"He's Naruto's cousin."
"I get that, but where did this information come from?" Shikaku grunts, arms crossed.
"From both himself and Jiraiya." The Sandaime answers, hiding a small grimace. When it's actually spoken out loud, it doesn't seem like much evidence. However, "Jiraiya is my loyal student and I trust him the most."
"A DNA test could suffice. Interrogation too, but... I feel like that's out of the question." Inoichi knows there's another option that's not a nice one. "Well.. there's also me using my technique on him." His lips thin. There's a reason why he stopped doing the exact thing in the first place.
Shikaku glances at his friend. "Hopefully it won't come down to that. Or taking him to Ibiki. I doubt he'd be happy with either of those."
"I doubt he'd be happy with the DNA test too, though I'm unsure." The Hokage sighs. He then tilts his head ever so slightly at the spike of a chakra signature.
"Neko, report."
A purple- haired Anbu with a striped mask resembling that of a cat, appears before him, down on one knee in a sign of respect. She rises when commanded to by the Sandaime.
"Kozima has been a Konoha citizen accordingly, and has no done no bad so far." The Anbu reports professionally.
"Oh? And have you gotten any information?"
"He is still to remain an anomaly. None of our Anbu can decipher any of the seals on his arms, or gained any more information on his backstory and skills.
"Thank you for the report. You are dismissed." Hiruzen dismisses. Neko gives a curt bow, before dissapearing.
"He's more of a mystery than we think. He's given us his backstory, though it's vague. I can't help but think; Who exactly is Uzumaki Kozima."
"Kozima," Kurenai gives a pleasant smile. "I'm Kurenai, Jonin Sensei of team ei-"
"Asuma Sarutobi, Sensei of team ten. I need your help." Asuma cuts Kurenai off with a blunt statement, causing Kurenai to shoot him a miffed expression.
"Asu-" Kakashi begins.
"We're allowed to do this, Kakashi. You would've known if you were at the meeting." Asuma cuts someone off for the second time in only ten seconds. Kakashi gives a closed eye smile. "Maa, sorry, Asuma, I got lost on the-"
"Path of life." "Path of life."
Kozima and Kakashi finish at the same time, Kozima staring Kakashi down with a very flat look as he does so. Rightfully so, since by the time Kozima came back with Kakashi, the meeting was over.
"Did the path of life give you any hints to what you should actually be doing other than reading that damned book?" Kozima groans and sighs at the same time, folding his arms.
Kakashi doesn't waver, instead just turns a page of his book, making the scuffle of paper obnoxiously loud as he does so.
'He never changes.' Kozima thinks (muses) somewhat sadly and shakes his head. "Well, uhm, Asuma, I guess I can take you up on your offer.." His voice quietens down slightly and he turns his gaze onto said man. Next to him, Kurenai says nothing but still frowns. At Asuma, specifically.
"Great! I'll see you tomorrow at seven then!" The familiar sound of the lighter flicking on echos in Kozima's ears.
Kozima sits on his desk, staring intently at a page in his notebook that looks like a kid scribbled shapes and unreadable words to anyone other than himself. He always almost figured it out. Almost. It turns out to be stomped hope, a dead end and no choice but for Kozima to restart. He's lost count on how many times he was so close, yet so far away.
He shuts the notebook with thump, and his hand crawls up his arm until he finds the right seal. Said seal glows, before the book dissapeares. He stands up, wooden chair making a grating sound - that causes Kozima to repress a wince - when pushed backwards, and he promptly leaves his house.
He feels the Anbu tagging along after him in the corners of the shadows and sighs mentally. Again, his hand reaches up the opposite arm, finding a different seal this time.
It's only because of his Kurama-vision (he calls it that because that's exactly where he got his super-natural eyesight from) that he sees the faintest of the faint purple glimmer around him.
Great. Finally some privacy.
Inside the barrier, he summons a single clone with barely a twitch. They switch places, and Kozima speeds away (when he speeds, he speeds. Almost nobody can see him move) allowing the barrier to fall and the clone to carry on as his original self as if nothing happed.
He doesn't feel any regret or foolishness for his act, he thinks as he sits on a hidden away tree branch, legs dangling. He needs to get away with himself sometimes, and he can't do that if it's 'getting away with myself, plus two watchdogs'.
Three, actually. Ugh, root.
He exhales, fingers drumming along the bare skin of his arm above the seal that holds Sasuke. It's comforting, almost, knowing that his life teammate is really there and the prospect of having him here is not completely zero.
He waits until the presences of the Anbu are a good distance away before using the technique that his own father is famous for: The Harishin.
His sandal clad feet hit the stone of his father's head. He hasn't placed more than three seals around, and the one under his feet was the first one to be placed down.
