[IC] An Alternate Universe Naruto Story

[anothered]

It was a wet day in the Land of Fire..

In the covert shadows of Konoha, an enemy spy found themselves captured by the vigilant forces of the Hidden Leaf Village. The captive sand shinobi, clad in the distinctive garb of Suna, stood stoically amidst the secure confines of a high-security detention facility, their expression betraying a mix of resilience and contemplation. The circumstances surrounding their imprisonment remained shrouded in secrecy, fuelling speculation among the Konoha populace about the implications of a Sunagakure presence within their walls. Interrogators worked diligently to extract information from the captive, seeking to unravel the mystery that led to this unexpected breach of security. As the winds of diplomatic tension swirled between the villages, the detained ninja became a silent emblem of the delicate balance between alliance and mistrust.

Konoha found itself at the cusp of transformative change, a pivotal moment echoing through the village like a gust of wind heralding a new season. The rhythmic pitter-patter of rain created a soothing melody that resonated throughout the vibrant greenery of Konoha’s surrounding forests. Despite the apparent stillness, there was a sense of life in the air, as the villagers navigated damp paths with umbrellas, and the occasional ninja could be seen gracefully moving through the rain, their movements enhanced by the slippery surfaces. As the sun began its descent on the horizon, casting a warm golden glow over the academy, the end of a rainy day brought a serene transformation to the school grounds. Puddles reflected the fading light like liquid mirrors, and the air was filled with the refreshing scent of damp soil and lingering moisture. Students, now released from their daily lessons, stepped outside, their footsteps creating a gentle symphony on the wet pavement.

Mu took his first step out of school and onto the wet streets of Konoha, “You hear that guys? The plants are happy - this is like dinner time for them!” He said with a smile, hidden under the hood of a raincoat. He stretched out his hand to feel the droplets on his palm when a sudden rustle from a nearby tree alerted him.
“Yes, Mu, we’re so happy, this rain is delicious - you should try it, open up.” Said an unexpected voice. A jet of water burst from the tree’s leaves and dowsed Mu in water, accompanied by a sinister laugh as Lin leapt from its branches. “You happy now, Mu?” He said, throwing a small cup onto the floor. “This is like dinner time for them!” He continued, mocking Mu’s own voice.

Mu picked the cup off of the floor, “you shouldn’t litter, Lin” he said, frustrated with his classmate. “Anyway, how’s about we grab a bite to eat too!” He continued, clearly not directed at Lin.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the village elders, there were more intruders, lurking in the shadows.

[Lewascan2]

Kasumi Haruno

---

It's hard to describe sometimes what the world feels like to a sensor. In fact, ask any sensor that question, and you're liable to get a different answer from all of them. In many ways, it would be almost unreasonable to assume the ability to feel the breath of the world, the energy of chakra that permeated all things, would be translated the same across every unique mind.

To Kasumi, chakra was a song, and she was a maestro, always forced to listen.

All around her, the discordant tunes of her fellow students clashed in an ugly cacophony, their chakra signatures so often so bright, naive and disgustingly bubbly and world unwary that it made her want to vomit. Similarly too, the chakra signatures of older people were just as unappealing. Older shinobi -those that didn't have the skill or courtesy to conceal their signatures- felt like bared knives breathing down her neck, prickling her jugular, and it made her want to shudder in fear. All around her, she was surrounded by killers, unrepentant mass-murderers, walking down the street, hopping across the rooftops, living and laughing and mingling like they didn't have oceans of blood on their hands, like they didn't kill simply for money or because the Hokage had pointed them in the right direction like the loyal dogs they were.

And she was training to join their ranks... Willingly. Because, after all, the only place to truly be safe in a world filled with monsters... was to become one yourself.

Kasumi had long since identified the truth of this bloody world. For her, a sensor, innocence was something she'd lost long ago, forced to confront the ugliness and darkness seething from every pore of this murderous society she'd been born into. And yet, to deny and oppose this truth as she was would have been foolishness of the utmost degree. Reality was no place for fanciful dreams, delusions of grandeur and denials of the natural order, and if she wanted the power required to control her own future, that meant she had to work within the system, to endure its indignities and injustices for just as long as necessary to achieve her goals. All she had to do was survive, by any means necessary, and eventually... peace and stability would be hers.

A loud splash and unseemly gloating dragged the pinkette's wandering mind back to the present.

Grimacing up at the rain and wishing she'd brought an umbrella today, even as she pulled her hooded rain cloak a bit tighter closed, Kasumi's lip curled up in irritation, as she watched the latest of Lin's boorish "pranks", the "lucky" victim of the day being Mu Hayashi, who was a fairly regular and easy target for the bully. It was all petty, pointless bullshit of course, but the song of Lin's chakra spoke only of the shameless glee he felt for even the smallest amount of genuine discomfort and frustration he might be eliciting in the brunette woodworker. Mu's chakra, by contrast, indeed rippled with exactly the sort of irritation that the bully was probably looking for, but the woodworker rather admirably quickly shrugged it off. Kasumi could appreciate the concept behind that sort of affability, even if she was fairly sure she'd have just broken Lin's nose and been done with it in his place. Screw propriety, around here, strength was king, and a few student fisticuffs (especially once outside actual school grounds) were hardly the concern of the faculty.

Stuffing her hands in her pockets and adjusting the straps of her backpack, Kasumi dismissed the scene and the open offer to any who would listen to go to lunch. Regardless of her disapproval at the lack of professionalism, she hadn't grown to expect much less over the years in the academy. She'd gotten good at keeping to herself, minding her own business... and making anyone that wanted to disturb her peace dearly regret it during sparring. She didn't mess with Lin, and he -usually- didn't seem inclined to mess with her, if only because she didn't give him the reactions he wanted and wasn't afraid to play dirty and shamelessly sic the teachers on his ass for disturbing her learning experience. She didn't buy into pathetic attempts at charm or manipulation either, not when his chakra always screamed his ulterior motives. He was a snake, as liable to stab you in the back as not, and she wanted nothing to do with him.

Kasumi was already several meters down the sidewalk and away from the confrontation, when she felt her hackles rising. More accurately, it felt like almost like the culmination of... something undesirable peaking. To the broader reaches of her chakra senses, the conglomerated "aura" of Konoha felt... tense, on edge, like something was about the happen. She'd felt it building for a while now, she realized, but she hadn't quite actively acknowledged it until now. Yet, now that she was looking...

Kasumi's brow furrowed, as she cast a surreptitious glance around her, unsure what exactly was setting her instincts off. She felt... almost exposed, open, even just standing here on the street inside what should have been the security of her own village. The pinkette cast a glance back over her shoulder at Mu, a frown on her lips. Normally, she would have given a rat's ass. Typically speaking, being held hostage by social obligations was the stuff of her nightmares... but right now, something was telling her it wasn't good to be alone, even if her company was an irritating optimist.

"Oi!" Kasumi shouted at Mu, jerking her head down the street in the direction she was heading. "If you want to eat anywhere anything less than soaked, better fucking hustle!" Not that it mattered too much, when Lin had already splashed Mu the way he had, but it was the thought that counted, right? Kasumi would at least pretend to believe so.

[Letter Bee]

Uzumaki Ren

Uzumaki Ren did not know if Mu liked other boys 'that way', or even if he found that okay. Nevertheless, what harm would it inflict if he tried to ask his fellow academy student out? So the boy went over to the woodcarving Ninja Student, waved hi, and said, "Hey, Hayashi; let me dry you up."

