01: Not Red or Yellow
There are rules in the world of Shinobi.
Some are written down.
Most aren't.
One might expect, that if there are rules – written or not – that these rules would be followed.
Anyone thinking along those lines, would be disappointed
In the world of Shinobi, there are no unbreakable rules, only rules that have yet to be broken.
And almost every rule in the world of Shinobi — written or not — has been broken.
But this? This was new… No one had ever broken this rule before…
Before the Second War, the fact that the gods are real was known by every Shinobi. Before the War, there was a known summoning process for nearly every god, how each would respond to a request was clearly written, and what they would demand for their services was written down in excruciating detail. Wether or not you would be willing to pay their price, was another matter entirely.
It is an unspoken rule in the Shinobi world to never summon a god on the field of battle. This rule has of course been broken, countless times. The tides of battles have been turned, summoning processes have been lost or destroyed. And the legends of gods granting unimaginable powers or boons to those who summon them, have been reduced to myths.
But there was one god that had never been summoned. Until ten years ago, no one even knew that this god could be summoned, and even when the process to summon this god was discovered, those who developed it refused to use it.
Even when facing their imminent demise, they did not even consider summoning this god, so terrible was the idea of releasing this god upon world — and the idea of the price it would demand — that they preferred to die than even whisper its name.
For it is the god of the one thing that all things fear.
But everything changed that October night.
If you lived anywhere other than the Land of Fire, it was a normal night or day, perhaps you felt a slight sense of unease if you had a viable Chakra system, you might have been high strung if you were a sensor, but aside from a few exceptions, that would be the worst of it.
For the anyone in or on the borders of Hi no Kunai, it felt as if the air itself was made of malice, so powerful was the Killer Intent that the air itself to the people living in Konoha, it felt like the end of the world.
The Kyūbi no Kitsune, the only Biju never seen, only spoken of in whispers, had appeared.
And seemed intent on destroying everything.
Hundreds of Shinobi hurled everything they had at the beast to no effect, it had broken through a portion of their wall like it wasn't even there, and was preparing to destroying the Village Hidden in the Leaves with one decisive blow.
A Bijūdama, the infamous attack, used by all Biju, there were records from before the time of hidden villages that detailed the devastation wrought by the technique, nothing survived, nothing was left standing.
But this was not the end for Konoha, the Fourth Hokage made sure of that. Teleporting both the Tailed Beast Ball and the Nine Tailed Fox away in short order, the village began shoring up their defenses, clearing away the debris, transporting the wounded to the hospital, and tallying the fatalities.
And then it happened, a presence never felt on this earth before, it did not simply affect Konoha, nor was it only felt in Fire Country and its borders.
The feeling of death bore down on everyone and everything in the world simultaneously and absolutely.
For some time, nothing on the planet dared move, nothing blinked, nothing breathed, for fear that the source of the terrible presence would focus on them.
And then…
It was gone.
But not forgotten.
Orange.
Everything was orange.
In realistic sense not everything was orange, just everything on this block of the street.
That didn't matter to those who had been struck by the paint filled balloons that had fallen from the sky, nearly as large as a human head, they had rained down on the unsuspecting populous of the avenue, bathing them, the street, and the surrounding buildings, in a coat of bright orange paint. While there were plenty of active and retired pranksters in Konoha that could've done this, there was no doubt in anyone's mind who it was.
"GET THAT BRAT!" Thus, the chase began, their target had been spotted atop the Hokage Monument, which had been spared from the explosion of paint that occurred shortly after the hunters reached the top, coating them and the stand-in dummy in a coat of red paint.
If there had been any doubts before, looking at the foxy grin on the face of the dummy put them to rest.
Resuming the chase with a renewed vigor, it was a good nine minutes before anyone even caught a glimpse of their target who had stepped out of their hiding place to check for pursuers, it would be an hour before she was caught by her academy teacher and brought before the Hokage, which is where she was now.
