Naruto: Winds and Changes

The art of fuiinjuts, he had read, had a total of three levels.

The first was that of a novice. This was the lowest level of a fuiinjutsu user, and the one he himself was currently at. During this level the most important things for an aspiring fuiinjutsu user was how to write kanji well. The importance of having perfect hand writing could not be underestimated in this art. Naruto had learned the hard way that one wrong brush stroke could have explosive results. After one was able to get perfect kanji, they were to work on increasing the speed of their strokes by creating basic seals like containment scrolls and a few others that the beginner's book gave examples of.

The second level was that of a journeyman. At this level a fuiinjutsu user must work on increasing his or her repertoire of seals. This was done by people making long journeys across the world and copying all of the seals they found along the way. Hence the title journeyman. Most people never progressed past this level because they simply lacked the motivation to make long journeys simply to collect seals. At this level fuiinjutsu users would also begin modifying basic seals and working on creating some of their own.

The third and final level was that of a seal master. This was the level that very few ever reached. Naruto only knew of two people who had reached this level before. Jiraiya of the Sannin who wrote the very book he was reading, and Namikaze Minato, the man who sealed the Kyuubi inside of him. At this level the fuiinjutsu user dedicate themselves to the creation of original and highly complex seals. Naruto had read that the masters of old were so talented that they had been able to create the summoning contracts for the many summoning animal clans that ninja use today. And Naruto had read that the Yondaime had been able to create a jutsu that allowed him to teleport from place to place in an instant through the use of seals.

Naruto was absolutely giddy at the prospect of what seals could do once he reached the level of a master. Unlike nin and genjutsu, which was inflexible due to the fact that they had to use hand seals, sealing had no limits on what it could accomplish. Anything was possible so long as one found the correct formula of seals and brush strokes, the only limit was the users imagination himself.

It was because of this and his interest in the subject that Naruto had taken to reading these books himself, rather than have his clones read them.

For a few minutes no one spoke. However, Sasuke took some time out of his brooding to spot Naruto reading. "What are you reading dobe?" Sasuke asked, curiosity at what could possible interest the dobe into reading, and scoffing at the thought of the blond loser actually being able to read.

Hearing her crushes words Sakura looked over to see Naruto reading as well and scoffed, thinking he was trying to impress her.

Naruto looked up from his book, blinking for a moment before he shrugged and went back to reading. "It's a book on Fuiinjutsu."

Sasuke waited for Naruto to elaborate, when the blond didn't he scowled. "And?"

"What do you mean and?" asked Naruto, flipping a page in his book. "It's a book on sealing, Beginners level two. Not much more to it than that."

Sasuke scoffed. "Like you could ever understand something as complicated as sealing."

"Yeah! That's right! Only Sasuke-kun can understand something as complicated as that! Stop trying to impress me Baka!" Sakura berated Naruto hoping that it would put her in Sasuke's favor.

Naruto growled a bit at the insults, but took a deep breath to keep himself from attacking his soon to be teammates. He was already expecting something like this to happen, so it was not as hard to remain calm as it would have otherwise. Feeling calm again he looked over at Sasuke and smirked. "Now there's no need to be jealous teme, go back to your brooding."

Sasuke scowled but didn't say anything as he went back to plotting the many ways he would kill Itachi… aka brooding.

"Naruto Baka! Don't talk to Sasuke-kun like that!" Sakura yelled, shaking her fists at him menacingly.

Naruto grunted a bit but did not reply, he was beginning to realize that with these two, there was no way for him to win. I guess I just have to prove I'm better then I used to be through my actions. He determined. That's fine by me; I was always more an action kind of guy anyway.

A few minutes later there was a poof of smoke near the three training logs, and Kakashi appeared within. "Good morning everyone!"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura yelled, pointing at the man, and causing all three males to wince.

"Sorry I got lost on the road of life." Kakashi replied in an uncaring manner.

Sakura turned red and was about to reply when Naruto beat her too it.

"I know what you mean." Naruto said, putting his book away and grinning at his scarecrow like sensei. "That damn road has so many twists and turns, it reminds me of a roller coaster."

Kakashi gave Naruto an eye smile. "Well I'm glad to see someone understands me." Both Sakura and Sasuke twitched. Kakashi ignored them as he reached into his pouch, pulling out a clock which he set on the training post in the middle. Reaching back into his pouch he pulled out two bells, which he attached to his pants and then pulled out two bento boxes. "Now then, I am sure you're all wondering about your test." Kakashi paused for a moment as he gave them an eye smile. "The test is simple; you have to get these two bells from me. Those who don't get a bell will be sent back to the academy for remedial training."

This statement was accompanied by three different reactions. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth, determined to get a bell. Sakura paled a bit, her confidence wavering. Naruto however, frowned in thought as he felt something off with that statement, like he was missing something.