Part of it was a genuine pity for Mu and a real desire to help. Another motive, one Uzumaki Ren tried to deny as he made the hand signs needed to blow that gust of air needed to dry Mu's clothes, was something less innocent, and the boy was self-aware enough to know that fact and feel guilt that he even had that side motive and shame that it didn't need a sensor to detect it; anyone well-versed enough in body language and facial expressions would know. Nevertheless, counting on the fact that Mu may not be that person, Uzumaki Ren pressed on and said to the other boy:

"So, you said something about getting a bite to eat? If so, I know a place that sells these nice red bean mochi and this newfangled thing called ice cream! Want to come with me, just the two of us? I can understand if you're too busy, or if you think we don't know each other well enough..."

Or if you only like girls, in which case, we can just be friends and I can look for another boy or a sufficiently pretty and badass girl. Heck, the two of us can even talk about girls as I like them too.

Deep inside, however, Uzumaki Ren was afraid that he'd get this wrong or that Mu was really against boys getting together with boys, in which case he should avoid talking about it with the woodcarving student and instead keep things secret while he looked for someone else. Either way, the boy waited for Mu to answer him, even as a voice in his head whispered, almost imperceptively, of danger - This instinct had sharpened since the death of his first crush, and demanded that Uzumaki Ren listens to it.

Eventually, the boy conceded to its demands by saying, "Let's make sure our weapons are ready, though; things are tense outside of Konoha right now - I heard from my parents that I should at least keep ready. I mean, we have enemies just like everyone else, and they're bad people who would attack even kids. But don't think I'm trying to scare you - I just want us to practice being on high alert as good ninjas should..."

Liar, were Uzumaki Ren's thoughts as he flashed back to his first crush; the student tricked into treachery and who died a dog's death for it. I should have done something to stop it. But what? What could I have done?

Satoshi Shimura

Satoshi Shimura was practicing his Jutsu in the privacy of his home. The infiltrator from Sunakagure had not broken yet, but the Jounin had other ways of getting information, ways that would be unsettling even to the Torture and Interrogation Team. Why was that? Because he was looking for an alternate universe where he had been adopted by a Shinobi from Suna instead of Konoha, or even a universe where he had defected from Konoha to Suna himself.

This search was done through meditation while using the complicated hand seals that made up the Mirror of Possibilities technique combined with his Time-Space Ninjutsu. Sending out his mind to fish for a potential alternate present, one where he had been one of Sunakagure's own ANBU, Satoshi finished his hand signs and layered his existence with that alternate self.

His uniform and equipment changed, and a mask appeared on his face, one marked with the Suna emblem. If Konoha's Shinobi were keeping tabs on him, they'd suspect something sinister and they might be somewhat right in that... But he was not disloyal. Not yet.

So while transformed, Satoshi went to his desk and began writing down what his alternate self knew about Suna's intentions toward Konoha, all the while taking into account that Alternate Suna might not have hostile intentions towards the Land of Fire as a whole. Nevertheless, some things stayed common throughout timelines and worlds and it was that Suna tried hard to be stronger than it currently was. This means that its Kazekage often made immoral bargains to achieve said strength...

@anothered@Lewascan2

[Randomguy]

SHINYA ABURAME

Shinya liked the rain, especially gentle rain like today. The pitter-patter sounds of the rain along with the nice cool air it brought were very relaxing to Shinya, he couldn't wait to get home he could curl up in his bed and get some sleep while listening to the rainfalls. The parasitic insects inside him were also more dormant during rain, as was the case when it was winter, the cool, damp air had them slowing down their activity. More dormant insects mean less chakra drained, therefore, more energy recuperated after sleep. In short, rain and cold days were when an Aburame had the best sleep. Of course, it was also pragmatic, recovering more chakra meant more to use when needed. Judging from the status quo, that being prepared would be prudent. Things had been...tense lately, he had heard some murmurs in the clan, however, being but a regular member of the clan, not the head of the clan's or the elders' family—and a child at that—meant that he knew nothing of the issue plaguing the clan and Konoha. Still, despite being only an Academy Student, Shinya was a member of the Aburame clan training to be a shinobi, thus, he would do his duty should it be asked of him.

As he was walking home from the academy, he witnessed two of his classmates engaging in a conversation. Well, conversation, but perhaps it would be more accurate to define it as bullying or harassment. To be perfectly honest, he did understand why Lin ridiculed Mu. Talking as if the plants had feelings of 'happiness' was illogical, it served no purpose. When Shinya talked to his insects or an Inuzuka clan member to their dog, the creatures understood and could execute orders. But Mu did not have any bloodline limit that would allow him to do that with plants, nor was there any such bloodline limit to his knowledge. Ergo, it was an illogical meaningless act. However...thinking it ridiculous and mocking Mu was a different matter. Lin's action was also illogical and meaningless. Mocking one's comrade in that manner served no perceivable benefit except sowing disunity and potentially inflicting unnecessary psychological issues.

He then saw Kasumi attempting to cheer Mu up. Ah, yet another inefficient action. The harsh language at that instance was not necessary. Why? Because it had the chance of making the recipient possibly miss the subtext, depending on their denseness. A more effective language would be 'Are you all right? It would be wise if we get off the rain if we wish to eat'. That was how it should be done and the logical course of action as to how to take Mu up on his offer and cheer him up if needed. Therefore, Shinya approached Mu and Kasumi, opened his mouth to speak and—

"Hey, Hayashi; let me dry you up," he heard Ren say as the boy approached Mu and Kasumi.

Ah...never mind. Ren had done it. It was perhaps a bit more awkward than it needed to be, but understandable. He, himself was awkward at times, though for some reason, he had a feeling the cause of the awkwardness was different in this case, but he did not know what. Regardless that was a proper way to do it. So further actions from Shinya would not be needed. In his opinion, Ren was a good communicator, so further manpower on this endeavour was unnecessary. Especially when he could hurry home and take advantage of the rain to get a good sleep.

Shinya turned around and started to walk back to the Aburame Compound.

---

HIKARI HYUGA

Hikari watched the scene near the Academy's gate unfold with her Byakugan as she was doing her paperwork. She had to fight back a snort at the whole silliness. Had she not graduated early, would she had those sorts of moments with her peers, she wondered. Well, graduating early to prove her worth was the only choice back then, so she did not regret it. Indeed, she was originally slated to be branded with the Caged Bird Curse Seal and consigned to the Branch Member, until the elders saw that she exhibited great potential in the Gentle Fist. As such, graduating early to prove their 'investment' had been worth it was the right choice.

In any case...Hikari had watched the altercation from the start. Were this a civilian school, as a teacher, Hikari would have interfered when Lin made a mockery of Mu. But this is the Ninja Academy, students should not be coddled. If a small degree of harassment such as that bothered them too much, they had no business becoming a Shinobi. It was harsh, of course, but such was reality. Mental temperance was vital to a shinobi, and as such, the teachers generally would only interfere when it had a risk of permanent harm or altercations that would hamper teamwork. However for the former, the general policy was to have both students be at blame and punish them together, the hope being to create a camaraderie between them by seeing the instructors as the 'enemy'. Once more, harsh, but such was the reality of the shinobi world. 'Shinobi is one who endures,' she had heard it being described. While she cared little to answer the philosophical question of 'What is a shinobi', she couldn't fault the logic that hardships, more often than not, brought the best out of a shinobi. So such trifling altercations between Mu and Lin—well, most of Lin's antics, really—were not something to be interfered with.

Still, she should probably make a note for a consultation with a Yamanaka clan for Lin's psychological profile. His brash attitude might just hamper team relations in the future. An academy instructor who detested her job, she may be, but at this moment, she WAS an Academy Instructor, and she'd be damned if she didn't become the best Academy Instructor there was. And given the boiling tension between Konoha and Suna after our recent imprisonment of a Suna shinobi, any Academy Instructor who was not doing their utmost to prepare the Genin hopefuls was in dereliction of their duty. Certainly, they were not expected to know of the Suna's shinobi capture—she, herself, only knew because of her position in the clan as heiress—but there were instructions given to intensify practical lessons and cut back on theory a while back. So, as instructors serving the Hokage and the village, they SHOULD be taking it seriously. Unfortunately, many among her colleagues here—like most people, she supposed—were incompetent.

