Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the copyrighted material.

A dark haired boy stood before his instructor's desk; running a pale hand through his shortly cropped hair in anticipation. He smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothing which consisted of navy blue shinobi sandals, gray cargo pants, a black undershirt, and his prized white over-shirt that featured a large, zip-up collar, and a huge, black eagle emblem across its entire back. His onyx colored eyes glanced at the glinting headbands that had his village's emblem engraved upon their metal plates; they were resting face up, right next to the instructor's left arm. The middle aged man inspected the paper in his hands with a stern expression, while periodically glancing up at the boy before returning his gaze to the report. Sweat began to accumulate on the boy's forehead as he gulped with anxiety. "Come on," he thought, "Everyone else got their headbands without much delay, why is mine taking so long? There's no way that I failed any of the tests." A frown spread across the instructor's face, accompanied by a look of disappointment.

"Alright, maybe not." the boy said under his breath. The man's gaze shot up to meet the boy's, "Do you have something to add, Kenji?"

"Uh, no sir!" replied the startled boy. The man grunted in response before he chuckled and stamped the paper with a grin on his face. With a puzzled expression, Kenji read the paper that was handed to him.

Academy Final Exam Results

Student's Name: Uchiha Kenji

Gender – Male

Age: 12

Height: 5'0"

Weight: 103 lbs

Elemental Affinity: Lightning

Scores:

Ninjutsu – Outstanding

Taijutsu – Below Average

Chakra Control – Excellent

Shuriken Proficiency – Above Average

Strength – Average

Speed – Above Average

Intelligence – Excellent

Hand Seals – Above Average

Total Score: 88%

"You should've seen the look on your face, it was priceless!" jived the instructor. Kenji breathed a sigh of relief as he pocketed the piece of paper. "Ah ha, very funny, sensei." remarked the boy in a sarcastic tone.

"Seriously though Kenji, you did good. Not many people graduate with those kind of scores." Kenji scratched the back of his head with a goofy grin on his face, "Yeah, I'm sure you're right, but they're probably no where near as good as my sister's scores were."

The man chuckled once more before handing Kenji a headband; symbolizing his official induction into the ranks of the Kyougakure shinobi. "Well, that's definitely true," the older man paused as he hid his mouth behind his hand in a whispering fashion, "But she's a freak of nature! I mean seriously, who scores a ninety two on their final exam at eight years old? I'll bet Sasuke Uchiha himself didn't pull that one off. It's insane!"

Kenji respected his sensei and recognized his joking tone, so he didn't take offense at his statement; in fact, he found it quite funny. "He he, I guess you're right, Arata-sensei. She's definitely freaky, that's for sure." The boy's grin started to fade as his thoughts turned towards his older sister. She had only recently been assigned a mission, and that usually meant she would be gone for at least a week because hardly any of her missions were below B rank. His free hand subconsciously raised to his neck in order to touch his most prized possession. He smiled a bit as he recalled the day that he received the precious necklace.

-Flashback-

"Come on, Kenji-kun! You've gotta run faster than that if you want to beat me!" exclaimed a young girl as she quickly dashed across the playground. Her name was Haya Namikaze, and although he may have been the smartest student of their class, Kenji could never match her amazing speed. The boy groaned in annoyance just a couple seconds after losing the race; panting to catch his breath. "That's not fair, Haya-chan! You're too fast! You've got to be using some sort of jutsu to increase your speed!" The little girl just giggled and straightened her sunshine blond hair. "Nope! That was all me! But, I can show you my new jutsu if you want."

Kenji's gaze shot up from the ground and met the girl's sky blue eyes. "You know a new jutsu?!" Although he would never admit it, the boy prided himself on being the student who knew the most jutsu. So when one of his classmates learned a new one, he always made sure to either learn it or learn a completely new jutsu to stay ahead. "Yup! My dad taught it to me. Wanna see it?"

