I have made a few changes to the Character Sheet, most notably updating it and hiking up Itachi's and Mikoto's peak Genjutsu stat - Itachi does have the feat of capturing Orochimaru and Kurenai in genjutsu, after all, and those two are near the pinnacle of genjutsu skill (S+++?).
health bouncing back after a serious health issue is common, and not at all relevant to how sick you still are. Best make sure that recovery is well and truly on the way
-----
It's been a while since you last visited your godson. The last time, you left him a gift - a toad-shaped wallet he named 'Gama-chan'. It brings a tear to your eye.
You approach the boy stealthily, and observe him (no, you don't stalk him!) as he goes through his day.
At some point, Naruto stiffens. He says, "come out – I know you're there!"
Wait… what! With nobody else coming forward, you jump out of the roof you were on-
And land on your face. Ow! Hopefully, your faked clumsiness will break the ice. Fortunately, you're insanely durable.
Naruto is looking at you in disbelief. He says, "oh, come on! How can a ninja be so clumsy?"
You shake yourself and say, "congratulations; you've discovered me. I'm on the market for an apprentice, and you seem like a talented young man. After all, you did notice me."
On the inside, you are berating yourself for getting careless enough that an Academy student was able to detect you, and hoping that Naruto will buy the lie – you don't really intend to get a new apprentice, though you will give him a chance anyway.
Naruto looks at you in disbelief. He says, "me, talented? Who you trying to fool, ossan?!" Dismissing the possibility immediately.
Your eyes sharpen. So, he's that kind of ninja, eh? You know exactly how to handle someone like that. You say, "so, you're saying that you detected me by a fluke, then?"
Naruto shakes his hands around, saying, "of course not! My hearing is na- naturally good, and Auntie Korin has been helping me get better; she's better than you at hiding, even- never mind. Well, if you put it like that… I must seem pretty talented, huh?"
Interesting…. Now, let's check something. You say, "so, kid, what do you think is the most important thing for a ninja to possess? What leads a shinobi to success?"
Naruto's face scrunches up. He mumbles to himself, "probably not jutsu. It must by something phi- pilo- whatever."
You tell him, "it doesn't have to be about a high-level ninja. What has helped you in your life as an Academy Student, and what do you think will give you the best chance to succeed as a shinobi going forward?"
Naruto mulls over your words for a bit. Then, he says, "I've never given up, no matter how difficult everything might have seemed; for me, it's the guts and grit to never give up that has kept me in the Academy and has let me find family 'ttebayo."
O ho ho?! You… weren't expecting this kind of answer. Even Minato didn't answer this same question so well. You tell him to put his money where his mouth is - that you will check how long it takes him until he gives up under hellish training.
Naruto scoffs. He says, "why would I want to train with you, ossan! You're, like, super clumsy!"
"If you manage it, I will teach you a D-rank jutsu," you tell Naruto.
"Okay!" Naruto says cheerily, in a complete turnabout of attitude.
He then introduces himself, which causes you to do the same out of trained habit – to be exact, Tsunade 'beating the rudeness out of you'. That hypocrite. By the shudder you see run through him, someone did something similar to him – probably a female, too.
So, that's how you've gotten roped into teaching an eight-year-old the basics. You've got to hand it to him, though – he's a fast learner if you frame the explanations the right way, and he's really good at learning… kinesthetically, you believe it's called? Either way, Naruto learns best by doing, though he's decent at copying what you do, so you make sure not to tell him too much, and let him discover what works best by himself, only correcting him when he's doing something outright stupid.
And when you say the basics, you mean the absolute basics. Taijutsu, tactics, reading and writing (he can read and write, but he's not very good at either; if left like that, he will probably end up hating books because they confuse him); simple math (though he's naturally good at that, the lack of instruction in some basics of math is appalling)….
He seems to know the basics of the Whirling Tide decently, but he hasn't been taught the slightly more advanced principles very well, as if he learned from someone who is too old to get off his ass out of bed, or even from a scroll or book. You know enough of the style to plug the gaps in his taijutsu, but not any further.
That Korin woman (you remember a cousin of Kushina's by that name; it's probably her. You wouldn't forget an S-class hottie like her, in both senses of the word) has done a good job in developing Naruto's strengths, and much of Naruto's current skill in academics is thanks to her, but she hasn't detected every problem. She might have gotten to him only recently or something.
You decide to try and make Naruto think – you don't believe anyone has ever managed to get Naruto to do that.
The boy eventually tells you that he has been having trouble with the Transformation and the Clone jutsu; you tell him that you'll help him with those, later.
"Now, it's time to make your body tougher!" You tell him, and show him how to do various exercises; strangely enough, he already knew how to do most of them correctly.
You soon realize that he hasn't been pushing himself as hard as he could, probably out of ignorance.
You tell him, "Naruto, why do you do only a hundred reps of each exercise in a day?"
"Huh? Oh, my next door neighbor told me that any more than that means that I will get hurt if I do them every day!" Naruto says, "did old woman Akeno* lie to me?" Looking a bit hurt, mumbling something about the old woman making him red bean soup when he was down.
You shake your head and say, "is your neighbor a civilian?"
"Huh? Why are you asking?" Naruto says, scratching his head.
You look at him pointedly, and he gets the hint and tries to reason it out for himself.
He says, "ninjas are stronger and tougher and can last longer," after a bit of thought, "so, exercise that could kill a civilian might not be much for a ninja."
"Exactly," you tell him, glad at the fact he has started thinking for himself. "So, give me two hundred and fifty push-ups with eight kilos of weight on your back," you say, presenting Naruto with a belt-like training weight.
Well, eight kilos AND two hundred fifty push-ups might have been a bit too much. Still, Naruto doesn't even complain. When he reaches two hundred and twenty-four, you stop him.
When he tells you he can keep going in a strained voice, you bop him on the head and tell him that he's overdoing it.
You show Naruto a few calisthenics to improve his balance and flexibility, and he takes to them… well, not like a fish to water, but you can tell he has been trained well already. Either his family is responsible for that, or the Academy teachers aren't as bad as you initially thought.
