Chapter 16 - Put in the Work, Put in the Hours… to be normal.

E - Give Sayuri that dinner that you promised. You've stood her up twice and made her pay for your things. So take her out for dinner. (Trait: Multitasking in effect) Since dinner is quite a bit away, maybe you can also have the option to go and talk to play Shogi with some old folk at the park?

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Chapter 16 - Put in the Work, Put in the Hours… to be normal.

…

After getting his second meal paid for by Sayuri, Shinji decided to repay this debt to her. But until dinner, it was hours away and Shinji wondered where he should take her. First and foremost, he didn't have the kind of money to take her somewhere fancy.

He followed after Sayuri, as she walked out. Shinji noticed the waitress looking on with an excited look on her face.

'Jeez, woman, do your job and stop prying so much into your customers' private lives.'

Still, he decided to ignore the waitress and called out to Sayuri. "Hey! Are you free tonight?"

Turning around she looked at Shinji weirdly at first, but immediately realized what was happening and she nodded. "Yes, I am."

She then suddenly walked off, well, more like jumped off as she started roof hopping. Faster than usual, if Shinji didn't know any better he would think that she was excited.

"I didn't even tell her the time or place we will meet at," muttered Shinji, wondering what had gotten into her. But he dismissed such thoughts, and instead contemplated on what to do until waiting for dinner time to come around.

Suddenly he smiled, remembering that there was a park, where elderly men and women met up to play Shogi against each other. Unlike most kids his age, if it wasn't something that had to do with training, Shinji wasn't sure of what to do in his free time. So he decided to go and get a look at the place.

…

Since it was close by, it didn't take long to reach the place. It was a small park, with tables set about and elderly people playing Shogi and many other games against each other, with green trees surrounding the area, and the fresh air permeating the atmosphere. Shinji stood by the sidelines, not knowing what to do at first until he saw an old man with a Konoha headband. He was too old to be a ninja, so Shinji could only assume that he only wore the headband to reminisce about the old days.

"Excuse me," Shinji said while walking closer, making sure to keep his posture neutral and have his face seem as friendly as always. "Is this place free?"

"It's a public place kid, I don't own it," said the old man, a smirk making its way into his old face which caused his wrinkles to become more etched.

Shinji stared at the man and smiled slightly. "That was a bad joke, old man."

The old man ran a hand over his spiky white hair and chuckled. "Jeez, brats nowadays keep getting more and more mouthy. Back in my days, just to go to the academy you had to walk through five enemy chunin a day."

As the old man continued explaining how he once stumbled into Madara's fight against Hashirama as a kid, Shinji decided to only half-listen to the story. The reason for that was because the chances of it being a lie were quite high.

After setting the shogi pieces down, the old man mentioned toward the neatly organized table. "I will let you move first as a sign of new friendship between the old and the new generation."

"I don't know how to play shogi," Shinji confesses, with an emotionless look on his face. "I came just to observe the place and see what I could do. Not even half an hour ago was when I decided to try this out."

The old man sighed out loudly. "Young people nowadays. Where did your manners go?"

"Cmon now, old man, I am sure that you remember a couple of rude and annoying people in your time." Shinji smiled towards the old man.

His words caused the old man to smirk. "Let's play the game now. What should I call you again?"

"Shinji, just Shinji."

"Oh? So an orphan then? That's not surprising, the Nine-Tails Attack killed your parents? Or something else?"

"No, it was the Nine-Tails Attack, I never knew them. Though I do know due to some documents that they were just some average civilians." Shinji stated calmly. He never even knew his parents, so he wasn't that affected by their death, and he had twelve years to get used to the feeling too."What about you old man, what's your story?"

"My story? It's even more boring than yours," he chuckled but hurriedly added. "I meant no offense to you by saying that."

"None taken."

"I was born in an era where the villages didn't exist. Things were so bad that it made Ninja Wars seem like child's play. There was always constant fighting and wars." He gazed down with a sad gaze in his eyes. "I used to have a son about your age during the second ninja war."

Shinji didn't say anything when he heard that, he didn't know what to say either. He wasn't experienced with situations like these. The old man's sad look turned into a smile as he glanced at Shinji. "Anyway, let me explain the rules of Shogi."

…

Hours later, Shinji was sitting at the same table, and the old man stood opposite of him and he had a smirk on his face. "Hey~ make your move. An old man like me might die before you get to make yours."

Shinji could see that no matter what he did, he would lose two movies later and he wasn't pleased with that. But for the first time in a while, he wasn't thinking about just training and was trying to think of a strategy.

"You're a smart kid," the old man complimented him. "But you sacrifice pieces too easily. Think of them as real people, as your teammate and you'll rack your brain trying to think of strategies to not have them destroyed."

Shinji nodded and tried to think of it like that. Sadly, he didn't have too many people that he cared about… or even ones he called friends to fill the roles in the pieces. Still, he took the old man's advice.

…

As the sun set, the old man still had an amused smile on his face. They had played many games by now, but Shinji hadn't won any of them, but he wasn't annoyed or angry. This has been a learning experience. The old man's advice had been very helpful too, as there were many situations Shinji hadn't thought of and how the experience could be taken into account.

The old man had the experience of playing Shogi, that was why even as Shinji came up with new ideas, they weren't new to the old man. That same analogy could be used for Ninja, and how sometimes an old man, who has been in hundreds of fights will do better than just some young man who knew how to think well into his feet.

'When fighting against an experienced enemy, I need to think of something that is original and they can't predict.'

