Chapter 6

Snap Back To Reality 6

It was Guy's birthday. I looked at my present hoping it was good. I saved up 3 weeks' worth of D ranks for it. Chakra knuckle bracers. It was silver and made of hardy chakra enhanced steel. I could just imagine Guy punching someone's sword and shattering it with this. Ahh, that was an epic thought. I had wrapped it up in green paper with a pretty red bow. It kind of felt more like Christmas than it did a birthday gift... if the gifts wrapping looked like a mangled mess. Yeah, I wasn't the best at wrapping presents.

I'd never really gone to Guy's house before. Kurenai and Asuma had agreed to come too. They were friends with Guy but wasn't as close, so I was the one to organise the whole thing. We met up at a park and I noticed, with some distress, that their wrapping looked immaculate. How did a bunch of five-year-old's beat me?

"Ready?" I asked.

"I'm actually kind of scared," Asuma grunted, to which Kurenai nodded fervently.

I wasn't going to blame them. Guy's dad was... well he was Guy but turned up a notch by like a 100%. Constantly screaming, constantly enthusiastic. Everyone knew him as the Eternal Genin, but he didn't let it get to him. The power of YOUTH or whatever was on his side. I was beginning to wonder if it was actually a universal force or something because it was an insane motivator.

"WELCOME YOUNG FLOWERS OF YOUTH. TODAY WILL BE THE MOST WONDERFUL DAY IN HISTORY. I THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART FOR DOING SOMETHING SO YOUTHFUL!"

I winced at the sound and so did my two friends, but we plastered on a smile because Dai was actually a very caring man behind the volume. He excitedly invited us into his apartment, which I noticed had privacy seals all over. I had to hold back a short. Dai probably had those up there because of noise complaints and not actually because he wanted to hide something.

"So the game plan is decorating the living room which is good because we can hang the sign up between these beams," I said setting out the game plan.

"MY SON WILL BE HERE AT 7PM SHARP FROM HIS TRAINING!"

"Thanks," I mumbled, holding my left ear in pain.

Then we got about decorating the place with green balloons before hanging up the HAPPY BIRTHDAY sign. Dai brought out a cake in the shape of a fist which he surprisingly baked himself. So he was a man of many talents, huh. Then we held out our streamers waiting behind the couch.

It was at 7 sharp, that the door opened. If Guy was anything, he was a man of punctuality. He walked in and heaved what was to be a sad sigh when we all jumped out.

"Surprise!"

Colourful streamers shot at his face and Guy just stood there, eyes wide in absolute shock, before it turned into the cutest grin ever. My heart did not melt! It did not! He started crying as he took Asuma, Kurenai and myself in a big hug before father and son hugged it out with a whole sunshine genjutsu and everything... that was a genjutsu right? Right?

"I'm so happy! I thought everyone forgot about my birthday today," Guy said with a sniffle. "I should not have doubted you! Yosh! I will do 50 laps around Konoha as recompense!"

"Guy!" I said jumping to throw him back on the couch. "We can't have you running away on your own birthday party, can we?" I asked.

"Yeah and running 50 laps around Konoha seems over the top," Asuma snorted.

"That too," Kurenai laughed. "Also we got you presents Guy-kun, and we don't want you to leave without opening them!"

"Guys!" he cried, getting emotional.

We all did an awkward group hug before we continued on the party. It was fun, just relaxing, not worrying about training or ninja or death in any way shape or form. I joined in on the stupid games the kids were playing, and I was happy, because these kids were just being kids. It was innocent and wholesome and something I needed a reminder of because I'd been so focused on all the bad, I didn't remember the good. This is what we were fighting for. These little moments of joy, of visiting Hanami, of eating Takoyaki with sensei and Nami, and playing in abandon with my friends. I laughed, a rare laugh that sounded so childish even to my ears, and for once I didn't care.

It had been 2 months. The training period was over. I'd managed to get down Tiger Palm and the aerial manoeuvres I needed to begin learning the Circle Walk style. I didn't actually master Circle Walk through, which was a rather sour point of the whole experience. I did however learn two D rank and one C rank fire jutsu. All in all, it was a productive 2 months.

I got out of my stupidly pink bed pretty quickly this morning. I knew what was coming. I couldn't even sleep. Today was the day I was going to be assigned my first real mission with Gaku-sensei. My stomach did a flip, and I couldn't figure out if it was from excitement or distress. Either way I had packed already with sensei. He had lent me a sealing scroll which was stupidly useful and meant I didn't have to carry around my clothes.

