AN: All credit to Aya and the Namiki clan goes to Fayth85.

I came to, my eyes still closed, my long hair billowed out below me making a makeshift cushion. I began to open my eyes, but closed them and winced at the brightness of the sun. It was noon, or soon enough. I must have been out for four hours or so. Not that long, and I had told my parents only to come out to look for me if I didn't show up for dinner, so they were nowhere to be found.

Even with my eyes closed, however, I could feel them. Ereb and Suryasta, Suryasta lying to my right, and Ereb to my left. They would stay until I dismissed them, and what reason would I have to? I could just ask them to hide their presences from everyone, and have them by my side. Besides…

I cracked my eyes open, placing a hand over them to stem the light, a bit. Then I checked the myriad of windows that had appeared.

You have created a new skill! Would you like to name this skill?

A skill has been created through a special action! Through bonds of flame, the skill 'Fireball' has been created!

A skill has been created through a special action! Through bonds of earth, the skill 'Magic Missile' has been created!

The title 'Elementalist' has been obtained!

I blinked. No summoning skill? Or was that the skill they were asking me to name? I shrugged. It only made sense. I named it 'Summon Elemental', and then went and checked all the skills in detail.

Fireball (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%
An attack skill that compresses Fire-aspected mana into a small form and fires it with great force. Power increases with INT, skill level, and Fire element affinity. Only possible for those talented in manipulating both mana and the elements.
Chance of causing a 'Burn'.

Magic Bullet (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%
An attack skill that compresses Earth-aspected mana into a small form and fires it with great force. Power increases with INT, skill level, and Earth element affinity. Only possible for those talented in manipulating both mana and the elements.
10% defense penetration.

Elementalist
A title granted to those talented in working with multiple elements.
10% effect bonus to all elemental skills.
5% decrease in mana consumption for all elemental skills.

So, two new attack skills and a title that strengthened them, as well as a few of my other ones. I thought momentarily about donning Fake Hunter so I could make more bonds, with a Wind and Water Elemental, but I thought against it. I doubt I'd be able to show most of my prowess with Suryasta and Ereb for years without arousing suspicion, never mind the same deal for Wind and Water. I would get the Elementals, but… now wasn't the time. I changed my title to Elementalist, as it was more useful to me than a flat bonus to bloodline users, at least for now.

I washed myself off, having loads of twigs and grass in my hair. I put on some makeup as well. After all, it was my day off. With Ereb and Suryasta flanking me, invisible to all eyes but my own, I left my house, not really having a plan.

And I immediately managed to run into someone. Her glasses fell off her face, and she was knocked over. She was dimunitive, seemingly a child, and I felt horrible for not looking where I was going. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going. Are you all right?" I asked the girl, who simply made a noise as she got up.

Frowning as she didn't reply, I went to pick up her glasses, only to see that they were broken. "Crap…" I said. "I'm sorry! I'll pay for some new ones!" I apologised. I took another look at the girl. Something was familiar about her.

"You don't have to do that, Haruno-san."

And then it hit me. Of course, her level and her name was right there for me to check, but let's ignore that I forgot about that detail. "Of course I do! You're a classmate of mine, Namiki-san. Or may I call you Aya-san?" She simply noised again, so I took that to mean stick with Namiki. "Shall we go get those new pair of glasses, then? I'd feel guilty if I wasn't sure you bought them with my money."

Aya Namiki-san. She was one of the quietest in our former class. She just doodled in the back. Nothing really stood out, apart from her voice. Of course, I could count the amount of times she had talked, willingly or not, on one hand. She didn't seem to like it very much. Still, she was a classmate, and we hadn't seen each other for more than a month. It was only polite to see what she was up to.

"So, Namiki-san! Did your team pass the second exam?"

"No. My teammates were idiots. Our sensei placed me on the reserves, and I was taken by Yoshino-sensei."

A lot more talkative than I remember, but still. "Huh. What've you been learning under her?"

"Medical training. Genjutsu. Sound release. Taijutsu."

"Sound release?"

"It isn't very common."

I felt the distinct impression that she was only talking to be polite, and she wanted nothing more than for me to leave. Which only made me want to stay more. "Hmm, so your sensei's named Yoshino? Does she only teach you?"

"Yeah."

"What rank is she? Is she part of a clan?"

"Chunin. Nara."

"Yoshino Nara… oh, Shikamaru's mom?"

"Yeah."

"I bet you must get a lot of crap from Ino, huh?"

"She isn't so bad."

Defending Ino? Hmm, so they're friends. That… was good, actually. One of the texts I had studied was one on the clans of the Leaf, and I knew Namiki were closely bonded to wolves, and held trust and loyalty as important above all else. If Ino talked to her about me, it would explain the wanting to distance herself. She didn't want to betray her friend.

