"Pff, it's not like I actually wanted to play, but if someone's going to take notes for me, I can skip lectures and spend more time training."
To take the lead, I just need to keep contact for seven minutes, I think… I can handle that, Sasuke thought.
"Good luck, so are you going?" Naruko asked. Of course, she didn't want Sasuke to win, but she figured any of them winning would be better than Ino taking first place.
"I'll wait for the right moment. The rules said the ten-minute timer starts the second Akira-san sees whoever's turn it is. I don't have to go right away - and You've wasted enough of my time already."
"Fine, no one's stopping you," Ino shrugged, and Hinata just snorted.
The girls quietly followed Akira, who was walking through the center of the park, rubbing his forehead.
"Ino, what did you do to him?" Naruko asked right away.
"Me? Oh, it's probably just aftereffects from the jutsu. People who get caught in it don't remember what happened, but sometimes they have these leftover images in their head. So, you could say he's got flashes of kissing me, hehe." Ino giggled, covering her slightly swollen lips with her hand.
"You're gonna get yourself killed one day," Hinata muttered, turning her gaze back to Akira.
"What's he doing? Those are some weird moves," Sakura said, watching Akira walk up to the park's lake, take his hand off his temple, touch his forehead with three fingers, then his stomach, then both sides of his torso, repeating the sequence three times.
"I'm not sure, he's mumbling something about 8-10 years of hard time. Whatever, I'm going in," Sasuke said.
****
Man, I really need to find a girlfriend soon, or at this rate, I'll start getting turned on by any halfway decent-looking girl who's reached the local age of consent. Maybe I should be more persistent with Kushina? Sure, the age gap would make us a weird couple, and it's risky to be open about it, but what's stopping us from keeping it a secret? I'll have to think about it…
There's also Anko and Kurenai, both pretty attractive, but with their personalities, if I start seriously chasing one of them, they might get really attached - and that's a straight shot to marriage in this world. No, I'm not ready to get married yet. Not until I'm sure I can protect myself from any jonin. In that sense, Kushina's a safer bet - she won't get any illusions about marriage, especially since she's got a kid. At least, I hope so.
There's also Mikoto… man, if I'd landed in this world fifteen years earlier, I'd have done everything I could to win her over, even run away from the village with her. Even now, knowing she's got two kids and a husband, I still get the urge to make a move and hide her away from what's coming. But that's just a fairy tale - there are things I can't change, and I'm afraid the massacre, if it happens, is one of them.
Who else is safe? Tsunade? No, she's the opposite of safe - not because she'd get attached and force me to marry her, but because she might just kill me in a fit of emotion.
Ayumi? She's pretty, but as far as I know, she's never been in a relationship, which means she'd probably want marriage too. Plus, she's a valuable employee, and workplace flings never end well, especially if it's just for fun. Damn, why is this so complicated? Is there really not a single normal, beautiful woman in Konoha I can just blow off steam with? Night girls don't count - with the way local medicine is, I'm not risking it. Yeah, in tough times, guys like me can only count on their right hand, Akira mused, staring into the depths of the little lake.
He heard footsteps to the side, turned his head, and was surprised to see a familiar girl walking down the path.
Hmm… what's that saying? Coincidence, or is this fate? he thought, watching her walk by, not paying any attention to her surroundings.
Why's her head down? She looks like something terrible happened… No way - it can't be!
"Hey, you're that girl," he called out. "Sasuke, right?" She turned, looking at him in surprise.
Whew, her eyes aren't empty - scared myself for nothing. If the massacre had happened, everyone would be talking about it, Akira thought, watching her come closer and stop five meters away.
"Yeah… how do you know my name?" Sasuke had a different plan for approaching Akira, but as she started to put it into action, she realized it would look way too awkward from the outside, and this dumb game she'd been dragged into wasn't worth wrecking her reputation. So, as she walked toward Akira, she suddenly changed her mind and decided to just walk past and go home. Who could've guessed Akira would call out to her - by name, no less. Now she was genuinely curious how he knew her name, since they hadn't introduced themselves last time.
"Kushina's my neighbor and friend, and she's friends with Mikoto-san," he said with a smile.
"I see," Sasuke nodded.
Kushina-san is really outgoing, she could've easily shared that info. Nothing weird about it, Sasuke thought, instantly recalling their last meeting in detail.
"How's your progress with walking on vertical surfaces? By the way, my name's Akira," he said, smiling at something.
"Yeah… thanks to your advice, I figured it out pretty quickly. Sorry, I forgot to thank you last time… and for the treats." Sasuke was terrible at talking to people outside her family, so she mostly stuck to business or acted distant. She wasn't used to apologizing or thanking anyone, so now her face was burning with embarrassment.
"No worries, don't mention it. Did you manage to keep the cat?"
"Yeah, after a lot of convincing, my dad let me keep her." Sasuke remembered the moment her father played with Snowball when no one was around and smiled.
