《Naruto World Isekai: A new Flower Blooms in a Different World》


 Prologue

    Julia wasnothaving a good time. In fact, she was pretty pissed if truth be told.

    Partly because she just found out she was dead. Yeah, that''d put a damper on anyone''s mood. Let''s go mountain climbing! It''ll be fun, they said. It was totally safe, they said. Needless to say, falling off a cliff over 30 meters high tended to be decidedly fatal.

    Darn cheap and faulty second hand rented gears.

    The second reason why she was upset was that she had just been reincarnated. At first, she had been positively thrilled! No more student debt, magic, superpowers, no more student debt, fantasy foods, wondrous sights, and possible adventure called out to her. Did she mention no more crippling student debt?

    However, all that enthusiasm ended when she found out she hadn''t been given any special powers to help her survive or cope with the world. In fact, she didn''t even get a damn tutorial! She was just tossed here and de-aged until she was 5 years old, and she couldn''t even understand what people were saying! Nobody told her she needed to learn Japanese to prepare for her Isekai adventure!Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Thankfully the Orphanage of Konoha Village took her in, assuming she was just another victim of the recent Kyuubi''s attack. The people were surprisingly nice and accommodating. Child services were very well organized and efficient in a village full of assassins and would-be killers, who would''ve thought?

    They probably thought she was either traumatized or particularly slow since she could barely talk even after living here for a few months now. It was a tad embarrassing really, not being able to properly talk or take care of herself. She had prided herself as a strong independent woman. She studied hard to get a full scholarship, moved out of home at the first chance she got and was about to finish medical school. She would''ve liked to think she was doing well for herself and was on the way for a successful career.

    To go from all that to a bumbling idiot child was quite off-putting, to say the least.

    Those who were livingin the orphanage were given two choices, learn a trade and live as a civilian, or join the ninja academy. While she could always attempt to get a normal job, leaving her fate to something as vague as the manga plot wasn''t a smart idea in her opinion. Even running away wasn''t a true option considering the world was full of homocidal maniacs.

    Her choice was obvious, especially considering she knew how the future would turn out and shit would definitely hit the fan. She could only hope she could survive the storm to come.

 Chapter 1. Learning Chakra

    Chakra, the fundamental force which powers all the superhuman feats in Naruto. Made of a combination of physical and spiritual energy within Chakra Coils, they flow along the body in a metaphysical circulatory system called the Chakra Pathways. By manipulating this energy, usually via hand signs, the user can release it through pressure points called Tenketsu to perform Jutsus, the ninja equivalent of magic.

    Oh, and because it''s a life force energy, if you run out of it you died.

    This was something basic that she remembered from going through the Naruto Fandom Wiki page. Understandably it was also the reason why she was scared to test anything out at the moment. When your body was tired you would feel the exhaustion slowly set in. When you''re working out you can clearly feel the burn and gauge your fatigue, and if you try to use too much force, you would instinctively hold back in order to not injure yourself. Hell, your brain had a limiter built into it to prevent you from using every bit of power your muscles could put out to prevent tears.

    Julia didn''t know if Chakra was the same.

    It would be too lame and sad if she ended up killing herself like a dumbass because she wanted to try out the cool ninja magic before she was ready, but she also didn''t want to wait another year before she could enter the academy at the normal age of 6. Well, that and because she was utterly bored and curious. Being an adult within a 5-year-old''s body wasn''t fun. She couldn''t even watch any cartoons!

    What was the point of being a kid again when you couldn''t even laze around and watch mindless television?If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    Which is why she now found herself sitting in the "playroom" with a bunch of kids, staring at a particularly bright red building block in her hand as if it was a snake. She took a deep breath before welding her eyes shut and tried to move some of her Chakra to her pudgy hand.

    It wasn''t hard really. Whereas other kids would have needed help, she was an adult with the mental discipline and focus that came with it. Plus, sensing her own Chakra wasn''t difficult at all, as in it literally took no effort. She was actually hyper-aware of it, every subtle shift and swirl, even the flow of it in the air around her. It was because unlike the others who were born with it and had it inside them all their lives, her world didn''t have a speck of it.

    It was strange at first, feeling something within you that was startlingly foreign and yet felt so warm and familiar. A gentle stream within her chest traveling throughout her body. Unlike her pulse which came in strong intervals like waves with every beating of her heart, Chakra was a steady and continuous flow.

    She gently coaxed it to follow her will, and bit by bit it slowly builds up within her hand holding the wooden block. Noticing how she was decidedly not dead, she slowly opened her eyes and a bright grin light up her face. It was so strange and weird, but she could "Feel" the block in a way that she couldn''t quite understand at first. Her energy slowly caressing it in invisible waves. It was weird how her senses extended outside of her body because she knew even as it was leaving her hands that it was still a part of her.

    With bated breath, she slowly turned her hand over, mentally willing the block to stick to her hand as if she was spiderman.

    A loud thud and an aching pain on her foot was all she got for her efforts.

    Still, she didn''t give up and kept trying. Her new title as the weird kid was only further cemented as she continuously picked up and dropped the same red block for the next hour, all while unknowingly smiling like a loon.

    Chakra was like a muscle, you needed to keep using it to build it up, and the younger you started the better the results.

 Chapter 2. Exercises for Ninja-Aspirants

    Learning to read and write was a huge pain in the ass. Why was Japanese so complicated?! Why couldn''t it be simple like English, with a 26 letter alphabet?

    But nope, whatever had tossed her here had to be stingy and not only denied her any super awesome isekai power package, they even deigned to give her a translator! Julia was no stranger to hard work or long nights burning candlelight, she used to be a medical student after all, but Japanese was a whole different beast.

    Every letter, Kanji, was unique and in itself had meaning. Depending on the context the same written Kanji could be pronounced in different ways or mean different things depending on the context of surrounding words. Learning it was truly an exercise in patience if there ever was one. Julia was just thankful that the spoken language came far easier to her, she couldn''t speak very well, but she understood well enough on an elementary level. Yes, languages were definitelynother forte.

    Well enough to understand her growing reputation as the weird quiet kid at least.

    She didn''t really mind, she had every intention to enroll in the ninja academy next year and graduate early so she could apply to be allowed to live by herself. She never really liked kids if she was being honest anyway, and being one again sure didn''t change that opinion.

    They were all so loud, rude, obnoxious, and did she mention gross?

    Seriously, they''d put anything into their mouths and rub their filthy germ-filled hands everywhere. She saw some kid yesterday playing outside who found a particularly fat and weird looking worm in the yard. He promptly showed his friends and decided it would be a brilliant idea to eat it.

    She almost puked right then and there, the image of the thing squirming on his tongue as he made a show of slowly lowering it inside his mouth still haunted her.

    So, no, Julia decidedly did not like children.

    Though to be fair she didn''t like most of the caretakers here either. To all of them she, along with everyone else in the orphanage, was just a job. One that they clearly weren''t getting paid enough to give a shit half the time. As long as nobody was bleeding or being too loud then it was all good.

    Bullying was common in the orphanage, as long as they hid it when guests or a potential parent was there, everything was fair game. She herself was a victim of the childish antics, with only a few workers ever giving enough of a damn to help. One of them was Miss Yukio.

    Julia was quite fond of the nice lady, not only did she actually genuinely care for the kids and enjoyed her work, but she also gave the little girl books. The fact that she was also quite easy on the eyes might''ve also had a little to do with it. Blonde hair, blue eyes, a nice ass, and a cute smile? A triple threat if there ever was one, the lady hit all of Julia''s weaknesses.

    She might''ve physically regressed to what amounted to a toddler, but her mental state was still that of a young woman in her prime. All the shared baths sure didn''t hurt either since apparently she was so young that the idea of her falling and hurting herself was a very valid concern.

    Being a kid again did seem to come with its own perks after all.

    <hr>

    Julia found herself glaring at a large tree as if it was her worst enemy. Any looking on from the outside would find themselves very confused as to why such a little girl was going every day just to stand at the same spot. This had been a part of her routine for the past few weeks that everyone else had simply added it up to another one of her many odd little quirks. She didn''t do nor say anything, just simple headed out as soon as breakfast was over and placed leaves on her head.

    Nobody noticed the slight amount of Chakra she was molding to hold them still.

    Julia didn''t fancy herself a prodigy. Sure, she had top grades back in her previous world and gotten a full scholarship to a pretty good school, but nobody knew better than her just how much hard work she had to put in. She also didn''t fancy herself as a "Main Character", which means if she didn''t want to end up as another nameless grunt and die an ignorable terrible death in the future she had to make the best use of her time and grow as quickly as possible.

    After all, knowledge and tactics were useless without the minimal power to actually use them, and knowing the future was all fine and dandy unless she had the strength to change things in her favor.

    Nobody would listen to some no-name orphan or kid giving "advice" or warning them of the future, but perhaps they would to a "prodigy" or Jounin? She had so many ideas, and quite a bit of time before "Cannon", and to make use of her opportunity she would need to have more freedom to act.

    Chunin was the minimum she needed to reach, and she had every intention to graduate early.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    She had spent the first week here constantly thinking and planning her course of action. Her conclusion was a big fat middle finger to the butterfly effect, fate, and "Cannon".

    Why should Julia let all those people die when she could actually do something about it? She didn''t spend 6 years in school learning how to help people just to turn a blind eye to people dying because she was scared of what-ifs. How much stronger could Naruto, Sasuke, and the rest of the Konoha 12 be with better guidance? How many would-be villains could become invaluable allies if someone had just lent them a helping hand when they needed it?

    Gaara, Jugo, Kabuto, Itachi.

    Hell, she didn''t really watch or paid attention to Boruto, but didn''t Orochimaru of all people turn over a new leaf? In fact, if she could get Obito and Nagato to calm their tits, she might even be able to avoid the entire war! She was under no delusion that she could manage it, but a girl could dream, couldn''t she?

    There was also the fact that given her luck, Murphy might decide to fuck her sideways by making Kaguya wake up early or the Goddess''s fucked-up family invading earth early if she screwed around too much. She couldn''t touch Nagato nor Obito without finding a way to get past Zetsu.

    Which is why she was currently working on the few training she could do now to improve her chances, Chakra Control, namely the Leaf Concentration. The goal was to concentrate a steady stream of one''s chakra on a leaf and to have it stick to your forehead. It was actually quite easy for her, but mentally taxing over a long period of time. So far she could only manage an hour or so before her attention wavered and blew the leaf away.

    Still, it was miles better than the 3 minutes she managed when she started... That number might or might not have been rounded up.

    It was incredibly dull and boring, but it wasn''t like her current body could handle any physical training. She was in a rush, but she had no intention of stunting her growth by attempting something she wasn''t ready for. Still, Chakra was built of both mental and physical energy, so all the reading and practice she has been doing should, in theory, be helping greatly in that regard... Right?

    She had no one to compare, nor anyone she could ask, but the idea sounded legit according to what she knew from the naruto fandom wiki... Then again this was "real" life and not an anime, so she could be entirely wrong. God she hoped not or else she was royally screwed if this was some alternate universe that just happened to be similar.

    <hr>

    After a few hours, she went inside for lunch and to continue her lessons. The orphanage didn''t prove much in standards of teaching, but it did teach the equivalent of kindergarten. Which, normally would''ve been laughably easy. In fact, she was pretty sure she knew more than any of the teachers in terms of mathematics and science, unfortunately, her inability to read also extended to most numbers.

    The prowess of a child to absorb and learn things, especially language, was quite amazing really, but she would still need a couple of months before she could be considered somewhat fluent. Surprisingly the class that she was most interested in this lifetime was actually history of all things, something she hated back in her old life.

    It was just so... Incredibly boring. Then again maybe it was just because of her teachers? Julia loved to read about Ancient Rome and China. She was also an avid fan of folklore and mythology, so maybe listening to story about Ninja wars, and brief mentions of the Sage of Six Path was basically the equivalent of mythology to her anyways?

    Tales of one man armies and heroes were so much more interesting when you knew it was likely true. The scene of Madara ripping through the Shinobi Alliance played through her mind as a testament to the perfect example. Even if she considered Uchiha''s and their Hax Plot Device eyes bullshit.

    ... Should she try to get a Sharingan? Kakashi kinda got screwed with not being able to turn it off, but would she have the same problem if she had both instead of just the one? And even if she had that issue, wouldn''t the trade-off be worth it?

    She spent the rest of the class contemplating the pros and cons of having a case of magical pink eyes and randomly sticking pencils and paper clips all over her body in a bastardized version of the Leaf Concentration exercise. The teacher wasn''t amused when he found out. Probably because Julia had stolen them from his desk before class started.

    <hr>

    The little Rose had decided to add morning exercises to her routine. Mostly it was similar to yoga and stretches, she wanted to be limber and flexible, and like seemingly all things it was best to work on it while young. She was still shocked that she could touch her toes without having to bend her knees!

    Sure, she had a pretty active lifestyle back home, however, Jujitsu, Judo, and Muay Tai didn''t exactly need one to be very flexible. The first two only needed you to know what to do and a basic understanding of physics and how the body worked. Joints, angles, levers, and timing. The other was just learning how to take a hit and being fast enough to hit where it hurts.

    Of course, doing what was basically warm-up exercises was far too easy, which was why she decided to add the Leaf Concentration to it. She had basically taken to incorporating the exercise no matter what she was doing. Julia was aiming to have it become second nature and take no more effort than breathing. Easier said than done, she thought it felt like trying to jogging through a busy crowd while reading a book.

    Which was incredibly hard, to say the least, it was either the leaf falls, or she falls.

    For once she was thankfully for being so short and close to the ground, or else she would''ve surely hurt herself by now. Sometimes she would feel so frustrated she was tempted to call it quits and just go on to tree walking, but then she would remember that falling from such a height would not only probably lead to her death, but also get her on Danzo''s radar if she actually succeeded.

    She''d much rather not end up on the "missing" child list and in Root, thank you very much.

    She could only console herself with the idea of being able to toss around cool Jutsus in the future. All the money she''ll be able to get after finishing a couple of missions. The all the sights and adventures she''ll get to see or go on. All the hot badass women she''ll meet! Oh, and the whole saving the world and not dying thing. That too. Carrot and stick, girl, carrot and stick.

    Think positive thoughts, Julie, positive thoughts! It''ll all be worth it later.

    Another kiss with the ground and she felt her convict waver ever so slightly.

    But only slightly!

 Chapter 3. A Small World

    Apparently the orphanage was pretty loose on its rules on children being able to play outside. Ironically, it was because the streets were pretty darn safe in Konoha, the village of professional magic flinging ninjas, but then again it made some odd sense.

    What dumbass would try anything in a village were chances are every other person you met was either an assassin or related to one? Even the child down the street was probably a killing machine in training. Which is how Julia managed to convince one of the caretakers to allow her to play outside by herself. It wasn''t hard since she had been on trips outside before helping with the shopping.

    She was a responsible and quiet child, so while a lot of them didn''t quite like her as she made no attempt to endear herself to them and was not very childlike or "cute", she was quite toleratable.

    No reason to deny the mild-mannered kid a request when it didn''t bother them in any way, as long as she was back before 8 p.m.

    Which was why she was currently all but skipping down the dirt road humming. She had been quite bored confined within the same area every day, so this was a refreshing change of pace. Julia also enjoyed all the sights and sounds. She had lived in the city ever since she was a kid and was used to the hustle and bustle, something sorely lacking within the dull grey walls of the orphanage. The only sounds and commotions there was usually some brat whining, or a baby''s cry, followed by some old crone yelling and berating said disturbances.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    The smell was also quite interesting. There wasn''t a hint of blood or steel like one would expect from a village full of hardened killers. Actually the air was incredibly clear and crisp, probably due to the lack of pollution. As she turned the corner into what seemed to be a market around there was even the pleasant smell of flowers and spices.

    Yes, the little girl believed she quite liked it here in Konoha. Ignoring the constant looming threat of death and existential dread, it had its own unique charm.

    As she was lost in thought she didn''t pay enough attention to where she was going and accidentally bumped into what felt like a brick wall. Maybe attempting to practice chakra control while on her outing was a poor idea, because her awareness was obviously shot. As expected from such a sudden impact, she fell directly on her bum. It didn''t really hurt that much, but perhaps it was an instinct of her now child body that she started tearing up, her leaf falling down between her legs.

    "Oh dear, are you alright young one?"

    A familiar deep brass-tone rang loudly within her ears, and her eyes snapped up immediately. What she saw had her slack-jawed in awe, a figure covered in green from head to toe, a bowl haircut, and thick bushy eyebrows slightly furrowed in concern. A large hand was offered in front of her.

    It was Might Gai, The Beautiful Green Beast, and probably one of the coolest and most badass Shinobi she knew of. It was incredible seeing him in the flesh. While she had known she was in the Naruto-verse, seeing was indeed believing and the small part of her in denial instantly vanished and was replaced by wonder. Her brain had shut down and what came out of her mouth was more reflexive fangirling than anything else.

    "Let me be your student!"

 Chapter 4. Meeting The Green Beast and a certain Weasel pt. 1

    "...Eh?"

    "Say what now?"

    She barely noticed the existence of the other two people beside Gai. In fact, she couldn''t even remember their faces after a brief glance, so occupied as she was with Gai''s response. Her brain had just caught up with what she had blurted out impulsively, and while a small part of her was facepalming hard enough to get a concussion, another was waiting with bated breath and building anticipation practically buzzing in excitement, even while half expecting the inevitable denial.

    However the laughter and blunt denial or even confused shock she was waiting for never came. When she looked towards his face she only saw quiet contemplation and a confident smile, and within his deep eyes, she saw a phantom image of the incredible man this currently 16-17-year-old boy would become. Judging by his vest and what she vaguely knew about the timeline, he should''ve been at least Chunin by now, possibly even Jounin.

    "What''s your name, little miss?" He heaved her up as if she weighed nothing to him, but considering he was a guy who could probably punch a Biju to submission, that probably wasn''t too far from the truth.

    "J-Julia Rose." She mentally cursed for her stutter and a slight lisp. How embarrassing, thankfully she had enough presence of mind to remember that middle names weren''t a thing in the Elemental Nations. That sure would''ve been awkward. She even considering changing her name for a while but decided to keep them as a reminder of her previous world and her parents. It didn''t help her blend in with the locals much, but she wouldn''t trade the memories of their love and care for something as cheap as her convenience.

    "Well, Julia, why do you wish to be my student..? You appear pretty young, isn''t the academy enough?"

    "I''m not in academy, I only 5." She raised her hand and made a show of her fingers, and made a mental note to spend more time learning Japanese because being 24 and only being able to speak on the level of a toddler was starting to prove absolutely mortifying.

    "Then why not wait for your next birthday where you can learn at a proper school? Haha, it brings my heart great joy to see such passion for learning in our Youth! but there is no need to rush things."

    Gai was all for striving to improve yourself, it was one of the tenants he lived by even, however, the Third Shinobi War just ended recently last year. The tension was still high so Konoha did indeed still need to keep up its guard and pump out more Shinobis, but he felt it wrong to force it upon such young kids. His friend, Kakashi of the Sharingan they called him, was an incredibly powerful and accomplished Ninja. He graduated at 5, was Genin within the year, Chunin by 6, and Jounin by 12.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    A spotless record by all means, however, he knew all too well that the toll it took on him was incredibly high. All the blood and death, including his two teammates and most recently his beloved sensei, Minato Namikaze the 4th Hokage. Gai has tried his best to help his friend, and yet even after all this time, the other boy had never seemed to fully recover.

    No, he knew all too well the cost of forcing children to grow up too early, which is why he didn''t want to rob this young girl of her childhood like so many others before her.

    "I wants ta be strong! Plz help me! I no time, orphan, no clan, need help to be great ninja."

    She stared into his eyes before bowed deeply, hoping to show her conviction. It was as if the world had suddenly become muted, the only sound Julia could hear was the rapid beating of her own heart, as she waited in tense silence with her back bent. Gai opened his mouth for a moment, but whatever he was about to say seemed to die, instead, he simply gave a large smile that was all shining teeth.

    "Yosh! Very well. It''s clear your Flames of Youth are burning brightly, and I shall gladly help you fan them into a roaring inferno! You can call me Gai Sensei, as long as you are willing to put in the effort, I will help you become the greatest Kunoichi you can be!"

    His voice was incredibly loud and boisterous as he went into his signature "Nice guy" pose with arm extended and a thumbs up.

    It was the single greatest thing she had ever seen in this new world, and it felt as if a large weight had unknowingly lifted off her shoulder as she hugged his leg and cried muffling his name and thanks. She had a chance now. Before she only had vague ideas and half baked plans but deep down in a part she didn''t want to admit event to herself...

    She always felt like she would fail and die in a small ditch forgotten somewhere. The anxiety eating up her inside was wretched.

    After all, she was just a simple woman from modern society, she didn''t delude herself into thinking she had the talent or know-how to do ninja magic, nor could she compare to any of the geniuses roaming around or the monsters hiding in the dark. All her knowledge meta knowledge amounted to jackshit. These people have been training their entire lives, generation upon generations of people studying the best way to become stronger, the most efficient way to destroy someone, and carefully breed children over generations for the best genetic results. How could her half-assed info from wiki and fanfics compare?

    But that''s fine now, wasn''t it? She didn''t need some secret clan Jutsu, some op Dojutsu, some giant Chakra beast within her stomach. No, all she needed was to put in hard work and effort for the Strong Fist. It is ok if others were prodigies, it''s ok if they learned things 5 or even 10 times faster. She''d just put in more hours and effort. She''ll work 20, 50, 100 times more than them.

    She''ll be a Genius of Hardwork.

 Chapter 5. Meeting The Green Beast and a certain Weasel pt. 2

    The duo behind Gai turned out to be the future gate guards Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane. Young and shorter maybe, but they definitely had the same appearances as their future counterparts now that Julia gave them a closer look.

    Gai had bid them farewell as he decided that it was time for some Student-Teacher bonding with a meal, and had let her decide where to go. Her choice was obvious.

    "Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen! What can I get for you two?"

    Teuchi greeted them warming the moment they walked in past the cloth cover. It was a small yet homely place that smelled of rich spices and simmering warm broth as soon as one stepped inside. As far as first impressions went, she was impressed.

    "Waa can I get for yu?"

    Toddler speak was evidently wayymore adorbs when it didn''t come from herself. A little face round peeked out over from the countertop, light tuffs of brown poking out beneath her white cloth headwear. Her pudgy hands gripped the counter and clearly struggling to lift herself up to make eye-contact with the duo. Teuchi laughed loudly at his little waitress as he walked over. He rested a large tanned hand on her head and ruffled her hair.

    "This is my daughter Ayame, I hope you don''t mind her taking your order today."

    "Not at all! I''d be honored to have her do so. I think I''ll have a pork ramen today, extra spicy please."

    "May I hav the.. The.. C-Chitkan Spektral?" Julia gave up on trying to pronounce it properly and just pointed at the item on the menu and did her best to force out the words. Thankfully, unlike her butchered order attempt, the ramen came out perfectly fine. In fact, it was better than fine, it was downright amazing. The chicken was tender and moist, the herbs and spices blended harmoniously without overpowering the natural flavors of the ingredients, and the soup was savory.

    She didn''t like spicy food, but even the spoonful she got to try from Gai''s was delightful.

    Julia was something of a "foodie" back in her world, while she wasn''t materialistic and tended to save her money, food was something she never cut corners on and she often ate out. The girl was so absorbed in her meal she didn''t even notice the entrance of two new customers seated near them. Julia could definitely see why Naruto was such a fan, it wasn''t just the fact that the owners were kind and welcoming, the food was absolutely phenomenal.

    She did eventually did notice a pair of doe eyes staring intently at her after she finished inhaling half her meal. They widened as blue met brown, and the small dumpling of a girl ducked beneath the counter.

    "Oh? Don''t be shy now Ayame-chan, why don''t you go say hello? Sorry about that, she''s a little shy."

    A soft squeak of surprise could be heard before Teuchi lifted up his daughter and carried her in his arm. She had her face turned against his body, turning her head every now and then before giving a little wave.

    "H- ''eir''llo"

    "Why hello to you too! My name is Might Guy, the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha, and this here is my new apprentice!" With his usual cheerful energy, he introduced himself before waving towards her.

    "Hi! Julia Rose, but ya can call me just Julie if ya wanna, nise tu meet ya!" She still didn''t like kids, especially the rude brats back at the orphanage, but God damn if younger Ayame wasn''t just the cutest thing! She ended up pinching the other girl''s cheeks and was overheard calling her adorable getting laughs from the other two adults. Perhaps it was because Teuchi was always busy being a single father, or maybe it was because they were the same age, but he seemed pretty intent on having them being friends and going on ''playdates''.

    She didn''t mind, the little girl was nice and didn''t have the habit of screaming her head off for no reason. She had finished her meal and was just chatting with the other girl when an older woman spoke up.

    "Oh my, that''s so precious," Julia turned around and her eyes widened, for a moment she thought her heart would stop.

    "Hello there girls, my name is Mikoto Uchiha, and these are my sons, Itachi-kun and Sasuke-chan. Would you mind letting him play with you?" She took the infant that was Sasuke from his brother''s arms and nudged Itachi forward. There was a gleam in her eye that Julia wasn''t sure she liked.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    "But Kaa-san-"

    Whatever protest Itachi might have had died instantly from a pointed look his mother sent this way.

    "But nothing, you could use more friends than just Shisui, and training all day isn''t good for you. So, what do you say girls?"

    Ayame seemed to have gotten over her hesitation after listening to the pretty lady and gave a small nod, and while Julia wasn''t quite sure what to make of how fast these events were happening, seeing how Gai gave her an encouraging look and didn''t seem to mind, she agreed too.

    The adults shoo-ed them away as to have their fun playing outside. Gai generously paid for her meal and told her to meet up in training ground 15 tomorrow at noon, and so the unlikely trio went off to a nearby park.

    "Hello, my name is Itachi Uchiha, may I ask what are yours?"

    ...What the hell? How is this kid way more well-spoken than me?! Is this because Itachi was always a naturally serious and mannered kid or because he''s the heir of the clan and had training?

    Her pride took a minor blow.

    "Julia Rose, yu can call mi just Julie" She repeated her introduction, carefully observing the future would-be-clan-killer. Strange how such a small and short kid could become such a terrifying killing machine. Heck, didn''t he graduate from the academy in under a year? She bet he''d be able to wipe the floor with her or even an adult from her world within a minute flat even right now if he felt like it.

    She had to consciously suppress a small shiver.

    Her new playmate Ayame, however, was ignorant of just how dangerous the other haired boy truly was and was just happy to have made two new friends.

    "Hi! My name is Ayame!"

    Maybe it was because they were both mentally more mature than her, but Itachi and Julia spent most of the time entertaining Ayame and going along with her whims. Playing tag or "Ninja", a confusing game without any actual rules in as far as she could tell, which consisted of them doing any number of "Ninja" activities such as tossing rocks, following random people, and looking for weird stuff. It was kind of fun. It''s a wonder what playing mindless games and not having to worry about getting murdered in your sleep or the fate of the world does for your stress levels.

    She even managed to teach the other girl how to play Pattycake.

    Still, she couldn''t help feeling tense around Itachi no matter how much she tried to reason with herself that he was still just a child and a pacifist at that. There was just a primal sense of fear in knowing the person next to you could and would slit your throat in your sleep and not blink an eye if he had too. She had no doubt Gai could also turn her into a bloody pulp if he felt like it, but she trusted and knew his character. He was a good man who wouldn''t raise his hands again a child. A big fluffy dog than a wild beast.