He nodded his head ferverously as Haya walked over to a nearby slide and jumped to the top of it. "Okay, stay there and don't move!" exclaimed the girl as she put her right hand in front of her face and formed a half ram seal. Kenji's jaw dropped as she vanished and almost instantly appeared right in front of him. "What was that?!" the startled boy asked as he pointed at the top of the slide. Haya opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by the sound of clapping. Both Kenji and Haya turned to the side to discover the source of the clapping. What met their eyes was a beautiful girl in her late teens who was leaning against the chain link fence with a small smile on her face. She had waist length, silky black hair, onyx colored eyes, and tanned skin that showed the scars of being an experienced shinobi. She had no make up on, but no one would say that she needed it; her natural beauty made her the envy of many women in Kyougakure. She folded her arms across her chest before speaking in a familiar tone, "That, pipsqueak, was a C-ranked Shunshin no Jutsu performed with a half seal. Very impressive Haya-san."

The smaller girl positively beamed at the older shinobi's praise; not too many villagers could say that they've been complimented by such a reputable ninja. "Arigatou, Natsuki-sama!" Haya exclaimed with a polite bow.

"Nee-chan!" Kenji practically screamed as he crashed into the woman to give her a crushing hug. The teenager let loose a soft laugh as she returned the embrace. Haya couldn't help but giggle at her best friend's antics, it was like he was a whole different person around his sister. "I thought you were supposed to be on your mission until tomorrow." stated Kenji with an ear splitting grin on his face.

"Oh, I was, but I finished it a day early so I could make it home before you went to bed. Didn't think I'd miss your illustrious tenth birthday, now did ya, pipsqueak?" The boy stepped back a tiny bit and scratched the back of his head. "Nope! How long can you stay before your next mission?"

Her smile widened a bit as she re-crossed her arms, "Well, since I did so well on the last one, they decided to give me a week off, starting tomorrow." Kenji jumped into the air with excitement filling his eye, "Yosh! Let's go have some fun then!"

She ruffled her brother's hair and responded with a smirk, "That's gonna have to wait until tomorrow, pipsqueak, I'm exhausted right now."

"Oh, alright then, Nee-chan. I guess we should go home then, huh?" the boy asked with the tiniest of frowns.

"Yes, but not before I give you your birthday present." stated the sister as she pulled out a small, brown leather bag that was tied shut at the top with a golden thread. She handed it to Kenji before giving him a quick hug. "Happy birthday, Kenji."

With a look of ecstatic joy on his face, the boy opened the bag and pulled out a metallic necklace that featured a dragon's head held aloft by a medium sized chain. The dragon's head had its mouth open as if it were roaring in a declaration of pride; the entirety of the necklace was made out of some pitch black metal that gleamed as if it were glass. Kenji carefully gripped the necklace in his hand and hugged his sister once more. "Arigatou, nee-chan. It's so cool!"

"You're welcome, pipsqueak. Just don't lose it, alright?" responded the tired, but happy shinobi. Kenji quickly clasped the new gift around his neck and grinned, "Never, it's staying right here!"

Natsuki smiled softly before speaking, "Alright then, I'm going home. Catch up when you're done saying goodbye to Haya-san." With a wave towards the blonde haired girl, the shinobi effortlessly jumped over the fence and began walking down the street.

At this point, the only person who's eyes were wider than Kenji's was Haya's. "Um, Kenji-kun? Do you have any idea what that necklace is made out of?"

The boy scratched his head before shrugging, "I don't know, I've never seen anything like it before. I don't care what it's made out of though, nee-chan gave it to me, so I'm keeping it."

The little girl smiled before gesturing to the necklace, "Well, my family has a dagger that looks exactly like that, and it's made of obsidian. It's a really rare type of glass that only comes from volcanoes."

Kenji's eyes widened at this, "Volcanoes! But the nearest one has to be at least a few hundred miles from here!"

Haya nodded her head, "Yup! That necklace has to be worth an entire A-ranked mission's pay! You should really look after it, I've never seen a more expensive gift."

Kenji clutched the necklace tightly; he was at a loss for words.

-Flashback End-

The boy snapped out of his reminiscence when his sensei poked him on the forehead. "Yo, Kenji! Are you alright? You spaced out there for a second." Kenji shook his head to clear the memories and focus. "Yes, sensei, I'm fine. Sorry about that."