He doesn't use the Harishin all that often, mostly relying on his own speed. He's faster than the Harishin.
Once settled on the edge of the mountain, Kozima bites into his thumb hard without a wince. He sighs when it immediately heals, not giving him a chance to use his blood. Slightly irritated, he blows out a harsh breath, a strand of hair caught in the wind rising up.
He removes a Kunai from his waist and with the speed of barely a few nano seconds, he all but slices his thumb deeply, smears blood on the fox tattoo and places his hand on the stone next to him.
His thumb heals, but not before he finally gets what he wants.
Crystal eyes with slitted pupils, twitching black tipped ears and silky titan- coloured fur appears without a glimmer, tail swishing the ground lightly.
The fox tilted her head slightly, pattering over onto Kozima's knee. She's rather small, only about the size of his head but she's a quick, sly fox, one of the most cunning there is.
"Nar-" She begins, only to be cut off.
"Azule, please. That's not my name anymore." He casts her a semi- serious pleading look, jutting his lip out and up, something he can't grow out of doing when close to people he trust.
Azule just nods understandingly and, when beckoned to, steps into Kozima's lap. She follows his gaze down to the village and stares with him, only the whispering of the wind against her barely twitching ears making any known sound. Without breaking his gaze from his precious village, the red- head places his cold, gloved hand onto the foxes back. He keeps it still, simply reassuring himself that she is here, under his palm.
After a few minutes, Azule's trained ears pick up a whisper that wasn't from the wind.
"I don't want to do this without anyone." The young man mumbles softly, his eyes roaming over Ichiraku's, his old apartment and the Uchiha compound.
Azule flicks her tail into Kozima's face, turning her head around to level him with a look that made him feel stupid. Why? Kozima has no idea. Azule just has a thing for making him feel dumb.
"Azule..?" He questions, cocking his head to the right lightly. Azule gives the fox equivalent of an eye roll to him, before turning her head back to the view.
"Without anyone? Is everyone in this village a nobody? Am I a nobody?" She doesn't sound judgemental or offended, just complitative.
Kozima, finally tearing his gaze away from the village and onto the fox, shakes his head. "You know that's not what I meant." He sighs, his thumb gracing over her rough fur. He doesn't stroke her like a cat, he never does since he's sure they (being the foxes) would find it disrespectful. They can sometimes be rather full of themselves. Well, not Azule.
"You're restless. I can tell, even if you a have a cool air. Your chakra is spinning." And that's a thing- the foxes are the only ones who can actually sense his chakra.
"You have natural energy all around you. It's not like before.. it feels much more abundant and alive." Kozima feels a tinge of irritation that's directed at himself. He hadn't even though of using natural energy! He had grown out of the habit of gathering natural energy to calm him or replenish his energy since everything died in the war. There had been only a miniscule amount of natural energy that couldn't suffice.
He closes his eyes, shifting so that his spine sits straighter. With his cold palm still in contact with Azule's equally cold body, he starts to gather natural energy. He does it at an agonizingly slow pace, but every minute his body feels slightly more relaxed, his mind slightly clearing and the underneath of his skin buzzing with the new energy.
He tones the intake down when he starts to feel the tips of his fingers glow golden, eyes change and his hair float, almost unravelling itself from the tight plait. He allows himself to be completely encased in a constant hum of calm chakra, his tense muscles relaxing.
It had taken quite a while to perfect fox sage mode, because he had no mentor other than the foxes to help. However, it took a shorter amount of time than with the toads.
He's also the only one in history to master the fox sage mode.
The toad contract had been abandoned by Kozima during the war, after too many toads died. He felt horrible, pledging to never use the toads again. That's when Kurama told him about the fox contract.
Foxes are sly, devious creatures. Kozima almost sucumbed to them. Almost. Now, he has their trust.
After an hour, Kozima opens his eyes. "Thank you, Azule."
Kozima's eyebrows raise at the unsurprising scene in front of him. Ino sits in a tree, painting her nails, while Choji and Shikamaru sit at the base of the tree, the latter watching the clouds lazily and the other munching fervently on his chips. An exasperated Asuma stands to the side, and when his eyes catch onto Kozima, he almost sags with releif.
Kozima looks like the most vulnerable, weak and unaware civilian, with a pitiful amount of chakra and unpractical clothes and hair. The Genin don't really take much notice in him, but Asuma walks over. "You see why I need your help?"
Yes, Kozima knew from the start.
Asuma gains the Genin's attention, walking towards them with Kozima on his tail. "Kids, this is Oz, hopefully he can your butts up."
Kozima does nothing to react to the nickname except for a raised eyebrow. Oz? Well.. it doesn't sound horrible. It does sound rather improper, but ah, Kozima has never been one for formalities, and it seems like Asuma isn't either.