You decide to finish the day with a bit of mental and Chakra Control training, so you teach him the Leaf Concentration Exercise.
"Iruka-sensei has already showed us how to do the leaf thingy, and it's boring!" Naruto tells you, pouting.
You try to pound into his thick skull the necessity of having enough Chakra Control for higher level jutsu, but you aren't sure he has understood. Then, you say, "I won't teach you the D-rank jutsu until I'm sure you can handle it."
"Whaaat! Stingy!" He tells you, pouting again.
But either way, Naruto does the exercise, even if this time, he complains constantly.
You look at Naruto with sharp eyes – is that…?
Yes - every time Naruto has managed to balance the leaf near-flawlessly, a burst of Chakra eventually interferes and makes him fail. So, you make Naruto try again and again, until he can learn to compensate for it; his natural stubbornness wins over his desire to complain, and he throws himself into the exercise with gusto.
Well, you need to check the seal; you are certain it's meant to inject Chakra from the beast into Naruto, but is it supposed to do so so overtly this early on?
If you were working under a time constraint that was something like a month or two, rather than the four years Naruto has until he graduates (four and a half or so, if you count up to the point that he takes his future first C-ranked mission), you would have mostly given up fine control in favor of teaching him how to control large amounts of Chakra. As it is, you believe you can do both.
…And there you are, already thinking of Naruto as an actual apprentice. It is now evening, and the two of you sit on a bench somewhere within Konoha, eating some takoyaki. He seems surprised at how delicious it is. You ask him about his eating habits, and apparently he likes ramen a bit too much and most other foods too little – you should get him to eat his vegetables, at least.
Naruto does eat foods other than Ramen, of course, especially his neighbor's and his aunt's home cooking, but 'vegetables are yucky. Octopus is too, or so I thought!'
Naruto then regales you with tales of his cousin, Rin, and how smart and amazing she is. Apparently, she's the one who showed him how to exercise, not his Academy sensei. On a whim, you decide to take Naruto with you on your mission – after all, you can't leave him to the Academy's teachers, with such a 'stellar' job they've done so far.
You bring it up with Naruto and he says, "okay, but we should totally take Rin with us! She's very com- com-pe-tent. She'll be a great help!"
You try to argue, but Naruto digs his heels in, saying that he won't follow you on the mission without Rin.
You roll your eyes when he's not looking, but you do acquiesce. You might as well make it a full four-man squad, too; who the girl picks to follow will tell you a lot about her.
Hopefully, Tsunade won't be too alarmed by the presence of a full squad.
-----
-----
"Hello, Fugaku-san. May I have a few minutes of your time?" You tell your former Clan Head, a bit frostily.
Fugaku sighs. He says, "so it's time for that talk. I can't say I haven't been expecting it. So, ask away."
You signal him to follow and take him to the Uchiha jutsu library, which fortunately happens to be empty. Then, you take out a small scroll; it's a variation of your barrier-in-a-scroll seal, and it keeps sound from being carried from inside its range to the outside. You leave a Shadow Clone to watch the entrance, go to the lowest level (the one accessible only to the Clan Heads) and activate the silence barrier.
Only then do you say, "all right. I have suspicions on what exactly happened, but I want to hear everything from your mouth."
Fugaku raises an eyebrow and says, "so, what have you concluded so far?" Looking genuinely interested.
You give him a look that tells him you know that he's trying to take control of the conversation, then decide to humor him anyway. So, you say, "Danzo made sure to ostracize the Uchiha, and somehow got the rest of the leadership of Konoha to go along with it. You and much of the clan couldn't stand it anymore, so you decided to do something drastic. Possibly kill the Sandaime Hokage and take his place by force…?" Your tone even. You aren't exactly pleased with the Third either.
"On general principle, you are spot on, Rin," Fugaku says, "though you are missing a few pieces of the puzzle. The Kyuubi attack was orchestrated by the Masked Uchiha, as the Sandaime found out when he fought the man. Apparently, he is a user of high-level Space-Time jutsu, which explains why the Kyuubi appeared so suddenly then. But at the time, the loyal Uchiha clan were under suspicion because Madara's Sharingan was known to have controlled the Kyuubi. It didn't help that at the time, most of the clan were in a meeting at the Naka shrine."
He breathes in and continues, saying, "when we realized what was happening, we went to join the forces of Konoha, only for individuals with masks similar to the ANBU's to intercept us and claim that they had Danzo's authorization to stop us if we tried to get near the Kyuubi. Danzo later denied all involvement and used our absence as evidence against us. Afterwards, we were personae non grata in the upper echelons, and the Sandaime passed more and more discriminatory laws at the behest of Danzo and Koharu, his old teammate and current advisor. I'm not sure about his other teammate and advisor, Homura. Either way, the Uchiha were no longer allowed to live outside the District; many were forced out of their homes by the ANBU.
>>The pressure was getting greater and greater; the common person saw that the Uchiha weren't trusted and shunned us as well. In retaliation, I made the Military Police Uchiha-only, ousting all other members. Not my best decision in hindsight. That only made things worse; the clan were all but calling for blood, and I couldn't see a way out. That's when someone proposed a coup d'etat, and I couldn't find it in me to disagree. So, we intended to assassinate the Sandaime, along with Danzo and the Sandaime's other advisors, hopefully without anyone knowing it was us; then, use the turmoil to seize power, by force if necessary – thus, a potential coup d'etat. "
"So, you intended to become Hokage? And who was the first to propose a coup?" You tell him, eyes narrowed.
He shakes his head, saying, "no, being Clan Head and leader of the Military Police was already stressful enough. Funnily enough, the answer to both questions is Mikoto. She was the first one to propose a coup, and the one I intended to place as Hokage. She would rule for a few years, and when Itachi was in his late teens, he would replace her, becoming the youngest to be Hokage, and silencing the sexists within the clan. That was the plan."
"Wait, Mikoto-san was the one behind the idea? What were her reasons?" You say, blinking repeatedly in surprise. You have only known of her as a housewife and Itachi and Sasuke's mother, so it comes out of left field for you.
