Yo yo! Welcome to the fifth installment of Konoha's Orange Comet! Thanks again for your reviews, favorites and follows. I just wanna put this out there; if we can get this fic to at least 1000 follows and 800 favs at the end of this journey that would literally be the greatest thing ever!

E4E: I purposely changed Sasuke's affinity because, since I was giving Namiko a Lightning affinity, I didn't want the two of them to have an affinity in common. As for Kakashi's sudden competence? While I do slightly believe I may have rushed it just a little, at the same time I believe it was necessary. And so far, I've never said anything about learning ninjutsu, just training their affinities for later on.

Amaterasu53: Jiraiya won't be sticking around, but he will be back. As for the NamiShika relationship? That's mostly what my upcoming arc is really about. Character and relationship development for our heroine. But you won't see any real relationship stuff for a while though.

Derplord2.0: Honestly, I was going to change her main color from orange but in the end, I couldn't help myself.

Blanche-d: Appreciate the feedback! Kakashi was the one who initially told her about Kushina back in Wave. And while they have bonded slightly, and have formed a sort of 'team', of they trust each other fully or not is yet to be determined. Next up is my Land of Frost Arc which isn't going to be anything major, then the Chunin exams. And let me tell you, the fights I have lined up for the chunin exams are going to be lit…at least, I think so. :)

Thanks for 200 follows!

Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Konoha's Orange Comet!

Arc: The Land of Frost.

Chapter 5: Stay Frosty!

Kakashi Hatake eye smiled.

"Ninja Tactic Number One: Taijutsu."

Kakashi watched as his student dropped into the modified Academy Taijutsu style he had helped her develop. His Sharingan eye was on full display, meaning he could see when she sent a burst of chakra to her legs and arms. The jonin raised his hand towards his blonde-haired student and gestured for her to attack, to which she obliged steadfastly.

All Kakashi saw was an orange blur dart towards him, and suddenly, Namiko had covered about twenty or so yards in a second or two. She first aimed a right hook at her sensei's head. Years of experience kicked in and he leaned out of the way, grabbing Namiko's wrist in the process.

He twisted her wrist slightly, just enough to get a reaction out of her. As she winced, he used the sudden pain to catch her off guard and throw her across his body. He was surprised when she landed gracefully on the grass of the training ground, as nimble as a cat.

He couldn't dwell on the feat very long, however, as she was soon in front of him again, ready to engage in close combat. Every punch she swung, he was able to parry and for every kick she sent his way he blocked.

Now that she had been able to use the Jinton somewhat effectively, he had found their training spars much more difficult. And while she was nowhere near as fast as when he had first witnessed the Jinton in Wave Country, she was easily faster than most of the jonin in the village – himself included – when she had the Jinton activated.

Had it not been for his burrowed Sharingan, he would not have been able to dodge and parry as he was doing now and speaking of not being able to parry and block. The Hatake grunted as Namiko delivered a powerful roundhouse kick to his midsection. Before she could remove her foot however, he used his left arm to clamp her leg in place, restricting her movement. He then proceeded to use his right hand to try and connect a punch to her midsection.

Namiko had to use both hands to catch Kakashi's punch. Knowing she was slightly off balanced now, Kakashi let go of her leg, then used his right leg to sweep under Namiko's lone supporting foot, causing her to completely lose balance and fall to the ground. Before she could get up to launch a counterattack of some kind, she felt the feeling of cold metal placed against her neck.

She knew that Kakashi wouldn't use the kunai to harm her, but she also knew that in terms of sparring, it meant she had lost. She raised her hands above her head, admitting defeat and Kakashi helped her to her feet. She grumbled under her breath and she dusted off herself then turned to her sensei.

"What did I do wrong this time?" She rolled her eyes.

Kakashi chuckled internally. "Your Taijutsu style relies on counterattacking, yet you left yourself open to a counterattack of my own by using both your hands to stop my punch," He explained. "Sometimes, in order to win you have to lose first." He said all too sagely.

"What does that even mean?" She deadpanned.

Kakashi sighed. As much as she had improved tactically since the Wave mission six weeks ago, she was still, for lack of better word; slow. However, he was still proud of her. He had drilled the concept of needing patience and discretion into her brain, and now, while she still rushed into trouble, she at least thought twice about it. While that wasn't a big win, progress was progress.

"You'll figure it out soon enough," Was his reply as he ruffled her hair, an action he knew she despised. "Don't be too down in the dumps though, you did good today."

She grunted. "That's what you say every time we spar, and I lose every time!" She exclaimed in frustration.

"Namiko…it's been six weeks since we came back from Wave Country, do you think that's all its going to take for a genin to beat a seasoned jonin like myself?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Namiko's response was to look away dramatically.

