"One, two, three, four… Uggghh," a worried Naruto utters, as he moves an orange figurine around the squares of a board game.
"Haaaa, you landed on my property. Pay me the rent, it's… 2,000 ryo," says a cheerful Karin.
Naruto counts his play money with a look of clear conflict. "Karin-chan, you bankrupted me. I only have 1,800 ryo," he concludes, handing the last of his bills to the girl.
"Excellent, now all that remains is to defeat my strongest enemy," the girl declares, looking at Shikamaru, who is sitting across from her at the table, with a large pile of money to one side and a face that seems to say he doesn't care much about what he's doing.
As has happened a lot lately, the gang of kids from Karin and Naruto's class hangs out at the bike shop after leaving school. Sakura, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chōji are the most frequent participants in these gatherings, although Sasuke is appearing more and more often, much to the delight of the aforementioned two girls. Today it's just Shikamaru and Chōji, playing with Naruto and Karin a new board game invented by Touki, called "The Capital."
"This is quite an interesting game," Shikamaru comments, "It depends heavily on luck, although the decisions one makes when buying and improving properties are quite important, such as my land just two squares away from Karin, which already has four apartment buildings. It would be a tragedy if she fell there," the boy concludes with a somewhat provocative tone.
Karin takes the die in her hand and shakes it nervously, under the watchful eyes of the other children: Naruto, his eyes wide open, and Choji, his hand frozen in his bag of chips. The girl throws the die on the table, where it rolls for only a moment, stopping on a clear and decisive two.
"Haaaaaaaa!" Karin shouts, flipping the game pieces on the table, "I give up! It's impossible to beat you at any game, even if you're just learning how to play."
Karin walks away from the table in a huff, heading toward the store, while the children continue to laugh at the situation. Naruto then also enters the store, but immediately returns with some sodas to share with the others.
"There weren't enough participants for this game. What happened to Ino-chan and Sakura-chan?" Naruto asks.
"You left too early today, so you didn't see what happened, but Ino had something to do at the flower shop and Sakura didn't want to come because Sasuke said he wouldn't be coming today," Shikamaru replies.
"That's a shame," Naruto says.
The children continue their conversation for a while, enjoying their sodas and sharing academy gossip, until Karin returns again, interrupting the conversation with some news the children hadn't heard before.
"Did you hear the latest news about the war?" the girl asks, sitting at the table next to the boys.
"Which one?" Shikamaru asks.
"They published reports of Kumogakure's estimated losses throughout the war," Karin says ominously. "Apparently, almost 500 ninja died."
"Wow, that's a lot of ninja," Naruto exclaims.
"Most of them against the rebels who couldn't even use chakra," Choji adds, frowning.
"That means there must have been more than a thousand wounded… I don't even want to imagine the amount of resources lost in that war. Thank goodness our Hokage didn't want to get directly involved in that conflict," Shikamaru says.
"My dad said there was a lot of pressure on the Hokage to intervene from the council; they were even calling him weak. Now everyone's quiet," Choji comments.
Naruto, somewhat ignorant of such matters, simply nods at his friends' comments.
"But that's not the most important thing," Karin says, her voice even more serious, causing Naruto to look nervous. "Among the deaths, there were apparently more than 20 jounins, and at least two elite jounins."
"Impossible!" the three children exclaim simultaneously.
"It's true," Karin defends herself. "I just read it in one of the Touki newspapers, one that comes from the capital and specializes in that kind of matter."
"No wonder I haven't seen my father in almost two days," Shikamaru says, striking a thoughtful pose. "The village must be assessing the future consequences of all this. If the civil war within such a small nation caused Kumogakure to suffer these kinds of losses, perhaps we could face a completely different kind of conflict in the future, considering the new weapons introduced by the rebels."
"Aaahhhh, this is very complicated," Naruto clasps his head in his hands. "Explain it better."
"My dad tells me not to worry about these things. The Nara are in charge of thinking about the consequences; our job is something else," Choji says sagely, as he continues eating his snacks.
"He means that the job of a ninja is going to be more dangerous from now on," Karin explains patiently.
"More dangerous than it already is? But how?" asks the still-confused Naruto.
Shikamaru thinks for a moment, then says, "In the not-too-distant future, bandits and ordinary people are going to be much more dangerous to us than they are now… Ninjas may no longer have the power they have now."
"Touki said that only the strongest ninjas, like the Hokage, will remain nearly invincible," Karin adds.
"But that takes a long time to achieve. Even I know that," Naruto complains.
"Becoming a jounin is already an impossible challenge for most people. Reaching the Hokage level is for geniuses," Shikamaru continues. "For us clan members, it's a little easier to reach jounin, but beyond that, there are too few, and no one at the Hokage level."
"So we're done for?" Choji asks.
"It's impossible to know," Karin shrugs. "I've heard many adults talking about similar issues in many places. They all seem worried about how all this will affect the village's economy. Missions are what keep this place afloat."
Everyone remains silent for a long time, their faces reflecting concern, until Touki appears from the tent and snaps them out of their bubble.
"Why the long faces? Did someone die?" the man asks.
"We're just discussing how worried everyone is about the war that happened," Karin replies.
"Is it true that ninja work will be more dangerous in the future?" Naruto asks Touki, his face very worried.
The man puts on a slightly forced smile. "It's good that you show concern for your future and the well-being of the village, but this is an issue you shouldn't worry about right now. You're still children and should enjoy the few years you have left without major worries. Leave those problems to the adults, especially the Hokage."
"Being a ninja is my dream, but I don't want to die or see my friends die either?" Naruto comments, his head down.
Maintaining his slightly bitter smile, the man placed a hand on the distressed boy's shoulder. "No doubt the work of a ninja will be much more dangerous in the future, but that won't happen overnight. The village won't sit idly by, and they will undoubtedly find a way to confront the problems. Remember that human beings are constantly evolving, and this is merely another stage in the development of our society... Perhaps all this will be a good thing, and in the future, ninjas will no longer be needed to solve the problems of ordinary people."
"But being a ninja is my dream. How am I going to become Hokage without being a ninja?" the boy complains.
"You can become 'Bikekage' if you put your mind to it," the man jokes, before returning to the shop.
Naruto shows an offended expression, while his friends laugh at the situation, although the gloomy atmosphere doesn't change much. In the end, the children decide to play one more round of the previous game and try to forget the huge problem that seems to be worrying too many people in the village.
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