The next morning, we were both awoken by the snap of a camera. Yes, this world already has those, they are like the old Polaroid models. I blearily rubbed my eyes and gently pushed Tsunade off of my chest.
“Aren't you cute?” squealed the voice of my mother. I looked over to the door of Tsunade's room and saw mom standing in the door frame. She was smiling mischievously at us. M om had the camera in her hands.
I looked at a heavily blushing Tsunade and shrugged. What's wrong with sleeping in the same bed as your sister? We are both six, there isn't anything physical we could have done. And I was still clothed as well.
So, I jumped out of the bed and walked out of the room. “Dibs on the bath,” I called back over my shoulder and took some clothes out of my room, before walking into the bath to get cleaned.
After coming out I found three scrolls on my bed. They were the Jutsu scrolls for the Mystical Palm Jutsu, the Chakra Scalpel and the Diagnostic Medical Jutsu. They were written in Tsunade's handwriting, she must have made a copy for me to learn individually. How nice of her.
I grabbed the first one, the one for diagnostic uses. A window popped up in front of my eye. It asked me if I wanted to learn the Diagnostic Medical Jutsu. The requirements were an intelligence of fifty and 50% in Chakra Control.
I had the first, but not the second. Mine was 47% after yesterday's training. I'll be able to learn it soon.
I placed it back down and took a look at the other two. The Mystical Palm Jutsu needed 85% in the control department and 75 in intelligence, I had neither. The last one, the Chakra Scalpel needed 75 in control, 60 in intelligence and even 40 in reflex.
No wonder medics are rare, these requirements are hard to match early. Most will already have chosen a specialization once they reach the needed attributes. It also explains why there are no Genin medics.
“I only managed to copy these three in the short time you took a shower,” said Tsunade suddenly from behind me. I was so deep in thought that I didn't notice her. She was also a none threat to me, which made it easier for her to sneak up on me. Really, she is the only one that could do that. My passive Chakra Sensing informs me of approaching people.
“Thanks, Tsu-chan. I can't do any of them, my control is not good enough. But I think you will have an easy time learning the diagnostic one.” I said while turning around. Tsunade already has control of 65% and her intelligence wasn't far behind my own, hers was at 68.
She blushed at the compliment and quickly walked past my room to the bathroom. I chuckled and placed all three scrolls into my inventory. I then gathered my Ninja supplies and walked to the dining room. Mom has had already prepared breakfast, I only had to set the table and wait for Tsunade. She came half an hour later, her things already stored into her hip pouch.
We ate, said goodbye to mom and left together.
Inside our class, we sat at our usual seat, the far back side, and Tsunade pulled one of the medical books out for reading. I made three Shadow Clones, more and I would have no Chakra left. Shadow Clones may not give me the hoped boost in training, but something was better than nothing.
All four of us began Chakra control training. We decided to test another possible training method. Folding origami without touching the paper.
After half an hour we only have managed to fold the paper thrice, my first goal was a paper plane. Some of the other graduates tried to mimic me but without much success. The best was the single Hyuuga we have, he had managed to fold it once.
I felt our teacher approaching and dispelled one clone after the other, carefully sorting each one’s memories before dispelling the next. Each gave me some % in my Chakra Manipulation Jutsu mastery. Combined with my own results it got raised to 50%. Now I could learn the diagnostic Jutsu, but I won't do so. I'll let Tsunade do it first, I don't want to make her sad again. She will 'learn' every medical Jutsu faster than me.
Our teacher, still Vilia, the Chunin we had as our first teacher, walked to her table and looked at us sternly, yet fondly. “You are all now Genin of Konoha, by law adults and responsible for your actions. From now on you will be Ninja of our village, protectors of it and defenders of its people.
I am proud that I had the honour of teaching you and hope that you will remember the basics, as they will be the foundation for your future.
You will be grouped into teams of three and under the command of a Jonin instructor, he or she will be able to further mould you into strong Ninja of Konoha.
The future will be sometimes hard, but your team and your village will have your back.
Again, I am proud of all of you and am happy to welcome you into the ranks of Konoha's defence force.” The class cheered loudly, I clapped for appearance sake. Having long since seen the indoctrination for what it was. The individual wasn't worth anything, Konoha is what matters. And only the strong could demand their will.