This was even the last year she'd be here, what were they going to do without her? Only a scant of the instructors here actually treat it with the degree of professionalism and competence that is up to Hikari's standard. Oh well, she'd make the report to the administration after she formally resigned from this post, hopefully, the report made it to the Hokage. She wondered which of these students she would get as a Jonin Instructor. Tokubetsu Jonin trusted with a genin team was rare, but not unheard of, and so she had applied to be one after working in the academy for a little more over two years. She would apply earlier, but that would cause her to be perceived negatively in the clan, as that would be seen as her contravening Elder Brother's 'well-wishes' by outsiders and that would go against the Hyuga clan's policy to always present a united front to the village, regardless of internal issues. Now that it had been two years, however, it would be easier to frame it as her 'having acquired valuable experience and seeking to broaden her horizon'. And since genin teams took the D and C ranks mission, it would still respect Elder Brother's 'wish'. Of course, she intended for them to make Chunin as fast as possible and tag along on higher-ranked missions as a 'Good Jonin Instructor who nurtures the Will of Fire'.

She didn't want to use her students as a tool to navigate the clan's political intrigue if she didn't have to, but alas, her Elder Brother forced her hands. Well, in return, she would just make sure that she'd be the best Jonin Instructor she could be.

[anothered]

"Let's make sure our weapons are ready, though; things are tense outside of Konoha right now - I heard from my parents that I should at least keep ready. I mean, we have enemies just like everyone else, and they're bad people who would attack even kids. But don't think I'm trying to scare you - I just want us to practice being on high alert as good ninjas should..."

Lin’s face contorted out of control, then inflated like a balloon until an eruptive laugh burst from his lips, it gradually softened, turning into sarcastic drawn out syllables - hah - hah - hah. “Let’s make sure our weapons are ready…” he said with Ren’s voice. With one swift movement, Lin reached to his side and brought out a kunai raising it towards the red head’s neck, he continued to speak with Ren’s voice, “are you… a good ninja… Ren?” The words fed an insidious smile, his eyes gleamed with amusement as water droplets bounced off the cold edge of the blade. “Am I… your enemy… Ren?” Lin moved closer, invading his victim’s space. The tension in the air was thick - but then, in a sudden shift, Lin’s expression changed once more and laughter returned to the street. “You guys are too easy.” He said with his own tone. The kunai retreated, Lin took a step back and now the smile on his face appeared genuine.

The ambiguity of the situation unsettled Mu, leaving him uneasy about Lin's true motives. In response, he let Lin's cup slip from his grasp and delivered a forceful push to the instigator's shoulders, questioning, "What's your problem?!" Unable to conceal his frown, Mu ushered Ren, "Come on, let's go." He raised his arm to signal Kasumi, who had moved ahead, shouting, "Kasumi! Wait for us!" Mu hurried to catch up with her, reassuring Ren, "It doesn't have to be just us; Kasumi wants to eat too." By the time he reached Kasumi's side, Mu felt a slight improvement in his demeanor. Nervously, he asked, "Have you ever eaten ice cream, Kasumi?" His wobbly voice betrayed how shaken he was.

Lin looked down at the cup which was now cracked from persistent misuse. He’d escalated the situation beyond even his own comprehension, he was wearing a wide grin but it wasn’t revealing how he really felt. The adrenaline pumping inside him was delivering an intense anxiety, what really was his problem? Was this encounter a prelude for something much larger to come? He deafened himself to the noises in his mind and tried to close the distance with Shinya. What’s your problem, what’s your problem? It rang, over and over again. “Hah! What’s my problem he said. Did you see that?” Lin asked walking alongside Shinya. “You going home or what?”

Hidden within the confines of the dense Konoha outskirts, a covert unit of Suna intruders bided their time, patiently counting down the moments until the cover of nightfall would grant them the advantage they sought. The once-reliable Konoha sensory network, designed to safeguard against such external threats, had seemingly become obsolete.

[Lewascan2]

Kasumi Haruno

---

Kasumi cringed internally, as a familiar song of self-loathing and intertwined anxiety and shameless eagerness entered things more prominently. It was a familiar cocktail of emotions that the pinkette normally only saw some variation of amongst her fellow kunoichi-to-be for simple biological reasons. As young women, sexual maturity came earlier for them than boys, and it turned many of her classmates into gibbering pits of hormonal madness, trying to deal with the sudden attraction to boys... or really just people in general in "that way". Not that many actually knew what to do about it until kunoichi classes had ruthlessly gone into extreme detail about the sexual troubles a kunoichi might find herself in as much as the ways she could use such assets to her... advantage.

Kasumi shuddered, lips pursing tightly, as Ren fumbled through an invitation that simply felt poisoned by what lay under the surface. The temptation to call him out in that respect, over the barely restrained pining over anyone that would give him the time of day, wasn't small, but then she'd need to explain why she could do that. And Kasumi had no plans to give up the advantage being a secret sensor offered in social intrigue any time soon. Anyhow, it wasn't as if she could really cast too many stones; however poorly executed, Ren's invitation still worked... sort of. The pinkette was prepared to be annoyed at having her impromptu platonic "dinner date" stolen out from under her, but Mu had the cour-

As soon as the glint of the Lin's knife hit open air, Kasumi was already tense enough that her hands snaked out of her pockets and snapped into a half-aborted clapping motion. He's fucking insane, she decided, hearing his chakra ripple with laughter and something... else. She braced herself, as the knife inched closer to Ren's neck, mind flying through targets in the environment. Her chakra coiled in preparation-

Lin, the fucker, pulled the kunai back again, laughing like he'd actually made a hilarious joke. Personally, Kasumi didn't see anything funny at all about threatening the life of your future ally -and potential teammate- so blatantly, if only because it was an incredibly stupid thing to do. Surely, the apathy of the higher-ups only went so far, right? Actually attacking a fellow citizen of Konoha was grounds for a lot of nasty legal repercussions... but maybe Lin already knew that, hence his retreat. Conversely, just fucking standing there and watching a fellow student slit the throat of another without even trying to help could likely be construed in some less than convenient ways, which was ultimately the real reason Kasumi was prepared to intervene physically. She hesitated a bit, of course, not wanted to escalate whatever this was to involving jutsu, but now that Lin had seemingly thought better of his actions...

Kasumi's hands returned to her pockets, but her eyes remained narrowed in Lin's direction, her chakra coiled like a viper from her last molding, prepared to snap off if the sound-manipulator decided to do anything... incredibly stupid. She didn't think he was about to do anything more, judging by the anxiety intermixing with his surface level excitement and adrenaline, but it never hurt to be prepared.

Kasumi’s narrowed eyes watched Lin move off to harrass Shinya instead, the pinkette silently praying for the Aburame's sanity and safety in turns. He was one of the more tolerable classmates she'd had, even if she didn't get the sense that they'd really get along if they actually bothered to engage more often. She'd seen him almost intervene on Mu's behalf before aborting, which was... just such a mood, honestly. She couldn't count the number of times some latest bit of student drama had ended up being clearly more trouble than it was worth to intervene in from afar. Her choice to remain as neutral as possible won her no friends... but it won her no enemies either.

The incoming questions of the now approaching Mu dragged the pinkette from her vigil, as Kasumi allowed her expression to slip from tense to the usual placid neutrality she preferred to wear, turning her attention to the Hayashi and Uzumaki. "Ice cream?" She cocked a single brow. "I've had it plenty of times, yes." Well, "plenty" in the sense of it being a special treat that she sometimes indulged in outside her training diet… which -to be honest- mostly consisted of scarfing as many calories as needed to recover her chakra better.