    Itachi, however, was a tool of his conviction. Konoha and peace before all else. If he somehow found out she knew about the future or her plans to essentially ruin a "guaranteed peace" by changing things... Well, some things were better left unsaid.

    It might be a tad paranoid of her, but she also made sure to avoid eye contact as if he could somehow read her mind through those coal orbs. For all she knew, he probably could with the Sharingan.

    <hr>

    It must''ve been an hour or two since the children left because the sun had clearly shifted from its position in the sky. Ayame had really broken out of her shell after playing with them and was now laughing as she raced ahead to the ramen stall they had left. Julia and Itachi had decided to just walk, and after a bit could see Mikoto waiting patiently while chatting with Teuchi and occasionally tickling little Sasuke.

    "May I ask you something?"

    Hearing his high pitch voice was quite shocking, he was such a quiet child and rarely initiated conversation, usually only replying after being spoken to or giving the occasion input where required.

    "Shoot"

    "Shoot..?"

    "Er, yeah, I mean go ahead." That was an embarrassing faux pas, thankfully he didn''t dwell on it for long and continued.

    "Have I done something to upset you, Rose-san?" They had both stopped a couple buildings away from Ichiraku, both standing and staring at the other. She quirked a single eyebrow at the strange question.

    "What do yu mean?"

    "I''ll be blunt then. You''ve been avoiding eye contact with me the entire time, you flinched when my hand accidentally grazed yours, and finally, you tense up whenever I''m near you. Your body language is clearly stating you''re ready to run at any moment like a cornered animal."

    She felt like a sweatdrop was forming on the back of her head listening to his analyst. He wasn''t wrong, and it seemed her best attempt wasn''t nearly enough to fool the Uchiha''s keen eyes.

    ...Sharp little bugger aren''t ya, but damn if that wasn''t a tad too blunt...

    "I sorry, it''s not anything yu did,"not yet at least her mind treacherously whispered. "Complicated. It is. Not your fault. Sorry" Her broken Japanese would probably have put off anyone else, but he just patiently listened to her in contemplation.

    "Is it because I''m an Uchiha..?" His emotions were hard to read, unnaturally so for such a young child, but even so, she still managed to catch the flash of hurt in them. Her eyes widened as she realized what she had been doing. She was making this young kid feel unwanted because of her fear of what he could become, but wasn''t that exactly why she was here?

    To change things and make sure such a tragedy would never come to be?

    She didn''t need to be scared of Itachi. What he might''ve been was pointless, because right now he was just a scared and lonely child, traumatized by war, and as she recalled the timeline, he and his clan were probably in the midst of being ostracized by the village in the aftermath of the Kyuubi attack.

    "No! I sorry, let''s play again tomorrow?"

    And so in one day Julia met the Green Beast and befriended a certain Weasel.

 Chapter 6. No Pain, no Gain!

    So, apparently she was wrong about her initial assumption. Terribly, terribly wrong. She was a poor and naive little girl who didn''t fully comprehend the hell she had signed herself up for when she asked for training from Gai. She may have been studying to be a doctor, but nothing about Chakra complied with her knowledge or common sense.

    In other words, she was being run ragged every day without fear of stunting herself because Chakra was basically one hell of a drug it seems. Normally when one over trained they would end up tearing their muscles and doing more harm than good, but with some ninja magic fuckery, the body adapted quickly rather than break down.

    Which also meant that all day every day was a full-body maximum intensity workout, and on the rare occasion she actually hurt herself?

    No. Fucking. Problem!

    Medical Ninjutsu solves everything from cuts, scrapes, and bruises! It doesn''t matter if her entire body felt like a walking bruise as long as it could still move. And if it couldn''t?

    No. Fucking. Problem!

    Gai made sure she quickly learned how to enhance her body with Chakra to improve her physical abilities. It was a tiring and draining technique, but thanks to her refined control it wasn''t too difficult. Which means she had only enrolled in an extra full course lesson on pain. She basically had two "stamina" tank and by using a rotation method it ensured she was able to keep working out nonstop well after even an adult or professional athlete would pass out or be half dead in her previous world.

    This wasn''t even accounting for whatever crap Gai was feeding her.

    "A proper diet is just as important as a well-planned workout schedule my apprentice! How can you fan your Flames of Youth when the fuel is lacking?!"

    She was pretty damn sure he was actually drugging her meals. Seriously, Shinobi grade energy drinks and pre-workout weren''t something to joke around with. Military ration pills, or more commonly known as Solider pills, were used by Shinobi as a meal substitute. With a single one, it would replenish one''s Chakra and nourish the body, full of nutrients and stimulants it is said to allow one to fight for 3 days and 3 nights. Afterward, it came with the side effect of complete and utter exhaustion. He''s been sprinkling some of that good shit in her food, she swears.

    So, yes, she was basically doping.

    Ok, so he probably didn''t actually give her a Solider pill, but whatever was in the food and drinks clearly wasn''t normal. Still, it was probably miles better in nutrient values than the slop they served her in the Orphanage, and it didn''t taste too bad so she didn''t have much to complain.

    Sleep is for the weak.

    Haha, kill me now

    Something which she had absolutely no problem admitting to she was if she thought it would help her situation, but sadly Julia was on a time crunch, and worse of all she was clearly gaining progress. The results spoke for themselves. Although she made it a point to avoid looking at any mirrors if she could help it.

    5-year-olds shouldnot have abs... It was just... Wrong.. On sooo many levels.

    She still remembered the looks Miss Yukio gave her last time they shared a bath, and while she didn''t blame the woman... It still hurt. While she didn''t consider herself a vain woman, she still thought herself to have been quite beautiful and popular in her old life! Now she was some weird, quiet, stupid, and muscular gorilla girl...

    It was a harsh life for a poor Isekai girl.

    Said girl was currently swimming in a small river against the current, both legs tied together with a long rope ending in a "small" boulder the size of her torso. She could either keep swimming for the next two hours or drag the stone 50 meters up stream to the drop off point.

    She had been here for the past hour and a half.

    Even when she "cheated" by using the water walking exercise to try and drag the rock, the damn thing was too heavy without Chakra reinforcement, but doing so would only hinder her training. There was no shortcut to training.

    "So... How''s the water?"

    The sudden voice popping up right next to her made her scream and drink a mouthful of water. She dragged herself up and sat on the surface of the river coughing as she glared at the intruder. A young boy with a shit-eating grin and a smug look in his eyes, and further back on the shore she spotted the familiar face of Itachi looking equal part exasperated and apologetic.Stolen story; please report.

    "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" She made full use of her newly acquired language skill by cursing him out, sometimes not even in Japanese or English, but any and every single one she could remember. Normally she would feel bad for being so mean to a kid, but Shisui was a little shit and he knew it.

    That and most Genins were far more mentally mature than their age and the two in front of her were a shining example.

    "Oh man, what a potty mouth, wait right here! I''ll go and bring you some soap so you can wash your mouth out again."

    Julia just gave a huff and splashed some water at him before going back to her swimming marathon. Well, after trying to pull his leg from under him to drag him in with her to no avail at least. Itachi watched her carefully for a few moments before deciding it was safe enough to approach and stood next to Shisui watching her. She gave him a cheery wave and he simply nodded in greeting.

    "Hey Itachi, how''s it going?"

    "Hello, Julia. I am doing fine, yourself?"

    "Oh, you know, same old same old, Gai is really working me to the bone here."

    Julia and Itachi had become something akin to close friends in the weeks that followed. He was miles ahead of his peers in mental development and training. He simply didn''t get along with others, due to no small part because of his antisocial behaviors and the growing stigma of being part of the Uchiha clan. He just didn''t get other kids his age, they were like a dumber species to him and their issues so trivial compared to his own burdens. Which made it perfect for them to hang out together since neither enjoyed the company of other kids and they could hold an actual intelligent conversation between themselves.

    "What do ya mean he''s working ya to the bone? Yer nothing butskin and bones!"

    She made it a point to not acknowledge the spiky-haired boy and maintained eye contact and a far too pleasant smile with Itachi. He had caught on with her antics and though he tried to hide it she saw the slight twitch on the corner of his mouth as he played along.

    "The weather is quite pleasant today, isn''t it Julia?"

    "Why yes, indeed it is! The water temperature is absolutelyDivine, care to join me?"

    "I''m afraid I''ll have to pass this time."

    "Hey! Don''t just ignore me, you guys!"

    They spent another five minutes shooting the breeze and watching Shisui throw a fit before deciding to give the poor boy a break.

    "Ok, so seriously, what are both of you guys doing here?"

    "Shisui and I were about to go practice at training ground 26, we were wondering if you''d like to join us?"

    These training maniacs... Seriously how did a 5 and 7-year-old not know how to have fun at a playground without it involving learning blades and other various sharp-pointy-things or some deadly art? I know there aren''t any cartoons, but can''t we just watch a movie or something?

    Of course, she kept her thoughts to herself and squinted at the sun. It was turning a burnish orange as it set, but still plenty of daylight before she had to head back.

    "Mind waiting another... 25 minutes? I haven''t finished my training routine yet."

    "So, has Gai started teaching you the Strong Fist yet?"

    "Nope," She made sure to pop the P "All I have been doing is following the workout regime he assigned. He''s surprisingly strict on diet and proper resting schedule."

    "Did Gai-san happen to state why? In my opinion, you''ve been showing remarkable drive and progress this past month."

    "Probably because I''m so young? He did show me some basic Taijutsu stances for the academy though, so that was neat. Said my body was currently too weak to even begin learning the basics, so I''m working on building up my fundamentals."

    "That''s probably the smart thing to do. Despite his looks and antics, Gai is one of the foremost Taijutsu masters within the Village, hell I''m willing to bet even the world!"

    She spent the next half hour chatting with the two Uchihas about training and trading tips. It was quite bizarre how casual they were in discussing how to become better killing machines, but she had fun and it seems she has gotten used to life in Konoha.

    <hr>

    "How the hell did you do that!" She was not embarrassed at her outburst this time, because she just saw one of the coolest shit ever.

    "What..?" Shisui asked in mock confusion as he turned his head over his shoulders "Oh, did you mean this~?" He made a show of raising his right arm in the air, spreading out his fingers to prove they were bereft of anything. Then he closed them and made a knife-hand, turning his palm over twice to show that they werestill empty.

    And suddenly four Kunais materialized within his hand as he seemingly grabbed at thin air. Within a moment he flicked his wrist and they were sent flying through the air. He did the same trick with his other hand without the showboating this time and flung them too without a moment''s pause as if he didn''t even need to aim.

    Somehow, someway, the black knives all collided mid-air, and instead of plopping to the ground as physics and common sense would normally dictate... They bounce off each other and changed their trajectory to pierce the bull''s eye of some wooden targets the two boys had set up beforehand. Half of which was behind him. What. The. Fuck?

    "Yes! What the flipping flop, how did you do that?! Tell me! Tell me tell me tell me tell me now!" She was practically bouncing on her feet in excitement like the child she physically was. She didn''t sense a single iota of Chakra during that whole thing, it was all skill and that was incredible. Like a particularly deadly magic trick.

    "Hmm, well, I don''t know if I should, trade secret and all~," he said with a sing-song voice, clearly enjoying the praises and wonder of the younger girl. She gave up after all of 2 minutes and decided to ask the next best choice.

    "Yo, Itachi, do you know how to do that? Can you show me?"

    "Of course. So first-"

    "What- Hey!"

    As she watched the older boy spluttering and hurried to teach her the trick she came to a new realization. Teaming up with Itachi to mess with Shisui was probably one of her favorite pastimes in this world she decided.

 Chapter 7. A Snake, a Hawk, and a certain Fox pt 1

    Julia looked in the mirror and couldn''t hold back her sad sigh. It has been almost half a year and she and Itachi were both finally 6, the youngest one could begin the first official step of their shinobi career. It was finally the first day of the Academy, but rather than looking cute as the elementary schooler she should''ve been, she looked more masculine than most boys.

    Girls tended to grow taller faster than more boys, but because of her extreme physical regime, she was over a head taller than Itachi, and lost most of her baby fat, making her look as if a teenage boy. It didn''t help that her clothes were always matted and smudged with dirt and she had cut her hair short to avoid it getting in the way of her training. She looked like a hobo and probably smelled like it too... Hard to worry about your looks when you''re training with your life on the line after all. It was still depressing to think about.

    She can''t wait to graduate early and get her own place and buy her own things rather than all these old hands me downs.

    Julia shoved her hands in her blue trousers and waited on the steps of the Orphanage. Luckily it only took a few minutes before Gai showed up in a swirl of leaves.

    Shunshin, or the body flicker technique, a method to supercharge your body with Chakra for a brief but extreme burst of speed, and a rather common method to travel in the Elemental countries. The novelty and amazement she had for seeing it quickly wore out. Somehow even ninja physics-defying shenanigans got dull when you''re used to seeing people seemingly teleport or jumping from rooftops every day.

    Somehow the scene of a man wearing a full-body green spandex suit materializing out of the air didn''t surprise her anymore, and for a brief moment, she had to stop and question the way her life had gone and wonder when did it all go snafu?

    "Good morning Gai-sensei."

    "Good morning, my dear apprentice! Are you excited about your first day at the Academy? It shall be the start of your Springtime of Youth! Yosh, let us run to the academy and fan our flames today too! The early bird gets the worm as it goes!"

    It was weird, watching him be so excited for her first day at school and getting ready to drop her off. She was older than him before her premature death, being 24 compared to his 17, but he somehow became something of a father or brother figure to her.

    Or rather, that weird but caring uncle that your family avoided talking about in public.

    There was just something endearing about his passionate approach to life even if she did find him far too loud and energetic for her tastes. Still, she knew without a doubt he had somehow wormed, or rather bulldozed really, his way into her heart. No feeble walls could ever hope to stop the green beast.

    She didn''t bother explaining that classes wouldn''t start for another hour.

    The black-haired duo raced down the dirt road, ignoring all the pointed looks about the large dust cloud they were kicking up. Such was a day in the life of Julia Rose, Reincarnated Ninja Extraordinaire!

    ... She needed a better name for herself, she refused to be called The Green Beast of Konoha like her Sensei, no offense. Spandex just wasn''t her thing, no matter how good it made her ass look.

    <hr>

    As expected, even though the academy was practically on the other side of the village they had made it in record time. Even the teacher wasn''t there yet, still, at least she wasn''t left all alone since Itachi was also very big on being punctual. He was reading a book, and a quick peek at the title showed her that it was a History one. She gave him a brief greeting before sliding in the seat next to him and slumping dead on the table.

    "Wake me up when the teacher gets here."

    "Very well."

    "Tanks"

    <hr>

    And also just as she expected, classes were utterlyboring. They did some introductions, she and Itachi got some shit for being the youngest there, and they went over some basic math and science before practicing Kunai throwing. Which ended up with most kids chucking the damn things like they were rocks and one particularly stupid kid almost poking their eyes out.

    Maybe she had been spoilt by Itachi and Shisui, because goddamn she had forgotten how idiotic and obnoxious kids were. They weren''t even cute or charming like Ayame! They scratched their asses, picked their noses, ate whatever they excavated, and called it a day. She couldn''t be bothered to even remember her new classmates'' names. Why bother? She''d be out of here in a couple of months, even sooner if she could get away with it. She''d pick a fight with her teacher and beat him up to prove she could if she had too!

    It was terrible and she couldn''t wait to get out of this new hell.

    Julia was still fuming when Mikoto came to pick her and Itachi up. At least poking Sasuke and watching his face scrunch up elevated her mood some.

    Ha, take that Mr. BadassAvenger, not so tough now are ya?

    There was just something about being able to hold such power over a would-be world destroyer and one of the strongest shinobi in history. I am Julia Rose, fear me and my AlmightyPush wriggling fingers of Doom and Tickles!This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    She was so distracted messing with the Ninja Demi-God that she didn''t even notice they had arrived at Ichiraku Ramens. Teuchi''s loud welcome shook her out of it just in time for her to avoid crashing into the counter. A quick glance around revealed she was safe from anyone noticing her klutzy moment, or so she thought before Itachi''s head poked out from behind his mother''s back to stare at her, quirking a single eyebrow.

    Darn him and his newfound sassiness. Just wherever could he be learning all these bad habits from? Oh, wait...

    "My boi is growing up so fast! I''m so proud. What''s this? A tear? Is.. Is this what being a mother feels lik-"

    "Oww! What was that for?!"

    "You had that look on your face again. The one where you were thinking of something undoubtedly stupid. I was merely rectifying it and preemptively nipping the problem in the bud."

    And so with all the dignity and grace a person of her considerable stature could manage, she gracefully- Blew a silent raspberry at him before ducking inside the stall and placing her usual order.

    "Heya Teuchi-san!"

    "Why, hello there Julie, how was your first day at school?"

    "It was alright I guess. I didn''t like the other kids, but then again I don''t like kids in general."

    And like clockwork, she didn''t even need to say anything as she watched the chef prepare her meal with grace and ease from years of experience. Soon enough an extra-large bowl of chicken ramen with extra noodles, naruto, menma, and fried onions bits, and four eggs was sitting pretty in front of her. It was beautiful, like a work of art, almost too pretty to eat... Key word being almost. She went at it like a starving wolf on a fresh steak.

    "Oh my, speaking as if you aren''t one yourself now, Julie-chan?"

    "Not mentally," she shot back at Mikoto without pause "beside it''s not as if I dislikeall kids. Just the rude, obnoxious, annoying, and or germ coated ones. So basically only 85%."

    "Come now, how do you expect to make more friends if you keep up that attitude?"

    The deadpan stare she sent the Uchiha matriarch was so strong that even Teuchi felt sweatdrops forming. Julia raised her chopsticks in the direction of the woman''s oldest son sitting not even five feet away. The point was clear and even Mikoto couldn''t find anything to say in her child''s defense. The only sound was the slurping of noodles for the next few minutes before Julia decided to restart it in a new direction.

    "Say, Mikoto, I''ve been wonder something, why do you come here so often?"

    "Hmm? What do you mean?"

    "Well, I mean, I think the food here is great- phenomenal even, and Teuchi-san and Ayame-chan make for good company, but as the wife of the head of the prominent Uchiha clan wouldn''t you prefer something a bit more... Higher-end than ramen?"

    It was a sight that had taken some getting used too, watching the elegant and ever graceful woman coming every other week. Clans were basically the ninja equivalent to nobles or aristocracy, so she was pretty curious, although she had a hunch. Still, it''d be too suspicious to just bring it up so she needed to lay some bait.

    "Yes... Normally you''d be right. No offense meant Teuchi-san, but before Kushina-chan I wasn''t much of a fan. She absolutely loved ramen, obsessed really. Heck, if she wasn''t pregnant I''d bet she would''ve spent everyday eating here if she could''ve gotten away with it. It was to the point that our other friends and I were certain that there was more broth running through her veins than blood!"

    The woman gave a small laugh and smiled at a certain seat two stools over on our right and Teuchi followed her gaze as if the two of them were watching something play out unseen by the rest of the world. The aging chef was content to allow the woman to continue the story.

    "She was the embodiment of silliness. Kushina was clumsy, and bossy, violent, and ill tempted too. In fact, I could list more of her vices than virtues, but was my best friend, ya know?" Here she gave off a soft laugh at saying her friend''s infamous catchphrase, yet her eyes were filled with sorrow.

    "A really great woman, one of the strongest I ever knew, but sadly she didn''t make it through the Kyuubi''s rampage. We had made so many plans too, about how we would name our children, the playdates we would set up for my Sasuke-chan and her Naruto-chan... I suppose I come here now partly as a way to honor her memory and so I could feel closer to her. She might be dead, but not gone."

    Even after half a year since the Uzumaki''s death Mikoto was clearly still mourning her. Julia felt like a completeass, but she knew she had to continue.

    "What happened to her child?" She did her best to hold back a wince from causing the kind woman more pain and the sharp look Itachi sent her way. She''d apologize later after she finds out where the fuck the main character of the entire shebang is and how she could help him save the world faster.

    "Naruto... He''s currently staying the Third."

    Damn, it made sense that someone as important as the Jinchuriki would stay close to the leader of the village, especially considering his relations to the previous, but she was still holding onto the slight hope that he''d enter the orphanage system so that she could meet him without raising suspicion... And wow as if she wasn''t a big enough asshole, here she was actually hoping someone was in an orphanage. Great, some hero you are Julia.

    "Guess I''ll just have to wait a few years for when he entered the Academy."

    The reincarnated girl placed her palm on the woman''s arm and slowly rubbed it in an attempt to comfort her, and it seemed to work as she blinked the tears building up in her eyes to smile at the younger girl.

    "Thank you, I''m alright now, dear. Come, let''s finish our ramen before they get cold!"

    <hr>

    Julia had a lot to think about now that she could cross out finding Naruto to her list. What could she do now to influence the plot? She had spent weeks looking for Kabuto to no avail, the Uchiha Massacre was currently a slow work in process, and the Hyuga incident was still a couple of years off. She was a year too late to prevent Danzo''s fuck up with the Akatsuki...

    The only thing she could think of was the bloody mist''s civil war. She could help them find out that someone, cough fucking Obito cough, was controlling their 4th Mizukage...

    Yeah right, that sounded like a fast pass to getting locked up or killed.

    Who would believe a random child, especially one from a foreign village, on matters of national security? And even if they did believe her how would she explain where she learned that? Nevermind the issues of some hidden village on the other side of the world, she couldn''t even deal with the damn snakes living in her backyard! Danzo would probably kill her the moment she even sneezed funny in his direction and Orochimaru had already packed his bags- Snakes...

    Orochimaru...

    Sudden a grin grew on Julia''s face. A plan was forming in her mind, and it was time to start laying some traps for a certain treacherous Snake and Warhawk.

 Chapter 8. A Snake, a Hawk, and a certain Fox pt 2

    "Found you~!"

    Julia couldn''t keep her neutral face as her eye caught sight of her target''s signature purple hair. Anko Mitarashi, 12 years old, Chunin, Dango lover, and most importantly... Orochimaru''s former student.

    The ninja in training had been looking for her the past few days, visiting all the sweet shops in the village. Heck, she even convinced Gai to take her to training ground 44 for some "super special survival training!" sessions.

    Needless to say, but she''ll say it anyway to emphasize, that sucked hard.

    She wasn''t a squeamish girl by any means, she wasn''t scared of rats or bugs and even found slithering snakes pretty cool to look at, but there was just something deeply wrong and disturbing seeing 5 meter long centipedes crawling around and all the other giant insects and animals in that godforsaken place.

    She shook her head to clear away the memories which she was sure would continue to haunt her before following the young snake mistress. Neither of the young girls was ignorant of the harsh glares one of them was receiving from the villagers. The Chunin barked out an order at the shop in a foul mood and soon left with a bag full of four entire boxes of sweets.

    Julia trailed the older girl into a clearing, watching as Anko sat down on a log and began eating, wondering how to best approach her target. She didn''t have time to think for long because suddenly something flew towards her face. She narrowly managed to tilt her head out of the way and avoided getting her eye poked out or something.

    Blue eyes widened as they turned and saw a wooden skewer shaking ever so slightly from the impact, imbedded halfway within a tree 5 feet behind her. She felt a small trail of warmth run down her right cheek and didn''t bother to check to know that she was bleeding.

    Holy shit what the flying fuck.

    "Wha the... A brat..? What the hell were you doing following me, kiddo?"

    She felt her spine go ridge as a voice suddenly appeared next to her ears, and although Anko tried to hide it quickly Julia had seen the gleam of cold steel before the kunai was hidden back inside the other''s sleeve. The Anko she had been watching suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke. A clone, one of the simplest trick in the book, and she fell for it like an idiot. Even she knew the E rank Jutsu for god''s sake, her face was cramped and confused whether to go pale in fear or red in embarrassment.

    Note to self, following someone in a village of rightfully paranoid assassins was a God awful idea. I wanted to be like the main characters, but I didn''t mean this!

    Thinking fast she decided to go with the most reasonable option for why she was here and not make Anko weary of her.

    "Hi! I''m Julia Rose!" Pretending to be the kid she actually was. After all, not everyone was an uncute little shit like Shisui, Itachi, or Kakashi, right? Kids were normally innocent or whatever even in a ninja village, right?!

    "..? Anko. Mitarashi, Anko. You still haven''t answered my question yet."

    "I- er, C-can I have some?"

    Julia pointed a finger at the log towards the warm box of sweets, which didn''t disappear, unlike Anko''s clone. The smell of honey and green tea carried on the breeze. Anko furrowed her brows in slight confusion staring at the odd child who had followed her from the center of the village all the way out to the middle of nowhere in a dangerous forest... Just to try and mooch some food off her. A second glance at the girl''s ratty outfit and the small cuts and bruises that layered her body and her gaze softened and she gave a small nod.

    Fellow orphans should look out for each other after all, because in this cold and harsh world nobody else would. Especially abused ones.

    Sympathy and misunderstandings were heavy in the air, but neither decided to address it. Although in retrospect, what Gai called training probably would''ve been considered child abuse back in her old world, here in the elemental country it was known as "Tough Love".

    "Which one do you want?"

    Anko was being surprisingly nice. Julia wasn''t sure if it was because of the strange pity she saw within those brown orbs, guilt from almost assaulting a child, or maybe she was just plain lonely from how most of the other villagers clearly isolated her, but she wasn''t one to look a gift horse in the mouth...

    Now that I think about it, that is a terrible phrase because that was exactly how Troy got fucked. I should especially be careful considering where and who I am...

    The oddity of modern linguistics aside, Dango was pretty fucking great. She had never had it before, but it was like a softer and chewy Mochi! There wasn''t much flavor to the dough itself, but there were so many options in the sweet syrupy glazes. She had actually taken the safe choice of matcha, or green tea, flavored ones paired with a slightly sweet drink she couldn''t identify the name of. Was it utterly stupid and contrary to what she had just told herself not even five minutes to be accepting food and drinks from what was basically a stranger?The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    Absolutely.

    Did she give a fuck?

    Absolutely not.

    If this was poisoned, it was the sweetest poison she had ever tasted and the trip to the hospital would''ve been well worth it. It was just that good.

    "Hey, kid?" Julia gave a small hum in acknowledgment, far more engrossed within her sticky hands and licking the powdered sugar and syrup than any conversation, "You do know who I am... Right? What''re ya doing so far out with someone like me?"

    Something in her tone of voice struck something within the young Medical student. There were the usual pain and anger at her situation, being a ninja and an orphan to boot couldn''t have been fun, but also a deeply rooted bitterness not at the world, but herself. The raven-haired girl had a good inkling as to why. A certain Snake Sanin and his Cursed Seal of Mindfuckery

    Julia was studying to be more of a General Practitioner, but she had considered being a pediatrician at one point. Ironic considering she loathed dealing with kids on a day to day basis. They were fine when they were content and cute, but once they started acting up she felt like crying too. Anyways, that meant she was taking classes on psychology as well.

    A quick cross-reference through her mental list and she came to a conclusion she always knew. Shinobi children needed far more love and support than normal to be functional and happy.

    "Someone like you..? Is there something wrong with me hanging out with you?"

    "Whaddya mean "is there something wrong"? Of course, there is, you stupid brat! I''m Anko fucking Mitarashi. The former student of Orochimaru," She spat out his name as if it was venom within her mouth, shivers started racking her frame as her emotion started running high. "You know, the Traitor of the Hidden Leaf? The monster that experimented on all those people, including hundreds of kids just like you?!"

    Although she tried to suppress it, the Cursed Seal reacted to her heightened emotions and stress. Tears pooled within her eyes, an equal part from the agonizing pain, an equal part from frustration. Julia almost felt physically sick from the sensation of the vile Chakra slowly permeating the air, polluting it with its sinister aura.