Not that I cared, I liked living with my parents and Tsunade. I had nothing against protecting Konoha, if there was someone in my way he would be taken out. I strongly suspect that Gamer's Mind was forcing me to be like this, calm and calculative.
I wasn't patriotic, more indifferent. I knew that I would be able to work for another village if they house the people I love.
“Team Seven, Orochimaru, Jiraiya and Senju Tsunade. Your Jonin teacher is Hiruzen Sarutobi.” Next, to me, Tsunade banged her head on the table. I patted her back for comfort.
“Team Eight, Senju Kenshiro, Hatake Sakumo and Uchiha Ariha. Your Jonin teacher is Uchiha Kagami.”
Tsunade smiled at me, both Sakumo and Ariha were of the more skilled graduates. Having them in my team means we don't have a dead weight as she does with Jiraiya. Even if I knew that Jiraiya would become strong, even if he wasn't now.
I don't know Ariha or Kagami, they were both Uchiha I have either forgotten about or they were not mentioned. I am able to remember almost everything from my old life, especially what happened in Naruto, I have done a lot of meditation over everything I knew. My high int in combination with meditating allowed me to bring the greyed memories back to the forefront of my mind. I then memorized them again and since then have them ready at all times. Knowledge is power!
Still, the more I change the more will be different. And I am almost sure that this is an alternative universe. There is no guarantee for things to be canon alike, I have already found signs of that. Like the Shadow Clones, Hashirama's death, Tobirama still being Hokage and so on.
“Team Eight with me,” announced a male voice from the front of the class. I looked up and saw a man of average height. Somewhere at 1.7 meters. He had the standard wild and black Uchiha hair. Two bangs were covering his ears and his hair was held back by his forehead protector. He also wore the standard Jonin west with black ANBU pants and a black undershirt.
He turned around to walk out and I saw that his west had the Uchiha symbol on its back. My new teammates and I shared a look. Ariha was the first to run out, obviously happy to have someone from her clan as our teacher.
I poked Tsunade's nose and followed after my teammates. She cursed after me, but there was no heat behind her words.
Outside I quickly caught up with the other two Genin and followed Kagami outside of the academy to a nearby park. There he sat down in front of a tree and gestured for us to sit in front of him.
I took the chance to observe each of them.
Kagami was level 175, which was pretty much at the higher end of a Jonin. Most were between 150 and 170, the Anbu were mostly above 170 but lower than 200. I couldn't see a single attribute or skill/Jutsu.
Here I should explain the general strength of this worlds people. Civilians have stats from 10 to 20 and no Chakra Control. Academy students range from 10 to 30 and have a control level of 5 to 10 %.
From then on the range and variety becomes bigger. Genin are status wise between 30 and 70 with a control of 8 to 40. Chunin followed with a range from 70 to 150 and control between 20 and 60.
Special Jonin have a specialization in their status, that can be any stat or Chakra control. This specialization can be way higher than what normal Jonin have, at least I think so. I can't see their attributes if they are more than a hundred level higher than me. Haven't seen a Jonin's status. The highest attribute I have seen was 230 from a Special Jonin at level 103.
Ariha was level 6 like me, but her attributes were all lower. The highest was endurance with 32, while the lowest, strength, was only 15. Her Chakra control was decent with 15%.
Sakumo was level 8, his highest attribute was reflex with 35. The rest was between 20 and 25, with Chakra control at 7%. And while he had relative high attributes, the felt Chakra of his was rather low. Must have been because he had a -20 behind both intelligence and endurance. Another observation revealed that it was a perk called White Chakra. It lowers the Chakra while increasing its ability to be applied to weapons. It does not seem to affect his real endurance or intelligence, just the Chakra.
“Right, let's introduce ourselves, likes, dislikes, hobbies and future goal. I'll start, my name is Uchiha Kagami. I am a Jonin of Konohagakure and will be your Jonin Sensei. You may call me Uchiha-san or Kagami-sensei.
I like my clan, the village, tomatoes and training. I dislike enemies of the village, bigotry and unneeded violence. My hobbies are training, spending time with my family and friends. And my future goal, for now, is to train you into strong Ninja of Konoha.