Arata shrugged and gestured to the door, "Alright then, you are now officially promoted to the rank of Genin. Report to the academy assembly hall tomorrow at noon for your first assignment. Now go on, I'm sure your uncle is waiting for you outside."

Kenji formally bowed and walked out of the room. Upon closing the door, he heard a squeal and turned around just in time to get a crushing hug from an all too excited Haya. Over the past couple of years, her hair had grown out quite a bit, so she usually kept it tied in a low pony tail that rested on her right shoulder, while also having a sky blue hair band on her head that kept her large bangs out of her face. Her skin tone had darkened a bit as well, giving it a light reddened appearance that blended well with the small amount of make up she would put on each morning. She was brandishing her normal attire of a plain white hoodie, mesh undershirt, shinobi sandals, and dark blue pants that were rolled up to her shins. Overall it gave her a very tomboyish look that Kenji found to be quite cute (although he would deny it in a heartbeat). Haya briefly pulled back from the embrace before grabbing Kenji's test scores from his pocket faster than he could react. After taking a couple seconds to read, she squealed with excitement once again before hugging him."Can you believe it? We're both officially ninja now! Aren't you excited?"

The boy quickly returned the hug before stepping back with a sheepish grin (as well as a bit of a blush) on his face. "I can definitely believe it, Haya-chan. How well did you do on your scores?"

Haya pulled out a piece of paper from her hoodie pocket and presented it to Kenji with a small frown on her face. "Not as well as you, Kenji-kun."

The dark haired shinobi gently took the paper out of his best friend's hands and read it.

Academy Final Exam Results

Student Name – Namikaze Haya

Gender – Female

Age – 12

Height – 4'8"

Weight – 87 lbs

Elemental Affinity – Water

Scores:

Ninjutsu - Average

Taijutsu – Average

Chakra Control – Excellent

Shuriken Proficiency – Average

Strength – Below Average

Speed – Outstanding

Intelligence – Above Average

Hand Seals – Excellent

Total Score - 81%

"Hey, these are good scores, Haya-chan. Don't put yourself down; I highly doubt anyone else got an 'Outstanding' on their speed. No one in our class can match your reflexes either, not to mention you're the best at hand seals. I mean, come on, not even Arata-sensei can do a Shunshin with only a half ram seal. These scores are just numbers, and they definitely don't define you." said Kenji before handing the paper back to her.

Haya blushed just a bit as she took the paper and pocketed it. "Thanks, Kenji-kun. That means a lot more than you think it does."

Kenji took the forehead protector out of her hands before tying it around her neck as if it were a rather large necklace. Then he put his hand on her shoulder in a reassuring manner and gave her one of his famous cheesy grins. "Don't mention it; what are friends for, right? Come on, let's go outside and see if we can book it before my crazy uncle shows up." The girl giggled and nodded, following closely behind her best friend.

To the relief of the newly promoted genin, they didn't notice any signs of Hideo Uchiha when they stepped out into the Academy's main entrance courtyard. Instead, the sight that greeted them was a host of children their age being praised and taken home by their parents. Although he had somewhat come to terms with it, Kenji still became a bit saddened whenever his classmates were so openly praised by their parents seeing as how he didn't have any. Well, he technically had a father, but Kenji longed stopped considering him to be worthy of the title since he disowned the boy and his sister right after their mother had committed suicide. The mere thought of the memory made Kenji's face start to lose color. Luckily for him however, Haya immediately picked up on what was wrong and firmly grasped his hand with her own. When he looked at her, she mustered up the biggest and most caring smile that she could make. Kenji didn't return the smile, but he did grasp her hand just a little bit tighter in appreciation. "Are your parents here?" he asked with the tiniest bit of difficulty.

"No, my dad is on a mission, and my mom had to work overtime at her job today. Want to walk me home?" she asked in a kind tone of voice.

Kenji gazed out at all the other students being coddled by their parents shortly before squeezing Haya's hand even tighter. "Yeah, I do. Let's go."