He laughed to himself as he ruffled her hair once again, this time earning a heated glare from the blonde jinchuriki. He turned his attention to the setting sun in the horizon and felt a smile tugging at his lips. His sensei's daughter was really something else. It was a little more difficult to teach her, seeing as she was more of a hands-on learner but in just six weeks, she had mastered both levels to Futon and Raiton elemental manipulation, she went from a street fighter to a shinobi with a decent Taijutsu style and from a huge ditz to a somewhat small ditz. However, her ability in Genjutsu was still for naught, only being able to break out of low-level ones.

He must have been lost in thought because soon, his eyes focused and he saw Namiko's hand waving in front of him and her voice faint in his ears.

"Hm? What was that Namiko?"

Namiko rubbed the back of her head with a nervous smile. "Back in Wave, when you told me about the Uzumaki clan you said they were skilled in swords and sealing…so, I was wondering and sorta hoping if it would be possible for you to teach me Kenjutsu and maybe some Fuinjutsu?" To say that Kakashi was a little shock would be a lie.

For some reason, he had always pictured Namiko becoming a shinobi much like her father. Relying on Taijutsu and Ninjutsu as opposed to the sword arts. But considering she did not know who her father was, it made sense she'd want to learn the skills of her mother's clan.

Kakashi smiled at her. "It's been quite a while since I picked up a sword but I'm pretty sure that I remember enough to teach you, as for Fuinjutsu; I only picked up a few things from the Yondaime during my time as his student, while I can give you some groundwork and teach you the basic stuff, someone like Jiraiya-sama might be a better Fuinjutsu teacher." He explained.

Namiko started back at him with a dull expression. "The pervert?" She asked, rather dryly.

Kakashi suppressed the urge to laugh and simply nodded his head. "The one and only, but he's not in Konoha at the moment…as a matter of fact I think he left a few days after checking your seal, Kami knows when he'll be back."

She turned her head to the floor, then offered Kakashi a shrug in return. "I really want to learn the stuff my clan was known for, so even if your lessons aren't much, I'll gladly take whatever you can give me." She responded.

Kakashi nodded his head, a smile under his navy-blue mask. "Sure thing. We can start as early as our next session incorporating Kenjutsu and Fuinjutsu into your training; I'll bring a few wooden decoy swords of different types so we can see which one would be better suited for you and I'll see if I can find the beginner's sealing book the Fourth gave me a while back…I should still have it."

As Kakashi finished his dialogue, Namiko began jumping up and down like a little kid that had just walked into a chocolate factory. "Yatta!"

Kakashi chuckled at her actions before signaling for her attention. "You'll be able to use your shadow clones to learn the Kenjutsu stances, as well as use them to study Fuinjutsu, however; I should warn you that Fuinjutsu is extremely complicated and requires utmost concentration." Kakashi warned.

At this point, Namiko had stopped her jumping animations and grinned ear to ear at her sensei. "Don't worry Kakashi-sensei! I promise to do my absolute best and not waste the lessons you're going to give me."

Kakashi allowed a smile to appear on his face. "I have no doubt you will Namiko," The blonde Nine Tails' host's grin never left her face. "By the way, how is your kanji calligraphy?" Kakashi asked.

"Um…it's decent…" She responded albeit, a little sheepishly.

"Hm…in order to do Fuinjutsu you need near perfect calligraphy, one wrong stroke in Fuinjutsu can be the difference between a storage seal – a seal that stores items in other items – and a portal to the Shinigami's front porch." He warned with an extremely serious face.

Namiko started sweating bullets, a reaction that caused Kakashi to internally cackle. "Re…Really?"

Kakashi's face turned to an impassive one as he shrugged. "I don't know…probably." Was his reply, causing Namiko to face fault. Kakashi once again laughed at her. "I'm kidding…hopefully," Both jonin and genin felt the need to shudder as a cold breeze passed through the training ground. "But, near perfect calligraphy is actually very important in the art of sealing, poor or wrong calligraphy would only make a seal defective."

Recovering from Kakashi's little uncharacteristic joke, Namiko nodded her head dutifully. "Got it Kakashi-sensei. I'll practice my calligraphy until I have the best handwriting in the Elemental Nations." A fiery determination accompanied her word.

"I have no doubt you will Namiko," Kakashi said as he once again turned his attention to the setting sun. "I think we should call it a day, it's almost nighttime and we've been at it since noon." As Kakashi finished his sentence, he saw Namiko turn pale.

"Shit!" She cursed as she tossed her gaze to the sun, almost completely past the horizon at this point. "I'm gonna be late," Namiko let out a deep sigh as she faced Kakashi. "See ya tomorrow sensei."

