It was night in a certain town park, and there was tension brewing.
A burly man had his grip tight around a woman's neck. He stood defiantly before William and shouted, "Don't come any closer, or I'll snap her neck!"
William smiled and said, "You don't want to do that."
"Oh yeah? Why not?!" the man scoffed, puffing out his chest. "Because I'll—"
"Because you're outmatched," a woman's voice cut him off.
She was standing a few feet behind him with her Sharingan activated. The man sharply turned, dragging his hostage with him.
"You think just because you have some fancy eyes, you can scare me?" he boasted. "I'm willing to risk it all to get out of prison!"
His arrogance, however, was about to meet its demise. For what struck as odd was his hostage's reaction; she seemed unnaturally still, too calm for a captive woman.
"Why aren't ya scared?" the man suddenly blurted, perplexed. "Hey! Why aren't you squirming?"
His grip loosened just a fraction due to his confusion. The woman blinked at him, her face devoid of fear, as if she wasn't quite aware he had been speaking.
"Is that all I gotta do?" she murmured, almost to herself.
"Gotta what?" the man repeated.
Then, as if joining an unwritten play, she ducked. In that instant, both William and Jada struck the man simultaneously, sending him sprawling to the ground, unconscious before he could register what had happened.
The now-freed woman got up and brushed the dust from her gown. She then looked to her left with a grateful expression and said, "Thank you, Alice."
With a bright smile, Alice appeared out of the shadows. The former hostage couldn't help but wonder what technique was being used.
"It's called the 'Mind Transmission' jutsu," Alice explained. "You did a good job following the flow of information I relayed."
The woman beamed, feeling full of relief. "That was simply brilliant! All of you deserve a medal! Let me make you all something special!"
"You don't have to do that," Jada chimed in. "It was no problem at all!"
"Speaking of which," Alice added, glancing at the fallen man, "you two hit him in the same spot. When did you learn to take someone down like that?"
Both William and Jada shared a satisfied smile. "Training with Hoshikaze," they answered in unison.
"Must have been nice," Alice wistfully said in regret. "I wish I had gone to that tournament with you guys."
"Who knows?" William said, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe there'll be another one."
"I hope so," Alice replied, returning her attention to the woman.
Now that the target was confirmed safe, their mission in the country was complete. All that was left to do now was leave the town park and venture homeward.
It took some hours, but the group eventually arrived back to the Leaf Village at 2:30 AM. William departed to his apartment while Jada and Alice went to theirs. Inside the luxury space, Alice settled at the kitchen table, ready to take on the task of writing the mission report.
"Are you sure you don't want any help?" Jada asked.
"Yeah," Alice replied. "I'll handle this, so you can get some rest."
Jada thanked her for her efforts while she poured herself into the work.
At 3:30 AM, she just finished up when she finally felt exhausted. And soon she succumbed, crawling into bed.
The moment she closed her eyes, she heard her alarm clock. It was already 5:30 AM.
With a resigned sigh, she turned it off, pushing herself out of the blankets. A new day awaited her, and there was no time to complain.
She dressed in light, comfortable clothes, stepping out to do a quick routine stretch. She was most certainly tired, but there was simply too much to do in a day when one's name was Alice Yamanaka.
After completing her stretches, she set off on a run. The morning air, even if it was virtual, still felt nice and cool against her skin—quite the refreshing feel.
Returning home, she darted into the bathroom for a hot, steamy shower. By the time she emerged, fully clothed and steam swirling around her, she headed into the kitchen, preparing breakfast.
Today, she decided to make some croissants with brioche, eggs, and fruits mixed with cheese and yogurts. This was actually a dish made from France, of which she had personally bought all the ingredients and cooked from scratch.
It came out excellent. However, instead of claiming a plate for herself, she slipped into the dining room.
There, she pulled out a ninja handbook and began reading to ensure that she was still well-versed and knowledgeable in the arts of being a ninja.
Three chapters into her reading, she finished the book, and Margaret entered, leisurely stumbling into the kitchen with disheveled hair. She then walked into the room with a plate.
"Morning, mom," she yawned, referring to Alice. "Thanks for the food…"
Alice remained focused in her reading but smiled at the affectionate tease.
"Oh, Alice! Could you do me a huge favor?" she asked, doe eyes pleading.
"Of course," Alice replied, curious.
"I'm behind on my mission reports," Margaret began, "and I need help filling them out. You wouldn't believe how behind I really am."
"How long has it been?" Alice inquired.
"Maybe a day or two? No, wait… Margaret hesitated. "Maybe a little longer…"
With a resigned sigh, Alice rose, heading towards the closet. She opened it, only for a tumble of papers to cascade out, landing on the floor in a disorganized mess.
"Okay, it's been weeks!" Margaret exclaimed with embarrassment.
"Don't worry," Alice said in a warm tone as she picked up the documents. "I'll help. When do you need these done?"
"Tonight," Margaret answered, plopping down at the table. With her breakfast complete, she anxiously glanced at the clock and gasped. "Crap, I'm late!"
She immediately grabbed what she could, fixed her hair, and then dashed to the door. On the other side, William stood, hand poised to knock.
"Morning!" he greeted cheerfully.
"Can't talk! Late!"
Margaret sprinted past him, leaving William bewildered at her sudden departure.