    Chakra was life energy, which meant it was tied fundamentally to who you were, your emotions and your personality. Orochimaru must''ve been a real piece of work to make her want to vomit from just feeling such a small fragment of his diluted Chakra from five feet away.

    She couldn''t even imagine having to stand such disgusting Chakra actually running through you.

    Still, such developments only further fuel Anko''s distress, feeling as if it was only proving a point. That she was only a hazard to others, a danger to society.

    It was a physical, tangible, irrefutable proof. That she was marked by him. Tainted. Dirty. Lesser. Worthless. Her existence was an unforgivable sin. Why was she even breathing? For what purpose was she born? As the Cursed Seal of Heaven spread, so too did the negative emotions, like a raging forest fire the dark thoughts were all-consuming.

    A part of Anko''s mind idly wondered what in the nine hells she was doing.

    She didn''t know this weird doe-eyed child, but she had started taking a liking to her while sharing a meal together. She couldn''t believe that the kid never even tried Dango before! The blasphemy! The poor deprived child. Still, the look of wonder in her blue eyes when she took that first bite was priceless. Such an innocent and stupid child, to be so happy over something so simple.

    It was a burst of sunlight she didn''t even know she desperately needed. A breath of fresh air from the muck that was her life.

    So why the fuck was she ruining it all? So what if the kid was too damn stupid to figure out who she was. So what if she remained ignorant of the fact she was eating desert with "Konoha''s Snakewhore"? The girl didn''t need to know about that. So why was she ranting and blabbering away? To someone she didn''t know? Why was she pushing this dumb brat away? She never cared about others getting hurt or even hurting them herself before.

    Because she cares. Because she didn''t deserve to live with my stigma, guilt by association.

    No. Anko couldn''t bring herself to ruin this kid''s future and be so selfish like her former Sensei. She was so deep into her introspection and emotional turmoil she never noticed the "brat" staring at her as if she was an idiot stating the obvious, which to be fair wasn''t far from the truth. Seriously, how many fucking Anko Mitarashi was there? Especially one with such a distinctive purple hairstyle and raging love for, admittedly delightful, sweets? Not to point out the fact that Orochimaru of the frigging Sannin was her teacher, the snake faced fuck that was even known by name and face in other countries.

    Even if she was actually the child she physically was... It''d be pretty fucking dumb to not be able to connect the dots especially with the not so subtle looks and insults sent their way walking here.

    "God, why are ya here hanging out with me ya dumb idiot. Let''s go, stupid, now that you''ve finished your meal I''ll take ya back to wherever and we can part ways-"

    A cough interrupted Anko midway.

    "If you''re quite done calling me every goddamn synonym for stupid you can think of," Purple eyebrows raised in shock, whether at a 6-year-old cursing or the glare sent her way was anyone''s guess. "I''m fully aware of just who you are." This was no time to be acting like a kid, not when an actual one needed her for support whether she knew it herself or not.

    "Right... I guess my reputation precedes me" A hollow laugh and an empty smile.

    "Yup, you''re Anko Mitarashi, the Dango loving, trigger-happy, purple-haired idiot,"

    "Hey!" Whatever anger and indignation she felt quickly died as the girl continued.

    "and my friend."

    It was cheesy, corny, and exactly what Anko needed to hear at the moment. A pair of arms wrapped themselves around Anko. They were so small and thin-looking, yet so warm with a deceptive amount of strength. How odd, that she could feel so happy and safe being held by someone half of her age. A bit of life returned into her honey brown eyes and while her smile became more subdued, it became all that much more real and vibrant. The burning mark hidden beneath her shirt slowly subsided.

    "Now c''mon, let''s get some actual food, my treat this time!"

    "What? What''re ya blabbering about, brat, Dango is actual food."

    "No, it''s a snack, now are you gonna come or keep debating a point in which you''ll most certainly lose. To a six-year-old, because I assure you that is most certainly what will happen if you attempt to continue this line of conversation."

    "Oh, what do ya know? You''re just a dumb brat, I guess the wonders of Dango is lost on such young and stupid children. It''s an adult''s taste, ya know?"

    Ah, the irony... It hurts.

    "Oh, I''m sure. Nothing says "adult" quite like sugary balls of dough and colorful syrups."

    The sarcasm was thick enough that someone could cut it with a kunai, but like water off a duck''s back, Anko ignored it with a shit-eating grin.

    "Ya damn right!

 Chapter 9. Ramen, Dango, and Pocky! Time to work out and burn off those Calories!

    "... You two are some scary brats, ya know that?"

    Anko had all but been dragged into her friend group by Julia. The young Chunin couldn''t help but wonder what in the world Konoha was feeding these two kids as she watched them train and spar. Seriously, the school year had only started like last week! She knew that some clan trained their children young, but Itachi was something else. She was a damn Chunin for crying out loud and even she wasn''t quite sure she could manage some of the tricks he was pulling straight out of his ass. Even without his clan''s vaulted Dojutsu, the Sharingan, his skill in Genjutsu was insane. He was tossing them out like free candy! Something that not even her friend Kurenai, a fellow Chunin who was 15, hailed as a prodigy in Genjutsu herself could keep up with.

    And as for Julia? Julia who was somehow keeping up with this pint-sized monster?

    A loud roar was heard before the ground shook. A tree had fallen over. Another roar was heard followed by more shaking. Correction, Anko thought to herself, a tree had been knocked over.

    The girl who was half of her age was running around demolishing whatever was unfortunate enough to be in her way.

    "Katon: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

    A massive fireball the size of a house burst out from the lips of Itachi. It was quite a sight, the Uchiha''s signature Jutsu. In fact, one wasn''t considered an adult within the Uchiha clan unless one could perform it as a coming of age rite. Alas, however powerful the Jutsu, it meant jackshit if it doesn''t hit its target.

    "Ha! Miss me, miss me, now you gotta kis- Oh shit!"

    Anko felt that sentiment, because as if a mirage the flaming ball of death disappeared without a trace only to appear on Julia''s right. The direction she had jumped towards to dodge in the first place.

    Genjutsu... but how? I wasn''t even his target and I couldn''t tell! What the shit!

    Anko''s damaged pride aside, she still watched with tense nerves as her young friend was about to become a roast. She was half tempted to intervene but decided to place her trust in the girl. Surely she had a plan? Maybe a substitution Jutsu prepared before hand?

    Sadly, Julia didn''t know such a helpful technique yet, which was why she did the best she could with such quick notice. She punched herself in the face, her immense strength coupled with her low weight ensured that she launched herself far away from the impact site of the fireball. It was the best she could come up with since she couldn''t freely move after getting caught in the air from her jump.

    "What the fuck?"

    It was so surprising and stupid that even Itachi couldn''t help but utter those words along with Anko. His shock at the display accidentally revealed his location from behind a particularly tall tree. She wouldn''t be able to kick it down like the others, but that was ok.

    Keep standing there in awe of her cleverness!

    Julia, however, would make sure to capitalize on the advantage. She may not be able to spit out fireballs or summon lightning, having yet to be training in whatever her elemental affinity was, but she was well versed in the element... Of surprise!

    In a burst of Chakra enhanced speed, she disappeared from everyone''s eyes, only to show up behind Itachi. His eyes widened and he attempted to duck out of the way while rapidly going through hand signs. His hands were a blur as he weaved dozens of signs within a moment. However, in a battle against Julia in such a close range, a moment was simply far too long.

    "Leaf Gale!"

    A spinning low kick, simple but quite effective. Normally with her strength, it would be enough to launch someone flying away, but she had made sure to angle it so that his body would be sent back towards the trunk. Close quarters were her forte, so she sure as hell wasn''t going to let him gain any distance or time to think. While his head hit the back of the trunk, she grabbed his foot and slammed the boy onto the ground. Sitting on his back with his hand bending behind his back in a basic lock she grins.

    "Looks like I win this time, Itachi-chan~!"

    He didn''t say anything, didn''t even so much as give a grunt as the girl tightened her grip to make sure he couldn''t weasel his way out. Pun totally intended. He only turned his head over his shoulder and look at her. She felt an odd sense of growing dread, and just as she hopped off his back and kicked him away from her she realized it was already too late. She was caught in his trap.

    In a puff of smoke, the boy she had just attempted to punt across the field like a football turned into a log with a tag on it. A paper bomb that was already lit. She barely had time to raise her arms up to cover her face before it exploded and this time she was the one sent flying into the tree.

    By the time she caught her bearings, she was already wrapped in ninja grade steel wires. Even with her tremendous strength and durability, if she tried to power through this she would end up ripping herself to shreds... Or the tree? She pondered on the validity of attempting to uproot the entire thing and wiggle her way out to continue the fight.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    She might or might not have a competitive streak a mile long.

    "That was complete bullshit. I so had you." There was no bite in her words, but she still felt like complaining. This is what she gets for making a once in a century genius her "Eternal Rival" as Gai sensei would say. The fact that she was an adult seriously competing against a kid wasn''t lost on her, but such a thought was far too depressing to dwell upon, so she didn''t. Life was simply easier that way, best not to overthink things.

    "Oh? Did you now? Or did I let you think that to lure you into my trap all along?"

    ...The worst part was she couldn''t outright deny the validity of that possibility. Julia couldn''t honestly tell if she was a good or bad influence on the young clan heir. For one, he was more outspoken and free to show his emotions, at least around friends or family. On the other hand, she could do without all the increasing level of sass. Nah, who was she kidding? This was miles better than the robot she had first met.

    "Yeah, ok, whatever pretty boy."

    Anko jumped out of the treeline to join the bantering duo because she has been around long enough to understand if she didn''t then the three of them would be here until dusk. She quickly cut Julia free and then were on their way to Ichiraku''s again.

    She wasn''t too big on ramen really, but by the combined persuasive powers of two girls with a need for sugary goodness as much as a crackhead needed their hit, they managed to get deserts added to the menu! It didn''t hurt that they had roped Ayame into their scheme and a certain Uchiha clan heir had a secret sweet tooth as well.

    Between the three of them, the stall''s profit margin probably increased two folds.

    They did not have a problem. They just knew good food then they saw it and knew how to enjoy life.

    "Alright, see you guys later, I got to meet up with Gai-sensei."

    "K, see ya later!"

    "I wish you the best of luck."

    The unlikely duo stared at each other for a moment in awkward silence. It was weird without Julia to help with the dynamic.

    "So..."

    "Yes?"

    "..."

    "..."

    "Wanna get some Dango and Pocky, followed by a session of playing with knives and throwing pointy things?"

    "I''d be delighted too."

    And so the pair went off, bonding over a shared love of sweets and live target practice.

    <hr>

    "Yosh! Good morning my most Youthful apprentice."

    Loud as always, Julia envied his "Youthful" energy, even though she was technically only 6. What a strange life she had where she already felt too old when she hasn''t even gotten to puberty yet.

    "Hai, Gai-sensei!"

    "Great! Today we shall be adding something new to your routine. You''ve done well these past few months under my tutelage, and I am immensely proud of you and your progress and dedication. I believe its time we get started on the next stage of your training."

    For once there was a rare occasion of Gai speaking calming in a quiet manner, yet somehow the feeling and emotions in them were all the more intense. His eyes weren''t the usual look of raging passion, but a calm and steady warmth. A welcoming and homely hearth and his smile was wide but failed to show any of his pearly whites.

    "First, I shall show you the forms and stances of the Strong Fist, afterward I want you to sit down with me and we shall plan out what kind of shinobi do you want to be? I know fully well that you and Itachi-kun are more than ready to graduate already, but I don''t want you to feel pressured to do so. There is nothing wrong with taking time to enjoy your youth while it lasts. You don''t even have to be a Taijutsu specialist like me if you do not wish so. Although that is my strong point, I am not ignorant of the other shinobi arts, and if I am not up to par I have many friends and comrades I could seek the aid of."

    That was probably the longest thing she had ever heard Gai say without shouting or talking about training and ranting about youth. She was glad for the sheer acceptance and love she could feel in his words and made a promise to herself she would work hard to get stronger, if not for herself and the world, than at least for this man with an unwavering belief in her.

    "Hai!"

    <hr>

    "That is a long and arduous journey you''re setting for yourself my pupil, however, I am glad to see your flames are burning brighter than ever! Yes, this is how the youth should be! Full of vigor and ambitions! To keep challenging oneself and overcome every hardship standing in the way of their dreams. I shall follow you every step of the way and help you fan the flames ever higher!"

    Julia''s answer to her Ninja Career 101 was pretty simple really. She spent the better part of the last year contemplating how to get strong and change the future after all. It was also easy since there were so few female characters of any note in Naruto.

    Tsunade Senju.

    She was going to walk the path of a medical ninja. Ironic considering it was her Major in her last life, but this time she was going with a minor in Genjutsu instead of psychology... Actually weren''t the both of them pretty much the same anyway? A method to understand and fuck with someone''s mind?

    Food for thought she supposes. Hopefully, she''d actually manage to finish her studies and work on her career before dying. At least it was good to know all those years and all that money won''t actually go to waste. Hurray!

    The Slug Princess was known for her legendary strength, so what would happen if someone with the Strong fist and an unnaturally strong body even without chakra were to use it? What if that said person could also open the eight gates..? The drawback of the incredible powers of the gate was it was a double-edged sword that also harmed oneself, but if one could use healing Jutsu or had regeneration...?

    She couldn''t wait to find out how far she could go, and that was only one of the many combos she could think of. She wished she could find out if the naruto movies or games were in this world she was in.

    It didn''t hurt that she had amazing chakra control and was well suited for Genjutsu from her abundant amount of Yin Chakra. It made sense considering she was a child with the mind of an adult, Yin chakra being spiritual and all, and Genjutsu was pretty much Yin release.

    "Unfortunately, I am not well versed in Iryojutsu nor Genjutsu, however, fear not! I shall speak with my friend Kurenai Yuhi to see if she wouldn''t mind tutoring you in her free time and work on getting you an apprenticeship at the hospital, but that is something for tomorrow, now is the time for training! Yosh, let us warm up by doing 35 laps around Konoha on our hands, and if we can not do that then we shall climb the Hokage Monument with only one hand, and if we can not do that-"

    It''d be a lie if Julia said she didn''t miss the times when the toughest thing she had to do was make a leaf stick to her head. Of course, she still did that particular exercise, it was great for honing your focus and Chakra control after all, but now she had to use 3 and do it while doing ridiculous workouts or practicing her forms.

    The path to becoming op was indeed a long and arduous one sadly.

 Chapter 10. Academy days, and Hyperactive children. Kill me now.

    "This is stupid. School is stupid."

    "Don''t say that, Julia." After weeks of spending practically every day together, she finally managed to get Itachi to just call her by her name. It still weirded her out at times to think that her best friend was a 6-year-old, granted an incredibly smart, gifted, and mature one, but still. "The academy is where young Shinobi-to-be are given the tools they need to excel. It is very important for our development-"

    She tuned out the rest of his speech. That was just another weird aspect to her life now she supposes, having a child lecture her on the importance of education. Seriously, she spent 20 years in the U.S education system and was working on her Ph.D., she soo did not need to hear how wasting her time listening to some dude fumble around a classroom full of kids and attempt to teach basic math was important to her development as a person.

    Although to be fair, the kids were incredibly annoying and unruly, plus it didn''t help that most of them had access to the magical "fuck you" to physics known as Chakra so Julia guesses she could cut him some slack. He was still a shit teacher in her opinion.

    A crumpled ball of paper promptly impacted the side of Itachi''s head and bounced off the table they were sitting at until it landed in front of her. The boy didn''t blink an eye, already used to the childish antics of his classmates and mild-mannered as he was. Julia was half tempted to toss her textbook at the dumb kid''s face which threw it, however, Itachi wouldn''t have liked the act of violence, especially on his behalf so she just held in the anger. Well, this time she did at least, last time she wasn''t so accommodating.

    It might''ve been beneath her as an adult to stoop so low, however, she wasn''t feeling particularly magnanimous, mature, or kind after the 37th time the brats tested her.

    Besides, Ninja kids, academy students or otherwise, were made of sterner stuff. A bloody nose or two wouldn''t cause much of a problem, and as Gai, and a certain Firelord in another show, would say pain made an excellent teacher indeed.

    She took a deep breath and did some light meditation to pass the time, a dozen coins sticking to the underside of her arm without anyone''s notice besides her deskmate. Soon Itachi would see how pointless wasting their time in the Academy truly was and she could convince him to just graduate early with her.

    In Cannon, it should''ve taken him a year or maybe less, but now however she was hoping he would see the light within the month because she was already sick and tired of this within the last two weeks.

    <hr>

    "Hey, isn''t that Itachi?"

    "What? Where?"

    "Itachi? You don''t mean of the UchihaClan, do you?"

    "No way!"

    As soon as classes ended Julia had all but physically dragged the shorter boy. She might''ve physically done it too since she thought she could faintly hear the squeaking of his rubber sole against the floor. They both ignored the whispers and looks pointed their way, it being a common occurrence by now.

    The duo soon met up with the rest of class for the daily Taijutsu lesson, which was more along the lines of sparing than anything else, but it was loads better than sitting in the boring classrooms in Julia''s not so humble opinion. They sat down while watching the other kids fight. It was rather pathetic and she felt intense second-hand embarrassment just watching them fumble around.

    "Match! The round goes to Renji. Good job you two."

    In a show of sportsmanship, every fight was to be ended by using the sign of peace. They''d first use raise their right hand in front of their face before making a fist and leaving only their index and middle finger standing. Afterward, they would walk towards one another and link fingers, forming something akin to a pinky promise.

    It was a traditional symbol of putting differences aside and a willingness to work together.

    Julia had closed her eyes and simply enjoyed the evening breeze on her tanned skin, it was nice to be outside and not covered in dirt or grime as she was used too now. She was content tuning out the world until she heard Itachi''s name being called. With mild interest, she peeked an eye to watch the fight, if it could be even called that.

    "M-match! The round goes to Itachi!"

    The teacher was clearly surprised and bearly managed to get his voice to work properly to call the match. She didn''t blame him, after all, it ended within seconds.

    She didn''t know the name of the kid, although she probably didn''t know the names of even a quarter of her classmates, but he was pretty sloppy. He had rushed in for a strong haymaker, and ended up with his wrist grabbed before being sent flying over Itachi''s should in a Judo toss. Thankfully the clan heir wasn''t as willing to hurt his classmates as they were to him because he softened the blow and used his foot to protect the other''s head from hitting the ground.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Julia didn''t even know why Itachi bothered anymore, after the first week the other teachers had already bluntly stated that they were too far ahead and didn''t have to partake in the spars if they didn''t want too. It wasn''t even good practice since the other kids weren''t even suitable target dummies. Their forms were awkward and weird and it would only build up bad habits if the two were to use them as a training practice.

    <hr>

    "You two think you''re hot shit, huh?"

    A gruff voice came from behind them, but the two kept walking. They didn''t recognize it. The voice couldn''t possibly be addressing them after all, they barely spoke to anyone and were pretty antisocial even at the best of times.

    "Don''t ignore me, you little brats!"

    Sensing something coming from behind the two ducked out of the way of a big meaty fist. Julia''s eyes widened in shock, not because of the unprovoked punch, the world was full of violent idiots, but at how much bulk the kid had. Seriously, he looked like he was over 200 pounds!

    "Heh, freshmen like you should know your places.Who the hell do you think you are to be acting all cool and stuff?" He was flanked by two other boys, although none had the quite the...impressivegirth that their leader did. Standard bullying tactics it seems.

    "First of all, we don''t need to act to be cool, we just are. Secondly, who the fuck do you thinkyou are fatty to be randomly attacking your fellow school mates, ya dipshit."

    Itachi seemed content to allow her to talk for both of them, although there was a slight hint of disdain and boredom in his eyes while watching the bullies. The other boy seemed to have caught it as he only seemed all the angrier. Or it could''ve been her insults. Who knows?

    "What did you just say, you bitch?!"

    "Oh? My bad, I didn''t realize all the lard in ya didn''t just block your arteries, but your ear canals too. Or maybe you''re just too stupid to understand what I''m saying..? Let me rephrase. Take a hike fatass, it''ll do you some good before I feed ya a knuckle sandwich."

    One ass-kicking later and she had gotten an earful for beating up one Yaki Akimichi and his group of friends. She couldn''t help being slack-jawed the entire time in the principle''s office. What kind of half-assed punk tells the teacher on someone after failing to gang-up on them? On a younger little girl half their size? She was the victim here damn it! So what if they had ended up with bloody noses and some bruised ribs? It was legitimate self-defense and they started it!

    Julia was pretty sure it was because Yaki was part of a clan and she wasn''t.

    She''ll get him back for this bullshit. Maybe she should subtly complain to Mikoto about this..? The woman did like her after all, being one of her eldest son''s only friend and who helped him get out of his emotional withdrawal. The public opinion wasn''t too great for them after the Kyuubi attack, but they were still a founding clan and ran the police force.

    It may be petty, but... Actually, yeah it was just petty, but she was totally going to do it anyway.

    "Yo, Itachi, can I come over later?"

    "Why do you even bother asking when we both know you''re going to do so regardless of my answer?"

    "It''s called being polite."

    "You? Polite? Kai!" A burst of Chakra was felt as he attempted to break a Genjutsu that wasn''t there. Itachi slowly slipped a hand into his thigh pouch and pulled out a box of Pocky. He slowly unraveled the packing with deliberateness, making sure to maintain eye contact with her the entire time.

    "Hmm, what a realistic illusion I''ve fallen into, even I almostfell for it, but thereal Julia wouldn''t even know the meaning of the word "Polite."

    Their banter was interrupted by a shout of pain. They both shared a look before heading around the corner to check out the disturbance. It was Yaki and his gang again, this time however picking on some other younger kids who couldn''t actually fight back.

    "Please, stop, it hurts. I''m sor-" A vicious punch interrupted him as he was sent rolling across the ground. Two other kids around 7 or 8 were laid across the floor just like him. The other bullies were laughing at the sight while cheering for their friend.

    "Shut up, I''m in a shitty enough mood as it is and you dumbasses have the gall to mess with me?" All the other kids had done was bump into him in the hallway, but he didn''t care. He was angry and had found the perfect target to vent his frustrations on. It was even better because they couldn''t hit back, the feeling of kicking them was way more satisfying than a lifeless wooden dummy.

    "Seriously? Wow, what a coincidence! I''m also having a shitty day because of a certain dumbass. What game are you playing? Is it "kick the retard who doesn''t know when to quit" because I just absolutely adore that game, can I join?"

    Hearing the hauntingly familiar voice, all the bullies froze before beginning to run without looking back, however, they didn''t manage to get far before ending up in a large pile, folded over each other like yesterday''s laundry.

    Even Itachi didn''t have his normal look of subtle disapproval whenever she committed an act of violence. Those jerks deserved it as far as he was concerned.

    "Um, thank you!"

    "No problem, now hold still and let me see your arm."

    The children were visibly confused but didn''t question the tall girl, especially after seeing how brutally she just beat up their bullies. They did let out gasps of surprise at seeing her hand glow a soft green. She had taken to helping out in the local hospital and learning from the people there. Not quite like an apprenticeship like she had with Gai, but enough to pick up tricks here and there whenever someone was free. She had to figure most of it out herself and from old scrolls sadly. Gai was still looking for a proper teacher for her.

    "Mystical Palm Jutsu," Within minutes she finished healing them of their scrapes and bruises. "There ya go, now how about you all hurry home before your parents worry, eh?"

    "Thank you, miss!" They didn''t realize the fairly taller girl was the same age as them, and Julia doubted they''d believe her even if she said so. 6-year-olds weren''t supposed to be able to take down a gang of older students nor be able to use such an advanced Iryojutsu.

    "Well, that''s that. Ready to head back, Itachi?"

    "Let''s stop by Ichiraku first, I need to restock on my Pocky supplies."

 Chapter 11. Taijutsu, Genjutsu, and Talk-no-Jutsu, oh my, I hope Konoha covers Theraphy

    "Yosh! Thank you for doing me this flavor, Kurenai! I am sure that little Julia will be absolutely thrilled to learn from someone as talented as yourself."

    "Don''t mention it Gai, what are friends for? Besides, I''m a bit curious about this apprentice of yours. I can''t even imagine what child would be able to keep up with your rather... Intense lifestyle."

    Honestly, she didn''t believe it when she heard that Gai of all people managed to get an apprentice. Don''t get the wrong idea, he was a great shinobi and an even greater man, however, his methods and principle have always been "To the max!" and "Extreme! 1001% All day Everyday!" She was surprised she didn''t hear about any poor unfortunate child being hospitalized in the ICU within the first few days.

    To hear that the girl has been keeping pace with her rather exuberant friend for almost an entire year? That was impressive in its own right. So, yes, she was oh so very curious indeed.

    After arriving at training ground 12 she could vaguely make out something moving on top of the hill. Up and down it slowly bobbed. Her red orbs widened as the pair walked closer because she could finally make out what she saw. It was a large boulder the size of a rhino, and judging by the grunts she could hear Gai''s pupil was underneath using it for weight training.

    "-78...-81... 285.."

    Her jaw slackened as she could finally make out what was being muttered. As soon as the count reached 300, the boulder rolled to the side and revealed a young girl who''s head would only reach Kurenai''s collarbone. The ground shook as the 3 ton stone boulder slammed against the ground. The little girl''s short black hair was matted to her face with copious amounts of sweat and her tiny chest heaved rapidly in desperation for air.

    After only a few moments sapphire met ruby as their eyes locked. It was silent as one was far too busy greedily gulping oxygen and the other far too stunned at the display of inhuman might to formulate a proper thought. Gai seemed to have no such issues, however.

    "Yosh! That was a most wonderful display of Youth, my young grasshopper, but this is no time to be lying around! Kurenai, this is my student Julia Rose,"

    He waved his hands to indicate who he was referring to, although he was unneeded. Not only because they were the only people there, but because Julia instantly recognized her by appearance. She was currently only a teenager, 15-16 at most, however, Julia could already see the beautiful woman she would become with her pitch-black messy hair, enchanting crimson eyes, supple lips, and budding figure. She only felt mildly ashamed that she was tuning out Gai and having slight fantasies of the woman in front of her.

    Asuma was a lucky bastard even if he didn''t know it yet.

    "Julia, this is my friend Kurenai Yuhi that I mentioned last time. She is an incredibly talented Genjutsu specialist and was kind enough to agree with my request and take time out of her day to tutor you."

    "Hello, as Gai said, my name is Kurenai. It is very nice to meet such a hardworking girl, I look forward to teaching you all I can. Unfortunately, unlike Gai, I''m still only a Chunin. This means I''m still part of a team and don''t have as much free time. I''ll only be able to teach you on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I''ll pick you up from Willow''s Orphanage at 3, however, if I am not thereby 3:30 you can assume that there will be no class. I will try my best to inform you ahead of time if something pops up. Does that sound acceptable?"

    Kurenai probably also thought she was stupid because midway she started speaking particularly slowly. Julia was too busy blatantly staring at her to reply, still lost in her daydream. Thankfully she managed to catch the glist of it and nobody noticed her face redding since she already looked like a tomato from the workout.

    "Ah, er, sounds good- Great! I mean that sounds great. Oh, but I don''t technically live in the Orphanage anymore. I mean that''s my official residence, but I practically sleepover at Itachi''s, I mean the Uchiha clan district now."

    Brilliant, bloody brilliant, great first impression, Julia, really smooth, lady killer.

