Chapter One: Not Red Or Yellow
Orange.
Everything was orange.
In a realistic sense not everything was orange, just everything on that block of the street.
That didn't matter to those who had been struck by the paint filled balloons that had fallen from the sky, nearly as large as a human head, they had rained down on the unsuspecting populous of the avenue, bathing them, the street, and the surrounding buildings, in a coat of bright orange paint. While there were plenty of active and retired pranksters in Konoha that could've done this, there was no doubt in anyone's mind who it was.
"GET THAT BRAT!" Thus the chase began, their target had been spotted atop the Hokage Monument, which had been spared from the explosion of paint that occurred shortly after the hunters reached the top, coating them and the stand-in dummy in a coat of red paint. If there had been any doubts before, looking at the foxy grin on the face of the dummy put them to rest. Resuming the chase with a renewed vigor, it was a good nine minutes before anyone even caught a glimpse of their target who had stepped out of its hiding place to check for pursuers, it would be an hour before she was caught by her academy teacher and brought before the Hokage, which is where she was now. The Hokage's name was Hiruzen Sasuke Sarutobi, an old man who seemed to look every day of his age, the man shook his head as the culprit looked at her accusers, fiercely denying their accusations. It was fairly obvious this had been her work, after all, she'd not only left a calling card of sorts, but they had a list of purchases she'd made leading up to this, most of them ingredients for making orange paint, a large stuffed doll, and a can of red paint, all made with withdraws from her account, how could a seven year old, just barely into the Academy, evade so many high level nin the Kage wondered to himself So no, the question was not 'Did she do it', rather it was 'How,' and 'Why did she do it'. All Hiruzen did was sigh and rub his temples, ignoring the argument going on just in front of him, opening his eyes for the first time since the little redhead had been brought into his office, Hiruzen straightens himself up from his hunched over position in his chair and narrowed his eyes at her.
"Natsumi." In that moment the whole office went silent and for those few brief seconds of silence he had the undivided attention of everyone in his office, but this silence was much more satisfying than it was extensive.
"I didn't do it Hokage-Jiji!" The Chunin by her side glared at her.
"Don't call the Hokage that!" Hiruzen raises his fist and as Natsumi sticks out her tongue at the scarred Chunin which brings a tick mark to his forehead, just as the redhead opens her mouth to retort he slams his hand down causing the two other heads in the office snap back around to him.
"Thank you Chunin Iruka, I'll handle this." Iruka bows and walks out of the office, leaving Natsumi to squirm in her seat under the Hokage's focused gaze.
"Natsumi, you built a catapult and fired a deluge of balloons filled with orange paint onto a street full of ninja and civilians," Natsumi only nods bringing a slight smile to Hiruzen's face. "Why?" At this question Natsumi straightens and her eyes narrow slightly.
"Those shops won't let me buy anything from their stores." Hiruzen nods slowly.
"And besides that... Some bully's from the Academy that were picking on a girl from my school were there, they were talking about stealing from the candy store and I saw them head into the store before I launched the balloons." Another couple of nods come from the aged Hokage who stands and turns around to look out upon the village from the window behind his desk.
"That and..." Hiruzen glances over his shoulder at Natsumi who's whole form was hunched over, her eyes and head looking down at the ground, her forelocks covering her eyes, casting shadows over her face. "Mizuki-teme was there," Hiruzen turns back around and looks at small redhead. "for the whole time I was at the academy he's been trying to teach me all the wrong stuff, the wrong Taijutsu forms, the wrong Chakra Control Exercises, the wrong everything!" Natsumi yells as she throws her arms up in the air, Hiruzen walks over to a line of picture frames, staring at them silently, ignoring Natsumi's pleading look.
"Jiji, why do people hate me?" Hiruzen sighs as he reaches up and removes a picture frame from the wall, staring silently at it for a long while.
"...Natsumi," Natsumi straightens up, leaning forward. "I am the Third Hokage of Konoha, I am known as the Professor, and the God of Shinobi." Natsumi nods as the third turns to her and begins walking towards her.
"I was there when they buried the First Hokage, Harishima Senju, and his wife, I buried my Sensei, Tobimaru Senju, I had to bury my wife, and I had to bury my successor Minato Namikaze and his wife." Natsumi's eyes widen as the Third kneels so that he is now eye level with her.
