NOVEL WEB Chapter 11: Chapter 11 - At Last
"HOWWW!?" Takos groaned as he and Sabuko walked home. "How did you score higher than me!? I thought you were amnesiac!"
"Well… I crammed," Sabuko shrugged.
"Unfair...! Are you even really amnesiac?!"
"I told you, I don't remember anything. If I was faking, do you think I'd have been kicked out of my folks' house?"
"..." Takos looked down with a pout. "...Yeah. You're right. You're nothing like you used to be."
"How?"
"You used to kiss your dad's shoes everywhere he went. Always going on and on—and on—about how you'd make it big while I'd rot as a Genin. You said my parents, my family, every ninja in Konoha was stupid for not capitalizing on the world economy or something…"
Sabuko blinked. "Why were we friends, then? Sounds like I was horrible."
"..." Takos stared for a second, then scratched his head.
"B-because you were lonely. If it weren't for me, no one would've talked to you. You were just... sad to look at, honestly."
Sabuko raised an eyebrow. "That so?"
Takos crossed his arms, muttering, "...Y-yeah. Obviously."
"Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuh?" Sabuko leaned in, deadpan. "That's rough, bro."
"What do you want now?!" Takos snapped.
"Then why didn't you wanna sit with me and Naruto?"
"DUMBASS! Because Naruto's an outcast! He's weird! Totally different!"
"Even if he's weird—he's my friend. Got it?"
"Jeeeesh, whatever! You've been like ten thousand times weirder since the amnesia."
"Anyway. Takos." Sabuko muttered, turning to him. "About the test tomorrow. I need to learn some Taijutsu. Teach me."
"…No, dude. No. I can't." Takos exhaled hard.
"What do you mean, can't? You definitely know some moves!"
"I mean, yeah, I know Taijutsu. But teaching you? With amnesia? Before tomorrow?" He stared.
"Best-case scenario, after 20 hours of nonstop grinding, you might learn how to throw one kick. Maybe one punch. We spent seven years learning this stuff..."
"Haaah… Bolognese seemed pretty strict…" Sabuko scratched his head. "Damn it. Now what the hell am I gonna do?"
"…Bolo-sensei, you mean."
"'Sensei' my ass. Neither he nor the other Jonin are teachers. They're just team leaders, nothing more."
"Okay, no. You do not get to take a dump on the Jonin now. You're barely even a Genin, amnesiac!"
"You bet I do." Sabuko narrowed his eyes. "Look—I'm not saying they aren't strong. They're Jonin. Leaders. Whatever. No one's denying that. But what we had? That wasn't a teacher. Not by a long shot."
"...How do you figure?"
"A teacher is Iruka-sensei. A teacher's someone who actually teaches you stuff. Someone who guides you. Shows you what it means to be a ninja."
"Well, there you go!" Takos flailed. "That's exactly what Bolo's gonna do. Nurture us and stuff!"
"…If we pass his test, you mean." Sabuko sighed.
"Bolognese and the other Jonin expect us to already believe in their way of thinking. Like, if some Jonin believes 'You should defy orders when your gut says so,' and you don't, you're done. Failed. They won't explain why it's important—they expect you to already get it." His voice rose. "It's a damn loyalty test wrapped in a philosophy class."
-----------ELSEWHERE--------------
Kakashi sneezed as he read his Make-Out Paradise erotic novel.
"Someone's talking about me... I hope it's some nice gossip, at least."
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"…" Takos stared, expression blank.
"…What are you even talking about?" he mumbled. "Dude's our Jonin. Stop being so weird about it."
'Right. Twelve.' Sabuko exhaled sharply.
"Anyway… You do remember what BO-LO-SEN-SE-I said after the exam, right? If one of us fails, we all fail. So…" Takos jabbed a finger toward him. "It's on you, man. Figure something out."
They finally reached the Bruger house.
'Saying it like I'm obviously the one dragging everyone down…' Sabuko clenched his jaw, 'Well, he's got a point...'
"Look," Takos added, just before heading in, "You've been putting time into your Kage Bunshin and Transformation, right? Use that or something."
And with that, he stepped into the house, door swinging shut behind him.
Silence.