The Hokage's name was Hiruzen Sasuke Sarutobi, an old man who seemed to look every day of his age, the man shook his head as the culprit looked at her accuser, fiercely denying her captors accusations. It was fairly obvious this had been her work, after all, she'd not only left a calling card of sorts, but they had a list of purchases she'd made leading up to this, most of them ingredients for making orange paint, a large stuffed doll, and a can of red paint, all made with withdrawals from her bank account, how a seven-year-old, just barely into the Academy, put together a catapult and then evaded by her Chunin pursers-save for one-would probably always be something of a mystery.
So no, the question to ask was not 'Did she do it', nor was it 'How did she do it', it was: 'Why did she do it'. At the moment, all Hiruzen did was sigh and rub his temples, ignoring the argument going on just in front of him, opening his eyes for the first time since the little redhead had been brought into his office, he straightened up from his hunched over position in his chair and narrowed his eyes at her.
"Natsumi." In that moment the whole office went silent and for those few brief seconds of silence he had the undivided attention of everyone in his office, but this silence was much more satisfying than it was extensive.
"I didn't do it Hokage-Jiji-san!" The Chunin by her side glared at her.
"Don't call the Hokage that!" Hiruzen raises his fist as Natsumi sticks out her tongue at the scarred Chunin which brings a tick mark to his forehead, and just as the redhead opens her mouth to give some manner of retort, he slams his hand down causing the two other heads in the office snap back around to him.
"Thank you Iruka, I'll handle this from here." Iruka bows and walks out of the office, leaving Natsumi to squirm in her seat under the Hokage's focused gaze.
"Natsumi, you built a catapult and fired a deluge of balloons filled with orange paint onto a street full of ninja and civilians," Natsumi pauses for a long minute before responding, and even then, she only nods.
"Why?" At this question Natsumi straightens and her eyes narrow slightly.
"Jiji," Hiruzen braces himself, he could see it in her eyes, hundreds of reasons, but only a single question. "Why is everyone afraid of me?" and then he sighs, tired in a way he hadn't been in a very long time. He rises from his seat and removes a picture frame from the wall, staring silently at it for a long while.
"...Natsumi," Natsumi straightens up, leaning forward. "I am the Third Hokage of Konoha, I am known as the Professor and the God of Shinobi." Natsumi nods as the third turns to her and begins walking towards her. "I was there when they buried the First Hokage, Harishima Senju, and his wife, I buried my Sensei, Tobimaru Senju, I had to bury my wife, and I had to bury my successor Minato Namikaze and his wife." Natsumi's eyes widen as the Third kneels so that he is now eye level with her. "Namikaze Minato, the God of Flash, knew that you would be persecuted, knew that you would question anyone that would listen to you for a reason as to why that is, so he made me promise him before he died that I tell you the truth." Natsumi's eyes slowly widen even further then narrow as she frowns when the Third shakes his head. "He told me that I was only to tell you when you were of age, this means that you can either become an adult at age Eighteen as a Civilian." Natsumi frowns at this. "Or a Genin at age twelve by graduating from the academy. Once you've graduated from the Academy, and obtained a Headband, you are recognized as a legal adult." Natsumi stares at Hiruzen for a few seconds before she begins to respond she was interrupted by a rapping on the Hokage's wooden doors, Hiruzen rises from his kneeling position, but not before placing the picture frame into Natsumi's lap.
"Hokage-sama?" Comes the muffled voice from the other side of the door, Natsumi looks over her shoulder and frowns at the door while glaring at it.
"What is it Misumi?" The Hokage's secretary opens the door and pokes her head through it to look at the Hokage and his visitor.
"Hokage-oh Hello Natsu-chan." Natsumi huffs and turns away from the blonde-haired woman, causing her to giggle before she returns her attention to the Hokage. "Hokage-sama, you have a new appointment." The Hokage nods and returns to his position behind his desk.
"Thank you Misumi I'll be along shortly." The woman nods and pulls her head out of the office, closing the door behind her. Natsumi stands and begins to exit the office only to pause and look back over her shoulder at the aged Kage.
"Just you wait Ji-san, one day soon I'll be a Genin, then I'll be coming for your hat Ji-san, and I'll be the first female Hokage ever." with that said Natsumi turns on her heel and stops, facing Hiruzen and extending her arm at him with a clenched fist, the sudden turn sending her hair flying about behind her head. "And then everyone will have to respect me, Dattebano!" With that said she exits the office, missing the smile on Hiruzen's face.