The friends made it halfway down the street before they heard an entirely too loud voice that made them both groan in annoyance. "KENJI-BOUZU, YOUR BELOVED UNCLE HAS ARRIVED!"

"Should we try and lose him?" asked a frantic Haya. Kenji merely sighed in defeat, "With the energy that he has? No way, we'd better try and just talk him down."

With exasperated looks on their faces, both genin slowly turned around to face the rumbling sound that was inevitably coming their way. What greeted their eyes was a tall man with a gray flak jacket, sparkling silver bell-bottom pants, platinum disco shoes, and a sparkling silver spandex undershirt, running at them at an insane rate of speed. His pace was so great, that it managed to cause a small dust storm to kick up behind him as he ran. The great rumbling sound got louder and louder, until finally, the ridiculously dressed man skidded to a halt right in front of the two friends.

Once the dust finally settled, both of them looked up to see the middle aged man grinning down at them with shiny teeth and an entirely too large afro. "What's poppin, Kenji-bouzu? The word from the grapevine is that you had a groovy graduation today! Boo-yah!"

Kenji's sweat dropped from the back of his head before he responded, "Uh, yeah."

"UH, YEAH?! What kind of groovy response is that supposed to be? You need to start putting some funk in your words before they get all dull and dreary! Come on, let me here you say it!" exclaimed the energetic man.

"No." Kenji simply responded.

"Come on now, get groovy with it!" ordered the shiny man.

"No." Kenji repeated.

"You're soundin like the Man right now Kenji, and I KNOW that the last thing you wanna start doing in MY PAD, is to start soundin like the Man!" stated the uncle with a groovy fire in his voice.

Kenji slouched his shoulders and sighed loudly before speaking, "I had a totally hip time at my graduation, can you dig it?"

Hideo tilted his head back to the sky and did the perfect disco pose before yelling at the top of his lungs, "CAAAAAN YOOOOUUU DIG IT?!"

This caused both Haya and Kenji to face-palm at the exact same time before attempting to quietly sneak away. They only made it a couple of steps before the irksome voice rang out once more, "Hold up, youngblood. Where are you boogieing off to?"

The boy smirked as he brainstormed a quick tactic, "I'm going to drop my foxy lady off at her pad before I go pardy hardy to the max. Can you dig it?"

A gleam of overwhelming joy appeared on Hideo's face as he exclaimed to the heavens, "YES, I CAN DIG IT! BEHOLD MY GROOVY NEPHEW, KENJI! HIS WORDS BRING THE DISCO BACK INTO MY HEART LIKE NEVER BEFORE! I TOO SHALL PARDY HARDY TO THE MAX! CAAAAN YOOOOOUUU DIG IT?"

By this time, Kenji was several blocks away, running with Haya in tow as if she were a kite. She was mentally taking notes on how to increase her speed to that of Kenji's current level. She concluded that she would also need a mentally unstable uncle to embarrass her in unimaginable ways to be able to pull off that kind of speed. After a dizzying sequence of turns, the two found themselves in the middle of the market district of the village. Kenji then proceeded to collapse on the ground, needing to both collect his breath and pretend that his uncle didn't exist. "And he wonders why nee-chan doesn't hang around the house more." the Uchiha thought to himself. Once recovered, he got to his feet and brushed the dust off of his clothing until it was almost spotless. He gazed up to notice a most annoyed looking Haya staring at him. The boy had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing, as she was covered in dust, and her hair was an absolute mess.

"Kenji-kun, I understand you wanted to get away from Hideo-san as fast as possible, but did you have to call me your 'foxy lady'?" questioned Haya with an arched eyebrow. The boy scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly with an intense blush on his face. "Sorry about that, Haya-chan. I wasn't really thinking; I just wanted us out of there before he challenged us to a disco dance off."

A shiver went through the girl's body, "I still have nightmares about the last one. Alright, Kenji-kun, I guess I'll let it slide. You owe me big time for messing up my hair though. Seriously, I lost my favorite hair band while you were dragging me through the air."

