FanFic Fiesta Entry! Add this to you library to support me!!
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The air in the classroom was full of anticipation. Yugiri-sensei's words had lit a fire in the eight-year-olds. This wasn't just physical training. This was ninjutsu. The COOL ninjutsu.
"Line up," Yugiri commanded.
One by one, the students walked to the front, their faces a mix of excitement and nerves. Yugiri handed each a small square of paper.
A boy with a stocky build was first. He channeled his chakra. The paper instantly crumpled into a tight, wrinkled ball. "Lightning," Yugiri said, marking her clipboard. The boy beamed, walking back to his seat with a puffed-out chest.
A girl followed. She held the paper, and it split cleanly down the middle.
"Wind."
Another boy. The paper turned to dust and crumbled through his fingers.
"Earth."
The process continued for over twenty minutes. As Yugiri had predicted, the results were overwhelmingly in one category.
Crinkle. Crinkle. Crinkle...
Lightning was the dominant nature of the village, and the class reflected it.
But there was another, strong showing. A red-haired girl, a distant Uzumaki cousin of Raiden's, held her paper, and it became dark and soggy in her grip. "Water," Yugiri noted.
Another "Water." And another. The integration of the "Lower Class" Uzumaki, many of whom carried a strong Water affinity, was clearly visible in the new generation's elemental makeup.
Finally, Yugiri looked to the last row. "You four. Let's go."
Raiden, Karui, Omoi, and Samui stood up.
Karui went first, snatching the paper from Yugiri's hand. She was bouncing on her heels. "Alright, let's see this!" She pushed her chakra into it. Instantly, the paper crinkled violently. "Lightning," Yugiri said.
Karui looked at the wrinkled paper in her hand. "Meh," she said, shrugging. "I'd rather have Fire. Fire's flashier. But I guess Lightning is fine. As long as I can zap people." She tossed the paper and strode back to her seat.
Omoi was next. He took the paper with a trembling hand, his silver hair seeming to droop. "Oh, man," he muttered. "What if I don't have an affinity? What if I'm a dud? What if the paper just... I don't know, turns into candy? What if it tastes good? That'd be weird. Then everyone would try to eat my ninjutsu. I can't be the 'Candy-nin'..."
"Omoi!" Yugiri barked. "Just do it."
"Right! Sorry!" Omoi yelped. He squeezed his eyes shut and pushed his chakra. The paper crinkled so hard it looked like a tiny, failed piece of origami. Omoi opened one eye. Then the other. He stared at the paper. "Lightning..." he whispered. Then his entire demeanor changed. His eyes shot wide, and a massive grin split his face. He shot his fist into the air.
"YEAH! LIGHTNING! JUST LIKE B-SAMA! I'M GONNA BE THE NEXT KILLER B! SEVEN SWORDS AND A LIGHTNING-FAST RHYME, MY POTENTIAL IS SO BRIGHT IT'S A CRIME! YEAH! WATCH OUT, RAIDEN, I'M CATCHING UP!" He ran back to his seat, doing a terrible imitation of B's dance moves.
Samui calmly walked up and took her paper. She held it, channeled her chakra, and watched as it, too, crinkled. "Lightning," Yugiri noted. Samui simply nodded. She placed the crinkled paper on Yugiri's desk and returned to her seat with no fuss.
"Raiden. You're last."
The room, which had been buzzing from Omoi's outburst, went quiet. Everyone watched. Even Karui and Omoi stopped their bickering to look. Raiden, the white-haired kid who beat everyone in spars, the one who talked back to the Raikage. What would he get?
Raiden walked to the front, his expression unreadable. His golden-yellow eyes were fixed on the small paper Yugiri held out. He took it.
He stood there for a second, feeling the strange, fibrous texture. Then, he did as he was taught, pulling on the massive well of energy inside him and pushing a tiny, controlled stream into the paper.
At first, something weird happened. The paper... split.
Shhpt.
