#“How does the 63 feel?” “How does your new teammate feel?” “Very good. Really tight and - oh you meant as a rival”

[ray935sworld]

He cold he wanna cuddle

[myaekingheart]

63. The Tomiko Trio

               There was a strange feeling in the air as Rei made her way to the front gates of Konoha. Perhaps it was the aftermath of the recent Nine Tails attack, which had devastated the entire village. Or perhaps it was simply the remnants of her encounter with Kakashi having an unnerving effect on her. Her mind was in a constant state of conflict over whether it had all been a dream or not. She couldn’t possibly imagine the Kakashi of today having done something so kind.

               And yet there was no other plausible explanation. She had fallen to the ground, and then the next thing she was undoubtedly sure of was finding Naru in the shelter. The blonde ran to her crying tears of delight and pulled her into a tight squeeze, asking if she had seen Sekkachi anywhere and detailing with frantic emphasis her experience of the attack. That was the nice thing about Naru during times of trauma, at least. She coped by rambling incessantly, which was an ample distraction for Rei who had a tendency to implode without preoccupation. Or worse, hurt herself.

               When Rei arrived at the front gates that afternoon, Sekkachi was seated on the ground looking rather frustrated and somber. The truth of the matter was that her experience of the attack was doubly unpleasant. The Nine-Tails gave her the perfect opportunity to prove herself a hero, yet when forces out of her control interfered, she had no choice but to back down. Her family, of course, had opinions. None of them were kind. And so Sekkachi had resolved to isolate herself as much as she could, and reply with snark and sass whenever she couldn’t.

               “Alright, girls” Chikara announced, stance confident, when her entire team had been accounted for. “Today we will be embarking on a different kind of mission!”

               “Are you locking us in the academy again?” Sekkachi rolled her eyes.

               “No” Chikara replied sternly, a reminder of who her student was dealing with. Sekkachi barely showed any remorse. “While this is another team-building exercise, I won’t be locking you up in the academy again. I suppose you could say we’re going on a little field trip.”

               “Woo-freaking-hoo” Sekkachi groaned. Chikara glared at her, and then the four of them were on their way.

               As they ventured, Rei saw parts of the world she had never even known existed before. The change of scenery was refreshing, liberating. She felt open and bright and free, like diving into a cool stream on a steamy summer day. And then they were making their way into an unfamiliar village. The disgruntled guard at the gate immediately perked up upon seeing Chikara, grabbing her hands and bidding her a gracious hello.

               “What is this place?” Naru asked as they trekked through the streets. Compared to Konoha, this village was an absolute dump. Rei could tell it was likely once an advanced metropolitan area keen on technological advances and tourist traps but had since fallen into disrepair.

               Chikara sucked in a deep, sentimental breath and replied, “This is my hometown.”

               It was so strange to see a woman of such power and decorum having come from someplace so downtrodden. It just didn’t seem to match up. But of course, the deeper they delved into this strange village, the more they realized that perhaps they didn’t know their sensei as well as they had assumed. This encounter posed many questions they realized they couldn’t properly answer about who she was and what type of background she came from.

               “So what exactly is our mission here, anyway?” Naru asked. “Were we contracted by someone?”

               “Not quite” Chikara replied. She led them then to a dingy hovel whose front doorway was blocked by a torn tapestry. A neon sign hung slack over the door signaling some sort of dance club. Inside, a stout woman stood behind a bar polishing glasses. A wide grin spread across her face the minute she looked up from her work, and then she came rushing toward Chikara wailing and crying like a hysterical bird. She pulled Chikara into a tight embrace and hugged her so tight, she was nearly lifted off the ground. The three young girls stood watch in utter confusion.

               “Chikara, my precious! Have you finally come back to us for good?” the woman asked, holding Chikara’s face in her hands so as to squish her cheeks.

               “No, not this time” Chikara replied, and the woman immediately dropped her grip, her face falling. "But I have come to seek a favor of you, okaa-san.”

               Okaa-san? So was this woman Chikara’s mother, then? They bore little resemblance to one another, so it was hard to know for sure.

               “What is it?” the woman asked, eyeing Chikara suspiciously. Chikara glanced back at her girls, then shuffled nearer and cupped her hand around the old woman’s ear. As she whispered her answer, the woman’s expression changed once again. This time, however, it was a grin that spread across her face and she clutched her dish towel close to her chest in excitement. An uneasiness washed over Rei, Naru, and Sekkachi. What were they getting themselves into now?