Speaking of clothes, I managed to get my first field Shinobi gear. The war meant style wasn't really something one could afford unless it was there for a reason. No one was going to tell and Aburame that they couldn't still wear shades and their specialised clothes, because it was made for a purpose. Everyone else though, even the Genin, were expected to wear a sort of customised uniform. I didn't mind. I only owned clothes in the same exact style because it wasn't just fashion, it was my uniform and I was going to present myself a certain way.

My new uniform was a black sleeved haori over a wiry mesh shirt. The haori ended at my knees, with a kimono shirt pulled together at the middle with elastic, so it sat snugly at my waist. I had fingerless Konoha standard green gloves and khaki sweatpants that were tied together at the bottom with bandages, and Konoha standard sandals, with the minor fact that I got mine closed and steel tipped because no way in hell was I ever wearing open toed shoes. Not even this world could force me.

All in all, with my bag pack and large scroll, and the many, many hidden knives and shuriken in my body, I looked like a mini Shinobi. I fixed my hitaite on my forehead and tied up what little hair I had at the base of my head. I looked green. God everything about me was green. My eyes, my hair, my clothes. I should probably add in some brown, so I could blend in more...

"Ugh, Hina you need to get a hold of yourself. You're a front line fighter, not a stealth nin. You might be a midget in appearance but you're an adult at heart so get your shit together. Your family is going to get some much needed financial support and they might not need to starve so much, and you... you are not going to die. If you die... you're probably going to reincarnated somewhere more ridiculous like Attack on Titan or Tron, and then you'll definitely be screwed. So get your shit together. Say goodbye to Taichi, put on a brave face for your parents and go out there and do your duty. Once this wars over you can relax... not now."

I slapped my cheeks, hating how much like a baby I looked on this tiny body with my too big bag. I narrowed my eyes and nodded. Baby body or not, I was going to war. It was frightening, but I couldn't let this sudden fear take over me. It was my profession, I reminded myself. I never failed at my duty, and as far as I was concerned that may as well have been my nindo.

I walked out of my room and paused at the kitchen. Mom and dad turned to me, looking wholly pale at my appearance. They knew... I had told them. It didn't go down well. Yua began to pretend I didn't exist. I was afraid she would do it today too.

"Hi-chan, are you going?" Taichi asked, tears glistening around his eyes. It looked like he had been crying.

"Yes niisan," I said nodding.

"I don't want you to go," Taichi said sadly.

"Taichi, come here," Yua said, gesturing the boy into her arms.

Dad knelt down in front of me, his eyes glistening with tears. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't. He hugged me instead and I returned it. He was trembling.

"I'm so sorry Hina," he whispered. "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you."

Kami, when he said it like that, it almost seemed like he was expecting me back in a body bag. I shut my eyes tightly. It could be... it very well could be. No matter how much I told myself I would not let myself die, I did not know for certain if I could keep that promise to myself.

Dad pulled away and I turned to my mom. She wasn't even looking me in the eye. I felt a sting of hurt at that. Seriously? She wasn't even going to say anything to her own kid who was going out to war? I twisted my heels and walked quickly to the door. I didn't want to be near her, or even think about her right now. It was stupid how much it hurt. I moved to the door and was surprised to feel Gaku's chakra outside my door.

"Gaku-sensei," I exclaimed, as I opened the door.

"Hey there kiddo," he said with his classical toothy grin.

"I thought we were meeting up at the mission's desk."

"Change of plans. I wanted to take you there myself."

I was about to ask why when my dad came by the door. I noticed both him and Gaku-sensei were around the same height. Damn me and finding myself under giant 7-foot men. Dad looked so serious and suddenly Gaku-sensei did too.

"Please bring my daughter back home."

Dad bowed low and I jumped back in shock. Sensei however just did a solid nod.

"I will protect her with my life if I have to," he said gravely.

"Urk. Eww guys don't get all emotional. You're ruining the mood," I grunted, crossing my arms, hoping to break this awkward seriousness with some awkward levity.

Dad's chuckle was strained. He ruffled my hair with a sad 'come back soon' before we left. I could hear Taichi crying. Damn, did I make my brother cry? I grimaced. I was doing this for them after all.

I thought I'd meet the Hokage at least once for mission assigning, but it was war time and the man probably had a pile load of more important things to do. Instead a Chunin administrator handed out mission assignments. Hearing it read out made me feel dizzy.

"You will be stationed at border post 9 for 3 months. Meet at East gate 7 for your team lead."