But it didn't split in two, like the Wind-user's had. It split into three perfectly equal, triangular pieces, all still connected at the very center of his palm. Yugiri's eyes narrowed. "Wind release... but a sloppy one? I've never seen it split in three." Raiden thought the same. 'Wind? That's... unexpected.'
But then it happened. Before Yugiri could even mark "Wind" on her clipboard, the top-left triangle of paper instantly became dark and soggy, dripping water onto his palm. Yugiri's hand froze.
'Water?' Raiden's mind raced. "Oh... my..." Yugiri whispered. The class was silent, trying to see what was happening. "Two affinities... He has two affinities..." Having two affinities wasn't unheard of, but it was rare, especially in Kumo.
But that wasn't all. As if to defy her very words, the top-right triangle of paper suddenly crinkled with a sharp, static-filled sound. It wrinkled into a tight ball, identical to Karui's and Omoi's.
Raiden stared at his palm. One paper. One test. Three results. One-third: Split. One-third: Damp. One-third: Crinkled. Wind. Water. Lightning.
Yugiri-sensei just stared, her eyes wide, her professional demeanor completely gone. The clipboard slipped from her numb fingers and clattered to the stone floor. "Three..." she breathed.
"Three what, sensei?" one of the kids in the front row asked.
"Did he fail?"
"What does 'three' mean?"
Yugiri looked up from the paper to Raiden's face, her expression one of pure, unadulterated shock. She straightened herself, taking a deep breath to regain her composure. "It means..." she said, her voice unsteady, "that Raiden Uzumaki has three elemental affinities."
The class was shocked as fuck. A second of silence, and then...
"WHAT?!"
"NO WAY!"
"THREE OF THEM? IS THAT EVEN LEGAL?" Omoi's jaw was on his desk.
"Oh, man. Three. I just have one. He has three. That's... that's just not fair. He's already got the hair, now he's got all the elements? I'm doomed to be his sidekick." Karui just stared, her competitive spirit ignited. "Three, huh?" she grinned. "Doesn't matter. I'll just have to get good enough with my one to beat all three of his." Samui just nodded, her eyes narrowed in thought. "Interesting."
The bell rang, signaling the end of the day. The kids swarmed Raiden, shouting questions, but Yugiri barked, "CLASS DISMISSED! EVERYONE OUT! NOW!" The kids, startled by her tone, grabbed their gear and filed out. "See you tomorrow, Raiden!" Karui called out. "Don't go getting a big head!" Omoi added, still looking jealous.
Once the room was empty, Yugiri looked at Raiden, who was still staring at the bizarre three-part paper. "Go home, Raiden," she said, her voice strained. "Sensei, what-"
"Go home. Now. We will talk about this tomorrow." Raiden, recognizing a command when he heard one, nodded. He let the paper drop to the floor and walked out.
The moment the door slid shut, Yugiri snatched the paper off the floor. She stared at it. It was true. Wind. Water. Lightning. And all from one test. They were all... balanced. She didn't grab her bag. She didn't sign out. She bolted from the classroom. She ran down the Academy's stone halls, her boots slamming on the steps. She burst out onto the high bridges, ignoring the startled looks from other shinobi. She didn't wait for the lifts. She used a burst of chakra to leap down two levels, landing hard and sprinting toward the central tower. This was beyond Academy business. This was Kage-level.
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A, the Fourth Raikage, was enjoying a rare moment of peace. The "non-paperwork hours," as he called them. He was in his private office, not the formal one, sipping hot tea. Across from him sat an old, old man. His face was a roadmap of wrinkles, his long, faded red hair tied back in a simple tail. This was Fuso Uzumaki, one of the original "Lower Class" survivors and the most respected elder of the Uzumaki in Kumo.
SLAM! The reinforced door to the office burst open, slamming against the stone wall. Yugiri-sensei stood there, panting, her flak jacket askew. A's head snapped up, his calm instantly replaced by a simmering rage.
