Chapter 3: A Touch of Frost
The boy standing before Tsunade was thin, his frame hinting at a past where meals were uncertain and life was fragile. His black hair was lank, and his complexion lacked the robust health typical of a Konoha-born child. He was a stark contrast to the shinobi of his purported homeland.
"He doesn't look much like the shinobi from Kumo," Shizune murmured under her breath, her observation quiet but precise. The ninja of Kumogakure were renowned for their formidable physiques, all dense muscle and imposing stature, often with thick, expressive features. This Uchiha boy, however, was built with a wiry leanness, his lips thin and pressed into a neutral line rather than the full, often downturned mouths she associated with Cloud shinobi.
I wonder if he'll grow to look like them, she thought, her gaze lingering on his face for a moment too long.
"Flashlight," Tsunade commanded, her voice slicing through Shizune's reverie.
"Ah! Yes, right away!" Shizune fumbled slightly in her ninja pouch, her cheeks warming as she retrieved the small diagnostic tool. When she looked up to hand it over, her eyes met Takumi's. He offered her a small, understanding smile. Her heart gave a little skip. She quickly averted her gaze, feeling a flush of embarrassment. She had been caught staring, and it was terribly impolite.
"You're a rare Uchiha who smiles," Tsunade commented, her tone laced with a dry amusement as she took the light. She directed the beam into Takumi's active Sharingan, watching the pupil contract. "I suppose that's what happens when you're raised outside the village. You're nothing like the dour, prideful lot we have here."
To be frank, if the Hokage hadn't insisted due to the political sensitivity of the situation, she would have refused the request outright. The Uchiha compound was a place of old tensions, and her hemophobia made any clinical examination a potential minefield.
"Your eyes are very beautiful, Tsunade-sama," Takumi said, his voice calm. "They look like they hold starlight."
Tsunade's free hand twitched, curling almost imperceptibly into a fist. If this Uchiha brat thought he could flatter her with empty, childish lines, he was about to learn the hard way that her patience had a very short fuse. "Oh?" she prompted, her voice dropping a dangerous octave.
"When you were examining me," Takumi continued, his single tomoe eye meeting her glare without flinching, "I could see the focus in your eyes. You are a legend of Konoha, a Sannin, yet you treated my insignificant case with such dedication. I've read stories about great healers in the village archives. You are the renowned doctor from those stories, the one who saves people."
"Tsunade-sama is the strongest medical-nin in Konoha. Of course she is a renowned doctor," Mikoto added from the side, a gentle laugh in her voice. She seemed to find Takumi's earnest admiration endearing, a sign of a simple, youthful heart.
Tsunade relaxed her hand. So, it was a clumsy but genuine compliment to her skill, not a impertinent remark about her appearance. The kid was just bad with words. Or perhaps he was a little too good with them.
"If I could learn medical ninjutsu like that," Takumi ventured, his voice filled with a carefully measured hope, "I could help others in the same way. I would be honored to follow in your footsteps, Tsunade-sama."
"Medical ninjutsu requires a strong affinity for Yang-release chakra," Tsunade stated flatly, straightening up and concluding her examination. "Without it, you'd be wasting your time and mine." She turned to Mikoto. "I'll review some historical texts when I return to see if there's any precedent for this kind of partial awakening. In the meantime, I'll send another capable medical-nin, Yakushi Nono, for a follow-up. She's excellent with… delicate cases."
With a final, appraising glance at Takumi, Tsunade swept out of the room, her green haori flaring behind her. Shizune offered a quick, apologetic bow before scurrying after her master.
"Rest well, Takumi-kun," Mikoto said, her expression warm. "We will arrange your enrollment in the Academy soon. Try to settle in." With that, she too took her leave, sliding the door shut and leaving Takumi in the sudden, profound quiet of the room.
The silence felt heavier than before. "So much for that," Takumi murmured to the empty air. "I'm not the fabled child of prophecy, after all." He hadn't expected Tsunade to take him on as an apprentice, not really. A few honeyed words couldn't overwrite a lifetime of Senju-Uchiha rivalry and her own personal demons. Her refusal was a predictable outcome in the cold calculus of Konoha's politics.
