What did the Nara Clan usually do?
Offer tactical advice. Serve as strategists. Coordinate troop movements during war. Direct operations from the command center.
"I swear, these deer eat better than I do..." Nara Kazuki muttered, tossing a rice cracker into the mouth of a bleating buck.
These weren't any kind of ninja deer. Just regular, docile animals. Kazuki didn't even see the point of turning deer into ninja beasts. What would they do? Headbutt you to death? Kick you in the gut?
Ninken could track scents. Ninja crows could fly recon and pull off flashy Body Replacement Jutsu with a swirl of feathers. What would a ninja deer even bring to the table? As a mount, maybe—but even then, most shinobi were faster on foot.
"Yo~" One particularly large buck bleated and trotted over, its massive antlers catching the light. Kazuki recognized it.
Uncle Suzaku had told him this one was the herd's alpha. It was tradition to feed it the best of everything, or else it would throw a tantrum.
"Alright, alright, yours. Eat up," Kazuki said, propping his chin on one hand as he fed it a cracker.
[Beast Taming: 1/500]
A new progress bar popped up.
"Wait, seriously?! Feeding deer counts as beast taming now?" Kazuki gawked.
Was this system brain-damaged? Why was it tracking everything? How did feeding a deer contribute to shinobi skills?
Why not have a progress bar for eating, sleeping, and taking a dump too?
Maybe if he leveled those up enough, he'd unlock a sleep-free mode and could grind jutsu 24/7.
Kazuki sighed. After feeding all 179 deer in the compound—each of them a mooch—the alpha alone had eaten over 30 crackers. But the numbers had worked out perfectly, no extras left. The clan had the herd's appetite down to a science.
"Spring's here, huh..." he muttered, watching the alpha buck puff up and show off his dominance.
...Yeah. It had turned into that kind of scene.
Kazuki averted his gaze immediately. Even if it was nature, describing this in detail would probably get censored by the Fire Daimyo's Publishing Ministry.
"Who the hell gets turned on by Nature Channel: Konoha Edition?" he muttered.
With the feeding complete, his daily clan duty was done. It wasn't considered a mission—Shikaku always said every Nara had a duty to care for the deer. Kazuki agreed, and at least it was on rotation. He wouldn't have to do it again for a while.
"Hey, Kazuki. You're the one feeding the deer today?" a girl's voice called.
Kazuki turned and blinked. Standing behind him was a long-haired, black-haired girl with a mischievous glint in her eyes. She stuck out her tongue playfully.
"Yeah," Kazuki replied casually—though he couldn't remember her name for the life of him.
"I... I have something to tell you..." she said, fidgeting, cheeks flushed.
Kazuki's expression stiffened.
Was this... one of those moments?
She was cute, sure. Good figure too. Was this really happening?
First confession in two lifetimes—what did one even say? Should he go buy protection, or would that make him look like a perv?
The girl looked more and more nervous, twisting her ankle slightly, her voice a whisper against the rustling of the trees. It was poetic, almost.
Except the snorting from a horny deer behind them kind of ruined the mood.
"Umm... Kazuki, you remember the 2,000 ryō you borrowed from me a while ago? Could I get that back?"
Just out here feeding deer and lost 2,000 ryō. Who could understand this pain?
"Sigh... guess I really do need to take more missions and earn some cash," Kazuki muttered, flipping through his painfully light wallet.
Being a ninja was hard. Being a broke ninja? Brutal.
At least he got her name out of it—Nara Mai. Pretty normal name.
With the deer fed, Kazuki returned to grinding his training routines.
He didn't stop until two days later.
At 3 a.m. two days later...
"Captain, do we have a mission?" Kazuki yawned, rubbing his eyes. He'd been woken up in the dead of night—sky still pitch-black.
"No," said Kitsune, their squad leader.
Kazuki and Kakashi exchanged skeptical glances.
"Wait, then why the hell are we up at this hour?" Kazuki groaned, shaping a small burst of Lightning Release chakra in his fingers to wake up.
Not enough for a Great Fireball, or the neighbors would riot.
"It's our turn on rotation today," Kitsune explained, leading them through the quiet streets.
The destination? The Hokage Tower.
"Password," came a low voice in the dark.
"Roast duck," Kitsune answered casually. A team of ANBU emerged from the shadows, nodded, and handed over their shift before vanishing into the night.
Kazuki twitched. Seriously? The ANBU had this kind of night patrol rotation?
No wonder Naruto had managed to steal the Scroll of Seals so easily back then—Hiruzen Sarutobi must've let him.
Despite the urge to complain, Kazuki listened as Kitsune outlined their guard detail.
Kazuki was assigned to the Hokage's Office. Kakashi was posted to the outer perimeter. Kitsune took up surveillance on the tower itself.
"Am I guarding the Fourth Hokage?" Kazuki wondered aloud as he arrived at the office.
There was no one else inside yet.
Still, he'd have to remain hidden to protect the Hokage should anything happen... though Kazuki figured if something did happen, it was more likely the Hokage would be protecting him.
He strongly suspected this was Minato's way of pulling him in for a chat.
Fine by him. He could sneak in some chakra practice while he waited.
No Fire Release jutsu, of course—setting the Hokage Tower on fire would be... frowned upon.
So instead, Kazuki settled into practicing Shadow Clone Technique, Shadow Possession Jutsu, and his newest toy: Chakra Nature Transformation.