I stood at attention and Gaku-sensei accepted a scroll. He opened it and nodded; his expression schooled.

"3 months," I said in disbelief the moment we walked out.

"It's a slightly longer than average post," Sensei agreed. "Don't worry though, I've looked at the map he gave me. Border post 9 isn't close to either Kumo or Iwa's borders. We're stationed outside of Kawa's borders."

The River land, bordering Konoha and Suna. I remembered it vividly from my studies. Konoha was unfortunately situated in the middle of two superpowers on either end: Kumo to the right and Iwa to the left. We were going South-East, which despite how sensei worded it, was still pretty close to Iwa, all things considered.

We travelled silently as we reached East Gate 7. A Genin team, about 5 Chunin and 2 Jounin were waiting there. Everyone was talking to the people they knew. I looked at the Genin team, wondering if I knew any of them. There was a quite young (possibly only two or three years older than me) Uchiha with a chest guard, a boy who was coughing and a girl who looked rather normal with long purple hair and a katana strapped to her back.

I had no clue if they were canon story characters or not, and these days I didn't bother to check. This wasn't a story anymore. These were people with real lives, and I had no idea how I would effect this world, if it was going to stay exactly like the story I had read as a child, or if it was something entirely different. Already I had met dozens upon dozens of people who weren't mentioned in the manga Naruto, and all of them had their own lives, family's troubles, and joys. This wasn't just a story anymore. I had thrown aside that notion after just a year living in this world.

"Ok listen up everyone. Border Post 9, is about a 5-day journey from here. We will travel 3 hours at a time with 30-minute intervals for break and set camp at 9. I will give out further orders then. Everybody ready?"

"Hai!"

After everyone chorused in agreement, we all took out. The lead Jounin didn't even bother to introduce himself. He looked like a Hyuga though, so it made sense he stood front centre of the group. Contrary to how I imagined ninja travel, we actually stuck to a relatively normal (for a ninja) running pace. The idea apparently was to use only about 10 percent of an average Chunins chakra. It was the safest form of travel. We could have gone faster but getting down even to 50% chakra levels was dangerous and could mean your life. I knew this of course, but I thought with a war going on that they'd rush us.

Being a fitness junkie, and more than slightly addicted to running (which was only aggravated by Guy), I found the pace slightly strenuous but not unbearable. I couldn't say the same for the poor Genin behind me. They were sweating already, their breaths laboured when we made it to camp.

Then the lead Jounin called out orders. Gaku-sensei and I were assigned to set up camp, while the Chunin set up traps and the Genin team took watch. It was all a silent affair. This was a mission and in this time of war, it was dangerous to be loud outside of Konoha's walls. We did however talk silently between ourselves about the work we were doing and thoughts on the mission. It was hushed and quiet and I stuck to talking to sensei and patting Yama, then to strike up a conversation with anyone else.

"Hey kiddo, do you think you can do this?" Sensei asked.

"Of course sensei," I said without missing a beat.

"Good, keep this conviction out there and stop looking so jittery."

"That easy to tell huh?" I asked as I lay down on my roll.

"Don't get me wrong, it's always good to be paranoid and alive, but you have a habit of tapping your thighs when you're stressed. Anyone can tell."

"Oh, I—I will fix that," I said softly.

"Go to sleep kiddo. Trust me, if anyone comes, I'll know."

I was actually relieved to be in sensei's tent. With the big man next to me in his own roll and Yama on my other side, I felt a modicum of protection and it was nice. When I closed my eyes, I was surprised I slept.

"Baby, come down here! Jo!"

"Ugh, I'm up, I'm up," I grumbled.

The sheets were so soft. Silk? I pushed the cloth with my hand, dragging it across the bed in fascination, turning my head to the brilliant beam of light cracking out from my venetian blinds. I turned to my room, modern and rustic, wide open space, brick wall at the end and dozens of potted plants hanging from the ceiling. So familiar.

"Jo!"

I snapped my attention to the woman in front of me. Blonde hair draped down her shoulders as she smiled her beautiful smile, her body moving with feline like grace as she crawled towards me in bed. Dancer. I let out a pleased sound when her lips met mine. Catherine.

"Cat," I whispered, ecstatic at her appearance.

"You sound excited today. What's the good news?"

"I don't know," I said truthfully, because I really didn't know why she made me so happy. I wrapped my arms around her neck and pulled her closer. She went for a kiss again, playful as she was, but I just put my forehead against hers, closing my eyes and breathing in her scent. She smelt like chalk, the ocean and salt. I nearly cried at the scent.