"Yugiri," he growled, his voice like grinding stones. "You had better have a valid reason for bursting into my office. Especially... during my non-paperwork hours." Yugiri flinched. The pressure rolling off the Raikage was suffocating. "I... Raikage-sama... I apologize, but-"
"You know," the old man, Fuso, started. He took a slow sip of his tea. "You really are a perfect copy of your father, A. He had the same terrible temper when his peace was disturbed." A's gaze snapped to the elder. He instantly deflated, his rage vanishing, replaced by respect. "Uncle Fuso," A said, his voice now calm.
"Let the girl speak, brat," Fuso said, a slight smile on his lips. "She wouldn't be here if it wasn't a matter of village security. She's a good Chūnin." A sighed, leaning back. "Fine. What is it, Yugiri? And it had better be good."
"It's... it's the boy, Raikage-sama," Yugiri said, stepping forward. "Raiden Uzumaki." A's eyebrow raised. "What did he do now?"
"No, sir. Nothing. Today was the chakra affinity test." She held out the small, mangled piece of paper. "This... is his result."
A took the paper and looked at it. His eyes narrowed. "Wind, Water, and... Lightning. All at once?"
"Yes, sir," Yugiri said. "They manifested simultaneously. In perfect balance."
A stared at the paper. His mind, the mind of a Kage, was already racing. Three elements. "So he has a chance," A whispered, a wild, excited look entered his eyes. "He has a chance to create a Kekkei Genkai!" Yugiri looked confused.
"Sir? A Kekkei Genkai? But those are bloodline... I just thought... maybe..."
"No, you little fool!" A said, standing up, his massive frame radiating excitement. "Kekkei Genkai are usually a bloodline. But new ones can be created by combining two, and he has THREE elemental natures! It's incredibly rare! Most shinobi can't even master two, let alone three at the same time! But if he has a natural, balanced affinity for all of them... he could create a brand new Kekkei Genkai!" A wide, happy grin spread across his face. "A new, proprietary Kekkei Genkai, born in Kumo! The military applications...!"
"Shut up for a minute, brat."
Fuso's quiet words cut through A's excitement like a kunai. The elder held out his ancient, wrinkled hand. "Let me see the paper." A, instantly sobered by the elder's tone, handed it over. Fuso brought the paper close to his old eyes. He stared at it. His eyes, usually half-lidded and calm, widened. They widened more than A had ever seen them. A cold dread settled in A's stomach. "Yugiri," Fuso said, his voice suddenly cold, not looking up from the paper. "Leave us." "Uncle?" A asked. "Leave us. Now. This is no longer an Academy matter." Yugiri, terrified, bowed low. "Yes, sir! Raikage-sama!" She quickly backed out of the room, pulling the door shut.
The silence in the office was heavy. "Uncle Fuso," A said, his own voice now deadly serious. "What is it?" Fuso slowly, carefully, placed the paper on the table. "A... you know that before I turned against my village... I was one of the Upper Class. Correct?" A's expression turned grim. He knew the story. He had heard it from his father, the Third, who had considered Fuso a brother.
Fuso had been a prodigy, a 'pureblood' of the highest order. He had fallen in love with a Lower Class woman. A 'Dreg'. When his family found out, they made an example of her. They had her publicly beheaded right in front of him. A still remembered Fuso's words... how even as the blade fell, she had looked at him, smiled, and mouthed 'I love you. I don't regret it.' That day, Fuso's loyalty had died. His love was replaced by a cold, patient hatred. He became the most important asset in Kumo's plan.
"Yes, Uncle," A said quietly. "I know."
"And you know what my position was?" Fuso asked, his eyes distant. "You were the Head of Intelligence for Uzushio," A replied. "Correct," Fuso rasped. "Using sealing techniques that are now lost forever, we were able to create... things. Ways to spy. Ways to gather information that no other village could. We always had deep, deep details on all the important and strong ninjas in the world. We had... files. On everything."
Hearing this, A went silent. He'd thought about it before. The power of a united Uzushiogakure... it would have been terrifying. The world was lucky they were so arrogant. A sighed and settled back into his chair, bracing himself for the information that was coming.
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