Shinji contemplated just how he would go against fighting someone better, stronger, and more experienced? He… couldn't come up with an answer. At least he didn't think he would be able to overcome something like that in such a short time and on the spot. The world had all kinds of ninja with different abilities, so Shinji knew he had to keep a sharp and open mind to every possibility and how he would be able to deal with something like that.

The sun started setting, casting a shadow over the shogi board, he sighed and got up. "Seems like a loss again, how many times was this? Fifteen? Seventeen?"

"It's only thirteen times," the old man reassured him. "But you have potential at least."

"Thanks, this helped me a lot more than I thought it would," Shinji admitted, having fun was a part of human life too. Training all day would have consequences and he knew that humans weren't like rocks, and he was a human too. "Anyway, I promised someone to take her to dinner."

"Ohhh~" the old man smiled mischievously. "Go get your lady love~"

"It's not like that, old man. I am twelve and have plenty of time to find a girl I like," Shinji said while walking off, but he stopped mid-way and turned around, looking at the old man. "By the way, I never got your name."

"When you come around next time, then maybe I will tell you my name," the old man waved him off as Shinji didn't pry more into it, knowing how some ninja liked to keep their secrets.

He didn't want to be late for the date so he walked off. Though he hadn't discussed where they would meet or at what time, he went towards the entrance of the training grounds where they usually trained. As he walked there, he saw Sayuri walking towards the same place.

She smirked at him like she usually does and waved. "So you did come. I suspected that you might have forgotten."

"Jeez, just how low do you think of me? I gave you my word, so of course, I was going to come," he muttered, frowning at her.

"I am joking," she added, getting close and grabbing Shinji's arm with a smile on her face. She pouted and walked back, twirling, showing that she wasn't wearing her usual ninja clothes but a nice dress that fluttered about like a flower. "So? What do you think?"

"..." Shinji was confused at first but understood that she was talking about her dress. "It looks good," he remarked, and looked her up and down, making Sayuri blush a little. "But it also seems very inconvenient to move with. It's unnecessarily restricting," seeing the frosty expression on her face he added, "Still looks good on you though."

Sayuri sighs, but still intertwines her arm with Shinji's and whispers. "Where do you plan to take me?"

Shinji smiles confidently, not noticing the strange way she spoke those words or how she mushed her body against his. "There is a place I was introduced to recently and it has some amazing food."

Her eyes lit up at the mention of the place. "Oh? Seems like you have thought about this a lot."

…

Her expectations were crushed as soon as her excitement had reached the peak as they arrived at a rundown ramen stand. "Ichiraku Ramen?" She read the sign and looked at Shinji once more before sighing. "Well, what're you waiting for, let's go in."

She dragged Shinji in and he could see that she was disappointed and told her the truth. "Sorry if this isn't some fancy place. I don't have the money to take you somewhere better."

'Also in case the C Rank fails tomorrow, I don't want to be left penniless.'

Sayuri stopped, turned, and glanced at Shinji with shocked eyes at first, and then smiled appreciatively. "Don't worry, I don't mind. I just like acting like a stuck-up bitch sometimes. Though for tonight, you have to listen to a lot of my complaints about life."

"That's the least I can do."

Shinji smiled back and they walked into the small ramen stand, which had the living quarters above. Shinji assumed that the 2nd floor was where the owner lived. Ichiraku saw them and smiled widely. "Welcome! What can I get you?"

After giving their orders Ichiraku went and Sayuri immediately started talking. "Well, where should I start? Hmmm… did you know that my parents sold me away to pay off their debts?"

"That's terrible," Shinji remarked, surprised that such things still happen nowadays. He knew that Sayuri was hiding something she couldn't tell him. But people aren't just a casket of pre-set behaviors and instincts. Every one of them had something in the past that made them who they are. "Still, at least you are in a better place now."

"Am I?" She smiled bitterly, and immediately Shinji realized that something was going on that he didn't know of. He guessed that it was something that had to do with her secret, but he wasn't sure whether prying into that would be a good idea. "My parents never gave a thought about me and sold me, the buyer thought of me as a tool too. What a shitty life," a single tear rolled down her eye. "Not having someone care about you. No parent to give you a packed lunch, not a sibling, not even a damn person in the world who cares what happens to me. When I die, I'll disappear into nothing. Even the man who raised me to a useful tool probably doesn't remember my name or that I even exist. What is my life even worth-"

"I care," Shinji intervened. Looking her in the eyes. "Whether you die or live, I will remember you and so will Kota and Yamato -sensei. Whether you want to or not, you're part of our lives now and we will forever remember you."

She wiped the single tear that had rolled down and her expression went back to one of mischief, which was something Shinji was more familiar with. "Hahaha, were you tricked by my act?"

Shinji contemplated what to say, and how to act on this. His mind ran over a dozen things. But only some of them were legible.

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A - "Yes, you're quite convincing." Shinji doubted that it wasn't an act but decided to not call her out on it. Seeing that she had her reasons to hide it. Shinji suspects that Sayuri might see through this answer and understand his real thoughts on the situation.

B - "If you ever need help with something, then I will be there for you." Shinji didn't answer whether he believed her act or not and just wanted her to know that she wasn't alone.

C - "That's not an act and we both know it." Shinji is afraid this might sound rude to her, and ruin their relationship.

D - "I think we should be honest with each other and try to get you out of this situation. I will help you, Sayuri." Shinji doesn't know how this might play out, but he will try and get Sayuri out of this horrible situation. "I can only help you by knowing what is going on."

E - "..." Don't say anything and just wait for the ramen. Shinji hopes the ramen comes soon or the situation could turn awkward very soon.

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