In the Leaf Village.
Sunlight filtered through the curtains of a small apartment as William stirred awake. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes before glancing at the clock hanging on the wall. It was later than he intended to get up, and he couldn't ignore his stomach growling.
His gaze landed on Naruto, who was still cocooned in his covers.
"Hey, Naruto! It's time to get up!"
Naruto groaned in response, pulling the pillow over his head as he said, "Just five more minutes, Will... I was having such a good dream!"
William smiled. He then got up, throwing back the covers to fully expose Naruto to the morning air. "You can dream about ramen later! I'm starving here, too, cuzo!"
For a moment, Naruto just mumbled incoherently. "It wasn't about ramen."
"Then what was it?"
"My parents."
The room got awkwardly silent until William assured Naruto that it was good to dream about them, Minato and Kushina.
As of late, William had been the only immediate family Naruto could lean on. The boy also had his friends, but William was the main person to help the main character overcome his loneliness.
"Alright, cuz," he said, smiling. "I'll let you off this once."
After preparing his morning accordingly, William took a quick glance back at Naruto, who was now buried deep under blankets again.
"I'll be back soon, so don't sleep in too late!"
Outside, the sounds of the Leaf Village greeted him: children playing, vendors shouting, and the general bustle that was always stemming with energy.
This morning was a beautiful one. But his wallet wasn't; money was tight, and the lack of high-paying missions lately made him hungrier.
For food, William would often rely on Naruto or him to buy it. That, or he'd share a meal with his friends at their apartment. Depending on restaurant food every day was becoming more expensive than he had originally thought. Otherwise he wouldn't have spent so much of it.
He sighed, making his way towards the main street. Perhaps Teuchi from Ichiraku would make a tab for him. Then again, the thought of ramen so early in the morning didn't sound appealing.
Just as he navigated through a busy shopping district, he spotted a familiar face.
"Jada!" he called out as he approached her.
To him, Jada was quite the serene individual. Her long black hair always seemed perfectly straight, compared to other girls like Sakura.
Jada was leaning over against a shopfront. Almost as if reading something important. And when she noticed William, she greeted, "Hey, Will! Did you come for the news?"
"What news?" he asked, intrigued.
She stepped closer, pulling out a brightly coloured flyer from her pocket. "The village received an invitation to some kinda big tournament in the Land of Waves!"
"No way!"
"Yeah! But it gets even better," she continued. "It's going to be a taijutsu-only tournament."
"Taijutsu only?" he repeated as she handed him the flyer. His gaze darted over the requirements until one specific thing caught his interest. "There's a million ryō prize for the winner!"
"Exactly!" Then Jada hesitated, biting her lip. "But there's a catch."
"What's that?"
"This is just a screening invitation. Only thirty fighters will be accepted, so you have to sign up to qualify."
William's excitement diminished as he let out a comical sigh. "Seriously? I thought this was my moment to finally become rich!"
Jada giggled at his over-the-top disappointment. Her laughter caused a slight blush to creep onto his cheeks.
"Don't give up so soon, Will. You can still enter and hope you get selected."
That made him straighten up. "I'll sign up right now then!"
Jada's laughter quickly turned into a gentle warning. "Hold on a moment; there's more to it than that, you know."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Did you forget that we need to discuss this with the others first?"
William had completely forgotten how big of a commitment entering a widespread tournament like this could be. So he nodded, though clearly impatient, and said, "Alright, but let's hurry! I don't wanna miss out on this!"
"Okay, let's go and get everyone. I'll use my flying—"
"No time!" William quickly performed a hand sign. "Multi-shadow clone jutsu!" In an instant, several copies of himself appeared, each one looking just as eager as he felt. "You all know what to do!"
Jada watched as the clones dispersed in every direction.
One clone headed straight for Margaret's apartment, knocking at the door impatiently once he arrived.
"Who is it?" came Margaret's voice from inside, her tone slightly annoyed.
"It's me, Will. Er… I mean a clone of Will! There's an important meeting underway!"
Margaret opened the door a crack, glancing at the clone suspiciously. With an uninterested tone, she asked, "Is it really that urgent? I was in the middle of reading."