    Of course, she was physically six so there was no way in hell she''d have managed to start anything with the other girl anyways, but that still hurt her pride a bit. She wasn''t the type to sleep around or one night stands, but Julia used to have girls hanging off her arms damnit!

    Yup, her self esteem just took a massive hit unbeknownst to either of her two teachers.

    While a certain little girl was busy berating herself, Kurenai could barely suppress her shock from showing. This girl was friends with Itachi? She wasn''t one for gossip, but even she has heard about how much of a genius that kid was and he was still in the academy for crying out loud. They were even close enough for the girl to have sleepovers at the clan that''s known for having antisocial and arrogant pricks?

    Frankly, that was way more mind-boggling than watching a six-year-old casually life 3 tons.

    To be able to break through that clan''s infamous no outsider policy, this little girl of Gai was more unique than Kurenai had thought. The only thing left to find out was if she had any lick of talent for Genjutsu, and whether the Chunin herself had any for teaching.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    <hr>

    After some words of encouragement, Gai had left in a hurry. He had a mission on the boarders it seems. Although the third shinobi war had recently ended, the Kyuubi attack had greatly weakened Konoha and tensions were still high, especially with Kumo and Iwa.

    She already knew that in another 4 years Kumo would pull some shit and attempt to kidnap Hinata. Hopefully, something could be done about that and Neji wouldn''t lose his dad, and with any luck, Hinata wouldn''t be as timid and could become stronger and faster. Julia planned on doing her damnest to help the poor girl and have her become a major player in the events to come. Hamura had better be ready to hand over his Chakra because Julia was not going to be cleaning up after his and Hagomoro''s shit while they sat back.

    "As you may already know, Genjutsu is the art of illusions. It was all about subtly and control, misdirections and trickery. While it may not be as satisfying as say, punching someone in the face like Taijutsu, or flashy and "cool" looking as Ninjutsu, however, it was still an incredibly useful and deadly art in the right hands."

    Suddenly a whiteboard appeared behind her new teacher''s back, while the rest of the world seemed to fade to black.

    "It does not actually change the world around us, but how we perceive it. What use is a powerful fighter without his sight? How well will their control over the elements maintain while the feeling of a thousand ants crawling beneath their skin be?"

    Two new figures appeared as a demonstration as soon as she said that. One a large and armored samurai swinging blinding in panic, his eyes wide but unseeing. Eventually, in his rashness, the man fell into a nearby stream. It wasn''t particularly deep nor were the currents very strong, even a child would be able to play in the area safely if they could swim, yet the man sunk beneath the depths, his heavy armor dragging him down until his struggles eventually stopped after a couple of agonizing minutes. He never knew that it was only a bit taller than he was, nor that the shore and salvation were merely a few feet away.

    Another one showed a kunoichi, her headband showing the symbol of Kumo, and she was an incredibly beautiful woman. Her skin was smooth and lightly tanned, her hair a platinum blonde tied in dreads, and her figure was almost spilling out of her flak jacket. Confident, sexy, and self-assured, her emerald eyes stared straight ahead with a look as if welcoming any obstacle to even dare attempt to stand in her way.

    It didn''t last very long.

    Before she knew it the woman suddenly started screaming her head off, scratching at her skin with long manicured nails. The blue polish soon got dyed in bloody crimson as her skin tore, but still the woman didn''t stop, if anything her scratching only got all the more intense. Tearing her own clothes off and rolling on the floor, she was simultaneously screaming and sobbing, begging for it to stop. Bloody clumps of hair were tugged off her scalp as she slammed into any and every surface she could in an attempt to stop the all-consuming itch. It was all in vail.

    Eventually, the madwoman reached for her own throat, tearing at it to escape her misery.

    Welp, I know what I''m going to be having nightmares about for the next 3 months... Or years.

    "Of course, causing direct harm isn''t the only method. Remember this one thing above all, even if you are to learn nothing else from me. In order to truly master Genjutsu to any meaningful extent, you must use your mind and be creative. There is no true "correct" method of using Genjutsu. In Taijutsu you have stances and forms, in Ninjutsu it either works or it doesn''t, but in Genjutsu you have full control and must exert and take advantage of every bit you can get."

    Suddenly more figures appeared and Julia was almost tempted to close her eyes or look away from it, but she knew that it was far too late for that. She had signed up for this life when she decided to be a ninja and it was better to get used too it.

    The scene was now a large bustling city and Kurenai and Julia were floating above it all. However one thing was odd, every building and person was colored in a slight green tint. The walls suddenly became slightly translucent and she could now see through the buildings. The first thing she noticed was someone glowing yellowing within a castle in the city''s center, and on the outskirt of the city was a figure with an ominous crimson light.

    The man went about his day as a vendor selling steamed meat buns. There was a sun and moon in this illusionary world, but soon everything seemed as if a movie someone had pressed fast forward on. Day and night circles shifted rapidly and she could see the same crimson man spending every day wandering around the castle.

    He was gathering information she realized.

    One day he killed a guard without a family and took his place. Was it weeks or months that passed, she couldn''t tell any longer, but she watched as the crimson man hang out with his friends, laugh, and impersonated the dead guard completely. Soon he managed to even get closer to the golden lord''s son, wiggling his way into both of their hearts, until the lord too was assassinated.

    The child never even knew that his loving father was buried in the backyard of the same garden he loved so much while an imposter took his place. The now Crimson lord started harassing a neighboring country, and soon the two entered into a long war. The reason behind it all? A false blood feud where the crimson lord planned the murder of the child and pinned the blame on the other side.

    Suddenly the world seemed to shatter before light returned and Julia found herself where she once was, the grassy hill. She didn''t even notice she was shaking until her knees knocked into each other and sent her flat on her ass, something that even a charging elephant wouldn''t necessarily manage to do. Her breath came quick, short, and hollow bursts.

    Although she knew she was hyperventilating she couldn''t stop.

    She could taste the sharp and bitter tang of bile rising up from the back of her throat but thankfully avoided puking, if only just barely. Tears started forming in her eyes and the world turned blurry, she was so distressed that she didn''t even notice Kurenai''s hand on her shoulder.

    Said Chunin was mentally kicking herself.

    It was obvious that she had fucked up, and big time. This was far too much far too early. She had forgotten that the war was over and she was still dealing with a child. The girl didn''t look nor act like any child she had seen before, she was as tall as Kurenai was two years ago and held herself like an adult, and so the red-eyed girl had treated her as such. She was careless and held too much expectation for the Wonder girl that Gai always boasted about, only further reinforced by the scene she had walked in on.

    Kurenai''s inexperience bit them both.

    Matters of the mind and body were far too different to compare, and she of all people should know how complicated and sometimes fragile the human psyche was. Ninjas generally don''t pray, after all, it was pretty much a certainty they were all going to hell anyway, but for once Kurenai hoped and prayed that the girl would be alright and forgive her as Julia blacked out in the training grounds.

 Chapter 12. Rose tinted eyes and opening new Doors

    She had never seen Gai mad before. He has always been a man who was naturally loud, but that stemmed from his passion and excitement. She had never even so much as seen Gai frown or look upset.

    And perhaps she never will, because what she had seen wasn''t Gai being annoying, or angry, or even pissed off.

    Gai was absolutely livid after he saw her condition and heard what happened with Kurenai. Coming back from a stressful week-long mission in what was basically a warzone only to hear that your student was traumatized and mind fucked would probably do that to a person, especially if said person who put them in that state was a friend you entrusted them too in the first place.

    She didn''t quite remember seeing Gai, but then again she didn''t remember much of those few days and was pretty unresponsive to most things. Even Itachi''s visit didn''t register nor Anko.

    Hell, the boy was so upset he managed to unlock his Sharingan!

    Talk about too op, plz nerf. He wasn''t supposed to have them until he was 8 and Obito killed his team. Things were already changing, hopefully for the better.

    Apparently she did have a bit of a reaction to Ichiraku''s ramen though. Who would''ve thought that the heir of the famed Uchiha clan and a prodigious 12-year-old Chunin couldn''t even compete with a bowl of noodles and soup?

    She did manage to convince them that it wasn''t Kurenai''s fault. Well not completely. Still, the friendship between Gai, Anko, and Kurenai was understandably strained from the incident.

    After two weeks of being hospitalized, she felt mostly better.

    Incredibly paranoid that everyone she met wasn''t who they actually were and a healthy fear of insects aside of course. Although it was completely justified paranoia, they taught goddamn 6-year-olds how to transform for god''s sake. She still tried to subtly test Itachi and Gai to prove that they were who they say they were at times though.

    Speaking of Gai, perhaps it was from all the guilt he felt having indirectly caused her situation, but he was spending far more time with her and was also more protective. It was both nice and horrible at the same time.

    Even for her, there was only so much Gai she could put up with at once before her social batteries drained.

    <hr>

    Julia was currently in training ground 32. It was pretty boring all in all, just a bunch of dirt everywhere and a bunch of rocky outcrops. She was currently on top of an especially tall and flat one, standing in the tradition Horse Stance with her legs spread far and forming right angles. It has been 3 hours and with the sun beaming down on her head she was soaked in sweat. Normally such an exercise wouldn''t be too much of an issue for her heavily conditioned body, that is if that was all she was doing.

    On her head, wrists, thighs, and shoulders were full teacups. The slightest twitch or wavering in her stance would surely send them spilling all over herself and crashing on the floor. She was also holding onto two incredibly heavy dumbells, and did she mention that Gai finally got her a lighter copy of his infamous orange weights? Like an idiot, she also asked for a pair for her arms.

    Oh, and she was also trying to keep this stupid leaf on her forehead while Shisui fucking Uchiha, the genius of the clan only matched by Itachi or Madara himself, was spamming Genjutsu after Genjutsu on her. It was complete horse shit that he could cast a Genjutsu in a goddamn second without any effort just by lookingat her.

    Seriously, he did it with such ease that he was laying on the ground reading a book! Every time she struggled to get out of one illusion he''d already be on the next chapter or two. A single glance at her and she''d be trapped once more and he''d simply go back to reading. He didn''t even like reading! She knows for a fucking fact that he was doing it simply to mess with her, but by gods if it wasn''t working.

    Hax, complete Haxs I say!

    It didn''t help that she was only at half a tank in the Chakra department, thanks to her ingenious idea and no small amount of puppy dog eyes.

    She managed to convince Gai to teach her the bread and butter of all Naruto fanfics and power fantasy. The Shadow clone Jutsu! She could make 3 max, but apparently that was already incredibly impressive since making even one was frankly considered impossible at her age.

    Well unless you were a Jinchuriki perhaps. Or a monster like Kisame?

    She was pretty sure Gai didn''t actually expect her to be able to do it and was simply humoring her. It was a dangerous technique after all. All, all her Chakra control and training had paid off.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    While her real body was busy training on warding off and detecting Genjutsu from a pro, Itachi and her were having a Genjutsu match so she could also practice using it. Anko and her third clone were off doing who the hell knows what at this point.

    She took a peek at the sun overhead.

    It was almost lunchtime.

    It''s ok Julia, just a bit more now. Soon you''ll be able to sit down and enjoy some good old Ichiraku... Then again it''s really friggin hot. Was ice cream a thing in this world..? And if not, could I make it one? Honestly, I should learn to shut my goddamn mouth and stop giving hypothetical suggestions or ideas to the training maniac crazy enough to actually do it. Worst of all, or best depending on how you look at it, it was actually working! I almost feel sorry for Lee, the poor bastard doesn''t know what''s coming for him because of his amazingly smart Sempai keeps egging on Gai.

    She managed topersevere through sheer will power, and no little amount of hypnotizing herself with images of all the food she could eat after this hell was over. Maybe she could convince Mikoto to take her and Itachi on a sweets binge eating session?

    She''d need the energy for when they moved on to having her do this while water walking.

    <hr>

    "You. Fucking. Treacherous. Whore."

    The sheer venom within those words was almost palpable. The target of all her rage and hatred jumped in surprise at the sudden hiss before turning around and sending a deadpan stare at the girl.

    "Wouldn''t that make you a treacherous whore too, considering, ya know, I''m a clone of you and all?"

    "Silence knave! Shadow clones don''t even need to eat. Repent for your sins!" With a bone shatter kick, the clone was sent flying far into the sky before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Julia couldn''t believe the nerve of the creature, sitting here and relaxing, eating her food, with her money, all while she had to work her ass off sweating in the goddamn sun and dealing with Shisui''s smug grinning face.

    The sound of a baby''s giggle brought her out of her stewing thoughts.

    "Well, hello there Sasuke, did ya miss me? Did ya?"

    Judging by the giggle she got, due to no small part of her finger rubbing his belly, it was a definite yes. Mikoto didn''t say anything and just seemed to be amused with the byplay she just witnessed. Thankfully she still brought out a fresh plate of fruits so that the real Julia could enjoy some this time.

    "How did your training session go this today, dear?"

    "Same as always, it sucked balls, but I can feel myself getting stronger so I can''t complain."

    "Oh, I''m sure you''ll find a way to do it anyway, kind of like how you just did five seconds ago."

    "Well, you know what they say. Where there''s a will, there''s a way and all that jazz."

    Mikoto simply quirked a brow in amusement at the unfamiliar phrase, but she was used to the weird girl by now and just nodded in acceptance. Julia couldn''t be bothered to pretend to be normal anymore or watch her words. She had gotten close to the Uchiha family, heck the guess room was practically her''s by now at this point. Plus she already learned that Ninjas weren''t normal anyway and a few quirks here and there was actually less suspicious. Only weaklings and losers were neurotypical.

    "So, got any more work for me today, Mikoto?" Julia had felt bad about basically freeloading off Itachi''s family, she was still mentally an adult after all and mooching off someone and taking advantage of their kindness rubbed her the wrong way. Which was why she had taken to doing chores for them and helping around the compound.

    Babysitting, cleaning up trash, gardening, picking up groceries, simply D rank stuff. And if some of them happened to insist on giving her free food or gifts, who was she to deny?

    Granny Ami was really good at baking. Likereally good. She had been trying to weasel the recipe out of the woman''s bony death grip for weeks now, even dragging Itachi and turning on the Cuteness-o-Meter up to a 13 to no avail. She wouldn''t give up though, one way or another Julia will get her hands on the secret behind those pastries. It was only a matter of time.

    Juliapractically knew everyone within the district by name and face by now and vice versa. It didn''t hurt that the more they got used too or liked her the more likely she''ll be able to influence them and prevent the massacre. Time to abuse the Shadow clones Jutsu.

    <hr>

    "Aren''t you abusing the Shadow clone Jutsu too much?"

    "Why, whatever could you ever mean mi compadre~?"

    "Mi cumpaday? What?"

    She had to suppress a giggle looking at his confused face.

    "It''s nothing, anyways what do you mean?"

    Anko just gave a sigh at her friend''s behavior. It''s been a few months since they met and she still held firmly to the belief she had all that time ago.

    What a weird little girl...

    "I mean ya haven''t gone to the academy once ever since ya learned it."

    And that was absolutely true. She had better things to do than play around with stupid kids all day. Also, the bully Yaki made it a point to pick a fight with her every time they meet. The idiot just wouldn''t learn and kept coming back like some B rated villain. If Itachi wanted to deal with it then good for him, but she''ll pass.

    "Why, whatever do you mean~? I haven''t missed a single day! In fact, I''m there right now~"

    Actually, Julia and Itachi already took the graduation exam ages ago. They could graduate whenever they felt like it. 3 Months to graduate from school has got to be a record, right? She was only still going in hopes that Itachi would change his mind about staying longer. On one hand, she slightly hoped to be on the same team, on the other she didn''t want to change the future too much and invalidate her knowledge. Then again she already fucked that up in regards to Itachi since he unlocked his eyes two years early.

    Ah, the dilemmas of knowing the future.

    "Stop talking all cutesy like that, it''s pretty gross hearing it coming from a little shit like you."

    "Your ass must be pretty damn loose then if something my size is considered little."

    "What did ya just say, bitch?"

    "I know you are, but what am I?"

    Julia still insists that she would''ve won the scuffle if she wasn''t unused to the weights. Anko is pretty certain that Julia looks adorable with her head poking out of a giant snake summon''s mouth.

 Chapter 13. Genin at last

    "Congratulations, Julia Rose. From this day forth you are an official Genin of Konohagakure, may the will of fire burn strong within you. Your Sensei shall be here momentarily. Good luck."

    The middle-aged man left after he finished his parting words. She didn''t really pay attention to his speech and only tuned back in at the end. Frankly, the man was dull and boring and didn''t make much of an impression, she couldn''t even remember his name, and within a few weeks, she doubted she could recall his face.

    Still, she wondered how her team was going to be. She didn''t know much about them besides the fact that Team 5 had been together for 3 years now and was led by an experienced Jounin. Their third member had unfortunately died in the Chunin Exam hosted in Iwa recently which was why she was being sent to fill in the empty spot. Hopefully, she wouldn''t have to wait too long-

    "You must be Julia," She jumped in surprise and tossed her desk at the voice that appeared behind her. The man gave a whistle at the shocking show of strength even as he casually ducked his head. "Impressive arms you got there, girlie. Name''s Ito Aizawa, call me whatever you prefer. Anyways, daylight is burning so let''s get going and meet up with the other two."

    A large man rested on her shoulders for a brief moment, a blink of an eye later and she found herself sitting down in a BBQ joint, the grill was on high and there was already plates of meat laying on the table. Onher right-hand sideof the table was a boy wearing sunglasses and a dull green hoodie, and a brown turtleneck that covered the bottom half of his face. He was also wearing a black bandana with his Shinobi headband sewed on top. She couldn''t see his eyes but she felt as if his stare was drilling a hole on the side of her head, he was obviously an Aburame just judging by his fashion sense.

    On her left was a young Akimichi boy, his brown hair was long and pulled into a messy ponytail, on either side of his cheeks were a blue stripe that ran from his cheeks down to his chin, and just like the rest of his clan, he was rather tall and large. He obviously didn''t bother to wait for Aizawa-sensei or their new member to join because his plate was already piled high with all kinds of different cuts of meat.

    "..."

    "..."

    The silence would''ve been absolute if it wasn''t for the constanthiss of sizzling meat andchewing by the resident''s competitive eater, too engrossed in the food to pay attention to anything else. She didn''t expect much from Shino''s family, they were always a quiet and creep lot, but at least her new Sensei could''ve said something to break the ice, right?!

    But nope, the old man with greying sideburns was content to just observe.

    Julia was saved from the crushing awkwardness when she heard some barking. She turned her head and suddenly she felt her heart seize. There were two dogs sitting next to her Sensei, one an incredibly large and fluffy Malamute, and the other a small Terrier sitting on the other''s head like a little hat.

    She stared at them for a small eternity before glancing at her Sensei. Turning her head to the dogs. To the Sensei. To the Dogs. To the Sensei. Rapidly flickering her eyes and practicallywilling him to agree to her unspoke request. Evidently any student of Gai would not lack will power or sheer presence and the mansoon complied.

    Soon as she saw his nod she promptly ignored her weird team and went straight towards her target. Ninken were specially trained and bred dogs that had an assortment of abilities, one of them being increased intelligence to a human level. She slowly approached and raised her hand letting them sniff her. The Terrier didn''t seem to care too much and went to sleep, while the Malamute seemed excited and licked her small hand.

    It was wonderful because she soon found herself buried in a sea of softness and fluff. Quite literally you couldn''t see hide nor hair of the little girl after she went to glomp the canine. She turned her face into his white coat, some fur tickling her nose, as she whispered against him.

    "Not to be dramatic or anything, but you''re so precious and I want you to know that. I would die for you."If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    "Shiromaru. The lazy one is Haru," Evidently she wasn''t quite soft enough. "By the way, I''m glad you''re so fond of my two friends, but we''re in a restaurant, mind getting off the floor?"

    She sat there for another minute or two before deciding to compile. It was justso soft and warm! Alas, the moment was over and now she had to deal with people. Being an adult was such a chore sometimes.

    "Sorry about that. My name is Julia Rose, it''s very nice to meet you, I hope to get along well with everyone."

    "There is no need to apologize, Rose-san. While your display was quite rude and bizarre, it is to be expected from a child your age, so do not worry. My name is Muta Aburame, and I too hope to get along with you."

    She had no words to reply to that. While she knew that blatantly ignoring someone to play with their dogs wasn''t polite... Did he really have to call her out on it if he thought it was ok since she was a kid?! Speaking of being rude, the brunet was still busy scarfing down food, chewing loudly and with his mouth open so as to be able to constantly shovel down more.

    A kick to the shin by Aizawa and a yelp of pain fixed that.

    "The name''s Bao, Akimichi Bao. It''s nice to meet you too or whatever."

    Well, if that wasn''t off-putting. She would''ve thought being in a team with 15-year-olds would''ve meant they were more socially adjusted, but nope so far it seemed to suck just as bad as the academy.

    "Now now, don''t be like that. Sorry squirt, the kid''s just being a grumpy pants. You know what they say about getting in between an Akimichi and their meal and all. Come on, order whatever you want, it''s my treat today to celebrate the reformation of Team 5!"

    The man didn''t have a chance to take back his offer before two voices simultaneously shouted for more food, the orders came in rapid-fire. The poor fool should''ve known better than to offer an all you can eat when there was an Akimichi presence. It didn''t help that Julia could eat with the best of them after going through Gai''s rigorous training and strict diet. She so rarely had the chance to eat whatever she wanted and she was going to milk this for as much as she could, which was quite a lot even after her 23rd plate of ribs.

    Honestly, food was such a good way to bond, since she quickly became friends with the boy after an eating contest. Muta was going to take some more time.

    <hr>

    "Seriously? I can believe you''re making us do this. And so many too!"

    "Well, I can''t believe you two knuckleheads ate 600$ of food, each! Besides, Julia is still a fresh Genin, remember? Take this time to get to know each other and teamwork, or something."

    "You were the one who offered, old man! Besides, if you''re so poor, then let''s do some low C rank missions. A simple escort! Low danger, easy experience, and a hell of a lot more pay. What could go wrong?"

    The bickering Akimichi said in self-assurance with his genius idea. Memories about another certain knuckleheaded ninja flashed through her mind, and she didn''t know whether to laugh or cry because chances are, tempting fate would just end up with her being hospitalized.

    It''d be just her luck that the moment she walked outside those walls they''d get jumped by a gang of missing-nins or Obito would swoop down and kidnap her, or some mad scientist would cut her open.

    Incredibly unlikely? Yes. Implausible? Also yes. Impossible? Hell no.

    She wasn''t going to risk her life just because this was the fourth garden she had to weed today for pocket change. At least she was actually getting paid unlike what she was already doing at the Uchiha District.

    "Huh? Oh hey, what''s up Julia? Whatcha doing down here?"

    Anko had seen her friend while roof hopping and decided to pop by and say hi. She gave a slight wave to the other members of the team before squatting down next to the little girl covered in grass and dirt.

    "What''s it look like? I''m pulling out weeds for my mission."

    Deadpan looks were exchanged.

    "No shit,Sherlock, I meant why the hell you were doing it yourself? Doesn''t your lazy ass normally use Shadow clones for this kind of crap?"

    Julia felt her lips twitch in a slight smile at hearing her friend using her slang. Poor Anko didn''t even know who the hell Sherlock was. Unfortunately, her brief amusement shattered and her face turned blank at hearing the second part.

    "..."

    "..."

    The mid-summer sun was blazing down upon the 5 of them, yet it felt as if a sudden cold breeze had passed by.

    "Wait, what the fuck? You can use Shadow Clones!? How?! Why?!"

    "...Impressive."

    "Holy shit kid, why didn''t you say something sooner? We could''ve been done ages ago!"

    "...First of all, fuck you. Secondly, I love ya Anko, and last... I forgot, ok?"

    She felt like she almost got a concussion from how hard she had face palmed after remembering that she could, in fact, make clones of herself and didn''t have to be sweating like a pig doing cheap manual labor. A series of groans and some questions later and her team had officially completed 11 D rank missions.

    Being able to be literally at 6 places at the same time was pretty damn helpfully, and apparently you didn''t need to have your team with you to accept most D ranks since they were so easy. Oh yeah, she was ringing in the big bucks now, painting one fence at a time.

    Time to buy some gifts for a certain clan of antisocial pyromaniacs.

 14. I know.

    "Summoning Jutsu!"

    A large cloud of smoke filled the clear before quickly dispersing to reveal a massive snake. The was covered in large brown scale, each the size of her palm, and its gleaming yellow eyes were larger than her head. The creature was more akin or a train than anything of flesh and blood, and unfortunately, it moved with the force of one too.

    "You''ve gotta be shitting me, wtf? This is like three times the size of what you could do last time!"

    Julia promptly turned around and booked it, the serpent hot on her heels. She could hear the distinct laughter of her friend Anko who was sitting on top of the thing''s head as if it was a couch rather than the bloodthirsty monster trying to kill Julia that it was.

    "Haha, I know, isn''t it great? I''ve been training. Say hello to My Little Friend." Terrible Terminator impression aside, she really needed to stop trying to be a memelord in another world, because all these movie quotes and other shit kept coming back to bite her in the ass.

    An hour-long chase went by before Anko dismissed the damn thing. Julia just flopped to the floor, uncaring of the dirt. She was too exhausted to give a flying fuck at the moment.

    "Wheew! What. A. Workout. Amiright?"

    Her shit-eating grin pissed Julia off almost as much as the fact that Anko didn''t even do anything besides laying on the snake''s head the entire time. Which was why she didn''t feel bad at all when she slithered her right hand around the snake summoner''s ankle and yanked her off her feet.

    The surprised yelp before the groan of pain was music to her ears.

    "Say, Anko?"

    A muffled grunt answered her, the other person too busy with her face planted in the ground and trying not to eat grass. A prod with her foot at the other girl''s side prompted the Chunin to roll over on her side and look at Julia.

    "Argh, what do ya want, you little shit?"

    "I want to be Chunin."

    "Well, yeah, you and every other Genin I know."

    "No, I mean... I want to enter the upcoming Chunin Exams."

    Suddenly the look of annoyance on the purple-haired girl was wiped away and replaced by concern. This was something serious, so she quickly sat up and looked at the younger girl across from her. Clear blue eyes filled with determination. She wasn''t kidding...

    "...Why? Julia, you don''t have to rush things. You and Itachi are already leaps and bounds ahead of the others, and I don''t mean for your age group, even most Genin wouldn''t hold a candle to either of you. Hell, most Chunin wouldn''t be able to keep up with yours or Gai''s insane pace."

    "I know."

    "And you might think the flak jacket is cool and everything, but it''s not. Seriously, I don''t even wear mine, its so hideous, and its heavy and green. Although Gai wears green too, so maybe you actually like it? But like the difference between Chunin and Genin isn''t even that large! Just more responsibility and crap to do. And-"

    She watched as Anko rambled not dissimilar to the first time they met. She listened patiently as her friend tried to not so subtly dissuade her, but as the minutes ticked by and the ranting became more incoherent she placed a hand over the other''s mouth.

    Brown met blue.

    "People die all the time in those. Even the last member of your team. I looked it up when you told me, ya know? Poor bastard died in Suna''s desert. There''s not even a body left to bury. This year it will be hosted in Kiri. The Bloody Mist. Those fucks, they don''t mess around Julia. Even their Genin exam involves a battle to the death for god''s sake. Little kids killing each other. They don''t give a shit about their own, survival of the fittest and all, and they certainly don''t give a fuck about some foreigners. They''ll happily push you into hell or devour you themselves."Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    Anko already expected the girl''s answer, Julia was a girl that regularly threw herself into suicidal training after all, but she felt as if she had to try and convince her not too anyways.

    "Thanks, Anko. It''s a bit nice having someone worry about you, but I need to do this."