"That's good - it would've been a shame to separate you two, you looked so cute together," Akira said, allowing himself a smile.
****
"What are they talking about? Why does he keep smiling?" Naruko couldn't help herself.
"I don't know, I can't use Byakugan that long," Hinata clicked her tongue.
"Whatever, you can't rack up that many points just with smiles," Ino said, hiding the fact that she was just as curious about what they were saying.
"Yeah… and we can't get any closer, he might notice us," Sakura added.
"Mmm? Why's she taking off her shoes and bandages?" Ino asked, puzzled.
While the girls tried to figure out what was going on, Akira walked up to the lake and stepped onto the water.
"No way, he can walk on water!" Naruko almost shouted, but Ino quickly clamped a hand over her mouth.
"It's not that surprising - he's got chakra reserves like a chunin. It'd be weird if he couldn't do it," all the girls stared at Hinata. "What? You didn't know?"
"So he's… a shinobi?" Ino asked.
"Can't say for sure. He only carries a scroll, but his muscles are pretty toned, which means he trains a lot."
"Wait, Byakugan lets you see through clothes?" Naruko asked, shocked and a little offended.
"What? No! I can only see general outlines," Hinata protested, blushing.
"Sure, sure," Ino said, squinting.
"Yeah, right," Sakura agreed.
They could've kept arguing about what Hinata saw, but all their attention shifted to Sasuke, who was now carefully stepping onto the water, holding Akira's hand. Suddenly, her chakra control slipped and she started to sink, but Akira, still holding her hand, pulled her in and steadied her by the shoulders.
"As expected from the top student in our class," Sakura nodded, watching Akira support her, almost like he was hugging her.
After Sasuke's third slip, Akira changed his approach - now he stood to her left, his arm under her right shoulder from behind, and their walk across the water looked like a romantic evening stroll.
And their walk lasted longer than both Naruko's and Ino's turns combined.
****
"There you go, you're doing great on your own now. Good job," Akira nodded approvingly from the shore, watching Sasuke.
For the first time during their meeting, Sasuke broke into a bright smile.
"Thank you, Akira-san. Thanks to you, I learned something really useful again." After all that awkward close contact, just talking to Akira didn't seem so hard anymore.
"Oh, well, if you think about it, calling me Akira-san isn't really right anymore." Seeing Sasuke's confused look, he laughed and explained, "Now our relationship is more like teacher and student."
She froze for a second, then nodded after thinking it over.
"You're right, Akira-sensei. You explain things really well - have you taught people before?" she asked, curious.
He explains things so clearly, and with those skills… and those muscles I felt when he caught me, He's clearly more than just an average guy, she thought quickly.
Does tutoring count? Akira wondered, then nodded.
"Yeah. Well, since you've accepted me as your teacher, here are your first assignments as my student: go home, have dinner with your family, relax a bit, and read something. Oh, and don't forget to play with your cat."
"Wouldn't it be better to practice walking on water some more?" she asked, puzzled. Sasuke didn't think it was weird to call someone who'd taught her two important techniques her teacher, and it wasn't strange for him to give her training advice, but the assignments themselves seemed odd.
"You look too tense, Sasuke-chan, and that's not good for any kind of physical training. I get it - as a member of a strong clan, you have to give it your all, but sometimes you need to know how to rest, too. Just do as I say, and you'll see - your training tomorrow will go a lot smoother."
Sasuke lowered her head, thinking over his words.
"Oh, almost forgot - come here for a second," he called her over.
Sasuke stepped closer, stopping just a step away, watching as Akira pulled a scroll from his kimono.
This scroll is genius - all my programming experience can't explain how the seals respond to mental commands, he thought, charging his palm with chakra and pressing it to the seal. With a small puff of smoke, a book appeared in his hand.
"Here, if you don't have anything to read, try this. It's pretty hard to get - demand is high. And take a chocolate bar, too. You probably haven't eaten since lunch."
Sasuke lowered her head, took the book and hugged it to her chest, then took the chocolate in her other hand. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her head and was about to pull away, but stopped when she heard his next words:
"You did great today, Sasuke. You're going to be an excellent shinobi one day. Now go home and don't make your mom worry." He ruffled her hair a few more times, then gently nudged her forward.
Head down, Sasuke walked a few steps, then called back without turning around:
"Thank you, Akira-sensei. Goodbye." And she left, her mind full of thoughts, but with a big smile on her face. [ image ]

****
"She just left and went home?" Naruko was surprised.
"Looks like it. Either way, Ino, you're in second place now," Hinata said, looking pleased.
"Something's off here. Why did he start teaching her water walking? Are they that close?" Ino chewed her nails, frowning. "And what are you grinning about? Think you'll get to touch him for eight minutes? Hate to break it to you, but you can't pull that off in two minutes. You might as well fight for third place."
"Haha, I won't even need a minute. Unlike you, I think outside the box."
