Chapter 14
She opens her eyes.
There are insects on her face.
Oh Luffy, there are so many insects on her face.
It’s only years of practice and the knowledge of how upset Shino will be with her that prevents her from swatting wildly.
“Why are there insects on my face.” She mumbles, moving her lips as little as possible and lifting a hand to her cheek so some of them can scuttle off and onto her fingers.
She doesn’t want any falling into her mouth on accident.
“Because my kikaichū are capable of injecting small doses of chakra into your system, which restores your reserves and helps return the body to homeostasis.” Shino extends his hand and the remaining insects begin flitting off her face back up his sleeves.
Her confusion must show on her face, because he sighs. “Chakra injections to help you wake up.”
“Oh. Thank you.”
Shino inclines his head as he retracts his arm, all insects safely retrieved.
She struggles to sit up. One side of her head throbs a little.
“How are you feeling, Ketsugi-chan?” Iruka-sensei asks. “Do you feel dizzy or nauseous at all?”
She shakes her head. “No, Iruka-sensei.”
He purses his lips and tilts her head to the side, before pulling a small flashlight out of his jacket pocket and shining it in her eyes. “No bumps, and your pupils seem normal...what caused you to collapse, Ketsugi-chan? Can you remember?”
Her breath stutters in her throat at the thought.
“I don’t. Like them. The g— them. Those.”
Iruka-sensei blinks. “The weapons? They upset you?”
She nods mutely.
“Seriously?” Uchiha mutters. “First chakra and now this?”
“Sasuke-kun!” Iruka-sensei scolds, though his tone is slightly exasperated. “Well, if you feel bad again, be sure to let me know, okay Ketsugi-chan?”
Her mind won’t stop racing, even after they return to the classroom.
How, how, how, how can those—those things be here?!
This world is supposed be a ninja story, where people use taijutsu and chakra and kunai and katana to fight.
She’s pretty certain none of the flame wars in her past life ever talked about any characters bringing shitty g-firearms to the mix.
And not just any firearms either.
Nothing like the older models found in One Piece and museums of her old world, where the bullet and gunpowder needed to be inserted separately into the barrel of the g— of the weapon before firing.
The existence of that older type of weapon here might make a small amount of sense at least.
No, those were high-tech, modern firearms, the kind with cartridges that are inserted at the bottom of the handle, with bullets that have gunpowder built into the casing, that are pointed so they can pierce—
She only narrowly keeps herself from retching.
Naruto keeps shooting her worried glances as the day goes on.
He’s resorted to scribbling what happened?? on the edges of her notebook by the time the last lesson of the day draws to a close.
She does her best to placate him with weak smiles and shaking her head discreetly, but that seems to have the opposite effect judging by the way his brows furrow.
Shikamaru keeps staring at her as well.
However, it’s not the same as the concerned looks that Chouji, Ino, Hinata, Sakura, Shino and even Kiba keep giving her.
He’s staring at her like he knows something isn’t right.
Like he suspects something.
She does her best to avoid his gaze when they leave the classroom.
Lee meets them outside the Academy.
His greeting trails off as Naruto grabs his hand and drags the pair of them over to the tree swingset.
“Naruto-kun, what’s going on?” He asks, brows furrowing.
“Mayu passed out when she saw the weapons from Yuki.” Naruto accuses, arms crossed over his chest and brows furrowed. “And don’t say it’s nothing, ‘cause you’re still pale and shaky. Not even chakra has ever done that to you, believe it.”
She glances down at her trembling hands. She squeezes them together to try and make the tremors stop.
“Mayu-chan.” She looks up when Lee claps his hands on her shoulders, staring her dead in the eyes. “Are you okay?”
She starts to nod.
Lee raises an eyebrow.
She doesn’t end up shaking her head but it’s a near thing.
“I’m—” She cuts herself off. “I’m not alright, but. It’s not something I ca-need to talk about. Can we just go?”
Naruto’s brow furrows even further and he makes a face. It’s the same face he made when confronting Ami over bullying Sakura, or confiding his worries about Uchiha’s diet in her. It’s his “I’m not happy and going to do something about it” face.
Lee’s frowning too, now gripping her hands tight. “You can talk to us about anything, Mayu-chan. You know that, right?”
Unseen stares from the surrounding trees bore into her as she nods. She very carefully does not look up.
She flounders for something, anything to make them understand.
“It’s a Tamara thing.” She hisses quietly.
It takes them a moment, but then sweet, merciful understanding flashes across Naruto and Lee’s faces, the pair of them stiffening like they’ve been pricked with pins.
“Ah! Is that so!” Lee’s laugh is too loud, too boisterous to anyone who knows him well. She prays to Robin that the masks don’t. “Well thank Luffy it’s nothing to worry about, right Naruto-kun?”