Inoichi Yamanaka stood before Konoha's Academy, silently gazing at it, remembering the days when he himself attended. He wasn't here to reminisce though, Inoichi had not woken up at Six-O'-Clock for no reason.
'Right now, it feels like I'm standing out here for no-ah.' There she was, Kanna Ikeda, the newest Chunin instructor at the Academy.
'It is Six-Fifty-Three, she at least varies the time at which she comes in. Technically she's late, compared to reports. Though that's probably because she doesn't want to become predictable.' Inoichi catches himself preparing to move into her path, he considers it for a moment before shaking his head.
'Don't be so direct, not everything has to be a confrontation anymore.' Walking into the Academy through the front doors he made his way to the school office, taking his time, taking in the academy and the feeling it gave off now that he so much taller. Finally coming to the office, he focused his senses on Kanna's Chakra signature, flowing smoothly but quick, calm but tense, about what he was expecting.
'Had she seen me? I wasn't exactly hiding but she was pretty focused, even if she had, would she have thought I had come to the academy to talk to her?' Shaking his head Inoichi knocked on the door and waited. After a few moments Kanna opened the sliding door and took him in, her eyes widening before her whole face closes off.
"Yamanaka-san." The blonde nods, trying to discern if the formal address was simply a part of her personality or because she on guard, his former occupation wasn't any kind of secret within the Shinobi Force.
"Ikeda-san." As much as Inoichi hated to admit it, he always found it fascinating to watch the micro expressions rapidly pass on peoples face when he met with them, most often surprise, followed by worry, then either, people became a little less predictable after that – some actually had something to hide after all – but he wasn't here to intimidate someone into implicate themselves at the moment. And so he forced himself not to over examine Kanna's reaction to his presence.
"May I have a moment of your time?" Kanna frowns slightly before nodding, stepping back into the office.
"Of course." Inoichi steps inside, bowing to her as he does so, rather than bowing in return Kanna motions for Inoich to take a seat.
"Thank you, but this shouldn't take too long." She doesn't relax.
"I'm sure you know why I'm here," No response. "My daughter will be starting the Academy in two years. So, me being the paranoid old man that I am, I decided to take a look into all of the potential instructors." Still no response. "…I'm sure you've heard this before but I would like to recommend that you speak to someone." Kanna doesn't respond, merely staring at Inoichi before sighing.
"Is it really so bad… being early for everything?" Inoichi shakes his head, smiling encouragingly.
"Of course not, if you want to be early for things then you are free to do so. Situation permitting, but we both know that you wanting to be early is not the reason I came to talk to you." Kanna nods slightly, gaze becoming distant.
"I can't make you seek help, and I wouldn't even if I could, but I do feel strongly that you should talk to someone." Kanna nods again and Inoichi sighs before opening the door to leave.
"Have a good day Ikeda-san.
"YOU WHAT!?" Shikamaru winces, jarred from sleep by his mother's yell.
'Like a shout to the heavens.' He frowns, then yawns, attempting to ignore the sound of his parents bickering.
"Shikamaru!" Jumping in surprise, Shikamaru mutters a quick "Troublesome." To himself before slowly making his way to the room his parents were in, his shoulders further hunching upon seeing the sheepish smile on his father's face, turning back to face his mother, Shikamaru freezes, standing straight up upon realizing his mother was giving him… The look.
"Your father just told me something very interesting." Shikamaru gaze snapped back and forth between his mother – who wouldn't look away from him – and his father – who wouldn't look at him.
"He mentioned that he was just shy of the position of dead last in his class." Shikamaru shoots his father a glare as Shikaku flinches.
"And do you know what he said?" She had that look on her face.
'Does she really want me to gue-.' "Well?" Shikamaru's slight frown becomes more pronounced.
'Mendokuse…'
"…What did-?" "He said-!" *Sigh…* "That he was nearly the Dead Last of his year! And that it "Wasn't a big deal Yoshi, I turned out just fine." What do you think Shikamaru-kun?"
