Interlude: Puzzles

Hyuuga Hiashi was feeling more than a little smug.

He stood outside the Hokage's office, his arms folded in the sleeves of his robe with a stoic expression, his Byakugan turned off. But he didn't need it turned on because he knew what was happening inside. The clan heads were getting lectured/chewed out because they had ignored the Hokage's direct order to leave Shimoda alone.

The fact that Hinata was only socializing with Naruto, and that Naruto had vouched for her, was the only reason he wasn't invited to this chewing out. Again, he was reaping the rewards of Hinata's increased self-esteem and his new approach to her. In a way, it was almost a good thing that Orochimaru had created a race of abominable fish monsters that kidnapped his daughter.

Hiashi shook his head slightly. Sometimes the strangest thoughts could cross one's mind.

The door opened and the other clan heads began filing out as fast as dignity would allow. Hiashi noted that Inoichi looked the most shamed and humiliated. Whether the Hokage had singled him out for retribution or not was irrelevant, it was his daughter that had started all of this.

When the clan heads had finished passing down the stairs, Hiashi knocked on the door.

"Enter," The Hokage's voice came from the other side.

Hiashi did so, granting the Hokage the respectful bow that he was entitled to. "Hokage-sama, I hope it's not a bad time for a visit."

"No, no. Your company is quite welcome," The Hokage said, slipping his pipe into his mouth. "What can I do for you?"

"I merely had a few questions regarding Shimoda," Hiashi supplied easily.

The Hokage took a breath and held in an irritated sigh. "Yes, what is it?"

"All of the clans are aware of a time when Shimoda is no longer going to be socially crippled," Hiashi began, carefully examining the Hokage's face for signs of offense or weariness. "I wanted to know what the plan was, Hokage-sama?"

"I am in discussion of the particular's with Shimoda's Jounin-sensei," The Hokage replied evenly. "If you have concerns you wish to add to the discussion, I would hear them."

"I'll be brief, then," Hiashi replied with a small breath. "In the past, Shimoda has demonstrated a startling lack of caution, hasty judgement and demonstrably violent disposition. In some cases, these are all called for, such as when he saved my daughter. But in most others…"

The Hokage motioned for him to continue.

"These habits have been built up over his relatively brief lifetime because of his nigh-unkillable nature," Hiashi continued in earnest. "Combined with his inability to get all of the data he needs to make an informed decision, this has turned him into a danger to himself and others that needs to be handled with care."

"I am aware of all of this, Hiashi," The Hokage replied, taking another puff from his pipe. "What's your concern?"

"My concern is how these habits are going to come into play when he's finally not socially incapable," Hiashi replied with a frown. "Part of his stunted decision making comes from being unable to conceive how another might react in his place. When that weakness disappears and he sees things about his friends, the clans, Konoha? That he doesn't like? I want to know what the plan is to gently ease him into everything and deal with him if his violent tendencies act up."

"Valid concerns," The Hokage nodded. "I have thought of all of this and there is a plan. This power-up is not going to be a 'slow and gradual' thing. It's going to be all at once. We have thought about this, Hiashi. I promise you that every measure is being taken to make sure Konoha is kept safe and that we don't lose one of our most valuable shinobi."

No details about the plan itself, but the reassurance was fair, Hiashi thought. "Then how may I assist."

"By continuing to do what you have been doing," The Hokage replied. "Give Shimoda no reason to think poorly of you and perhaps even revise some statutes within the clan that he might take serious objection too."

"Such as?" Hiashi asked with a frown.

"Given how easily he goes stir crazy and how banning him from missions was enough to force the first significant change since I've known him," The Hokage began. "I would say that he heavily values freedom."

Ah. Yes, that. "I see. That's not an easy thing to ask, Hokage-sama."

"I know that," The Hokage replied. "Decades of tradition, carried from one generation to another. One does not simply undo all of that. But you did ask what you could do to help."

"I did," Hiashi replied. What could he do to help? Only the most difficult task he could imagine within clan politics. "I will look into it."

Code for 'it'll never happen' it may have been, the Hokage looked satisfied. "Very good. Is there anything else?"

"You don't object to Hinata associating with Naruto-kun, correct?" Hiashi asked. "I understand he's a politically sensitive target as well."

"Hiashi, yours is the only clan I actually trust to treat Naruto with respect at this current moment," The Hokage replied levelly, actually taking his pipe out of his mouth to respond. "Especially Hinata-chan. How is she doing at this moment, by the way?"

"She is doing well, thank you for asking," Hiashi replied. "I didn't have anything else, Hokage-sama."

"Dismissed," The Hokage nodded.

With that, Hiashi took his leave. The weight placed on his mind had wiped the smug smile off of his face.

He had considered the removal of the seal, once. After the death of his brother by unjust execution. But he had dismissed the idea after several days of mourning as impossible. It could be done after several generations of change and differing ideas, gradually shifting the paradigm to be one accepting the idea of the Main and Branch families as equals.

But if Shimoda, a shockingly powerful yet capricious and almost quixotic figure whom the clan owed a great debt of gratitude twice over might be moved to hostility over this tradition? Well, it wasn't something that was worth extinction, at least not as far as he was concerned.