You next Ariha-chan.”
Ariha Uchiha, she is one of the better female Kunoichi in my class, two or three places below Tsunade. She isn't a fangirl like some other girls, thankfully. She currently wears a black skirt with shorts underneath. She has a grey mesh shirt with a black tube top over it. There was an Uchiha symbol on the back of her top.
She has the typical black Uchiha eyes and black hair, hers was sleek and shoulder length. She's a cute six-year-old.
“But I already know you Kagami-Oji,” said Ariha in protest.
“Please call me Kagami-sensei when we are not with family from now on and yes you do, but your teammates might not,” explained Kagami. Might be better to address him as Kagami-sensei in my head as well, don't want to mix the two.
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Ariha blushed in embarrassment but nodded nonetheless. She looked at Sakumo and me, “I'm Uchiha Ariha, I like learning fire Jutsu and training with my family. I dislike being wounded because then I can't train. My hobby is...fishing, and my future goal is to invent new super strong fire Jutsu.” She was blushing strongly now, is it bad for an Uchiha to like fishing? Some of the Senju like it and don't hide it.
Kagami smiled at her, he looked slightly proud. It must have been a big thing for her to reveal her hobby then. Better not tell it anyone else.
“You next,” said Kagami-sensei while pointing at Sakumo.
Sakumo made a small bow before he started. “My name is Hatake Sakumo, I am a member of the Hatake-clan and like to train with my sword. I dislike people who think Kenjutsu is easy or who badmouth Kenjutsu. My hobby is to train with my sword and to read. My future is to become well known in the world for my skills with the sword.” Sakumo wore black Ninja pants with bandaged shins. He wears a blue long-armed shirt with the Konoha-Uzumaki spiral on both shoulders. He also has a tantou on his back.
Kagami-sensei nodded and then looked at me. I myself wore black Ninja pants and a black tank top. Over the tank top, I wore a black and red vest with a high collar. The Senju symbol was on the back of my vest and on both sides of my collar.
“I'm Senju Kenshiro, I like my sister Tsunade, training and spending time with my family. I dislike anyone who threatens my sister and stagnation in my training. My hobby is to improve myself, I also really like to come up with new training methods for Chakra control. I don't really have a goal, maybe to become strong enough so that no one will attack Konoha, that way I can protect my sister.” Neither of my Genin teammates commented on my introduction. Ariha looked a little wary and distrustful, but she is an Uchiha and I Senju.
“Great now that we know each other we can start the test,” announced Kagami-sensei with a clap of his hands. Both Ariha and Sakumo were looking at him with question marks.
“What test Sensei?” asked Sakumo warily.
“Kenshiro seems to know, why not explain eh?” Deflected Kagami-sensei with a wink at me.
I sighed, but complied. “There is a second test for every new Genin team, it decides if we are 'worthy' of a Jonin instructor. Each Jonin that is teaching a Genin team is not able to do high-risk missions, which means that the village will lose money when they teach.
They give their Genin team a second test to look if they are worth the time to teach. If not then the Genin are put into the Genin Corps and have to teach themselves. They occasional get class like a lesson by a free Chunin and Jonin or find themselves a Master who teaches them everything the master knows.
With the exception of the last one, a Genin of the Genin Corps has little chance to grow in strength, at least by far not as quickly as a Genin with a Jonin instructor.” When I had finished the other two were looking at me with a wide-open mouth and even Kagami-sensei looked surprised.
“Well, I didn't expect such a precise answer, but he is right. I will give you a test and determine if you are worthy of my time. Meet me at training ground 4 in half an hour.” Kagami-sensei then said and vanished in a leaf shunshin.
“Great, do you know where this training ground is? I always train at the Senju training ground,” I asked the moment he was away.
“I know where, it's a little bit outside of the village, we have to hurry,” answered Sakumo. Both Ariha and I followed him in a fast jog.
It took us almost the whole thirty minutes to reach training ground 4. Ariha was the slowest of us and we had to match our speed to hers. It was an open field, lush green grass and no cover. Kagami-sensei was standing in the middle of it, arms crossed and waiting for us.