"Hey, Namiki-san. Are you friends with Ino?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, then. Could you… help me with something? We had a bit of a fight yesterday, and I don't think she's going to listen to me. So, could you help me convince her that she's being stupid in the way she's chasing after Sasuke? It's not worth neglecting all of her training for. And… if it's not too much trouble… could you also tell her that I just want this stupid feud to end? That I just want to be her friend again?"

She sighed, taking her broken glasses back from me. "From what I know of her, if you tell her that, she will probably listen to you, Haruno-san. I need to get back to Yoshino-sensei." With that, the short girl began walking away.

The Lone Wolf
LV 37
Aya Namiki

With that over and done with – I can't believe how much faster she is, her level definitely isn't just for show – I decided to head to a bookshop. I was on the hunt for skills, and I didn't want to basically steal from the library. I was unlikely to find jutsu here, but that hardly mattered – even a story book would work, as long as the characters inside of it used powers I could plausibly recreate.

I looked through the shelves, before finding something that seemed promising. "Qing Lonh, the Azure Dragon of the North." No skill prompt, but it told the story of an ancient martial artist – the Qing Long in the title – and his signature and unique taijutsu style. I quickly went to the store owner.

"Hello, there! I was just wondering, would you happen to have scrolls that would allow someone to learn the fighting style of the man this book is about?" He didn't have any, but pointed me in the direction of a Gai-sensei. He was the foremost taijutsu expert in the village, so if anyone knew where to learn the style, it would be him.

"Yes, I do have scrolls on the Azure Dragon techniques, but why would you ever wish to learn them? They require years upon years of training to master, so our other taijutsu styles are simply more efficient."

"It just caught my eye. I think that I may have a knack for it."

"We'll see about that. You're one of Kakashi's students? Well, at least you have enough youthfulness to seek outside training! Your flower of youth is surely blossoming!"

I laughed nervously, trying to humour the obvious mental case until he gave me my scrolls.

Aaaah. Now this is what I wanted.

You have obtained the skill book 'Azure Dragon's Wings'.

You have obtained the skill book 'Azure Dragon's Scales'.

You have obtained the skill book 'Azure Dragon's Claws'.

You have obtained the skill book 'Azure Dragon's Breath'.

You have obtained the skill book 'Azure Dragon's Flame'.

You have obtained the skill book 'Azure Dragon of the North'.

Six skills that were bound to be powerful on their own, but together must've been incredible. I clicked yes on all the boxes asking if I wanted to learn them.

You have learnt the skill 'Azure Dragon's Wings'.

You have learnt the skill 'Azure Dragon's Scales'.

You have learnt the skill 'Azure Dragon's Claws'.

You have learnt the skill 'Azure Dragon's Breath'.

Azure Dragon's Wings (Active and Passive) LV1 EXP: 0.00%
The speed technique developed by the Dragon Warrior Qing Long.
Passively increases movement speed by 10%.
Increases movement speed by 50% when active.
Additional 10 MP used per minute.

Azure Dragon's Scales (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%
The primary defensive technique of Qing Long's ancient martial arts style. A skill to harden chakra into armour around oneself rather than use it as a passive defense. Blocks up to a certain level of damage.
Armour's strength, density, and duration increase with level.
Armour's strength, density, and duration increase with INT.
Additional 50 MP used per minute.

Azure Dragon's Claws (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%
The most basic technique of Qing Long's ancient martial arts style. Through the gathering, hardening, and sharpening of chakra around the hands and feet, it becomes possible to inflict terrible wounds even with one's bare hands.
30% increase to martial arts attack damage.
Additional 20 MP used per minute.

Azure Dragon's Breath (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%
A technique central to Qing Long's ancient martial arts style. Through breathing techniques to gather and control chakra, it becomes perfect to perfect the manipulation of it to form the various techniques of the Azure Dragon style.
Effects of the skills 'Azure Dragon's Wings', 'Azure Dragon's Scales', and 'Azure Dragon's Claws' are increased by 50%.
Additional 50 MP used per minute.

Disappointing, but to be expected. The rest of them had prerequisites to meet. I intended on focusing on Torrential Burst, first, and then the Azure Dragon skills afterward. But no matter what, now at least I had a few clear goals, where my end point was… nebulous, at best. It was good to have something grounding me.

I decided on constantly having my buffs in effect now. Not only would it just make things easier should I ever be ambushed, it also let me constantly level them up, which I needed to do dearly. I couldn't level them up just by use in battle, that would take much too long. It'd also help me learn how much effective MP I had to work with to keep my enhancements active, keeping my offense strong without hampering the reason why it was strong.

My next goal was 70 INT for Torrential Burst, otherwise known as 4 more levels. Then I would check what the prereqs were for Azure Dragon's Flame and Azure Dragon of the North.

Good. I actually had something resembling a plan now.