Kakashi suddenly felt a burst of chakra and Namiko was gone, having used her Jinton to get to wherever she needed to be as quickly as possible. The former Anbu captain shook his head. "Teenagers."

Namiko gritted her teeth in frustration as she analyzed what was in front of her. She took a moment to glance up at her adversary, his face as stoic as that of a war-hardened ninja facing off against genin. She had learned the hard way that reading this opponent was none too difficult.

She turned her attention back to the task at hand and after careful consideration, she made her move with a quick flick of her wrist. If her route of attack had deceived or shocked her foe, they showed no indication.

As for her opponent. He was scrutinizing the battlefield as if his life depended on it. He had already formulated dozens of strategies to win, and against a regular opponent this game would have long been finished, but Namiko always found a way to snake out of whatever plan he sprung on her, a trait that intrigued him to no end.

He glanced up at Namiko, not to see her reaction but more because he felt her eyes digging into him. As they made eye contact for half a second, she quickly looked back down at the board. He inwardly chuckled as he raised his hand.

He began to make his move, and that was when Namiko's noticed something…something she had never experienced with this person before, hesitation. He completed his turn then looked towards her, gesturing for her to make her move.

Namiko began studying the board in front of them. In their line of profession as shinobi, hesitation often would be your demise and she was sure shogi was no different. She turned to her opponent once again, this time not looking away when they made eye contact. Azure blue eyes peered into brown ones. Soon enough, Namiko felt her cheeks heating up from the intense eye contact, a light blush was spread across her cheeks.

She refocused on the subject at hand and frowned internally, not giving anything away. Shikamaru had never hesitated before and she knew she wasn't good enough at shogi to make him start today. Namiko sighed internally, trying to think of a way to get out of the obvious trap Shikamaru intended on springing. The way he had his shogi pieces set up at the moment, left her vulnerable to two different methods of attack from the Nara clan heir.

After what seemed like five hours but was actually five minutes, she was able to see a route that would take her out of the two traps that had been set by Shikamaru and her hand move on instinct, freeing herself from that trap…but unfortunately, she fell right into another.

Shikamaru moved his piece and turned to her. "Checkmate."

"Huh?"

It wasn't quite checkmate yet, but Shikamaru had his pieces set up in a way that after a few more moves he would have her in checkmate for good. So, it only made sense he would declare victory early.

He then moved the pieces back into their previous places and proceeded to show her eight different ways he was planning on winning that match, and while she counted that as progress as it was down from the usual twelve, she was still upset.

"Ugh…you're so annoying." She mumbled, playfully crossing her arms across her chest with a pout.

A small smirk came to the Nara clan heir's face as he offered her a nonchalant shrug.

Namiko only rolled her eyes.

After concluding training with Kakashi, the Uzumaki clan member had first made her way home, had a hot shower, swapped out her orange jumpsuit for the grey fleece sweatsuit and orange t shirt she had seemingly become fond of in the past few weeks. It was the beginning of September, so cool air was beginning to blow in from the Land of Snow in the north, so fleece had proven to be the right way to go.

She had then made her way to the Nara clan compound where she had been greeted by Shikamaru. The first time she had come to his clan's compound to continue learning how to play shogi from him a few weeks ago, she had been skeptical about what his parents', as well as his clansmen's, reactions would have been towards her.

To her relief, Naras were mostly laid back and acute people who knew the difference between a Tailed Beast, and it's container. All in all, his clansmen didn't seem to mind her presence, some were even respectful and kind enough to smile and wave at her in welcoming when she had first come.

As for his parents…that was a different story…a different, but good, story...

Flashback: Nara Clan Compound – A Few Weeks Ago

"About time."

Namiko had the decency to offer Shikamaru a blush of embarrassment as she walked through the two pillars that were the entrance to the Nara Clan's compound in the south of Konohagakure. As she walked through the entrance, Namiko had to admit that she was surprised by how simple, yet elegant, the compound was.

The entrance was the beginning of a pathway that was in the middle of a stretch of dozens of small buildings. Many of the small buildings were either shops or utility stores, and some were even little houses.

"Ah, sorry about that. My training got a little hectic today." She said, offering the inert looking Nara a small smile of apology.

Shikamaru in turn sighed as he spun around, mumbling a lazy 'troublesome' as he began to lead her down the path. As they moved further down the path, she saw that it branched off in various directions, some new pathways formed with more houses, more shops and what she could only suspect to be stables.

It wasn't an enormous compound like she had seen from the Hyuga or even the Uchiha but, you could tell that it was a compound that belonged to one of Konoha's most distinguished clans. What really surprised Namiko though was the kindness and welcomeness of the members of Shikamaru's clan. Almost everyone they passed offered him and her a smile.