“Y-Yeah!” Naruto agrees, hesitating a fraction of a second too long for comfort. “You shoulda told us that’s all it was earlier, Mayu-chan, I was worried over nothing, believe it!”
She feels an eyebrow twitch, but tries to contort her expression into an apologetic smile. “Sorry, it’s just a little embarrassing, you know,” She fakes a laugh. “Girl problems and all that.”
“I see! Girl problems! Of course!” Lee says, clearly not understanding at all.
She takes a moment to wonder what exactly the boys do while the girls are in kunoichi classes.
Naruto loops an arm around her shoulders. “Yosh! Let’s get home then! Oka— Mayu’s okaa-san will be waiting for us, believe it!”
“Well said Naruto-kun!” Lee loops an arm around her other shoulder. “Yosh! Onwards!”
The three of them frogmarch home, chattering loudly about nothing.
They could not be more conspicuous if they were dressed in animal costumes and singing a musical number.
The unseen stares following them now have an added side of judgement which she does not appreciate.
She’s already racing upstairs to grab her coats and yukata when they all tumble through the front door.
“Welcome ba—” Okaa-san gives her an odd look when she clatters back down the stairs, clothes in her arms. “—Mayu? What’s going on?”
“We’re home Chie-oba-san! Nothing happened at all!” Lee proclaims in the same breath as Naruto blurts, “Mayu passed out!”
Okaa-san blinks, then grabs her shoulder as she makes for the front door. “Not your nice yukata, young lady, I just finished ironing it again. Go get your towel instead. Then you’re all going to sit down here and tell me exactly what happened calmly. Understand?”
“Yes, okaa-san.” They chorus meekly
Naruto calls dibs on telling his side of the story first.
She begins to regret letting him a few moments after he opens his mouth and launches into an embellished retelling of how she made a wheezing noise at the mere sight of the weapons and dropped to the ground like a broken mast, startling everyone and interrupting Uchiha.
He’s tearing up as he continues, “An’, an’ Mayu just wouldn’t wake up, no matter what, even when I shook her an’ everythin’ believe it, an’ Iruka-sensei yelled at me because he said I mighta’ hurt you worse, an’ then Shino did his bug thing an’ you woke up but you were still so pale an’ shaky an’ scared but you wouldn’ say anything, an’, an’—”
Okaa-san pulls him into a hug as he trails off into frustrated hiccoughs, rubbing his back soothingly.
Lee’s grip on her hand is so tight it’s beginning to hurt a bit.
“Well, Mayu?” Okaa-san says, voice slightly strained. “Was that what happened?”
“K-kind of?” She shifts forward so she can give Naruto a one-armed hug. “Sorry I scared you, I was just...just really, really freaked out. I never meant to scare you too.”
“...s’okay.” He mutters into her hair. “Dun’ do it ‘gain, kay?”
She nuzzles into his shoulder, “I’ll try. Promise.”
Lee gives a cough behind her. “So...what alarmed you about those weapons, Mayu-chan?”
She stiffens, drawing back out of the hug.
“They— they aren’t right.” Her head throbs. “Maybe if it was earlier, a prototype model, maybe. But that kind of g—of weapon shouldn’t be here, shouldn’t even exist.”
Okaa-san’s brow furrows. “What do you mean by that?”
“I mean it shouldn’t exist!” She snaps. “This place prizes ch-chakra too much for their existence to make sense! You lot place a premium on throwing projectiles and close combat because chakra allows you to compensate. The existence of those kind of g— of firearm doesn’t make any sense, because there’s not a need for that kind here like there was in my world, it just, it just doesn’t make any sense, why is it here, why is it here?!”
Her breathing is ragged.
Her head hurts.
Everything’s so blurry she can barely see.
“Mayu-chan?” Lee’s voice sounds very small. “Does that mean those weapons are from your world?”
“I don’t wanna get shot again.” She chokes out. “I don—I—it hurt so much last time.”
Lee hugs like he’s trying to both squeeze the pain out of her and shield her from it ever returning.
It’s almost painful how tight his arms are around her shoulders, but it does help ground her somewhat.
Then there’s softness pressing against her side and Okaa-san’s arm is curling around Lee’s shoulders to pull them both to her, burying her face in the crown of Mayu’s head.
Naruto reaches over and threads his fingers with hers from where he’s curled into Okaa-san’s other side, squeezing as hard as he can.
They stay like that for a long time.
They startle when the front door snags on her winter coat when it opens.
“I’m baaa-ah? Darling, is the door broken?” Otou-san asks, poking his head through the small gap at the threshold.
“Welcome home Jirou-oji-san!” Lee waves.
“Otou-san! It’s coat and stair time!” Naruto yells. “You gotta come in right now, believe it!”
“Hang on, I need to get the door unstuck first!” Otou-san replies. “Hm...maybe if I unscrewed the hinges...”