Speaking of which, she was a little disappointed. Her dedication to training had honestly quite altered what she considered even a casual chance to eat out. She’d been imagining something with more… substance, filling calories that would actually be both tasty and practical for ninja-in-training.

Snorting, she said as much, rolling her shoulders. “Honestly, when I heard ‘bite to eat’, I pictured something with a bit more substance for shinobi like us. You know, calories, which translate to more chakra to burn. Not like it can’t be a full meal and a treat simultaneously… but sure, I know a couple places.” She jerked her head towards the markets, beginning to walk and lead the boys there.

---

The familiar bustle of the largely civilian district was a comfort, but it unfortunately didn’t manage to distract Kasumi’s mind from the tense aura that she could still feel lurking in the undercurrent of the village’s chakra. Even so, the pinkette plastered on a demeanor of blithe affability, not allowing the tension gripping her to show outwardly.

Nodding her head towards one larger diner, Kasumi played impromptu tour guide. “That one’s Ryuga’s, does really good spicy food, dabbles in seafood, never had a real problem with customer service. Though, they’re admittedly slightly on the pricier side.” She was especially a fan of their spicy shrimp. It was a bit expensive, but the pinkette definitely thought it worth it, enough that she was almost willing to cover part of the bill for her fellow students just to have it.

She gestured across the road a little further ahead towards a smaller and somewhat cramped looking open-air establishment; it did have a covered seating area, of course, pretty much a single line of stools set up against the front counter, which also doubled as a table, and there were a line of heavy flaps hanging over the back of the seating area and front of the building, which mostly obscured customers from the sight of passerby and also acted right now as a shield against the rain. Kasumi smiled. “That one is Ramen Ichigo, a family owned business… Obviously, they serve ramen… pretty much exclusively that, but still, it’s not bad, a casual, filling meal. It’s got that sort of personal investment air to it, a lot of ‘rustic charm’… if you’re into that sort of thing.

And then she pointed at a last place a bit further distant. She couldn’t quite see the name from here, but she’d been there once… or twice? Not often enough to really say much except. “Frozen Flippancies. They do ice-cream, along with a few other frozen treats, I think? I don’t go there often, but I don’t recall disliking the experience when I have. It’s as good a choice as anything else.” She shrugged noncommittally, vaguely fluttering one hand around at the general area of the market. “And if none of those appeal to you, I mean… Shit, we have so many options around here. I won’t be too picky.” Probably.

[Letter Bee]

Uzumaki Ren

Uzumaki Ren grits his teeth, one hand hovering above his Kunai handle as he says to Lin, "Get away from me and Mu. But if you want to fight me, name a time and place - I'll be happy to make you eat dirt any day."

He was not a pushover, especially not when this scumbag had exhausted most of his patience. Nevertheless, he was not someone who casually violated the rules either, so Ren nodded as Lin said something about them being too easy and this being a 'prank', and said with a forced smile that did not pretend to be sincere, "On the other hand, maybe we were just too easy and we fell for what you said. We'll be going now, then, Lin; hope to see you later!"

Or not at all, he thought bitterly as he followed Kasumi and Mu to the market square, which the former knew somewhat better than even he did - Something to rectify. Either way, when Kasumi brought up choices of what to eat, Ren tried to school himself into calm eagerness and then chose more than one of the options offered.

"Ramen first, then frozen treats," Ren said before heading for the ramen bar and saying, "Umm... Do each of us pay for ourselves, or does one of us pay for the whole bunch? I mostly pay for myself, but I have had very few friends before and they always paid or my parents paid for them."

One thing to observe was that Ren was not an Orphan; his parents were accomplished Shinobi with blood on their hands, and Ren was not so naive to think that they were completely good people, although he appreciated it that they tried. And they loved him and he loved them back, and despite their duties to the village, they tried to keep him happy.

And so I'll make sure others are happy as well. But how? How do we get peace and understanding between us all?

@anothered@Lewascan2

[Randomguy]

SHINYA ABURAME

Shinya watched as Lin brandished a kunai around. This was...problematic. Minor altercations as before were one thing, but this was a potential unwarranted attack on fellow members of the leaf. Leaving this alone would not do, it would be a waste of resources at worst and possible incapacitation of potential fighters at best. Shinya concentrated and willed his chakra to give the signal to the parasitic insects nesting within him. Killing would not be warranted just yet. Incapacitation was the intention. A hundred or so of the insects should suffice to incapacitate by draining Lin's chakra. He raised his arms, the parasitic insects already buzzing inside the sleeves of his coat, and—

“You guys are too easy," Shinya saw Lin remark as he put away the kunai, the threatening look on his face disappearing.

...Shinya willed the parasitic insects back to his own body. He could feel the insects were agitated, they had been called upon from their slumber in this cool air to feed, only for Shinya to rescind the order. Shinya sighed, as he poured extra chakra into the nest as compensation to mollify the insects. It was a jest in poor taste on Lin's part, but a jest did not warrant incapacitation. He then walked away from the scene, wondering if it would be in the purview of his role as a fellow student to report Lin for behaviour that would disturb harmony and unity, and thus not conducive to the wellbeing of the whole group.

Shinya was ready to go home. Curl up under the sheet and get a good sleep. Unfortunately, Lin seemed to have a different idea, as the boy ran up to Shinya.

“Hah! What’s my problem he said. Did you see that?” Shinya's unwanted companion of his walk home said. Lin then continued, “You going home or what?”

Shinya turned to Lin and answered, "Yes, I am walking back to the Aburame Compound. I assume your destination is in the same general direction? In regards to your question...I did see that, yes. However, I have to say that I could not perceive any merit from said actions. Why? Because doing so accomplishes nothing but risking enmity against you at best and retaliation at worst. If I am to be honest, were you to 'drop the joke' a few seconds later, I would have incapacitated you."

---

HIKARI HYUGA

'Yes. Most definitely a problematic issue down the line, and a red flag for his psych evaluation,' Hikari thought as she saw Lin take out a kunai.

Everyone except Mu appeared to be ready to retaliate as well. Kasumi and Shinya in particular were already flaring their chakra to defend themselves. Good reactions in the face of a real perceived threat. Rean, meanwhile was more passive but had his hands on a kunai, and threw bravado instead of preparing to strike. Somewhat naive, but still understandable. The problem was Mu. He perceived the threat to be real enough, but instead of responding his too shaken instead. Like, Lin, this could also prove problematic down the line though on the other side of the spectrum.

In any case, all the students down there seemed to take Lin's threat seriously. To Hikari's eyes, however, it was clear that Lin had no real intention to strike. Despite his status as a troublemaker, below that rambunctiousness, lay a calculating intelligence. Lin Way was a student who displayed a good aptitude for deception. This very act of convincing the rest of the students was a testament to that. Hikari, however, was not an Academy Student. The Hyuga clan members, in particular, were well-trained to read minute body language to take advantage of their long-range vision that could see through walls as scouts. As such, Hikari was sure that this was but a poor jest on Lin's part. Perhaps once he refined his ability in a few years he would stand a chance to fool Hikari, but as of now? His intention was clear to Hikari's eyes. A deduction that was proven correct seconds later once Lin dropped the threat.

Still, that manner of jest was problematic and something that Hikari should report. At the very least, his Jonin Instructor should be informed. Therefore—

Hikari's train of thought was interrupted as she noticed an anomaly at the edge of her vision. On the outskirts of Konoha, suspicious groups of people were in hiding. With the way they were dressed and how they moved, they were clearly not a civilian. Peering through their clothes, Hikari could see they were carrying equipment typical to be carried by Suna shinobis...How had they got past the sensory and barrier corps? It was fortunate that the academy was located close enough to the edge of the village that Hikari managed to get a glimpse of them—and that she possessed excellent use of the Byakugan that the only one that surpassed her Byakugan range was her father. They were just at the edge of her 360-degree radius vision, at around 794 metres from where she was. Were Hikari a little bit further away from them, she would not have noticed.