Sakura was shocked - she'd been racking her brain this whole time and couldn't even imagine what Hinata was planning.
"Well, whatever you're up to, you'd better hurry - looks like he's about to leave the park," Ino said, not even considering that Hinata could take first place.
"Watch and learn, girls. You can count on me winning this," Hinata said, and walked off.
****
All right, this is definitely not a coincidence, Akira thought, folding his arms and watching Hinata walk toward him down the path.
When she got close, she stopped two steps away.
"How many more of you are there?" he asked calmly.
"Give me your hand," she said, ignoring the question.
"My hand? No. I don't know what you're all up to, but I'm tired and heading home." He stepped aside, but Hinata blocked his path, reaching out her hand.
"Give. Me. Your hand." Her face was blank.
"I can give you a slap. Move, please." He waved his hand like he was shooing a fly.
No one expected her to suddenly lunge for his hand.
Akira was caught off guard, but managed to pull his hand back and raise it out of reach at the last second.
This Hinata isn't the sweet, shy girl from the anime - she's not all there. There's a real chance she'll do something crazy to my hand. And until I find a girlfriend, I'd better take care of my right hand, he thought, just as Hinata aimed for his left hand, which he also managed to lift out of reach.
He forgot that for a shinobi, height difference means nothing.
Better risk the left! he decided, and let one hand drop, wrapping it around Hinata's waist and pulling her close, keeping her from grabbing his right hand.
"Maybe you could calm down and just talk?" he asked, but seeing her expression and eyes, he realized he was in trouble.
"Let go!" Before Akira could react, her palm struck him right under the ribs.
"Kh-kh, you're insane! Police! Somebody arrest her!" Akira wheezed, trying to catch his breath and pointing at Hinata, looking off into the park.
Tch, just my luck, there's no one around, Hinata thought, turning to explain herself to the police.
"Eh?" But there was no one in sight. It took her a few seconds to realize she'd been tricked. When she turned back, she saw Akira's back disappearing into the trees.
"Hah, I won't even need Byakugan to find you," she said, charging her body with chakra and taking off after him.
Yeah, you can't run far when you're out of breath, Akira thought, feeling like prey being hunted. Hinata couldn't help but smile.
It's only been fifty seconds - I've still got time, she thought, quickly closing the distance.
She activated her Byakugan for a moment and jabbed a specific spot on Akira's leg, making him lose his balance. Taking advantage, she jumped onto his back. With one leg out of commission and Hinata's momentum, he had no choice but to fall.
The other girls arrived just in time to see Hinata, sitting on Akira's chest, trying to grab his hands while he struggled to throw her off. Finally, she immobilized one of his arms by striking several points on his shoulder.
Byakugan made it easy to find the tenketsu points that Hyuga clan members use to paralyze or block chakra flow. A normal person has 361 tenketsu, and even without Byakugan, Hinata could hit forty of them. The shoulder points were among them.
She pinned his other arm to the ground with both hands.
"There. Was it so hard to just let me hold your hand? I only needed ten minutes." Their position might have looked a little intimate from the outside, but Hinata figured this was better than being hugged by Akira - at least now she was the one touching him, not the other way around. Her pride could live with that.
"All right… maybe… you could at least explain what's going on?" Akira asked, breathing hard.
"Why not? We've got plenty of time. Actually…"
"What are you doing?" Akira interrupted, looking past her in shock. She laughed.
"That trick won't work on me a second ti—" She didn't finish. Her eyes glazed over and she collapsed, unconscious, right on top of Akira.
"Are you out of your mind?" Akira grunted, shoving Hinata's body off with one hand and trying to get up. Unlike his left arm, which was almost useless, his leg just felt a little numb.
"Well… we've seen this a hundred times in movies, so I figured, why not?" his clone explained, stepping out from behind the trees - he'd made it just in case when he'd slipped away earlier.
"If you hit the neck wrong, you could kill someone. Why the hell would you risk that?" Akira snapped, checking Hinata's pulse.
Whew, she's alive… for now, he thought, relieved.
Hope she's just unconscious - a pulse can last a while even after death, Akira thought, trying to steady his breathing.
"I didn't use that much chakra in the strike. Time to get out of here," the clone said, satisfied.
"Yeah, and tomorrow the whole Hyuga clan will be at my door. No, I need to help her wake up and settle this peacefully."
Or, if she doesn't wake up, I'll have to empty the scroll and hide her body in there, Akira thought, then shook his head, dismissing the idea as too pessimistic.
Clones really suck at critical thinking - I'll have to remember that, he decided, thinking about what to do with Hinata.
I need to talk to her. And preferably in a way that keeps her from running off or attacking me before we work things out, he thought. After a moment, Akira pulled a scroll from his pocket and tossed it to the clone.
"Get some rope and tie her up. I'll go check if anyone heard the commotion."
🔥~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~🔥
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