'That my honest answer will earn me pain and suffering.' Shikamaru mentally sighs.
"That's such a shame Kaa-san." Yoshino's stern expression sharpens further at Shikamaru's tired tone.
"Shikamaru, I'm going to be watching your grades very closely during your time at the Academy. I can accept you not being rookie of the year, I know I can't make you try during any of the physical portions but so help me if you're not in the top three academically…" Shikamaru gives a jerky nod which Yoshino responds to with a single sharp one.
"Good." With that said she turns and walks away, while Shikamaru turns his glare fully onto his father who shrugs, frowning while he scratches his currently loose hair.
"She's got oregano and rosemary in the cupboard, currant and gooseberry jam stashed away somewhere and she made holly-aloe-mint candles. Do not give your mother a reason to use them." Shikamaru shudders.
"Troublesome."
'Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out." Natsumi frowns slightly as she looks up at the sign above the entrance to the Academy, admitting to herself that she was nervous. Taking her first tremulous steps towards the double doors she mentally corrects herself.
'This is fucking nerve wracking ya know!?' Unclenching her fist, Natsumi straightens out the piece of paper formerly trapped in one of her hands.
'Right, okay, Room 101, right, okay.' Taking a deep breath, Natsumi pushes open the doors to the Academy, finding it a little strange that no one else had thought to come early.
Quickly entering her classroom. 'My classroom… For the first time I'm gonna be in a class room… I'm gonna be going to school, for ninja's no less!' Natsumi beams as the vibrates in excitement, bounding up the steps to the seat nearest the window in the back of class, quickly going through her school supplies, she settles herself into her – 'cold!' – seat.
'Apparently wood doesn't stay warm.' She muses to herself, placing her hand on her lucky – 'Only.' – Shuriken holster, absently opening it and placing her fingers in the Kunai Rings, contemplating taking one out, before shaking her head, dismissing the thought.
Looking through her supplies again, Natsumi frowns slightly, unsure of whether or not she was too early, fidgeting in her seat, taking a look around the room, Natsumi's faint frown deepens
'What the hell? There's no clock in this room! What kinda room doesn't have a clock in it Dattebano!?' gritting her teeth, Natsumi attempts to calm herself by taking a deep breath, only to find it doesn't help as much as she's been told it would.
'What am I supposed to stare at longingly if there's no clock in this room?' Shaking her head Natsumi props her head in her hand and waits.
She quickly found that she wasn't good at waiting.
Kanna Ikeda was a punctual person, but she preferred to show up early if it wasn't considered inappropriate in the given situation. That said, it was almost a given for a teacher to arrive earlier than their students to the class room, something she had intended to take full advantage of that morning, if not for one thing… Inoichi Yamanaka. It wasn't hard to accept that the former head of T & I might know something about unhealthy coping methods, but therapy? She tried to ignore how all of her various justifications sounded just like the ones she'd heard on the few occasions she'd seen dramas, or read fictional works.
'Focus, focus, focus.' Resisting the urge to physically shake her head, she settles for instead briefly speeding up the circulation of her Chakra while reaching out and firmly grasping the door handle.
'Focus, it's two minutes before class. Focus, focus, focus.' As she pulls the door open, a though occurs to her.
'It's oddly quiet in there…' As she fully opens the door Kanna is immediately met with the sight of a student. A strung up and hanging upside down student who was furiously trying to free herself. As her mind tries to truly take in what she is seeing, Kanna flares her Chakra, preparing to send out the distress signal. Just before she can release the pulse of Chakra, she pauses, holding it back by a hairsbreadth as her brain processes the current state of the classroom while she was searching for the assailant. All but one of her students was restrained in a similar fashion to the first. A few of the more wriggling around on the ground, when she opened the door, all eyes turned to her, and then they all began furiously moving and grunting, likely asking to be freed. Looking around the classroom, Kanna's eyes catch a flash of red. Focusing in on it, she quickly recognizes the mischievously grinning visage of Natsumi Uzumaki.
Kanna sighs as she places her head in her hands 'I knew I should have come early.' Kanna reluctantly steps into the classroom, looking out for traps every step of the way.