Fugaku smiles a bit, but this smile is filled with nostalgia and grief, and unshed tears are in his eyes. He says, "yes, she was one of the most affected by the situation. She never said it outright, but not being given custody of her godson -and the treatment he and the Uchiha clan got by the village- affected her greatly."
"Godson?" You ask him, dreading the answer.
"Yes, the Sandaime told both Mikoto and your mother that along with Kushina, the woman's child had perished. But Mikoto saw through that lie eventually and confronted the man. I don't know what exactly was said in that conversation, but Sarutobi's very mention made her react terribly from then on, though she could hide it from most. I hadn't seen her smile for real even once since that day," Fugaku says, his tone cold.
You start. Naruto is Mikoto-san's godson? Is that why Fugaku-san never showed any animosity towards him? Wait. "Why didn't Mikoto-san say anything to my mother about Naruto being alive?"
"I don't know," Fugaku says, "perhaps the Sandaime made her swear not to let her find out, or maybe she thought Korin might do something stupid; they weren't close to one another, though they were both close to Kushina. Either way, Mikoto only told me. Frankly, I think that Kushina made Mikoto godmother on a whim – she was spontaneous like that. The last time the two of them spent a lot of time together was before Mikoto even gave birth to Itachi. It might have been Kushina's way of reconnecting with Mikoto."
Something occurs to you. You say, "should we reveal what happened -and the planned coup- to the public?"
Fugaku says, "what!" Looking startled. "Why would we do such a thing…!"
"Hear me out, Fugaku-san," you tell him, "that bitter old shrew, Koharu, might release the information out of spite. It's better if we told everyone our version of the events, before that woman distorts the truth. Even if it leaks in another way, we still would be served well by releasing the information ourselves."
Fugaku-san sighs and says, "that might actually be a good idea, Rin. But I'd rather keep living, so please get the Sandaime to give me an official pardon first. Tekka too."
You nod – that sounds reasonable.
You expected there would be more conflict between you and Fugaku-san, but he seems more relieved not to be head than anything.
-----
You ask for a meeting with the Third Hokage, but the secretary, a woman in her late twenties, isn't very cooperative, and not for the reasons one might think.
"Oh, you're so adorable!" The woman says, smiling at you in a familiar -and scary- way. Not good!
The woman, who hasn't even introduced herself, proceeds to hug you tightly. You form a hand-seal, making a Shadow Clone, and have it use Kawarimi on you.
…It's a weird sensation, being taken along by a clone's Kawarimi; you feel weightless and nauseous at the same time. You escape quickly with a Body Flicker, and go up to the windows of the Hokage's office. You knock on one of the windows, and the Sandaime tells you to enter.
You open the window and see the Third Hokage, looking at you, brows furrowed.
You say, "my apologies, Sandaime-sama, but the secretary wouldn't let me escape her clutches for long enough to ask for an audience," you say, as dignified as you can in such a situation.
"Escape her cl- oh," the Third says, putting his face in his hands, "I am the one who needs to apologize, child. That girl is too fond of cuteness for anyone's good."
'Child'? Well, you suppose you look that way to him; he's over sixty, after all, and he even called a woman nearing her thirties a 'girl'. Still, you can barely keep from gritting your teeth.
Trait 'Façade of a Magus' has activated.
You straighten up, close the window and say, "my greetings, Sandaime Hokage-sama. I have come before you to ask for a pardon for certain clansmen of mine," as formally as you can.
The Third is impassive; his poker face is impeccable, and his Chakra is suppressed masterfully. He says, "is that so? What crimes is that for?"
You scrutinize him. So, this is the way he wants to play it? Fine. "I'm certain Itachi-san has told you all about it," you tell him, cool as a cucumber.
A proverbial crack in the man's façade shows up as a twitch in his cheek, but it disappears quickly. He lifts an eyebrow as if saying, 'you are going to have to do better than that'
It's pretty obvious, true, but- oh, of course! You say, "and nii-chan, of course – I mean, Uchiha Shisui must have told you too, Sandaime-sama," taking a shot in the dark.
The Sandaime twitches again. Then, he says, "so, you are Shisui's sister. I keep underestimating that particular line." He sighs and says, "very well, I will stop playing this game."
There is no way he hasn't known who, exactly, you are related to. Oh, well.
He takes out a few official looking documents, which pardon crimes committed by Fugaku, Tekka and 'anyone who was an accomplice'. You ask him if there needs to be a witness, or maybe they need to be filed in triplicate.
He marks them with a particular stamp, and says, "I have already filed them in triplicate and they have Jiraiya's signature. See?"
You smirk lightly; the Sandaime has thought of everything, but you frown immediately afterwards; if only he had trusted in one of the founding clans of this village.
"Tell me," the Sandaime says, hands held at the chin in the 'Gendo pose' (and damn that Edelfelt for introducing you to anime!), "what do you think is a shinobi, Uchiha Rin?"
[](To Sandaime) Write-in
-----
Your mother, Korin, has brought a kid around two years older than you home. She says, "this is Yukio, Yui-chan and Reo-san's son. He's my godson. I hope you don't mind him living with us from now on."
Oh. This came out of left field. You were distantly aware that Yui-san was your mother's best friend, but you didn't know her son was Mama's godson.
You look at this Yukio; he has black eyes and
[](Yukio) Is very feminine and has black hair
+You might have mistaken him for a girl if not told his gender
+His Chakra feels… cold, chilly
+Must have gotten his feminine looks from Yui-san, who was a refugee from the Land of Water
+Yuki clan…? What?
[](Yukio) Looks ordinary and has brown hair
+His Chakra feels a bit like that guy, Kurama Unkai's
+Yui-san was from a Konoha clan which has been in decline for a long time
+Obviously, it's the Kurama clan
He looks at you and sneers, saying, "hello there, Rin-sama,"
"Yukio, is it?" You say, "I hope you won't be a burden," mercilessly.
"Why, you!" He grits out.
It seems like he resents your position above him or something. It might be because of your age, or your gender, or both.
