A/N: Naruto does not belong to me. This story is the product of having an over active imagination.
With a sigh, I put aside the book on genjutsu I had just finished reading. Genjutsu, I had realized, had the potential to be very horrifying. Reading about the negative effects a poorly cast genjutsu could have on the caster's brain, gave me a very healthy respect for genjutsu users. I was going to stay away from any intricate genjutsus, there was no need for a lobotomy.
I picked up the book I had been saving for last, Fuuinjutsu: Level one. Cracking the huge tome open, I started reading.
To my delight, sealing seemed to be a combination of memorization, imagination and innovation. It was more of an art than science.
The book also spoke of how every fuuinjutsu user was encouraged to develop their own styles. While you could copy seals, true mastery meant having your own style of sealing. This made it almost impossible to deconstruct seals. This was why Uzushio had been so feared, and why it had been destroyed. A true seals master would be almost unbeatable on the battlefield, as seen in the case of Uzumaki Kushina, or Namikaze Minato.
Many ninjas were capable of copying seals, most jounin being proficient enough to make their own explosive tags and storage scrolls.
The book suggested for beginners to practice calligraphy to steady their hand. It was not a problem for me, as the academy had a class on calligraphy, which I had enjoyed. Though more practice wouldn't hurt.
Reading the book made me realize why it took years to master fuuinjutsu. There were five levels to fuuinjutsu, with explosive and storage seals being level one, and seals like space-time seals being level five.
There was a surprising amount of spirituality involved in fuuinjutsu. Mastering fuuinjutsu meant understanding what made you, you. Many people did not want to truly know their core self. Who you are as a person shaped your sealing style.
I foresaw a lot of meditation in my future.
"Fuuinjutsu? Isn't that a bit too heavy for an academy student?"
Now, Shiranui Genma was, to a fault, exceedingly loyal to Konoha and her Kage. But as he climbed the stairs to the shinobi library, he couldn't help but curse Tsunade-sama in his head.
One measly little scrape and he had been on forced medical leave for a week. By the second day, Genma had been all but climbing the walls of his home in boredom. As he was village bound for the next week, he had been taking up desk jobs and gate duty to stave off boredom.
Tsunade-sama had been exasperated by his inability to take it easy, and so, he had been banned from taking on any more work. Genma had been ready to argue against this, but the glint in his Kage's eye told him that she would be more than willing to punt him out of the window. He had hastily made his exit then, not willing to test his Hokage when she was already irritated by paperwork.
Therefore, there he was, at the library to improve his jutsu repertoire, lest he actually lose his mind. Raising a hand in greeting to Kotetsu at the desk, he made his way to the Jounin section. Gazing around absently, his eye caught the color pink.
Such a bright color in such a dreary place made him take a second look, and he found the source to be the young kunoichi-to-be that had almost ran him over as he had been leaving after his last shift of gate-duty in the morning. She had been running laps, he assumed, and the sheer thought of anyone running laps around the village had reflexively made him look for green spandex.
Bored jounin made for curious jounin, and so, he decided to see what Pinkie-chan was up to, intrigued by the thought of any academy student being at the library during their holidays. He knew this tidbit, because Iruka had been complaining about the pranks his class had played in celebration.
Sauntering closer, he felt his eyebrows raise at the books she had around her. He didn't think any genin, let alone an academy student would chose to read books like the Socio-political effects of the Second Shinobi World War, or Genjutsu and its relation to the Frontal Lobe. Certainly, he never had. He doubted anyone had, except for Itachi perhaps, or Ebisu. Most students, and genin, would be more interested in flashy ninjutsus, or taijutsu.
Moving soundlessly near her, her back to him, he took a look at the content of the book she was reading, very much intrigued by her and her reading choices. Again, he couldn't help but raise his brows in surprise. The little pinkette was reading up on sealing! Definitely not common for academy students.
"Fuuinjutsu? Isn't that a bit too heavy for an academy student?" Genma asked, making Pinkie-chan startle and whirl around, her eyes wide. He winced, as he hadn't wanted to startle her so bad.
But, she recovered with an admirable alacrity, and narrowed her eyes at the implied insult in his question.
"Actually, shinobi-san, I have found it to be quite easy to understand. It seems pretty straightforward," the kunoichi-to-be said tartly, making him grin at her snark, and the hidden dig at his intelligence. It was refreshing to see someone so young being so snarky, it gave him hope for the next generation.
He dragged a nearby chair towards her table, and sat, shuffling her books to see what else she had been reading. He could see Pinkie-chan bristle slightly, probably not having learnt how to hide her reactions completely.
"Can I help you, Jounin-san?" she asked, a hint of bite in her tone.
"Well, I saw you when I came in, and wondered what the pink-haired girl who almost ran me over today was doing in the library. I know break has just started for all academy students. Plus, I was bored."
