"Ta... Tatsuma?"
It was the middle of the break. Minato opened his door early that morning only to find a hyper-excited Tatsuma standing on his porch. For a split second, Minato didn't even recognize him; he thought someone had played a prank and piled a mountain of cotton candy in front of his house.
It wasn't until he spotted Tatsuma's face peeking out from the center of the white fluff that he realized there was actually a human being inside.
"Ahahaha! I finally figured out the 'Activation' theory!"
Tatsuma plunged his right hand into his super-afro and laughed. Minato's eyes widened as he realized what had happened.
"So our research was right? Scalp activation really is similar to muscle activation?"
[Ding!]
[Attributes Acquired: NIN +10]
Hearing the notification for a "bet" he'd made months ago finally pay off, Tatsuma nodded. His hair—now resembling a fluffy tree canopy—trembled with a slight delay as he spoke.
"The difficulty is way higher, though. You don't just activate the scalp; you have to target the individual follicles. I can only manage about half of them right now. Honestly, if it wasn't for the last six months of grinding my chakra control, I probably wouldn't have been able to trigger it at all."
Minato stared in awe at the boy-shaped cloud. This is only half the follicles? If Tatsuma ever activated the whole head, he'd literally become a walking natural perm disaster.
But the state didn't last long. Before Minato could get a closer look, Tatsuma's hair rapidly retracted, shrinking back into its usual "bird's nest" state.
Tatsuma scratched his head. "There's a catch: it requires total, unwavering concentration. If I lose focus for even a second, it snaps back. I guess my training still isn't enough. I need to turn this focus into a passive state... Wait, Minato! We're going to the Nara house!"
Minato struggled to keep up with Tatsuma's erratic train of thought. "What? Why are we going to the Nara house?"
"To learn the Nara clan's secret technique!"
Tatsuma grabbed Minato's arm and took off toward Shikaku Nara's home. It took Minato several seconds to process the situation before he yelled, "Wait! I didn't lock my door!"
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the Nara residence. Tatsuma pressed the doorbell and waited. Only then did Minato get a chance to ask:
"You still haven't told me what we're learning. And... just showing up to ask for a clan secret? Isn't that a bit... much?"
"Relax! It's not their Hiden ninjutsu. They won't mind." Tatsuma flashed a grin.
Minato felt slightly reassured. Tatsuma was usually reliable, and they were friends with Shikaku now. If it didn't involve the Shadow Possession, surely it wouldn't be a problem... right?
A few moments later, a woman with a gentle expression opened the door. Her eyes lit up when she saw them. "Minato? Tatsuma? Are you here to play with Shikaku? Come in, come in! I'll go wake him up. You two should come over more often—it's been weeks of vacation and that boy has done nothing but sleep until noon every day. He's exactly like his father was at that age. If he keeps this up, he'll never find a girl!"
Before the boys could get a word in, she led them into the living room. "I understand, Auntie Karin," Tatsuma started. "But we aren't actually here to—"
"NARA! SHIKAKU!"
The woman, Karin, had already charged up the stairs. The gentle, hospitable tone she had used with the boys vanished, replaced by a volcanic roar.
"IT IS TWELVE O'CLOCK NOON! ARE YOU STILL IN BED?! ARE YOU WAITING FOR ME TO SPOON-FEED YOU LUNCH?! YOUR FRIENDS ARE HERE TO SEE YOU AND YOU'RE STILL SNORING?!"
Tatsuma and Minato both flinched. Tatsuma glanced at the wall clock. It was exactly 7:30 AM.
Truly, Tatsuma thought, every mother is a temporal sorceress who has conquered time itself.
Nara Karin descended the stairs a moment later, her gentle smile back in place. "What are you standing there for? Sit, sit! I'll get you some drinks and snacks. Have you had breakfast?"
"We've already eaten, thank you, Auntie Karin!" the boys chorused, nodding like woodpeckers.
They sat on the edge of the sofa, backs as straight as boards. Karin brought over two glasses of juice, a plate of dried fruit, and a platter of sliced fruit, sitting near them with a warm, maternal smile.
The pressure was immense. Neither boy dared to lean back; they barely sat on the cushions. This was the legendary "Mother's Presence" debuff.
Ten minutes later, Shikaku Nara finally stumbled downstairs, scratching his head with one hand and his stomach with the other. He looked at the two of them and grumbled, "What are you guys doing here this early?"
"Watch your tone!" Karin snapped. She immediately turned back to Tatsuma and Minato with a soft gaze. "Don't mind him. Shikaku inherited that attitude from his father. You boys play; I'm heading out to the market. Stay for lunch, alright?"
"No need, Auntie Karin, we—"
Karin wasn't listening. She had already swapped her shoes, grabbed her bag, and walked out the door.
Shikaku plopped down on the sofa. "So, why the visit? You're not trying to drag me to the training ground, are you? Because I'm not going."
Minato looked at Tatsuma, still waiting for the big reveal. Tatsuma shook his head. "I know you'd never go. I'm just here to learn one of your clan's secret skills."
"Skill? Shadow Possession? Shogi? The art of being a slacker?" Shikaku grabbed a handful of dried fruit, his eyes looking perpetually bored.
"I want to learn how to tie a ponytail as tight as yours."
Shikaku paused, looking at their hair. He shook his head. "Forget it. Your hair is too short. It won't hold."
"Never underestimate the length of a natural perm!"
Tatsuma reached up, grabbed a lock of hair from his brow, and pulled. The "marshmallow" hair stretched all the way down to his chin. Shikaku actually blinked, looking a bit more awake. He even rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
"Okay, you can tie it. But why? Is our hairstyle suddenly becoming next season's trend?"
Tatsuma didn't explain verbally. He formed the Ram seal—the one used for fine-tuning chakra during Tree Climbing training. As his chakra flowed, his hair began to puff outward again, though not as violently as before.
He pointed to the locks that were already starting to shrink back. "This is a technique Minato and I are learning from Lord Jiraiya. I haven't mastered the control yet. If I lose focus, it retracts. I want to tie my hair as tight as possible so that I'm forced to stay 'aware' of my scalp at all times. It's a way to train my control through constant feedback."
"You guys are actually studying during vacation? You're both weirdos," Shikaku sighed. "But if it's just tying hair..."
Shikaku stood up and walked behind Tatsuma. He took the hair tie off his own wrist, gathered Tatsuma's mop of white hair, and gave it a sharp twist.
Yank.
Tatsuma felt his scalp scream as the hair was pulled taut. It was a stinging, intense pressure.
"There," Shikaku said. "That's how you do it."
Boing—!
A second later, Tatsuma's stubborn curls snapped the hair tie and exploded back into their original shape. Tatsuma rubbed his head. "I think I get it. The key is the tension in that final twist, right?"
Shikaku nodded. Tatsuma stood up. "Got it. Well, thanks for the lesson! I'm heading to training. I'll treat you to ramen next time!"
Tatsuma and Minato turned to leave, but Shikaku's expression suddenly went dark. "You're not going anywhere."
"Huh?"
"If you leave now," Shikaku said grimly, "my mom will think I was a terrible host. She'll nag me for the next week straight. You have to stay for lunch."
"Uh... well... okay. But only if you play Shogi with me."