"Children, play nice!" Your mother says.
You decide to be subtle in needling this little shit.
-----
The funeral service for the fallen members of the Uchiha clan has taken a while to set up, and what looks like all of Konoha is attending.
You feel… resentful. Where were all those people when the Uchiha were ostracized by the leadership of Konoha, when they were forced out of most of the village and made to live in the Uchiha district only, when one discriminatory law after the other was passed?
Haru and Teyaki-san are side by side, crying silently. You hadn't realized before that they were related; apparently Haru is the man's daughter. She lost her brother to Arkidi's genjutsu, which forced him to commit suicide; but she also lost her mother, Uruchi, to Danzo's Root. You itch to go comfort her for a moment, but you stay alone; it hits you right now that a clan head has to mostly stand alone. Teyaki-san is not completely over his injuries to your trained eye; he might never be. The real ANBU saved him from the Root, but he was injured in the ensuing fight.
A selfish thought, but too bad Teyaki-san's bakery will remain closed for a while – you rather like his senbei. Though you can't begrudge him his grief.
Itachi is standing side by side with a girl slightly older than him – is she his girlfriend? You recall her name to be Izumi, and that according to Fugaku she unlocked the Sharingan at an age about as low as you (though not quite as early as Itachi, who unlocked it when he was four or five and reached three tomoe when eight years old), and that her mother married a civilian outside the clan without permission, and Izumi is thus not a true member of the clan.
Your mother is next to Yukio; you'd like to be there with your mother, but you have your duty as clan head.
The labeled urns with the ashes of the Uchiha members are put in the mass grave, and everyone who has lost family (pretty much all of the Uchiha) shovels some dirt, the rest being left for the graveyard's workers.
You hadn't known that the Uchiha clan has the tradition of burning their dead immediately until the massacre happened, but it makes sense in hindsight. Both because the Uchiha are generally Fire-natured and because the Sharingan might be stolen otherwise.
The Sandaime Hokage is attending next to his sons, Shigaru (who lacks his trademark cigar and sunglasses) and Asuma. Neither seems to appreciate his father's presence much, and you can empathize with that, at least.
You activate your Sharingan secretly, and scan the crowd, also activating your sensory and something else; you only activate them for a second, but it's enough. You signal to those who noticed that you thought someone who didn't belong was there, but it was nothing after all.
You are called upon to give a speech, and-
[](Funeral) You release the information about the discrimination and coup carefully in your speech
[](Funeral) You keep the information to yourself
Omni-Science bonus: The subconscious knowledge that Shigaru will almost certainly support the Uchiha and Asuma will likely follow his older brother's lead enters your mind.
(The speech will refer to the consequences of a lack of trust and loyalty. If you wish to add something, a Write-In is allowed under
[](Funeral) You release the information about the discrimination and coup carefully in your speech
-[](Funeral) Write in
)
-----
In the Academy. when you snap out of your daydreams, Iruka has already arrived and is taking roll-call. He pauses at your name, but gives no other indication he is surprised.
The material the lessons are covering today is made up of things you know (they are way too easy, if you are honest), so you give the answer a couple of times (the correct one!) when Iruka quizzes the class.
Eventually, the time to spar comes up, and you are put up against Hyuuga Hinata. The girl seems reluctant to fight, so you try to encourage her. There is no need to risk making enemies with her, and she might be a good challenge if she shapes up.
You say, "your name is Hinata, right?" You tell her, though you already know the answer.
She starts a bit, then says, "y- yes, Rin-san!"
"Let's do our best, all right? You would be insulting me if you held back," you tell Hinata.
Hinata says, "I'm not very strong, though-"
"Nonsense," you tell her, having noticed whom she steals glances at, "you simply have to believe in yourself. Isn't that right, Naruto?" You tell your Uzumaki cousin, smirking devilishly.
Naruto blinks, confused, but he does eventually say, "yeah. Do your best, Hinata!"
Fortunately, he goes along with your idea. Your encouragement didn't do much, which is why you enlisted Naruto. Hopefully, he won't tell her that he considers her a weirdo.
Hinata stiffens like a board and blushes a little bit. Then, she straightens up and tells you, "Rin-san, prepare yourself."
The two of you make the seal of confrontation, and Iruka signals the start of the spar.
Hinata is using Juuken, or maybe something derived from it – you aren't sure. You haven't seen a Hyuuga fight before.
She- charges at you, coming at an angle.
You are startled, but quickly recover your composure.
You manage to hit Hinata in the temple with a palm strike, holding back on power a bit. You made sure not to let her strikes get you – there's no need to form bad habits.
Still, Hinata gets into a stance again after shaking herself off. You say, "why don't we raise the stakes?"
Hinata pauses, then says, "what do you have in mind, Rin-san?" Looking intrigued. Less meek too.
"Iruka-sensei, Hinata, what do you think about changing the rules of the spar a bit? Allowing the use of doujutsu and Chakra-charged strikes?"
Hinata looks at you as if you were suicidal. You know the look; you have directed it towards Shirou enough times.
Iruka-sensei looks thoughtful. He says, "I have no problem with that if Hinata doesn't. But if I say 'stop', you both had better stop attacking."
Hinata stays silent for a bit, her head lowered. Then, she lifts her head and you can see a (proverbial) fire in her eyes; is it the thirst to prove herself? You don't think she is fired up for the actual spar; she has little to no fighting spirit.
Hinata then says, "what if Rin-san gets hurt?"
You can see that for the token protest it is. So, you say, "if I get hurt, I get hurt. Training spars are for the purpose of getting stronger so that one doesn't get killed in actual combat. A few bruises -even if they are bruises to the internal organs- are worth it."
Hinata is silent, so you continue. You say, "Hinata, remember what I said earlier? You insult someone if you hold back against them, and you might lead to them getting an over-inflated opinion of their own skills."
The Hyuuga girl finally gives you a slow nod and gets in a slightly different stance. She makes a few hand-seals, activating her Byakugan. This is your first time seeing an active Byakugan, so you study it for a bit, before getting into something resembling a stance.