She flushed at the mention of the incident, but asked, "Bored?"
Genma shrugged. "I was injured on my last mission, and am benched for the week. And am banned from all in-village missions from now on. Does that answer your question, Pinkie-chan?"
She frowned, and replied, "That is understandable. But why are you bothering me? And my name is Haruno Sakura, not Pinkie-chan." She glared.
He grinned. It was hilarious. It was like a kitten trying to be a tiger.
"So what are you trying to learn here, apart from Fuuinjutsu?" he asked, ignoring her question, not being sure of the answer himself. He didn't like brats, especially those who had yet to hit puberty, not that they were any better afterwards. He didn't know how Iruka managed to corral those many monsters.
She shot him a look, but apparently decided that he was not going to leave her alone, and answered, "I was looking into the theory behind chakra and its different properties. Before starting to use chakra, I thought it would be better to have a thorough understanding of the theory. I am also interested in improving my bukijutsu, so was researching different weapons and their relation to specific chakra natures."
Genma was somewhat impressed. This kid had more forethought than even some chuunin. But something about her answer bothered him. He frowned.
"What do you mean, before starting to use chakra? You must be what, eleven, twelve? You'll probably be graduating in a year. You should have been taught basic ninjutsu by now."
Her expression soured. A twist to her mouth, she replied, "I was born with very unbalanced chakra, and joined the academy two years later than I was supposed to. The iryo-nin have yet to clear me to use chakra. That's why I am sticking to theory for now. Does that answer your question, Jounin-san?"
"It's Genma, kid," he answered absently. He vaguely remembered Gai talking about helping someone's kid with taijutsu because of their wonky chakra. It probably had been Pinkie-chan he had been referring to.
"Hey, kid, have you met someone wearing green spandex, by any chance?"
Genma watched with increasing mirth as the girl's face went blank with remembered horror. It was always entertaining to witness people reacting to his genin teammate. He loved Gai, but he was a bit too much for most people. If nothing else, he was thankful Gai had chosen Kakashi as his "Eternal Rival", rather than him. Couldn't have happened to a nicer person.
He brought up a senbon to chew on, taking pity on the pinkette and changing the topic.
"So you're interested in Fuuinjutsu? What led to that decision?"
"It is one of the most versatile and dangerous fields. I don't know why it is not taught to more people. Even basic fuuinjutsu can be devastating in the right hands."
"The reason is complicated, kid. It is probably a combination of there not being many sealmasters left to teach, and the fact that a lot of the learning is theoretical. It does not grant immediate gratification like ninjutsu. This is especially why brats your age do not pursue it. Also, many of the older generations remember Fuuinjutsu users being targeted viciously on the battlefield, and even off it. That's why most of the remaining fuuinjutsu users are A or S-ranked ninja. That's because they were the only ones strong enough to survive the hunting teams of Kumo and Kiri."
He felt bad at seeing her pale face, but the earlier she knew of the dangers, the better her chances of survival were. He still remembered seeing Uchiha Suzume being torn apart by the Nibi jinchuuriki, targeted just for being a fuuinjutsu master. Her teammate, Senju Nawaki's resultant massacre of Kumo nin, and the way he had hunted down the Nibi jinchuuriki and killed him, had earned him the Flee-on-sight order in the Kumo bingo books. Nawaki-sama had semi-retired after that incident and had taken over the hospital director's position, turning down the Hokage hat.
While they were not at war anymore, and had not been for a decade now, fuuinjutsu was still a dying art. He was glad to see someone being interested in learning it, but some caution never hurt anyone.
In an effort to lessen the tension in the air, he smirked and said, "Cheer up, kiddo. I didn't tell you that to put you off of fuuinjutsu. I am glad you have an interest in it. Konoha needs more people interested in seals."
She smirked back, and shrugged nonchalantly, "I just need to reach A-rank or higher, then. Not a big deal."
He barked a laugh at that, honestly liking her attitude. It seemed like she had a combination of Kakashi's arrogance and Gai's never-ending optimism. Not a bad mixture to have, he had seen much worse attitudes in others.
He wanted to see how far she would go. Minato-sama and Kushina-sama had given him a healthy respect for sealing. He himself was not much of a seals master, even though Minato-sama had taught all of the Hokage's Guard his Hiraishin.
"Tell you what, Sakura-chan, I will be here most mornings for the next five days. How would you like to learn some fuuinjutsu from someone who learned from the Yondaime himself?"
The little kunoichi straightened abruptly. "Yes! Absolutely, Genma-san! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, looking like she was barely holding herself back from launching at him.
This is what my boredom has led me to, he thought almost despairingly. But looking at her sparkling eyes, he couldn't bring himself to regret his spur-of-the-moment offer.
A/N: Please Review!