Eventually the two genin passed by a rather large house that was a little secluded from the rest. Namiko could only deduce that it was probably Shikamaru's house, as she knew he was the son of the Nara clan head.

On a side note, she also took a moment to reflect on the weird fact that all the heirs of Konoha's most prominent clans were born in the same year, herself included. While she wasn't necessarily the heir to the Uzumaki clan – not that she knew of anyway – the Uzumaki clan was a pretty big deal in Konoha, so she felt the need to include herself.

"Ah Shika-kun, who's your friend?"

Namiko chuckled at Shikamaru as she saw him grow a tick mark on the back of his head from the little nickname. They both turned towards the large house and saw a woman sweeping the front porch of the house.

Shikamaru sighed at the woman.

"Would you stop calling me that Kaa-san? It's such a drag." The lazy genin said with a bored expression on his face before turning to Namiko. "Namiko, this is my mother, Yoshino. Mother, this is my friend from back at the academy; Namiko."

Namiko offered the woman a nervous smile as she waved. Yoshino was a very beautiful woman with long, dark brown hair kept in a low ponytail with three strands framing her face. Her skin was fair, and her eyes were dark. She was wearing a pink blouse and a dark-colored skirt as well as a white apron over it all. She also had small hoop earring in her ears, similar ones to what Shikamaru wore.

"Hello, Nara-sama." Namiko said nervously.

Yoshino waved off Namiko's greeting. "Oh, please Namiko, call me Yoshino, it's perfectly fine. Honorifics aren't really my thing," The woman explain before she turned to Shikamaru. "Unless there for my little Shika-kun, of course." She said cutely, causing Shikamaru to roll his eyes in feign anger.

Namiko smiled at the little interaction between mother and son, all while feeling a pang of envy. She didn't let it affect her, however. "Hai, Yoshino-san!" While the slight pang of envy was still there, Namiko was glad Shikamaru's mother didn't seemingly hate her guts for what she held.

Yoshino offered Namiko a smile of her own as a gentleman walked through the front door to the house. The man's and Shikamaru's resemblance were so uncanny, Namiko jaw had hit the ground, metaphorically of course.

"Oh Shikamaru, where are you off to?"

Shikamaru sighed at the man's question. He found this many questions unnecessarily troublesome.

"Namiko, this is my father Shikaku, and dad, this is Namiko, a classmate from the academy," Shikamaru decided to get the pleasantries out of the way first. "And I've been teaching her how to play shogi, we're off to the hills so I can enjoy some clouds while she learns." He explained.

Shikaku nodded as he smiled at Namiko, offering her a wave. "All right, well, have fun you two."

"Yea, yea." Shikamaru waved off his father's words as Namiko bid them farewell and followed after Shikamaru, who had already started to walk again.

Just before they were out of ear shot, Shikamaru's mother Yoshino, said some words that had both teens blushing blood red.

"They'd look so cute together!"

Shikaku chuckled at his wife, having known she did that just to get a reaction out of the two.

As they faded in the distance, Shikaku sighed and looked up at the sky. "I never paid back that fifty ryo I owed you, and you decide to punish me by somehow sending your daughter into my son's life, and by extension my life?" He turned his head from the clouds then looked to where his son and Namiko were walking off to. "I just know she's going to be as troublesome as you two were, Minato, Kushina."

She smiled, remembering the little interaction with Shikamaru's parents.

Moving on, since her arrival to the compound earlier tonight, they had been playing shogi at Shikamaru's favorite 'cloud watching hill' as he had called it. Tonight, there were clear skies, so they weren't any clouds to watch, but he had explained to her that this hill just brought him peace, and he needed to be at peace when he was in her presence given that trouble followed her like a magnet, a comment which had earned him a playful tap. Their only companion was the small lamp Shikamaru had brought from his house to illuminate the shogi board.

A yawn escaped Namiko's lips, and he turned to look at her. Ever since their days at the academy, Namiko Uzumaki had always been, for lack of better word; interesting. He knew of the looks she got from not only parents at the academy, but also random strangers in the streets. He also knew that she was a bit of a prankster, troublemaker and somewhat of a menace to society, but surely that was no way for adults to look at a ten-year-old with absolute disdain, was there?

She was an orphan, that he knew…but what he didn't know was if she knew who her parents were or not. Maybe her parents had done something in the past that the villagers resented? But then again, what could her parents do that would not only affect an entire ninja village, but also be bad enough for that hate to carry onto their child?

He took a quick glance at her. Her blue eyes were looking at the moon while her golden hair was being blown by the wind. Blonde hair and blue eyes that were all too familiar to Konoha's greatest ever Hokage…so far. He sighed, he decided that this was as far as he was going to let his mind wander. Frankly, the route his train of thought was going down was not only none of his business but would probably be troublesome knowledge to have in his possession.