*Ahem* "Everyone settle down." Kanna says, the entire classroom was glaring at one person, and that person was looking completely unaffected.
'Why me?' "My name is Kanna Ikeda, I will be your sensei for this year. My goal is to help prepare you all for the rest of your time in the academy. Before you leave this class, you'll have a strong foundation on which to build the rest of your Shinobi and Kunoichi arts." Having gotten through the obligatory introduction, Kanna looks down at the piece of paper on her podium.
"Also, by order of the Hokage, anyone under the age of 8 will not be able to advance past this class-." "WHAT!?" Kanna looked up as Natsumi screeched and slammed her hands down on the table. Upon recognizing the reasons behind her actions, the rest of the class did nothing to hide their amusement at her misfortune.
"Shut the hell up you bastards, and you, stop smirking over there! You think I won't get you back for this!?" Kanna sighs once again.
'Why me…?'
Natsumi yawns tiredly as she stretches, scratching her ruffled red hair as she slides her feet out of her bed, which instead of touching the cold floor insert themselves into a fuzzy pair of red slippers. Sluggishly standing up, she drags her feat as she inches her way to her bathroom, she ignores her forehead bumping into the door and grabs blindly at the knob as her feet attempt to continue shuffling forward. Finally grabbing the knob, she twists it, opening the door to the bathroom she slowly trudges in, nearly tripping over the edge of the tub, she reaches around for a few seconds before turning the water heater for the shower on.
'Next...' Natsumi turns around and walks to the sink, she pulls out a toothbrush from a glass cup full of water and the dumps the water putting the glass cup back down, finally opening her eyes, she grabs her toothpaste from its spot to the left of the sink and looks at the bleary image, she narrows her nearly closed eyes, squeezing the tube, she discovers that she was holding it backwards and was using too much force as the blue green past comes out all over the counter top.
'Oh, come on...' scowling to herself, she turns it around and squeezes it again, this time it gets all over her hand, but still none on the toothbrush's bristles, she lets out a growl of frustration before silencing it and finally managing to get some on the bristles.
'Finally.' Natsumi nods to herself as she closes her eyes and turns the knob for cold water from the bathroom faucet, she runs the bristles and paste under the water for a few seconds before turning it off and proceeding to brush her teeth, walking over to the tub, she kicks the side three times before hitting the wall to her immediate left with her free hand, a few seconds later a rush of hot water comes out of the shower head and steam immediately comes forth from the tub, filling up the room, Natsumi smiles to herself before walking back over to the sink and once again starts up the faucet, she grabs the cup at the side of the sink and holds the cup under the flow of water for a second before pulling it away, she removes the toothbrush from her mouth and holds the bristles under the water before moving down the rest of the toothbrush, putting the glass to her lips, Natsumi sips the water from the glass and holds in her mouth before spitting it all out, she then puts the toothbrush into the cup and turns off the water.
'Now for the best part.' The redhead thinks to herself as she collects some of the hot water from the shower in her cup, placing it back on its rightful place at the top right of the sink, shedding her pajamas she steps into the shower and the closes the curtains, she stands under the water for a few seconds before her eyes fully open.
"Ah dammit." She kicks her slippers off her feet and out of the tub before continuing her shower.
Natsumi finally steps out of the bathroom wearing a pair of orange briefs and bra, grabbing a shirt that was haphazardly thrown onto a chair she slides it on over her head, feeling the mesh shirt underneath rub against her skin, she then pulls on her black pants and mesh socks which stop mid shin, then her regular socks which go up to her ankles but don't cover her toes, walking into the kitchen she grabs a large black pot and places it in the sink, turning on the water she lets the pot fill she pulls out a few instant ramen packets and opening them up, she then stops the water and pulls the pot out of the sink and puts it onto a burner, turning the flames on she picks up the packets and dumps them into the water, she then heads for the fridge and pulls it open, grabbing a sandwich and a bottle of tea she sets them out on her table and collapses into one of the two chairs at the small table.