Okaa-san gives a weak chuckle. “Mayu-chan, go pick up your coat before it rips or your father dismantles the front door.”
Otou-san smiles at her when she opens the door properly, coat in hand. “I’m home, Mayu.”
“Welcome back, Otou-san.”
The smile drops slightly when he gets a good look at her, and he reaches out to brush a thumb over her temple. “Ouch. How’d this happen?”
She winces slightly at the pressure. “I fainted at the Academy. It’s...a long story.”
Otou-san gives her a searching look, then turns that stare on the interior of the front hall, where her raincoat and towel block the entrances to the kitchen and the living room.
He closes the front door behind him and lays her winter coat back at the bottom of the threshold. “Well, I’d better hear it sooner rather than later, hadn’t I?”
She’s a little proud that she’s able to say, “I freaked out at the sight of the weapon that killed me in my past life” on the third try without blubbering.
Much.
Okaa-san drums her fingers on her arm. “How can you be sure that these weapons are from your world? After all, your world had katana and kunai and other weapons that are found here— maybe it’s just that our technology is beginning to catch up to yours.”
She shrugs in Otou-san’s hug. “I’d believe that if they weren’t so...so modern. This world relies on c-chakra a lot, which makes bladed weapons and thrown projectiles much more viable than they are in mine. We haven’t even been taught about the existence of g-firearms at the Academy before today. Yet, despite that, those things are just as if not more advanced than the ones from my world, with no precedent.”
“Yeah!” Naruto nods decisively. “What’s a preceden?”
“It’s when certain things have to happen first for something to exist.” Okaa-san explains. “Like you need to have eggs if you want to make omelette rice.”
Otou-san hums. “You’ve never spoken to anyone else about your past life, have you Mayu?”
She shakes her head. “Only you lot and Gai-sensei. And I wouldn’t tell anyone about...those things.”
“Where is Gai-sensei, anyway?” Naruto asks.
“He has a mission today.” Okaa-san says. “He dropped by earlier to say he would be back in time for training tomorrow morning.”
Lee nods, smile small and happy.
Then he leans against Okaa-san, arms crossed. “So if the guns are from Mayu’s past life, but Mayu-chan didn’t have anything to do with their creation, how did they get from that world to here?”
She purses her lips. She’d like to know that herself.
Naruto closes his eyes and tilts his head from side to side, like a dog trying to listen to something. “Hmmm...a wizard...no, a mindreader...Iwa nin...hmm...Mayu’s evil twin...magic teleporting frog...”
She snorts and opens her mouth—
Then freezes.
“Naruto, what did you just say?”
Naruto blinks. “Magic teleporting frog?”
“Wh-no! Before that!” She says, mind whirring a million miles a minute.
There’s a moment as Naruto’s lips work soundlessly, going back through what he said.
Then his eyes widen and he rears back. “What the heck?! Mayu—you—you have an evil twin and never told me?!”
“You think I would’ve noticed if that was the case.” Okaa-san mutters.
“Kaa-san!” She yelps, flustered. “And no I don’t have an evil twin—that’s not the point!”
“What is it?” Lee leans around Okaa-san to stare curiously at her.
“It’s just an idea, I don’t have any proof for it or anything,” She gently digs her teeth into her lower lip. “But when Naruto said ‘evil twin’, it made me think what if—what if there is someone out there who was like me? What if I’m not the only one who was reborn into this world from mine?”
The room goes still.
“If such a person did exist, why would they do this?” Otou-san asks carefully. “Why manufacture and export these weapons, even if there’s no real need for them here?”
She shrugs. “Money? Power, maybe? I-I don’t know, I have no idea. It’s just— nothing else makes sense, does it?”
There’s a sharp rap at the front door.
They all freeze.
“Dear. Gai said he wouldn’t be back from his mission today until tomorrow morning, didn’t he.” Okaa-san says.
Otou-san stands, one hand on his bokken. “Yes. He did.”
He moves towards the door, while Okaa-sama pushes them behind her, hissing, “Go upstairs to the door of our bedroom. Do not come down until we call you.”
After a moment, her towel and coats are lobbed up after them.
The zip on her winter coat smacks her in the lip.
She pulls it off her head in time to hear her father faintly say, “...Nara-sama! What an unexpected surprise!”
“Geez, Nara-sama’s such a drag. Nara-san will do just fine.” The lazy drawl floats up to them as Naruto leans forward to try and get a glimpse of Shikamaru’s dad, towel wrapped around his shoulders like a cape.
“Thank you very much, Nara-san. Would you like to come in?” Okaa-sama asks as Lee fidgets with the zipper on her raincoat.
“Nah, we’ll be quick. Shikamaru here just wanted to check with your kid, see if this whole shrine thing tomorrow is still going on.”
“Oh! Well we haven’t discussed that with her yet, so we’ll call her down.” She only gets a brief moment to panic before Okaa-san is raising her voice. “Mayu-chan! It’s one of your friends from the Academy for you!”
