Disclaimer: I don't own the Uchiha clan… yet, or Naruto, or Naruto the character, for now.

Believe it or not, it's Chapter 12.

The rest of our journey was uneventful, and we saw Mitsuhide to his mansion before midnight.

Kaede was still slightly wary of me, while Hiashi was utterly the same as always. Orochimaru, however, seemed somewhat pleased about the whole affair; as if happy I had killed. Knowing him, that's probably the reason, actually.

I related my newest ideas, in part, to my pale sensei as we returned the day after.

As usual, he wore a thin poker grin during the entire breath-hogging experience. Apparently, ground-breaking never-before-heard ideas about how chakra worked were second place to tree hopping.

Not that I'm surprised, my hypotheses are totally unproven, the ramblings of a man from another world.

As for what I left out; I wasn't exactly going to tell him about the future, so mentioning Danzo's arm was not included in the first edition. Izuna and Madara were also no-no's, as no one spoke about either, most Uchiha weren't even aware of that terrible power called 'Mangekyou'.

Of course, limited to talking and running I was not, so I saw fit to practice my chakra strings, even going so far as to swing like a monkey on vines a couple times.

Our break-neck pace quickly exhausted the little ones in our little shinobi outfit, Orochimaru, of course, wasn't even winded. So we bedded down for the night, putting up tents in case of rain.

"Hiashi-kun, first watch, Kaede-kun, second, Nanashi-kun, you're third, I don't want any missteps from any of you." Orochimaru assigned us without delay to our duties, opting to instruct us in some ninja fare. The stuff was actually pretty good, glad I memorized the recipe.

I got in my tent, falling asleep with the ease of constant practice, or maybe it's because I'm always tired that it's so easy? No matter…

XXX

My watch came all too soon, but I refused to be crabby about it. Instead I got up, stoking the failing camp-fire to keep it alive, nights could get fairly chilly.

The most exciting thing was a wild-cat; panther was the closest thing I could think of, wandering a little close to our camp. A couple warning kunai were enough to teach the intelligent beast to seek other prey.

Killing it would have been useless, the meat was no good.

I woke Orochimaru up on schedule, or I would have, if he wasn't already buckling on his gear when I moved to. I guess that's a jonin for you, internal clock and everything. I yawned, turning in to get whatever rest I could before dawn.

We returned to Konoha in the morning, Orochimaru-sensei dismissing us as he went to mission debrief.

I now had the rest of the day to myself, but I had not had lunch. Well, meals are social affairs, right? Time to find an eat-mate.

I found Minato in his usual spot, his brow bent in concentration as he no doubt made efforts to mold his chakra into something visible. Of course, making assumptions is a sure way to be dead wrong, so I didn't place any great reliance on my deduction.

"Minato!" I called, forgoing my usual formality.

"Nanashi? When'd you get back?"

"Just now, anyway, want to grab a bite, or is your memory so bad you have got to stay here until you finish whatever?"

"You buying?"

"Of course, why would I make a poor boy like you buy?"

"Because you're an awful person?"

"I'm not awful, come on, let's get some meat on those girly bones." Really, Minato is a fun guy, as long as you relax and let it flow.

He frowned at the reminder of just how effeminate he looked, but made no comment.

We sought out a nice little no-name place and ordered our respective meals.

"So, what's new with you?"

"Jiraiya-sensei recently published a book, so I've been reading it; as well as working on my ninja skills, of course."

A book from the so called Ero-sennin? Wouldn't you be a little young… oh, utterly gutsy ninja, huh? Well, I won't claim to have read it.

"Huh, is it any good?"

"It's interesting, inspiring even."

"Cool. How's your team?"

"They're alright, nothing to write home about, nice though, luckily bullies are a thing of the very long past." He grinned, passing off the fact that he had indeed been bullied in this life with a chuckle.

"Well, with a little genius like you, it's no surprise that bullies would stay away from your manly prowess." I smirked, my not-so-pleasant side coming out once more.

"Would you stop going on about how wimpy I look!?" He seemed so very offended I almost felt bad, almost.