               Chikara-sensei paced the stage in deep thought as Okaa-san, as Chikara insisted the girls call her, readied some tea. Behind her was a patchwork curtain of different colored brocades illuminated by a harsh row of track lights. Two round platforms stood on either side of the stage, caged with a metal pole in the center. Sekkachi smirked. This is too rich.

               “One of the main tenants of being a kunoichi” Chikara then spoke, “is the art of espionage.” Okaa-san shuffled out then and poured them each some tea, the hint of a smile (or was it a smirk?) lingering on her lips. “As such” Chikara continued, “Sometimes we must disguise ourselves in order to gain intel.”

               “What does this have to do with why we’re here, exactly?” Sekkachi asked with hand raised as if she was back in class.

               “I figured now was as good a time as any to expose you to espionage through the one other thing I have the most experience with and that is performing” Chikara explained.

               Naru’s eyes completely lit up at the mention of performing. “You used to be a performer?” she asked excitedly. “What kind of performing? Were you a dancer?”

               Sekkachi glanced back to the stripper pole in the cage and cocked a brow. “Something tells me it wasn’t that kind of a performance.”

               “Actually” Chikara began, “I was a dancer. In my youth, I worked here as a rave girl. We would put on shows every night, my teammates and myself. Okaa-san taught us everything we knew.”

               Perhaps it was simply a result of her own upbringing, but Rei found it hard to believe a mother would approve of something so vulgar in nature. And to not only approve it, but to encourage and educate. It seemed so bizarre, and really just added to the strangeness of this whole little town.

               The little old woman grinned then and patted Chikara on the forearm. “She was a wonderful dancer. I hated to lose her, but I knew I could not keep a bird of prey trapped in a cage forever” she hummed. “I always knew one day she would return with new purpose, anyhow. I’m just glad I lived long enough to see her pass the torch!”

               Sekkachi nearly choked on her tea, holding up a pleading finger. “Wait, I’m sorry, what?” she coughed. “What do you mean pass the torch?”

               Stars twinkled in Naru’s eyes. “Are you going to teach us how to be dancers, too?!” she enthused.

               “In a way, yes” Chikara replied. “Through my experience, I have found that dance and fighting are actually not very different from one another. Both require precision and focus and agility. And, in your cases, teamwork.”

               The thought of training for dance sent a shiver down Rei’s spine. This was nowhere in the brochure for becoming a kunoichi. But then again, neither was being locked up in the academy for twelve hours. She clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms, and sucked in a deep, calming breath. Then she began pondering if there was any way out of this.

               Before she could even think of protesting, however, Rei and her teammates were whisked backstage to a lavish dressing room. Feather boas hung across illuminated vanities and heels of various sizes, styles, and colors were strewn across the floor. High up on a shelf sat an assortment of wigs on foam heads. It was a fashionista’s wonderland and Naru was drinking in every second of it.

               “Perhaps the most important aspect of espionage is creating your character” Chikara explained. “You must know exactly who you are and how to play your part properly in order to be believable.”

               “Did you have your own on-stage persona?”  Rei asked, inspecting the drawers on a nearby vanity.

               Chikara shook her head. “Unfortunately, in my dancing days, an alter ego was not necessary, but that doesn’t mean I won’t have one now. Besides, it would only make sense for a trio of young, up-and-coming dancers to have a manager.”

               “Whoa, wait a second” Sekkachi interrupted, a sequin bra dangling from her index finger. “You’re serious about this?”

               “I am always serious, Sekkachi” Chikara said. “By the time the club opens tonight, the three of you will have been transformed into your very own rave girls!”

               Rei was positive she was going to be sick. She peered around the backstage curtain out across the stage to the rest of the club. It was empty now, but what about tonight? What kinds of people would be in attendance, and how many? She didn’t think she could truly go through with this. She wasn’t a dancer, she was a kunoichi and even then, she didn’t consider herself a very good one.

               “I think I would want my alter ego to be my complete opposite” Naru pondered as she filed through the rack of gaudy costumes. “Maybe someone kind of quiet and nerdy, someone totally unsuspecting!”