"Believe it, you'll want to be there! It's something real cool!"
"Oh, fine," she relented, rolling her eyes, "but if I hear you ever say 'believe it' again, you'll be banned from here." She then closed the door to get ready.
At the same time, another clone had managed to find Alex training in the yard of the Hyūga clan's compound.
"Alex, we need you at a meeting right away!"
"A meeting this early?" Alex asked, pausing his training. Lately, he hasn't been announcing any meetings due to more important matters in the Leaf Village. "What's it about?"
"A tournament," the clone pressed.
"Wow. Didn't see that coming. Okay, I'll be there."
The last set of clones were off looking for Alice and Jasper, eventually locating them in a secluded area of the village park, deeply engrossed in each other's company.
The moment a clone came near them, his face burned as he caught them mid-kiss, instinctively turning away to afford them a little privacy.
"Ugh, get a room, you two!" the clone shouted, trying to mask his embarrassment.
Jasper looked over with an annoyed look and said, "How 'bout you get lost instead, Male-Karin?"
Alice giggled as she stopped her flirtatious act. "Don't mind him, Will. What's up?"
"There's a meeting! You guys need to come now. It's about a—"
"—tournament happening in the Land of Waves," she interrupted. "Yeah, I know."
Jasper raised an eyebrow to ask him, "Are you serious? You came here to tell us something like that?"
"The details are important!" William's clone insisted. "Just come to the meeting, alright? This could be big!"
"Fine, we'll be there shortly," Alice said, shooting Jasper a knowing look. "Afterthis."
As the clone proofed away, the real William's face was also red, unable to shake the embarrassment of having been caught in such an awkward situation. Everyone knew that when a shadow clone dispersed, all of the knowledge and experience it learned transferred to the summoner.
"You okay?" Jada asked him. "You look like you're burning up."
"I'm fine!" he beamed.
Eventually he'd tell her that he received everyone's approval to come to the meeting. She was only now seeing just how enthusiastic he was about this tournament.
"Alright," she smiled. "We should go to the apartment now, right?"
He paused, glancing towards the directions that Alice and Jasper were at. "Umm… I think those two are gonna take a moment to meet us there. Besides, I'm starving right now."
"I suppose I can meet you guys there then," she said, turning to leave.
"Wait, Jada!"
"Yeah?"
"W-would you like to join me? I mean, we could talk more about this event while we eat."
Jada stopped to consider. "Come to think of it, I actually hadn't eaten anything this morning. So sure, why not?"
William felt a spark of excitement at the prospect of spending more time with her.
They were soon spotted walking together towards one of the modest eateries on the main street: a small breakfast shop that was popular in the village.
When they entered, the ambience instantly made them feel at home.
William settled down at a small table in the corner as Jada slid in across from him. Their order was simple: an assortment of rice accompanied by scrambled eggs. All that was left to do while they waited was chat about their recent adventures.
"I was thinking we could try to show Sasuke the truth with a genjutsu or something," he suggested.
"Maybe now's not the best time to approach him," she replied. "Sakura and I've been visiting him to make sure he doesn't try to leave the village."
William let out a burst of laughter so as not to make anything feel awkward. "Yeah, you're right about that! You two are quick thinkers."
The food arrived, allowing them to share a less awkward camaraderie. But just as they were finishing up and ready to pay, William reached for his pouch, only to remember it was empty.
"Um, Jada…"
Jada chuckled softly, a gentle sound easing his embarrassment. "It's alright; I don't mind covering the bill."
William bit his lip, feeling inadequate. A man should never let a woman pay for their meal if the former had feelings for her. "I'll pay you back. I promise."
She raised a dismissive hand as she said, "Seriously, it's fine. We're friends, remember? Friends help each other out."
Hearing her put him in the friend zone almost made him feel even more inadequate.
Outside, Jada confirmed that the others were almost gathered at her apartment.
"Will, you go on ahead. There's something I'd like to do first before the meeting."
"Absolutely!" he said, watching her depart. As she did, he couldn't help but notice a bored expression on her face. "Gee… Was eating with me that uninteresting?"
Little did he know, she had other things on her mind.