"When a little clan-punk like me can look this good and do over a hundred push-ups… I think I have some say on the matter."

"You're too young to be attractive."

"You're too old to be cute, I look reliable."

"Reliable huh? You're probably a regular thug under that fanned out jacket."

"As long as it stays under the jacket, you'll never know." I broke off the banter with my witty reply.

"But if I take the jacket off, you're thuggish nature will be revealed." Persistent, but you missed the pitfall.

"But I'm only thuggish under this fanned out jacket, thus, if it comes off, no one will ever be able to point and say, 'Thug!'"

He stopped bringing his food to his mouth for a second while he thought that over, playing back the conversation in his head.

"You got me," He finally admitted in defeat.

"That's what I like about you Minato, always a good loser and a good sport."

"Thanks I guess."

"No problem," I went back to eating my rather delicious meal.

I paid the bill as we left quietly.

I readjusted my jacket as we walked out the business door, "So, mind telling me what you were working on?"

"When you dropped on me? Shape manipulation."

"Fun stuff, I'm not much of a teacher though, and you don't exactly have the ability to do it by sight."

"So you know it already?"

"What do you think I am, you?"

"Shut up, give me a tip; come on."

"Ok, chakra is yours to control, you just have to tell it who's boss," I answered, provoking an exasperated sigh from the blonde.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll figure it out." I jumped onto the nearest high roof, using my chakra strings to make some use out of my arm strength. Heh, impressing former classmates is one way to feel good about myself.

Ah, Minato, so good to have a friend I can rely on, I'm just looking forward to the day he becomes something for real.

I looked at the ground under my floating figure, noting that one of the people there was very… red. I grinned, today was the day of reacquainting eh?

I did several flips, slowing my momentum as I landed in front of my hot-tempered class-mate.

"Fancy meeting you here, Uzumaki-san." I grinned as I got up from my crouch.

Kushina was not impressed, if her face was anything to go by.

"I'm going to say this once, Uchiha, get out of my way, dattebane!"

"But of course," I jumped over her head, landing behind her.

"Is this better, Uzumaki-san?"

My only reply was a growl and a tightened jaw. Obviously this is a bad day for her, that's bad; she's always been the life of the party.

"Would talking help?" I asked softly.

"No, and certainly not talking to you."

"Well, I do enjoy bugging you, but it seems you really are preoccupied, I apologize for any offense I may have wrought." I left her there, jumping away on roof-tops to my own home.

"Mother, I have returned from my mission." I straightened myself out, the overpowering aura of the Uchiha compound clicking me back into my formal mode.

"Nanashi! You're back, tell me everything." She smiled at me, her black hair looking slightly wild.

"Not much to say, the client was a nice man, we encountered bandits; I vanquished two."

"I see; any issues there?"

"To be honest? I lost my temper once immediately after, otherwise no, Father will of course make his own decision."

"Yes, your Father always was one to decide for himself, I'm sure he'll be proud."

"You don't need to reassure me, if Father is proud, he is proud, if he is not, what is it to me?"

"Go get cleaned up Son, I'll have food ready when you're done."

I felt a pang of guilt, and did not see fit to tell her that I had eaten; I could stuff in some more anyway. Of course, if I had no appetite it'd look bad, as if my stomach was unsettled by killing. Unacceptable, gut, I command you to digest my lunch!

I felt a churning in my stomach, no way on earth. Luckily, I don't know if I'm even on earth.

Chakra is a strange thing, I have decided, the ability to augment any bodily process is one strange power. Not to mention all the other varieties.

I finished my bath, seeing no reason to prolong it beyond the requisite ten minutes. I put on clean clothes, the Uchiwa once again decorating my back. What is the Uchiwa you ask? Only the Uchiha's famous clan symbol.

I left my room refreshed, and the smell of Sukiyaki greeted my nostrils, ah, Mother really is very good to me. I walked over to the table, sitting in seiza once again; I found tea waiting for me, so I helped myself to a cup, careful not to spill.

Mother brought out my steaming meal in short order, truly an efficient cook.

"Have you already eaten?" I asked politely.

"Yes."

