Naruto : Path of Wind

The trip back to the Academy is a quick one, and I find my team lounging on the roof after a few minutes of stalking the halls with no success. Sakura, it turns out, is the quiet one with the pink hair that always got full marks on the written exams.

She's wearing a battle dress cut off at the knees the color of the leaves that constantly hang over Konoha, and the cloth holding her headband on her forehead is much the same.

I give her my most approachable smile and introduce myself, but all she does is wave shortly back. Weird.

"So you managed to con the Sandaime out of a headband after all," Sasuke jabs. I wave him off haughtily.

"As if. Old man Hokage knows he can't afford to pass me by," I scoff. Sakura tries and fails to stifle a giggle. Ouch.

"That's it, then?" Sasuke asks, eyes flicking to the scroll clutched under my arm. I grin.

"In all its glory." Strolling over to stone bench, I slap the scroll down. I notice that it's been sealed with the official insignia of the Hokage and Konoha, red ink and everything. A little shiver runs down my spine. "What do you think he gave me?" I trace the insignia, identical to the one on my forehead.

"I bet you'll find out if you open it," Sasuke suggests.

"Maybe it's an A-rank Fuuton jutsu. Or, or, maybe it's some long lost Taijutsu style the old man found way back when he wasn't old," I babble excitedly. A sudden thought occurs to me. "What if it's an S-rank Fuuton jutsu?" Sasuke groans.

"Fine, fine," I acquiesce. "You Uchiha and your impatience," I lament. Gently, ever so gently, I prick the seal off. I'm tempted to close my eyes, but I get the feeling the time for messing around is over. I silently unravel the scroll, Sasuke watching like a hawk over my shoulder, and immediately chance upon the title of the jutsu.

"No way," I breathe. Yet the jutsu's name stands stark and bold amongst the rest of text, clear as day.

Uzumaki Style: Heavenly Chakra Chains.

"Is that-?" Sasuke exclaims in surprise. My eyes move down the scroll.

The Heavenly Chakra Chains jutsu is one of many unique to the late Uzumaki clan of Uzushiogakure, and is reputed as one of the most powerful. It is a jutsu exclusive to the Uzumaki clan because of the quality of their chakra, which is specifically required for the Heavenly Chakra Chains to serve their purpose.

In short, to perform the Heavenly Chakra Chains a shinobi must have an expert grasp over shape manipulation and an above average store of Uzumaki chakra.

The shinobi shapes their chakra into several links of chain, the size of which is for the shinobi to decide, assuming they have enough chakra to compensate. These chains can then be used to disrupt jutsu, act as extended appendages of sorts, or, as they are primarily used for, subdue opponents.

Special Uzumaki chakra? That can't mean what I think it means. No, the old man wouldn't have made such a big deal out of my defect if it ran in the family, right? Maybe...

I slowly unravel the scroll further, revealing an illustration of a dozen pure white links of chain erupting from a featureless shinobi and entangling around the throats of as many similarly featureless shinobi.

A wall of text greets me next, detailing the particulars of shape manipulation and theories behind the Uzumaki chakra and the role it plays in the jutsu. And above it, at the very top, in bright red lettering.

S-rank Ninjutsu.

Sasuke whistles from his place beside me. "Yeah, that's definitely one of them."

Them, in this case, was the stash of secret clan jutsu that had made the Uzumaki clan so famous in the Second Great Shinobi War. It was what prompted Iwa to wipe them out in the first place. The Uzumaki clan and Uzushiogakure as a whole had been close allies with Konoha up until that point, so the Academy touched briefly on them and their vague clan techniques several times over the years.

The day we first went over their part in the Second Great Shinobi War was actually the first I'd ever heard of my clan, and sadly enough the lessons that followed never quite managed to sate my almost desperate curiosity.

I still don't know what my mother's name is, much to my frustration. Or maybe my father was the Uzumaki. Not like I'll be finding out anytime soon- even the libraries don't have anything besides the generic wartime info.

"What are you two looking at?" Sakura suddenly asks right beside my left ear. I jerk back in surprise, allowing her to lean forward and study my scroll. Not a moment later she gasps, snapping up to stare at us with wide, excited grass green eyes.

"Do you know what this is!?" She cries, grabbing up the scroll and pointing at the illustration. "This is one of the seven Uzumaki Yokai techniques! They restrained Bijuu with this in the Second Great War." She waves her free arm frantically at the scroll. "It's been lost for decades!"

Seven Uzumaki what now? I rack my brain for a moment but come up woefully short on the phrase. "Looks like I'm being groomed for Hokage sooner than I thought," I crack instead, mentally filing away that particular piece of information for future research.

