Chapter 18
Chapter 18: Return to Routine Part 1
The sun's rays of the early morning shone through the medic ninja break room window. Morgan had arrived early and cleaned it up; after all, they all worked hard, and taking a break in a clean environment was the best. ´´I Miss them already,´´ she thought to herself remembering all her friends in a whole different galaxy ´´ I gonna call them later especially Vivio, Avalon reminded me to make a video call´´ ´´ Affirmative, Captain!´´ Her device flashed with her female British accent with a hint of amusement telepathic.
Her device had although it had no soul and interesting personality and its response was generated through artificial intelligence, it would refer to her sometimes as M´Lady or Captain but always with respect with a heavy accent well known on Milchidan. ´´ I am glad to have such a capable partner, calculating magic formulas in your head can take time but a Device can shorten the length and also help out in other regards...´´, Morgan stoically thought.
The door slowly opened with the familiar groan of an adult medic ninja, judging from the green and acid citrus and smell it was Shizune. Her sensor abilities are getting better. Morgan turned to see the tired woman rubbing her eyes, muttering curses under her breath. "Shinobi are so damn hard to heal! Why can’t they just stay in their beds for Kami’s sake?"
“WHAT? YOU’RE BACK?!” Shizune squeaked when she noticed the familiar redhead as she walked further into the room her short black hair glittering in the sun rays of the early morning, glomping at Morgan before releasing her with a sigh. “Oh, and you look much healthier! Is this a tan I see? Oh, your muscles—they’ve gotten bigger and stronger for a ten-year-old! Did you have time to relax? I hope you didn’t just train! When did you come back? What did you do during your holidays, did you have fun?” Bombarded by her senior's questions, the ten-year-old sighed. It felt good to be back.
Morgan adjusted her medic ninja apprentice outfit and enthusiastically recounted her holidays thoughtfully answered Shizune's question without exposing too much: “ It was amazing plus I just came back yesterday, so I can spend the weekend preparing for Monday..... Hm, oh ...yep, I relaxed; don’t worry. I did a lot of hiking. I learned how to climb and got to make so many friends! Ellen-sensei taught me how to swim and... Oh, I also know how to use roller skates! The place I stayed at had nice air and delicious food. I even brought some biscuits and tea for our team.”
“Oh nice for bringing souvenirs. That's why you're the medical corps' favourite student hehe. Roller skating, hiking, mountain climbing that Sounds fun! Maybe you can teach me to roller skate I always wanted to try it!... Ellen-sensei?” Shizune asked tilting her head thoughtfully a finger on her chin, unable to recall a shinobi with that unique name. Maybe she was a civilian?
Her eyes wandered to Morgan's earlobe, where a strange sword-like earring hung. It had a unique purple-blue star-shaped crystal at the hilt, with what seemed like two wings floating on either side, the sharp edge pointed downwards it glittered and shimmered as if it was alive. Interesting—did she get her ear pierced?
“Oh, she is a civilian friend who is kind of an archaeologist. Hehe, she helped me a lot and still does. She’s kind of like my mom... Sadly, she lives far away, so she can rarely visit me so only on holidays or weekends she drops by she is an amazing cook and she loves horrible movies watches them, and laughs- ah sorry that must be boring for you.” Morgan looked away, picking up a file. “I gotta do my rounds.”
“Wait!- Ah-Oh, sure!” Shizune watched the red-haired girl walk away with a hum and a skip in her step. This Ellen person must be nice, plus she also liked terrible movies and reviewed them as a strange hobby she had as a shinobie but she was glad that someone out there had a similar hobby. Maybe she could befriend the adult to get to know Morgan more. Ever since she joined them for a year the red-haired Uzumaki girl had quickly improved and thrived in her studies. She was very helpful in the hospital but also a mystery to the adults and trainees in the medic corp.
Morgan was too quiet, not bratty at all and they wished she was a bit bratty but at the same time they were glad she took everything seriously in fact her matureness made her teaching easy. At first, she was quiet but often went on tirades of questions once she got used to it. Shizune rubbed her head thinking still the girl had been so shy and unconfident always quietly berating herself.