"Ahh..." Sabuko sighed, leaning back against the building.
"I could probably use the Kage Bunshin and Transform just to give myself a kiss... or a blowjob. Really take the edge off."
He chuckled to himself, but it came out hollow.
"I mean... I can transform pretty well now. I can make a clone comfortably."
His face flushed as he sneered, eyes lowered.
'Because what else can I even do...?'
The smile slipped from his face. Color drained.
'I can't learn Taijutsu overnight. I don't have those super soldier pills Naruto has. I'll collapse after an hour if I try to train with clones... and the amount I'll improve will be minuscule anyway.'
'Takos was right. I can't train seven years overnight... I am NOT the main character, after all.'
He ran a hand through his hair, exhaling.
'So why not just... do what I came here for? Just feel it—before I get kicked out of their houses. Just see what it's like. I can maintain both forms for maybe... fifteen, twenty minutes with my current chakra.'
He looked down again.
'...Yeah. Hell yeah.'
'Just have the clone not do anything extreme, as it needs to stay concentrated on maintaining the jutsu.'
He forced a chuckle once more and made his way into the nearby forest, glancing around, making sure he was alone. His breathing grew heavy.
'I need this... so bad... Right?'
'Yeah.'
He gulped, heart pounding in his chest.
'I just realized... I haven't jerked off once since coming to Naruto's world. Yeah. Everything I did was for this moment. To get off with my clone... have it turn into the Foxgirl... I need this. I need this...'
He bit his lip as his got into pose, making the Tiger hand sign.
'A mommy... Foxgirl... pinning me down.'
He smiled, jittery, as he formed the clone.
"...You know what to do," Sabuko ordered, unable to look at the clone.
"..."
The clone didn't respond. It simply performed the Transformation Jutsu, becoming what he'd always fantasized about—
A girl with fox ears, an endowed body, and a seductive smile.
"...Are you ready, my sweet little boy...?" she cooed, stepping toward him. Her slender legs entered his view as he stared downward.
Sabuko's lips trembled.
"Y-Yeah... Yeah. This is what I wanted. This is what we all wanted," he whispered, looking up at her.
There it was—the mommy he always dreamed of. If only one of them. If only for a few short minutes.
'But that's enough for now. This will really take the edge off...'
He gulped, staring at her. Her curves. The heat radiating from her body. A physical clone had body heat. Real weight. Real presence.
She dropped to her knees and pinned him gently against the tree.
"I'll make you feel so good... Just leave it all to Mommy—"
"Just..." Sabuko's voice wavered.
"...."
"C-Can we... uhm... hug first? To... get a feel... you know...?" he asked.
"Hmph... My sweet baby needs some foreplay...? Perv... but you always know," she leaned in, wrapping him in an embrace.
"Mommy always wants to hold you."
Sabuko coughed the moment those words slipped into his ear—a harsh, violent cough that scraped up from his chest like it was trying to tear something out. Tears burst from his eyes. Snot filled his nose. What came out of his mouth was loud, broken, unsightly.
And then he felt it.
Her warmth.
Real weight, real pressure against his entire body—even if...
'Even if it's mine...'
He shivered, eyes wide open as tears spilled like a waterfall. He wrapped his arms around her neck, still coughing.
'I'm... it's... so nice... being held... I'm being held...' He buried his face into her hair, crushing the clone against him with desperate strength, weeping into her neck.
'There's actual hair... that's actual hair I'm leaning into... connected to a neck I can feel with my nose... a real body... holding me...'
And instead of the activity he'd come here for…
Instead of what he promised himself…
For the full twenty minutes that the clone could hold its transformed state with its limited Chakra pool…
…He only hugged the clone.
Before long, the clone vanished in a silent poof.
And Sabuko was alone again.
Curled up against the tree, he cried himself into a short, restless nap.
—— NIGHT ——
Sabuko sat slumped against the tree, eyes hollow. He stared at the darkened grass in front of him, spinning a kunai between limp fingers. The metal clicked softly, rhythmically. Something to fill the silence.
He thought about the feeling of being held by the girl of his dreams.