She shoves the coat behind her and traipses down the stairs.
“Hello Nara-san,” She says, a fake smile plastered across her face. “Hey Shika.”
“Yo.” Shikamaru replies.
His eyes still have that assessing quality from earlier.
He knows nothing, she tells herself. He hasn’t figured out you’re reincarnated, he doesn’t know there’s anything to figure out, please, please Sanji don’t let him figure anything out.
“So,” Shikamaru says suddenly, startling her. “How’s the head? It’d be troublesome if you woke up tomorrow too hurt to fix up the shrines.”
She touches the bruised area. “It’s a little sore, but I should be fine for tomorrow!”
“Are you sure, Mayu?” Okaa-san squeezes her shoulders. “We could always reschedule for next weekend if you aren’t up for it.”
“But Okaaa-saaan,” There’s a series of thumps as Naruto slides down the stairs one step at a time. “We’ve been waiting ages for this! Oh, hi Shika!”
“Hey Naruto.” Shikamaru raises a hand.
“I’m sure,” She nods her head. “Plus I think they’re eager for the shrines to finally be done too.”
Okaa-san’s expression goes tight and unamused, like it always does when they interact with her without it being an emergency, or Mayu asking permission first.
It’s not quite fair because Mayu suspects they can’t really help it, and it’s not really anything too direct, just flashes of emotion that are a little too intense to be her own.
She’s just glad they’re excited about the shrines too.
Then Shikamaru says, almost too casually, “The guns really spooked you earlier, huh?”
She can’t help it. She flinches.
Otou-san lays a hand over one of Okaa-san’s on her shoulder. “Ah, that...we were just discussing it with Mayu. We’re sorry for any worry her behavior caused, but...well...”
“But what?” Nara-san asks, one eyebrow raised.
Otou-san looks down, face twisted as if contemplating a difficult memory. “We don’t...enjoy talking about the journey from our homeland to Konohagakure. The...trials...we all had to weather. We’re just thankful we all made it here in one piece.”
Okaa-san nods and returns Otou-san’s doting smile, pretending to discreetly dab away tears with the sleeves of her kimono.
Shikamaru’s eyes widen slightly and he shifts, scratching his cheek and looking away.
It’s all she can do to not gape at the scene.
Are they—are they insinuating that her reaction to those things stems from their escape from Iron to hide her reincarnation? To the Jounin Squad Leader of Konoha and his son, no less?
She gives silent thanks to Franky and Robin.
She has the best parents in this world. The best.
“So the fact that the manufacturer of these weapons is based in Yukigakure comes as no surprise to you?” Nara-san says.
Otou-san jolts behind her.
Then after a moment, he sags, scrubbing one hand over his face. “You know, it really doesn’t. Does Yamanaka-san know?”
“He knows.” Nara-san nods, seemingly disinterested. He does a much better job of faking it compared to Shikamaru.
She glances back and forth between them, but there’s nothing on either man’s face that gives away any meaning to these non-sequiturs.
At least Shikamaru’s calculating look isn’t directed at her anymore.
Instead, he squints at Naruto. “Why are you wearing a towel?”
“Uh.” Naruto says, eyes darting to her.
Usopp help.
“We...were deconstructing a pillow fort! In my room.” She lies.
“A pillow what?” Shikamaru asks, eyes...oddly bright.
“A pillow fort! It’s where you take a whole load of pillows and blankets and towels and stuff and you create a fort using chairs and tables, or a chair and your bed if you have a raised one.” She explains.
Shikamaru nods, like this is only logical, though his expression has gotten even more weirdly intense for some reason. “Is that so? What do you do once you’ve built it?”
She shrugs. “It depends. You can just hang out in it and tell stories? Or nap?”
A slow, almost vicious smile spreads across Shikamaru’s face. He turns it upwards towards his father, who’s gone a worrying shade of grey and is staring at her like she’s pronounced a curse on his clan.
“Why.” Nara-san says, tone despairing. “Why would you tell him something like that exists?”
She shuffles so she’s partially hidden behind Otou-san. “...Sorry.”
Nara-san sighs, tugging gently on Shikamaru’s ponytail. “C’mon you. Let’s get going before you get any more ideas.”
“Actually, Nara-san, I have a quick question.” Okaa-san steps forward. “Would it—would it be acceptable for me to write to my relatives in Water Country? Perhaps inviting one or two of them over?”
She blinks up at her mother. She knows she has relatives in Water, but this is the first she’s heard about potentially meeting them.
Nara-san cocks his head to the side. “Writing a letter isn’t a crime. Inviting them here, to this village, for a visit...that’s more dicey.”
Okaa-san nods, chewing on her lower lip. “I suspected as much. Is that the same for all of Fire Country, or...? Ideally, we wouldn’t want to travel very far from Konoha.”