Whatever experience she had in her holidays made her head slightly up and less unconfident. Sitting down, she took a bite of a biscuit and poured herself some tea. The tea smelled fruity and nutty and was sweet. Looking around, she felt confused. Where did Morgan get sugar? They had run out yesterday, and she still needed to buy more. Shrugging, she continued enjoying the biscuit. The tea was especially not from the Land of Fire; she had never tasted anything like it before, even after travelling everywhere with her shishou Tsunade.
“Oh, you made some tea and snacks already?” Tsunade Senju, with her hazel-brown eyes and blond hair, sat down next to her, her forehead marked with the familiar blue route shape of her seal. The slug princess poured herself a cup and grabbed a biscuit, gasping, “Where did you get this? It’s delicious! Sugar? Did you go buy sugar already?”
“Morgan brought this, not me. She set everything up and cleaned the space. I think it is not a native herb. I think it’s a flower…It tastes so good! Also, it's I think naturally sweet...” The two adults wracked their brains with hmms and ohs, trying to figure out what this tea was called and where it was from while Morgan was doing her rounds. Once done, she returned to an enthusiastic Tsunade and Shizune.
When they asked her about the tea, she truthfully told them that it indeed did not grow in Konoha, but she was growing some at home and could procure some tea leaves. She avoided mentioning that it was from a planet about 82 million light years away. She promised to get more if they gave her time. Kabuto, who was busy synthesizing antidotes, took a moment to listen in as he worked, sipping on her tea.
After her shift came to an end, Morgan reached for her belongings, feeling accomplished. Heading out, she went to shop for items needed for her busy school week as she prepared for her second year. She grumbled about how much she had to do as the class representative. Reaching for a block of paper, her hand brushed against another. "Oh, sorry about that," she said, her voice tinged with embarrassment. It was Kushina behind her, accompanied by Natsuki. Kushina smiled, grabbed the block, and took one for herself. “There is plenty enough for everybody. Buying stuff for the school start?”
Nodding, Morgan turned to avoid further conversation, her heart pounding as she heard Kushina and her daughter giggle and coe. Her heart burned in anger that they truly had forgotten her as Naruto but she pushed it away. Any connection they had was lost. Looking around she looked for an ink kit. Over the holidays she made so many seals not just for the daily training.
While staying in Caarnaji, the TSAB faced an emergency—a huge tsunami was threatening one of the worlds under their administration. Feeling the need to help, she designed many seals to keep the wave at bay, saving lives. She recalled Chrono’s thankful bows—it was odd seeing the tall adult bow to her respectfully and ask if they could receive the seals, which she decided to give them after overworking them for a while. Unlike her world, the TSAB wouldn’t use them to kill or destroy life but to save it.
Her eyes scanned various ink colours as she rubbed her nose.
“I recommend this one…” she started, but flinched as someone approached her. It was a man in a typical green Jonin vest with brown hair. It was Arashi, a popular disguise that Minato used when trying to go unnoticed or hang out with his family. Being the Hokage, especially the most popular one of this era, came with fangirls and boys alike, despite being married. Morgan was glad she was not a leader like him.
Taking the orange ink case, he recommended it, but she shook her head. “I’m looking for a different coloured ink—teal blue or something greenish…”
The man smiled and pointed out another case. It was awkward to pretend she had no idea who this Jonin was, but oh well.
At checkout, she bowed politely. Walking away, she didn’t see Minato/Arashi’s concerned look. He had yet to learn much about Morgan’s personality. Maybe he could get her to befriend Naruto and motivate his youngest daughter to train harder. Rubbing his hair, he transformed back and teleported to the Hokage Tower to tackle his paperwork.
“Captain, should I warn you next time when you get near them?”her device asked telepathically, its feminine voice carrying.
“Right, you can register chakra and magical energy patterns. That’d be nice so I’m not caught off guard,” she responded, also telepathically. Devices were connected to their users via a linker core—a deep bond where the device could sense everything, from emotions to what they ate to even pain. Very useful.