"I don't know what's gotten into you Jo, but I like it."

Why had I forgotten her? How could I have forgotten her? Cat was my everything. She was my... my wife? Had I forgotten my wife? With that horrifying thought I helped her out of the bed, and we set about making it together.

"So the next performance is in about 2 days and Madam Cancienne has us all busting our asses," she grumbled.

"I know, the blisters on your toes was worse than usual," I said angrily.

How did I know that?

Then we went to the kitchen for breakfast and I began cooking, navigating this foreign, yet familiar place with ease. I began making some poached eggs on toast with avocado. Eggs Benedict. Why thanks memories for supplying all these random names. Apparently, I was a good cook because it looked restaurant level.

"What would I do without you," Cat grinned as she took her breakfast.

"Eat cereal," I supplied dryly.

She nudged me with a giggle. "You know what I mean. Oh by the way, how's your project going?"

"Mark's a piece of shit, but we've managed to separate the DNA structure of the bacteria. I was telling the project head that really this batch of bacterial strain effects all the individuals separately you know, and just going about a cure in a one size fits all kind of way won't work. Unfortunately, we're providing to the masses. It's just so frustrating the RNA should— I'm ranting, aren't I?"

Cat nodded good naturedly. I frowned. Mark, Kane, and Maria came to mind. Co-workers, that I, for some reason had completely forgotten. Did I— did I even remember my parents? I realised with a cold dread that I didn't. I wanted to grab Cat, I wanted to hold her hands and never let her go, to let myself be buried in her embrace forever. My wife.

The door opened and I turned to see Cat jump up happily. A couple walked in, in their 60's. The woman was clearly of Indian origin, with long curly black hair and wearing a dark blue churidar and the man was Greek, wearing a casual business suit. I blinked back tears. My parents. Kami- No God, that's what they looked like. I ran up to them and hugged them.

"Wow, darling take it easy there. Old bones," dad laughed as I tackled him.

I ignored him and tackled mom next breathing in their scents, memorizing the sound of their laughs and the feel of their skin against mine. How could I have forgotten? I looked around and realised someone was missing.

"Where's Josh?" I asked.

Mom paused, looking stricken for a second. "Joanne, he's dead."

Oh... He was, wasn't he. I could feel the pain of his loss still, but I couldn't remember why. I wondered how he died. It felt important, monumental in fact, but the sharp pain that came from trying to remember made me stop it altogether. Then it came to me—

Hina Suzuki

Right... this wasn't real. I wanted to cry at the thought. This wasn't real. Cat wasn't really here, I wasn't really talking to my parents, and I hadn't gone to work at the lab yesterday. I had gone to war. This was a memory, a memory that played out somewhat similar to the day I died. Today afternoon I would make that godforsaken bowl of ramen I was meaning to try cooking, and my life would go down the drain choking on a vegetable. All those years of slaving away studying, building up these relationships, accumulating a good amount of wealth to send the most important person in my life to dance school... and I had died in the most indignantly infuriating way. I wanted to cry and scream and protest against the universal powers at play, but I just felt a hopelessness settle in my chest.

In the end we live and die, whether it be from choking on food, or from getting stabbed in war... we die. We would leave behind these people that we loved. The scariest thing wasn't even death. I realised I wasn't afraid of death. I was afraid of forgetting those I had left. My parents, who had just become fuzzy faces and vague traits, I could suddenly remember in clarity. My wife who I had forgotten entirely, was almost instantly so easy to recognise. My cousin— Josh that I don't even remember dying.

I had people now who needed me... Taichi, Yua, Noritaka, Hanami, Kakashi, Guy Nami and Gaku-sensei. These were all people who were fighting or going to be fighting life threatening battles in the future. I needed to go back to them, back to the people who needed me now.

"Cat, I-I love you."

"I know, Jo. You've always taken up responsibilities that weigh heavy on your shoulders."

"I do it for myself," I replied, looking away in shame.

"You do it for love. Maybe love is selfish, but I wouldn't fault you for loving. We have it together here. You need to move on."

"I have... it was painfully easy when I forgot you," I said shamefully.

"You haven't forgotten us dear," mom said giving me a hug. "If you did forget, why would you dream of us?"

"You compartmentalized your feelings Joanne, you pushed them to the side because that's the person you are. You don't wallow on past mistakes, you strive for the future," dad said proudly.

I felt my breath hitch and mom put her hands on my shoulders, her deep brown eyes looking kindly into my own. I held her shoulders and bit back a sob. I missed them so much. How could I forget? How could they just become nothing but a distorted memory? I didn't want to forget when I woke up.