“Ideally.” Nara-san sighs again. “There are some villages nearby that might suit your needs. For now, I’d just put in a request for mail delivery at the mission desk. They can help you with any questions you have from there.”
“Thank you very much, Nara-san.” Okaa-san bows at the waist. “I hope you and Shikamaru-kun have a pleasant afternoon.”
“You too.” Nara-san bobs his head and takes Shikamaru by the shoulder. “C'mon, say goodbye.”
“See ya.” Shikamaru says, inclining his head like his father before the pair of them begin to walk away.
“See you tomorrow, Shika!” Naruto calls.
“Remember to wear clothes you don’t mind getting paint on!” She yells after him.
Shikamaru raises a hand in acknowledgement, before turning back to say something to his father.
Otou-san lets out a heavy sigh once the door is closed. “Right. Lee, could you bring the coats down with you?”
Lee obligingly comes down the stairs with both coats in his arms. “Are your relatives coming to stay, Chie-oba-san?”
“Maybe not to stay.” Okaa-san says. “But hopefully my brother Ikei and cousin Mei will get to meet you all.”
“All? You mean me, an’ Lee an’ Gai-sensei get to come with?” Naruto pipes up as he finishes setting down the towel, a huge grin spreading across his face.
Okaa-san beams and gathers the two of them into a hug. “Of course. I can’t let them leave without introducing them to three of my four favorite boys, can I?”
Lee’s eyes are shining and Naruto’s grinning and giggling. Otou-san leans over Okaa-san’s shoulder, pouting playfully. “Then what am I?”
“You’re the fourth favorite, of course.” Okaa-san teases, planting a kiss on Otou-san’s cheek.
Her mother turns and shoots her a small smile. “I also thought we could ask them it they’d met anyone who behaves...well, like you do. We’re a large merchant family spread all over, so it’s not unlikely that one of them has met someone in your circumstances without knowing it.”
“It’s not a bad idea, considering there’s likely one in Yukigakure.” Otou-san says glumly.
They all turn to stare at him.
“Dear? How do you know that?” Okaa-san says.
Otou-san shakes his head and sits down heavily on the stairs. “The manufacturer for those weapons is in Yukigakure. Just like the incriminating ryo left at the scene of that theft.”
Oh.
Oh sweet Merry.
She mutters, “Shika said—when we were talking about the theft, he said it had to be an inside job, because an outsider couldn’t know anything. But if they were like me—if they’d read the comic based on Konoha in their past life, they would know. They’d know almost everything even if they never set foot here.”
She swallows, throat suddenly dry. “If it was plot-relevant, then they’d know more about what was valuable and how it was defended than people who’d lived here their whole lives. They’d even know the weaknesses of the ninja sent after them, if those ninja were major characters.”
Otou-san nods. “And if he or she needed to finance the manufacture of those weapons, what could be easier than to steal something from here and sell it to another hidden village?”
She sits down heavily on the stairs.
Her heart’s pounding too fast. The side of her head is throbbing in time with the beat.
“Well.” Okaa-san coughs. “That’s mildly terrifying.”
She lets out a humorless chuckle at the understatement.
Horror wars with elation in her brain. Elation at the knowledge that she isn’t alone here.
Horror at the idea of someone knowing everything about this place and deciding to use that knowledge for their own gain. If robbing Konoha wasn’t low for them, would they stoop to manipulating Naruto, Sakura, Uchiha? To hurting them to get their way, change a narrative they don’t like?
“But Iruka-sensei said Yukigakure gave us those guns for less money than they gave them to other villages.” Naruto says suddenly. “Maybe that’s the not-Mayu’s way of making it up to us?”
“You think villains who would commit such an unyouthful action would be capable of feeling guilt?” Lee says doubtfully. “Shouldn’t we tell Gai-sensei about this?”
“We can.” Otou-san sighs. “But I’m not sure how helpful it would be. Nara-san said Yamanaka-san knew about the Yuki connection between both the theft and these “guns”. For all we know, the price reduction could be a concession negotiated between the Hokage and the thief, and we just have a morsel of knowledge about that deal which would endanger Mayu more than it would help the village.”
She fidgets, tracing the scar on her lower lip.
Lee’s brows are furrowed, his mouth pulled down in a frown.
Okaa-san reaches out and smooths a hand over his hair. “Why don’t we get Ichiraku’s and sleep on it? I think Sanji would agree we’ll all make better decisions with some ramen in our bellies.”
Naruto springs to his feet. “Yeah! Ramen’ll fix everything, believe it! C’mon, I’m hungry, let’s go, let’s go!”
It doesn’t quite fix everything, she reflects later as she descales and fillets the pike for the offerings tomorrow. There’s still another reincarnated person who robbed the village, had her father take the fall for their crime, and is now mass-producing the very weapon that killed her past self, which they can do next to nothing about.