"There are intruders at the outskirts of the village, 794 metres away from here, to the northeast. Please inform the Hokage Tower. I am moving to intercept," Hikari said to her colleagues as she stood up. Without waiting for a response, she approached the windows, opened them and disappeared, using the Body Flicker Technique to race through the rooftops. Hikari stopped once she reached a tall enough building that could serve as a vantage point where the intruders were in the range of her bow. She would have used her Divine Wind Arrow technique, but doing so would reveal immediately that it was her they were facing. Besides, at this stage, Konoha would not want escalation and her accidentally killing them. Therefore, the less lethal and conspicuous pick was bows and arrows. Hikari unfurled the scroll containing her bow and arrows as she brought the weapons out. Just in case they had sensors, Hikari suppressed her chakra and weaved the signs for the Hiding with the Camouflage Technique, as she started to turn invisible.

Hikari pulled on the bowstrings, imbuing the arrow with her wind chakra. Non-lethal shot. Incapacitate. Those were the two prerequisites for this shot she was about to make and so...From 500 metres away, the intruders would suddenly find themselves being shot at with high-speed arrows, all aimed at their knees.

[anothered]

Hikari’s arrow struck the knee cap of one of the Suna invaders camped outside the village, penetrating their leg and causing irreversible damage. The injured ninja would likely never work another mission again, the struggles they had endured to arrive where they were, their life’s story as a shinobi was cut short with a single projectile, however, they did not writhe in agony, in fact the pierced ninja had no reaction at all, they stood stoically with an arrow penetrating their leg.

Lin rambled alongside Shinya, obliviously intruding on the boy's walk home. Lin was seething with a confused, displaced anger that he didn’t understand. His feelings manifested in a monologue, able to vent in Shinya’s company.

"Yes, I am walking back to the Aburame Compound. I assume your destination is in the same general direction?”

“Why is he always smiling? What does he have to be so happy about?”

“In regards to your question...I did see that, yes. However…”

“His parents aren’t even Ninja, they’re woodcutters!”

“I have to say that I could not perceive any merit from said actions. Why?”

“He shouldn’t be in the academy, he should be in the sawmill.”

“Because doing so accomplishes nothing but risking enmity against you at best and retaliation at worst. “

“I thought he was gonna cry - PAH!”

“If I am to be honest, were you to 'drop the joke' a few seconds later, “

“I better not get teamed up with him, he’ll get his team killed.”

“I would have incapacitated you.”

Lin caught the last snippet of Shinya’s advice, to which he raised an eyebrow, “You - incapacitate… me? Bug Boy!” Lin burst into a hearty laughter and tried to give Shinya a hefty pat on the back. “Hey, you’re pretty funny. You know what, follow me! I buried something cool in the woods!” Lin was referring to a small bottle of sake he’d stolen from his parents and buried beneath a tree for safe-keeping, however, he was not aware that his burial spot was currently occupied by enemy shinobi. Lin leapt onto a roof, ushering Shinya to join him.

While Kasumi and Ren chose a place to eat, Mu was feeling overwhelmed standing in the street despite his best attempts to put on a brave face. It was unlike him not to partake in a conversation but his ears were ringing, he was barely paying attention. He looked especially small stood behind his friends. Anxiety was pooling in his chest and around his eyes, he couldn’t hold it in any longer - a single tear fell down his cheek. He let it roll and mix with the rain, he was soaked again but this time with shame. Not everyone was destined to become a shinobi, Mu was suddenly questioning whether it was what he wanted. Lin’s game had rocked his stomach, he didn’t have an appetite anymore.

… ”I mostly pay for myself, but I have had very few friends before and they always paid or my parents paid for them.”

Mu stepped back from his friends, observing them together. Ren and Kasumi would become ninja and he would be a woodcutter.

[Lewascan2]

Kasumi Haruno

---

"Ramen first, then," Kasumi confirmed, her chin inclining slightly in assent to Ren's choice. Shortly thereafter, her lips made a slight downturn, and she scoffed, flapping one hand dismissively. "Obviously, I'll pay for myself... at least for the ramen." It was within her splurge budget. "I was the first to suggest it anyway." And therefore bore some level of personal culpability for the cost of this venture. Though, paying for herself was about as far as her generosity went. Mu was the one to suggest this outing in the first place, after all; she wasn't about to start giving people ideas about her paying for her "host" in these sorts of matters. That was just liable to set an annoying precedent. Still...

The pinkette's expression of mild displeasure developed into a full frown, as Mu's chakra song continued to grow more and more discordant and negative, directly in contrast to her expectations and the slightly improving song of Ren. Kasumi's brows pinched in confusion, as her gaze turned away from Ren towards the gradually hunching form of Mu. She almost missed it through the rain, but-

Is he actually seriously crying? Oh come on, man, we're in public! Why?!

"The fuck is eating you?" Kasumi asked Mu bluntly, before clicking her tongue. "Come to think of it, you haven't said a word since we left the Academy; silent as the grave, you are. Oi, this 'grabbing a bite' thing was your idea, after all, so show a little more initiative." Her eyes narrowed, as she stepped closer into the brunette's personal space, making no illusions that she could likely see the woodcutter's tears. "Yare yare, the hell are you crying for? Pull yourself together, and let's fucking eat already. You're not you when you're hungry." Leaning yet closer, her frown deepened. "Since you haven't been talking, I'd guess that means you've been doing a lot of thinking instead, and since that clearly isn't doing you any good, maybe you should sto-"

A sharp brief distortion in the local chakra suddenly flickered overhead, quickly followed up by several similar distortions, and Kasumi stiffened, her gaze snapping to the sky. The pinkette straightened up, eyes narrowed upwards at a phenomenon only she seemed to have detected, judging by the way the citizenry were still going about their business undisturbed. Hell, even the few shinobi she could see wandering the streets didn't seem to take notice. Kasumi's gut curdled, her earlier premonition of unease rising back to the forefront. Curiosity mingled with caution.

Was this an attack on Konoha? A careless instance of training? Kasumi's brow scrunched in consideration, her lips pursing. The smart thing to do would be to stay hands off and leave things to more experienced ninja, to pretend like she hadn't noticed anything and stay far away from ground zero of... whatever this was. That would be the easiest and safest thing to do, right? But then again... judging by the reactions of the shinobi on the street, the 'more experienced' ninja were largely entirely ignorant. What if the pinkette was the only one that had noticed? Or rather, she and what few other sensors Konoha might have. Should she tell someone? But if she did, wouldn't she need to explain what had tipped her off? Kasumi quickly lapsed into a silence of her own, paralyzed by indecision.

[Letter Bee]

Satoshi Shimura

In an alternate universe, the exact same scenario was happening in Suna, only with Konoha trying to rescue one of their own instead of the reverse. As Satoshi went to his desk and began writing down the information held by his possible self, information he may not retain in his memory once he dispelled his technique, he suddenly realized that this was not a coincidence: There might - might - be something or someone stoking the flames of war across multiple villages and nations.

Driven by the urgency of this knowledge, Satoshi almost forgot to end his transformation after writing down what he knew. But he managed to do so before opening the curtains of his window, then the window itself, then conspiciously rooftop-jumping towards where one Hikari Hyuuga was taking potshots at the enemy. Landing just beside the Hyuuga heir, Satoshi spoke bluntly, "They're not after the students or the civilian population of Konoha; they want our prisoner."