               “So you’re basically turning yourself into Rei?” Sekkachi quipped. The redhead whipped around and scowled at her comrade, shouting a frustrated Hey! Sekkachi, per usual, seemed completely unaffected.

               Chikara smiled, leaning against the nearest vanity, and then asked Naru, “What are you going to name her?”

               The blonde pursed her lips in thought a moment, searching the room for inspiration, before landing on a leather bodysuit and matching rabbit ears. “Usagi!” she exclaimed. “She’ll be named Usagi!”

               Rei had to admit, the name fit. If she had to assign a spirit animal to her best friend, a bunny was definitely appropriate. They were both small and sweet with big, wondrous eyes and a fluffy, cute personality. Even if Naru wanted her alter ego to be her exact opposite, it was hard to completely conceal a bounding personality.

               “What about you, Rei?” Naru asked, grinning at her friend.

               Rei stepped away from the curtain and sat down on a fluffy ottoman, digging her fingers into the plush. “I don’t know…” she said quietly. Sekkachi scoffed.

               “For someone who eats books for breakfast, you’re not so great at coming up with shit yourself, are you?” the blue-haired kunoichi remarked.

               “Oh yeah?” Rei asked. “Well if you think it’s so easy, you should tell us your idea!”

               A sly grin spread across Sekkachi’s face. “My alter ego will be a ditzy Lolita who works at a dango shop, she’ll have pink and green hair and talk like this”—here, she lilted her voice a handful of octaves higher and pasted on a sickening sweet tone. “As for her name? Shitagi.”

               Naru’s face went bright red the minute the word left her mouth. “SEKKACHI, YOU CAN’T CALL YOURSELF UNDERWEAR!” she loudly insisted.

               “Oh yeah?” Sekkachi fired back. “You got a problem with it?” Naru’s disapproval was almost palpable. She sunk down into the nearest chair, rubbing her temples and shaking her head.

               “Alright, settle down girls” Chikara stepped in. Rei’s anxiety must have been obvious, for Chikara placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and replied, “Have you thought of anything yet, Rei?” Slowly, the redhead nodded, a little unsure of herself.

               “I think” she started, “I’ll be someone bubbly and extroverted and confident. Her name will be Unagi.”

               “Like the eel?” Sekkachi asked, cocking a brow. Rei nodded. Naru grinned and clasped her friend’s hands happily, and it was clear the blonde was overflowing with excitement for this new adventure. Sekkachi, however, was far more cynical. “That’s great and all, but I doubt you can cover up that ugly scar on your face.”

               “Sekkachi!” Chikara snapped, shooting her a death glare. Rei pursed her lips and turned to look at her reflection. It had been roughly two years since she received that slice on the bridge of her nose, but what was left behind was, in fact, an ugly scar. She grazed it with her fingertip and chewed her bottom lip. She still hadn’t gotten used to it. She was flawed and defective. She had always had reservations about her looks, but at one time there was still hope. That perhaps one day she would evolve like a swan into something graceful and stunning. Now, so long as that scar sat squarely on her face, she was convinced she would never truly be beautiful.

               Naru stood up then and stalked over to Sekkachi, slapping her hard on the forearm. There was a glimmer in her eyes as if she knew something the others didn’t, a burning ember of blackmail. “You say that as if you don’t have any flaws yourself” she growled.

               Meanwhile, Chikara reached into a drawer and pulled out a container of hair pins and a small pad of pigment. “You’d be surprised the kinds of things you can find in a makeup drawer” she said, and her voice seemed suddenly softer now. She scooted over, pinned Rei’s overgrown bangs out of her face, then began applying the color with her fingertip. Though calloused, her touch was delicate and precise. After a few minutes, she pulled away and invited Rei to survey her work. When she turned around, she found purple tribal paint running across the bridge of her nose and down her cheeks to her jaw. A shudder ran down her spine.

               “I don’t know how I feel about purple…” she muttered. When she looked at her makeup, all she saw was Rin. Her stomach flipped. Chikara cocked a brow and, realizing her sensei had no idea of her tribulations with love, Rei immediately added, “I just don’t think it really goes with my hair!”

               Naru giggled and replied, “Well, you’ll be wearing a wig, silly! Remember?” She climbed on top of that fluffy ottoman and daintily reached up to steal a blonde bob wig off the shelf. Chikara helped Rei squeeze her fluffy red hair into a wig cap and then Naru fixed the wig to her head, adjusting it so that it sat just right and combing through it with her fingers. “There! Perfect!” she said when they were finally done.