Kenji's eyes darted around for the hair band, but it was no where in sight. "It's not the one that you got from your grandfather, is it?" Haya just offered a saddened nod as a response, which caused the boy's eyes to widen. He knew that her grandfather had given her that hair band as a gift shortly before he passed away a few years back; it was the girl's most prized possession. Feeling horrible, Kenji grabbed Haya's hand and began to walk back in the direction that they came.

"What are you doing?" quizzed the blonde haired girl.

"Finding your hair band." responded Kenji just before Haya pulled her hand back from his. "I saw it fall into a sewer grate," she began, "No point in trying to get it now."

The Uchiha's eyes widened once more before narrowing in determination as he took off in a run. "Where are you going?" yelled a puzzled Haya. Kenji didn't respond as he just continued to run at a frantic pace. He knew that Haya would catch up to him quickly, so he jumped up to the rooftops and infused chakra into his legs to bound over the various buildings. After a few seconds, Kenji spotted the sewer grate and jumped down beside it just in time to feel a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see an irritated Haya looking at him with her arms crossed. "I asked you a question Kenji-kun."

"I'm going to get your hair band." stated Kenji as he took off his over shirt and necklace before removing a wallet from his back pants pocket and handing it all to her. "Don't even think about trying to stop me. Just wait here and I'll be right back with it."

Haya hid her small blush as Kenji flew through a series of hand seals before opening his palm towards the massive grate and saying, "Raiton; Kaminari Sakujou!" (Lightning Style; Lightning Rope). A streak of lightning issued out from Kenji's open palm and connected with the metal grate, covering it in an electric field. The Uchiha took a few steps back and yanked on the lightning, causing the grate to flip over; revealing a large square-shaped hole that lead into the foul smelling sewer tunnels below. Without wasting another second, Kenji leaped into the tunnel and landed with a small splash in the disgusting liquid. Doing his best to ignore the rancid odor, he concentrated chakra into his left hand, condensing it to form a glowing orb of harmless blue energy. With a good source of illumination, Kenji immediately starting looking for the sky blue colored hair band. It took him a couple minutes, but he finally noticed it resting dangerously close to the tunnel's edge which just so happened to be leading into a thirty foot drop that ended in a large tank of human waste. Panic struck the boy as he sprinted towards the hair band, not caring that the foul slush was getting all over his skin and clothes. He was within just a few feet of the band before it became dislodged and began to float towards the stinky abyss at an alarming rate of speed.

"No!" the boy cried out as he dove for his best friend's most prized possession. He landed on his stomach in the shallow slush pool just in time to watch the precious hair band slip between his fingers and plunge into the cesspit far below. "Damn it!" Kenji yelled as he punched the bottom of the tunnel, covering his face and hair with the revolting substances. He slowly got up from the muck and made his way back towards the opening in the street.

Haya had to pinch her nose shut and squint her eyes once Kenji emerged from the sewers; his slouched shoulders answered her unasked question. "You shouldn't have done that, Kenji-kun! It wasn't worth you getting all of that on you!"

Kenji looked down at the ground with a scowl on his face, "You're right, it was worth a lot more, and I messed it all up." he stated in a somber tone. Although he said the words quietly, Kenji was furious with himself on the inside. He was supposed to be the top student of his class, the younger brother of Natsuki Uchiha, and yet he couldn't even manage to save a friend's most prized possession, which he happened to be responsible for her losing in the first place. His fist tightened in silent anger before he felt smooth fingers wrap themselves around his knuckles, which caused his tension to melt away just a tiny bit.

"I don't care that you weren't able to get it, Kenji-kun." Haya stated in a soft voice, "Just the fact that you were willing to do all of that means a lot to me."

The gloomy boy snorted in response, "It still doesn't bring your grandfather's memento back to you."

Instead of getting angry like Kenji thought she would, Haya simply smiled before saying, "No it doesn't, but the memories of my ojiisan aren't bound to that hair band; they reside inside of me, and that is something that no sewer can take away from me. So cheer up, Kenji-kun! I already forgave you before you plunged into that tunnel."