[]Use your Sharingan immediately
Justified Arrogance - Mild has activated
Nope, you want to see how far you can get without your own doujutsu. You will only activate your Sharingan if it proves necessary.
Hinata waits for you to attack as you are waiting for her to do the same.
You make the first move, and your opponent pokes at your shoulder… only for you to catch her by the wrist and kick her ankle.
Then, Hinata uses her superior flexibility to get the rest of her body close to yours, and pokes the forearm on the same side. Your arm feels numb, and you are forced to let go of her wrist and retreat, activating your Sharingan in the process.
Even with only one arm being usable, you manage to push Hinata out of the circle soon enough.
Unfortunately, Hinata doesn't seem pleased with you.
She catches her breath, then says, "Rin-san, did you not say that to hold back is an insult to your sparring partner? Then, why did you keep your Sharingan deactivated until later?"
You swallow your retort, realizing that she is right; you are a hypocrite.
What do you tell her? You can tell that she will see through any lies.
[](Hinata) Write-in
-----
"So, Naruto was your first choice, and I'm HIS choice, Jiraiya-sama?" You tell Jiraiya, brow furrowed.
"Ah, don't sweat the small details, little lady," Jiraiya says, waving your words off, "so, do you accept?"
"My name is Rin," you tell him grumpily.
You consider the fact that you will have to leave your clan alone at an important junction, but the opportunity to influence the process of finding a new Hokage is too tempting, not to mention getting to go on a mission.
Besides, it's not as if the Uchiha will be completely leaderless; you will appoint some people to – well, to do your job for you.
You say, "I'll go on the damn mission, Jiraiya-sama," a bit annoyed at him for presenting you with such a dilemma.
It's not really his fault and it's not fair to him, but you don't really care anyway.
Jiraiya-sama looks at you in amusement, as if he knows what you are thinking. He says, "ah, you're such a breath of fresh air! Most kunoichi are either overly respectful, or treat me like a useless pervert; often both, changing the way of addressing me from sentence to sentence. You're a spitfire, apparently – literally and figuratively. Hahaha!"
"Wait," you say, "why do women treat you like a useless pervert?" Looking at him in suspicion.
He stammers a bit, but your mother answers that one. She says, "he sometimes peeps into the women's side in bathhouses. Don't worry; he never tried that with me," smiling in a way that you recognize from the mirror when you are ready to inflict violence on someone.
You don't know what to say to that, except that it's pathetic. You say, "as long as you don't touch anyone who doesn't consent and keep away from me and mine in the bath, I won't treat you like the scum of the E- Elemental Nations. Still, peeping in the baths sounds kind of… pathetic."
"It's for research. Research! I write the Icha Icha series!" Jiraiya says and produces an orange book and a red book from his pocket that say 'Icha Icha Paradise 3' and 'Icha Icha Violence 1', respectively.
Wait… your mother has books that are identical to those in her bedroom's bookshelf. Seriously? Korin reads this idiot's books?
You look at your mother in suspicion, but she simply says to Jiraiya, "put those away! There is an impressionable child here!" Blushing a bit.
You really, really hope she won't ask for his autograph.
Jiraiya puts the books away, smirking. The bastard saw through your mother, didn't he? Without dropping the smirk, he says, "so, little lady – let's spar. I want to see what you've got; I heard good things about you."
You decide to accept, but sure enough, Jiraiya crushes you. In the fight, you use only a handful of skills, which Jiraiya has apparently noticed.
After he gives you a bit of water to drink, he says, "why didn't you use all the elements in our spar, or more than four jutsu or so? You are perfectly capable of doing so, right? So, why?"
"I haven't learned the rest of them well enough to use them quickly; they take too many hand seals for such a fast and quick opponent," you tell him, realization dawning upon you.
"Do you understand what I'm getting at?" Jiraiya says, still perfectly unruffled, both literally and figuratively.
"I've spread myself too thin," you say, gritting your teeth because you made such a rookie mistake.
"Indeed," Jiraiya says, "you should concentrate on getting one or two skills to a high enough level that they need only one hand-seal, then branch out. I'm not saying you should abandon any of your skills, but if there is combat against adult shinobi in the upcoming mission, you will have a hard time. You did well against Danzo, but that might have been because your Sharingan is better at copying and assimilating jutsu than is the norm for your clan; copying might be your particular Sharingan's best point."
"Point made," you say, then you ask him something else. You say, "am I going to be able to train on the mission?"
Jiraiya nods and says, "yes, we will probably have time on the road for me to teach Naruto and you to train whichever skill you pick."
(You have three slots to pick for training on your journey to Tsunade, but you may only pick two completely different things. In other words, you will pick something similar twice or even thrice. (Note that the Great Fireball is already at its limit for your Ninjutsu stat.))
[](Training) Write-in
-----
"Hey, Ino," you tell one of your closest friends – your closest one outside of your family.
"Hey, Rin," Ino says, watering a plant in the meanwhile, greeting you with a smile on her face.
"Ino," you tell her, "I'm going on a mission tomorrow."
Ino leaves the pail she had been using to water plants on the ground, and looks at you in suspicion. She says, "how come you get a mission before even graduating, and I'm stuck watering plants and 'learning' how to do multiplication? Do you know for how many years I've known how to multiply? Huh? Do you?!
You look at Ino in as condescending a way as you can manage and roll your eyes.
She simply smiles and hugs you, then tells you to be safe.
Well, it's supposed to be a relatively safe mission, and- what are you thinking! Knowing your luck, the mission will escalate, and you will have to fight against a mind controlled Jiraiya AND Tsunade, then Orochimaru will show up, and then-!
Calm down, Rin. Deep breaths, deep breaths. There is no need to panic; you are a smart and competent young woman, girl, whatever.
Ino is looking at you as if she considers you insane, but you wave her off.
Your sanity has been improved by Ino's mere presence!
Your reputation with Ino has gone up! D- D (Ink Well's Omake) -> C-
-----
Now, you have one and a half hour (ninety minutes) until you have to go to sleep to make sure you are well-rested.