Skipping along, she went to the training ground where Cat-senpai and Hayate were usually sparring. “Hello!” she called, her cheerful voice ringing out.
The two adults stopped their sword sparring in unison. “Hey, kid!”
Stretching her hand forward, Morgan exclaimed in her mind, ´´Sword form, also record our battle for reference, Avalon, please!´´
"Yes, Captain! Intializing Sword Form One Hand Mode!"Avalon telepathically responded, excited for the upcoming battle.
In a flash, her earpiece shimmered and teleported into her hand, and a sword materialized. It wasn’t just any katana—it was long, with a hilt adorned by a strange star-shaped crystal. The silver blade glittered as Morgan took her stance. "Here is my sword. I call it Avalon Stargazer. It’s a kind of ninja tool, so it’s a bit special..."
The comment earned a whistle from Hayate and an eyebrow raise from Cat-senpai. It seemed that Morgan had learned a unique clan ninjutsu. Uzumakis and their fuinjutsu... they both thought as they shifted into their stances. Before long, they warmed up and began their three-way sparring session.
When her first day of school came, Monday, Morgan walked through the slow autumn weather after making sure her cute live stook was fine, her cows over the summer holidays had given birth to 3 calves. Her hair danced at the autumn smell of the air and the sun breaking at the horizon.
She cringed at the remembrance that in one week the fox festival awaited her but she shook her head. She felt a familiar chakra signature approach her from behind and glomp her:" Morgan-chan! Oh is that...an ear piercing looks cool it's a sword?!?" She didn't need to turn to know who it was:" Good to see you too, Han. How was your holiday?" As they talked soon Hanabi joined them.
Hanabi recounted her trip with her cousin and sister to the nearby tea village, Han stayed in Konoha and trained with his dad and mom on his fire-style Jutsu and hung around with his uncles Itachi, Shisui, and many more clan members. She recounted her holiday minutes that she was on a different planet and learned magic. Her friends begged her to teach them roller skating later.
Arriving a the academy she felt a familiar pulse of energy from her device. Sitting down she made the holographic screen appear to her. It was an email from Vivio. Luckily no one saw the screen but her.
From: Vivio Takamachi
Send: Via Chris
Subject: First Day Fun!
Hey, hey!
Today is also your first day in class! ((˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵) Hope you have fun in your ninja training! Fighting! ( ◡̀_◡́)ᕤ
It was fun talking to you yesterday. Yunoo was moping—he misses teaching you, but oh well.*
Love, Vivio
Morgan smiled at the email, her heart light. Hanabi, sitting beside her, noticed the smile and couldn’t help but think, ´´Not sure why Morgan’s so happy, but it’s cute...´
Morgan had learned the basics of magic so quickly that Yunoo didn’t need to give her extra lessons during the holidays. That had saddened the head librarian, who’d been looking forward to their evening sessions. At least Morgan could still call or visit the library whenever she needed. Yunoo was an incredible teacher, after all.
The door to the classroom opened, and Hayate-sensei entered, causing the class to quiet down.
Morgan stood up, and as her classmates followed suit, she bowed with her hair cascading toward the ground. "Everyone stand! Bow, and good morning, Hayate-sensei!"
"Good morning, Hayate-sensei!" the class echoed, then sat down as instructed. Hayate nodded approvingly as he flipped through his file.
"Alright, it looks like everyone’s here. No one’s sick or missing, nice," Hayate said, glancing at the roster. "I hereby welcome you to your second year! It’ll be a bit more intense now, as we’ll start physical practices. Today, we’ll go over the schedule and some basic info, and then we’ll talk about the survival test that’ll be held after next week's Fox Festival. Morgan, would you please?"
Running to the front, Morgan quickly picked up the schedule sheet and distributed it to the class. It was her responsibility, and she did it swiftly. Once she was done, she sat back down, feeling relieved that home education was still part of the curriculum. Maybe we’ll even learn something useful, like how to do laundry... she thought, hoping for some practical lessons.
´´Internalizing schedule...´´ Avalon hummed telepathically in her head.
Morgan grinned. ´´Man, having Avalon as a partner is so useful.´´