>>5793560Deciding to touch base with Naoki, you spend when of your advanced class free periods watching him train shurikenjutsu with Juro-Sensei. He looked like he was getting the hang of throwing them and would probably be good to go for advanced classes next semester.
When you ask him what the secret to his success was, he simply winces. “Exposure therapy. Juro-Sensei just kept throwing them at me until I just got used to it.”
“You make me sound like a psycho.” Adds Juro-Sensei. “With your taijutsu skills, deflecting them was easy. You just needed to learn that they’re not actually that dangerous to someone at your skill level.”
Naoki merely grunts his agreement. You ask him if he wants to hang out with you after school, and he invites you to his home to study some medical jutsu with him.
—
Turns out that Naoki’s parents were normal. Just two, no-chakra, non-ninja normal people. It was actually a bit shocking, not what you expected as all. Mr. Fuma was just a merchant who moved bulk goods and Mrs. Fuma was a regular housewife. All in all it was a default, domestic up-bringing.
“So, wait, if your family is just normal, where did you learn taijutsu from?”
‘Clan Fuma is a break-away clan from the Uchiha from ages ago. We don’t have access to the sharingan because we didn’t focus on keeping our blood pure. I have a large extended family, many of whom are experts in ninja tools and in the police force.” He responds with ruthless efficiency without looking up from his medical textbook.
You stare around his room. Naoki had manga. He had a record player. He had art prints from manga framed on his wall. He was even playing some chill study music while you sat on his bed and watched him work at his desk.
This guy was really blowing your mind right now. The only things that were throwing off the vibe were the spare prosthetic arms lying around and the medical stuff in one of the corners.
“I have to be honest, my impression of you was that you were some kind of super ninja. I’m really surprised to find out that underneath the facemask you’re just regular.”
He flips a page, highlights something about suturing wounds, and then swaps over to quickly scrawling something in a notebook. He doesn’t seem very bothered by the fact that he has to split his attention. He does pause and look at you when he speaks. “I’ve always been kind of… I don’t know the word for it.”
He goes back to writing whatever it was that he was writing. “... Unapproachable. Efficient. Perhaps similar to Junpei, but I think he’s the only one in our class who is a complete ninja down to his bones. I think you’d be surprised with how regular your classmates can be, outside of our profession.”
You toy with one of his prosthetic arms, wondering how it works. You figure you could just ask. “I’m curious about how your arm works.”