Your mother has given you a few seals and a lot of weapons, and with those, you have:
-An extensive first-aid kit or two (some of that having been your grandmother's)
-Hundreds of shuriken and nearly as many kunai (all are mission-ready)
-10 weak explosive tags (more like flash-bangs, at most, and firecrackers at worst) (takes 2 minutes for you to make one)
-10 moderate yield explosive tags (takes you 4 minutes)
-0 high yield explosive tags (takes you 7 minutes)
-6 moderate yield raiton shock tags (takes you 6 minutes)
-1 weak barrier-in-a-scroll (takes you less than a minute, but it's useless except as practice for novices
-1 moderate barrier-in-a-scroll (takes you 5 minutes)
-2 strong barriers-in-a-scroll (which is exactly what it sounds like; you haven't learned this one yet, though)
1 privacy/silence barrier-in-a-scroll (Takes 6 minutes. No combat applications, you don't need any right now.)
You intend to make more seals, yourself. How many of each will you make? Note that you are good enough that there is no risk of getting hurt, but you can still use a Shadow Clone to make about twice as many, the penalty being to your Chakra reserve, of course.
(Also note that making seals has a Chakra cost, itself, but probably not enough to lay you out with Chakra exhaustion, even with a clone. The issue is that you want to be well-rested tomorrow morning.)
Use a Shadow Clone?
[](Clone) Yes
[](Clone) No
What should you concentrate on the most? Only from the above mentioned options, up to two options. (You don't have enough time to imbue a weapon with anything.)
[](Seals) Write-in
-----
"Mama," you tell your mother, "I'm going to need people to govern the clan for me."
Your mother thinks it over a bit. She then says, "do you need my help to find proxies? Or do you want me to be one?" Frowning a bit.
"The latter," you tell her, "I've already picked two people, three including you."
"Who are the others?" Your mother asks, giving you her full attention.
"Itachi-san and Teyaki-san," you say calmly.
"Teyaki-san? He is a civilian, a baker to be exact, and not in the best of physical states. You are going to have three cripples do the duty? That will make the Uchiha clan look weak," Your mother says flatly.
"Please don't call yourself that, Mama," you tell her, unused to seeing her act so jaded.
She shrugs her shoulders, saying that she IS a cripple, there's no two ways about it. "Now go on – what made you choose Teyaki-san?"
You tell her that Teyaki-san is an excellent diplomat, and not just because he knows how to market his wares. You tell her of the book he wrote and how it helped you.
"You've gotta show me that book someday," Mama says, sighing, "unfortunately, I'm going to have my hands full raising Yukio, so I can't accept."
You can see that your mother is not going to accept, no matter how much you try, so you will have to pick someone else. Perhaps you will ask Haru…?
-----
"Itachi-san," you tell the older boy, "I need to ask you something."
Itachi nods and waits for you to speak.
You tell him that you need proxies to govern the clan for you.
"Very well. I assume that you would like me to be one?" Itachi says, completely unruffled.
"That is correct," you tell him, "will you do it?"
He tells you that he's not very popular with the rest of the clan right now.
"There isn't exactly a plethora of options, Itachi-san," you tell him, your jaw set.
Itachi shakes his head, saying, "you have already made up your mind, haven't you, Rin?"
You answer in the affirmative.
"Very well then. I will do it," he says, his expression not changing.
You smile at him despite yourself, saying, "thank you, Itachi-san."
-----
You seek out Teyaki, and find him outside his bakery staring into space.
You say, "hello, Teyaki-san."
"Oh, Rin-sama," he says, a sad half-smile on his face, "to what do I owe the honor?" Without any sarcasm at all.
"I will get to the point, Teyaki-san. I need people to govern the clan as my proxies, and your name was among the first I thought of," you tell him.
His body language immediately changes, to something much more formal, though his injured leg shows. He says, "so, it has come to this," smiling bitterly.
"If you didn't want such a position," you tell him, "you shouldn't have written that book," smirking at him.
"Book?" He asks. "Oh, you mean 'How not to be an asshole'? I thought nobody was going to read that!" He then says, realization dawning upon his face.
"Scripta manent," you say under your breath; it was part of a Latin proverb in your previous world. Then, you say out loud, "so, what is your answer, Teyaki-san?"
He gives you a very convincing tirade, about how he's a civilian, a simple baker at that, and a few other reasons.
You say, "that was a very convincing speech, Teyaki-san – which only makes me more certain that you are a good choice," smirking again, "besides, there will be two more proxies, and those will be shinobi."
Teyaki-san doesn't sigh, nor does he hang his head, but it's obvious from his body language that he's resigned to his fate. He says, "if you think it best, Rin-sama."
"Now," you say, "I have already found two proxies, and need help to find a third. What do you think of your daughter, Haru? Does she have what it takes? My mother was an option, but she refused – so, I only have you and Itachi-san."
"Haru?" Teyaki says, thoughtful, "well, she doesn't have the diplomatic skills that you possess – then again, neither does Itachi-sama. What she does have is Charisma."
You stand straighter after hearing that. You say, "Charisma?" Voice trembling a bit, remembering the Personal Skill that Saber possessed, and Saber herself.
"Yes indeed. I would say that Haru could be a Jounin Commander, if not for her rank; and according to an impartial source, she is as strong as a rookie Jounin too – though I wouldn't know how to judge a shinobi's strength and skill," Teyaki says, pride in his voice.
Added Uchiha Haru's information to the Character Sheet. Added the Charisma skill at C rank to Haru's stats
You can tell that Teyaki-san fully believes what he is saying through your Mind's Eye of the Kagura. You
[](Proxy) Will pick Haru
[](Proxy) Will leave the proxies at two
[](Proxy) Will pick someone else (Write-in)
Vote using plans, please!
-----
*Old Akeno is an OC – probably not going to be important to the plot.
As for my health, I've got some exams scheduled.
[] Plan Setting Down The Home Front, Humility, and Combat Speed
-[](To Sandaime) A Shinobi is one that protects their home and family, no matter what they need to do.
