Chapter 8:
Village Year 75, August 10th
I slept in late after yesterday's chaotic experience. By the time I made it downstairs for breakfast—or lunch, technically—the sun was already high in the sky.
“Good morning, Kasumi!” a feminine voice greeted me as I entered the kitchen. It belonged to someone I hadn’t expected to see again so soon.
“Lady Kimiko? What brings you here?” I asked, surprised.
She was seated at our kitchen table, a small plate of dango in front of her. Ryu sat across from her, his expression contemplative. He quickly masked it with a small smile when he noticed me.
“Good morning, Kasumi. Lady Kimiko is here to personally request my services for a mission,” Ryu explained.
“Doesn’t she have to go through the mission office for that? I thought all requests had to be made directly to the village,” I said, puzzled.
“Normally, you’d be correct,” Lady Kimiko replied, her tone patient, “but you’re forgetting who you and Master Ryu are. Members of the Hayabusa Clan are allowed to take missions directly from clients, provided they do not harm the Land of Fire.”
“We’re also permitted to leave the village whenever we choose,” Ryu added casually, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bombshell. “That was one of the conditions our clan set when we originally joined Konoha.”
“Wait, we can just leave the village whenever we want? And it won’t be considered desertion?” I asked in disbelief. No other shinobi or kunoichi had such a privilege! Not even Tsunade, the Princess of the Senju Clan. If it weren’t for the Third Hokage looking out for her, she would have been declared a missing-nin long ago!
Ryu nodded before turning back to our guest. “It’s been a while since a member of the Royal Family came to our clan with a direct request,” he said.
Lady Kimiko waved her hand dismissively. “I’ve only been a member of the royal family for a few months—I’m not as stuck-up as the rest of them just yet. Besides, Shijimi-chan visits Konoha all the time. In fact, I think she was here just a few days ago,” she said, mentioning the Fire Daimyo’s official wife.
Ryu snorted playfully. “She only comes here because her cat, Tora, keeps escaping the capital to flirt with Konoha’s ninja cats.”
Our village has actual ninja cats? I thought that was just filler. “I can’t believe the reason the infamous Tora keeps escaping and running halfway across the country is because he wants some puss—”
“Language, Kasumi!” Ryu cut me off, giving me an exasperated look.
Lady Kimiko giggled into her kimono sleeve. “Your lack of a filter is very refreshing.”
“So, what’s the mission you want to send my brother on? Is it dangerous? Is he going to have to slay an army of demons with his Dragon Sword?” I asked enthusiastically.
“I’d love to see the legendary weapon in action, but sadly, it’s not that kind of mission. I merely want him to infiltrate the residence of one of my family's rivals and search for evidence that they plotted the bandit attack yesterday. It’s a task that even an average Chunin could handle, but the reason I’m requesting your brother’s help is that there can’t be any mistakes. My husband, the Daimyo, won’t be able to take action against a noble family without irrefutable evidence, not unless he wants to be seen as a tyrant,” she explained with a hint of annoyance.
Ryu sighed after hearing her out. “I’ve told you, Lady Kimiko, the evidence you want has most likely already been destroyed. No noble would ever keep documents that implicate them in a crime like this. I’d rather not waste your money on a dead end,” he said, making a fair point, though she seemed undeterred.
“I can assure you that money isn’t an issue for me, Master Ryu, and I know your clan isn’t hurting for it either. How about this—I have some interesting information I’ll share with you in exchange for handling this task,” Lady Kimiko said, her tone taking on a more ominous edge. “As your sister can attest, I’m quite knowledgeable when it comes to history. There are signs that suggest the possible reemergence of one of your clan’s old enemies…”
Ryu tensed at her words. “Fine, I’ll accept the task, Lady Kimiko, but I want that information first,” he replied before turning to me. “You don’t need to hear any of this, Kasumi. Why don’t you head out into the village for a few hours?” He worded it like a suggestion, but it was clearly an order.