"Geeze, can't instant ramen be a little more... instant! I mean-" Natsumi cuts herself off and looks over at the now boiling pot, standing quickly she rushes over to the pot of Ramen, grabbing a pair of mitts as she goes past the counter perpendicular to the pot, turning off the burner Natsumi slips the oven mitts onto her hands and picks up the pot, carrying over to the table she places it on the large wooden plate on the table, slipping off the gloves she tosses them back onto counter and opens a drawer.
"Now where did I-Ah-ha!" Pulling out a ladle, reaching the sink, Natsumi pulls out a white bowl with red designs near the rim from the sink, inside were a pair of silver chopsticks with kanji etched near the upper end of the sticks, walking back to the table, she places the bowl down and places the ladle in the pot. Natsumi sits down and claps her hands together while closing her eyes. "Itadakimasu." With that said, Natsumi digs into her breakfast.
Tossing the now empty but dirty dishes back into the sink, Natsumi begins washing them, frowning slightly as she does so, she couldn't seem to shake the feeling that she was forgetting something. Glancing around her apartment, Natsumi notes the few pieces of trash or other miscellaneous items strewn about the floor, but it was clean enough, she thought to herself, looking up at the clock, she stares as her hands keep washing the dishes but steadily slowing down, she blinks, her eyes glazed over, but still she stares, the only sound in the apartment is the sound of running water, slowly, very slowly, her eyes widen, steadily losing their glazed look. Once her eyes are opened as far as they could, her hands stop, and the bowl in her hand slips from her grip, in a blur of motion Natsumi shuts off the faucet and rushes for the door, grabbing her jacket from its hanging position on the back rest of the couch, slipping it on, she slides to a stop at her door, quickly slipping on her black ninja sandals, she rushes out of the door, then down the stairs of her complex, bursting out of the front door of her complex, Natsumi makes a mad dash down the street, ignoring the looks sent her way.
"Oh man I'm late! Iruka-sensei is so~ going to give me a detention!" Quickly side stepping a mother child pair, Natsumi makes a sharp turn and continues her sprint down the street, shoving her way in between two people, Natsumi couldn't help but wonder why it seemed that everything was trying to make her later than she already was. Regardless, as she turns the final corner sharply, she runs into someone and falls back, only to have whoever it was catch her wrist and hold her up, quickly righting herself, Natsumi smiles sheepishly at the person before her.
"Ah-sorry, I'm in a rush right now ya know!" Bursting through the Academy doors, she lunges for the first door on the right side of the hall, wrenching it open with all her might she's met with the sight of a frowning Iruka and a class full of kids her age barely holding back grins. Well, at least some of them were.
"Natsumi..." Flinching, Natsumi turns her attention away from her class mates and onto the frowning Iruka. "Why are you late?" She grins nervously at his all to calm voice.
"W-well you see s-sensei, th-they were doing construction on the street I take to the-." "Natsumi, you and I take the same route to the Academy." A sweat drop appears on the back of her head.
"O-o-oh, yeah... That's right... Well they um, they started late so, ya know..." Iruka nods slowly before snapping out an arm toward the redhead and pointing at her accusingly.
"Detention!"
Natsumi frowns, cheek resting upon her open right hand which was being held by her left hand that was pressed against the desktop she was sitting in. Her eyes glaring out the window at the slowly setting sun. Iruka was grading papers behind his own desk as she was forced to sit in her chair and wait to be dismissed by him or another teacher.
'And that's definitely not going to happen.' After being the laughed at by the rest of the class for coming in late and getting detention, this was the last thing she wanted to have to deal with.
"Natsumi..." looking over at the Chunin, Natsumi sees him looking down at his papers and thus turns her eyes away. "You understand why I gave you a detention don't you?"
"..." After a few moments, Natsumi grudgingly nods and responds with a "Hai Iruka-sensei." unseen to her the Chunin nods as he picks up his papers with both hands and lets the fall against the desk, he repeats this twice more before resuming his work.
"You've been late three times this week Natsumi, not in a row, but three times none the less," Natsumi nods to herself at this. "Can you explain why?" Natsumi glances at Iruka who was looking right back at her, turning her body to face him and sitting up straight, Natsumi locks her eyes in with his own.