"Where'd you learn that?" Sasuke asks Sakura curiously. And just like that Sakura's bubbly excitement is gone, replaced with a flushed face and eyes firmly fixed on her feet.

"Oh, ah, I read it in a library somewhere," she mumbles, holding my scroll out meekly. I carefully reach out and grab it, rolling it up and securing it under my arm once more. An awkward silence falls over us. Time for a seamless segue.

"... So hey, where's this Kakashi guy?"

Damn I'm good.

Sasuke shrugs. "Iruka says he doesn't make a habit of showing up on time. Or anywhere in the general vicinity of on time."

"Well that sucks." I glance around listlessly. The rooftop is devoid of just about anything interesting, aside from a couple water towers on the far side. Hm. "Wanna spar?" I offer.

"Of course."

After a few moments carefully, carefully propping my S-rank clan jutsu up against the rails that surround the roof's perimeter, I walk out into the middle of the concrete where Sasuke is already limbering up into his fruity little Taijutsu stance. I crane my neck side to side, breathing deeply.

"Alright, let's keep this one restricted. I'd rather not spend my first week as a shinobi doing repair work because your dumbass set the Academy on fire."

Sasuke humphs. "Weapons?"

I glance uncertainly back at Sakura who's currently trying and failing to watch us discretely. "Let's say no projectiles this round. Anything else is good."

Sasuke scowls. "You know I don't use anything but shuriken in the first place," he says accusingly.

"Regardless. Let's do this!" I shout, hands flashing into my weapons pouch and each yanking out a double-ended kunai. Sasuke streaks towards me, surging for the same weak spot he always goes for at the beginning of our spars. I let my iron grip on my chakra loosen and spin around his stiff-fingered jab, bringing my right hand around in a slash shrieking with the wind-

A sharp pain flares up in the back of my head, and there's the ground. A grunt escapes my soon to be bloodied lips as I slam face first into the concrete. The unforgiving pressure of a sandaled foot appears on small of my back, preventing me from getting up.

"Now, now," An adult shinobi's voice chides above me. "That was hardly polite starting without me, you two. We haven't even introduced ourselves yet!"

And that must be Kakashi. So much for a first impression. The pressure disappears from my back, allowing me to climb to my feet, rubbing at my aching face. I fix my attacker/sensei with my fiercest glare.

Said attacker merely smiles cheerfully back. Or, I think he smiles. A facemask covers the bottom half of his face completely, and his headband is sagging over his left eye, leaving only a crinkled right eye bare.

Aside from that, a forest green jounin issue flak jacket not unlike Sakura's battle dress, worn with years of hard use, hangs comfortably on the man's wiry form. The rest of his garb is a solid navy blue, same as his facemask.

"That was a cheap shot," I grumble, reaching down for my two scattered kunai.

"Good thing thing I'm not a samurai!" Kakashi replies happily. "Now have a seat, you two." Reluctantly, I grab my scroll and sit down on the bench next to Sakura. Sasuke silently takes his place on my other side.

Kakashi leans back against the railings, crossing his arms over his chest. "So, introductions. How about you start us off, Pinky."

Sakura's eyes widen. "Ah, what should I say, sensei?"

"Nothing too extensive. Just your name and some likes, dislikes, and dreams for the future should do for now," he answers easily. Sakura nods slowly.

"My name is Haruno Sakura," she says quietly. "I like reading and researching the Yokai Corps. I dislike bullies and the Bijuu." She draws herself up, hands bunching in her lap. "And one day I dream of joining the Yokai Corps and helping to protect Konoha!" She declares determinedly. I shoot her a thumbs up, but she simply faces firmly ahead.

Note to self. Figure out what's wrong with Sakura.

"Interesting," Kakashi drawls. "Your turn, Uchiha."

Oof. Right off the bat, too.

"My name is Sasuke," Said Uchiha insists, tone steely. "My likes are training and tomatoes. My dislikes are people that compare me to others. My goal as a shinobi is to make a name for myself, separate from my family or anything else." Kakashi taps his chin thoughtfully.

"Also interesting. Now you, shorty. Introduce yourself."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," I begin, brushing off the jab. "My likes are ramen and studying the shinobi arts. My dislikes are pessimists and cheaters. My dream is to master my chakra defect and become a great shinobi!" Kakashi nods in acceptance.

"Noted." His eye crinkles into a smile. "Well, you three aren't the worst graduates I've ever seen. In fact, I think we're going to have a great time together." His head tilts ever so slightly, his single gray eye regarding us intently.

"That is, if you pass the test."

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