"Namikaze Minato, the Yellow Flash, the God of Flash, knew that you would be persecuted, knew that you would question anyone that would listen to you for a reason why, so he made me promise him before he died that I tell you the truth." Natsumi slowly begins to smile but it falls when the Third shakes his head. "He told me that I was only to tell you when you were of age, this means that you can either become an adult at age Eighteen as a Civilian." Natsumi frowns at this. "Or a Genin at age twelve by graduating from the academy, once you've gotten a Leaf Headband you are a legal adult." Natsumi stares at Hiruzen for a few seconds before she begins to respond she was interrupted by a rapping on the Hokage's wooden doors, Hiruzen rises from his kneeling position, but not before placing the picture frame into Natsumi's lap.
"Hokage-Sama?" Comes the muffled voice from the other side of the door, Natsumi looks over her shoulder and frowns at the door while glaring at it.
"What is it Misumi?" The Hokage's secretary opens the door and pokes her head through it to look at the Hokage and his visitor.
"Hokage-oh hello Natsu-chan." Natsumi huffs and turns away from the blonde haired woman, causing her to giggle before she returns her attention to the Hokage. "Hokage-sama, there are a new group of foreigners looking to join the village." The Hokage nods and returns to his position behind his desk.
"Thank you Misumi, please bring them to the immigrations office." The woman nods and pulls her head out of the office, closing the door behind her. Natsumi stands and begins to exit the office only to pause and look back over her shoulder at the aged Kage.
"Just you wait Ji-san, one day soon I'll be a Genin, then I'll be coming for your hat Ji-san, and I'll be the first female Hokage ever." with that said Natsumi turns on her heel and stops, facing Hiruzen and extending her arm at him with a clenched fist, the sudden turn sending her hair flying about behind her head.
"And then everyone will have to respect me, Dattebano!" With that said she exits the office, missing the smile on Hiruzen's face.
Natsumi yawns tiredly as she stretches, scratching her ruffled red hair as she slides her feat out of her bed, which in stead of touching the cold floor insert themselves into a fuzzy pair of red slippers. Sluggishly standing up, she drags her feat as she inches her way to her bathroom, she ignores her forehead bumping into the door and grabs blindly at the knob as her feet attempt to continue shuffling forward. Finally grabbing the knob she twists it, opens the door to the bathroom and walks into the bathroom, nearly tripping over the edge of the tub, she reaches around for a few seconds before turning the water heater for the shower on.
'Next...' Natsumi turns around and walks to the sink, she pulls out a toothbrush from a glass cup full of water and the dumps the water putting the glass cup back down, finally opening her eyes, she grabs her toothpaste from its spot to the left of the sink and looks at the bleary image, she narrows her nearly closed eyes, squeezing the tube, she discovers that she was holding it backwards and was using too much force as the blue green paste comes out all over the counter top.
'Oh come on...' scowling to herself, she turns it around and squeezes it again, this time it gets all over her hand, but still none on the tooth brush's bristles, she lets out a growl of frustration before silencing it and finally managing to get some on the bristles.
'Finally.' Natsumi nods to herself as she closes her eyes and turns the knob for cold water from the bathroom faucet, she runs the bristles and paste under the water for a few seconds before turning it off and proceeding to brush her teeth, walking over to the tub, she kicks the side three times before hitting the wall to her immediate left with her free hand, a few seconds later a rush of hot water comes out of the shower head and steam immediately comes forth from the tub, filling up the room, Natsumi smiles to herself before walking back over to the sink and once again starts up the faucet, she grabs the cup at the side of the sink and holds the cup under the flow of water for a second before pulling it away, she removes the toothbrush from her mouth and holds the bristles under the water before moving down the rest of the toothbrush, putting the glass to her lips, Natsumi sips the water from the glass and holds in her mouth before spitting it all out, she then puts the toothbrush into the cup and turns off the water.
'Now for the best part.' the redhead thinks to herself as she collects some of the hot water from the shower in her cup, placing it back on its rightful place at the top right of the sink, shedding her pajamas she steps into the shower and the closes the curtains, she stands under the water for a few seconds before her eyes fully open.
