I may have created a monster. Lee has completely immersed himself in the training exercises I showed him; at least his character aligns with my memories.
"I wonder if he figures out Observation Haki, although with willpower and ambition like his…" I trailed off, just imagining Lee with Conqueror's Haki sounded absolutely terrifying.
We practiced training drills together twice a week at the academy grounds, and he was unsurprisingly quite gifted with Haki. Even though he hadn't awakened it in the past two months, he was well on his way to doing so, maybe within another month or two.
I wanted to help him a little more, but he showed his stubborn side and refused, insisting he needed to beat me through his own training and will.
I pondered, "Should I be proud or scared?" as we parted ways.
The rest of my time was spent learning Fuinjutsu and getting my ass handed to me by Itachi. I don't think my ego will ever recover from being beaten by an eleven-year-old kid all the time.
On the other hand, he was already in Anbu, so I suppose my loss was inevitable. As unpredictable as I could be, he knew most of my tricks by now, and there was no way I could overpower a Jonin-level opponent head-on.
The graduation exam was even easier than I expected. I performed the Replacement Jutsu well and did well in the taijutsu match. The written test isn't even worth mentioning, basic chakra theory and history laced with not-so-subtle village propaganda.
It didn't take long, and I left the academy building with a headband on my forehead.
"Is there a chance I'm replacing a casualty on a Genin team? I doubt there are many early graduates; Itachi was supposed to be the last in Konoha history," I pondered on my way to the shopping district. It was time for a little wardrobe change.
Two days of hard work paid off. I spent most of the day reinforcing my new clothes with Fuinjutsu, especially my newly acquired face mask.
I made sure my mask could function as both a rebreather and a gas mask, hoping no gas would ever take me out. It was my first original Fuinjutsu formula, consisting of a simple storage seal that had breathable air sealed inside it, an absorption seal that could absorb air around me to refill my supply, and a seal that would pump the air inside the mask while preventing anything else from passing through the cloth on the outside.
"I wonder if Kakashi ever did something like this with his mask," I thought as I put on my all-purpose traveling poncho. It too was enhanced with Fuinjutsu, but only with basic seals to help disperse a direct hit.
In fact, those seals were the same as those on all Chuunin and Jonin flak jackets. I will need to get my hands on those as quickly as possible; the poncho is still just a piece of clothing and not actual armor like the vests.
I entered a training ground where I was supposed to meet my team. Located on the outskirts of Konoha, it was mainly composed of forest and a small clearing with stumps serving as target dummies, along with a small stream of water running through.
I spotted my future team sitting near the stumps. At first, I didn't recognize them. The sensei was a tall man with black spiky hair and sunglasses, wearing standard Jonin attire consisting of a dark gray long-sleeved shirt and pants, topped with the standard flak jacket. He didn't look familiar at all.
My teammates were two girls around Itachi's age. One had brown hair and had Inuzuka clan markings on her cheeks, with three little dogs lying at her feet, while the other had a slightly darker shade of brown hair and wore an Uchiha crest on her purple shirt.
The team sensei looked my way as I arrived. "I'm glad you made it on time, Ryuuzaki. Come meet your team," he said, motioning for me to sit down with them.
"My name is Aoba Yamashiro, your Jonin sensei and team leader. Now, please introduce yourself: your name, age, likes, dislikes, dreams, and skills," he continued before letting me speak.
"My name is Ryuuzaki Haruno. I like developing jutsu and experimenting with the known ones. I dislike arrogance and ignorance, especially when both meet in a single person. As for my dreams..." I paused, contemplating what to say, revealing my dream would undoubtedly lead to many questions.
"I'm not sure, to be honest; I just want to live and learn." There was no time for a philosophical debate with anyone now; I needed to consider how much to reveal about my skills.
"As for my skills, I can easily walk on walls and water and am decent at taijutsu, though I doubt I will specialize in it. I create my own ninjutsu, so my specialty would lie there." It was vague enough that they would have to ask for details.
"You create your own jutsu?" asked the Uchiha girl. She didn't sound like she took me seriously, at least not enough to fully believe my claim.
"Yes, so far I have created earth and lightning-based jutsu," I answered, keeping my response as vague as possible. They didn't need to know the specifics of my creations.
"I have been briefed about it by Hokage-sama. From what I've heard, your creations are quite impressive," Aoba interjected, stopping the questioning that would undoubtedly follow.