But ramen smoothed out the crease in Lee’s brow when they all agreed it was better to tell Gai-sensei than not. It lightened the mood and made everything this day had thrown at them seem a little less important in light of the celebrations planned for tomorrow.
Their small garden is now even smaller thanks to the a large wooden structure that sits next to the back fence.
It’s a bit like a cross between a shed and a greenhouse, if it only had three walls and no doors or windows. The roof is curved and the walls are sturdy, to protect the shrines inside from the elements.
There’s a length of thick white rope fastened with red twine inside the front gable, which is meant to ensure that the shrines are protected from malicious spirits.
Each one of the shrines has a small building that is sealed automatically once the shrine has been assembled, keeping a small object for the deity to inhabit safely locked away from prying eyes. There’s a small recess before this structure, for offerings to be placed, and a little column that puts them above the eye level of a kneeling person.
They’d debated setting aside a space for the shrines in the living room inside the house, to ensure they could be protected and cared for. But she kept getting impulses of outside, of wind and rain, freedom, that eventually they decided it was better than keeping them cooped up inside.
Plus this way, Luffy can’t raid the fridge as easily.
She’s already found certain small cuts of cooked meat have gone missing. If he’s anything like the manga, then she’s not giving him the chance to clean out the entire fridge.
They’ve been working on constructing it and the shrines on weekends and in the mornings during training. According to Gai-sensei, it’s excellent practice for C-rank missions.
Now all that’s left is to paint the structure and the ten shrines housed within.
Working out what to set out as offerings for tomorrow had been a challenge and a half.
For the most part, the Strawhats can be grouped into small sections of what they will and won’t eat.
Nami and Chopper are fruit lovers. Sanji, Zoro, Brook and Usopp are partial to seafood. Luffy, Franky, and Robin are happy with beef and other land-based meats.
However, Zoro, Sanji and Brook like varieties of seafood that are difficult to get in Konoha— octopus, lobster and prawns are expensive and hard to find, while sea king meat just doesn’t exist here. At least Zoro is happy enough with a traditional plate-2-bowls meal with rice.
Robin prefers sandwiches, and she’s not quite sure if the burgers Franky loves fit into that criteria. Chopper can’t stand spicy or bitter foods, but Zoro and Robin dislike sweets.
She’s just thankful that Luffy, Nami Usopp, and Merry are so easy to feed. Pike’s one of the few fish that Konoha doesn’t need to import, so it and tangerines relatively inexpensive.
There’s no chance of combining all their preferences into one dish. Her head hurts just imagining the clash of flavors.
So she had to somehow come up with a way of creating a meal that would (hopefully) make each of the pirates she idolizes happy.
No pressure.
Chouji ended up being her savior in this respect.
And maybe Uchiha did as well, but only a teeny tiny bit.
She’d been brainstorming different versions of meals she could try making that would satisfy everyone, but kept coming up short.
The added tension from Sakura’s friendly-again-but-still-not-quite-sitting-back-at-their-table thing at this time wasn’t exactly helping her think either.
“I’ve got cola, coffee, tea, heck even sake, but still no idea on what to pair any of them with.” She complained, tapping her pencil against the list in front of her.
Chouji had leaned over, a thoughtful look on his face. “Why not make them lunchboxes? That way you can make lots of things in smaller amounts and personalize each lunchbox for each of them.”
“Hm. That is a good idea.” She gnawed on her lower lip. “Only downside is working out when I can cook what and how much time the preparation of each portion is going to take so everything in the bentos is relatively fresh for when it’s offered... how much d’you think eleven more lunchboxes would cost?”
She’d just begun sketching out lines for a tentative timetable when Uchiha complained, “Why do you think you’ve gotta do everything on your own?”
She looked up, a little offended. “I’m not praying for help with this, are you mad? That’d be like asking someone to bake their own birthday cake.”
“What Sasuke means,” Chouji intervened. “Is that we could always split the work three-ways between us, and bring it to your house on the day?”
She blinked. “You...you guys would help me like that?”
Chouji smiled, then made a squeak of surprise when she lunged over the table to hug him tightly. “Thank you.”
“I have lunchboxes to spare.” Uchiha drawled. “Plus someone’s got to make sure you don’t mess up.”
She had then let Chouji go so she could boot Uchiha in the shin.
As a result of this arrangement, when she wakes up on The Day, all she has to worry about is preparing the pasta for Sanji, Nami and Usopp’s lunchboxes after training with Gai-sensei.
She’s almost worried that her timining be a little delayed because Gai-sensei grabs her in a bone-creaking hug when she arrives at training and spends about three minutes weeping over how youthful she is.
He then makes them run fifty times around the village balancing the paint pots they’ll be using later to ensure that the paint is agitated enough “so its most YOUTHFUL colors will shine through!!”