    She almost felt like crying then and there. Her friend was strong, talented, and brave, but at the end of the day, she was still just a kid. The casualty rates of the Hidden Mist village was infamously high. 78% It was to the point that most villages rarely bothered sending any significant amount of Genins or of true worth.

    "Why? In just 3, no 2 years. 2 at most, with your skills you could surely become Chunin. It''s practically a guarantee, so why risk ya life just to get a worthless rank a bit earlier than you already would?!"

    The Chunin couldn''t hold in the tears anymore, and underneath the bandages, she wrapped around her neck, an ominous red glow appeared. Orochimaru''s cursed seal.

    Julia bit her lips at the sight until she tasted the metallic tang of blood. She wrapped her arms around Anko just like she did all those months again, rubbing her back and trying to calm her down.

    "I''ll be alright, Anko. I''m strong!" She made a show of flexing her biceps, and although they both knew she could probably pick up a tree and wack someone with it if the whim ever occurred, it was still a humorous sightseeing a six-year old''s pudgy arms doing bodybuilder poses. "I''ll be alright, Anko. Everything will be fine, I''ll come back. I promise."

    It seemed childish to be comforted like so, especially by someone so much younger, but she didn''t mind. Pride be damned if she didn''t feel much more at ease hearing the words.

    "You promise..?"

    "Of course! I will come back to you, I won''t leave you alone. I never abandon my friends, because that''s my Nindo, my Ninja way!"

    At least it is now.

    Seeing how distressed the other was at the prospect of her leaving, she knew that she had become a crutch holding up the other''s psyche. Abandonment issues, insecurities, anxieties, she couldn''t leave least the other falls apart. Originally she had planned to rush through Chunin and Jounin so as to have more freedom of movement and political weight so to speak. It would also allow her to take missions outside of the village and manipulate some events. However, she had no regrets in throwing away her carefully crafted plans in light of this new development.

    Things had changed and she wasn''t alone anymore, she couldn''t forget why she was working so hard. She''d protect everyone.

    <hr>

    Thankfully her other friends had taken the news much better than Anko and were all for helping her prepare. Even Mikto and the Uchiha clan offered their aid, giving her limited access to their library. For a clan well known for their photographic memory and being "Jutsu thieves" so didn''t think anyone actually realized the extent of that title. Seriously it was like an underground maze! It was too bad that she wasn''t focusing on Ninjutsu, or else this would''ve been a goldmine. Still, she did manage to find some cool tricks involving Shurikens and Kunai handling. Quite a bit on Genjutsu too, but unfortunately those were sparse. It made sense considering all everyone in the clan really needed was to look at someone to cast it after unlocking the Sharingan.

    So, all in all everyone was plenty helpful. Well, besides her teammates and Aizawa-sensei. They understandable thought she was being stupid and crazy. To be fair they hadn''t actually seen her do much besides using clones to do chores or other D rank missions.

    "... You want me to do wut now?"

    "Seriously? Pay attention Shisui, I need your help! For the third time, I''m going to poison myself, and if it looks like I''m dying I need you to give me this antidote and take me to the hospital."

    "That''s what I thought you said the first time... Let me rephrase, why the fuck are you poisoning yourself?!"

    "One, I''m building up a tolerance, two I get to practice some Iryojutsu to extract poison and another to heal. Anyways, I''m starting now so watch carefully in case something happens."

    "What, no, I didn''t agree to this dumbass plannnn- and she roofied herself. Nice."

    It was going to be a long and frustrating day for one Shisui Uchiha as he had to watch over his friend''s idiotic training. They both had gotten an earful from the doctors after they found out what the two were up too, especially after the 7th trip. However, Julia somehow convinced them to allow the two shinobi to get their own room for the day.

    After all, she was going to keep going whether they wanted too or not, so why not offer some help to make sure the idiotic girl didn''t end up killing herself?

    He wishes he didn''t agree to help her in place of Anko who had gone on a mission. Why didn''t Itachi had to deal with this bullshit? What had he done wrong to be punished in this way? Sure he killed people, and might have burned down some houses, and implanted false evidence to instigate tension and possible war with some countries, but-

    ... Oh... Karma was a bitch, after all

 Chapter 15. The Will of Fire, a Forgotten Master pt 1.

    5 months. Not even half a year, but that was all the time she had to prepare for the Chunin Exams. She wasn''t too concerned about passing or not to be honest. The main reason she wanted the quick promotion was already nulled. However she still needed to make a good impression, no, she needed to be absolutely unforgettable. Ironic considering she was a ninja and all, especially since doing so would only paint a large target on her back. Who knows where Obito would be hiding, and for all, she knew the fourth Mizukage was already his pawn.

    But she had no choice, she needed Konoha to acknowledge her strength. Something completely undeniable, she must become a vital asset. Only then can she sway the villagers and the members of the Uchiha clan. Only then could she help rid their stigma and help Anko. And only then could she become Anbu.

    The Special Ops of the shinobi villages, ones who carried out deeds directly under the order of the Hokage for the safety of the village. The true darkness within the elemental countries.

    But she didn''t plan to stop there, no she needed to plunge into the abyss. Root. The age-old adage still rang true after all, "Keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer", she''ll clip the wings off that old Warhawk right by his side. She already had some plans and countermeasures in mind.

    Of course, that was something for the future. She wasn''t Itachi or Kakashi, she had no doubt she''d drown if she tried swimming in the dark as she was now. All she could do was sharpen her fangs and prepare for the day when the newest Green Beast of Konoha gets to hunt.

    "Welcome to the Iron Fang, how may I be of assistance?"

    "Good morning, Hagane-san. I''m here to pick up my order."

    "Ah, well if it isn''t little Julia-chan. Give me just one moment and I''ll fetch it for yalickety-split."

    The shop keeper was polishing ashort sword lacking anything of note, not even a handguard. Rather than making it shine, the blade seemed to grow dull, almost as if it were made ofcheap plastic rather than cold steel. He carefully lifted it up into the air, moving it around to make sure he didn''t miss a single spot. Even when he pointed the edge directly at the sun and tried to angle it, not a single gleam of light reflected off the grey surface.The man had a satisfied look on his face as he placed the now perfected sword back onto the countertop.

    A perfectly nondescript sword for a nameless assassin.

    The balding older man looked as if a gust of wind could knock him, he must''ve been pushing 60 or 70. He turned around and went to retrieve something from the back of the store. She could faintly hear some boxes being moved and a quiet curse before the man let out an exclamation. He soon came back out holding onto a wooden box.

    "Sorry about that lassie, my mind''s not what it used to be and I had forgotten where I placed it!" He gave out a loud laugh before handing it over to her. She opened it to find a pair of metal nunchaku. She lifted them up and actually had let out a small grunt at the surprising amount of effort it took. A closer look at the now-empty box revealed deep grooves indented within the thick wood from the sheer weight of the weapon.

    The old man was stronger than she thought.

    "-enough?"

    "Huh?"

    She was so taken by her new toy that she didn''t catch what he just said.

    "I asked if that was enough weight? I know you specifically requested I use the heaviest thing I got to make them, but those around 300 pounds, girlie, and I mean per segment."

    1200 lb. That was half the weight of her car back on Earth, far more than enough to crush a person, especially considering how it was condensed into such a small amount of volume. Still, with each link of the nunchaku being a foot long this more than made up for that fact that she was so young and her limbs lacked the reach necessary to make full use of her strength. Julia had also requested a certain function. With a brief burst of Chakra, the links locked up together to form a staff. She could now use it as a pair of short quarterstaffs or a single longer Bo staff.

    "It''s perfect, thank you very much Hagane-san! I''ll catch ya later!"

    "Sure thing kiddo, have fun with those and try not to break anything!"

    If it was anyone else he would''ve been worried about them being broken for using such an absurd tool, not even Gai''s were that ridiculous! He should know considering he was the one who crafted his Soshuga, The Twin Fangs. Of course, the man probably didn''t need the added weight anyways, each of his blows held the weight of a mountain behind them. Hagane was willing to bet his damn shop that the crazy man could punch a Biju into submission!

    The Green Beast of Konoha was powerful indeed even if most tended to overlook the worth of Taijutsu. He was probably one of the best masters of the art in the elemental countries, just shy of one man!

    <hr>

    "It''s a beautiful day for a run isn''t it, my dear apprentice?"

    "Hai, Gai-sensei!"

    She wasn''t quite sure ifdoing laps around Konoha village on their hands counted as "running" but she wasn''t willing to question the man. Besides, she needed to save her breath to finish the 300 laps the man insisted on doing at the crack of dawn. At first, she had felt pity for the future that awaited Lee when he grew up, but now she felt a self admittedly sick sense of anticipation and joy at the thought.

    Yes, you''ll suffer as I had. No, wait, I''ll get even better at healing. I''ll make sure to heal you every time your body breaks down too, my dear little Kouhai to be. Naruto too if I can help it. I''ll make a Solider pill 3, no 5, no 100 times more effective too. A month-long nonstop training marathon, muahahaha!

    Her body kept moving and ducking through the crowd on autopilot and muscle memory even as her mind was occupied with fantasies of child abuse. Because the hypothetical training she was imagining had long ago stopped toeing the line anymore but had all but swan divedright pass it.

    The more powerful your healing, the higher your stamina, the greater your determination, the more you''ll suffer. She knew it first hand all too well because even as she planned unjustifiedsadistic vengeance for her self imposed misery, she made sure to keep a leaf stuck on her forehead and balance the two teacups on the sole of her feet. Not even when she occasionally swiveled out of the way of civilians or running children did a drop spill out.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    Their lap ended at the top of the Hokage monument, which involved hiking up a steep and rocky path through a forest because of course nothing could even be easy. At least she didn''t have to fight off an angry bear this time.

    "Yosh! Nothingbetter than a good run to get your blood flowing in the morning, am I right Julie?"

    "Hm," At least the tea served more than an annoyance for her since she got to enjoy some refreshing jasmine right after the workout. She wordlessly handed the other cup to her sensei.

    "Ah, yes, thank you. Let us take a quick breather before we continue, the scenery up here has always been one of my favorite."

    The Genin fully agreed with that sentiment. Without all the pollution of the city like back home, the air was always fresh and carried a hint of flowers. It was the beginning of spring and the land of fire was filled with forests and plant life. She could see the rising sun turning the sky a burnished orange. It was breathtaking seeing the cold gain a golden sheen. She sent a bit of Chakra to enhance her already superhuman eyesight to take it all in. Even the sight of civilization in the form of Konoha didn''t diminish from the sight of natural beauty, in fact, it strangely meshed well together, like perfect harmony between man and nature. She could see kids waking up to go to school, people getting ready for their day, and smell the scent of herbs and spices as the market place came alive.

    This. This was her home now, this was what she was working so hard to protect. It was humbling to see it all, to know she was now part of something bigger than herself.

    "It''s beautiful."

    "Isn''t it? I want you to take it all in Julie, I want you to remember this scene, this moment. This is what we''re all fighting to protect," His thumb flicked his forehead protect on the village''s symbol. "Not just the people you know, not just your neighbors, your friends or even your family. We protecteveryone because here, in Konohagakure, everyone is family. I want you to remember these words, they are what our village was founded upon. The ideals of the previous generation spanning from the time of the Shodai, Hashirama Senju-sama. It''s our will to carry on in the face of any hardship or adversity. Shinobi are those who endure and it''s that will to protect that makes us strong, and today I want to pass the torch to you."

    "...The Will of Fire,"The words came out in a whisper of quiet awe but the impact of them was earth-shaking. Those cliche and childish words, the trope that is always made fun of "The Power of Friendship!", those words suddenly didn''t seem so light-hearted and childish now. Because sheunderstood now. The amount of strength of will and character, to be willing to suffer endless hardships, to even willingdiewith no hesitation or regrets for something.

    Suddenly all her past complaints rang hollow in her ears, like the tantrum of the child she now was.

    "Yes, my dear. The strength one can find when they are fighting for something important to them, that is something special, and no amount of powerful foes or power Jutsu will ever be able to match up. I''ve watched you grow, struggling and crawling, carving your own path in this world of ours and I couldn''t be prouder of you."

    The tears of joy trailing down his face were like a sucker punch to her gut. It didn''t appear over exaggerate or silly, the burning sincerity within his clear eyes was obvious, and she felt her own eyes mist up. It was indescribable, to have someone so happy for you that they''d cry, tosee how deeply they care for you.

    "You never gave in, you never gave up, and even though every day you were going through hell you didn''t hesitate to ask for more. Always seeking the next challenging and a new mountain to conquer. You''ve become a fine Shinobi, and I believe its time I gave you another tool to help you succeed."

    Suddenly Gai wiped his eyes with the back of his hands before looking deeply into her eyes.

    "I''m going to show you the secret of the Goken. It is an incredibly powerful move, but it is as dangerous as the strength it grants. A double-edged sword that could even cause your death. I want you to promise me that you''ll use it only as a last resort, to protect something that is precious to you, something that you would be willing to give your life for."

    Her reply was obvious, and so her training hell was ramped up all the way from a nice and steady 57 to an 89. Of course, that was out of a 10 scale. One does not surpass the body''s limits via the Eight Gates by being lazy after all.

    <hr>

    "Did you just get mauled by another bear? You look like shit."

    A flipped middle finger was all Bao got in reply, although she knew he didn''t actually know what it meant. To him, it was just another one of the thousands of hand signs shinobi used. She''d love to see how he''d look after spending the last few hours sparing with Gai and fighting in The Forest of Death.

    "Oh, haha, bite me, dickhead."

    "Ya know, us Akimichi may have large appetites and are always up for trying strange or exotic food, but even we have standards. I wouldn''t put something dirty in my mouth. Besides, I don''t like other''s leftovers and it seems that bear did a pretty good job going at it."

    "Alright tough guy, what do you say we have a nice friendly spar?"

    Her grin was anything but nice, however, Bao''s pride couldn''t stand him refusing and backing down from a fight, especially against a little girl. They both knew it was an obvious trap that he was going to willingly step in anyways.

    "Bring it on, I guess I''ll be finishing what the bear started on after all."

    "Heh, becare of biting off more than you can chew dumbass, you wouldn''t want to choke."

    "... Must you two always fight whenever Aizawa-sensei is absent?"

    "Oh shit!"

    "What the flipping fuck?! When did you get here Muta?"

    "..."

    Their now mildly depressed teammate merely pointed to a spot on their right. They both turned their heads and gave a sheepish laugh at seeing all the jars and bags laying around and the clearly flattened patch of grass.

    Seriously, what the fuck? I''ve been honing my senses like crazy and I can recognize this guy''s Chakra after all this time we''ve spent together, how does he keep popping out of nowhere?!

    "Sorry," for once they pair were in sync as this wasn''t a first-time occurrence and honestly they did feel bad about not noticing him.

    "It is alright, I do not mind. Rather I should "get over it already" as others would say. It should be an expected outcome by this point and I should stop hoping for different. One can not become disappointed if they lack expectations or hope after all."

    After another series of apologies and all but prostrating for forgiveness, the third member of Team 5 volunteered to referee the upcoming match. They went to training ground 18 this time, a small grassy plain with a small forest enclosing it. The only notable feature was a small brook that passed through the middle. The two fighters stood on opposite sides of the stream 60 feet apart and slowly stretched their arms while waiting for the starting signal.

    "Ready...? Good. 3. 2. 1. Commence the battle!"

    "Multi-Size Jutsu: Human Bullet Tank!"

    The Akimichi suddenly grew more than 4 fold, his clothes somehow growing with him. Most of the growth was centered around his torso causing him to appear as if a large ball, or a blue boulder when taking his shirt into account. Head and limbs disappeared within the mass, and he began to rapidly spin, gaining speed as he went charging towards her.

    It would''ve been a lot funnier if the experience Chunin wasn''t living up to the Jutsu''s name.

    The damn thing really was like a destructive tank, mowing down any tree that was unfortunate enough to be unable to get out of the way. Ergo, fucking all of them. She had tried to use the tree as cover and to hopes to slow down the mad bull, but it was in vain. Still, it gave her a lot more room to maneuver compared to the open field.

    Today she had decided to train without using Taijutsu or Ninjutsu. It was a way to help her temper her skills and make use of her other abilities, but she was currently cursing at how limited she was. It was a good wake up call, it wouldn''t do to find herself without a method to fight when she couldn''t punch something, like a Jinchuriki.

    She had cast a simple Genjutsu in order to make the boy chase an illusion of her, but that would only serve to stall for time. Julia regretted not learning more offensive based Iryojutsu. Spewing out a poison mist having paralyzing touch would be really useful right about now!

    What was she going to do?

 Chapter 16. The Will of Fire, a Forgotten Master pt 2.

    An idea popped into her head after watching Bao basically roll around in circles for five minutes. If she couldn''t hurt him, she''d just have to get him to hurt himself.

    She pulled out a roll of ninja wire and got to work setting her trap. Bao would no doubt notice the oddity of her Genjutsu soon so she had no time to waste.

    "Kai!"

    The shout was followed by a burst of Chakra, dispelling the Genjutsu Julia had placed Bao. Sadly, her preparations were already completed.

    "Took you long enough, did ya have fun rolling around in the dirt, ya big meatball?" She threw some Kunais at him, and just as expected the bounced off his bulky frame, still they did what she wanted and got his attention. Like an oncoming train, he rushed towards her, upturning the dirt and grass and leaving an ugly scar on the field as he went.

    The kunoichi didn''t move, and just as it looked as if she was going to end up sharing the same fate as everything else that had stood in the Akimichi''s warpath her pinkie finger twitched and the giant was stopped.

    The trees surrounding them groaned slightly, bending ever slightly forward, but with that small movement the ninja wires wrapped around their frame and the complex web of steel was revealed, and the poor boy had just been caught by the spider. Like a puppeteer, Julia''s finger danced through the air, causing the formation of strings to shift and tighten.

    The boy didn''t quit however and popped out one arm from his sleeve.

    "Partial Expansion Jutsu!"

    His right arm morphed until it looked better fitted on a giant. Goliath''s fist swung towards her face, but a wall of thread blocked its path, causing him to grunt in pain. He had only managed to cause the wires to squeeze him tighter.

    "Match! Winner, Julia!"

    "So, how''d you like your can of Whoop Ass?"

    "That was a cheap shot. When the heck did you start using Genjutsu and traps? Don''t you normally walk up and punch things? The hell?"

    "We''re ninjas, remember? If ya ain''t cheating ya ain''t trying. Besides, just because I like the satisfying feeling of cartilage crunching beneath my fist doesn''t mean that''s all I know how to use. Anyways stop your crying and come over here so I can patch you up."

    Not that she really planned to use Genjutsu as anything more than a way to further train her Chakra control. She aimed to surpass Tsunade which means being the best Medical-Ninja in the world. She has a pretty darn good head start, what with her 6 years of schooling to be a doctor, but that was for being a general practitioner. She didn''t know jack squat about most of the chemistry or surgical procedures involved to say the least about the functions of Chakra in healing.

    Well, that and to use other Yin Release Jutsus... If she could get her fucking hands any at least. She was naturally gifted in Yin because of her abundant Spiritual Energy from being a reincarnation. Nothing on the level of Sasuke or Naruto, but it came with its own perks. Her Taijutsu training also gave her a massive boost in Stamina and Physical Energy, so in theory, she should have a good amount of Yang too.

    At least she thinks she did? Did having a shit ton of Yang Energy even mean you have or could use Yang Release?

    She didn''t remember Gai ever using anything related to that, but the dude doesn''t really use Ninjutsu period and she was lacking other examples. The Uchiha clan tended to have Yin Release but they rared did anything with it, preferring to set their enemies on fire instead. A mindset she could agree with but unfortunately wasn''t too helpful to her predicament.

    The downside of being Unique she supposes, there was nobody she could turn too for these types of question and she wasn''t experienced enough to find out herself yet.

    If only she could convince the Nara or Yamanaka clan to tell her some of their secret Jutsus. She almost literally couldn''t think of any other Yin Release Jutsus, "Cannon" or otherwise besides some Yin-Yang Sage arts bullshit.

    A glance at the huffing boy she was currently healing and she just thought of an incredibly idiotic idea while trying to recall all the Hiden Jutsus she could think of.

    "Say, Bao?"

    "Yeah?... What is it? Spit it out already I don''t like that look you have in your eyes."This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    "Do you happen to know if Choza or the rest of your clan like... Dumplings by any chance?"

    "...Yes..? Why? Tell me. Now! You have that look you always do whenever you think up something crazy to add to your training and I don''t like it! Leave me and my family out of whatever harebrained scheme you have."

    "Why, whatever could you possibly mean? I have planned nothing of the sort!"

    Technically not a lie. She was still working out the details. Oh yeah, it was all coming together now. She''d either get an endless supply of sweets or get her hands on one of Konoha''s famed Hiden Jutsu. It was a win-win situation!

    For some unexplainable reason, Bao suddenly felt as if he was standing in front of a starving wild beast, eyeing him as if he was a meat bun. Maybe he should go home early today and warn the clan? He didn''t know what they''d have to watch out for, but it couldn''t be anything good.

    "Say, on an unrelated note, you should totally invite me to come over your house sometime. Like, every other day after training."

    The request that wasn''t really a request was forced upon the boy, and he had no choice but to accept. Now all she needed was a bit more preparations. First step, convincing a certain purple-haired Chunin to help her.

    <hr>

    "Hey, Anko, you interested in an all you can eat Dango and sweets contest?"

    "Fuck yeah I am, when and where?"

    Welp, that didn''t take long. The two girls soon started training to be competitive eaters, chuckling darkly at their evil plot. A certain Weasel would soon join along with a Green Beast who was eager to join in on the Hip and Youthful contest.

    <hr>

    "You want me to do what now?"

    The owner of Ichiraku Ramen stared at the little girl sitting in front of him as if she had grown a second head. Just what had caused the girl to come up with such a devious, if not plain idiotic, idea?

    "Why does everyone keep making me repeat myself..?"

    "Maybe it''s because all your ideas are so retarded people can''t believe someone would actually be stupid enough to verbalize the thought?"

    "Shut up Shisui, are you in or not?"

    "Hell yeah I am, I just wanted you to know that it''s stupid and there was no way in hell this is going to remotely work, but I''m supporting you 100%. It''ll be hilarious to watch it all blow up in your face."

    "Gee, thanks, I can feel the undying love and trust you have in your best friend."

    "Any time buddy!"

    What was this plan doomed for failure they were speaking off? Why it was none other than to persuade, or rather bribe, the Akimichi Clan to hand over one of their Hiden Jutsu of course! How? With another Hiden Jutsu! One that they didn''t have yet, but were going too after their super-secret awesome plan of course!

    It only got more convoluted from there.

    The summarize it, Julia wanted to use the political pressure of the Uchiha clan via Itachi who was the heir and Shisui, one of the strongest ninja of the current generation and a renown genius. Then with Teuchi, Anko''s Dango supplier (because that''s what the man was at this point, seriously she casually dropped thousands ofhundreds of dollars at that place a week), and some other food stall owners to host an eating competition.

    The winner could request any one thing from the participating shops.

    And of course one of the shops was going to happen to be Ankorodo. A rather well off desert store that was known for their delicious sweet red bean paste.

    The owner happened to be a former kunoichi, and the lady happened to know the Jutsu that she needed to possibly convince the gluttonous clan to fork over their lifeblood.Ankorodo Secret Ninjutsu: Mochi Style: Infinite Dumplings!

    A Jutsu that caused nearby dumplings to continuously grow! A literal dream come true for such a food orientated clan. By hook or crook, she was learning those two Jutsus. Which is why she and her friends were all undergoing a new type of training. It didn''t hurt considering the fact that she was basically manipulating the event from the shadow and had ample time to prepare for the contest. She knew exactly what the events were going to be after all.

    "Shut up, it''s bloody brilliant. All the mochi in the world shall be mine, muhahaha!"

    Cue more maniacal laughter.

    "..."

    "Erm... I mean... ours..?"

    "That wasn''t what I meant dumbass, but thanks for remembering us."

    "Just you wait, non-believers! Time shall prove that I was right."

    <hr>

    "Found you~!"

    Ever since she met Gai she knew she wanted to walk down this path. She had entertained other ideas, but being a Taijutsu expert was the most tangible one. She didn''t think she could survive becoming a Jinchuriki even if she did manage to steal one anyways.

    And when one thinks of Taijutsu, there weren''t many people of note, especially ones that she could actually learn from.

    Asking Ay to teach me his lightning armor? Yeah right, even if weweren''t at war with Kumo at the moment, he''d more likely punt me to the other side of his village then even entertain the idea of talking with me.

    Which is why she went through all her memories before dragging up the perfect candidate. Chen. A Taijutsu master stated to be on par with or even surpass Gai. A known hero of Konoha who "died" not too long ago.

    And she didn''t mean the current teenager Gai, but the fully grown one of over a decade in the future. Of course, that seemed like bullshit to her, even in the episode Gai never opened any of his gates, but to be fair Chen was old as hell by then. Heck, he was pretty old now, probably in his 50s.

    She''d give the man the benefit of doubt. Even if she only learned one move from him it''ll still be a win. Who wouldn''t want to be able to kick actual dragon-shaped tornados?

    Which is why she tracked down his family. She knew he faked his death after his student died last year in the Third Shinobi War. His student was just like Rock Lee in which he aimed to be a splendid ninja relying only on Taijutsu. She had found his grave and has been baiting him with rice balls every day, just like how she remembered the anime had his granddaughter doing.

    Maybe she was lucky and he was just passing by, maybe he was curious on if anyone would actually visit his grave, either way, he had shown up.

    Her clone had dispelled just moments ago and she was rushing over as fast as she could. Thankfully he was still there.

 Chapter 17. The Will of Fire, a Forgotten Master pt 3.

    Chen was a man past his prime. His dread-locks were held up in a high ponytail gray with age. Dressed in a Bruce Lee-Esque yellow jumpsuit with black lines, a green sweatband, red square-framed sunglasses, and bright purple open-toed sandal, the Taijutsu master was somehow even more of a fashion disaster than Gai. He was also missing an upper right tooth and sported a Manchu mustache and trimmed chin-beard.

    "Huh? What the..? Are you alright there little girl?"

    He was also understandably confused as to why this little girl who has been leaving him delightful riceballs every day for the past year at his grave suddenly shouted when she saw him. She asked him to wait for her and disappeared in a cloud of smoke, only to come barreling through the bushes on the other side of the clearing moments later looking as if she had been chased by wolves or something.

    "Hello, Master Chen!"

    "Oh? Do you know who I am? I suppose my great reputation precedes me! Hohohoho!"

    "Yes! You''re the great Taijutsu master, one of the heroes of the Third Shinobi war."

    "Hero, you say? Well, I wouldn''t do that far, but I suppose I''ve become rather famous since my "death"? How interesting!"

    The man had a happy grin on his face at learning even little kids as young as Julia knew of his deeds, munching on the offered riceballs while using his gravestone. He was under the wrong impression of the girl''s actual age. Julia was only 6 years old but already over four feet tall, compared to the man''s relatively short 5 feet stature.

    "Of course everyone knows of your great accomplishments in battle. In the academy, you are a role model for every kid," A blatant lie, but what he doesn''t know won''t hurt him. "Which is why... I have come to request you please take me as your disciple! Please!"

    Kneeling on the ground, Julia lowered her head in a show of respect to the prideful martial artist. However whatever joyful ambiance in the atmosphere instantly died out. She still remembered the episode so she already knew the man was bitter over his student''s death. Even over 12 years later he would still refuse to acknowledge Lee until the boy bested his secret move in the Fourth Shinobi War, to say the least of how he''d feel now only a mere year since his beloved pupil''s death.