Thankfully it looked like he was not briefed about my attempt at recreating Rasengan, that would result in a completely different reaction.
"Now you two, introduce yourselves to your new teammate," Aoba ordered. The girls sighed, clearly not done questioning me, especially the Uchiha.
"I'll go first then!" the Inuzuka girl exclaimed, much cheerier than I expected.
"My name is Hana, and I'm from the Inuzuka clan. I like dogs and taking care of them, I dislike cats and waiting for people. My specialization is in taijutsu and clan jutsu. As for my dream, I want to become a great medic." She finished her introduction.
I recognized her name; she was Kiba's sister or cousin, though I couldn't remember which.
I nodded at her and turned my eyes toward the Uchiha.
"My name is Izumi Uchiha. I like my friends Itachi and Shisui, and I dislike needless violence. I specialize in taijutsu and shurikenjutsu. My dream is to get stronger and help people," She introduced herself.
"What kind of luck is this? First, I randomly met Itachi, and now I'm on a team with his girlfriend?" I thought. This situation was becoming more troublesome by the moment.
"Nice to meet you," I said, hoping to at least establish a working professional relationship with my team.
The day went as expected. We ran a few team drills and then took on a D-rank mission. Cleaning pavement from snow was not exactly how I imagined my ninja career starting, but who was I to complain? I would gladly accept D-rank missions if it meant I could train more afterward.
"Why was I assigned to this team, Aoba-sensei? I thought all genin teams had three members plus a Jonin instructor," I asked. It may have been blunt, but I wanted an answer.
Aoba sighed, a sad look crossing his face. "We went on our first C-rank mission, easy bodyguard duty. The client didn't have precise information about the people after him, and apart from bandits, we also ended up fighting two Chuunin-level ninjas. Aoki-kun was injured beyond what the medics could fully fix and had to retire," he explained, the sadness still evident on his face.
"At least I'm not replacing a dead friend," I thought, feeling slightly relieved. "Well, I hope we can get along," I said, quickly changing the subject.
The mission was finally completed after more than three hours of shoveling snow, and the team training began. Aoba wanted to see me fight to help me improve, so I found myself preparing to face my instructor once again.
I didn't remember anything about Aoba, which left his skill set a mystery. I needed to devise a strategy; he was definitely stronger than any Chuunin I had ever fought.
As the signal was given by Hana, we started. Aoba pulled out a few kunai, which soon sped toward me, fueled by his chakra.
"Is he actually taking me seriously? He must have been briefed by Hokage-sama," I thought as I dodged to the side and drew my own kunai.
"Fire Style: Flame Bullet!" Aoba launched his attack. I countered with my original jutsu, "Earth Style: Rock Spike Enclosure." The flaming streak shattered against the wall of spikes I had erected, providing me an opportunity for a counterattack.
The spikes split into numerous needles and raced toward the retreating Aoba.
"Scattering Thousand Crows!" Dozens of crows erupted around Aoba, intercepting most of the needles. I fired the remaining rock spikes, choosing not to split them into smaller projectiles. The crows multiplied, swarming around me, and completely obscuring Aoba from my view.
Little did he know that I didn't need my eyes. I sensed him on my left, preparing his kunai again.
"Two can play mind games," I thought. "If he has information about part my move set from Hiruzen, he should have a critical flaw in his information." I waited for the right moment, acting as if I hadn't noticed him.
"Shiden!" The purple electricity sparked to life around my left arm and barreled toward him the instant a gap opened in his crows for his kunai to pass through. His eyes widened in shock as his kunai was disintegrated, and many of the crows around him moved to intercept my attack. Fortunately for him, my jutsu was low-powered enough that his crows were able to successfully block it.
Seeing my attack thwarted, I decided to change my strategy.
"Let's see how he and his crows handle this," I mumbled to myself as I sank into the ground, using 'Hiding in a Rock jutsu' to move unhindered by the persistent corvids. Aoba quickly realized my tactic and smartly jumped onto a tree branch, avoiding any close-up sneak attacks.
"I believe we might have a stalemate on our hands, Aoba-sensei," I said, emerging from the ground right beneath his tree. I didn't want to fight more than necessary, having already shown another ninjutsu and a new use of my Shiden.
"Quite right, Ryuuzaki. I believe I've seen enough," Aoba agreed. This was fortunate for me because continuing the fight would be troublesome.
I doubted I could have beaten him without utilizing Crystal Release, and even then, it might have gone either way, especially if any of those kunai had hit me.