'Why not... just summon another clone and do it already...? Just fuck the clone and be done with it... Imagine hugging... while having sex... It must feel... so good... just like I imagined...'
Then, a voice echoed in his mind. Hiruzen's.
"Why do you want to become a ninja?"
"Your reason doesn't matter... Your resolve is."
"And I could see your resolve."
The words looped in his head.
'Resolve... yeah. Whatever. If I told you my REAL reasons, you'd mercy-kill me.'
'I never even wanted to be a ninja in the first place. I'm not even from this world, goddamn it…'
Then came Chōji's laugh, bright and clear:
"You're a cool guy, Sabuko! Come eat BBQ with us!"
'Cool... If you saw what I just did, you'd be disgusted. Just like the others were. You wouldn't say that shit. Same way you didn't do anything for Naruto.'
He chuckled bitterly.
'Did I seriously think I could ever be friends with these guys? I'm an alien. I don't belong here, or anywhere.'
Naruto's voice echoed next, light and sincere:
"You're my friend, dattebayo...!"
Sabuko didn't smile.
He just kept spinning the kunai in his hand.
'Friend, he says.'
'....'
'Jiraiya was a pervert. But Naruto loved him.'
He stared forward, his eyes dull and empty.
'Pfft.' A hollow chuckle escaped.
'I bet if I told that to Jiraiya, he'd laugh. Probably even bow to me.'
'Yeah... He'd get it. With all the porn he reads, the girls he spies on, and—well—the porn he writes about.'
'But either way... enough.' He smiled, resigned.
'Let's just do what I came here to do.'
He formed the tiger hand sign.
He blinked—imagining Naruto's reaction if he ever confessed what he tried to do.
"Ehh...? You wanna do what with your clones? That's… so weird, man—You better believe it, you pervert! Anyway, let's grab some ramen!"
'Yeah... I know for a fact he'd react like that. Because...'
'Naruto will never turn his back on his friends.'
[BACKGROUND MUSIC: Naruto Unreleased Soundtrack - Naruto Main Theme ~Slow Ver.~]
His fingers remained frozen in the tiger sign. His eyes slightly widening at the thought.
'No. He wouldn't turn his back on me. We're friends... And Naruto means it. I know it for sure, because...'
A pause.
'I watched you all these years. And a big part of why... I watched it all...'
'Was your heart.'
He gulped.
'...Being hugged by my clone felt really good,' he thought.
He drew a deep breath, hands trembling as memories spilled in.
'But... thinking about it... so was eating with Team 10.'
Flashes of Chōji's laughter. Ino's sharp voice softening in conversation. Shikamaru's quiet nods of approval.
'...And with Naruto.'
Images came in waves—Naruto teaching him the Kage Bunshin. Groaning about Sabuko not being on his team. Slurping ramen with that stupid grin.
'And being acknowledged by the Hokage... as shitty as he may be.'
The memory of Hiruzen's gentle smile. The weight of the headband he gave him, even when his own parents refused his registration.
And suddenly... Sabuko could feel it again. The weight of that Konoha headband pressing against his forehead.
'Ah... I never took it off,' he realized, fingers brushing the metal plate.
He unclasped the band, slowly bringing it into view.
'...Just… what else can I do to pass tomorrow and become a Genin?'
'I don't know Taijutsu. I only know two Ninjutsu...'
'...Just two. Right.' He cleared his throat, eyes lifting to the stars; his hand clenching around his headband.
'... Two of the most underrated jutsu in the whole series, I called them. Because I loved them so much, I couldn't stop thought-experimenting with them.'
He gulped, strength returning to his legs. Slowly, he stood.
'Then why not just do that? At least...' He exhaled deeply.
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"Why do you want to be a Ninja?" Hiruzen asked.
"To have some good fucking FUN!"
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He looked down at the headband in his hand again.
'...Because that's my...'
His grip tightened around it.
'Ninja way, right?'
He drew a steady breath and placed the Konoha headband back on his forehead, fingers fastening the clasp firmly.
'Even if I'm being delusional... Even if I'm just a stranger in someone else's story...'
'... Let's try one more time. Think of a way to pass that test tomorrow. Come on, Sabuko. Come on.'
'Let's become a Genin...!'