(PROFESSOR UZUMAKI) TALK NO JUTSU

The rooftop offered space, open air, and enough isolation that Sophia did not have to worry about anyone watching too closely, which made it ideal for the frustration that had been building in her chest since she left the PRT building. A cracked piece of plastic lay near her foot, once part of a chair or sign before time and weather reduced it to debris, and she lashed out at it without thinking, her leg snapping forward with enough force to send it skidding across the rooftop and over the edge.

It did nothing to make her feel better, and if anything, the lack of resistance only made the frustration sitting beneath her skin feel even more intense.

Director Piggot had not raised her voice and had not needed to, yet the words still landed with enough force to leave an impression. There had been no praise and no acknowledgment of the outcome, only an entirely too calm explanation of conduct, optics, and responsibility. According to her, Sophia had been reckless, excessive, and dangerously close to crossing a line that the PRT could not afford to have its Wards blur in public view.

Apparently, she was supposed to feel lucky.

Lucky that the media had latched onto the civilian girl instead, and that the story had shifted toward bravery and quick thinking instead of focusing on the brutality of the fight itself. Lucky that the narrative had moved on before anyone started asking the wrong questions about just how far Shadow Stalker had gone.

Sophia clenched her jaw at the thought.

And then there was the punishment.

Two weeks.

Two full weeks off patrol, as if she were some kind of liability that needed to be kept on a leash until she remembered how to behave properly. Two weeks of being stuck on the sidelines, only training, while everyone else continued fighting villains. 

It was ridiculous.

Her gaze landed on another discarded can lying a few feet away, and she strode over to it before driving her foot into the metal with enough force to crumple it on impact. The can shot forward across the rooftop in a warped blur of aluminum, struck the low ledge at the edge, and ricocheted upward in an erratic arc that ended with a dull, unfortunate thud somewhere beyond her line of sight.

There was a brief, startled squawk that sounded, followed by the erratic flutter of wings that cut off far too quickly.

Sophia exhaled sharply through her nose and dragged a hand through her hair before dropping into a squat, her elbows resting against her knees as she stared at nothing in particular. The anger that had driven her a moment ago drained away, leaving behind a dull, lingering irritation.

“What did the poor bird do to you?”

The voice came from behind her, casual and entirely too close.

Sophia jerked, head snapping up and twisting around with a glare already forming, her body reacting before her mind had time to catch up. Her hand moved instinctively, as if reaching for a weapon she did not currently have, before she forced herself to stop.

Naruto stood a few steps away, as though he had always been there, one hand loosely cupped around a small, ruffled bird.

The same bird, she realized a second later.

It looked dazed, its feathers puffed unevenly, one wing hanging slightly lower than the other. For a brief moment, Sophia wondered if it was dead, but then Naruto’s hand began to glow with a soft, warm light that spread across the tiny body in a steady pulse of orange and gold.

She stared.

The glow faded after a few seconds, and the bird stirred, letting out a sharp, indignant chirp before flapping its wings experimentally. Whatever damage had been done was gone, erased as if it had never happened. A second later, it launched itself into the air and disappeared into the skyline.

Sophia followed its flight without blinking, her mind struggling to catch up with what she had just seen.

Because of course he could do that.

The thought came with a strange mix of resignation and disbelief that she did not bother trying to untangle.

“What’s wrong, Sophia?” he asked.

His tone was easy, almost out of place given what she had just seen, dragging her attention away from the sky. Her thoughts were still half-caught on the image of that glow and the healed bird, before irritation forced its way back to the surface. She fixed him with a glare, though it lacked some of its usual bite.

“It’s Director Piggy,” she said, the name slipping out before she could stop it, followed by a slight grimace as she corrected herself. “Piggot. She’s benching me for no reason.”

Naruto lowered himself into a crouch beside her, resting his elbow against his knee while his hand came up to his chin in thought. He did not look particularly surprised.

“I sincerely doubt it was for no reason,” he replied. “Tell me why.”

Sophia’s first instinct was to deflect the way she usually did when authority figures tried to lecture her, followed by the urge to double down and insist that she had done nothing wrong, but something in the way he asked made that feel less viable. 

She exhaled through her nose and looked away.

“I was a bit too… brutal on the Undersiders,” she admitted after a moment, the words coming out slower than she would have liked.

Naruto’s expression did not change.

“Define brutal.”

Sophia’s jaw tightened.

“I might have killed Hellhound’s dogs,” she said, her voice flattening slightly. “And I messed her up pretty badly. Same with Regent.”

There was a brief pause, then Naruto let out a low whistle, the sound quiet but unmistakably impressed in a way that caught her off guard.

“I can see her reasoning.”

Sophia turned on him immediately, the earlier hesitation gone as anger surged back into place.

“Don’t tell me you’re on her side,” she snapped. “They’re villains and they had hostages. What did you expect me to do, hold back?”

Naruto met her gaze without flinching, his expression calm in a way that only made the tension in her chest feel tighter.

“And you’re a hero,” he said.

“Exactly,” Sophia shot back, leaning forward slightly as if that settled the matter.

Naruto shook his head slowly.

“No,” he said, his voice still even, though there was a weight to it now that had not been there before. “That isn’t how it works.”

Sophia frowned.

“As a hero, you’re held to a different standard,” he continued. “The way you act matters just as much as the outcome, because people are watching, and what they see shapes what they believe a hero is supposed to be. If your answer to every problem is to hit harder until nothing gets back up, then that becomes the example you’re setting.”

“They’re criminals,” Sophia insisted, though there was the slightest edge of defensiveness creeping into her tone now. “And what I did worked. They were stopped. No one else got hurt.”

Naruto studied her for a moment, as if considering how to respond.

“Because it isn’t just about them,” he said at last. “It’s about what you do when you’re the one who decides how a fight ends, and what that turns you into over time.”

Sophia did not respond as her thoughts circled around his words, stifling the certainty she had been holding onto since the fight at the bank.

The city continued on in the distance, indifferent to the conversation taking place high above it, while the tension that had been driving Sophia earlier shifted into something quieter and far less comfortable.

She looked away, her gaze drifting toward the edge of the rooftop. 

Seconds passed, then more, and yet, neither of them spoke.

Her hands curled slightly against her knees, tension lingering for a moment longer before she let it go. Without another word, Sophia slipped into her shadow state, her form dissolving into darkness as she dropped straight through the rooftop and into the building below, leaving Naruto alone beneath the open sky.