"Then I'll dig in," I picked up my chopsticks, "Thank you very much."

I ate my food, and to my delight I was able to fit the entire serving in. Fortunately, this wasn't some kind of awkward scene from a movie, so Mother didn't bring seconds out.

"What has Fugaku-nii been doing?"

"Training, learning, getting prouder," She smiled wistfully.

"I hope he doesn't become arrogant." I said, frowning.

"You're hilarious; you act like the older brother half the time."

"Well, I've never really had a younger brother before." My previous younger brother, and didn't that feel crazy, he'd be what, 23 now? Didn't speak a word in his life, not that it made him less of a person.

So, with my technical age superiority, is it any wonder I'd act like an older brother sometimes?

Maybe it is; I can't read minds though.

Reading minds huh? Even the Mangekyou can't do such a ridiculous thing.

"Well, I'll have to curb his pride, Mother; it won't do him any good."

"And how exactly will you do that?"

I grimaced, showing him that I'm better would just make him lash out at other people, so that's a no-no.

"Perhaps love will mellow him."

"So you're going to play matchmaker?" She asked seriously.

"True, but this can't go on; however, I'm not really a psychologist."

"If it really worries you, tell him honestly."

"Then I'll do that, where will I find him?"

"Now? Probably the police station."

"Thank you."

I got up, heading over to where I knew the police station to be. I'd have to forgo formalities; they made everything so much less genuine in people's heads, not that I agree with that assessment.

With my Uchiha garb, no one gave me any trouble.

Inside the station, all was bustle and activity, with brown-haired Uchiha, Sharingan Uchiha, and even blonde Uchiha going about their business of keeping the village running smoothly, truly, lawlessness is chaos. And, the very reason for police, laws without enforcement are powerless.

I walked up to a friendly looking female desk officer, "I'm looking for my Honored Father's office."

"Name?"

"Uchiha Nanashi."

"Oh, the second son, down the hall, door at the very end."

So, the clan head's office is the width of two rooms plus a hallway? How nice.

"Thank you." I walked down, the hall, knocking politely.

"Come in."

"Father," I turned and saw Fugaku poring over some document, "Nii-san."

"Why have you come here Nanashi?" Father asked, not unkindly, rather, I've never been here before. Therefore, his surprise is not unnatural.

"I'll make this quick." I drew in a breath, "Fugaku-nii," He looked up, "Pride and arrogance have been the downfall of many peoples, nations, and clans," I said pointedly, "Therefore, your continued growth in such matters will not be overlooked. Not despite, but rather because of the fact that you are heir, and my older brother, I cannot let such attitude persist unchecked."

"In essence, it is my heartfelt wish for you to be successful, and pride is one vice a shinobi cannot afford, thank you. Good-day, Father, Brother, I hope to see you at supper." I bowed and left, hoping that whatever altercation between my Father and Fugaku occurred would be for the best.

I made my way over to the Uchiha training ground that I'd been using for some time now, wanting to test something out.

I formed a Rasengan in my hand, inspecting my chakra creation with the famed Sharingan. I threw it into the air, watching as it dissolved past a certain distance, perhaps because I was no longer controlling it, only watching?

That's for later, for now I want to test if making the Rasengan smaller is feasible. In Naruto, the bumbling fool that the manga is named after always thinks 'bigger is better', thus the ever increasing size of his techniques. However, I am no jinchuriki, nor am I so unsubtle.

Now, with my layer method, it should be simple to simply leave out a quantity of the outer layers, leaving me with say, five. That'd reduce the diameter a little, hence, lower chakra consumption. I formed my proposed modification with minimal trouble. I let it dispel.

Now four, I formed the four layer Rasengan cautiously, I was approaching the bare minimum now. The now two-inch sphere rotated easily in my hand, the tiny, bony thing now able to close around the blue ball of death.

I ran to the nearest pole, silently inserting the Rasengan into its wooden frame. With satisfaction I noted that the power was no less, only the quantity of destruction was affected.

I now worked on thinning the layers a little, reducing the diameter a little, unfortunately, past a certain point, the layers broke upon contact with solids.