"It was definitely a jutsu of some kind; it needs further observation," I thought as we moved on to discuss basic team strategies.
I walked toward the Uchiha district to meet Itachi at our training ground. I didn't have to wait, as he was already there practicing his shurikenjutsu.
"Looks like I'm on a team with your girlfriend," I said as soon as he acknowledged my presence. He jumped a little.
"Girlfriend?" he asked, slightly confused, but soon sighed and replied in a resigned tone,
"Do you mean Izumi? She's not my girlfriend, Ryuu." I looked at him, unconvinced.
"Someone is still in denial, I see." If I couldn't beat him in a fight, at least I would make him feel embarrassed. I wondered if the mighty Itachi Uchiha could blush.
I was drenched in sweat as I dodged another fire jutsu, seeking refuge underground for a brief respite.
"Maybe it wasn't a good idea to tease him so much." I thought bittterly, cursing my past self.
It turned out Itachi couldn't handle a little banter among friends; he started unleashing ninjutsu as if we were in a warzone. Next time, I would have to make sure Izumi witnessed this, the poor guy was so in denial, and yet he couldn't argue with my point.
"At least I'm getting more Haki training out of this," I told myself as I used my armament to punch another wave of fire back at Itachi. He didn't hesitate to retaliate, punching it right back.
"All right, that's enough, Itachi. At this point, we're just playing volleyball," I called out to him. He seemed to agree, and the next thing I knew, an immense amount of water was speeding towards me.
I blocked it by erecting a tall wall of dirt and mud, countering by forming the top of the wall into hardened earth staves that I launched his way. Unfortunately, my attack was stopped by his own mud wall.
"Is hard work just a suggestion when it comes to ninjutsu for you?" I yelled.
He kept copying my jutsu and throwing them back almost as strongly as I had executed them. His eyes were really annoying to deal with.
"Where is Bringer of Darkness when you need it the most?" I thought, dodging another of my jutsu that Itachi fired my way.
"Shiden!" I exclaimed as all the mud staves hurtling toward me were disintegrated by my defensive use of the lightning jutsu. At least he couldn't copy jutsu that didn't use hand seals.
We lay on the destroyed training ground, both completely drained of energy.
"You can deny it all you want, but I can see it in your eyes, in your very soul, you do care," I said to him. Now that he couldn't throw any more ninjutsu at me, I felt safe.
"Love is dangerous. It pushes good people to insanity, especially if they lose it," he replied.
"But does that mean you should stop yourself from feeling it?" I asked, genuinely curious about his thoughts. He was silent for a moment before he began to speak again.
"We Uchiha feel love like no other, and when we lose it…" He paused, gathering his thoughts.
"When we lose it, our eyes strengthen. The more powerful our Sharingan is, the more power we desire. Our love, therefore, is in eternal conflict with our very blood." He fell silent again.
I responded, "No matter how heartless you appear, I can't see you killing your loved ones for power." It was true.
Itachi never killed anyone for power; he did it for peace, however misguided or manipulated he may have been. He was a thirteen year-old kid who acted on what he believed was right, all for the path of the least bloodshed.
"This seems to be a question of spirit and will rather than a moral dilemma. Your will and spirit are both powerful, Itachi. More than you know." I continued, thinking maybe if Itachi had more connections to his clan, the massacre wouldn't have been necessary.
It was his distance from the Uchiha clan that made him untrustworthy among its members.
He looked at the sky intently, as if trying to decipher the secrets of the stars.
"It's not like you are any better. You keep your distance from everyone, even your family," he countered, and he was correct.
I truly was distant with everyone. While I wasn't neglectful or resentful towards my family, when I examined it closely, I realized that the emotional bond was not as strong as it could have been.
"I-I'm bad at forming connections with people. No matter who they are, family or stranger, there's little difference to my mind. No matter how much I try, the feelings I should obviously have just aren't there," I admitted, still looking at the sky.
"But I'm trying to do my best to feel. At least I hope I am." Falling silent again, I noticed Itachi out of the corner of my eye; he now had a small smile on his face.
"I'm glad you are aware. That means you can work on it." His smile widened, looking a bit unusual for him, as I was used to his stoic demeanor.
"Maybe you should find yourself a girlfriend too," he suggested with a laugh.
"Not happening anytime soon," I shot back, now smiling as well. Maybe there was more to this new life than just training and fights.