I pouted at him for a moment but eventually nodded. The fact that he didn’t want me involved, combined with the shift in her tone, could only mean one thing—Ryu was about to be sent on an awesome ninja adventure! I wished I were stronger already so I could go with him.
Yesterday had been terrifying, but I’d learned something about myself after all the fighting and puking. Despite having to kill people and almost dying, I wasn’t shying away from life as a kunoichi. In fact, I was actually looking forward to going on more missions in the future. Did that make me a little crazy? In my old world, the answer would have been yes, but here, it was completely normal. Every day in this new life made me feel like I belonged in this world a little more…
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
I grabbed the box with my bloodstained armor that was sitting in the hall. It would need to be cleaned before my next mission. “I’m heading out now! Don’t get up to any shenanigans that’ll get us all executed by the daimyo! She’s a married woman, Onii-chan!” I called out over my shoulder.
I snickered when I heard both Ryu and Lady Kimiko sputter in indignation…
After dropping off my armor at a nearby dry cleaner, I headed toward the Yamanaka compound to see if Suki wanted to hang out and maybe do some training together. I expected to be stopped or questioned, but the two shinobi guards at the entrance just let me walk right in. The old Kasumi must have visited the compound often.
That led me to wonder—where exactly did Suki live? The Yamanaka Clan had a couple hundred members, and their compound was anything but small.
“I’ll just follow the noise…” I muttered to myself. Suki was one of the most excitable girls I knew, she was bound to be causing some kind of commotion.
Sure enough, I was right. After walking for a couple of minutes into the center of the compound, I heard two girls arguing loudly in the middle of the street.
“You’re mom made you this lunch, why did you just throw it away?”
“I’m not eating that! I already told her I’m dieting. I’m trying to lose weight so I can look sexy for Sasuke!” yelled a girl I didn’t recognize, her voice loud enough for half the compound to hear. A couple of older Yamanaka clan members passing by shook their heads in disappointment—clearly, this was an ongoing issue.
“You need to stop with the stupid dieting, Ino! You’re going to flunk out of the academy at this rate! You’re not even in the top five girls in your year! That’s pathetic considering only you and Hinata Hyuuga come from clans!” Suki scolded a younger girl who looked almost identical to her as I approached.
“Hey, Suki, who’s this?” I asked as I walked up.
Suki’s scowl lessened when she saw me, but she was still clearly upset. “Hi, Kasumi. This is my younger cousin… Ino. She’s supposed to be the future head of our clan, and she’s been embarrassing herself with her low grades at the academy…” she sighed. “Her dad asked me to try and get her to shape up. He can’t figure out what the problem is with her.”
Ino glared defiantly at her older cousin and crossed her arms with a huff. “I don’t need anyone telling me what to do! I’m going to be a super awesome and sexy kunoichi on my own! I’ll win Sasuke’s heart, and then you’ll all see!” she declared proudly.
“We’ll all see what…?” I asked, genuinely confused.
“You’ll see that I’m the best kunoichi because I’m the one who will win Sasuke’s heart!” Ino exclaimed.
Suki and I simultaneously facepalmed.
“That’s not how it works,” I said. “The best kunoichi is the strongest, the fastest, the deadliest. When she shows up on the battlefield, enemy ninja should flee in terror from just her presence!” I added, imagining myself in that role someday. Judging by her smirk, Suki was picturing the same thing.
“That’s not what my teacher told us!” Ino shot back defiantly. “She said that good kunoichi should stay in the village and focus on helping create the next generation of shinobi!”
“What the fuck!?” Suki swore loudly in disbelief.
I couldn’t hide my shock after hearing that. Turning to Suki, I asked, “What the hell are they teaching girls at the academy? I don’t have my memories—did we learn stuff like that too?” Hearing an 11 year old girl passionately talking about making babies was very disturbing. Something was seriously wrong at the academy!
Suki vehemently shook her head. “Hell no! They never taught us anything like that! Which teacher is telling you this, Ino?” she demanded to know.
Ino looked taken aback by her cousin’s intensity. “Um… all of them? All of them except Iruka-sensei. What’s the problem?” she asked, clearly still confused as to why Suki and I were upset.
