- Kuh! (Unseal! Unseal! Unseal! Unseal! Unseal! Unseal! )

I tried to apply chakra on top of the palm of my right hand as much as I could many times over.

Then I would press my hand against the seal drawn inside the scroll...but each time nothing would happen.

-(D*mmit!)

It's already been five minutes that I've tried doing so, but I can't seem to crack this thing...I-I am starting to feel tired.

-... (Unseal! Unseal!)*Breathing heavily* *Breathing heavily*...Ah~~~... I'm sorry Akane-Oba-chan...I-I can't unseal the object inside of the scroll... I just can't do it.

Sh*t!

Why does this always happen!?

I just can never seem to do anything properly.

Just look at this cr*p!

-...(Now she will know that I am a... failure too...)

I'm on all 4s while on the ground with my head hanging down in complete and utter shame...

But I am just so tired and almost out of breath that I am unable to move as much an inch.

Even though, Akane-oba-chan tried to explain to me the unsealing process and sealing process for over 30 minutes; I can't do something so basic... I'm really just an untalented bast*rd.

A cheater, that gets all the help that he can get and still manages to fail in the end.

If I didn't have my skills I'd be a laughing stock.

The only thing I can do more or less is taijutsu.

And that must be thanks to Sasuke's and the other boy's help.

Just a loser that can't do ninjutsu at all.

.....!

C-could it, Could it be that I am one of those rare types of people that can't use chakra outside their bodies?

A-Am I one of those guys that can't use ninjutsu?

Am I... Rock Lee?

Somehow I am a Rock Lee that got hit on the head and now thinks he looks like Itachi and has normal eyebrows... Am I that delusional that I can't see my real face in mirrors?

The fact that I believe that I was once a being that was originally from another world may just as well prove me right...

So... what exactly does that make me?

S-Stone Lee?... Rock Lee's estrange cousin? Twice removed...?

... If that's the case, at least, I'd rather be called Gold Lee... makes me sound more impressive than a rock or just another random metal... is Gold even a metal?... I can't even think properly.

... Actually, I am pretty sure that "Rock" is his family name... No, that can't be right.

His future kid is called Metal Lee.

How come his surname comes up first? In both the sub and dubs that I know... W-what is Ten Ten's last name? That's her given name, right?

But maybe it does make sense.

...Our world is Japan-ish or Japan-adjacent... Well, not entirely. It depends where you live. I've heard Naruto and the others use words of a foreign language before that I recognized...Wait, wait, wait...That's not what I am currently focused on.

Think, Homura; THINK!...

If somehow... All that I have believed until now is false...What exactly does that make me?

If all I know is false... then maybe I am just a crazed boy with a blood-collecting fetish?

...Hm...I can see that.

I can clearly see that being true...

Then, I am in so much danger!!!!

Jeez! What have I been doing with my life?

Hearing voices, trespassing, kidnapping, theft, spying-well, no. That last one is just normal Konoha citizen etiquette.

But the rest is still bad.

-.....

W-what the actual f*ck!

Am I seriously having delusions right now!?

Akane Oba-chan said that unsealing was much easier than sealing! That if applying just enough chakra on the seal of a regular sealing formula would be enough to release the object inside... after listening so carefully to her explanation and concentrating/ using all the tools in my disposition on the matter at hand... I still managed to fail.

What the hell is going on!?...

Why can't I do it?

I have the f-ing genes of a bunch of people and one of them is called a genius... I thought I was a genius too!

But reality is far crueler than I'd thought!

Maybe I should just quit while I can still go back... while there's still a way out!

Maybe I sh-?!

- !...Akane-Oba-chan?- I raised my head, to see who was the person that was playing with my hair, or more like petting me like a small, wounded animal; turned out to be Akane Oba-chan, who had just gotten closer and sat right next to me.

- You're just like Ta-chan after all. fufufu (Akane)

- Eh! (N-No way!)

- That boy also tends to overthink everything and rush ahead. Then when he fails, he feels like it is the end of the world. But you know what? (Akane)

-...N-No...

- At the end of the day, that boy always gets back up and never gives up. No matter how hard it may be or much the other boys would tease him, he would just try again the next day. (Akane)

-....(S-she is right...and I on the other hand)... I-I...- feeling distressed and frustrated with my own weakness, I could not stop myself from closing my eyes and Clenching/tightening both of my hands into fists.

- ...Homura-kun. There's no need to rush all the time. Chakra requires a certain amount of control and self-discipline. Rushing ahead of things will likely just hinder your concentration.(Akane)

-....

- Homura-kun is still young. I know that somewhere deep down inside you, you believe that you have to be strong at all times... fate can be cruel sometimes, but there's no need for you to try so hard every time. It is alright to take some time for yourself and just be a normal child. To grieve. To feel those emotions of inadequacy. To be yourself. (Akane)

Akane Oba-chan grabbed my hands before I could even think of avoiding her grasp.

(... I know she is right, but I...)

-...

- Certain things take time. Every child is different and moves at their own pace, that is where the teachers in the academy come through. They will guide the students where they need the most. I am sure that if what Ta-chan says is true, they will be more than glad to have a student as dedicated as you. (Akane)

...I can't believe that I am so pathetic that I need to be cheered on... just like a little kid... perhaps there's really something wrong with me.

- ... Thanks, Akane Oba-chan for those kind words... I won't give up as well... I'll try to change my way of thinking from now on...(If only I-I...)

...just what could I tell her... No matter what I do... things just seem to be heading in the same direction.

If only... I was born just a bit earlier...

But she is right.

A part of me has to change... If I am to truly move beyond my own pettiness...

Comparing myself to others is fine, but at the end of the day, I am me.

Nobody else.

I can never be someone else... I must have forgotten it somewhere along the way... because I never felt good enough...

- *smirk*

To think I would be Talk-no-jutsued so early in my life... I really still have much to learn.

- Good. How about we end training today and have some Amanatto snacks? (Akane)

-... Ok...(No! I hate all types of natto!  I'd rather eat nikuman or something else old people eat like daifuku or Karinto... but they are granny's favorite snacks...I don't just have it in me to tell her that I hate it...)

Having no other choice I resigned myself to my fate.

We left hand in hand for the kitchen, and I then helped granny set the table after that.

Before, we even started eating Takao had gotten up and come to the kitchen.

Not sure if it was the food that he smelled or some other thing but he arrived at the most opportune time, like always.

Obviously, we set another dish and poured some green tee for him as well.

...At least I had someone else to share my pain with...

Like always he would talk and talk to no end.

I even had to stay till nighttime and had dinner with them as well.

After, that I waved them goodbye before I left.

I walked, walked, and kept walking, and before I knew I was at Konoha's amusement district.

The loud noises had finally managed to take me out of my daydreaming-like state.

- ...this village is truly nice...

All the neon lights, people smiling and drinking together... perhaps konoha is just a normal village after all.

...I think somewhere deep down, I just didn't want to admit that...

-...*sigh* I-It doesn't matter. *smile*

I think that... no, I'm sure of it.

It truly has been a long time since I've felt this calm... I think it all started to change for me when I met Naruto for the first time.

...I see... so, that instant was when it all truly began...

Sad, to admit... but it is probably too late to go back to those days full of blissful ignorance.

Guess I really can't let it go... Akane-Obachan was right. I am truly just another idiot.

-....

Somehow, this feels nice.

......Wait

Wait a sec!? 

Chakra uses both spiritual and physical energies... 

Spiritual energie... Mental energy...

I'm tired.

Both physically... and mentally...

...Mentally...  

-D-Does talk no jutsu only works because people are mentally exhausted?!!!!!

Chapter end