"Iruka-sensei, I'm an orphan," Iruka nods. "I'm not the only one here, but almost half of this class come from a clan," Iruka nods again. "All of those Clan kids have parents or relatives that are Shinobi who can help them with all this academy stuff, but kids from civilian clans don't have that same help, and us orphans don't have anyone." Iruka nods as Natsumi turns to face him.
"Yes, I know all of this Natsumi, but what does this have to do with you being late to class?" He asks while rubbing the scar on the bridge of his nose, Natsumi pauses, carefully considering her next words before nodding to herself.
"Iruka-sensei, I'm gonna be Hokage one day." Iruka jerks in surprise, his eyes widening. "But to be Hokage, I've gotta be smart, but more than that I've gotta be strong, since I don't have anyone to train me, I've started trying to train myself, at least in using my Chakra." Iruka's eyes soften as he leans forward slightly.
"Natsumi, training yourself is very dangerous, if you do something wrong..." He trails off, seeing Natsumi nod sharply, sending her red hair flying about.
"I know, that's why I'm just trying to work on Chakra control for now, like helping run faster and stuff, once I become a Genin I can get a Jonin-Sensei, I can ask them for help, and I'll be ready to learn since I have control over my Chakra." Iruka nods again, before looking at Natsumi carefully, he nods to himself as pulls open a drawer on his desk. Iruka reaches into the opened drawer and he pulls out a piece of paper, Iruka approaches Natsumi and extends his hand, offering her the piece of paper, Natsumi stares at it curiously for a moment before picking it up and examining it.
"What's this for Iruka-sensei?" She questions as she furrows her brow and frowns a bit, Iruka smiles softly at that.
"Can you channel you Chakra yet Natsumi?" Glancing up at Iruka, Natsumi shakes her head and Iruka nods his own. "When you can, send some into that piece of paper and tell me what it does."
"What it does?" Iruka nods as he motions for her to walk with him, she rises from her chair and does so, following him out of the class room and down the hallway toward the exit.
"Yes, that's called Chakra Paper." He says as they near the doors Iruka watches from the corner of his eye as Natsumi's eyes widen and focus in on the Chakra paper with renewed interest.
"Chakra 'Paper'? As in...?" Natsumi's eyes light up as she dashes in front of him, smiling wide causing him to jerk and stop. "What does it do!?" She asks, practically bouncing in place, Iruka smiles, he raises his right arm and pats her head while stepping around her, he places a hand on her shoulder and pulls her along gently as he walks.
"Chakra paper can be made from trees that have been heavily saturated in Chakra or Nature Chakra, so nearly any tree in Konoha can be used to make Chakra Paper, in fact we're the chief exporter of Chakra Paper." Natsumi frowns slightly and Iruka releases her shoulder as she begins to walk on her own.
"Then why haven't I ever heard of it?" Iruka holds open the door and she walks though mumbling an 'Arigato' as she does so.
"It's something only Chunin and up have regular access to, most Genin are given Chakra Paper by their Sensei's." Natsumi nods as they resume their walk. "Chakra Paper is used to reveal Elemental Affinities in those who can use Chakra." Natsumi cocks her head to the side.
"Elemental Affinities?" Iruka nods to himself.
"Hai, this is Fourth Year Academy Material, there are Five Base Elements, Katon or Fire is an offensive element with some defensive capabilities, Fire Jutsu typically trumps Fūton or Wind which has either offensive or defensive capabilities depending on how you use it." Natsumi nods as the make a turn down the main street.
"Wind is strong against Raiton or Lightning which is an offensive element with very little in the way of defensive capabilities, Lightning is said to be the most lopsided of the elements with a Three to One Offense Defense ratio, Lightning is strong against Doton or Earth which is a Defensive Element with Offensive capabilities." Natsumi nods again as Iruka pauses to wave to one of his fellow Shinobi.
"Earth is strong against Suiton or Water which is a defensive element with offensive capabilities, Water Element is arguably the most balanced in that regard and as you might imagine trumps Fire in the elemental chart." Natsumi nods as they approach a stand she knows all too well.