-[](Hinata) Apologize and tell her you wanted to test yourself against the Byakugan and overestimated your own abilities
-[](Training) 2xOmni-Science and Body Flicker
-[](Yukio) Looks ordinary and has brown hair
-[](Funeral) You release the information about the discrimination and coup carefully in your speech
-[](Clone) No
-[](Seals) 4 C Rank Fire Barriers and 4 C Rank Water Barriers
-[](Proxy) Will pick Haru
The shinobi question... well I doubt we believe the Will of Fire is employed. Do you think we might not exactly have the most flattering view of the shinobi system? We see a world with a large-scale use of a magecraft equivalent and it is used mostly for war so I think we would see it as wasteful as it is
So, two ideas to focus on
Improving our wind release and practicing combining it with fire
or the
Omni-Science and Body Flicker
Option… which is cool
Also, we are with a seal specialist who if I remember right is good with most standard elements except lightning?
Hm, chakra control always good
Edit: hm sb seems to be more active
Already voted in the other thread, but I gotta say. This chapter needs lots of corrections. Hopefully someone pulls through on that point. Phone isnt too conductive to long corrections.
Honestly? I want to either take what our brother was able to do with the Body Flicker and go further with it, or take it and use it for mobility and evasion.
By the way, Shisui also had his form of Omni-Science, though with more emphasis on the eyes (he had a much better Sharingan when it comes to predicting motion and such than Rin) and less on Chakra sensing (he was a mediocre sensor, while Rin is exceptional).
Bah, the answer to the Shinobi question is obvious. We should just quote Hashirama: "A Shinobi is one who endures."
And it's true. Shinobi endure war to protect their home and family. Shinobi endure suffering. Shinobi endure loss and disappointment. Shinobi endure betrayal and the guilt of their actions, regardless of how necessary they might have been. Endure, endure, endure. Until there is no need for Shinobi, and thus no need to endure.
By the way, Shisui also had his form of Omni-Science, though with more emphasis on the eyes (he had a much better Sharingan when it comes to predicting motion and such than Rin) and less on Chakra sensing (he was a mediocre sensor, while Rin is exceptional).
Oh that difference is going to be fun. It's a shame we're never going to be able to compete with it though. Maybe one day someone will make an Omake for that.
[X] Plan Insightful Rin
-[X](To Sandaime) A Shinobi is one that protects their home and family, no matter what they need to do.
-[X](Funeral) You release the information about the discrimination and coup carefully in your speech
-[X](Hinata) Apologize for the unintended insult. You wanted to gauge the difference between your ability with the Sharingan assisting and without.
-[X](Training) Shape Manipulation
-[X](Training) Shape Manipulation x2
-[X](Training) Mind's Eye of the Kagura
-[X](Clone) No
What should you concentrate on the most? Only from the above mentioned options, up to two options. (You don't have enough time to imbue a weapon with anything.)
-[X](Seals) C-Rank Earth Sealing Method
-[X](Seals) C-Rank Wind Sealing Method
-[X](Yukio) Is very feminine and has black hair
-[X](Proxy) Will pick Haru
[X](To Sandaime) Strictly speaking: Ninjas are mercenaries. We offer service for payment, end of story.
Thankfully a lot of us, dare i say most of us, are not satisfied with just being that and are trying to become more. Depending on the person and situation, guardians, protectors, sometimes avengers and martyrs or even, thankfully rarely, self-centered traitors that'd be better off dead than ruining everything for everyone else...
Realistic. Then moving beyond that to hope for the future. Ending with a touch of emotion regarding what just happened to the clan.
[X](Funeral) You release the information about the discrimination and coup carefully in your speech
I have no real opinion on this matter as i can see both options having about equal chance of resulting in good of terribad results...
[X](Yukio) Looks ordinary and has brown hair
Grants a potential ally in Konoha vs grants a potential enemy in Kiri. Seems like a no-brainer to me.
(I'll also admit NNT fic kind of satiated me for Hyoton)
[X](Hinata) ... Who better than an arrogant one can teach about the pitfalls of arrogance ?
A serving of humble pie is always a good thing for Rin-sama.
[X](Training) Write-in
-[X](Training) Speed
-[X](Training) Increase Chakra control and reserves, theory and exercises
-[X](Training) Fuijutsu theory
-Speed is king, enough said. Bonus point: we might be able to train with Naruto here.
-Getting info in how to grow Rin's Chakra control and reserves more efficiently should be well worth the effort (i'm hoping for a permanent reduction in XP needed to raise these skills, but raw XP is fine too)
-And Fuijutsu is the no-brainer. Jiraya is the expert on the subject, to not ask him or his teaching o the subject is just plain stupid.
[X](Clone) Yes
We're going on a walk, we'll have plenty of time to regen. Worse case scenario we'll be a bit low until the end of the day.
[X](Seals) Write-in
-[X](seals] high yield explosive tags (takes you 7 minutes each)
-[X](seals] moderate barrier-in-a-scroll (takes you 5 minutes each)
These are both the seals we lack (or have the least of) and the highest level seals we can make. If we show them to Jiraya it'll mesh perfectly with the Fuijutsu training action.
[X](Proxy) Will pick Haru
Strength overwhelming, diplomatic skills and pure charisma seem like a good combo.
[] Plan Setting Down The Home Front, Humility, and Combat Speed
-[](To Sandaime) A Shinobi is one that protects their home and family, no matter what they need to do.
-[](Hinata) Apologize and tell her you wanted to test yourself against the Byakugan and overestimated your own abilities
-[](Training) 2xOmni-Science and Body Flicker
-[](Yukio) Looks ordinary and has brown hair
-[](Funeral) You release the information about the discrimination and coup carefully in your speech
-[](Clone) No
-[](Seals) 4 C Rank Fire Barriers and 4 C Rank Water Barriers
-[](Proxy) Will pick Haru
If you were working under a time constraint that was worse than the four years Naruto has until he graduates (four and a half or so, if you count up to the point that he takes his future first C-ranked mission), you would have given up fine control in favor of teaching him how to control large amounts of Chakra. As it is, you believe you can do both.