"You do that a lot don't you?"

Her voice brought him out of his thoughts, and he turned to her.

"Do what?"

"Sigh…I swear that was like the forty second time…tonight." She said with a roll of her eyes.

Shikamaru could only chuckle sheepishly, sighing was not only a habit but came naturally to him. Then again, he only sighed because there were troublesome reasons to sigh about.

"Listen, leave the nagging about my habits to my mom, alright?" He replied with a light smile on his face. Namiko turned to him and before long was giggling, a very uncharacteristic trait for her.

Shikamaru heard the giggle and felt his chest tighten a little but it was gone before too long. After he caught himself, he looked around, wondering just what that was. But being as he was, he decided not to dwell on it too long and stood up.

"Well, Namiko," He began as she reached out to him without outstretch arms, silently asking for his help to stand up. "As much as I enjoy beating you in shogi, it's getting late, and my mom doesn't appreciate my being late to supper." He said and he pulled her up and she shrugged in return.

"You're right, I got a long day of training tomorrow anyway so I should probably get home and get some rest, Kakashi-sensei can be a real slave driver."

They began walking down the hill in relative silence. The bugs chirping in the darkness one of the few sounds that reached their ears. The hill wasn't too deep into the Nara clan compound, it was about a five-minute walk from the front gates.

Once they had reached the gate, Namiko turned to face Shikamaru with a serious expression on her face. It was as if she had been thinking hard about something ever since they had started to make their way to the gates.

"Shikamaru, what do you want out of life?"

Shikamaru stared back at her a little dumbfoundedly for a few seconds, the question was so out of the blue and quite plainly blunt.

"Huh?" He asked back, with a raised brow.

"I mean like…what are your goals?"

Realization dawned on Shikamaru a little, he had initially thought she was asking him something troublesome like the meaning of life or something like that.

"Oh, that's what you meant," She nodded in return. "To be honest, I haven't given that too much thought but…I'd like to make Jonin, eventually, like my dad…and of course I want to get married and maybe have a couple of kids, nothing too extreme like you proclaiming to be Hokage every day." He said with a smirk. It wasn't a cocky or belittling smirk, but one filled with banter.

She nodded in thought for a while. "And you're like…super smart, right?"

He shrugged with an accompanying sigh. "I guess you could say so."

"Then be my aide."

He looked at her. "What? You mean like following you around and answer to your ever command?" He asked.

She shook her head while rolling her eyes. "When I become Hokage, I want you to be my aide." She proclaimed. Shikamaru stared back at her in shock. She wanted him to be her aide in something as troublesome as being Hokage? The audacity. He could actually picture it now. She'd go off to do something troublesome and he'd end up being the one doing mountain stacks of paperwork.

"That's such a troublesome job, Namiko." He sighed out.

She glared at him playfully.

Their eyes peered into each other's before Shikamaru sighed in defeat and held his hands up in the air.

"How about a compromise? How about when you make Hokage, then you ask me? Sound fair?"

It was Namiko's turn to admit defeat, she nodded at her fellow genin in understanding. They then bid farewell and she began ninja hopping towards the direction of where he assumed her place of residence was located.

As Shikamaru watched her go he began to think again. He wasn't sure what had inspired the change, but she seemed surer of wanting to become Hokage. Of course, back in the academy she said she would be Hokage almost every day, but she never tried to prove that. She was, after all, the dead last in the academy, with only Kiba and himself challenging her for the spot.

She seemed to rather spend her time in the academy pulling pranks, making noise and just trying to get attention that actually put her mind to accomplish the goal she said she wanted to. As a matter of fact, in the academy, he had seen her proclamation of wanting to be Hokage as an attempt to gain attention as well, maybe not everyone saw it that way, but his mind did work differently than others.

He felt the need to let another sigh escape his lips. This Namiko Uzumaki was definitely different than the one he went to the academy and graduated with, and that was only about four months ago. He had learned from Asuma, who had heard from Kakashi that their first C rank mission out of the village had been both harsh and an eye opener.

He clicked his teeth and closed his eyes. Namiko Uzumaki was surely an enigma…an enigma he both wanted to figure out but also knew would become more troublesome once he did figure her out.

"Shi…ka…ma…ru!" His eyes snapped open as he hard an all too familiar voice. He spun around and saw his mother looking at him daringly. "You're late." She had a menacing look on her face.

He grunted in pain as his mother grabbed him by his ear and began dragging him home. Another sigh left his lips. He was just surrounded by troublesome women.

"Okay, you can just put this away for later."