He hid the fact that in that possible universe/timeline, Konoha had sent an infilitrator with an identical mission to what the Suna Ninja had in this universe; therefore Satoshi had managed to find out what this mission was... But that raised too many questions about his technique and what exactly it was capable of, so he was not revealing it.

Uzumaki Ren

Uzumaki Ren took a more direct approach to Mu; the boy went over to his fellow Ninja student and poked him directly in the forehead, before saying, "If Lin psyched you out, don't let him do that. I've seen you make those neat wooden devices that can be used as weapons and also tools for taijutsu and I think they're very creative and effective - You just need to make more of them and make them better. I mean, seriously, I'd love to have you on my team when we graduate, and I'm not just saying that because I feel sorry for you or because you're cute - Ignore that last part, please."

He then took a deep breath and said firmly, "Look, point is, you can be a great ninja if you push past Lin making you cry. So believe in yourself."

Don't add anything corny, Uzumaki Ren! the young man thought before he looked at Kasumi's frowning face and spoke, "Are you worried about something? If so, you look like we should worry too; you look like my Mom when there's actual danger going on..."

@anothered@Lewascan2

[Randomguy]

SHINYA ABURAME

Shinya watched as Lin continued to rant, not giving Shinya a chance to properly finish his sentence. Finally, however, something Shinya said finally stopped Lin, before he laughed, “You - incapacitate… me? Bug Boy!” He then gave Shinya a pat on the back.

Shinya did not understand what was so comedic about his statement. It was not meant as a joke. Shinya WAS ready to have his insects devour Lin's chakra. Perhaps the other boy did not think he could do it? How foolish, not taking a threat seriously because of overconfidence is illogical.

“Hey, you’re pretty funny. You know what, follow me! I buried something cool in the woods!”

Lin then took off to the rooftop, motioning for Shinya to join him.

...For what purpose? Shinya almost asked. After all, they were academy students not on their off day. Their assigned role was to learn how to be a shinobi and after school, they should rest or do further self-study to prepare for the next training. Seeing something 'Cool' would be beyond the purview of their tasks. In short, like many things, Lin did, it was not logical, however...Shinya was aware that as humans, emotions were part of the natural order of things. Yes, perhaps attempting to be completely logical as a human, was, in fact, illogical.

Besides, maybe...just maybe doing things like these was what Shinya had been missing out on. Granted, he had no idea what people typically considered to be 'cool' let alone someone like Lin. For Shinya, rare or exotic insects would be cool, but he doubted that was what Lin meant.

Well...regardless...Shinya jumped and joined Lin on the roof.

He nodded, "Very well, show me this 'cool thing'. But since I'm taking time out of my day to follow along, this has better be the 'greatest cool'."

---

HIKARI HYUGA

Hikari saw her shot penetrating the knee of one of the Suna shinobis. Without missing a beat, she shot some more arrows at the rest of the intruders, repeating the feat.

As she saw the Suna shinobis simply standing stoically with arrows sticking out of their knees, however, she frowned.

'No cry of pain...no one is giving out any orders...not even any attempts to look for an enemy? What are they playing at?' Hikari thought.

It was then she noticed a certain someone heading towards her direction. Satoshi Shimura, a well-regarded Jonin who was a veteran of the 3rd Shinobi World War, famous for his space-time ninjutsu. Hikari was currently invisible through her Hiding with the Camouflage Jutsu, but she was not surprised that the seasoned shinobi detected her.

"They're not after the students or the civilian population of Konoha; they want our prisoner," Satoshi said as he landed beside her.

Hikari dropped her invisibility and gave Satoshi a nod of acknowledgement.

Prisoner...Hikari was not supposed to know about that as a mere Tokubetsu Jonin not in Intelligence or Torture and Interrogation. But...she had a feeling that the man would only be annoyed were Hikari to play coy, so instead she opted for a more neutral, "I'm not technically supposed to know about the prisoner, Satoshi-san."

She continued, "In any case...I've incapacitated the intruders. Though their lack of reaction to my arrows worries me that they are still planning something. If you would, please head over there and apprehend them," Hikari pointed to where the intruders were located.

"I will keep an eye out from here in case they have backups. Would that be agreeable?" she added, deferring to the more experienced Jonin.

[anothered]

“… this had better be the 'greatest cool'." - Shinya

“The grea-ea-eatest cool” Lin said, mimicking Shinya, "Yeah, Bug Boy, it’s pretty cool.”

The tightly packed boxes of Konoha became fewer and far between as Lin swept their roofs, opting instead to take the trees that were filling their space. As he progressed through the thicket, he came to an abrupt stop, ungracefully snapping branches and rustling leaves. With his balance broken, Lin tumbled to the forest floor, where he was at least able to land on his feet. About thirty feet away stood an imposing team of enemy ninja. His first instinct was to run - these weren’t people he could pick on, however, leering at them, he noticed each of them were injured. Lin stood his ground with a sudden bout of confidence. Up on further inspection, there were five Shinobi from Suna, all five had an arrow penetrating their leg. “Are you seeing this?” Lin asked, not checking to see if Shinya was behind him. “What’s up with these, losers?” He continued, warily making his way towards the group with side steps. The five intruders were paralysed - except for their chests breathing frantically and their eyes circling erratically. Lin was speechless. He chose one of the statues and raised a kunai to their face, they were clearly alive and from the darting of their eyes, experiencing true terror.

“…since that clearly isn't doing you any good, maybe you should sto-“ - Kasumi

"So believe in yourself.” - Ren

The moment was in stark contrast to what Mu had experienced not even an hour earlier. If being a ninja meant friendship and teamwork, then surely he would become a master. A warmth filled his body that returned his usual smile to his face. “Wow, you two are the greatest!” He said, trying to pat them both on the shoulder. “But - uh, I wasn’t crying - it was just the rain.” Mu pushed passed them both, he imagined a drum beating heavily as he began running towards the ramen restaurant, the sound of ringing was replaced by chanting in his ears, “last one there has to pay!” He taunted his friends, chuckling as he ran.

The ramen restaurant had just enough space for the three misfits. “Three of your finest bowls of ramen please!” Mu ordered politely. As he sat down, the motion of ninjas overhead drew his attention, they were heading towards the academy. He looked up at them with admiration and realised, he could be one of them.

[Lewascan2]

Kasumi Haruno

---

Listening to Ren's words, Kasum suppressed a groan and rolled her eyes. So, this is about Lin's bullshit? What did he even say that was worth tears? Ugh... Kasumi mentally lamented getting saddled with this drama, as she did her best to ignore Ren's horrible attempts at being subtle about his burgeoning crush. She wondered if she should bluntly address it and clear up any potential brewing misunderstandings. Mu didn't seem to be quite "all there" at the moment, and it was possible he was feeding the perception of reciprocating something that wasn't there...

Nah, not worth the trouble. Just gonna... stay far away from that trainwreck... until it matters anyway.

The pinkette frowned at the brunette's retreating form, as Mu sprinted ahead towards the ramen shop. Aloud, she merely groused quietly, only loud enough for perhaps Ren to hear over the rain, "Still only paying for myself. I didn't agree to shit." Man, she didn't even really know this guy that well. The hell was he saying, trying to extort her into paying for his food?

Her frown deepened, as Ren inquired after her troubled mien, only for the pinkette's expression to smooth out into neutrality. "Bah, just my imagination. Don't mind me," she said blithely with a casual shrug of her shoulders, stuffing her hands in her pockets and turning on her heel to follow Mu. The lie leapt from her lips easily, as Kasumi mulled the matter over internally. Despite her concerns or her desire for impromptu meat-shields, if what she was sensing was any real form of danger, it would be objectively irresponsible for her to involve fellow Academy students in such a matter. Unbloodied and inexperienced as they were, if it was a matter requiring the attention of experienced shinobi, she'd just be leading them to the slaughter, which would hardly reflect well on her in the eyes of her superiors.

