Chapter 18: Moonlight and Veil [Minor Revision]

Chapter 18: Moonlight and Kasa [Minor Revision]

“By the way, are you assigned just like the rest of us?”

After taking a few steps, TenTen suddenly asked.

Chiba tilted his head, a bit puzzled. “Am I somehow special?”

“Don’t you think so?” TenTen found it strange.

Which normal ninja hasn’t even graduated yet but gets a new ninjutsu every few weeks? Now, if Chiba goes a month or two without any new developments, she feels seriously uneasy, as if something’s missing.

“It does seem a little like that, but unless there’s a surprise, it should be a normal assignment. As for who the teacher is, I honestly don’t know,” Chiba shook his head.

Actually, he had a suspicion.

If he remembered correctly, this year was roughly when Kakashi officially stepped down from the Anbu. He had seen some data showing that in recent years, Kakashi had started taking apprentices, though the dropout rate was extremely high—so far, a full 100% elimination rate.

Judging by how often Kakashi had appeared around him in the past few days...

There was a high chance his teacher was none other than Hatake Kakashi.

This also fit the usual style of the Hokage’s faction.

As for TenTen, it was hard to say; it might be Might Guy, or perhaps someone from her own team.

Among this year’s students, apart from TenTen and Neji, there really weren’t many outstanding ones, so during assignment, they probably just randomly filled the numbers.

Chiba thought to himself.

Seeing him lost in thought, TenTen assumed he had come up with some idea and silently stayed quiet.

After a moment, Chiba looked at her curiously. “Why that expression?”

“Uh, I didn’t want to disturb your thoughts,” TenTen said, nervously tucking her hair behind her ear.

“No worries. But you should still train harder recently. Get your chakra threads to a combat-ready level quickly. I heard there’s another exam after graduation,” Chiba warned.

TenTen’s face immediately changed.

Another exam?

This...

Was too much! They’d already been assigned, so why another test?

She couldn’t understand.

But seeing Chiba’s determined look, she believed him and nodded heavily.

Chiba prepared to leave.

He wasn’t very familiar with the people at this school, aside from TenTen and Konohamaru, so he was really just here to check things out and then planned to leave.

But as he turned, Chiba spotted a flash of golden yellow in the crowd at the throwing range of the training ground.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Come to think of it, if Kakashi was leading his own team, wouldn’t Naruto’s squad be changing members next year?

He thought for a moment and then smiled wryly.

Naruto and Sasuke’s affairs had little to do with him.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing, just remembered something. In a few days, the hospital will be selling medicinal baths and tonics that help strengthen the body. You can go buy some.”

“Did you make them?”

TenTen’s eyes lit up, suddenly understanding why she hadn’t seen Chiba around recently.

So he had been researching medicines.

Chiba nodded slightly, then made a shushing gesture. “Just tell Konohamaru. Don’t say anything to the others.”

“Okay, okay.”

...

Three days later, Chiba received news.

The medicine had passed approval, the experimental results were qualified, and it could be sold. Many clans had already gotten the news in advance, especially the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

The ninja school’s exams were basically over, and the news of the new medicine spread throughout Konoha via bulletin boards.

There were two sales points.

One was the Konoha Hospital, the other was the Nara clan’s herbal shop.

On the morning of the fourth day.

Chiba arrived at work as usual, only to see a long line stretching from inside the hospital all the way outside, packed with a huge crowd—a truly intimidating sight.

Moreover,

When he looked up, he immediately spotted someone standing out in the crowd—

Unlike everyone else who had their heads up front, this one was standing on his hands.

Chiba walked over.

“Teacher Guy, what are you doing here?”

“No missions lately. Nothing to do but stand in line and see if I can get some. That would be even better,” Might Guy chuckled.

Chiba lowered his voice, “Teacher Guy...”

“Chiba-kun!”

Suddenly, a cheer rang out ahead.

Chiba looked up.

Following the sound, TenTen was standing at the front, waving at him.

Behind her, a girl shrank back a little, but judging by her build and outfit, Chiba vaguely remembered she was a classmate—just he couldn’t recall her name.

She seemed like the type who liked sitting on the edge.

After a moment’s thought, Chiba whispered to Guy, “Teacher Guy, I made this medicine. I can put in a good word for you.”

“No need. I’ll just stand in line. This is also training, young man!”

Guy gave a thumbs-up while standing on his hands, flashing his big white teeth.

Since he insisted...

Chiba nodded and walked forward, arriving beside TenTen, who was nearly at the front of the line. Seeing Chiba approach, a few happy smiles appeared on her face.

“Chiba-kun, thanks for the reminder yesterday. Otherwise, I might have waited even longer in line today.”

TenTen chuckled.

“No problem, just a passing mention. By the way, who’s this?” Chiba looked behind her.

The girl had already hidden behind TenTen, moving close enough to almost leave the line.

“Her name is—”

“I’m sorry, you probably don’t know me. I’m Kasa Tsukikage. Very, very pleased to meet you!”

“I once sat next to you when I was late. Sorry, I forgot your name just now.”

Chiba recalled carefully.

Once he had sneaked in late through the back door and had sat beside her.

This girl...

Seemed a bit socially anxious.

“That’s fine. I always sit in the corner, it’s normal that no one notices me,” Kasa Tsukikage said quietly.

At that moment, TenTen glanced behind her and said, “The line is too long—it’s almost out onto the street. Chiba-kun, can you think of a solution?”

No wonder she was calling him; it was about this.

But indeed, here the crowd was so dense that moving was difficult.

Chiba nodded. “I’ll talk to them. I’ll come up with a reasonable plan.”

“Thanks so much!” TenTen pressed her hands together.

Chiba waved his hand dismissively. “No problem. It’s true that having everyone line up here isn’t good. We should take numbers and queue by ticket. I’ll talk to the teachers.”

Having a huge crowd queue like this really wasn’t ideal.

However...

“Chiba, so you’re that genius boy Yagyu Chiba, huh? Amazing! Does this medicine really work?”

“There’s definitely an effect,” Chiba quickly replied.

“How’s the price?”

“How did you come up with it at such a young age...”

“Are you married yet?”

At first, the questions were serious and related to the medicine, but they gradually became more absurd. Chiba’s face darkened, and he quickly fled.

TenTen couldn’t help but cover her mouth and giggle, though she felt a bit embarrassed.

If it weren’t for her, probably hardly anyone would know Chiba-kun...

Kasa quietly watched from behind.

Chiba escaped swiftly to the medical class and sighed with relief when he saw no one was there.

Terrifying!

Thankfully, nobody dared enter the medical class.

Regarding the character Kasa Tsukikage, she was actually added at the last minute.

Originally, the team was just the protagonist, TenTen, and Neji; but then it felt like Guy’s team was too thin, and Neji didn’t have much chemistry with Kakashi, so an original character was created.

Because of the last-minute change, her personality wasn’t fully fleshed out, so some minor revisions were made here, expanding TenTen’s role a bit to avoid anything too abrupt or jarring.

[Only the parts related to Kasa’s “social anxiety around strangers” were modified.]

[Involved chapters include 18–20, a bit in 22 and 25, but mostly non-intrusive.]

The first three volumes told stories before Naruto’s time. The fourth volume aims to tell some stories from Naruto’s era without focusing entirely on Naruto and his group, hence the story is set the year before.

In any case, the hope is to create a feeling different from before.

(End of chapter)