“Good you are here; the test is easy. You'll just have to take one of these bells for yourselves. Those who don't get a bell until five p.m. will be either sent back to the academy or into the Genin Corps.” He showed us two bells, before stringing them onto his pants.
“But there are only two bells Kagami-sensei,” pointed Ariha out for the rest of us.
Kagami-sensei chuckled and gave her an evil grin in response. “Accurate observation Ariha-chan. Now, the time is ticking.”
Ariha looked first at me and then at Sakumo, before jumping off to the side, away from all three of us. I looked at Sakumo, who was thinking about the objective. “Hey Sakumo, we need to work together. There is no way for us to beat a Jonin on our own.” Sakumo now looked at me and studied me for a moment before nodding.
“What do you suggest then? I don't think we will be able to take them, even when we work together.”
I nodded and looked over at Ariha, she has had decided that waiting was not going to work and attacked Kagami-sensei. She made a group of four Bunshin and let them run at him while doing the same.
Each of them was walking in patterns so that the Bunshin would be mixed with the real Ariha. All five of them then went through hand signs and she spits out a Great Fireball Jutsu.
The red flaming Chakra ball raced towards Kagami-sensei and burned the grass underneath. Ariha couldn't see it from her position, but Kagami-sensei has used a simple Kawarimi to escape the attack. He has switched with a stone that stood behind Ariha.
“Let's help Ariha, she will soon be overwhelmed. If that happens we have even lower chances,” I said before I went through hand signs and gathered Wind Chakra inside my lungs. “Vacuum Projectile!” The single bullet shot out of my mouth and raced at Kagami-sensei and Ariha.
Ariha was too focused on her own attack to notice Kagami-sensei, but she did see my Jutsu and paled, she wouldn't be able to evade. That was if it would have been aimed at her.
It raced past her and hit Kagami-sensei in the chest. The chest exploded and send mud and dirt everywhere. Ariha has now also noticed Kagami-sensei, or more precisely the destroyed mud clone. She looked surprised as if it was strange that I would help her instead of killing her.
Both Sakumo and I jumped to her. “Ariha, we have to work together. Kagami-sensei is a Jonin, we won't be able to beat him, not alone and not when we are only two,” I said and tried to sense our teacher. He was hiding his Chakra, but not really trying. I could feel him a few dozen meters away from us and below the ground. At the exact same place, he stood at the beginning.
“But there are only two bells.” Argued Ariha.
“We can work out who gets the bells at the end, first we have to have them. Without a bell all three of us lose.” I countered. She was silent for a moment, Kagami-sensei gave us time to think.
She finally nodded and relaxed, she became less guarded towards Sakumo and me, “Okay.”
I looked over at where Kagami-sensei was still underground, he wasn't doing anything. “Good now, I can do two wind attack Jutsu. The Vacuum Projectile and Wind Blade. I also have a Jutsu that can help Ariha with her flame Jutsu. I can also sense Sensei and have a special variation of clones for an attack. What do you have?”
“I am fairly fast and above fresh Genin with my tantou, I could distract him until you two launch a team Jutsu. Then when he is busy with it I could get in and take the bells.” Offered Sakumo. It was risky, if Ariha and my attack were too big or fast he might not get out.
Ariha looked at me, who shrugged. It was a plan and might work. “I can do the Great Fireball Jutsu one more time before I run out of Chakra if we do that we have to do it right.”
“Good, Kagami-sensei is buried underground, still where he stood at the start. You'll have to lure him out Sakumo. Ariha and I will get closer as well and then start our attack. I have a clone with whom you can switch places.” They both agreed to my plan and I made a Shadow Clone. My Chakra has already been filled back to full. Vacuum Projectile uses 10%, but I regenerate that Chakra in a minute if I am not using any.
All four of us run at where Kagami-sensei was hidden. My clone went to the side, out of our blast zone, yet still close enough for Sakumo to jump back after the switch.
Sakumo has now reached Kagami-sensei and used his tantou to pierce the ground. Kagami-sensei has jumped out in return and deflected a follow-up strike of Sakumo with a Kunai. Next, to me, Ariha was going through her hand signs for her fire Jutsu. I did the same for Gust of Wind. It was already LV 10 and as such didn't need a lot of Chakra, but I would have to put a lot more into it than normal.