Namiko reached and took the book Kakashi was offering her. The title of the book read; A Beginner's Guide to Fuinjutsu. Without missing a beat, Namiko instead creating a shadow clone, who already had orders. The clone took the book from the original and began making its way to a secluded part of the training ground.

Namiko turned back to Kakashi with a grin.

The jonin deadpanned. "Well…I guess that works too," He said with a shrug. "That book," He gestured towards where the clone had walked off to. "Has everything you need to know about the basics of Fuinjutsu, how it is best utilized and even some ways of how to make it effective in battle, however, I won't be able to teach you any real Fuinjutsu until I deem that your calligraphy is good enough, got it?"

Namiko nodded to which Kakashi smiled. The silver-haired copy-nin then proceeded to withdraw a scroll from his jonin jacket and laid it out on the floor before channeling some chakra into it. Namiko watched as the scroll burst into smoke and once the smoke had dissipated, a few wooden swords were on the floor.

"That right there was an example of Fuinjutsu," He explained, seeing a look of awe on her face. "And these are the different type of swords that are compatible with Konoha's Kenjutsu style; the Crescent Moon," He said as he gestured to the blades in front of them. "Firstly, we have to see which ones best suit you."

Kakashi watched as Namiko reached and picked up one of the wooden swords which had a slight curve. How they did that with wood was beyond her.

"That would be a Katana, by far the most famous sword used in today's ninja world," Kakashi then gestured to other swords as he pointed them out. "This is a Rapier, this one is a broadsword, if you ask me, they're not your type to be quite frank, then of course we have a machete and last but certainly not least, is this one; a tanto."

Namiko had paid close attention to each one of the swords and while she found each of them interesting, the only ones that really stood out to her were the katana and the tanto. She also noted that the latter was much like former, bar the slight curve and longer blade.

"So…what are we thinking?"

She stayed quiet for a little while. Kakashi frowned under his mask when he saw a slight look of longing pass over Namiko's features.

"Out of curiosity…did my mother use swords…or my father?" She asked. Her look of determination changing to a pleading one.

Kakashi placed his hand on his chin, as if he was thinking. "You're father; no. As for your mother, she did briefly wield a katana for a period of time during her late chunin and early jonin years." He explained to her.

Namiko looked at the wooden katana in her hand for a few seconds. "As much as I want to be like her, my fighting style relies on speed and counterattacking so I guess it'd be better if I used a smaller sword like the tanto, right?"

Kakashi clicked his teeth. "Well, that's one way to look at it, but they do make katana's that are just as light as tantos, so weight difference shouldn't really be a problem. Another aspect to look at is that it's much easier to use a tanto that can conduct chakra than a katana that can conduct chakra due to the blade being smaller." Was his explanation.

"Huh…" She mumbled in thought. "Swords that can use chakra?"

"Yup, there's a special metal in the Land of Iron that they sell that can be used to create blades, kunai, shuriken that can all channel chakra and maintain chakra flow...Asuma actually has blades that can channel his Futon," He explained to her. "You can probably get a sword custom made out of that special metal that can utilize both your Futon and Raiton, making your Kenjutsu more cutting and electrifying." He said, a slight smirk on his face at his word play.

"Wow…"

He nodded.

"In that case, I guess the tanto would be the best fit, right?"

Kakashi nodded once again, that was fair logic. He was actually quite impressed by how far she had come in terms of intellect once she had put her mind to it. Like he had said before, she was still a bit slow but able to get the right cogs in her mind turning when she needed to.

"Can I still try practicing with all of them though? It might be useful if I ever have to use someone else's sword in a fight and it's not the one I'm accustomed to."

Kakashi was used to seeing determination in his blonde-haired student, but when she turned her eyes to him, he could've sworn he saw determination he had only ever seen in his sensei when he was developing the Rasengan. A determination like no other.

Kakashi smiled. "Of course," He said with an eye smile as he took up the wooden rapier and twirled it in his hands. "Now…let's begin."

Two weeks later, Namiko could be found rushing around her apartment in the wee hours of the morning, five-thirty to be exact. The thirteen-year-old genin was currently running about the apartment in black boy shorts that were accompanied by an orange sports bra. She was fresh out of the shower, her damp blonde hair a clear indication of that.

Kakashi had informed them yesterday, that today, Team Seven would be partaking on, surprisingly, a B ranked mission to somewhere cold with an additional member. Since the Wave mission they had gone on various D rank mission inside the village and some C ranks that had them outside of Konoha's walls for a day at most, but today, their mission was supposed to take a few weeks at most.

The blonde jinchuriki, at the moment, was looking for her new ninja outfit that came in the mail the day before last, while also eating a cup ramen. After weeks of searching the village, she had found a clothing store – that was also a ninja appliance store – that had been willing to sell her clothes and ninja gear for the fair price. She had picked out what she wanted to be her new outfit and being that she needed the Uzumaki clan crest sewn in, it had been set up for delivery once it was ready.

