Twiceborn: A Tale of Two Friends

Chapter Five: Toddler Training

His back was always turned whenever she entered her mindscape, just a bundle of darkened reddish fur with nine tails just about visible as they flickered out behind him. He was ignoring her, and Inner, as per usual. Risa sighed. It wasn't like she'd thought befriending him would be easy. It had taken Naruto a few years and a devastating war to actually become friends with the ball of fluff currently curled up inside the seal. "Today was really awesome, Rama-nii-chan!" she called out, a wide smile on her face. Her happiness had been on the up ever since she and Inner had figured out the goal they needed to work towards. "I managed to sneak a book on basic fuinjutsu out of the library... though I think it's only the stuff that's taught at the academy, so it was in the civilian section."

"Well, it's a step in the right direction..." Inner said. "It only took you two weeks to actually get around to doing..."

"I've been busy with my physical training... it hasn't exactly been easy trying to do it out of sight..." Risa mumbled, pushing the tips of her fingers together. "I don't exactly want to get carted off by Root... well, if they still exist..."

"How did the library infiltration go? It was easy right?"

"Yeah..." she said, trailing off as she remembered exactly how many planks of wood had squeaked under her feet. It was a miracle she hadn't been caught.

"Sure it was." Inner gave her a knowing look. "You seriously need to get better at lying."

"Oh goodie. More to add to the list," she muttered, pouting as she plopped her backside down, ready to begin conversing with the stubborn fox in earnest.

Unsurprisingly, he didn't make a single sound, except, perhaps a sigh of annoyance, but Risa would take what she could get. She didn't have much to work with, except a child-sized body and the voice in her head. Before the latter would've probably garnered some concern, but she was in the Naruto World now, so a secondary personality of sorts wasn't the strangest thing that could happen. Besides... at least she had a bit of a defence against Yamanaka Clan techniques. Not that she'd ever be on the receiving end of them, or so she hoped.

Kurama might eat the intruder if they were stupid enough.

Which would probably end up with her in T&I and she did not want to go there, so she was intent on staying as far away from the mind-walking clan as possible. If there was something she didn't want revealed, it was all of her secrets. She had a lot. She was from another world entirely, and she had knowledge on key and important players inside the Naruto world – not that any of it was actually correct or up to date. She was in a very non-canon world, where the founders were somehow alive, and Uchiha Madara hadn't gone insane in his quest for peace. Risa was fairly sure that was the furthest thing away from canon she could get.

Yawning quietly, she glanced over at Inner. "What time is it now?"

"Just gone half one in the morning," she said. "You might want to get some shut-eye in while you can."

"That's probably a good idea."

Risa opened her eyes, staring at the frame of the bunk bed above her, sighing wistfully as she tried to tune out the little hums all around her.

Sometimes being a natural sensor type sucked.

::

Ink exploded across her faces, the failed seal emitting copious amounts of smoke which made her choke as she sat in the tiny little attic. Her chakra fizzled, disappointment lining her expression as she stared between the template of the most basic seal that there was and her own failed smear of ink. She actually understood fuinjutsu somewhat, perhaps due to her mature way of thinking, and she grasped at the basics of the theory rather easily.