Eh, Jiraiya only "gave up" fine control when he was training Naruto during that month for the chunin exam, and only after making him learn water walking first. The second time Jiraiya trained Naruto, he taught the kid the Rasengan, which is a jutsu that's all about chakra control(though Naruto had to cheat in order to get a combat viable version in the short time he did). And during the two year Shippuden timeskip, he basically filled in all the holes in Naruto's training except for Genjutsu(and that's because Naruto unabashedly sucks at Genjutsu) and elemental composition(which would have taken too long and taken too much time away from Naruto's other training(including his training to use Kurama's chakra) since Jiraiya didn't have Kakashi's brain flash of having Naruto use his bullshit ability with shadow clones to cheat).
So really, the only time Jiraiya had Naruto go full "Tim Taylor" with his training was when he only had a month to teach the kid, which is an understandable limitation.
Eh, Jiraiya only "gave up" fine control when he was training Naruto during that month for the chunin exam, and only after making him learn water walking first. The second time Jiraiya trained Naruto, he taught the kid the Rasengan, which is a jutsu that's all about chakra control(though Naruto had to cheat in order to get a combat viable version in the short time he did). And during the two year Shippuden timeskip, he basically filled in all the holes in Naruto's training except for Genjutsu(and that's because Naruto unabashedly sucks at Genjutsu) and elemental composition(which would have taken too long and taken too much time away from Naruto's other training(including his training to use Kurama's chakra) since Jiraiya didn't have Kakashi's brain flash of having Naruto use his bullshit ability with shadow clones to cheat).
So really, the only time Jiraiya had Naruto go full "Tim Taylor" with his training was when he only had a month to teach the kid, which is an understandable limitation.
[] Plan Vaguely Cynical Nature
-[](To Sandaime) Strictly speaking a Shinobi is a member of the nations military forces that often acts as a mercernary. Thankfully a lot of us, dare i say most of us, are not satisfied with just being that and are trying to become more. Depending on the person and situation, guardians, protectors, sometimes avengers and martyrs or even, thankfully rarely, self-centered traitors that'd be better off dead than ruining everything for everyone else... And unfortuantly the abilities of Shinobi are more often focused on destruction but Medical Ninjutsu is a step in a good direction
-[](Funeral) You keep the information to yourself
-[](Hinata) Apologize for the unintended insult. You wanted to gauge the difference between your ability with the Sharingan assisting and without.
-[](Training) 2xOmni-Science and Body Flicker
-[](Clone) No
-[](Seals) High yield explosive tags
-[](Seals) Moderate barrier-in-a-scroll
-[](Yukio) Is very feminine and has black hair
-[](Proxy) Will pick Haru
-10 weak explosive tags (more like flash-bangs, at most, and firecrackers at worst) (takes 2 minutes for you to make one)
-10 moderate yield explosive tags (takes you 4 minutes)
-0 high yield explosive tags (takes you 7 minutes)
-6 moderate yield raiton shock tags (takes you 6 minutes)
-1 weak barrier-in-a-scroll (takes you less than a minute, but it's useless except as practice for novices
-1 moderate barrier-in-a-scroll (takes you 5 minutes)
-0 Fire/Water/Earth/Lightning/Wind Sealing Methods (E-rank: 5 minutes, D-rank, 7 minutes, C-rank: 11 minutes)
Hm, hidden text
You activate your Sharingan secretly, and scan the crowd, also activating your sensory and something else; you only activate them for a second, but it's enough. You signal to those who noticed that you thought someone who didn't belong was there, but it was nothing after all. Omni-Science bonus: The subconscious knowledge that Shigaru will almost certainly support the Uchiha and Asuma will likely follow his older brother's lead enters your mind.
I am still wondering which I should go for when it comes to the funeral... I am going to change this to not talking about it I view it as a poor idea to do this without talking it out first with people. All the Uchiha should already know, the shinobi should know, and this will have an affect on the general relations between the Shinobi and the villagers
Clones will tire us and decrease our reserves for the next day. Fire and Water Barriers because we are in Fire Country and Water I'd guess would be the next most likely element Jutsu to attack us. Omni-Science because even if Jiraiya can't help us with it, it's a skill that makes Shunshin Combat Ready. Which is great for general maneuverability and evasion at least.
[X] Plan Approximation
-[X](To Sandaime) To be a Shinobi is to walk with death. Where a civilian spends their life's work on furthering a goal like happiness or their craft, a ninja dedicates their very life and life energy (chakra) towards an ideal. To hone both our body and mind to endure both war and betrayal, grief and trauma, to be ready to risk death at any step, that is the way of the Shinobi.
--[X] If Hiruzen asks who taught us that, answer that we learned it from our father's stories. It's technically the truth, after all.
-[X](Funeral) You release the information about the discrimination and coup carefully in your speech
-[X](Hinata) Apologize. Arrogance is a flaw of mine I am still working on.
-[X](Training) 2xReduced Incantations&Hand-seals, 1x Seamless jutsu Fusion
-[X](Clone) No
-[X](Seals) C-Rank Fire Sealing Method
-[X](Seals) C-Rank Water Sealing Method
-[X](Yukio) Is very feminine and has black hair
-[X](Proxy) Tell Teyaki he is free to delegate tasks to his daughter, but officially picking both of them would probably be seen as favoritism.
Reduced Handseals is literally what Jiraiya told us to improve, and Jutsu Fusion is something very few people can teach.
As to Haru, that would leave 2/3 of the clan leadership in the hands of Haru's family. Even if they're trustworthy, the rest of the clan won't see it that way. Our reputation both in- and outside the clan would suffer if we're seen as playing favourites.
I don't really have much of an opinion on Yukio. An antagonistic Kurama right in our house might bring trouble if he spies on us. On the other hand, we get a bonus against 'demonic' entities and illusions, so we'd probably be the best person in the EN to help a Kurama with their bloodline...
At well everyone, can you explain to me why you want to talk about the coup aspect during a funeral? When most of the population of the village is here?