"Joanne, you need to breathe," mom said softly.

"Bre-breathing brings the strength to our soul," I hiccupped. It was a phrase mom always used to say to me as a child. I had no idea what it meant, but I listened, and breathed and somehow my head cleared. I hugged her before turning to my dad and hugging him too.

I turned to Cat, feeling my consciousness pulling at the edges of my head. I turned to her quickly, memorizing her beautiful face her high cheek bones, those mesmerizing blue eyes and I kissed her, this time on her lips, eyes closing tightly to stave off the tears as I hugged her tightly. I never wanted to let go. This painful feeling blossomed in my chest and I knew what it was, and I wanted to say it before I never could again.

"Cat I-"

"You don't have to say it," Cat said softly.

SNAP

"-I love you!"

I realised I had said that aloud my body jerking up, arms reaching out to grab the person in front of me. I blinked and realised that I wasn't in my dream anymore. My hands were small, and calloused, not long, slender, and manicured. That's when I looked up to see Gaku-sensei giving me a quizzical look. I froze in shock and felt my face heating up red at the realisation of what I said.

"Didn't know you had a crush on me Hina-chan," he giggled teasingly.

"I-I... I don't! It was just a dream," I said in rising embarrassment.

"You were dreaming about me? Kiddo you're way too young to be going through puberty."

I spluttered, unable to find the words. Then I realised that this fucker was messing with me. Kami, how had I fallen for that? I groaned, putting my head in my hands, wishing to curl up and turn invisible.

"It wasn't you!" I groaned out, just to make sure he knew it wasn't him.

"Sure kiddo," he smirked evilly, "now pack up. We're leaving in 10."

I nodded, glad to be rid of this embarrassing situation. The group quickly began dismantling the camp and the Uchiha boy from before waved at me. I waved back because there was no use in being rude. He looked to be about 7 or 8, so a fresh Genin, and young to the boot.

"Hey, the name's Uchiha Shisui," he said with a simultaneously cool and chipper voice. Ugh, no wonder everyone swooned over the Uchiha. They looked undeniably cool, collected and pretty at the same time. Unfair. Something about the name felt familiar though, like he was part of the story I had read so long ago. I decided to put it away. I had no idea if this world was the same as the story or if it was different in other ways. I would look out for Obito in the future because Kanabi rung out in my memory like alarm bells, but it wasn't as if I remembered anything else of importance to change. Most of Naruto took place after the war anyway. I needed to focus on the now.

"Suzuki Hina," I finally replied with a pensive nod.

"You're pretty young," he noted.

"You are too," I shrugged.

He nodded and looked like he was going to continue the conversation when the Hyuga team lead called everyone into attention. We finished packing with haste before we took off again and the silence continued. This was going to be a boring 5 days.

I was utterly exhausted by the 4th day, and by the 5th I was just glad to be at the outpost. It was a quickly established post, with a basic wooden structure and housing about 50 or so Shinobi. They all looked exhausted. I figured they'd been given the unfortunate task of having to construct the outpost in the first place. It couldn't have been easy juggling that and the other duties around.

"Ok listen up, just because we're away from the primary areas of attack, doesn't mean we won't be. Everyone here will ensure that the border post construction is complete! I expect the tasks to be done on time."

The man who had spoken, no doubt the Jounin commander posted here, looked absolutely done. His voice was an uncaring monotone and he wasn't even looking at us. It was actually kind of funny how his strict words contrasted with his blasé attitude. Despite his tone, we were all professionals here and so we didn't need to be told twice to get started on work. I wasn't put with Gaku-sensei on watch duty, instead I was ushered off to cooking duty with Shisui and his female teammate. She tied up her purple hair and silently went to chopping the vegetables with surprisingly quick agile chops. I, being the youngest, and therefore assumed to be the most unskilled, was set to peeling the potatoes. Shisui used a fire jutsu to get the fire going before lugging in the water.

Wow… this was almost boring.

I hadn't expected fire and war exactly, but I'd imagined us being sent to more ninja related duties. Maybe I just expected that civilians took care of the whole 'keeping the post running' business, but apparently Genin were good for it too.

"Suzuki-chan, do you need any help?" Shisui asked.

"Thanks, but I'm good," I replied curtly.