“Great Fireball Jutsu!” Ariha's fireball flew out of her mouth, burning in bright hot orange.
“Gust of Wind!” I finished only a moment after and started to blow a strong stream of air out of my mouth. It caught up with Ariha's fireball and gave it fuel. The previously bus-sized ball of fire instantly exploded in size and became massive. It changed colour into an angry red, both of us felt the heat of it.
My clone saw that he would be too close and jumped a little back, before switching with Sakumo.
Kagami-sensei was busy with Sakumo, yet saw the massive wall of flames coming closer to them. He tried to grab Sakumo but only saw me, or rather my clone. Shadow Clones aren't well known, Tobirama has just recently invented them.
So Kagami-sensei tried to grab it and jump out of the incoming wall of fire. My clone, however, has not a single ounce of self-preservation and made a grab for the bells. Kagami-sensei was too busy taking my clone and himself out of the danger zone to give it any concern.
He grabbed my clone and used a shunshin to get out of the attack.
I myself have made another clone and let it switch with the other clone the moment I could see it having the two bells. With a puff of smoke, my clones have had switched places and the first clone gave me the two bells before both dispelled. Giving me the memories of how the clone got the bells.
“I think we won Kagami-sensei,” I said with a large grin while holding the bells out to him.
Kagami-sensei was looking at me stupefied, but only for a single second. He wasn't a Jonin for nothing. My two teammates weren't as calm. Both were looking rather ecstatic that we had managed to get the bells.
“Good job Kenshiro-kun, now who will get the other bell?” Asked Kagami-sensei with a calm expression. Both Ariha and Sakumo were looking at me hopefully. I threw each of them a bell.
“But now you don't have a bell any longer,” spoke Sakumo in concern, eyeing his with both relieve and worry.
“Who says I need one anymore?” I asked back and really hoping that this will work. If worse comes then I will have to train on my own, Tobirama and will surely give me some tips.
“What do you mean Kenshiro-san?” Asked Ariha.
“Well, Kagami-sensei said we have to get a bell until five p.m. he never said we have to keep one until after, only to get one. I got two and you got one each. All three of us have had a bell before five p.m.”
“That is not what I meant Kenshiro-kun,” replied Kagami-sensei, “I meant for you to have a bell and keep it. As it is now you will be sent to the Genin Corps.” For a moment I was worried, but I could feel in his Chakra that he was lying. He just wants to see the reaction of Sakumo and Ariha.
I suddenly had to catch the bell of Sakumo, “Take it. You and Ariha-san were the main players, without you we wouldn't have gotten the bells. I was only a distraction.”
Ariha looked at Sakumo in disbelieve that he would give away this opportunity. She bit her lip and then gave me her bell back as well. “Here Kenshiro-san, you will decide who of us two will get in a team with you. Without you, Kagami-sensei would have attacked me after my first Great Fireball and my second would never have become this strong without your support. And Sakumo-san is right, you got the bells and were behind our plan.”
“So, what who will get a bell Kenshiro-kun?” Questioned Kagami-sensei calmly.
I threw my bells at him. “Welp, seems like none of us. You already have my answer. The mission was to get a bell, not to keep it. Changing the mission parameters afterwards is not allowed, in between a mission is okay, but once it is done, well that is against the rules.
If a contractor changes the mission parameter after finishing the mission no one would do his jobs. They could never be sure of his honesty. As far as I see it you either pass all of us or none.” I wanted to add that then everyone will know that he is petty for not manning up his own mistakes, but bit back that part. Antagonizing him now wouldn't help.
He loomed over us, even leaked a little bit of killing intent, before answering. “Hmm, then you three leave me with no other choice than to...pass you all.”
“Huh?” Replied Ariha intelligently.
Kagami-sensei grinned and sat down, we did the same and he started to explain. “While I did mean for you to keep the bells, that was not the true goal of the test, even if the result warns me to choose my words more carefully.” He eyed me with a mock glare. “The real goal was for me to see if you three have the skills of a Genin and more importantly if you are able to work together.