This explained why the females in the main cast were generally useless up until Shippuden. Their education had been actively sabotaged.
Suki grabbed Ino by the hand and started dragging her through the compound. “C’mon, you’re going to tell your father everything you just told me!”
I followed behind them to support my friend. I’d inadvertently uncovered two different conspiracies in two days. I was on a freaking roll here!
“Uncle Inoichi! Your daughter has something to tell you,” Suki announced as we arrived at the clan head’s house.
Ino’s father was sitting on the porch with his fellow clan heads and friends, Choza Akimichi and Shikaku Nara. Each had a cup of sake in hand, but their eyes were sharp and focused.
“Hey there, Suki and… Suki’s friend. What did my daughter do this time?” Inoichi asked with a sigh.
“I didn’t do anything wrong, Daddy!” Ino yanked her hand out of Suki’s grip. “I was just telling Suki about the academy, and she got mad at me,” she said, throwing another glare at her cousin.
“What’s going on at the academy?” Shikaku asked, his eyes narrowing. No doubt, as a Nara, a thousand conspiracies were already running through his mind…
Suki explained everything Ino had told us, and I backed her up. Although Inoichi was the only one with a daughter in the academy, the other two clan heads didn’t look pleased with what they were hearing either. All three of them were downright disturbed.
“Are all the girls learning this, Ino?” her father asked his daughter, clearly shocked.
“…Yes,” Ino replied hesitantly. “What’s wrong with what I’ve been learning?”
Inoichi and his friends grimaced. “Someone is actively sabotaging all the girls in the academy, but for what purpose?” Choza voiced his thoughts out loud.
“Thank you for bringing this to our attention, girls,” Shikaku said seriously to Suki and me. “We’ll take it from here.”
Suki and I took that as our cue to leave. She led me to a nearby park within the compound, where she slumped down under the shade of a tree. “I thought Ino was just an early bloomer. I didn’t think they were actually teaching all the girls in the academy to act like she does,” she said.
“Yeah, that’s pretty messed up. Heads are definitely going to roll. On the upside, at least we caught this early,” I pointed out. “What would’ve happened if Ino made it all the way to graduation with that mindset?”
“She’d end up as a joke of a Kunoichi, and our clan would be seen as weak—a total embarrassment to the village if she ever took over after her dad. Clan heads don’t have to be the strongest, but it’s kind of an unspoken rule that they at least have to be Jonin. Ino probably doesn’t even realize she’s at risk of losing her status as clan heiress,” Suki explained. “A couple of the elders have actually been reaching out to me, offering me private training. They’re trying to gain my favor early since they think I’ll be taking over as the next clan head. Freaking vultures think I want to steal Ino’s position from her…” Suki muttered in displeasure.
“Ugh, clan politics sound annoying. I'm glad that my clan has only my brother and me,” I said. “You want to do some training to get your mind off of everything?” I suggested.
Suki sat up and grinned. “Sure! You were pretty good with that Katana of yours yesterday, but how's your Taijutsu?” she asked me challengingly.
“You’re about to find out!”
Suki and I spent the next few hours sparring. My Taijutsu, as it turned out, wasn’t even close to as good as hers was–no surprise there actually. She didn't seem to mind though and was happy to help me train. Besides Luck, my Stats all improved slightly. I also found out that I could gain XP from sparring, and not just killing people. I was glad the System wasn’t pushing me to become a full on murder-hobo…
*+400 XP*
Name: Kasumi Hayabusa
Stat Points 0
Perk Points 0
Level 2 (1700 / 2000 XP)
Chakra Points 200/200
Body 3 / 20 (180/4000 XP)
Spirit 2 / 20 (250/2000 XP)
Mind 1 / 20 (710/1000 XP)
Tech 2 / 20 (320/2000 XP)
Luck 1 / 20 (200/1000 XP)
Perks:
The Legacy of Ashura: Allows you to enhance your Body and Muscles with Chakra.
Almost Lethal: Grants the basics for Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, and Shurikenjutsu.