Shikamaru, barely interested, gives one glance to 'Oz', before deciding that he's probably a snobby civilian. Those do exists, rich civilians that think they can put shinobi in line. Dang, that Kinda hurts though, Kozima muses. He does not want to be put into that category. Even if he looks like he is. Shikamaru isn't one to dismiss people just from how they look, but this Shikamaru is lazy, knowing the actions he does can be dangerous on the battlefield, but it being too 'troublesome' to think about.
Ino barely gives him a glance, and the only one who really gives him attention is Choji, but half of it is on munching away.
Asuma sighs, sending a pointed look towards Kozima. Kozima just smiles mirthfully, sitting down where he stands, somehow his clothes staying pristine.
He waits, at least 10 minutes (without the Genin even acknowledging him. Rude.) before he decides 'Okay, time to hurricane this shit.'
A small breeze starts to pick up, ruffling the Genin's hair, before it picks up speed, blowing Choji's chips and Ino's nail polish container away. Finally.
"The name's Kozima. I'll make you get off your ass" 'and if you don't- you won't have one.' He says the last statement in his head yet when he flips his fan open elegantly yet so menacingly, a few shivers travel through the Genin, getting the message across anyways.
"Troublesome." Shikamaru mutters, loud enough for everybody to hear. Ino huffs, while Choji sulks over his lost food.
"Ne, Asuma.. have them done chakra control yet?" Kozima questions, voice returning to it's usual tone; repressed and quiet.
"We've started it. However, they've made barely any progress." Asuma groans, and Kozima inwardly chuckles because oh this is gonna be fun.
Kozima gives a sweet and obviously fake smile to the small Genin. "You want to be powerful Shinobi, right? Then show me your chakra control."
"Something seems off." Shikamaru mutters, leaning towards Choji. Only Choji and Kozima hear, and only Kozima hears the "troublesome" that is muttered after.
Choji non- subtley nods his head, clearly agreeing. He's still upset about his poor chips.
A second huff is exhaled, and Kozima flickers his eyes to the person who produced the sound. "Asuma- Sensei, who even is he?" Ino shoots a pointed look towards the red head.
Asuma shakes his head. "Kozima, like he's already said. He's been given permission to work with Genin. Your the first group so.. feel lucky." He says the last statement with a shrug, Shikamaru giving his sensei a semi- unimpressed raise of an eyebrow.
The action is way too familiar for Kozima, but he just thins his lips, praying that his body language gives nothing away. He may be an expert in concealing his emotions, but he's unsure if he can hide them from Shikamaru, born genius.
A decade of more experience beats 'born genius' and Kozima can tell Shikamaru hasn't caught on.
Rock Lee would be proud.
Kozima brings his palm out in front of him, his fingers slightly moving as visible wisps if strong wind crawl in between his fingers.
"So... how about that chakra control."
Shikamaru has no idea who this person is. That's not saying much, since he is someone who is too lazy to recognize everybody apart from important people, or people who peak his interest. Which does happen, sometimes.
The guys that his sensei dubbed 'Oz' but turns out is actually 'Kozima' holds himself in a confined way. His long, long braid swishes whenever his head turns and Shikamaru can't help to think how impractical it would be in a fight. Well, that's until he remembers that this guy doesn't fight.
His Chakra is stable at best, and pitiful at worst. His clothes and hair are impractical, though the clothes don't say much- there are some fighters with much posher outfits.
However, he nerves Shikamaru. His intense eyes bite through him, and the movement of his face cause the whisker marks to also move, alas bringing Shikamaru's attention to it every single time.
The marks look identical to Naruto's, and Shikamaru doesn't know if it's a coincidence or not. Shikamaru also finds himself eying the fan that Kozima had whipped out. It's not a regular fan, he observes. It has slightly too pointy ends and his eye catches on a small symbol engraved into the wooden part.
All in all, Shikamaru doesn't know what to think of him. A civilian? Maybe. A civilian without any idea that he's holding a weapon used by wind nature ninja instead of a regular wind fan? Ehhhh- A Shinobi?
Well, if there's one thing that Shikamaru can't rule out is the wind chakra that the man used.
'He did it without casting any hand seals.' His brain helpfully supplies. He hadn't even used the fan, that allows wind ninja to control their wind without so much a single hand seal.
Damn, not a civilian then. Shikamaru concludes, tearing his gaze away from said man that he had been staring at for the past few minutes, the red head pretending to not have noticed the scrutinizing stare. Instead, Shikamaru draws his eyes to Ino, who is currently trying to walk up a tree.
As he watches her get increasingly frustrated, his thought process continues to sprint.