---

Kasumi quickly approached Ramen Ichigo, brushing aside the flaps to enter to small seating area, as the familiar scent of warm herbal broth intermixed with meats and vegetables. She felt her mouth watering a little at the promise of food, clicking her tongue at Mu's words and resisting the impulse to smack him on the back of the head. "Oi, slow down; there's more to ordering a proper bowl of ramen than telling the chef to go nuts. Read the menu, or you'll regret it," she groused.

Her words prompted a hearty laugh from over the counter, as a tall mustachioed man with greying hair, a somewhat portly countenance and laugh lines on his cheeks walked up to the counter, wiping his hands off on his apron. A grin was already on the lips of Mr. Ichigo, the present owner of the establishment. Elsewhere behind him in the relatively small kitchen area of the rest of the building, the sounds of chopping and bubbling liquid echoed out, and glimpses of a younger girl and man could be seen occasionally bustling around the workstations. Both were brunettes and looked vaguely similar if you were actually looking for it, likely to be related.

"Don't trust my chef's instincts, Miss Haruno?" Mr. Ichigo chuckled, receiving only a flat look in response.

"With a 'chef's choice' meal? Not on your life. That's one 'tasteful adventure' I won't be taking again," Kasumi said bluntly, eyes narrowing at the belly laugh she got in response, as she flopped one of the stools at the counter, already resting one elbow on the countertop and her chin in the palm of the related hand. "A large beef bowl for me instead..." She paused. "In a carry-out bowl if you please."

Calling the orders back to the kitchen, Mr. Ichigo raised a single bushy brow, his mustache twitching. "In a rush today, are we? And here I'd thought you'd have time to chat, since you came with friends," he chuckled.

Not friends, not even close the pinkette didn't say aloud. Kasumi frowned, her chakra senses still prickling in the distance. Despite doing her best to dismiss the matter... "I just realized there's something pressing I may need to handle," she finally said as a nondescript answer. Her eyes drifted towards Mu and the redhead presently pining after him, her gut twisting in annoyance at the idea of having to endure their little "not-date" as the third wheel. Oh, to be sure, that wasn't the specific reason she was leaving, but it certainly contributed. "I'll come back if I have time-" She probably wouldn't. "-but please, don't stop having a good time on my account." She didn't imagine that would be too difficult; she was self-aware enough to know she wasn't exactly a "cloud of sunshine". They'd probably get along much better without her there to be a killjoy once her patience ran out.

[Letter Bee]

Uzumaki Ren

Kasumi's response did not completely settle Uzumaki Ren's suspicions, but the boy did not press the issue and instead nodded as she decided to part ways with them for now. Either way, having taken a moment to think before walking to Ichgo's Ramen store, Ren looked at the menu and said to Mr. Ichigo, "I would like a chicken bowl, and I'm also paying for whatever my friend is having."

Ren nonchalantly chatted as he set down a handful of bills, "So, umm, you and Kasu - Haruno - go way back? I noticed she didn't like your 'Chef's Special', or was that just a joke?"

Satoshi Shimura

"No need," Satoshi said to Hikari, "This team is made up of decoys of some sort - The real objective is the Torture and Interrogation Division's HQ. See how they're not moving? They've been paralyzed before you even shot them, or they might be puppets; Suna has those. As it is, keep watch on them while I go."

He could pull rank and give her an order, but he cared enough not to do so that crassly. And so Satoshi began rooftop-jumping, less conspicuously, to the Torture and Interrogation Division HQ, hoping against hope that the real infiltrators from Suna had not broken into the compound yet. It was clear that the infiltrator or whoever sent him had been fed false information by some other party and that his rescuers, though sincere, had been led along by whoever was feeding them part-truths and other misinformation. As the Jounin instinctively sniffed for smoke, he smelt nothing out of the ordinary... For now.

A flash of shadow as he moved closer to the T&I Headquarters, and Satoshi knew it was too late - The infiltrator had been busted out.

He began making hand signs; the first was for a teleportation technique and the second was to slow down time for himself after a certain point so he can use Mirror of Possibilities Jutsu...

@Lewascan2@anothered@Randomguy

[Randomguy]

HIKARI HYUGA

"No need, this team is made up of decoys of some sort - The real objective is the Torture and Interrogation Division's HQ. See how they're not moving? They've been paralyzed before you even shot them, or they might be puppets; Suna has those. As it is, keep watch on them while I go."

Before Hikari could respond, the veteran Jonin left, leaping through the rooftops in the direction of Torture and Interrogation HQ.

...They weren't puppets. Hikari was sure of that, her Byakugan would have perceived that. It was possible they'd been paralyzed even before she shot them, however, but...for what purpose had their enemy purposely sabotaged themselves? It did not make sense. Either they had been subjugated by an irresponsible Konoha shinobi who had just left them unattended, or there was a third party at play here.

Satoshi's deduction about them being decoys made sense though, and she wished she could take a look at the T&I HQ. Unfortunately, that building was outside the scope of her Byakugan radius unless she switched to telescopic vision, but that would mean she could not keep an eye on the five shinobis she had incapacitated. She supposed she should just leave it to Satoshi...

It was then Hikari noticed two of her academy students, Shinya and Lin, were heading towards where the five shinobis were. She had noticed them in the range of her Byakugan vision, but she hadn't thought they were heading there.

She sighed as she put away her bow and arrows before using Body Flicker to where they were.

Hikari landed in front of Shinya and Lin, between the two of them and the five Suna shinobis.

"Shinya, Lin, I am unsure whether you are here due to coincidence or you noticed something was amiss. If it's the latter, then well done. However, please vacate the premises and return home. Do not speak of this to anybody else. I trust I do not have to reiterate the importance of secrecy?"

---

SHINYA ABURAME

Sinya watched as Lin suddenly tumbled into the ground. Despite his antics, Shinya was well aware that Lin was among the more skilful ones in their class, therefore, his sudden tumble into the ground must mean that there was something unexpected ahead. As such, rather than hurrying to help Lin—fall from this height was pretty harmless—Shinya opted to stop and took stock of his surroundings.

Not that far from them were five suspicious shinobis. From what Shinya could made out, all five had been incapacitated by arrows. Still...there was this nagging sense that something more was going on, the insects inside him were growing restless. Still...they were incapacitated, so perhaps it was safe to approach?

“Are you seeing this? What’s up with these, losers?” Lin suddenly shouted as he approached the five incapacitated shinobis.

Shinya lightly shook his head out of exasperation.

'Good grief, approaching without giving a second thought...' he thought.

Well, since Lin had already approached, he supposed he might as well follow. He jumped through the branches before landing beside Lin.

He took a closer look at the five shinobis. It was then, he realized that it was not the arrow that had them paralyzed. To be sure, they would not be walking any time soon—if ever—with these arrows, but they had been already paralyzed before the arrows hit them. In fact, the cause of the paralysis was clear to Shinya now. This was why his insects stirred. There were familiar traces of chakra around. These shinobis were incapacitated by one of his clan's techniques, or rather, a similar technique utilizing insects.

Still...it was weird. If it was incapacitated by someone of his clan, why leave them alone? They were still alive, protocol after live capture of hostile forces were to have them under observation until they could be put in confinement.

A burst of chakra surprised Shinya, and he immediately prepared for ambush. Before long, however, he realized it was one of his academy teachers, Hikari. Shinya immediately felt relief. This was a complicated situation and now someone with more authority was here, he could defer to her.

"Shinya, Lin, I am unsure whether you are here due to coincidence or you noticed something was amiss. If it's the latter, then well done. However, please vacate the premises and return home. Do not speak of this to anybody else. I trust I do not have to reiterate the importance of secrecy?" Hikari said.