"Ah dammit." she kicks her slippers of her feet and onto the bathroom rug before continuing her shower.
Natsumi finally steps out of the bathroom wearing a pair of orange briefs and bra, grabbing a shirt that was haphazardly thrown onto a chair she slides it on over her head, feeling the mesh shirt underneath rub against her skin, she then pulls on her black Shinobi pants and mesh socks which stop mid shin, then her regular socks which go up to her ankles but don't cover her toes, walking into the kitchen she grabs a large black pot and places it in the sink, turning on the water she lets the pot fill she pulls out a few instant Ramen packets and opening them up, she then stops the water and pulls the pot out of the sink and puts it onto a burner, turning the flames on she picks up the packets and dumps them into the water, she then heads for the fridge and pulls it open, grabbing a sandwich and a bottle of tea she sets them out on her table and collapses into one of the two chairs at the small table.
"Geez, can't instant Ramen be a little more... instant! I mean-" Natsumi cuts herself off and looks over at the now boiling pot, standing quickly she rushes over to the pot of Ramen, grabbing a pair of mitts as she goes past the counter perpendicular to the pot, turning off the burner Natsumi slips the oven mitts onto her hands and picks up the pot, carrying over to the table she places it on the large wooden plate on the table, slipping off the gloves she tosses them back onto counter and opens a drawer.
"Now where did I-Ah-ha!" Pulling out a ladle, reaching the sink, Natsumi pulls out a white bowl with red designs near the rim from the sink, inside were a pair of silver chopsticks with Kanji etched near the upper end of the sticks, walking back to the table, she places the bowl down and places the ladle in the pot. Natsumi sits down and claps her hands together while closing her eyes.
"Itadakimasu." With that said, Natsumi digs into her breakfast. Tossing the now empty but dirty dishes back into the sink, Natsumi begins washing them, frowning slightly as she does so, she couldn't seem to shake the feeling that she was forgetting something. Glancing around her apartment, Natsumi notes the few pieces of trash or other miscellaneous items strewn about the floor, but it was clean enough, she thought to herself, looking up at the clock, she stares as her hands keep washing the dishes but steadily slowing down, she blinks, her gray eyes glazed over, but still she stares, the only sound in the apartment is the sound of running water, slowly, very slowly, her eyes widen, steadily loosing their glazed look. Once her eyes are opened as far as they could, her hands stop, and the bowl in her hand slips from her grip, in a blur of motion Natsumi shuts off the faucet and rushes for the door, grabbing her jacket from its hanging position on the back rest of the couch, slipping it on, she slides to a stop at her door, quickly slipping on her black ninja sandals, she rushes out of the door, then down the stairs of her complex, bursting out of the front door of her complex, Natsumi makes a mad dash down the street, ignoring the looks sent her way, she couldn't afford a distraction at this point.
"Oh man I'm so late! Iruka-sensei is so going to give me a detention!" side stepping a mother child pair, Natsumi makes a sharp turn and continues her sprint down the street, ducking under a pair of movers that were carrying a couch down the street, as she jumped over a group of boxes lying in the street, Natsumi couldn't help but wonder why it seemed that everything was trying to make her later than she already was. Regardless, as Natsumi turns the final corner sharply, she runs into someone and falls back, only to have whoever it was catch her wrist and hold her up, quickly righting herself, Natsumi smiles sheepishly at the person before her.
"Ah-sorry, I'm in a rush right now!" Bursting through the Academy doors, she lunges for the first door on the right side of the hall, wrenching it open with all her might she's met with the sight of a frowning Iruka and a class full of kids her age barely holding back grins. Well, at least some of them were.
"Natsumi..." Flinching, Natsumi turns her attention away from her class mates and onto the frowning Iruka. "Why are you late?" She grins nervously at his all to calm voice.
"W-well you see Sensei, th-they were doing construction on the street I take to the-." "Natsumi, you and I take the same route to the Academy, think about that before you finish that sentence." A sweat drop appears on the back of her head.
"O-o-oh, yeah... That's right... Well um, they started late..." Iruka nods slowly before snapping out an arm toward The redhead and pointing at her accusingly.