    "No. Is this why you''ve been visiting every day? If so I regret to inform you that you''ve wasted your time and need not come by anymore. The Leaf Dragon God shall die with me, I will never take another disciple again. I suggest you run along home little girl, the life of a shinobi is a harsh one."

    "Master Chen, please reconsider!"

    "I said no little girl. Stop being stubborn and leave already. There are plenty of other qualified teachers in the Academy. Seek out one of them for further training if you wish, but I''d rather be left alone."

    "It''s true there might be plenty of talented Shinobis in Konoha, but none are as well versed as you in Taijutsu. I wish to become a Taijutsu Master, I beg of you please lend me your aid and guidance."

    "Taijutsu..? What good is Taijutsu? A fancy punch or kick doesn''t mean anything. In the world of Shinobi, what use is a fist against the might of the Elements? Listen to me kid, this is a friendly tip from your elders, stick to Ninjutsu or hell even Genjutsu. Only a fool would walk the path of Taijutsu, and it''ll only lead you to an early grave..."

    The boisterous tone in his voice as he was bragging about his martial arts seconds ago was now nowhere to be seen, his eyes grew dim and hollow. It was as if he had rapidly aged decades within seconds and it was clear that he was a man haunted by regrets.

    "Then so be it. I''ll take gladly take on that title, hell, I''ll be the biggest damn fool on the planet if that''s what it takes. Please teach me so I can be The Greatest Taijutsu Master."

    "...The youth these days, so insistent. Listen, kid, I like you. Really, I do, and it may sound harsh but you need to wake up. Dreams are for you''re sleeping and chasing impossible ones will only end with you getting hurt."

    The old man gave a long-suffering sigh as he saw earnest blue eyes peering up at him. This little brat was a troublesome one that didn''t seem to know when to quit it seems. It reminded him of another certain young lad with the same look who also came to him for training.

    "Listen up, I''ll tell you a story, and perhaps by the end you''ll finally see reason. Once upon a time, there was a young boy not much older than you in fact. He was an untalented loser, stupid, and bullheaded. Just like you in fact."This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    There was a soft laugh but they lacked any mirth as the owner was lost in reminiscence.

    "Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, hell even Taijutsu, he couldn''t do a single thing right. Which was why he did the only thing he could. He trained. Day and night he could be found in the training grounds punching and kicking away at a wooden post, until his small face was red as a tomato, until he was soaked in sweat, until his skin split and his knuckles bleed. He never once stopped. Upon a strange quirk of fate, a young, handsome, and incredibly talented master had wandered by the field in happenstance. He observed the boy for some time before being moved by his sheer determination to make something of himself with only Taijutsu."

    Julia already knew the backstory of "The Character" Chen, but listening to "Chen the Person" and his tale of his first meeting with his student and knowing the ending already, it was absolutely heartbreaking. The raw emotion, the guilt, the beaten old man who had given up on his life and was content to shut himself away from his friends and family, the very world itself, and falsify his death. Another victim of the Shinobi System.

    "They trained, and every day changed from one of pain and hardship to ones of fulfillment and reaching new heights. The master-" Chen decided to drop the pretense at last with a shuddering breath as if to brace himself to face his sins. "I, trained him with everything I had and in return, Hu gave me everything he had every session. He was a bit dimwitted, but he had a bright future in front of him with his guts and determination. At least, that''s what I thought. Genin, Chunin, even Jonin, Hu showed everyone who doubted him that he was something special but being special wasn''t enough. The Third Shinobi War... So many had died, but never in my wildest dream did I imagine he would be one of them. All because I taught him Taijutsu and helped him. Do you understand now, girl?"

    Chen didn''t wait for her to reply before continuing.

    "It wasn''t by my hands, but it was my fault. I gave him the tools he needed to run around playing Ninja when he had no right to be one. I pushed him to keep going further, never knowing how to stop. I killed him. Someone who can''t use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu has no place being a Shinobi, and I have no right to have anyone call me their master. I''m a sham and should''ve never gotten a disciple in the first place."

    Julia couldn''t see his eyes through his sunglasses, but she could see the trail of tears flowing down his sunken face, his white knuckles and shaking fists.

    "Do you really mean that..?"

    "Of course I do. Look at me, sitting up here and eating rice balls when it should''ve been me instead, not him. Six feet under in the cold hard ground, wasting away when he had his entire future ahead of him!"

    To her eyes, it seemed as if it was the old man who was wasting away. His body may have been fine but his spirit was slowly rotting in despair and guilt. She finally got up and walked closer to the old man.

    "Do you think so little of Hu and the time you''ve spent together?"

    "Wha-"

    "I said do you really look down on your own student that much? From what you told me, he seemed like a great man. I didn''t know he was such a useless punk as to be scared of something so pathetic like death. Shinobi are those who endure. I am sure he died for a great cause and did so with pride, yet here you are blabbering and crying like a little girl. Man up and stop belittling his death! You don''t get the right to decide how he lives his life, he made the choice to live his life his way and we should respect that."

    Suddenly a tiny fist darted out and sucker-punched the man in the face. He was caught off guard and sent rolling across the field.

    "Now, how about you shut up and stop feeling bad for yourself. If I was Hu I''d be rolling in the grave embarrassed to death to call such a sorry sight of a man my master. He might be dead but his dream isn''t. His and mine are one and the same, so help me. Pass on your legacy and leave everything to me, I won''t die so easily and I''ll make sure to achieve it for the both of us! I''ll be the greatest Shinobi using Taijutsu!"

    If Anime and Shounen ever taught her anything it was that there was nothing like a good old fashion beat down to sort out your feelings after all.

    "His... Dream? You''ll carry it..?" The man was obviously dazed, whether it was from her words or the knock to the head was up in the air. "Don''t make me laugh. A little girl like you wishes to carry such a heavy burden?"

    "It''s not a joke you shitty old man. I''m strong, and I''ll only become stronger. I''ll prove it to you right now, show me your Leaf Dragon God, I''ll break through it and maybe get through to your thick head!"

    Perhaps it was an act of anger, or maybe his pride compelling him, but Julia liked to think that hope wasn''t completely dead inside his heart as the old man rose to her challenge. He hopped onto his feet with the grace of a man half his age. With a slow and deep inhale he spun around in a spinning hook kick towards the air. The seemingly simple movement caused air to rapidly gather around him before condensing into gale-force winds.

    Within moments Julia was facing a tangible spinning mass of razor shape wind in the shape of an eastern dragon with long whiskers. Maybe it was because of his far younger age, or maybe because the old man wasn''t showing his full might in the episode but the dragon she saw was far larger than the one Lee had faced. She was a bit nervous even if she knew the "weakness" of the technique and its counter.

    "Leaf Dragon God!"

    Ok, calm down, it''s alright. You can do this Julia! All you need to do is enter the sky scrapper sized dragon''s mouth, avoid turning into minced meat by the wind blades inside, spin fast as fuck clockwise to counter the rotation in the eye of the dragon, and reach the ground. All without turning yourself into a paste. No problem, easy peasy. Lee managed to do it on his first try, so why can''t I?

 Chapter 18. Training in preparation for... Training? Nani?!

    Waking up in the hospital covered in cuts and bruises wasn''t fun. Waking up on the floor of the hospital room because you were too frigging heavy for someone to lift you onto the bed sucked. Having your back become terribly sore from sleeping on the ground covered in ridiculous amounts of weights that were hard to take off sucked even more.

    "Seriously, Yuna? You couldn''t have gotten a stretcher or something? What kind of doctor just leaves her patient sleeping on the ground overnight? You barely even bothered to patch me up!"

    "Kiddo, you weigh a fricking ton, and I''m pretty sure that isn''t as metaphorical as it should be. Seriously we had 8 people trying to lift your fat ass together to no avail. Besides, if I recall correctly, a certain someone was pretty insistent on healing herself stating, and I quote, "Don''t bother unless I''m dying or it''s going to be permanent." You reap what you sow."

    The woman had a point, but that didn''t stop her from grumbling anyways.

    She knew the method to counter Chen''s move, but she didn''t have the necessary strength yet. Not unless she was willing to end up in the hospital for the next month or two, and with the Chunin exam in three months she couldn''t afford to waste that much time. Still, while the man wasn''t quite willing to accept her as an official student yet, he didn''t mind giving her tips if she just so happened to be training nearby.

    She''ll try again after the Exam but was content with sending a clone to study with him for now.

    <hr>

    As soon as she was finished in the hospital she went to the Akimichi Clan''s home. The eating contest was within a few weeks and she would like to get a reading on Choza. Scoring some brownie points with one of the Noble Clans of Konoha didn''t hurt either.

    The tried and proven method of being small and cute came through once more as always. Too bad Bao didn''t appreciate her genius.

    "Stop coming over, damnit! If you wanna bother someone then go to the Itachi and the Uchiha clan. I always get shit on whenever you''re around."

    "What? Why? I''m not even doing anything this time! All I''ve been doing is some D ranks and helping around the place."

    "Exactly! You keep going around helping people that it''s making me look bad. Worst of all now people are starting to haveexpectations for me and want me to follow your oh so great example."

    "Wut? L.O.L, that''s hilarious, maybe it wouldn''t be such a problem if you weren''t so lazy half the time? You sure you don''t have some Nara blood in you?"

    Fun fact, the best way to an Akimichi''s heart was through their stomachs. Bring over some homemade dishes, treat them to a good meal, or start a conversation about the lesser-known food joints with great food in Konoha and you''ll soon have a friend. She wasn''t an actual chef by any means, but Teuchi sure didn''t mind having her help out part-time and teaching her. She was tempted to try recreating some of Earth''s food and see how well they do here. Maybe one day she could quit being a Shinobi and run a fast-food empire?

    Bribing the head of the clan with some cake and exotic tea she brought from her last C rank mission in The Land of Wind was surprisingly effective. Add in great work ethics and the ability to make clones? She basically had first dibs and a monopoly on all D ranks in two of the Four Noble Clans.

    Oh yeah, she was raking in the big bucks now. Even if each D Rank only offered ~10-30$ a pop, she had superhuman speed, endurance, and could make clones of herself. Pretty soon she might be able to rent her own stall or apartment. Or at least she hoped so, Ninja Gears were so damn expensive, especially her special custom ordered weights that constantly needed to be replaced. She needed to find a more permanent solution.

    "Sorry, not all of us can have your crazy amount of energy or fizzy blood. I''m pretty sure at this point your blood contains more caffeine than iron."

    "I know, isn''t it great~? Anyways let''s go meet up with Aizawa-sensei and Muta."

    Jula felt kind of bad that she hasn''t been bonding much with her friends. She was either with Gai doing some insane workout, locked away in the hospital practicing Iryojutsus, or frankly unconscious/sleeping. Thankfully they were also ninjas so they understood her lifestyle and predicament, but she should make more of an effort to just hang out with them without training involved. Hard to have a chat when you''re busy trying to blow the shit out of each other after all.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    With two Shushin the pair reappeared in the village''s center.

    "Sup. You ready kiddo?"

    "I was born ready."

    It was too bad Aizawa-sensei wouldn''t be able to fully comprehend and appreciate the irony in that statement considering her circumstances. In fact, she wasn''t even sure her body was even actually "born". She could''ve been transported here and de-aged or materialized out of thin air for all she knew.

    Technicalities asides, Team 5 confidently walked into one of the most important buildings within Konohagakure. The Hokage Tower, a place she had been actively trying to avoid but had no other choice today. Her teacher knocked on the oaken doors of the office with a rare serious look on his face, flanked on both sides by Shiromaru and Haru. A quiet voice beckoned them to enter. Sitting behind a large desk piled high with paperwork was Hiruzen Sarutobi, teacher of the Sannin, God of Shinobi, and the Third Hokage.

    "Ah, Aizawa-san. It''s good to see you again, what brings youto my office today? Here for another C Rank?"

    The unassuming old man had a smoke pipe sitting out of his lips as he continued to do paperwork. She''d be lying if she said she wasn''t impressed with the speed he went at it, and the fact that someone had actually managed to make a couple of piles of neatly stacked paper towers over half her height. Julia felt as if her wrist was cramping up just watching the old man go through them all.

    "Ehh, probably not for a while longer, that escort trip to The Land of Winds was really harsh on my old bones, actually I''m here to discuss the upcoming Chunin Exams."

    "Hoo..? but aren''t your students already-" A sudden intake of smoke lead to the Hokage having coughing fit In surprise. "Wh-what? You can''t mean...?"

    "Indeed. I''m recommending Julia Rose for the Chunin Exam."

    A sharp glare was directed towards the Jonin, and as if it was a mirage the tired old man behind the desk disappeared only to become replaced with one of the strongest Shinobi in the world, the leader of Konohagakure. They both knew what had happened in the last Chunin exam Aizawa''s team had entered. Konoha may have gained two Chunin, but they had lost a young Genin, and more importantly, a young child with a future ahead of him. It was no longer the Third Shinobi war, there was no need to rush things along.

    "Are you certain? The Exams this time shall be hosted by The Bloody Mist, the dangers and challenges this time shall be far higher than any other. She is still so young, there is no shame in waiting for next year''s."

    "I am. She might be young, but I have seen with my own eyes how she overcame every obstacle placed in front of her ever since she joined. I don''t mean to brag and toot my own horn, but I believe she''s a genius on par with Kakashi himself. She''s ready for this, I know it."

    Kakashi also became Chunin when he was 6, and if something happened once it can happen again.

    "Those are quite high praises, very well I can see you''ve both set your mind too it, and you''ve completed far more than the minimum 8 needed. I wish you luck, make sure to prepare amply because the event shall start in 3 months."

    With their businesses done, the team quickly left for Ichiraku Ramen to celebrate and discuss how to help Julia make the most of her time left. Ideas were tossed around, from learning some Ninjutsu to give her more versatility, a ranged attack, Chakra sensing, Genjutsu breaking, anything and everything was thrown around at least once, even getting a Ninken.

    Julia liked that idea the most personally.

    "Experience."

    "Huh? Did ya say something, Muta?"

    "I said Experience. That''s what Julia needs the most right now. Maybe you haven''t noticed because of how well she has been doing, but Julia is still a fresh Genin. Even in most of our spars, she had simply gotten used to your moves, but whenever one of us learns a new move or does something unexpected, she tends to get confused and sloppy. In the Genin Exam, talents from all over the Elemental Countries shall come to test their mettle, they won''t all be as straight forward as the Akimichi clan, nor as well documented and famed as the Uchiha or Aburame."

    "..."

    "...? Yes? Was it something I said? If there is something you disagree with or I''ve mistaken, please say it and stop staring at me."

    "No, sorry, it''s just that, after all this time together, I think that''s the most you''ve ever spoken at once."

    "That''s right kiddo, I''m surprised it isn''t raining brimstone and fire outside. Hopefully, the four horsemen are preoccupied at Kumo and it''ll take them a while to get here."

    "I do not see how my pattern of speech is related to the end of the world. Regardless, shall I take your lack of denial as your agreement with my assessment?"

    "Got it in one. Frankly, in terms of Taijutsu Julia has already surpassed most Chunin. Her ability to make plans or read her opponent is also nothing to scoff at either, however her ability to think on the fly while in stressful situations are subpar. A Shinobi is one who must expect the unexpected, but this does not mean arbitrarily assuming anything is possible and always preparing for the worst-case scenario. Even with all the fantastical things Ninjas can do with the power of Chakra, it is not without rhyme nor reason. Do not focus on just reacting, but pay attention to your opponent. Their body language, the rhythm of their breath, the movement of their Chakra, and the most identifying sign of them all, their hand signs."

    And so, Julia had determined to get more hands-on experience in combat with different opponents and different situations. Training montage her she comes.

 Chapter 19. Its always Leg Day in My house.

    "I fucking hate you."

    "Aww, love you too buddy!"

    Julia didn''t get to say anything else because her purple-haired friend had decided that sending one giant snake after here wasn''t enough, so she promptly summoned another even bigger one. She was currently running for her life through the treelines, her eyes carefully darting around for any traps she knew Itachi and Shisui had laid.

    Stimulation 17: Fighting multiple opponents while behind enemy lines. Shinobi Capture the flag wasn''t fun.

    A sudden white glow caught her attention. The fallen tree trunk she had just so carelessly hopped over was plastered with explosive tags. There was no time to defend herself before they sent her flying like a rag dog across the tree, her flight only stopped by a large boulder jutting out of the ground.

    Before she got her bearings a dozen shurikens flew around her, the nearly invisible Ninja wires tied to them made sure she was wrapped up nice and tight.

    "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

    Although it was called a ball, Itachi had actually manipulated it into something akin to a flamethrower, it raced along the wires and ignited everything in its path with scorching heat. She was a split second from becoming a roast, but thanks to a quick Substitution Jutsu she managed to escape. For all of 5 seconds at least before the snake summons were back on her ass.

    A glowing green palm was held over her right thigh, it seems she wasn''t quite quick enough to completely escape the Jutsu because she was covered in light burns. No matter, as long as her legs were fine she could keep moving. A loud thud was head as Julia was sent flying backward on her ass. Where once was an open space, a large tree shimmered into existence.

    Genjutsu.

    She didn''t have time to react when a scaled train crashed into her side, knocking her into the air, before coiling around her small frame with bone-crushing strength. Anko knew better than to try and have them eat her after she punched through her last summon.

    Itachi walked out from the shadows while Anko hopped off her summon''s head. They both waited for a moment before rumbling was heard from deeper within the forest. A bright crimson ball soon came into sight. As soon as it stopped it revealed Bao using Human Bullet Tank Jutsu but covered in thick red samurai armor, while Muta was behind him floating on a dense cloud of bugs.

    "1 hour and 27 minutes this time, nice!"

    "Yayyy new record, it now takes me slightly longer to get my ass kicked, whoopie!"

    "Aww, cmon now, ya did great lasting this long! Remember when we started how you only lasted 10 minutes? Yeesh, talk about performance issues~! At least you aren''t a guy, amirite?"

    "You did very well, Julie. Unfortunately, I can''t stay around any longer, I have a mission in another hour and need to prepare. I''ll see you all later."

    "Cya Itachi, thanks for the help today. Good luck with your mission!"

    Everyone else had other matters to attend to, so it became a girl''s night out. She was pretty sure that Anko''s blood was mostly sugar after watching the girl demolish her 19th order of sweets and still waiting for the other half of her orders to come out. A vampire would surely become diabetic after just one sip of the craziness that was Anko. They were so going to win the eating competition next week.

    <hr>

    I''m a fucking idiot. Why did I have to tempt Fate? Why couldn''t I just keep my head down and my big fat mouth shut?!

    Julia had spent most of her money on two things this past year. One of them was Ninja Gear such as Kunai, Shuriken, paper bombs, ninja wires, her nunchaku, and many many pairs of weights.

    The other was a small house on mortgage and wasn''t that a strange thought. As a 6-year-old mercenary for hire, she was already paying a mortgage on her own house while back on Earth as a 24-year-old medical student she only had a crippling debt. Her strange financial situation besides, as soon as Julia had become a Genin and could be considered an adult she had moved out. It wouldn''t do to keep mooching off Mikoto and Fugaku, and she felt bad even if they insisted she could stay.

    So, thanks to one idle conversation and joke with Gai after a training session which she deeply regretted, they combined the two. She had basically turned her house into a recreation of the Zoldyck family''s from HunterxHunter. Everything in her house weighed an insane amount. Furniture, utensils, books, even her spoon she uses to eat cereal weighed more than 50 pounds! If it was in her house then it had to be heavy as fuck.

    She didn''t expect to go through this type of "anime" training, even if she was the one to suggest it and she was in fact technically in one. Gai had cried many tears and insisted on undergoing the harsh trial with her, and she found she couldn''t back out in the face of his enthusiasm.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    That was 2 months ago, and now that she had gotten used too it, they obviously had to ramp it up to another level. There was a limit to how much she could increase her weights without them becoming too blocky and getting in the way of her movement. Carrying boulders on your back and running around is fine and dandy, but trying to even walk with boulders that''s bigger than you tied to all four limbs? Pretty redundant to say the least. There was also the fact that she''d need a quick method to take them off in a pinch. She doubted anyone in Mizu would be nice enough to wait for her to have a five-minute flashback and the however many odd minutes she needed to unstrap her weights. She''d rather not turn into a shish kabob in the village known for being murderous and loving their pointy sticks and swords.

    "Fuinjutsu: Four Limbs Weighing Seal! Fuinjutsu: Gravity Press!"

    Which was why she''d gotten Gai to introduce her to one of the rare few stores which dealt in Fuinjutsu goods. Something incredibly useful but she couldn''t learn how to do herself. She''d attempted to learn a bit but quickly figured that she neither had the time nor talent to even begin scratching the surface of it. Imagine trying to learn the hardest thing you could think of and multiply that by a thousand folds.

    Fuinjutsu was ridiculously complicated, like trying to Art, poetry, computer coding, circuitry, science, math, and another language at all once, andmessing up tended to end up with you blowing the fuck up. It was simply too complex and vast, encompassing too many possibilities. In theory, if you could figure out the formula, you could reproduce any Jutsu with Seals, even Bloodline limits.

    Julia was always proud of her good grades in school, a result of equal part effort and talent, but never did she feel so dumb and stupid as when she attempted to read a sealing formula.

    It was also why she just paid the cost of a sports car to have someone send her crashing into the floor, the stone cratering beneath her chin. Four limbs weighting seals were used by placing a pair praying beads for the wrists and ankles onto the target before forming a complex series of hand signs along withdrawing a certain Sealing Formula around them. After completing the sequence it would activate and exponentially increase the weights of the white beads, and as the person gets used to the current weight it would change color and adjust itself accordingly through multiple levels.

    While GravityPress was pretty self-explanatory. She''s starting out at 1.3x normal gravity for now.

    The best part of it all was that she only needed to send a quick burst of chakra to release it anytime she wanted. She was a bit sad at how there''ll be no epic weight drop moment for her, but maybe she''ll go back to them in the future and use both? Heck, she might do it just for kicks and see the look on other''s face later.

    "Yosh! Thank you for your services, Inku-san. Now we can further temper our body in Flames of Youth! There''s not a moment to lose, Julie, we must hurry and prepare you for the Chunin Exam!"

    "Tfhmank fyuu."

    The Fuinjutsu specialist simply stared at the duo running off with a sweat drop running down his head. Well, one of them was running at least, the other was too busy with her face in the ground eating dirt and making a long ditch with her head from the weight of her body as she was literally dragged away. He simply went back inside his store, questioning Gai and his methods would only lead to headaches.

    <hr>

    "Leaf Hurricane!"

    "You call that a hurricane? It''s more like a gentle breeze to me, let me show you what arealhurricane looks like! Leaf Hurricane!"

    Master Chen knocked Julia flying into the lake of the training ground they were in for the 13th time that day. He waited patiently for the girl to drag her way out of the water, her considerable weight ensured that she had sunk like a stone to the bottom of the lake and had to walk out from underneath every time. Within a minute or two the girl''s head finally poked back out from beneath the water, coughing violently as she did.

    "Done with your swim so soon? Why, I barely managed to finish my meal~"

    "I hope you choke on those rice balls."

    "Heh, you need to watch that temper of yours my dear girl. Now come here and let''s take a quick break and we''ll go over why you lost."

    Julia sat down on the grass with her other Taijutsu master, accepting the offered rice ball and eating it ravenously. She reached into her pouch and also munched on some seeds. They were quite hard and bitter, but she wasn''t eating them for the taste anyway.

    "Do you know why you lost so quickly? And before you say anything, I did not go harder than you just now than before."

    "Because I''m wearing more weight...?"

    "Yes, and..?"

    "and I''m slower because of it? Because it''s draining my stamina faster? Just tell me already."

    She gave up after seeing the old man repeated shake his head while having a shit-eating grin the entire time.

    "The problem isn''t your strength, speed, nor stamina, but rather your coordination." Seeing the deadpan look in the little girl''s eyes and a palpable feeling of what his disciple likes to call her "No shit Sherlock" stare the man cleared his throat to continue. "Yes, you''re unused to the additional weight, but the main issue is you''re fightingagainst the weight instead of with it. Leverage that addition power behind your blows, relax your movements and don''t be so stiff. Your unnatural momentum for your size and reach is a weapon to use again your opponents. Their ignorance is your advantage."

    Blue eyes narrowed in concentration as she considered what she heard. Yes, the weights strapped to her now is just another aspect of her body, just like how a master swordsman would consider his blade an extension of his arms. However, words were cheap, and knowing something and actually being able to do it was a completely different beast.

    "Let''s go again."

    "Sure thing, but we can wait until you''ve finished eating. By the way, I''ve been curious about this for a while, but what are you actually eating? It sounds like you''recracking your teeth everything you eat one of those things."

    Julia tossed another handful into her mouth even as Chen watched, he wasn''t wrong, it felt as if she was chewing on rocks.

    "Cherry pits."

    "Cherry... Pits? What? Why?"

    What a strange girl to not eat the sweet flesh but to chew on the hard seeds instead.

    "To build up my poison immunity. Cherry pits are a good source of amygdalin, a common substance in plant seeds, and is turned into cyanide after being broken by enzymes in the intestines."

    ... What a strange girl indeed, and perhaps her strangeness was contagious because when did he start to feel it''s such a perfectly normal answer to hear from his newest student that she was casually poisoning herself to build up an immunity?

 Chapter 20. Chunin Exams

    The Land of Water was a series of islands with a cool climate and usually covered in mist. Kirigakure was situated on the largest one, right in the middle of the cluster. The Chunin hopefuls had to travel for three days until they reached the west coast of The Land of Fire and spend another 2 days on a boat trip along with their Jonin Sensei.

    Julia did not recognize a single one of them and so treated them as the side characters that they were and ignored them to focus on her daily training. She never was much of a people''s person ironically enough for her occupation, and for some strange reason heading into a village full of serial killers to take the Chunin exam didn''t make her feel talkative. It might''ve been a terrible thing to think, but she was pretty sure most of the kids on this boat weren''t going to make it back alive anyway so why bother making friends?

    Kiri''s Genin Exam involved the class having to kill each other to graduate after all.

    "Look alive kiddos, we''re here. Welcome to the Bloody Mist. I wouldn''t suggest you wander around without your Jonin sensei if you want to back it back in one piece."

    Apparently Aizawa was as cynical as she felt. They may have all been granted permits to allow them into the village and partake in the exams, but this was a place hostile to its own people, especially people with Kekkei Genkai. They haven''t even stepped off the boat for a minute before glares filled with suspicion and anger were directed towards them, the sole Hyuuga in the group understandably paled.

    It would''ve been far too easy to make a few kids disappear or have an unfortunate accident within their home turf. She was mildly tempted to look for Kisame, one of the Akatsuki''s strongest members, or Zabuza. She doubted she could sway them to her team, and trying anything funny here would be a death sentence, but she was really curious about how they''d be younger and not Missing-Nins.

    Julia put the thought on hold as she and her Sensei went to grab breakfast before heading to their hotel. She idly looked around the village as they walked, noting the differences with Konoha as she went, and there were many. The buildings were all stacked incredibly high and most were in the shape of cylinders rather than the rectangle or squares she was used too. The air was incredibly humid from the dense mist and she had to be careful not to run into anybody while walking. The stone they used were even grey to book.

    Overall impression: Dark and dreary.

    Almost like an old school style 1800s London except for the fact that anybody off the street was as frightening as "Jack the Ripper"

    <hr>

    "Finally! Let''s go, I''m so sick of this place!"

