Broken Youth
(Life of Konoha Academy Teens)
Prologue
For many generations people have been skilled in the ninja arts, but it hasn't always been that way. There was once a time in history when people knew nothing of shinobi not even of the existence of chakra. It's unknown exactly how ninjas came to be, the only thing known about their origin are the chakra scrolls. The chakra scrolls were the first to reveal to everyone the existence of chakra and how to manipulate it. Another mystery is the author of these scrolls. At one time the scrolls were tracked back in time to approximately the era when the legendary six path sage was presumed to roam the earth.
The six path sage is said to be only a myth but some truly believe he existed and that he was the first to find out about the special powers that people possessed. As legend states the six path sage saved the world from the destruction of a monstrous ten tailed beast. It was said that after he defeated the creature he took it's chakra and threw the body into the sky and it supposedly made what we now call the moon. The chakra of the ten tailed beast was to much for the sage to handle on his own so he placed a large portion of it into 9 animals. The creatures he chose were a raccoon, a cat, a turtle, a monkey, a horse, a slug, a beetle, an ox, and a fox. Some of those animals mutated and grew extra tails when the sage inserted the excess power, yet they were still harmless creatures even though they looked different and had an immense amounts of chakra. Although it's not certain that the six path sage ever existed, the 9 beasts really do. The people call the tailed beasts the bijuu. The bijuu somehow obtained immortality and are still living today.
Once people figured out they could use chakra and began fighting amongst each other for power, they wanted to use the creatures as weapons for their own convenience; before that could happen a group of monks knowing the peoples intentions took and hid the bijuu and spread them throughout the nations as far as possible as they could. These monks became known as the first jinchuuriki or keepers of the bijuu.
A few generations after people learned how to control chakra they began forming clans and isolating themselves from each. People soon found out they could mix their chakra with the natural elements around them like: fire, water, earth, air and lighting. Clans within the same region could usually manipulate the same element because of the natural resources around them, this is how most of the nations got their names from. Usually each clan had one or several special techniques that only they could use. Some of the techniques were somehow genetically pass down, these are called Kekkei Genkai or Bloodline Limit. The ninja skills techniques people used were eventually categorized into three different groups: ninjutsu which usually involves hand signs and elements, taijutsu hand on hand or weapon combat and genjutsu which is playing tricks on the opponents mind and senses. As the clans expanded they began fighting more and more. During some of these battles even entire clans were wiped out.
People eventually got tired of the endless and pointless feuds, that many decided to congregate all the shinobi clans of a region and create a unified village. The first village created was Konohagakure aka the hidden leaf like many call it. Konohagakure was located in the fire nation which had many strong shinobi. With the establishment of Konoha came the birth of the first Kage, the Hokage. The Hokage would be the leader of all the shinobi in the fire nation; some discussed that the Hokage would have too much power and overthrow the real nation's leader the feudal lord. They soon resolved the discussion and other nations soon followed Konoha's example and made their own hidden villages and Kage's.
Right after the villages were created word got out that all the bijuu for some reason were being held in the in the fire nation's fire temple people got mad because they thought Konoha would overflow in power and use the bijuu's power to destroy and conquer the other nations. The first Hokage didn't want to start a war over this so he decided to make a treaty where it divided the tailed beast amongst the five great nations. War was inevitable, soon after the the treaty was signed the new nations went to war. This time they fought for being the strongest nation. This war was wasn't like the others this one was truly devastating and lasted years it was eventually known as the first shinobi world war. When the war finally ended many people had perished along with two of the Hokages. There were short times of peace after that but two other world wars occurred as well. At the end of the third war a valid peace treaty was signed amongst all the shinobi nations and there hasn't been any conflict with it so far.
Now over a decade after the last world war there is a time of true peace. The world has changed for the better because of the peace. In this era people don't usually stay in the past, they look to the future and keep moving forward. It came to be like this towards the end of the third war when people started to focus more on modernizing than the war itself. After the war industry skyrocketed and the shinobi world completely changed. Weapons and justsus were replaced by phones and automobiles. The Hokage was nothing more than the city mayor now and the bijuu were no longer weapons now but mere pets. The quiet village turned into a busy city with giant skyscrapers and crowded roads. The modernization has made this a less violent world. Now a days the ninja arts aren't a significant part of the world like they once were yet they are still a part of tradition that can never be erased.
Today the current generation is being taught the differently then the generation before them. They are learning about more useful things than ninja arts. All schools, except Konoha Academy have completely stopped teaching their students the ninja arts. The other school believe teaching them would be pointless since they're no longer used and already they are taught by the student's family. The ninja arts are a small part of the academic curriculum in Konoha yet it's the major reason that motivates a lot of families from many nations to send their children there. Konoha Academy is a well known name yet not much is known about the school itself or about the individual people who attend there. The focus should now be turned to them because they hold the key to next part of history. This story in history will be of this generation and how they lived their lives before, during and after entering Konoha Academy.