"Every Element trumps another, most Shinobi typically have one or two Elemental Affinities. Having an Affinity makes it easier to control that element and learn those type of Jutsu, to parallel that though, it makes it harder to work with the Element that your Element trumps and the Element yours is trumped by, due to those three elements being in a sort of Repelling Trinity with each other." Natsumi nods as she enters the shop with Iruka, though Iruka had to push up the flap to avoid it.
"Welcome to Ichiraku's, please-oh Natsumi-chan, and Iruka-san, have a seat, I'll be with you shortly." Said the brown-haired Waitress, Natsumi beams and nods, walking over to a stool and sits down in it while Iruka takes a moment to bow before joining her.
"So, once you find out your elemental affinity come tell me and I can give you a scroll that can help you train with it." Natsumi nods and smiles, her smile widening as the waitress approaches.
"Hey Ayame-nee!" Ayame rubs Natsumi's head while smiling.
"Hello Natsumi-chan, we were expecting you earlier, you got in trouble again?" Natsumi smiles wide and closes her eyes while rubbing the back of her head.
"Yeah, I was late to class today so Iruka-sensei here, decided to give me detention!" Ayame giggles as Natsumi sends Iruka an accusing glare which the Chūnin instructor pointedly ignores.
"Good evening Ayame-san." Iruka says and Ayame bows slightly.
"Good evening Iruka-san, what can I getcha ya?" Natsumi smiles at the question.
"Two bowls of Miso Ramen Ayame-nee." Ayame nods and looks to Iruka.
"A bowl of pork Ramen for me Ayame-san." Ayame nods and heads to the back, leaving the two to themselves for a time.
"Say, Iruka-sensei," * Hmm? * Iruka looks over at Natsumi. "What's your Elemental Affinity?" Iruka pauses to consider the question before sighing, quickly taking the paper from Natsumi and ignoring her indignant "Hey!", he channels Chakra to the paper and it glows blue. Natsumi stares at it curiously.
"... So, you have like, a water affinity…?" Natsumi trails off as Iruka shakes his head.
"No, if I had a Water Affinity the paper will become soaked, Fire the paper will alight with Fire, Wind and the paper will split, Lightning will make the paper crumble and be charred, and with Earth the paper hardens then crumbles." Iruka explains and Natsumi ticks off the Elements with her hand, looking from her hand to Iruka, Natsumi frowns.
"But, what does the glowing mean Iruka-sensei?" Iruka shakes his head.
"I don't know exactly, I think it means I don't have an elemental affinity, so I never really tried to learn any." Iruka shrugs and hands the paper back to Natsumi who looks at it curiously before pocketing it and looking at Iruka suspiciously.
"...You didn't have to snatch..." As Ayame brought out their orders she found Iruka laughing and Natsumi shooting him a dirty glare, she could only shake her head at the sight.
"He's coming to." Orion?
"No, he's not, he's in a coma, the amount of damage his entire body has sustained, the nature of his injuries, and our lack of knowledge on how to even begin treating them has made sure of that." I open my eyes, slowly, taking in the endless white void.
'When…?" I take in the sound of two people shifting trying to get a read on their positions relative to my own.
"Whoa, put that away, I promise I didn't do anything to wake him up, he did that all on his own." More shifting and suddenly Orion's semi-equestrian visage filled my vision.
"But how did you wake up so fast." I try to respond, but I can't, and before I can try to move, Orion's form flashes a blinding white, I unconsciously close my eyes, and can't muster the energy to open them.
I can still feel it as a fur covered hand gingerly touches my shoulder, sending lances of agony through my body that I ignore.
"Don't move, right now, your body is about ready to fall apart." I can't respond but Orion seems to take my lack of trying to move as a form of agreement.
"Just sleep for now." I can feel unconsciousness creeping up on me, and I let it take me.
"Daddy?"
"Daddy?"
"Hmm? Hmmmg, what is it son?"
"I had a bad dream"
"Aww, what was it a-gck!" The father cuts himself off as the moon illuminates the room, his son's eyes consumed by total blackness, pitch black tear tracks marring his cheeks.
"It was about the Dark."