A little over an eighth was the smallest I could go without risking unreliability; even then, it was uncertain if it could pierce dense substances like steel.

Nevertheless, this experiment was a success, time to move on.

I formed a standard Rasengan, throwing it into the sky. I focused on it, remembering the feeling of it in my hand, trying to get it to stay that way. Unfortunately, it didn't work, it seemed thrown Rasengan were out of the equation for now.

It was just a passing fancy anyway… what if I kept it connected to me, would it work then? This could not go untested! I formed a Rasengan in my left hand, attaching a chakra string to it with my right.

The length of a chakra string was subject to change, based on the wishes of the user. This is why skilled puppeteers barely ever moved their fingers, they just changed the lengths.

Now, theoretically, if the Rasengan is attached to me through a solid chakra string, I should be able to control it. I gave my string plenty of extra slack, throwing my ball forward.

I could feel it so clearly! I kept that calm, confident feeling of having the Rasengan in my hand, projecting my commands through the string.

The ball continued on its path until ramming into a tree, gravity having no noticeable effect on solid chakra. This is why so many ninja ignore muscles if they specialize in ninjutsu, chakra has no weight.

I grinned, this was a crutch to be sure, but it was a bloody good one. Now for the hard part, reentry.

I threw out another chakra-connected sphere, this time only letting it go a certain distance before trying to pull it back with my chakra string. Trying being the key word, the stubborn ball didn't take kindly to being recalled, so it snapped my string, and therefore dissolved.

I wasn't exactly happy about that, so this time I created four strings, one from each finger.

Lengthening each one at the same rate, and then shortening at the same rate, was a challenge. One I did not beat.

Well, practice, practice, practice. Ruefully, I realized I was low on chakra, so I returned home.

I read until supper time, enjoying the feeling of my chakra replenishing while also wondering where it came from. Of course, I knew that each cell produced chakra, with the mind generating spiritual chakra for genjutsu and similar. That didn't eliminate my questions as to how it worked, but I didn't go into it much, I've always been a 'if it works, who cares?' kind of guy, so wondering about everything is out of the equation.

On a different note, my current book was on D-rank and C-rank genjutsu, basically as low as conventionally 'effective' genjutsu were ranked. This is how it is for skills, support techniques get low ranks, this is why the academy three are considered E-rank, non-lethal and easy to learn.

Supper promised to be awkward, so with a certain, healthy, trepidation I sat in my spot, Fugaku gazing at me impassively.

Mother, despite being out of the loop, was certainly able to glean the tense atmosphere.

I was the first to speak beyond the standard 'Itadakimasu', "Father, it seems good to me to inform you that I had my first kill."

"How was it?"

"Better than I thought it might be." Not that anyone really knew what I thought; even I was surprised by myself.

"I see." He took another bite, "You were very bold today," He shifted the topic, causing me to nod, "I spoke with your brother, I think you two will come to an understanding."

I glance over at Fugaku-nii, noticing his faintly scowling expression, didn't go over well then.

"I ask for no forgiveness, but I pray you thought about it earnestly." I said to him sincerely.

"I thought about it, your concern is merited, but your boldness shameful."

I inhaled, "I make no move to justify my actions, beyond the fact that they were heartfelt."

"I see, such a vice is not easily corrected," Here he smiled, "But I hope you'll be there to help."

I smiled back, welcoming the fact that the gap between us was shortening.

"I'd be happy to, after all, where would you be without me?" I grinned, relishing the smiles that went around the table, ah; it is good to have a loving family.

XXX

In the morning it was business as usual, waking and eating, then heading to the training grounds.

Orochimaru was early today it seemed; if the fact that he was already there was anything to go by.

I walked over, brimming with wariness; I wouldn't be surprised if Orochimaru pulled something on a day like this. I scanned the area with my naked eye, seeing nothing of note.

"Good morning Sensei."

"Good morning, Nanashi-kun," He replied, full of boredom.

"What's on the agenda?"

"Oh I don't know, killing your teammates?"

"No." I doubted he was serious, and even if he was, there was no way I'd comply.