Kenji's downtrodden expression lessened a bit as he looked up and met Haya's eyes with a weak smile before widening his eyes once he noticed some sort of liquid drop down his face. Realizing how bad he stunk, the boy franticly looked around for a water source. Haya giggled as she took a few steps back from her foul smelling friend and flew through a few hand seals. "Suiton; Mizu Jokin!" (Water Style; Water Sanitization). A stream of hot water shot out from Haya's mouth and completely drenched Kenji from head to toe. After several seconds, she stopped the jutsu and looked at Kenji with a satisfied smirk. The aforementioned genin stood there in shock for a moment as he slowly began to realize how clean he suddenly was. It was as if he had just taken the most effective shower of his life; he even smelled better than he did before he had jumped into the sewers. "Um, Haya-chan?" he began, "What was that?"

"Just a little jutsu that my kaa-san taught me. She said it was good for when you were out on missions and didn't have time to take a bath. What do you think?" questioned the blonde kunoichi.

Kenji performed a simple drying jutsu on himself before taking his belongings out of Haya's arms and putting them back on. "I think I'd like to learn it one day, if that's alright with you."

The girl simply nodded her head as the two walked down the street. After a couple of minutes, they returned to the market district as the sun began to lower in the sky. "What are we doing back here? My house is the other way."

"I know, just wait here for a sec. I'll be right back." Kenji stated before darting into one of the small shops. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Haya crossed her arms and leaned against the shop's wall. After a long few minutes, Kenji exited the store with his right hand behind his back; obviously clutched around something. The girl arched one of her eyebrows in question, and Kenji scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "There's no way that I can replace your ojii-san's hair band, but I saw you looking at this the last few times we were here so I figured, well, you know..." The boy's words quickly turned into incoherent mumblings as he revealed the pristine bandana that he had purchased from a glass showcase. It wasn't your average bandana, as it was pure white and made out of some sort of exotic material that he really could care less about. All that mattered to him was that Haya liked it, so he ignored the other customers' stunned looks when he purchased the extremely expensive piece of cloth. It cost him just about everything in his wallet, but according to the look Haya was giving him, it was quickly becoming worth every coin.

"Kenji-kun!" she exclaimed, "You shouldn't have done that! That thing costs a small fortune! You have to take it back!"

The boy merely shrugged and tied it around her hair, leaving the bulk of the cloth gracefully settling on the top of her bright hair. "Not gonna happen. Regardless if you forgave me or not, I still lost your hair band, so this is the least..." Kenji was interrupted by another crushing hug from the young kunoichi which he slowly returned.

"Arigatou, Kenji-kun." she said quietly through some sniffles. Most girls around the village wouldn't have reacted that strongly to a gift, but Haya came from poor family that had very little when it came to nice things. Some of the other kids used to pick on her for it until Kenji noticed one day and quickly put an end to it. He smiled as he recalled the day that he had met the blonde girl.

-Flashback-

An eight year old boy arrived earlier than usual to the Academy front entrance. His crazy uncle had begun to "pardy hardy" before Kenji could slip the tranquilizer into the man's morning cup of coffee. So naturally, Kenji sprinted out of the house before he could be dragged into a disco dance off. He was about to open the main door to the massive, dome-shaped building, when he heard footsteps moving rapidly toward him. Kenji slouched his shoulders and slowly turned around; figuring it was his insane uncle. What met his onyx eyes were a frightened pair of sky blue ones that belonged to a small girl that had just hid behind him and clutched tightly to his navy blue shirt. Before he could ask what she was doing, a group of boys a year older than Kenji came running into view before stopping a few feet from the boy.

"Look, she's hiding behind the blood traitor. Oh this is too good." remarked one of the taller boys. All of them were Uchiha, and all of them were perfect examples of why Kenji hated his own clan. These particular group of Uchiha adolescences were known around the school as the "Flame Flingers". They were considered by many of the other students to be prodigies of the clan due to their ability to perform the Goukakyu no Jutsu better than anyone else in their age range. In reality, this was only due to the fact that their parents were all council members and were able to get their hands on Sasuke Uchiha's lesser jutsu scrolls and use them to teach their children the technique. Kenji's fist quickly became clenched in anger as he put his arm in front of the girl in a protective manner.