They nearly lose the purple when Naruto fumbles slightly over a root.
She bolts down her food at breakfast.
She puts on more rice again in preparation for the sesame onigiri, and pulls out a pot to fill with water that’s set to boil and a pan to gently heat some oil on the stove.
She smashes a clove of garlic and drops it in when the oil has begun to smoke gently, deseeding and dicing up some chilis and tossing them in as well for flavor.
She can’t help her grin when the heady spicy-savory scent fills the air, finely chopping capers and anchovies to toss in once she’s fished out the smashed garlic.
The scent mellows somewhat when the diced pike hits the pan as well, and she pushes it around until the fish is almost-but-not-quite cooked through.
Then in with a generous glug of wine and the heat is turned down to a gentle simmer to let the alcohol cook off.
Just in time for the rice to have cooked and cooled enough to begin mixing with yellow and black sesame seeds and begin forming into ten onigiri.
They don’t have any fillings other than the sesame, because they’re designed to take the edge off the stronger flavors of the pasta (her) and the takoyaki (Chouji), as well as serve as a substitute for a sesame topped bun accompanying the hamburger steaks (Uchiha).
The others begin to arrive at around ten.
Sakura and the Harunos arrive first alongside Ino and her dad.
She shouts a hello as Naruto and Lee lead Ino and Sakura through the kitchen to the back garden, nails orange with peeled tangerine.
Ino darts forward and steals two slices, chortling in response to her indignant “Oi!” and passing one to Sakura, who grins as she nibbles on their way out.
Yamanaka-san is totally at home chatting with Gai-sensei and Otou-san, but he snickers when Nara-san immediately gravitates towards him when he arrives. Shikamaru gives her a nod as he follows the adults outside and she puts the pasta on to boil.
She’s set aside two extra tangerines for when Shino and his father arrive. After all, she, Chouji and Uchiha are making enough to feed eleven deities and many many people, so shouldn’t their insects also be able to eat as well?
Shino’s dad stares at her inscrutably when she explains her reasoning, before accepting the fruit with a nod and a “thank you” barely audible over a loud buzzing.
Shino shifts from one foot to the other during this exchange before gently tugging his father’s sleeve. It occurs to her as she drains the pot-full pasta and adds the sauce alongside a cup of boiling water to emulsify everything that this might be the closest she’s ever seen him to being embarrassed.
Chouji and his dad arrive as she’s sprinkling in some parsley as a finishing touch.
They’re both carrying huge containers full of takoyaki and cooked spring greens, and she spares a small moment to be envious of all the amazing things Chouji’s family can afford to do.
Then she launches Chouji another hug to thank him for all his help once he’s set his cargo down.
He squeaks like he did last time and Akimichi-san laughs loudly, for some reason.
Iruka-sensei and Uchiha arrive with eleven lunchboxes, two dogs, Kiba and his mum, and Hinata in tow.
Uchiha keeps sneaking what appear to be morsels of meat to Akamaru and Kuromaru.
There’s also a pale-eyed frowning boy who Iruka-sensei introduces as Hyuuga Neji, Hinata’s cousin who’d been sent along to act as her chaperone.
The boy sniffs disdainfully when they greet him and goes to stand in a corner of the garden near Mebuki, completely ignoring Lee when he waves to him.
She doesn’t think she likes Hinata’s cousin very much.
The lunchboxes Uchiha brought are black lacquer decorated with gold and red tomoe, much fancier than anything she’d been expecting.
When questioned, he just shrugs and says, “It’s just old stuff from New Year’s. It’s just taking up space at home, so it’s better off here.”
She knows better than to say anything like “sorry”, so she just pats his shoulder and says “No, that compartment’s too small for the onigiri, put it in this one.”
“That’s way too big, it looks tiny in that one.” Uchiha snaps, but with a bit less bite than usual.
Iruka-sensei looks mildly overwhelmed by all the people in the back garden. Okaa-san comes along, hands him a drink, pats his shoulder and says “They’re in my house,” in a sympathetic tone.
Iruka-sensei gives her a pitying look and knocks the sake back in one go.
Adults here can be weird.
Finally they’ve finished serving and she calls out “Food’s up!”
The adults come in to help take the larger platters of food outside, a huge plate of pasta, several smaller hamburger steaks in the style of what they’d call “sliders” in her world, and mound upon mound of takoyaki and spring greens and tangerines. There’s a clamor outside as people begin getting their portions.
She, Chouji and Uchiha are each balancing either three or four lunchboxes per person as they take them outside.
Sakura is helping Kiba paint a pattern of cherry blossoms across Chopper’s already vibrantly pink shrine. Evidence of her handiwork on Robin’s shrine is clear is the decoration of swirling petals and the streaks of matching purple paint all over her forehead.
Ino and Naruto obviously have had a battle over the orange judging by the splashes on their hands and clothing. On the plus side Nami and Luffy’s shrines are looking particularly colorful.