"Oh, then maybe I should kill you?"

"I am ready, do as you will." I stared defiantly at him.

"Stubbornness and accepting death? Disappointing."

"And you'd rather that I kill a clan heir and betray the famed will of fire? I think not."

"Well, I suppose either way, your length of life wouldn't be much different."

"Exactly, why kill two people to live a few more minutes?"

"Oh, but who knows what you could do with so much time, maybe even kill me."

"The chances are low, though not non-existent."

He frowned slightly, "I didn't take you for one to overestimate yourself."

"I didn't take you for one to trust face value." I smirked back.

He threw a kunai past me, "Keeping secrets?" His eyes narrowed, "Good."

Yes, if anyone were to get the weird award, it'd be either him or me.

"But come, it seems we have company."

I looked over in the indicated direction, noticing Hiashi and Hironaka.

"Today, little genin, we have the very special task of teaching Konoha's future a lesson."

Well, that's a little too broad for me to draw any sort of conclusion.

"Quite simply, we'll be setting up traps for the Academy." He paused, making an expression as if he had swallowed half a lemon at once, "Non-lethal."

The sincere regret as he said that was so spectacular that even morally superb individuals would be moved. Such is the maddening, and utterly ridiculous, charisma of Orochimaru, no last name. For an orphan, he really has come far.

3 Months Later

Setting traps had been a nearly every-day exercise, forcing us to improve in the area. Of course, adapting non-lethal to lethal was gratifyingly easy, so Orochimaru had recovered his lost spirits as he had explained as much.

I saw no reason to stagnate, so I practiced my chakra control and Rasengan nearly every day. In addition, my genjutsu repertoire increased.

Today marked the day of the grand experiment: flat Rasengan. Curiously, this ruined the name, so I'd have to think of something. Well, first comes the technique itself.

I molded my chakra, eliminating the way the Rasengan spun to make a sphere, instead changing it to a circle.

On course, it was much harder to control, the chakra disliking the planar shape, since it could keep closer together in a sphere. This is why I had focused on chakra control, with my chakra virtually completely obedient, it'd be possible to make it do close to anything in standard form.

With intense concentration, it was possible to get it to work for a few seconds; obviously, this needed a great deal of work.

Almost 1 Year Later

I narrowed my eyes, looking at the paper in my hands warily. Chunin was a scary thing, a needed thing, Orochimaru-sensei had promised to take me as an apprentice if I won.

The question remained, could I? I glanced over at my two teammates; it seemed Kaede was confident at least.

Hiashi was professionally hard to read, but I could spot the subtle signs of excitement, truly, it had been a while since we graduated.

Now I saw kids of my level of power back then as novices, academy legends, battlefield fodder.

Fugaku-nii had already made jonin, falling behind any farther was not an option.

I looked at my paper again, reading the fine print carefully. It seemed joint exams were not a thing, not really a massive surprise. I signed quickly, seeing no reason to drag things out beyond what was necessary.

Kaede and Hiashi had already handed theirs in, so Orochimaru-sensei clapped his hands, "Excellent, I really do hope you win, after all, I can't have you lose to that fool Jiraiya's brats."

Ah, Minato, it seems this meeting will be of conflict.

"Of course, they're nothing special beyond Minato-kun." I answered with bravado.

"The little orphan genius, hmm," He looked pensive.

"Don't kill him," He decided.

I nodded, Orochimaru handed out kill orders all the time when they were allowed, he also made it very clear who he wanted alive. I suspect the bandits we've brought to 'a secure facility' would have been much better off dead.

In two weeks, we'd be pitted against Konoha's finest genin, and I looked forward to it.

It'd be a real chance to show off.

Unfortunately, I hadn't tasted defeat at anyone's, excluding Orochimaru's, in a very long time, rather ego boosting, despite my best mental efforts. So, the chance to get beaten by my peers was welcome.

If worst came to worst, I could just use my planar Rasengan, the Cutting Circle, to end them. Of course, killing comrades wasn't the best way to win favor, so that would be the very last resort.