    Julia was beyond sick and tired of this place. Seriously, everywhere she went she got dirty looks and people being assholes to her, the nights were freezing and the hotel had shitty heating, plus the humidity was doing terrible things to her hair and skin. Oh, and as if that wasn''t bad enough, her bed collapsed last night and she had to pay for the damages, which was complete bullshit since it wasn''t her fault the damn thing couldn''t hold her weight. The wood was probably rotting away from all the damn moisture in the air aways!

    All in all, it absolutely sucked and she couldn''t wait for the deathmatches to begin so she can get the hell out of this shithole.

    Aizawa-sensei only gave her an amused look, the smug bastard somehow had perfect hair while hers was unruly and fizzled. There was a trick to it, there had to be, but the old man refused to tell her. Even Shiromaru and Haru''s coat were perfectly silky and smooth! It was mildly depressing to think that a pair of dogs were more well-groomed than her.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    A Shunsin later and she suddenly found herself at the place of the exams, a smaller island on the north of Kiri. She made a point to avoid looking at the 4th Mizukage because for all she knew Obito could see her from his eyes and stared at her feet while half-listening to the speech.

    Blah Blah Blah, let''s get to the part where we kick each other''s asses already. I wonder how Itachi''s doing with his new team? Maybe she should bring back some souvenirs for Mikoto or little Sasuke.

    She should buy some Kiri specialty treats and snacks back too.

    "Begin!"

    "Huh...? Aww, fuck, damnit so not the time to be a scatterbrain, Julia."

    Thankfully she managed to weasel out the objective from another Konoha Genin. A nice 14-year-old girl, Julia wished her luck and hoped the helpful girl would make it. The goal was to reach the other side of the booby-trapped island filled with man-eating beasts. Once you reach the finish line you must stay within the coastal area where you will receive a wristband which grants you passage to the next stage of the exam. Of course, the damn thing was slapped with special Fuinjutsu to glow bright as fuck in the dark and attract wild beasts. Taking it off disqualified you, so does covering it.

    43 contestants, 20 spots for the next round, first come first serve. The test ends in 3 days.

    Fast, simple, and easy just like how she liked it.

    It''d probably be smarter to take your time getting there to avoid ambushes and save your energy, but the slots available will decrease by 1 every hour. It''d take most Genins an hour to cross the distance of the island if they were to run with all they had not including all the traps and monsters laying around nor the hazard of other competitors. At best less than 50% of them will pass, but so can none of them.

    Kiri doesn''t fuck around with their tests it seems.

    Julia bit out a curse before running, eyes darting around wildly to check for any traps, but the mist was so dense that she had trouble seeing more than a couple feet in front of her and it was only getting denser as she got deeper into the jungle. She was so focused on what was ahead of her that she never noticed the mist shifting behind her.

    Without warning, something flew past her face, cutting deeply into her right cheek. Suprised but not stunned she instantly dodged to her right, spinning around as she pulled out a kunai in each hand.

    "Come on out, asshole!" nothing but her echo answered her. She waited for a moment tensing her knees to be ready to spring out of the way of whatever her opponent threw next when the same unknown thing hit her once more from behind. This time her back had a long gash from shoulder to hip. Whatever it was tore through her mesh under armor as if it was wet paper. She didn''t sense anything, not a hint of sound nor Chakra.

    Julia tried to calm her breathing and focused on her Chakra sense for anything in the area, but she couldn''t feel anything and only gotten 4 more cuts to show for her effort. She still didn''t even know what was hitting her!

    She didn''t want to show off her hand this early but she had no other choice if she wanted to avoid death by a thousand cuts.

    "Shadow clone Jutsu!"

    Four clones surrounded her in a square formation as she started healing herself. Suddenly one of them popped before her eyes. It was a stroke of dumb luck, but she managed to catch a glimpse of her assailant.

    "... A humming bird?"

    It looked similar enough with a few key differences. The entire thing was the size of a person''s palm, its wingspan looked disproportionately large, and its beak was thicker and jagged as if a segregated knife. It had attacked her clone with incredible speed, but it didn''t expect its prey to suddenly disappear and ended up hitting the tree it was behind. It''s steel-like beak sliced through the wood easily but slowed it enough that Julia managed to see it.

    Even as it flapped its wings at an incredible pace, so much so that the looked like blurs to her trained eyes, the girl couldn''t hear a single sound. It was absolutely silent.

    "The Silent Killing Technique...? What in the fuck?"

    Suddenly her other clones all popped at once and Julia winced at the memory. Gouged right eye, slit throat, pierced ankle.

    Four new shadows hovered ominously around her and Julia paled considerably. Not even a minute into the contest that she thought she was well prepared for and she was already being cornered.

    The Bloody Mist seemed determine to drink once more.

 Chapter 21. Chunin Exams Pt 2

    She really wished she knew some super cool Ninja Magic right about now. Some AOE attacks would be great. Shooting fireballs would be nice or maybe a wind Jutsu to blow away the mist, but nope, she couldn''t do squat besides sending more clones of herself to buy time and running the hell away.

    Chucking Kunai and Shurikens only served to waste her ammo and piss them off.

    The things were too damn fast, and she couldn''t get a lock on them to cast a Genjutsu. When she get back she should finally work on learning at learning her Affinity and maybe some D rank NinJutsu. Lacking range was really biting her in the ass right now, and she was too scared to attempt to throw a tree after the last one blew her the fuck up.

    When there are a shit ton of wire traps laying around, uprooting the earth was a really bad fucking idea.

    Eventually, in the wild flailing, she had managed to set off enough trap and run fast enough that the damn things gave up.

    What an amazing aspiring savior of the world she turned out to be, getting her ass kicked by a gang of birds.

    <hr>

    "What the fuck was that?"

    "Hell if I know, but I don''t wanna stick around and find out."

    "Probably some dumbass running blindly through the jungle. From the sounds of it the poor bastard set off a dozen explosive note and a third of the traps on the island."

    Team play wasn''t encouraged but wasn''t technically against the rules so the group of Suna Ninja decided to stick together, idly discussing the fate of whatever idiot has been running amuck the place. They''ve been using a combination of clones and wind Jutsu to clear out the area and breeze their way through.

    <hr>

    "W-why are you doing this?! We''re both from the same Village! We''re on the same team!"

    "Hoo...? I don''t remember being on the same team with such a weakling. How about you do us both a favor and such up? At least die with some dignity, or whatever."

    "You Demon, do you think you''ll get away with this?!"

    "This is why I hate cowardly idiots like you. The only thing they can do is bark and cry. This is the Chunin Exam, dumbass. Did you think it was a picnic? People die all the time, and it seems like you''ve just fallen into that category."

    "W-wait, stop, please. I''ll do anythin-"

    He didn''t manage to finish his sentence before he noticed something odd. Why was his body over there...? And more importantly, where was his head?

    The boy with short dark hair swung his sword to rid it of the dirty blood, walking away without a single glance backward at the now cooling corpse of his fellow ninja from the Hidden Mist. There was no room for weakness within his village and he''d be sure to use this rare chance to weed them out.

    <hr>

    The danger of the island was increasingly difficult as one got further in. At first, Julia would encounter a trap every ten or five minutes, but now it felt like every other step was trigging some hidden mechanism of doom.

    The concentration of it was so bad that even the monstrous animals have started to avoid the area.

    She, she bullheadedly rushed forward without pause and had managed to get there within an hour and a half. It seems she was the third one there.

    "What''re you looking at, shit head?"

    "What was that..? I could''ve sworn I heard a dog barking? How strange to find a dog on such an island."

    "You bitch, you''re really itching for a beating, huh?!"If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    A brown-haired girl black-eyed was glaring at a tall dark-skinned boy. His head shaved closely with yellow hair and rage pooled within green orbs. Even as he stomped towards her she didn''t back down and instead pulled out a scroll. Unrolling it in a single fluid motion she slid her thumb down its length.

    In a puff of smoke, a wooden puppet in the shape of a bull appeared next to her.

    "Funny, I was going to say the same thing, a flea-ridden mad dog like you, there''s only one cure for your stupidity. A nice long stay in the hospital after I break your legs, bitch."

    He pulled out a small Warhammer tied to his right waist, lightning crackling along its head. Julia was content to watch the fight after picking up her won wristband.

    "Fellas, let''s relax now, shall we? There is no need to fight amongst ourselves when there''ll be plenty of people seeking us out soon for our bands. I propose a temporary alliance, what say you?"

    With an oily voice like a used car salesman, an older man with an Iwa headband interjected himself into the conversation. Unlike the other two young teens, this was a man well into his twenties. His dark hair was like curly waves while his goatee was sharp and well-trimmed.

    "No way, I don''t need help from this stupid oaf!"

    "I say you take your proposal and shove it up yer ass, because I''m going to kick this bitch''s right now!"

    While the boy had pointed his hammer and pointed it at the man, the girl had sent her animal puppet to knock him flying into the ocean via horns to the backside. Julia tried to be sneaky but couldn''t hold back her laughs at the sight.

    "Oh...? A fourth one? Welcome!"

    "A pipsqueak? How the hell did you manage to get all the way over here...?"

    Sabako Kaze had a crass mouth but was a pleasant enough person once you got over her strong personality. The two girls spent most of the time chatting and decided to leave on their own after half an hour. They already got their wristbands so sitting around wouldn''t do much and they didn''t quite get along with the others. It was pretty hard when people looked down on you for being young or a girl. Even in another world sexism was apparently still a thing and neither felt like having a dick measuring contest with every idiot that came running around.

    "So, that puppet, I''ve never seen anything like it. It''s pretty cool looking, did you make it yourself?"

    "Ha! I wish, but no I brought this baby from a specialist back in Suna. I only modified it slightly."

    Julia listened attentively while keeping an eye on their surroundings. It might''ve been stupid to stick around with a stranger in a mysterious jungle, but Julia quite liked the girl who was so passionate about her craft. She didn''t understand half of what came out of the other''s mouth, the intricacies of the art of woodcraft and the joint mechanisms was lost upon her, but it eas quite charming and seemed interesting as she listened to the girl half complain and half brag about her Bull.

    "By the way, why do you use wood? Wouldn''t something like Metal be a lot more durable and strong...?"

    "Whattt? Are you kidding me? First of all, do you even know how expensive that would be? This isn''t a cheap point chunk of metal like a Shuriken or a Kunai you know. The amount of work and cost for such a project would be immense, to say nothing about how ridiculously heavy it would be. My Buru-chan here weighs more than 3 people combined you know. Also unless it''s Chakra metal, it wouldn''t last very long nor would it be able to handle Chakra being channeled as well as organic materials like wood."

    It seems Julia accidentally stepped on a verbal landmine in her ignorance, this clearly wasn''t a first-time issue for the other girl as she ranted on and on.

    "Seriously you just can''t get the same effect with metal, and-"

    "Alright, alright. I get it already. Still, you sure seem to know a lot about it and I''ve heard how hard it was to use puppets, yet this thing is moving so smoothly." Julia was pretty impressed truth be told. They were both sitting on the puppet named Buru''s back as it treaded through the jungle, ignoring any and all traps along the way, Kunai or paper bombs couldn''t seem to rattle it at all.

    "Yeah probably for other losers. The concentration needed to divide your attention into two or more while keeping up your situational battle awareness if pretty hard, but I''m just awesome. I''m going to join the Puppet Brigade and surpass Sasori-sama and Chiyo-sama! I don''t want to simply keep using their hand me downs, I''ll make the best puppet ever, ones that won''t need a user''s command to carry out dangerous missions or hard tasks!"

    Isn''t that just a robot then? Then again Toneri and his stupid clan managed something similar in the movie, didn''t they?

    "Good luck with that, I think you can do it if you keep at it! Say, I don''t suppose you''d be willing to give me some tips? I don''t want to be a puppet master, but I''ve been looking for new Chakra control exercises."

    "Huh? Yeah, sure thing, not like this is a secret or anything, just knead out your Chakra into a thread and connect with something. Think of it asan extension to the tree walking exercise-"

    The first two days went without much of a hitch, they traded training advices, ran into and away from the occasional beasts, and beat up a few Genins that went after them once in a while. It was fun, almost like a camping trip. The jungle was dangerous but so were they and so they spent time having fun.

    It was a mistake because, on the third day, they ran into a Demon and it brought hell with it.

 Chapter 22. Chunin Exam pt 3

    "You know, for all the hype about the Bloody Mist, isn''t this surprisingly easy?"

    "I know, right? Hey, want to hang out after this and get some Ice cream? Their sea salt specialty sounds pretty good and I wanted to ask you more about puppetry."

    Famous last words, really. Words she wishes she could''ve taken back because she was a complete idiot for saying them and tempting fate. It was the crack of dawn when something had tripped the perimeter Julia and Sabako had set up. Things would''ve been fine if they had managed to wake up in time and prepare for the intruders, but all the alarms and traps had been easily removed and bypassed.

    Silent Killing Technique, a favorite amongst Kiri Shinobi, she never knew how terrifying it actually was. They had gotten within her guard and managed to slit her throat before she could react, while the Suna kunoichi only got a shallow cut across her waist.

    They didn''t expect the 6-year-old with a severed trachea to suddenly throw one of them as a human projectile into the others. Neither did Julia if she was honest. Even as she carried Sabako and ran through the treelines she felt cold sweat dripping down her back and her palms felt clammy. She shoved the memory into the back of her mind for later, because she knew if she dwells on it any longer the fear would consume her, already her fingers were twitching and her hands and knees would soon follow. If she collapsed, both of them were dead.

    It was more of a mix of panic, reflex, and instinct than any true skill or planning. If she had frozen or hesitated there, then she''d have certainly bled out. No, if the other Genin had cut her deeper or wider she would''ve bled out too fast to even begin healing herself as she was.

    She was lucky. That her opponent was careless and underestimated her. That she had learned enough Iryojutsu to stem her bleeding, that there were only three of them, that they didn''t coat their Kunai with poison, that she managed to catch them by surprise.

    And that more than anything terrified her. She thought she knew about the Ninja world this past year, from watching the show and reading the manga, but now she knew how limited her views were. This was the world of Shinobi, this wasn''t Dragon Balls. Just because she was faster or hit harder didn''t mean she would win. In the end, she was just human, and she almost died in her sleep without knowing or being able to do a damn thing.

    Stupid and careless, she let her guard down in self-assured ignorance despite all of her knowledge only amounted to a handful of actualmissions and days. Idiotic beyond belief.

    Julia Created 4 shadow clones and had them split in all directions to lose her pursuers. One of the traits of the Shadow clones was both a pro and a con. The clones copied down every detail from its creator down to the last bit. Including wounds. She wasn''t sure how much time four half-dead little girls could buy, but she hoped it would be enough.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    It''d take half an hour at least for her to heal her throat, and that was without accounting for her extra passenger''s own wounds and the effort of running at breakneck speed. Her small hand covered her throat in a vice grip, an effort to stem the bleeding. She wasn''t experienced enough to handle this kind of wound while darting through trees, and she was afraid that if she ran any quicker she would either bleed to death or snap her own head off.

    She considered making another shadow clone to either carry or attend to the other''s wound but decided not to risk it. The wound didn''t look deep and it seems Sabako only fainted due to a Genjutsu, and Julia couldn''t afford to waste any Chakra as it is. With 4 shadow clones out she was only left with 20% of her Chakra.

    12 minutes, that was how much time her clone managed to buy before dying from a gaping hole in its chest. It was hit from behind, but Julia was sure she heard the sound of running water. Cross-referencing all the data she could manage to get in the brief moments before death along with her opponents being Genin or Chunin level at most and she was fairly certain it was a Water Bullet Jutsu.

    A standard C rank Jutsu, nothing to write home about, but here in Kiri along with all the ambient moisture, water Jutsu were far easier and less costly. She wanted to curse out at the Mizukage for the obvious bullshit advantage he was giving his Shinobi, but she was scared he might be listening in and might send the Sanbi, the three-tailed beast, to eat her. What a bastard.

    She Dispelled her other Shadow Clones and recreated them to keep a lookout for her. Setting down the brown-haired girl she got to work stitching up her sides and helping the healing process with the Mystical palm Jutsu. It was slower, but also took far less time and Chakra, and they needed to keep moving.

    She reached into her thigh pouch and pulled out some smelling salt.

    The brown-haired girl woke up with a gasp, eyes wild as she pulled out a kunai to face some invisible opponent before her unfocused eyes started to take in her surroundings. After taking stock of their surroundings Sabako finally noticed Julia''s form slumped against a nearby tree. No matter how superhuman her endurance and stamina was, she was still in the body of a human child, and therefore had very little blood she could afford to lose.

    14% was enough to cause a person to become light-headed, not to mention running vigorously afterward while carrying someone. She had already taken a Blood Pill to jumpstart the formation of blood in her body, but that would take time and taxed on her body in a different way.

    Thankfully most Shinobi was well versed in sign language because she didn''t think she would be able to talk anytime soon. She''d probably have to see a professional after this to make sure her vocal cores weren''t fucked up. Sabako summoned Buru and opened a hidden hatch on his underbelly. the back popped open like the trunk of a car and she could faintly see gleaming metal and contraptions of all sorts. The girl tinkered with it for a few minutes before pulling out and rearranging all sorts of things, cursing here and there as she went.

    10 minutes later and Julia found herself laying inside of the bull in a semi cushioned spot.

    "Thanks for the save,partner, but now it''s my turn, so how about you rest easy in there for a while and I''ll make sure to get us the rest of the way through. Then we can pig out on ice cream."

    That sounded like a really good plan for the shorter girl. She was really tired and everything felt cold and heavy, a nap sounded great about now.

 Chapter 23. Chunin Exams pt 4.

    Puppeteers.

    One who uses Chakra Threads in order to control a puppet to fight for them, require great control and concentration as well as spatial awareness. Taijutsu has always been a well-known weakness of their kind and Sabako was no exception. There were quite a few who have come up with methods of bypassing this weakness such as the use of puppet armor. She preferred to simply make sure to not allow the enemy to get close to her in the first place.

    Something that was vexingly hard to do when she could barely see her own hands in front of her face and had a sleeping child to watch out for within her main tool of both offense and defense. She had also had to give up a few of her ranged options in order to make space for Julia.

    Not that she could complain much considering if it wasn''t for the said little girl she''d already be sleeping with the fishes. She was really regretting spending so much on her Buru-chan now and not bringing a secondary puppet. Specialization was well and good when she was on her home turf and with friends, allowing her to maximize her time to power pay off, but she now found it biting her in the ass in this unexpected situation.

    The mist today was more than the previous two combined, but she comforted herself with the thoughts of how she only needed to last a couple more hours. Even wounded as she was she could take on a few chumps no problem, a puppet master didn''t need to move much anyway so her combat abilities wasn''t truly affected much.

    And just like that, her notions of a false sense of security was utterly shattered as shouts of pain and agony echoed around her. Her heart raced and she barely managed to cover her mouth in time to prevent screaming in surprise. They couldn''t stay here. She carefully suppressed her presence and turned around to run away from the source. It was too late.

    The mist had considerably thickened without her notice, everywhere she turned was an almost solid wall of white.

    "Come out and fight me if you have the balls!" She didn''t think they actually would, but it might give her some much-needed info on her opponent. Was there just one? Were they female or male? If they''d just speak up maybe she could pinpoint their location.

    No such luck, it was only the barely noticeable shifting of the mist that allowed her to duck in time to avoid being decapitated, as a giant cleaver of a sword spun like a metal Frisby of death. The blade dug deep into the earth as if it was made of tofu. Standing on top of the handle that stuck out proudly like the legendary Sword in the Stone was a young boy with short choppy black hair, bandages covered his neck and the bottom half of his face. His sleeveless tanktop revealed chiseled arms and his legs were covered in gray camouflage pants.

    He stared at her and she felt something quivering inside underneath the weight of those dead brown eyes.

    His headband denoted him as a Hidden Mist Shinobi and judging by how she couldn''t even feel his presence even while he stood mere feet away from her she knew he was trouble. The fog that was momentarily blown away from the force of the sword soon crawled back, hiding the ninja back within its white embrace.

    Sabako''s hair stood up in the back of her neck. He was like a ghost and she couldn''t afford to make a careless move.

    Even as she tensed up and mentally prepared herself, eyes darting wildly, she didn''t notice anything. There was no new smell or sounds, in fact, everything was eerily silent. Enough so that for a moment she wondered if she had hallucinated the entire encounter.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    The boy soon put her worries to rest as something tried to slice her in half at the waist. It was all so sudden that she didn''t even have enough to time react, much less block. Thankfully the hidden armor beneath her shirt proved enough to save her from outright dying and she only got a severe bruise and a possibly fractured rib. Instantly filing away the location the blow had came from she got on Buru and made haste in the other direction.

    She was outmatched and they both knew it, so she had to get the fuck out of dodge.

    Her eyes widened as that same boy somehow reappeared in front of her, his large sword that was taller than the average man in mid-swing. Her shock soon turned into a wicked grin as she made Buru increase his pace with its head down and horns aimed directed towards the one stupid enough to jump in front of a rampaging bull.

    She had full confidence her Buru-kun could outmatch any shitty sword. That thing might be enough to overcompensate for something else, but strength clearly wasn''t one of them in front of her beloved puppet''s momentum.

    And just as expected! The sword quickly shattered and the boy was crushed beneath Buru''s hoofs, exploding into a splatter of blood. She grimaced slightly as it got onto her hair and face and wiped it off with the back of her hands. She sure hopes it wouldn''t stain. Getting red... out.. It wasn''t blood but instead water that drenched her sleeve.

    "Oh shit... Oh fuck."

    She didn''t have time to do anything as a haunting echo was heard throughout the clearing. The voice was soft but clear as if he was standing right next to her and whispering in her ears.

    "Water Prison Jutsu"

    The water from the clone quickly wrapped around her and Buru, the surrounding mist quickly drained away to reinforce and condense the large sphere of water surrounding them both. The boy stepped out from behind her with his arm extended towards the Jutsu with his sword slung lazily across his broad shoulders. It felt like her body was being crushed underneath a pile of rocks rather than water and even moving her fingers took considerable efforts. Still, she persisted and attempted to activate the hidden weapons she had installed into Buru to no avail. It seems the sudden water pressure was interfering with its mechanisms. God damn, if she made it out of this then she was giving old man Teku an earful after this. All-terrain her nicely tanned and round ass!

    She choked slightly as she remembered about the sleeping girl she had sleeping inside there. It was lightly that if the weapon system wasn''t functioning then the latch might not either. Crap. So much for taking it easy and leaving it up to her, the girl is now going to die because of Sabako''s stupidity and failure.

    No. At the very least she''d let Julia live.

    Time was ticking before they both suffocated to death, so Sabako quickly enhanced her body with as much Chakra as she could and reached for her thigh pouch. Of course, as quickly as she could in this instance meant at a snail''s pace but she only needed a couple of inches. After a small eternity, she managed to reach her goal and pulled out a couple of paper bombs. A positive aspect of the dense mist and water prison was that it made it hard to see what the girl was doing. She crumpled the papers in her hand to hide the glow.

    A shit-eating grin was plastered on her face as she braced herself for impact.

    Zabuza never knew what hit him as suddenly an enormous explosion slammed into his frame and sent time crashing into and through every damn tree in his path. The Suna nin quickly resealed her puppet and performed CPR on the little girl. Unlike Sabako the girl was soundly sleeping during the battle and had ended up swallowing water in her surprise.

    Thankfully you didn''t need both arms to do chest compression or else they were both screwed.

    "W-wah? Sabako? What the- What the fuck happened?"

    "Heh, well good morning there, Sleeping Beauty. Sorry, it seems like I won''t be able to keep my promise. I''m really tired right now so I think I''ll take a nap myself. Lets... get ice cream... later, ok..?"

    Her words were slurred as her vision blurred. She was out like a light before she hit the ground, her right arm missing from the biceps down, and her shirt drenched in blood from fragments of her armor shattering from the explosion and piercing her sides like a frag grenade.

 Chapter 24. A wounded Demon and the Second Stage

    It didn''t take long for Julia to come to her senses and started stemming the bleeding on the missing limb, however, surgery was a different matter completely. This was a simple matter of knitting flesh together, she had to be careful to avoid the organs. This was to say nothing about keeping an eye out for another ambush nor the mist recking havoc on her sight. Hell even if the surgery was successful, with all the humidity in the air an infection was just as likely to kill the other girl as any poison.

    Not for the first time that day she cursed Kiri''s Chunin Exam proctors. If she could she would forfeit right then and there to ensure Sabako would get medical aid, but nope, the organization team had decided it''d be a bloody brilliant idea to leave a bunch of homicidal kids together on a deserted island and would only come to pick them up on midnight of the third day.

    She sent a clone to survey the area, and found Zabuza knocked out along with the broken remains of the kubikirib��ch��. She remembered something about it being able to heal after drinking blood so she decided to seal it away and tie Kabuza up. And maybe fed him some muscle relaxant and laxative for good measure.

    If Sabako wouldn''t make it, Plots and butterflies be damned, the Seven Swordsmen was going to be one short. She''ll find Haku herself if she had too.

    There was something quite distinctly disturbing about having to cut open your own friend. She idly thought back to one of the unspoken rules of the medical communities. Don''t be your friends and families'' doctor. You''ll lose focus and objectivity. Ironically to help someone effectively there was a certain amount of detachment and distance needed. The words she heard so long ago in a summer''s class now rang loudly in her ears like the tolls of death.

    She hated it. Hated how her hands shook as her mind felt like it was drenched in icy water.

    Julia fed Sabako two Blood pills and slowly got to work. She stripped the girl of her shirt and gingerly removed the remnants of her armor, revealing tanned skin dyed with splotches of blood. 5 cuts, 3 fragments sticking out, and 1 embedded between her ribs. She hissed a curse as she realized it had punched a lung as she listened to Sabako''s labored breath. There was a slight trail of crimson down her lips as she coughed and the wheezing was soon replaced with a sickly wet gurgle.

    Blood was filling her lungs and soon she would suffocate from the internal bleeding.

    Julia knew this was no time to panic she couldn''t help it. She had neither the proper tools nor training to deal with this! She only learned how to close cuts and heal bruises, and all her years of Medical school gave her a list of all kinds of anesthetic and antibiotics and other medical wahoos that she. just. didn''t. have.

    Her mind raced as she tried to find a solution. They were in bum fuck nowhere, but she didn''t necessarily have to finish the procedure. She just needed to last for another... 5 hours until "rescue" would come. On an island where they were both being hunted while someone who tried to kill them was sitting there tied to a tree not even five feet away.

    Shit.

    She also couldn''t move Sabako or else the girl might die from any number of reasons.

    Double shit.

    One head butt that knocked down a tree later, and she had finally calmed herself enough to begin the surgery. She dearly prayed that her half-assed plan would work or else her friend wouldn''t wake to see the morrow and Julia had absolutely no intention to go eating ice cream by herself, that''s what losers did.

    She shoved enough Soldier Pills down her gullet to be mildly worried about overdosing. She''d need a whole lot more than she currently had for her idea.

    "Shadow Clone Jutsu."

    9 was her absolute limit. That was how many she could make and have them not be completely dead on their feet.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    What she had just made was well over that number. The entire healing was filled with smoke until it revealed a completely different scene. Transformation Jutsu, it gave the properties of whatever it was used for. Naruto frequently used it to turn his shadow clones into Kunais or other objects. It was a physical transformation not an illusion, although one solid hit and it would be undone.

    She was going to milk it for all it was worth. A completely enclosed white room, a metallic operating table, and a number of surgical tools. She dearly hoped they were sanitized. In theory, she had directly converted Chakra into the makeshift mass, so bacteria should''ve been impossible, but one could never be quite sure with bullshit Ninja magic logic.