And that you three, you have done wonderfully. Both Kenshiro-kun and Sakumo-kun have instantly realized that they would not be able to beat me alone. And while Ariha-chan needed a bit time to also see that, she quickly agreed to work together. And the plan you three used was also good for the short time you had to come up with.
But Kenshiro-kun, you put Sakumo-kun in danger by firing such a strong fire Jutsu at me and him. He could have been caught in it.”
“He could have not, only if he had resisted the Kawarimi. My clone had him in view the whole time and was ready to switch places.” I answered.
“Yes, what's with your clones anyway? You've used them this morning in the academy as well. They aren't Bunshin, they can pick things up and have a shadow.” Wondered Sakumo out loud.
“They are called Shadow Clones, Tobirama-jii has invented them recently and taught me how to do them. They are really great, but I can only make three before having no Chakra.” I explained a little, not eager to tell them everything about my clones.
“Hokage-sama did?” asked Kagami-sensei surprised.
I nodded “Uhu, they are really great. They can even do Jutsu and think on their own.”
“Can you teach us?” Asked Ariha eagerly, her puppy eyes were strong, but I had given Tobirama a promise.
I shook my head in denial and gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry, no can do. You don't have enough Chakra. Tobirama-jii has said that it is an A-Ranked Kinjutsu. They use too much Chakra and can kill you.”
She pouted but didn't press for it any further. “You must have a lot of Chakra then,” stated Sakumo, a little bit of envy in his tone.
“Yes, how much more Chakra do you have? I mean we both are Genin, and while I do know that women have less it shouldn't be such a difference now.” Asked Ariha, Kagami-sensei was watching us silently.
“Uh, well I think I have at least three or four times as much as you. Hard to say,” I replied with an awkward look and scratch on the back of my head. Both fellow Genin looked at me with stunned expressions.
“No way, how do you have so much Chakra?” Shouted Ariha in disbelieve. Sakumo nodded in agreement, he too couldn't imagine for me to have this much.
“I'd say it is because I'm Senju, but then you'll say you are Uchiha. Well, I told you I like to invent new Chakra manipulation techniques, they help a lot in gaining control and increasing my Chakra. I can teach you some later,” I replied with a little bit of shyness. Not many know about my training. Only my immediate family and even then, only Tsunade knows all of them. They too were surprised by them and have switched over to some of them.
Ariha looked to have remembered something. “Wait, was that what you did today in the academy? The thing you did with the paper?”, she questioned. Kagami-sensei looked intrigued, but stayed silent, choosing to let it play out.
“Yup, you have to use your Chakra to envelope the paper and then fold it with your Chakra alone. You need strength to lift and bend the paper and precision to fold it precisely, while not ripping it. Normal paper is the first step, there are more and harder steps, as well as folding techniques you can do.” I answered proudly.
“So that is what you have to do. I did suspect it to have something to do with Chakra, but I didn't know what. Only Hyuuga Igani-san knew the others haven't had a clue. He must have looked at you with his Byakugan, that cheater.” I couldn't help myself, I had to laugh.
She looked at me strangely, I had to explain. “It's funny, an Uchiha accuses someone else of cheating.” She didn't look happy now, must be a weak point for the Uchiha.
“Kenshiro-kun, we Uchiha may use our Sharingan to copy techniques, but doing that with allies and without consent is frowned upon.” Explained Kagami-sensei with a weak smile.
“Sorry, I didn't know. People just know that you can do it and assume that you'll do it at every opportunity. It's the logical thing to do, gaining strength by copying an unknown technique,” I apologized. She nodded but looked a little sad. Sakumo, who was sitting next to me, said nothing but nodded in agreement.
We became silent. I didn't want to be the only one to keep the talk alive, while Sakumo seemed too shy to do so. Ariha was thinking about something, so it was Sensei who said the next thing. “Anyway, as of now, I take Team Eight as my Genin Team. From tomorrow on we will start missions and train together. This training field will be our default place to meet up. I expect to see all of you at six in the morning.
We will train for four hours and then do one or two missions if there is time left we will continue
training. Sunday is your day off.” With that said he stood up and left in a shunshin.
I stood up as well, patted the dirt off of my trousers and helped Ariha up, before excusing myself. Maybe Tsunade is back from her test.