Of course, it was useful as a weak defensive technique against thrown weapons. Weak because it had the annoying tendency to get disrupted when hit on the broad-side. Still, with an angle, it sent kunai, shuriken, and senbon flying away in spirals.

Of course, the chakra consumption for a full-body defense one was a little prohibitive.

"So, Kaede-san, how do you feel about this exam?"

"I feel ready to kick some butt!"

"No but's, and language."

She scowled at me, disliking my intense hatred for even mildly strong language. Not that it surprised her; I'd been this way ever since one was said in front of me here.

"Hiashi," I prompted.

"Father will be pleased if I win, I hope to conquer you out there, Nanashi."

"But of course, with the rivalry between our clans it'd be amazing if you didn't want to defeat me."

"With even normal levels of kiddie 'I want to win' it'd be natural." Kaede cut in dryly.

"I bow in the face of your overweening wisdom." I replied, mockingly serious.

"So, Sensei, until then, what are we doing?"

"Do choose for yourself, I'm afraid I'm a busy man, training any of you would cost far too much time."

"I see, something chakra intensive then?"

"I don't want to be disturbed." He replied flatly.

"Ah, well, I'm sure Father will be pleased to teach me something."

"I'm sure he will, shoo little leaflets." So saying, Orochimaru leapt up and away, leaving us to our own devices.

It seems my position as conversationalist isn't getting much respect today, why, without me this ragtag group would fall apart at the seams. I'm the thread you know.

I'm sure Minato would completely break down if I stopped buying him free meals too. On that note, let's go see the ever less effeminate blonde.

I leapt across Konoha's rooftops until I saw Minato, training as always. Really, that's why we both like each other, we're both diligent geniuses.

"Minato! Free food, your pick."

I knew he wouldn't take advantage of me; he was always nice that way.

I frowned, all this eating out was distinctly inappropriate for a penny-pincher like me. It seemed I would have to learn to cook. I suppose mother wouldn't mind teaching me, but really, I'm rather hesitant to ask her.

That's all for after the chunin exams, of course. Still, I shoved it away into a moderately accessible portion of my mind.

We sat down at some no-name noodle spot, there weren't really franchises in the Naruto-verse, and ordered. I wasn't feeling all that daring, so I got something I had eaten here before without negative effect.

"So, Jiraiya-sama nominated your team." It was not a question, Orochimaru wouldn't be wrong about this kind of thing.

"Yes, we'll be sure to win."

"I look forward to seeing your efforts."

"Confident, I see."

"Well, Minato, you and Hiashi-san are the best competition I can think of, and I know I can beat both of you, why should I not be confident?"

He made a face, "Don't think that I've shown you everything I've got."

"Should I then think you'll show it to me?"

"I will be Hokage, so defeating you is a no-brainer."

"You will be Hokage, but lose to me, you shall."

We stared into each other's eyes, each of us willing the other to back down. But it was not to be, with the rival based friendships common in Konoha, this was no surprise. Rather, what was surprising was that we had a friendship based rivalry.

I smirked, activating my Sharingan and simultaneously casting a black screen genjutsu. In the half-second it took for him to dispel it, I was already gone.

I ran across what was affectionately known as 'the ninja's road' and returned to the Uchiha compound.

With Nii-san as a jonin, Father let him take care of a good portion of the work, allowing the Uchiha patriarch to come home early.

"I'm home." I stated as I left my sandals at the door.

"Son, what brings you home so soon?"

"Orochimaru-sensei nominated us for the chunin exams; he told us today and then ran off."

Yuu frowned slightly, "Somewhat irresponsible, but I suppose it's alright, I've been meaning to teach you something for a while now."

"I look forward to it."

"I'm sure you do, come now, we have plenty of time."

I followed Father out to the Uchiha training grounds; he led me to the same old spot once more.

He handed me a chakra paper, "I assume you know what to do."

I nodded, channeling chakra into the paper, for a little bit nothing happened, then the paper began to curl at the edges, turning black as it did so. I frowned, was the curling because of a lightning affinity, or just because the paper was starting to burn?

"I suspected as much." I looked at him questioningly.