What's crazy is that the same ninja store also had a blacksmith for an owner! Following a long first day of Kenjutsu training with Kakashi two weeks ago, she had decided on using the tanto as her weapon of choice and luckily, the blacksmith of an owner also made custom weapons. She had spoken to him about forging a chakra channeling tanto for her, to which he had obliged, though she did pale when she heard how much it would cost.

Namiko had picked up the art of Kenjutsu quicker than Kakashi would have expected. Kakashi had vocalized that after only two weeks, she could probably hold her own against most genin in a Kenjutsu only battle. Her taking to Kenjutsu was as Uchiha's took to Fire Style or Nara's took to thinking, it was like second nature.

"Found it!" Namiko picked up the package with a giant grin on her face. After she had received the package two nights ago, she had gone out for some ramen after putting it away. And this morning, she couldn't remember where she had placed it. All's well that ends well though.

Namiko took a look at her old orange and blue jumpsuit one last time, bidding it a silent farewell as she folded it and placed it in a corner then went into her room with her new clothes.

A few minutes later Namiko stepped out of the room. While she probably still stuck out like a tree in Sunagakure, her choice of clothes was definitely an upgrade. The Uzumaki clan member wore a short-sleeved, orange kimono-like blouse with a dark embroidered border, that was held closed by a black obi, over a cropped, mesh armor, fishnet style shirt that reached her elbows. The Uzumaki clan insignia was worn on the bottom left half of her blouse. For bottoms, she had on black shorts that reached mid-thigh and stockings that stopped just above her knee, which were accompanied by black shinobi sandals.

On her hands were black fingerless gloves. She also sported a black ninja pouch that was attached to her waist and contained all of her ninja equipment as well as a sealing scroll with her backpack and other necessities. Namiko had also swapped her blue forehead protector for a black one, with much longer tails.

Just above the black ninja pouch was a little space where she would put her tanto horizontally, once the blacksmith had completed the forging of it.

Gone were the two blonde pigtails as well. Now, she let her straight hair fall to its natural midback length position, just above her ninja pouch. She opted to have two shoulder length strands that framed both sides of her face and she had placed a black clip that parted her hair to the left, so her hair wouldn't obscure the Hidden Leaf Insignia on her hitai-ate. And on her left wrist was a black band that she could use to put her hair up, if need be.

The blonde then made her way over to her coffee table and picked up a small bracelet case. A month ago, the Sandaime had given her a small bracelet case that once belonged to Kushina. In the bracelet case was a simple silver band that held a charm – that looked like the Uzumaki clan's red swirl – by a small silver linked chain.

A small smile graced Namiko's lips as she detached the chain that held the charm from the silver band and instead, placed it back in the case. She figured she'd attach it to the hilt of her tanto once she had received it. The silver band was also engraved with Kushina's name, so as homage to her mother, she placed it on her right wrist. Jewelry was never her thing, but this was something special so she would wear it in the best way she knew, on the hand that she would use to protect Konoha and accomplish her dreams. It was only fitting.

Namiko looked at herself one last time in the mirror before smirking and smacking her right fist into her left palm. Eight weeks of hard training since the wave mission had led her to his moment. It was her and her team's first B rank mission…or rather, the first mission that would start as a B rank.

She also knew of the chunin exams that were supposed to be held in Konoha in three weeks' time. She hoped that Team Seven could prove themselves on this mission and Kakashi would consider entering them.

As she left her apartment, locking the door behind her she grinned.

It was game time. It was…

"Time to kick some ass and take some names!"

Namiko arrived at the North Gate to a peculiar site. Her teammates: Sasuke and Sakura, were there but they weren't alone. She knew that they would have an extra member for this mission but was partly shocked when she saw who that extra person was. It was Shikamaru. The Nara was lazily looking at the clouds while Sasuke did what he usually did…brood. Sakura was seemingly engrossed in a book about acupuncture.

Standing among them was an elderly man with short, pale purple hair that spiked up in the back. He had a bristling moustache, a long beard and wore a hat that had a symbol of four small circles to the right, bottom, left and top of a slightly larger circle; a symbol she had never seen before. Next to said elderly man was a much younger man, maybe five or six years older than the genin carrying a backpack that looked much too heavy for his lithe frame. No doubt the elderly man's aide if the look of nervousness was anything to go by.

However, that wasn't the most peculiar thing. That accolade went to the fact that Kakashi was here. Kakashi Hatake was…on time? Since when was that a thing? On her way here she had assumed that she was rushing for nothing, being as that Kakashi was always late. After that thought had struck her, she had slowed down her pace and had finally arrived about fifteen minutes after they were supposed to meet.