Perhaps he should start exercising his long-term thinking muscles and start coming up with an actual plan.

"Are you going to start trying soon?" Anko bit out bitterly, shaking off her sparring partner's attempts to help her off the ground.

"I'm trying as hard as I need," Daisuke, ever frowning, ever staring, replied.

That was only the second time she had face-planted into the dirt. Spitting out a speck of dirt and gritting her teeth, she got back into her stance. She knew she was weaker, but she couldn't be so down as to constantly lose to a Genin who couldn't even pick a girl to date.

She had heard the rumors, of course. The tall tales about how the Genin could apparently take the Fourth Hokage on in a straight fight and come out on top. But those were just rumors and as good as Daisuke was, the Fourth was the Fourth.

As she was learning, though as she threw a punch and Daisuke merely slid out of the way while counter-attacking with a jab to her stomach, that perhaps there was a reason the rumors existed. Also, that he really liked hitting people in the stomach.

She dropped in to a sweep kick, which he merely jumped and kicked her in the shoulder, pushing into a back flip and landing on his feet. She fell over to her side and quickly jumped to her feet. She stretched her neck out briefly before sinking into another stance.

Anko hated being toyed with. "Why do you keep hitting me in the stomach?"

"It's my favorite target," Daisuke replied.

"Why?" Anko asked.

"When I hit something, people usually explode," Daisuke replied. "Hitting in the stomach means there's a lot of muscle and intestines and the explosion reverberates to the vital organs above and below. If the punch doesn't simply blow them into giblets, the vibrations tear holes into the targets lungs, heart, kidneys, liver and other vital organs. If I don't kill them in that fight, they are going to die afterwards."

Anko blinked as the image of her internal organs being vibrated apart by a single punch came into her mind. "Good to know."

Daisuke looked like he was going to say something else, but stopped and simply assumed a stance.

Anko grunted. She appreciated that. Less talk, more training. The more she could squeeze out of these training sessions, the less time she has to make up when she got too exhausted to continue training.

He waited for her to make the first move. She waited for him to make the first move and her shoulder started to itch and she rolled her shoulder to compensate.

Immediately, Daisuke charged forward, sliding on one foot with the other extended in a kick to her head. She shifted to the right to dodge and threw a punch at his exposed groin, only for him to slide in an orbit around her, counter-clockwise and spinning to bring his foot down on her head.

She balanced on one hand and blocked the foot, only for Daisuke to hop and kick her in the stomach with the other, sending her to the ground once again.

Again, the image of her internal organs getting shattered made the experience even less pleasant than it already was.

"Alright, we're taking a break," Daisuke said.

Anko groaned as she stood back up. "No, we're not."

"Yes, we are," Daisuke insisted, sitting down and pulling out a box of sushi-rolls.

Anko glared at him. "Fine."

She pulled out a box of dango and sat down. She stuck a stick in her mouth and pulled one of the balls off, letting the sweet ball of dough grace her tongue and made her mouth water. As she chewed, a thought came to her head. "Hey-"

Daisuke raised an eyebrow.

Anko raised a finger for him to wait while she chewed and swallowed the dango in her mouth. "Eh, sorry. I heard you don't need to eat."

"You heard right," Daisuke replied.

"But you can eat," Anko replied.

"Sushi's my favorite food," Daisuke replied. "Well, except for…never mind."

"Except for what?"

"Nothing," Daisuke said, eating a sushi roll.

"Come on, tell me!" Anko said teasing grin.

"No."

"Why not?" Anko asked with a pout.

"Because I don't want too," Daisuke replied, just a hint of…duress in his voice.

"Oh fine," Anko stuck her tongue out at him. "Sushi's your favorite food, except for mystery meal…whatever it is."

"Exactly," Daisuke nodded.

They both ate in silence for a few minutes.

"So, how are we doing for time?" Anko asked after swallowing her last dango.

"I think you can go on for another two hours," Daisuke replied, cracking his knuckles with a satisfying set of pops. "As long as we take a break in between the hours."

"Good," Anko said, massaging her legs and trying to push the soreness out of them. "I need to get back up to fighting shape as soon as possible."

"You're already pushing that envelope just by being here," Daisuke answered, resting his chin on his close fist. "So, you don't need to worry about that. At all."

"Yes, I do," Anko replied. "Because I want to go to Suna for the Chunin exams."

Daisuke was silent for a minute. "Why?"

"Because the Genin that put my life back on track is going to be competing," Anko replied with a grin. "And I want to be there to support him. So, I'm getting back to fighting shape so I can actually go."

Daisuke slowly moved to rub the back of his head and look down at the ground. "Thanks, Anko."

Shikamaru was sitting at the shogi-table in his home. The shogi board and pieces were all shoved to a random corner in his room. On the table itself were numerous pieces of paper filled with numbers and graphs, all dedicated toward solving one particular mystery.

"Hey, Shikamaru," Chouji greeted as he walked into Shikamaru's room, bag of chips in his hand. "Woah. What are you doing?"