"If you had fire affinity," He took out another paper, instantly it burst into flame all over.

"So I have a tiny affinity?"

"No, your chakra is just used to being raw, your natural bent is fire, and perhaps lightning, but you've used so much raw chakra it's mellowed out."

Basically, I have a trained affinity for pure chakra? I didn't even know that was possible.

"So that means fire won't be much easier than water?"

"Unfortunately, yes. How you managed it, I don't know, but it has happened before."

"This is somehow related to my Sharingan, isn't it?"

"Yes, you've seen fire chakra, and other people's chakra, and you somehow made your chakra be neither by looking at both."

That's really hard to understand, but theoretically, I've seen fire chakra, and then when it came to using raw chakra I ran away from looking like that, because it's too similar. In the same way, I ran away from using someone else's chakra signature. On a side note, this means changing ones chakra is certainly possible.

Unless, of course, this is all an elaborate joke. Which, frankly, I find hard to believe, Father is the dead serious type.

"So, I have really down to nothing chakra?" I would say down to earth, but that's an element, incredibly easy to misunderstand.

"Yes, you've mellowed it out, forging it into something that's not one of the five elements or their sub-elements, it's not complete though."

This makes me perfect for a jack-of-all trades build, since using each of the elements is no harder or easier than the next. Of course, implied is the 'master of none', but with enough work, I can be master of all trades, all I need is time.

"Well, this has certainly been interesting, anything else?" It's all rather strange though.

"Nanashi, you need to choose, choose if you want to change back, or continue."

I thought about it, "Continue." I'm a dude, taking a few risks is the only way to win, right? What exactly I'm winning, I don't know, but someday I will.

Father nodded, acknowledging my decision.

"And now to the main event, while suppressed your chakra still actually wants to become more like fire."

I gaped, however inelegant I may have been, so this means nothing? Just that my affinity is not immediately apparent? Somehow, I get the impression Father purposely manipulated my thoughts into where they went.

Well, not totally, I doubt he's played an RPG in his life.

Basically, my affinity is hidden under now instinctive suppression, but other than the fact that using other elements will be a little easier perhaps, I see no real change. May my imagination forever become wiser.

I made a face, causing the older man to grin a bit.

"So if this was one big prank, what were you really going to teach me?"

"This," He sped through hand-seals, "Katon: Firewall!" He spat out a dense ball of fire chakra, upon hitting the ground it spread out into a towering wall of flames.

"It costs a lot of chakra, so it's not something you use in every battle, of course this technique has lots of uses," He then went on to explain how it worked, showing me the proper hand-seals.

For this jutsu, you spat out fire chakra in a dense ball, and wouldn't that be useful at mid-range, and used the dispersion from the impact to help spread the fire out. Of course, this was a decently versatile and incredibly hot technique, so it came with a 'use wisely' stamped on it.

Father wasn't kidding about the chakra cost either; even using it twice was enough to put me on the very edge of chakra exhaustion.

So, it fully deserved its A-rank, if I were to be asked.

Since I couldn't practice more without recovering, we headed back in. As soon as we returned, I lay down for a nap.

Come dinner time I was still asleep, so Mother woke me up.

I checked my mirror, glancing over my appearance carelessly, looking 'good' wasn't what I put time of the day to, but I still didn't like looking like a street-boy. Sorry street-boys. Of course, the fact that my clan would be horrified certainly factored in.

Despite shounen attempts to say otherwise, going against the grain of a clan is not brave. It's stupid. If the rules aren't utterly unacceptable, follow them. I won't go into examples of 'utterly unacceptable' because really, who needs to get explicit?

Dinner was good, as always, but Fugaku-nii looked a little tired.

"How are you holding up?"

"I have infinite respect for Father, running that place is like trying to get Nanashi to stop training."

I took it in stride, "That difficult, huh?"

"Yes, and I'm not kidding, a little relaxation wouldn't kill you."

"If I felt like relaxing, I would. However, the fact remains, I do not relax. So then, what do I feel like?"

"We get it already."

"You know Nii-san, you give up so easily, I worry for when you meet that special girl… she'll already like some other guy, and you'll just walk away." I made a sad face, like one for the end of a sweet tragedy fairy-tale.

