back into the breach for her traits!

Land Owner: You own at least one significant portion of land, and therefore gain 10% increased rewards from any and all forms of Rent Payment

Water Affinity Lv 3
Earth Affinity Lv 3
Proto-Fire Affinity Lv 2
Proto-Lighting Affinity Lv 2
Proto-Wind Affinity Lv 1

Dungeon Hunter: You have hunted down and completed a Dungeon. You will find it easier to spot them in the future. You also possess a Contribution Level in your statistics. Dungeons are intended for 3 person parties, so all three people should be on level or greater than the dungeon to even it out.

Dungeon Completionist: You have completed a Dungeon to its limit, and received a completion reward, all Dungeon Completion rewards require 1 less clear. This bonus excludes 1 Shot Dungeons.

Savior of Wave: You are known in Wave as their savior, you receive discounts at Wave shops, gain favor faster with Wave citizens, and will find Wave citizens 50% more likely to fight for you.

Named Hero: You have a landmark named after you. You officially generate 25% more renown.

Good with Kids: You have befriended one too many kids for it to be normal. It's officially abnormal, meaning you are 25% better with children than you were before! Make your social checks with confidence!

Petty Thief: For stealing a lot of petty goods like clothes, food, or materials, you are now able to sell stolen goods more convincingly and are less likely to be caught.

Yeah so, some of that is nice. Some of that feels nice.
Some of that not so much. The most notable are Savior of Wave, Named Hero, Good with Kids, and Petty Thief. Petty Thief is probably almost exclusively from Tsunami, and isn't a particularly valuable trait. She doesn't intend to make stealing a big part of her career, she just needed clothes and the woman wouldn't hand them over willingly and no one in Wave could make her clothes! Not in a reasonable time and with their resources…

She doesn't even really consider it stealing, they weren't paid for the huge mission they should have been paid a lot for, she saved them possibly hundreds of thousands of Ryo, she took a few outfits. Cry her a river. The alternative was fighting nude and uh, fuck that.

Good with Kids is good, but she wishes it hadn't worded it like that. Instead of being proud of her accomplishment, she feels a little icky and she's not even sure why. Also, if she can magically make them like her more, do they even really like her more?

Named Hero is probably a bad thing, because renown is what gets you in the bingo book. Kakashi is probably looking into it to ensure she's not wanted somehow given the early events of Wave, but she's pretty sure she's not. She'd have a 'wanted' trait or something, maybe bounty?

Lastly, Savior of Wave, it makes it sound like she's gonna turn Wave into an army and that's just, not happening. They're broke, hungry and poor. She wouldn't accept a discount if they tried to give her one… Them liking her more is nice, even if it brings up the same issue as Good with Kids.

She can't complain about her new traits and status and skills, she likes what she sees, she just wishes there was more. She'll have to spend some of the free time trying to get a few more skills or traits. It can't be that hard to train specifically to learn something new, and they give magical bonuses so it can't be a bad thing to have more. Her main worry is how much time they have. Kakashi has them running boring D ranks again that she barely even remembers because she's spending the entire time reading. Naruto's making more money on this business of his so he's not all there because he's thinking about how many clones he needs to send where, and Sasuke's not all there because Sasuke's never all there.

Eventually, Kakashi will drop another C rank mission on them, hopefully an actual C rank this time. It probably will be… Maybe.

"I'm done reading." She grumbles, hopping back on her PC to play more city-building games. The routine differentiation between games and reading keeps her sane, even if she'd rather it was just gaming. It's hard, and her people keep dying, it makes her worry enough about Wave she finds she opens the status page for Wave periodically just to calm her nerves. They're doing fine, well, they're improving at least. They're not going to do any better or worse in the few minutes between checks but she's still tapping the button and hoping for a miracle all of a sudden.

"I hope this doesn't end up invading my dreams."

Little did she know.
 
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To be fair, Civilization is one of the easiest games ro have dreams about. It all just gets out of hand really really fast. God hoping she hasn't been hitting Frostpunk, she doesn't need that sort of weight in her soul right now.
 
Having her people keep dying sounds like she found something closer to Dwarf Fortress than Civ.

Dreaming in ascii is weird.
 
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