               Rei turned back around toward the mirror and blinked. Somehow, just like that, she was almost entirely unrecognizable. It was wild the difference wigs and makeup made. It felt so strange, and yet in a way she almost felt relieved. This was perhaps the perfect chance to create some distance from herself, to take comfort in being someone different for a change. Maybe she could learn to love Unagi in a way she could never love Rei.

               Naru grinned and then bounded over to her friend, holding up a short kimono-style dress with one sleeve and a large bow in the back. “You should wear this!” she announced. “The purple will match your face paint!” Rei inspected the fabric, holding the dress up to her cheek to test the accuracy of Naru’s claim. The purple was, in fact, nearly the same exact shade, and the thick pink trim complimented the look rather nicely. Naru then pulled two others from the rack, one in blue and one in yellow. “Here, this one is for you!” she exclaimed, shoving the yellow one into Sekkachi’s hands.

               Sekkachi made a face, staring down at it. “And why, exactly, did you give me the ugliest color on the planet?”

               Gaping, Naru pressed a hand to her chest, thoroughly offended. “Yellow is a great color!” she insisted.

               “Yellow” Sekkachi corrected, “is the color of snot.”

               Naru shook her head. “No, chartreuse is the color of snot. That’s not chartreuse, that’s canary, and it’s the color of sunshine.”

               Cocking a brow, Sekkachi asked, “Have you ever actually looked at the sun, Naru? Because clearly you’re blind.”

               Rolling her eyes, Naru began undressing and slipping into the blue kimono. “Well, either way, you’re getting the yellow one. It compliments your skin tone.”

               Sekkachi grumbled something under her breath about snot, but finally obliged. As she finished fastening the kimono shut, however, a sly grin spread across her lips. She approached the shelf of wigs and reached up for a voluminous pink and green one. Naru’s eyes darted immediately to her as she helped Rei get dressed, and there was a look in her eyes as if she was preparing to attack. Sekkachi simply smiled back at her over her shoulder and replied, “If I’m going to be obnoxious, I might as well take full advantage of it.” She tugged the wig down from the shelf, slumped down at the nearest vanity, and tugged on a wig cap all while maintaining eye contact. And then she fitted the wig to her head and for a moment, Rei was convinced Naru was going to have a heart attack. “Is there a problem, Naru?” Sekkachi asked, taking a teasing comb and adding an obnoxious level of volume to the hair.

               “Y-you….” Naru started. It took a lot to make Naru speechless, but this had just about done it. Clenching her fists at her sides, she squeezed her eyes shut and went pigeon-toed before finally bursting. “You can’t do that, Sekkachi! Those colors don’t match at all! You look like a trainwreck! You should’ve just let me choose your wig for you!”

               “Aww” Sekkachi pouted. “Where is the fun in that?” she asked, turning back to adjust the wig’s placement. She sprayed a cloud of hairspray over her head and then slapped gloss on her lips. “I thought this one was rather fitting for a girl named ‘Underwear’” she continued. “Adds a bit of, you know, zest.”

               Naru sighed and slumped down onto the fluffy ottoman. “You’re going to kill me” she groaned.

               “Nah, that’s too much work” Sekkachi said, standing and primping in the mirror. Then, as she made her way to the wig shelf, reached up and added, “I’ll just pick your wig for you instead.” Just then, she grabbed a short crop of black with two long pigtails attached on either side by large clips. “I think this one should do nicely!”

               As Sekkachi approached, Naru scrunched her nose up and pursed her lips. “Are you sure?” she asked hesitantly. Sekkachi nodded with great confidence. “I don’t think black is my color. It’s just so…dismal!”

               Before she could protest, Sekkachi was already ceremoniously brushing Naru’s hair back and stuffing it into a wig cap. “But this isn’t you, remember? This is Usagi, the shy and nerdy type. Black hair suits her” she explained. She slid the wig onto Naru’s head, adjusted it and fluffed the bangs up, then clipped each long ponytail to either side of her head. Naru looked miserable, and Sekkachi grinned with pride. “You look cute when you pout like that.”

               “This is terrible” Naru whined, inspecting her reflection from multiple different angles. “This doesn’t look like me at all!”