"Let me guess," Kenji began, "You spoiled, self-entitled, arrogant punks are picking on her because she doesn't live in a big mansion like you idiots do." By this time, a few of the other students began to gather around; keeping their distance from the Uchihas.

The leader of the group stepped forward and cracked his knuckles, "That's gonna cost you, blood traitor. Roast them!" The four pale skinned boys began going through hand seals while Kenji smirked. Unfortunately for them, Kenji had recently been trained by the one of the best fire users in the known world; his sister. The boy went through hand seals of his own before all of the gathered Uchihas inhaled deeply and yelled out, "Katon; Goukakyu no Jutsu!" (Fire Style; Great Fireball Technique). Four large streams of fire collided with a massive one that was emanating from Kenji's mouth. His sister had taught him that if you tweak the order of the hand seals and inhale more air than you exhale, one could triple the power of the technique. The major trade off was that by doing the technique this way, it not only drained the user's chakra much faster than normal, but also decreased the longevity of the jutsu. That didn't matter to Kenji though, all he cared about was putting the arrogant Uchiha in their places. After several seconds, it seemed that the "Flame Flingers" were going to overtake the boy. Kenji refused to give them the satisfaction of victory however, and he built up all of his remaining chakra into his throat before infusing all of it into the technique at once.

What resulted was an explosion that not only sent the "Flame Flingers" to the hospital for a few days, but also established his own acknowledgment as the real prodigy of his generation. After he knocked the four boys unconscious, Kenji passed out and awoke in a hospital room with a particular blonde head of hair resting on his bedside.

-Flashback End-

Kenji smiled as he remembered that the spoiled Uchihas' parents tried to have him expelled from the Academy only to incur the wrath of the "Katon Cannon" a.k.a. Natsuki Uchiha. Snapping out of his memories, the prodigy squeezed his arms around Haya firmly before letting go and taking her hand. "Come on, Haya-chan. Let's get you home."

A/N: Alright, so this is my first try at a full fanfic. If I have the time/ideas, I'd love to turn this into a 100k+ words fanfic that is somewhat original. My plan is to have chapters with a minimum of 4,000 words each and to upload at least one chapter a month until this thing is complete. This is by no means a guarantee, it's simply a goal that I'm setting for myself. Now, onto some explanation as to what this thing actually is. First off, this fanfic takes place about 120 years after the death of Naruto and Sasuke; both of whom died of old age. The idea was to put some chronological distance between the setting of this story, and the setting that almost all other Naruto fanfic authors go with (which is usually Naruto in his teens with Konoha/Suna as a backdrop). Secondly, there will be references to everyone's favorite characters, but they will remain as just that; references. I have absolutely no intention of bringing in an overpowered villan using Edo Tensei to revive every conceivable character from the Naruto universe just to fight/interact with my OC's. Thirdly, the main village of this story is of my own creation and is no where near Konoha. Kyougakure (Village Hidden in the Fjord) is a relatively new shinobi village that was established by Sasuke's son (who you'll learn more about later). It is hundreds of miles away from Konoha and is considered to be somewhat of a sister village (think Rome and Constantinople). Kyougakure has no Kage and is governed by a large council with a small group of Elders holding executive power. Finally, it should be noted that my OC's will indeed have some resemblance to major characters in the Naruto universe. This is how Kishimoto formats his characters (one generation passing on traits to the next), and I see to reason to break away from that pattern. This means that Kenji will have some similarity to Sasuke, Natsuki will be like Itachi in some ways, and Haya will have some traits of Minato. I view this as to be acceptable for a couple of reasons. One, it is in their blood (literally) and two, all of them will have enough originality of their own to effectively branch out from the normal cast of characters.

I've rambled on for far too long, so please leave some constructive criticisms in the comments, and know that I appreciate any feedback given.

-Tenshot