"What's got her all worked up?" he wondered aloud as he stepped inside.
"Looks like Asuma is waiting by the training grounds," Alice said after organizing the reports. "Seems she almost stood him up for their training session."
William shrugged, eventually seeing and smelling the breakfast in their apartment.
"Feel free to help yourself," Alice said, her mind already consumed with the mountain of papers before her.
"Don't mind if I do, but have you eaten yet?"
"No, not yet."
He made his way into the kitchen and freely grabbed a plate. As he dug into the meal, he voiced his appreciation at Alice's due diligence.
"I'm always impressed at how you manage everything."
"Mmhmm," Alice replied absentmindedly, focused on the reports.
"This will take forever to finish," she muttered under her breath, setting the stack aside as a reminder.
William finished his plate, thanking her for the food. He enjoyed it so much that he couldn't help grabbing a second plate.
'Can I really get this done tonight?' Alice thought to herself as he left for the kitchen.
Many would think that residing in the world of Naruto was easy, especially if one was a ninja. In truth, there was a lot for someone to do in a day. Much like earth, there were schedules, appointments, and meetings to attend with just about anyone.
Alice's case was no different.
When William returned a moment later, it was to find her already gone.
"It ain't easy bein' Alice, I guess," he said, taking a bite of a croissant.
Elsewhere, Alice was making her way toward the village's academy. The familiar sights and sounds of the bustling school filled her senses as she entered. There were quite a lot of students of all ages who gladly received her.
"Morning, Alice!" greeted Iruka. The two were in a classroom hallway. He handed her a protein bar. "I assume you skipped breakfast again?"
"Thank you," she admitted with a grateful smile. "It's the usual."
A Jōnin suddenly strode over, interrupting their exchange. "Morning, Miss Yamanaka. Got that special scroll you promised me?"
"Of course!" Alice replied, rifling through her pack.
She pulled out a scroll, only for the Jōnin to raise an eyebrow, his expression indicating the content was wrong.
"Uh, that's not the one I wanted," he pointed out, revealing the scroll in his hand that detailed a complicated formula for chakra manipulation that was way beyond simple explanation.
Alice tilted her head, pulling it back. "Oops, my bad." She rummaged and revealed the right scroll, detail-oriented as ever. "Read this properly, or it won't be effective."
"Thanks!" the Jōnin said, vanishing as quickly as he'd appeared.
"Busy day ahead?" Iruka asked, resuming their earlier conversation.
"Just getting started," she replied. "Did you need something, Iruka-sensei?
"Actually," he said, remembering what he came here for, "I've got an audition to attend to and can't teach later. Think you can take my place at noon?"
That was truly asking a lot from her since she had already been asked to cover someone else's class while that teacher was out on a mission. Iruka added that all she had to do was monitor the students while they took their midterms.
Alice honestly wasn't certified to teach at the academy. She was only here based on a request, a common thing she normally received.
"I should be able to fill in for you," she confirmed.
Iruka nodded appreciatively and said, "Thanks, Alice! You really saved my behind!"
Not a moment too soon, Alice was in a classroom filled with youthful exuberance. She took roll call amongst the students and then later stood at the chalkboard to explain chakra's components.
Hours flew by, and as lunch rolled around, the students dispersed into their brief freedom. But Alice wasn't keen on joining them. She had other responsibilities.
Lately, her fight with "Kaito" had left her feeling vulnerable. Shippuden was going to start if it technically hadn't already, and she needed to grow stronger alongside the other players.
She quickly used this time to take her training into the forest, finding solace within the silence.
The first thing she usually did was get her mind ready. To do that, reading always helped.
She pulled out another ninja handbook. This one was the second volume.
As she immersed herself in that earlier book while sitting at the base of the tallest tree, her mind felt at ease. Once finished, she sprung up and immediately began scaling the tree repeatedly.
Each ascent tested her limits until her chakra dwindled. The entire ordeal lasted about fifteen minutes due to overexertion. Of course, she could have lasted much longer.
Breathing a bit too much, she settled into a meditative position, allowing her essence to meld with the energy surrounding her. A gentle stillness enveloped her as she nurtured the little chakra she had left.
In a moment, everything changed. The world stilled, and she felt everything around her—the leaves and even the breeze—to help remain her calmness.
The trees swayed, dropping many leaves in her area. And when she had opened her eyes, she saw that all the leaves had been suspended in midair.
This wasn't just a simple technique; it was telekinesis!
Alice smiled in this tranquil scene, content that her technique's range had grown wider since the last time she'd practiced it. Not many knew that she even had this level of skill, as she still needed time to work on it.
It wasn't like the Outer Path, a power granted by the Rinnegan. This form of telekinesis had its limitations, and she was by no means the first to use it. It was first discovered by a now-deceased character named Minako Hyūga, who was never mentioned in the original story but still played a role in affecting the history behind telekinesis.
After Alice discovered she could perform this feat, she immediately went digging around the village's archives to help her expand the skill. That's what led her to researching Minako.
As exciting as it was to train, Alice was aware of time. She had less than ten minutes before she had to return to the academy. The thought of the reports she needed to complete piled against the clock as well.
Resolutely, she made her way back to the apartment, determined to collect her papers and complete them early in case her workload increased.