               “I thought that was the point” Rei finally chimed in, having crawled her way out of her own identity daze. “This isn’t about us” she continued, “This is about being as far removed from ourselves as possible. If we don’t recognize ourselves, that means we’re doing something right.”

               Naru huffed her long bangs out of her face, then grabbed a teasing comb and began styling them to her liking. “Well, just because we look nothing like ourselves doesn’t mean we shouldn’t like ourselves” she replied. “I, for one, would’ve much preferred something different.”

               Just then, Chikara stepped out of the back room in a pinstripe pantsuit and icy white wig. “I’m afraid it’s too late for that now” she said. “We have three hours before showtime and we haven’t even rehearsed yet. You all need to get accustomed to dancing in these”—here, she held up three pairs of strappy black sandals the likes of which Rei had seen many women around even Konoha wearing. Whether she could pull them off herself, however, was another matter entirely.

               The dance rehearsals were perhaps the last thing Rei ever expected to do in her pursuit of becoming a ninja. And not only that, but Chikara was as tough a dance instructor as she was a jonin leader. She directed them with an iron fist, scolding them for not staying in sync and then forcing them to start from the top all over again. By the tenth restart, Rei was seeing stars. The club was hot and the track lights too bright, and all this twirling and leaping was making her dizzy. But she couldn’t handle a simple rehearsal, how was she ever supposed to manage during an actual performance? And really, what was even the point of all of this, anyway? She understood that espionage was important, but this all seemed a little much.

               Come sundown, a crowd began to trickle inside of the club. There were far more people than Rei had expected, and it almost made her anxious to think this village was filled with perverts hellbent on watching raunchy girls grind onstage. She surveyed their ghostly faces from behind the curtain, many of them middle-aged men with cigars hanging out of their mouths counting money from their wallets. The whole thing made her sick to her stomach. She tried to remind herself that they weren’t here for her, specifically, but for the more mature dancers scheduled for later in the night, but it was the principle of the thing that made her nauseous. She was not a scrap of merchandise to be flaunted and thrown cash at. God dammit, she was a fucking ninja.

               A stout man with glasses and a goatee spun records on a turntable, hyping up the crowd with intense, electronic tunes. He had introduced himself earlier in the night, when they started rehearsals, as DJ Sashimi and was apparently once a very close friend of Chikara’s. What, exactly, they meant by close was ambiguous but their past was not overly important anyway. Sekkachi primped in the mirror as Naru adjusted her dress, and then as the last song faded out, Rei could hear DJ Sashimi pull the mic close to his lips and she knew it was showtime.

               “Up next we have a brand new addition to the club scene. These little ladies travelled from a faraway village just to entertain you all tonight, so give us a big round of applause for the debut of the Tomiko Trio!” he announced. The rapid beat of an electronic song about pretty rave girls [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZBW-2xh418] blared and that was their cue. The three of them stepped out onto the stage and thus began their routine.

               Rei felt as if she was dancing on autopilot, hardly even focusing on the movements. Her stomach fluttered with the thought of so many people staring at her, analyzing her. She was hyperaware of the swing of hips and the bounce of her breasts; she had to fight every instinct to cross her arms across her chest to stop them from moving. Stupid universe, and stupid puberty, she thought to herself. She glanced to Naru and Sekkachi dancing in sync and wondered if they felt self conscious and scared, too. But probably not. Naru was far too confident—she was clearly drinking up the attention. She doubted Sekkachi cared that much. She was likely just working through the motions, waiting for this to be over. But god, when would it be over? The song felt endless and dots began dancing through Rei’s vision from the bright lights in her face. She could feel sweat condensing on her back and around her pits, beading on her forehead, and willed herself to stop as if it was something she could even control. She didn’t want the crowd to know she was susceptible to basic bodily function. So long as she was up there on stage, she needed to be flawless.

               The other point of contention regarding the sweat, however, was her makeup. Surely facepaint meant for stage use was waterproof but she couldn’t know for sure. As she felt her face grow damper, she suddenly envisoned the purple running down her cheeks and revealing that nasty scar in the center of her face. Not only would it prove her fatal imperfection, but would also give away that she was merely playing a part. She was not who these people thought she was and keeping up the façade was perhaps the absolute most important tenet of espionage. Don’t reveal yourself to the enemy or else you’re dead.