"Detention!"
Natsumi frowns cheek resting upon her open right hand which was being held by her left hand that was pressed against the desktop she was sitting in, her eyes glaring out the window at the slowly setting sun, Iruka was grading papers behind his own desk as she was forced to sit in her chair and wait to be dismissed by him or another staff member which she knew wasn't going to happen, after being the laughed at by the rest of the class for coming in late and getting detention, this was the last thing she wanted to have to deal with.
"Natsumi..." looking over at the Chunin, Natsumi sees him looking down at his papers and thus turns her eyes away. "You understand why I gave you a detention don't you?" "..." After a few moments, Natsumi grudgingly nods and responds with a
"Hai Iruka-sensei." unseen to her the Chunin nods as he picks up his papers with both hands and lets the fall against the desk, he repeats this twice more before resuming his work.
"You've been late three times this week Natsumi, not in a row, but three times none the less," Natsumi nods to herself at this. "Can you explain why?" Natsumi glances at Iruka who was looking right back at her, turning her body to face him and sitting up straight, Natsumi locks her eyes in with his own.
"Iruka-sensei, I'm an orphan," Iruka nods. "I'm not the only one here, but almost half of this class come from a clan," Iruka nods again. "All of those Clan kids have parents or relatives that are Shinobi who can help them with all this academy stuff, but kids from civilian clans don't have that same help, and us orphans don't have anyone." Iruka nods, looking over at redheaded student a bit more carefully.
"Yes, I know all of this Natsumi, but what does this have to do with you being late to class?" He asks while rubbing the scar on the bridge of his nose, Natsumi pauses, carefully considering her next words before finally loosing them.
"Iruka-sensei, I'm gonna be Hokage one day." Iruka jerks in surprise, his eyes widening.
"But to be Hokage, I've gotta be smart, but more than that I've gotta be strong, since I don't have anyone to train me, I've started trying to train myself, at least in using my Chakra." Iruka's eyes soften as he leans forward slightly.
"Natsumi, training yourself is very dangerous, if you do something wrong..." He trails off, seeing Natsumi nod sharply, sending her red hair flying about.
"I know, that's why I'm just working on Chakra control and usage for now, like helping run faster and stuff, once I become a Genin I can get a Jonin-Sensei, I can ask them for help, and I'll be ready to learn since I have control over my Chakra." Iruka nods again, before looking at Natsumi carefully, he nods to himself as pulls open a drawer on his desk. Iruka reaches into the opened drawer and he pulls out a small, light brown, square, piece of paper, it was completely unmarked and unremarkable to any civilian, or to a ninja not in the know, it was crumpled and slightly torn, it was old, sending a pulse of Chakra to the paper, it once again simply glows blue, sighing mentally and then shaking his head, Iruka approaches Natsumi and stops in front of her, he pauses briefly before he extends his hand and offers her the piece of paper, Natsumi stares at it curiously for a moment before picking it up and examining it, turning it over in her hands.
"What's this for Iruka-sensei?" She questions as she furrows her brow and frowns a bit, Iruka smiles softly at that.
"Can you channel you Chakra yet Natsumi?" Glancing up at Iruka, Natsumi shakes her head and Iruka nods his own. "When you can, send some into that piece of paper and tell me what it does."
"What it does?" Iruka nods as he motions for her to walk with him, she rises from her chair and does so, following him out of the class room and down the hallway toward the exit.
"Yes, that's called Chakra Paper." He says as they near the doors.
"Chakra 'Paper'? As in..?" Natsumi's eyes light up as she dashes in front of him, smiling wide causing him to jerk and stop. "What does it do!?" She asks, practically bouncing in place, Iruka smiles, he raises his right arm and pats her head while stepping around her, he places a hand on her shoulder and pulls her along gently as he walks.
"Chakra paper can be made from trees that have been heavily saturated in Chakra or Nature Chakra, so nearly any tree in Konoha can be used to make Chakra Paper, in fact we're the chief exporter of Chakra Paper." Natsumi frowns slightly and Iruka releases her shoulder as she begins to walk on her own.
"Then why haven't I ever heard of it?" Iruka holds open the door and she walks though mumbling an 'Arigato' as she does so.