"Tch, about time." Sasuke – who was relieved that they could get a move on – said. While he was a little surprised at his teammate's new attire, he didn't dwell on it, after all, it didn't concern him. The others that were waiting on her arrival all looked at her with wide eyes, however, save for the elderly man and his aide, who had never met her before.

"Namiko?! Is that you?!" Sakura had exclaimed her question with quite a bit of shock. The blonde nodded shyly, a trait she wasn't familiar with. She wasn't one to get shy, however the way they were looking at her did make her feel a bit self-conscious. "Wow…that orange jumpsuit did not do you any justice." Sakura admitted.

Namiko blushed in embarrassment before greeting everyone, finishing up on Shikamaru.

"You're our extra member?" She asked.

The Nara nodded. "Yea, Asuma-sensei got called away for a mission that's probably going to take a while and Choji and Ino are both with their parents training. My dad is busy with the Hokage this week, so I decided to take a mission with another squad…it was either this or sit at home with my troublesome mother." He admitted with a lazy shrug.

Namiko could only deadpan at him. Was his mother so bad that he would rather take a mission – a B ranked one at that – that just relax at home with her?

"This mission was the only thing available, but from what was explained to me, it's a simple escort mission, so I decided why not." He further explained. "Nice outfit by the way."

She smiled at the compliment before she nodded. Shikamaru's explanation made sense. She figured the mission was only a B rank because of certain circumstances than actual difficult. Shikamaru would probably avoid anything close to a B rank mission because of how much work they demanded.

"Well," Kakashi's voice rang out, bringing everyone out of their thoughts as all eyes turned to him. "Now that we're all here," Namiko blushed a little sheepishly. "Our mission is as follows; this man here is Lord Hyoketsu, the Daimyo of Frost Country, and it is our job to escort him back to his place of residence in the Land of Frost." Kakashi explained. "Any questions?"

Sakura raised her hand. Kakashi gestured for her to ask away. "If it's a just an escort mission, why isn't it a C rank?"

Valid question. "This mission is ranked as a B rank only because of the political importance, as well as the implications it could have if we were to fail. Anything else?" This time, it was Lord Hyoketsu who spoke.

"Is the Hokage certain that a bunch of kids are going to be enough to back you up?" He asked, gesturing towards the jonin.

Being the hothead and pompous bastard they were, respectively, Namiko and Sasuke glared at the man. In order to avoid an international incident involving the two genin getting into it with a Daimyo, Kakashi cleared the air quickly.

"I assure you Hyoketsu-sama that this team was handpicked by Lord Hokage, these four are some of our best and brightest."

The Frost Daimyo looked over the four genin with a calculating gaze.

"If you say so, Hatake-san."

Once there were no questions or concerns, the jonin sensei along with his team, the Frost Daimyo and his aide signed out of the village and began their trek north. They would go north for a day, maybe two depending on the weather then they would turn north east and cut through the Land of Hot Water to reach their destination; Shimo no Kuni.

7,362 words of story material…which is actually shocking because it took two weeks for this chapter. Lol.

Hope you enjoyed.

Chapter 5 is a wrap! Just want to let you guys know, this arc I'm creating isn't going to be that big, maybe two or three chapters at most. I really intend on using it for character development, to develop Namiko's relationships and as kind of a learning moment for our blonde-haired heroine right before the chunin exams. The Frost Daimyo's description is straight out of the anime, I just made up a random name along the lines of 'cold'.

I thought that using the Land of Frost for my own arc would be best considering that there wasn't much about the Land of Frost in the anime, so I could use what was given, i.e., the Daimyo's description and build off of that and maybe turn it into something extraordinary?

As for Namiko's clothing, you can look at the cover picture for the fanfic; that's basically the outfit, except I added the mesh/fishnet. I know people might say I'm unoriginal but that's fine by me, I though it looked cool when I saw it while scrolling through google and realized that it's basically Kushina's outfit when she was a genin. I know some people might also say that I'm overdoing it with Kushina's influence on Namiko, but Namiko's a teenager who never met her parents and only knows about her mom so to me, it would make sense she wants to be like the only parent she knows about, make sense?

And I'm going to try and slowly increase her skill level, I really don't want this to become predictable. So far, you've seen me give her a basic control over the Jinton; being able to move as fast as a seasoned Jonin without turning into a firefly, the Wind Style and Lightning Style elemental training, having decent Taijutsu, and the Kenjutsu, and don't get me wrong, she's no Kenjutsu specialist just yet. But I figured two weeks was enough for an Uzumaki to grasp and understand Kenjutsu.

Anyway, let me know what you guys are thinking and as always, thanks for the support!

-AlphaZulu99