"That's ridiculous, I will marry an Uchiha girl; she'll come with me because she has to."

"Oh ho, but love is a powerful thing. If she loves another man, even a clan will not stop her."

"Sometimes I wonder where you get this stuff, I happen to know that your library has no novels."

"You need to get out Nii-san; I just pick this stuff up off the sappy streets."

"And you need to stop making jokes about other people's love life." He advised seriously.

I nodded, conceding the point, "So, how were your chunin exams?"

"Fun, the life and death challenge of meeting opponents who want you gone… nothing can match it."

"You're full of young blood, but so am I, I look forward to beating your record."

"I look forward to your disappointed face."

XXX

For every force in one direction, there is an opposite and equal force.

So then, if one can make a leaf float above their hand, they could, by the same principle, hover above the ground.

That's the idea anyway, but my perfectly grounded body has another opinion.

What's the difference between me and a leaf? The answer is simple, air resistance. All I need to do is increase my own air resistance and boom! I'm gliding at the expense of my chakra.

I call it: Flight, Revisited!

Now, WWI airplanes were made with a light frame, and canvas. Clearly, this worked, so I see no reason to not copy the ingenious design.

For canvas, I have paper, since its lighter. Now I was in the process of making the frame.

Fortunately, I was rich enough to buy some tough, light, wood.

Nails were no issue; truly, everything seems so simple it's amazing.

I nailed on the last portion of my makeshift frame. I'd also had the forethought for this portion of the labor, behold! Tacks.

With minimalism I tacked on the paper for the wing. Soon enough the rickety thing was ready, now for the real challenge: Harnessing it to my back.

I took advantage of my whips, wrapping them around the frame and shoulders. It cut a little, but it hurt less than the price for a proper harness.

I bent down my waist, picking up speed with all my shinobi talent.

Once I was satisfied, I lifted my legs.

For one glorious second I was flying, and the next I was on the ground. My wings didn't accompany me, instead they flew on; it seemed the fastenings were insecure.

The wooden construct only went a few feet before its lack of balance caught up to it, causing it to fall lightly on its side. Fortunately, I'd been about as close to the ground as can be, so it was undamaged.

Well, that could have gone better. Too bad I didn't know any solid clone techniques, they be so useful…

Hn. Why hadn't I thought of this before? I took off my jacket, laying it down next to my whips and scrolls, even as my pale body was revealed. It wasn't anything to write home about, thousands of ninja were more imposing.

I slid under my wings again, this time sticking them to my back with oft practiced skill. This would cut down on the weight a little a well.

I repeated my take off run, lifting my legs once more. I instantly began shooting out chakra from my entire downward facing side, in this case my belly and face. Carefully I proceeded, making sure to keep the wings on.

I fell much slower than I would have without the wings, but still alarmingly quickly. I'd flown about three meters, not the worst I suppose.

Still, the chakra cost for this is clearly prohibitive, if my currently grounded self is anything to go by.

Well, I wasn't all that reliant on this working, just a theory test for something I know can work. Altogether, rather disappointing, and not very encouraging for the future, but, I'm sure I'll manage.

I picked up my wings after re-clothing myself, taking off towards home after I had done so.

I made the ram seal, frowning as I investigated my rather expended chakra pool; it seemed flight was far away indeed, since I had no idea how to make a jet engine. Chakra's abilities were unlimited, if you had unlimited chakra to work with, but, some things are just not cost effective.

After finishing the rest of my studious day, I retired to bed, thinking on what I'd show off in the chunin exams…

The End.

Just kidding, this is nowhere near the end of this story, unless I pull a twenty yr time-skip.

As always, I read your reviews and seriously think about them.

ANYONE WHO KNOWS JAPANESE: I don't, so suggested names for my flat Rasengan are being accepted, if I get no good suggestions I'll go with my google translate version or just keep it in English.

Again, please review and tell me what you think, I won't hate you even if you say: 'Your story is so ridiculous, please write something new.' Or similar.

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As always, Iamwhononofyouare