               As their drawn-out sequence became borderline unbearable, Rei’s eyes suddenly landed on one face in particular. Logically, she knew she did not know this man in the slightest and yet there was something so unsettlingly familiar about him. He took a seat close to the stage and tousled his brown hair, keeping his gloomy gray eyes locked on her. Just the sight of him sent Rei spiraling, and all her symptoms increased tenfold. She felt a shiver deep in her gut and suddenly she could no longer control herself. Her hands trembled with imaginary pinpricks, the room spun, and then she lost her balance and stumbled into Sekkachi before expelling the few contents of her otherwise empty stomach. Sekkachi shrieked and shoved her away but it did little to keep her distanced from the mess.

               For a solid two minutes, Rei could not see or hear anything except the heaving of her body and the bright lights above the stage. When she finally came to, she was laying across a red couch in the dressing room with a nasty taste in her mouth. Her heart was pounding.

               “She’ll be okay, right?” she heard Naru’s echoed voice ask. Chikara swatted the air and pouted.

               “Of course she will, it was just a bit of stage fright” she explained. “Which also makes a good point about how you should always eat something before a show. Never perform on an empty stomach! I’m sure we won’t make this mistake next time.”

               “I’m sorry, next time?” Sekkachi then asked, whipping around to face her sensei. She dunked another paper towel into the trash, attempting to wipe the vomit off her dress. “Oh no, there is no way in hell I am ever doing this again.”

               Chikara frowned and crossed her arms. “I’m afraid you have little say in the matter” she replied. “This will be an essential aspect of your training in the coming years.”

               Clenching her teeth, Sekkachi replied, “How the fuck is any of this even important to being a shinobi? Espionage training I can understand, but this is taking things way too far! This isn’t ninja training, this is just you living vicariously through us so you can relive the glory days of when you were young and attractive! I can’t wait to hear what Lord Third will have to say when he finds out what you’ve been putting us through. I don’t think he would approve of exploiting a bunch of teenagers for shits and giggles!” Growing increasingly frustrated, Sekkachi then ripped off her wig and kimono dress and snatched a robe off a coat rack near the back door. Once tied around her waist, she grabbed a pack of cigarettes and made a beeline for the emergency exit, but Chikara reached out and grabbed her wrist before she could leave. There was a somber, almost defeated expression on her face that took her by surprise. “What?” Sekkachi spat.

               “You’re right” Chikara said quietly. “It was wrong to have put you girls through this.”

               Sekkachi blinked and distanced her hand from the doorknob. Naru inched closer, clasping her hands to her chest. “No, don’t listen to her. It’s really no problem at all” the blonde assured, but Chikara raised a hand to silence her.

               “Do you girls know why I decided to do this in the first place?” she asked. They shook their heads. Wringing her hands nervously, Chikara prepared herself for an explanation she never imagined she would have to give. “When I was a girl, dancing was all I had. Okaa-san took me in with nothing but the clothes on my back and a desire to become a ninja like how I imagined my parents were before me. She told me that if I was to have any chance of making it in the shinobi world, I would have to get stronger and earn the title myself. She taught me everything I knew about dancing; told me that if I became a seasoned performer, I could earn enough money to travel to one of the hidden villages and enroll in the academy. What I never expected was just how much dancing would teach me about being a ninja. Through my years here, I learned the importance of teamwork and agility and flexibility, both physical and mental. I learned how to pay attention to the little things, how to read a room and pick up on suspicious activity, and all the things important in espionage. I had so many reservations at the start of it all, but I know now how important those years were. I suppose I thought I should give you all the same privilege, but I see now that what I thought was a privilege was perhaps just me trying to put a positive spin on circumstances that were out of my control. I’m sorry for having put you all through this. We’ll return to Konoha in the morning.” With that, she rose and began ascending the stairs to the living quarters where they were to stay.

               Once she was gone, Naru shot a death glare at Sekkachi and shook her head. “Why do you always have to make things so difficult?” she asked. “Why couldn’t you have just trusted the process?”

               “Because the process ends with us getting objectified and me with vomit all over me!” Sekkachi shouted. Then, grabbing her outfit, she shoved the stained kimono in Naru’s face and added, “Bet you can’t say this isn’t a disgusting color now!” Indeed, the vomit and the color of the dress were not very far off from one another.