"It's something only Chunin and up have regular access to, most Genin are given Chakra Paper by their Sensei's." Natsumi nods as they resume their walk.
"Chakra Paper is used to reveal Elemental Affinities in those who can use Chakra." Natsumi cocks her head to the side.
"Elemental Affinities?" Iruka nods to himself.
"Hai, this is Fourth Year Academy Material, there are Five Base Elements, Katon or Fire is an offensive element with some defensive capabilities, Fire Jutsu typically trumps Fūton or Wind which has either offensive or defensive capabilities depending on how you use it." Natsumi nods as the make a turn down the main street.
"Wind is strong against Raiton or Lightning which is an offensive element with very little in the way of defensive capabilities, Lightning is said to be the most lopsided of the elements with a Three to One Offense Defense ratio, Lightning is strong against Doton or Earth which is a Defensive Element with Offensive capabilities." Natsumi nods again as Iruka pauses to wave to one of his fellow Shinobi.
"Earth is strong against Suiton or Water which is a defensive element with offensive capabilities, Water Element is arguably the most balanced in that regard and as you might imagine trumps Fire in the elemental chart." Natsumi nods as they approach a stand she knows all too well.
"Every Element trumps another, most Shinobi typically have one or even two Elemental Affinities. Having an Affinity makes it easier to control that element and learn those type of Jutsu, but, as if to parallel that fact, it makes it harder to work with the Element that your Element Trumps and the Element your is trumped by, due to those two other elements being in a sort of Repelling Trinity with each other." Natsumi nods as she enter the shop with Iruka, though Iruka had to push up the flap to avoid it.
"But make no mistake Natsumi, it's difficult to learn any Elemental Jutsu, whether you're aligned with that Element or not."
"Welcome to Icharaku's please-oh Natsumi-chan, and Iruka-san, have a seat, I'll be with you shortly." Said the brown haired Waitress, Natsumi beams and nods, walking over to a stool and sits down in it while Iruka takes a moment to bow before joining her.
"So once you find out your elemental affinity come tell me and I can give you a scroll that can help you train with it." Natsumi nods and smiles, her smile widening as the waitress approaches.
"Hey Ayame-nee!"Ayame rubs Natsumi's head while smiling.
"Hello Natsumi-chan, we were expecting you earlier, you got in trouble again?" Natsumi smiles wide and closes her eyes while rubbing the back of her head.
"Yeah, I was late to class today so Iruka-sensei here, decided to give me detention." Ayame giggles as Natsumi sends Iruka an accusing glare which the Chunin instructor pointedly ignores.
"Good evening Ayame-san." Iruka says and Ayame bows slightly.
"Good evening Iruka-san, what can I get you two today?" Natsumi smiles at the question.
"Two bowls of Miso Ramen Ayame-nee." Ayame nods and looks to Iruka.
"A bowl of pork Ramen for me Ayame-san." Ayame nods and heads to the back, leaving the two to themselves for a time.
"Say, Iruka-sensei," Iruka 'Hmm's' and looks over at Natsumi. "What's your Elemental Affinity?" Iruka pauses to consider the question before sighing, quickly taking the paper from Natsumi and ignoring her 'Hey!', he channels Chakra to the paper and it glows blue. Natsumi stares at it curiously.
"... So, you have a water affinity..?" Natsumi trails off as Iruka shakes his head.
"No, if I had a Water Affinity the paper will become soaked, Fire the paper will alight with Fire, Wind and the paper will split, Lightning will make the paper crumple and be charred, and with Earth the paper hardens then crumbles." Iruka explains and Natsumi ticks off the Elements that Iruka lists off with her hand, running out of fingers she looks from her hand to Iruka, Natsumi frowns.
"But, what does the glowing mean Iruka-sensei?" Iruka shakes his head.
"I don't know exactly, I think it means I don't have an elemental affinity, so I never really tried to learn any." Iruka shrugs and hands the paper back to Natsumi who looks at it curiously before pocketing it and looking at Iruka suspiciously.
"...You didn't have to snatch..." As Ayame brought out their orders she found Iruka laughing uproariously and Natsumi shooting him a dirty glare, she could only shake her head at the sight.