"Trying to figure out Daisuke's bloodline," Shikamaru grumbled over his interlocked fingers.

"Oh," Chouji said. Then he shook his head and ate a chip. "Wait, you're trying to make sense out of Daisuke?"

"He doesn't make any sense whatsoever," Shikamaru replied, not even looking up from his notes. "Power goes up in spurts. Skill is measured in percent from novice to total master. Total recovery from an hour's rest. I don't care what he calls it, what he has is no Kekkei Genkai."

"I don't see what the big deal is," Chouji shrugged. "Yeah, it's weird and he doesn't follow any of the same rules we do but why don't you just leave it to R&D?"

"Because if I don't figure this out, it's just going to annoy me every time I go cloud watching," Shikamaru replied with a frown. "It's troublesome."

"Wow, this is really bugging you, isn't it?" Chouji said, blinking and eating a chip.

"That, and Ino's been haranguing me to figure out this thing," Shikamaru replied with a sigh. "Troublesome girl."

"Yeah, that sounds like Ino," Chouji nodded, reaching for one of the slips of paper. "Can I?"

"Knock yourself out," Shikamaru replied, still looking at the others he had around.

Chouji picked one out and looked over it. "What's with the cup?"

He turned the paper around and pointed to a drawing of a cup. It was simply three lines with part of it colored in, but it had dozens and dozens of notes all pointing to it.

"I heard Dad talking about how Daisuke knows how close he is to death at all times," Shikamaru stretched in his chair. "And Daisuke has said that everything he does has something to do with numbers, so I end up wondering 'how does he measure it?', what does something like that look like? Does he have a percentage like with his skills or is it a base number that gets bigger or smaller over time?"

"I've got no idea," Chouji replied, laying the paper on the desk carefully. "…are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," Shikamaru replied, taking a breath. "I just got to figure this out. Then Ino can stop heckling me and I can go back to watching clouds and napping."

"What's this...Strength, Perception…" Chouji started, looking at it. "Where'd you get this?"

"Naruto helped a little," Shikamaru replied, looking it over. "Apparently, he has six categories of physical measurement. And luck. None of these things really affect his personality, I think, just his physical and mental ability."

"So…what are his numbers?" Chouji asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I can assume his Charisma is low," Shikamaru replied. "Probably as low as it gets. Then his Intelligence is high."

"Wait, he stinks at tactics." Chouji narrowed his eyes. "How does he have high intelligence?"

"You heard Naruto," Shikamaru said with a grumble. "He doesn't understand people. At all."

"I don't get it," Chouji responded, shaking his head.

"When you go to grab someone, what do you think about?" Shikamaru asked with a glare.

"Uh…focusing the chakra?" Chouji replied.

Shikamaru motioned for him to continue.

"Moving my arm," Chouji said. "And…where the guy I'm trying to grab is going to go."

"There you go," Shikamaru nodded. "If Daisuke had your jutsu, and he might already, given how he makes jutsu like candy, he would completely miss that last part because the charisma is, according to what I've got here, is how much ability he has to conceptualize what someone else will do or what they might be feeling."

"So…he literally can't imagine someone trying to dodge him or lure him into a trap or something," Chouji replied with a blink.

"He's got some ability now," Shikamaru replied. "Which is confusing. It means the stats I have scale with his…power spikes. Whatever he calls them."

Chouji hummed. "It looks like you've kind of got it all figured out. Sort of. What're you still trying to figure out?"

"I don't know. How it all fits together?" Shikamaru said, resting his head in his hands. "All of this is connected somehow on a conceptual level and I'm completely missing it."

Chouji took another chip. And ate it. "Have you tried…I don't know, figuring out where you stand on this system?"

Shikamaru hummed and grabbed another sheet of paper. "Let's see…four, eight, five, seven, ten, five and two."

"Only two Luck?" Chouji asked with a frown.

"I have Ino for a friend and she's making me spend my whole day trying to figure this out," Shikamaru replied. "And…here, just fifty percent in the combat skills. It's just a sample creation, so it doesn't matter."

"Right," Chouji said.

"So, then I make an enemy," Shikamaru continued. "Giant rat, missing nin, fish monster, whatever. Now I got to kill it."

"So move in and punch it 'till it explodes," Chouji said, looking inside his potato chip bag to see how much he had left. "That's what Daisuke does."

"Hypothetically, let's say I need a Taijutsu skill of…sixty to kill it," Shikamaru said with a hum. "It hits me and I get…half-way to dying. "Taijutsu didn't work, so try Ninjutsu. Shadow possession. I make whatever it is strangle itself. It dies and I get closer to a…power spike. Huh."

Shikamaru was staring at the paper with his approximation on. "I think I got it."

"So what is it?" Chouji asked.

"It's some kind of game," Shikamaru replied, taking a huge breath. "Daisuke's whole life is sort of like a game."

"Wow," Chouji breathed in with wide eyes at the magnitude of this discovery.

Shikamaru crumpled the paper up, threw it over his shoulder and stood up, placing his hands behind his head. "Figured it out. Awesome. I'm going cloud watching. You coming?"

"Right behind you," Chouji said as they both left the room.