Konoha's Third Training Ground.
Utaha Kasumigaoka reached into the tool pouches on her belt, drawing three shuriken in each hand.
With a flick of her wrists, all six sailed toward the wooden posts dozens of meters away.
Five struck true. One went wide.
"That's rare. You never miss, Utaha."
Megumi Katou wandered over from her ninjutsu practice, her flat tone carrying a hint of genuine surprise.
Back at the Ninja Academy, Utaha's shuriken scores had been second only to Sasuke's.
Utaha brushed the sweat-damp bangs from her forehead and smiled faintly. "Maybe it's... knowing we're about to see real combat. Nerves, I guess."
That morning, Makoto Nishikado had gathered them at the training ground and announced they'd be taking a C-rank mission to test everything they'd learned.
Anyone who'd attended the Academy understood what that meant. C-rank wasn't fetching lost cats or running errands. There was a real chance they'd have to fight.
Bandits, thugs, maybe pirates at worst. Bottom-of-the-barrel opponents. But opponents nonetheless.
Claiming she wasn't nervous would've been a lie.
A shout carried across the field. Ran Mauri was sprinting toward them in her weighted gear, waving from a distance. "Utaha! Megumi! Nishikado-sensei says the mission's been assigned! We need to head back to the village!"
By the time the three of them reached the entrance to the Hokage Building, Makoto was already waiting. Beside him stood a woman in her early twenties, strikingly beautiful, with an air of cold indifference.
"You're... Yukie Fujikaze!"
Utaha recognized her almost instantly.
Megumi and Ran did too. Fujikaze Yukie, one of the most famous movie stars in the ninja world. Film and books were among the few luxuries they'd picked up in this world.
Faced with three girls whose eyes glittered with barely concealed admiration, Yukie's expression didn't shift an inch. She looked like she'd rather be anywhere else.
Makoto stepped in. "Our client is Yukie's film crew. They're heading to the Land of Snow for location shooting, but the political situation there has gotten unstable. We'll be serving as her escort."
A gaunt old man in round spectacles beside Yukie gave a small bow. "Thank you for your assistance."
His name was Asama Sandayuu, Yukie's manager.
"Protecting a movie star? Feels like something straight out of a novel." Utaha's eyes lit up.
"This mission will probably keep us out for about two weeks," Makoto said. "Head home, pack your bags. We meet at the village gate tomorrow morning."
"Yes, sensai!"
The three answered in unison and split off to prepare.
That evening, at Ran's home.
"Mom, Sonoko, I'm leaving the village for a mission starting tomorrow. I won't be home for dinner for a while."
Ran made the announcement between bites of rice.
"Leaving the village? Isn't that dangerous?" Sonoko Suzuki's face creased with worry. She'd been living with Kisaki Eri's family for the past four years.
"Relax. I'm pretty strong now, you know." Ran raised her arm and flexed.
The gesture faded, and a flicker of doubt crept in.
Makoto had been training her based on Rock Lee's template. Taijutsu specialist. She could feel her body getting more toned by the day. I'm not going to... bulk up with muscles, am I?
"We'll be fine here," Eri said. "It's your first time leaving the village. Be careful."
"Mm-hmm." Ran nodded like a good daughter.
The three continued eating and chatting until Eri brought up something new. "How are things going with that instructor of yours?"
The mood shifted.
Even the normally cheerful Sonoko went quiet. She knew, of course, that Ran's jonin instructor was Makoto Nishikado, the same person Shinichi was investigating back in the real world.
Ran was silent for a moment. She stared down at her bowl.
"I don't think... Nishikado-sensei is a bad person."
A pause. Then, quieter: "But he's not exactly kind, either."
"Of course he isn't," Eri said without missing a beat.
She'd heard about the man Makoto had killed. Sawanaga Taisuke. A rapist. And even so, she couldn't bring herself to call Makoto a good person.
A lesser evil killing a greater one didn't make the lesser one good.
No, wait. Was Makoto even the lesser one?
The fact that he could kill a man in front of that many people without hesitation told her everything she needed to know. The man was cold to his core.
"Mom, I..."
Ran trailed off, the words dying before they reached her lips.
Eri's smile was warm but serious. "I'm not trying to make this complicated, Ran. I'm saying that he and Shinichi are never going to get along. And when the day comes that you're caught between them, it's going to hurt."
The name Shinichi hung in the air, and Ran fell silent again.
Eri sighed inwardly but let it go.
She wasn't worried about her daughter having a change of heart. Ran and Shinichi had grown up together. That bond was solid.
Her problem with Shinichi had always been the kid's bullheadedness, that refusal to back down no matter how thick the wall in front of him.
At least the boy came from a well-connected family. If things went sideways, Yukiko and Yusaku Kudo could clean up the mess.
But the real question was this: would any of that matter against someone like Makoto Nishikado?
The next morning, at the village gate.
Makoto arrived with Megumi, Utaha, and Ran right on time. The film crew had assembled as well.
One problem. No sign of Yukie Fujikaze.
"Hey! Sandayuu! Where is she?"
The director was losing patience fast.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'll find her, just give me a moment..."
Sandayuu was drenched in nervous sweat.
"Don't bother."
Every head turned toward Makoto. In the space between one blink and the next, he vanished.
The group was stunned.
Ran's eyes widened. "Body Flicker?"
A heartbeat later, he reappeared.
With someone slung over his shoulder. Fujikaze Yukie, in the flesh.
Her face was flushed crimson, and a hiccup escaped her between labored breaths. Drunk. Thoroughly, unmistakably drunk.
"Y-Yukie! How much did you drink?!"
Sandayuu looked like he might faint.
Yukie shot him a glance and said nothing.
Makoto set her down on the carriage. As he turned to leave, she fixed him with a venomous glare.
"Mind your own business."
He answered with a smile and walked away.
Yukie Fujikaze. Real name: Koyuki Kazahana. Princess of the Land of Snow.
As a transmigrator, Makoto knew all of it.
She'd tried to disappear because she didn't want to go back. Her uncle, Kazahana Dotou, had seized power by murdering her father, the previous daimyo Kazahana Sousetsu.
For Koyuki, that country was nothing but grief given geography.
Of course she didn't want to return. So after drinking herself into oblivion the night before, she'd checked into some random inn and hidden.
What she didn't know was that during their first meeting the day before, Makoto had secretly placed a Flying Thunder God mark on her.
He'd been expecting exactly this.