Shinya nodded, "Of course, Sensei. We will do as you ask. Before that, however, I feel the need to inform you that these people had been paralyzed through one of my clan's jutsu or something of similar nature."

[anothered]

Mu dove face first into his ramen, voraciously eating his meal like a shark in soupy seas. When Kasumi announced her departure, Mu's mouth was so full of food he couldn't say goodbye, broth poured down his chin as he attempted to speak.

"So, umm, you and Kasu - Haruno - go way back? I noticed she didn't like your 'Chef's Special', or was that just a joke?" - Ren

Mu continued slurping his noodles as he spoke, "Kasurp churf blurgh and you-rf, yeah - thiff blurcademy." He paused a second to breathe, "Wow, this is the best ramen ever! I gotta take my brothers here." he said, thinking about his six older brothers - skillful carpenters of the Hayashi clan. In their household, if you don't eat quick, you don't eat.

A splash of water, propelled from a dropped umbrella hit the back of Mu's neck, startling him. He turned around to see a middle-aged woman frozen in the middle of the street, her eyes bulging. In a monotonous voice she said, "for Suna." Mu tilted his head to the side in confusion, both hands clasping his bowl of ramen. Without warning, an enormous explosion erupted from the woman, whipping up a dust storm that concealed the damage it may have caused. Mu's vision was impaired but he could feel the weight of rubble on top of himself.

All throughout Konahagakure, seemingly regular residents were overcome by a change of demeanor, sharing but one thing in common, the phrase, "...for Suna." The holding cell that had once contained a Suna intruder now lay in ruin, the remains of the prisoner disintegrated amongst the wreckage, those same words echoing through the halls of Konoha HQ.

"I trust I do not have to reiterate the importance of secrecy?" - Hikari

Lin scowled at the arrival of his least favorite teacher, "says you, spying on us..." he said under his breath. "You got it, sis." he continued, attempting to subtly undermine Hikari as an elder ninja. Lin retracted his kunai and turned to face Shinya and the Hyuga.

"...one of my clan's jutsu or something of similar nature." - Shinya

Before Shinya could finish his sentence, the five paralyzed ninja said in unison, "for Suna."

Meanwhile, in the Land of Wind, Sunagakure were encountering a near identical scenario, however, the detonations were preceded by, "for Iwa."

[Letter Bee]

Satoshi Shimura

He had arrived too late. This terrorist attack on the Hidden Leaf Village had succeeded, and Satoshi knew now that Suna was innocent of the atrocity that just happened. But how can he convince people of that without revealing too much about his secret technique?

No, enough of this; people were dying and he needed to help. So Satoshi joined the efforts to save civilians from the collapsed buildings, the rampant fires, and the sand scattered by the explosions, hoping against hope to save just one life.

For that was the truth; he did not want the horrors of war to return to the people of Konoha. War would never go away, like disease, but it can be treated, mitigated, and sometimes cured. War was a sickness that needed to be kept under maximum control, lest it consume all in its wake - And woe be it to those who are trying to start it deliberately...

Uzumaki Ren

"Mu!" Uzumaki Ren shouted before instinctively throwing himself in front of the other boy and making some quick hand signs.

The wind swirled around them; a protective technique that blew away some of the dust, but not enough. It was Ren's forehead protector that saved him from a small bit of falling rubble, reducing a blow that would otherwise have concussed him. Nevertheless, he was buried with the other boy and needed rescue.

Tch! he thought, Why would those pricks from Suna do this?! Are they that suicidal themselves?!

Satoshi Shimura

By sheer coincidence, Satoshi had teleported to the Ramen store; Ichigo's, right? Either way, he'd begin digging the inhabitants out of the rubble; would Kasumi notice him?

@anothered@Lewascan2

[Randomguy]

HIKARI HYUGA

"says you, spying on us..." Lin said under his breath. If he had thought that would escape Hikari's notice, he was sorely mistaken. The volume aside, which would not escape Hikari's notice as someone who—in her own opinion—was all but officially Jonin skill-wise, Hyuuga were trained in lip-reading to make full use of their Byakugan, hence her knowing exactly what Lin said.

"You got it, sis," Lin continued, trying to further antagonize his teacher.

Not that Hikari deigned to respond to either remark. Maybe when she first started working in the academy two years ago, but at this point, she was used to such remarks and furthermore had matured a bit to not be bothered too much.

Besides, ignoring it would probably infuriate the kid more, and thus a more satisfying 'payback' was what Hikari thought She supposed it WAS rather petty, but well she did say she had matured to the point of not being bothered TOO much, not entirely unbothered.

And so, making a deliberate show of ignoring Lin completely, Hikari turned to Shinya to listen to what the Aburame had to say.

"Of course, Sensei. We will do as you ask. Before that, however, I feel the need to inform you that these people had been paralyzed through one of my clan's jutsu or something of similar nature."

As Shinya was speaking, however, a massive build-up of chakra inside the body of the paralyzed shinobi caught Hikari's attention. It was almost akin to a high-powered explosive tag, Hikari was sure that they were about to explode. For a split second the question of 'How' crossed Hikari's head as her Byakugan would have noticed any explosive tags on them.

Now, however, was not the time to wonder about such things.

Hikari disappeared with the Body Flicker technique, immediately appearing between Lin and Shinya.

"Don't move!" Hikari ordered as she started to emit chakra from all of her tenketsu, before spinning rapidly, all the while making sure to control her chakra so that Shinya and Lin did not get caught up in the rapidly rotating chakra.

Revolving Heaven, the absolute defence of the Hyuga clan, met the blast head-on and shielded the three from the explosion.

---

SHINYA ABURAME

Before Shinya could even comprehend what was going on, his teacher was beside him, before spinning around as some sort of dome made out of chakra enveloped the three, just in time as Shinya heard a deafening blast.

A few moments later as Hikari stopped spinning and the dome faded, Shinya finally understood what had just happened. Several meters around them were charred with wood splinters and fragments scattered everywhere, the clear sign of an intense explosion. The five paralyzed shinobi had exploded.

If it weren't for the fact that Shinya would most definitely have died without Hikari—being at the epicentre of the explosion—he might have admired the ruthlessly logical way the five shinobis went out, preventing information leak while causing maximum damage to their enemy. However, seeing the aftermath of the blast, with the area around him, Hikari, and Lin being the only unnaturally untouched due to whatever defensive jutsu Hikari used...As composed and logic-oriented Shinya might try to comport himself at all times, he cannot help but think how close he had been to death.

Shinya immediately turned to Hikari. In such a situation deferring to one's superior was the logical course of action, after all.

Hikari appeared to be looking in the direction of the village with her Byakugan. For a split second, Shinya could have sworn he saw the slightest hint of panic at the ever-graceful and composed Hyuga princess, though it disappeared almost immediately that Shinya couldn't help but think he must have been simply projecting his own panic.

"...Several explosions had occurred inside the village. I will get you two back to the village. Afterwards, follow the evacuation procedure for civilians and keep your head down," Hikari calmly said to Lin and Shinya, not taking her eyes off the village.

Shinya thought that was the correct choice. While the village might not be the safest place right now, there was also no guarantee staying outside the village's walls like this would grant them safety. Their best choice WAS to get back to the village and head to the designated safe houses for civilians prepared specifically for this sort of incident. They were academy students close to becoming Genin but their status was still civilians as of today. If this was an ant colony under attack, they would be the larvae protected by the rest of the ants, in hopes they would grow up and in turn, serve the colony in the future.

It was the logical choice, and so, despite it not fully feeling right to Shinya, as usual, he followed his reason and deferred to his superior, "Understood, Sensei."

He just hoped that his impetuous classmate will see reason and not make any trouble for their teacher and the rest in a time like this.