Shikamaru is no sensor, but he has been trained by his clan to sense some degree of chakra. Kozima's chakra is either terrible or..
Shikamaru mentally slaps himself. For being a genius, he can be blind. He hasn't thought of chakra oppression, but now the more he looks into it, the chakra is carefully released, and a good portion of it is probably hidden.
The gears in his brain click, and with slightly wider eyes, he glances at the red head. In turn, Kozima glances back at him, giving him a subtle, foxy grin
'Troublesome.' Shikamaru thinks.
"You're trying too hard, Ino." Kozima comments to the concentrating blonde. Ino swirls her head around, her long hair almost whipping her in the face. She opens her mouth to retort. Remembering that this man isn't Choji, Shikamaru or other people like Naruto and Sakura that she can grouch or shout at, she clamps her mouth shut.
Ino isn't sure what to think about this random young- looking dude, but she's leaning towards annoying. It frustrates her whenever he points out what she should do, whether it be to concentrate more, concentrate less, look where her feet step or take her time.
It frustrates her to no end.
She purses her lips and let's out a harsh breath. She's done this before decently (not as bad as now) but now, she can't travel up the tree further than four steps, and her tail bone is throbbing from the constant abuse of falling onto it.
The dude- Kozima- gives a small smile, and Ino blinks when she sees no pity, no sympathy and no mocking in it. She watches as he glances from Shikamaru, to her, back to Shikamaru and then finally to Choji. His eyes light up and Ino swears she just saw a light bulb go off above his head.
"Shikamaruu" Kozima drawls out the vowel, looking at Shikamaru expectantly. Shikamaru uneasily flickers his eyes over at the call of his name. "Why don't you help Ino and Choji with their chakra control?"
Shikamaru, faking nonchalance, simply shrugs his shoulders, turning his gaze back to the clouds. "I'm not much better. Actually, I'd say I'm worse." He shrugs again, looking very comfortable where he is, sitting down, leaning up against a tree with his hands behind his head.
Kozima's eyes glitter mischievously. "Mhm. Well then, it can be good experience for you too. You can all figure out what your doing wrong."
Shikamaru mutters a quiet troublesome. Slowly and agonizingly, he lifts himself up onto his two feet. "I've already told you, they fare better than me." To prove his point, Shikamaru turns around to face the tree he had previously been leaning on and places down a foot on the trunk. He lifts himself up, taking two steps up the tree before his control slips, and he falls onto his back.
Kozima walks over to Shikamaru, who hadn't even bothered to move, still lying on his back from where he fell, and turns his scrutinizing gaze onto the tree. From where Shikamaru is lying on the ground, he watches Kozima's eyebrow's rise before he looks down to Shikamaru.
"I'm sure you, a Nara, already know that that little show did not convince me one bit." Kozima grins. He seems to do that a lot, but never around Asuma. Also, Shikamaru can't remember ever telling the man his name, including his last name. He doesn't linger too much on it though; he looks like a Nara (he's been told many times and he himself sees the very close comparison between him and his father.) and Asuma may have mentioned them before, including their names.
"And you should know, as a shinobi, that your little act does not convince me one bit either." Shikamaru lazily retorts, and that earns him a wide grin, one that exposes one too many sharp teeth at the back.
All the guy says is, "I know, Shikamaru."
"Where's Asuma-Sensei?" Choji asks, voice muffled by his chewing of chips- where the hell did they come from- and looks around the area. Ino and Shikamaru both did the same, only to find that Choji's question is, in fact, a very good one.
"I've told him to go grab something." Kozima replies, and Choji gives an uneasy glance to Shikamaru.
"It's fine, it's for a food reason. Plus, your not stuck with me alone, you have my little shadows as company." Kozima stares straight at the two Anbu, making sure to not set his eyes on the root assistant. He does not want to give away his knowledge of them just yet.
He immediately feels the slight irritation, due to Kurama's skill of sensing negative emotions. There's a hint of an emotion such as surprise, but Kozima can't sense it well; he's still working on creating his own ability of sensing other emotions other than just negative emotions.
The Genin realize what he's referring to, their gaze following Kozima's, only to see nothing but branches, and to sense nothing.
"Anyways." Kozima causes them to tear their gaze away. "I think I have the perfect activity for you to learn your chakra control."
"Really?" Ino enquires, shoulders dropping in silent relief. "Because I don't think I can handle trying to walk up a tree any longer."
Kozima allows a grin to slip out. "Oh no, this is something much more interesting. But, it won't just challenge you on chakra control. It'll challenge you on your stealth and other skills. " His foxy grin widens and he snaps his fan shut. "And, it may or may not have something to do with your poor Sensei."