               “Well if this is what it takes to become a shinobi, I think we ought to suck it up” Naru replied, shoving the dress out of her face. “Unless you’d rather back out.” Her words struck Sekkachi like poison senbon to the chest. This was the closest she had ever been to achieving hre goals. She couldn’t afford to back out now—but what about her dignity? Was becoming a ninja really worth all this?

               Sekkachi thought long and hard about things all night. Despite Rei passed out between them, she could feel Naru’s presence from across the room and it made her squirm. The moonlight hit her sleeping face at a particular angle that highlighted all the soft, sweet curves of her cheekbones and eyelids and lips. Something in the pit of her stomach tilted and she was quickly filled with immeasurable guilt.

               That morning, Rei groaned awake with heavy eyes and a musty taste in her mouth. The effects of the previous night still lingered heavily over her, and she began to wonder if this was what being hungover was like. Sunlight poured through the window and directly onto her face, only worsening her migraine. She tried to sit up, but only felt that much sicker. “Are we going home?” she croaked.

               “That’s the plan” Naru said, side-eyeing Sekkachi. There was a certain venom in her voice, a disgruntled sharpness. The blue-haired kunoichi barely responded as she packed her things. “Are you going to be alright?” Naru then asked.

               “I don’t know” Rei replied. “I feel so sick. Someone might have to carry me.” She hated being such a burden, or feeling incapable of doing things herself, but she also knew herself well enough to know this wasn’t happening. If she was going to make it home—and god, did she want to go home—she was going to have to turn someone into a pack mule.

               Just then, the door swung open and a fresh-faced Chikara stepped inside. “Alright, girls, are we ready?” she asked. “We have a long trip ahead of us, so no dilly-dallying.”

               “Actually…” Sekkachi then spoke up, the first anyone had heard of her all morning. “I think we should stay another night.”

               Chikara blinked. “I don’t really think there’s any—” she started, but her student cut her off.

               “Rei is clearly too sick to go anywhere, and I’m not about to carry her the whole trip just because she can’t make it on her own” Sekkachi explained. After a few moments of stunned silence, Sekkachi dropped her gaze and added quietly, “Besides, I think maybe we should try things again.”

               “Wait, Sekkachi, what do you mean?” Naru asked. An excitement began to rise in her chest, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up.

               “I spent a lot of time thinking, and I realized…” Sekkachi began, “Maybe I was a little too hasty when I blew up last night. I was just frustrated, but now I think we should give it another shot. I think you were right, Chikara-sensei, when you said this was a privilege, and…I never should’ve insulted your teaching like that.”

               Chikara shook her head as she stepped nearer. “No, I want you to be honest with me” she replied. “As your sensei, it’s my job to ensure your success. I’ve never done this before, so all of this is purely experimental, but if I’m doing something that isn’t working for you, I want you to tell me about it and not to spare my feelings in doing so. I don’t want you to go along with something just to please me.” She glanced from Sekkachi to Naru to invalid Rei and back, searching their faces for any supplementary reactions.

               Sekkachi, however, took center stage. “Well, we should’ve trusted the process” she said, and Naru’s eyes flickered with recognition. “I was making things difficult last night when I shouldn’t have. I mean it when I say I want to try again.”

               Nodding once, Chikara then looked to Naru and Rei. “And what about you girls?” she asked. “I suppose we should decide this democratically, so what are your votes?”

               Naru grinned wide and exclaimed, “I think this is a great idea!” Her excitement was almost palpable, and that was enough to confirm to Sekkachi that she had made the right choice.  

               Rubbing her eyes, Rei sighed and replied, “I’ll try to do better tonight.” Deep down, she cursed Sekkachi for having kept her from returning home, but she didn’t want to be the only one objecting to a second chance. The idea of returning to the stage was horrifying but hopefully tonight things would go smoother. After all, the only way out is through and if this was to be a habitual thing, she ought to get used to being center stage. Perhaps this was a good thing for her anyway. Perhaps this could help her build some confidence, in which she was sorely lacking. She could find herself through dance, she could distance herself from Rei Natsuki and, rather, transform into someone powerful and magnetic and sultry. Someone she could be proud of. Someone people would like. Someone who could grab people’s attention, including one such distant shinobi. She wasn’t sure if she was truly prepared for what was to come, but like Sekkachi and Naru had said, she just had to trust the process.