Shikamaru and Hinata are splotched with green, light blue and black-and-white. Lee is smudged with brown, cyan and white paint and beaming proudly.
Shino has yellow paint on the end of his nose and is looking at the detailed illustrations of insects on the sides with pride.
The only shrines that aren’t quite done are Sanji’s, which has a blue overcoat but no decoration, and Zoro’s which doesn’t have half its roof painted yet.
“We were waiting,” Naruto says, holding out two buckets of green paint and blue respectively, “For you guys to add your bits.”
She beams at him.
Of course, Uchiha has to ruin it by immediately grabbing the green.
“What?” He says, offloading his three lunchboxes onto Kiba. “I’ll give it back once I’m finished with it.”
Ino rolls her eyes and shoulders her paintbrush, adding another orange splotch to her outfit. “Ugh. I’ll help Mayu-chan, it’s better to get it done quickly. Let’s go before the food gets cold.”
Orange, red, and yellow fish on the blue background are much more vibrant and eye-catching than green, though Uchiha does “help” by flicking the paintbrush at her while she’s distracted.
In thanks, she smears yellow on the back of his neck.
After the extra decorations are finished, Lee, Sakura and Kiba redistribute the lunchboxes to make their offerings.
The only problem is there’s eleven of them and ten lunchboxes.
“You all go ahead.” She steps back. “I’ll do the next bit.”
Each one of them place the pirate lunchboxes down in front of the shrines and step back.
For some reason, she feels like traditional prayers and chants appropriated from the sage guy won’t really be all that welcoming to them.
But then, what? What could help them feel at home at these shrines, so far from the sea?
Her gaze falls on Brook’s shrine.
Oh.
Oh, well it’s obvious when it’s put like that, isn’t it?
She just hopes she remembers the words correctly. She doesn’t want to butcher them on accident.
“Yohohoho, yohohoho~ Yohohoho, yohohoho~”
Her voice sounds frail and quiet, and she can feel everyone’s eyes on her. Still, she stumbles through the last two refrains of yohohoho’s to the first verse.
“Binksu no sake wo, todokei ni yuku yo, umikaze, kimakase, namimakase~ Shio no mukou de, yuhi wo sawagu, sora nya, wao kaku tori no uta~”
Naruto joins in on the next verse, singing along slightly out of tune and mixing up some of the words.
His cheeks look as flushed as hers feel, and it’s hard not to giggle when they catch each other’s eyes. Somehow they both manage to keep singing.
Gai-sensei and Lee boisterously shout DON alongside them as they join as well, Gai-sensei’s voice strong and sure, while Lee’s volume makes up for any deficiencies in wording. She almost can’t hear Okaa-san’s melodious voice and Otou-san’s decidedly tone-deaf one join in on the second set of Yohohoho’s over their noise.
Sakura and Ino’s voices are both high-pitched, but they carry the tune well enough. So does Kiba, though he’s pitching up to a falsetto for some reason. Hinata’s voice is soft, but she’s genuinely singing, unlike Shikamaru and Sasuke who’re mumbling through all the bits apart from the yohohoho’s. Shino is monotone if precise and enthusiastic, while Chouji has a surprising set of pipes on him.
Akamaru is just howling to the beat. And with that accompaniment, how could anyone stop themselves from singing along?
It feels like more people than could possibly fit into their house and garden are bellowing Bink’s Sake together by the time they’ve reached the third set of Yohohoho’s.
It can’t exactly be called “harmonious”. Everyone’s a little out of tune, a little off beat.
But the mixing of all the voices of her family and friends feels so right, it makes her voice stronger, lets her sing louder.
She opens her eyes and nearly chokes on the next note.
Hovering in front of the brightly painted shrines, slightly faded but gaining color and substance with every passing moment, They stand.
Merry appears in all her glory, as if in mid- sail. Brook is playing his violin, a foot tapping to the beat. Franky is winding up for his SUPA pose, grinning broadly. Robin is resting a hand on Chopper’s hat. Chopper himself is peeking at them the wrong way round from Robin’s leg.
Sanji’s tapping out his cigarette with a grin and giving a small salute. Usopp is waving to them, like a captain would to his 8,000 followers. Nami’s blowing a kiss as if to adoring fans.
Zoro...is climbing over the garden fence and jogging to take his place in front his shrine next to the others. Nami shoots him a Look while Luffy laughs at him, sitting in mid air and clapping his feet together.
The Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates then turns to her and gives her a wide grin.
She blinks away tears as he and his crew fade away with the last notes of the song.
The food in the lunchboxes is gone.
The food on Naruto’s plate is also gone.
In fact, all the food in the immediate vicinity appears to be gone.
It’s just that Naruto looks back at his plate and yells in indignation first.
She lets out a wet laugh. “Darn it Luffy.”