I was just peeling potatoes. Without a peeler it wasn't as easy. Maybe I should invent the first vegetable peeler in the Elemental Nations. Imagine that, a girl named after vegetables inventing the first vegetable peeler. It was too good. I made a mental note to actually go through with this plan, because there was no way in hell that it wasn't just absolutely perfect in every way. Peeler or not though, I was still pretty good at keeping it even and not cutting out too much of the potato. My dream came back to mind and I winced. Eggs Benedict. It felt and sounded like a foreign dish, something that in my past life I had made quite often. Was I so far removed from my previous life that I thought a dish I had made every week before felt foreign? I shook my head, trying to forget that dream. Maybe it was better when I didn't remember… Catherine.

"Are you ok Suzuki-chan? You look a little pale," Shisui asked, giving me a concerned look.

I quirked a brow at him. Why was he treating me so kindly? He sounded exactly like Taichi… oh wait was he one of those dudes with that natural older brother personality? That irked me a little just because it utterly clashed with my big sister personality I tried desperately to keep under wraps.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why don't we start on the broth? If you keep it running for longer before adding in the potatoes, it'll taste better."

"Do you know a lot about cooking Suzuki-chan?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah, you could say it's a science," I replied with a sad smile.

"Ok, let's try it your way then," he nodded.

"Shisui," the purple haired girl said unsurely.

"Don't stress about it Yugao, what's the harm in trying something new?"

"Fine," she huffed.

Then we got about making the broth. I chucked in all the bones and cartilage before adding in the grilled onions and spices. There weren't many spices around, and the ones that were here were the wild ones, so the smell wasn't as strong as it would have been. Then I got about cooking. Let me tell you something. Cooking for more than 50 people was not an easy task.

Eventually though, once everyone had been served and they all sat down for the meal, I heard murmurs of approval for the food. It brought me an odd bit of pride hearing it. I mean any hard work that paid off had this insurmountably good feeling, but I didn't complain about the work. The work made me forget my dream. It stopped me from dwelling on the fact that my previous memories were so unreliable that I had forgotten my wife of all people.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of my tiring first day at the post. I was tasked after my short break to work with the men on fixing the structure, and I got about picking up heavy objects—too heavy for someone my age—and made my way through the many cracks that had already appeared on the wall from a previous skirmish.

All in all a pretty tiring but boring day.

A/N Wow, thanks everyone! The amount of favourites and reviews I got on the last chapter was phenomenal! It made me so happy! This chapter is honestly just the calm before the storm. Muahahahaha!

…Now time for some review responses

VinCS- Thanks!

Guest (1)- Yeah honestly, you're right. This is more of an isekai than a self-insert :'D Although a lot of her backstory is mine, and we're both very similar in the sense that we're both workaholics.

pigs103- Yeah, I totally agree. There's a lot of stories I follow that take forever to update, but I get it. Everyone's got their own lives and fanfiction doesn't pay the bills. Honestly, I'm just doing this as a hobby. Most of my creative energy is going towards developing my webtoon XD Thanks for the review! I'm so glad you're enjoying!

Guest (2)- Oh my god, thanks for telling me. I didn't even notice I was spelling shogi wrong XD

topsyturvy-dream- You're review made me crack a mad grin, and my roommate was looking at me like I grew two heads XD. Thanks! Hina's backstory is pretty integral to her current character, and eventually as her memories come back, she begins to remember why she is the way she is. I'm honestly the kind of person who fawns over anyone really good looking (internally), and so I made Hina that way! Your comment just made me very happy!

Guest (3)- Oh my god, you're so considerate! :') I'll take your advice!

Vete- Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

OgFrosty- For sure, this story is definitely a shounen, so Hina's character growth and development is integral. In fact later chapters are really influenced by Demon Slayer power ups XD

Thereddqueen- Yeah thanks! I'll keep that in mind!

TomRiddlesTwin- Thanks 3

Cwrywn- Thanks a lot for your review! It made me so happy! Hina's an adult at heart, but she has all the volatile emotions of a child right now, and very child related instincts, so despite what she believes she still needs adults around. Gaku is now dad.

DodemGM- Thanks for your honest review! I'm not necessarily antagonistic towards civilians, Hina is. Her perspective on her mother and other civilians grows and changes as she realises things from their perspective later on!

Waifuwithknaifu- I'm actually not set on any romantic interest at this stage. It's between Guy and Kakashi from the looks of things atm, but she's not really interested, so I guess they could be love rivals XD Although it's not really gonna be a focus. Since romance isn't the focus, I'm just winging that part of the story to make it natural XD Thanks for the review!

Shadow Wolf 15846- Thanks, and your wait has come to an end!