Yet, he wasn't disheartened. Tsunade had mentioned Yakushi Nono. That was the thread he needed to pull. If he played his cards right, he could still secure a teacher. The Uchiha clan, for all its prowess, had no master medical-nin. Their destiny was the Konoha Military Police Force—crowd control in peace, frontline cannon fodder in war. They learned first-aid, not advanced regeneration. The only Uchiha who seemed to have a surgeon's skill was Madara himself, capable of performing ocular transplants on a whim in the middle of a battlefield.
His interest in medical ninjutsu was born of stark pragmatism. The shinobi world was a place of glass cannons; a single, well-placed kunai could end a legend. If Sasuke, with his Rinnegan, could be blindsided and maimed by a simple blade, what hope did he have? Immediate medical intervention could mean the difference between life and death, between wholeness and a limbless future. Not everyone could be lucky enough to receive prosthetics woven from the cells of the First Hokage.
He had taken a risk before coming to Konoha, spending most of his scant savings to have a wandering chunin assess his chakra nature. The result had confirmed his suspicion: he had a natural affinity for Yang-release. Not everyone was born with it—Sasuke, for instance, lacked it entirely, just as Naruto lacked Yin. While chakra natures could be trained, it was a process that took years. A natural affinity was a priceless head start.
Rising from the tatami, he walked to the window and pushed it open. The persistent drizzle was finally easing, leaving the world washed clean and dripping. A cool, damp breeze, carrying the scent of wet earth and pine, flowed into the room, raising goosebumps on his skin. The autumn air had a bite to it, a promise of the coming winter.
Takumi watched a rain-soaked leaf detach from a branch and spiral down to the muddy ground. A slow, determined smile touched his lips.
"It's nothing," he whispered to himself. "Just a little bit of wind and frost."
He already had the beginnings of a plan. Yakushi Nono was the future director of the Konoha Orphanage, a woman who would eventually join the shadowy Root organization for the sake of the children in her care. In this vast, cruel world, everyone had their motivations. Some craved power until their dying breath, others saw it as worthless and sought immortality. And Yakushi Nono… her weakness was children.
The Next Day - Konoha Ninja Academy
The classroom hummed with the low energy of students settling into their routines. "Class, we have a new student joining us today," the chunin instructor announced. "This is Uchiha Takumi."
All eyes turned to the boy at the front of the room. He was slender, with a quiet intensity about him. He picked up a piece of chalk and, with practiced ease, wrote his name on the blackboard. The characters were clean, precise, and elegantly formed.
"His handwriting is so nice," Nohara Rin commented softly from her seat.
"Hey, Rin, I heard he's from the Land of Lightning," Uchiha Obito whispered, leaning over with a conspiratorial frown. In his mind, all shinobi from Kumo were brutish and untrustworthy. He made a silent vow to ensure Rin wasn't fooled by this new guy's polite exterior.
Takumi offered a small, polite bow. "I look forward to learning with you all," he said, his voice calm and clear. He then took the empty seat by the window in the back row, as the instructor had directed.
"Alright, settle down. Let's begin today's lesson on chakra theory," the instructor said, clapping his hands together.
While the Uchiha's reputation in the village was complex, Academy instructors often appreciated them as students—they were typically disciplined, sharp, and academically gifted. Takumi, despite being a transfer, followed the lesson with focused attention, his notes as neat as the handwriting he'd displayed on the board.
When the bell for break finally chimed, the classroom erupted into chatter.
Rin, ever friendly, made her way over to his desk. "Takumi-kun, is it true you came from the Land of Lightning?"
"Yes, that's right," he replied, looking up from the textbook he was reviewing.
"Are you able to keep up with the lessons? It must be difficult, transferring in like this," she asked, her concern genuine.
"I'm managing," Takumi said, closing his current book and picking up another on basic ninjutsu theory. He skimmed a page before looking at her, a faint, hopeful expression on his face. "Nohara Rin-san, actually, I was wondering... would you be willing to teach me some of Konoha's foundational ninjutsu?"
(End of Chapter)