    She was in familiar blue scrubs and face mask, rubber gloves and all. With four clones helping her work they had no need to verbally communicate as they all used seamless teamwork.

    The greatest team of amateur surgeons in history had just been formed with a single-minded determination to save their friend.

    Zabuza was left forgotten in a corner of the room, even when he woke up two hours later they were still hard at work. They had used so much poison that even his tongue was numbed and he could only sit there and watch. A Genjutsu along with some rudimentary cover ensured that it was not only hard to find their location, but outside distractions were kept to a minimum.

    <hr>

    3 Hours and 47 minutes. That was how long the entire thing had lasted. 2 hours and 12 minutes in Julia cursed at her stupidity for the nth time that day when Sabako woke up mid-surgery while Julia had her hands in her guts. That was an awkward moment for both of them before the Suna kunoichi was promptly knocked out with haste with a Genjutsu to make sure she stayed that way.

    It was the longest 4 hours of her life and she could''ve sworn she aged a few years afterward. She was half tempted to check if she was growing any gray hair from the stress of it all!

    She spent the rest of the time tormenting Zabuza. At first, it had some purpose, at least after she got over with seeing red from what he had done to Sabako, where she learned more about the Exam and what he''d been up too.

    Man, kid Zabuza was messed up in the head. He''d apparently already slaughtered a couple of dozen Genins during the Genin Exams and was now on his way to "Weed out the Weak" in an extreme Darwinistic survival of the fittest mumbo jumbo. Honestly, she didn''t particularly like Zabuza. As a person or a character, he didn''t seem interesting nor worth keeping and she was considering just killing him here and now.

    The future was already changing but she should make at least some token effort to keep it the same right? After all knowledge was power and power was something she desperately needed, but hadn''t she already long given up on maintaining the status quo so to speak with Itachi, Shisui, and Anko?

    One can not challenge the Gods by playing it safe after all.

    "Hey, Zabuza, I want to make a deal with you."

    He didn''t say anything. Not that she expected him too, she had made sure to keep him tranquilized after all. If he so much as twitched she was going to sever his tendons without hesitation and she told him as such. She''d rather not have him try to tear her throat out with his teeth or some bullshit.

    His denial and proclamation of death over betraying his village was expected. But that was fine, she had no need for any of their secrets, after all, she knew the biggest secrets of this world. In fact, it wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say what she knew would shake everyone in this world.

    "I don''t need nor want you to betray your village, I just want you to tell me everything you know about Kisame Hoshigaki... and the Kaguya Clan... Oh, and what''s the best ice cream place you got here?"

    He might''ve been willing to die to withhold vital information on her village, but what about some minor details? And he knew all too well there was more at state than just his life or pride when she dangled a certain scroll in front of his face. He could die a hundred times and still not make up for losing the Mythical sword of the village. He folded like a house of cards afterward, especially after she included the antidote to the laxatives to sweeten the deal.

    Shinobi or not, there were some things a man shouldn''t have to endure. Laxatives meant for elephants were one of them.

    She hoped Itachi and Anko were having better luck than she was. She knew there was a good chance she would die here so she made sure to tell me some things before she left.

    <hr>

    "Hello there, Uchiha-san, may I ask what you''re doing here...?"

    "Good evening Nono-san, is Kabuto-san here? I have much to discuss with the both of you if you''d please?"

    Itachi didn''t know why Julia had insisted that he contacted these two and bring them to the Uchiha Clan and keep watch over them, but he knew it was important to her. The life of a shinobi was short, he knew that better than anyone having witnessed the horrors of war as a child. Which is one when your friend asked a favor of you with a look as if she was ready to die, you tend to agree and not ask too many questions.

    At least for now, he''d get his answers when she came back.

    <hr>

    It was a close one, but Sabako and Julia had made it, and she also now knew how to contact the Kaguya clan and Kisame. The next stage would hopefully be easier.

    ...FUCK WHY DO I NEVER LEARN!?

    Julia made a mental note to start praying more after she jinxed herself once again.

 Chapter 25. Kaguya

    Julia always knew the life of a shinobi was dangerous. It was logical and the thought ran through her mind a few times. Frankly, she was expecting giant demons to rampage and fallen Gods to descend from the heaven and fuck everything up in one to two decades as it was, however knowing something and truly comprehending it was two different matters entirely.

    Every mission she had gone in before now while dangerous she was never desperate. Even when she had her "first kill" She didn''t get too hung up over it. Maybe it was because she was just a terrible person but it didn''t bother her like she thought it would. There was no puking or sleepless nights, just a distance acknowledgment that she had deemed someone unworthy of living and decided to do something about it.

    Rapists didn''t deserve rights in her mind, they gave those up when they decided to be no better than an animal, except animals were innately innocent given their lack of higher thoughts.

    She sidetracked.

    All of her friends with the accept of the Ichiraku family were shinobi, a dangerous profession, and yet she had felt them strangely immune to dangers in a sense. After all, they were "main" characters. Surely fate or whatever power there was would ensure they survive well into the "cannon" or naruto at least? Even if not, they were all-powerful in their own right, so she should be more concerned about herself fucking up and dying instead.

    It was naive and childish, and having her new friend getting cornered and having to blow their own fucking arm off to save her really hammered in the underlying mortality of everyone. She thought she was doing well, she thought she was way ahead of her age and was pretty exceptional in her own right.

    She was incredibly stupid as she was reminded time and time again.

    Julia couldn''t be content with just being "exception" she needed to be downright frigging amazing, her goal was to change the fate of the world. She wasn''t reaching for the sky, she wanted to grab hold of the stars, and that required more than being self-satisfied with the pitiful amount of power she currently had.

    Although she had been steadily changing things, it was still far too slow and far too little in the scheme of things. She was under no delusion she could account for every possibility. Heck, just her trying to save the Uchiha clan could end up fucking things beyond all belief.

    More Uchiha meant more possible bodies for Orochimaru to steal. More Sharingan eyes for Danzo''s fucked-up arm. More bullshit Hax eye villains might arise. Would a well adjusted Sasuke even be able to have to power and drive to become one of the strongest shinobis in existence?

    No, even if he could, was it right of her to rely on children to take that burden?

    Her entire plan was full of holes and she didn''t know how to patch them up. The more she changed the future the less she would know, the more variables the more easily everything would be fucked up.

    For all she knew, killing Danzo would make room for some dastardly other forces to arrive.

    It all boiled down to power in the end. If she was strong enough, if she had enough friends and connections, it wouldn''t matter what plot there was. Absolute power trumps all. She couldn''t do this all alone, she wasn''t nearly smart or resourceful enough, and leaving her friends in the dark sounded like a worse idea every second.

    "Hey, Sabako?"

    Julia had decided. Once she got back to Konoha, she''d kick it into high gear. Everyone had to get stronger, even the would-be Jonin sensei of the Konoha 11. Even Gai and Kakashi.

    "Hmm?"

    The girl had a mouthful of ice cream. Missing arm or not, nothing got between the Suna nin and her cold treat it would seem. The nurses stopped bothering to try to take it away from her after she holed herself in Buru to eat it last time.

    "I''m going to become Tsunade''s apprentice. It''ll take a while, but I''ll fix your arm, I swear."

    "Nah, don''t sweat it. I only need one to kick ass and take names. I''ll bet I''m a sure win for a position in the Puppet Brigade after I get back home, kicking one of the Seven Swordsmen''s ass is sure to do wonders for my resume, don''t cha think?"

    Despite the cheerful grin, Julia knew it must''ve been hard on the other girl. A puppeteer used their fingers to finely control their chakra threads. It wasn''t an exaggeration to say that her Shinobi career was over and her potential was cut by more than half. Julia felt awful knowing she couldn''t help her against Zabuza and had a hand in ending a young child''s dreams.

    She felt bitter knowing that cases like these were probably a dime a dozen in this world, just out of sight from the wonders of Chakra and the glory of their villages.

    She was brought out of her thoughts by a fist slamming ontop of her head. A shout of surprise more than pain came out of her.

    "Seriously, Julia. It wasn''t your fault, if it wasn''t for you I''d have died. Twice even! I''m thankful that you were there with me. It''s thanks to you that I could wake up this morning and see the sunrise, and its thanks to you that I could even be here right now eating ice cream. I''d say an arm is a more than fair trade. Besides,"

    Sabako leaned in closer with a conspiratorial smirk on her face as she mock whispered.

    "Between you and me, don''t you think I''d be all the more badass for becoming a Puppet Master with only one arm? This is merely another step on my path of becoming a legendary badass, so chin up. And if you still feel bad for some inane reason, you could always get me another cup of ice cream. Blueberry preferably."The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    The girls laughed as they shared a look. Sabako was out of the Chunin exams, but she was going to stay and watch the rest. There was a two weeks break as they set up the arena for the second stage. During that time she would seek out the Tailless Beast and the Battle Maniacs of the Kaguya clan.

    She wouldn''t give them anything that would incriminate her knowledge of the future, but maybe she could deny Akatsuki of one of its strongest members and Orochimaru of a powerful shinobi.

    <hr>

    "I''ll be honest kid, I think you should withdraw while you can. You''ve already done impressively as it is. I''m sure in a couple of months you''ll wipe the floor with the other kids at next year''s Chunin Exams."

    Julia was an independent kid. Aizawa had always known that from Day 1. She didn''t act like others her age, nor did she get along with them with the exception of the Uchiha prodigies, and so far he had been content with letting her have free range. She had done pretty well for herself so far, and he knew she had Gai and Mikoto-san to help her if she needed additional guidance.

    But now he wasn''t so sure anymore. She had almost died for God''s sake, and the idea of him failing another one of his students, letting them die in another god damned Chunin exam, was almost too much to bear.

    "Sorry, Aizawa-sensei, but I have to do this."

    And it was true. This wasn''t some need for the prestige that came with the title nor the money that would come with the promotion. She needed the recognition and political power it came with no matter how little. She needed to be recognized as a fine shinobi and anAdult. There was only so much she could get done using Itachi as a proxy for his clan.

    There was only so muchone could rely on goodwill. In fact, it''d be best if she could somehow get Itachi to become clan head sooner.

    "I see... There isn''t much I could do to help you prepare in the next two weeks, I suggest you rest well for now. Starting tomorrow I''ll show you all the Water Release I know and some methods to counter them."

    "Hai, thank you Sensei."

    He dearly wished the precocious girl would make it out alright.

    <hr>

    She''d probably get in a shit load of trouble if anyone found out what she was doing. It wasn''t exactly a "crime" per se, but it was certainly suspicious and enough to get her locked up. In a village known for being ruthless killers... During an important political event... Fuck she couldn''t afford to get caught.

    "Hi!"

    "...? W-what? Who are you? How''d you get in here?"

    Even in a world where child soldiers and assassins were a common theme, there was something jarring about seeing the abuse in front of her. Dirty, dull-eyed, and suffering from obvious malnutrition, Kimimaro Kaguya made for a sorry sight and her heart clenched at his state. Kimimaro''s Kekkei Genkai was rare and feared even amongst his own Clan, the ruthless battle maniacs of the Kaguya Clan. So, they had him locked away in this cage far from sight and only let him out when they needed him as a trump card in battles. Thankfully Kimimaro never tried to escape or lash out so the security was incredibly low, in fact, there weren''t even any true guards. This coupled with the fact that these idiots weren''t the keenest outside of battle ensured that a shadow clone disguised as a common fly got through easily.

    After that, it was just a simple matter of dispelling the transformation. Although she supposes she should be glad he didn''t scream or tried to skewer her immediately. She''d be suspicious herself if a child with half her face covered and wearing a hoodie suddenly appeared in her room.

    "Sorry, my name''s a secret~! But you can call meRose-chan," Using the translated version of her name wasn''t the most creative thing in the world, but at least nobody would be able to tie the name to her. Julia also decided to ignore his last question. "You want to play?"

    "Play..? Play what? How do I play, when I''m stuck in here?"

    He bitterly indicated towards the bars with his small hands. It seems he wasn''t put off with a stranger suddenly showing up. That was good to know.

    "That''s easy, just hold still and watch!"

    She flashed through a series of hand signs, and Julia noticed how Kimimaro''s eyes widened and his shoulds tensed ever slightly, yet he seemed intrigued enough to watch things play out. Was it confidence in his own abilities or simply naive hope she wouldn''t or couldn''t hurt him? She didn''t know, but it didn''t really matter in the end. Soon she was done and a Genjutsu covered both of them, whisking them away from the cold and damp dungeon to a Fire Park back within Konoha.

    "Wha- Where are we?"

    Finally, the kid started to sound his age as wonder fill his eyes and his voice finally lost the dead monotone he''s been using. She supposes considering his living condition and the general climate of Kiri he''s never seen such a bright and sunny day before. Heck, it was depressing to think about but chances are he might''ve never even seen the outside world besides the blood-filled battlefield.

    She bit her lips before deciding to trust her guts.

    "Konohagakure, my home."

    "Konoha..."

    The confusion was palpable as he stared at the vast and endless sunbake hills and wildflowers. The clearing was surrounded by some trees, but they were sparse and one could see the buildings of the village all around.

    "Cmon, let''s go. You ever had ice cream before?"

    They went sightseeing and played all the kid games she knew of. Some he liked, such as tag, hide and seek, and skipping rocks, others like patty cake no so much, but he enjoyed the novelty of it all. It took a bit of effort, but she eventually got them two Ichiraku ramen to enjoy on the Hokage Monument watching the sunset. At least as far as her memory could replicate it, anyways. She didn''t actually know how to make it, but thankfully in a Genjutsu if you can imagine it you could create it.

    "So, did you have fun, Kimimaro-chan?"

    A happy hum and a nod as he dug into his ramen. Kicking his feet while sitting on the ledge, it truly made one think he was just an ordinary child. It was too bad all things had to come to an end eventually, especially good things.

    "Rose-san, this is all a dream, isn''t it? No, a Genjutsu. None of this is real... Soon I''ll be back in that room, and you''ll leave me, right?"

    Such a young child shouldn''t have such a look of longing and melancholy in his eyes. They watched the sunset but it felt as if the light was leaving the boy''s future as he stared at it.

    "Thank you. Today was the greatest day of my life."

    "...Kimimaro, just because it''s a dream, doesn''t mean it''s not real, and just because it''s not real doesn''t meanit can''t be. I could take you from here, you know? You can come back to Konoha with me, and we can eat real ice cream or get Ichiraku''s Ramen. The real thing is way better than what I could make. I''ll introduce you to my friends, they''re all nice people, and-"

    Suddenly the illusionary world shattered like broken glass. Someone was coming and they both knew it.

    "It''s ok, I understand, go. I have to stay here and its too dangerous for you to take me. Thanks for everything."

    The clone dispelled herself, but she knew that this wasn''t over. She''d raid the Kaguya Clan herself if she had too, she was saving that kid.

    By the time the older member of the Kaguya Clan had come down with dinner, the only sign of Julia''s existence was the faintest smile on Kimiaro and the memories they shared.

 Chapter 26. Water temple? Do I look like L*nk?!

    "You''ve gotta be shitting me..."

    Maybe she really should''ve just killed Zabuza and called it a day, because she had just managed to piss off one of the famed Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and was now going to fight him on what was basically his own turf. 18 Genins, one giant underground colosseum, 6 spots for the final stage. It was basically a battle royale to be last man standing so to speak, except the arena was a multistory deep tower underneath a lake and every ten minutes a random window will open to flood water into it, forcing the contestants to slowly climb up or drown. There were 7 stories, and it would take 3 hours before the tower was completely filled with water.

    It was too late for regrets, but Goddamn if she didn''t hate whichever asshole came up with this stupid Exam. They all started somewhere on at the bottom scattered across the maze-like ground level. Julia unsealed her nunchaku and took off her arm and leg weights. It was too dangerous to dick around here.

    Her safest bet was to keep walking in one direction until she reached the wall of the tower which would significantly reduce her exposure and let her deal with attacks coming from the front instead of being stabbed from behind again. She even slipped her sandals off and went barefoot to reduce any noise she was making as she slowly treaded. This place was frigging huge, so with any luck, she could just hide it out for a while as the others tire each other out.

    <hr>

    "Water Dragon Jutsu!"

    "Oh come the fuck on, you guys aren''t even going topretend to be fair anymore?!"

    3 Kiri Genin had found her, apparently, they thought it would be a brilliant idea to team up and eliminate the outsiders to ensure only their village''s shinobi passed. Stupid cheaters with their stupid water spam. It had been an hour and she was currently running for her life on the 4th floor. The three idiots weren''t especially strong, however with all the water everywhere, they had ample ammo to shoot Ninjutsu at her from any angle.

    So, she had decided to run instead of engaging in an unfair 1v3 match up. This was the 5th time she had ran into them, they were a persistent bunch, she''d give them that.

    "Shut up, you damn Tree Hugger!"

    "Coward, stop running away you little bitch."

    "Really? That''s the best insults you''ve got for me, seaweed head? You three cock suckers got water in your brain or were you just born retarded?"

    They didn''t appreciate the banter it seems, as a pressurized sphere of water the size of a fucking van was sent flying towards her head. Thankfully their aim was shit and there was an advantage to being so short, she barely needed to duck and could keep running full speed. One Shadow clone and transformation Jutsu later, and the trio never realized the moss growing in the cracks in the wall was their true target.

    "I don''t know who the hell is proctoring this, but if you can hear me I just want you to know, you''re full of shit."

    She flipped the bird and spun around in a full circle slowly just in case there was someone hiding or maybe a weird camera like recording Jutsu was around. She was drenched from head to toe and the chill was seeping into her bones. There was a constant stream of water pouring down no matter which direction she went. She had half a mind to just start blowing shit up and hoping for the best because this was just plain ridiculous. At this rate, she''ll die from hypothermia long before any shinobi''s kunai.

    <hr>

    "Oh come the fuck on! You limp dick bastards are really going to gang up on one little girl? So much for the famed prowess of Kiri''s shinobis. Might as well just kill yourselves, because this is fucking embarrassing."

    Sabako couldn''t hold in her frustration at the three assholes chasing Julia. This was the Chunin Exams for God''s sake, a place to test your mettle and show your worth to your village and the world, yet Kiri not only clearly rigged the entire thing, but they also weren''t even being subtle about it! She didn''t know what the hell the Mizukage was thinking to put on this sorry excuse for a show. Didn''t he care about the fact that important guests from all around the Elemental countries were watching? Heck, even other Kiri-Nin agreed with her judging by the fact she wasn''t getting shit for her outburst.

    She really hoped Julia makes it out alright and kick enough ass for the both of them.

    <hr>

    A large explosion and a sudden blast of heat caught her attention.

    Julia carefully steadied her breath and she peeked around the corner to check out the commotion. Screw saving her energy and waiting it out, everyone was teaming up and if she kept waiting she''d be outnumbered and hunted down. She''d just have to cause a ruckus.

    "Katon: Fireball Jutsu!"

    An impressive orb of fire came out of an older boy''s mouth, his chest seemed to expand three times its size for a moment as he forced out the flames. A large plume of steam enveloped the area and even from her distance, she could feel and sauna-like gust. However, it didn''t matter because his opponent merely had to cut off their flow of Chakra to their feet and sink beneath the waves to getaway.

    From behind his back a tendril of water wrapped around his legs and slammed him against the back wall before pulling him underneath. He pulled out a kunai and tried to cut it in vain, this knife simply passed through and the tentacle would reform behind its edge. It wasn''t long before the boy passed out, but it was obvious his opponent had no intention of letting him go.

    At least not until a metal pole was launched into his gut with all the force of a missile. A shadow clone went to retrieve the other boy as she carried them both above the surface so a proctor could come and retrieve them.

    That was the plan anyways, but Zabuza and his cronies didn''t take the hint apparently.

    "Hidden Mist Jutsu? Again? Really now, don''t you have anything new? I''m not falling for it again this time."

    Connecting her two Nunchaku to form a staff, she twirled it at high speed to blow away the mist. The smirk on her face died all too soon however when the artificial rain that had been falling above her suddenly turned into needles. She jumped back to dodge but the coverage area was simply too high.

    "Not so cocky now are ya, brat?"If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Zabuza''s reach was frankly ridiculous. Not only was his limbs naturally longer than hers since she was only 6 and he was in his teens, but his sword itself was bigger than most men, being over 6 feet in length. It was not an exaggeration to say that entering within 5-8 feet of Zabuza was within his optimal attacking sphere of influence.

    Julia''s was half that at best even with the extra length her staff provided. She may be stronger than him, but she was having difficulty finding the leverage to apply that power, and his teammates kept fucking with her. They weren''t sending water bullets or other shit at her like the previous team she had encountered, no, because that''d be far too easy.

    They were having fun messing with her footing by churning the water, poking at her occasionally with the hidden water needles or kunais, and being incredibly annoying.

    "Oh? I didn''t realize we were having a party! You guys have been having fun carving up this Konoha brat without me? Why didn''t you invite me, Zabuza~?"

    "You''ve gotta be shitting me, another Seven Swordsman wannabe? Don''t you have better things to do than harass me? Like going to the dentist and getting your fucked up teeth checked?"

    "A funny one, eh? I just love those. Don''t worry about me kid, we''ll see how pretty you are after I pull out all your teeth."

    A shark-like grin was on the other girl''s face, and Julia wished that was merely an expression. Every single tooth in the swordswoman''s mouth were like little triangles, and she had to make a mental note to avoid getting bitten. Oh, and the lightning, can''t forget to dodge the lightning coming off her twin swords. Every slash of her sword sent a bright stream of crackling electricity towards Julia. It was like she was tossing lightning Jutsus left and right like free candy, and Julia could only dodge. Not a clean "by an inch" cool dodge like in the movies, but more of a "Hit the ground!" and rolling on the floor kind of dodge. She couldn''t block it since her weapons were made of metal that would conduct it, and there was water literally pouring everywhere making the patterns of the attack unpredictable.

    "I''d still be prettier than your ugly mug. Hell, I''m willing to bet good money thatZabuza is pretty than you underneath his mask, you stupid lightning chucking bitch."

    Left, right, below, jump. She went through the motions endlessly even as more and more shinobis came running towards the commotions. It truly became a free for all, but Zabuza and the new girl using the Kiba blades was on her ass like white on rice.

    "Nice shot, retard. Who''s dick did you need to suck to get a hold of those swords? Because you sure as hell aren''t good enough to be wielding them."

    She swiftly dived down as one of the twin swords was sent flying past her head, spinning at a rapid pace as if a buzzsaw. She cursed as it came back around for another attempt at decapitation. What the hell was with Kiri Shinobi and chucking their swords all over the place?! Thankfully the brief reprieve being underwater gave her plenty of time to power up.

    "Ok, you know what? Fuck you. I don''t care if you''re a kid, I''m whooping your ass in place of your whore mom right now! Release!"

    It wasn''t just the Gravity Seals, but also to unlock the first of the eight gates, the Gate of Opening. She had to make this fast because simply being in this heightened state was causing great damage to her still young and underdeveloped form. Her vision was dyed red as small blood vessels in her eyes were bursting from the force of her heart beating. She used Zabuza''s shock to charge at him hoping to end it as fast as possible. The Demon of the Mist managed to get a hold of himself even in the split second it took her to close the distance and raised his sword to use as a shield. It was futile as her foot smashed through it, shattering the blade and likely his ribs as well. He was sent flying into another ninja behind him.

    The other girl didn''t take kindly to her teammate being used as a human projectile and sent both of her blades flying towards Julia coated in dense lightning. The younger girl soon showed why it was an idiotic move to throw your swords at someone when she used her enhanced speed to snatch the blades out of the air by their handle and tossed them back at twice their original speed at their owner like javelins. She missed her target, but it didn''t matter as hitting the other girl wasn''t her true aim. The swords were deeply embedded into the stone wall up to heir handles, it''d be impossible to pull them out without monstrous strength or demolishing to the wall, which means she just denied her opponent of their main weapons.

    "Too bad about your fancy toy, huh, bitch? "The sword is only as powerful as its master", too bad the legendary Kiba was in the hands of an idiot like you."

    She won''t lie and say she wasn''t feeling vindictive after being toyed with by all the assholes she''s been facing. It felt good not to be burdened by her weights or stressing out about the future. All she had to care about now was beating the shit out of people and making them eat dirt. She had a lot of pent up anger to work out on everyone here.

    <hr>

    "Holy shit, what the fuck is that?!"

    How the hell was such a little brat beating their Genin around like a stray dog? Every punch and kick was like a mini-explosion, even the famedKubikirib��ch��of all things snapped in half at her kick. It was completely unbelievable that a child could possess such physical might. Judging by the others'' reactions he wasn''t the only one dumbfounded.

    "No, no fucking way. Is that... It can''t be. There''s no way Konoha had someone else able to use that damned Jutsu."

    "It is... The Eight Gates."

    The move that Might Duy used to defeat the previous Seven Swordsmen, with only four of them managing to escape with their lives. The biggest disgrace of Kirigakure, and now someone else was using that God damned Jutsu. Using it and beating their newest generation of swordsmen and mocking them, mocking Kiri itself! It was a blatant slap in the face and provocation from Konoha.

    This humiliation won''t stand.

    It seems the Bloody Mist was being underestimated, and that just won''t do now would it? He''ll make sure that brat paid dearly.

    <hr>

    Coughing up blood, and possibly having bloody stools for the next few days was a small price to paid in Julia''s opinion, the look on the stuck up bitch''s face when she punted her across the field like a football was hilarious, although she might have overdone it with running straight through those last couple of Fire and Wind Jutsu the other Genins tossed at her after deciding she was the biggest threat.

    Nothing using her Iryojutsu wouldn''t fix in a few moments, but just because the wound was gone didn''t mean it didn''t hurt.

    And boy, did everything sure hurt right about now. She probably used it for 10 minutes max, and her entire body felt like one giant bruise as if she had spent the entire day training and non-stop sparing with Gai on a sugar rush. Still, she had a large grin on her face because she had made sure to hit Zabuza and the other girl extra hard, there was no way they''d be in commission in time for the next stage. She just hoped that it''d be easier than this one. If not she might just drop out, because this was getting way too intense and she was sure she showed off enough power to be Chunin, or at least accomplish her objective of catching the Hokage''s eyes once news of her exploits spread.

    Taking out two of the Seven Swordsmen, even if they were still in training, by yourself was no small feat. Doing it at the same time while outnumbered? She better gets a fucking promotion!

    Agoofy smile was on her face as she fantasized about coming back in triumph and all the snacks she''d be able to eat with her increased wages with Anko and Itachi. Maybe she''d be nice and treat Shisui too, although he was probably richer than her to be honest. Maybe she''d buy Sasuke snacks too? What ages were babies allowed to eat solid food again? Her head pounded too hard to recall, but maybe Shinobi babies could start eating sooner? Mikoto could use some more time outside of the house after all and dragging the lady to eat with her sounded like a great way to bond.

    Time was hard to tell inside the tower, there was no sunlight, after all, but eventually, Julia noticed something strange. Why the hell was nobody here? It''s been so long so shouldn''t the trial end already? Were there still others hiding somewhere in this tower? No, the water level has been rising so much there shouldn''t be much room to hide beside the center where she currently was.

    Unless they were using some Jutsu to breathe underwater? Maybe make an air pocket space? But to maintain that was pretty Chakra intensive, and he was currently dead tired so it''d be better to just attack her now instead of waiting it out wouldn''t it?

    Just as Julia got up and decided to check out the area, a Kunai bit deeply into her right shoulder.